Hi Guys,

Don't kill me! I know it's been like forever since I last updated. A lot of things happen in this chapter and I really wanted to get it right as it lays out a plot for the rest of the story. So it was kind of essentially I didn't mess it up. I know I said I would try and update every two weeks but who am I kidding, I think we all know by now that's not going to happen so from now on I shall try to update once a month, and if I am having a good month, who know there may be extra updates!


"Ahhh ... Bloody hell!" Keizer huffed the fourth time that night. The sun had set several hours ago and the absence of the sun had brought Kezia several problems. The first of which was the lack of light made her even more prone to 'greet the earth with her face' as Legolas had so kindly put it. Hence her current swearing, she could barely see in front of her and had tripped on invisible rocks more times than she could count. The change in terrain had also caused problems, having removed her shoes several hours ago to keep pace with the fellowship, had now had to replace them as sharp rocks now stabbed at her feet at every opportunity. Not that her stilettos provide much protection. She knew that when they eventually stopped her feet would be covered in cuts and grazes. The second problem the sun going down had caused her was the sudden drop in temperature. Having lost her cloak earlier that day to the wolves she was feeling the sudden coolness in the air, she could feel the sweat she had built up over the day chill on her back and was fighting to stop herself from shivering. The only thing that was currently keeping her going was Gimli's promise of a warm welcome at Moria, warm being the key word, one she was taking literally.

Stumbling once again on the rough terrain, her arm was grabbed by Legolas who for the last hour had been carefully watching her, stepping in to help her when needed.

"Would it be of any comfort if I were to tell you we are nearly there" Legolas offered with a sympathetic smile.

"It would ... If you had not told me that an hour ago." She grumbled. "How far is it really, in human terms not endless energetic elves terms"

She heard Aragorn chuckle behind her.

"From one human to another it truly is not far" he answered her.

"I'll believe that when I see it" she murmured, once again forgetting the keen hearing of the elf at her side. Feeling a sudden tug at her arm as Legolas brought her to a stop.

"That is where we are headed" Legolas said pointing to something in the darkness.

"Like hell I can see that, I can barely see my feet." Kezia said before trying to move on only to be brought once again to stop.

"Here" Legolas said, cupping his hands around her eyes, tilting her head in the direction of the mines. "See that steep rise to your left ... We are taking a path to its right, I estimate two miles till we are at the gates of Moria"

A silence followed as Kezia struggled to make out what he had mentioned. Seeing a shadow rising high in the distance she felt a sense of elation. "I can see it ... I think. It's not far!" She exclaimed excitedly. Legolas chuckled at her renewed enthusiasm, his breath fluttered her loose hair, making him realise just how close his face was to her. Her back was flush against his chest as he cupped his hands round her eyes, his hands innocently brushing the soft skin of her face and he had lowered his head to speak directly into her ear. He felt his ears burn at his situation and a flush of heat raced through him, he quickly took a step back removing his hands from her face.

"Come, the sooner we get there the quicker you can get some rest" he said quickly moving past her to rejoin the group Kezia quickly caught up with him a slight bounce in her step which had a smile tugging at his lips.


Within the hour they had reached Moria's entrance and Kezia cheerful demeanour vanished instantly as she observed Gandalf stroking a wall murmuring in some strange language. The novelty of the silver writing appearing in the moonlight soon wore off and after watching him do this for several minutes she very quickly became disheartened and dropped herself to sit on the stony ground in a huff opposite Boromir who was sitting on a rock a few metres away from her.

Seeing her disgruntled expression Boromir had to bite his cheek hard to prevent a laugh that would not have gone down well.

"Fear not, he will soon figure out the password Milady" he said in an attempt to cheer her up realising his slip up too late. The withering glare he received had him wishing he had never opened his mouth. Truly her glare would have lesser men running away in fear. Coughing uncomfortably he mumbled an apology which was met with a nod. Noticing her shivering slightly he began to remove his cloak to offer it to her, catching his intention Kezia quickly began to decline.

"Kezia, please take it, you will be turning as blue as your dress" he said offering her the woollen cloak.

"Well at least I will match it" was her only response as she refused to take it. Sighing Boromir threw the cloak at her so it landed on her lap earning him shocked look, recovering she raised an elegant eyebrow at him as she glanced down at the cloak in her lap. Reaching down she picked it up and Boromir thought he had won ... Until it hit his face with surprising force, knocking him off balance so he fell on his back. With the cloak covering his face he could hear a brief silence before laughter broke out among the fellowship. Sitting up and slowly pulling the cloak from his face he saw the redhead trying and failing to keep a smirk off her face. To her right Merry and Pippin were taking turns to re-enact the scene. From behind he could hear the quiet chuckles from Aragorn and Legolas and the loud guffaws from Gimli who was slapping his thigh complimenting Kezia on her keen aim. Even Frodo had a smile on his face before he turned his attention back to Gandalf who was studiously ignoring them in his quest to seek entry to the mines; even he had a small smile tugging at his lips. Looking back at Kezia he saw she had given into mirth and was now laughing along with the rest of the group. Taking advantage of her distraction he stood under the pretence of putting on his cloak when he lunged at her. Seeing his sudden movement towards her she yelped loudly and scrambled to her feet in time to avoid his outreached arms brandishing the cloak. Kicking off her shoes with a mischievous grin which took him by surprise having never seen it before she took off to the left. With a laugh he ran after her quickly catching up the distance until he found an unsuspecting elf pushed in front of him by the red head. Narrowly avoiding a head on collision with Legolas, mainly due to the elves quick reflexes to spin out the way, he continued after her to where she was using Aragorn as a human shield. Aragorn was laughing at her attempts to persuade him to tackle Boromir for her, shaking his head she huffed in annoyance about chivalry being dead before darting away again taking chase Boromir nearly had the cloak around her shoulders when he suddenly found himself face down on the floor. Trying to get up he found his feet pinned by Merry and Pippin who were sitting triumphantly on his legs having tackled him to the ground. He watched as Kezia sauntered up next to him congratulating the hobbits on their valiant defence of her. Cheering the hobbits got up and the three off them walked away to sit next to the murky lake.

"What the hell just happened?" Boromir mumbled. Seeing a hand reach down to him, he let Legolas pull him up.

"I believe the students just became the master" Legolas responded with a smirk on his face even Boromir couldn't help but smile. The tension from the day had been completed broken and everyone was now talking happily among themselves no longer glancing at the door to the mines every few minutes. Legolas watched as Kezia sat down next to hobbits and began to deftly braid a small section of her hair just behind her ear. She was quick in her task and looped the braid around her remaining hair before tucking in the end, effectively tying back her hair. It was unusual for any of mankind to braid their hair, it was considered an elven tradition, one riddled with many meanings but judging by her swift fingers she had done this many times. He couldn't help but wonder if her braids had a similar meaning from where she was from but to ask would be too impudent he thought.

"You are lucky she is unobservant my friend" Aragorn said startling the elf making him smirk.

"I do not follow your meaning"

"Your gaze has rarely wavered from her this past day and when it is not there your thoughts clearly are"

Legolas chuckled softly "If she were capable of walking on her own without risking her safety and that of everyone around her I'm sure my attention would be elsewhere".

A silence followed until Legolas turned to find Aragorn's eyes scrutinising him causing him to raise his eyebrows at his friend. Sighing Aragorn scratched the back of his head "She has a unique skill of finding any obstacle possible and then falling over it ... How she ever made it up that tree I'll never know"

"I don't even think she knows, the distance to the first branch was higher than what I would have thought she was capable of. She is full of surprises"

Aragorn once again turned to look at him quizzically before the sound of splashing caught his attention.


"How do you do it?" Kezia asked as she watched the Merry and Pippin throw stones into the water, watching as they skimmed the surface several times before disappearing into the murky depths. The water smelt foul and looked as creepy as it smelt she would have happily stayed away from it but her curiosity got the better off her when she saw the hobbit s skimming stones.

