Kili groaned, blinking open his eyes. At once, he felt himself restrained and realized he was tightly secured against another being. Fuzzy, he tried to remember what had happened.
He was a dwarf of Thorin's company. They had been captured by elves, and he had been wounded in their escape.
Then… nothing. Kili could not remember anything after that. He groaned, trying to force himself to remember, trying to realize what trouble he was in.
After a minute of attempting, he knew that forcibly trying to remember was pointless. Kili would have to open his eyes to actually learn anything. Muttering quietly under his breath, he forced his eyes open.
Immediately, light flooded his gaze, and he turned away sharply. He had a headache, but it wasn't unbearable. Rather, it was quite mild. Kili focused his eyes downward, looking at his wound. To his shock, it was nearly gone – there was only a loose bandage and a twinge – if not less – of pain. Kili knew that he was on a horse with another rider who had presumably been keeping him from falling off.
Of course, the question, as always, was if they were friend or foe. Kili could not believe that his enemies would be holding him gently – or allowing him to sleep at all. Unless they were in quite a hurry, then they would not waste a horse's energy on a prisoner.
Kili knew that the other being had probably felt him moving and knew he was awake. He risked turning his head to look at the one behind him.
His brother sat there, looking at him with a concerned smile on his face. He seemed ecstatic that Kili had woken, but he also seemed concerned about his wounded brother.
"Awake, are you?" Fili asked, mouth twitching into a grin before falling back into a worried stare.
"Aye," Kili groaned. "What has happened, brother? Where do we ride?"
"A lot has happened, Kili," Fili warned. "The elf, Tauriel, has saved you from the poison that wracked your body. Her companion, Legolas of Mirkwood, has been captured. Due to the debt we owe to her and due to our own kinship with each other, we have agreed to help."
"Everyone?" Kili mumbled. "But what about the mountain? What happened, Fili?"
"You do not remember?" Fili asked, troubled. "That does worry me. We shall ask Tauriel upon her return if that is normal. Thorin and all others but Ӧin, Bofur, myself, and yourself rode across the lake to the Lonely Mountain. They work to complete our quest."
"Why are we not with them?" Kili asked, trying to process the information he'd been given so quickly and matter-of-factly.
"Bofur was late to the boat, and you were injured. I stayed with you because of a promise made, and Ӧin knew his place was with the injured, rather than the warriors."
"No!" Kili protested. "Do not tell me that you gave up the ability to gaze at Erebor among the first of our kind to do so again for my sake! Why did you not go? You belong with that company."
"I belong with you, brother," Fili stated. "You know that. We would stay together – we have made sure of that for this entire quest. I would not finish it without you. We will see Erebor again, and we will see it together."
Kili nodded, too overwhelmed to actually protest his decision. The others had left and presumably entered Erebor already. He and three others had been left behind due to his ailment, which Tauriel had healed.
Suddenly, his heart gave a strange lurch. Tauriel. He had dreamed of her calling to him through the darkness. When nothing light was in the world of shadows, she entered his dreams and called him back, forced him into the light again.
"Did – did Tauriel truly save me?" he asked wonderingly.
"Yes, brother," Fili said. "Do you know her well?"
"Not as well as I would like," Kili admitted. "Do you think she would ever truly like me, Fili?" Fili looked at him, confused.
"Tauriel does like you; she saved you. If that is not a bond of kinship, then I do not know what is."
"No, brother, you misunderstand," Kili said impatiently. "Do you think Tauriel could ever – love – me?"
"I –" Fili stuttered, shocked at what his brother had admitted. "I do not know. I only know that Tauriel has gazed on you in these past days with fondness and friendship. She truly wished to save you, Kili. Perhaps something could happen between you."
"I hope you, brother," Kili said, beginning to drift to sleep. "She is beautiful, is she not? So fine and fair. How could an elf such as she ever love me?" He closed his eyes and, once again, fell to sleep. Fili sighed, staring at his brother.
On one hand, he wished that his brother had been delirious to say such things as proclaiming his love for an elf. On the other hand, however, it made sense. Fili knew that they had talked. Tauriel had said that when she mentioned his stone and his promise. It was also clear that Tauriel cared about his life. If she cared as only a companion, Kili would be heartbroken.
Fili knew his brother well. He had never known Kili to be so moonstruck over a woman. This was new territory – literally. Fili could remember no history of love between dwarves and elves in any of the books he had ever studied. As the nephew of a king, he had studied a lot, training to be the king one day.
Unless the books he read were too biased – and they were biased – to mention the love between an elf and a dwarf, then there had been none. Tauriel and his small company of four had already broken history, travelling well and travelling efficiently together. Now, Kili wished to change history even further. He loved an elf, and as Fili thought, there was quite a chance that Tauriel returned his love.
