Hello, again!

Sorry that took so long, I know I've left you with a rather nasty cliffhanger... (mwaha :D) But as promised, the next chapter is here today and I hope you forgive me for the last one :D

I was really happy about all your reviews though, even if you all didn't quite like how the last chapter ended, I loved to see your reactions! :D

Keep them coming! And enjoy the new chapter!

The only thing she could see was darkness.

Though, seeing it was not quite right. She rather felt it. The darkness. As if it was put over her like a blanket. She was completely surrounded by it, sinking, slowly getting swallowed by it and there was nothing she could do.

There was this little part of her mind that was still functioning and trying to fight itself through the blur that had invaded her head. Trying to tell her that she had to open her eyes and to move but to no avail.

She was afraid. And she felt like she was slowly becoming weaker, losing her will to fight the thick blackness off. It was as if she was caught in a cobweb. She was stuck.

Tarya knew she was still alive, though. Well, yet. That fact itself was quite surprising. That cursed orc blade had hit her right in the flank if she remembered right.

She was breathing. A fact that could easily be proven by the sharp pain that ripped through her every few moments, bringing air into her lungs. Come to think of it, that orc blade might still be stuck in her body, she thought, which could be an explanation for the pain, too. That was a rather unpleasant thought.

But there was something else not right. Something apart from having been hit by an orcish blade and lying half-dead on the dusty ground.

She felt like she was not alone in this darkness that clouded her mind.

And soon enough, the whispering started.

Elrond put his sword back in its sheath while looking around the land. He wondered what had driven these orcs so close to Imladris. It was highly unusual.

"Father!"

He raised his head and looked over to his eldest son, Elladan, who was sitting on his horse about a hundred metres away. He was pointing to something.

"Over here!" Elladan called and the Elf Lord rode over to him quickly. When he arrived at his son's side, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Still breathing," Elladan said, dismounting his horse to kneel down beside the figure that was lying on the ground next to a dead warg and an orc that had an elfish arrow coming out of his head. "It is not a warg."

Elrond nodded while his gaze studied the big black wolf. Could it be possible…? But if this truly was what he thought it to be, then what was it doing here? Had it been fighting the orcs? Had it been captive, maybe? He didn't know what to think of what he was seeing.

That was until his eyes found a distinct mark around the wolve's right paw.

And then he knew what had driven the wolf.

But now he was even less sure of what this scene that was set before him actually meant.

"We will take it to our healing chambers. Alatáriël will know how to tend to the wounds." Lord Elrond said and his son simply nodded, not knowing why his father wanted to get a wolf treated in their chambers. But he obeyed to his wishes nonetheless.

Elrond watched then as Elladan cautiously removed the blade that was half sticking to the wolf's side and took off his cloak and wrapped it around it to keep the bleeding in check.

Elladan then lifted the animal onto his arms and turned around to his father, looking at him questioningly.

"You will ride with her on your horse," Elrond said, after a moment of thought. "Be careful."

Elladan didn't know why he had referred to the wolf as 'her'.

Kili was walking down a narrow path into the valley of Imladris behind Bilbo. The hobbit's face had an expression of pure awe and amazement on it but Kili couldn't simulate the feeling. He hadn't really been paying attention to their whole surroundings for quite a while now. Ever since he had followed Fili out of the cave everything just sort of flew by him.

He hadn't seen the beauty of the place they had arrived in. And he didn't care, either. He couldn't foster one nice thought, all he could think about was how Tarya had been killed.

He couldn't stop the horrible images that had by now formed in his head. He saw his animal friend die in various ways.

She had been killed by a blasted orc or warg while she had been trying to help him. She'd protected him. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have stayed back to fight off his persecutors. It was his entire fault. He'd just been too slow.

If he could just have –

"Stop thinking about it," Fili said quietly from behind him and ripped him out of his train of thoughts.

"I can't," Kili answered honestly without turning around.

"It was not your fault," Fili continued, ignoring his brother's mocking huff to his statement. "It was her decision to stay behind."

