We have finally reached the forests of Mirkwood. . .spiders next along with the elves of Mirkwood.
Review Responses:
Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967 - Thank you! Here's the next chapter!
FlowerChild23 - Thanks! I'm glad you think so!
Leona2016 - Thank you for reading and I am glad that you are liking this. You will just have to wait and see what I have planned for Faron and her dwarves in the next few chapters. Also, I've been planning to write up a prequel to A Light in the Darkness, which shows how Faron came to be with her dwarves and showing her childhood with her family. For now, we'll settle with this :D
The Forest of Mirkwood
Later that day, after getting some packs together of food, water skins and medical supplies, the dwarves and Biblo are mounting some ponies Beorn has loaned them, preparing to leave in the woods. Beorn and Gandalf are further in talking.
"You will leave my ponies before you enter the forest." Beorn says to the wizard.
"You have my word."
A bird squawks. Gandalf remarks that they are being watched.
"Yes. The Orcs will not give up. They will hunt the dwarves until they see them destroyed."
"Why now? What has made the Defiler crawl from his hole?"
"There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the sorcerer of Dol Guldur."
"Are you sure of this?"
"Packs have been seen gathering there. Each day more and more come."
"What do you know of this sorcerer. The one they call the Necromancer."
"I know he is not what he seems. Fell things are drawn to his power. Azog pays homage to him."
"Gandalf. Time is wasting." Thorin informs the wizard.
Gandalf turns to leave.
Beorn stops him. "There is more. Not long past word had spread that the dead had been seen walking near the high fells of Rhudaur."
"The dead?"
"Is it true? Are there tombs in those mountains?"
Gandalf then hears Galadriel's voice in his head; "When Angmar fell, the men of the north took his body and all that he possessed, and sealed it in the high fells of Rhudaur. Deep within the rock, they buried him in a tomb so dark, it would never come to light."
"Yes, there are tombs there."
"I remember a time when a great evil ruled these lands. One powerful enough to raise the dead. If that enemy has returned to Middle-earth, I would have you tell me."
Gandalf pauses. "Saruman the White says it's not possible. The enemy was destroyed and will never return."
"And what does Gandalf the Grey say?"
Gandalf is silent.
"Go now while you still have the light. Your hunters are not far behind."
Gandalf mounts his horse, and he, the dwarves and Bilbo ride off towards Mirkwood, Beorn watching them leave.
The company all ride rapidly across the land towards the forest of Mirkwood, which takes them a few days. The slow to a stop as they approach a looming, gloomy-looking forest. Gandalf dismounts and walks into the edge of the forest through an ancient archway.
"The Elven Gate."
Gandalf turns and calls to the others.
"Here lies our path through Mirkwood."
"No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side." Dwalin calls out.
Dwalin dismounts. Gandalf squints as he sees something in the distance; it is Beorn, in his bear-form, watching them from a distant ridge.
"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master."
The dwarves and Bilbo dismount and begin taking their supplies off the ponies. Bilbo approaches the forest on foot.
"This forest feels. . .sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asks.
"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south."
Gandalf follows a path a few feet further into the shadows and approaches a plant-covered statue.
At the same time, Bilbo, who is standing by himself, reaches into his pocket and, after some internal conflict, slowly pulls out the Ring and fingers it.
As Gandalf approaches the statue, hearing Galadriel talking to him in his mind;
"Something moves in the shadows unseen, hidden from our sight. Every day it grows in strength. Beware the Necromancer. He is not what he seems."
Gandalf approaches the statue apprehensively, then quickly yanks off the vines, revealing a painted-on Eye of Sauron. We see the Flaming Eye of Sauron burst on the screen for a second, and Bilbo, holding the Ring, gasps slightly.
"If our enemy has returned, we must know. Go to the tombs in the mountains."
Gandalf, hearing her words in his head, nods in agreement.
"The High Fells. So be it."
The unladen ponies trot away; Nori is just about to finish unsaddling Gandalf's horse when Gandalf emerges from the forest.
"Not my horse! I need it."
As Gandalf strides forward, the Company looks up and murmurs in surprise.
"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asks in confusion.
"I would not do this unless I had to."
Gandalf looks at Thorin, then turns and looks at a dejected Bilbo.
"You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire."
"I was going to tell you; I. . .found something in the Goblin tunnels."
"Found what?"
Gandalf leans forward curiously and suspiciously; Bilbo doesn't answer immediately, but fumbles with the ring in his pocket.
"What did you find?"
Bilbo stays silent for several more seconds, then finally responds.
"My courage."
He removes his hand from his pocket.
Gandalf smiles. "Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it."
Gandalf turns and begins walking toward his horse; he speaks as he passes Thorin.
"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me."
Gandalf stops and looks hard at Thorin as he says this, then continues toward his horse. "This is not the Greenwood of old. There is a stream in the woods that carries a dark enchantment. Do not touch the water. Cross only by the stone bridge. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."
Bilbo looks to Dwalin "Lead us astray? What does that mean?"
Dwalin just shrugs as Gandalf gets on his horse. It begins raining lightly, even though the sun is out.
"You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again." Gandalf wheels his horse and rides away. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!"
