A/N: Thank the Lord above it's almost summer. I am so tired of school. :P

Haha, anyone remember when the third Hobbit movie was set to release in July of this year? Thinking about it now, I'm actually really glad they pushed it back to December, because knowing what's gonna happen... I'M NOT READY I'LL NEVER BE READY SJHDAK

Chaos Unleashed: Part Two

Chapter Eleven

Kaia's POV

For what seemed like ages, I stumbled along between my two captors in the darkness, completely robbed of my sight from the cloth still tightly tied over my eyes (though honestly, I doubt I would've been able to see much better without it anyway). I had no clue where these guys were leading me, and my hands were also bound behind my back. They'd left me totally helpless, and every hair on the back of my neck was standing up as we pressed on. I could only hope that they hadn't hurt Frodo or the others if they'd been taken, too.

After awhile, though, I noticed that the disgusting smell from earlier was growing stronger, and it made me want to gag. It smelled like damp earth, must, and nasty water that had been sitting still for way too long. A swamp? Is that where we're going? I racked my brain, trying to figure out who these guys might be. Who the hell lives in a swamp? They definitely weren't Orcs, though...they were being too civil for that.

As I was wallowing in my panicked thoughts, I suddenly felt a hand gently grasp my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. "We have arrived, my lady. I am going to remove the cloth now."

I sucked in a breath as his fingers undid the knot, and as the blindfold fell away, my eyes instantly took in the landscape around me, realizing that I'd been right. The jagged rocks of Emyn Muil had been replaced by flat earth, shifting and stretching out to the horizon as the murky waters of a centuries-old swamp dotted it in pockets everywhere. There was hardly any life here at all, with nothing but dead and dying shrubbery scattered across the ground. The sky was still a fierce looking cloudy grey, with a thin, low-lying fog enveloping the area.

But the weirdest thing about it was the feeling of...death. And it wasn't just from the terrain itself. Something's not right, I thought as the man behind me pushed me forward again. I feel like I just walked into a ghost town. Tearing my eyes away from our surroundings, I realized this was the first chance I'd get to look at my captors somewhat. Though I could only see the back of the first one's head in the darkness, I quickly noticed his impressive height and sleek, dark hair falling over his shoulders. He looked like he was dressed in clothes that worked as a sort of camouflage in the swampland, and carried a long sword at his side.

I didn't get to turn and see the one behind me, and none of us spoke until a single flickering flame came into view not far off. "What's that?" I asked.

"That is our camp," the one in front of me responded, "and it is where we are to take you. Come."

I followed diligently, and eventually we came to what could best be described as a system of makeshift tents hidden well in a small alcove on the very edge of Emyn Muil. In this particular area, there were lots of dried out bushes and other dead plants that grew on a small sloped hill connecting up into the rock as well, forming a slight U shape that the campsite was nestled in. I was led in quickly and quietly, surprised to hear one or two other voices floating around as we walked.

Finally, we rounded a final corner, and my heart leapt to see Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Aragorn all seated on barrels and crates in front of us, looking totally alive. "Oh God!" I gasped, smiling widely in relief as I felt someone untying my hands. "I thought I'd lost you!"

"We thought the same as well," the ranger replied with a nod. His gaze then flicked past me, and I turned around to finally get a good look at the faces of our captors.

The taller one that had been in front of me earlier motioned for me to sit down. "Please, make yourself comfortable. You will likely be here for a long while." In the dim light given off by a few torches lit here and there, I could see that his hair was a deep brownish-black, with stormy blue eyes set into a firm, but friendly face with a well-defined jaw. The other one stood next to him, still tall (though a few inches shorter) and with the same straight, dark hair, though his was a bit more on the brown side. His eyes were a soft green that almost reminded me of Erin's, and his face was long and lean. That wasn't what stood out to me about both of them, though.

I gaped at them in shock. "You...You're elves!" I exclaimed, staring at their pointed ears.

The taller one had an amused look in his eye. "That we are. My name is Erurainon*, and this is Neurion*. We are servants of Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm in the north."

"Servants?" Aragorn questioned from beside me. "Of what kind?"

"Some call us servants, other see us as spies," Erurainon replied calmly. "But rest assured, you are in the presence of friends here. We never meant any harm to come to you...though the lady here did manage to injure Neurion with her impressive reflexes."

I glanced at the other elf and noticed the bandages hastily wrapped over his side. "Sorry about that..." I winced.

"It will heal," he said dismissively.

"Why have you taken us captive?" Aragorn pressed. I glanced over at him, and his face was still grim. Clearly he wasn't in the mood for small talk.

Erurainon noticed it too, suddenly going into business mode. "The King has many ways of keeping watch over areas outside of his own kingdom, and we are one of them. We serve as his eyes and ears in whatever way he requires." He paused for a moment, beginning to slowly pace back and forth in front of us as he continued. "Not long ago, we received a message from King Thranduil that spoke of a strange group of travelers who had mysteriously appeared in Mirkwood and come to the Halls of the King seeking refuge. The King's own son, Prince Legolas, was among them." My eyes widened. "With him were also two young women and a man of Gondor."

