Hello guys! I'm back with another chapter.

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Chapter 12: Beorn's Home

Later, Beorn served them all breakfast in the kitchen, dressed in a wool coat. The breakfast included bread, honey, butter, cheese and milk, which Beorn poured into everyone's cups via a pitcher as he walked around them. As the skin-changer poured milk to the Company, he turned to the only Dwarf standing, Thorin.

"So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"So you know of Azog? How?" asked the surprised Dwarf King.

Beorn replied in a dismal voice:

"My people were the first to live in the Mountains, before the Orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved. (All noticed a remnant of iron handcuffs around Beorn's wrist.) Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him."

Thus Azog the Defiler was even more depraved than the Company would have thought. Hope remembered that her father had been mistreated by his father Mikael, treating him like a wild beast, never as a son. She swore to do justice to all skin-changers, including Beorn.

Bilbo spoke in turn, bringing Hope to earth.

"There are others like you?"

Beorn barely stared at the Hobbit by answering:

"Once, there were many."

"And now?" added Hope, sitting next to Bilbo.

Beorn paused before responding.

"Now, there is only one."

All looked at Beorn, feeling sympathy and empathy for all that he and his people had to endure under the Pale Orc. Hope identified with him. Beorn had lost his family, now lived as the only one of his kind, living among animals. Hope wondered what would have happened to her after her parents died, had it not been for the Salvatore Boarding School. Would she end up like him?

Her empathy for Beorn was great.

The skin-changer changed the subject, and addressed both the Dwarves and Gandalf.

"You need to reach the Mountain before the last days of autumn?"

"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." the wizard nodded."

"Yes," admitted Beorn. "You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."

A chill passed through Hope and Alaric, remembering Radagast the Brown's anguish about Mirkwood.

Beorn replied in a dark voice:

"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. I would not venture there except in great need."

"This forest is so dangerous that it is?" asked Alaric anxiously.

"Much more dangerous than you think," replied Beorn.

"We will take the Elven Road." said Gandalf with confidence. "That path is still safe."

"Safe?" exclaimed the skin changer, a little sarcastically. "The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous."

Hope and Alaric exchanged worried looks. Before leaving Rivendell, Elrond had warned them about certain Elves who were not as welcoming as the Elf Lord. If this Elves discovered the Tribrid, Hope and Alaric feared their reactions.

"But it matters not." replied Beorn.

Stunned, Thorin turned to him with a worried look.

"What do you mean?"

"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive."

In his words, the Dwarves all stared at each other with the same nervousness. Their chance of reaching the Lonely Mountain began to diminish, despite the presence of Gandalf and the two visitors.

Beorn got up and walked a hundred paces.

"I don't like Dwarves. They're greedy and blind… (As he spoke, he picked up in his hand a white mouse that Bofur had just chased out of his arm.) Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own."

He walked towards Thorin, who remained neutral, while Beorn furiously concluded:

"But Orcs I hate more."

"We all agree that we hate the Orcs," said Alaric, turning to the Dwarves, who approved of his words.

Ignoring Alaric, Beorn continued holding the mouse in his hand.

"What do you need?"

Beorn had agreed to help the Company by lending them ponies for the Dwarves and Hope, while Alaric and Gandalf obtained horses. They now had provisions and weapons.

Hope had kindly offered to remove Beorn's chains, but he had refused, saying he preferred to wait for Azog's death to remove them.

Later that day, while the Dwarves were saddling their ponies, Beorn spoke privately with Gandalf, Hope, and Alaric.

"You will leave my ponies before you enter the forest," he ordered.

"You have my word," said Gandalf.

It was then that a flutter of wings and the cries of birds that accompanied him caught their attention.

Hope and Alaric recalled that Elrond had advised them to beware of birds, for the Enemy could use them as spies.

"We're being watched," said Gandalf, mistrustful, turning his attention where he had heard the birds.

"Yes, the Orcs will not give up," Beorn agreed. "They will hunt the Dwarves until they see them destroyed."

"Why now?" replied the wizard. "Why has made the Defiler crawl from his hole?"

"There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur." explained Beorn.

"How do you know?" asked Hope, astonished.

"Packs have been seen gathering there. Each day, more and more come."

"What do you know of this sorcerer?" asked Gandalf. "The one they call the Necromancer?"

"I know he is not what he seems," replied the skin-changer. "Fell things are drawn to his power. Azog pays homage to him. And rumor has it that Dol Guldur's sorcerer has the power to open a gateway to a world other than our own."

In his words, Gandalf stared at Hope and Alaric, all three stunned. There was no doubt, this Necromancer of Dol Guldur was the cause of the two visitors coming to Middle-earth. Which explains why Azog was ordered to capture Hope. The Necromancer wanted her alive, but why? What was its purpose?

