Hiraeth - Thorin Oakenshield

𝐗𝐈 . 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝

The company rode across the lands, very little speaking between them. Mylaela kept a much closer eye on Bilbo, still uneasy about The Ring he possessed.

After hours of riding, the border of Mirkwood came into view. Though the woods did not look how she once knew them. The trees were barren of greenery, all faded to a muted gray. The forest itself looked dead.

Gandalf dismounted his horse, walking towards the forest, "Here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of the Orcs," Dwalin mentioned as Mylaela dismounted her horse, preparing to untack him, "We have luck on our side."

"Set the ponies loose!" Gandalf ordered, "Let them return to their master."

"This forest feels, sick," Bilbo said what the whole company had been thinking, "As if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?"

"Not unless we go 200 miles North. Or twice that distance South."

Mylaela approached Thorin, "We should go around."

"I feel the foul air as well," he agreed, "But we are losing time."

"We can take fewer rests, quicken our pace, travel through the night," Mylaela pleaded with the leader, willing to do anything to not enter the cursed forest.

Thorin looked up at her, before back at his company, "I am sorry, Mylaela. We would never make it in time."

"Not my horse!" Gandalf shouted as he emerged from the forest, "I need it!"

"You're not leaving us?"

"I would not do this unless I had to," Gandalf sighed, "You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire."

"I was going to tell you," Bilbo started, "I found something in the Goblin tunnels."

"Found what?" Gandalf became suspicious, Mylaela widening her eyes. The Elf feared how the Dwarves would react to Bilbo possessing the Ring, "What did you find?"

"My courage."

"Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it," Gandalf walked towards his horse, "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."

The company shared a few questioning glances before making their way to the edge of the woods, before Gandalf shouted once more, "Mylaela! Keep them safe. 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'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."

Mylaela sent him a nod of acknowledgment before walking to the woods following Thorin's words, "Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day."

"Mylaela, lead the way," Thorin ordered, a confused glance coming from her. Without arguing, she began walking down the path.

The second she entered the woods, it felt as if she was struggling just to breathe. Nevertheless, she continued down the path, Thorin and Dwalin next to her.

"This way!" Thorin shouted to the group as they turned to the left, walking on a ledge next to a seemingly endless cavern. Mylaela fluttered her eyes as her vision seemed to double slightly.

Mylaela held her arms out to stop the Dwarves as she could no longer see the path. Dwalin tapped the butt of his hammer onto the ground a few times until they heard the stone, "This way."

As they journeyed on, the forest began to take its effect on all of them. Bofur began to breathe heavily, "Air! I need air."

"My head, it's swimming!" Oin shouted in panic, looking around in confusion. Mylaela glanced back to ensure they had not lost any Dwarves.

"We found the bridge!" Kili called to the group, Mylaela letting out a groan as the bridge was broken.

"We could try and swim it," Bofur suggested, Mylaela walking away from the group to find another path.

"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?" Thorin groaned, "A dark magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted."

"Doesn't look very enchanting to me," Bofur remarked, Thorin following where Mylaela had walked, "We must find another way across."

"These vines look strong enough!" Kili called from the side of the stream, about to climb across before Thorin called his name, "We send the lightest first."

The company slowly turned to face Bilbo, Mylaela stepped in front of the Hobbit, "I am lighter, I will go."

Thorin gave her a warning glance before nodding his head in approval, "Be careful."

Mylaela held onto a vine before stepping onto it, the vine shifting under her feet. Under any other circumstance, the Elf could have leaped across them with ease, though it felt as if her body no longer belonged to her.

She looked down at her feet, stepping onto the next one, her foot only coming into contact with air. Mylaela shook her head to clear her vision once more, finding the vine beneath her feet. With much struggle, she made it across, "Bilbo! Watch your step."

The company watched as the Hobbit anxiously stepped onto the vines, grasping onto one tightly as he himself became lightheaded.

"It's alright, can't see any problem," he acknowledged, just as his grip slipped and he began to fall. The company panicked before letting out a sigh of relief as Bilbo hung on the low vine, just above the water, "There's one. Everything's fine."

Bilbo shifted before standing upright, only to fall forward once again. He caught onto a vine, suspended above the water once more. He regained his balance for a second time, roughly making his way across before leaping onto flat land.

"Something's not right, it's not right at all," he painfully muttered, before standing up to shout at the Dwarves, "Stay where you are!"

Mylaela and Bilbo let out a small 'oh' as they saw the entire company on the vines, struggling to get across.

"Dwarves never cease to amaze me with how thick their skulls are," Mylaela muttered, sitting on a rock as she knew there was nothing she could do to help them.

Thorin landed on the ground next to her with a grunt, the three perched on solid land turned their heads to the sound of branches cracking. A beautiful white deer crept into a clearing, staring at the commotion.

Mylaela and Bilbo noticed the sound of a bow being drawn back, turning to Thorin, "What are you doing?"

Before Mylaela could stop the Dwarf, he let the arrow fly, missing his mark.

"You shouldn't have done that," Bilbo muttered, shaking his head, "It's bad luck."

"I don't believe in luck. We make our own luck."

Mylaela shot her head back towards the water to the sound of a splash, gasping when she saw Bombur passed out in the stream.