Hey guys! I know I'm a little late getting this chapter out, please forgive me for that. But, I really hope you will enjoy this one.

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Conri Nightwalker – Hey, yeah the last chapter was a little shorter than I have been having them lately, I do apologise for that. I hope this one will make up for it.

Chapter 17

The day of our departure arrives sooner than any of us expect or I would like. We are up bright and early to get ready for our trek to Mirkwood. Once we have finished our breakfast, I distribute the packs Beorn and I prepared, out to everyone before strapping my own weapons onto my back, and then grab the pack before we all go outside, where Beorn has two horses and several ponies ready for us. I get on one of the horses while Gandalf walks away with Beorn and they start talking.

I try to glare a hole into the back of Gandalf's head, or at least try to set his hat on fire with my glare. I am still very uneasy about the thought of having go through the woods of my home. Not just because of this sickness Gandalf, Radagast and Beorn keep talking about, but because of what will happen when we enter. I know we are going to get caught, I just know it.

"Cal, are you alright?" Thorin asks as he rides his pony next to me.

I sigh as I feel my body sink slightly. "I will be once we leave the forest."

"Still feel uneasy?"

"Terrified, more like."

He reaches up and takes my hand in his. "Remember what I said before? Whatever happens, we face it together."

I smile as I squeeze his hand. "Together."

He smiles back and kisses my hand before he turns to make sure everyone else is getting ready.

Looking up, I see Beorn and Gandalf making their way back towards us, right into my earshot. I quickly turn to watch the others, to make it appear I am not eavesdropping.

"You will leave my ponies before you enter the forest." Beorn says to the wizard, who nods his agreement.

"Oh, you have my word." A bird caws nearby as it flies off. "We're being watched."

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

Gandalf turns to him with frustration. "Why now? What has made the Defiler crawl from his hole?"

Beorn strides up to him. "There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the sorcerer in Dol Guldur."

I look up at this. A sorcerer in Dol Guldur? How long has there been a sorcerer in that fell place? It had been abandoned for as long as I can remember. Why would anyone want to take up residence in there? Well, other than the orcs anyway

"Are you sure of this?"

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

I start to feel uneasy as I hear sounds in the distance. Thorin, sensing my uneasiness, rides up besides me and I feel him take my hand. I do not look to him however, concentrating and what Beorn and Gandalf are saying.

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

I frown. Necromancer?

"I know he is not what he seems. Fell things are drawn to his power. Azog pays homage to him."

"Gandalf." Thorin suddenly calls out, causing Gandalf to turn to him. "Time is wasting."

Gandalf begins making his way to us, but is stopped as Beorn talks again.

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

I look up at this. The High Fells of Rhudaur. . .that is where the Rangers of the North buried Angmar when he fell. He and his followers.

"The dead?"

"Is it true? Are there tombs in those mountains?"

I look to Gandalf as he takes a while to answer before he finally nods.

"Yes. Yes, there are tombs up there."

"I remember a time when a great evil ruled these lands. One powerful enough to raise the dead."

My whole body freezes. The one Beorn is talking about is Sauron. . .I had always believed that he was never truly defeated, having told Bilbo this in Rivendell. . .but could he be back now?

"If that enemy has returned to Middle-earth, I would have you tell me."

"Saruman the White says it's not possible. The enemy was destroyed and will never return."

"And what does Gandalf the Grey say?"

Gandalf does not have the chance to answer as more birds caw and fly around, startling the animals. I lean down and pat my horses neck, whispering soothing words in elvish to calm her down.

"Go now. While you have the light. Your hunters are not far behind."

Gandalf returns to us and mounts his horse before we all leave, with me giving Beorn a slight bow of thanks before I do so.

It takes us a few days ride to get to the borders of Mirkwood. When we do, I have to slow and stop my horse as I gaze once more upon the trees of my home. Even from such a distance, I can sense the sickness that has been placed upon the forest. It does not feel like the same home I had left almost two centuries ago. . .

