A/N: Hello! Here I am with another chapter!

Some notes on this one: I'm going with the movie version of Beorn's house rather than the book version which I know differ. As I mentioned earlier in this fic, I'm not following the timeline of the story because that's been done a lot of times. Most of this is focused on Ellie's journey and how she handles the things that happen on the way to and in Erebor. I'll try to write slightly longer chapters as well :)

As always,

Please enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Nine

Something was different about the forest near Beorn's house. Ellie couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the air was different. It scared her in a way that other places in Middle-Earth had not scared her so far. For that reason, she was very happy indeed that Beorn's house wasn't in the forest itself, but rather, just on its edge as if it was its guardian. When Gandalf mentioned Beorn's house, Ellie first imagined it would be like a rustic cottage of sorts, like on those pinterest cottagecore boards, but when she stood in front of it, she felt embarrassed for ever having had such a thought.

The house was enormous, with a grass covered roof and something akin to a small farm surrounding it. There were sheep grazing, wooden beehives, stables for ponies and a couple of horses. As far as Ellie could see, it was a pretty self-sufficient place and it made her all the more curious about the master of the house.

"What do I do?" Ellie asked herself, "Just knock on the door and say, 'Oh hi, Gandalf sent me'? I'm not prepared for this."

The closer Ellie got to the farmstead, she was overcome with an overwhelming sensation that perhaps she was not welcome there. She immediately got the sense that Beorn, whoever he was, was a very private person and wasn't quite so fond of visitors as Bilbo.

Nevertheless, Gandalf had sent her to do a job and she didn't want to disappoint him and so Ellie kept walking. None of the animals seemed to mind her approach, but in the corner of her eye, Ellie swore she saw an enormous shadow within the woods, swooping past trees as if it was cautiously following her every move. Ellie half-jogged up to the enormous front door and knocked on it, hoping someone would answer.

Outside, the air grew colder and a grey cloud suddenly covered the skies. Ellie knocked again on the door and when no answer came, she truly began to feel afraid. She wished she was back in Erebor, with Thorin, in the days when everything was familiar and safe. When she knew nothing about the wider world of Middle-Earth and its many dangers.

"It's okay, Ellie." Ellie told herself, "Remember what Gandalf said. Nothing can harm you here, because you physically don't belong in this world. Nothing can harm you."

No matter how many times she repeated the words to herself, Ellie still felt scared and when she heard a loud, beastly roar coming from within the woods, she knew she was out of her depths. Just as she was about to give up on the door and find another place to hide, it swung open, as if by some invisible force. At first, Ellie hesitated, but when a second roar came from behind her, she wasted no time and ran inside. The door closed behind her and she found herself in a dark house. It was clear that nobody was at home, and perhaps hadn't been for quite some time.

Ellie reached inside her pocket and grabbed her phone for some light. She didn't want to use the torch because she was too afraid of drawing attention to herself, with that thing outside, but she wanted a closer look at where she was.

She felt almost as if she had stumbled into the giants' house from Jack and the Beanstalk. Everything inside was huge; the chairs, the table, the armchair and the fireplace. It was almost comical in comparison to Bilbo's house where everything had been incredibly small. It made Ellie wonder if there were people in Middle-Earth who were just like her. So far, she'd only met a wizard, a hobbit and dwarves, but she wondered what other people lived in this strange land.

Ellie didn't necessarily regret her choice to follow the company on their journey, but she couldn't help but wonder if things really were just the same in Edinburgh. What if Gandalf was wrong and people back home thought she was missing, or worse? If Niamh and Zara knew about any of this, Ellie knew exactly what they would have said.

Niamh would have shaken her head and told her that listening to some old man pretending to be your professor for months and going with him into an allegedly different world, was the definition of madness. Zara, however, had always been slightly more adventurous and would have told her that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and that they would still be there when she got back.

"It's okay, Ellie," she told herself, "You'll see them again and when you do, you can tell them everything."

A sudden thump at the door caught Ellie by surprise and she stumbled backwards. Had the enormous creature figured out where she was and would now come for her? Is this how she was going to die, without even having made it halfway through the journey? Ellie kept walking backwards until she found herself with her back against a semi-open door which led to a bedroom. She carefully lay down on the bed, as she listened for the sounds of the unfamiliar world outside until her exhaustion caught up with her and for the first time since the start of the journey, Ellie was able to fall into a deep and long slumber.

