The Sorceress and the Hobbit- Book 2

Painful Reminder

They traveled for hours, vast forest to the right of them, fields and hills to the left. They stopped as night fell upon them and set up camp. Luriel lit the fire and sat, the horses resting behind her. She rolled out her sleeping roll and laid down for the night, Elrohir took the first watch, while Elladan rested, Thalia pretended to sleep, the fire faded, the stars glowed bright that night.

Thalia slowly got up, she glanced at Elrohir, he appeared to have fallen into an elven trance, their equivalent of sleep. She quickly got up and silently walked up to the edge of the woods, she paused before it. She glanced back at the camp and then to the night sky, judging she had many hours till sunrise, she disappeared into the forest, determined to find the hidden kingdom.

Elladan woke Luriel up, it was her turn for the watch. She got up and took her place at the post, she was the second to last watchman, the last was Thalia, the fire had gone out by now, but no one was bothered by the cold night. She looked up at the night sky, seeing the stars brightly shining. She thought she heard something behind her, she turned and looked over her shoulder at the sound, but in the darkness saw nothing but her sleeping companions. She turned back to the sky, a soft sigh escaped her lips. Her watch went on in silence. She stood at the end of it and carefully made her way over to Thalia, she knelt down and gently shook her daughter awake.

Thalia sat up yawning heavily, "Yes?" she asked appearing still half asleep.

"It is time for your watch," she explained, "Do try to stay awake," she jested as Thalia shuffled another yawn. Luriel made her way to her bed roll, and laid down, though she did not fall back to sleep. She laid looking up at the stars and watched as they faded and the sun rose. The small company packed up camp, Thalia still trying to get the sleep out of her eyes, yawned heavily.

Elladan walked up to her and whispered so Luriel did not hear, "Where did you venture off to last night?"

Thalia, who was packing up her bed roll on her horse, cast a glance at him, "What do you mean? I was here," she stated.

Elladan raised an eyebrow at her, reminding her very much of his father, who would do that when he knew she was lying, "I saw your bed roll was empty when my shift came, where were you?"

Thalia sighed, "I went and explored," she said, mounting her horse.

"You went into the forest didn't you?" Elladan asked, not sounding surprised at all.

"I wanted to see my father's homeland, that is all, no harm came from it," she said dismissively.

Elladan folded his arms, "You know those woods are not as safe as they were in the early days of it's time," he scolded.

"You do not have to tell me, I discovered that on my own," she said nudging her horse forward, walking up to Luriel who was awaiting the others, already atop her stallion. Elrohir guided his horse over and looked down at Elladan, a knowing smile on his face, "You worry for her?" he inquired, "I do not think she sees you how you see her brother," he jested with a chuckle before moving off to join the others.

Elladan sighed and mounted his own horse and followed close behind. Luriel led the group in silence, though the three behind her were not so quiet, they chatted away, laughing and just enjoying one another's company. Luriel sighed with a smile, as she remembered being young and carefree like them. A quiet sound like a twig snapping caught her attention and she glanced at the woods, she could have sworn she saw a glimpse of golden hair, but it was so quick she quickly dismissed it as a hallucination. She flicked the reins and sped her horse to a steady trot, the others noticed and followed, still chatting away.

Clouds rolled in from the south, soon overshadowing the group. Rain began to pour down on them. Luriel pulled up her hood to try and keep the rain off, as did the others. They were soon soaked to the bone as the rain torrented down on them. Elrohir sped his horse up next to Luriel, "My lady, we must seek shelter!" he yelled over the rain, lighting cracked across the sky.

"There is no shelter!" she replied in kind.

"My lady we could wait the storm out under the shelter of the trees!" he suggested.

Luriel turned to him, "I told you, we are not entering that forest!" she said speeding her horse up even more, pulling ahead of the drenched elf.

"Mother! It is getting difficult to see, it is too dangerous to be out in this storm!" Thalia called catching up to her mother, but Luriel urged her horse to go faster, it ran full speed leaving the others behind. She ran blindly through the rain, her horse began slipping in the mud, suddenly she was thrown forward as her horse collapsed, rolling forward. Luriel rolled in the mud, her horse caught her side with one of its flailing hooves. She uttered a cry of pain as she rolled a few more feet away, stopping in her back. She was covered in mud, and breathing hurt. She managed to sit up, she felt her side and felt the tenderness of it. She winced, but was thankful nothing was broken, just bruised. She stood and went over to her horse, who lay on its side panting heavily, its front leg bent at an awkward angle.

"I'm sorry my friend, I pushed you too hard this time." She murmured as she moved around to the injured leg, she gently grasped it, her hands glowing a soft orange, she began to heal the stallion.

"Mother!" she heard from behind her, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Thalia riding up to her followed by the twins, "What happened?" she asked stopping next to her mother.

"Nothing my dear, I slipped," she said dismissively as the horse's leg was healed.

"We are seeking shelter under the trees, you can join us if you wish," Thalia said turning her horse to the trees. They did not go far into the forest before dismounting and tying their horses to a root nearby. Luriel stepped back as her horse stood. She lead it to the edge of the tree line, she gestured to her horse to go to the others, but did not follow she turned away and stood, in the rain her head down. She glanced over her shoulder, and could have sworn she saw another flash of golden hair and a tall lithe figure moving away through the trees, but she could not be certain.

If you wish to see what Thalia did in the forest of Mirkwood then look no further then the one shots! It is Thalia's Adventure!