THE LAST HEIR OF ISILDUR

CHAPTER 11

꧁ Surrounded, again! ꧂

Soon enough each member of the company found himself at the mercy of those hideous creatures and, as they fell into a deep and tormented sleep, the dwarves and the young woman began to be wrapped in thick spider webs.

Arya was a child once again, alone and terrified in the midst of the ruins of a burning city, while her people were being slaughtered by the orcs. Before her, the corpse of her mother, the woman who had given her life, who had raised her, was now laying at her feet, dead at the hands of Azog. Her eyes filled with tears while the color of the flames surrounding her changed from deep red to pitch black, and her mother's lifeless body turned into her brother's. No, not again. Not that nightmare.

"Arya, wake up. Wake up."

A voice in her mind made those terrible images begin to fade.

"Arya, wake up. Be strong. Open your eyes"

That voice...Saphira! Arya opened her eyes and began to struggle to tear out the cobweb that enveloped her. When she finally succeeded, she began to fall downward: the spiders must have hung the cocoons containing her and her companions from the branches of the trees. Once on the ground, Arya quickly composed herself, getting rid of the last webs, and started freeing her friends. It was then that she noticed she wasn't the only one awake.

"Bilbo!"

She exclaimed to him. The hobbit was only a few branches above her and, just like her, was cutting the cobwebs that kept the cocoons hanging from the trees.

"Arya! I'm here! Give me a hand!"

He replied, relieved that he was no longer alone. One by one, with the help of the young woman and the halfling, all the dwarves came out of the cocoons. Some of them were already conscious, while the others had to recover quickly, for soon the spiders realized that their preys were awake. Thus a fierce clash began, the dwarves and the girl fought bravely with sword blows and arrows while the creatures, in turn, hurled at them with fangs and stings. It didn't take Arya long to understand that the fastest and most effective way to beat those monsters was to hit them in the legs. When she saw Fili and Gloin grappling with the claws of a spider not far from her, the young woman ran and slipped under the beast, cutting off its eight legs with her swords, and then rose up again behind it and thrust the right blade into its back. The two dwarves looked at her in amazement while, satisfied, she looked around in search of her next victim. Anger and resentment boiled in her veins, she had suffered because of those monsters, remembering images that were more painful to her than a dagger in her chest. She dared not even imagine how long those nightmares would have lasted if it hadn't been for had Saphira, just as she dared not ask her fellows if they had had a similar experience.

The company was doing pretty well against the spiders, but they soon realized those beasts weren't the only enemies they had to deal with.
They were surrounded, again, by the elves this time. The dwarves and the girl lowered their weapons when a young blond elf aimed the blade of his arrow at Thorin's throat.

"Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf. It would be my pleasure."

The Dwarf King, as well as his companions, decided it was time to do as requested. Arya took a closer look at the elf who was still holding the bow bent in Thorin's direction. Blond, light eyes, defined cheekbones, regal posture, he must have been Legolas, the son of King Thranduil, and prince of Mirkwood. Arya had studied the family trees of the most important families of dwarves, elves, and men while in Rivendell.

"Aaah!"

A scream behind them interrupted her thoughts. Kili.

"Kili!"