Kili stared into the eye. It was hypnotizing, and it absorbed him, drawing him in, forcing him to comply to his wishes.
He would not.
"I will not fall!" he said. "I am too strong."
"You are trapped. Defenseless. Weak." The darkness was swirling around him, shadows black and grey and everywhere.
He couldn't stop it, but he could resist it.
Kili took a step backwards, away from the swelling flames that bit into his skin with their ire and flaming power.
It was everywhere, but the shadow couldn't hurt him. He had heard of its power. Everyone knew of the darkness' power.
But not everyone had to fall to it.
Many had fought.
Many had resisted.
Many had failed.
Few had succeeded.
But when had Kili ever been normal with things like that?
For the darkness to corrupt and win and destroy, then it had to make him believe in what it was saying. Nothing was holding there except his own mind. Kili stumbled another step backwards.
The oppressive feel, the blackness… it was all fake, and it could all be defeated. Kili heard voices speaking to him.
They whispered of terrible things, of terrible power and resentment and hate. It was all hate.
And it was all fake.
"You will not control me," Kili breathed. The Necromancer, weaving spells and enchantments with furious precision, did not answer.
"You will not control me," he repeated, louder, more strong.
Kili moved another step, breaking through the barrier of darkness. It felt like a physical weight was pushing against him, pulling at him.
The shadows didn't have that sort of power.
He could do this.
He could escape.
"You will not control me," he groaned out, feeling as if the dark river was tearing against him.
He would not be defeated.
Kili scooted backwards another few centimeters.
The barrier tore against him. There was blood streaming from the cuts it created. He was in agony. Everything hurt and itched, and all he wanted to do was to scratch at it, to tear his skin, to try and lessen the pain.
He saw blood begin to drip to the floor. Hesitant, he took a step forward.
There was a pounding in his ears, so heavy it was near painful.
He could hear the being's voice in the shadow, telling him to step closer, to fall, to break.
To be defeated.
Kili snapped his head to the side, snarling as his will began to grapple with the monster before him.
The blood disappeared, as did the itching.
It was fake.
It was all fake.
And he could defeat it.
"You will not control me!" he screamed, throwing himself out the shadow's path, breaking its hold on him.
He had won.
But standing in the middle of the stones, looking around him at the ruins and the shadows, he realized that it was only one fight, and he still faced a hundred battles.
But he would win.
He was strong, and he would not fall before shadow. He would fall before anyone.
He was one of Durin's sons, and he was proud.
No one could take his pride or conviction or drive.
He was untouchable.
12312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312
Fili raced out of the tunnel, out of Dol Guldur. Ӧin, gasping for breath, was beside him, and Bofur was a bit behind him.
They had almost made it.
The orcs were trailing behind them, seemingly content to only run them out of Dol Guldur.
Seemingly content with only taking his brother with them.
They had Kili.
They had Kili.
They had Kili.
Fili was not a fool. He knew that Legolas was a great warrier, and he had emerged from the darkness unconscious and nearly dead.
He had seen the blood seeping from the prince's body like water, swimming over grey stone.
The same grey stone where Kili was now trapped.
He had to save his little (they had Kili)
brother. After all, he had promised his mother to protect his reckless little (they had Kili) brother. What was he going to do? He had (they had Kili) save him. There was (they had Kili) no other option. If he didn't, (they had Kili) then he had broken a promise.
But that really didn't matter. Because (they had Kili) Kili was with them, being (they had Kili) tortured. He was trapped in (they had Kili) darkness and shadows.
Fili hardly noticed as he approached their three companions.
Tauriel looked up as he came closer. She was still bent over Legolas, but she seemed more aware then she had been when they left.
"Did you get it?" she demanded. She looked straight at Fili. Numb, he opened his mouth to respond, staring into her eyes, staring into the pain of her soul and the hope and the fear.
It seemed to reflect his own.
He swallowed, unable to speak for a second, sensing the other dwarves fidgeting with their failure.
Their terrible, horrid failure.
"They have Kili," he said, staring at her with hope and fear and hatred and anger.
"They have Kili."
"No!" Tauriel let out a shocked gasp, panic and horror flooding into his eyes.
"They have Kili," Fili repeated again. His voice cracked on the note, and he raised a hand to his cheek, feeling a cold trail of water running down it.
He was crying.
"We have to save him," Tauriel said, looking at the dwarves. She stood, stepping away from Legolas for the first time since they had found him.
"I know," Fili murmured, his gaze falling to the stones.
They were red with blood. Suddenly, Fili saw Kili sprawled along the ground, blood running into his hair, forming a puddle.
He shook his head.
The blood was still there, but it was once again Legolas' blood.
Not his brother.
An elf. A prince.
The shadow had claimed so many victims.
Fili felt Tauriel wrap her arms around him, hesitant but comforting. As soon as she had pulled him into a hug, he collapsed, clutching her arm as thick sobs left him. Fili tried to control his emotions, but he couldn't stop thinking.
If an elf, thousands of years old as well as a prince in line for the throne of a kingdom veiled with the shadow, couldn't fight it, then how could his baby brother.
Kili was his rock.
They were always together.
And now, they were falling apart.
Tauriel's arms suddenly seemed to be keeping him together. They felt comforting, and he wrapped his arms around the elf as well, tears beginning to slow.
Fili needed to save him.
He needed to protect Kili.
He may have failed, but he still could win.
Tears drying, he stepped away from Tauriel.
"We have to save him," he said.
12312312313212312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312
Tauriel couldn't believe it, couldn't comprehend what Fili was saying.
Kili was gone.
He was captured.
He was imprisoned in the same place as Legolas was.
Tauriel glanced down at Legolas, seeing the thick bandages around his wrists.
Whatever was down there, it had made Legolas want to die.
What would it do to Kili?
Ai, Kili had been afflicted by the poisoned wound. There was a shadow that haunted him. It always would, but it was usually unnoticeable, never leaving but not affecting.
However, that meant the darkness already had a tendril in Kili. It was one step, one vital step that took strength and courage to prevent, closer to destroying him.
It was already inside him.
Legolas was the same to a point. The void created by his grief was a small hole in his soul. He could not have stopped the shadow from entering it.
Luckily, it wasn't as bad for Kili. The wound was newly healed, and her magic would block the shadow for a short amount of time. Perhaps, her magic would even protect him to a small degree.
It mattered not and affected nothing.
No matter what, they had to save him.
Kili had fought too hard to keep his promise for it to be torn away from him now.
12312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312312
Hey, guys! Thanks for sticking with this for so long. So… quick update! Yay! I'm going back to my – update AT LEAST once every seven days.
It will probably be less than that. I have a great new LotR story idea, and I've promised myself I would not write it until I finished this.
Call it my motivation…
Thanks to all readers and reviewers.
As to the fact that Sindarin would be spoken instead of Quenya. I will work on editing that, but I'd have to translate A LOT to fix it. I'm going to just work on finishing this, and not using Quenya now as opposed to delaying updates to edit it all out.
Thanks for telling me though!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit