Chapter Four

I stand hands on hips trying to catch my breath as we all wait for Bilbo to return from checking the distance of the Orcs. Bifur claps me on the back as he passes to go stand with Bofur. A loud roar far off makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I look over at Fili eyebrows raised. He shrugs as Bilbo comes into view from the top of the rocky incline. "How close is the pack," Thorin asks.

"Too close," the Hobbit responds, "A couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it."

Dwalin implements, "The Wargs have picked up our scent."

"Not yet. But they will," Bilbo concedes, "We have another problem."

Gandalf quizzes, "Did they see you? They saw you." Bilbo shakes his head. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

"Will you, please, be quiet and let Bilbo speak," I demand from behind the group. I frown at all of them as they turn to look at me. The Hobbit nods his thanks.

"I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there," Bilbo huffs.

"What form did it take? Like a bear?"

"Ye—Yes, but bigger. Much bigger."

Bofur exclaims, "You knew about this beast? I say we double back."

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs," I scoff, "No thanks. I'd rather take my chances with a pissed off bear." I glare at Bofur as he gapes at me both of us tuning the Wizard's words out. Gandalf leads us through the hidden foot trails of the mountain. At midday a large house comes into our line of sight. We're yelled at to run faster. Glancing back I see the very very large very angry bear gaining on us. A spike of adrenaline in my blood pushes me to run faster. I quickly pass both Fili and his brother. We pass under the gateway and dive into the large house. The Dwarves clamor to get the door shut before the animal gets through.

A huge furry scarred head forces the door back as the Dwarves push against it. I jump back as the loud thump of the door closing scares me. Ori asks breathless, "What is that?"

"That is our host," Gandalf replies simply. We all turn to look at the Old Man bewildered and confused. "His name is Beorn. And he's a skin-changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear. Sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of Dwarves," Gandalf explains.

I scoff, "Obviously," as I roll my eyes. The bear growls in the distance. I stiffen and look toward the door.

"He's leaving," Ori states.

Dori grabs him pulling him away. "Come away from there," he scolds, "It's not natural. None of it. It's obvious. He's under some dark spell."

Gandalf now scoffs, "Don't be a fool. He's under no enchantment but his own. All right, now get some sleep. All of you. You'll be safe here tonight." To himself he whispers, "I hope." The hair on my neck raises again at his quiet words. I drop my pack near the hay bales and pull out my blanket. I lay on my back blanket draped over my body staring at the ceiling. I wait for my mind to drop off into the blackness of sleep. After watching the large bees buzz about for half an hour I finally fall asleep.

I cut down the last Orc that blocks my path when I hear Thorin's voice yell. Running toward the tunnel entrance I spy Thorin and Dwalin on a ledge below me. They're both looking out over the chasm. I turn to find out what has captured their attention and see Bolg, our most recent pursuer, and several other Orcs. Behind the massive creature is a smaller one struggling against his captor's iron grip. I see blond hair and my chest tightens. Fili! I gasp stepping forward. The Orc drags the young Dwarf toward its commander.

Bolg lifts Fili by the back of his thick coat. He's dangling over the edge of the cliff. Bolg is talking, but I don't hear a word he says because everything within me is focused on the Dwarf I love. He feels my gaze and turns to look at me. Our eyes lock. Within the depths of his blue eyes I see fear. Pure unfiltered fear. We both know what's about to happen. I scream out, "Bolg!"

He looks at me contempt burning in his black eyes. "Trade me for the Dwarf Prince," I offer hoping he'd take it, "I am priceless to him. My death will cause him more misery than killing him would." All eyes are now on me, but I only see Bolg. I know what they're eyes will say: shock, disbelief, desperation. The Orc thinks about it for a moment before drawing his sword.

Bolg places the blade of his crudely made weapon through Fili's back until it protrudes from his abdomen. The Dwarf's eyes grow wide as pain fills them. My mouth opens in a silent gasp as tears flood my eyes. Withdrawing his sword the Orc lets Fili drop over the edge down between the two large rock walls. I scream falling to my knees as the tears flow freely down my face. My will to fight has hit the icy river beneath us all…

I wake up gasping tears in my eyes. Fear is knotted deep in my belly. Sitting up I see Fili on the other side of the room from where I am. Taking my blanket I tiptoe over the other slumbering Dwarves until I'm standing over the blond Prince. Sitting on my knees I shake him. He groans. I shake him again except this time his eyes open. "Violet, what's wrong," he asks leaning on his elbows.

