- Chapter 22 -

They walked in silence, always careful to stay on the path and not stray from it. The path itself wasn't a straight path by any means. It twisted this way and that, as if it had been made this way on purpose so as not to uproot any trees. It was slow going as they picked their way over ruts and as night fell they made camp on the path itself, not daring to step a single foot off of it.

The canopy of trees above them was so thick that when morning came and they set off again, it was still dark. Every once in a while there would be a break in the tree tops and sunlight would peak its way through but those moments were rare. She followed behind the company, bringing up the rear. This was not a spot she enjoyed being in because it left her backside vulnerable, but someone had to do it.

Doom and gloom would have been the best way to describe the forest. The tall spindly trees stretched upwards at weird angles, reminding her of something out of a Sleepy Hollow movie. Any moment now she expected the headless horseman to jump out at them.

The eerie feeling that filled the air crept into each of them and constantly they felt like they were being watched. Shyloh didn't like these trees at all, and couldn't understand why anyone would want to live in a place like this. She wished now more than ever she was back in the green forests of Rivendell, with its rolling hills and cascading waterfalls.

They made camp on the trail much like they had the night before and she tucked her knees to her chest, hugging her arms around them as the sounds of the night surrounded them. They lit a small fire, and kept it going by tossing twigs and fallen branches onto it that they collected from the path. The trees croaked and groaned around them but she hoped that they were just making noises because of the wind.

"Hey Snowball," said Bofur suddenly. "I've been wondering. How did you learn to shoot so good, if you have only been in Middle Earth for a few years? You must have practiced day and night to make the shots we've seen you take."

She shrugged. "Technically I didn't start training until two years ago."

The camp went silent and they stared at her as if she had just quoted Shakespeare in Latin.

"Two years?" asked Kili wide eyed. "You've only been shooting for two years?"

"How long have you been shooting?" she asked hesitantly.

"Around fifty years," said Kili and Shyloh blinked in surprise.

"How old are you?" she asked and then he suddenly grinned.

"Seventy seven, how old are you?"

"Honestly? That's a good question."

"You don't know?" asked Fili incredulously.

"Well, technically in mortal years I'm twenty seven. But I was born sometime after the beginning of the second age," she said. "So, somewhere around four or five thousand years? I haven't really taken the time to narrow it down yet."

"That's not confusing at all," Kili muttered under his breath as he turned back to his plate.

"You're really that old?" she asked, turning back to Kili with a scrunched look on her face. "I had you pegged for like, maybe thirty or thirty five."

Fili laughed. "He sometimes still acts like it."

Kili jabbed his brother in the ribs with his elbow and Fili snickered.

"So then how old are you?" she asked Fili. "Cause I had you down for like, thirty eight."

Kili snorted with laughter and some of the other dwarves chuckled.

The road was long as they continued their way through Mirkwood, but by the third day the dwarves and Bilbo were starting to feel the effects of the forest. Slowly, she noticed their behavior changing and she began to grow worried. That was when it all started falling apart.

Once they packed up camp - and they did so very sloppily much to Shyloh's annoyance - they trudged off down the beaten path. When they started dropping things and leaving them behind was when she really noticed a change in them. She felt fine herself, but after they stopped for a break did Dori announce he left his pack somewhere along the trail behind them.

"I have to go find it," he said, standing up. Shyloh grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pulled him back.

"Leave it," she said firmly.

"Why? Do you think it'll be okay on its own?" he asked and she seriously considered slapping him. His face was drowsy looking as if he could pass out and take a nap at any second.

"The pack will be fine," she snapped, and pulled him back towards the company.

"I'll go get it for you," offered Bofur and then he was on his feet, the same dorky expression on his face.

"No you won't!" she said and she yanked him back by the sleeve of his shirt.

"Its okay, I'll go get it," Dori said and she had to spin around to grab him again.

"Leave the pack, it'll be fine!" she cried desperately. "Here, sit back down and just take a break. Have some water!"

"Someone has to get the pack," Dori insisted. "I need my pack, its just around the bend."

"I'll help you find it," Bofur said, and the two of them struggled to release themselves from her grip.

"No you wont! Sit back down! I'll get the pack, alright? I'll go find it," she said, shoving them to the ground mercilessly. "Just around the last corner right? You're sure?"

"Just around the bend," Dori said in a sing song voice.

"Fine! You all stay right here, nobody move okay? We'll play a game alright? How's that sound?" she said frantically.

"I like games!" said Bofur, raising his hand.

"Excellent! The object of the game is to see how long you can stay sitting. Who ever is still seated when I come back, wins!"

"I bet I can sit longer than you," laughed Kili and she rolled her eyes.

"Great! The game starts...now!" she said. "Nobody move or you lose!"

