"I didn't know what to do." Fili continued his story, sighing at his past self. "Kili literally never spoke to me and when he did we fought. It was my fault, I suppose, Thorin told me to ignore him and I did after the incident with the ring."
Fili scoffed silently to himself in regret and placed the flowers against the base of the stone before staring up at the clouds. "Kili and Ori were close and they usually rode at the back together away from everyone else. I kind of wanted to get involved but I didn't know how. It would be a little suspicious if I just announced that I was in the conversation."
"Yeah, a lot suspicious." A voice spoke from behind them and Fili jumped in his position before whipping his head behind him to lock eyes with Kili. "You hated me."
"I never hated you." Fili denied as Kili giggled and sat down on the dwarf's other side.
"Whatever you say, brother."
"How long have you been stood there?"
"Since you got to the part about how cocky you were once you arrived at the damn hobbit hole."
Fili nudged him hard in the ribs and looked down, hiding a smile behind his loose blonde locks. "I was not cocky."
"So what are we doing here?"
"Fili's telling Rose the story of how it all happened." The boy leaned forward as Kili grinned at him.
"That's cute."
"It's our story!" Fili exclaimed as his brother nodded. "I'm getting very into this, I think my career should be storytelling."
"Then you can use hand gestures to dramatise it. I'll hold my child." Kili reached over and took the now silent bundle from the blonde who scowled at him.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Kili smirked. "I'm staying right here. Please continue."
"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" The goblin king asked, towering over every dwarf and every goblin who stared up at him with wide eyes; all except Kili. The black-haired archer glared defiantly - this place, this cavern, none of it was new to him, but it didn't change the fact that he hated it.
Fili hovered protectively in front of his brother, ignoring the goblins who had death grips on his arms, even though he thought that if they held any tighter they could literally crush his bones. Stupid goblins, he thought. It's not like I can go anywhere.
"Spies? thieves? Assassins?" he continued, observing the group as he leaned forward on his giant throne.
"Dwarves, your malevolence." A goblin told him.
"Dwarves?" He voiced, as if it was the most shocking thing in the world.
"We found 'em on the front porch."
"Well don't just stand there. Search them! Every crack...every crevice!" He bellowed, goblins immediately obeying, and the dwarves couldn't stop them from stealing every weapon that was stashed around their bodies and throwing them into a pile with great satisfaction. The dwarves growled - they were overwhelmed. The goblin king suddenly lurched forward, eyes fixed on Kili, making Fili even more ancy than he already was and he put an arm out protectively, making Kili smile at the gesture. He had missed the feeling of somebody wanting to protect him.
Murmurings broke out through the goblins. "It's him, my lord! it's him!" They were hissing, making the goblin smile evilly.
"Yes? Oh this is fun!" He grinned, observing the group. "What are you doing in these parts? Speak!" Nobody did, not that anybody was surprised - they followed Thorin's actions, mostly because he was the leader, they were terrified of him, and they had seen the black and purple bruise that marked the youngest member of the company's cheek. They weren't sure they fancied earning one for themselves. "Very well. If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring up the mangler. Bring up the bone breaker." Movement was suddenly happening quicker, goblins running away to fetch the torture devices that their leader had requested. "Start with the youngest!"
The goblins finger was pointing at Kili.
The next thing the dwarf knew is that he was kneeling in front of the goblin king, hands chained in thick metal cuffs. He couldn't wriggle free despite his breath-taking efforts and Fili was fighting even harder, earning himself a good beating in the process but they all knew why. Fili would want to suffer with his brother.
"Now." The goblin king began, tapping his brown fingers together earnestly . "I know your weak spots, little one, and I know how to cause you abdominal amounts of pain!" The goblins all cheered, and Kili rolled his eyes. "Shall we add to those pretty little scars, my dear? Have these fellow dwarves seen them up close?"
Kili's eyes snapped up. "Shut up!" He snarled viciously in black speech before he could stop himself.
The king cackled loudly, the sound echoing through the caves. "What was that?" He put a finger to his ear. "Oh, right. You need to be taught some manners. Rip off his shirt!" The goblins obeyed and soon he was bare chested and was being heaved forward by six goblins. He couldn't fight back unless he kicked out with his legs which were being dragged, making this process a lot more difficult.
