"Italics" - Elvish, Sindarin
'Normal' -thoughts to one's self
'Italics' - thought speak (thought speak only applies with Galadriel)
A/N: I do not own Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, or The Hobbit.
Victoria awoke with a gasp. Turning around frantically, she found that she was on the top peak of a rock tower on a small island. She would have continued to freak out if it wasn't for the sight of Thorin up and hugging Bilbo and the dwarves cheering. It was Bofur who finally caught sight of Victoria resting up on her elbows.
"Hey! Our Lady Wizard has awaken as well!" he cried. Victoria dragged herself off the ground as she heard Thorin say to Bilbo, "I'm sorry I doubted you."
Looking around, she found both the Elder Wand and Glamdring laying beside her. Victoria wondered if she held them tight while unconscious or if the eagle that surely carried her here also thought to pick them up as well. Thankful to still have her tools, she sheathed her sword and started repairing and cleaning her armor and robes. Satisfied, Victoria watched the giant eagles fly away until she noticed something catch Thorin's eye in the distance behind her.
Turning, she and the rest of the company moved toward the northeast edge of the peak. Far off, beyond Mirkwood, behind sparse clouds in the light of the dawning sun, stood the Lonely Mountain.
"Is that what I think it is?" asked Bilbo. "Erebor," replied Gandalf, "the last of the the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle Earth."
"Our home." Thorin gazed longingly at the mountain.
"A raven!" called Oin. "The birds are returning to the mountain."
"Again with the birds, too bad we can't fly after it," Victoria stated sarcastically but also missing her Firebolt broomstick.
"That my dear Oin, is a thrush," said Gandalf, as the party watched the bird fly off towards Mirkwood.
"But we'll take it as a sign, a good omen," Thorin said, smiling at Bilbo.
"You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us," Bilbo stated with a grateful sigh.
"Famous last words," Victoria muttered to herself.
Fortunately, someone had carved stone steps leading all the way down from the peak to the base, so the climb down went relatively smooth. Crossing the river that forked around the land and made it an island proved more difficult. As the company trudged out of the water, Victoria began drying everyone off with hot air from her wand.
For a day they traveled northeast through rocky terrain, only a few trees grew between the stones. As the sun started to fall, the party came to a clearing big enough to camp in, but Thorin asked Bilbo to scout the surrounding area from atop some nearby rocks. Not ten minutes later, Bilbo came back reporting the orcs led by Azog were still hunting them and something else was out there.
"What form did he take? Like a bear?" asked Gandalf gravely.
"Ye-Yes, but bigger. Much bigger," Bilbo answered.
"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked.
Gandalf didn't answer and Victoria became lost in her own thoughts. 'Bigger than a bear? Gandalf used the word form. Are we talking werewolf-like or an animagus, perhaps?'
Gandalf's next words cut through her thoughts, "There is a house. It's not far from here, where we might take refuge."
"Whose house?" Thorin asked. "Are they friend or foe?"
"Neither," answered Gandalf, "he will help us, or he will kill us."
"You think this is wise, Gandalf?" Victoria asked dubiously.
"What choice do we have?" asked Thorin as a roar was heard in the distance.
"None," replied Gandalf.
Running through the night, the company finally came to some green flat fields, crossed in places by small streams. By midnight, they started seeing small wooded areas before coming upon a large house on a small hill. The house had fifteen foot walls overgrown with vines surrounding the house and the yard. Gandalf ushered them through the front gate, which was luckily open, as the largest bear Victoria had even seen burst out of the woods behind them. Running toward the door to the house, Victoria drew her wand and cast, "Alohomora." The metal lock across the door snapped up, allowing the dwarves crowding the door to fall through. Quickly, everyone made it inside as the dwarves turned to close the door, finding the bear trying to force its way in. "Colloportus," Victoria said, watching the door slam shut and the wooden beam fall into place across the door.
"That is the biggest bear I've ever seen. And did you all see how fast he moved?" asked Victoria.
"His name is Beorn. That is our host. And he's a skin-changer," Gandalf said, moving further into the house. "Sometimes he's a huge black bear. Sometimes he's a great strong man." Victoria looked around to see cows, chickens, and goats living inside the house as well.
"The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of Dwarves," Gandalf continued warningly.
Taking his hat off, Gandalf said, "All right now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight." Only Victoria heard him mutter, "I hope."