"I had a nightmare," I choke, "I don't want to sleep alone tonight. Can I sleep with you?"

His eyes widen slightly surprised by my words. Recovering from his initial shock he pats the floor beside him. As I lay down he wraps an arm around my shoulders so my head is partially on his chest. He quickly falls back to sleep. I listen to his steady rhythmic breathing until I, too, finally fall back asleep.

"Violet," someone calls. I stir as I come to the brink of consciousness. "Violet," they call again. I groan as I crack open an eye to Fili's beautiful smiling face. I blink a couple times as a smile grows on my lips.

In a gravelly voice I greet, "Good morning." I sit up yawning and stretching.

"Good morning to you too," he laughs, "Come on, it's time for breakfast." My stomach rumbles at the mention of food. We both look down at it before looking back at each other and laughing. We both stand as I follow Fili into the dining room. He helps me onto the bench before pulling himself up.

We sit there patiently as Beorn, I assume, serves us bread drizzled with honey and fresh milk. I thank him as he turns away. He glances back and smiles kindly. "So you are the one they call Oakenshield," he distinguishes talking to Thorin, "Tell me why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

"You know of Azog," Thorin asks without looking at the large man, "How?"

Beorn explains, "My people were the first to live in the mountains before the Orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family. But some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him." He tells his story as he continues to serve us food. My stomach sours at the thought of innocent people being slaughtered and tortured just for a sick asshole's amusement. I ball up a fist as tears spring to the corners of my eyes thinking of all Beorn must have endured.

"There are others like you," Bilbo inquires.

Beorn clarifies, "Once there were many. Now there is only one." I clench my jaw in anger. "You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn," Beorn deftly changes the subject, "You are running out of time."

"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood," Gandalf declares.

Beorn retorts, "A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."

"We will take the Elven Road," Gandalf replies, "That path is still safe."

Beorn scoffs, "'Safe'? The Wood Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not." He looks at Thorin.

"What do you mean," Thorin demands looking at the skin changer.

He simply states, "These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing. And you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive. I don't like Dwarves. They're greedy and blind. Blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own. But Orcs I hate more." Towering above Thorin he requests, "What do you need?"

Twenty minutes later I swing my pack and sword onto my back and mount the beautiful paint pony. Gandalf leads us off at a quick pace. We cover the distance between Beorn's house and the forest by noon. The trees look nothing like I'd expected it would. Gandalf dismounts explaining, "Here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side," Dwalin proclaims. We all dismount. As my feet hit the ground I look back to the top of the hill. I can see Beorn's bear-shaped outline just at the top.

Gandalf orders, "Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." The woods creak and crack in the absent wind. I shiver as my skin prickles. I say, "This forest feels sick. As if a disease lie upon it. Is there no other way around?"

"Not unless we go 200 miles north," I'm answered, "Or twice that distance south." I shuffle my feet lost for ideas. Everyone mills about waiting for Gandalf. The ponies are set loose and they canter into the distance. Oin begins freeing Gandalf's horse from its saddle when the Wizard bellows, "Not my horse! I need it!"

Bilbo asks bewildered, "You're not leaving us?"

"I would not do this unless I had to." He turns to talk to Bilbo quietly. I cross my arms a little put off as I head toward the entrance to the forest. "I will be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor," he assures. He climbs onto his horse and rides away with some last minute advice, "This is not the Greenwood of Old. 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." I stiffen at that advice. This is gonna be bad.

Thorin encourages, "Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day." We all file in after him into the dark forest. It stinks, smelling of mold and decaying leaves. The farther we make our way along the path the darker the surrounding gets as if it's night time. "The path turns this way," Thorin leads from the front of the group. A terrible gut-feeling blooms in my belly that something's not right.

