Hello readers! This first chapter will be a written out version of what I briefly explained happened to Arthenon in the first chapter of "Into the Abyss". WARNING! This will contain spoilers for any who have not read my "Hobbit" story, "Gold Burns Red". Only look behind the curtain if you have done so or unless you do not mind spoilers. :) Proceed.

TA April 3019, The Wold

While on the hunt for Pippin and Merry

Someone shook Din awake and she jolted to grab her attacker's hand, expecting to find an orc ready to slit her throat. Instead she looked up into a pair of calming blue eyes. Aragon did not try to wrest his wrist from her grip, but held up his other hand to quell her anxiety. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She could still hear Gimli snoring and did not want to wake him yet. The poor dwarf, sturdy as he might be, was struggling even more than she was to find the energy for their endless marathon.

"Dreams again?" Aragorn asked quietly. Din looked around to glare at Legolas upon the rock on which he perched. He held up his hands innocently, but he was the only member of the Fellowship, aside from Pippin, whom she had confided in about the nightmares that plagued her on restless nights. The ranger chuckled. "It does not take elven intuition to deduce why someone constantly stirs in their sleep."

"Oh . . ." Din murmured. Aragon reached into his pack and broke off a piece of Lembas bread and tossed it to her.

"Eat quickly." A grumpy Gimli was awakened and fed as well. As soon as the sun was high enough for those without elvish eyesight, they embarked once again to hunt the pack of orcs that had stolen Pippin and Merry. By midday the sun was bearing down on them with the wrath of a vengeful king and Din felt she might wilt like the yellowed grass crunching beneath her boots. Her silent complaints and insults toward the sun were cut short by the outcries of a dying orc. She jumped and the four of them stopped to look around for the source. Legolas made a beeline westwardly for a lonely rock formation. Their small company sprinted around its large circumference until they found two elves.

"You did not need to slay the creature so loudly." A feminine elf glared crossly at her companion. Her hair was such a pure shade of black that it barely reflected the sunlight and her tall slender form was clad in battle-ready armor. The elf glaring back at her was equally equipped, his mouse brown hair in disarray from his scuffle with the dead orc at his feet. Din felt her breath catch at the familiar sight of him. Arthenon had found her in King Thranduil's keep while the dwarves had been held prisoner. He had tried to kill her for the stone and failed. Later after witnessing the bond that the Silmaril had formed with her, he had abandoned his quest to reclaim it, or so she had thought. The female elf glowered at the lot of them as they trotted over until her dark blue eyes settled on Din and narrowed. Her comment on killing the orc "loudly" only made sense if they were attempting to be stealthy. Were they following Din? Had other Noldor finally sensed the stone, or had Arthenon told them?

"Who are you?" Arthenon asked curtly. He held Din's gaze pointedly and then glanced sidelong at his accomplice. She was in fact seeking the Silmaril, though if he was warning Din then he must have been working at some sort of an angle.

Aragorn stepped forward to address them eagerly. "Have you seen other orcs in the area? We are hunting a pack that has stolen two of our friends."

"That's a tough lot you've been dealt, friend," said Arthenon. "I am sorry, but this is the only beast I have come by for several days. Din heard Gimli let out a growl.

"Let's be on with it, then," he grumbled. Aragon nodded his agreement and turned away from the elves with a farewell in their native tongue. Din found Legolas standing behind her with a protective stance. Only when she had passed did he follow his company. He kept a watchful eye on her for the rest of the afternoon, but once evening was beginning to fall, he seemed to focused with their trek to pay too much attention to her. As they marched down a rocky hill, Din quieted her steps and broke away. When she was certain none of them had noticed, she back-tracked to face the Noldor. She caught a flash of movement in the distance and knew she had not been wrong. A clearing was formed by a cluster of boulders protruding from the earth and Din hid behind one.

How would she know whether or not they were advancing on her? How close should she allow them to get before she attacked? There was no way to know how many there were, especially with the sun sinking low, until they were upon her and she did not want them to find her cornering herself as she was now. She twisted to bolt out of her hiding spot as a gust of wind whipped her hair in front of her face. It was not normal wind, she knew. She had been discovered. Sure enough, a hand clamped down over her mouth from behind and a knife was pressed into her neck. Before she could blast her captor with fire, a familiar silky voice whispered through her hair.

"Calm yourself, Din. Do not yet allow them to see the power the stone grants you. I will see you out of this safely, but you must wait for them to all get close or they could scatter. There are three others." Din nodded her understanding and Arthenon uncovered her mouth but kept the knife at her neck as a cover. He walked her out from behind the rock formation and called out something in elvish. Three elves appeared in a similar cyclone fashion as Arthenon and the dwarf's hair was whisked around into a proper mess. The elven maid with black hair bore down on her, her dark eyes the color of an ocean at war with the sky during a storm.

