Hey guys. I'm so sorry for this long and terrible absence. During the summer, I work very hard. I do a physical job that exhausts me and takes up all my time. I have very little free time. Luckily, today I'm better. I came back for a new chapter to my story on Hope and the Hobbit.
Good reading.
Chapter 13: Flies and Spiders
As Gandalf had indicated, this wasn't the Greenwood of old. Before, it was a magnificent forest, today, it was obvious that a black magic had taken hold of all the vegetation. The sunlight was struggling to penetrate the darkness of the forest. All sorts of poisonous mushrooms and putrid weeds had grown among the fallen dead wood. Strange black squirrels clambered and scurried along the barren tree branches that hung above our travellers.
The path was just narrow enough for the Company to cross in single file. The path even meandered through the trunks. It looked like the trees wanted to surround them.
Hope sighed as she stepped over a fallen branch. Luckily the fallen tree branches weren't very big. The Tribrid saw that the forest seemed to decay into darkness. She no longer saw the sun there at all, as if an endless night had fallen above the trees.
They had been roaming Mirkwood for more than a day, and Hope was already feeling tired. And she noticed that Alaric also seemed exhausted. He didn't stop huffing like an ox at the end of his tether. She then wondered if the forest was sapping their energies. The more they walked on the path, the more they seemed to weaken.
"This forest is very bad for us," declared Hope to his director. "I've never felt so tired. Whatever that magic is, it affects my powers."
Alaric nodded, huffing.
"I feel drained of all my energy. Looks like the forest wants to weaken us to exhaustion."
"I hope we can leave this forest before it affects us more," said Hope looking at the trees around her.
"Too late…"
Hope jumped at the dark voice that had just emerged from between the trees. She no longer saw Bilbo, nor the other Dwarves. She could only see the trees and the weeds growing.
"Who spoke? Who's here?" she exclaimed, looking around her.
"Hope…"
The Tribrid spun around to see…Landon Kirby standing in front of her to her surprise.
"Landon? It's really you?"
"Hope, you abandoned us…" Landon said in a grim, firm voice.
"What? What did you saying?" exclaimed the shocked Tribrid.
"You left and you let hell spread us… We're all dead… Lizzie… Jo… Rafe… They're all dead… And you weren't here… You preferred to stay here helping those Dwarves rather than saving those you love… You let your loved ones die… You let your family die for you… And now you let your friends die…"
Hope shook her head sadly, as a torrent of flames engulfed Landon as he continued to blame the Tribrid.
"We are all dead because of you…"
"Landon!"
"Hope?" asked a quiet voice behind her.
She turned to see Bilbo watching her with a worried look.
"Hope, are you alright?" asked the Hobbit with a worried look.
Hope looked at Bilbo in amazement, noticed that the burning image of Landon had disappeared, and saw that the rest of the Company was right in front of them waiting for them a few feet away from them.
Thorin joined them.
"Is everything alright?" he asked the Tribrid cautiously.
Noticing that all eyes were on her, Hope tried to pull herself together immediately.
"Yes… Yes, yes, I'm fine. Excuse me…"
"You called out a name. You shouted Landon," Bilbo told her still worried.
"Who's Landon?" asked Thorin worried in turn.
"It…it's not important," Hope answered hastily, wanting to sound natural. "I just had a moment of confusion. I'm fine."
She convinced herself that what she had seen was only an illusion, part of Mirkwood's dark magic. Gandalf had predicted to them that magic could trick them.
She joined the other Dwarves, wanting to let nothing show.
"We must continue on the path. I can't wait to get out of this forest."
Thorin and Bilbo looked at each other, unconvinced by Hope's current state, but preferred to say nothing and continued on their way.
"Hope… Hope… Hope…"
All she heard were whispers from her friends in Mystic Falls telling her she had abandoned them for the Quest for Erebor. Then she heard her mother scream in pain as if she was burning alive.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Then it was her father's turn, whom she heard screaming in turn. A scream of helplessness.
"NOOOOOOOO…"
Hope woke up with a start. She sighed in relief that she had only dreamed. However, it was not a dream she could ignore. A painful reminder of the death of her mother. Did Mirkwood's dark magic remind her that she was cursed? Her life had never been easy. Even before she was born, people had tried to kill her, and her father had been locked up for years, leading her to only meet him when she was seven years old. With the rest of her family in addition to her two parents. And then her family had to separate soon after to protect her and the world from the Hollow that had possessed her when she was seven years old. And then she got them all back when she was fifteen, only for her mother, father, and uncle Elijah to die. Because of her.