"It's all about the stone, you see you got to find a flat stone, not a big one or it is difficult" said Merry

"No you got it wrong, it's all about the wrist action" argued Pippin demonstrating flicking his wrist, "Like this or you don't get enough spin or speed on it"

"But you won't get any speed if your stone isn't flat and sinks straight off" Merry retorted.

"Well some of us have more skill than to let it sink after one skim"

"I haven't had a failed skim yet!"

"Hey hey hey guys, cool it down a bit. Why don't you two have a competition to see who can do the most skims, best out off three wins."

"You're on" Merry said immediately turning to search the floor for flat stones.

"And may the best Took win" Pippin said but launching his first stone into the water. It skimmed 4 times before sinking. Merry stood and was just about to launch his stone when Aragorn grabbed his hand from behind making all three of them spin round to face him.

"Do not disturb the water" Aragorn said his voice low and his eyes staring at the surface of the water as if he were looking for something. The warning made the hair on the back of Kezia's neck stand up and she quickly moved away from the water's edge her eyes also roaming the surface for some invisible enemy. Not seeing one she turned her back and followed Aragorn.


Suddenly there was a deep rumble in the earth and a portion of the cliff face swung open allowing them entry to the mines. Kezia resisted the urge to whoop in joy at her anticipation of a warm bath; the thought of being clean again was delectable. She passed Gandalf who gave her a cheeky wink, clearly knowing she was jumping for joy on the inside. Her happiness was short lived when she was effectively clothes lined by Boromir who had thrown his arm out to prevent entering any further. Before she could complain Gandalfs staff began to emit a soft glow unveiling what the darkness hid. She gasped and shuffled backwards away from the scene of a pile of skeletons, she could immediately fell another panic attack coming on and felt herself being roughly guided out of the mine by Boromir who had his sword out scanning the mine entrance expecting for enemies to leap out and attack them. She felt herself slump to floor as Legolas spat out the word 'Goblin'. In her panicked state she honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry, Goblins were the stuff of children's fairy tales, the monsters under the bed, to hear they actually existed, well she just couldn't process that information yet.

Sitting there huddled in a ball she heard a sudden yell which brought her back to the present and at the sight that greeted her, she felt her jaw hit the floor, both literally and physically as her leg became ensnared in a huge slimy tentacle and she was dragged towards the water to join Frodo who was suffering a similar fate. She twisted round for her hands to try and find purchase on anything that would halt her rapid progress to what she was sure would be an early and watery grave. She felt tear burn at her eyes as she felt her skin tearing on both her hands and on her legs, a sharp stone sliced the side of her face down to her jaw and she quickly felt warm blood spill out of it. Somewhere in her mind she realized that her current plan was having little to no effect so she flipped over again ignoring the strain on her leg as her skin was twisted beyond what was uncomfortable and was rapidly approaching blinding pain, she could feel the muscles and tendons in her leg screaming in protest as she tore at the tentacle with her fingers trying to pry it off. Suddenly she felt the icy water of the putrid lake drench her legs, she screamed in frustration and pain as the grip on her leg tightened. In her pain addled brain she truly was considering that it might be less painful if she chopped her own leg off and left it as a peace offering to the giant life sucking octopus monster thingy, a quick slackening of the beasts hold on her leg caught her attention as she saw several arrows embedded in the tentacle. She quickly yanked her leg free and went to run out of the lake only to fall over as her leg refused to take any weight, she tried again to stand but made it only two paces before her leg gave out and she crumbled onto the shoreline. She felt something snake round her waist and she immediately panicked and began to struggle thinking that another tentacle had come after her. She stilled when she heard soft words in her ear in a soothing language and turned to see Legolas who was helping her upright. He began to push her further away from the water but when her leg gave out again Kezia let out a cry of pain. Legolas looked back and saw Kezia was once again on the floor, quickly looking over her for the cause. He spotted the reason for her pain, her leg was already black from bruising from the watcher's grasp and a steady flow of blood spilled out from where her skin had been twisted to the point of tearing. He looked at her tear stained face and saw more shallow cuts along with her expression of absolute fear. He felt rage bubble up in him, an anger so consuming he felt his muscles tighten as his head roared at him to destroy the beast who had pained her so, an anger he had not felt in a long time. He took a shaky breath to calm himself and scooped up the red headed woman in his arms and ran to the cliff face, the farthest possible place away from the lake and its foul creature. He placed her gently down still earning him a whimper as her leg touched the floor and she swayed before she managed to balance herself on one leg by leaning against the cliff face. He softly wiped away a tear that was falling from her from her deep blue eyes before he turned away and ran back to the lake. He felt his anger return instantly as he gazed at the ugly creature, Frodo was now being waved around in the air like a ragdoll while the men were splashing about in the water slashing at the never ending tentacles. So he aimed his arrows at the only thing he could see there was a finite number of, its eyes.

