Chapter 19

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

"I think we were supposed to turn here," Nori mumbled. Thorin let go a heavy sigh, wondering just where exactly they had lost the path.

"Well do you see the path there?" He questioned exasperatedly. Nori hung his head and shrugged.

"Uncle, look!" Fili pointed excitedly. "A white stag." Everyone in the company strained their eyes to see, their efforts driven by desperate hunger.

"I got it." Kili tiredly pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow, trying to aim through his fuzzy vision. He let the arrow fly, and it sailed in the direction of the stag and straight into a tree. "How did I miss…?"

"Where did it go?" Ori peeped. They all squinted to see that their stag had vanished.

"It's this forest playing tricks on us, lads." Balin explained after a silence. "I fear that the stag may not have ever existed but in our minds."

Not long after the hunting attempt, the company continued trudging along. Thorin had all but given up on trying to find the path, and the others didn't have the mental strength to look for it anyway. They travelled on for what felt like days, and most of them were near silent.

"Look!" Dori called, holding up a tobacco pouch in their way.

"It is from dwarves; dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine!" Bofur exclaimed. Bilbo watched the exchange and rolled his eyes.

"That's because it is yours. Don't you understand? We're going around in circles, we're lost."

"We keep heading east." Dwalin argued gruffly. Ever since Nina had been taken from the group, Dwalin had been silent. They all gave him looks of mild surprise before continuing.

"But which way is east? We've lost the sun!" Oin replied. It wasn't long before all of the dwarves were arguing in this way, and Bilbo tried to block them out and think.

The sun.

We have to find the sun.

"Up there, we need to find the sun!" Bilbo exclaimed to the others. Of course, no one was listening. Bilbo started to climb a tree, eager to find the sun and end the quarreling of the dwarves. Little did he know, down below him disaster was about to strike.

Whispering.

"What's that?" Thorin peered out into the dark forest.

Whispering.

"Silence!" He bellowed. The dwarves complied.

"We are being watched."

"What's on today's schedule?" Nina groaned sarcastically as the bright light flooded into her cell as Erich swung open the door.

"Today you will be meeting our master, sadril." He replied, ignoring her disrespectful tone. Nina tried her hardest to hide her fear. From how much Erich seemed to worship this master, and how much of a bad feeling she got from him, she didn't particularly want to meet him.

"Must I?" She retorted, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. The last thing she wanted was for him to sense her fear. He grinned.

"You must. And I assure you, your fear of him does you credit. Perhaps it will save your life in his presence."

"What makes you say I am afraid?" Nina gulped.

"I have watched you grow up in your old world, and I have seen the way you acted with the dwarves. I know you, sadril." Erich explained, and for once she thought that he was being sincere.

"Will you be there when I meet him?" She ignored his comment.

"Of course."

"Fine."

"Let's go."

Nina certainly did not trust him, however he was the only familiar face she had in Dol Guldur, and for some reason she would have preferred to have him there when she met the master. She shuddered at the thought of ever trusting or being partners with Erich Arvandor.

They passed too many Orcs for Nina's taste, and they scared her out of her mind. She thought to herself how she'd have much rather been blind as they made their way past the legions of Orcs. She was shocked speechless to see the sheer numbers of the Orcs, and couldn't remember for the life of her how this would affect the dwarves. One thing was certain, if she managed to escape Dol Guldur she would try to find the dwarves and tell them of this.

"We are here." Erich tore her from her thoughts as they walked through a small ruined archway. She looked around, and tried to ignore how high up they were. Their stone ledge stretched out to the center of the room and then abruptly ended. She peered into the darkness.

"Where is he?" Nina whispered to him. Right as she uttered the words, a huge black cloud appeared and flew through them and all around them.

"Daughter of the Lady of Light," The cloud spat. Nina was shocked, to say the least. "You have finally come to my fortress."

"What do you want from me?" Nina glared defiantly, only earning a smack on the shoulder from Erich as he shook his head at her.

"So ungrateful you are to the one who has restored your sight to you, my lady." The master hissed.

"I didn't ask you to do that, and I don't want to be indebted to you in any way." Nina clarified. "If I have to be blind to be free from this place, then so be it."

"You do not understand, do you my lady?" The master replied. "You have no choice. You shall become my Lady of Darkness, my servant."

"I'll never serve you!" She screamed out, the fear within her building.

"We shall see."

There was a blinding light, and a great force blew Nina back as she slammed into Erich. He held her steady as she struggled to free herself. The cloud gathered itself on the edge of their stone ledge and Nina watched in horror as it morphed into a person—a person in flames. They walked toward her, never ending as the image of the man kept reappearing. Nina felt herself on the brink of insanity.