In the distance, Thorin sat on his pony and called them:

"Gandalf! Alaric! Hope! Time is wasting!"

"We have to go," said Hope.

Gandalf and Alaric nodded and made their way to the ponies when Beorn stopped them again:

"There is more… Not long past, word spread the dead had been seen walking near the High Fells of Rhudaur."

"The dead?" exclaimed Gandalf.

Alaric shuddered all over his spine to mention the High Fells of Rhudaur. He remembered that name. It was mentioned during the White Council in Rivendell. He recalled Galadriel's story about the Witch-King of Angmar, and that his tomb was in the High Fells of Rhudaur.

"Is it true? Are there tombs in those Mountains?" replied Beorn.

"Yes, there are tombs up there," Hope said in a trembling voice, also remembering the story of the Witch-King of Angmar.

She recalled what Galadriel had revealed about the tomb of Sauron's most evil and dangerous servant:

"When Angmar fell, men of the North took his body and all that he possessed and sealed it within the High Fells of Rhudaur. Deep within the rock they buried them, in a tomb so dark it would never come to light."

Beorn went on with a dark voice:

"I remember a time when a great evil ruled these lands. One powerful enough to raise the dead. If that enemy has returned to Middle-earth, I would have you to tell me."

Hope and Alaric were shocked again, because he knew that the skin-changer was alluding to Sauron, the ancient, overpowering evil being who terrorized Middle-earth thousands of years ago.

"Saruman the White says it's not possible," said Gandalf. "The Enemy was destroyed and will never return."

"And what does Gandalf the Grey say?" asked Beorn with an insistent glance.

The Wizard remained speechless, unable to answer. Beorn's revelations shocked both visitors. Some recent events made them uncomfortable. First, they discovered that Azog, in addition to wanting to kill Thorin, wanted to capture Hope and bring her to his master who was probably the sorcerer Necromancer of Dol Guldur. What if this Necromancer is even worse than someone who can bring the dead back to life? Why did he bring Hope and Alaric to Middle-earth? And how did he know about Hope and her nature?

"Mr. Saltzman, Gandalf," said Hope in a trembling voice. "I believe that this Necromancer is much worse than a sorcerer who can raise the dead. If he was able to bring us to Middle-earth, he's much more than a sorcerer or a Necromancer."

"We're dealing with an evil being we've never faced before," said Alaric nervously.

Before Gandalf could say a word, the cries of the birds sounded again. The Enemy was not far away. They had to leave quickly.

"Go now, while you have the light" said Beorn, having noticed the danger. (Then animal howls resounded in the woods.) "The hunters are not far behind."

Hope climbed on her pony, while Alaric climbed on a horse.

Shortly thereafter, the Company quickly crossed the country, slowing down until it stopped at the approach of a menacing and dark forest. Gandalf set foot on the ground and entered the forest by an ancient arch.

"The Elven Gate,"said Gandalf, examining the entrance to the dark woods.

He turned to the others.

"Here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of the Orcs," said Dwalin, looking around. "We have luck on our side."

Hope did not share the Dwarf's optimism. Just seeing Mirkwood from the outside, she wasn't eager to enter. There was nothing beautiful about that forest. Dead would be the appropriate term to describe Mirkwood. The woods seemed to be sick. Trees were dying or their leaves seemed discolored. More than that, Hope could just feel something. She could feel something dark lying above the forest. And that made her uncomfortable.

Gandalf noticed Beorn as a bear on top of a rocky hill. He had to follow them to make sure the Company kept its word for the mounts.

"Set the ponies loose." said Gandalf, addressing everyone. "Let them return to their master."

The Dwarves, Bilbo, Hope, and Alaric descended from the ponies and horse and began to withdraw their provisions from their mounts. Bilbo approached the forest on foot.

"This forest feels sick," he said, looking at the grim woods in front of him. "As if a disease lies upon it."

"Yeah, you're right, Bilbo," added Hope, very anxious. "This forest scares me. There's an evil in these woods. Even for me, it terrifies me."

"Honestly, I don't really want to venture into that forest." Alaric was as shocked as they were.

"Is there no way around, Gandalf?" asked the Tribrid.

Gandalf shared their concerns and responded in a compassionate tone:

"Not unless we go two hundred miles North, or twice that distance South."

Alaric reluctantly agreed.

"And it would take us too long to reach the Lonely Mountain by the end of the autumn. If only time were with us…"

Balin came to him.

"Master Alaric, there is no safer way in this part of the world. Going North would lead us to the Mountains, straight to the Orcs and Goblins. And going South would bring us too close to Dol Guldur and the Necromancer."