He heard the creature roar in pain as his arrows found their mark creating the distraction needed for Frodo to be released. As soon as Frodo was freed Gandalf yelled at them to enter the mine and so the fellowship ran towards the gate, splashing through the murky water, diving out the way of the tentacles which were now waving wildly about as the beast could no longer see its prey. Legolas found himself wanting to laugh at how the once powerful beast was now flailing about, he wanted nothing more than to finish the hideous monstrosity off, piercing its thick skin with his daggers, slicing its tentacles off one by one for the damage they had done.

"Five ... Six" Legolas snapped out his visions of massacring the beast to hear Gandalf counting as the fellowship members dashed through the entrance to mine which was now beginning to crumble as the watchers tentacle hit the rock above the gate "Seven, eight ... Nine... Nine? Who's missing?"

At those words Legolas's heart dropped to his stomach, he knew exactly who was missing as he himself had placed her the farthest away from the lake, but it was also the farthest away from mines entrance. He had been so absorbed in his rage he had forgotten the original cause of it ... The injured woman. The woman who as he dashed out the entrance again saw she was effectively pinned between two tentacles that were lodged in the cliff face either side of her blocking any exit. Next to him he heard Aragorn call for the woman to run towards them but he knew she was incapable with her leg injury. Legolas made to dash towards her only to be flung backwards by Aragorn who had just thrown him clear of a boulder that had fallen from the cliff, the entrance was going to be blocked within minutes yet Kezia was far from getting there. He saw her try and duck underneath one of the lodged tentacles only to have a rain of stones fall on her. The creature managed to dislodge its limb and he watched in horror as the limb swung upwards then raced down to where Kezia had just stumbled to. She looked up just as she disappeared from Legolas's view as the tentacle smashed into where she had been. He heard a yell and realised it was him as Aragorn fought to keep him at the entrance, trying to push him into the mine to safety. Boromir ran forward to help Aragorn as they manhandled him back towards the gate as the watcher's tentacles smashed once again into the rock face above the entrance. Dust and grit smothered the air as rocks were dislodged and all three of them had to stop to shield themselves as the stones crashed down upon them.

Legolas was up on his feet the fastest desperately staring into the cloud of dust that was now billowing around the cliff face. A glint of something caught his eyes but disappeared just as quickly as it had it had come. He squinted in its direction and saw a shadow moving deftly among the flailing tentacles.


Kezia's Pov

Kezia glanced across to lake to where the entrance of mine lay. She had heard Aragorn call her but how the hell was she going to get there. She was effectively pinned by two tentacles either side of her and was trying to make herself as small as possible so as not touch either of them and alert the beast to her presence. Also there was the fact she couldn't but any weight on her leg with crumpling into a heap on the floor. At least that was the excuse she was telling herself, if she was being honest the real reason why she wasn't moving was that she was frozen in fear ... absolutely petrified sounded appropriate for her current emotions.

She looked back across and saw Legolas attempting to make a mad dash to help only to be flung to the side by Aragorn, effectively saving him from being squashed to a pulp by a falling boulder. She had called out to warn them but her call was drowned out by rumbling next to her as the tentacle strained to release itself from it rocky prison. Bending down she attempted to duck underneath it using the cliff to support her as tried to hobble to the other side of the thick limb. She heard the rumbling again and felt a shower of rocks fall on her, clouds of dust choking her making her cough and wheeze. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something moving and looked up to see the now freed tentacle coming crashing down towards as she felt a scream leave her throat before it was cut off into the blackness.

