Liliana was kept imprisoned away from the dwarves. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, her cell was so dark that she couldn't tell if it were night or day, and the only way that she was able to tell that any time had passed was when the guards brought her meals. Liliana was never given a lot of food, usually some water and a small piece of stale lembas bread.
The guards taunted her, telling her that she was filth and that she shouldn't even be alive. These words were usually followed by a swift beating that left Liliana curled up in pain. Liliana had long since given up on the hope that she would see the light of day again, or that she would see Thorin and the others, either.
It was after one of these beatings that Liliana's hopes rose again. She was curled up on her cot when she heard a voice.
"Psst! Liliana!"
"Bilbo?" Liliana asked in disbelief. Sure enough, there was the dimly lit figure of the halfling on the other side of her cell door. "Bilbo!" Liliana quickly rose to her feet, hissing in pain as she did so, but pushing the pain away for the moment. "Bilbo, what are you even doing here?"
"Getting you out, of course." Bilbo held up a ring of keys. "The guards are flat out drunk because of some festival that's going on, which means that it's the perfect time to break out you and the others." He unlocked her door, wincing when it squeaked as it slowly swung open. "We should hurry, I'm not sure how much time we have."
They scurried up a flight of stairs to where the others were, and the dwarves shouted excitedly when they saw Liliana.
"Quiet!" Bilbo hissed. "Or we'll be caught before we can even try to escape."
Bilbo started to open the cells, and as soon as Thorin was free, he went to Liliana's side. "You're hurt," he noted, and Liliana shook her head. "I'm fine."
"Where were they even keeping you?"
"I'm not sure, but it was always so dark, I could hardly see a thing."
Thorin put his hands on Liliana's waist and pulled her close to him. "You're alright now, I'm going to make sure that no one else hurts you."
"My hero." Liliana teased him, and Thorin chuckled softly. "Come, let's get out of here."
They followed Bilbo down flights of stairs to a wine cellar.
"Bilbo, how exactly do you plan for us to escape from the very bottom of Mirkwood?" Liliana asked. "Not that I'm doubting this plan of yours."
Bilbo pointed to a lever that was next to a group of barrels laying stacked on their sides. "See the barrels next to that lever? I pull that lever, and they all roll down a ramp to the water below. That's our way out of here. Hurry, we don't have a lot of time."
Thorin helped Liliana to get into a barrel before getting into one himself.
"Bilbo, are you sure about this?" Ori asked nervously.
"Not in the least bit." Bilbo pulled the lever, and the floor disappeared from beneath them, the barrels rolling down a wooden ramp. Bilbo skidded down the ramp and into the water before clinging to the side of Liliana's barrel as it righted itself up.
Liliana helped Bilbo to get into her barrel. "How did you know that this idea of yours would work?" Liliana asked, and Bilbo gave her a sheepish look. "I didn't, but I figured that anything was better than staying in those cells for Valar knows how long."
Liliana ruffled his hair. "You're not the same halfling that left the Shire, this journey has changed you for the better."
"You think-" Bilbo stopped midsentence to let out a cry of surprise as an arrow lodged itself in the side of the barrel.
"Orcs!" Liliana shouted as the creatures began to flood the banks of the river. The Company was trapped, with no weapons to defend themselves. Liliana had her fire power, but she didn't know how to control it yet.
An orc leaped off the bank, crashing into Liliana's barrel, causing both her and Bilbo to fall out into the rushing water. Before Liliana had a chance to breathe or swim to either bank, the orc pushed her further under the water.
Liliana tried to push him off of her, but he was much stronger then she was, and her deteriorated physical state only made that difference much more prominent. Black dotted the edges of Liliana's vision, and she sank into darkness.
Liliana was in the middle of a serene forest, birds chirping cheerfully around her, causing Liliana to look around in confusion. Where was she? The last thing that she remembered was being pulled into the water by that orc.
A light flashed above Liliana's head, and she looked up to see an orb floating down, stopping once it reached eye level with her.
"Liliana Stonehelm." The ethereal voice was coming from the orb, but it seemed to be coming from all around her as well.
"Where am I?" Liliana asked, swallowing thickly. "Am I...am I dead?"
"You are not completely dead, but you are not quite alive, either. This is the In Between, the plane in between the lands of the Living and the Dead. You have a choice to make."
The imagery changed, and Liliana was floating, staring down at the river. The dwarves and Bilbo were gathered on the riverbank, and Thorin was clutching a limp body that Liliana recognized as her own.
"You have a choice to make." The orb repeated. "You can either return to your mortal body, or you can journey on to the afterlife."
"Who are you?" Liliana asked. "What grants you this kind of power."
"We are the Valar. As we have the power to grant life, we also have the power to take it away. It is not often that we interfere with the natural course of things, but the truth of the matter is, Middle-Earth needs you, Liliana Stonehelm. Maybe not right now, but there is a darkness coming, and when that darkness arrives, Middle-Earth will need people like you, heroes with pure hearts."
"I wouldn't call myself a hero." Liliana said humbly, and a chuckle emanated from the orb. "Heroes are not measured by their physical strength, but by the strength of their hearts, and your heart is indeed a strong one. What is your choice, Liliana?"
Liliana wanted to say that the choice was an easy one for her, but the truth was, it wasn't. If Liliana went on to the afterlife, then she would be in paradise, she wouldn't be put through any more fear or suffering. But on the other hand, she couldn't just leave Thorin and the others to their fates.
"Before I make my choice, I have one more question. Back before we reached Rivendell, I...well, I..."
"Would this be about your ability to conjure fire?"
"Well...yes. I was never able to do it before, and I haven't really been able to do it since."
"This is not a power that you were born with. As we said before, there is a great darkness coming, and we need pure hearts to battle this darkness, people who wouldn't use powers like yours for evil purposes. You came highly recommended to us."
"I did?" Asked Liliana in surprise. "By who?"
"Gandalf the Grey seemed convinced of your abilities."
Honestly, nothing about the wizard should surprise her anymore.
"So, what is your decision?"
"I'm going back." Liliana said in a firm voice. "I cannot leave my friends, and if a darkness is truly coming, then we will need everything we have to battle it."
"You are a brave woman, Liliana Stonehelm. Go now, we look forward to the things that you will accomplish."
The scene began to fade away, and Liliana started to slip away into oblivion once more.