That's Another Story For Later

Lost... Or Am I?

*Hey guys! Just wanted to give you an optional chapter heading here: "Mirkwood: Pumped With Hallucinogenics?" Thanks so much for getting me to 800! Is there any change we could get it to 1K? And 150 votes or so? Thanks so much! Ciao!*

"This is our one chance to find the hidden door." Thorin lead the charge into Mirkwood. I wasn't nervous to enter the forest after what I saw. If anything I was excited. It felt I was walking an old, well worn path. Dwalin followed, Fili, me, Kili, and then the rest of the Company followed. We watched for the path, which was very hidden ironically, and more times than not, we almost missed it. Everything about these woods seemed familiar in a personal sense. It gave me the sense of comfort I got in most forests, but even more so than usual.

"The path goes this way." Thorin announced. It had turned a corner. We continued following the very vague path through Mirkwood. It twisted and turned over all sorts of terrain, like high ledges, fallen trees, bare ground, and even more. What was it about this place that I remembered? At some point, Dwalin thumped the handle of his hammer on the ground, finding the stones once again, having gone ahead.

"This way." He stated gruffly. I didn't feel like I needed to go that way. Some feeling inside tugged me another way. I turned, following my instinct, starting to go in the opposite direction. A hand grabbed mine, and I turned around, pulled out of my daze. I looked down, and saw I was two steps from being lost. But would I really be lost? I followed the hand, to Kili.

"Come on. You're going the wrong way."

"Something told me to, Kili. Some feeling told me to go this way."

"It's just the air of Mirkwood. Don't you remember what Gandalf said?"

"Kili, this wasn't caused by the air. It's like my heart told me to go. Something wants me to go this way. I can't explain it... but it's there." I tried to voice this gut feeling. Was it instinct? Or some deeply rooted psychological feeling?

"Amralime. Please. Stay on the path with me. I promised Dwalin I wouldn't lose you." I paused, and looked back once. I nodded, letting him pull me back to the group. We continued walking. The voice whispered for me to go the other way, but Kili kept his hand in mine, keeping me moving forward. We walked for what felt like hours. I wasn't even sure what direction we were going or the time of day currently. "Air. I need air." Bofur gasped. I was breathing just fine, honestly. I didn't feel constricted. I just felt strange not feeling the sun against my neck.

"My head, it's swimming." Oin claimed. Were the dwarves really this affected by this place? Glancing around, I saw most of them had paled, their faces dropping into a weariness not shown until now.

We kept walking. More than once Kili had to pull me back onto the path. But it never quenched the feeling that I needed to go off the path, and that I knew where I'd end up. I wouldn't get lost. If anything, every time he pulled me away, the feeling got stronger. "We found the bridge." Bofur said. The problem was, it was broken. There was no way across. "We can try and swim it."

"Did you hear what Gandalf said? A dark magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted." Thorin said.

"Doesn't look very enchanted to me." Bofur looked into the black waters.

"We must find another way across." Thorin said. I too looked down into the waters. It whispered to me, and I leaned down slightly. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, slow and lazy.

"No. Don't do it." Fili said, grabbing my shoulder gently. Shaken from the trance, I looked up to see Kili started walking away.

"These vines look strong enough." Kili said. He started to try and navigate, when Thorin stopped him.