Alyssae just crossed a cliff when something strange caught her eye. Carefully she glided down the tree while she walked to a huge silhouette. For safety reasons she drew her sword, which she lowered when she noticed it was a gigantic spider that was lying on its back. His paws stood upright, as black branches, and they were slightly bended. She sniffed when she came closer. The animal dispersed an immense smell and she already wanted to turn around, until she saw something was sticking out of his belly. A sword. Hesitating she climbed between the hairy legs. Her knees sagged a little in the carcass that had become flaccid and a disgusting odour penetrated her nostrils.
Alyssae grabbed one of the legs and stretched her arm for the sword. Her shoulder bounced painfully but the weapon gave her so much hope she achieved to hold on, to pull the sword out of the dead body of the spider. She swept the blade, which was covered with intestines, off onto the paws of the animal and looked at the weapon. Although she never had a special interest in Fili's sword, the small length told her it had to be his.
She bent her knees and searched for a trail between the leaves. Although the sight was bad she stumbled upon footsteps after a while. Since there was no breathe of wind the leaves had barely moved and she could feel the profile of his shoes.
On hands and feet she followed the trail. She sunk down so easily she had to stand and after every five steps she bend down to control if she was still following his footsteps.
Alyssae felt like the world was spinning around when she ended up at a cliff, where traces of gliding showed that Fili had fallen down. With help of protruding roots she climbed down. With every move she made, her fear grew. Fili must have fallen deeply and the river streamed wildly. He was probably dragged along.
'Fili!'
Her voice echoed through the silent wood. She didn't care that everything and everyone was alarmed by her presence: all she wished for was that Fili heard her.
Now and then she repeated his name but an answer stayed away. Despondent she wandered along the shore but the young dwarf was nowhere to be found. She followed the path until she came across a waterfall, where she crossed the river to walk back to the point she started.
The lack of food started to take its toll but Alyssae kept pushing it forward. Until that bend, then she would search for something. Until that large tree and then she would try to catch some fish…
When she came back at the place she descended, she fell down on her knees. What was she supposed to do? The only food she had seen, were squirrels, but the animals fled as soon as she was heard and she had nothing but two swords.
In the end she took a hand full of dead leaves which surrounded her. At home they always ate vegetables, so why wouldn't her body live on it?
Without thinking clearly she crammed the leaves in her mouth. It was horrible – very, very horrible. She retched but pushed more into her mouth, not giving it the chance to come out again. She tried not to think about the little animals that nestled in it and impassively she moved her jaws.
The hungry feelings didn't go away. She stood up again while she became conscious of her sore throat. She didn't want to drink from the creek since she suspected the water to be enchanted. She had finished her water yesterday and she decided not to yield to the thirst already.
Alyssae continued her search along the river bed. She now walked upstream and deemed the chance very little that he went this way, but it was her last hope.
'Fili,' she yelled once more, but no reaction came back.
Or…
She pricked up her ears when she heard a weak calling. It came indeed from far away but when she heard the voice again she knew she hadn't imagined.
'Fili!' she screamed while she started to run. Now and then she stumbled on invisible rocks or roots but she went on while crying his name.