The Company stood outside Mirkwood pulling the gear off the horses to let them go back to Beorn. Gandalf had gone ahead to the edges of the forest to explore, Anyekia and Bilbo stood staring at it. Both could feel something wrong with the forest.
"This forest feels…sick." Bilbo said, his hands in his pockets.
"It is." Anyekia whispered. "Very sick. Mirkwood has…changed." Her eyes scanned through the trees, her trepidation of going in even stronger than before.
Pain suddenly seared through her head, causing a cry of pain as red flashed before her eyes and she took several steps back. Her hand on her head as she gasped for breath, tears were spilling from her eyes.
"Anyekia?" Bilbo was next to her, his face pale.
Thorin too was by her side in a flash. "What happened?"
The pain was subsiding but she didn't trust herself to move her speak, terrified for a moment that the pain would come back.
"You felt it didn't you?"
She looked up slowly as Gandalf came back towards them.
"Not my horse! I need it!" He said sharply before stopped in front of Anyekia. "Tell me Anyekia, did you feel that?"
Slowly, she nods.
He looks worried. "Anyekia, I have to insist that you do not go into the mountain. If you felt even that small trace of magic-"
"I'll be fine." She snarled, brushing both Blibo's and Thorin's hands off her. "I don't know what that was, but it is gone now."
"This is not a matter of now, if I knew you would listen to me I would not even allow you to go into that forest!" Gandalf said angrily. "That was just a small amount of magic compared to what you will face against Smaug."
"And I'll be fine." She snapped, glaring him. "And if you were so worried, you wouldn't be leaving!"
"I am leaving because I must deal with the source of this!" He waved an arm in the general direction of the forest. "Something is very wrong and I know you know this Anyekia, I know you can feel it. Now promise me, you will not go into that mountain."
"No."
Gandalf's mouth pressed together. "Do not say I didn't warn you Anyekia. What ever you do, stay on the path in there, if you lose it, you will never find it again."
"Don't I know it?" She growled, storming off.
Anyekia didn't care that he was angry at her, she didn't care about his warning even though she knew it was probably true, all she cared about currently was the pounding headache that remained.
Sitting down on a rock just in the forest, she rubbed her temples, trying to ease the pain in her head.
Footsteps approached and she didn't need to look up. "I'm fine Thorin."
"If you are not up for this-"
"I am fine." She purposefully sits up to look at him. "Stop worrying about me."
He frowns at this, but nods, stepping away to pick up gear as they wished Gandalf farewell. She felt slightly guilty but stared at the path ahead of them, waiting for the dwarves to be ready.
Finally, they started their trek through the forest. It was clear everyone was nervous, and even though Bilbo and Anyekia could feel it most, the other dwarves quickly picked up on the feeling in the air.
"I hate forests." Dwalin grumbled. "The air feels heavy."
"That's not the forest." Anyekia says quietly but does not elaborate.
"Let's just follow the path and get out of here as quickly as possible." Thorin grumbles, still angry at her.
They walk until nightfall, the forest quickly falling into a heavy darkness. The dwarves move to make camp, but Anyekia stops them.
"We cannot rest here." She says quickly, walking a bit further ahead. "The longer we stay here, the more likely we are to fall under the enchantment in this forest. We need to keep moving."
"How do you suggest we do that lass?" Dwalin grumbled. "We need light to do that."
"Not to mention we are exhausted." Nori said, sitting on the ground to make a point. "We need to rest."
Anyekia was shaking her head. "Build torches. We cannot stop."
But she was outnumbered, the dwarves grumbling and continue to set up camp. She gives a sharp look at Thorin but even he just shakes his head. Scowling, she sits far from them, despite the cold and spends a very agitated night on guard.
By the time morning came, she was already yelling at the dwarves to get them up and even started ahead on the path to hasten their pace. It made them agitated, but they said nothing.
However, Anyekia did not get far, their path was blocked by a river, the bridge having long been broken. There was a boat on the other side but no foreseeable way of reaching it.
The rest of them caught up and found her crouching at the bank of the river, staring into the water.
"Is it crossable?" Thorin asked her.
Slowly, she shakes her head. "There is a heavy enchantment here, unlike anything I have ever seen. I doubt it will be good for us to touch this water."
"There has got to be a way to cross it." He said stubbornly. "See if you can find a way across!"
The dwarves searched the nearby banks to see if the river narrowed out at all, Anyekia moved back to the bridge, eyeing off the boat.