"STOP!" She cried in complete and utter terror. Then the worst of it came as Nina felt her memories slipping away. She fought to keep them with all of her strength.

"You are the servant of all that terrifies this world, the bringer of calamity, the destroyer of worlds, the Lady of Darkness."

Nina wracked her brain to try to block out the incessant chanting of those words. She reached into her memories and held tight to her father, her sister, her home, her friends, her art, Gandalf, Galadriel, and Middle Earth.

You are the servant

Thorin, Balin and Dwalin

Of all that terrifies this world

Dori, Nori, and Ori

The bringer of calamity

Gloin, Oin, Bifur, Bofur and Bombur

The destroyer of worlds

Bilbo and Fili

The Lady of Darkness

Kili.

There was deafening silence after that, where the image of the man turned into a flaming eye and then vanished. Erich slowly helped Nina to her feet and watched warily as her heavy breathing gradually subsided and she stood more evenly.

"Sadril?" Erich tested. Nina looked to him immediately. Erich nodded and straightened himself. "The wishes of our master are to gain control of the east, gaining the territory of Erebor. It will open up our reach to all that lies beyond it, and will give us more power to conquer the west. Your task is to gain control of Erebor, and to stop Thorin Oakenshield from reaching that mountain."

"Yes my commander." She replied. Her blue eyes looked so empty, so vacant, even Erich could see it. He grinned.

"You must kill the dwarves, and anyone that gets in our way." She nodded her agreement. Erich turned to leave the chamber, his new soldier in step behind him.

"Then the hunt begins."

"Radagast the Brown, it is good to see you unharmed." Gandalf gave him a tight smile. Radagast looked quite distracted as he rushed over to Gandalf. Gandalf gave a nod in thanks to his elven escorts as they wheeled their horses around and galloped back for Rivendell.

"I have not seen very good things here, Gandalf." Radagast sighed. The two wizards stood in a stone cove near the bottom of the cliffs that held the tomb of the Necromancer. "Each and every tomb here has been broken into. The bars have been ripped from their hinges, and it looks as though something has escaped." Gandalf felt a cold shiver down his spine at the news.

"No, these are not good things at all indeed." He frowned. "You must report this back to the Lady Galadriel, for she eagerly awaits the news from this place."

"You say this as if you are not joining me?" Radagast gave a small, confused smile at the other wizard. Gandalf sighed, setting a hand to his friend's shoulder.

"I must get back to the dwarves, they may have very important information pertaining to the whereabouts of the Necromancer." Gandalf explained. A sick feeling entered his stomach as his suspicions were confirmed. If the Necromancer had escaped from the High Fells and Nina was missing, the Necromancer had to be her captor.

"If the Necromancer has escaped, then your dwarves are doomed, Gandalf. It is not safe for you to return to them." Radagast reasoned.

"I cannot forsake my friends." Gandalf shook his head. After a moment, Radagast sighed and nodded.

"Very well. I will go to Imladris to inform Galadriel of this horrid news."

"Get to her with all speed, Radagast, we've not a moment to lose." Gandalf warned as he mounted his horse. He looked out over the view before him, seeing the beginnings of Mirkwood in the distance. He lurched forward into a full gallop toward the wood, not looking forward to journeying through it.

It didn't take long for Bilbo to decide to put on his ring. After the spiders had attacked and overtaken the dwarves, Bilbo knew he needed to not be seen. He had found the precious ring in the goblin tunnels after taking it from an…interesting creature, and he had discovered its power to turn its wearer invisible.

Bilbo listened carefully as the spiders hissed about eating the dwarves, and his stomach churned as he thought how similar this seemed to when they had all been captured by trolls. He watched in horror as one of the more vocal spiders picked up Bombur, who was cocooned in webs. Thinking quickly, Bilbo launched a rock somewhere out into the woods, and just as he had hoped, all of the spiders frantically rushed to the sound.

Except for one.

"It stings, stings!" The spider cried as Bilbo hacked at it with his sword.

"Sting," Bilbo repeated thoughtfully as the dead spider fell to the ground below. "That's a good name." With that, he started hurriedly cutting loose the dwarves. They all fell on top of each other, creating a tangled pile up filled with spider webs.

"Where's Bilbo?" Bofur cried.

"There he is," Fili gestured up to the faint sound of Bilbo answering. Satisfied that he would be down shortly, the dwarves quickly took up their weapons as spiders rushed at them.

"Grab a leg!" "Pull!" "Kili!"

