Philophobia - Thorin Oakenshield - English version

Part 26

Early the next morning, everyone was ready to leave again. It had been a short night, but no one seemed bothered by that. At Thorin's command, they set off towards the Green Forest, this time they would travel straight through the forest. There were only 15 of them, how hard could it be to walk past Thranduil's realm unseen. It's not like he really cared much about the forest around his palace since the Green Forest was getting darker and darker and was already called Demsterwold.

The dwarves finally reached the edge of Demsterwold three days later, again deciding to set up camp and effectively enter the forest the next day. They also did not have to trek through it any longer than necessary, of course. The further the dwarves could stay away from the elves the better off both parties were. That evening Terwyn joined Thorin on a hunt, surely some animals had to be found in the forest to provide them with a good supply of fresh meat. Not that people didn't appreciate the dried meat King Gror brought along, but a nice fresh rabbit was still a better meal for a wandering party.

After a nice supper, everyone soon tried to catch up on some sleep so they could get through Demsterwold awake and fresh.

The next morning they set off again at dawn, Terwyn leading the way this time, though she had no idea where they were going, yet the path was not entirely foreign to her. Of course, she spoke to no one about this. She knew what dislike the dwarves had for Thranduil and his kingdom by now. She did not want to take any chances by declaring that she knew this path knowing that the dwarves might turn against her.

She kept walking until Thorin called them to a halt and they set up camp again. Terwyn went out on her own for a while that night, Demsterwold did not seem like such a dark and evil forest to her at all. She enjoyed all the greenery around her. The forest may have had dense vegetation which meant that hardly any sunlight got through the foliage but in a way this made her feel safe. The chirping of the birds sounded cheerful and made her happy too. Little by little, Terwyn wandered off the path and walked through the dense vegetation of the forest until she suddenly realised she had no idea where she had come from.

At first she just turned around and tried to quietly get back to the path, but once she realised she was walking in circles she started to panic and set off running. 'Keep walking straight, I just need to go straight to the northwest, yes that's where I came from.' Spoke encouragement to herself, her hopeful speech to herself was unexpectedly answered, however.

'The northwest is that way.' She suddenly heard a voice mutter, causing her to look up startled to see who had just answered.

To her great surprise, a female elf was looking down at her.

"How long have you been following me?" Terwyn asked suspiciously.

"A little while, you seemed lost to me." Said the elf as she came down with a simple leap.

"What do you want from me?" Mumbled Terwyn as she cautiously took a step back.

The elf laughed "No worries I don't need anything from you, I was just checking the borders of our realm when I saw you walking." Spoke the elf.

"What is your name?" So asked this one after which Terwyn swallowed audibly and weighed her options. Would this elf denounce her to the king. Should she even give her real name? In the end, she decided to take her chances since she couldn't think of any other name.

"Terwyn, Terwyn of Erebor, and your name is?" She replied.

"Ellariel." Spoke the elf after which Terwyn nodded at her kindly.

"Pleasant to meet you." Said both at the same time.

"Since you seemed in such a hurry to find the path I suppose you are not alone." Spoke the elf then causing Terwyn to gasp.