"Are they safe?" Pippin suddenly blurted out. He looked so excited at the news that Kathryn was still alive.

Erurainon nodded. "Yes. They are perfectly fine. But they also came to the King in desperation; warning him that there were others who had been with them in their travels...a group that they had been separated from. The King's message asked us and all others like us to watch for signs of this group appearing. Our orders were to capture them and hold them at our campsite until told otherwise."

"There are others like you?" Frodo asked.

"Many," Erurainon answered, "though we are a discreet group. Few in Middle-Earth know of us, as is our job. But it had the most uncanny timing, that message...for just two days prior, there was a bright flash of blue light spotted deep within Emyn Muil." He looked over us all carefully. "And so we tracked you, waiting for you to come close enough to the edges of the rocks so that we could bring you here."

"Wait, you tracked us?" I asked. "You were tailing us the whole time?"

"The King prides himself in sending only the best of Mirkwood's trackers on missions such as these," Neurion spoke up quietly with a nod. I still just stared at him in shock. Damn. How did they hide so well in there?

But Aragorn seemed a bit more uncomfortable now. "You were ordered to hold us captive?"

Erurainon nodded again, turning to the rugged man. "Think of yourselves not as prisoners, but guests."

"But you cannot let us go?"

"No, we cannot. Our orders from the King were clear."

Now I was looking at the elf warily. "Why not?"

"In truth, I do not know," Erurainon replied. "We were not told in the King's letter. Though I would guess, if it is true that your friends have been discovered in Mirkwood, that they would come looking for you as soon as possible."

I glanced at the others, then back to the elf. "Then what was your plan? Just have us wait until they get here?"

He shrugged. "Essentially, yes. We have already sent a response to the King telling him of your arrival in Middle-Earth. I will send another message to him to let them know that you are awaiting your friends in our camp."

Hmm. I'm not sure I like the sound of that. "And what if we have...other business to take care of?" I questioned, stepping forward a bit. "Important business that we can't afford to waste time sitting here for?"

Erurainon's eyes narrowed slightly, but it was Neurion who answered me. "What business do you have?"

I shook my head. "It's not my place to tell you."

"Then it is not our place to let you go," he replied coolly.

I stared him down for a few moments as Aragorn also cut in from behind me. "Our business is our own," he said lowly. "It would suit you better not to ask questions of it."

There was a tense silence in the room for several seconds as the four of us sent mild glares at each other. I could tell that Erurainon's mind was racing, trying to figure out what was going on. After awhile, he spoke again. "...Very well. We will not press you for information unless it becomes an absolute necessity." Another pause. "Allow Neurion and I to prepare an area for you all to rest in. You must be weary from your travels." When no one said anything back, he gave us a short nod and then quickly made his exit, with Neurion close on his heels.

Once the two elves had left us alone, I spun around and looked at Aragorn. "Well now what?"

"I suppose we are stuck here for the time being, as they said," he replied, moving back to stand by the hobbits. "We have no other choice."

"Okay, but..." I lowered my voice, making sure no one would be able to hear me. "What about Gollum? He isn't here, and the elves didn't mention anything about him. Do you think he got away?"

Aragorn nodded. "It would surprise me if he hadn't escaped capture. He is quite good at that," he pointed out. "But I do not think he will go too far. He would not abandon the Ring so easily."

Now I looked at Frodo, who subconsciously grabbed at the chain around his neck. "So he'll just be lingering for awhile. Okay, fair enough." There was no more to be said after that, so I walked back over to the crate I'd been sitting on and plopped down again. "And now we play the waiting game."

oOo

Erin's POV

I hopped over a twisted root in our path and looked up to make sure Legolas and Tauriel were still in sight as we continued making our way through the forest. I was pretty sure that it was nighttime again, as it had gotten darker and colder than usual. Thinking of the cool night air made me shiver, and I tugged at the dark brown cloak that Thranduil had also given to each of us ('to shield us from unfriendly eyes,' he'd said). I wasn't entirely sure how much progress we'd made, either, though Tauriel had mentioned something earlier that morning about how we were getting close to the Old Forest Road. That's good, I guess.

Suddenly, I blinked. Wait...Did I hear something? I looked up at the two elves in front of me, thinking they'd shouted something back to me. No...Not them... I slowed my pace a bit so that I could barely hear my own footsteps, listening. ...There it was again! It was...like some odd sort of groan, followed by several clicking sounds. Very faint, but it was there. What is this, The Last of Us? I turned around, looking back at Kathryn and Boromir. "Guys. Guys!" I hissed. "Stop! I hear something!"

Kathryn, who was closer to me, paled as she also slowed. "What? Is it more spiders?"

"No...I don't think that's a spider," I said slowly, facing forward again. "Legolas! Legolas, stop!" The elf instantly turned around, and I motioned for him to get Tauriel's attention as I pressed a finger to my lips. "Something's out there!"

Quickly and quietly, the two elves came back to where the rest of us stood absolutely still. "What is it? What do you see?" Tauriel asked.