It was frantic, but the dwarves managed to defeat the round of spiders before running to the next. A spider snatched Kili, and pulled him away from the group. He felt its grip tightening around his ankles and he let go a scream in response to his brothers'. Before any of them could go to him, elves began to descend from the treetops, vanquishing the spiders in fluid motions. Before they could react, the dwarves were surrounded.

"Do not think I won't kill you dwarf, it would be my pleasure." Snapped a younger blonde elf with an arrow aimed at Thorin. Thorin glared daggers at him.

"HELP!" Kili screeched from nearby as he was dragged further away. Even the elves looked over in shock at the unexpected cry. Kili groaned as his face was dragged through the dirt and leaves by the spider. Suddenly, the dragging ceased and Kili jumped to his feet to see a she-elf standing before him, with four dead spiders at her feet.

He had to admit, the elf was beautiful. Her long red hair seemed flawless, and her fighting skills impressed Kili greatly. It also embarrassed him that he had been overcome by one spider, and she had killed four before he could process it.

As the she elf threw Kili roughly back into the circle of dwarves, the blonde elf ordered that they all be searched. The she elf then turned to the blonde elf, who held her gaze with questioning eyes.

"Are the spiders dead?" He asked her in their language, Sindarin. She sighed.

"Yes, but more will come. They are growing bolder." She replied. He frowned, opening his mouth to reply when an elf handed him Thorin's sword. It was elvish.

"This is an ancient elven blade, forged by my kin." He addressed his elven clan. He then narrowed his eyes at Thorin as he examined the blade, Orcrist. "Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me."

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well." The elf growled as he pointed the sword at Thorin. "Take them!" As the dwarves were led back to the Woodland Realm, the she elf eyed her leader carefully.

"Legolas, what do you think the presence of these dwarves could mean?" She inquired uneasily, thinking back to the stories of the dwarves of Erebor she had heard as a younger elf. The blonde elf, Legolas, frowned.

"Who can say, Tauriel? I would not worry over it until our king has heard of the matter." He replied. Tauriel sighed, knowing that Legolas would say that. She valued her king very much, and of course Legolas did as well since the king was his father, however she wondered about things on her own, and did not wish to simply wait for the king's word on matters. Legolas was her closest and only friend in the Realm, and she had always wished that he would feel the same.

"Of course," Tauriel mumbled in reply.

"Close the gate!" Legolas ordered the guards as they brought their prisoners into the Realm. Before long, they had dragged the prisoners down to the dungeons and were throwing them into their cells.

"This is not the end of it!" "Let us out of here!" "Get off me!" The dwarves shouted in protest. Tauriel moved to throw her dwarf into his cell—the dwarf that she had rescued from the spiders.

"Aren't you going to search me?" He questioned innocently as he walked into the cell, turning to her with an almost unreadable expression. "I could have anything down my trousers." Tauriel cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Or nothing." She slammed the cell door shut, leaving Kili to sit there alone. As she made her way back up to Legolas, she saw many a dwarf shove at their elven guard, and watched as an elf discovered yet another knife on the blonde dwarf.

"Why does the dwarf stare at you, Tauriel?" Legolas called to her. She swallowed nervously, hoping that he did not mean the trouser dwarf.

"Who can say?" She replied neutrally. Then Tauriel grinned, wondering how she could tease Legolas. "Although he is quite tall, for a dwarf." Legolas' face darkened at the comment and Tauriel knew her joke had not amused him. "Do you not think?" She tried nervously to relieve the tension. When Legolas replied with only silence, Tauriel decided to leave the awkward situation.

"Taller than some, but no less ugly." Legolas called after her. Tauriel gave a small smile as she walked away. He always came around to her jokes.

Kili threw the runestone up again in the air. He could feel himself slowly dying of boredom in his cell, as he went to catch the stone again. He smirked to himself, thinking about his comment to the she-elf earlier, whose name he gathered was Tauriel. However, his smirk faded when he thought of the disapproving look he would've gotten from Nina if she had been there. Kili let out a small frustrated groan. He couldn't try to be his normal charming self with the elf when in his heart he knew that wouldn't make him forget Nina.

He would give anything to have her there with him, despite their constant arguing. He smiled sadly to himself as he realized that if she was there they would no doubt have found something to argue over. From the day he had met Nina, Kili had felt the desire to protect her and shelter her from harm. He knew his feelings for her since the night he had kissed her. He had never known, however, why she refused to give them a chance.

"The stone in your hand, what is it?" The voice of Tauriel broke his thoughts. Kili sighed, deciding that teasing her again might lift his spirits.

