AN: Well this chapter was certainly fun to write, special thanks to Jacob Sailer for his help with editing and some scenes.
Disclaimer: I only own my Characters.
Of Spiders and Magic Rings
To say that the trek through the dark forest was a hard journey would be an understatement. It was a soul crushing and tortuous affair; the only ones who didn't seem to be affected were the Imperials.
"Seriously, how do you take this?" Bilbo asked as he trudged along the path.
"We left our souls here." Dex answered cheekly.
"The rook is just joshing with you," Niles laughed at the company, "we've done training exercises in the forest after the Commander made the alliance with Thranduil's people, and the men that live in the forest."
"Why would anyone want to live here?" Kili groaned as he gagged on the smell.
"From what I understand, there was a time when this place was actually pleasant. It was called the Green Wood then." Alaya explained.
"Ugh, let's find the elves, then. They know we're coming and they can help us get the hell out of here quicker." Du growled.
"Don't worry, if we stick to the path, and keep walking, we'll get out of here in about two and a half weeks." Niles assured them.
A collective groan was heard throughout the company.
"It's already been three days!" Bilbo exclaimed.
"That's good, you can count." Alaya quipped.
"Don't worry, if we get out of here we'll be stronger for it." Kes said as she ducked under a branch.
"I hope you are right." Thorin said stiffly. He actually seemed better off then the others, well not really. His anger had become a constant companion and given what he learned recently, the company didn't blame him.
That night the company made camp. Thorin called Balin and Dwalin to speak with him, "Did I make the right choice?" he asked them.
Balin rose an eyebrow, "What choice do you mean, laddie?"
Thorin sat down, "When my father learned of his father's death, he declared war upon the orcs of the misty mountains… I opted to continue on this quest of ours and let his death go."
"But you didn't. Gandalf and the others will take care of it." Balin assured him, "Thorin, it is important to get to Lake town so we can plan to exact revenge upon the dragon, should he yet live, for it is he who put us in this position in the first place."
Dwalin nodded in agreement, "That Dragon is the cause of all our woes. If it were not for him, Thror, Thrain and all our kin who died would not have met their ends the way they did."
Thorin took in a deep breath, "Smaug is a part of our trouble, yes… but in part so are we, it was our greed that brought him to us in the first place."
Ballin looked back at the Jedi for a moment, "They really do set a marvelous example," Balin commented, "Their stories about their order and the faults that plagued them... I hope they get the chance to rebuild into something greater."
"They will, and so will we." Thorin vowed.
The next few days wore on. The Company slowly but surely became used to the environment that was Mirkwood, with its treacherous overgrowth and foliage so thick it choked out the sun. They followed the path till it came to the ruins of a bridge, its superstructure split down the middle and spilling into the river.
"What happened?" Bofur asked as he studied the bridge.
"Rotted away." Alaya said.
"There is a boat somewhere near here to get across." Dex explained.
The company searched the bank, till Bilbo exclaimed, "I see it it's over on the otherside… why would it be on the other side!?"
"Because the Elves live over there." Jaing deadpanned.
"How far away is it?" Thorin asked.
"About twelve yards." Bilbo said, "can we throw a hook over there?"
"Oh sure completely forget about our TK abilities, why don't ya?" Du said sarcastically, "or that we could probably make the jump."
"Oh right… I forgot." Bilbo said sheepishly.
Du shook his head, amused, and leapt across the river, untied the rope and sent the boat to the company. Thorin went across first with Bombur going last.
Abruptly they heard a splash. They looked over and saw that Bombur the fattest Dwarf fell into the river.
"You have got to be kidding me!" several members of the company exclaimed as they fished him out of the black enchanted river.
When they did, they ended up having to carry him for the next few days while he slept peacefully.
"Why did we bother fishing him out?!" Niles exclaimed as it was his turn to carry the dwarf.
"Because he is a member of our company."
"You are much better then most of the Empire, then. We're taught to leave men behind if they compromised the mission! Especially if they do stupid poodoo." Alaya said, "Though Commander Libil is against that for us here."
Abruptly Bombur woke up and flailed off of Niles, looking around confused, "You're alright?"
"Where am I?" Bombur asked.
It turned out that Bombur had forgotten everything after Bilbo's party. The company told him enough to get him up to speed and he wished he didn't wake up as he was having a pleasant dream.
Niles grinned, "Don't feel bad. Alaya was the same way."
