"The Elven Gate." Gandalf announces as they dismount the ponies that Beorn lent them. "Here lies our path through Mirkwood."
"No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side." Dwalin laughs and something catches Gandalf's attention in the distance. Beorn in his animal form.
"I wouldn't credit this to luck." Durion hums as he too sees the skin-changer.
"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master."
"This forest feels... sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo nervously plays with the pocket on his jacket as he looks at Gandalf.
"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south." Then suddenly he waves his hand. "Not my horse! I need it."
"You're leaving us?" The hobbit looks at him in despair.
"I would not do this unless I had to. You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire."
"I was going to tell you; I... found something in the Goblin tunnels."
"Found what? What did you find?"
"...My courage."
"Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it." The wizard then turns and walks towards his horse. "Durion, you've walked the Elven Road before, guide them through."
"That was a long time ago. Before the woods worked against you."
"Don't use runes unless you absolutely have to." Durion wanted to ask why, but the wizard didn't give him the chance. "I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me. This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."
"Lead us astray? What does that mean?"
"You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again." Gandalf mounts the horse and rides away, the company staring after him with confusion. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!"
***
Durion felt like he was drunk. There was a heavy cloud of confusion placed upon his eyes, making everything around him rock like a boat. But he was doing better than the dwarves.
"The path goes this way." Thorin's heavy voice spoke and Durion shook his head, momentarily clearing his vision. The path twists and turns, doing its best to lose them. For a moment, the dwarves at the front panicked, saying that they lost the path. Durion made his way to the front and stumbled over a rock. It was the path turning sharply to the left.
"Here, this way." They were somehow regularly switching the 'leader' and were working together well, but the forest's air was too heavy for them to keep clear mind. The company suddenly stopped.
"What's happening?"
"Keep moving. Nori, why have we stopped?"
"The path... it's disappeared!" Nori points forward to where the path should be, but isn't.
"What's going on?"
"We've lost the path!"
"Find it. All of you look. Look for the path!" Durion turns back and suddenly realizes he does not recall where they came from. It doesn't disturb him as much as it should.
"I don't remember this place before. None of it's familiar."
"It's got to be here."
"What hour is it?"
CITEȘTI
In the Ruins//Legolas
FanfictionDurion's heritage is painted in mystery. Being the last elf born in the Second Age, with his mother dead and his caregivers nowhere to be found, he battles with what his future holds in store for him. What reason would a mother have for naming her c...
