Chapter 9

Elaina sat in the Summoning Room in a circle with the dwarves, hobbit and the dragon along with the Elven Council. Her father was missing, which made the elven lady a little anxious but one of the servants said that Sorhel had called him to his business to check something out. But as the minutes ticked passed, Elaina found herself getting more and more anxious. Her father should've called about thirty minutes ago to inform her that he was on his way. But he didn't

"Elaina?" John asked, interrupting her thoughts. She gazed over at the former army doctor and saw a look of worry in his eyes. Elaina plastered on a fake smile and nodded, though she suspected that he saw right through it. "Are you alright?"

Elaina took a deep breath. "Yeah I am fine." She faced her Uncle and the wizards. "Shall we begin?"

The Lady of Rivendale was thankful for the allies that she had on the council. The Elven Council had taken a vote to see if they could reawaken more memories from the dwarves, hobbit and dragon in order for them rally the troops and to cut the head off the snake. The only person that had been against it was Thranduil. There were more votes agreeing to do Awakening Ceremony, with the Alatar and Pallando being the deciding vote. Elaina had made sure to thank the Blue Wizards profusely for that.

"No problem, My Lady," Pallando had said. He was much more polite than his twin. "It will be our pleasure to help out any way we can."

That brought them forward to now. The Lady Galadriel had placed several bowls of water in front of each of the reincarnations and one in front of Elaina. Since her memories were clearer than Gandalf's and she had stayed with them, she had volunteered to open up and give her memories to the others. The wizards would oversee the process while Thranduil would watch on in case anything went wrong. While the entire city below them was still partying hard, the atmosphere in the Summoning Room was tense and somber.

"Let us being," The Lady Galadriel informed. She sat on Gandalf's right, the most powerful in the room. The wizards sat in order from strongest to least strongest. The Lady Galadriel sat in the line first, with Gandalf next then Radagast and then the twins. They all closed their eyes, their breathing in almost in sync. The water at Elaina's feet started to boil and steam but when she ran her hand over the surface, the water wasn't even lukewarm.

In perfect sync with each other, the wizards chanted in an ancient language, "By the Powers of the Moon and the Strength of the Sun, we call forward the memories of this warrior as a key to unlock the memories of the Thorin Oakenshield and his kin."

Elaina felt foreign, powerful magic enter her body, taking her breath away. Tendrils of light flowed into her mouth, lighting her body up from the inside. She felt the light travel into her mind and felt it poke at her memory as if searching. Memories long buried within her resurfaced and they flashed through her mind. All of the memories that passed through were from her point of view.

Her father's and mother's smiling face smiling down at her when she was an infant. Her mother sewing her a new dress for the induction into the elven community. Her mother training her to fight with a sword for the first time. Her father, sitting on his throne, tears silently streaming down his face as he stared intently at her mother's throne that was empty. Elaina, wearing a black dress with a black veil, staring at her mother's grave, the woman's body imprinted on the top of the grave. Tears were falling down her cheek as she gently placed a white rose on the steps.

Elaina felt like her body was being burned from the inside out as the images faded. The light prodded a little more in her memories before it found her memories from The Journey and The Fellowship. Lady Galadriel, whose hand guided the light, made a pulling motion. Just like a string, the light latched on to those memories and started to come out. The Elven Lady groaned as the fire exited her body. John caught her and made sure she didn't face plant in the water. Everyone watched stunned as Lady Galadriel and Gandalf plucked a piece of the light and placed each piece in the bowl in front of everyone.

"Okay, now comes the worst part," Elaina muttered. Thomas, John and Ben seemed to have heard her. The water started to glow as everyone picked up his or her bowls.

"What do we do now?" Sherlock asked. Everyone turned to Elaina, who made a toasting movement.

Elaina took a deep breath before answering, "Now we drink."

Bringing the bowl up to her lips, the Elven lady took a deep breath before downing the liquid. While it didn't take all that bad, it did have a strange texture. It was like vanilla flavored applesauce. Elaina clenched her eyes shut in order to avoid gagging on it. She did hear the others gag on it as they drank their fill. Once everyone had placed their bowl back on the ground, their faces unsure. After another minute of staring at each other uncomfortably, Thomas spoke up.

