The Lonely Mountain [1]

Spiders and Princes

They carried on through the forest, some of the dwarves carrying Bombur on a hastily made stretcher. The company kept experiencing spells of dizziness and Amara's hip was starting to throb; the pain causing her to lose focus.

"Those voices. Can you hear them?" Bilbo said from sitting on a toadstool.

"I hear nothing." Thorin said.

Amara looked at them all in worry. Kili lost his balance and fell on her. He started muttering nonsense.

"No wind, no birds, nothing." Thorin continued.

"I think we ought to rest here for a while." Amara said, trying not to let on that she was on pain.

All the company quickly agreed with her.

Amara sat down away from the others and gently peeled away the dressing on her wound. The skin around the edge was tender and flared, but the wound its self was horribly miss-coloured. Poison. The arrow must have been covered in it. She heard someone gasp behind her. She spun round and grabbed Kili's arm before he could run off and tell the other.

"Don't." She warned him, shaking her head.

"But we've got to get you mediation!" Kili persisted.

"It's poisoned." She told him. "It's beyond any of the company's skill. I need elvish medication. I will double back to the woodland realm when you are all safely through." She told him just as Thorin called to them keep going.

Amara re-dressed the wound and Kili reluctantly kept his mouth shut. They continued on, following the path.

"The path turns this way." Thorin told them.

They carried on along the path until they reached a corner. Dwalin began to use the end of his axe to fell the ground for the path.

"This way." Dwalin told them.

The company began to follow Dwalin until it was nightfall. By then the pain in Amara's side had increased tenfold and the company's dizzy spells were becoming more frequent.

"Air...I need air." Bofur started saying.

"My head, it's spinning! What's happening?" Oin muttered.

"Keep moving." Thorin told them.

Suddenly Nori, who was leading them, stopped.

"Nori, why have you stopped?" Thorin called.

"The path, it's disappeared!" Nori exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Ori asked from the back.

"We've lost the path!" Bofur shouted.

"Find it. All of you look." Thorin told them all.

"Look for the path!" Dwalin called.

As they started looking another wave of dizziness overcame the dwarves and Bilbo. However, Amara was the same with the increasing pain in her side.

"I don't remember this place, none of its familiar." Balin mumbled.

"It's got to be here." Dori said panicked.

"What hour is it?" Thorin asked.

"I don't know, I don't even know what day it is." Dwalin answered.

"Is there no end to this accursed place!" Thorin shouted.

None of them noticed Bilbo touching a massive spider web and sending vibration through the whole thing. As they carried on walking, they began to hallucinate.

Ori picked up a pouch from the floor which Dori then took off him.

"Look, a tobacco pouch. There's Dwarves in these woods." Dori said examining the pouch.