They forcefully spun him around so his back met the eyes of the company who all simultaneously let out gasps of horror at the scars littering the destroyed skin. There was an uncountable amount, different shaped, sizes, some a much darker colour that others. It was unimaginable how many torture devices had been used to create them. Fili and Ori had both seen glimpses of them in Rivendell, and so Fili wasn't as shocked, but he hadn't seen them up close.
It was Balin who broke the dim silence as he stepped forward. "Kili, lad, how did you get these?" Kili didn't answer, only one phrase running through his mind. Stupid goblin king. A different goblin raised a very familiar whip and moved to bring it down on Kili's back. Fili stared at his uncle, who had been silent the entire time, trying to stay unnoticed. Coward, Fili thought. Thorin caught his gaze, and Fili's eyes reflected pure anger. You had better do something, they told the exiled king, so Thorin sighed in slight disappointment and stepped forward.
"Wait." he murmured, surprising Kili. He had assumed that his uncle would find satisfaction and amusement out of watching this.
"Look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the mountain! Oh but I am forgetting you don't have a mountain, and you're not a king, which makes you...nobody really." Hilarious, Kili thought bitterly. Absolutely hilarious. He should win a gold medal for that joke. "I know someone...who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head - nothing attached." He told Thorin, who glared at him, thoughts whirling through his head like a hurricane - it couldn't be...could it?
No, he reminded himself. It couldn't possibly be him. He was dead.
However, his earlier muses were proven to be correct when the goblin king next spoke. "Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale orc, astride a white warg."
Thorin shook his head, choosing not to believe it. Sometimes it was easier to believe what you want to believe, not what filthy goblin king's tell you. "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in the battle long ago!"
"And you think his defiling days are done, do you? You should ask your nephew." The goblin chuckled, glancing at Kili who bit his bottom lip awkwardly. "I'm sure he hasn't forgotten him."
Thorin glared daggers at his youngest nephew. "What is he talking about Kili?" He asked calmly, the urge to hit out growing instinctively by a huge amount. "Have you met Azog?"
Kili just nodded slowly. Thorin half laughed at the response. "Fine. Torture away for all I care." He spat, causing the goblin king to howl with laughter once again. The company were all sure that the floor was vibrating with the rhythm of his laughing.
"Uncle!" Fili exclaimed, complete and utter hurt reflected in his eyes.
"Fine. Take them to the dungeons. I want to talk to this one alone." The goblins began to obey and Fili desperately screamed his brothers name who looked at him sadly. It will be okay, he mouthed, but Fili just shook his head as he continued to cry out, earning an excessive amount of bruising but he didn't care. He was thrown in a large cage with everyone in the company, stuck in by rather thin iron bars. Fili opened his mouth but nothing came out, as he glared all of his anger, his hurt, his hatred feelings towards his uncle. In response, the son of Thrain refused to catch his eye, ordering Bofur and Gloin to look for any weakness in the bars. He could see Fili out of the corner of his eye, so he turned around and started up a conversation with Balin and Dwalin.
Coward.
"So then, little one, care to share?" The goblin asked for what must have been the fifteenth time that day. Kili had been whipped more times than he could count, but he wouldn't spill any information that he knew - as much as he knew his uncle despised him, the feelings mutual, he wanted to prove himself.
"No." He hissed, another crack sounding as the spikes made contact with his back, causing him to hiss through clenched teeth. The king rolled his eyes in boredom before jumping as what he would call an amazing idea formed in his brain and he took a hand from under his flabby chin and leaned back, cackling.
"Fetch Nerissa." He called to one of the many goblins in the caves, and a group of them disappeared to an unknown location. His ropes were cut, to his surprise, and he collapsed to the floor, massaging his aching wrists. It had barely been a second before he was being dragged by goblins again, away from the torture devices so he couldn't exactly complain.
Kili stepped back with wide eyes when a woman, beautiful and flawless of face yet vile and black of heart, stepped out from behind the wooden throne, leading the goblins that had gone to fetch her. Her skin was completely unblemished, blue piercing orbs her most eye-catching feature. Her hair was the whitest thing that Kili thought he had ever seen in his life, and ran in luscious curls behind her neck, some in front of both of her shoulders. She walked over to him, smiling to reveal startling snow white teeth and she pressed two fingers to his forehead. He furrowed his brow as she started to chant, and when she moved away a smug smile broke out onto her countenance.
