Well, here's another one!
There's a part in this one I wanted to get to for a long time, which is probably why I've been busting out chapters like crazy the last couple weeks xD after this one, I might post one more, but then I think I'll focus on another one of my fanfictions for a little bit before I come back to this one. When you haven't written anything for 4 fanfictions in months, almost a year for some of them, you eventually gotta move on! :P
Remember when I said things were gonna get interesting in Mirkwood? Now you're about to see! Although I did get through Mirkwood a little fast, but otherwise...I really don't have much else to say other than: happy reading! :)
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Walking through the dark, creepy forest of Mirkwood was less than pleasant to the Dwarves and the Hobbit. It was cold, eerie and gray inside the twisted trees. They remained silent as they all walked single-file; no one dared speak a word. Thorin was at the head of the line and Aelin had worked her way up by Nori in the middle.
Thorin kicked the dirt on the ground in front of him and informed everyone behind him, "The path turns this way!" He then made a left turn, continuing to follow the path.
"How long have we even been in here…?" Aelin thought groggily. It felt as though they had been in there for hours. Time felt differently in Mirkwood somehow. Perhaps that was part of the illusion Gandalf had spoken of: time seemed much slower, feeling like hours in only minutes.
Her body began to grow sluggish and tired. It was as if all her energy had been drained and pulled away by some invisible force. Her hands alone felt heavy for her arms to hold up, her legs felt like lead and her eyes couldn't keep themselves up as she walked.
"Snap out of it!" she then told herself in her mind as she physically hit herself to bring her mind back to reality. "You can't give in to anything in here! It will drive you mad!" Whatever sickness dwelled within the trees of Mirkwood, she wasn't going to let it get to her.
"Air...I need air…," groaned Bofur.
"My head...it's swimming…!" said Oin.
"We found the bridge!" they then heard Kili call out. He and Fili had gone to scout the path ahead and came upon the bridge that Gandalf had mentioned.
However, when they came to it, they found the bridge had been destroyed. Flowing underneath it was a gross-looking stream of black, murky water.
"We could try and swim it," suggested Bofur.
Aelin took one look at the river and knew that that wasn't a very good idea.
"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said?" said Thorin. "A dark magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted."
"Doesn't look very enchanting to me…," Bofur commented, looking unimpressed at the water.
"You and me both," Aelin commented.
"We must find another way across," Thorin told them as they all began searching for other ways across the stream.
It wasn't before long that Kili spotted some large, thick vines hanging on the side of the bridge that networked their way across the stream. He figured they should be good enough for them to climb across. "These vines look strong enough," he said to the others.
"Kili!" shouted Thorin as his nephew was about to start climbing. When Kili got down and all eyes were back on him, he stated, "We send the lightest first."
Aelin just scoffed at him. "No, we don't," she countered. "Climbing those vines should be easy to get across. Watch!"
"Aelin, wait! Don't!" Thorin cried out.
But he was too late. Aelin was already on her way; she ran and jumped up onto the nearest vine, landing softly atop it and keeping her balance. "Thorin worries too much," she thought to herself. "I'll show him that this is nothing to be concerned about and we can get across easy enough."
"Aelin, get back here!" called Thorin.
Ignoring him, Aelin continued on. She carefully tiptoed down the next section of vine that she could, jumped a little upwards, grabbed the vine above her head, spun herself around it and then did a graceful flip over to the next one, catching onto it with ease.
"Wow, I didn't know she could that that," said Gloin in awe.
"Aye...I taught her that," said Nori, looking proud. "How do you think she grew to be such a good thief?"
"Now is not the time to bring that up…!" said Dori, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head, clearly still disapproving of Nori and Aelin's choice of profession.
"That does look doable," Kili observed.
Aelin was still going strong on the vines. She had gotten her footing on another lower vine and parkoured from it onto another one beside it, then rebounded off that one to the next. With a few more steps, she reached the end of the vine she was on and was able to jump from there to the bank on the other side of the stream. She took a moment to catch her breath and steady herself. Once she was good, she exhaled triumphantly.