"Has anyone got rope?" She asked. None of the dwarves answered, Bilbo sitting with all the gear just shrugs his shoulders. Walking over, she goes through them impatiently until finding rope buried in the bottom of one of the bags.
Moving back to the bridge, she ties the end of the rope onto an arrow, the other end to a tree, and knocks it into her bow. Feeling the extra weight, she adjusts accordingly, aiming for the boat and letting the arrow fly. It hits the side of the boat and she tugs it and it seems to have stuck fast. She attempts to pull it, but it was going to take more than one person to pull the boat across the water.
"Hey!" She called to the dwarves still searching, the closest looking at her, slightly stunned. "Come help me pull this."
It didn't take them long to work out what she was trying to do and soon, eight of them were pulling on the rope, the boat slowly moving through the water towards them.
"It shouldn't be moving this slowly." Dwalin grunted, having taken the head position to pull the boat over. "It should be-"
The arrow came free from the boat and they all fell back heavily onto each other. There's a moment of confusion as they try to untangle themselves from each other and get up. Anyekia impatiently pulls the rope back, however, upon reaching the bit where the rope is soaked with water, she drops it with a sharp gasp.
"What is it?" Thorin asks, staring at the rope.
"I…I don't know." She wipes her hands on her pants and then rubs them together. "It's cold, but unlike anything I've felt before." She rubs her hands together, as if trying to get heat back into them.
He grabs her hands and feels how cold they are and looks at her with a worried frown. "Its not traveling down your arms is it?"
"No. Just the hands." She rubs them together again, but the cold remains.
"Don't touch the water, whatever you do." Thorin orders. "Now, let's see if we can get that boat."
They leave the first rope in the water, no one else game enough to touch it, and take out a second, Kili firing this time, the arrow sticking back into the boat and they continued to pull it over.
The boat successfully in front of them, they were dismayed to see that it had no oar to speak of. They tried finding out how deep the river was but no stick seemed to reach the bottom.
"Well, it was a good idea, but we are still stuck." Balin huffs, staring at the boat.
Anyekia, whose hands were now under her arms to try and get the heat back into them, was staring at the other side.
"If we can just get one person to the other side…" She mumbles.
"How? There's no way over." Thorin was frustrated, he was pacing in front of the broken bridge.
Anyekia looked at her bow and then the heavy trees on the other side. "Have we got another rope?"
"What for?"
"Do we have one or not?"
"Aye." Dwalin pulls another out of a bag. "One."
"One should hopefully be enough." She stares at her hands for a moment. Drawing in a deep breath, she shuts her eyes. Red cracks form along her hands and she lets out a low hiss of pain before it dies away again, she flexes her fingers. "That's better."
"What are you doing?" Thorin asks as she grabs her bow and ties the rope to another arrow.
"Well, if I can get to the other side-" She aims at one of the trees and fires. "Then I can tie the rope off and we can use it as a pulley." She grabs the other end of the rope and climbs the nearest tree and pulls it taught, as she does, Thorin realises what she intends to do.
"Anyekia, you cannot do this, the chances of the rope coming lose-"
"Are high, but unless you have another suggestion then this is the only way." She tugs the rope again, leaning back into it to make sure it would take her body weight before tying it off around a branch.
"Then at least let's send the lightest." He ordered, folding his arms and glaring up at her.
Anyekia raises an eyebrow and notices Bilbo look suddenly terrified at the rope. "Bilbo, have you ever climbed along a rope like this?"
Bilbo blinks at her as Thorin shoots her daggers. "N-n-no."
"Good, then it's settled." And before anyone could stop her, Anyekia hooks her legs around the rope and swings below it, holding onto it with her hands.
They called after her, but she was already moving, pulling herself along as quickly as possible. The rope wobbled and swayed but she just kept moving, focusing only on the other side and the Company held their breaths.
She swung down, landing firmly on the bank, pulling her arrow out of the tree, she undid the rope and secured it around a tree, a firm line now between the two banks.
"Okay." She yelled over. "Secure the other rope to the boat so the others can pull it back each time."
They quickly went into action, half the bags thrown in as Thorin, Balin and Bilbo climbed into the boat first. They pulled themselves over almost painfully slow and Anyekia realised that the forest was eerily quiet, setting her on edge.
Finally, they reached the shore and she rushed them as much as she dared to get everything out of the boat. Once everything was secure, they signalled that the boat could be pulled back.
As the boat was pulled back, Thorin turned angrily to Anyekia. "What were you thinking?"