12312312312312312312312323123123123123123123123123123123123123123123123123123123123
Legolas trembled before the shadows. They tortured his mind, trying to break his will, to melt it until it bended to the Necromancer's. The shadows echoed the Necromancer's words, making them seem more menacing, more terrible and powerful than before.
Legolas bit his lip, trying to hide his fear, and looked directly into the darkness. He ignored Bolg's grip on his arms, fastening him into place. He could not run; he could not hide. However, Legolas wished to do neither of those things. He would face this as one of the Eldar – proud, resourceful, and hopefully saved in the nick of time.
"I will never bend to your will. I will never fight for you. You wish to break me, to make me an aide for your evil, terrible ends. I refuse. I am durable as the rivers, always flowing, always going. I am tall as the trees, reaching for the sun unfailingly, no matter the time. I am strong as the earth, walking its sands for thousands of years. Necromancer, you cannot touch me." Legolas glared into the fiendish being. He heard a laugh, not from Bolg – who had angrily tightened his hold on Legolas' arm. The Necromancer was laughing, and the harsh sound echoed among the cave, surrounding Legolas.
"Elf, princeling," the shadows called. "You are easy to deceive, my delusional elf. You say you are durable when rivers can dry and flood, defenseless from the rain and sun. You say you are tall, when trees fall and die to fire and flame, becoming weak, becoming nothing. You say you are strong when stone and sand can be crushed underfoot and burned and hacked away. Fear me, princeling. I dare you not to."
"I will never fear you; I will never give in to you," Legolas stated, cold, sure of himself. "No matter what is done, no matter if light deserts me, I shall still fight, and one day, I will win."
"And what is winning, elf?" the Necromancer replied. "Is it escape? Or death? Escape is impossible – you will learn that quickly. And death? Death from these weapons, in this place of terrible strength, causes confinement in the shadow world. You do not wish to be a servant, elf? How about a wraith?"
"You jest!" Legolas declared. "You cannot control death, as much as you would try, Necromancer. You will never control nature, nor bend it under your will. I am nature, and I am not weak."
"Have you not said that before?" the Necromancer growled. "You said you were strong as nature when even the wild falls before me. Elf, she what you could become!"
Suddenly, images flashed through Legolas' mind. He saw himself, powerful, stronger, radiating dark power. Legolas saw himself in front of an army. He watched as Middle Earth fell before him, weaker than him. He was stronger than the Earth, stronger than the sea. Legolas would feel no sea-longing, he was above that. He would not lose his will over the cry of the sea.
Tauriel stood before him, alive, beautiful. She was perfect – as always, and yet, she looked even more stunning bowing before him, the aloof, powerful creature, at his feet. All would respect him, all would fear him. The whole of Middle Earth would know his name.
Legolas Greenleaf.
Destroyer.
Rebuilder.
Power.
Beauty.
He would be everything, and everything he ever wanted would be his…
All he had to do… was agree with the Necromancer's plans.
He had to enter the darkness.
Legolas took a step towards the Necromancer, nearly swaying, drunk on his own power. Then a picture of Tauriel as she truly was tore his thoughts away from what he could be.
Tauriel, dead, cold. She was not breathing because of her love for the dwarves. He was captured for the same reason.
"Nay!" he screamed. "I will not give in! You will not corrupt me, Deceiver!"
"Are you sure, son of Thranduil? You were meant to be a king, worshipped and strong. Instead, you cower in darkness because you do not embrace power. You are fond of the dead she-elf? If you are powerful, then you can bring her back!"
Suddenly, the shadow before him erupted into fire, blazing him with intense heat. Legolas cried out, shielding his eyes as much as possible. A silhouetted form gazed out at him. It was clearly an elf.
Tauriel.
"Together, we would have the power to save her! She would return, safe, in your arms, and no one would dare take her away again! You protest – but what about your family? They reside in Valinor, and one day, soon! We can go there. We can overtake the West, and they can be saved; they can be healed. Do you not want your family saved, Legolas? You were weak once, and you failed. Change now! And save them, Prince of Mirkwood."
"You say that I would save! But what would be the cost? Countless immortal lives would be destroyed. You say that Tauriel would return to me? Would she not be sickened by what I have become? And you mention saving my mother and brother. Were you not the one to cause their torture? Did you not relish in every cut they received, every time they were broken and screaming? You are a monster, and I will never join you of my own free will."
12312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312
Hey, guys! I hope this is up to my normal standards! I pulled an all-nighter last night. On that note, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Unfortunately, this is probably my last chapter before I drop to a once a week schedule. I go back to school tomorrow…
Tell me what you think! Please review!
Thanks to all my readers and reviewers!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything! It's all Tolkien's with a bit of Peter Jackson thrown in!