I shook my head. "Not seen. Heard." I pointed out to the left, and we all turned our heads, waiting for the sound again. Several seconds passed of dead silence as we held our breath.

...And then it came again. A spine-chilling moan, with several clicks behind it.

Tauriel's eyes widened slightly, and she reached for her bow. "A Seeker..." she whispered.

"What?" Boromir asked. "What is that?"

"They are one of Sauron's newer creations," the she elf explained. "They do not see, but find their way through the forests with their sharp hearing." She crouched low to the ground, and the rest of us followed suit. "Do not make a sound," she breathed, then began slowly creeping forward.

I glanced over at Legolas, and even he looked kinda scared as he followed after the redhead. Swallowing thickly, I realized I had no other choice but to do the same and started crawling along after the two elves, praying that one of these things wasn't going to sneak up on me from behind. The further I advanced forward, the louder the groaning and clicking got. Fear gripped me as my eyes darted back and forth, trying to find the thing. Where is it? I keep hearing it, but I can't see it! Soon enough, my back was pressed to a rotting tree trunk, and I was watching Tauriel from the corner of my eye as she also hid behind forest debris, waiting for the right moment.

And then I heard footsteps. Dragging footsteps. Every muscle in my body tensed as I heard the haunting groan loud and clear, followed by the telltale clicks of the monster like it was right next to me. ...Oh shit. Ohhhh shit. Don't move, Erin. Don't move don't look at it just don't don't DON'T... I knew it was stupid to try...but...the curiosity was killing me. And so, against my better judgment, I took as much of a breath as I dared and peeked out from my hiding spot.

What I saw terrified me. This creature...it was standing on its two legs not three yards away from me, swaying on its feet like a zombie as it tried to sense its prey. The thing's body was mutilated in disgusting ways, like it had been made by sewing mismatching parts together. It was completely naked save for a single tattered loincloth around its hips, with no armor except for the crude 'T' shaped piece of metal that seemed like it had been bolted into place on the head. Cracked and dried blood ran in rivulets down the creature's skull and past its gaping mouth, and the same red liquid had been used to paint four eyes across the front and back of the headpiece. But the most horrifying thing of all was that it looked...human. I felt sick as I stared at the thing. This wasn't just some random being spawned from the depths of Mordor. This had once been a living, breathing person. This had been someone in Middle-Earth with a family, likely captured by Sauron's forces and used as an experiment. My stomach churned as the thing twisted around, hunched over like a rabid dog. Oh God...

The Seeker's head suddenly snapped right towards me, and I froze. Oh, fuck! Did it hear me somehow? I didn't dare try to slip back into place now, just continuing to stare as it clicked twice, four times, once more, taking a step closer to me. I fucked up. I fucked up! Turn around! Go the other way, please!

Just as I was about to abandon all aspects of stealth and scream, there was a shout, and the Seeker immediately whipped around as an arrow flew through the air, nailing the creature right in between the eyes. It screeched in agony, recoiling backwards as Tauriel jumped up from her hiding spot and fired another shot, catching the Seeker in the neck and causing it to fall to the ground with a hideous cry. I stepped out from behind the tree fully as she ran over to its body, pulling out her knife and slitting its throat to silence it permanently.

"What were you thinking?" she suddenly hissed, snapping her head up to look at me with a fierce glare.

I stuttered. "I.. I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so close..." The others were also coming out now, gathering around the fallen enemy as Tauriel removed her arrows and wiped them off.

"These creatures are far more intelligent than others, Erin. Juvenile mistakes like that could cost you your life." Without giving me a chance to respond, the redhead quickly got to her feet and drew her bow again. "Come, quickly! There may be others nearby, and they will have heard that. We must go!"

I watched her go for a moment before Legolas brushed past me, breaking into a jog to keep up with the other elf. Kathryn also shot me a look of sympathy before following suit, and Boromir passed without a word as well. My gaze dropped back down to the Seeker's body on the ground, stomach clenching as I looked at what remained of its face. This is what Sauron's doing. He's not just destroying the lands of Middle-Earth, he wants its people, too. I wondered who that person had been before the darkness and destruction hit. What their name was...where they were from...if they'd ever done anything to deserve such a cruel fate.

"Erin! We must move on. We cannot linger!" I heard Legolas call softly from behind.

I tore my eyes away from the dead creature where I'd noticed a large vertical scar on the stomach, as if it had been impaled at some point. That's weird. Wonder how that got there. "Coming," I said over my shoulder, throwing one last glance back at the Seeker before running after the others.

A/N: Oh man, am I having fun with this story. Hahaha

*The names Erurainon and Neurion translate to John and Jake in English. They may or may not have been inspired by a couple plucky Homestuck characters...maaaaybe...

Also, if you didn't already pick up on this, the Seekers introduced in this chapter are heavily based off of the Clicker zombies from the game "The Last of Us." In case you missed the A/N in the second chapter, I HIGHLY recommend you check out the drawing titled "Painted Eyes" by artist Mavros-Thanatos on deviantART (formerly known as StilleNacht). That's what I'm using as a reference when writing these new enemies. :)

See ya next chapter! :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!