"Is that it?" he asked. Before Elaina or the wizards could answer, everyone in the circle started to fall forward unconscious. They all stared up at the ceiling as they became engulfed in the memories of the past….

Middle Earth….

The dwarves, the hobbit and elf had walked for most of the day into the forest of Mirkwood. Thorin led them, sweeping away the leaves that obstructed the view of the path. Elaina brought up the rear; her eyes and ears searching the shadows for anything hidden in there. It was frightening how much Mirkwood had changed in the last century. The trees obstructed the sky and the entire forest had an eerie feeling. Thorin swiped away the leaves that obstructed the path.

"The path turns this way," he said. Dwalin hit the ground with the end of his axe. Hearing some solid ground beneath it he jerked his head to the left.

"This way."

They walked on until around nightfall. Elaina was starting to feel a little dizzy with the lack of clean air and the lack of sun. She had to stop and brace herself up against a tree in order to keep collapsing.

"I'm fine," she assured Thorin and Bilbo when they look her way. After a couple more seconds she said that she was ready to walk on. They did until the dwarves were starting to complain a little.

"Air…I need air," Bofur begged.

Oin was next, "My head it's spinning! What's happening?"

"Keep moving," Thorin ordered. They stopped suddenly. The Mountain Prince looked at Nori, who had taken the lead. "Nori why have you stopped?"

The star fished thief just wordlessly pointed ahead with a flabbergasted expression. "The path…it's disappeared!"

Everyone gathered around the dwarf and saw that he was right. Where the path was supposed to lead, there was a large drop off into a ravine. Elaina and Bilbo's eyes went wide as they realized they lost the path. Gandalf's warning to stay on the path was echoing in their heads. Worry was starting to seep through their veins as Thorin started to look for the path in panic.

"What's going on?" Ori demanded.

"We've lost the path," Bofur explained.

"Find it!" Thorin ordered. "All of you look!"

"Look for the path!" Dwalin repeated. They all walked around in certain areas keeping each other in sight. Elaina's heart was thundering in her chest and she felt like she was going to cry. Elves needed the sun and fresh air in order to stay healthy and alive. Her stomach started to churn as she plopped down on root to keep her head from spinning. Bilbo was doing the same.

"I don't remember this place," Balin commented. "None of it's familiar."

"It's got to be here," Dori mumbled as he continued to search.

"What hour is it?" Elaina asked.

"I don't know," Dwalin admitted. He looked up towards the canopy. "I don't even know what day it is."

"IS THERE NO END TO THIS ACCURSED FOREST?!" Thorin wailed desperately. Elaina heard a vibration next to her. She turned to see Bilbo playing with a massive spider web next to him. The Elven Lady saw the hobbit do it again. She watched in fascination as the vibration went all the way up to the top. Something about the webs looked…. familiar. But she didn't have time to think about it. Thorin had ordered the company to move forward.

As they continued to walk forward, Bilbo felt…strange. He felt numb and he wasn't sure if he was moving. The hobbit glanced down at his feet to make sure they were still moving. They were but they were moving backwards. Strange…it seemed that he was still moving forward. He returned his gaze back to the front. Bilbo glanced behind him, where Elaina was. But instead of the elven lady, it was him. Despite their time frame the, company halted when Ori stopped and picked something off the ground. Dori took it and examined it.

"Look, a tobacco pouch. There are dwarves in these woods."

Bofur took it, his eyes widening in shock. "Dwarves from the Blue Mountains no less. This is exactly the same as mine."

"That's because it is your!" Elaina shouted irritated. Bofur just continued to look dumbfounded. "Do you understand? We're going in circles. We are lost!"

"We are not lost," Thorin assured. "We keep heading east."

"But which way is the east?" Dwalin asked. "We've lost the sun."

The sun, Bilbo thought, tapping his forehead as if he was trying to jumpstart his mind. He glanced up towards the canopy. We have to find the sun.

