Chapter 18

All rights go to Tolkien and Peter Jackson respectively, I only own my OCs.

The voices were muffled, everything seeming hazy.

"You were supposed to help me bring her home, Erich!"

"I have brought her home, to the home she belongs in."

"You lied to me!" Screaming. That sounded like Madison.

"I told you what I needed to, but I never lied about one thing: I have brought her home and she will be safe." That voice was unfamiliar. Nina sighed, trying to make sense of the screaming around her. She rubbed her hands on the floor she was slumped against, finding only cold and unwelcoming stone beneath her.

Nina grimaced before deciding to open her eyes, her head throbbing indescribably. That was a mistake. She gasped as everything went white around her and her head pounded more. She squinted and tried to focus on something, her blue eyes landing on a man arguing with someone. Nina saw him. Then she screamed.

"Nina! Oh my god, Nina what's wrong?" Madison rushed to her side, and Nina breathed heavily and quickly as she looked up at her sister. Tears began to stream down her face as she let out a choked sob.

"You're so beautiful Madison, just like Dad always says." She sobbed, Madison letting out a small noise of surprise as her eyes also teared up.

"How….how would you know what I looked like?" Madison peeped.

"It worked," The man from before came to them, his expression one of wonder and amazement.

"How can I…why can I see?" Nina breathed as she struggled to focus on one thing. Her eyes felt so strange, the stone room so dimly lit by candles. She decided to focus on the flame of the candle, mesmerized by how it moved. That was one thing she could never paint—movement. Now she could see it.

"My master, he healed you." The man smiled warmly. Nina kept looking at the fire, fearing that the intricate detail of someone's face might be too much. "I am Erich Arvandor, I have brought you home Nina."

"This…this is my home?" Nina asked hesitantly, finally able to meet his gaze.

"No, this is not at all your home. We're still in Middle Earth, Nina." Madison cut in with a stern tone directed at Erich. He sighed exasperatedly.

"This is her new home, I am afraid she will be staying." Madison shook her head rapidly.

"No! She is my sister and she is coming with me." Madison stood defiantly. Erich stood as well, towering over the girl.

"You are not in authority here, Miss Bailyn." He replied with a dark look that made Madison's confidence waver. "My master requires Nina to remain here, and I must apologize for having used you, but Nina never would have agreed to come without you."

"How could you…" She glared at him.

"Because I had to. Now, your part has been played, Madison. You are of no further use for us."

"Mithrandir." Galadriel descended the staircase more urgently than usual, and Gandalf looked at her questioningly.

"You sent me to the High Fells, so why is it I have come back to the valley of Imladris?" He inquired. Galadriel had telepathically begged Gandalf to come to Rivendell instead.

"I have sent the Wizard Radagast to inspect the tombs in the mountain; you are needed far more here." She explained, ushering him up to the terrace. "Something has happened to the dwarven company."

"Thorin?" Gandalf asked incredulously.

"My daughter…Nina has been taken, though how anyone has managed to hide her I do not know. I cannot find her, and when I try to reach out to her I do not feel her presence as I have before." Galadriel fought back small tears in her eyes.

"You do not think that Nina is…"

"No, I am certain she is still alive. As the next protector of our world her death would be known to me." She replied before Gandalf could say the words.

"How can I assist you, my lady?" He took her hand gently.

"We have to find her, before it is too late. I warned her before she left this place that her powers could be manipulated for evil, and that she could destroy this world if put into the wrong hands." Galadriel paused. "My greatest fears are becoming a reality."

"Do not fear, my lady. I will find the dwarves and perhaps they can give me some information as to who her captor was. They are surely still in Mirkwood, especially if they were attacked. I must get back to them before it is too late and they are hurt themselves."

"I am afraid I cannot get you to Mirkwood as fast as you need, but I can have you escorted immediately as far as the High Fells. Meet with Radagast there, and learn what you can of the Necromancer. From there I am afraid you must find the dwarves on your own." Galadriel explained as they made their way to the main gates.

"You have done what you can my lady and for that I am grateful. Nina will be found, and no matter what has happened to her we can keep her in the light." Gandalf sighed, taking Galadriel's hands. "Have faith in your daughter, Lady Galadriel. She is stronger than she knows."

Galadriel only bowed her head and nodded, not letting Gandalf see the tears forming in her eyes. He mounted his horse swiftly and made for the guard house, intending to inform them of their new escort job.

"Nina, do you know where you are?" Nina gritted her teeth as she heard the all too familiar voice of Erich.

"I'm in a crappy excuse for an evil lair."

Smack!

She turned her head swiftly, her right cheek absorbing the pain of the whip. She felt a long line of blood trickle down from her eyebrow to halfway down her cheek. She glared at him.

"You are in the dungeon in Dol Guldur, your new home." Erich spat. Nina closed her eyes and reopened them, trying to block him out. She knew that he was trying to convince her to believe that she served his master, but Nina resisted. However she had to admit that after a whole week of this questioning, she found herself less and less adamant about resisting, and more and more tired of fighting.

"Repeat it!" He bellowed. Nina was startled out of her thinking.

"I am in Dol Guldur, my home." She repeated tiredly. Erich nodded with approval. She took note of how his dark eyebrows never un-furrowed, and his sharp, dark features never seemed to change. The scruff on his neck and chin actually helped his physical appearance, and his deep green eyes would have been captivating in different circumstances. It was his muscles, or lack thereof, that captivated her the most.

Nina had seen this man lift many a large stone to "tidy up" the dungeon and yet he still struck her as being on the leaner side. Then again, she had to remind herself that she had never seen muscles. The only recollection she had of them was how Dwalin felt to her. Dwalin…..

"Focus on me, sadril." Erich broke her thoughts once again.

"Don't call me that." Nina growled.

"That is my endearing name for you, and it is true. Sadril means 'loyal one' in the language of your mother."

"I am not loyal to you, or your master."

Smack!

"You will be, sadril, you will be."

Author's Note

I am sooo sorry for the extremely late update, but to be honest writers' block hit and it sucked. Anywho, I hope you guys love this chapter and don't forget to review and let me know what you think...

By the way any ideas on what happened to Madison?