Afterwards, she had closed herself off, not wanting anyone to die because of her. But Landon Kirby had arrived and everything had changed. Despite her efforts, she couldn't fight with her own feelings and she fell in love with him. Only to see him die repeatedly and find out he was destined to be possessed by the creature it was born to destroy. The Malivore.
And in an effort to protect Landon and everyone else, once it started to rise, Hope jumped into the Malivore. She knew there was no other way given the lack of time. So she didn't allow herself to hesitate. But that hadn't stopped the Malivore or killed it. Instead, it left her in the dark for months, only to come out and find the world had no idea who she was.
And now, she and Alaric had been trapped in an unknown world by a seemingly dangerous and mysterious creature for months. What was happening to Mystic Falls while he was away? Were the other students at Boarding School trying to find a way to bring them back? She had accompanied the Dwarves on their Quest, for there was nothing else to do. She didn't know of any spell that could send her home or Mr. Saltzman. But even if they manage to reach Erebor and retake the Mountain, what will happen?
Again, she wished she had Gandalf's presence by her side. The Wizard had been gone for over a day and already missed Hope. She wondered if the witchcraft of the forest also affected her subconscious. Or was the dream coming more from her consciousness. Uncertainty prevented her from going back to sleep.
Everyone was sleeping around her. Even Alaric slept between Bofur and Bombur. The image of her Headmaster sleeping between two Dwarves, one of whom was very fat, made her giggle. The only one awake was Thorin who stood guard at one end of the Elven Road.
He noticed that Hope wasn't sleeping. Seeing that it was useless to act as if nothing had happened, the Tribrid ended up joining him.
"How are you, Hope?" Thorin asked, almost worried.
She shook her head as she sat down next to him.
"I can't get back to sleep," she replied. "Nightmare. I don't think I'm going to go back to sleep anytime soon, even if I wanted to."
To her surprise, she saw Thorin nod compassionately at her.
"I have them sometimes too. After the Battle of Moria, so few of us survived. I know my grandfather Thror is dead. But… my father… During the battle, I wanted to fight alongside him. But my father ordered me to stay behind. 'No, I will fight with you,' I replied. But he told me afterwards: 'Azog means to kill us all! One by one, he will destroy the line of Durin, but, by my life, he shall not take my son! You will stay here!'"
He inhaled sadly looking at Hope.
"That was the last time I saw him. My father led a charge towards the Dimrill Gate. He never returned. 'Thrain is gone,' they told me. 'He is one of the fallen.' At the end of the battle, I searched amongst the slain to the last body. My father was not among the dead."
Thorin's stone face belied the pain he felt over his father's disappearance. Hope recognized herself in Thorin. The determination to find his father and his Realm reminded her of hers when she wanted to reclaim her family from the Hollow. And of the fatal fate that had resulted. She could almost feel Thorin's grief.
"And you never stopped looking for him since?" she encouraged him in spite of herself.
"I heard rumors that he was seen," agreed Thorin. "I investigated each of them. Even before embarking on the Quest for Erebor, I was still on his trail. I looked for him, but I couldn't find him. But I'm convinced he's still alive."
"I would have kept looking if it had been my father," Hope said sympathetically.
The Tribrid's response brought comfort to the Dwarf King. He had to share something with Hope that he didn't have with Gandalf.
"Once we have taken back the Mountain, I will go back to my research and I won't stop until I find him."
"And you will not do it alone," added Hope determined. "I couldn't save my family. I won't let another family destroy itself."
An honored smile appeared on Thorin's face.
"Thank you, Hope," he told her. "Maybe you should try to go back to sleep."
Hope agreed with her own smile. Neither she nor any of the Dwarves had noticed Bilbo suddenly waking up. The Hobbit was the only one to hear what sounded like a restless whisper.
The Company had continued the following days. But their progress in the forest did not seem to succeed. The supplies given by Beorn began to dwindle. And water was a problem for them, because there was no stream or water source on the trail.
Alaric pushed aside a branch in his path. His condition was getting worse. He was getting more and more tired. He was confused. He had completely lost track of time. How long had they been roaming the Mirkwood? Two, three or four days? Or a week? He felt like he had been there for weeks. He knew it was the dark magic of the forest that was affecting him. He hoped it wasn't going to get any worse.
He had asked Hope, who was not in a better state than him. Even she was disoriented, and didn't know since when they had crossed the forest. As if the Mirkwood was endless. And she didn't know of any spell that would allow them to ease their torments.
"Hopefully we get out of this forest," Hope muttered breathless and exhausted. "I'm done!"
"This forest has no end," replied Alaric in turn, as exhausted as her. "If we keep this up, I'm gonna go crazy!"