If there hadn't been so much at stake the entire situation probably would have been very funny, but her anxiety was already through the roof and all she wanted to do was get through the forest in one piece. If finding Dori's damn pack would get them back on their way, she would do it.

Backing away slowly, she spun on her heel and raced back down the path, her eyes peeled for any sign of the stupid pack. She couldn't be gone long, just in case the dwarves decided to leave her behind.

Or wander off the trail.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she said to herself as she raced back towards the last bend. "This is not a good idea Shy! Turn back now while you still have a chance. Safety lies in numbers, even if they do sound like a bunch of drunks."

Rounding the corner, she slowed to a walk and her eyes scanned the ground quickly and carefully. It was possible it could have been placed further down but she didn't know if she should really chance it. She jogged quickly to the next curve but still there was no sign of a pack.

"Turn back now, turn back now," she told herself. Taking her own advice, she spun around and dashed back to the campsite. Rounding the last bend, she stopped dead in her tracks and her worst fears were confirmed.

The dwarves were gone.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Scrambling forwards, she searched the area for any sign of them. The only thing she saw on the ground was a tobacco pouch one of the dwarves left behind.

"Dori? Bofur? Fili! Kili!" she shouted but there was no answer. Thinking they went ahead on the trail, she dashed forwards and raced up the path. They couldn't have gone far, she was only gone for a couple of minutes.

"Thorin! Bombur! Bifur!" Still no answer.

Pacing up and down the trail, the only explanations she could come up with were that they either went off the trail, vanished into thin air, or were eaten by the trees.

Wait, was she hallucinating? Was the air affecting her too? Maybe she hadn't gone far enough down the trail. Quickly she sprinted up the path a little farther. Dwarves could move quickly if they wanted too, despite their short legs. The trail cut off suddenly and took a sharp turn to avoid a rocky ledge, so she slowed her steps and hurried along but there was absolutely no sign of the dwarves or Bilbo at all. Panic settled in and she started shaking. This was not good, not good at all.

Looking up and down the trail, she had no idea what she was supposed to do now. The dwarves were lost and she was all alone in the middle of Mirkwood forest.

"Okay, calm down," she told herself. "It'll be alright, just calm down, don't panic. They just all had to go to the bathroom...at the same time."

Sinking to the ground, she weighed her options. She could go back to find their tracks and follow them and risk loosing the trail just like Gandalf warned, or she could go on to the Woodland Realm alone. The elven road itself didn't lead straight to the Woodland Realm, instead it created a passage from one side of the wood to the other. The Realm sat slightly north of the road, and surely there would be a path that led there, but would King Thranduil offer to help look for her friends? Would he just laugh at her and send her away for making such a ridiculous request? They were dwarves, after all. Either way, she had to find them.

Standing up, she walked slowly. She decided to keep going forwards, praying and hoping the dwarves would magically reappear before her and all would be well again. She had training; she knew how to defend and take care of herself. She was a skilled healer so that comforted her a little. But, what if she reached the other side and they weren't there? What if she lost the dwarves for good? What if...what if...

Shaking her head, she raised her right hand suddenly and slapped her own cheek for good measure, just in case the air around her was really starting to affect her.

"Ow!" she cried, and she clutched the side of her face.

The minutes passed by and she went from walking to stopping and listening every few feet, just in case she picked up on a familiar sound. The day was wearing on, and though the trembling in her fingers subsided slowly, her grip on the bow she held only tightened until her knuckles were white. An arrow in one hand, she kept herself prepared for anything.

No matter what might come...

Gandalf's voice echoed in her head and she knew without a doubt she was not alone under these trees, and she wasn't just thinking about the dwarves.

For the hundredth time, she stopped in her tracks on the trail and listened carefully, using her elvish hearing as much as possible. As the hours passed, she kept up the same routine. When night finally fell, she sank down to the edge of the path, not daring to take a step off of it, and leaned against the trunk of a tree. Its wide base offered her protection from behind, but her sides and front were wide open, making her uncomfortable. She hadn't spent a night on her own since...well...she couldn't remember when, but it had been a long time, and certainly not while she had lived in Arda.

Tucking her legs against her, she lowered her forehead to her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. Swallowing the panic filled lump that grew in her throat, she choked back the tears that threatened to spill over and settled herself in for a long, lonely night.

Dawn barely made a dent in the dense underbrush of Mirkwood. The dark and gloomy feeling stayed much the same as she ate some lembas bread she still had tucked inside her pack. She praised herself for packing it, considering the dwarves had taken all their packs and stores with them when they decided to go on a nice tour of the woods without her.

"I'm going to wring their necks," she muttered as she finished the piece of bread she broke off. She was still hungry, but considering that she had no idea how much farther it was to the other side of the forest - or what might happen in between then and now - she tucked the rest away in her pack for safe keeping. "Then, I'm going to bury them ten feet deep. Then, I'm going to hit each and every one of them senseless."

