Blue swords|| Legolas

11

Luin had no idea how long they had been wandering. The canopy of the trees blocked out the sky and loomed like a heavy weight over their small group. It was unknown wether it had been hours or days. The atmosphere of the place crept upon them until they were drowning under it's oppressiveness. Luin could feel the darkness pricking on his spiritual energy. The soft blue glow which he emitted from his body to serve as a guide for the dwarves behind him, was growing dimmer. He could sense it flickering as he struggled to glow brighter.

"I need air", someone groaned. "Air". There were grumbles of shared sentiments as the dwarves stumbled forwards. They were listless, almost sleepy and drunk. Luin watched with concern. It was the air, he realised. The air was drugged to confuse just like Gandalf said. Although, Luin did wonder why it was not affecting him.

"Oh No", Bilbo breathed as they came to a stop at the bridge. The stone bridge was destroyed. Crumbled away into the black waters of the river. Luin looked at it in disappointment. He glanced down at the black waters, then at the forest around them.

"I'll go and check if there is another crossing", he said to Thorin. The dwarf nodded lazily and Luin sighed. "You stay here!" He instructed them sternly. The dwarves all nodded at him like toddlers. "Wait for me to come back". They all nodded again and watched cheerily as Luin backed away. Kili and Fili waved slowly after him.

Luin sighed again as he looked around at the dark twisting trees. He flew nimbly up on to a branch and began running through the canopy. The trees twisted freakishly around each other, black trunks and sharp twigs. The branches offered a stable pathway through the air, despite their unnatural looking shapes, and Luin danced across them like a spirit. Keeping to the river, he made his way both upstream and down stream, searching for a way across. Having no luck, he returned to the path where he had left the dwarves.

"Damn", Luin cursed when he arrived back at the bridge and realised that they were not there. The path free and empty. He should not have left them alone. The forest was playing tricks on their minds. Who knows where they were now.

Groaning in frustration, Luin closed his eyes and concentrated on the energy of his Qi. Energy spread out around him in waves, searching the forest for the familiar life forms of dwarves. It pulsed through the forest in unseen echoes until something sparked and pulsed back. Luin found what he had been looking for. The company was about two miles away to his right. Relieved that he had not lost them, Luin flew back up into the branches and began running through the trees towards them.

The first spider lunged up at Luin from below just as he was jumping to another branch, pincers aiming for his legs. It's huge black body burst from the gloom under him with scary suddenness. Luin flipped over the beast, slicing down with one of his swords as he landed. The spider screeched and fell from the tree, dead. Luin did not pause. He just kept running towards the dwarves. The second spider came scuttling from the left and Luin was forced to slide under the beast and slice it open as he passed. Once he was up on his feet he was moving again.

"Thorin!" Luin called as he spotted the dwarves through the branches. They were assembled in a circle, facing the spiders with their swords raised. "What did I tell you about staying on the path?" He shouted as jumped from above. The spider that had just about to get Ori from behind crumbled as Luin drove his sword through it's head.

"Luin!" Ori said joyfully as he spotted the blue wizard. "You're here!"

Luin grunted a reply as he sliced the head off of another spider. Black blood coated his swords as the corpse dropped to the forest floor. The dwarves had been split up by the fight. Some were in the branches with Luin, while others fought on the ground. They were lagging while more and more spiders emerged from the forest.