A/N: I got sick of writing my bachelor thesis, so I decided that now's a good time to take some time off and finish another chapter for you guys. Hopefully you haven't got fed up with these long waits between the chapters, the cruel truth is that I need to prioritise that blasted thesis, and the time I'm writing it is away from the time I have for writing things I actually enjoy writing of.

Reply to the guest review:

LabyrinthLover: Thanks! I'm so glad that there are people out there who like my little scribbles! :) And I know; I have arachnophobia too, so… yeah. I guess you can imagine how lovely it was to see that scene in the theatre. On huge screen. In 3D. As to that ordeal with those blasted spiders, all I'm going to say is that it's going to be interesting for me to write and for Sara to experience. I haven't written the story so far yet, but I think that encounter will fit into chapter 28, so you'll only need to wait until the next chapter to find out :)


Sara's POV

Mirkwood was nothing like any other forest I had ever entered. There seemed to be something… sinister in everything that surrounded us. Gandalf's words about the forest trying to lead us astray and of the consequences of leaving the path were constant in my thoughts.

So it was only natural that I began to feel anxious as we wandered deeper into the forest.

That anxiety, however, made it more difficult to reach the calmness I needed in order to embrace saidar, affecting my ability to channel. Having difficulties in something that had for so long been as natural to me as breathing only fed my anxiety further, which in turn made channelling that much more difficult.

There were nights – or what I assumed were nights; the vegetation of the forest was so thick that there was no sign of the sun to be seen through it – that I hardly slept, and many of those nights that I actually got some sleep were riddled by nightmares.

Despite all of this I kept up pretence of calm, simply because everyone else looked just as anxious as I felt.

Of course, there was one that I couldn't fool.

"Hey, how're you holding up?" Thorin asked quietly as he handed me my portion of today's dinner.

"Well enough", I replied quietly, and managed to offer him a small smile, too. "I'm not going to miss this place, though."

"Neither will I", Thorin agreed. "Unfortunately we still have a long distance to cover before we can leave this blasted forest behind."

"Unfortunate, indeed", I muttered quietly. After a moment of silence, I spoke up again. "Is this what it's going to be like, to live inside a mountain?"

"No", Thorin said immediately. "You remember what Gandalf said about this forest? There's something foul about this forest that has us all on edge. You're going to find Erebor to be much different."

"I do remember Gandalf's words, and I'm not meaning this anxiety. I feel… lost. With no sun I have no idea what time of the day it is. I'm lost in time."

"Don't worry, you'll learn." Thorin said and gave me a fond smile. "It may take some time because you've not lived your whole life underground, but you'll learn."

"And if I won't, then you can always assign me a servant that will follow me around everywhere I go, always ready to inform me of what time of the day it is." I grinned.

"Trust me, you won't need one." Thorin chuckled.

"Maybe not", I agreed. "But it'd be funny."


"We found the bridge!" Kíli called out from ahead the group.

"Finally", I whispered, "a sign of progress."

For several days now I had been wondering whether or not we actually made any progress at all, when one patch of forest was identical to another. That bridge was a very welcome sight.

…up to the moment that I actually saw it.

"Oh for… you've got to be kidding me!"

"We could try and swim it", Bofur offered, coming to stand next to me and look at the collapsed stone bridge.

"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?" Thorin asked dryly. "A dark magic lies upon this forest, and the waters of this stream are enchanted. We must find another way across."

"Doesn't look very enchanting to me…" Bofur muttered, getting a small snort out of me.

I stood there, head tilted to the left, staring at the bridge. There was something… fishy about it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Eventually I decided to sit down on its edge, but once I lowered myself down my feet connected with what seemed to be a solid bunch of nothing.

"What the…?"

Standing up again, I probed the air with my right foot. It felt really solid; I couldn't tell a difference between the stone bridge and air.

Eventually I mustered enough courage to step above the small abyss below me and when I didn't fall into the water I took another step, then another… and before I even knew it I was standing above the seeming emptiness, halfway from one collapsed edge to the other.

"A dark magic lies upon this forest…" I muttered. "It'll seek to enter your mind and lead you astray… Of course!"

Suddenly it all made sense; this forest was trying to make us leave the path, and what would be better way to do so than to make us cross an enchanted river by some other means than simply walking across a bridge?

I turned around to inform my friends that the bridge was there after all, and –

"Stay where you are!"

I turned to look at the direction of the voice to see that Bilbo, whose voice it had been, had already crossed the river and the dwarves were halfway across by using vines that stretched from one shore to the other.

"This is so not going to end well", I groaned; Thorin was the first one to reach the shore and of all the others only Nori, Fíli and Kíli were doing somewhat well. "Oy! Over here!"

Ori was the first one to turn and almost fell upon sawing me stand apparently on thin air.

"Sara, how did you do that?!"

"I did nothing. The bridge is actually still here, we just can't see it!" I explained. "I think it'd be best if you came back the way you came and –"

Splash!

"Oh no…" I groaned; Bombur had just fallen into the water and was now snoring loudly.

"Leave it! Let me take care of him!" I yelled to others as they moved to try and get Bombur out of the water. "I'd recommend at least those who were behind him to return to this side and cross the river through bridge."

As I lifted Bombur out of the water with the help of saidar everyone else except for Fíli, Kíli and Nori, who had already been almost across, turned back and gathered close to the bridge.