"This one was a good one to pick." She told the goblin king. "You know, your secrets make you who you are." Her voice was worryingly soothing, and she had a manner about her that seemed almost ghost-like. She laughed softly at his confused expression. He had seen many things in his life, this point he hated to elaborate on, but this was certainly not one of them. He sort of recognized her; there was something about her, he couldn't put his finger on it though, that made the darkest areas of his brain click into place in some sort of realisation.
"So why don't you and your uncle get along, sweetie? Why does he insist on beating you up? I'm sure you would give anything to have him accept you as his prince, you no longer being torn between two worlds...Akim." Kili's eyes snapped up at the realisation that she had just declared one of his largest secrets as though it was the most normal thing in the world. And how in mahal's name did she know it?! "I have a proposition, just for you, and you only." She told him as he furrowed his brow at her uncertainly.
The goblin king howled with laughter. "She makes good propositions, young prince." He added, leaning forward and resting a flabby chin on his chubby finger thoughtfully, waiting to enjoy the show that Nerissa would no doubt offer. She smiled up at him, before turning her attention back to the prince.
"Let's say I can change the past." She slipped smoothly around him in circles. "If you can get your uncle to accept you...to love you as one of his own like your brother in just three months, I will get rid of all of the scars on your back, wipe the very existence of Akim from the whole of Middle Earth. Your one world, being a loved prince, will be your only world."
Thoughts circled around Kili's head at the offer - she would take all of his pain away? It seemed to good to be true. This thought arose the skeptical emotion inside him and he put his hands on his hips, spinning around sharply to face her."Why?" He demanded and she laughed.
"It's what I do; it's what I live for. To help unfortunate, forlorn souls like yourself who have nobody else to turn to."
Kili gulped. "So, a snap of the fingers and the pain goes right away?" She nodded and he shook his head eagerly. "Go right ahead."
"It's not that simple, my love."
"Thought so." Kili remarked, clapping his hands together. "Well, it's...been riveting."
"We are not done here." She hissed, fiddling with the golden clasp around her wrist. Kili noticed it and his eyes widened; he knew exactly what that bracelet was and he didn't like it.
"You have it." He stepped forward to look at it closer and she in turn stepped back. "You can shapeshift. How did you..."
"What I can do, and why I can do it, is none of your concern."
"Same goes for me." Kili fired back.
"I suggest you listen closely because I will only say this once, and if you don't you and your family will be trapped in here for a lot longer than I suppose you would like, as one by one the dear goblin king gets his entertainment by sucking the life out of them, so I suggest you do not tangle with me anymore."
"That blonde one had nice flesh." The goblin king threw in as he gripped the sides of his throne and leaned forward excitedly. "I would like to see the life sucked out of him."
"Fine!" Kili threw his hands in the air and turned to her, protectiveness for his older brother flaring. "What?"
"I meant what I said earlier; I can make all of your problems go away if you give me one little thing."
Kili crossed his arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And what might that be?"
"Your voice."
Kili slapped his hands on his thighs and snorted with laughter. "Then how am I supposed to..." he frowned. How could he interact with someone if he couldn't even speak?! "Forget it."
"I wasn't asking!" She screamed suddenly, a shock wave of light washing over the room which startled Kili for the slightest of moments. "And if your uncle hates you by the time this is over, you will belong to me. You will come and live down in my caves and be my slave. If he shows he genuinely cares for you by the time three months is over and does something to show it then you've won. I will release my slaves; I will release Selena."
That caught Kili's attention.
"You have her?!" He asked incredulously. "I thought she ran away!"
"She was looking for her mother and I caught her." She chuckled at his horrified expression and threw her head back before spinning to face him, whipping her hair behind her shoulder in the process. "You are so smart yet so oblivious. Come on, do it, I made a scroll just for you. Sign it if you agree." She pulled out something from what looked like nowhere to Kili and unrolled the small piece of paper that had all of the rules written on it. She clicked her fingers and a pen floated up off of the ground to where Kili would be able to reach it and she edged closer with the parchment held out. "Do we have a deal?"
She spoke the last words with a cogent tone, eyes boring deep into his at an attempt to add to the manipulation. Kili's eyes tried to roam around the room as he considered the offer. He felt like laughing. This was not a normal situation to find yourself in. He didn't remember signing up for this when his uncle reluctantly told him that he should come on the quest.
So, if he did it, there was a chance of the innocent slaves being released, or skanks as Bolg used to call them, Fili wouldn't get tortured and they'd all escape and he would get everything he could possibly dream of. However, there was a chance of...he didn't even know what.