Without telling any of the squabbling dwarves or hobbit, he started to climb the tree. It was difficult but when he eventually did break through, the hobbit took a deep breath. The sun and fresh air felt remarkable after an unknown amount of time in rancid, stiff air and darkness. Bilbo took a deep breath before blinking.

Down below the dwarves were being petty and squabbling rather loudly. Thorin and Elaina felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand straight up. Instantly they were on guard.

"Thorin," Elaina whispered. She was suddenly on alert as her fatigue went away. The dwarf prince nodded but couldn't think.

"Enough! Quiet! All of you1" Thorin ordered. The dwarves noticed how on edge the warriors were. Quietly, he added, "We're being watched."

Back above the treetops, Bilbo was scanning the places around him. He chuckled when he saw the massive mountain in front of him.

"I can…see a lake!" He called down. "And a…river! And the Lonely Mountain!" He chuckles happily to himself. "We're almost there!"

Bilbo waited for a moment for a response but didn't get one.

"Can you here me?" He called down. "I know which way to go!"

Nothing.

"Hello?" He still got no response. As he adjusted himself he noticed his feet ensnared in spider web. "Look…come on!"

He made the motion to move but he lost his footing and fell forward. Bilbo screamed as he went through several layers of spider web. He hit something of a safety net but his relief was only lasted a few moments. A huge spider came out of nowhere, hissing in anger. Bilbo let loose a high-pitched scream of fear enough to bring him out of the vision….

Modern day, London….

John Watson snapped his eyes open. He looked around. The former army doctor was in some sort of infirmary with Sherlock and the mechanics lying in beds. Elaina was on the floor with her hands outstretched, and palms up. Her usual bright eyes were glowing in the darkness and tendrils of light flowing from the tips of her fingers and into their bodies. John noticed that his lights were broken but still circling around him.

One by one, the sleeping people opened their eyes and gasped. The lights started to break off as they awoke. When everyone was fully awake, the tendrils suddenly were sucked back into Elaina, who eyes snapped open and just like everyone else she gasped. Her eyes suddenly became its sparkling blue color. She looked around at the drowsy eyed people just waking up.

"You might feel a little dizzy," She informed.

"Uh Thorin?" Ben asked shakily.

"Balin?" Thorin asked. The warrior glint had returned to his light blue gaze as he scanned the room for his dwarves. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah," Kili and Fili answered simultaneously.

"Same here," Ori answered.

"I could use something strong to drink," Dwalin grumbled. "Other than that I'm fine."

All the answers were the same. They were fine but slightly dizzy. John, or Bilbo as he was starting to remember, felt very nauseated. Slowly he made his way off the bed, towards Sherlock, who had yet to wake up. The detective's face was slowly becoming a dark crimson red color with a scaly texture. Right as Bilbo reached the bedside Sherlock's sickly yellow eyes flew open. He groaned as he sat up, cradling his head.

"John?" The detective asked. His voice was gravelly and deep. He looked towards John who had suddenly felt smaller against the towering detective. Looking down, John suddnely realized he was smaller. His shoes had broken apart and his hairy feet now were poking out of the shoes. With a quick look around, Bilbo noticed that every one who was of the dwarf persuasion had shrunken.

"Who woke up first?" Elaina asked. John raised his hand and Elaina cursed in…was that Elvish? "Now we can't finish the ritual. I guess your memories will return in time but it's going to be a little strange. Your memories from your current life will try to push forward but you have to repress those memories and focus on the past."

Before anyone could say anything Elaina's phone rang. While she answered it, the dwarves mingled among themselves. They were admiring their new, strong form. Of course they were strong in their human forms, since they were mechanics, but now they were just rippling with muscle.

"What?! Are you sure?!" Elaina exclaimed. The conversations suddenly started to quiet down.

Balin nudged Thorin, who was watching the elven lady. "What did I tell ya Thorin? Girl's got spunk."

"It doesn't change the fact that something's up." The returned king of the mountain muttered. Elaina hung up and turned to the group. Gandalf and Lady Galadriel walked in at that time. The elven warrior turned to the two wizards.

