Author's note: I do not own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.
"In order for the light to shine so brightly the darkness must be present."
-Francis Bacon
Chapter One: Home is Behind
Gandalf left the company at the edge of the forest of Mirkwood. Kili looked into the darkness of the trees, a deep sinking feeling in his gut almost made him sick. Gandalf's warning to stay on the path stuck in his mind. He had never faced dark magic before. Fili next to him stirred uneasily. No matter what, he would not let his brother out of his sight.
Thorin watched Gandalf disappear over the ridge before turning again to the dark wood, pausing only to steady his nerves, before stepping onto the crumbling path. The company followed suit. Kili watched the light of the sun fad until only the murky fog remained.
The woods creaked and cracked. Kili could have sworn that he saw the branched moving of their own aboard. As the company traveled farther in the fog around them grew thinker, as did the fog in their minds.
Fili swayed drunkenly, though Kili knew his brother had drunk no ail or port. If Fili had, Kili would have been the first he'd shared it with. He placed a steading arm around Fili's shoulders when he almost fell upon his face.
"We're going in circles!" Balin yelled out from the front.
The company were getting farther and farther away from them yet Kili was keeping pace. A sudden wave of tiredness washed over his mind. He glanced down to see his feet walking backwards, though he was still moving forwards.
Kili didn't even see the tree root that caught his foot bringing him and his brother down, nor did he see the sharp rock that collided with his head.
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"Alex, hurry up with the firewood!" My mother yelled from the back of Dad's pickup.
My little cousins ran past with snow balls in their hands, a stray one catching the back of my head. "Sorry Lexi!" Garrick yelled over.
"It's fine. I know where you're sleeping tonight." I laughed, shaking the flakes out of my cropped hair. I had to take off my beanie to get the biggest hunk of snow out.
I hefted the last of the firewood out of the bed of the pickup and ran inside our grandparents' cabin.
The little ones went to bed early in order to get up bright and early to open Christmas presents tomorrow morning. All the grownups gathered down in the living room to share rum and hot totties a per tradition. It was the first year I got to join them, my twenty first being the month prior.
"Looks who's the big girl now!" Uncle Blake laughed and handed me a whisky straight.
"Yeah, I don't know about…" I sniffed and scrunched my nose at the biting smell of alcohol.
"This is the first drink I get to buy you, it's not going to be any damn girly stuff." He smacked me on the back jovially.
"Mom, Dad, a little help here." I whined though I laughed all the same.
"Go on baby." My mom said taking a long drink of her eggnog. "I wanna see your reaction to."
"Ok," I lifted the glass to my lips and gagged before I could take a sip. "If I throw up I'm going to make sure it's all on you guys." Wirth that I tipped the glass. And immediately choked at the acrid taste, a hard swallow and I got all the liquid down.
"And that's enough for now." My Dad plucked the glass out of my hand.
"Dad."
"I'm still your Dad. No more for now."
"Alexia!" My Grandma's voice called out from the kitchen.
"You better go see what she wants." Dad nodded in the direction of the kitchen.
"OK," I hopped off the couch, "Don't start monopoly without me."
I skidded into the kitchen. "Yes grandma."
My grandma, a beautiful woman even at her ripe age, was just finishing putting her famous cherry pie in the oven. "Can you put your boots on real quick, Sandy wandered off into the woods again."
Sandy was her old Labrador, poor thing was practically blind and had a tendency to get lost in the dark woods surrounding the cabin. Lucky we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere so she wouldn't get hit by any cars.
I slipped on my boots, deciding to leave my coat inside though. This shouldn't take to long. The snow on the deck was up to my ankles. Sandy's paw prints headed out to the trees just beyond the light coming from the sliding door behind me.
Wrapping my arms around my chest I sprinted towards the darkness. "Sandy! Come here girl." When that go no response I cupped my hands around my mouth and took a step into the trees. "Sandy, I'll get you a treat. Come on girl!"
I continued forwards. The tree seemed to close in. I'd played here countless times as a child and I'd never felt intimidated. The trees creaked in the cold wind.
"Alexia!" My grandma's voice rang through the branched like a bell, "I've got Sandy, come inside!"
"Coming!" I turned around.
The wind stopped. All sound was gone, not even a branch moved. My breath turned to mist in front of my face. "Grandma!" I yelled. I never knew how accustomed to an echo I was until I didn't hear one.
The air around me warmed and fog rolled around my feet. I wobbled on my feet, the ground underfoot seemingly rolling.
Then I heard it, the whistling of wind. Behind fog moved like a wall, enveloping the trees and gaining on me.
I ran the direction of the cabin. My asthma clenched down on my lungs, I couldn't breath and my inhaler was inside.
The woods stretched on and on, far beyond what should have given way to my grandparents' yard. The mist caught up, swallowing me whole.
I latched onto a small tree in my path. My arms wrapped around it like my life depended on it as the wind screeched past like a hurricane.
Suddenly, as quickly as it began it ended. I let go of the tree and whirled around. The grass covered ground barely registered in my mind as I ran blindly through the trees.