"Shut up." Alaya snarled through clenched teeth.
"Oh come on, tell us the story." Janus begged.
"No." Alaya groaned.
Niles chuckled, "Later, let's get out of here first."
"How about we have that conversation never!" Alaya exclaimed.
"It must have been extremely embarrassing." the company chuckled.
"Shut up." Alaya ground out.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'd be flattered." Niles grinned.
Alaya stopped short and turned to Niles, a look of murder hidden behind her helmet, "You didn't."
"No… a little birdie told him."
"Given what we have seen at Beorn's house, that does sound plausible." Jaing chuckled.
Alaya quivered with rage, "YOU'RE ALL BASTARDS!"
"Alaya." Niles said, his tone serious, "We did not tell him anything, I swear, we're just giving you the piss." he said.
Alaya turned to the Jedi, they nodded he was telling the truth, she sighed with relief, "Good."
"That being said, he does know." Niles said, "He asked the cap'n about why you were giving him looks while we were in Rivendell."
Alaya snorted in amusement before she saw that the Jedi expression being puzzled, "You're serious aren't you?"
"Yes I am." Niles answered, "I saw them talking."
"Oh no."
"Hey you never know, he might be vaguely interested." Niles shrugged.
"He's Immortal and killed a literal demon. I am a stormtrooper spec ops sure but still a mortal."
"Oh you are interested in the gold haired elf! HAHAHAHA" Du laughed falling over, "Wow you aim high."
With that the company sometimes teased Alaya about her misplaced love interests. She would in turn draw her rifle and they stopped, though that didn't stop them from continuing behind her back. As night fell, they set up camp, everyone practically dropping from the rigorous march and falling into deep rest within moments.
Bilbo dreamt of the Shire, of course. Of his home, his furniture, his books, his cupboard of cheeses and bread… which he would have to restock when he got home. But most of all was the warm hearth, the flames tickling him as he lay out next to it. But something was wrong. The flames continued to tickle him, like little hairs brushing against his skin. He felt it everywhere, even through his clothes.
He tried to get away from the fire, but no matter how far away he got, the tickling never stopped. Then he felt something else. Something… sticky. His eyes shot open, and before him was a massive spider! Its mandibles were rubbing over his skin, its breath hissing softly as it slowly spun him into a web, humming a monstrous tune. Without thinking, Bilbo withdrew his sword and swiped the spider's arm away from him and stood up, his ring falling out of his pocket and landing near the abomination.
"YOU HURT ME!" It hissed as it stepped around the ring, its leg almost getting it, "I'M GOING TO SUCK YOUR BONES OUT, FLESHBAG!"
Bilbo felt something within him stir and he hurled himself at the spider, viciously and ruthlessly brutalizing the creature with his sword.
"IT STINGS!" the spider cried, as the blade made contact with the exoskeleton of the creature, "It STINGS!" finally with a war cry Bilbo stabbed it through one of the eight eyes, causing the creature to slump to the ground dead.
Bilbo looked at the sword then at the spider, "Now thats not a bad name," he held up the sword and spoke to it, "I will give you a name, and I shall call you Sting!"
He then reach down and picked up the ring and looked at it for a moment, his reflection staring back at him from the gold work. He contemplated what had just happened and what Viridian was able to glean from Smeagol, 'Could… this ring be what caused his descent into madness? Is this how it starts?' his thoughts asked him.
Bilbo shook his head, "No, don't be silly. If that was true then Viridian would have killed you for the ring, Bilbo. Just like that other Hobbit Smeagol killed." Though if he was honest with himself, he knew that was very flimsy logic. Viridian had much better control over himself then a normal person.
Bilbo looked around, noticing the company was missing. Then he heard the sound of a lightsaber in the distance and began to tread carefully into that direction, his eyes wary for more spiders in the dark. After some time, he saw Xey locked into combat with a group of the horrid monsters, her blade slicing through some and the others the blade seemed to just glance off of! He realized why: some of them were encased in the same kind of armor the Yuuzhan Vong used, making the spiders look almost like giant black crabs. Bilbo growled in frustration, those abominable space aliens were growing incredibly insufferable. He approached the closest armored Spider with the sneakiness of a lioness, and plunged Sting into the gaps of the armor, striking the spider through a vital area and causing it to collapse dead.
After that, Xey and Bilbo took care of the other spiders with varying degrees of difficulty, many of them ran away running off in a certain direction, screaming obscenities as they went.
