~Chapter 11~
Beorn gave each of the dwarves and Bilbo a pony to ride. You didn't accept his kind offer you prefer to fly now that you could do so openly around the company. Before you left you put the guitar away safely but kept the notebook tucked inside your vest. As the company starts on their long ride you begin by walking alongside the mounts. After a few hours Gandalf calls out "We need to pick the pace." And kicks his mount into a run. The other ponies start to run as well. You run off the path and unfold your wings, taking off into the sky. You circle around to fly near the front of the company just above the tree tops.
You devise a plan and swoop low into the meadow flowers and grab an arm full. Then return to fly above the company, but this time on my back to keep the flowers hidden. After a while, you have two flower crowns created and looped them on your arm. Falling to the back of the line you slow and silently fly up behind Kili. Looking over you see Bofur trying not to laugh. You put a finger to your lips to keep him quiet. You try your approach again hovering just above Kili and Fili's heads. You drop one flower crown on Kili's head then one on Fili's. Kili didn't notice at first but Fili started laughing as he watched me do it to his brother. Letting the wind carry you up you laughed and tears came to your eyes as they discovered the circle of flowers on their heads. They both quickly took them off as everyone turned to the sound of the laughter. "What's going on back there?" Yells Thorin to the back of the company. You here Bofur say it was nothing, letting Thorin brush it off.
You landed near the Mirkwood forest and folded your wings completely hiding them. Something didn't feel right. The air in the wood was musky and foul, something was very wrong. The ponies turned back the way you all came as soon as they were dismounted. "As long as you stay on the elven path you will make it through safely. I will meet you at the mountain as soon as I can." Gandalf said as he mounted his horse again.
You rushed over to him "Gandalf this forest is not safe. And… and you know what will happen if stuff doesn't go as you plan." You say a little panicked.
"That is why you are here. To be sure to guide them safely through." He responds before trotting quickly away on his horse. You gather back with the rest of the company as they start their way down the over grown path into Mirkwood forest. For the first few hours it isn't bad, until the pounding in your head starts to mess with your eyes. From then on you stuck close to Kili or Fili. The little feathers on the back of your neck were standing up as you felt the sickness of the forest. You tried your best to be sure you all stayed on the path, but you knew that it was gone and that you had been off it for a while now. "Hey we need to stop a moment." You called to the group. After much mumbling and grunts everyone stopped under a large tree. Walking up to Thorin you said "Now, stay here. I'm going to climb up and see what way we need to go." You can see how clouded his mind is but he still nods to you. You don't trust yourself to fly so you climb up the tree and Bilbo follows you knowing what you are trying to do. Saw you and the hobbit reach the tree top the air clears and your heads clear up fully. You point to the east, "Look there's the mountain. Looks like just a little over a mile of forest then the lake." You say excitedly to Bilbo.
"I'm going to head back down. We shouldn't leave them alone for this long." Bilbo responds as he starts back down the tree. You stay up there for a moment longer before following the hobbit down. When you made it back down to the ground you were along. "Bilbo?" you call out. Everyone was gone and there was no sign of there they went. You strain your ears trying to hear anything but you only hear the forest and the fake sounds it was playing trying to trick you. Climbing the tree again you appeared above the leaves and tried to listen again. You heard the faint shouts of the dwarves coming up from under the leaves. Flying above the tree tops you located the fighting.
Dropping down you discover spider webs everywhere and dead spiders surrounding the company. Rushing over you rejoined the group "Thank the gods I found you! I had to get above the trees to hear your fighting." You sighed relieved. Something still felt off, you pulled your purple scarf up to cover your head and crouched down to dwarf height. You crouched next to Fili and whispered "Where's Kili? I haven't seen him." Fili looks around frantically and shouts Kili's name. The others start looking around but suddenly come face to face with arrow points. Elves with bows drawn surround us. You are pressed into the middle protectively. The leader of this elven group speaks with arrow pointed at Thorin. "Don't think I won't kill you, dwarf!" He says bitterly. 'Fuck it's Legolas. I can't let them recognize me, if they do things will not go well.' You think to yourself. Shouts are heard a little ways off "Kili!" shouts Fili frantically. He tries to take a step forward but the elves close tighter around us. There is a low hanging branch above us that you can jump up to. Eyeing it you whisper, "Stay here, I'll get him." Before anyone could respond you sprung up and pulled yourself on to the branch. You felt your hood fall off as you jumped up. The elves saw you, you knew that, as you jumped from branch to branch towards Kili's shouts.
As you come to the clearing you see a spider crawling towards the fallen dwarf. Relaxing your magic, you extend your claws and unfold your wings as you jump down onto the spiders back and slash its head clean off. Quickly but carefully you pull Kili to his feet and tuck him under one of your wings, keeping him close and safe. Another spider makes its way into the clearing toward us. An arrow flies past you into the spider's head killing it in its tracks. You turn around to come face to face with Legolas's arrow in your face once more. Folding your wings in front of you, you form a protective circle around Kili who is still close by your side. You stare down the arrow shaft back at the elf and growl defensively as he motions for you to move back to the others. When you return to the other clearing you see the others have already been searched for weapons and hands tie with rope. You take your scarf and wrap it around Kili's neck and hide your leather notebook in his coat whispering "Don't read it please." Before giving him a little shove towards the other dwarves. "Icarus! Kili! You're alright." Rejoices Fili as he is reunited with his brother. You flash them a warm sharp toothed smile as you hid your wings and claws. You were still standing apart from the group due to Legolas's bow still on you intently. You tried to move towards the group but he moves to stand between. "Down." He commands. "Go with us quietly and none of your dwarves will be harmed." You feel the feathers on your head and chest puff up as you growl back at him, before kneeling with your arms up. He gives the signal and you are forced face first into the dirt and arms forced behind your back. You can hear the dwarves shouting at the elves as they tie you. You struggle a little as they tie your hands and loop rope around your shoulders so you couldn't unfold your wings.