Victoria awoke to a crashing sound. Looking around, she saw Bilbo had knocked over some of the dwarves' weapons freaking out over some honeybees. Seeing the sun up and a few dwarves setting at the visible end of a table, looking to be readying for breakfast, Victoria pulled herself up and tried to shake the feeling into her arms and legs. Walking over, she saw all the dwarves setting at a long table eating, as a large man moved around the kitchen.
"So you are the second wizard Gandalf spoke of," the large shirtless man said. His hair was crazier than her's has been in her male body, and it seemed to run down his whole back.
"I am Victoria, the Black Wizard. At your service."
"I don't want your service," the man said gruffly, towering over her. "I'm Beorn."
As she sat down, Beorn put a plate of vegetables, nuts, and bread and a glass of milk in front of her. "Thank you," she said. A nod was her only reply.
"A black horse arrived in the night, I assume she belong to one of you?" asked Beorn, his gravely voice carrying across the room.
"It might be my horse, Luna. I'll check after I eat," Victoria responded, happy at the thought of having her companion back.
She ate her food while Thorin and Beorn discussed Azog and Beorn's people. Victoria's heart went out to the skin-changer, losing his people and being tortured for amusement.
"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asked.
"Before Durin's Day falls, yes," Gandalf confirmed.
"You are running out of time," responded Beorn.
"Yes, which is why we must go through Mirkwood. We will take the Elven Road, it is still safe," stated Gandalf.
"Safe?" questioned Beorn, "The wood elves of Mirkwood are not like there kin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not. These lands are crawling with orcs, and you are being hunted. Only one of you has a mount. You will never make it to the forest alive."
Here, Beorn stood up saying, "I don't like Dwarves. They're greedy and blind. But Orcs I hate more. What do you need?"
Victoria walked out into the sunlight, looking around the white and black horses, trying to find Luna. Her eyes caught sight of a black horse, whose coat shone almost blue in the sun. Walking forward, the horse turned and looked at her, and staring into those wide eyes, Victoria knew this was Luna.
Summoning an apple out of her pack, she walked up to Luna and offered her the fruit. "I am glad to see you again, my friend."
Quickly the dwarves packed and secured the blankets they were using for saddles onto the horses Beorn had lent them. Victoria conjured an elven-style saddle and bridle on Luna with a few waves of her wand and climbed up.
She heard Gandalf promise to let Beorn's horses go before entering Mirkwood. A crowing of a raven nearby set Gandalf on alert.
"We are being watched," he said.
"Yes," Beorn responded, "The orcs will not give up. They will hunt the dwarves until they are destroyed."
"Why now?" Gandalf questioned. "What has made Azog crawl from his hole?"
"There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the sorcerer in Dol Guldur." Beorn voice was low when he said this, Victoria barely making it out.
"Are you sure of this?"
Victoria tuned out the rest, thinking of her map. Dol Guldur set in the forest, only a hundred miles or so from Lothlorien. If this sorcerer proved to be the dark lord everyone feared still alive, then Galadriel's realm was in danger.
"Victoria, Gandalf, time is wasting," called Thorin. Victoria led her horse toward the dwarves as Gandalf and Beorn had some last minute words.
Beorn's final words caught her ears, "Go, now, while you have the light. Your hunters are not far behind."
A day and a half of riding found the company in front of the Elven Gate, as Gandalf called it. Bilbo confessed the forest of Mirkwood felt sick, diseased, and Victoria couldn't blame him. Victoria just heard Gandalf shout to let the ponies loose so they could return when Galadriel called out in her mind.
'Victoria.'
'Merlin, you scare me when you do that,' Victoria thought.
'Something moves in the shadows unseen, hidden from our sight. Everyday it grows in strength. Beware the Necromancer. He is not what he seems,' Galadriel said ominously.
'If out Enemy has returned, we must know. Go with Gandalf to Dol Guldur. We must see for ourselves what darkness lurks there,' Galadriel continued.
'I must go by myself, this company must reach the mountain in time. And I can sneak about better alone,' Victoria responded.
'You are never alone, my dear Victoria.'
Seeing all the horses run off, but Victoria still mounted, Bilbo asked, "Are you bringing your horse through the woods with us?"
"No, I am not," Victoria said softly.
"You're not leaving us are you?" asked Bilbo as the dwarves muttered amongst themselves.
