The Lonely Mountain [1]

The Bridge

As they rode up to the vast forest that was Mirkwood, Amara looked at it closely; this was not the forest she remembered. It had been nearly fifty years since she had stepped over the boarders of this forest. Half a lifetime for a man but mere minutes for an elf. The forest looked sick, dark and twisted. The last time she was here, the trees were lush and green but sunlight still hit the forest floor.

"The Elven Gate." Gandalf said turning to the company. "Here lies our path through Mirkwood."

"No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side." Dwalin said, looking back the way they had come.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." Gandalf told them as he noticed Beorn a few leagues away in bear form.

"This forest feels sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance...south." Gandalf said as he walked farther inside.

As they waited for Gandalf, Balin came and stood next to Amara.

"This is not the forest I remember." Amara said as all the company turned to look at her. "The Greenwood is sick."

"How long has it been since you were last here?" Balin asked.

Amara did not move her eyes from surveying to forest. "Fifty years. Rivendell needed defending and I have not had the chance to return."

"But your betrothed is from the woodland realm." It was not a question as Balin's eyes rested on the silver ring she was twisting on her finger.

"Elves are not like the other races of Middle Earth; we can go a long time without seeing those we love. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Bilbo asked.

"Unless we are at war." Amara said gravely.

As she finished speaking, Gandalf reappeared looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Not my horse, I need it!" He called as Ori was about to release it.

All the other ponies had been set free so the company looked at Gandalf with confusion.

"You're not leaving us?" Amara asked.

"I would not do this unless I had to. I trust you to keep them safe." Gandalf told her. Before whispering. "If you come across the elves of the woodland realm, be wary of Thranduil. He will not approve of your quest." Before he left, he turned to Bilbo. "You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same hobbit as the one who left the Shire."

"I was going to tell you." Bilbo paused before making his confession. "I... I found something in the Goblin tunnels."

"Found what?" Gandalf asked.

As Bilbo hesitated again Amara noticed him holding something in his pocket. Gandalf looked at Bilbo in suspicion.

"What did you find?" Amara asked.

"My courage." Bilbo finally said, removing his hand from his pocket.

"Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it." Gandalf said as he turned and walked to his horse.

"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor." He told them before turning to Thorin. "Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me." He said mounting his horse. "This is not the Greenwood of old. There is a stream in the woods that carries a dark enchantment. Do not touch the water. Cross only by the stone bridge. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion." Gandalf warned them mainly looking at Amara.

"Lead us astray? What does that mean?" Bilbo asked worriedly.

"You must stay on the path, do not leave it. If you do, you'll never find it again." Gandalf said as he turned his horse and started to ride off. "No matter what may come, stay on the path!" He called before riding away.

Thorin turned and began to walk towards the entrance. "Come on, we must reach the mountain before the sunsets on Durin's Day. Let's go, we got one chance to find the hidden door." He told them before walking into the forest.

The further they got into the forest, the more the company began to feel the effects of the stale air. It did not seem to affect Amara but as she walked, she noticed the pain in her hip from her wound starting to increase rapidly.

"We've found the bridge!" Kili called from the front as the company came to a halt.

Amara walked past the others and stood looking at the old, weathered, stone bridge that had collapsed in the middle.

"Bridge?" Bofur asked. "Oh. We could try and swim it." Bofur said with a huff as he looked at the collapsed structure.

"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?" Thorin said as he looked for a way across. "A dark magic lies on this forest."

"The waters of this stream are enchanted." Amara told them.

"Doesn't look very enchanting to me." Bofur muttered.

"We must find another way across." Thorin told them.

"These vines look strong enough." Kili tugged on them to test their strength.

Amara nodded and hoisted herself far of the ground into the tree canopy. She carefully climbed across to the other side and dropped down on the opposite bank. If there was one thing, she had not forgotten from her time in Mirkwood, it was how to climb. The others looked at her in awe as Kili began to climb over the lower vines.

"KILI!" Thorin called. "We send the lightest first."

Everyone turned to look at Bilbo. Bilbo started to protest but quickly gave up and began to climb to the other side.

Amara caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and caught the outline of a white stag. He father's teachings about omens rang in her brain as on impulse she followed further into the wood.

As Bilbo climbed across, he nearly fell twice and when he got to the other side he was not feeling too well.

"Something is not right!" He said in a whispered, strained voice. "It's not right at all. STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" He yelled but as he looked back to dwarves were already half way across.

The sound of raised voices snapped Amara out of her trance and she ran back to find Bilbo on the same bank and the dwarves halfway across the vines.

The dwarves weren't even half way across when Bombur fell asleep. Thorin was the first across and as he landed next to Amara and Bilbo. Movement drew caught their eyes and they looked across and saw the glowing white stag was back and looking at them.

Thorin knocked an arrow and began to aim at the stag.

"What are you doing?" Amara whispered.

Thorin glanced at her and then stared at the stag. He looked at her once more before quickly shooting an arrow. He missed and hit just above the stag, causing it to bolt.

"You should not have done that." Amara told him.

"It's bad luck." Bilbo added.

"I don't believe in luck. We make our own luck." Thorin said.

A loud splash caught their attention as Bombur, who was still asleep, fell off the vine and into the river. With great difficulty, Amara and Thorin managed to wrap a vine around him and pull him to the shore.