"Oh? I'm sorry, I thought we needed a way across." She folds her arms, matching his glare. "Which we now have and I am perfectly alright, so what are you thinking?"
Bilbo and Balin look between them as they stare each other down.
"This is not a game Anyekia. You cannot simply put yourself at risk like that." Thorin countered, he tried to keep his voice even as possible, tried not to show how angry he was.
Anyekia wasn't fooled. "I know what it is Thorin, I do not know what gave you the impression otherwise. I am willing to do what is necessary, no matter the risk. The sooner we get out of this forest the better and if I need to do some extreme things to make sure that happens, then I will."
"You still need to know the limits." He says darkly.
She raises an eyebrow at this but doesn't get a chance to respond as their attention went back to the boat, Ori, Nori and Dori securely inside, they were having trouble pulling the boat along, the rope coming loose on their side.
Anyekia leaps back up the tree, grabbing the rope just as it comes free.
"Stop pulling!" Thorin calls.
Anyekia leans back into the rope, pulling it taught again, and reties it back to the branch. She remains up the tree, holding the very end of it in case it got pulled back again. It also made it harder for Thorin to continue his argument.
They made it to the shore and it was pulled back again. It was taking a long time, but they were sure that the boat wouldn't handle more than three of them. They were particularily worried for Bombur, but no one voiced that.
Fili and Kili were next with the last of the bags, leaving Dwalin, Bofur, Bombur, Bifur, Oin and Gloin still on the other side.
"Maybe it would be quicker if that end was tied to the boat too? We could pull it over." Balin suggests.
Anyekia nods as the boat is heading back over. "There should be enough of us here now."
Soon, it was shouted over to tie the other rope to the boat, and Oin, Gloin and Bifur found themselves being pulled over, this picked up the pace a little bit. Dwalin and Bofur came next, poor Bombur being last, they pushed the boat as far as they could with sticks before he had to pull it on his own.
Anyekia was staring at the path ahead of them as they waited, already it was well past midday, something she was very uncomfortable with.
"We are going to have to walk through the night." She says to herself, eyeing the darkening end of the path. A noise catches her attention and she looks to the right, there, watching all of them, was a white male deer.
She watched it, amazed that something seemingly so pure was still hanging around in the forest. Animals would know what darkness was here.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spies Kili and Thorin drawing bows back.
"Wait." She said, but it was too late, both firing.
Neither shot hit and the deer bolted, quickly disappearing into the forest.
"Idiots." She hissed. "Do you have any idea how unlucky that is?"
"Don't be absurd." Thorin growled. "We don't need luck."
She scowls at him, Bombur finally getting into the boat on the other side and the dwarves start pulling him over. "Keep saying that, I'm sure nothing will go wrong."
They were struggling to pull the boat, Bombur almost looking terrified on the water. Anyekia and Bilbo stood to the side as everyone else pulled, the rope straining against the force. He was almost three quarters of the way over when there was a loud crack and everyone froze.
"Get him over, now!" Thorin yells and they all tug again.
The boat starts to split, water filling as Bombur cries out, trying to move away from it.
"Bombur!" Bofur calls as the boat begins to sink, Bombur with it.
"But the rope!" Anyekia yells. "We'll have to throw it to him!"
There was a moment of confusion as they all tried to act as once, Bombur sinking to his knees, struggling against the water. The rope cut, it was thrown out to him and he grabbed it, almost blindly in panic. They all start to pull, but Bombur still sank further, now beyond his waist, they tugged harder and it moved to his chest but he was almost there, one hand clutching the rope. Another tug and it was over his head.
A finally pull and they managed to get him onto shore.
"Build a fire." Anyekia said, rushing over, crouching next to him. She touches his hand and finds it ice cold, but despite the cold on his skin and his eyes being closed, he simply looked peacefully asleep.
"Is he alright?" Bofur asks, sitting next to her.
"I'm not sure." Anyekia checks Bombur over, but could find nothing out of the ordinary. "I…I think he's just asleep."
"But he's ice cold!"
"I know, as I said, get a fire going." She watched Bombur's chest rise and fall. "Hopefully that's just what the magic is, it makes you cold, thus sending you to sleep."
They hurried and got a fire going, pulling Bombur over to it and getting him as close as possible, and they huddled around him, waiting anxiously.
"Well, at least he's warming up." Bofur said, clearly the most anxious.
"Hopefully, that will wake him up." Thorin said, he was pacing not far from them. "We cannot afford to wait too long."
As night settled upon them, there was little talk, as they all uncomfortably waited for Bombur to wake up.