"I would not leave if I didn't have to. I will meet up with you on the other side of the forest, hopefully."
"What path has the Lady Galadriel sent you on, Victoria?" asked Gandalf.
"I travel south to Dol Guldur. Galadriel fears the Enemy has returned," Victoria said turning Luna away. "Goodbye my friends, I'm sure Gandalf can lead you through the forest well enough without me. Good luck. Do not enter that mountain without me!"
Gently kicking her horse into a gallop, Victoria thoughts turned to spells to counter necromancy.
For six hours she rode until night fall, thinking. She never learnt the spell to repel ghost. Lupin had shown poltergeist could be repelled with chewing gum, or any object hurled at them, Victoria hoped. And inferi were weak to fire. She could do fire, she could do lightning better, but she could do fire. That was all she had come up with so far. Slowing her horse down to a trot, Victoria looked around for a good spot to camp. As her gaze swept over the forest, she saw something she didn't not expect to see again.
Prongs was standing just inside the woods, staring at her. Her heart skipped at beat, thinking this some sign from her parents, before her eyes took in the full sight.
This creature was merely a white-furred stag, beautiful, shining in the moonlight, but not her former patronus. As Victoria dismounted Luna, she kept her eyes on the white hart. The stag bowed his head and antlers slightly toward her, then nodded its head behind him. Victoria took it to mean 'follow,' so she did. Turning to Luna she said, "Stay here please, my friend," before walking toward the forest. When Victoria was twenty feet from the forest edge, the stag turned around and started walking into the woods.
Victoria walked into the darkness of Mirkwood at night. The moonlight radiated off the white deer fifteen feet in front of her now, leading her to Merlin knows where. As Victoria started to catch up to the stag, it took off at a run, slowly gaining speed as she gave chase. Lighting her wand, hoping to avoid any roots that might trip her up, she followed after the stag as best she could. After half an hour of running after this animal on no more than a feeling, Victoria saw the stag disappear behind a large tree trunk. Arriving at the tree, she looked around and found no sign of the deer. Pointing her lit wand at the ground revealed no tracks at all had been left.
'Waste of bloody time, last time I follow a hunch that fate was sending me a sign,' she thought to herself, turning back. But she stopped after two steps. A horrible clicking sound was coming from over a small hill in the forest. Drawing closer, Victoria began to hear the yells and movement of a battle. Cresting the hill, she canceled the Lumos Spell and took in the sight before her.
In a small clearing, a single elf was surrounded by four spiders big enough that they looked like they came from Aragog's brood. The elf, Victoria could now see was a woman, drew her last arrow, firing it at the spider charging her from the front. The arrow struck the spider between its many eyes, and it fell over dead. Pulling a long knive out as she dropped her bow, the elf spun around to drive the knife into the head of a spider trying to attack from behind.
All this happened in a few seconds, Victoria marveling at the elf's skill before pointing the Elder Wand at one of the remaining spiders, unleashing a blast of lightning. The spider fell dead and smoking after three seconds under the barrage of electricity. Focusing on the last spider, that happened to be between Victoria and the elf, she shouted, "Confringo."
The orange curse lit up the clearing as it rush to meet the backside of the spider, blowing its abdomen to pieces in a ball of fire. In the light of the brief flames, Victoria saw the elf-maiden was auburn-haired and gorgeous. Thinking of Arwen's words to her she muttered, "Accio," pointing her wand behind her with a half circle movement at her pack. Arwen's sword flew into her right hand. Sliding down the hill with grace she didn't know she had, Victoria tossed the sword to the female elf stating, "Swords don't run out of arrows."
The elf quickly sheathed her knife and caught the sword, deftly drawing it out. "This is a finely made sword. Where did you come by it?" By the time she finished with her question, she was already looking around for more adversaries.
"It was given to me by Arwen of Rivendell. Are you expecting more spiders?" asked Victoria.
The elf looked shocked for half a second before responding in elvish as well, "Yes, more will come. They're growing bolder."
