Hummingbird Heartbeat

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The woods were damp and dim and the Dwarves were getting groggy already, Bilbo and Maranda barely holding on. It was stronger than anything Maranda had ever imagined. She had gotten high once, she had done it with David, and it was nothing like the woods. Maybe by some gift of her Sight but she had been acutely aware that she was high when she was tripping, but the woods were different. It was sneaking tendrils that coiled slowly around her, first her sense of touch, then smell, and then taste, sight and last was hearing. It was the same for all the others, slowly bewitched and as good as lost. But the woods were not prepared for the sixth sense Maranda possessed.

"This way!" she snapped, grabbing onto Thorin's coat as he teetered towards a path with no cobbling. "Stay with me," she said firmly. He stared blankly at her and raised a hand slowly. His fingers combed through her curls slowly and she pulled away. Thorin blinked mildly and she scrambled through her bag. She could feel it now, the magic seeping into her. She pulled out her guitar and slung her bag back on her back. She strummed and she felt the loosening of the magic. "Thorin, camp," she said and he blinked at her. The darkness was almost blinding at this point but the magic of the forest made it look like twilight.

"Camp?" he asked blearily. "We still have the light," he protested weakly.

"No, Thorin." She strummed again, this time louder. "Look around. Look and listen," she urged strumming again. He blinked as the music pierced the mist slowly.

"Stop!" he called as the last of the dwarves climb up the stairs they had been going up. "We rest here tonight," he said glanced at Maranda. "Clear this," he said urgently and she nodded.

"KILI! Let's have a song, yeah?" she said and he nodded, stumbling towards her.

"My lassy be a white lily flower, I'll love her-"

"No Ki, one of my songs," she said strumming and he blinked blurrily.

"You're songs? Oh, right em...." He stared at her blankly. "Train?" he asked and she nodded vigorously.

"My heart is paralyzed, my head was oversized I'll take the high road like I should. You said it's meant to be that it's not you, it's me, you're leaving now for my own good," Maranda sang loudly, her guitar spilling out the notes that the words belonged to. It took a while but the fast beat and the loud singing seemed to snap the Dwarves out of the reverie. Kili knew the words and the two voices and the guitar joined to make a sort of shield around the listening ears. When the song finished food was eaten and people curled up, close together and uneasy, to sleep.

Maranda tucked away her guitar and cast her eyes around before someone tugged her wrist. She jumped and span, the darkness making it hard to see, but she could feel something on her skin. It was smooth and cold and it was on someone's finger. A ring? Yes. She knew that ring.

"Thorin?" she whispered.

"Don't wander off you're our only hope in this place," the King muttered and she curled up next to him.

"Who me? Not a chance," she promised and silence fell. Dawn was slow to come and as they set off, uneasy and worried, Maranda once more took the lead, playing her guitar constantly to whatever song Kili could think off, trying to keep the magic at bay. But the magic of Elves is clever and can learn, learn quickly in fact. By noon the magic once more had them in its throws and no amount of singing or strumming could fight it off. But they had reached the bridge.

"It's broken!" Bofur cried in woe.

"We'll never reach the mountain now," moaned Ori.

"Yes, we will!" Maranda snapped and looked around. She shook her head. She knew the vines were there, but that wasn't an option. Losing Bombur wasn't worth it.