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[Carlas]

Durin watched as the branch that Dwalin had grabbed, snapped and sent Dwalin plummeting towards the ground. As he hit the ground, the branch struck him across the head, and he fell into unconsciousness. Durin sat stunned, not sure what to do. Their situation seemed to be getting worse by the minute, where were all these orcs coming from?

Durin suddenly noticed an orc that was now advancing towards Dwalin with his spear tight in his hand. Without even thinking, Durin jumped from the tree, narrowly missing a few branches, and ran towards the orc as fast as his short legs would allow. Just as the orc made it to Dwalin, Durin swung his axe, hitting the orc hard in the stomach and sending him sprawling onto the ground. Once the orc was dead, Durin went over to Dwalin and checked his head. There was a large bump, but that seemed to be the extent of his injuries, he had been lucky that all the other orcs were now too busy fighting to notice them, but Durin doubted that would last long.

Just then Durin heard what sounded like Bali yelling for the others to retreat, and felt himself freeze. This was bad, the orcs were blocking the way to camp and Durin would never be able to fight off all the orcs by himself, he had to get Dwalin to wake up quickly or they would both be dead. He looked down at Dwalin; they first needed somewhere to hide for a short time at least, but where? He looked around, but all he could see was a large patch of bushes nearby. They would do for now, at least until Dwalin woke up.

He lifted the unconscious dwarf onto his shoulder and quickly carried him into the thick bushes, hoping he would not be seen. Once he had found the safest spot he could, he lowered Dwalin back onto the ground and sat down beside him, as he did, Dwalin opened his eyes and gave a small yelp as he touched the bump upon his head.

“You have got to be quiet.” Durin whispered quietly to Dwalin. “ Bali and the others retreated, how is your head?”

“Sore, but I should be fine.” He answered quietly looking around at the bushes surrounding them. Suddenly he looked back up at Durin. “They retreated? Why would they just leave us?”

“There were too many orcs it seems, but right now we should start to think about how we’re are going to get back to the camp…” He said, and Dwalin nodded in agreement.

The two sat quietly for a moment thinking. “Going up into a tree didn’t work last time, so let us do the opposite!” Dwalin said, breaking the silence. “We cannot fight all of those orcs ourselves, so why not crawl through the bushes and shrubs where they cannot see us?”

“It seems to be the only thing we can do, so let us crawl then! But make sure to keep quiet as we go.”

The two dwarves nodded and set off through the brush. It was a slow journey, and having to stop whenever they heard orcs passing by did not help the pace or their nerves, but they knew that they had to keep going if they were ever going to get out of this forest. After what felt like hours Durin stopped suddenly causing Dwalin to bump into him.

“What is it now?” Dwalin asked quietly.

“I hear something, but it doesn’t sound like orcs.” Durin answered

“Could it be…?”

“…the others!” Durin finished for Dwalin happily.

The two stood up cautiously and stumbled out of the forest, happy to finally be able to stretch their legs. They saw the camp immediately and started to walk over, glad to see that their companions seemed to be uninjured. The other dwarves who had been packing up their things turned to see them as they walked up to the camp and Bali came running up to them, looking very relieved.

“You’re alive!” Bali said happily, not sure what else to say.

“You didn’t think we would let you leave without us did you?” Durin asked grinning.

[bilbo_baggins]

Mulling around, Arasiniel decided to go find Gortek at the riverbank.

Seeing him tying some line together, Aras stepped over to him and sat down.

"You know, Gortek, I shouldn't have treated you like that. I am sorry for the way I acted. It was uncalled for, as you have as little right to trust me as I have. Will you forgive me?"

"Aye, lad. But don't expect me to be your best friend too soon. It will take time to smooth out this incident." Then, after a pause, he turned to Aras and said, "This fishing line is giving me some trouble. Would you help me to untangle it?"

"Of course!" he said, overjoyed to have some time growing closer to Gortek, "Maybe we can catch some fish and have them for dinner."

"Aye, that would be good."


After some time spent fishing, Aras turned to the Dwarf and said, "You know, I have the funniest feeling that I should pack quickly and be ready to move very soon."

"Really? That just came to me, too. Fishing is not that good, here, anyway. Let's get ready to leave."

Returning to the camp in the small knoll, they found the Elf, Raendin, waxing his bow, and packing his things. With a nod, they agreed they all had the same premonition of something great happening. Hurriedly wrapping the warm meat, Aras stuffed it into his pack, and readied his few belongings.

Something tingled in his mind, something warning, an eerie specter of gloom. Doom approached.

[Himaran]

Bali grabbed Haenir by the arm, pulling him away from the other dwarves. In a stern voice, he wispered: "I realize that I have two young dwarves lost in the woods. But there were far too many orcs, and there are many in our company not as skilled as you in warfare, Haenir. And I am not one of them. I saw the odds back there, and those young lads would not have lasted another five minutes against those orcs. Durin has been on a campaign before, he will lead them out."

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And he did. Within three hours, Dwalin and Durin stumbled out of the forest. Bali was too overjoyed to ask how they escaped, and so the question was effectively dropped.

The next day, a forced march resumed. The dwarves had wasted precious time around the forest, and they had to complete their time in Ruhn before the summer ended. They needed the months of fall to return to Erebor safely, before winter drifts began to hinder their progress.

Days passed, fairly uneventfully. Erulon had seen traces of wargs, but there was no other sign of life; friendly or the opposite. The plains were wide and vast, but there were always trees along the river.

After weeks of travelling, however, the dwarves finally arrived at the cross the twin rivers. A forest now swallowed their path, but they continued through it without fear. There was no sign of man, orc or beast.

__________________________________________________ _____

"We shall camp here for the night," Bali stated. "As soon as we find a clearing, we can start a fire and get something to eat."

But it had been done for them. In a small clearing, the dwarves found a campsite and a small ring of stone, with smoke wisping from the wood. No one could be seen.

Durin knelt and inspected the ground. "Man, elf and dwarf tracks. Been here for some time."

Bali moved to his side. "Aye, a month or two at least. But why? The weather is fine, but what about shelter? They have none!"

Erulon gingerly touched the dead wood lying in the campfire. "Warm. This wood was burning an hour ago."

Then the arrow barried itself in the ground, an inch from his outstreched hand.