The Navigator

The Horrors of Mirkwood

Vistial came to feeling like she had been jostled around, then hung upside down. Well, she quickly found out that the last part was true. Thick webbing incased her and she was hanging upside down from a branch. The last thing she could remember was the giant...the giant spiders.

Vistial tries to reach her knife, which was attached to her right leg. But no matter how hard she stretched, her fingers only grazed the blade's hilt.

"Great." Vistial mutters. She stops when a large shadow appears. She could just make out the eight spiny legs. A loud snap echoes through the air and the shadow disappears. A small one replaces it. It swings something at her feet and Vistial falls to the ground below. The moment she hits the ground, shadows surround her, pulling at the cocoon. Two pairs of hands reach in and grab Vistial's shoulders, pulling her out. Vistial breathes in the fresh air with a gasp of relief.

"Are you alright, Amarlime?" Kili asks, his chocolate brown eyes watching her in worry. She nods, coughing slightly. Fili, who had helped Kili pull the girl out, helps her stand. Vistial counts the dwarves before her. They were missing someone.

"Where's Bilbo?" She asks.

"I'm up here!" The Company looks up to see the Hobbit in the trees. A giant spider jumps at Bilbo, and the two disappear.

"Bilbo!"

"Vistial, run!" Kili grabs her hand as the spiders start to appear out of the undergrowth. Dwalin and few others quickly dismember a spider that tried to eat Bombur. Vistial uses her dagger to cut down the spiders, but there were too many.

"Come on, keep up!" Thorin shouts to the Company. Vistial barrels after him. She stops short when the spiders surround them. Vistial notches an arrow and prepares to shoot when a blonde elf appears, killing the spiders. He notches an arrow and aims it at Thorin.

"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure." He sneers. Vistial swings her bow toward him, but a knife rests against her neck. Anger filling her, she lowers her bow. The blonde elf's eyes meet hers and something passes between them. Suddenly, a cry is heard.

"Help!" Vistial looks toward the sound.

"Kili!" She starts to run to the cry, but the elves push her back with the group. "Let me go! I have to save him!" She struggles against the elves, but Dwalin pulls her back.

"It's not worth it, lass. Just wait. Kili will be okay." Vistial looks down at the dwarf, then back at the elves. Sighing, she nods, and Dwalin releases her.

"Search them." The blonde elf orders. Vistial allows the elves to confiscate her bow and knife.

"Give it back! That's private!" Vistial looks over at Gloin, who was being searched by the blonde elf.

"Who is this? Your brother?" The elf questions.

"That is my wife!" Gloin replies.

"And what is this horrid creature? A goblin-mutant?"

"That's my wee lad, Gimli." Gloin says. The way the elf asked the questions churned anger in Vistial. She wanted nothing more than to slap that sneer off his face. Kili appears, pushed into the group by a brunette elf. Vistial realizes this elf was female. She didn't understand why she felt her blood boil at the looks that Kili sent the she-elf.

"Are all the spiders dead?" The blonde elf turns to the female.

"Yes, but they're getting bolder." She replies. The blonde elf examines Thorin's sword.

"This is Orcrist. Forged by my kin in the North." The blonde elf turns to Thorin. "Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me." Thorin replies.

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well." The elf sneers.

"Why you little..." Vistial jumps at the elf, but Dwalin, Bofur, and Fili pull her back. The elf's eyes narrow when his blue eyes land on her. "An árskífith. King Thranduil will have some questions for you." At the mention of the word árskífith, Vistial felt shock grip her heart. Yes, he had just called her that. "Take them away." Vistial is shoved along with the others.