"Someone tried to destroy Rivendale Hunting Corporation," she explained. "My father…he said he was going to head there. I've got to go."

"Wait for us!" Fili called. Everyone followed the elven lady out of the door.

When they arrived, the scene that greeted them was utter chaos. There were fire and police trying to control the scene. The building was a roaring bonfire. Elaina easily slipped through the barrier put up by police. She, with the dwarves, hobbit and dragon at her back, walked up to a guy with raven hair and an oxygen mask. The man was soot faced and tired. She walked up to him.

"Where is he Sorhel?" Elaina ordered, her eyes watering. Bilbo never could recall a time when he ever saw the elven lady cry. "Where's my father?"

Sorhel removed his mask, giving a coughing fit before answering. "I…. think….he's still…inside."

Without another word, Elaina bolted inside the burning building. A firefighter started to stop her but she easily got past. She flew in like a hawk, her hair nothing but a streak of cool silver against hot amber flames. As soon as she vanished, the entrance erupted in an explosion. Bilbo and the company saw the outline of an evil eye looking thing. They also heard whispers in a language they only just remembered.

We grow in number, the dark whispers said, we grow in strength. War is coming. Death will come to all.

"Father!" Elaina cried. She gave a cough and squinted against the smoke. The flames were burning everything her father and his people had worked for. A tear fell though it was evaporated due to the flames. Elaina was about to cry out again when she heard a slight groan. Through the now towering flames, she saw her father laying face down on the ground, flames starting to work their way towards him. The Elven lady winced when she saw a large knot on the back of his head. Elaina's anger was now as hot as the flames.

Taking a deep breath, Elaina tunneled into her endless well of magic. She exhaled, shooting a blast of ice around her father. It didn't stop the flames but it kept them at bay long enough for her to grab her father. Once she had Lord Elrond, Elaina quickly and carefully made her way out of the building. Thank the three-faced goddess the two made it out right as the building came crumbling down.

As Elaina collapsed on the ground, scores of first responders and EMTs rushed forward to help her. Elaina nodded absently when they asked if she was alright.

"Take care of him," Elaina ordered through her coughs. The first responders were loading Elrond onto a stretcher before sending him to the hospital for overnight evaluation. One of the EMT guided Elaina over to the back of an ambulance for a quick examination and some oxygen. They placed a shock blanket over her shoulder, though she didn't need one.

She gratefully sucked on oxygen until the EMT allowed her to go. With a sigh, she walked through the crowd until she spotted the company. They were all standing in a circle, talking about something in a hushed tone. Elaina scowled and narrowed her eyes when she realized that john and Sherlock were missing.

Not a good time to wonder off, Elaina thought. She felt her pager vibrate in her pocket but ignored it. "Where are Smaug and Bilbo?"

"They left," Thorin explained. "Said something about a case."

Again her pager went off and again she ignored it. She took a deep breath before scanning the crowd, "According to the firefighters this fire wasn't an accident. It was started on purpose with high-grade gasoline. Whoever did this wanted my father there."

"Your father…." Balin muttered under his breath as if he was trying to remember.

"The Lord Elrond of Rivendale," Elaina explained turning to watch the firefighters finish putting the flames out. She growled deeply when her pager went off again. She pulled it out with a huff but before turning it off she saw that it was DI Lestrade paging her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the message.

A new body has turned up…. you might want to see this. Meet me with John and Sherlock at this address IMMEDIATELY!

Licking her lips thoughtfully she turned to the company. "Who's up for a quick visit at a crime scene?"

-Line Break-

John was having a hard time concentrating. Every time he blinked, images very different from the ones passing by the cab window would appear, as if superimposed over the city of London. Rolling hills of emerald green would over flash over the large glass buildings and filthy, cobblestones streets lined with lamp posts powered by actual flames superimposed over the clean, pavement roads lined with electric lights. He was starting to have a headache appear which he did not need right now since they were going to a crime scene.

