Saving the Sons of Durin

Thand Caen

~ Part Ten ~

The ride to Greenwood had taken the company about a day to arrive. As they brought their horses to a stop, dark clouds rolled over the mountains, giving the forest an even more ominous look than before. Radag pawed at the ground nervously while looking into the forest.

They all dismounted and began to collect their things from the saddle bags so the animals could return to Beorn. "The elven gate. Here lies our path through Mirkwood." Gandalf called at the archway. "No sign of the orcs. We have luck on our side." Dwalin declared.

Ellía felt a familiar presence off in the distance and turned to see Beorn's bear form watching them from a cliff ledge on the hill they had just come down. "Turn the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." Gandalf instructed.

The elf swung her new pack onto her back and walked around Radag so she could face him. "Lead them back, Radag. I hope to see you soon. Please, be careful out there." she told him as she mindlessly did a quick braid in his bangs. The stallion huffed and nuzzled into her shoulder, making Ellía smile. "I will, Mellon." she assured him.

Radag backed away with one last farewell whiny before trotting over to where the the dwarves were freeing the ponies. "Were you just talking with him? Is that some kind of elf thing?" Kili asked weirdly. Ellía smiled as she began to walk towards the gate and said, "We don't necessarily speak to one another, it's more of an understanding." Kili and Fili shared a confused look and a shrug before following her to where the others stood with the wizard. "

"This forest feels sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked warily. "Not unless we go 200 miles north or twice that distance south." Ellía told him as she followed Gandalf through the gate to look around. As soon as she entered, she began to hear eerie whispers that were in what sounded to be... black speech.

Ellía felt like an unseen force was pulling her towards an old statue that had vines almost covering it completely. As she drew closer, she could see that it was a statue made after the late queen of Mirkwood. The whispers grew louder as she reached a hand up.

"What have you found, nin hiríl?" Gandalf said quietly as he came to stand beside her. Ellía did not respond as she took a hand-full of the vines and pulled them away. The two flinched away as if they had been burned. There on the queen's statue was an evil mark in red. "Gandalf... that looks lik- no. It cannot be. Right?" Ellía rambled as she looks at him with fear in her eyes.

"The High Fells. So be it." He muttered before heading back in to the open. "Not my horse! I need it." He called to Nori, who was about to let the horse run after Radag and the ponies. "You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asked in disbelief. "Gandalf, we cannot make it through without you. Especially, not after seeing that húna tehta ." Ellía hissed at him.

"I would not do this unless I had to. Ellía is able to lead you all perfectly well." He told everyone and gave the elf a pat on the shoulder, but she kept her gaze to the ground. "There is something different about our hobbit... Watch him carefully." Gandalf said under his breath before heading to his horse. "I will 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." He told Thorin as he mounted the horse.

"This is not the Greenwood of old. There is a stream that carries a dark enchantment. Do not touch the water. Cross only by the stone bridge. The very air is heavy with illusion. It'll seek to enter your mind and lead you astray. You must stay on the path. Do not leave it. If you do, you'll never find it again." He instructed as he turned his horse around. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!" he called as he galloped away.

Not wasting a second, Thorin called everyone to follow him, "We must make it to the mountain before Durin's day. It is our one chance to find the hidden door." He said as they walked through the gate. "Thorin, perhaps I should lead?" Ellía called, trying to sound as polite as possible. Thorin grunted and gave her a nod, signaling her to take the lead.

~~~~~

Ellía woke up with a very foggy mind and wrapped in something soft and stringy. "Ita imi i Valar-ië si?" she mumbled. "Ellía! Where is she?" A muffled voice called. She rolled to her side and pushed herself up on her knees, which was quite difficult since she was all wrapped up. "There!" a voice said and she heard hurried footsteps.

"Come, El. We've go to go." The voice said again as two people began to tear her out of what was confining her. Once her face was uncovered she blinked quickly, trying to get her vision to focus. "Fili? Kili? What's going o- is this spider web?" she asked frantically once she looked down at what had been pulled off of her. "Yes and it came from very large and very anger spiders that are coming. Let's go!" Kili said as he and his brother each grabbed an arm, dragging her with them.

"I don't think we are getting out of this without a fight." Ellía groaned as she pulled out her swords, the rest of the company doing the same. Within moments, they were swinging their weapons like mad men at the spiders. Ellía quickly lost count of how many legs she had severed while dodging between the overgrown arachnids.

They had cleared a way through the spiders, when more dropped down from the trees. Just as the company prepared themselves for more fighting, a group of elves appeared from the trees with their weapons drawn. 'Mirkwood elves, just what we need.' Ellía thought with a sigh as she finished off a spider.

One elf slid down from the tree and beneath a spider, slashing its abdomen, before gracefully coming to his feet with an arrow pointed between Thorin's eyes. In the blink of an eye, Ellía had lunged forward, knocking his arrow away and raising her swords up in a defensive manner. "Lady Ellía...this is most unexpected." The elf said in a level voice and a tilt of the head. Only then did she recognize just who this elf was. Prince Legolas. "My Prince." she said cooly.

"Help!!" They heard Kili yell . Ellía moved to go help the dwarf but the prince stepped in front of her. "A high-elf should not run to the aide of a dwarf." he said to her lowly. She only glared at him harshly and was going to shove past him when she saw a red-haired elf had already come to Kili's rescue. The dwarves all let out a sigh, seeing the youngest prince being drug over to them alive.

"Search them!" Legolas commanded and gave Ellía a stern look, making her slowly sheath her blades. "What are you doing here. Does your father know that you have left Rivendell?" the prince demanded. "My business is my own." Ellía told him and jutted out her chin. Legolas narrowed his eyes at her but turned to the elf who had saved Kili.

"Are the spiders dead?" he asked. "Yes, but more will come. They're growing bolder." She told him before king to help the guards in the searches. "Nin cóon." A guard called and Legolas nodded for Ellía to follow. "This is an ancient Elvish blade. Forged by my kin. How did you get this." The Prince demanded as he as admired the blade.

"It was given to me." Thorin growled. "Not just a thief , but a liar as well. Tul-hain!" Legolas called and the guards began to drag the dwarves, who had their hands tied and all connected to one rope. "He is not lying." Ellía seethed, but Legolas ignored her. "I Aran indo anír-na véla cin."

~ Elvish Translations ~

húna tehta - cursed mark

Ita imi i Valar-ië si? - What in the Valar is this?

Nin cóon - My prince

I Aran indo anír-na véla cin. - The King will want to see you.