In the end Thorin choose to say not a single word. Some dwarves sighed irritated, but it was hard to notice. Alyssae felt a tiny bit of hope. He could have sent her away and probably no one would have resented him: she surely was the one who challenged him.
She didn't feel very euphoric, since Thorin descended the mountain anyway and ordered his men to follow. Some glanced hesitantly at him, but most of them didn't want to be unfaithful and followed him loyally.
'Do you think it was an omen?' Alyssae asked carefully at Mithrandir when they followed the dwarves at some distance.
'The only one who could possibly know that is you, Alyssae.'
She looked at the ground and pulled her cloak tighter around her. She bit on her fingernail while she moved her weight from one foot to another.
Her eyes flashed back and forth, while she assumed the dwarves would also be more attentive now she had warned them.
Twigs crackled under her feet while she climbed after the others. The bottom was irregular and was often interrupted by pieces of rock, which were almost invisible in the dusk.
Slowly the sun abandoned her place to the moon and were they enfolded by darkness. Alyssae tried to deem this as an advantage, hoping they would be less visible. Nevertheless the dwarves made enough noise to reveal their position anyway, even to creatures without eyes. With heavy legs she reached the lowest point. Her hand rested on her sword and she was prepared to handle it any moment.
Yet nothing happened. They moved between the trees, but there was no sign of orcs. She could smell nor hear them. Mithrandir's face became more optimistic. However, Alyssae felt like a cheater. She was glad she hadn't been right, but she was afraid the dwarves would see her as a prophet of doom, not taking her serious the moment she would smell danger again. She felt like a star, whose light was slowly getting less bright. First her health had to overcome a blow and now her credibility was slipping off like a cloak from her shoulders.
'There was nothing to fear, you see?' Thorin's triumphant voice barked through the darkened wood when they arrived at a derelict stone gate. 'Ghosts. You see nothing but ghosts.'
Alyssae didn't reply, but she felt like everyone was looking at her, while the goose bumps were still on her arms, as if something was wrong. Possibly just because the orcs didn't reveal themselves, while she was sure they had chased them for a long time.
Suddenly an enormous silhouette appeared behind Thorin, as if he just rose from the humid ground. She stared speechless at the creature, while her lips trembled.
'Behind you,' she whispered.
She didn't know if he understood her, but the look in her eyes surely said enough.
Thorin looked over his shoulder, also froze for some seconds and then pulled his sword, after which he stepped back. Thorin and his twelve companions drew their weapons and gathered around their leader, but they seemed puny rodents in comparison to the ferocious monster that was observing them.