When almost everyone else had fallen asleep, I had a flash of guilt and worry over not warning the dwarves of the coming tunnel crawl. I myself started hyperventilating whenever I thought about it. So delicate, Bilbo finding the Ring and Gollum and all. So, so delicate. Not to mention...

I hate tunnels. I hate all confined spaces. Any place where I can reach out and touch a wall with each hand is enough to panic me, and dark confined spaces are worst of all. I feel like the ceiling is going to fall and crush me and the air will go stale and I'll suffocate. Maybe it would be best if I wasn't in the tunnels with them, messing things up. Yeah, I should...stay out of their way.

Long walk around, Sílfryn commented.

I sighed. She was absolutely right, of course. The path that went literally through the mountains would take only a few days, whereas the long way could take weeks if I got lost. Sílfryn, I warned, you can't come with me underground.

You think I want to?

No, but you might be considering following me anyways.

The thought crossed my mind, yes.

Please, Sílfryn. Just let me do this.

She kneaded the stone floor with her claws, growling. Fine. But if you are not out of those mountains by the time you say you will be, I am coming to find you, complications or no.

I'm sorry.

But it does not change anything.

"No," I whispered out loud, "I think it does."

Now I had a different battle to fight. I rose to my feet and quietly made my way to the mouth of the cave where Thorin stood watch. He noticed my approach but said nothing.

"I know you can't do much with a vague warning, but I still should mention that something bad is about to happen." There, it was out. Let the bitter struggle commence.

"Should we move?" Thorin asked.

I shook my head. "There's worse out there, I think. But we should sleep with our weapons tonight."

He remained silent.

"I'm of far more use as a fighter and enchantress than I am as a Farseer," I confessed. "But maybe it will be enough to get through this venture." Maybe it will be enough to get him through this venture. I left then to sleep for however much time we had left before the goblin attack. Let Thorin do whatever he wanted now.

My dreams were all of dark rooms where the walls closed in about me or chambers that had no air. It was almost (but not quite) a relief to be woken suddenly by a high-pitched shout from Bilbo. I felt something grab me by the arm and try to drag me to my feet, so I threw a punch in the general direction of my attacker and yelled Eragon's favorite word as a reflex.

Silver fire (centered around the hapless goblin who'd grabbed me) briefly illuminated the cave and then I wished it hadn't. A horde of goblins at least twice our number swarmed through the cavern, seizing sleeping figures and shrieking wherever they were met with resistance. I couldn't see anyone's face or the ponies. "Fly, Sílfryn!" I screamed, although it wouldn't have done much good if she wasn't gone already. Sounds echoed wildly through the room, and then I was being pushed towards the back wall, shoved through a narrow gap and into a thin, uneven corridor.

Sílfryn!

Syri... Faint, frightened. At least she wasn't in the cave.

Stay away, Sílfryn! I'll get out of here…

Her answer was too distant to make out.

For a moment I was frozen. Dark, damp, and with air that clung. Who knows how many tons of rock over my head, walls pressing in around me. Goblin laughter wrapped the nightmarish place in an extra layer of horror.

I'm going to die here.

It was not me that decided my legs should run, it was some distant corner of my brain that's been fed only pure adrenaline for eighteen years and was now fully charged up and chaotically drunk on its newfound power. That part of me realized one simple thing- tunnels have ends --and I was off like a shot. No one seemed to notice because everyone else was sprinting along in a frenzy as the goblins laughed and sang and cracked whips behind us.

A red light began to grow stronger up ahead. Somewhere in my panicked mind, I heard a voice that sounded like Sílfryn but probably wasn't say, Get a grip on yourself! Starfire, it's only a tunnel!

I tried to take a deep breath, but that's really hard to do while running. I wrestled with my fear, beating over the head with a logical stick. The tunnels can't collapse because they didn't in the book. You can breathe just fine, stop being melodramatic. It is physically impossible for the walls to be closing in. The result? My fear wasn't so much as chipped, but I managed to contain it, even use it. Certainly I was being quieter than the dwarves.

