Tear Me Apart- A Middle Earth Story

Illusions

Abbie knew she had to speak with Gandalf about her dreams, but there was never a moment to do it. He had just disappeared into the forest, and Abbie had a feeling that there wouldn't be an opportunity to speak with him in private for a long time. Her head was filled with questions, but she would sadly have to wait until she got them answered.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." Gandalf commanded when he returned, and Abbie jumped off her horse. She set the pony free and walked toward the forest on foot. Once more, she doubted whether they would come out of it alive or not.

"This forest feels...sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked Gandalf. He was standing next to his daughter. He looked at her and noticed how she seemed to have aged during the journey. He knew it couldn't be possible that she had physically aged, but it was something about her behavior that seemed so mature. Bilbo had barely talked with her since he had tried to make her leave with him. He still felt embarrassed. She had always liked the adventure in him, yet he had failed her.

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south." Gandalf pointed, and Bilbo woke out of his daze. Nori was still unsaddling the wizard's horse when he stopped him.

"Not my horse! I need it." Gandalf exclaimed gravely. Abbie looked up at him, surprised.

"You're not leaving us?" Abigail said. Now she would definitely not get her answers for a long time.

"I would not do this unless I had to." The wizard replied with an apologetic look. He moved toward Abbie and looked her in the eye. "Oh my, how you've grown, Abigail Baggins. You're not the same naïve girl you were when we came to the Shire."

Abigail smiled, not knowing if it was a compliment to herself now, or an insult to her former self. Nevertheless, she smiled thankfully. Gandalf then moved on to her father.

"You've changed as well, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire." He told the hobbit, who seemed very sad by the departure of the wizard. Their conversation seemed to get private, so she moved on and stood beside Thorin.

"What do you think is in there?" She asked the dwarf prince, who was looking suspiciously into the forest.

"Whatever it is, we'll make it out alive." He replied.

"I certainly hope so." Abigail sighed, her curly hair blowing in the autumn wind. Thorin turned to look at her with those blue-grey eyes of his.

"How is your leg?" He asked the halfling, and she glanced down at her wound. The night before, she had tried to cleanse it with some water and tied it up in a cloth, but it didn't seem to have helped. The pain still throbbed.

"I guess it's alright." She replied anyway. She didn't want to worry him, and she also wanted to be brave. She would not whine about a wound.

"No it's not. It's not healing." Thorin said softly, and even though Abbie had not wanted him to worry, his eyes said that he clearly was.

"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 told Thorin, who took a step back to look at the wizard.

"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." Gandalf continued, and got up on his horse. "You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again." Abigail gulped at the wizard's words. However, she knew forests very well. She had learned how to not lose the path when she was a little girl.

"No matter what may come, stay on the path!" Were Gandalf's last words before he galloped away on his horse. The company turned to look at the forest.