"And given what we've just learned about the Necromancer, going to Dol Guldur would be a serious mistake," Hope said in a fearful voice. "So we're going to have to go through this grim forest. We have no choice."

Gandalf followed a path a few meters further in the shade and approached a statue covered with plants. As he approached the statue, he recalled the directives of Lady Galadriel before leaving Rivendell:

"Something moves in the shadows unseen, hidden from our sight… Every day it grows in strength… Beware the Necromancer. He is not what he seems."

Gandalf approached the statue with apprehension, then quickly ripped out the vines, revealing a sign painted red. A sign in the shape of a sinister eye.

Then he seemed to hear Galadriel's alarming voice in his head:

"Mithrandir, if our enemy has returned, and he has brought Hope Mikaelson into our world, we must know… Go to the tomb in the Mountains…"

With what Beorn had just revealed to him, knowing the enemy became a primordial emergency. He knew where he was going.

"The High Fells… So be it." he said aloud, knowing the burial place of the Witch-King of Angmar.

The Dwarves came to release the ponies and let them go to the house of the skin-changer. Alaric had just released his horse and prepared to do the same with Gandalf's.

However, before he could free the horse, the Wizard rushed out of the forest.

"Not my horse! I need it."

All looked at Gandalf with confusion.

"You're not leaving us?" asked Bilbo anxiously.

"What's wrong? Why are you leaving us?" exclaimed Hope alarmed at Gandalf's departure.

Crossing Mirkwood did not please her at all, and it made her anxious to go without the help of the old wizard.

Gandalf gave the Tribrid and the Hobbit a compassionate and gloomy look.

"Bilbo, my dear Hope, I regret having to leave you. I would not do this unless I had to."

As he walked towards his horse, he turned to Bilbo, looking at him with a frown.

"You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire."

"I was going to tell you" replied the Hobbit, hesitantly. "I… found something in the Goblin tunnels."

Now Hope's eyes widened. She knew it. Bilbo had found something in the Misty Mountains, which he hid in his pocket and he was going to confirm it.

"Found what?" asked Gandalf with curiosity.

"What did you find?" asked Hope with an encouraging nod.

Bilbo remained silent for a while, as if he hesitated to answer. Hope saw his hand tense on his pocket. Finally, the Hobbit replied:

"My courage."

He took his hand out of his pocket.

Hope seemed disappointed because she knew there was something else. Of course, he wasn't lying. He had indeed found his courage in the tunnels of the Misty Mountains, however, he had also found something else, so he was not telling the whole truth.

Unlike the Tribrid, Gandalf seemed pleased.

"Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it."

Then he turned to Hope, looking sad.

"I'm sorry to have to leave you, but I have to. I need to find out who this Necromancer really is. If my fears are true, then I'll know more about what brought you and Alaric to Middle-earth."

"Good luck, Gandalf," said Alaric kindly.

"Maybe I should come with you?" offered Hope.

"The Company needs you," said Gandalf. "And that would be too dangerous. I don't know who this Enemy is hiding in the shadows and I don't want to risk anything happening to you. Stay with Bilbo, Hope. Keep a close eye on him."

The Tribrid nodded her head.

Then the Wizard went to his horse.

"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor." he explained. "Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that Mountain without me."

Hope hurried to meet him at his horse.

"Gandalf, I don't think Thorin will be waiting for you to enter the Mountain."

The Wizard turned to Hope.

"So don't let Bilbo enter the Mountain alone."

Hope nodded, firmly, determined to protect Bilbo. Gandalf got on his horse, while warning the Company of the dangers of Mirkwood.

"This is not the Greenwood of old. There is a stream in the woods that carries a dark enchantment. Do not touch the water. Cross only by the stone bridge. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."

"Lead us astray?" exclaimed Bilbon, confused. "What does that mean?"

"You must stay on the path," replied Gandalf. "Do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again."

And then he rode off, adding:

"No matter what may come, stay on the path!"

Thorin pushed the Company into the forest.

"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day. This is our one chance to find the hidden door."

Hope looked at Alaric. Both were anxious about even crossing Mirkwood.

"Are you ready for that?" asked the Tribrid to her Headmaster.

Alaric shook his head.

"Not at all, what about you?"

"Neither do I," replied Hope, still anxious.

Then Alaric put his hand on the Tribrid's shoulder.

"Do we have a choice?" he said. "I don't like it as much as you do, but we have no other options. We have to cross this forest."

Hope nodded, nervously.

"Gandalf said to stay on the path. As long as we stay on the path, we're safe."

"And don't touch the water," added Alaric. "Cross it by a stone bridge."

Thorin called them, when he and the Dwarves had already begun their march.

"Hope, Alaric. Come on!"

Hope took inspiration with determination.

"Let's do this!"

With this, the Company sank into the forest.

Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.