Apparently no one seemed to notice the drastic change in John or Sherlock. The cabbie didn't seemed to notice that John had really large, harry feet or that Sherlock had yellow eyes that glowed and had silted pupils like a dragon. Thankfully the cabbie didn't notice nor did anyone notice.

Perhaps that Elaina had something to do with that, Bilbo thought. Another thing he was having trouble with was who he was right now.

Was he John Watson, the former army doctor and current flat mate and partner to the first ever Consulting Detective? Or was he Bilbo Baggins, son of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took, residence of the Shire, Uncle of Frodo Baggins and hired burglar of Thorin Oakenshield?

Judging by Sherlock's silence during the cab ride, he was having the same internal struggle. The ride was short and uneventful. The two detectives got out and walked that last few feet towards the taped off area. Donovan and Anderson were there, their faces scrunched up in annoyance when they spotted Sherlock. John/Bilbo sighed in resignation as he realized that something was going to set Sherlock/Smaug off and create a situation he can't cover up.

"Well hello freak," Anderson greeted sarcastically. His latex gloves were bloody as well as his decontamination suit. This was obviously a bloody crime scene, something that neither Scotland Yard or John and Sherlock had seen in a while since the string of murders started.

"Anderson," Sherlock greeted back. The two detectives were taken aback at the lack of banter that the Consulting Detective usually started. Sherlock stopped for a moment, sniffing the air, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Your wife is away again?"

"Oh come on! Not this again!" He exclaimed. Sherlock turned to Donovan with a raised eyebrow.

"Where's the body?" He asked. The dark skinned woman pointed behind him. Both John and Sherlock froze when they spotted the body sprawled out on the ground. Actually it really didn't look like a body; it actually looked more like several tubs of lasagna with teeth and eyeballs. The two detectives could hardly tell who that really was. Thankfully Elaina arrived at that moment with information in her hands. She had the dwarves of Erebor behind her, but they were being held back.

"Victim's name is Sammy Moron," Elaina answered. Her eyes were hard and it seemed like she was holding back tears. In elvish she informed the hobbit and dragon, "He used to be known as Saruman the White back in Middle Earth. He was the one who raised Sauron the second time."

John, unknown to him, easily slipped into the same tongue, earning a look from Anderson and Donavon, "I-I remember him. He…. was there in Rivendale when the Company stopped there and…Frodo's friends saw him fall from the top of his tower."

"Yeah," Elaina answered in common tongue. She knelt down next to the body, her gloved hand searching the dead man's coat pockets. The Elf pulled out a driver's license and examined it. "I think we're dealing with a cult."

"What makes you say that?" Lestrade asked. Elaina handed the driver's license to the DI who took it. Painted on it, there was a large Evil Eye looking symbol in red pain. She also gestured to a large brick wall across the street that had a similar painted eye on it. A crowd was starting to gather, taking pictures of the infamous Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. The police were starting to do some slight crowd control. As more began to gather, Elaina started to get anxious. A bigger crowd meant a bigger target for the Orcs. Elaina turned to the DI and the Consulting Detective and his sidekick.

"Listen, we need to head back to Scotland Yard."

"Why's that?" Lestrade asked. He heard how Elaina's voice was on edge.

"We can't talk here," Elaina whispered in a conspiracy tone. "Meet me back at Scotland Yard in an hour. There's something I need to…. admit."

She stormed off towards the company that was arguing with a policeman. "I'll take it from here officer." The policeman nodded and walked off. "We need to catch a cab. But we'll go in separate cars."

"Where are we going?" Thorin asked.

"New Scotland Yard. We need to get someone…completely human on this case. We also need to formulate a plan of attack."

The drive to New Scotland Yard took longer than expected due to the sudden snowstorm that suddenly hit, but everyone made it. Elaina smiled slightly when she saw that John's hair had grown slightly longer than a few minutes ago. And the dwarves were starting to regain their warrior stance. Sherlock, however, was still Sherlock except for his now noticeable red, scaly skin and yellow eyes. Lestrade was running slightly late, leaving the thirteen dwarves, an elf, a hobbit and a human-dragon sitting in the DI's office in complete and tense silence.

