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III. Mirkwood

Athena mounted one of the ponies that the company had graciously been given by Beorn, even though she was taller than all but Gandalf she weighed less than some of the Dwarves so it was harmless for her to ride atop one of them.

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" Kili asked her from in front of her, referring to the slice on her cheek that he had noticed earlier with concern laid on his face.

"Yes Kili, I'm sure. But thank you," she responded, shifting around until she was comfortable in the saddle and holding onto the reins, he nodded at her in acceptance with a small smile. He did not want her to be in pain and neither would any of the others she travelled with.

"Gandalf, time is wasting," she heard Thorin call out, looking over to see Gandalf immersed in conversation with Beorn before beginning to head back towards the company.

As soon as Gandalf reached them and mounted his pony they took off and away from their previous lodgings, Athena unable to help the sadness creep into her at her not being able to wake up to the bees again.

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The ponies slowed to a stop as they approached the outlines of a darkened forest, the trees looming over the company in a less than inviting manner. Gandalf dismounted his pony before stepping towards an ancient archway, her only just able to make out his whisperings to himself.

"The Elven Gate," he turned back to the others, his next words loud enough for the rest of them to hear, "here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side."

"For now," Athena muttered in response to Dwalin's words, sliding off the pony as she recounted Beorn's warnings about the forest they were about to head into. Just by looking at it she could tell that it would not be a warm place to venture into.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master," instructed Gandalf.

Athena turned to her horse and gently ran her hand down its nose with a smile, "thank you," she whispered her gratitude before letting go of the reins and stepping towards the entrance to Mirkwood along with Bilbo.

"This forest feels... sick, as if a disease lies upon it," the Hobbit observed.

"So I'm not the only one who feels it," it was hard for her to explain but the forest felt wrong. Unlike the alluring nature of Beorn's home and Bag End, Mirkwood made her want to turn around and never return.

"Is there no way around?"

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south," Gandalf professed while he stepped further into the menacing forest.

"I do not think the journey through Mirkwood will be easy," she murmured as she stepped away from Bilbo and over to where Fili and Kili stood.

"Nothing about our journey has been easy, but we've managed to make it this far," Fili replied, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze before he inspected his weapon to make sure it was still usable.

Even now she felt as if the trees themselves were watching them, waiting for them to be encased in their inescapable tendrils. The sickness radiated from the foliage and she dreaded having to venture into the darkness that shrouded the forest.

"Not my horse! I need it," she heard Gandalf cry out, it was pure luck that his pony was the only one that had not been set loose.

"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asked him, Athena turning her head in confusion at him deciding he would not be joining them.