The Strongest Bond [Middle-Earth Fanfic]

Saved by a Ghost

As my village faded from view in the distance, the rolling, grassy hills loomed before me. Our village enjoyed being quiet and secluded which meant that all other civilization was a long distance away. The nearest place was Greenwood (or Mirkwood) which was a two day journey away. I was headed in the opposite direction to find answers. There was an old man who knew many things and lived in the middle of another small forest. I was not sure, but I thought it would probably take about a whole day's ride to arrive at the forest.

When the sun shone right above me, I halted my horse for lunch. I had hastily packed a small meal consisting of an apple and some bread. Although it was small, it boosted my energy and I was soon ready to continue riding.

After several hours, the forest came into view. It was nothing like the dark and sickly Mirkwood forest but was almost the opposite. Very lush and green, full of color.

When I came to the entrance of the forest, the sun had gone down as the light quickly faded. I hurried to make a fire and set up my camp. The sparks quickly set the dry wood blazing and I settled in for the night. With my hatchet by my side, I laid down by the warmth of the fire and closed my eyes.

An abrupt sound jolted me from my sleep. My eyes flicked open and I looked around. Confused by what I saw, I blinked several times. Was I still asleep? There were three men sitting around my fire, laughing. I began to sit up but was stopped. My hands were tied behind my back and to a tree! The rough bark scratched as I jerked back and forth to be released. What was going on? What had I gotten myself into?

One of the men turned to me as I tried to move. He alerted his buddies and stood up. All three of the weirdos walked over to me. Two of them had a smirk on their face and the other one, who seemed to be the leader, was serious. They were bandits and I was being robbed.

"So, our little boy is finally awake, eh?" The man that seemed to be the leader joined his men by grinning. I just glared at them knowing that there was nothing I could do. I was out numbered and at a huge disadvantage considering my hands were still tied.

"You must be wondering what happened..." one of the men seemed overly amused. If I get untied, you are the first one I will kill. Wait...what am I thinking?

The men made a half circle around me and the tree that I was stuck to. "We were just minding our own business along the forest when suddenly, we spotted a fire through the trees. There, laying by the fire and sleeping peacefully, was a young boy all by himself. We couldn't just let this opportunity pass up so we thought, 'Hey! Let's go have some fun!' So we quietly entered your little camp and you din't even wake up when we put you over here! You must have been really sacked out to be that hard of a sleeper!" The three goons laughed at the story although it was not amusing to hear at all. I could not believe that I had so easily been captured.

I readjusted and took a deep breathe. "Just...take what you want and leave."

"Oh don't worry, kid. We'll take what we want eventually, but first we need to teach a young kid all out on his own how cruel the world can be."

"Wha...what? Aren't you just bandits?"

"Bandits? What a cruel name! We're not bandits! We're not bad! We steal from the rich, well from everybody, and give to the less fortunate, which is us!"

I snorted. "Nothing about you is good!"

"I'm starting to get tired of this kid's attitude!" The dude in charge stepped closer. He walked right up to me and before he could react, I reached back my foot and kicked him in the shin. Obviously not expecting that, he jumped back, clutching his knee and yelling like a baby. Apparently taking that as their cue, the other guys approached me.