Chapter 9 Mirkwood and the High Fells

PLEASE READ BELOW! VERY IMPORTANT! DON'T SKIP BOLDED AUTHOR'S NOTE!

A/n: Remember first chapter when I said it's supposed to be like a blog post, where Aurora might cut in and out of the story. Here you go for that example. If it's large chunks of story that is italicized, she's cutting into the story. Basically, any point that is italicized is her cutting into the story. Like pulling a Kuzco from the Emperor's New Groove.

END OF IMPORTANT INFORMATION. YOU MAY READ THE NEW CHAPTER NOW.

So, we saddled up on Beorn's horses.

I finished placing the saddle on my horse before turning back to face Beorn. He was watching us closely as we made ready for our journey into Mirkwood. "Did you know of my father?" I asked him as I stepped over to the skin changer. His facial expression was hard to read as I studied him, waiting for an answer. "I know of your ancestor, Isildur. I know what he did during the War." Beorn answered. I nodded at his response, before turning and heading back to my horse. We led the horses, followed by Beorn, to the forest behind Beorn's homestead.

Gandalf and Beorn discussed away from the group while everyone continued to make themselves ready for the journey. "Aurora." I heard my name being called and I glanced up.

Thorin motioned for me to come over to him. I inwardly groaned as I stepped over to him. "Yes, your majesty?" I sarcastically asked as I crossed my arms. "I need your explanation on why you lied to us about your true name." He bluntly said. I shrugged my shoulders at his comment, "no, not really. I'm good." I spun on my heel to turn around, when I felt Thorin grab onto my arm and turn me back to face him.

"You come from one of the greatest families in Middle Earth, yet you choose to own nothing. Why?" He questioned. I shook my head, "clearly you don't know the stories. My family isn't great. My family is tied to the fate of Middle Earth whether I like it or not." Thorin said nothing as I went back to my horse and saddled up. Something about the forest didn't feel right. It felt like we were being watched.

"Gandalf!" Thorin called to the wizard "time is wasting." Gandalf began to walk towards us but stopped. Beorn told him something that made Gandalf go pale.

Birds began to squawk, alerting us that we were not longer alone in the woods. Howls were heard off in the distance. The hunters had returned. Gandalf ran over to his horse as everyone got onto their horses.

We rode off quickly. Luckily for us, no hunters found us by the time we reached Mirkwood. My horse whinnied as we neared the dark forest. I patted my horse, letting it know it would okay. The horse still didn't like the forest. I did not blame it.

"Here lies our path through Mirkwood!" Gandalf called out to us. "No sign of Orcs. We have luck on our side," Dwalin said as we began to dismount.

Gandalf walked towards the Elven Gate, while the rest of us began to take our belongings off the horses, per Beorn's instructions. When we had reached Mirkwood, we were to let the horses go. Except something felt off to me. Like an itch I couldn't scratch. "The forest feels… sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked as he stared at the forest. "Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south." Gandalf said as he followed the path a few feet further into the forest. Meanwhile, the dwarves were still gathering up their supplies and setting the horses loose.

The horses began to trot off. Nori had been left to set them loose by himself and he only had two horses left to go. Gandalf's and mine. "Not those horses! We need them!" Gandalf yelled out as he emerged from the forest. Everyone jerked around as we watched Gandalf stride over to his horse. "You're not leaving us?" Bilbo questioned.

"I would not do this unless I had to. Aurora you will come with me." Gandalf said as he scanned over us. Bilbo glanced back at me, looking dejected. Gandalf turned to Bilbo and began to converse with him as I began to grab my things again.

"Do you know where you're going?" Kili asked as I slung my sword over my shoulder. "No idea. But it must be important, if we have to leave now." I told him, while patting him on the back. "I'll be back before you get to Erebor. You're not storming the castle without me." I said as I passed Thorin. He grabbed onto my arm. "Then I expect you to tell me everything." I felt my heart sink at that idea of telling him everything about my life. I was never good at talking about myself. The very idea made me uneasy. "Sure." I strained out as I felt my heart sink lower into my stomach. It began to rain lightly on us.

"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 told the group, zeroing in on Thorin. "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. You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again. No matter what may come, stay on the path!"

We got on our horses and rode away.

NOPE I DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THEM.

THEY WILL DIE WITHOUT US TO PROTECT THEM. THE DWARVES ARE IDIOTS WITHOUT US, GANDALF!

We rode for days. Finally making it to the High Fells of Rhudaur after about a week and a half on the road. I still had no idea as to why we were here. Gandalf hadn't told me anything about our reason for being here.

But whatever reason we were here for, scared Gandalf. I had never seen him like this. Something Beorn told him before we embarked for Mirkwood scared him into making him leave the Company and take me with him. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad I did not go through Mirkwood. I had tried to make that journey before, trying to get to the Woodland Realm of the Mirkwood Elves. Let's just say I don't remember a good majority of that trip. From what I do remember it's fuzzy and it was like I was on acid. Not fun. And I most certainly did not want to relive that experience again.

*Update: Bilbo and the dwarves got off the Elven Path and did go insane trying to get out of Mirkwood. CALLED IT! *

I stared up at the mountainside as we hiked up along the path that was on the mountain. "So, are you going to explain why we are here?" I called up to Gandalf who walked ahead of me. He said nothing as he walked along the path. I peered over the side of the path, regretting now that we had let Beorn's horses go before we had made it to the end of the path.

