The company camped in darkness that night, for they were too afraid to light a fire. The darkness nor they eyes that watched them didn't scare Annie as much as the continuous cries that came from the trees. She was glad for the darkness, it masked the tears in her eyes. She knew the company was worried about her, and that they probably doubted her after her episode earlier. Annie didn't want them to see her like this, scared, meek and alone. She so badly wanted to live up to their expectations, to be brave and fearless like them. She knew Thorin's story, he had seen way worse than she ever did and still he stood tall. But then she thought he would never have done what you did.
Suddenly in the darkness she heard something, a strange clicking noise. Immediately she slipped the ring on her finger, and felt herself turn invisible. She knew that the darkness masked her from the dwarves, but it didn't from whatever was hunting them. It was her only chance to avoid being caught. She then tried to wake up whomever was next to her.
"Wake up, I think theres something out there?"
"Who this?" Kili or Fili answered
"Annie."
There was a smack as he woke up the next dwarf.
"Ouch!"
"Who's that?"
"Fili. Wake up!"
"What?"
"Theres something out there."
A clang of metal as they drew swords, which woke the rest of the company.
"Hey! You nearly caught my beard!"
"Watch where youre stepping, mate."
"Who's that? Bofur?"
"No, its Bombur"
"Ouch, get off my hand!"
"Menu Tarag baud!"
"What did he say?"
"I don't know, I don't speak ancient dwarfish."
"But you're a dwarf…."
"EVERYBODY QUIET!"
There was a flash of bright light, and Thorin's angry face lit in the darkness.
"What is happening? What did you hear?" he asked them, but before anybody could answer, they were attacked by large spiders, with spindly legs and sharp venomous fangs. Thorin dropped the match and it fell, catching a blanket on fire. Annie barely escaped their clutches, but watched in horror through the flames of the fire as her companions were caught by the large creatures, and spun tightly by their webs. She quickly dashed between the trees and followed the spiders as they took her company back to their. The creatures took no notice of her, not only because of her invisibility but also because she was a hobbit. Which meant that she was quick and quiet on her feet, and so small she could pass between their gigantic legs unnoticed.
Annie followed them, and quietly approached the nests. She saw the spiders spin their bundles onto the webs high above and sighed. The task before her was impossible, but she needed to save her friends. She owed them that, at least. She crept silently forwards and looked up, right above her, about 20 feet in the air was the first bundle. Looking up, she saw a silver fur lined hood, and guessed that it was either Thorin or Bifur. The spiders were now speaking among themselves, trying to decide which dwarf to eat first. As they quibbled, Annie suddenly had an idea. She took in a deep breath, than began to sing:
Old fat spider spinning in a tree!
Old fat spider cant see me!
Attercop!Attercop!
Wont you stop
Stop your spinning and look for me?
Old Tomnoddy, all big body,
Old Tomnoddy, cant spy me
Attercop! Attercop!
Down you drop
Youll never catch me up your tree!
As she sang she skipped around the nest, rustling bushed and breaking twigs. Trying as hard as she could to confuse the arachnids. This caught the spiders attention right away, for nobody likes being called an Attercop. They immediately gathered together, searching in all directions for her.
"What is this monstrosity?!" they shouted, "Who darts among the trees but cant be seen?", Annie then threw a moss covered rock to her left, and heard it crash in the undergrowth. "Over there!" they shouted, and at once the band of spiders scuttled off towards the noise, leaving the nest empty.
Knowing she only had seconds, Annie quickly put the ring back in her pocket and ran towards the nest. She began to to cut each bundle down. The dwarves were weak, from spider poison and being hung upside down. Thorin was most unhappy, for he had been caught first and suffered from a very painful spider sting. "Quick quick!" she told him as she unwrapped him from the sticky webs, "we have to hurry before they return!" Thorin nodded and stood up on wobbly legs. "Help me with the others" she told him, and he did. Bombur was especially difficult, al he wanted was to fall asleep, but Thorin prodded and poked him until he stood.
Annie then turned to the last bundle on her left and began cutting away at the webs. It was Kili, and he was very grateful to see her. "Miss Annie!" he shouted, "You are a site for sore eyes." he told her, and she smiled despite their circumstances. "Shhhhhh" she hushed him, putting her fingers to his lips. "Let me untie you so we can get out of this nest, then we can celebrate." she told him, he nodded silently and struggled to free his arms. "Here" she told him, showing her Sting, and then she quickly cut him loose.
After Kili was up and standing, she turned and once again saw thirteen dwarves staring at her, but this time they had looks of gratitude on theirs faces. "Quickly, lets go!" she told them, and then lead them towards the exit. They ran as fast as they could until they came upon the trail again but unfortunately for them, it was already occupied with Wood Elves.
The minute the company set foot on the path they found arrows pointed at them.
"We could hear you breathing from a mile away." The head elf spat angrily, then he turned to Thorin, "What brings you to our woods, Master Dwarf?" the elf asked, but Thorin, being as proud as he was, didn't answer. The company stood silent, not wanting to give away their quest to the very creatures who let their kingdom burn. The elf stared down at Thorin, challenging him to speak, and when he didn't he turned to his guards.
"Bind their hands and blind their eyes." he told them, "We'll let King Tharanduil decide their fate." and so they did. Terrified of the elves, Annie tried to slip away, but the lead elf caught her arm before she could escape. "What do we have here?" he said, looking at her, "A hobbit? Whats the like of you doing with this company?" he asked her, but she remained silent, like the others. The elf squinted at her, "I know you." he whispered, and then smiled. "The King shall be surprised to see you again." he sneered, and then threw her to the ground, "Very surprised indeed.". He mumbled as she bound her hands with sharp twine.
The last thing Annie saw was the inside of a sack as it covered her head.
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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter :)