"All too easy," she said out loud to herself.
She whipped around to tell the others it was safe for them to come across….and was surprised to see that everyone in company were trying to clamber across the vines all at once! They were each losing their balance, tripping over one another and were just one tangled, disorganized mess.
Aelin sighed loudly. "Idiots…!" she muttered. "Why they thought they could all get across at the same time without issue is beyond me…!" She couldn't help but snicker in amusement as she watched them attempting to get across the vines. It was just far too satisfying to see them all trying so hard and keep having troubles while she was standing already on the other side, waiting patiently.
Thorin was the first one to make it across successfully, his newly acquired bow clutched tightly in hand. He landed with a hard thud at Aelin's side. "I swear, Aelin, one of these days, you not listening to me and acting on impulse without thinking is going to get you into serious trouble," he told her as he straightened up. "What would you have done if you had fallen in the water?"
"If that did happen, I knew you or one of the other lads would be quick to my aid ," Aelin replied innocently. "I knew exactly what I was doing, Thorin. Don't worry so much about me."
"You don't understand, Aelin. I do worry about you. Can you not see that?" Thorin replied. "I always worry about you because—"
Thorin suddenly stopped as his attention was diverted to something else. Aelin noticed his abrupt cutoff and that his eyes were looking elsewhere. She turned where he was looking and noticed a distance away, a stag with hair of pure white came trotting out in the open. It stood directly where a beam of light was peeking in through the trees, making it appear aglow and almost mystic. She wondered where it came from, but admittedly, it was a rather intriguing creature.
Just then, she heard a stretching noise. When she looked, there was Thorin slowly readying an arrow on his bowstring.
"What are you doing?" she cautiously asked.
He continued to stare skeptically at the white stag like he was trying to figure out its motives for being there. Everything was still...until Thorin lifted his bow and fiercely fired the arrow at the creature. Fortunately , he missed and the arrow struck a tree and clattered to the ground. Startled, the stag bolted away out of sight.
"You shouldn't have done that," Aelin subtly chided Thorin. "It's bad luck."
"I don't believe in luck. We make our own luck," Thorin strongly replied.
In front of them, there was the sound of a splash. Both their heads flipped to see that Bombur had fallen into the water...and was fast asleep, snoring.
"Bombur!" Aelin cried out in shock.
"Hurry!" Thorin shouted to the others, most of whom were almost to the other side with them. "We have to get him out! Quickly!"
As time passed, the Dwarves were able to retrieve sleeping Bombur from the river and made a stretcher to carry him on, as any attempt to wake him proved useless. A few of the Dwarves carried him as they moved on further into the forest.
Their surroundings began to change; their world seemed to turn topsy-turvy around them. They became dizzy, disoriented and lost. Each person felt as though they couldn't keep their balance or breathe or think straight. They had to stop briefly for a rest. Their heads were swimming with dizziness, fatigue, lightheadedness and illusion. Bilbo thought he could hear voices speaking in the air, but everyone else heard nothing. No wind, no birds; nothing.
"What hour is it?" Thorin crooned.
"I don't know...I do not even know what day it is…," Dwalin slurred out in reply.
Thorin began to feel frustrated. "This is taking too long...is there no end to this accursed forest?!" he lamented.
"Not that I can see," answered Gloin.
"Only trees and more trees!" groaned Aelin. She ran her hands from her hair down her sideburns and whined, "Ugh, we're never going to get out of here!"
Right then, Thorin thought he spotted something in the distance that led to a way out. Determined, he ran off, ordering everyone to follow him, despite some of the others protesting as they were going to be straying from the path that Gandalf told them not to stray from. Thorin didn't care and kept on going. Reluctantly, the others followed him.
Very soon, however...they would realize they were wrong for leaving the path and found themselves lost in the middle of the forest.
"The path...it's disappeared!" cried Nori.
"What's going on?" asked Dwalin.
Oin answered him, "We've lost the path."
"Find it!" Thorin demanded. "All of you, look! Look for the path!"
