The Hobbit | The Lost Bender {Book 1}

23 | The dangers of tree bark

{Myrna POV}

"So, this is it." I said, sniffing a bit at the sight of the unsettling forest.

"Can't those eagles drop us off at the exact spot of the third bender?"
Rigmor laughed at my remark.
"If they only knew, yes."

I swiped my hand over a statue which seemed like it was from an Elf or something and swallowed. It looked very creepy.

"Are you sure about this?" Rigmor nodded and got out the map.
"If the Lonely Mountain is that way..." she pointed towards the west, "...and Lake Town over there..." she pointed north. "Then this must be Mirkwood. Or Greenwood, before the curse."

I nodded, now a bit more convinced.
"Let's save Smaug."
"For Smaug, yes." Rigmor mumbled before stepping into the forest. From the outside, it didn't seem that bad at all aside from the statue, but now we were walking inside, it seemed indeed sick and cursed.

"Let's stay on the path. You never know what will happen." Rigmor said. I nodded and followed her. The leaves barely let through any light and branches covered most of the pathway, making it nearly impossible to stay on the path itself all the time.

It must be a way to get us to stray from it, I realized, and kept my eyes on Rigmor's back to make sure I didn't get lost. I inhaled the thick air and felt that it wasn't quite right, for the forest air back at home was way better and more clean.

"Is this alright?" Rigmor nodded absentmindedly.
"If Gandalf says it's alright, it is. Okay?"
"Okay. Let's just trust that wizard. We have no reason not to."
"Want some more food?" Rigmor asked and turned towards me.

"Please. If we can't sleep, I would at least like some food."

She dug up a piece of bread from the pouch she had on her hip, but as soon as it made contact with the air, it became mouldy and grey instantly, maggots crawling outside of it.

"Huh..." We looked around towards the sky.
"The air must be poisonous around here..."
She tried an apple, but it fell apart in her hands as she got it out, rotten to the core.

"That's gross... Let's continue."

We stepped onward, the path becoming more and more invisible to our sight as time passed. For the first time I was happy that I wore my boots. It gave me a tiny bit of safety, for that matter.

What if the soil here prevented me from bending? Not that I couldn't bend without my feet, but it just made it a lot less powerful.

"Hey, Rigmor... Did you do something with your hair?" I asked, inspecting her blonde locks as she halted. It seemed as if she had copied my hairstyle.
"What do you mean?" She turned her head, only to find out that she looked exactly like me. I frowned confusedly.

"What are you looking at?" Was I hallucinating?
I shook my head. "No, nothing..."

We continued walking.
Deep in thought I stared at my feet to also keep on track of the path.
Blinking a few times, I noticed something else.

"Rigmor? Why are we walking backwards?"
As I looked up, she was her normal self again, but she was walking with her face towards me, making her... Walk forwards?

"We are walking in circles." I whispered, spinning for 180 degrees.
"We've been here before, I'm sure of it!"

Rigmor looked at the trees. "Nah, I don't think so." I swallowed thickly.

"Rig..." My gaze slowly went to my feet again and Rigmor did the same, gasping slightly. "We lost track of the path."

"We should head north, since there is Lake Town... Or was it east?" Rigmor buried her face in her hands as she rubbed her temples.
I sat down on a tree stump, poking something what seemed like a cobweb with a stick.