When the sun finally rose, Gandalf could hear Beorn outside the house chopping wood. He decided it was time for introductions. He woke the company and began determining in what order he would introduce them.
"Bilbo, you will come with me, it will be best if he meets a hobbit first," Gandalf said to him. "The rest of you will go in pairs of two and wait five minutes before each of you come out. Thorin and Thessa, you two shall be last. A beautiful face will put him at ease after meeting thirteen dwarves."
The dwarves nodded, understanding the plan and began to organize themselves into pairs. Thessa stood by Thorin at the end of the line, holding his hand tightly.
"Thorin," she looked up to him. "I'm nervous." He gave her a reassuring smile.
"My princess, who took on three trolls with no assistance, is nervous to meet a skin-changer?" he asked lightly.
"I'm serious, Thorin!" she whispered. "I have never seen a bear, and I am not used to animals trying to harm me. Bears eat fish, Thorin." She looked at him with scared eyes and he pulled her into a hug.
"I will not let anything happen to you, I promise."
"You say that now..." she mumbled into his shoulder. He chuckled at her and they stood like that as they waited for their turn. When the last pair stepped out, she felt her heart rate rising.
"Be calm, love," Thorin whispered. "I'm right here." He squeezed her hand to emphasize his point, drawing her out the door when it was time.
"Ahh, and here they are now!" they heard Gandalf announce. They strode toward the large, hairy man who towered over them. Thessa gripped Thorin's hand even tighter. "May I introduce Thorin Oakenshield, leader of our company." Thorin bowed his head slightly to Beorn. "And lastly, the lovely princess Thessalia." Thessa whipped her head to Gandalf. How could he just reveal her like that to a stranger! She felt the panic rise and tried to take a step back.
"Worry not, child," Beorn spoke. "I know what you are. I smelled you when you entered my territory." Thessa's face paled. "I mean you know harm, we are kin after all." Kin? Thessa thought.
"Skin-changers are descended from your kind," he continued. "We moved out of the water and onto the land, gaining the ability for males to exhibit the form-changing trait." Well, that makes a little more sense, Thessa concluded. "Come, let us all have a little something to eat." Beorn ushered them inside and began making a large breakfast for them.
"So you are the one they call Oakenshield," Beorn said as he poured milk into everyone's cups. "Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"
"You know of Azog?" Throin inquired. "How?"
"My people were the first to live in the mountains," he answered, "before the orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." The company was startled by his tale and Bilbo noticed the remnants of iron shackles around Beorn's wrists. "Not for work, you understand," Beorn continued, "but for sport. Caging skin-changers, torturing them, seemed to amuse him." Now that, Thessa could relate to, she thought sadly.
"There are others, like you?" Bilbo asked hesitantly.
"Once there were many," Beorn said.
"And now?" Bilbo pressed.
"And now there is only one," he grumbled. He leaned against a beam and looked over to Gandalf. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of Autumn."
"Before Durin's day falls, yes," Gandalf replied.
"You are running out of time," Beorn said, taking a seat in a large armchair. Gandalf nodded to the man.
"This is why we must go through Mirkwood," he supplied. Mirkwood, Thessa knew that name somehow, what was it about that place that made her skin crawl?
"A darkness lies upon that forest," Beorn began. "Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the necromancer of Dol Godur. I would not venture there, except in great need."
"We will take the Elven road, that path is still safe," Gandalf declared.
"Safe?" Beorn challenged. "The wood elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They are less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not." Thorin looked up from the table then to glance at the skin-changer.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"These lands are crawling with orcs," Beorn explained. "Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Thessa did not want to hear that. Why can't they just travel somewhere without people trying to hunt them down and kill them? Was that too much to ask?
"I don't like dwarves," Beorne said as he stood to his full height, ducking his head under a ceiling beam. "They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." He stooped to pick up a small mouse that was perched on the table, letting it crawl about in his hands. "But orcs I hate more. What do you need?"
"If we are to reach the forest, we humbly ask if we may borrow some your ponies," Balin asked politely, ever the diplomat. Beorn nodded to him and led them outside once they had gathered their things. Thessa grabbed a few pieces of bread for their trip since she hadn't had much to eat recently. She followed them outside as Beorn helped them saddle the ponies.
"Go now, while you have the light," Beorn rasped. Thessa looked up at the large man as she stood next to Thorin. "Your hunters are not far behind."
"Thank you for your hospitality," she smiled to him. Beorn bowed his head to her with a small smile.
"It was my pleasure, princess." She nodded to the man and then let Thorin hoist her up onto their pony. The company rode Northeast to the edge of the forest, and Beorn shifted into his bear form to head off the orc pack.
