Darkness crept across the skies over the forest as the small company reached the man's house. They were literally on the outskirts of the forest and sitting there, was a small cottage-like house, hidden away from everything else. What was odd about this house was that although it had one door, there were no windows and no other holes in the building. Thranduil wondered to himself how and why he had never seen this place before – he knew the entire of Mirkwood perfectly, so how had this place been missed?
"There" the man said, pointing to the house.
"That is where my friend dwells".
Thranduil then rode forward with great speed, forcing his steed into a gallop, swiftly overtaking the man. The group followed, leaving the man behind them. As they approached the house, there was no noise save for the horse's hooves on the earth and there was no-one around – the place was deserted.
The company approached the house and dismounted. Thranduil went first, only to be overtaken and protected by his bodyguard and his son – Anié and Maeglin stood together just behind the King. Idhrenion cautiously opened the door. It squeaked and groaned as it opened, showing clear signs of abandonment and old age and the entire of the inside of the door was covered in dust and cobwebs.
Slowly but surely, the five entered the house, all alert and curious. No-one saw where their guide was or how far behind them he was. They spread themselves out, all surrounding the King for protection. The King called out in a loud, clear voice:
"Who dwells here? Come forth, by order of the King of Mirkwood!"
Silence followed. Thranduil called again, but to no avail. The place was truly deserted with no sign of life whatsoever. Thranduil was just about to turn around and ask for the whereabouts of their guide so he could question him when suddenly …
SLAM!
The heavy wooden door slam shut behind them, still with no sign of their guide. The sound echoed throughout the little house and all heads turned towards the now-shut door. Legolas and Maeglin stepped swiftly towards the door and pushed against it. But no matter how hard they tried or how much strength they used – for these were strong men – the door would not open. Everyone else tried it too, but it simply would not budge.
"We have all been fools!" cried Legolas.
"Truly, we have been led into a trap!"
"This may be true" said Thranduil strongly,
"But perhaps our soldiers were led to this place in the same way we have been, so if they are here, we can find them and ourselves a way out".
'Or suffer the same fate' thought everyone else.
Thranduil looked around. If it was only a small house, surely finding another way out, or forcing themselves out, would not be such a problem? But as he looked around, he noticed something. In the room a few steps in front of him, there was an odd, slightly eerie glow. The room was made black because of it with a hint of occasional blue. Thranduil was curious and began to make his way towards the room, calling the others to follow. Idhrenion immediately went with his King in case what they found around the corner would do his King damage.
When Thranduil turned the corner, what he saw took him truly by surprise, as it did to the rest of the company. The mysterious light was coming from what appeared to be an enormous tunnel leading deep underground. Its entrance was large and round and the company could easily enter it if they so desired to. No-one was sure whether they wished to enter or not – Legolas was still very suspicious and Thranduil, being an Elf, and a proud one at that, was by no means keen to delve into the depths of the earth. Even the eyes of the Elves could not pierce the darkness deep within the tunnel. They all stared into it with a mixture of awe, wonder and suspicion.
"You have no need to fear it" said a voice out of nowhere.
The group then realised that the voice came from the darkness of the tunnel and out of the darkness, with arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture, was their guide who had disappeared and now reappeared suddenly like magic. Everyone, in their surprise, instantly reached for their weapons. The man seemed unalarmed and raised his open palms a little higher.
"There is no need for violence – I am no threat to you" he said calmly.
For reasons known to none of them, they all believed him.
Only Thranduil spoke.
"What is this place?" he demanded.
"It has no name as such" the guide replied, "but I call it the tunnel of secrets".
The guide's eyes were round and a piercing blue containing a look which disturbed everyone in the room. Everyone, that is, save Thranduil.
"Spare us the ridiculous titles!" he cried, clearly irritated.
"Where is this friend of yours, the one you said would help us find our missing friends?"
The guide said nothing, nor did he seem even the slightest bit concerned or put off by the King's sudden reprimand. He simply outstretched his arm backwards, his open palm gesturing towards the darkness of the tunnel.
"Enter, King of the Trees, and discover" the guide said, his voice low and calm.
He then turned slowly and disappeared once again into the darkness, his feet upon the cold floor barely making a sound. All eyes were focused on the darkness, a choice now testing their minds and hearts as to what to do next.
"Father, we should leave" said Legolas definitely, breaking the silence.
Thranduil thought for a moment before giving his final judgement:
"I will not leave my men here. I will search and I shall find".
With that, he walked into the tunnel. Idhrenion followed immediately after him. Legolas sighed exasperatedly to himself.
'Does he not see this could be a trap?' he thought to himself.
Anié understood his thoughts and held his hand as a sign of understanding and support. Maeglin, Anié and Legolas knew that they could not allow their King to walk into this strange place alone, even with his bodyguard, so with all three pairs of eyes fixed on the darkness, they walked into the darkness.