"What happened?" Bilbo asked.
"We were ambushed," she panted, struggling to catch her breath, "in the night... dozens of them swarmed the camp... took the company."
Bilbo gulped, "Well let's go get 'em then."
Xey nodded and the duo began to follow the trail till they came just outside the nest. They heard the Spiders discussing how they were going to eat the company.
Bilbo pursed his lips, and turned to Xey, "I have an idea." he whispered to her.
Xey looked at him, "And that is?"
Bilbo reached into his pocket ad reluctantly pulled out the ring, "I am going to disappear do not be alarmed," with that he put the ring on, and vanished from sight. Xey stared at where he'd been for a moment before hearing a stone being thrown into the opposite direction, and the spiders went off to investigate the noise.
Bilbo and Xey took advantage of this distraction to cut the Company loose and get them all armed.
Du growled as he was freed from his silken prison, "Not one word of this."
Janus got the web out of his hair and scowled, "I am getting sick of these Yuuzhan Vong."
Niles and Alaya snarled at that, "Oh, I am with you!" Jaing exclaimed.
"We better get moving, they will be back soon!" Bilbo exclaimed.
"Let these spawn of Ungoliant come!" Oin snarled only to collapse.
Ulra sighed, "Most of us are in no condition to fight them. The venom they injected us with is weakening us. We were lucky it didn't outright kill us."
"It's how the spawn of Ungoliant like their prey, still alive." Oin groaned
The company heared the stampede of the spiders coming back. Bilbo pursed his lips and turned to the Company, his face grim, "I will hold them off."
"Bilbo?" Thorin asked, worry flashing across his brow.
"I am going to disappear." with that he put on his ring before the Company, turning invisible to their shock, "Now go! I will do the stinging!"
Thorin shouted for the Company to run off while Bilbo, now invisible, turned to face the spiders.
The spiders charged in his direction, swarming over every surface with unnerving quickness.
"Why, hello there!" Bilbo shouted out from the gloom, "Are you looking for me?"
"WHERE IS MEATBAG!" one of the spiders hissed, "WHERE-" a sword through its armored spine was its answer, the thing spasming out on its back in pure pain as green viscous blood pooled from its body. The Spiders swarmed around the body, trying to find where the killer had went. Then another spider fell, this one with its face split in two.
"WHAT ARE YOU!?" the spiders screamed as yet another of their company slumped dead to the floor, it underbelly slashed open.
"Sting!" Bilbo shouted from the shadows, "I am Sting! And I will kill every last one of you if you do not flee!"
Bilbo punctuated his point by stabbing out the lead spiders clustered eyes. As it cowered away, its legs hovelling over its bleeding face, it screamed, "RETREAT! WE ARE NO MATCH FOR STING!" when Bilbo stabbed the spiders and moved about, the Spiders screamed out in pain and shock as the invisible enemy stung them to death causing them to run away heading south.
After that was over Bilbo followed the company when he saw them next he saw them surrounded by an elvish hunting party.
"Our Lord sent us to find you. We've been out here for days!" the lead elf exclaimed.
"Elrond's messengers sure do know how to make time, don't they?" Niles quipped.
"Yes they do," the elf nodded, "we will escort you back to the palace where you can rest and meet with the king before you head on your way to the town of Lake men."
The company all nodded in agreement, and followed the hunting party to the palace, Bilbo took off his ring and put it in his pocket and quietly slipped into the company.
The elves brought the company to the palace of the Elvenking along a well mannered road. There, they entered the underworld of the elves, built deep into the root of tree and rock with the masses of hundreds staring at them in awe and puzzlement. Minutes later, they came to the throne room itself, a chamber of ebony work where there sat the king of Mirkwood, staring high above from his throne with a dismissive look. He was like many of the other elves the company had met: tall, rather thin with sculpture like postures and structure, his hair so light it almost glowed. His eyes however were what seperated him from the rest, even from Elrond himself. They were cold with an air of supremacy. But there was a hardness to them, the sight of a man who'd seen conflict for millennia and had somehow become accustomed to it. He was dressed in ceremonial robes of green and gold, and upon his brow an ebony crown with an ornate headdress behind him. He studied the company for a moment before he cracked a slight disparaging smile.
"So…" he mused softly, an arrogant glint in his eyes, "this is Thorin Oakenshield? This is the company that has caused so much trouble that their deeds are carried fervorously upon the wind? You are certainly dressed for battle, if not for a stroll through our woods."
