"You are leaving?" she asked causing the wizard to turn.

Gandalf nodded, seeing the irritation in her yellow eyes. "I have other matters to attend."

"Such as the necromancer," she said knowing he would not freely tell her.

He did no more than sigh, realizing she had heard Radagast.

She stared hard at him, feeling a fire break out under her skin. "You said my accompanying them would only be for a short while."

"And it will be but a short while longer," he assured her, wanting her to stay with the dwarves as long as he was able to keep her there.

"Do you mean for me to be the one to face the dragon?" she asked dangerously, her eyes glittering. "I have met Smaug, and as handsome as he is, I care little for him."

"You may leave now if you like," he offered her, hoping she wouldn't agree, though knowing she might.

The anger in her eyes diminished slightly as frustration filled its place. "You expect me to leave them now when you do?" she asked. "Dwarves are not known for their intelligence. If we both left them now they would quite possibly die."

"That is very true," Gandalf said, relieved she was seeing why she could not leave Thorin's Company just yet.

"I will not go into the wood, Gandalf," she told him firmly, knowing that was where they were leaving Beorn's house for.

"That is where they will need you most," he tried to insist, but even then a refusal was on the tip of her tongue.

"The sky is shrouded by leaves, the air is still and heavy. I will not go there," she insisted.

"What would you do then?" Gandalf asked her, his own frustrations growing. "Meet them on the other side?"

"If they make it to the other side," she muttered realizing why Gandalf was having her stay. "I cannot guarantee I can keep them safe, Thorin still mistrusts me."

"That he does," Gandalf nodded. "I believe he has suspicions of you, that you are no mere woman. It is of grave importance you do not,"

"let him know what I am," she finished, Gandalf having warned her many times before. "You would think after I saved him from a warg he would get over himself."

Gandalf chucked softly. "Do not let them leave the path."

…

That had not proved very hard. After the first night what seemed like thousands of eyes watched them as they slept, making the dwarves more than a little uneasy. They did not know what was watching them, what was following them as they walked along the path.

She knew, she could see them; in the dark, in the barely visible green light of day. Horrid creatures she could not face as she was now.

"You see them," Thorin mused one night as they rested, seeing a small gleam from her strange eyes.

"Yes," she answered shortly, saying no more.

He stared hard at where he knew her to be, but seeing nothing in the blackness. "What kind of creatures are they?"

"More heinous than you would like," she told him, rolling so her back was to him.

Thorin laid quietly at her side, thinking hard. "What are you?" he asked, pushing the back of her dress down further to trace the black markings on her back. Seeing the wings painted on her skin in Rivendell had been when his suspicions further grew; now, in the dark and unable to see her, he was finding that they did not matter much anymore.

"I did not tell you when you first asked and I will not tell you now," she answered, trying not to shiver from his fingers on her skin.

"Would you leave if I knew?" he asked, running his hands along the smooth skin of her shoulders to see if he could feel the markings – her skin was so warm, as though a flame flickered beneath it. He wondered if she did not want them to know what she was or if they would grow to hate her with the knowledge.

It was the latter, though she did not tell him that. "Lucky for you that you don't," was her answer, making him smirk slightly before he turned from her.

…

"We were told not to the leave the path," she said firmly, glaring at Bombur. She had liked it better when he was asleep; she wanted to slam his head into a tree so he would sleep again.

Thorin looked up at her, not willing to trust her with their lives but knowing she knew more than they did on what lay off the path. "What other option do we have?" he demanded. "We have no food, no water. Would you have us all die?"

She turned her golden eyes on him, they had darkened in her anger. "We will be through of the forest in less than five days. The trees thin in no more than a two days walk, food will be found there. Can you not last long enough?" she asked nearly sneering, igniting the dwarf king's anger as well.

"Bilbo saw the trees never end," Kili voiced trying to make her see.

"What hope do we have if there's no way out?" Fili said following his brother.

"They have the most delicious food," Bombur said, having not remembered her when he woke – she had not been at Bilbo's house that spring. "I am going." And with that he stepped off the path.

When nothing attacked him the others were quick to follow. "I suppose this is where we will part ways," Thorin said having stayed behind a moment.

She stared down at him, knowing they would get themselves killed. "I suppose so."

"Will you at least now tell me what you are?" he asked moving toward where the others had gone.

She smiled at him; it was not cruel, it was not prideful; it was a genuine smile for she had grown to like the arrogant dwarf. She stepped toward him and bent low to kiss him full on the lips. "I wish you all the luck in world Thorin Oakenshield."

They both stepped in opposite directions – one through the trees and one along the path. She would have left, would have broken through the trees above her. And yet, even though they had left, she walked along listening for them. It was because she was listening to the dwarves why she did not hear the elf before he had her by the throat.

…

"I know what you are," the Elvenking said after a long while of staring at her. He took in her golden eyes, her golden skin. He took in her beauty, and the danger lying behind her strange eyes. He had heard tales, they were but a few, and now standing before him he could see they were true. "Why would dwarves travel with the likes of you?" he questioned her.

She did not like him, his haughty voice grated on her nerves. She had not wanted to enter his woods, she should have left the Company at Beorn's.

"Do they even know what you are?" he asked staring curiously at her. The sound of heavy feet reached their ears and Thranduil smiled. "Would you like to tell them, or should I?"