Chapter Twelve

At dawn, the four of them set out again, with good speed at first; but soon their way became steep and difficult. They started to climb the mountains, following a twisting path, which in many places had almost disappeared or was blocked by many fallen stones. A bitter wind swirled among the sharp rocks and its howl chilled Callysta to the bone.

Trouble began to brew as they were crossing the High Pass across the mountains. It started as a distant rumbling and as it grew louder, the ground beneath them shook. Loose rocks rained on them. A moment later, a great boulder came hurtling down in their direction.

"Duck!" Legolas shouted. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed Callysta's hand.

The ground trembled as the boulder hit the ground and rolled down the mountain. In that brief moment, Callysta lost her balance and her hand slipped from Legolas' and he watched in horror as she fell backwards and rolled down the side of the mountains to the deep ravines below.

When the avalanche had ceased, Legolas crept to the edge and peered down. His heart was beating hard in his ribcage, fearing what his eyes might show him-the crumpled form of Callysta lying at the bottom of the mountain. What he had not expected to see was the sight of her stuck on the outstretched boughs of some stunted trees. Scared witless but very much alive.

"Er, help?" Callysta managed to croak when she saw Legolas' head peering over the edge.

Laurëwen tied a strong rope around a great rock and Lorgast lowered Legolas down the slope to reach Callysta. He caught her just in the nick of time before the branches broke under her weight. She held on to him tightly, very much relieved she had just barely escaped death.

"Phew! Now I realized how a ripe fruit must have felt when a hand plucked it from its branches, saving it from a long nasty drop to the ground." She told the Elf.

After their descent from the Misty Mountains, they crossed a ford and began to march down the lines of wide-armed oaks and tall elms. They were in the lands of Grimbeorn the Old. At length, they came to a wooden gate, beyond which they could see green gardens and a cluster of wooden buildings. Bees were flying everywhere and the air was filled with buzzing noises.

Grimbeorn himself greeted them in the courtyard. They were received with warm hospitality and good food and they spent the night there before they continued their journey into the forest of Mirkwood. The bedrooms in the house of Grimbeorn the Old were large and airy. The walls were made of sturdy wood and there were green curtains on the windows. A large straw mat covered the floor and along one side of the floor, there were two mattresses piled with grey woollen blankets. Callysta shared a room with Laurëwen but she slept uneasily and dreamt of fire and the howls of Wargs.

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The forest of Mirkwood was a perilous place and many evil things lurked in its dark shadows. The trees of Mirkwood had great overhanging boughs, their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted and their leaves were dark and dense.

The four companions walked in a single file with Legolas as their leader. As they moved deeper into the forest, their surroundings grew darker and gloomier. Callysta started humming to herself to lift her spirits out of the gloom that enveloped them like a glove. There were queer noises in the forest too; grunts, scuffling in the undergrowth.

After covering some distance in the forest, they laid down their things and rested under the ancient trees. Legolas and Laurëwen went ahead to check out the path. Callysta sat under a gnarled old tree and munched thoughtfully on a piece of bread. Her eyes were getting used to her dark surroundings. She saw dark dense cobwebs stretched from one branch to another and their silver threads were extraordinarily thick.

All of a sudden, she felt something dropped onto her shoulders. It was a little black spider. She swatted the unfortunate creature and wished that they would be out of the forest before nightfall. Drip, drip, she felt something sticky dripped into her hair.

"What now?" She cursed softly and she looked up.

A spider, almost as large as a human, hung above her on its silver thread. Its eyes were shiny and black and sticky froth dripped from its deadly jaws. Callysta sat very still, not daring to make a sudden move but her hand moved swiftly to the sword at her side.

"Lorgast." She called the Mage in a low whisper.

When the Mage turned around, it was too late. The spider raised itself to strike Callysta with its deadly fangs but she wasn't going to get caught so easily. Callysta drew her sword and stuck it straight into its eyes. The lights in them dimmed and the spider flung out its hairy loathsome legs in horrible jerks. Callysta rolled away just in time before the creature fell dead to the ground.

The spiders came in all direction: some dropped to the ground, swung from tree to tree or raced along the branches. They came running and flung out their long threads of sticky web to trap Lorgast and Callysta.

"Bragollach telllach!" Lorgast exclaimed, as he clapped his hands together. As he drew them apart, a small fireball appeared between them. He threw the fireball towards a large spider that was advancing on them. The spider burst into flames.

Callysta stabbed a few spiders in the eyes when they came too close to her. While she was fighting off a spider, a huge one crept up from behind and threw its web around her legs. When she tried to move away, she tripped and fell to the ground. The huge spider pinned her down in a blink of an eye. She tried to pierce the spider's belly but the sword could not penetrate its thick hide. Instead, she slashed off one of its hairy legs. As the spider fought to regain its balance, Callysta attempted to crawl away. She had not crawled very far when she felt a stinging sensation on her legs. The spider had bit her.

I'm dead, Callysta thought. She tried to crawl further but a numbing sensation had crept up her legs and made it very difficult for her to move. She shut her eyes, waiting for the final bite to come but it never came.

She heard Lorgast gave a cry, "Nai uuvanimo turamin!"

No sooner had he said that, a golden aura spread around him and the spider was held bewitched by this vision. Two arrows flew over her head and pierced the spider's eyes. Legolas had returned.

"Callysta, are you hurt?" Legolas asked, as he cut off the loathsome web around her feet.

"Legolas, thank goodness you're back." Callysta said, her breathing was shallow and laboured, "I thought I will never see you again before I die."

"You're not going to die."

"My legs. I can't move them." Callysta said, and she started to yawn, "I feel very sleepy too."

Legolas shook her, gently, "Stay with me, Callysta. Stay awake!" He turned to Lorgast and Laurëwen and told them to watch over her while he sought for help.

"I'm going to get help."

"No, don't go. There's something I want to tell you." Callysta said in a whisper. She was fighting to keep her consciousness. She added, slowly, "If I die, if I never see you again, I want you to know the reason I turned down Figwit's proposal was because I was in love with you."

Callysta shut her eyes and saw no more.