The company rode across the grasslands, racing against time, hoping that Beorn was enough to slow down the orcs. After an hour or two, they made it to the Elven gate at the edge of the forest. They dismounted the ponies, seeing as they could not bring them with them.
"The Elven gate," Gandalf said slowly, turning to the group. "Here lies our path through Mirkwoood."
"No sign of the orcs," Dwalin announced. "We have luck on our side."
"Set the ponies loose, let them return to their master," Gandalf said, spying a large bear on a hilltop close by. Bilbo looked at the trees, disappointed that the stories of Mirkwood did not live up to the real thing.
"This forest feels sick, as if a disease lies upon it," he said. "Is there no way around?"
"Not unless we go 200 miles North, or twice that distance South," Gandalf supplied, no humor to be found in his voice as he studied the trees. Gandalf stood there for a while, his eyes far away. He suddenly looked back to the group, coming over to them.
"Not my horse!" her called to Nori before he could set it loose. "I need it."
"You're not leaving us," Bilbo said, confused.
"I would not do this unless I had to," Gandalf explained. He looked down at his small friend. "You've changed Bilbo Baggins. You are not the same hobbit that left the Shire." Bilbo looked up at Gandalf, wanting to tell him about the ring he had found.
"I was going to tell you," Bilbo began, looking up at the wizard, "that I, that I found something... in the goblin tunnels."
"Found what?" he inquired. "What did you find?" Bilbo hesitated for a moment.
"My courage," Bilbo replied with a nervous smile.
"Good, that's good," Gandalf said, standing up straight. "You'll need it." He turned back to the company and strode to his horse. "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." He gave Thorin a pointed look before mounting his horse.
"This is not the Greenwood of old," Gandalf cautioned. "The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion, it will seek to enter your mind, and lead you astray."
"Lead us astray?" Bilbo said worriedly, glancing to Thessa who was thinking the same thing. "What does that mean?"
"You must stay on the path," Gandalf warned them. "If you don't, you will never find it again. No matter what may come, stay on the path!" Gandalf called as he rode away, leaving the company to face the darkness of Mirkwood.
"Come!" Thorin called, walking into the forest. "We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's day. We've got one chance to find the hidden door." He took Thessa's hand and walked beside her while Nori and Dwalin took the lead. As soon as she entered the forest, she could feel the sickness that lay upon it. But she didn't feel any different. She shrugged it off, maybe Gandalf was just trying to scare them. As they walked, she tried to recall where she had heard the name Mirkwood before.
"Can someone tell me what they know of Mirkwood?" she asked the company. "I've heard the name before, but I can't recall what it was in reference to."
"It used to be called the Greenwood," Balin said from behind her. "Some of the forest is controlled by the Elvenking, Thranduil." Thessa felt a bell ring at that name.
"That name, Thranduil, what of him?" Thessa asked. Thorin clenched his jaw at hearing that name. He despised that elf more than any other.
"He is the king of the Woodland realm, lass," Balin began. "He took over the role of king after his father, Oropher." There it was. That was the connection she had been missing. She remembered the horrible tale of Oropher and visibly shuddered. Thorin looked down at her and saw she was utterly distressed.
"What's wrong, zaglamrâl?" Thorin squeezed her hand lightly.
"We have a story... a story about Oropher and Thranduil," she said, her eyes staring blankly ahead.
"And?" Thorin pressed. Thessa swallowed thickly, remembering the tale.
"Long before I was born," she began, "Oropher and his guards had traveled to the Rhûn sea to seek trade with our people. The elves had stayed in a town nearby I think, where they ran into one of our sisters. She hadn't known who he was, and she sang to him." She heard gasps from those around her. "She lead him to a room in the inn, but his guards had informed his son, Thranduil. His son was disgusted by the woman he found with his father. Elves do not stray from their partners, ever. He was so enraged that she had tried to seduce his father, that they captured her and left for Mirkwood. No trade agreement was ever made, but Thranduil had sent us the shorn hair of the mermaid they had taken, along with her armband and bloody scales. They had pried all of the scales from her tail," Thessa cried, imagining such torture. Thorin stopped walking and wrapped her in a hug.
"I will not let them harm you, my love, I promise. I will keep you safe," he said, resting his cheek on her hair. "But you should cover your hair, just to be safe." Thessa nodded, that was a good idea. Óin found a light brown cloth in his bag and Nori supplied her with a metal pin of some kind. She wrapped her hair into a tight bun and tied the cloth around her head like she had done with the kerchief long ago.
After recounting the horrid tale of what the woodland elves had done to her sister, she stuck close to Thorin's side, wishing she had her bow and arrows. Thessa could see some of the dwarves had hazy eyes or startled easily. Thorin was staggering slightly when he walked, Thessa noticed. They were all affected by the air of the forest, everyone but her. Distracted with her thoughts, she ran into Thorin's back. The whole company ground to a halt.
