I Bow To No One

Chapter 17: The sickness of Mirkwood

We had only stayed with Beorn for one more night, a night of which I got no sleep. Nightmare after wretched nightmare taunted me of those horrible forests that I would have to go back to far to soon. Although I didn't want to, I knew I had to... I had gotten this far and I was not about to abandon the dwarves now. The company rode ponies loaned by Beorn while I simply ran along side them in my wolf form. It felt nice to feel the wind in my fur once again. I hadn't really been able to shift very often around the company considering it made most of them uncomfortable but I figured this time was an exception. The company stopped outside of the dark forests of Mirkwood and fear laced through me. I shifted back to my human form and scooted toward Thorin like a small child who was afraid of a unseen monster. "Love are you alright??" Thorin asked, his icy blue eyes were filled with concern. My whole being screamed no but I just nodded and forced a small smile. Thorin did not seem convinced but he did not push the matters any further which I am grateful for. A dark evil radiated off the trees. Everything told me to turn and run but of course, I didn't. Suddenly Gandalfs voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "I must leave you here. I have more pressing matters to tend to." This caused my head to snap up. "What?! You can't just leave us!" Bilbo yelped. "I would not do this to you if the problem wasn't so urgent. You have Artrain to protect you. You will be fine." Gandalf responded. "Oi don't dump that on me Gandalf! I will not go into those God forsaken forests without you with us! Do you not realize what will happen to me if we are captured?!" I snapped. My whole body shook at the thought. "Artrain my dear I'm sorry but I must go. I will meet you all at The town of Dale. Do not go into that mountain without me." Gandalf directed that last part to Thorin who just grunted in acknowledgement. I growled angrily but did not argue any further. Soon, The wizard was gone and the company was preparing to go into the forest. "Artrain love you don't have to do this. We will all understand if you want to leave us." Thorin said softly to me. "No Thorin. I did not come this far to leave you. Besides, Someone has to make sure you all behave yourselves." I said with a small smile. This earned a chuckle and a grin from the dwarf but it quickly faded as Rain began to pour. " Of bloody course.." I mumbled bitterly.

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It had been hours since the company had seen daylight. The dwarves were tired and hungry. And on top of that we lost the path. Dwalin made a wrong turn and its near impossible to find the wretched thing once its lost. I had mostly zoned out after about 30 minutes of the dwarves mindless babbling. They would not last in the forest much longer. "Thorin we need to find that God Forsaken path before these lads go entirely insane." I mumbled. "Well if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them." Thorin sighed tiredly. I looked up and suddenly an idea flashed in my mind. "Bilbo!" I barked, causing the Halfling to nearly jump out of his skin. "You can climb trees right??" I asked. "Well y-yes but I don't understand what that has to do with anything.." Bilbo responded. "He can climb up and figure out which direction we need to go! Wonderful Idea Artrain!" One of the dwarves cheered. so within seconds the Halfling was making his way up the tree... And that's the last thing I remember before everything went black...

AN: Heyyyy!!! Look who updated! Are you proud?? :D Hah probably not but I'm so sorry I haven't updated! If it makes it better im going to start working on another chapter immediately! Thank you for reading and as always...

Yours truly,

Fangirl_central0711