Early the next morning, everyone was ready to leave again. It had been a short night, but no one seemed bothered by that. At Thorin's command, they set off towards the Green Forest, this time they would travel straight through the forest. There were only 15 of them, how hard could it be to walk past Thranduil's realm unseen. It's not like he really cared much about the forest around his palace since the Green Forest was getting darker and darker and was already called Demsterwold.
The dwarves finally reached the edge of Demsterwold three days later, again deciding to set up camp and effectively enter the forest the next day. They also did not have to trek through it any longer than necessary, of course. The further the dwarves could stay away from the elves the better off both parties were. That evening Terwyn joined Thorin on a hunt, surely some animals had to be found in the forest to provide them with a good supply of fresh meat. Not that people didn't appreciate the dried meat King Gror brought along, but a nice fresh rabbit was still a better meal for a wandering party.
After a nice supper, everyone soon tried to catch up on some sleep so they could get through Demsterwold awake and fresh.
The next morning they set off again at dawn, Terwyn leading the way this time, though she had no idea where they were going, yet the path was not entirely foreign to her. Of course, she spoke to no one about this. She knew what dislike the dwarves had for Thranduil and his kingdom by now. She did not want to take any chances by declaring that she knew this path knowing that the dwarves might turn against her.
She kept walking until Thorin called them to a halt and they set up camp again. Terwyn went out on her own for a while that night, Demsterwold did not seem like such a dark and evil forest to her at all. She enjoyed all the greenery around her. The forest may have had dense vegetation which meant that hardly any sunlight got through the foliage but in a way this made her feel safe. The chirping of the birds sounded cheerful and made her happy too. Little by little, Terwyn wandered off the path and walked through the dense vegetation of the forest until she suddenly realised she had no idea where she had come from.
At first she just turned around and tried to quietly get back to the path, but once she realised she was walking in circles she started to panic and set off running. 'Keep walking straight, I just need to go straight to the northwest, yes that's where I came from.' Spoke encouragement to herself, her hopeful speech to herself was unexpectedly answered, however.
'The northwest is that way.' She suddenly heard a voice mutter, causing her to look up startled to see who had just answered.
To her great surprise, a female elf was looking down at her.
"How long have you been following me?" Terwyn asked suspiciously.
"A little while, you seemed lost to me." Said the elf as she came down with a simple leap.
"What do you want from me?" Mumbled Terwyn as she cautiously took a step back.
The elf laughed "No worries I don't need anything from you, I was just checking the borders of our realm when I saw you walking." Spoke the elf.
"What is your name?" So asked this one after which Terwyn swallowed audibly and weighed her options. Would this elf denounce her to the king. Should she even give her real name? In the end, she decided to take her chances since she couldn't think of any other name.
"Terwyn, Terwyn of Erebor, and your name is?" She replied.
"Ellariel." Spoke the elf after which Terwyn nodded at her kindly.
"Pleasant to meet you." Said both at the same time.
"Since you seemed in such a hurry to find the path I suppose you are not alone." Spoke the elf then causing Terwyn to gasp.
"Uh yes, I am alone, I just got scared. I was told to stay on the path and uh...I really should get to my destination on time." Began the dwarf woman after which the elf looked at her for a long time as if reading her mind.
This only put Terwyn under even more stress, she could almost swear she felt herself blushing "You're not alone, no need to be afraid though, I can get you back to your group." Suggested Ellariel at which Terwyn looked at her suspiciously.
"Will you get me back to my group, don't you have anything better to do?"
Ellariel laughed "Well the borders seem safe, apart from the group of dwarves now roaming our realm. The faster you get back to the group, the faster you can move on and that way there won't be a problem for anyone right?" Said the elf at which Terwyn could only nod.
She did not fully trust it, but the elf had a point.
Eventually, the elf brought her back to the path. There was no talking, but neither seemed to mind. When Terwyn recognised her surroundings again and heard all the laughter of dwarves, she turned to Ellariel.
"Uh I think I'll find my way now, it might be best if we say goodbye here"' So she said after which Ellariel nodded understandingly.
