An Experiment Gone Wrong

Chapter 12 - Mirkwood (part 1)

Beorn had given everyone in the Company ponies and asked that they be sent to find their way back home before they reached the forest. The night prior to that morning wasn't eventful for Mara except for the fact that she sat by Gandalf and taught him all about her land. Deep into the night did they talk and it wasn't until Thorin mentioned that Mara should get some sleep did she take her place between the King himself and Bilbo. 

Mara stroked her ponies nose and thanked her for the riding she was about to do before climbing onto the ponies back. Her Master Guild armor helping her to disappear in the shadows she seemed to cling to. Mara waited with the others as Gandalf talked with Beorn but it wasn't long until Thorin cleared his throat and mentioned they should get going. 

The road to the forest of Mirkwood wasn't long, but it wasn't short either. It took up a good bit of their morning and a part of their evening. The sun was just starting its descent when they laid eyes upon the trees. 

The Company dismounted their ponies and sent them on their way back home, before turning to the woods. Mara felt a chill in the air and shivered. Something didn't feel right and her suspicions only increased when Gandalf mentioned that he would not be heading into the forest with them. 

"Stay on the path, do not stray, and do not touch the river that flows within." He warned, getting his horse ready to ride South. 

"Where are you going?" Thorin asked Gandalf who just responded that he had a meeting with the elves to attend in the South and he would meet up with them later. 

Mara walked up to the forest and couldn't will herself to go any further until Thorin led the scared Company slowly into the forest. They walked in silence for what felt like an eternity along the narrow, winding path. Mara had put her hood on and continued on, listening to the trees of the forest. They sounded sick. They looked dead, and the air was foul, almost suffocating. 

As they traveled, making sure to stay on the path, different people would take the lead, everyone trusting the one who took charge. Mara was the last one to take charge, casting a clairvoyance spell, but that spell led her to a gigantic cliff. She groaned and laid her head upon Nori's shoulder who just stared into the abyss. 

"What's going on Nori? Why have we stopped?" Thorin asked trying not to think about Mara laying on Nori's shoulder. He knows she has finally let herself drop her guard but he couldn't quell the jealousy he was feeling at the innocent action, and this air was not helping him think any clearer. 

"The path has... disappeared," Nori said disbelieving which started a whole choir of protests and panicked cries of "where's the road!?" 

Time drug on. 

Everyone walked in circles looking for any sign of a path. 

There was no path. 

Mara sat beside Bilbo, resting her feet and her mind until she looked to the side. What she saw made her blood boil. She has seen webs like these before back in her home. She stood up and slowly walked beside Bilbo, crouching down to stare at the silky, sticky web that coated the tree. Using a small finger, she grabbed a piece of the web and pulled it although it didn't come off. It only sent waves up into the high depths of the trees. 

Bilbo followed her gaze and flicked the web again causing it to happen once more. Mara grabbed his hand and shook her head motioning for him to be silent. Bilbo nodded his head and watched Mara disappear into the trees before deciding he was going to climb upwards and see if he could get some fresh air. He was suffocating. 

When he came back down he was quickly met with an unwanted kind of fate by being wrapped up in a web by the biggest spiders he had ever seen and carried to their nest.