Alyssae and Kili searched the rockery one more time, but the young dwarf was gone.
'He's not here.' Alyssae looked with regret at her companion, who looked a little pale. 'We'll find him.'
Kili said nothing and hung his shaft with arrows over his shoulder. They both knew the situation was very uncertain. Even the dwarf felt there lived something dark in the forest and it remained to be seen if the two of them could resist.
'We can better look for the others and go back after we found them,' Alyssae suggested. 'Thirteen pairs of eyes always see more than just two.'
Kili sighed when they walked to the forest. The trees rose feets above them and even Alyssae felt tiny. They approached a small passage. On both sides of the gravel road, almost invisible by a pile of fallen leaves, were thick black tree trunks. The leafy canopy was so far away it made her dizzy.
'The others will come for us, won't they?' Kili asked while he looked into the distance before him, hoping to see his companions.
'If they don't, I'll worry.'
She believed Thorin was able to leave her behind, but she couldn't imagine he wanted the same fate for his nephews. He would come back for them and if not - it wouldn't be his own decision.
The two stepped on the path. Alyssae had no idea what she was supposed to do. The forest was enormous and Fili could be anywhere – at least if he wasn't dragged along by some dark creature.
Yet after two steps the atmosphere changed. It became harder to breathe and she felt like an enormous, invisible hand tried to push her down. The hope they would find Fili run down immediately, although she couldn't explain these feelings.
'I will look for him as soon as we have found the others.'
The last thing she wanted was leaving the path on her own, but she could easily move forward across the trees, which would make it easier to find the dwarf. However, she didn't want to leave Kili behind, afraid he would disappear as well.
'Don't you even think about it.'
He looked wronged at her, but Alyssae shook her head. 'There are elves living in these woods.'
More than that, Thranduil lived in this forest. This thought caused goose bumps on her arms. It would be disastrous when they encountered. Not only because Thorin would like to see Thranduil's head on a plate – which he would undoubtedly yell at him – but also because Thranduil knew about her origins. After all she was supposed to marry the son of his brother – Thranduin. He would bring her back to her parents and she feared the dwarves wouldn't want to look at her anymore when they found out.
'What elves?'
It felt like he could read her thoughts, since he looked at her inquiringly.
'It doesn't matter. Let's find the others.'
'And then we go back for Fili?'
Alyssae nodded. 'Of course.'
The delay of the search for his brother didn't seem to please him, but he also seemed to be afraid to investigate the area together.
'They won't be far.'
Alyssae was silent, while she tried not to think about the orcs and wargs which went after them. Who knew what they would come across? They all could be dead…
The leaves made swampy noises beneath their moving weights. She looked over her shoulder, but the entrance was only a small opening and soon there would only be darkness.
The dark reminded her of the dungeons of the goblins, calling the same feelings: exhausted by doing nothing, hungry and holding on to every spark of hope to get away.
That hope had became her way out and this time she wanted to embrace it again.