The tunnel opened up into a large cavern lit by an enormous red fire at its center. Our ponies, poor things, were standing miserably near the wall, their packs lying open on the ground and being rummaged through by goblins. I was comforted to see that most of the dwarves still had their weapons on them, although there were a few swords and axes amongst the scattered supplies.

On the other side of the hall, resting on a stone slab, was a truly enormous goblin surrounded by attentive guards. He watched the Company contemptuously as the drivers began to move among the dwarves, shackling as they went. I waited patiently for the goblins to seize my wrists and lock them in heavy manacles, then whispered, "Jierda," because I couldn't stand the thought of running through dark tunnels while chained. I readjusted the shackles on my wrists so they still looked secure and waited.

"Who are these miserable persons?" demanded the Great Goblin.

"Dwarves, a human, and this," yelled back one of the others, yanking Bilbo forward. The poor hobbit. He must be terrified. "We found them sheltering in our front porch."

"What do you mean by it?" growled the Great Goblin to Thorin. "Up to no good, I'll warrant! Thieves, I shouldn't be surprised to learn! Murderers and friends of elves, not unlikely! Come! What have you got to say?"

"Thorin the dwarf at your service," came the reply, steady and with just a touch of mockery. "Of all the things which you suspect and imagine we had no idea at all. We sheltered from a storm in what seemed a convenient cave and unused; nothing was farther from our minds than inconveniencing goblins in any way whatever."

Only now were the goblins disarming the dwarves. They were having some trouble with Kili's bow and quiver, which might mean something good.

"So you say!" the Great Goblin said. "Might I ask what you were doing up in the mountains at all, and where you were coming from, and where you are going to?"

So it went on for a while, though I stopped paying attention. Gandalf would come soon. He had to.

My attention was brought back to the conversation before me when a goblin tossed Orcrist to the ground in front of the Great Goblin and the shrieking started. The gathered guards crashed their weapons and shields together and screamed horrible things. Their leader leapt up from his stone slab and charged at Thorin with a howl.

The fire vanished from its pit, plunging the cavern into darkness and confusion. White-hot sparks showered down over the panicked goblins and a glowing blue blade flashed through the bulk of the Great Goblin, sending the jabbering and howling into a frenzied, mind-numbingly loud climax. I sprang forward and grabbed the dwarves' chain with one hand so I could follow them in the dark, and then the Company took off running, taking me along with them. I closed my eyes against the blackness, imagined I was back in Du Weldenvarden, and tried not to scream.

"Syri!" someone shouted, Fili or Kili, probably thinking I'd been left behind.

Du Weldenvarden. Du Weldenvarden.

I reached out to the dwarves' minds and whispered, Here. Keep running.

Du Weldenvarden. Du Weldenvarden. Nonono I'm in a tunnel help

The clamor of the goblin cavern was fading into the distance as Gandalf lead us on. "Quicker, quicker!" he said.

Du Weldenvarden ohgodohgodohgod please not tunnels Du Weldenvarden.

"Half a minute!" came from the back of the string, and we slowed to a halt as Dori helped Bilbo up onto his back. Then we set off once more, the dwarves stumbling and cursing in the dark. I stepped on someone's foot, tripped over the chains, and smacked into an outcropping of rock during the flight. Finally, after a couple hours of running, the Company came to a halt. We were far enough ahead of the goblins that Gandalf took the time to cut everyone's chains with Glamdring and began counting to make sure no one had been left behind. In the light of his staff, everything had dramatic shadows and a pale, bleached quality to it. I couldn't pretend anymore that I was in the forest, so I reverted to my previous state of undiluted panic.

Leaning against a wall, I closed my eyes and pressed my hands to my temples. This was a tunnel. It had an end. I was in no danger from the architecture itself. The air, while foul, was breathable.

My current internal mantra was having no effect. I switched to something simpler.

Not the end not the end not the end not-

"Are you quite alright?"

I looked up at Kili, both of us squinting in the bright light. "I'm...no, I'm not. I just need air."