They searched and looked and scoured for the path for what seemed like hours.
"I don't remember this place. None of it's familiar," Balin pointed out.
"It's got to be here," said Dori. "It can't have just disappeared!"
"Unless someone's moved it," said Dwalin.
Aelin replied, her words slurring together, "You're mad if you think something could have moved an entire path without us noticing."
They could find no sign of the path whatsoever, so they continued on eastward...or, at least, the direction they thought was east. They all grew increasingly tired with just about every step they took. Their minds were muddled, their bodies were exhausted and their worlds were almost upside down at this point.
When they stopped again, Ori stooped down and picked up something from off the ground: a little brown, leather pouch.
"Look, a tobacco pouch," Dori observed, taking it from Ori. "There's Dwarves in these woods!"
"Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less," said Bofur who then grabbed the pouch from Dori. "This is exactly the same as mine."
"It's because it is yours! Do you understand?" pointed out Bilbo, who seemed annoyed by this time. "We're going round in circles. We are lost!"
Thorin stepped forward. "We're not lost. We keep heading east," he countered.
"But which way is east? We've lost the sun!" said Oin.
It only took a matter of minutes for the company to start bickering about where they were and what they should do. They began yelling and shoving each other, turning on each other for the first time ever.
All of a sudden, it was as if Aelin's hearing turned ultra sensitive and the yelling of the others hurt hear ears immensely. Every word pierced her hearing like two jagged knives were being shoved into her ears; a sharp ringing sounded within her head and it grew louder and more painful as the fighting escalated. Aelin's hands flew to her ears, she yelled out in pain, dropped to her knees and doubled over as the hurting in her head increased.
Thorin was startled, seeing Aelin's sudden reaction and he shouted to the company, "Enough! Quiet, all of you!"
"Shut UUUP!" Aelin shrieked, her voice breaking in clear agony. Thorin's yelling hadn't helped at all and her head only hurt worse from it. Her own yelling didn't do anything to improve it either, but her ears were on the verge of exploding and she needed the others to stop before things got worse.
The company heard her yell over Thorin's and ceased their bickering immediately. Seeing her doubled over on the ground moaning in pain made them all concerned and they started crowding around her.
"Aelin? Aelin, look at me!" Thorin said to her, kneeling in front of her and taking hold of her arms.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Ori.
"We are coming...there's nowhere to run...we will feast on your tasty flesh…."
Aelin heard hissing, whispering voices in her head alongside her ear and head pains. They frightened her in the moment and she started hyperventilating.
"Something's coming! Something's coming!" she explained through her high-pitched, wheezy breathing.
"What? What is coming?" Thorin asked her, alarmed.
"I don't know...but there's something out there!" she said with worry. "We have to get out of here!"
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a giant spider dropped down from the canopy on a web string and wrapped its eight hairy legs around Aelin's whole body, scaring the rest of the company and making them jump back. Aelin screamed at what she saw and felt and the spider, with a loud hiss, began hoisting itself back up.
"No!" Thorin yelled.
"Aelin!" cried many of the others.
"Run, lads! Save yourselves!" Aelin shouted to them. A second later, she felt a sharp sting in her side and she slowly slipped into darkness.
When next she regained consciousness, Aelin found it hard to breathe, her arms were stuck at her side and her body could barely move. Her vision was blurred with something white and sticky that encased her entire being.
"Spiderweb...curses!" Aelin thought.
She tried to wriggle enough to where her hands could maybe reach her knives, but the web was far too tight for her to really move anything. That and she could tell from the way her encasing started swinging, she wasn't anywhere near ground. It was then she heard clicking and hissing voices nearby. Right away, she ceased her movements and remained perfectly still, listening carefully.
Then she heard a loud, high-pitched squeal that sounded painful, followed by a snarly voice yelling, "Where is it? Where is it?!" Another scream. "It stings! Stings!" Right after, there was a crashing sound within the trees followed by a thud on the ground below.
Then a familiar voice spoke up, "Sting...that's a good name! Sting!"