"You're sure the bridge is still there?" Dori asked once I walked up to them, levitating Bombur behind me.

"Absolutely certain", I replied. "I can go first if you need a confirmation."

"Well, fer me yer word's enough", Bofur said, and with that he walked briskly across the invisible bridge. Once the first one was across, others were quick to follow.

"So… anyone have any idea how to wake Bombur?" I asked as we moved on.


"Did you hear that?" I asked the dwarves – Bofur and Glóin – who were walking right in front of me.

"Hear what?" Bofur asked back.

"Those voices", I replied, looking around uneasily. "Like quiet whispering."

"I hear nothing." Glóin huffed.

"You can't hear them?"

"Nay. Should we?"

Alright, calm down. I told myself. You're holding saidar; the fact that others can't hear those noises doesn't mean you're going crazy.

"I… perhaps not."

As soon as I had said that, a black shadow flashed at the very edge of my field of vision.

"Did you see that?!"

"See what?"

"A shadow, right there", I replied, pointing a direction. Then there was another flash in a different direction. "There it was again!"

The shadows increased quickly in number. They were coming from all around… they were coming for me.

"Please… please tell me… you see them too." I panted, spinning my head frantically.

"I see no shadows." Glóin huffed again, but Bofur seemed to have realised what was going on.

"Sara, calm down", he said, wrapping his arms around me. "There's nothin' there, the forest's just messin' with yer head. 'Tis not real."

His attempts at calming me down were too late, though, and my concentration shattered like falling glass, my hold on saidar lost. And that loss resulted in Bombur falling on the ground.

"I'm sorry, I didn't… I just… I couldn't…" I stammered, leaning my head against my brother's chest.

"Don't worry 'bout it", Bofur said quietly. Then, as someone groaned behind my back, he added; "I think yeh just found a way to wake Bombur."


"This is taking too long! Is there no end to this accursed forest?!" Thorin yelled, frustration dripping from his voice.

"None that I can see", Glóin muttered. "Only trees and more trees."

That was when the talk about leaving the path began.

"No one's going to leave this path." I said sternly, but none of them seemed to listen to me. I tried a few more times, but all my words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Finally I just snapped.

"Everyone who tries to leave this bloody path will be provided a slow and excruciating death by yours truly!" I yelled so loud that those closest to me gave a start.

"Does that include me, too?" Thorin asked suddenly.

"It would, if I didn't know that you're not going to set one toe off this path." I replied dryly.

"But Sara, it's the most logical choice."

"No."

"I could have a look around safely –"

"I said no, Thorin." I growled.

"…as long as you stay on the path, I could find –"

"I SAID NO!" I yelled. "If you're not going to do so out of your free will, then I'll make you do so! You see, there's one thing I haven't told about the Warder bond; with little effort I could make you do whatever I want! So, whether you want it or not, you're staying right here!"

A heavy silence followed, a silence during which I realised what I had actually blurted in the fit of my temper. Without another look at any of my friends, I turned around and hurried down the path the way we had come, wanting nothing more than to be alone right now.

"Oh Light, what have I done…?" I muttered as I finally stopped, sitting down and leaning against a tree right next to the path. I had had no intention of telling Thorin that piece of information, let alone yell it out loud so that everyone could hear it.

I had messed everything up. I was sure I had messed everything up. And Thorin was already coming towards the place I had taken refuge in, most likely to demand that I undo the Warder bond and telling he wanted nothing more to do with me. Not after this revelation.

Soon enough Thorin reached my spot and I readied myself for what I was sure as the inevitable, but he said nothing, just sat down next to me.

I was puzzled; by all reasons he should be angry with me – and his anger was loud – but he wasn't. A tentative peek at his emotions through the bond revealed that he was mostly disappointed.

After a moment of pondering, I came to a conclusion that I might prefer his anger. This silent disappointment just made me feel overly guilty.

"Is it true", he asked quietly after a while, "that you can make me do things against my will?"

"There is a weave", I whispered, "that, when channelled through the bond, enables the Aes Sedai to make her Warder do whatever she wants."

"Why didn't you tell me about it? When you explained the bond to me?"

"I didn't tell about it because I had no intention of using it on you. I still don't, so there was no need for you to know. Thorin, I swear to you, under the Light and by my hope of rebirth and salvation, that I will never use saidar to make you do anything against your free will. I'd rather die than violate your trust in such way."

"That sounds rather formal."

"It's the strongest oath I know. Only a Darkfriend would even consider breaking it."

"Sara", Thorin sighed, "while I appreciate the gesture, there's no need for such oaths."

"How can you take this so lightly?" I asked him incredulously. "I could –"

"Turn me into a puppet king?" Thorin offered. "Make me kill myself and leave the throne to you?"

"And you're not angry that I've kept something like that from you?"

"I was, at first, but that anger died quickly."

"Why?"

"For starters, I think we can agree that you're far too good-hearted to do anything even remotely evil." He replied. "Besides, I already trust you with my life. It's not so huge a stretch to trust you with my mind, too."

I could only shake my head.

"What have I done to deserve someone like you?"

"You've put up with me, for one." He replied amusedly and stood up. "Come, we need to get going if we want to get out of these woods someday."

I smiled and nodded, taking his hand as we headed back to join the others.