I force myself to move my horse on, reaching the others as Gandalf dismounts and walks towards an ancient archway.

"The elven gate. . ." I mutter to myself.

"Here lies our path through Mirkwood." Gandalf calls out as he turns to us.

Dwalin dismounts. "No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side."

Gandalf squints as he sees something in the distance; looking around, I see Beorn, in his bear-form, watching them us a distant ridge.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." Gandalf commands.

The others dismount but I stay on the horse, in too much shock to do so as I stare at the forest. . .the same forest Legolas and I used to play in as elflings. . .how could this have happened?

"This forest feels...sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asks as he approaches the forest.

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south."

"I would happily do that." I mutter to myself as I finally dismount.

Taking my pack from the horse, I reach out and pat her snout.

"Thank you for taking me this way, my friend. Return home to your master. He is expecting you."

The horse nuzzles me before turning and waiting for the ponies. I turn and walk closer to the trees, before hesitantly placing a hand on one of them. I gasp as I close my eyes. . .I can feel it. . .I can feel the sickness. . .can feel the pain the forest is suffering from. . .and it breaks my heart.

I finally manage to pull my hand off the tree, stumbling back into someone's arms. I relax as I feel Throin's strong hold on me.

"Caladwen, what is it?" he asks me.

I turn to him as a single tear falls. "I can feel it Thorin. . .I can feel the sickness. . .the darkness in the forest. . .it is awful. . .my home. . .my forest. . .it is gone. . ."

Thorin says nothing, he just pulls me into him, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder to grieve in silence.

"Not my horse! I need it!"

I look up to see Gandalf striding forward towards his horse.

"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asks.

"I would not do this unless I had to."

My irritation for the wizard has just got higher. "Are you joking?" Gandalf looks to me as I pull away from Thorin and stride towards him. "It was your idea for us to stroll through Mirkwood and now you are just going to abandon us to walk through the forest alone?"

"I know, and I am sorry. As I said, I would not do this unless I had to. You know this forest better than anyone here, I am sure you will be able to lead them through."

I scoff. "I am not going to be as much of a use as you think." I look to the forest. "It has changed since I was last here. . .I can sense it." I look back to him. "And we do not just have to worry about losing our way in here. As soon as we are found, we will be taken to my father, and I definitely will not be of much use in there."

He puts his hand on my shoulder. "Have faith in yourself, Caladwen. I feel you will be more of a use than you think you will."

I say nothing more as I turn from him, muttering to myself as I walk away.

Gandalf talks to Bilbo for a few moments before he begins walking toward his horse; he speaks as he passes Thorin.

"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me." Gandalf stops and looks hard at Thorin as he says this, then continues toward his horse. "This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."

Bilbo looks to me. "Lead us astray? What does that mean?"

I don't say anything as Gandalf gets on his horse. It begins raining lightly, even though the sun is out.

"You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again." Gandalf wheels his horse and rides away. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!"

We all turn towards the forest.

"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day." Thorin says to us.

"Durin's Day. Let's go!" Dwalin exclaims.

"This is our one chance to find the hidden door. Caladwen, can you lead the way?"

I don't say anything as I just stare into the forest for a while. Noticing the others glancing to me, I step forward towards the forest, stopping just before the Gate. Looking around, I can feel the weight of the sickness bearing down on me, surrounding me in a veil of darkness, which starts to make me feel ill myself. I then feel Thorin's hand on my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze, giving me the strength I need. I close my eyes, take in a deep breath and open them before striding confidently into the forest, the others right behind.

Taking the few steps down, I pause as I notice a statue further down, covered in vines.

"Caladwen?" I hear Thorin's concerned voice.

Not answering him, I instead walk on, stopping by the statue. My heart freezes as I see a familiar red mark painted on the statue. The Eye of Sauron. I have to take in some deep breaths to hold back tears of anger as I reach up and gently touch the face of the statue.