"Where is it?" She spat? It was difficult to believe anyone could look at another living being with such deep-found hate. "We know you have the stone. You may hand it over or we will take it." Din stared unblinking into the depths of the ocean within the elf's eyes. She pulled the Silmaril from her pocket and allowed it to glow freely. The elf's eyes widened and became greedily fixed upon it. Foolishly, she reached out and clasped the stone in her long slender fingers without a second thought. A blood curdling scream erupted from her lips and she backpedalled, dropping the gem. It rolled down the hill as the elf cradled her hand.

Arthenon shoved Din to the ground roughly as if to punish her but in fact pushed her toward the stone. The dwarf could not pull air into her lungs as she rolled over rocks in the grass, knowing one of the Noldor was on giving chase. Even while her world spun, Din caught a glimpse of the Silmaril glowing in the yellowed grass, growing closer. As soon as she rolled over it, she scooped it up and broke her fall by throwing her leg and other arm out. There was no time to hesitate. She turned in the direction the elf would be coming from and engulfed him in a blast of white fire. His screams would likely haunt her sleep, even knowing he was about to slay her. A merciful arrow pierced through his head and ended his suffering.

The elf maiden's face was contorted into unquenchable rage and she lowered her bow to level her glare on Din, her lips pulling back in an angry sneer. Pocketing the stone, Din picked herself up and withdrew the short swords from her back in time to deflect an arrow from striking her face. She bolted behind one of the rock formations and wove back around so she would be closer to where the elf stood. Instead of simply bolting back into the open, she clambered up the rocks. Down below, the elf had her bow poised to fire at the other end where Din would have emerged from the ground. Only when Din leapt for the elf did she spot her and change direction. The dwarf deflected the arrow again and the dark curtain of the elf's hair shimmered as she moved back before Din could land on her. She withdrew a blade from her waist to match Din in combat. Though the small lass was quick, the elf was quicker and used a potent gust of wind to knock Din flat on her back. Din was ready to release another plume of fire as the elf lunged to plunge her sword into her gut when an arrow pierced the elf's head.

The body fell backward and Din swung her head around to find Arthenon lowering his bow. The other Noldor elf lay dead at his feet. "Come," he instructed as he discarded his bow to the ground. He anxiously opened and closed his hands as she pushed to her feet and sprinted over.

"I'm sorry if they were your friends . . ." She mumbled.

The corner of his mouth pulled up. "No, that's not the problem. You need to burn me."

"What? Why on earth would I do that?"

"To maintain my cover," he insisted.

"Din!"

Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas had returned for her. Ever mistrustful of the elf he had once known, Legolas drew his bow and leveled an arrow on Arthenon. "Keep away from her!" He barked.

"Wait!" Din used herself to shield Arthenon and watched as her companion's brows scrunched in confusion as they trotted over.

"What happened here?" Aragorn asked.

"He helped me," she explained.

Legolas was not satisfied by her answer and turned to Arthenon. "Explain." Arthenon glowered, but complied.

"I have been keeping an eye on the Noldor ever since I abandoned my quest to reclaim the Silmarils. They caught a whiff of the stone when Din passed through Lorien and have been hunting her, so I came to make certain they could not complete their quest."

A thought struck Din. "You wanted to get our attention earlier. You allowed the orc to make a lot of noise on purpose to draw us in so I would know."

He nodded. "I had to find the orc and bring it back here, but yes. Leradel was not happy that I gave our position away." He glared over at the dead elf.

An eager spark shone in Aragon's blue eyes. "Where did you find it?"

"I'm afraid I did not find the pack you are looking for. The orc was alone and injured. More than likely it ran from its group so as not to be slain for a source of food."

Gimli made a disgusted noise. "Vile beasts."

"I found it to the south some distance away." He pointed in the direction they had been going, which helped them only in the sense that it confirmed they had indeed been going the correct way. "Now, Din." She met his eye for only a moment before looking to the ground. "I know what I ask is not easy for you, but if I do not return they will know I betrayed them and if I return unscathed, it will be no different." Din pinched her eyes closed. He was right. She knew he was, but it didn't stop her stomach from chewing itself into a tight ball.

"Alright," she said through clenched teeth.

"Inflict as much damage as you can without killing me." He gestured to the left side of his chest. Din took a deep breath that did nothing to calm her nerves. She thrust her fist forward as if to strike him and a pillar of flame shot forth.