It was Bilbo!
Only a few moments passed before Aelin heard a cutting sound and she dropped suddenly, still wrapped in her webby chrysalis. She bumped a tree branch and then a few seconds later touched ground. Now she tried with all her might to wriggle free. She managed to loosen the web around her arm enough to where she was able to grab one of her knives and thrust it through the web, creating a hole. Then she pulled hard and ripped it apart. She gasped loudly as she broke free, now able to really breathe. She could feel that there were still remnants of sticky web stuck in her hair and on her clothes, but the didn't care. She looked around and saw that all of the others were lying around her, doing likewise in breaking free of their webby cages. The closest one to her was having trouble and she heard Ori's voice from inside cry out for help.
"Ori, I'm coming! Hang on!" Aelin replied, stumbling out of her broken shell to get over to him. Once she crouched beside his own encasing, she told him, "Hold still" and then proceeded to cut a line down the middle. A second later, Ori burst through.
"Thanks, Aelin," he said.
Right then, Dori and Nori came dashing over, they too still covered with bits of spiderweb.
"Ori! Aelin!" cried Dori. "Are you two all right?"
"We're fine," Aelin answered.
"You were the first to get snatched," Nori said to her. "I was afraid you were going to be killed."
Aelin grinned mischievously. "Oh, please, as if a giant spider could take me out that easily!" she stated.
"There's more coming," Dori informed them. "We need to move!"
As Nori helped Aelin to her feet, she asked quietly, "Where is Thorin? Is he all right?"
"He's right over there," Nori answered, pointing ahead of them where the rest of the Dwarves were.
Aelin found him right away. She was glad to see he was unharmed and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"You've been given another chance here to tell him the truth," Nori whispered in her ear. "When this is all over, take it."
She gave him a half-nod in response.
"There they are!" yelled Dwalin, pointing up into the trees.
A decent-sized horde of giant spiders came eerily crawling out of their webs in the canopy, eyeing the Dwarves hungrily.
"Run!" shouted Thorin.
They all took off, but they knew the spiders were going to be too fast. As they ran, they all prepared their desired weapons, knowing they were inevitably going to have the fight the giant creepy crawlers.
Just as they suspected, the spiders were down the trees and blocking their path on the ground before they even made it a few yards, but they were ready. Weapons in hand, the Dwarves began to fight, knocking the spiders in the head or face and chopping off legs.
Aelin dodged a bite from one of the spiders and hoisted herself up into its back. Then she plunged her knives down into a crook in its neck, which made it shriek painfully. With a jerk, she steered the spider into another one that was attacking Oin, Bofur and Balin, knocking it over onto its back and giving the three Dwarves a chance to kill it. Then she spotted one wrapping its legs around Kili and pulling him in towards itself. She pushed forward on her knives and the spider charged forward. Pulling her feet up so she was crouching on the spider's back, she readied herself and then jumped onto the other spider, pulling her knives with her. She landed right on the spider's head, lodging her weapons right into its brain and it collapsed immediately, releasing its hold on Kili.
When she jumped down, Aelin flipped some hair out of her face and said wittily to Kili, holding up two fingers, "That's two you owe me, junior!"
He simply replied, "Duck."
Without question, Aelin ducked down with her hands over her head and the next thing she heard was another squeal behind her. When she looked up, Kili had his sword out and had lodged it into the face of a spider; specifically, the one she had been riding on previously. He withdrew his weapon with a grunt and the spider fell over dead.
Kili gave a twirl with his sword and said to Aelin with a mischievous grin, "Make that one I owe you, sweetheart."
She narrowed her eyes at him and a corner of her lips twitched upward. "Don't you 'sweetheart' me," she said, smirking at him.
All around her, the rest of the Dwarves were fighting bravely against the giant spiders. Dwalin was punching one right in the face. A group of the Dwarves had saved Bombur, who had been pinned to the ground, by yanking out the spider's legs and killing it.
It was then Aelin realized something:
Where was Bilbo?