"Who is that?" I hear Fili ask.

"My mother. . .someone, or something, has defaced a statue, a memory, of my mother with the mark of evil!"

I cannot keep the emotion and shakiness out of my voice as I say this. Something has done this to my mother, someone who was too pure for this world. Her memory did not deserve this.

I feel Thorin take my hand, his other going around my waist as he tries to comfort me.

"Caladwen, I am so sorry."

I just continue to stare at my mother's statue for a few moments before I turn and walk on. I quickly wipe a stray tear as I keep my gaze to the path while I lead the others through the forest.

For the next few days, we wander through the forest, the others following me blindly as I walk along the path. Thankfully, the forest does not seem to be affecting me as much as it is the others, I can feel something tickling at the back of my head, but it is not enough to send me disorientated. We rest during the nights, having to go without fire after we got attacked by giant bats the first night we started a fire. I return to taking my meditations for a couple of hours and then begin taking up watch. Thorin hesitates for a moment, but as he realises the forest does not affect me like it does them, he reluctantly agrees.

About halfway into the week, we finally come upon the bridge, Bofur yelling to the others from behind me. We look on in dismay as the bridge is broken in the middle.

"We could try and swim it." Bofur suggests as he is looking at the river.

"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?" Thorin begins from next to me. "The dark magic lies upon this forest. Waters of this stream are enchanted."

"Doesn't look very enchanting to me." Bofur mutters.

"Believe me, Bofur. It is enchanted." I reply as I can feel the dark magic. "We must find another way across."

As we look around, Bilbo suddenly shouts up after a few moments;

"There is a boat against the far bank! Now why couldn't it have been this side!"

Standing next to the hobbit, I look to where he is pointing and can clearly see the boat on the other side of the river bank.

"How far away do you think it is?" Thorin asks as he rushes over.

"Not at all far, no more than twelve yards." I reply.

"Twelve yards! I should have thought it was thirty at least, but my eyes don't see as well as they used to a hundred years ago. Still twelve yards is as good as a mile. We can't jump it, and we dare not try to wade or swim."

"Can any of you throw a rope?"

Thorin looks up at me. "What's the good of that? The boat is sure to be tied up, even if we could hook it, which I doubt."

"I don't believe it is tied," Bilbo answers, "though of course I can't be sure in this light; but it looks to me as if it was just drawn up on the bank, which is low just there where the path goes down into the water."

"Caladwen? What do you reckon?"

"I am not sure. It could be tied up, but even then, if you get the strongest amongst us pulling, it should come loose."

"Well, it's the best plan we have right now." Thorin turns to his oldest nephew. "Come here Fili, and see if you can see the boat."

Fili walks over and looking in the direction of the boat as the others bring him some rope. They attach large iron hooks to the rope before handing it to the blond. Taking it in his hand, he balances it for a moment before flinging it across the stream. It falls into the water with a splash.

"Not far enough!" Bilbo says as he's peering forward. "A couple of feet and you would have dropped it on to the boat. Try again. I don't suppose the magic is strong enough to hurt you if you just touch a bit of wet rope."

This time he throws it with greater strength.

I hold a hand out. "Steady. You have thrown it right into the wood on the other side now. Draw it back gently."

Fili hauls the rope back slowly, and after a while Bilbo says:

"Carefully! It is lying on the boat; let's hope the hook will catch."

It does. The rope goes taut, and Fili pulls in vain. Kili, Oin and Gloin go over to help. Together, they tug and tug before they suddenly fall back as the rope goes slack when the boat is pulled away.

Bilbo catches the rope, and with a piece of stick fends off the little black boat as it comes rushing across the stream. "Help!" he shouts, causing Balin and I jump in together, just in time to seize the boat before it floats off down the current.

"It was tied after all," Balin says while looking at the snapped rope that's still attached to the boat. He looks to the dwarves as the get on their feet. "That was a good pull, my lads; and a good job that our rope was the stronger."