"Did your dragon..." he trailed off, looking at me with concern.

Sílfryn. She was safe, wasn't she? Outside in the...thunderstorm. I couldn't stop the flood of images racing through my mind: the young dragon struck by lightning, hit by a storm giant's basketball, or battered down into the jagged rocks by wind and rain.

"You're not very good at this, you know," I whispered. I would not cry I would not cry I would not cry. Not the end.

"No," he sighed. "But we will get through this."

I had to smile then. "It's my job to tell you that. Sílfryn got away, but I worry about her. She's so young...and these tunnels are not helping matters." Not the end. Not yet. I will see her again.

"On we go!" cried Gandalf.

I lifted my eyes to the darkness ahead and on we went.

Angry cries began to echo in the tunnel behind us. The goblins were catching up, despite everyone's efforts to the contrary. Soon torchlight flickered over the walls and the patter-patter of feet was growing in volume. At this point, Gandalf and Thorin fell back, and when we rounded a sharp corner the wizard shouted, "About turn! Draw your sword, Thorin!"

When the first of the goblins rounded the corner, there stood a wizard and a dwarf wielding the two gleaming legend-swords like burning brands. The scouts had just enough time to shriek "Beater! Biter!" before they were decapitated.

I decided that perhaps I should enchant Dauthhljödhr to glow in the dark.

The rest of the goblins fell into squabbling chaos, the names of Beater and Biter passing like wildfire among them. Not a single one followed their slain comrades' example.

"Quickly, now!" Gandalf said, sheathing Glamdring. He and Thorin sprinted to the front of the Company and we were running again, the jabbering and wailing fading into the distance.

I don't know how long we ran, but it was Too Long. Everyone took turns carrying Bilbo and soon the twisting tunnels echoed with heavy breathing. I was trembling from too much exertion and my stupid, illogical fear of tight spaces.

I was starting to think that I would soon fall over when just behind me, Dori gave a yell and tumbled backwards, Bilbo flying from his shoulders and into the gloom. I spun around, crying out a warning to the rest of the Company. I had underestimated how close the goblins were (stupid, stupid, should've felt them coming with your mind). Before I could draw Dauthhljödhr, I was grabbed by cold, long-fingered hands and jerked off-balance. I lashed out with my free arm and a foot, striking something soft that shrieked at me. More hands grabbed me as I struggled to break free and draw my glaive while the dwarves shouted and those with weapons sprang forward.

Everything went suddenly quiet when something sharp and cold was pressed against my neck. "Throw down your arms or I cut her throat," a voice hissed to my right. My struggles stopped. No, no, no, this wasn't happening. The end the end the end.

I was being held by two goblins with knives, facing the rest of the Company. The dwarves and Gandalf were frozen.

Leave! part of me wanted to shout. Run and keep running!

Do what he says! the other part wanted to screamed. It isn't worth it!

Fili dropped his sword, Kili tossed aside the goblin scimitar he'd picked up along the way. Orcrist clattered on stone.

I was having mixed feelings about this, mostly of relief (shut up, brain, I hate you, I hate you).

Finally, two words bubbled up in my mind. I reached for my magic.

I'm sorry, I said to the Company, just in case it didn't work.

"Lam jierda!"

I threw myself backwards as the goblin holding the dagger to my throat howled in pain, the snap from his fingers echoing sharply. The knife fell from his useless hand, catching me across the face, and clanged against the rock floor. I fell, rolled backwards, and swept Dauthhljödhr out. Before my two captors could figure out what was happening, I removed their heads and buried the glaive's blade in the goblin behind me. I sprang back to my feet, adrenaline giving me a new burst of energy. Sweeping my weapon in an arc behind me, I ran for the Company, eliciting more shrieks.

"Careful, there are goblins back there," I told Fili and Kili as I skidded to a halt between them.

Fili made a strangled sound as he snatched up his sword. "How can you joke about that?"

"Well, seeing as the alternative is running away screaming my head off... If I pretend it was funny, it's not terrifying," I snapped.

