The dwarves and Aspect was all sitting in their cells, just waiting. Aspect had already given up all hope - she hadn't found any scent of Bilbo. She sat in one of the dark corners of her cell, looking at her beautiful pendant. "I will wager the sun is on the rise. It must be nearly dawn," Bofur suddenly said.
"We are never going to reach the mountain, are we?," Ori replied sad.
Suddenly, Aspect lit up. The smell of honey tingled in her nostrils. Suddenly Bilbo appeared in front of them all. The dwarves jumped in surprise, as Aspect got up at her feet and ran to the gate. The dwarves started yelling out his name in excitement, but Bilbo was quick to hush them.
He quickly started unlocking their gates. When he came to Aspect, she embraced him. "I am so glad to see you," she whispered. "And you still smell of honey," she continued happily. Bilbo just smiled and nodded, a bit confused. He continued to unlock the gates, as the dwarves started to swirl around everywhere.
"No, no! Not that way, down here. Follow me," Bilbo said, waving all the dwarves to him, down in the great Woodland Realm.
Suddenly, after walking many stairs and through halls, the wine cellar appeared in front of them. Two elves were sound asleep, drunk at the table. "This way," Bilbo whispered, pointing towards some empty barrels.
"I cannot believe this, we are in the wine cellar!," Kili exclaimed. The dwarves murmured angry in-between each other.
"You were supposed to lead us out of here, not even further in. I suggest we leave that job for Aspect instead," Dwalin said, turning to Aspect.
"I would like that, but this is the safest way out - I promise. I always did this as a kid. Great idea Bilbo!," Aspect said low, smiling excited at Bilbo.
"Good! So, everyone, climb into one barrel - quickly!," Bilbo commanded.
"Are you guys mad?! They will find us!," Dwalin said, now doubting both of them.
"No, no they will not! You have to trust us!," Bilbo said, with Aspect nodding in agreement. Her wolf-ears suddenly appeared, and she froze as she listened into the air.
"They have found your empty cells. We only have minutes to decide. There is no way back," Aspect said, looking at the dwarves who milled around and tried to decide what to do. Aspect looked at Thorin.
"Do as they say!," Thorin commanded. The dwarves nodded in unison as they started climbing and helping each other inside barrels. Bilbo showed Aspect the way to an empty one. He then counted them, making sure everyone had come with and found a barrel.
Bofur stuck his head out. "Now what?," he asked, as the rest of the dwarves also stuck their heads out, looking expectant at Bilbo.
"Hold your breaths," Bilbo answered.
"Hold our breaths? What is that supposed to mea-," Bofur didn't finish before Bilbo pulled the lever besides him, and the floor under the barrels tilted, making them roll and fall into a river, meters underneath them.
The elves sleeping at the table slowly started waking up from the uproar the barrels were making. Bilbo slightly started to panic, as he realized he had forgotten to go after the barrels.
"We need to wait on Bilbo!," Thorin exclaimed to The Company, when he saw everyone, except Bilbo had made the fall.
"He did not think that part through, did he?," Aspect said with a light laughter.
Bilbo started jumping on the floor where the barrels had been laying, hearing the elves come closer.
"He needs to go to the opposite side of the trapdoor and then-," Aspect said, but before she finished, Bilbo came falling through the floor above them, yelling on the top of his lungs.
"Great, he heard you!," Kili said happily.
Bilbo got a hold on Nori's barrel. "Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin said pleased. Bilbo, who was half-drowned, only waved back.
"Go," he stuttered.
"You heard the hobbit," Thorin yelled. "Come on, let's go!"
The barrels slowly started moving forward, through the undergrounds of Mirkwood. Aspect, who still had her wolf-ears out, heard the elves yell and run in the distance.
Light suddenly blinded them, and The Company came out under the open skies. The river started running down in waterfalls. "This is where the fun begins!," Aspect yelled with a happy laugh, right before The Company got dragged down the big river.
Aspect was the only one enjoying this - nether the dwarves or Bilbo was fond of water, and Aspect was the only one who had done this before.
Bilbo was holding on tight to Nori's barrel, as the dwarves were yelling back and forth to each other. Suddenly, Legolas and another elf appeared by a door out in the open, by the opening of the river. Aspect's and Legolas' eyes met, and he hesitated before he yelled something - the river making too much noice for Aspect to hear, but she heard the horn the other elf blew. Then she remembered.
"Shit," she whispered. "They are closing the gate!," she suddenly yelled, looking desperate at Thorin who had just noticed the same in front of them.
The elves on top of the gate acted. An elf ran up to the big lever, and pulled it. Thorin crashed into the gate, yelling with disappointment. The rest of The Company, one by one, crashed into Thorin, making a big chaos.
Before Aspect, one of the last ones in the line came up to the others, one of the guards got shot by an arrow from behind, landing in the water in front of her. Filling the place behind him came an orc, yelling. "Oh no," Aspect murmured.
More orcs came climbing up the big wall, attacking the elves who were now outnumbered. Bilbo killed one of the orcs who came over the barrels, ready to attack Nori.
Aspect, who was closest to the stairs, looked up at the lever. She then knew what she had to do.
