Walking Between Dreams

Chapter 6

I knew that I must escape soon or I would lose my only chance at saving my loved one. In the distance I caught a glimpse of a faint gleam of light radiating from Tauriel's forest green pocket, the daggers that were attached to a belt above her hips were in my field of vision. This must be when Kili and Tauriel have their somewhat romantic part together. I can't believe that I'm in the cinematic universe instead of the book. I thought to myself as I observed through the bars.

My heart skipped a beat as Thorin hit my leg with his worn out boot again to move me over. He looked into my soul with his piercing eyes and peeked over my shoulder.

"What is that elf doing with Kili?" Thorin inquired.

I replied,"Don't know, don't care."

I scampered over to a corner from the opposite side of the dwarf and sat down with dirt smearing my pants. He stared at me while standing with an uncertain look until I closed my eyes

I sat there for what seemed like hours, but eventually the old king fell asleep with even breaths. I sneaked over to the lock, rummaged through my hair to seek for that same bobby pin. Soon enough I was attempting to unlock the door and with a click I was out. As a precaution I took time to re-lock the cell so I don't mess up the timeline. With each step I took with precision I got closer to the surface from the dungeon, all of the dwarves were quiet and sleeping as I tip toed by. They slept in little clumps with their heads leaned against each other. On the way up I only saw empty cells, some with a few bones, but fear not I escaped.

Finally, I reached the top and narrowly missed two elven guards when I had to sneak through a small doorway and around a few corners. Some vines hung from the ceiling that hit my head with their leaves falling to the wooden floor. The winding halls took me to a balcony that overlaid the Mirkwoods and over the edge I saw miles upon miles I saw vast amount of trees that swayed in the gentle breeze. Briefly, I didn't believe there was evil dwelling in the forest.

"What are you doing out here, human," snarled a female voice as I quickly turned around. Lo and behold there was Tauriel standing in front of me.

I ordered while feeling a vibrant pull to her and remembering the message on the ceiling of the cell, "Check your left pocket."

Tauriel looked confused and did not so I took a step forward and she drew her arrow.

I tried to explain, "To be honest, I did not tell the whole truth. I am on my own quest separate from Thorin Oakenshield's but I am looking for an object that I feel a pull to and that is in your right pocket. It should be a ring or something."

Tauriel with much doubt written across her face put away her arrow and reached into her pocket, she found nothing.

"For the fun of it could you check your other one?" I questioned with a strained voice.

Tauriel rightfully did not comply and drew her arrow again, light shimmered off the polished oak wood. I struggled to come up with a solution to the riddle and stammered an excuse, "One of you guards allowed me to escape."

"I do not believe you. All of the king's guards are loyal only to him," expressed Tauriel as she took a step closer to me.

 She snatched my wrist and I barely pulled out of her firm grasp. I took an adjusted, precise step to the right and jabbed my elbow to her gut. Tauriel easily blocked my hit but I was able to swing around my knee into her back in a split of a second. From above Tauriel let her fist smash into my shoulder and I went flying into a sharp tree trunk. The bandage around my head was laying on the lively leaves that littered the balcony as I glanced up to see her charging toward me.

Shakily, I stood up and took the impact of her solid punches with my forearms. The bruising ached with each strike as I searched for a weakness in her stance. I narrowly avoided her punches to my head but missed a few hits to my jaw.

I noticed that she lacked defense on her left side after a few more hits. I shifted my weight to the left and nailed her with my elbow to her side that pushed her slightly. I took a gamble and kicked Tauriel's pale temple with a round house kick. The momentum of my impact sent her tumbling against the ground and she laid there in heap of forest green and red.

I broke a stick off from a tree, the sap stuck to my hand as I rolled it in my grasp. I cautiously poked her button nose to see if she was conscious, she did not stir so I searched through her left pocket but only found herbs that smelled strong. 

A faint glow appeared in my side vision as I looked up to the doorway to the balcony to survey the area. Around her neck I picked up a thin chain with a simple, silver skeleton key on it. I ripped it off and tucked it away.

With much urgency I dragged her body to be hidden from view to the left side of the doorway. Then I took a slender dagger from her belt and slipped it onto my belt. On the way out I checked the doorway again to see if any elves came. Thankfully, there were no elven guards stationed anywhere close to me. Oddly, there were coats of dust that lined the leaves that hung from the walls as if it was abandoned. An earthy smell filled the air as I glanced towards the doorway and went back out. 

In five steps I was at the edge of the platform and leaped over the carved fence. A fresh breeze caught my face as I altered my stance to be facing Tauriel. I began to climb down from the balcony by placing my feet into shallow knob and cracks of the oak trees. These oaks were about twenty five feet towering plants that proved to be difficult to traverse. A stone structure that arched out in an elegant curve caught my fall as I let go the bark. Small cuts lined my skinned and shot with pain while I rubbed them against my pants. 

Leaf filled branches over hung the stone and ascended into the trees while I crawled across the stone further away from the palace. I reached out towards a branch and pulled myself into a tree. A birds nest was nestled right by my face and there were pale blue eggs. I clamored down without much effort through the trees and jumped the last three feet.

Into the Mirkwoods I traveled briskly with the red rays of sunlight filtering into the dense forest until the thought of the Elven King finding me left my thoughts. The calming sounds of the animal calmed my nerves and I kept going till nightfall.