Du groaned softly and whispered to Jak, "Great, he's one of those elves."
"'One of those elves'?" the King smiled as he rose from his throne to stride down to the company, his impressive height towering over even the already lofty Niles, "pray tell me, my horned friend, are you a master of a dominion? A ruler of a people under siege? The one who must hold back the darkness that plagues our home? If you are not, then what right does one such as yourself have to judge one such as I?"
"Well, when you put it like that, I can appreciate your burden."
"Duty, not burden," he replied with a half-hearted smile.
Kes gave Du a look, and turned to the Elven king, "Forgive him he sometimes lacks tact."
Du shrugged at that, "I'm a warrior not a diplomat."
Thranduil chuckled, "There may come a time when you must be diplomatic, my horned freind."
He turned to Thorin, "I know why you are here. The messengers of my Kin told me as such and that I should be expecting you. I must say it truly surprised me that you survived the forest and all the dangers it possesses, even with the help of our most esteemed allies." he said turned to the the stormtroopers, "Where is your captain?" he asked Niles.
"I am in command." Jaing said, "He was sent elsewhere, I am incharge of the squad till he returns."
"A pity," Thranduil sighed, "well Thorin, I shall allow your company to bathe and dine with us, and give you rest for the next day, and I shall have your leaders of each of your members eat at my table." he turned and sat in his throne, "You are my guests."
After the company bathed and had their armor cleaned, Kes, Jaing, and Thorin sat at Thranduil's table to eat.
"I thought that twenty four members were in your company Thorin I only count twenty,"
"Four of them had to leave for a bit to tend to another matter." Thorin explained.
"I see." Thranduil nodded in understanding, he then turned to Kes, "So you must be one of the Jedi here. I must say I thought Elrond said that their leader was a young man."
Kes gulped, "Viridian is one of the four that went to deal with the issue. I was asked to represent the others."
Thranduil rose an eyebrow, "You worry for his safety?"
"Of course I do, he's my fellow Jedi."
Thranduil closed his eyes in amusement and a bit in sorrow, "It runs deeper than that, you worry for him as a lover does, it is a feeling I know all too well."
Jaing shrugged, "It makes sense they are engaged to be married."
Kes gave him a look.
"He did literally scream it from the rooftops." Thorin chuckled.
Thranduil chuckled in amusement, "If it is worth anything I wish you both the best."
"Thank you."
Thranduil turned to Jaing, "It surely is a pity that your captain is not here, I got the prisoner ready for nothing."
Thorin cleared his throat, "Prisoner?"
Jaing nodded, "He's referring to a female elf that tried to assassinate Commander Libel. Jane managed to subdue her."
"Wait, an elf did this?" Thorin asked in surprise.
Thranduil shrugged, "Though such acts of crime is rare among elves it does happen."
"I take it she's still not talking?" Jaing asked.
"She will only talk to your captain." Thranduil told him, "Personally I would have her executed by now but the commander wants to find out the truth about her. Can't say I blame him. I am curious myself."
Kes looked back at the Jedi, "Perhaps we can help?"
Thranduil rose and eyebrow.
"Between the six of us, we might be able to get her to talk." she explained.
"Uh…" Xey began, "That is incredibly dangerous, we could end up destroying this person's mind."
Thranduil shook his head, "I must decline the offer, I'd rather have her wits about her if only for a while."
Kes nodded in understanding.
"That being said, if you want to make an attempt at getting any information out of her. You are welcome to try."
"We'll have a go at it." Du agreed.
With that Thranduil called for more wine for the guests and they sat and talked, it turned out that as you got past the first initial sense of arrogance the elven king was not so bad, and he enjoyed the tales that the company had to tell of their journey.
Jaing turned to Thranduil, "I am actually surprised that Legolas is not here, where is he?"
"Legolas was sent on an errand to our kin in Lorien, and could not be here for this meeting unfortunately."
"Ah I see." Jaing nodded in understanding.
The company began to feel fatigue weighing on them, and Thranduil told them to get some rest. The dwarves and hobbit did so, but the Jedi, Imperials, and Mandoa, asked, "where is the prisoner?"
Thranduil nodded, "Follow me." with that he stood up and lead them to the dungeons. There sat inside an energy field surrounded by a cage the elven prisoner. She had fair skin and long blonde hair, her eyes grey as murky pools of water. She was dressed in a simple pale tunic, stained and ragged. She looked up to see the newcomers, her eyes narrowed and hard.