Thorin and Company turn toward the forest.
"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day." Thorin calls out as he leads the way in.
"Durin's Day. Let's go!"
"This is our one chance to find the hidden door."
The Company enter Mirkwood.
They are following the paved path that started at the Elven Gate. Thorin leads. At one point, the path turns a corner.
"The path goes this way."
The others follow him.
As they keep following the path through the forest, it twists and turns over all sorts of terrain such as bare ground, high ledges, fallen tree trunks, and more Dwalin thumps the handle of his hammer on the ground behind Thorin find the paving stones of the trail.
"This way." he says.
Thorin turns to see him walking in another direction. The dwarf king follows, the others right behind.
They continue walking for some time, and some of the dwarves start complaining.
"Air. I need air."
"My head, it's spinning."
After a few moments, Bofur suddenly calls out from ahead that he has found the bridge. They rush up and see the bridge is broken in the middle, there is no way to cross the stream.
"We could try and swim it." Bofur suggests.
"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?" Thorin begins. "The dark magic lies upon this forest. Waters of this stream are enchanted."
"Doesn't look very enchanting to me." Bofur mutters.
Thorin and his nephews walk on ahead, trying to find another way.
"These vines look strong enough." Kili says as he's about to step onto some vines overhanging the stream.
"Kili!" Thorin calls out, causing him to stop and turn to him. "We send the lightest first."
Everyone immediately turns to look to Bilbo, who is looking into the stream before he turns back to see everyone staring at him expectantly. He hesitates for a moment before he walks over and begins climbing over the vines. As he steps across, the vines shaking from under his feet.
"Alright, can't see a problem." He grunts out before he slips and ends up hanging onto the vine upside down. "There's one. Everything's fine." Bilbo says as he swings himself back up before continuing on and falls again, ending up being stretched out, his toes barely on one vine as he stretches out to hold the other in front.
After a few moments of staring into the water, he manages to swing himself up and rights himself back onto the vine. He continues on with shaky feet until he is finally able to jump and land on solid ground once more.
As his feet hits the ground, he falls over landing on his stomach. He stays like that for a moment in thought before closing his eyes.
"Something's not right. . .No, something's not right at all." He sits up and turns to the others pointing, "Stay where you are! Oh."
He looks over and sees all of the dwarves have decided to climb onto the vines without waiting for clearance from us. They all swing and jump around, grumbling away.
He just slaps himself in the face as he watches them. After a few moments, Thorin lands next to him with a thud. Suddenly hearing hooves, they look across the water to see a pure white stag appears from the trees and looks to them.
Hearing the pull of a string, Bilbo looks next to him to see Thorin has an arrow notched onto his bow, raising it to the stag.
"What are you doing?" Bilbo mutters slowly.
Thorin says nothing as he stares at the stag, which stares right bacl. After a few moments of he and the stag staring each other down, Thorin suddenly raises his bow and fires, missing the stag and it runs off again.
"You shouldn't have done that. It's bad luck." Bilbo says as we continue to watch the place the stag ran off too.
"I don't believe in luck. We make our own luck." Thorin replies.
There's a sudden splash from behind. The two spin around to see Bombur, who fell asleep on the branches a few moments ago has fallen into the water, still asleep.
The Company spend the next few days wandering through the forest, by which point Bombur has thankfully woken up.
The forest is now beginning to affect them all mentally, and they stagger about after losing the path sometime ago.
"I don't remember this place before. None of it's familiar." Balin says.
"It's got to be here." Dori mutters.
"What hour is it?" Thorin asks.
Dwalin grumbles in reply. "I do not know. I don't even know what day it is.
"Is there no end to this accursed place?"
The dwarves are all muttering and rambling as they wander about. Bilbo absentmindedly plucks a spiderweb; it vibrates, and the vibrations continue through the various linked spiderwebs and far off into the forest. Bilbo plucks the web again. He hears a strange whispering noise.
They continue walking; Bilbo looks down and sees himself walking backward, although it's actually just an illusion. He looks back at Dori, behind him, and sees himself. His entire vision begins shifting and tilting. Ori leans down and picks up a tobacco pouch. Dori then takes it from him.
"Look."
Dori takes the pouch. "A tobacco pouch. There's dwarves in these woods."
Bofur takes the pouch from Dori. "Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine."
Bilbo rolls his eyes. "Because it is yours. You understand? We're going round in circles. We are lost."
"We're not lost. We keep heading east." Thorin says.
"But which way is east?" Oin asks. "We've lost the sun."
As the dwarves begin bickering indistinctly, Bilbo looks up and sees a bit of sun through the tree canopy far above him. He speaks quietly, and no one else can hear him over the bickering.
"The sun. We have to find the sun. Up there. We need to-"
He doesn't say anything else but begins to climb one of the trees.
The dwarves have started fighting and pushing each other around. Thorin stands apart, listening. He hears the strange whispering sound that Bilbo heard earlier and mutters to himself.
"What? What's that?"
The whispering continues; Thorin turns and yells at the dwarves.
"Enough! Quiet! All of you!" They all stop and turns to him. "We're being watched."
There we have it. Please R&R, love to hear from you!