Eve of Mirkwood: AHHHH!!!! THE NAME! OH GODS THE NAME!!!!! IT…KEEPS…CHANGING!!!!!!!! Okay, now that I have that out of my system, I should probably clear up any discrepancy (discrepancy: 2pt. Vocab word). I love the new name!

Warning: More cussing and point of view changes.

"NOOO!!!" Adam woke up screaming and in a cold sweat. His heart was practically tearing from his chest. His brain scrambled to recall the nightmare he'd just had. He had been standing in the dark. He couldn't speak. Couldn't move. It was pitch-black. Then, there was a pinpoint of light. It grew until he could make out a form. It was Tris. He tried to call out to her, but he couldn't. He watched as a gray silhouette formed in front of her. She opened her mouth in a noiseless scream as Adam watched a ball of electricity grow in the hand of the silhouette. Tris was struggling against chains that were binding her to some sort of wall. Then the lightning ball launched itself at her and hit her in the chest. This was when he'd woken up. I have to go. He thought. I have to find her. Adam rushed to put on his clothes and headed down stairs. He was about to open the door when he heard a voice.

"Not so fast."

Adam turned to face Briar. He gave him a questioning look and the former thief smiled at him.

"I sleep light and let's just say that you don't wake light." He said. "So spill it." Adam sighed. There was no way to weasel his way out of this one, not that he wanted to. Adam pulled up a chair and told Briar about his dream. He left out the part about the fact that he seemed to know how Tris was by instinct alone, and his instincts were telling him she was in danger.

"It was just a dream." Briar said. Adam closed his eyes and counted backwards from five.

"She's in trouble Briar. I know it." He said. Briar looked like he wanted to tell him there was no way he could know it, but he seemed to think better of it. Instead, he closed his eyes and concentrated on something. His eyes opened and he regarded Adam with a peculiar expression.

"My mind link to her is blocked." He finally said. Adam's heart was seized with fear. Some part of him had wanted to believe that perhaps he was wrong, and hearing Briar say this abolished that hope. Not to mention that he was embarrassed at not having thought of checking their mind-link. He still wasn't quite used to using it. "Look," Briar said, pulling Adam back into the present, "that doesn't necessarily mean anything." He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "But I think we should check it out anyway." Adam jumped up but Briar held up his hand to stop him. "By "we" I meant all of us. Sit down and calm down. I'll be back in a minute and you can help me fill them in."

Tris sat still as tears trailed hot tracks down her cheeks. She had kept them at bay as long as she could, not wanting to give Darien the satisfaction of seeing her cry, but she couldn't hold them in any longer. She didn't cry out, she couldn't seem to find her voice anyway, but the tears fell down as forcefully as if she were shaking with loud sobs.

"And so the Ice Queen thaws." Darien said in a cold voice. He walked over to her and stroked her cheek gently with his hand as she flinched at his touch. "You're beautiful when you're broken." He told her softly. He pressed his hungry lips against hers for a long moment, forcing Tris back into the wall. Pulling away, Darien regarded her with a new disgust in his eyes before slapping her as forcefully as he could. Tris's head hit the wall again and ricocheted off of it to hit the other side. It dropped down on her chest limply. Darien watched as blood began to seep out of the new wounds in her skull. He smiled maliciously at her unconscious form before going for bandages. He wasn't about to let her die yet.

Adam led the way, letting his intuition guide him. He was filled with a mixture of fear, worry, and anxiety. He kept up a silent prayer to the gods for her safety. We'd better find her. He thought. Behind him followed Elizabeth, Dan, Daja, Evvy, and Briar. Sandry was at Duke's Citadel and Adam had told him they didn't have time to get her. As he walked through the woods he felt that they were vaguely familiar.

Tris woke up and was greeted by Darien's voice.