While the dwarves and hobbit and dragon were chatting about their past lives in Middle Earth, Elaina contemplated the possible hideouts of Sauron. London was a big city, which gave the former Evil Ring Bearer a bunch of places to hide. Quickly the Elven lady eliminated the surrounding cities and other possible places in London. The only plausible places left were the sewers or the warehouse district.

Finally the DI arrived, apologizing for being late. Elaina was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the company calling her name until someone snapped fingers in front of her face. She apologized and directed for Lestrade to sit down.

"Why are there short men in my office?" He asked hesitantly. The man glared at his two best men with a curious glance. "Why is Sherlock's face red and eyes yellow? And why does John have large hairy feet?"

"I was just getting to that Lestrade," Elaina assured the human. "I am sure you are aware of the mysteries surrounding these murders as well as my…tight lips about what is actually going on." The DI didn't say anything, just nodded his head in agreement. When he remained silent Elaina continued, "In truth you think I'm going to sound crazy but you must listen to everything I have to say. Understand?"

Elaina then proceeded to rehash everything she told the others sitting behind her. She explained that she was an elven aristocrat from a mythical place known as Middle Earth and her father Lord Elrond was her father. She also explained her connections to the murders that were plaguing the whole of London and why the murders were happening. Lestrade was silent during the entire ordeal, occasionally raising his eyebrows or nodding.

"So, you're saying that an evil that you defeated along with a wizard and three hobbits eons ago is starting to rise again with an army of evil demons that are using the murders to regain their power," Lestrade summarized slowly. At Elaina's nod, the Detective Inspector gave a dry chuckle. "I don't believe this. It sounds like this is the plot to a Tolkien novel."

"And where do you think he retrieved his inspiration?" Elaina asked. She sighed. "After I returned from the Fellowship, I went on a journey for a couple of months. There were rumors that Men had gotten greedy and more arrogant. They had attacked different regions of Middle Earth, starting with the Shire. The hobbits were the weakest of creatures so they fell within a couple of days. Then they moved on to the dwarven kingdoms. Finally they moved on to the elves." A tear slipped down her face. "I can still remember the carnage that I returned to. The humans were complete and absolute when they destroyed the other regions. Though there were several survivors, it took them a while to be wiped out as well. I had to get my life out there but couldn't publish it because the remaining ancestors would track me down. So I sought a storyteller to write down and publish my story. Unfortunately, he forgot to mention that he left me out of both the Lord of the Rings and the Unexpected Journey. To say I was pissed was understatement."

"So why am I here?"

"I was planning on telling someone fully human about this and I figured, why not tell the only person that can help us figure this out?" Elaina shrugged. "You can help us stop these murders. The only person who knew how to defeat Sauron was Saruman and he was just found dead."

"I thought to destroy Sauron you had to destroy the One Ring of Power?" Lestrade asked.

"Yes that is true, but do you know if there is a volcano in London or anywhere else near for that matter?" Elaina asked with a raised eyebrow. When he didn't answer, Elaina pressed on, "Besides Sauron has no more hold on the Ring. The only problem is that we have to figure how to destroy the evil creature."

The office was plunged into silence as everyone contemplated the next step to make. Lestrade seemed to be struggling with the realization of what was just told to him. The others, however, were conversing quietly amongst themselves. Elaina sighed tiredly before standing up. She slowly made her way over to the door but stopped.

"I suggest you all go home," she supplied. "But be careful. Now that your memories are returning slowly, your scent will be stronger so stay where you can see each other. Oh and keep your doors locked."

With that she walked out. She made all the way to her flat before breaking down sobbing. The elven lady sat with her back against the door, feeling her emotions take over. Whoever was killing these people, whoever had tried to kill her father they were going to pay…. no. To kill the sick bastard who did this quickly would be too merciful. Elaina was going to make them suffer and painfully. She was going to make their exit from this world painful and slow, just like they did with the elves and allies of the Company.

She was done living in fear.

She was done hiding.

Elaina was going to find the son of a bitch and destroy him forever. Even if that meant putting herself back on the front lines…. then so be it.