She had heard him just before she had been cut down, but now, he was nowhere to be seen? Was he hiding? Was he fending off spiders somewhere else? Was he still up in the trees?
Or had the spiders got him?
Aelin pushed that thought away. She didn't want to think about anything happening to the poor Hobbit. They would figure it all out once they were done with the spiders. With that in mind, she leapt back into the fray.
Before long, they finished off most of the spiders around them and used that advantage to make their escape.
"Come on, keep up!" yelled Gloin to everyone as they started to run.
"We're clear!" Thorin called out after scanning the area. But then he halted as another smaller spider fell from the treetops in front of him. He was ready to strike but another movement above him caught his eye.
Suddenly, a figure dropped from the canopy, sliding underneath the spider and slicing its stomach. As the stranger got to his feet, he had a bow and arrow out and aimed right at Thorin. Simultaneously, multiple figures clad in green popped out from behind the trees and surrounded the company, bows and arrows aimed at them.
"Elves…!" was what ran through everyone's minds.
The one in front, who was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, gave another little tug on his bowstring and threatened Thorin, "Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf. It would be my pleasure."
A few seconds later, they could hear Kili in the distance crying for help.
"Kili!" Fili cried in a panic, worrying about his younger brother.
"Silence!" shouted the blonde Elf.
Aelin felt her stomach knot at hearing Kili's cry. She had just got him out of trouble moments ago; how could he have gotten himself into trouble again so quickly? But unfortunately, with the Elves surrounding them and not lowering their bows, none of them could go to his aid.
The blonde Elf spoke again, "I have another soldier out nearby who will see to your other companion and bring him here. Until then, you will hand over weapons to us." He then called to his followers, "Search them!"
Just as the Elves stepped forward, the Dwarves saw Kili come out of the trees accompanied by a female Elf with fiery red hair. It relieved them to see he was all right. The Elves started rifling through the Dwarves' clothes, searching for weapons and removing them one by one.
An Elf approached Aelin and she immediately slapped his hand away and glared up at him. "Don't you touch me!" she spat. Everyone got uneasy at her resistance. When the Elf glowered back at her, she straightened up and declared, "If anyone is to search me and take my weapons, I want the she-Elf to do so. I will have no male Elf even lay a finger on me, lest you suffer the fury of an angry she-Dwarf and a group of very protective Dwarves."
The Elf in front of her looked to the blonde one and the blonde one nodded. Then he turned to the female one, said something in Elvish and motioned with his head to Aelin. She bowed her head and switched with the other male Elf.
"It is unwise to make demands when you are not in a position to do so," the female Elf said as she took Aelin's knives.
"Save it for someone who actually cares," Aelin said back disdainfully.
The Elf sneered at her and then removed Aelin's bow and quiver of arrows. After taking a few more seconds to fully search her, the female Elf stepped back just as another Elf came forward to the blonde one with Thorin's sword. He lifted the sword and admired it for a moment.
"Where did you get this?" he asked Thorin.
Thorin simply answered, "It was given to me."
The Elf brought the tip of the sword to Thorin's throat. "Not just a thief...but a liar, as well," he stated. He then lowered the sword and shouted an order in Elvish to the rest of the Elves. The company all had their hands bound together with cords and were marched away in a line by the group of Elves.
"I have a bad feeling about this…!" Aelin thought to herself as they were being guided away.
Within a matter of time, they found themselves on a bridge leading to the gates of the Woodland Realm, the palace fortress within Mirkwood where the Elves mainly dwelled...and it was the domain of Thranduil, the Elvenking.
They passed through the gates where they followed a winding, elevated path that was a ginormous tree branch that weaved throughout most of the Realm. The Elves kept pushing them along the path, urging them to move faster. Finally, they came to a platform and, up on a raised set of stairs, was a large wooden throne adorned with antlers. Upon the throne sat Thranduil, who was holding a staff, dressed in fine silver robes with a crown of twigs, leaves and berries adorning his head and lounging casually with his legs dangling over one of the arms of his throne. His face grew grim at seeing the company of Dwarves entering his presence. The Elven guards took each Dwarf's hands and cut the ropes that bound them.
