King in Exile

Chapter 2: The Path through Mirkwood

We decided to make a new home in Dunland. Dunland is a foothill region, east of the Misty Mountains and north of Isengard. To get there, we first had to follow the River Running and then pass through Mirkwood. Mirkwood is a dense forest located southeast of the Lonely Mountain. It is home to the Wood-Elves under Thranduil's reign. Thorin didn't particularly want to go through Mirkwood, but that was the safest and quickest path at the time, which was saying a lot. So, reluctantly, Thorin led us into the forest.

It was very dark in Mirkwood. At first, a few beams of light fought their way through the thick foliage. But as we got deeper into the forest, I was glad we had brought lanterns. Even in the daytime, I could barely see the Dwarf in front of me.

We always had to light a fire when we stopped to rest because, if we didn't, creatures would get curious and approach us. One time, a Dwarf named Bombur, who was in charge of the matches on this particular day, forgot where he had put the matches.

"Bombur!" called Oin, another Dwarf with us. "Don't tell me you've forgotten the matches again!"

"Hey, what do you mean again?" Bombur asked, offended.

"You almost lost them last night!" Oin answered.

"That wasn't me! It was Nori!"

"It wasn't me! Kili had them last night!"

"No, I didn't! It was Bofur!"

It turned into a big argument over nothing. While Thorin and I were trying to calm them down, a hissing sound came up from the darkness. We didn't hear it until the hypnotic noise was all around us. We stared around, trying to see through the darkness, hands on sword hilts. Apparently, Bombur found the matches, because when he lit a lamp, I saw hundreds of little points of light fixed on us. Eyes. They retreated a little from the light, but they didn't leave. Thror, Thorin's grandfather and the King, drew his sword and said to the eyes, "Who or what are you?" Hundreds of voices came out from the darkness, hissing hypnotically:

"We are the Giant Spiders of Mirkwood. And you will not escape alive."

With that, they all charged at us. We drew our swords and attacked. Regrettably, I got a good glimpse of the Spiders. They looked a little like tarantulas, except they were about five feet long and three feet tall. The Spiders pushed us back to a river. As I looked closer, I could tell that the water was black. A sweet scent was drifting up from the river, making me feel weary. My sword was suddenly twice as heavy as before.

I saw that the scent of the river was affecting the other dwarves as well. To my right, a Dwarf fell over the steep brim of the riverbank and into the black, murky water five feet below. He screamed and thrashed around, but, after he hit the water, he didn't climb out. The Dwarf bobbed to the top of the river and floated downstream, face down. My friend Nori grabbed a rope, threw it around the Dwarf's boot, and pulled him to the shore. Nori slid down the bank beside the waterline, careful not to touch the water. The Dwarf was passed out and snoring. When I saw the sleeping Dwarf, a vague memory surfaced in my mind. Something about a river in Mirkwood... I gasped as I recalled the piece of information I was looking for. I had to tell Thorin. The prince was about ten feet in front of me, with three Spiders between us.

"Thorin!" I shouted. He turned to look in my direction, and a Spider came up behind him. Thorin must have read the expression on my face because he spun around and sliced the Spider in half. He then waded through the confusion, stabbing and slashing at Spiders as he came. We met in the middle. "Thorin," I exclaimed. "That river down there. It's the Enchanted River – the one that runs through Mirkwood! One Dwarf has already fallen in, and – " I stopped to fend off a Spider, who hissed as my sword connected with his hide. "He's asleep," I continued. "The Dwarf who fell in is asleep."

Thorin seemed to understand. "You mean this is the Enchanted River?" I nodded. "Then we must keep moving. It will slow us down if we have to carry sleeping Dwarves through Mirkwood," Thorin said as another Dwarf conveniently fell into the river.

We were almost overcome by the Spiders. The giant beasts were pushing us into the river or wounding us so we couldn't fight. I figured the only way to escape would be to scare the spiders off with fire. I communicated my plan to the other Dwarves. Thorin ordered Bombur to light a match, and we all grabbed tree limbs to light. The Spiders hissed in indignation, but backed off and scattered into the shadows of the woods. I knew they would be back soon, and in greater numbers, if we let the lights go out.

The Enchanted River's magic worked like this: if you came in contact with the water, you would fall asleep for days. Five Dwarves had fallen into the river, and they had to be carried. That slowed us down.

We had almost made it out of Mirkwood when our last lantern went out. We all stared at it in disbelief. We had come all this way, just for our match to go out when we were not more than a mile away from freedom. Thorin brought us out of our trance by saying, "Well, come on, then! We don't want to give the Spiders an easy dinner!" That got us moving. We weren't far along when we heard the eerie hissing noise of the Mirkwood Spiders. They were gaining on us.

"Here they are again!" One of the Spiders said. "We will get to taste Dwarf meat after all!" We kept running. Rays of light more frequently penetrated the trees. I knew we could make it if we didn't slow down, but I was getting tired. Finally, I saw light ahead. We sprinted towards it. The Spiders saw that they were not guaranteed a meal after all. They hissed at us. After what seemed like an eternity, we made it, pouring out onto a grassy meadow. The whole company of Dwarves collapsed. We saw the Spiders retreat, hissing as they went.

As I was catching my breath on the soft grass, Thorin came over and found me. He looked troubled. "Balin... what do you make of that? Last we heard, Mirkwood was thriving. Now... well, there never used to be Giant Spiders!"

I thought about this. Thranduil, the elven king, would never allow those beasts in his realm if he could help it. "I don't know. But it can't be good."

A/N: And that's chapter 2! Thanks for reading! Continue for chapter 3...