"It is a talisman, with a powerful curse upon it. If any but a dwarf were to read the runes on this stone, they would be forever cursed!" He exclaimed shoving the stone in her face. Tauriel gasped and moved to flee, causing Kili to feel a bit guilty. "Depending on whether or not you believe in that kind of thing, it's just a runestone." He called, causing her to come back and grin. "My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise." Kili elaborated.

"What promise?"

"That I would come back to her." Tauriel looked down at her feet, almost with shame. She knew there was no telling when or if the dwarves would see daylight again out of the Woodland Realm. Sensing her guilt, Kili tried to lighten the mood. "She worries, she thinks I'm reckless."

"Are you?" Tauriel grinned. Kili moved to toss his stone again before he frowned, pausing.

"Yes." He half-whispered, surprising himself. Tauriel was caught slightly off guard by the serious answer. "I am reckless because I had something right in front of me and I took it for granted, and now it is gone."

"What did you lose?" Tauriel asked tentatively, sitting down on the steps beside his cell. Kili met her gaze solemnly, assessing whether or not to tell the elf his personal thoughts. After a moment he sighed, not seeing how it could do him any harm to tell her about Nina. After all, she was gone now.

"I had a good friend, and she was very important to me. But we got into an argument, and I didn't try to make it up to her, I just assumed that in time she would get over it and see reason." Kili explained, trying to keep the story vague.

"What happened to her?" Tauriel pressed gently.

"She was taken from me—from our company—not long after we entered Mirkwood." Kili replied shortly. He still wasn't able to bring himself to say that Nina was dead, even though he knew there couldn't be another explanation.

He thought back to when Nina was first taken, how the dwarves had stood there in shocked silence once the dust had cleared. Dwalin was the first to speak, shaking with something akin to fear.

"We have to get her back!" Dwalin said. Balin rushed to pull him back as the large dwarf fell on the spot where Nina had been standing not a moment ago. Kili hadn't taken his eyes off that spot.

"We haven't the time," Thorin had reasoned, causing all of them to glare at him. "We must get to the mountain before Durin's Day, and I don't know where Nina could be now." He explained. Most had sighed, bowed their heads, and realized it wasn't Thorin's fault. How could he have a clue where the girl had been taken?

"That was her sister with her, I am sure she is with her family now anyway." Nori spoke up after a long silence.

"WE WERE HER FAMILY!" Kili finally screamed. Everyone looked to him in surprise. "We promised to protect her, keep her safe, she was part of the company!" Kili ran to his uncle's side. "Uncle please, if it was me or Fili you wouldn't hesitate."

"You are my sister's sons, Kili. Nina is just a girl we kept safe. We cannot follow her, we wouldn't even know where to begin. Kili, I am sorry but the girl is gone."

"She has a powerful mother that I am sure will find her." Balin set a hand to Kili's shoulder. Dwalin pounded a fist into the ground where Nina had stood.

"She was just an innocent young lass." He growled menacingly. "She doesn't deserve to be taken like that, who knows what that man will do to her."

Kili felt a surge of anger renewed in him as he thought of that moment. Ever since Dwalin's comment about that man, Kili had been able to think of hardly anything else. The thought of someone…forcing Nina to do anything made his blood boil. Right then he had resolved in his heart that once Erebor was safely in his uncle's hands he would set off to find her. He didn't care how long it would take.

"I should have tried harder to keep her safe, but I was thoughtless, reckless, and I just assumed that she would always be with us." Kili thought aloud.

Tauriel found herself surprised when her eyes teared up at the raw emotion the dwarf Kili was expressing. Elves were known to be stoic, hiding all trace of emotion in their voices, expressions, and actions. To see someone so unafraid to show his anger and shame and despair, Tauriel pitied the dwarf and whoever the girl was.

"Sounds like quite the party you're having up there." Kili sighed, trying to change the subject as he heard elves laughing above.

"It is Mereth-en-Gilith, the Feast of Starlight." Tauriel explained. "All light is sacred to the Eldar, but Wood Elves love best the light of the stars."

"I think it is a cold light, remote and far away." Kili couldn't help but reply, his liking of the stars less appealing now that he could only think of Nina when he saw them.

"It is memory, precious and pure." Tauriel stepped toward him, smiling warmly. "Like your promise." Kili smiled kindly at her as she continued her wistful gaze at the sky.

"I have walked there sometimes, beyond the forest and up into the night. I have seen the world fall away and the white light forever fill the air." She whispered longingly. Kili smiled at her, thinking with delight that she was quite different from the other strict elves.

"I saw a fire moon once."

Author's Note:

So here's another chapter, thanks to those who reviewed it really helps, and please don't forget to review in the future! Sooo I feel bad for Kili now I don't know about any of you guys...until next chapter!