Dwalin was the first to speak and he proclaimed spitefully, "So much for the benevolence of Thranduil, lord of the Elves." He raised his hands to show off the cut ropes. "Is this how you treat travelers to your lands?"
Thranduil turned his head and answered cooly in his deep voice, "Only the ones who annoy me."
Balin then spoke up, "Is this a crime now: to be lost in the forest? To be hungry and thirsty?"
To the others, it was clear that Balin was saying this to keep their cover and their true purpose for being there from Thranduil.
The Elvenking made no movement, but simply replied, "It is a crime to wander in my realm without leave. You forget you are using the road my people made."
Aelin spotted the blonde Elf trying to hold back a smirk and she gritted her teeth. How she wanted to just clean his clock for thinking this was amusing! It was then she noticed a striking resemblance between him and the Elvenking. She had a lingering suspicion that those two Elves might be related, somehow.
Thranduil then noticed Thorin in the front and recognized him. A pleased grin crossed his face. "It has been a long time since Thorin Oakenshield travelled so far east," he said. "For what purpose, I wonder…." He stared at Thorin briefly and then lifted a hand and passively waved, saying, "Legolas, take these vermin to the dungeons, but leave Oakenshield for questioning."
The blonde Elf nodded in compliance, showing the company that he was Legolas. He gestured with his head another way and the other Elves started moving the rest of the Dwarves away, leaving Thorin alone in the center of the platform.
"Wait!"
The Elves and the Dwarves halted at the Elvenking's sudden order. They looked up at him and his eyes were a little wider than before, his face looking puzzled and also concerned. He gazed contemplatively at the Dwarves for a brief moment, slowly arising from his throne. Then he slowly raised a hand and pointed, his expression turning darker.
"Bring the woman to me...now."
The Dwarves all looked in bewilderment at Aelin, who looked just as startled as they were. Two of the guards took her by the arms and started marching her forward and she just grunted at them.
"Don't you harm her!" cried Fili.
Thranduil said nothing, but descended down the stairs that led from his throne down to the platform. He stopped at the foot of the stairs as the guards brought Aelin before him. She grimaced at him, wondering what in the world he wanted with her. The rest of the Dwarves stood by anxiously, waiting to find out the same thing.
The Elvenking stood in front of her, keeping silent, but stared at her, looking her over from head to toe briefly and then lingering on her face. His cold blue eyes narrowed, as if trying to discern something about her.
"Your face is familiar to me…," he said, trailing off while still in thought.
Aelin responded, "Impossible. I have never met you nor have I ventured to your realm before."
He continued to gape at her until finally his eyes widened in realization. "No…," he said back. He took a step closer to her, his expression now turning cold and angry. "...but I do know...Norin."
Aelin's body froze at the mention of her father's name. Judging from the way he was glaring her down, she could tell this was not going to be pleasant.
"The resemblance is unmistakable, especially in your eyes. I judge that you...are his daughter," Thranduil added, still looking at her.
She said nothing; she didn't want to give him any satisfaction nor did she want to admit out loud or even at all that she was the daughter of that horrible Dwarf. She simply clenched her jaw tightly and continued to glare up at him.
While keeping his eyes fixed on her, Thranduil said loudly, "Guards! Take her!"
Aelin was shocked and the order raised a clamor among the other Dwarves, who were seized upon by other Elves or received weapons aimed at them to keep them in their place. The guards who had brought her to Thranduil seized Aelin tightly by her arms again.
"What are you doing?!" she bellowed. "I have done nothing to you!"
Thranduil raised a pointed finger at her and replied in a raised voice, "Your father, Norin...was a con and a thief...who stole from me years ago. The filth somehow snuck into our realm undetected and got his hands on some precious Elven heirlooms and jewels from my own personal quarters! We discovered him, but he still escaped before we could capture him."
"To me, it seems that you just have a security issue...," Aelin snarkily said in response, "...but what does that have to do with me?"