Kili ran a hand over his bow. "I wish I had arrows. I could have-"

There was a cry from Gandalf and another blinding flash of light that left the goblins reeling in confusion while we took our cue and bravely ran away as fast as possible.

I tried not to think about what had just happened. Something terrible had almost taken place, either the dwarves's capture or my death. Probably the former. What would Sílfryn say when I told her? Should I tell her? She'd find out eventually. Yes, I would tell her everything. If she asked. Maybe.

I began to lose myself in a tired haze of walking and running, walking and running. I couldn't accurately gauge the passage of time, so hours melted and ran together into days, weeks, an eternity. Finally, we took a short rest of one hour (according to Gandalf; it felt like much less) to build up our strength and made one last, desperate sprint that brought us, quite surprisingly, to a lone goblin who was terrified of "Beater and Biter" and agreed to show us the way out in exchange for his life.

After another hour (or possibly week; I was not exactly at my most alert so it could have been either), we finally came to a room full of guards with a stone door set into the far wall. A thin strip of golden daylight shone from beneath it, more welcome than a luxury hotel with bed and breakfast.

We said goodbye to our guide (meaning we knocked him unconscious and left him in a side tunnel) and made a dash for the door.

We caught the guards unawares and swept through them, everyone with weapons out in front and those without towards the back.

I might have been elated or tearful when the door was opened and the Company tumbled out into sunlight, but the tears were because it was so painfully bright after hours and hours in dark tunnels and the elation was mostly at collapsing onto soft leaves when we were far enough away. I was too tired to care about freaking stupid useless claustrophobia.

When I woke, someone had already noticed Bilbo's absence.

"Where did you last see him?" asked Gandalf anxiously.

"I think we lost him when the goblins caught us from behind as we were running," said Nori.

"Well, where is he now?" Thorin demanded.

"Who was carrying him?" said an unidentified voice.

Gloin noticed me. "Where is our burglar?" he asked.

I checked the position of the sun. Noon, or sometime around it. "He'll have gotten out of the mountain by now. He's lost, but we should expect him some time around sunset." I hope I hope I hope.

Where was Sílfryn, then? Surely it wouldn't be terribly hard to find us from the air...Before I knew what I was doing, I had thrown out my mind as far as it would go and began to search the skies for a telltale silver glitter. Where are you where are you where are you?

Syri.

I gasped out loud and turned to where the thought had come from, mentally shouting Sílfryn! as loud as I could.

...ri! Where...you? She was far away, then.

Here! Come to...(image of our campsite, then rough approximation of what it would look like from the air)

The dwarves were probably wondering why I was staring into the empty sky with an expression akin to elation, but I didn't care. Sílfryn was coming back to me and we were both in one piece still. No one was dead yet, and (might as well throw it in too) it was a beautiful day. My exhaustion melted away.

I finally spotted her soaring way up, a silver shape that might be mistaken for a bird at first glance, but getting steadily larger. I see you! we both said at the same time. She went into a dive and all of a sudden, I felt something tug at my mind, pulling it away from my body. For one panicked instant, I thought I was being attacked, but Sílfryn said, Relax. It's just me. I surrendered to her call and-

-was plunging at incredible speed straight for the ground.

I felt no fear. I-no, we were perfectly in control. We only felt joy at being in the sky, at having wings. Beautiful silver wings that flared out now, slowing the breakneck speed and angling our descent into a shallow glide, using our tail as a rudder to stay on course. We swooped past startled dwarves and my vacantly staring body to come to a full stop on the ground.

I wanted you to know what it was like, Sílfryn told me as I returned to myself and turned to face her.

That, I said (even though I wanted to crow sky sky sky! like a crazy person), was amazing. It was perfect for treating my post-claustrophobia stress, too. Seeing the sky is great and all, but actually being in it...

I usually know what you need, she answered, beginning to hum.

I threw my arms around her neck, noticing that her head was leveling with my shoulder now. I'm so sorry I had to leave you. How...how long was it?

Two full days and a little bit of a third.

I drew away, eyes wide. It was never so long.