"My head, it's swimming." groaned Oin, walking painfully on the path.
"We found the bridge," said Fili farther away from them.
Everyone came running. Hope and Alaric moved past the Dwarves, and joined the sight before them. As they rejoiced, to their disappointment, they saw a disheartening sight. They had indeed found a bridge. However, a large part of the bridge had broken and fallen into the river. Only the two ends of the bridge remained intact.
"Bridge, huh?" Bofur said sarcastically.
"Oh no!" muttered Hope with great disappointment in her voice.
"That won't get us too far," added Alaric as frustrated as everyone else.
"We could try and swim it," Bofur suggested.
"Didn't you hear Gandalf said," reminded him abruptly Thorin. "A Dark Magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted."
Alaric looked around, to see another alternative.
"There are no other ways. The Road continues to the bridge."
"And Gandalf said that if we leave the path, we will be lost," added the Tribrid with fear. "We have to find a way to cross the bridge without touching the water."
"How?" Gloin exclaimed. "It's way too far to jump."
Alaric then noticed several vines overhead, hovering above the river.
"Thorin, we could try to pass with these vines. Let's hope they can handle our weights."
Kili stepped forward and grabbed one of the vines, tugging on it a little to test it.
"Those vines look strong enough."
As he was about to cross, Thorin stopped him dead.
"Kili, we sent the lightest first."
At those words, everyone turned to look at Bilbo.
Hope chimed in:
"I still have my wolf strength, I can go to the other side and secure it."
Though the Dwarves thought her mad, Hope leapt up off the broken bridge, grabbed a vine, and jumped across the bridge to safety.
Immediately, the Company cheered the Tribrid.
"We are very lucky to have Hope in our Company," declared Fili.
Thorin then looked at Bilbo.
"Go first, Bilbo."
"It's all right, Bilbo. You can do it," Hope encouraged kindly.
Bilbo crossed over the water by the branches. He was slow, but careful. He wanted to test the strength of the branch he was walking on.
"It's all right, can't see any problem," said Bilbo crossing.
"You are doing very well," Hope tells him from the other side. "Keep it up, you'll make it."
But then Bilbo slipped and found himself upside down, his legs hooked to the branch. Bilbo's head was only inches from the water.
"BILBO!"cried Hope anxiously."Hang on!"
Bilbo sat up but struggled to keep his balance. He fell on very light branches, but managed not to fall into the water. His head found itself near the river. He only saw dead insects, as if the water was saturated with unhealthy things.
"Bilbo, don't look at the water!" Hope told him, stepping as close to him as possible. "Look towards me! You are almost there! Come on! Come to me!"
Bilbo continued his dangerous path to join Hope's arms. Immediately, the Tribrid hastened to bring him back to the shore.
"You did it," Hope congratulated him delighted.
She turned to the other side.
"You can pass, but one at a time!"
Unfortunately, the Dwarves seemed not to have heard her, for they were all trying somehow to cross by clinging to the vines. Some clung in extremis. Others nearly fell. Bombur was struggling to keep up.
Hope helped the nearest Dwarves back to shore.
"I said one at a time!" she chided them.
Thorin was one of the first to reach the other side.
Alaric ends up reluctantly joining the troop in the vineyards, trying to stay low so as not to disturb the Dwarves. He saw that Bombur was no longer advancing. He looked exhausted.
"Bombur, is everything okay?"
The fat Dwarf did not answer. He finally fell asleep and fell from his branch to land in the water with a big splash.
"BOMBUR!"exclaimed Hope in anguish."HURRY! GET HIM OUT OF THE WATER!"
After pulling him out of the water, the Company carried Bombur under tree branches mixed with their weapons. Alas, even after crossing the bridge, their crossing in the forest did not succeed either. The path led them to gigantic trees, surrounded by poisonous mushrooms. And a viscous matter covered them.
"We need to take a rest," Dori lamented.
Bilbo came out of the troop of Dwarves, and went to sit on a rock. Thorin stopped the march and leaned painfully against a large vine, as if losing his balance.
Hope and Alaric came towards him. Both were exhausted, as if they could no longer walk.
"I can't feel my legs," moaned Hope with her eyes barely open.
"I'm tired," sighed Alaric who seemed to have been struck by lightning.
"What is that voices?" said Bilbo whose words rang like an echo to all. "Can you hear them?"
"I hear nothing," declared Thorin out of phase. "No wind, nor birdsong. What hour is it?"
"I do not know," answered Dwalin as disoriented as everyone else. "I do not even know what day it is."
"What can we do, Mr. Saltzman?" Hope asked in a catatonic state.