Despite her sleep being deep, Ellie's dreams were ferocious and vivid. She saw scenes of things she knew had happened in the distant past, like the great dragon Smaug completely destroying the once bustling city of Dale. She saw Thorin's people being driven out of their homes and forced to wander the lengths of the world without receiving help.

Thorin, still a young dwarf at the time, had lost everything that was dear to him and Ellie couldn't help but to feel as though she had abandoned him.

Then, her dreams changed and Ellie instead found herself in a dark and dangerous forest, much more so than the one just by Beorn's house. Here, she could see giant spiders crawling in the darkness, waiting to ensnare their victims so that they would never see the light again.

When the dreams changed again, Ellie found herself back in Erebor, but something was different. She couldn't see any dwarves, but she heard Bilbo's voice talking to someone..or something...that instilled a fear inside Ellie that she had never seen before.

Once again, the scenes around her changed and Ellie stood on a frozen lake. From a distance she saw Azog, the orc, holding the younger dwarves by their throats and then mercilessly, killing them one by one, the blood from their lifeless bodies staining the snow covered ground red.

"Ellie!"

Ellie turned around and saw Thorin next to her. His icy blue eyes looked right in hers as he ran his hand through her hair. She hadn't noticed it before, but she had a single braid in her hair tied with a stone bead at the end.

"I'm sorry," said Thorin, "I wish I could have given you everything."

"Thorin...what…."

Before she could finish her sentence, a sharp arrow shot into Thorin's chest. He grabbed onto Ellie as he fell to his knees and as Ellie screamed, the world around her literally swallowed her whole and she fell into a pool of darkness.

XXXXX

When Ellie opened her eyes, she was relieved to be back in the bed of Beorn's house, even though she was slightly ashamed to have fallen asleep there in the first place. She felt like Goldilocks sneaking into the three bears' house and using their things without permission, but she had been terrified. What scared her even more were the dreams she'd had that night and how she somehow knew that they weren't just dreams, they were visions of things to come. Gandalf hadn't just sent her on this journey to help Thorin make the right decisions along the way, she had been sent on this journey to save Thorin.

"Gandalf does not have a habit of sending young women to my doorstep." came a deep voice from the kitchen, "Tell me, little one, who are you? What is your name?"

Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but struggled to find the words when she saw who her host was. Beorn wasn't just a man, but he was a HUGE and hairy man. Then, something inside her clicked and she wondered if the enormous creature stalking her the night before, had in fact, been her host.

"My name is Eleanor." said Ellie, "And you - you're Beorn aren't you? Gandalf didn't mention you were a shapeshifter."

"Wizards are wise, but with age they also forget things." Beorn replied, "Come sit at my table, young Eleanor. There is hot porridge, fresh bread and homemade honey, with tea or strong coffee."

For the first time since her arrival in Middle-Earth, Ellie felt a hunger gnaw at her stomach. Perhaps this was another reason Gandalf had sent her to Beorn, because he was able to see and interact with her, when others weren't. As soon as Ellie started eating, she realised how ravenous she was and even though she had had many a homemade breakfasts in her life, nothing tasted quite as magical as Beorn's food.

"You are a long way from home," Beorn remarked as he studied Ellie while drinking from his tankard. It was definitely more of a statement rather than a question.

"Yes," said Ellie, "Gandalf's sent me on this grand quest and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do what he's asked of me."

"In all the years that I have known Gandalf, he has never done anything without absolute certainty. If he has entrusted you with a task, then it is because he believes in your ability to see it through."

"That reminds me, he sent me her to let you know that you should expect his visit. After Midsummer's Eve."

At this, Beorn raised an eyebrow and sighed, as if it wasn't unexpected, but something that bothered him a little.

"I shall have to make some preparations then," Beorn said, "And you, young Eleanor, shall I expect to see you here as well?"

"Yes, at least, I think so." Ellie replied, "It's a little difficult to know for sure and I'm not really sure how all this actually works, but yes."

"Well, why don't you stay another night? It looks as though you could use the rest and it is not often I have company. I would consider it a favor."

Ellie only nodded and began to feel tired again. She didn't want to leave Thorin and the company for longer than she had to, but perhaps getting another decent night's sleep and figure things out was exactly what she needed.

Yes.

That sounded like a good idea.

To be continued….

A slightly longer chapter than usual, but I hope you liked it. I'm thinking of setting the next chapter in Beorn's house again, but not entirely sure what should happen. Any ideas? Maybe more visitors from Middle-Earth? Let me know in the comments!