It was never so short.

Both, then.

People are staring.

I looked around to see she was right. Most of the Company was involved in arguing or other tasks, but several were watching the reunion with combination interest and confusion.

"Left my body," I said by way of explanation, then followed Sílfryn off to a clearing where we could have some quiet.

Are you alright? she asked. What happened in the tunnels?

I knew this was coming. I knew it.

Instead of trying to explain everything, I poured the memory into her like a pitcher of water. The initial capture, my wild fear of enclosed spaces, the run into the main room and everything that happened there. Running away again...and again...and the goblins that took us by surprise and how I should have sensed them coming with my mind but was too wrapped up in my own exhaustion and terror. How I was held as a hostage, how the dwarves started throwing down their weapons. I showed her the Ancient Language words I used, their meaning and effect, and how I killed three goblins. Didn't think twice about it. How much that haunted me, to know that I killed as a reflex. The last, horrible struggle to and out the door, the lingering fear for Bilbo. And lastly, how completely relieved I was to know Sílfryn was safe and with me.

The images and feelings I got in return from her showed a terrifying flight in the stormy weather and how she never stopped moving even once she landed back on the trail, cold and wet and tired. She had followed the path until the weather let up and the storm giants vanished back into the mountains, whereupon she began to fly once more, up and over the lofty peaks where the water on her scales froze and she was so cold, so cold. Once she began the descent down, things had gotten much warmer and eventually she found a sheltered spot and slept for no more than three hours. She had been waiting for us in the forest for much of a day, flying back and forth ceaselessly while calling my name. She had started to wonder if she should find a tunnel and come look for me when I called to her, and everything became alright again.

Idea time, I said. Let's never, ever separate again.

Agreed, she responded, then began to hum once more. But after I hunt. I have gone without food for over two days now. Shall I bring you some?

Eat your fill, and then if anything's left over you can bring it back to the Company. Be sure to be back by sundown.

(Feeling of agreement and contentment)

Her wings snapped open and her claws dug into the rocky soil as she took off, straining to gain height, then gliding up over the trees and out of sight.

I sat down on a fallen log, feeling no particular desire to go back to the Company just yet. As Sílfryn's mind faded into the distance, my old fears returned and my head fell into my hands. What a mess this was. My dragon should be raised on Vroengard among others of her kind, in safety and with proper training. I had no business butting into another story to save three lives. What if the whole Company perished because of me? Why was I doing this?

My answer entered the clearing quietly, the goblin scimitar sheathed at his hip. I felt a sort of determined calm settle on me. Kili, his brother, and Thorin all deserved a chance to live. I was giving them no more than anyone else ever had- uncertainty. They might die, they might not, but by Vrael I was going to make sure their fates weren't set in stone (literally). Odds aside, numbers aside, I could not walk away from these three people who would die without me.

"What do you want this time?" I asked, trying to make it clear that I was sick of questions I had to dodge around.

"You knew about the tunnels."

Well. At least that wasn't a question.

"I know a lot of things, but whether or not I share them is my choice."

"We could have died. You almost did." Kili began to pace back and forth, expression unreadable. "We lost our ponies and most of our weapons. We might have even lost our burglar."

"And gained a shortcut through the mountains and something that will save your skins and eventually all of Middle Earth. I don't see the problem."

"Today it worked out fine, but next time? What if we make a mistake, or you make a mistake?" I noticed that he wasn't even bothering to ask what I had meant a few seconds ago. This made me suspicious.

"Thorin put you up to this, didn't he?" I challenged. Maybe I could steer this conversation in another direction.

Kili scowled. "So what if he did? He's right, you can't risk the rest of the Company just to keep your future on a clear path."

"In Alagaësia- "

"This isn't Alagaësia!" he burst out. "You said it yourself: things are different here."

"You have no idea what happened back there in the tunnels."

"Neither do you! You just hope that whatever was supposed to happen- "

"I warned you!" I cried. "I warned you that I would lie and manipulate to keep things how they are supposed to be! If you don't want my help, then I'll go back to Alagaësia where I'm wanted and the three will die just the same. I can see my family after a year and a half away from them and learn magic while you lot die in Mirkwood."