"Yes, she was trying to protect me," the brunette dwarf muttered, guiltily.

"Yes, because she was… your friend. She was your friend, Kili, and she wouldn't want you to think the way you do now." Fili had always been sceptic of his brother's ways with animals but this time, he was sure that he knew what had been going on in an animal's mind for once. And Tarya was more than a simple animal. She had been smart, brave, friendly and Mahal, she had even been funny. And she had been Kili's friend, without a doubt.

Fili had come to care about the Amarok as well and he had certainly been amazed by the relationship and understanding that had built up between her and his brother.

But as brutal as the phrase 'life goes on' might be, it was the truth.

Kili didn't answer his statement and Fili didn't want to push him to it. He would just need time, he guessed.

They eventually crossed a slender bridge and arrived on a platform before the entrance to the Last Homely House west of the Mountains.

A brown-haired elf came towards them.

"Mithrandir," he called out to Gandalf, amiably. Kili wanted to stop listening right there and then and just go somewhere and be alone.

But he couldn't do that, so he listened with half an ear to Gandalf's conversation with the elf that lead to the conclusion that apparently, Lord Elrond wasn't there. Whoever that fellow was.

"Not here? Where is he?" Gandalf asked and got answered by a horn that sounded in the distance. Kili was ripped out of his mind-numbness for a moment, then, as the clopping of hooves filled the air and as the dwarves turned around, they saw an elfish hunting party coming their way.

"Close ranks!" Thorin ordered immediately and everyone did as they were told, pulling their swords and axes from their sheaths and Bilbo Baggins into the safety of the circle they had formed.

The elves surrounded them on their horses, looking down on them. Kili couldn't decipher what they were thinking, if they looked hostile or neutral. But then again, he couldn't really bring himself to care.

"Gandalf!" A tall elf with brown hair called, smiling at the wizard.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf smiled.

There was obviously no danger coming from these elves, Kili thought, at least it didn't seem like it. The wizard and the elf talked in Sindarin for a moment and some of the dwarves grumbled disapprovingly.

As Lord Elrond dismounted his horse, he made a few steps towards Gandalf to greet him.

"Strange for orcs to come this close to our borders. Something – or someone – has drawn them near…" Elrond said with a pointed look at the company and his old friend.

"Ah, that may have been us," Gandalf replied sheepishly.

Elrond just smiled slightly and then walked back past the company to another rider. The dwarves watched him warily when he stopped beside another brown-haired elf.

"Take her straight to Alatáriël, Elladan" He said and his expression was now worried.

"A good thing that we arrived in time, otherwise she might not have made it to the healing chambers." Elrond then said to them, "She was travelling with you, I take it?"

Now he had the whole company's attention for none of them had a clue what the Elf Lord was talking about.

But as they looked over at him, they saw him lift a figure from Elladan's horse so that he could dismount without it falling off.

Thorin's eyes widened when he saw the black wolf now lying unconsciously in Elladan's arms after Elrond had given it to him.

The young elf quickly carried her into the house then, obviously aiming for the healing chambers.

Thorin threw a quick look at Gandalf when Lord Elrond sent him an inquisitive look.

"Or am I mistaken?"

Thorin could only shake his head before regaining his voice.

And then Thorin saw something flash in the wizard's eyes, as he looked at the wolf that was being carried away, something that he had seen before when he had looked at Tarya. It was fascination and something like jovial amazement. Thorin had somewhat become used to that look since the wizard always had it ever since the moment he had first set eyes on Tarya and whenever he had watched her around the group or Kili.

But the expression in the wizard's eyes was even stronger now and there was something else in these bright blue eyes, too, but the dwarf-king couldn't decipher it.

"No, you are not," he managed to say then, catching Elrond's attention. "She was travelling with us. We had thought her lost."

The dwarf-king heard quiet, agitated murmuring behind him but he didn't react to it. He didn't need to turn around to his nephew to know the look on his face. But they would have enough time for that later.

"You are travelling with an Amarok then, Thorin, son of Thrain."