Seconds passed where she could see and hear nothing the only reason she knew she was not dead was the excruciating pain she was feeling. It burned from within her and was no long contained to her mangled leg. It felt like every limb was on fire every cell of her being had been set alight and by god did it hurt she tried to scream, to cry to do anything but her throat refused to cooperate it too was burning her. Her body felt hot and every nerve was tingling within her and not in a nice way. Slowly the blackness began to recede and in her blurred vision she saw that she had been flung against the cliff face and was sitting upright from where she had slumped over she was amazed she had not squashed into the floor like she had original thought. Her hearing still muffled she failed to hear the rocks shift until they once more poured over her, trying to look upwards resulted in such pain in her neck she stopped immediately tears pouring down her cheeks. She felt it as more and more rocks fell on her cutting into her skin but watched with horrified fascination as she saw the rocks shredding her clothes; there sharp edges cutting into her skin but she could not feel it, the burn she was feeling far overshadowed any cuts. Looking in front of her she saw that the tentacle was once more approaching - it was if the bloody thing could sense he was there. She knew with certainty as it scraped along the cliff above she was not going to make it as huge boulders crashed either side of her. Glancing up, causing her to move her neck created a new wave of agony but she saw that heading her way was a boulder that would with a doubt kill her. There would be nothing left of her after this, just a red stain on the floor.

She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable when her body twitched and rolled to the side. This time she managed to scream as the wave of pain wracked her body crippling her, she wanted nothing more to curl up in to a ball trying to make it stop but any movement caused such pain it rendered her unable to move. She knew she hadn't moved, she couldn't move but yet here she lay watching as the boulder almost slowly crashed into the floor where she had been just seconds before creating dust and grit that cover her once more, blinding her, making her choke, even her coughing caused the burn she felt to blaze hotter. As the dust cleared she blinked her watering eyes to see both tentacles had now been dislodge and that the beast was crawling and pulling its way onto the saw, it line thrashing around. It moved almost slowly to Kezia so when one came crashing towards her, she felt her hand land on the slimy skin as she used it to pull herself up and flip over the tentacle. Her joy at once again avoid death was short lived as the pain caused her muscles to spasm and she once more crumbled to the floor behind a fallen boulder.

She clawed her way up leaning on the boulder, breathing heavily as the burn nearly consumed her consciousness; she saw the gate slowly disintegrating blocking her only means of escape and of all things that she should have been feeling it was anger which came to the forefront. Anger that she would die in a world not her own, where no one knew her, where she didn't even know herself. She would die completely alone and that scared her. More than being squashed to death by a cliff, more than the creature whose tentacle pummelled into the cliff threatening to drag her away to certain death at any moment.

With strength she didn't know she processed she leapt forward over the boulder landing smoothly on the stony floor and immediately dodged to her right from a falling boulder she hadn't even seen but knew was there. Skidding to a stop she took a running jump onto the boulder and leapt into the air landing solidly on a tentacle that was high in the air decimating the cliff, even as the tentacle flailed forwards her balance remained even, as her body compensated for its sporadic movements. Just before the tentacle began to move backwards she flung herself forwards descending quickly towards the ground to then grab onto another tentacle that was rising into air. Her hand gripped onto the limb finding purchase easily as if its skin was not slimy or slippery and she swung herself forward completing her flip so she landed on top of the limb in a crouch. Running up the tentacle to where it began to descend towards to beast body she skidded down the steep incline jumping off at the last moment into the water. The entirety of this took but a mere few second but it was enough for the creature to realise she was there. She dived to the left as the tentacles abandoned its assault on the cliff and speed towards her, she turned to the right and smoothly as if she was dancing, deftly avoiding the tentacle, she ducked underneath or skipped to the left, spinning round them as she made her way across the lake. As she reached the shore line the beast realised her destination and once again began to tear at the cliff to cut her off. As a tentacle whizzed past her to destroy her exit she lightly jumped on the limb effectively catching lift that was faster than she could ever have ran. As she flew towards the mine at speed she saw a flash of blonde hair, a hand reaching out to her ignoring the rocks that rained down on it. Running along the tentacle she reached the end and threw herself towards the entrance into the waiting arms of the elf who spun her round into the mine just as the gate collapsed on itself.