Kili opened his mouth to say something, but I was angry at him, angry at myself for letting this happen, angry at Eragon and Oromis for landing me in this, and I couldn't stop. "My help is what I choose to give. If I hadn't been here, you would have gone through the tunnels just the same and probably have come out worse for wear. If I say nothing about a dangerous situation, then it either shouldn't have happened, I didn't see it coming, or you have something to gain by it. If you all were so averse to a lot of danger for a small gain, you wouldn't be on this quest. Now either leave me alone until Bilbo gets back or stop arguing pointlessly with me."

Kili said nothing for a while. He stood still near the fallen log while I pretended to ignore him. Finally, he asked, "What else did we gain from the tunnels? Besides the shortcut?"

I thought about telling him, but it was Bilbo's secret and it should remain such until he felt like sharing. "It is not my place to say."

He actually smiled at that. "Now you're just being difficult."

I laughed, surprising myself. "Yes, I suppose I am. Sit down if you're staying; you make me tired just from looking at you."

Kili settled on the log and looked around the clearing. "Where is your dragon?"

"Sílfryn's out hunting. She promised to bring some back if she finds much."

"Thoughtful of her."

"Well, it's my fault we have no ponies or packs after all," I said innocently.

It was nice to smile after all that had just happened. It made recent events seem more like memories than events.

Kili met my eyes and the carefree expression slid from his face. "You're bleeding," he said, sounding almost surprised. "A lot, actually."

I frowned. This was news to me. "What? Where?"

He reached out and touched my left cheek with his fingertips. His hands were rough, cold still from the tunnels. I shivered slightly. It was, after all, a chilly...summer afternoon.

I brushed where he was holding his fingers and felt the sticky wetness from a day-old wound reopened. I vaguely remembered being cut by the goblin's knife as I escaped his grip, but I didn't remember any pain that may have accompanied it. To hyped up on adrenaline, I suppose.

Kili took his hand away slowly as I probed the cut, wincing slightly when pressure made it remember it was supposed to hurt. It was thin and short, deep near my nose and shallow near my ear. Maybe two inches long, a couple fingers breadth beneath my eye. It bled sluggishly, probably reopened by my angry tirade.

I could fix it in a few seconds with a pair of words and not much energy. I looked down at my gedwëy ignasia, which began to glow softly as I reached for my magic. No, I decided finally, I would keep this mark and all that came with it, whether it scarred or vanished without a trace.

"I have something for that," Kili was saying. "It's in..."

"Your pack," I finished, then laughed. "I'm sure it's fine. Though I am very sorry I lost you your sword and arrows."

"I am quite upset," he assured me, grinning, "but I am sure I can find a replacement in Smaug's hoard."

I used a sleeve to wipe away the blood, hoping it would close on its own again without infection. "Assuming we live that long."

"Assuming we live that long," Kili agreed. "And what about your glaive?"

"Still have that," I said proudly. "Even in all the...confusion I hung on to it." I fell silent again, regressing into a grim state of remembrance. "Listen, I want to apologize for freaking out in the tunnels. I just...don't mix well with confined spaces."

"You did not...'freak out'."

"Either you weren't paying attention, or I was a really good actor because yes, yes I did. I thought I was going to die." I slumped on the log. I hadn't been this claustrophobic on Earth. Something about Alagaësia changed me, and not entirely for the better.

"I thought something was bothering you apart from the obvious. You handled it quite well."

"Maybe," I answered, "but I don't know if I can a second time. There's just so much that needs to be done perfectly, and I can't control everything." I started breathing a little faster and my words began to sound forced. "I'm not sure I can deal with it all. If one of you dies because of me..."

"Syri," Kili said, sounding alarmed, "no one's going to die."

"You don't know that! Starfire, how can you stand not knowing anything about the future? The uncertainty... It's enough to drive one mad."