"It's about time. I've been waiting for you." He told her. She looked around. The floor was covered in foreign symbols and runes. In the center of the room, Darien was standing. "Say goodbye to your magic. It's going to be mine soon." Darien closed his eyes and began a low chant. Tris didn't recognize the words, but they made her skin crawl. Soon, she felt something inside of her being tugged at. She felt her magic leave her, going to Darien. NOO!!! She thought, Stop! Get BACK!!! Try as she might, she couldn't stop it. She felt like a part of her was being ripped away. He may as well have been taking an arm or leg, for her magic was as much a part of her as her limbs. Her magic, which was being sucked out of her slowly but surely. When it was over she slumped against the wall, feeling drained. "Oh, come, come." Darien said, "You don't want to sleep now! The fun is just beginning. Why don't we have some fun with your, what did you call them? Friends?" He waved his hand and the air wavered and a picture formed. It was Adam, and Briar, and Evvy, and Daja, and Dan, and Elizabeth. They were walking in the dark. "Hmmm…" Darien said, seemingly lost in thought, "I wonder how far your powers reach." He turned and smiled at her, "Let's see, shall we?" He closed his eyes and Tris watched in horror as she saw a lightning bolt flash in the picture. It was headed straight for Adam, but seemed to swerve at the last second, and hit the ground instead. The grass caught fire and the flames spread to the bushes and trees.

"Ahhh!" Briar clutched his skull as he felt the pain of green things burning. The lightning had come out of nowhere and set fire to the section of the woods they were in. Elizabeth concentrated, willing the water hidden below the earth's surface to come up and douse the flames. It put out the grass fire easily, but it couldn't get to the treetops. Elizabeth shaped it into a column and thrust it up into the branches. After a minute, the fire was out.

"Briar, are you all right?" She asked him, concerned. He nodded, breathing deeply. He looked angry, hurt, and confused. "That was…it…it was Tris." He said.

No! Tris thought silently. Briar, no! I would never! NEVER! Oh, please, Briar! Tris couldn't bear to see the hurt in his eyes. "You!" She screamed at Darien, enraged. "You filthy bastard! How dare you! How fucking dare you! You dirty, rat-faced, son of a bitch!" He turned to face her, malice, anger, and an intense hatred reflected in his eyes. Tris was suddenly very afraid.

"No." Adam said, "It wasn't her." Briar looked him in the eye.

"Adam, I know her magic a lot better than you do, so trust me on this one. It was her."

"No." Adam said again, more forcefully this time. "It wasn't her. It was her magic, but not her." The others looked at him in confusion. "I felt it too. It was definitely Tris's magic, but it wasn't Tris. It was someone else. A different life-force was behind it than hers. And…" He paused, not sure how he could explain this next part, "it felt like Jordan's." Then it hit him. Jordan. This was the same place he had taken Elizabeth when Jordan wanted her. Adam broke into a run as he headed for the cave where he would bet his life Tris was being kept.

Tris pressed herself up against the wall, trying to get away from Darien. "You shouldn't have done that." He told her, his voice deathly low, "I was going to let you live a bit longer. Let your friends go first. But I see that you need a lesson in respect, and I make sure my lessons stick." Tris watched as a ball of lightning formed in his palm, growing in force and size. She began to shake with terror.

Adam ran into the small room that had held Elizabeth months ago. Tris was standing chained to the wall as a dark silhouette holding a ball of lightning stood in front of her. NOOOOOO!!!!!! Adam thought, Not again!!!!!! The silhouette threw the ball at Tris.

Tris watched as the ball of electricity left Darien's palm, aimed for her heart. But then something happened, she saw a blur in front of her eyes and then the lightning ball was gone. In it's place was Adam's lifeless form.

Author's Note: Sorry, but I wanted to make this story dark. A death seemed fitting. And what's more classic than killing the character your readers started to love? But wait! Maybe I didn't kill him, I mean after all, I hate sadness right? How could a girl who's a sucker for happy endings kill a favorite character? But then again, I was being pretty mean to Tris, not at all in a "sunshine and flowers" mood, maybe I want you to think I'm tricking you but he really is dead.

Joe: We get it already! Shut-up!

Me: Right, okay. Review please.