"I don't know… what we can do," answered Alaric looking at the big trees around him with bewilderment. "There's no way out of this… forest… We're not gonna… make it…"
"This is taking too long!" roared Thorin still confused and disoriented. "Is there no end to this accursed forest?!"
"None that I can see," answered Gloin. "Only trees, and more trees."
Distraught, Alaric finally saw… his daughter Lizzie staring at him with a sinister gaze.
"Dad!"
"Elizabeth?!" he exclaimed stunned.
"Where did you go again this time? With Hope, as always! She always comes before your daughters! You never gave us the importance you have for her. Hope always comes before me or Jo."
"Elizabeth, please," said Alaric with a pained look and no longer knowing where he was. "I miss you and your sister! I'm so happy to see you! Elizabeth!"
"Lizzie" ended up walking away indifferently, while Alaric began to follow her, completely unaware of where he was and forgetting the path of the Elves.
"No, Lizzie! Come back! Come back! Elizabeth!"
Thorin watched Ric walk away in despair, then finally saw another way.
"There!" he says to the others. "Alaric found us another path! Let's follow him!"
"But Gandalf said…" objected Oin, before being brutally pushed by the King-Dwarf.
"Follow me!" he ordered all the Dwarves.
"Thorin! Mr. Saltzman!" Hope said in fear. "Don't leave the path! Gandalf warned us! If we lose the path, we will never find it!"
But Alaric was in no condition to listen to anyone. He was running after this hallucination of his daughter. And Thorin followed him as if Alaric had found a way out of the forest.
And all the Dwarves began to follow them, much to Hope's chagrin.
"No, no, no, no, don't! This forest is playing with our minds! Gandalf said…"
But no one listened to her, unfortunately. Only her and Bilbo remained. The Hobbit was intrigued by the strange web that covered an entire tree. He touched the canvas which made a dry noise towards the other trees. Then he noticed the others leaving.
He joined Hope.
"Gandalf told us not to leave the path."
"I know," approved Hope with despair. "But it's too late now. We must follow them!"
"We are gonna get lost!" lamented the Hobbit.
"We're already lost, Bilbo," the Tribrid replied in dismay.
Both ended up joining the Company. Hope ran towards Alaric who was calling his daughter, as if she were around.
"Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Where are you?"
"Stop! Stop! She's not here! Lizzie is not here!"
She eventually joins Alaric, grabbing his hand.
"Come to your senses! It's not real! Lizzie isn't here! That was not her!"
Taken aback at first, Alaric looked around, then seemed distraught.
"Oh Hope… I don't know what we're gonna do! We are lost! We are lost in this accursed forest! How long are we here?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" cried Hope, as distraught as he was. "WE WILL NEVER GET OUT OF THIS FOREST! WE ARE LOST!"
"We are not lost," retorted Thorin wanting to appear reassuring. "We have to keep moving."
"Keep moving?" exclaimed Hope, looking at the Dwarf-King as if he was mad. "Where? We are out of the way!"
The Company was now embarking on the unknown. Now that they were out of the way of the Elves, the Dwarves struggled to find their way back. But everything was the same in this forest. Gigantic trees, poisonous mushrooms, flies the size of Hope's hand, and then webs covering much of the forest.
Hope trudged along in single file with the Dwarves. Then, without realizing it, she found herself at the very end of the line. Totally behind the Dwarves.
Unable to walk, she stopped and looked at the tall trees surrounding her. Then she heard again the dark voice of the forest trying to confuse her.
"Hope… Hope… Hope…"
Determined not to let it go, Hope leapt up and got into a fighting stance as if facing an invisible enemy.
"Come on! If you want to hurt me, come face me wherever or whatever you are! Go on! Come on!"
"Hope… Hope… Hope… Hope… Hope… Hope… Hope… Hope… Hope…"
The voice seemed to come from everywhere, and sounded like an echo, as if the forest was talking to her. Turning around, Hope ends up seeing something strange. She saw a dark clearing where there were three large stones. Looking closer, Hope felt a pit in her stomach. She saw three tombstones there that featured the names of Klaus Mikaelson, Hayley Marshall, and Elijah Mikaelson.
"Mom! Dad…"
Then, remembering that it was not an illusion, Hope did everything to come back to her senses.
"No, it's not real… It's not real…"
"You think so?"
Suddenly, a hand appears on each of the three graves. Then terrifying figures sprang out of the graves. They were Hope's parents and uncle, but they looked like zombies. Their ragged clothes with fierce looks. They flailed their arms and legs making horrible bone-crunching sounds.
"Hope, we died because of you…" roared the zombie that looked like Hayley.