Darkness, that was all she could see. Everything was black; she could hear the coughing of the fellowship as they emptied there lunges of the dust caused by the gate collapsing. She could hear the panting and groaning as realisation dawned on them that they had just run into what was most likely a trap. She felt the warm arms around her, locking her in place against the stone wall, the soft breath against her ear and the quiet words she didn't understand that were softly spoken into her ear. So softly she almost missed them.

Suddenly the quiet was broken by everyone calling different people's names all at once, trying to ascertain if their comrades were alright. She vaguely noted her name was called a few times but she had not the energy to answer. A bang was heard in room and a soft light emitted from Gandalf's staff as he struck against the floor, quiet descend quickly and Kezia felt her eyes tear at the sudden invasion of light. As her eyes adjusted she saw heads swinging wildly from side to side as they located who was present. Hidden behind Legolas who was still holding her against the wall in the shadows of the room, she was missed.

"The lass, where the lass" Gimli cried.

Silence fell as the other quickly look round unable to find her.

"Surely not ..." Gimli whispered hoarsely.

"She was the other side of the lake, she was injured and could not move ... the beast it ... its tentacle fell ... it was quick."Aragorn spoke his voice barely above a whisper.

The hobbits gasped and began to exclaim she could not be dead; she dearly wanted to comfort them but felt paralyzed to move, to speak. She heard movement behind Legolas as Aragorn reached forward to place his hand on the Elf's shoulder to comfort. Legolas started his head slowly turning as if he had not heard anything since the gate collapsed. As he turned the light fell on Kezia who was no longer shadow by Legolas. Aragorn's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the redhead in the cave; pale, dirty and bloody but alive.

"H...How?" was the only word he managed. The last time he saw she was across the lake, injured, incapable of moving and a mere minute before the gate fell. Her presence here was impossible yet here she was breathing in short shallow breathes. Aragorn reached for her, to touch and feel that she was not a figment of his imagination but actually there in front of him.

As his hand reached forward to embrace her he expected Legolas to release his hold on Kezia, only he did not but merely shifted to the side his arms still wrapped around the woman. Aragorn was about to question this until he realised that he was supporting the woman nearly to the point of holding her up. Aragorn moved forward regardless and grasped the woman embracing her in her a hug. He could feel the redhead trembling as he held her briefly before stepping back to allow the fellowship to see her. Gasps sounded, cries of relief, questions as to how she escaped quickly rose up as the hobbits surged forward to embrace her legs sobbing. Her usual response to the hobbits would be to return the hug but she stood stoically as if she was not seeing them. Legolas was looking at her with concern calling her name softly at first but as her trembling increased he grew in volume, softly shaking her as if to bring her back to her senses. Gandalf moved forward looking at her intently when she suddenly she flinched and blinked. She turned slowly to Legolas who was still calling her name urgently; she opened her mouth as if to say something when a grimace took its place. She gasped as the pain returned in vengeance, she may have screamed she was unsure, everything blurred as her legs collapsed beneath and she was only held up by Legolas. The blood in veins felt as if they turned to lava, her every cell set ablaze and she writhed in agonising torment unable to make it stop, completely unable to speak, she felt the air in her lungs heat up until she was unable to even breath. But it was like time had slowed again and it felt like eternity before she slowly succumbed to the darkness and lost consciousness.


Ok not gonna lie, I really hope you guys like this chapter because it really outlines things from here on out so I am a little nervous if you guys like it or not.

If you do that's great, if not its kind of a disaster so let me know :)

As always follows/fav's and reviews are always appreciated.

See you next time - dreaming-world

xxx