I've added a few extra bits since I orignally posted this. The new scene starts after the fourth underline, if you've not read this chapter before then obviously start from the top. Thanks :P x

Solaris couldn't stop stroking the neck of her pony. He was truly stunning. He was a black and white piebald with a long flowing mane and tail. She got into his saddle gently and urged him forward with the slightest touch of her heels to see how he moved. Her and Gandalf's ponies were slightly bigger then than the others but only by a hand.

"Go now while you have the light" Beorn had told them. "Your hunters are not far behind"

Solaris and Gandalf led the company as they galloped the ponies on, Gandalf because he knew the way but Solaris because she always strived to go faster. They reached the edge of Mirkwood before darkness had fallen. They came to a stop and Nori took the pony's reins from Solaris as she walked forward.

"What has happened to the forest?" she asked Gandalf. The once beautiful white trees had gone grey and were smothered with some kind of ivy.

"The Elven Gate" he mumbled to himself. "Here lies our path through Mirkwood"

"No sign of the orcs, we have luck on our side" Dwalin said.

Solaris's stomach tied itself in knots, she knew something wasn't right.

"Set the ponies loose" Gandalf said "Let them return to their master"

"This forest feels, sick. As if a disease lies upon it" Bilbo said.

"Mr. Baggins is right Gandalf" Solaris said "Something's wrong"

"Not you of all people Solaris" Gandalf said.

"Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked.

"Not unless we go 200 miles north, or twice that distance south" Gandalf said walking further into the forest. Solaris followed cautiously, her hand brushed along the branches as she walked. In Rivendell she would have felt life and hear the trees talking to one another but here there was no sound, everything was dead. Gandalf suddenly strode past her.

"Not my horse!" he shouted "I need it"

"You're not leaving us" Bilbo said.

"I would not do this unless I had to" Gandalf said looking down at the small hobbit. "You've changed Bilbo Baggins. You are not the same hobbit as the one who left the Shire"

"I was going to tell you" Bilbo said "I, I found something in the goblin tunnels"

"Found what, what did you find?" Gandalf asked.

"My courage"

"Good, well that's good. You'll need it" Gandalf said.

The rains started to come down. Solaris sighed as she watched Gandalf climb up onto his horse.

"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter the mountain without me" he spoke more to Thorin. "Solaris" he called and the elf walked over to the horse's side.

"Do not send us into that forest" she said twiddling some of the horse's mane around her finger.

"It is the only way you'll reach the mountain in time" Gandalf said.

"You know the way through Mirkwood, take them by the safest path and you will be fine" he said.

"Gandalf" she said walking to the other side of the horse so that the dwarves would not hear her.

"If Thranduil does not want us to pass then he will not let us. He probably already knows we are here"

"It is a risk that must be taken" Gandalf said. "Keep them safe"

"I will try" Solaris said patting the horse's neck.

"Very good" Gandalf said. "You are to follow Solaris's instruction" he said now talking to the dwarves. With that said he turned his horse and galloped away in the direction they'd come.

"We need to get to the mountain" Thorin said turning to Solaris. "We will follow you through this evil forest"

"Alright, okay" she said nervously and walked do the gate. "Let's go"

"The path turns this way" Thorin said kicking at some leaves on the floor.

"No, it's this way" Solaris said. Thorin looked at her with steely eyes. "I think I know this forest better than you" she added.

Reluctantly Thorin followed.

They continued walking for what seemed like hours. On a sharp bend Dwalin hit the floor with the end of his axe.

"This way" he said and Solaris nodded slowly. She wasn't going to say anything but she was getting unsure as to where she was.

After a while longer the dwarves started to complain about the closeness of the air.

"Wait stop" Solaris said.

"What is it?" Thorin asked gruffly.

"This is wrong" she sighed looking around. "It's all wrong"

"What do you mean it's all wrong?" Thorin asked his voice raising.

"We've taken a wrong turn" she said walking back down the company. She took care not to look at any of them.

"Solaris" Thorin said, she could hear his heavy footsteps following her.

She put the end of her finger into her mouth and chewed a nail nervously. Her eyes darted around searching for something vaguely familiar. She could see Thorin out the corner of her eye looking at her.

"We've lost the path" he said to the others "Split up and search for it. But don't go out of sight"

Solaris stood still as they all walked in different directions. "Never mind Lassie" Balin said "It was an impossible path to follow"

"I have failed you" she said looking down at the dwarf. "Thorin hates me again"

"He could never hate you" Balin said "He cares too much for you"

Before she could ask him anymore he walked off in search of the path.

After a while they re-grouped and started to walk on a path that looked familiar. As they walked Solaris observed that Bilbo and the dwarves were starting to sway slightly. She knew the enchantments that lay on the forest.

"Stay with it" she called to them all.

Ori suddenly stopped and picked up a pouch. "Look" he said.

"A tobacco pouch" Dori said taking it from him "There are dwarves in these woods"

"Dwarves from the Blue Mountains no less, this is exactly the same as mine" Bofur said looking at the pouch.

"That's because it is yours. Do you understand? We're going round in circles. We are lost" Bilbo said.

"We are not lost, we'll keep heading east" Thorin said.

"But which way is east, we've lost the sun" Oin said.

"I thought you were the expert" Dwalin said to Solaris.

"I haven't been in this forest since I was a child and it is very different. Gandalf was

wrong to put your trust in me" she snapped.

"We need to get above the canopy" Bilbo said and Solaris was the only one to hear him as the dwarves started to fight amongst themselves.

"I'll go" she said.