"It's time to pay…" added the zombie who looked like Klaus.
" …For your sins…" finished off the zombie with a nice costume that looked like Elijah.
Shocked, Hope walked away from the zombies approaching her.
"You're not real!" she cried in a loud voice. "Leave me alone!"
The three zombies started attacking him. Hope used her magic to push them back, but even that didn't stop them. They continued their way towards her, grunting and cracking their bones.
Then it was an evil Landon Kirby who arrived in turn.
"You abandoned us, Hope! You have doomed us all! You are guilty!"
"Stop, that's enough!"screamed Hope in shock.
Landon started screaming with the zombies.
"GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!"
"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" hollered the helpless and distraught Tribrid.
"Hope? Hope?" came a much calmer voice.
Hope awoke with a start to find Bilbo staring at her with concern.
"Bilbo?"
"Hope, are you feeling?" asked the Hobbit gently.
She sighed in relief, realizing she had just had a nightmare. She got up and looked at her Hobbit friend.
"I'm fine. What happened?"
She noticed that the whole Company had stopped near her. Even Alaric stood close to Thorin. Even though he seemed anxious like everyone else.
"We were taking a rest, and you fell asleep," Bilbo explained. "Then you started screaming in your sleep. You sweat and moan. I was worried about you."
"I'm fine, Bilbo," Hope told him gratefully. "Thanks for waking me up."
"But we've always lost the path," Bilbo told him with a defeatist look. "And we are not close to finding it."
"If we've lost the way, then there's no way out of this forest," Hope said in dismay.
Gradually, the Dwarves had resumed their journey. But without the path to guide them, they crossed the forest blindly.
Distraught, Balin looked around.
"I don't remember this place before! None of it's familiar!"
"It's got to be here," Dori said abruptly as if he knew where to find the right path. "It can't have just disappeared."
"Unless someone's moved it," retorted Dwalin defeatingly.
"It's not over here neither," added Ori a few miles away from them.
They all walked through the woods, but without knowing where they were going. Everyone was confused. Bilbo was even starting to lose his bearings. He even saw himself walking backwards. He looked back at Dori, but saw himself. His whole sight seemed to distort.
Hope began to search for the sky between the big trees, but her sight seemed to be playing tricks on her, as she saw the big trees bowing towards her, as if they wanted to bury her in the forest.
"This forest wants to kill us all!" she whispered, exhausted.
A little later, Ori bent down and picked up a small pouch. Intrigued, he showed it to Dori.
"Look. A tobacco pouch. There's Dwarves in these woods."
Bofur added, taking the cover.
"Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine."
"You're the only Dwarves walking in this forest!" retorted Hope curtly.
"Yes, because it is yours." added Bilbo looking at Bofur. "You understand? We're going round in circles! We are lost!"
"We're not," Thorin corrected abruptly. "We keep heading east."
"You are serious? Keep heading east?" exclaimed Alaric distraught and incredulous. "How do you know we're going east? We've lost the Elven Road, and we can't find it! There's no way to find a better way! Between these trees, there's not even a path! There is nothing!"
"Master Alaric is right, Thorin," Dwalin added. "We've lost the sun."
Bilbo began to look above him, towards the sky.
"The sun," he whispered.
As the Dwarves began bickering indiscriminately, Bilbo looked up and saw a bit of sunshine through the canopy of trees high above him. He spoke quietly and no one else could hear him despite the quarrels.
"We have to find the sun."
"Find the sun?" Hope said, being the only one who heard him.
"Yes, Hope, up there. We need to find the sun," said the determined Hobbit. "Only then will we know where to go."
The Dwarves began to fight and jostle each other. Thorin stood aside, listening. He heard the strange whisper Bilbo had heard earlier and mumbled to himself.
"What's that?"
Immediately, he demanded silence from the Dwarfs who were brawling and bickering.
"Enough! Quiet! All of you!" (All the Dwarves stopped fighting and arguing.) "We're being watched!"
Hope and Bilbo climbed one of the nearby trees; as they crawled, the Tribrid failed to notice the masses of cobwebs all around them. Their heads passed through the trees and flew away; suddenly it was as if an evil spell had been broken, and Hope and Bilbo were both sane again.
Relieved, Hope took a breath of fresh air, glad to finally see something other than darkness.
"Air! It feels good! I've never been so happy to breathe air!"
As they breathed deeply, they saw blue butterflies flying all around them. The sun was setting and everything was beautiful. Bilbo smiled and laughed. Hope joined in his hilarity. They then looked away and saw several landmarks.
"I can see a lake! And a river!" said Hope in wonder.