"Why have we stopped?" Thorin asked, moving to the head of the group where Nori was leading.
"The path," he said looking to the ground, "it's disappeared!" Uh oh, Thessa thought.
"Find it! All our you, look for the path!" Thorin called, the company splitting up to search for their lost path. They walked for hours, Dwalin thrusting the handle of his hammer on the ground to check for the stones that comprised their path. They came across Bofur's satchel and tried to claim that there were other dwarves in the woods with them. They began bickering with each other, breaking into small fights. Thessa saw Bilbo leaning against a tree.
"Thessa we have to find the sun," he said, looking up to the tree tops. "We need to climb." She agreed with Bilbo, they needed to see where they were going. Bilbo helped her climb the tree as the company searched below. She had good arm strength and she relied on that to help her climb. Her legs seemed to not want to cooperate at the moment.
"Ahhhh," Bilbo sighed when they reached the top, breathing in the fresh air. Hundreds of blue butterflies suddenly flew out of the treetops and into the air, making them laugh. They sat there for a moment, surveying the sight. They spotted the Lonely Mountain and a large lake. They had to tell the company! Bilbo called down to them, but there was no answer. Confused, they watched the trees in the distance shake slightly. Something was out there. They looked to each other for a moment before quickly dipping back below the treetops.
"Uh oh," Bilbo said, looking down. His foot had caught in the webbing they had noticed on the trees earlier. He fell off the branch, landing in a mass of webbing. Thessa knew better than to call out to him, that would just reveal her position to whatever had made those webs. She saw bilbo thrust his sword into the belly of a giant spider, sending it toppling to the ground. She tried to make her way toward him, but stayed quiet and hidden. She watched another spider wrap Bilbo up in its webbing and carry him off.
Thessa followed the spiders as quickly and silently as she could. She understood the importance of stealth and made sure she kept out of sight. She found the rest of the company eventually, all hanging from tree limbs covered in the spiders' webs. She saw Bilbo break out of his cocoon after a few minutes and then suddenly disappear. Thessa's eyes went wide. How had he done that? Was that something all hobbits could do? He reappeared soon though, taking down another spider.
"Bilbo!" she whispered to him. He glanced up, surprised to see her, then a frightened expression came over his face.
"Thessa, behind you!" he shouted. Thessa turned just in time to dodge the spider gunning for her. Bilbo began cutting down their friends and the dwarves tore open the cocoons they were in. Her eyes connected with Thorin's when he freed himself.
"Thessa! Look out!" he shouted up to her. This time she didn't move fast enough, and the spider knocked her from the tree branch and sent her careening toward the ground. She slammed the back of her head on a tree branch on the way down, losing consciousness in the process. Thorin ran to where she was falling and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Thessa!" he called to her, but she was out cold. He spun around, watching his company slash and hack at the spiders, killing some. He felt something wet on his arm and looked down. There was blood dripping down his arm from Thessa's head. He panicked, holding his hand to the wound to stop the bleeding, but it was no use, there was so much. "Hold on, my love," he whispered to her.
He watched the company dispatch nearly all the spiders and the group huddled together again, watching another spider descending from the trees. But suddenly a figure came out of nowhere, sliding down the strand of spider silk and cutting down the beast while sliding under another, cutting it open. As soon as he was back to his feet, he had an arrow pointed at them.
"Do not think I will not kill you, dwarves," the blond elf spat, eying them. "It would be my pleasure." Thorin watched as elves surrounded them, bows at the ready. He heard Kili cry out from behind them.
"Kili!" Fili yelled to his brother. Kili was being hauled away slowly by a spider who caught hold of his leg. He had no weapon to fight the creature. A flash of red hair zipped through the trees as an elf maiden fired arrows at two other spiders and the one attacking Kili, stabbing them with a short blade and finishing them off.
"Throw me a blade, quick!" Kili called to her, seeing another spider quickly approaching him. She was fighting off another spider as she responded.
"If you think I'm giving you a weapon, dwarf, you are mistaken!" she panted out, dispatching the spider in front of her and turning to throw her blade into the head of the spider nearly upon Kili. Kili looked her, amazed by her fighting skills, and then he was tossed back toward the company.
"Search them," the blond elf, Legolas, said. He pulled a picture frame from Glóin's coat pocket and opened it. "Who is this? Your Brother?"
"That is my wife!" Glóin growled.
"And what is this horrid creature, goblin, mutant?"
"That's my wee lad, Gimli!" he said indignantly. Legolas turned to the red-haired elleth while the rest of the elves stripped the dwarves' of their weapons.