After many perilous steps up a "stairwell" on the cliffside, we made it to the mouth of a cave. The cave had an iron gate that had been torn open. "What are we doing here?" I questioned as we stepped inside. Gandalf turned on a flashlight and handed me one. "Do you know the story of the War. Sauron's forces? The Rings of Power?" Gandalf mused as we wandered down the dark hallway. "Three for the Elf-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in darkness bind them…" I quoted the rhyme Elrond had taught me when I was little when he taught my brother and me about the War. My heart sunk as I came to realization of why we were here. This was tomb. The Witch-King of Angmar's tomb.

As we walked down the hallway, I slipped on the rock floor, bumping into Gandalf. We slid down until Gandalf stopped us from falling into a dark pit. Gandalf shined his flashlight out into the vast darkness. The light couldn't reach the bottom. On the far wall of the cavern stood a similar door to the one we entered in. The metal gate was also broken and bent away. We used the narrow path alongside the walls of the cavern and silently made it over to the door.

Gandalf entered first. I followed behind him, noticing a black tomb laid before us. Except the cover of the tomb was broken. Gandalf stepped up to the tomb to look inside.

Suddenly a bird flew out of tomb, making both of us jump. Startled, we both turned to watch the bird fly away when we saw a silhouette behind us. I yelped out in fear as I shone my flashlight on the silhouette.

Radagast the Brown stared at us. "Oh, it's you." Gandalf gasped as I placed my hand on my chest, feeling my heart beat a mile a millisecond.

"Why am I here, Gandalf?" his brother asked. The bird had landed on his hat. Radagast removed his hat and let the bird fly onto the makeshift nest of Radagast's head, before placing his hat back on. "Trust me, Radagast. I would not have called you here without good reason."

"This is not a nice place to meet." Radagast commented as I nodded my head.

NO IT IS NOT!

We exited the tomb with Radagast leading us out. "These are dark spells, Gandalf. Old, and full of hate. Who was buried here?" Radagast asked as he shined his flashlight over the ancient writing above the door of the tomb. "If he had a name, it's long since been lost. He would have only been known as a servant of evil. One of a number…" Gandalf told us before I interrupted him.

"…One of nine…" I answered, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Gandalf shined his flashlight down the pit, illuminating eight other crypts like the one we were at, each of their metal bars broken and bent away.

We made the long dangerous decent down the mountain. Going down was ten times worse than going up.

I kept thinking about what we saw.

This couldn't be real. The Ringwraiths of Sauron couldn't be back. They were destroyed.

SAURON WAS DESTROYED!

The Ring of Power was lost for centuries, thanks to my family. But the evidence was proving otherwise.

Middle Earth was entering a dark age. Sadly, I think Erebor plays a part in it too.

"Why now, Gandalf? I don't understand." Radagast asked as we headed towards his van. "The Ringwraiths have been summoned to Dol Guldur." Gandalf answered as we passed a boulder. Radagast jumped down off the boulder onto the ground. "But it cannot be the Necromancer. A human sorcerer could not summon such evil." He said glancing back at us as he led the way.

Gandalf stopped walking. "Who said it was human?" We turned abruptly around. "The Nine only answer to one master. We've been blind, Radagast, and in our blindness, the Enemy has returned. He is summoning his servants. Azog the Defiler is no ordinary hunter. He is a commander, a commander of legions. The enemy is preparing for war. It will begin in the east. His mind is set upon that mountain." Gandalf explained.

My heart fell to my feet.

Erebor.

The Company was unknowingly headed to disaster.

Gandalf began to walk away. "Where are you going?" Radagast asked as I began to follow Gandalf. "To rejoin the others." Gandalf answered, turning to face his brother. "I started this; I cannot forsake them. They are in grave danger."

"If what you say is true, the world is in grave danger. The power in that fortress will only grow stronger." Radagast argued. I studied the two brothers' expressions. Gandalf looked away. "You want me to cast my friends aside?"

An idea popped into my head. "You won't have too. I'll go back." I piped up. The two brothers turned to me. "Go to Dol Guldur. Stop this evil from spreading. I'll make sure they don't go into the mountain until you come back." I explained, placing my hands on my hips. "You will never make it back in time." Gandalf said.

He didn't say no to the idea of us splitting up. We need to split up. It's the only way we can do this.

"There is one way I could make it in time…" I mused as I waited for them to conclude the idea I had.

Radagast began to chuckle to himself. "She is right. There is one way." He pointed to his van.

"Never gonna get in that van," I shook my head before turning to Gandalf "the Eagles of Manwë. I know they only appear when in great need. But this is kind of end of world need."

Gandalf said nothing as he walked ahead of us. I chased after him only to realize he was whispering something to a moth. The moth flew off. "I hope you are happy. I normally would not do this. But you are right, Aurora Elessar. We are in great need.

"I knew you didn't work for HR. You gotta be a spy." I teased as I crossed my arms.

A/n: Woah! Lots to process!

I didn't want Aurora to go along with the dwarves and Bilbo because let's be honest, Thranduil would have probably been more civil to them if Aurora was there. She could have solved the problem by just speaking Elvish to Thranduil and Legolas. I do plan on them meeting… just not now. I am excited for Thranduil and Aurora to meet.

So now she is hurrying back to stop Thorin from entering Erebor. But we all know how Thorin is.

Is Gandalf really a spy? Is there a reason he's calling Aurora by her real name?

And during this time, Bilbo and company are still in Mirkwood. In the book, it takes them about two weeks just to get out of Mirkwood so she will meet up with them before they make it to Laketown. How will the group react if she tells them the truth about Sauron or will she keep it to herself?

Tell me in the comments what you think is gonna happen.

Wash you hands and stay home to protect yourselves!

Until next time!