"I will only speak to the Imperial Captain who bested me."
Du crossed his arms, "That's too bad. We're what you are getting, so suck it up and tell us what we want to know."
The prisoner looked at Du for a moment before chuckling, "Straight to the point, I like that."
It was then that Ulra stepped forward, sitting across from the elf with her legs crossed and her head tilted slightly sideways. The elf snorted.
"You would have a blind woman be my interrogator?"
"I may not have eyes, but I see far more clearly than most." she replied with a smile, "For example, you are not who you seem to be."
Something flashed in the elf's eyes so quickly everyone there almost didn't notice it. Almost.
"How do you mean?"
"You are not of this wood, nor of any other lineage of elf we have encountered. No, I sense you are… something different."
"Sense?" the elf said in surprise, "I've never met a human sorceress before."
"IT'S NOT MAGIC!" Du exclaimed, but Ulra held up a hand, silencing him.
"To you, perhaps it is. To us, the Force is the very essence of the universe. We are the blessed few allowed to utilize it for good. And I am not human… not entirely. I am Miraluka. We are born blind, but our connection to the Force and its ability to sense the world around us is… greater, than most."
The elf's eyes widened, "You are the children of the Anathema, the demons that harness the powers that my masters fear."
"Demons?" Ulra chuckled, "I am not sure whether to be insulted or flattered. But let us discuss your masters, now. They are the Vong, are they not?"
The elf's glare turned venomous as she spat, "You may tear my mind and body apart, witch, but I will not utter another word."
Jak hand clenched into a fist, and he had the sudden urge to introduce it to the elf's face. He however felt Ulra's presence in his mind and he relaxed, reluctantly.
"You are under the assumption I am here to torture you," Ulra said calmly, "I am not. Nor will I harm your mind or body. I won't have to," she added with a smile, "for example, this form is not your own."
The elf's face paled with sudden fear and she clutched at her body defensively. Ulra continued, and the elf sudden felt an unearthly presence within her psyche, strangely warm and inviting. Yet, she still shuddered in fear at its touch.
Show me who you truly are, she heard Ulra's voice in her mind. She clutched at the sides of her head and screamed.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
Show me who you truly are, Ulra repeated, shed this disguise and show me.
It was then that something profound changed within the elf. She complied despite her own resistance. She screamed as her body began to change like a snake shedding its skin. Her once pale skin become gray as soot, her hair as black as coal. Her bodily features become sharp and almost hollow, her eyes brightening to a blood red, her ears became as jagged and pointed as daggers. Worser still, her disguise had hid how frail and weak she truly was. Though not emancipated, she still looked as though she'd been starved, thin and whipped as rope, and her gaze was just as desperate.
"Please... stop!" she begged, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. To all, especially the elven lord himself, they exchanged looks of horror, disgust and even pity.
"What… foul monstrocity is this!?" Thranduil spat.
"We are the Yuuzhan Vong Shapers first attempt." she wheezed.
"First attempt at what?" Kes asked fearfully.
"Their first attempt at creating their own breed of elf," Ulra answered, shaking her head sadly, "I suspect that the dark warrior Viridian and you," she pointed at Du, "described seeing at Rivendale is the same as this… Dark Elf."
"In the name and service of the dark lord, we are called the Morgolag Hai." the dark elf coughed, "please stop, I beg you!"
"What were you doing here in Mirkwood?" Ulra asked, her voice becoming almost booming within the elf's mind, "Why did you try to kill the Imperial Commander?"
"To throw the interlopers and the elves into war with each other."
Xey turned to Ulra, "Why is she in pain? Are you doing something to her?"
Ulra sighed, "She appears to have something within her body causing her pain. Since I introduced the light to her, she can't absorb it anymore with the Dark Side. It's as though a battle is being waged within her… and she is suffering as a result."
The dark elf whimpered and collapsed to the ground, clutching at her arms in pure, pathetic frailty. She gasped and clawed for breath, but none came. Instead, only her tears flowed and pooled around her body as she thrashed about on the floor.
"So… your telling me that the Vong literally engineered her so that if she ever tried to forsake the Dark Side, she'd be forced to suffer endless agony?" Janus asked, no small amount of outrage in his voice.
Jaing, despite his misgivings about this elf, couldn't help but feel as if in many ways they were the same, both bread to fight for a cause they might not even give a damn about had they been given a chance.