At those words, more clicking could be heard descending from above. Looking up, both fighters on the ground saw four more huge spiders lowering themselves down on spider silk threads, trying to surround them both. Wizard and Elf moved back to back as Victoria drew Glamdring and pointed her wand up at the spider that would land in front of her. But Victoria had other plans as lightning blasted out of her wand tip, hitting the spider causing static to crackle all around it. The spider twitched and convulsed into a ball before falling thirty feet to the ground, its exoskeleton cracking on impact. Victoria felt ill looking at the black liquid ooze seeping out of the broken spider but was forced to set that aside as the other spiders hit the ground, one charging at her. These creatures were fast. It took all of Victoria's skill and training to dodge the swipes from the spider's front legs to get close enough to run Glamdring through its face. Yanking her sword free, Victoria turned to help the elf but found her to have already have dispatched the two others.
"You are the Black Wizard," the elf said, staring at her with grey eyes that looked very dark in the night.
"How do you know that? You could guess I'm a magic user of a kind surely, but you know my title? How?"
"I recently came upon Radagast the Brown as I traveled south, he mentioned a new wizard had come. He could not recall your name, only Mithrandir referred to you as the Black Wizard. My name is Tauriel, a captain of the guard of the Woodland Kingdom," the elf said, bowing her head.
"Grab my arm, I will get us to safety, but I warn you. It will be uncomfortable," Victoria said quickly, hoping the elf would trust her before more spiders showed up.
The elf looked at her confused before sheathing Arwen's sword and taking Victoria's left arm with her right. Victoria gave a little spin, apparating to where she left Luna. Her faithful horse didn't even get startled at the sudden appearance of her rider and guest.
"Are you feeling all right after, uh, traveling like that?" asked Victoria.
"We traveled from one location to another in the blink of an eye!" the elf said in awe. "But I feel no discomfort."
'Stupid elves are good at everything, even side-along apparation,' Victoria thought to herself.
"Well I know your name, my name is Victoria. We are on the western edge of Mirkwood."
"Thank you for your assistance, Istari. I do not think I would be alive without your aid." Here Tauriel dropped her eyes to the ground. Victoria put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"My name is Victoria, none of this Master Wizard or Istari stuff," Victoria said, seeing a small smile on Tauriel's face. Backing up, Victoria continued on. "Why would the Woodland King send a guard captain on a solo patrol at night?"
At this question Tauriel stared into the forest, "The spiders encroach on our land daily. We drive them off, but they always return and with growing numbers. I know they pour forth from Dol Guldur. I asked King Thranduil to let me take my guardsmen to investigate but was forbidden. The threat was too much to go unchecked though, so I slipped out to see for myself where these monstrous spiders come from. But I was waylaid by too many and ran out of arrows. You know the rest, you where there to save me."
"A bold move to defy a king," Victoria said with a smile when Tauriel met her gaze. "As it happens, I was asked by the Lady of the Golden Wood to investigate Dol Guldur myself. You are welcome to join me."
"Lady Galadriel asked you? What do you expect to find there?" asked Tauriel.
"A great big spider's nest, a human sorcerer playing with magic outside his control, or maybe we will find a darkness more terrifying than anything else. I do not know. But I'm going to find out." At this Tauriel gave a yawn, which was weird. Victoria knew elves slept, but never saw them express anything but mild fatigue. Tauriel must have been fighting a long time before Victoria arrived.
Walking over to a large tree on the edge of the forest, Victoria conjured a mattress at the base of the tree big enough for them both and started warding the area. "You may want to get some sleep, I need to continue south at dawn if you want to accompany me."
Finished with the wards, Victoria set down on the mattress with her back against the tree. Tauriel looked dubious at the conjured mattress before following Victoria's lead and setting down against the tree.
"You can lay out if you wish to get more comfortable," Victoria said.
"Two sets of eyes are better to keep watch with, I'll be fine."
Victoria felt like arguing the point of her magical protections and the fact she was gonna keep watch for a while, but she let it slide. She gave Tauriel the occasional glance, seeing her slowly falling asleep, but mostly focused on the stars out tonight. The thought just struck her that none of the constellations she remembered existed here, when she felt Tauriel's head fall gently onto her right shoulder. Looking down, Victoria thought she looked stunning in the moonlight, and also looked to be in a very uncomfortable position. Casting a Cushioning Charm on the tree behind her and on Tauriel's head, hoping to make them both more comfortable. But her second spell was wasted as she looked down to see Tauriel's face now resting on her chest.
Victoria couldn't slow the beating of her heart as Arwen's teasing played through her mind. 'Nothing's set in stone. Arwen just saw us fighting together. Which we just did,' she thought to herself.