Badness?
"Do it." She sung. "Do it. Do it."
Do it.
The goblins around him began to chant the simple two words around him, getting louder the longer Kili took to decide. The pressure was real and everyone around him began to move; the world felt like it was spinning. He had never felt this feeling before. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. His stomach felt like it was flipping upside down in constant circles. His throat had a lump like after you dry swallow a big pill.
The cacophony of noise was like ear rape; the chant was still immensely increasing in volume as goblins began to circle around him in an attempt to overwhelm him, the howling of the goblin king rung out above all of his little scuttling followers and he could hear Nerissa's potent yells of convincement.
"Take the toll!" She cried. "Go ahead and sign the blasted scroll!" She waved it in his face and he could barely read the words as his vision blended and everything seemed to fuzz into one giant blob. "Sign it!"
He threw his hair back, grabbed the pen from the air and scribbled his name roughly on the empty space at the bottom. Nerissa squealed victoriously, excitement brewing and she held it in the air, cackling with a laughter that could only be described as wicked. "I've got him, boys!"
"He's done it! He's taken the gamble!" The goblin king exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting that!"
The goblins cheered and quieted their chanting died down simultaneously as Kili scowled. The pressure had been too high for his liking, and now regret for caving in was building in his stomach.
Kili had to lean all of his body weight backwards to stop himself from collapsing forward and retching.
In that moment the villain seized the opportunity to grasp the prince around the neck with such force that no matter how much he wriggled or squirmed he could get her fingers to uncurl and release him. "Remember you have three months. I'm feeling quite generous, but then again when I think about your uncle I suppose in reality it is quite harsh. If you fail the guilt will crash down on your uncle like a bombshell, and your brother will be broken. The Durin line will be no more."
She closed her eyes, not loosening her grip and Kili needed to breathe. He was desperately gasping for air by the time she began to chant. It continued and every time he moved she would forcefully slam him back into position until a fresh ray of light emerged from her hand which transformed into yet another shockwave of blinding white light that washed over the room and everyone present felt the need to shut their eyes tightly until it was over. She finally tilted her head, a grin laced with pure evil splitting onto her physiognomy and she let her fingers uncurl from his throat so that he slowly fell to the floor, gagging.
Kili literally felt like his throat was torn in two.
A lone tear fell from his eye. He never cried; it was something that showed weakness and in his short lifetime he had learnt that that was something he could not do. The results of it were disastrous.
The dwarf opened his mouth to scream at the woman but no sound came out. He furrowed his brow, for the second time in his life he felt true fear and he brought fingers up to his throat. His neck was hollow and felt completely raw when he swallowed. The witch watched him in amusement before spinning on her heels and walking to an unknown location behind the throne, leaving the lone dwarf kneeling helplessly in front of the goblin king as he continued to gag for much needed air.
The time she had spent with her fingers tightly gripping his throat had felt like a few seconds to her and the rest of the goblins but about five hours to Kili.
"Well, I'm not letting you escape, so I wish you the best of luck with your little situation there." the king told him. The dwarf looked up impotently and observed the familiar surroundings - there were no more flashing lights, no more sounds ringing in his ears - it was eerily quiet, except for the sound of the goblins chattering away to one another in excitement, but the most different thing was that the white hair was not attached to any figure surrounding him.
Kili wasn't sure whether to be angry or relieved.
Fili anxiously paced back and forth in the cell; his job as the older brother, as the protector wasn't going to fail now. His veins refueled with anger when he saw Thorin sat slumped on his bottom against the wall, doing nothing. He scoffed in annoyance and crossed his arms as he marched over. "It is your fault he is in this mess - now you have to get him out of it." He spat.
"Fili, relax, he'll be fine." Thorin reassured, absolutely zero worry was evident on his face that showed no emotion.
"Fine?! Thorin, in case you haven't noticed, he is being tortured! Shall I spell it out for you? Do you want me to get you a dictionary?!" He yelled in exasperation.
"Fili, that's enough lad." Balin called from the corner where he was helping Bofur and Gloin look for a weakness in the bars. Thorin placed a hand to his head in exhaustion. He had better not say anything. He'd better prove himself, he thought bitterly.
