Éla woke the following morning in the same position as when she had fallen asleep. Her muscles were stiff from the lack of movement and chilled earth. The air was still thick but it was the fatigue from little food and rest that ached her bones. Éla sat up and stretched her tired muscles. It was still dark in the forest, minus small rays fighting a course through the trees. Nevertheless, she got to her feet.
One of the dwarves shifted. The maiden looked down to her left. Thorin slowly woke up before realizing the extra body next to him was gone.
"Don't worry, I haven't wandered off." Éla assured, a smile creeping over her face.
She walked over to the barely visible figure on watch leaving Thorin propped up in minor confusion. Women were almost always the first to wake and get their bearings in order a lot quicker than men. Little things like that amused her. The maiden stopped right in front of the dwarf loosely holding his bow.
"Fallen asleep on us, Master Kili?" Éla spoke loud enough to startle the young prince awake while nudging his boot with her own.
"N-no. I—wasn't sleeping."
"Of course you weren't." She said sarcastically.
Kili stood, waving a hand between them. "Half the time I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. And that's saying something!"
"At least you didn't wander off on us." Fili stated. Éla clapped a hand on the elder's shoulder.
"And we're all here and accounted for."
She went to wake up the hobbit as the two brothers rudely awakened everyone else with loud voices and probing boots.
"Time to get up!" Kili called happily.
As the others grumbled awake, he walked over to the ever sleeping Bombur, waving his hand in front of the dwarf's face.
"Bombur! You still asleep?"
Éla held back a laugh as Thorin backhanded the back of Kili's head. Any bit of fun seemed to always diminish when their leader was within range.
"Ow!" The young dwarf rubbed the area.
Thorin faced Éla with a stern look. Oh snap. There goes my promise...
Four more days passed since their crossing at the river, and Éla and Bilbo ended up being the only two on watch at night since everyone took turns carrying Bombur. Éla found the watches a lot easier than what it had been, for the shadows receded enough to see a little ways on either side and a green light showed the miles of trees around them. (Not that it was the most comforting feeling.)
Day or night, Éla still found herself lost in her thoughts. Being able to see the sleeping dwarves more clearly didn't help much either. She was grateful for the watches so she didn't have to sleep next to Thorin, yet she almost missed the warmth behind her. It almost always brought out a sense of security which she hadn't felt in decades, and that worried her. But what was going on between them? He was a dwarf prince destined to be king and she was a commoner who roamed the free lands.
The more she thought about it, the more confused her feelings became.
Éla continued telling herself not to get involved with anyone beyond friendship. It was the safest and more responsible way to act. They were on a quest and no one needed any more distractions than an overweight, sleeping Bombur.
A couple more days followed and despite the forest growing more open and spacious between the thick oak trees, the dwarves grew impatient and restless.
"Is there no end to this accursed forest?" Thorin snapped. "Bilbo, climb a tree and see how far the forest goes."
Both the hobbit and maiden jumped from the sudden shattered silence. Nonetheless, Bilbo did as he was told all while mumbling to himself as Dori and Nori helped him up onto the lower branches.
A little later, the hobbit returned scraped and grimed. "The forest goes on forever in every direction! What are we going to do?"
The dwarves complained but they pressed on a little longer before setting up camp. That night was their last serving of food.
Éla tried not to think of the rumbling in her stomach the next morning. Her feet became heavier with each step as they pressed on for several hours more under the rain, just minus the water. The trees were so thick raindrops were scarce falling between the leaves, so the ground remained dry, as did their thirst. The maiden silently wished for the young brothers to do something out of the ordinary, but they too had little remaining energy to make a small joke or carry on a light-hearted conversation.
The only glimmer of hope was Bombur waking up early in the afternoon while on break. The dwarf suddenly woke up confused.
"What happened? Where am I? More importantly, why am I hungry?!"
Éla sat next to him worn out. "We're in Mirkwood."
They retold their tale and of their adventures from leaving the hobbit's home in The Shire so long ago in May. Bombur found most of it hard to believe, but he was even more concerned about his empty stomach. When the dwarves told him there was no more food, he wept.
"Why did I ever wake up? I was having lovely dreams of torches lit on trees, lamps swinging from branches and fires burning on the ground. There was a great feast too! A woodland king wore a crown of leaves and there was merry singing. Oh I could not describe the many kinds of foods to eat and drink!"
"You need not try!" Thorin spat. "Talk about something else or remain silent. We keep going."
Éla gave the dwarf a pitying look before following behind Bilbo.
As evening approached, she too was beginning to feel weakness in her legs as Bombur sprawled onto the ground, refusing to move another step. Thorin grew more irritated, wanting to move on. That's all they could do, other than starve to death. Éla took advantage of the pause and draped over a stump with Bofur at her side.
"Walking forever on an empty stomach is no use." Bofur said quietly to the maiden.
"Agreed, but we really have no choice in the matter." She whispered.
Éla felt like her stomach was shriveling up similar to dried fruit. There was little energy left in all of them, which quickly lead to short tempers.
"What was that?" Balin hollered from afar.
The others looked on from their spots, immobile. Thorin was at his friend's side in an instant.
"I thought I saw a flicker of light in the distance."
A little red light twinkled appeared in the darkness, slowly followed by a few more. Bombur even found some strength in his wobbly legs to follow the others as they cautiously walked towards the source. It appeared that it was torches and fires burning, but still a great deal away.
"My dreams are coming true!" Bombur stated between puffs. His eyes sparkled with that of food he had seen while dreaming and then took a few steps forward.
Éla almost panicked at him stepping off the path. "Don't move!'