"Sounds like a good idea, our peoples will never be best friends I suppose." Replied this one. Terwyn nodded briefly and then thanked the elf again for her services after which she turned and walked carefully back to the group.
Occasionally she would look behind her to make sure she was not being followed. Once she returned to the group, she immediately demanded silence, causing the group to look up at her in surprise.
"We have to get out of here, now! I looked around and came across an elf woman, she belongs to Thranduil's army I'm sure, she was checking the borders. She knows about our group, I don't know what she will do next, but we can't risk staying here and being found by the whole army!" Spoke Terwyn then causing everyone to immediately start muttering among themselves until Thorin too stood up and obliged everyone to take their things.
Thus, they left in no time to move on in the now dark forest. Everyone walked as silently as possible behind Thorin, Thorin himself, however, was less silent "I don't want you wandering around alone anymore Terwyn! You could have been captured, or worse!" He hissed at the girl.
"I was just exploring the path a bit." She tried to defend herself but Thorin wasn't listening.
"Stay with the group, that's all I have to say about this!" Spoke in a harsh tone that made Terwyn sigh but nodded. "I'm sorry, I won't stray anymore Thorin." Said she softly and then walked on silently.
The dwarves walked through the night, only towards morning some started complaining that they were hungry or that their feet needed rest. Terwyn herself said nothing, she kept thinking about her encounter with Ellariel, could she really have just wanted to help her and were they now walking all night for nothing? Or would elves really be false creatures and had Ellariel only pretended to help and then sent the army after them? Possibly Ellariel had no idea what had happened at the mountain and how Thranduil had turned his back on Thorin and his family? Or possibly she herself had no idea who the group was and didn't care much.
Either way she didn't seem like such an evil elf and Terwyn soon regretted that she had possibly hounded the group unnecessarily.
By noon, Thorin finally gave the order to set up camp. However, half the dwarves still had to stay awake and keep watch around the camp while the other half could sleep. Thorin and Terwyn were among the dwarves who stood guard for the first four hours. Terwyn was eager to engage in conversation about the elf, to share her doubts with Thorin. Even before she opened her mouth, however, she came to the realisation that Thorin had no need for that now and that his patience with elves was already hanging by a thread.
There was no point in trying to talk him out of it now by proclaiming that Ellariel possibly didn't mean it as badly as they thought, it was ultimately Terwyn herself who prompted everyone to walk on because she didn't trust the situation. So Thorin, Terwyn, Dwalin, Balin, Bombur, Morin and Riran were the first to walk around the camp.
There was little talk, only Morin seemed curious about Terwyn's meeting with the elves. Morin was a young dwarf who had lost his father at an early age in the same battle that killed Frerin.
Since then, he worked hard in the mines of Erebor, that way he could earn enough money to take care of him and his mother. The good life did not last long, however, and when Erebor was taken by the dragon, Morin and his mother also fled to the Iron Hills. Morin did not feel at home there either, so he left with them on this quest, looking for a home that would feel like home to him.
He also always wanted to see the world and had hoped to do so with his father one day, now of course he was already happy to be alive to be able to travel around even if it was with this company and not his father.
Terwyn was therefore happy to tell him about what the elf looked like and how she helped her. Of course, then Morin also raised the question of why the group then had to move on if she didn't seem intent on bringing them all before Thranduil or locking them up anyway. Terwyn shrugged her shoulders and admitted that she herself was not sure, but that since Erebor there was no trust in the elves, especially those of the Green Forest, this seemed to be something Morin could understand. After four long hours in which there was no sign of elves, it was time for the next group to stand guard.
Terwyn fell asleep in record time, after four short hours she did not feel at all rested but the group had to move on. There was still no sign of elves, but Thorin wanted to take absolutely no chances. So now the dwarves stepped even faster and covered even greater distances before building a camp. Consequently, they reached the other side of the Green Forest in just four days. Over the next few days, their journey continued across many green plains with very little shelter. Yet this did not seem to bother anyone. The fact that they were walking in the sun again and could enjoy a fresh breeze instead of the dense vegetation of the forest already made travelling more pleasant for many.