Thorin still had his hand pressed to Thessa's head. The guard searching him began speaking to him in Elvish, but Thorin didn't understand. He stared at the elf when he was suddenly punched in the face and sent sprawling to the ground. Thessa fell from his arms, hitting the ground as well. He scrambled over to her, but the guard picked her up first and ran over to their leader.
"My Lord Legolas, the dwarves have taken a hostage, I rescued this woman, but she is badly injured," the guard reported, handing her to Legolas. The elf looked down at the woman, blood staining the cloth covering her hair.
"Tauriel! Help me with this woman! She will not last much longer," he called to the red-haired elleth. Tauriel leaned down and hovered her hands over the woman's head while whispering an elven healing spell.
"What is she doing to her!" Fili called as he fought the guard holding him back.
"Do not worry, dwarf," Legolas spat, "your captive will survive." The company looked at each other. Captive? They thought they had kidnapped Thessa? The blond elf came over to inspect the weapons they confiscated, holding up Thorin's sword.
"This is an ancient Elven blade, forged by my kin. Where did you get this?" he scowled at Thorin.
"It was given to me," Thorin growled back.
"Not just a thief, but a liar as well." Legolas called for the company to have their hands bound and taken to the dungeons.
"Legolas," Tauriel called to the lead elf. He came over to her, kneeling by the human woman they had saved. She was beginning to open her eyes again, her head healed. She looked around, seeing the company's hands being bound.
"What are you doing to my friends?" she cried, trying to sit up.
"Friends?" Legolas asked. "They did not kidnap you?"
"No!" Thessa cried, making it to her feet. "Where are you taking them?"
"They have trespassed on our lands and they are being taken before the king," Legolas stated, looking down at the woman. Thessa felt her heart stop. Not the Elvenking, anything but that! She started to hyperventilate, her head becoming dizzy. She lost her balance, only to be caught by Tauriel from behind her.
"Legolas," Tauriel said tersely. She looked at the prince, then cast her eyes down to where part of Thessa's hair had come loose. She looked back up to Legolas, seeing if her caught her message. Legolas looked at the woman's hair and saw a shell that was braided into it. That was odd. There was no sea anywhere near them. He came closer and moved his hand toward the cloth covering Thessa's hair. She saw him approaching and tried to jerk her head away, but Tauriel held her still.
The company watched the elf remove the bloody cloth with bated breath. Thorin struggled against his bonds to get to Thessa. Legolas pulled the pin that held her hair in place and watched as the strands fell loose. He spotted a smooth, circular bead with a whale's fluke on it, taking in a sharp breath.
"You dare bring this vile creature here!" he roared, turning to Thorin and company. Thorin's eyes were wide with panic. "Gag it, bind it!" Legolas called to a set of guards. They quickly tore the sleeve of her tunic off, revealing her arm band and using it to tie around her head as a gag. They roughly bound her hands with rope and pushed her toward the rest of he dwarves. Thessa looked up to Thorin, tears now streaming from her eyes, her whole body shaking. Thorin tried to wrestle his way to her, but was held fast, a look of anguish on his face.
"I'm so sorry," he choked out, being pushed forward by a guard. The company was prodded forward, while Thessa was roughly shoved. She lost her balance and fell to the ground twice when they had shoved her too hard, resulting in a massive headache and quite a few bruises. They were marched into the halls of the woodland realm and taken directly to the dungeons. They were all thrown into individual cells, Thessa's being across from Thorin's.
"Well, aren't you going to search me?" Kili asked Tauriel as she took him to a cell. "I could have anything down my trousers."
"Or nothing," she replied with a small smirk, closing the cell door and leaving with the other elves.
"Thessa!" the company called out to her once the elves had left. Thessa had been tossed into her cell, hands still bound, gag still in place. She brought her teary eyes to meet Thorin's gaze. It looked like he had tears in his eyes as well, worried for his One.
"Are you alright, zaglamrâl?" he asked. But because of the gag, she couldn't respond. She gave him a fearful look as more tears streamed down her face. She sat on the floor, shaking in fear. She would be tortured to death by the Elvenking Thranduil. This was the end for her, she thought. When she heard footsteps, she looked up to see guards opening her cell and Thorin's. He was grabbed roughly by the arm and pushed in the direction of the throne room. Thessa was grabbed by the ankle as she tried to scoot away from the guard, and he drug her out of the cell across the stone floor. She cried even harder at the pain, the skin of her bare arm scraping on the ground.
The guard yelled at her in Sindarin, but she didn't understand. He grabbed her arms and stood her up, pushing her in the direction Thorin had gone. To stand before the king.