"And over there, the Lonely Mountain!" added Bilbo.
The Tribrid then saw Lonely Mountain still a few miles from the forest where they were.
Bilbo called the Dwarves:
"We can see the Lonely Mountain! We are almost there!"
But they heard no response from the Dwarves.
"Can you hear us?" called Bilbo. "I know which way to go! Hello?"
"Thorin? Balin? Dwalin? Mr. Saltzman? Bofur? Ori?" Hope called back. "Can you hear us? Thorin?"
But they got no response from the Dwarves. Instead, they heard a thud.
Intrigued, Hope and Bilbo went back down into the darkness of the forest. Bilbo stumbled over what appeared to be a spider's web and fell several feet into the void.
"BILBO!" cried Hope horrified.
The Hobbit bounces on branches, surrounded by webs. Hope descended from the tree, examining the large web that surrounded them.
"It looks like a spider's web," she said taken aback."Radagast had said that…"
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw a huge, massive spider moving towards her, baring its horrible fangs.
"Giant spiders!"
After a shock, Hope waved her hand:
"Icaeus."
Immediately, the giant spider was pushed back. She saw Bilbo struggling with another giant spider which wrapped him in its web.
"BILBO!"
But a third giant spider rushed at her, knocking her off balance.
Hope fell from the tree and was able to catch herself on a tree branch, and used her wolf strength to land safely on the ground. In a very short time, she was surrounded by three gigantic spiders. All had the same sharp fangs and made irritating cries.
With all her courage and determination, Hope waved her hands:
"Incendia!"
Suddenly, all three spiders caught fire instantly. They howled in pain and disappeared in the flames.
After getting rid of the giant arachnids, Hope looked above her. What she saw shocked her. All the Dwarves had been captured by the giant spiders. They had wrapped them in canvas and then hung them upside down from tree branches. She saw a big cocoon of canvas bigger than the Dwarves. Hope deduced with horror that it was Alaric. He must have been captured in turn. Finally, she saw the spider that had captured Bilbo. He too was wrapped in canvas. Soon, the spiders were going to administer their poisons to them and then eat them.
Hope had to act fast if she wanted to save the Company.
Realizing that the spiders were numerous, she had to be discreet. Immediately, she cast her camouflage spell.
"Invisique!"
Suddenly, she became invisible. She began to climb the trees, wanting to attack the spiders by surprise.
She wanted to save Bilbo first. But the latter had managed to reach his sword and gut the spider that wanted to devour him. Then he tore the canvas cocoon in which he was wrapped. Then he ran to take refuge behind a tree.
Relieved, Hope began to climb towards the others. To her horror, she saw a giant spider about to administer its poison to Alaric. She acts.
"Icaeus."
Immediately, the giant spider was pushed back and fell into the void.
Hope quickly reached the tops of the trees. With her sword, she tore open the web cocoon that freed Alaric.
Then, she saw the other spiders coming towards her, even though they couldn't see her. Hope couldn't magically ignite them. Otherwise she will set the Dwarfs ablaze too. She had to find another way to kill the monsters. Then, remembering her Slicing Sword, she used it and attacked the spiders. She proceeded to decapitate a spider, slicing its fangs. And she sliced off several spider legs at top speed. Some spiders were confused because they couldn't see Hope. Which gave her an effect of surprise on them.
As she was killing spiders with her sword, she was joined by Bilbo who had appeared out of nowhere, as if by magic and who was also enjoying slaying several giant arachnids.
Then, he looked at his own sword with pride.
"Sting. That's a good name."
"Very appropriate, even," added Hope, smiling and becoming visible again.
And she sliced other spiders.
"Bilbo, free the others! I'll take care of the spiders!"
The Hobbit nodded, while Hope stood right in front of a multitude of spiders.
"Hey uglies! I'm here!"
The spiders screeched and began to chase the Tribrid who stared at them playfully.
"That's right, look at me! Look at me! If you want to eat me, come and get me!"
And she took refuge on another tree. Immediately, the spiders took off after her, leaping through the branches.
Hope scaled several branches, with the giant spiders behind her. Upon reaching the top of the tree, Hope was surrounded by spiders on all sides. But the Tribrid gave them a mischievous smile.
"Are you guys hungry? I am! And I really want to make myself a good spider stew! Now, we feast! INCENDIA!"
Suddenly, the tree started to catch fire, with all the spiders which were there. Hope plunged into the void, while all the spiders burned alive in the flames. And they all fell into the void, like a rain of fire. Hope used her wolf strength to land softly on the ground. As the scorched spiders fell around her. But other giant spiders appeared.
