~Seven~

~Mirkwood Forest~

Arriving at the entrance to Mirkwood, the group stopped and stared at the forest stretching out before them.

"Well," muttered Fili. "That certainly looks inviting..."

The trees, thick themselves, had equally thick shadows woven between them, the trees themselves stretching high up into the sky, standing guard, imposing, as though staring down at them in disapproval.

"There's no sign of any Orcs - we have luck on our side," commented Dwalin, jumping down from off the back of his pony.

"Set the ponies loose, let them return to their master," Gandalf instructed.

"This forest feels sick," noted Bilbo. "As though a disease lies upon it."

"Aye," agreed Dahlia, watching the slow creak of the trees. "And we haven't even set foot inside it yet."

"Is there no way around?" asked Bilbo desperately.

"Not unless we go two-hundred miles North, or twice that distance South - not my horse, I need it!" Gandalf stopped Nori from letting his horse loose.

"You're not leaving us," cried Bilbo.

"I would not do this unless I had to, and something has come up," the wise wizard insisted. "I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe - and do not enter that mountain without me." This last part was directed at Thorin. Then Gandalf nodded to the trees stretching out before them. "This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of this forest is thick and heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your minds and lead you astray. You must stay on the path - do not leave it, not for any reason you understand? If you do, you'll never find it again."

"Don't leave the path, got it," Dahlia nodded. He was sure putting a lot of emphasis on that.

He mounted his horse and started to ride away, calling over his shoulder one last reminder: "No matter what happens, do not leave the path!"

"Come on," urged Thorin. "We must reach the Mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day-" As if anyone could have forgotten. "-This is our one chance to find that hidden door." Without further ado, he led the way into the forest.

"Follow the path," Kili kept repeating Gandalf's instruction to them. "Follow the path. Shouldn't be too hard. Maybe it'll lead us right to Erebor."

"Aye. It's the only mountain on the horizon - even your uncle with his terrible sense of direction should be able to find that," Dahlia joked, making the brothers snicker.

"I heard that!"

Dahlia now snorted with laughter herself.

However, the path was difficult to see, covered in leaves. One had to keep an eye on it at all times in order to keep following it.

"This is creepy, muttered Kili.

"You can say that again."

"Hey, Auntie Dahlia, how about a song?"

"A song?"

"Yeah, to lighten the mood."

"Very well. But you have to sing with me."

"All right."

"What shall we sing?"

"The Mountain Song."

"Right."

The three began to hum in unison before they started singing:

"Oh, misty eye of the mountain below

Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls

And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke

Keep watching over Durin's son...

If this is to end in fire

Then we must all remain together

Watch the flames climb high into the night

Calling out father oh, stand by and we will

Watch the flames burn on and on the mountain side hey.

Now I see fire, inside the mountain

I see fire, burning the trees

And I see fire, hollowing souls

And I see fire, blood in the breeze

And I hope that you'll remember me-"

"Shh, quiet!" came Thorin's shout from the front of the line.

"Oh, come on, we're not that bad."

"No-" He held up a hand and the line stopped walking. "I thought I heard something..."

"That would be Kili singing off tune."

"Hey!"

Thorin shook his head and waved the group on. "Onward! We need to keep moving!"

"What was that?" Bilbo asked Dahlia and the brothers as they kept walking.

"A song that became popular amongst our people after the fall of Erebor," she explained. "It's about the fall of the mountain, passing that history onto the next generations, but it's also about our people banding together and sticking together through the tough times that followed."

"I see."

"Auntie Dahlia was always singing to us," Kili told him. "When we were children. Folk songs, lullabys, you name it."

"It got you two to shut up for once!"

"Oi!"

The path continued, although began chipping away, pieces of the stone broken and missing making strange twists and turns that made it difficult to follow. That, and the air seemed to be getting thicker around them.

"Air, I need air!" cried Bofur.

"Ugh, my head, it's swimming," groaned Gloin. "What's happening?"

"I don't know..."

"Keep moving." Thorin ordered as the line drew to a halt. "Nori, why have we stopped?"

"The path, it's disappeared." Nori pointed to the ground ahead, where the path just seemed to end abruptly.

Thorin's voice was panicked. "Find it, all of you, look!"

The whole group began scrambling around in search of the path's continuation.

"I don't remember this bit..."

"None of it's familiar..."

"Where are we?"

"What hour is it?"

"I don't know, I don't even no what day it is..."

"Is there no end to this accursed forest?!" Thorin roared.

"The path - I found it! It's this way!" called Ori.

Everyone rushed over and continued down the path.

Dahlia's feet were dragging, feeling heavier with each next step. It didn't help that she was supporting the weight of Kili on one side and Fili on the other.

"I'm tired, Auntie Dahlia," Kili whined. "So, so tired..."

Fili just groaned, his eyelids half-shut.

"Keep going, Fili. We're almost there - I think..."

"I'm Kili, he's Fili."

"No I'm Kili," mumbled Fili. "Kili..."

"I'm pretty sure I'm Kili..."

She suppressed a yawn of her own. Was it getting darker? It seemed to be...

"Look," said Ori, stopping and picking something up off the ground.

"A tobacco pouch," said Dori, taking it from his brother. "There are Dwarves in these woods..."

"Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less," said Bofur, taking the pouch from Dori. "This one looks exactly like mine..."

"Because it is yours," sighed Bilbo. "Don't you understand? We're going round in circles. We are lost."

"We are not lost," slurred Thorin. "We have to keep heading East."

"But which way is East?"

"Don't know, we've lost the sun," said Dahlia, as though noticing the deep, darkness and shadow they were in for the first time. The sun couldn't even peek through the trees they were so thick and tall.

This frustration and confusion set off an argument amongst the group, complete with a lot of pushing, shoving, and yelling.

"Enough, quiet, all of you!" roared Thorin, halting their squabble. "We're being watched."

I changed one of the lyrics from the song slightly, just because the 'If this is to end in fire, then we should all burn together' was a bit dark and doesn't really make a lot of sense without Thorin's line about that later when his Dragon Sickness starts to settle in.

We'll see the elves in the next chapter - yay for Legolas and Tauriel! ;)

Until then, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed as always! :)