With her right arm trapped under Tauriel and deciding she wasn't getting any sleep soon, Victoria summoned Tauriel's quiver with her wand in her left hand and set to work on a complex bit of magic and a lot of tedious spells to take her mind off things while trying not to wake the elf laying next to her.
Victoria awoke when she felt a warmth leave her side and the mattress swift under the weight of someone moving. Opening her eyes, she saw Tauriel on her knees at the end of the mattress with a blush on her face. Victoria never had seen an elf blush before, even after a few embarrassing pranks she pulled on Arwen's behalf on her brothers. Victoria thought it looked adorable, but quickly shook her head to clear the thought.
"Are you rested, Tauriel?" asked Victoria hoping to break the awkward feeling starting to creep up in her. "Enough to ride with me south?"
"Yes, I am. Your magic bedding was very comfortable," Tauriel said, rising up to collect her things, and stopped looking around after not seeing her quiver.
"Oh," Victoria said, sensing Tauriel's confusion, she picked up the smaller quiver to her right. "I may have gotten, uh, bored, yes bored, last night and cast some magic on your quiver." Handing the quiver over, Tauriel looked at her old quiver. It was in the same shape and design as before but smaller, like an oversized drinking glass. She could just fit her whole hand inside if she tried, and the quiver was still empty. Well, she really couldn't tell if it was empty, the interior seems covered in shadows.
"I noticed you wore your quiver on your left side, so I shrunk it down. I also cast an expansion spell on the inside and conjured a bunch of arrows and put them inside. You should have a hard time running out now. There are close to three-hundred arrows inside. And I can keep adding more." Seeing Tauriel appear skeptical, she said, "Stick your hand in and see for yourself."
Tauriel cautiously reached her right hand into the darkness of her new quiver and felt the nocks and fletching of numerous arrows. She grabbed three arrows between her fingers and pulled them out, picking up her bow with her left hand. Firing all three arrows at a distance boulder in less than two seconds, Tauriel was surprised all three arrow flew true and hit the mark she had been aiming at.
"This is a truly a gift worthy of a better warrior than I, perhaps you should present it to Prince Legolas," Tauriel said, thinking back on the last few days she spent in the Elven Palace of Mirkwood.
"I gave it to you, and you should hold onto that sword," Victoria said, lifting Tauriel's chin with her right hand. "You are a very skilled fighter. And believe me when I say I've met a few of the best since I've arrived here." Victoria turned away to start vanishing and packing up her things, she didn't see Tauriel blush again.
"Who is Prince Legolas?" asked Victoria, wondering about the one elven stronghold she hadn't had much contact with.
"He is Thranduil's heir and a great friend of mine," Tauriel stated, with sadness in her eyes.
"Why does thinking of a friend make you sad, Tauriel?"
"The king spoke to me the day before I crept away. He thought Legolas was starting to grow affections for me. I doubt it is the truth, we are naught but friends. I do not prefer..." Here she paused for a second before saying, "But the king ordered me to distance myself from Legolas." Tauriel voice was solemn as she countinued, "Not that it will matter overmuch. The king will surely banish me for defying him, as you put it."
"After our business at Dol Guldur is over, you could always travel with me. Or make your home in Rivendell. Lord Elrond is a friend of mine, I'm sure things will work themselves out." Victoria hoped to help Tauriel in some way and thought they could at least be friends, but still didn't want to give away information about Erebor.
"You have been too kind, Victoria. I don't know how to repay you."
"You are about to walk into a den of spiders and darkness with me, I think that is repayment enough."
For four days, they rode south in the daylight and camped at night. Victoria was glad Luna seem to bear both women without tiring. At night, Tauriel would speak of herself and the Elves of Mirkwood. She was only six-hundred and twenty-three, young for an elf, but Victoria couldn't imagine living so long. She was shocked when she found out as a kid that some wizards lived to be two-hundred in her old world. She shed a few tears recounting her parents death at the hands of orcs. Tauriel, wise like the elves she had met so far, senses the world around them was changing for the dark. Unlike her king who sought to withdraw into the safety of his elven stronghold, Tauriel wanted to fight back against the darkness.