They heeded her warning, which surprised her. Bombur nearly lost balance as he had one foot hovering in mid-step. The sight was enough to make anyone laugh, but none had the strength or energy to do so.
"But think of the feast and all the food we could be eating!" Bombur cried.
"Then what of Beorn and Gandalf's warnings?" She protested. "It's not safe."
Thorin stepped forward. "Feasting is no good if we can't come back from it."
"We'll die anyways if we don't find something!" Bilbo was in agreement with Bombur, and so an argument began among the company.
Éla stared in silence as they tried to figure out who would be brave enough to go out and scout the lights. Thorin remained fixed in place, listening to their reasons.
"But we can't just wander off the path!" Dori stated.
"What if a few people go, that way we can keep an eye on their positions?" Fili said.
"I don't know about splitting up." Bofur began as Balin interrupted him.
"This forest is enchanted."
Bofur turned back to Fili and those wanting to go ahead. "If the lights go out, whoever is doing the scouting could be lost."
"I'd rather stay together than be divided, no matter what we decide." Éla added.
Bombur swayed by the edge of the path and the unknown of the forest. "Well hurry up or I'm going!"
The entire company turned to Thorin. He had taken all options into consideration but Bombur's continuously detailed descriptions of the food seemed to have decided for all of them. "We'll stay together and follow the lights."
The dwarves and hobbit crept into the forest. As they quietly neared a clearing where torches lined the trees, they saw many elvish-looking folk, a blazing fire and of course, food. The smell of cooked meat and other tasty goods made Éla's stomach flip. They were so excited at finally having found something to eat, or at least beg for, the company rushed forward. In doing so everything vanished and all lights went out, leaving them in complete blackness.
Éla froze. Eyes tried adjusting in the dark but it was no use. Panic coursed through her veins like when she had heard the eerie rhymes and foreign voices. She started walking forward in the last known direction of the members, calling out to them.
"Where is everyone?"
"Over here.
"We're here."
The maiden felt her way around as the dwarves called each other and slowly found one another. Éla felt something brush past her on the left.
"Who was that-Whoa!"
She tripped on a tree stump or root when someone grabbed her by the arm. Éla was pulled or fell flat on her back while someone fell on all fours, hovering over her. She reached out a hand and it pressed against their chest. The armor was not mistaken.
"Thorin?"
"Éla."
She could feel the ends of his hair lightly brushing past her face as he moved.
"Sleep where you are! There's no sense in moving when we cannot see." He ordered.
Éla decided to slide up so as not to bump heads.
"Where are you going?" The dwarf looked down even though he couldn't see.
"Nowhere. I'm just moving out from under you since you're not getting off."
She felt him shift to the side. They all settled where they were and Dori took first watch. Thorin hadn't embraced Éla like he did before, but he did remain close. It was still consoling to know someone was close by in the pitch darkness.
It wasn't long until Dori cried out to them in loud whisper, "The lights are coming back and there are more of them!"
As Éla searched the dark forest for the source, Thorin grabbed her wrist and lead her to the others and the lights. Someone placed a hand on her back as Thorin lead them to the edge of a larger clearing where the new feast resided.
"Do not rush this time! We'll send Mr. Baggins alone to talk to them. The rest of you stay here." Thorin commanded.
As soon as the hobbit stepped into the clearing, the lights went out. Éla heard shuffling from behind as the dwarves began searching and calling for the Halfling. The maiden didn't get far when someone bumped into her, both falling in a pile.
"Arg! Whoever's on top of me, please get off!" Éla asked. She grunted trying to get up, but someone was sitting on her back.
"What? Who's there?!"
"Oin? Is that you?"
The weight lifted then a hand roamed across her back.
"Miss Éla!" Oin was most pleased at having found someone in the dark. "What are you doing on the ground?"
He helped her to her feet, his hearing aid accidentally poking the side of her head as he strained to listen. She guided him away.
"I assume we bumped into each other." She laughed half halfheartedly. "But where's Bilbo?"
"Found him over here!" Dori hollered.
"Define here." The maiden hollered back.
"He's talking about dreams of food like Bombur was earlier!"
Éla locked arms with Oin and soon the dwarves managed to regroup around Dori and their hobbit who was shaken awake from the spell.
"We'll camp here for the night." Thorin stated.
The maiden carefully lowered herself to the ground, feeling her way as she went.
"Sorry!"
Bofur's voice rang through their huddled resting area as he bumped Éla forward onto something soft.
"Seriously, how many times are we going to knock each other about?!" She huffed.
Two hands were placed around her waist, steadying her from falling any further. "You could be landing on rocks."
"Fili?" If one had a physical sense, Éla swore she could feel him smile as he helped her to the side.
They all tried to rest again now that everyone was closer together and accounted for. As dawn was a few hours away Éla heard Kili's calls, stirring them from sleep. He could not contain his excitement.
"There's a regular blaze not far off – hundreds of torches and fires have been lit, and quite possibly by magic!"
Éla waited in the silence as they listened. She moved when the others around her got up. As they neared, the feast they saw was far greater than the previous. There were more woodland folk, one in particular wore a crown of leaves such as what Bombur had dreamed, and the food was endless. Éla weaved through the eyeing dwarves to Thorin's side.
"We need help." She whispered.
He took hold of her hand. "Then you will come with me."
Thorin stepped into the clearing, bringing the female dwarf with him.
All activities of the elvish folk died as lights went out and the fires were reduced to black smoke. Éla faintly heard the cries of her friends before fading into complete silence. The last thing she heard were the frantic shouts from their hobbit. The grip in her hand loosened as she began to fall. Darkness once again overcame her.
Very short chapter due to an unexpected, busy schedule and events. Didn't get as far as I wanted to but at least the good stuff will be worth the wait.