As I continue to follow my companions my head starts to swim. I stagger to one side my world tilting precariously. There's a strong hand around my forearm. "Are you alright," Fili asks. I nod rubbing my eyes as the feeling ebbs. It seems hours pass with nobody speaking. I get the urge to voice my concern but decide to push it off as nothing.

"Air," Bofur complains, "I need air."

Oin pipes up, "My head. It's swimming. What's happening?"

"Keep moving," Thorin orders, "Nori why have we stopped?"

Nori replies, "The path it's disappeared." The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. "If you do you'll never find it again." I shiver with the thought of being lost in here forever. We're ordered to start looking for the path. I move away from everyone back the way we had come from. Parts of it look familiar. Tears begin to sting my eyes as panic settles on my chest. I sit down on a large log taking deep breaths as the tears fall down my cheeks.

"Violet," I'm called, "Violet!?" I look up as Fili breaks through the brush. His face falls as his blue gaze finds me. "What's wrong," he asks.

I sniff, "What if we never find our way out?"

"We will, lass," he assures, "Everyone's grouping back together. We should go join them." I nod and stand following the young Dwarf back to our group. As we walk I begin to notice a white sticky substance covering most of my surroundings. I feel my heart rate pick up as I realize they're spider webs. I grab Fili's hand squeezing it for reassurance. The Dwarves are pushing each other around and fussing when a strange sounds squeaks in the distance.

I butt right up against Fili hissing, 'What was that?"

"Enough! Quiet. All of you," Thorin roars, "We're being watched." I spin around in a slow circle trying to spot the ones watching us. The trees begin creaking over head as odd clicking sounds echo through the forest. I stiffen afraid of what is making that sound. A loud thump behind Fili and me has us turning around very slowly. There stands the biggest spider I have ever seen in my entire life. It's taller than me by a good three feet. It chitters for a moment before opening what I suppose is its mouth and roars. I scream at the top of my lungs curdling my own blood before fear and panic cause my sight to go black and my body to collapse.

Weird sounds bring me back to awareness. I'm groggy but it evaporates as I notice that I can't move my arms. I try to turn my head. Nothing. That's when I notice all the spider webs around me. Oh god! We were all captured by that huge ass spider! The memory of that eight-legged fiend brings tears to my eyes. Why does it have to be spiders? Voices down below me break through my fear laden mind. "Help," I squeak, "Someone please help me."

I blink back tears as I suddenly begin to fall toward the ground. Landing painfully on my back I hear the familiar sounds of a fight. I lay there helpless trying to wiggle toward one of the nearby stones. As my body slowly begins to move in their direction I hear the web rip open. With my hands I push out causing the web to split and earning my freedom.

I roll onto my hands and knees to stand when my ankle is jerked backwards. I face plant the ground and roll over just as one of the huge spiders crawls over my body. I start to hyperventilate. As the arachnid closes the distance between our bodies I scream.

I smirk at the Elf searching me for weapons. I pull out my coat edges to show that I'm not hiding anymore daggers. He reaches toward my back for the one I keep hidden there. A scream from nearby chills my blood. My heart jumps into overdrive. "Violet," I scream as I lunge for one of my daggers. Taking the Elf by surprise I manage to get one and dash into the trees.

Through the copse of trees I can see one of the spiders hunched over Violet's shaking form. I can hear her sobbing from where I stand. A burning hatred for the creature erupts deep in my soul. Charging in with a fierce war cry I make short work of the creature. Turning now to the huddled form of my beautiful brown haired girl I go to a knee to check on her. "Fili," she sobs wrapping her arms around my neck.

I rub her back trying to calm her. "They're all dead," I soothe. Elves emerge from their search for their escaped prisoner. I stand lifting Violet in my arms and proceed to the rest of the company.

"I can still see them," she whispers.

I whisper back, "Then close your eyes and hide from them. You won't be able to see 'em then." She does just that continuing to tremble as we're lead deeper into the forest. As we pass through the doors into the halls of King Thranduil she lifts her head from its resting place on the crook of my neck. Our captors lead us down into the dungeons where we are shoved into cells to await our sentence.

I set Violet on the stone bench and sit beside her. "Thank you," she whispers looking down embarrassed.

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