"Norin escaped and therefore, was unable to be punished for his crime...but you can be punished in his place."
"You can't!" yelled Nori from off to the side of the room as the rest of the Dwarves started shouting.
"That's unfair!" added Dori.
Thranduil looked angrily in the direction of the rest of the company. "What is unfair," he said loudly, "is that I was robbed by a Dwarf who got away without consequence!" His voice quieted down, but he was still no less agitated. "One way or another...I will have justice for his wrongdoing." He flipped his head and looked to the guards holding Aelin and ordered them, "Take her...and put her in the deepest, darkest dungeon cell that we have."
Aelin's blood turned to ice and her eyes grew wide with fear. "No! NO!" she shrieked, her voice breaking. She sounded more full of dread than anyone had ever heard her. She started resisting the guards, but was unsuccessful as they pulled her away. The rest of the Dwarves were doing likewise, calling for Aelin and trying to fight against the Elves that held them back.
Thorin saw how frightened she was and, even not knowing why, he tried charging forward, but two more guards lunged forward and seized him. "Thranduil!" he shouted angrily.
Thranduil held up a hand, stopping the guards that had Aelin. All eyes turned to the Dwarf King.
"Release her and let her remain with my company!" Thorin demanded. "If you wish for someone to take as your own personal prisoner, then take me. I am the one you want! Do not punish her for her father's transgressions against you. Spare her and take me! I just wish to protect her. Just let her go!"
"Such passionate pleading from you, Thorin Oakenshield," Thranduil observed, egging him on. "Why do you implore so desperately on behalf of this woman?"
"Because I love her!"
The words were out before Thorin even realized what he said.
Thranduil's eyes widened, not expecting hear that from Thorin.
The Dwarves all stared in stunned silence. Some of them—mainly Nori, Dori, Fili and Kili—had suspected that Thorin perhaps had feelings for Aelin...but they never imagined that his feelings were so strong to the point of love.
The most astonished of them all was Aelin. Her eyes were huge as she gaped in shock at Thorin. She couldn't believe it...it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be...and yet she heard him clear as day. Thorin had declared before the Elvenking, his own kin and her...that he loved her.
Her!
Aelin: the woman whom he once despised for trying to steal from him, the woman he reluctantly let join his quest, the woman he constantly argued and fought with, the woman whom he had kissed in angry passion in the woods but later chose to forget that had ever happened, the woman who saved his life from an Orc's arrow, the woman whom he realized he had wronged all along and sought her forgiveness, the woman whom he had developed a close friendship with from Rivendell onward…
The woman who was beneath him in practically all things.
The woman who was a former thief; someone whom she never believed he would ever willingly choose to love.
And yet...he did choose to love her.
It was almost impossible for her to completely process his words. She never thought that she would ever hear him say that about her. All this time that she had loved him...he too loved her and she never knew, nor did she believe it could ever be true. She was overjoyed yet confused all at once. Now that she knew the truth, she didn't know what to do or think.
Thranduil tilted his head and his face looked intrigued. "Well, well...isn't this a delightful turn of events…!" he stated. "This woman is special to you. How marvelous…! Well, then…." He turned his head to his guards holding Aelin. "My command still stands. Lock her in the deepest cell and ensure she never sees the light of day again."
"No! No, please!" Aelin begged as the guards started moving her.
"No!" Thorin yelled, fighting against his own guards.
Aelin pulled and kicked, but the guards were strong. No matter what she did, she couldn't break free. "Thorin!" she cried desperately.
"Aelin!" Thorin cried back.
"Whatever he wants from you, don't give it to him!" she called. "No! No!"
Her screams echoed in the halls as she was taken away, out of sight from the company
"Take the rest of them away. Leave Oakenshield," Thranduil then commanded the remainder of the Elves.
The Dwarves were livid; every one of them wanted to get their hands on the treacherous Elf King for what he had done. But they had no choice but to let the Elves take them down into the dungeons.
"This is not the end of it! Do you hear me?" Dwalin yelled furiously as he was put into his cell.