"Nope, it's alright" Bilbo said looking at the dwarves "I'll go"

They both looked from the dwarves to each other and then jumped into the trees. They raced each other to the top and Solaris won just because she was that bit taller.

Once at the top it felt like they could breathe again and sun was warm on their faces. Blue butterflies scattered around them and Solaris could hear Bilbo chucking.

"Look for the mountain" she called to him to get him back on track.

"I can see a lake and a river!" Bilbo exclaimed "Look Laris, the Lonely Mountain"

Solaris's heart jumped into her throat. "Remember the way Bilbo" she said and disappeared back into the trees. Her sudden scream nearly made Bilbo fall.

As Solaris had been making her way back down to the dwarves she heard branches snapping. She spun around and was met face to face with a massive, black spider. She screamed and the branch she was balancing on disappeared from beneath her.

Solaris had expected to wake with a broken back at the least but when her eyes opened and she sat up she was shocked to feel no broken bones. Once she had gathered her thoughts she looked around and got to her feet slowly. She'd somehow gone from falling from the trees in the Mirkwood forest to be on a stone floor in a large room. Solaris stared up at the ceiling and made out what looked like hundreds of series of stairs. They all seemed to twist in various different directions up until she could only faintly see them. She then looked down and realised she was on a ledge overlooking more stairs that also went in hundreds of different directions.

"Hello?" she called out but the only thing she heard was her own voice echoing back to her. "Bilbo, Thorin, guys!" she called but she could only hear herself.

Confused Solaris made her way down some stairs only to come out higher than where she was before. "What is this?" she asked to herself and chose to go up a different staircase. After a while of doing this Solaris suddenly stopped, she could hear voices. Spinning around she could see the company standing on large ledge below her.

"Hey, guys!" she called but they didn't respond to her. "Wait for me!"

Thinking she was heading down Solaris endeavored to get close to them but the nearer she seemed to get the further away she actually was. She came to a stop to catch her breath.

"Tired?" a velvet smooth voice asked. On the ledge ahead of her a very tall, pristine looking elf appeared. He had long blonde hair, a long robe that swept the floor and a crown on his head.

"Who are you?" Solaris asked.

"You do not recognize me child?" the elf said "I find that hurtful"

Solaris squinted at him and then it clicked "Thranduil, Legolas's Father?" she asked and the elf put his hands together.

"She's got it" he said in a very patronising voice.

"Please My Lord" Solaris said "I'm lost, I can see my friends but I can't get to them. These stairs, their enchanted"

"This is a labyrinth Solaris" Thranduil said. "There is no getting anywhere, not till I permit it"

Solaris frowned "I don't understand" she said.

"You were always the dimmest of Elrond's brood" Thranduil as he backed down some stairs "I have your friends in my cells" he said appearing behind her.

"Let them go" Solaris said.

"No" Thranduil said simply "Not till I talk to the leader"

"He won't tell you anything"

"Oh he will" Thranduil smirked. He moved without a sound right up behind Solaris. She froze and watched him out the corner of her eye. "If I tell him I have his pet he will tell me whatever I want"

Putting her hand on her blade slowly Solaris turned her head slightly "What do you want from us?"

"Only what is mine" Thranduil said. He brought his face next to her head. "You have grown into a fine young woman, if lacking a few brain cells" he smirked.

Solaris turned suddenly and pushed her blade backwards only to find nothing but air.

"Nice try" Thranduil said appearing on the opposite ledge again. "Legolas will be ever so pleased to see you"

"He won't be pleased to know what his father is doing" Solaris said.

"On the contrary, he hates dwarves as much as I do" Thranduil scoffed "He's putting them into cells right now"

"But?" Solaris said looking down at the large ledge below her to see nothing.

"Everything here is an illusion sweet Solaris" Thranduil said.

Feeling panic for her friends Solaris turned and ran down another flight of stairs leaving Thranduil behind.

"How you turned my world you precious thing, you strave and near exhaust me. Everything I've done I've done for you" singing filled the air. Solaris did her best to ignore it as she chose stairs to run up and down. "You haven't done anything for me!" she yelled as she started up another stair case.

"You've run so long you've run so far. Your eyes can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel. Though I do believe in you, yes I do" Solaris came to a stop and looked around desperately. Now that she could see nothing but stairs she didn't even have anything to aim for.

"Live without the sunlight, love without your heartbeat, I, I can't live within you. I can't live within you" Stopping at another ledge Solaris looked down to see Thorin and Thranduil talking "Thorin!" she called but he didn't respond to her. She bit her bottom lip and sighed. Her eyes glanced at the edge of the ledge and her mind was in turmoil. "What if you're not real" she said to herself.

"I can't live within you" taking a deep breath as the singing faded Solaris walked back from the ledge. "Oh please don't die" she said to herself and then ran for the edge.

She landed on her back and coughed herself into a sitting position. She then looked up and saw that the ceiling had returned to normal and that there were no more stairs. "Solaris?" a voice asked and she looked up to see none other than Legolas looking down at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Your Father is crazy" Solaris panted.

Legolas stepped forward and put a hand under her arm to help her up. "You're not with the dwarves are you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh if I say no does that mean you'll let me go?" she said and Legolas sighed.

"Come with me" he said.

Anything 'The Hobbit' or 'The Lord of the Rings' related belongs to J.R.R Tolkien and Tauriel belongs to Peter Jackson.

So I've added extra into this since I first wrote it. Some of you will recognize that the song I used was 'Within you' from Labyrinth and I got the stair idea from Labyrinth as well. I thought that it was a nice twist so I put it in there.

Love Mayday xx