She normally wasn't a violent person, but considering the entire dwarf company she was helping protect disappeared so suddenly into a forest they might never find their way out of, she felt she could afford to be ticked off. Cursing Gandalf quietly for abandoning them, she marched forwards quietly, keeping her eyes peeled and ears open to anything that might come her way.

In the middle of the afternoon was when she heard the first sound. It was off in the distance and she turned her shoulders to the faded voice that caught her attention. She knocked an arrow just in case. She didn't know what kind of creatures lived under the trees, so she raised her bow slowly.

Standing stone still, she listened with all her might, thinking it had been a trick of her imagination. Then suddenly, the sound drifted to her again. It was unmistakably a voice and a few seconds later, a yell cried out. She would recognize the war cry of a dwarf anywhere. Lowering her bow, she crouched down low as more cries drifted to her.

Letting out a steady breath, she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. Pulling her hair behind her, she drew her hood tight over her head, covering her messy white hair. She knew she needed to be stealthy and quiet if she was going to move forward with the plan she was silently forming in her head, and camouflaging herself was task number one. Her white hair was going to stick out like a sore thumb and draw unwanted attention to herself. Next, she checked her sword and knocked the arrow again, holding the tip of it low to the ground as she took her first step off the trail.

More cries came up and she moved quickly, picking her way through the underbrush and between trees as quietly as possible. If the orcs had found the dwarves, she needed to come at them from the jump. If it was something else, well, she would figure it out when she got there.

The trees were denser and it steadily grew darker the closer she got to the cries. What she noticed first, were the shimmering silver threads that glittered with dew.

"Spiders," she whispered to herself, then bit her lip. She heard there were giant spiders in Middle Earth, but had never seen one before, nor did she ever want to meet one.

Bugs gave her the heeby jeebys, especially spiders, and she already felt her skin crawling at the thought. More desperate cries rang out and she quickened her steps but she stopped suddenly when a prickling feeling tingled up her spine.

She froze as she felt something move towards her and as it drew closer, she could hear the many legs above in the trees, the sticky sound of the webs vibrating as it went. Deciding she waited long enough, she twisted around and shot straight into the trees. A foul scream hissed through the air and she darted out of the way as the largest, most awful looking spider landed face first into the ground in front of her. Its hairy legs were as long as she was tall, and its fat body was hideously round and plump. The legs twitched but the spider was dead. Her shot was straight on and she killed it instantly.

"One down," she muttered as a shudder ran through her. These spiders were what nightmares were made of.

Darting forward, she ran as fast as she could to her dwarves. As she went, she let her instincts take over and before she knew it, the elvish warrior in her showed itself. With a skill she never knew she had, she knocked arrows and shot them at the creepy crawly giant spiders in the trees as she ran, her arrows flying true. One by one they dropped from their webs, twitching and screaming as they died. She saw the dwarves then, wielding their swords and axes with such skill that she would have fled if she'd been the enemy.

They saw her, and as she shot another arrow, a spider dropped into the clearing the dwarves were defending themselves in. With a final blow, Thorin removed its head from its fat round body as if he were plucking a dandelion head off its stem. They fought hard as more spiders descended on the group, and instead of sticking together like they probably should have, she watched Kili dart through a few trees after a retreating spider. Fili tried to follow, but a larger spider dropped down just then, snapping its long pinchers at him. It didn't take long for Fili to take it out, but more came.

She spun on her heel, firing another arrow. It narrowly missed though as the spider anticipated her move and it jumped towards her quicker than she expected. Dashing out of the way, she drew her sword instinctively and aimed a blow straight for its head. With a scream the spider dropped, and she finished it off by plunging the tip of it through the top of its head with a heavy thrust.

She couldn't understand what had come over her. It was like someone was guiding her hands and feet. Where she would have probably tripped, her feet moved as if they were guided by some invisible force over the ruts and lumpy ground. Her hands, instead of shaking with fear like they had when they faced the trolls or goblins, were steady and smooth. Instead of her pounding heart, she felt calm and collected as she faced off one spider after the next, her instincts telling her which way to move and when, darting out of the way before any harm could come to her.

Spider legs were pulled or hacked off; their decapitated bodies shaking until they lie still, or they fell to the ground in curled up heaps when swords were thrust down upon them. Over all, it was war.

Trading her sword for her bow once again, she fired another shot at a spider crawling its way towards Dwalin and she pierced it right on the side of the head. It fell, twitching and screaming, and Dwalin finished it off. He gave her an appreciative look but she didn't return it as she aimed again. Her fingers didn't let go of the arrow though, because at that moment, her senses made her freeze only for a split second. Arrows rained down from above them, and the remaining spiders dropped.

Spinning on her heel, she drew her arrow tight and aimed it straight in the face of a very serious looking elf.

Thanks for the reviews, some of my favorite parts coming up.

-S