"It sounds to me that knowing the future is worse," Kili murmured. "I'd prefer not to know how all of my friends will die, if there's nothing I can do about it."

"But that's just it," I insisted. "I do know and I can do something. I have to do something."

"You could tell someone," he suggested halfheartedly. "Thorin, say, or Gandalf. Tell them what you know, then go back to Alagaësia if you want."

Maybe it was because I was stressed and sleep deprived, or maybe I would have said it anyways, but I asked, "Is that what you want?"

Something...changed in the air then. Everything came into sharper focus and for some reason I could not look away from his eyes.

Kili leaned forward slightly. Still caught in my gaze. "No," he whispered, and kissed me.

Kissed me.

As if my life weren't complicated enough already.

Looking back on it, we were both being reasonably stupid. Not only had we just met a little over a month ago, but the relationship couldn't work for a variety of reasons. But try telling that to the melted remains of my brain just then.

Even after we sprung apart like frightened rabbits and looked wildly around the clearing for anyone who might have witnessed the event and must therefore be silenced (one way or another), I couldn't get my mind to think of anything other than Kili.

"I'm so sorry," he stammered. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Amid the turmoil of emotions flooding me, I dragged out some shining happiness and put it on like a dress. My face broke into a smile and tried to grin but I forced it back in line. This would require caution. "I don't mind. I think. But perhaps we should...not...There's so much..."

My body, tingling with something wonderful still, cried out in protest against my traitorous mouth. My brain was being no help at all, still caught up in-

What was I doing? What was I doing?! I should be ending it, saying neither of us could handle this right now, not hoping for another kiss. But just as my brain snapped out of its rut, my body took over my mouth and said, "Let's see how things work out." And I was still smiling faintly.

Kili shook his head. "I really am sorry it ever happened. I didn't mean to make things harder."

This was one of the most awkward conversations I have ever had in my life. It did not help to be short on sleep, stressed out over a thousand other things, and confused as to what he wanted and what I wanted. And he was so much shorter than I was, which made me feel even more out of place.

I tucked my legs up on the log, which just forced me to lean towards him. "Is there something between us now?"

"I don't know," Kili said helplessly. "Do you want there to be?"

"I don't know either."

There was a moment of silence where we stared at each other, the ground, the sky. Kili started to smile. "This is going to be interesting."

"We come from different worlds," I warned him, not sure what I was intending to accomplish. "We're each of a different race and only one of us is immortal."

"Very interesting. We will see what happens, I suppose."

We will see what happens.

Remember when I said I was going to post this chapter "soon"? Well, I didn't know it at the time, but this whole thing was already written when I posted that. The next day, I discovered this and said, "Whee! New chapter!" Then I tried to read through it to see what needed editing.

Tried to read through it.

It immediately came to my attention that Chapter 10 was, in fact,
horrifically
terribly
frighteningly
astoundingly
BAD.

So bad that when I tried to read through it, I ended up scrolling REALLY REALLY fast so that I wouldn't have to even look at the horrifically terribly frighteningly astoundingly BAD material twice. Soon, this was happening:

I'm going to edit chapter 10! - (Realize how terrible chapter 10 is because last time I read through it, the sheer terribleness of it all burned away the memory) - O.o - Eh, screw it, I'll just write the part with the wargs

This became a problem.

Fortunately (and obviously), I managed to slog through the editing process and create a chapter that was only horrifically bad (in all lower-case letters!). This is what you see here, because I knew that if I tried to edit it any more I would chicken out and never post it.. And the moral of the story is: Nim cannot write romance. At all. But because I already said I would, you will now have to suffer through my excuse for romance for the ENTIRE STORY. You're welcome :)

Review replies:

Blackranger96- Yes, I am! Well, Syri. Briefly. I hope I met your expectations for this part- I was a little nervous trying the whole claustrophobia thing.

Music Box Physicist- Yay, update that didn't even take a full week! Please review!

Oh yes, and I wanted to say awhile ago but forgot- the holidays are here! HAPPY CHRISTMAHANUKKWANZAAKAH!
And a happy new year!