Feeling the need to vent in her alternate form, Hope undressed. Once undressed, she changed into a werewolf and attacked the giant arachnids while screaming. The Wolf let out a fierce roar and attacked the spiders, biting them or tearing off their legs. After three spiders felled by the Wolf, the other creatures eventually retreated.
Meanwhile, Bilbo was using his sword Sting to free the Dwarves from their cocoons of webs. He unhooked them from their branches and they all fell to the ground. Alaric, being freed from the web, hastened to untie the Dwarves from their webs. They all tore their wrappings away.
"Where is Bilbo?" Bofur asked.
"Where's Hope?" asked Alaric.
"I'm up here," Bilbo answered high on a branch. "Hope's just…"
At that moment, a spider jumped at Bilbo from the underside of the branch he was standing on, and it pinned him underneath. However, he managed to put his sword in front of him just in time, stabbing the spider in the stomach. As the spider fell from the branch, Bilbo, entangled in its legs, fell with it.
Meanwhile, the Dwarves had broken free and attempted to escape, only to be surrounded by the returning spiders. They fought the spiders with their different weapons. Alaric fired at them with his crossbow and attacked one with his feet. Bombur was knocked to the ground by a spider, and it stood over him to bite him.
Six Dwarfs came to save Bombur by grabbing the six legs of the spider that held him. They pulled with all their might, then the legs tore off. The big dismembered spider fell on Bombur.
Thorin decapitated a spider with his sword, while Dwalin did the same with another. Alaric fired several arrows that hit the legged monsters in the faces. Another spider had taken over Kili.
Further on, Hope the Wolf finished repelling the giant spiders that had had the audacity to attack her. When all the arachnids had disappeared, Hope resumed her human form and got dressed immediately.
The Dwarves had defeated their spiders and were running through the forest. Other spiders jumped on silk threads in front of them and hissed at them. Alaric and Thorin raised their weapons to prepare for battle, but stopped and looked up. A blonde elf, ran through the treetops, then swung on a spider's silk to land on it and kill it. He slid to the forest floor under the spider facing Thorin, cutting it in half, and returned to his knees with an arrow notched in his bow and pointed at Thorin and Alaric. Several other elves appeared, waving arrows from their bows and pointing them at Alaric and the Dwarves.
The Headmaster looked stunned at the sight of all the Elves who outnumbered them.
"Wood-Elves!" he stammered taken aback.
He noticed that the blond Elf still had his bow pointed at Thorin.
"Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf." he said in a threatening voice. "It would be my pleasure."
As Alaric realized the Elves were surrounding them and he and the Dwarves were completely outnumbered, then he heard a Dwarf cry out for help.
"It's Kili!" said the Headmaster. "Our friend needs help!"
"KILI!"Fili yelled horrified.
A little further on, Kili had his foot dragged by a giant spider.
Suddenly, an Elven female ran through the forest. She killed three spiders with her bow and knife, then killed the spider shooting Kili with an arrow. She turned to attack another spider behind her, and yet another arachnid rushed towards Kili.
"Throw me your dagger!" cried the Dwarf. "Quick!"
"If you think I'm giving you a weapon, Dwarf, you're mistaken!" the Elven woman answered, killing her spider with her dagger, turning to kill the spider attacking Kili by throwing her dagger at her.
Soon after, the Dwarves were all rounded up with Alaric. The Headmaster had observed the Elves in action. Their senses and abilities surpassed those of humans and vampires. So he decided not to attempt a fight with them.
The blond Elf whom Alaric would later discover as Legolas, ordered his Elves to search them.
The Elves approached the Dwarves and began to search them. An Elf confiscated two of Fili's knives. Legolas pulled out a picture frame with two pictures from Gloin's pocket.
"Hey! Give it back! That's private!" growled the Dwarf.
Legolas could observe the photo of a Dwarf.
"Who is this? Your brother?" he asked.
"That is my wife!" answered Gloin curtly.
"And what is this horrid creature?" Legolas asked again, looking at the second photo clearly showing a child. "A Goblin Mutant?"
"That's my wee lad, Gimli." Gloin replied proudly.
Legolas raised an eyebrow at the Dwarf contemptuously.
Meanwhile, the Elf searching Fili found even more daggers all around his person. Fili sighed when the Elf even found some in a hidden secret pocket.
Legolas turned his attention to Alaric.
"What's a man doing with thirteen Dwarfs?"
Alaric only remained neutral.
"What makes you think I'm going to answer?"
"You answer to Prince Legolas, of the Woodland realm," answered the blond Elf haughtily.
Alaric raised his eyebrows, then finally abdicated.