Victoria spoke of her times since arriving in Arda. Tauriel listened with fascination but asked about before her arrival. Deciding to risk the awkward questions, Victoria explained a brief version of her life before Middle Earth, even the fact she was born a man. Tauriel seems curious at that but nothing more, for which Victoria was grateful. She also spoke of Galadriel's fear of the ancient enemy returning, perhaps taking up residence at Dol Guldur. When asked, Tauriel gave a brief account of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Up until then, Victoria hadn't heard his name. Fear crossed Tauriel's face at the thought of meeting Sauron at the old fortress, but her face quickly changed to one of resolve and Victoria admired her bravery.
One night they even practiced sword fighting. Tauriel was proficient with long knives and deadly with a bow, but her training with a sword was lacking somewhat. Victoria was proud of herself for holding her own and winning half the rounds against an elven opponent with so many advantages, even if she couldn't keep up with Arwen the same way just yet.
Arriving at the southern parts of Mirkwood with a few more hours of sunlight left, Victoria allowed Tauriel to hop down off Luna from her position behind her and then dismounted herself. "From here, how long will it take to reach Dol Guldur on foot through the forest?" asked Victoria.
"Half a day. If we start now, we could make it a few hours after the sun has set."
"What do you think of going into the fortress at night? Or should we wait for daylight, Tauriel?"
"The moon will be full tonight, enough to see by, and stealth may not be a poor decision," Tauriel replied. Victoria drew out the Elder Wand and tapped herself on the temple, casting a mild Supersensory Charm on her eyes. After a few seconds, her eyesight sharpened. She hoped it would help her night vision.
"As good as plan as any, I think you may know the woods better than I. Would you mind leading?" asked Victoria. At Tauriel's nod, Victoria turned to Luna.
"I do not know how long we will be. If we do not return in a reasonable amount of time, I want you to return to Rivendell."
Luna looked back at her like she was stupid for suggesting such a thing. Victoria shook her head at the horse's antics and moved to follow Tauriel into the forest.
After thirty minutes of walking, Victoria's enhanced vision spotted spider webs high in the trees. Apparently Tauriel saw them as well.
"Do not touch the webs if they get closer to the ground, they are all interconnected. It will draw all the spiders close by to us."
To be honest, Victoria didn't understand what the pretty elf in front of her was saying. As they moved deeper into the forest, some strange magic started creeping past her very weak occulmency shields, making her mind dull and less than sober. Reaching forward, Victoria grabbed Tauriel's shoulder spinning her around.
"Your pretty. Have I told you that yet?"
Victoria smiled a goofy smile as Tauriel blushed. She wasn't prepared for Tauriel to slap her across the face and Vilya to pulse on her hand. Blue light weaved itself through her mental shields in her mind's eye.
"You must gather your wits, Victoria. There is fell magic in the air. It will cloud your mind."
Victoria's cheek stung, but her mind was clear again. "Yes, er, sorry. I'm fine now. Lets move on." She hoped Tauriel thought the redness creeping up on her face was from the slap and not embarrassment.
Another hour of walking, in silence, Victoria began to see webs reaching the ground. But no sign of any spiders. Maybe they were out hunting and not at home. Or maybe these were old webs and the spider didn't use Dol Guldur as a nest after all. Victoria would later be dissuaded of that last thought. When the moon had barely risen above the trees, the pair reached the clearing containing Dol Guldur. Cresting a hill as the woods ended to the west of the fortress, Victoria recalled the walk here. The webs continued to become denser as the moved closer to their destination. Now here, she could see the webs were thickest the way the came and to the north. Both directions an elf from Thranduil's kingdom or Lothlorien might come from to investigate. The spiders were a defense and a diversion for something darker going on in the abandoned fortress.
"Do you have a plan, Victoria?" asked Tauriel softly as they both crawled forward on their stomachs to survey the land. Victoria's first thought was to stand up and start firing Blasting Curses at fortress until it was razed to the ground, might take a while but it was a solid plan. It would certainly draw out whatever was in there. But Victoria quickly squashed that idea. There could be innocents held in the fortress, hostages or slaves. She couldn't bring herself to condemn them to death without going inside to look and perhaps help.
"Well, I can't see anything moving in the place. There seems to be a path leading out to the south from the bottom levels. And there is a stone bridge leading to the upper levels to the northwest," Victoria responded, trying to come up with a plan. "We have two means to enter. We make our way down to the lower path or we cross bridge. I think the bridge would be the better option. I will cast a charm on both of us to make us invisible. We will sneak across the bridge and into the fortress. I think some concealment enchantments are in place. No point in protecting this ruin with all those spiders if there is not anything here. The problem is once I cast magic to counter any enchantment, my invisibility will drop. The spell on you should still hold. If anything is in the ruins, I will become its target. I will count on you to watch my back unseen." Victoria did not want to risk her cloak in a battle where her opponents used swords. Images in her mind of her only family heirloom left being slashed to pieces causes her to rely on a spell instead.