Alaya turned to Ulra, "Can you soothe her pain? I heard that was something you jedi could do?"
Ulra looked up, "I tried to do that already. Her body is literally going to hurt her the more light side energy I try to introduce. No, she needs to be cured of this by a shaper."
Thranduil sighed, "Then it is decided. I shall have her put out of her misery."
Ulra bolted upright, "What?!"
"Ulra." Kes said, holding her hand out to keep her at bay, "Thranduil, that might not be necessary we might have a chance to…"
"Look." Thranduil interrupted pointing at the suffering creature in the cell, "Believe me when I say I do pity this sad creature. I know you will attempt to convince me that she can be saved. I would long to believe that. But what I see her is a creation of pure darkness that cannot be cured. It can only be… disposed of."
"That's a little harsh." Du admitted, "but I agree. I'd call it a mercy killing and be done with it."
Jaing watched the elf for a moment before he shook his head, "I can't agree to this."
Ulra looked at the clone soldier, her brow creasing. Jaing's eyes narrowed in response
"Jak told me that all clones were surgically implanted with biochips in their brains. To be turned into slave soldiers that turned on the people who fought alongside them for years. The Vong have done something to her body to make her remain loyal to their sick gods, much like how my brothers and I were hijacked to be turned into puppets," his voice then turned into a scream, "WHILE WE BUTCHERED CHILDREN!" he took a deep breath, his hands forming into fists so tight they paled, "So forgive me if I will not accept that killing her is the only way to do this."
Niles fingers snapped, "There may be a way. We could put her into stasis till we get a Shaper, preferably at gunpoint, to fix her… but please tell me we don't have to do this to every single dark elf?"
"Oh hell no, one of them destroyed one of my hearts." Du chorted, his hand reflexively going up to where the wound was.
Ulra looked around, sensing the looks on everybody present, "So we're all in agreement of Niles idea?"
Thranduil sighed, "I will allow you to try this but ultimately you must know you can't save everyone."
"No I can't, but I can save as many as I can and that's enough for me."
With that Ulra opened the cell and deactivated the force field, Jak got a pistol ready in case the dark elf did anything.
Ulra then sat next to the elf and began to comfort the whimpering form as she would a child. She stiffened at first unfamiliar with the feeling and the agony coursing through her body didn't help.
"It hurts." she whimpered.
If Ulra could she would have closed her eyes, "No life deserves this. Your creators will pay for it, I promise. Sleep now."
Ulra concentrated and put the dark elf into a healing trance to help mitigate the pain, Jaing called for a stasis unit and they placed the engineered life form into the pod.
"Are there anymore in my kingdom?" Thranduil asked Ulra, she stretched out with her senses and shook her head.
"Not that I can detect." The Miraluka admitted, "That's not the worst of it though, she's more or less a prototype if you will, the warrior that gravely wounded you Du was a more perfected version."
"So… there's more." Janus stated.
"From what I was able to get from her mind, she is a part of the infiltrator subspecies. They are better equipped for stealth but are very poor in comparison combatively compared to their warrior kin. I suspect it was of the latter we encountered back in Rivendell."
"So on a scale of one to ten, how kriffed are we?" Du asked as he rubbed his chest where the wound was.
"It's really not that bad, thankfully. They've been having trouble mass producing these dark elves, at least that's what she understood from them, but if you want a number I'd say a solid seven." she deadpanned.
"Eh we've survived worse odds." Kes shrugged.
"It's almost like someone is watching out for us." Niles grinned.
Thranduil gave Niles a look, "I was not aware you have come to see the Valar as our watcher?"
"Eh I wasn't talking about them, but they certainly don't hurt." the gaela stormtrooper admitted.
Thranduil nodded in understanding, and said, "We have learned a great deal tonight. I recommend you take your rest and take it well for you have a long road ahead of you tomorrow."
Ulra stepped forward, "I have your word you and your people will not hurt her?"
Thranduil nodded with a reluctant sigh, "No harm will come to her for as long as she is down here."
Ulra nodded with satisfaction, and the group went to their chambers to catch up on their rest. Kes drifted off to a worrisome sleep as she thought about the dangers her husband-to-be was walking into. In her dreams, she prayed to whoever would listen that he would return to her in one piece. She was owed that much at least.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter tell me what you liked what you didn't like, all that fun stuff I can only improve with feedback people, well anyway I will see you in the next chapter.