Aspect lifted herself up from the barrel, climbing the stairs. An orc jumped in front of her on the top of the stairs, screaming at her. Aspect had nothing to fight back with, and the orc swung at her with his weird-looking sword. She ducked away, and right after an arrow came shooting through the air, hitting the orc's head. It fell over, dead. Aspect then took a few steps forward, as she looked in the direction of the arrow. There stood Legolas, looking her way, with his bow and arrow ready, aimed at her. Aspect froze, looking him dead in the eyes, but Legolas didn't flicker. He didn't move his arrow. Aspect then rose a hand towards the lever, which was still a long way from her. She then noticed Legolas' sight moving, and so did his bow, after her hand.
Then, suddenly, she felt something sharp, something brutal and painful find its way right into the side of her stomach. Everything stopped for her. Even Legolas let down his bow, looking in shocked at her.
Aspect shifted her glance. First she looked at the lever in front of her, only a few meters away. Then, she looked at Fili, who had seen the exact same thing as Legolas, and was just as shocked as him. And then she looked in the direction of the arrow, right into the eyes of the big orc Bolg. He stood there with a satisfied smile on his face. She then looked down at her stomach, and her shirt red of blood.
Suddenly, she shot back to reality. She took in all the sounds - she heard the dwarves yell. She heard Fili yell her name.
Then she tossed herself forward. She grabbed the lever in the fall, and managed to open the gate under her. And there she lay. She heard Fili yell once again. "Aspect!," he yelled. "I am not leaving as long as you stay here!"
Aspect breathed heavily. She heard the dwarves started moving underneath her. She then rolled around, and fell into one of the barrels in the water. The arrow broke in half, and Aspect yelled in pain.
After a long and wild ride down the river, the water started to calm. Aspect had been sitting in her barrel, almost not visible, through the many falls of the river. Her white wolf-ears was wet, and hang almost lifeless on her head.
When she noticed the water getting calmer, she sat up with a heavy breath, and started to paddle after the others. "Make way for the shore!," she heard Thorin yell in front of her, and noticed a shore of stones on their right side.
Aspect followed after the others as fast as she could, and climbed out of the barrel as soon as she reached the shore. There, she lay a little, halfway in the water, gasping for air.
"Aspect," Fili suddenly said, standing above her. Aspect looked up, smiling at him. He reached out a hand. "Here let me help you." Aspect grabbed it and staggered herself up at her feet. "How are you feeling?" Fili looked at her stomach. Her shirt was red of blood around the arrow.
"I... I will be okay," Aspect stuttered, also looking at the arrow. "It is just a little scratch. We need to move on, the orcs are following right after us." Her ears tried to raise, but they only lifted themselves a little, before they hang lifeless again.
"On your feet!," Thorin suddenly yelled.
"Aspect is hurt, we need to rest," Fili answered.
"No," Aspect responded. "We need to keep moving, the orcs are fast when they know where to go."
"Aspect is right, we need to keep moving," Thorin answered, looking at Aspect.
"But to where?," Balin asked. "There is a lake between us and the mountain."
"The orcs will run us down, sure as daylight. We have no weapons to defend ourselves with, especially when Aspect is wounded. We need her wolf," Dwalin said, stepping up to Aspect.
"You have two minuted to bind her wound. Do it quick," Thorin said, looking at Fili, Balin and Bofur who now had stepped up at Aspect.
"No, no. We need to move on, do not waste our time on this," Aspect protested, looking at the dwarves in front of her.
"Aspect, we need to get that arrow out, at least. We will do it with coerce if we need to," Bofur said, stepping closer.
"Do it and do it quick," Aspect said, but just by the time Bofur grabbed the arrow, they heard the other dwarves yelling. They looked around and see a big man with a bow pointing at them.
"Do it again and you are dead!," the man yelled. Balin slowly lifted his hands, stepping closer to the man. Aspect then noticed the small boat behind him.
"You are from Lake-Town, if I am not mistaken? That barge over there, it would not be available for hire, by any chance?," Balin asked carefully. The man lowered his bow.
Aspect felt the world starting to spin. She looked at Fili, and could see that he saw something was wrong with her.
"What makes you think I will help you?," the man asked. Balin continued with the smalltalk, trying to convince the man to help them.
"Fi- Fili, I am not feeling well," Aspect whispered, and leaned towards Fili's shoulder. He grabbed her tighter.
"Oh come on, come on! Enough with this niceties!," Dwalin suddenly yelled.
"What is your hurry?," the man asked, now stepping up into his boat.
"What is it to you," Dwalin shot back.
"I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands," the man said to them, looking suspicious over the crowd of dwarves in front of him.
"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains journeying to see our kins in the Iron Hills," Balin answered with a friendly smile.
"Simple merchants, you say?," the man asked suspicious. "So what is up with the girl, then? Is that what you are trading? Girls with animal-ears?"
"Overlook her. We will need food, supplies and weapons. Can you help us?," Thorin asked.
"I know these barrels are from the Woodland Realm. Your business with the elves are none of my concern, but the Master of Lake Town will see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil," the man answered.
Suddenly, Aspect blacked out, and fell to the ground. "We need your help, Aspect is sick! She is a friend of the elves, we promise!," Fili yelled.
"Did you say Aspect?," the man asked as he lit up, looking surprised at them. "I will find you a way in."