Almárëa

7

         A Sick Forest, Spider
                  And Elves

She were sure that the forest are sick. Bilbo had said so too. But the feeling that lingered in her was something  she didn't  want .Nor need.

The sickness of the forest made her sad and lonely as if she'd  never been happy before. It made her remember  her mother's  last moments in a way that it was just like the nightmare she had of it.

To top it all off, the tree canopy  above  were thick and one couldn't  see the stars if one wished to; nor the sun that was supposed  to brighten the world with it's  warm light.

Mithtrandir  had left them, her included, at the beginning  of the Elven Road to go on some other quest that was not known to her.

He'd  only spoken to her for a few moments  before  he'd ridden off, telling her that, should she encounter any elves, she should tell them that Mithtrandir  had sent  her and that she has a letter to give to her father. He didn't  say who her father is, though. Just that he was a woodland  elf of this forest.

She walked with Bilbo, her hand holding onto his. He'd  promised  Mithtrandir  that he would take care of her until they met any elves who  could take her to her father. Should they not meet elves and make it through the forest, he'll  keep on watching over her until the old grey wizard  rejoined them.

Though, Almárëa  wasn't  sure they , excluding  herself,  could make it out of a forest that they didn't  truly belong in.  It wanted them to turn back and leave,of that she was sure. It didn't  want them there. They are trespassing.

" This way," she heard Dwalin say up ahead. She didn't  know  how he did it.

" Air. I need air," she heard Bofur complain as they continued along.

" My head is spinning," another dwarf said.

She frowned. Though she felt the forest's sickness  and everything,  she didn't  feel like she suffocated. She wondered if it was the elf in her that gave her a better advantage. Dwarves, on the other hand, weren't  made for forests.  Especially  not one that carried a dark and foreboding  disease.
Whether Hobbits  were made for forests, she couldn't  tell because  Bilbo  seemed fine for the most part.

The company  suddenly  stopped, a dwarf at the front having halted abruptly. Almárëa  didn't  understand  why.

Neither did the others who bumped into each other as they'd  stopped .

" What's  happening? " the dwarf  that had complained  about a spinning head asked.

" All of you keep  moving ," Thorin ordered," Nori, why have we stopped?!"

" The path....it's  disappeared!" the dwarf  in front called out.

" What's  going on?," Dwalin enquired.

" We've  lost the path!," another  dwarf answered  him.

Almárëa left Bilbo's  side to go look what they meant and frowned. They were at a dead end, standing on a steep cliff and there is no path in sight.

" Find it. All of you look , look for the path!," Thorin ordered,  he grabbed  Almárëa's  hand when she went to help. " Not you, Child.  Gandalf  will be most displeased  if we lost you in this Gods  forsaken forest."

She stood still, not arguing.  Adults are always strange, they got angry quickly sometimes.  She didn't  want to be a bother to Thorin  Oakenshield.

The company  wandered through the  forest, looking  for the path and Almárëa  stayed by Thorin's  side, though she wanted to be by Bilbo's.

It wasn't  long before  the forest's sickness  began  to affect  the company,  bar the little half-elfling child.