"Who'll cross first?" Bilbo asks.

"I shall," Thorin replies, "and you will come with me, Fili and Balin. That's as many as the boat will hold at a time. After that Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dori; next Ori, Nori, Bifur and Bofur; and lastly Caladwen, Dwalin, and Bombur."

"I'm always last and I don't like it," Bombur complains. "It's somebody else's turn today."

Thorin turns to snap at the dwarf. "You should not be so fat. As you are, you must be with the last and lightest boatload. Don't start grumbling against orders, or something bad will happen to you."

Bombur luckily says nothing more at the reprimand and looks down.

"There aren't any oars. How are you going to push the boat back to the far bank?" I ask after looking into the boat and noticing this.

"Give me another length of rope and another hook," Fili says while holding his hand out, and when they have it ready, he casts into the darkness ahead and as high as he could throw it. Since it did not fall down again, we see that it must have got stuck in the branches. "Get in now, and one of you haul on the rope that is stuck in a tree on the other side. One of the others must keep hold of the hook we used at first, and when we are safe on the other side he can hook it on, and you can draw the boat back."

In this way, it is slow, but all of us soon reach the far bank, safely crossing the enchanted stream. I climb out with Dwalin scrambling out behind me with the coiled rope on his arm with Bombur getting ready to follow, when there is the sound of hooves on the path ahead. Out of the gloom suddenly comes the shape of a flying deer. It charges into us, bowling us over before gathering itself for a leap. High it springs and clears the water with a mighty jump. But it does not reach the other side in safety. Thorin is the only one who keeps his feet and his wits.

As soon as he had left the boat, he had bent his bow and fitted an arrow in case any hidden guardian of the boat appeared. Now he sent a swift and sure shot into the leaping beast. As it reaches the further bank it stumbled. The shadows swallowing it up, but we hear the sound of hooves quickly faltering before going still.

Before the dwarves can shout in praise of the shot however, a dreadful wail from Bilbo put all thoughts of venison out of their minds.

"Bombur has fallen in! Bombur is drowning!" he cries.

Spinning around, I see that Bombur has indeed fallen into the river. I can still see his hood above the water when we run to the bank. As we stop at the edge, Dwalin tosses the rope he's holding out and after seeing Bombur has grabbed it, he, Dori, Gloin, Bofur and Bifur pull the rope and Bombur out onto land, his hand gripping tightly onto the rope, even when he's fast asleep, thanks to the river's enchantment.

Oin and I quickly check him over and informs us all that he is well, just sleeping, the enchanted river taking on full effect.

"What do we do now? We can't just sit around and wait for him to wake up." Nori points out.

That is when the dwarves use the branches and leaves to make a stretcher, placing him onto it and carry him through, six dwarves having to do it thanks to his large size. This is how it goes for the next few days, us all walking on with the dwarves carrying Bombur along until we rest for the night.

"We need to take a rest." I hear Nori call out as we're walking.

This is when things begin to go wrong. I look back to the others as we stop and can see how bad they are getting affected by the sickness of the forest. I tell them to wait here while I scale up the trees, being careful to avoid any webs, and poke out above the trees. Looking over the horizon, I can see the town of Esgaroth which resides on the Long Lake and further North, I give a small smile as I see Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, looking over everything.

Taking note on which way to go, I climb back down the trees, my feet softly hitting the ground.

"Okay, I know which way we need to g-"

That is when my heart sinks. The dwarves and Bilbo are gone. Spinning around on the spot, I try looking through the trees to see a hint of any of the dwarves, but can find nothing. I cannot even hear them, which is strange since they are always loud. I curse softly to myself before making the choice of continuing on the path, hoping I can eventually find them.

There we have it! Chapter 17 done and dusted. Next chapter, will be the long awaited sibling reunion. I hope you have enjoyed this one and please, keep your lovely reviews coming, I love hearing from each and every one of you. xx