Fili growled and kicked a stone that was lying on the freezing cold gravel floor, and it made a loud clatter as it made contact with one of the bars, the sound echoing through the halls. He slumped against the wall, putting his face in his hands. He had just made things better with his brother - if he died now, it would be like losing him all over again. He had just started to unravel the gory details of his little brothers past, and all he wanted was to make everything right again. He was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard an excited squeal sound from the direction of the bars, and he looked up wearily in response.
"Thorin! Thorin! I think we've found something!" Bofur exclaimed excitedly. Thorin stood up with a grunt and observed what Bofur was talking about. One of the bars had a dent, it was much larger than he realised and it was breakable by a strong enough force.
"Well done, Bofur. If we sneak through the passageways we should get out unseen - Gloin, Dwalin, do the honours?" The two stepped forward and Fili stared at his uncle in shock.
"Are you kidding me right now?" He asked.
"What?" Thorin asked innocently.
"We have to get Kili, uncle!"
"We cannot risk all of our lives for the sake of one dwarf." Thorin answered, grimacing when he said the words 'one dwarf.'
"He is your kin!" Fili protested. "We are getting him - I don't care what you say! You will come and help me get him!"
Thorin crossed his arms, almost looking amused. "Or what, Fili?"
Fili sucked in an irritated breath. "Or you'll lose me. I am not sneaking through any tunnels without my brother by my side."
Thorin threw his head back in annoyance. He loved the golden heir more than anything, and knew that he couldn't bear to lose him. "Fine. We will get the runt and then what?"
"We go into many things without a plan." Fili barged past his uncle when he saw that they had ripped off the bars, the loud noise of the metal breaking away from where they were fixed into the wall sounded and he prayed that the goblins hadn't heard.
"He's right, Thorin. We can't exactly leave him here." Dwalin pointed out, and Thorin rolled his eyes. Dwalin cared about Kili, as did everyone in the company except for Thorin - Dwalin had helped raised the lad, teaching him his one true passion. Archery.
"I'm not." He replied. They snuck through the shadows, seemingly unseen until a large group of goblins walked down the hall and spotted them almost immediately. Fili's prayers were unanswered.
"Oi!" The one at the front exclaimed. "You think you can escape our tunnels? Grab them." he ordered to his companions who immediately obeyed, manhandling every single one once again. "The King wants to see you all - pick the next one to torture, as he aint allowed to kill the one with the king. Besides, he won't be spilling information any time soon." he laughed evilly, his companions joining in.
"Why?" Fili spat.
"Quiet, Goldilocks!" He smacked Fili on the side of the face who groaned and Thorin suddenly felt angry, sucking in a breath to help swallow a retort. They once again got dragged over wooden rickety bridges, across the many platforms and in front of the irritatingly familiar throne, atop it a monster.
"Well well well. We need to work on those cells." The King laughed. Fili's eyes searched for Kili and he spotted him, hanging from thick, metal cuffs that were bound to tight ropes that hung from the ceiling. His head was bowed, barely having acknowledged that they were there. His shirt hadn't been given back to him and was thrown on the floor carelessly, making Fili assume that he had been whipped. He tried to catch his eye, but Kili seemed to disorientated to do anything, his matted raven hair hung in front of his face and he looked as though he were trying to block out the world, but Fili could sense that his brown orbs were filled with...regret? Was it regret he saw? Regret for what?!
Oh Kee, our situation isn't your fault.
A goblin behind them, who was stood by the pile of weapons, noticed a sword lying on the floor. He picked it up, drawing it out of its sheath and everyone looked in his direction when a mix between a yelp and a squeal loudly sounded from his lips and he threw the sword in front of him as though it had scolded his hand. It clattered to the ground.
The great goblin climbed higher on his throne, seemingly terrified. "I know that sword!" He yelled. "It is the goblin cleaver! The biter! The blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all!" He screamed, goblins immediately started attacking all of the dwarves who fought back in annoyance. Thorin was forced to the ground, lying on his back and he looked up, squinting his eyes. "Cut off his head!" he pointed to Thorin, who struggled, no matter how much he knew that it was to no avail. A knife was held in front of his face and he eyed it as though challenging it. A sudden flash of light blinded everyone, the commotion abruptly drawing to a halt as they looked in the direction of the cause from where they lay on the floor, having been knocked down by the blinding rays.
A figure.
The familiar hat, staff, and robes gave it away for the dwarves and their assumptions were proven correct when everybody stood up and stared at Gandalf, light making its way back into the area. They immediately looked in the direction of their weapons.
"Take up arms. All of you, fight. Fight!"