"She's in trouble...oh Mahal, she's in trouble…!" Nori began muttering loudly to himself a few minutes later as the Elves left the dungeon.
"What do you mean she's in trouble, Nori?" asked Fili. "What is it?"
Before he could answer, they heard footsteps approaching. It was another Elf bringing Thorin down into the dungeons. He was forcefully put into a cell next to Balin's.
"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin asked as the Elf left.
"He did…," Thorin replied. "I told him he could go ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu! Him and all his kin!"
"Did he offer anything in exchange for Aelin's release?"
"No...and even if he did, she would not want me to take anything."
"Why did you never say anything?"
"Are you referring to what I said back there?"
"Of course, I am, laddie!"
Thorin sighed. "For the first time in my life, I was afraid to speak my mind...to speak my heart. I wanted to...but I did not know how to fully express what I felt for her...it's difficult to explain."
Before he could go on any further, Nori, sounding worried, called out to him from his next door cell, "Thorin! We need to find a way to escape and get Aelin out of the cell they've put her in! She's in trouble!"
"What do you mean, Nori?" Thorin asked, concerned.
"She has an intense fear of complete darkness," Nori told him. "It stems from the three days she spent in the Ered Luin prison a hundred and forty-two years ago."
"Wait, what?" Thorin questioned. "Are you talking about when I put her into prison?"
"The cell she was put in was not in the path of the moon at night...therefore its light never came through when it was nighttime and she was surrounded in total darkness. It terrified her...and it became part of her nightmares, where she sees herself alone in complete darkness. She has severe panic attacks...I'm afraid of what will happen to her down there."
Thorin groaned and put his head into his hands. Yet another part of Aelin's life that had been ruined because of him. First, it was the scar she had on her face, then it was the cause of her self-harm...and now this. He felt terrible yet again about how he had treated her then and how her life had changed completely because of him.
"I promise you, Nori," he said after a brief moment, "we will get out of here and we will save Aelin...I won't leave her...not now, not ever."
Meanwhile, after resisting the Elven guards for some time, they finally got Aelin down to the deepest, darkest cell in all of the Woodland Realm. The only light there was where they were at was torchlight. Aelin saw the door to the cell: it had no windows, peepholes or anything. She feared what it would be like on the inside.
The guards opened the door and threw her inside onto the stone floor, where she landed with a loud grunt.
"Enjoy your stay here, Dwarf!" one of the guards said snidely to her. The two of them laughed, amused, and then slammed the door.
Aelin opened her eyes but still could see nothing. There were no windows or anything in this cell to let in any kind of light. They were far underground for there to be any natural source of light to come through.
It was completely dark...and Aelin's heart was racing.
"No...no, no, no...oh, please, no…!" she begged out loud as fear gripped her heart and soul. She remembered her nightmares of being alone in total darkness...and it soon felt as though the blackness surrounding her was closing in on her. It became hard for her to breathe, her body began trembling violently and she felt a cold sweat developing. Her breathing grew short, labored and wheezy; she was almost hyperventilating. Her hands gripped the sides of her head and then slid down to clutch around her abdomen.
"No...anything but this...please, no…!" she gasped out. Tears fell from her eyes and she started sobbing as she yelled out to whoever could hear her, "Let me out! You can't do this! Please...let me out! Someone...please...let me out…!"
Aelin fell onto her side and curled up into the fetal position, her body still shaking uncontrollably.
"Thorin...please find me...please get me out of here…!" she prayed aloud.
Aelin was now in a living nightmare...and she was more terrified than she had ever been before.
.
I did say things were going to be interesting!
So now you know: Thorin was already in love with Aelin! We'll go more into his side of things as well as his feelings later on, but since he just admitted it, he's still kinda overwhelmed.
And poor Aelin, pretty much surrounded by one of her worst fears. What will happen with her? Do you think the Dwarves will be able to find her? Or will they have help? ;)
Hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review or a PM with your thoughts! :D
(PS: I didn't realize until later that I actually made 3 small "Star Wars" references in this chapter...can anyone name them? xD)