"With this new quiver, nothing should be able to reach you, unless the numbers inside are greater than even I suspect," replied Tauriel resolutely.
"This invisibility spell will feel like I cracked an egg open on top of your head. Sorry if it feels strange." Victoria tapped the elf on top of the head, muttering the Disillusionment Charm. Slowly, Tauriel faded completely from sight.
"Grab my hand before I cast it on myself. So we do not lose each other." Victoria felt a warm, slender hand take a hold of her right hand as she stood up and twirled her wand around herself, casting the Disillusionment Charm again. Now both invisible, the pair skirted the forest walking north to reach the stone bridge. Hand in hand, they slowly made their way over the bridge.
Half way across Tauriel whispered, "This feels like a trap."
"Of course it's a trap," responded Victoria.
The abandoned fortress looked like something out of a child's nightmare. The roof had collapsed everywhere, long rusted chains ran a long the walls, torturous looking cages hung from some of those chains. And the bones, the bones where everywhere. They were scattered all over the floor and some seemed be fused to the walls. Only one tower still stood to the northeast, and Victoria was trying to make her way to it but this place was a labyrinth. Giving up on finding a way to the tower, Victoria reached a large open area with two walls collapsed, leading to a fatal fall. There was also a small bridge between the two ledges, leading across the fortress. Starting to get a feel for the concealment magic, Victoria decided to try and dispel it here. Letting go of Tauriel's hand she said, "Get ready."
Holding the Elder Wand aloft, she shouted, "Aparecium." Her wand tip glowed white for a second as the Disillusionment Charm wore off. She could feel the concealment weakening.
"Finite Incantatem!" Victoria shouted. Oddly, Vilya pulsed and the Counter Spell let out a blue light that shone in all directions from her wand tip. Nothing changed for a second before Victoria felt the entire concealment spell drop. The first thing she noticed was a big white orc with a big scary mace lunging right at her.
'Protego,' she thought, a blue circular shield appearing at her wand tip. As the mace impacted the shield, the magic pulsed sending Azog a half dozen steps backwards. Twenty orcs about half the size of the Defiler stood around Azog. As Victoria started backing up toward the pathway, she drew her sword and let loose a bolt of lightning at Azog. He seemed to expect this as he grabbed a smaller orc and threw it in the path of the lightning. What he didn't expect was the lightning to impact on the orc, killing him and throwing him back, knocking Azog off balance and over the left ledge. Victoria watched orcs beginning to fall to invisible arrows as she looked down to see Azog had merely fallen one level below and he was riding off on a warg. Bringing her attention back to the fight, she saw two orcs nock arrows and aim at her as the others slowly started toward her.
"Depulso," she muttered, sweeping her wand as the orcs loosed the arrows. Midway through their flight, the arrows stopped, turned around, and rocketed toward the orcs that shot them.
Aiming her wand at the closest orc, she twirled the tip around in a small circle before jabbing it forward muttering, "Sagittum." An arrow shot out of the tip with the thum of a bowstring, impaling the orc through the forehead.
Victoria only got off another three spells, before Tauriel had dropped the rest. Victoria thought this small skirmish was over until five orcs riding wargs came barreling around a corridor on the far end of the area from the pair.
The first orc and rider died to two invisible arrows fired together, and the second set were burned from the inside by lightning. No creature since Azog made it within fifteen feet of them.
"You were right, my dear elf. This is too easy with you here, only once at the beginning did they even get close to us." Victoria turned to start down the bridge behind them and made it a few steps out on to it before an enormous entity made of pure shadow and black smoke erupted into existence out of nowhere.
"Of course, I could have spoken too soon."
A/N: Six chapters in and we finally meet up with Tauriel. I hope I wrote her interactions well enough. Feel free to share any advice. Sagittum is an incantation I made up for the Arrow-Shooting Spells Harry reads about being banned at Quidditch matches. Based on the constellation Sagitta which is latin for arrow. Sorry if the first half is mostly movie stuff but Victoria needed to hear some of that info.