"My apologies, my Prince. I'm Alaric Saltzman. I am aware of the disagreements between Elves and Dwarves, but know that I have no quarrels against you. And the reason for my presence with these Dwarves has nothing to do with the Elves. We are simple travellers. We come from the Mountains and we were forced to go through this forest. We have no hostile intentions towards you."
"That's what we'll see," answered Legolas, smiling with a skeptical look. "Search this man."
An Elf proceeded to confiscate Alaric's crossbow.
"Watch out! I care about that weapon!" the Headmaster was offended.
His Elven sword was also confiscated.
Then the Elf emptied all of Alaric's trouser pockets. He even took out his cell phone. He passed the device to Legolas who looked at the object curiously.
"What is this strange thing?" the Elven Prince asked the man.
Alaric smiled awkwardly as he replied:
"An object that is useless here."
Legolas pressed the black screen of the phone which began to glow to his surprise.
"Is it a magic box?
"Uh, no… just technology, and you won't care," retorted Alaric embarrassed.
Legolas saw a list of names appear on the phone:
"What are these names? Bonnie Bennet? Caroline Forbes? Damon Salvatore? Elena Gilbert? Jeremy Gilbert? Matt Donovan?"
"Old friends who are unfortunately not here," answered Alaric looking away.
The Elf woman who had saved Kili came back to them. Legolas turned to her speaking to her in Elvish:
"Gyrth in yngyl bain?" (Are the spiders dead?)
The Elven woman replied in the same language:
"Ennorner gwanod in yngyl na nyryn. Engain nar." (Yes, but more will come. They're growing bolder.)
And another Elf revealed the sword he had confiscated from Thorin. Legolas surveyed it with amazement and contempt.
"Echannen i vegil hen vin Gondolin. Magannen nan Gelydh." (This is an ancient Elvish blade. Forged by my kin.)
Contemptuously, he turned to Thorin.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was given to me." answered Thorin in a neutral tone.
Legolas pointed the edge of the sword at Thorin.
"Not just a thief, but a liar as well."
"No, he's not. He's telling the truth," offended Alaric, outraged. "We found these Elven swords in a Troll-hoard We passed through Rivendell and Lord Elrond gave us these swords."
Legolas pointed the edge of the sword at Alaric, who stood frozen in amazement.
"Lord Elrond who offers Elven swords to Dwarves? I do not care about the fabulations of a man who hangs out with Dwarves. You are just as thief and a liar as they are, Alaric Saltzman."
"You don't know anything about me!" said Alaric coldly.
Legolas stared at Alaric still with the same contempt as with the Dwarves, then ordered his Elves:
"Enwenno hain!" (Take them!)
The Elves began to take the Dwarves away, then it was Alaric to be taken away. As he was being caught, he saw Hope hiding behind a tree in the distance. Their eyes met. He motioned for her not to interfere. Hope not being with them, she could be an asset to get them out of there.
Bofur then noticed something else.
"Thorin, Master Alaric, where is Bilbo? And Lady Hope?"
"I have no idea," answered Alaric looking around him, seeing no sign of the Hobbit. "At least let's be positive: we are finally out of this damn forest!"
As Legolas was about to follow them, he was accosted by another Elf calling for him to follow.
The Elf led him to a charred tree with smoking corpses of giant spiders. Obviously there had been a fire that had burned down a whole tree and spiders.
"It was not a forest fire," said Legolas in elvish. "Who could have made such a fire?"
"We do not know, Lord Legolas," answered the Elf in Elvish. "Our archers saw a very strange big white wolf repelling the spiders. A wolf like none of us have ever seen."
Legolas raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"A wolf? There were never any wolves in that forest. Where could this wolf come from?"
"We do not know, my Lord. The wolf is gone after killing the spiders. But there is a rumor. It is said that two strangers from another world are in ours. This rumor is spreading all over Middle-Earth, at present. Among these two strangers, there is a girl who would have the power to turn into a wolf."
Legolas looked even more amazed.
"A girl who can change into a wolf?"
"And the rumor indicates that these two strangers travel with a Company of Dwarves," continued the Elf.
The Prince of the Elves looked doubtful. So there were two strangers from another world who would be in Middle-Earth? Who travel with Dwarves. And they had just caught a troop of Dwarves including a man with them. It couldn't be a coincidence.
"Look for this girl," ordered Legolas in elvish. "Find her and bring her to my father!"
And it's done! I wanted to dig a little deeper into Hope and Thorin's relationship, and I'm glad I was able to add Legolas to the story.
I wanted to make a small reference to the series the Vampire Diaries by quoting the names of of the former heroes of the show.
See you soon for a new chapter!
