Yay, a new chapter! This is definitely my longest one yet :D

Brace yourselves...we're in Mirkwood now...and things are about to get interesting xD

.

It was very grey and dim inside Mirkwood. Fortunately, there was just enough light peeking through the tops of the trees so the company could see where they were going. The air felt close in the atmosphere, it was almost unnatural.

They all were silently walking single file along the Elven path with Thorin at the head. Aira found herself walking behind Balin and in front of Kili. Her eyes scanned the trees all around them, noticing how the trunks and the branches twisted in many strange ways. An almost eerie silence hung over their heads and it was making Aira nervous.

"We should not be here…!" she thought apprehensively to herself. "This feels too dangerous…we should have gone around."

She noticed Thorin kick the dirt on the ground in front of him and then declare, "The path turns this way!" Then he turned left, continuing to follow the path. Aira felt Kili lightly lay a hand against her back as she followed.

The path twisted and turned all throughout the forest, winding through the trees, over rocks and stone overhangs. It felt as if they were wandering around for hours upon hours. Aira could feel the soles of her feet were getting tired and sore, but she chose to ignore it, knowing it would probably be a long while before they could rest. She looked back at Fili and Kili. She could tell they were getting tired, but they weren't letting it get to them. The rest of their companions behind them looked about the same. Aira knew it was just a long day…or days…she honestly had no idea how long they had been in there.

Eventually they stopped for a brief moment to find which way the path turned. Dwalin was tapping the ground with the butt of his axe until he heard the sound of stone beneath it. "This way," he said and took another left turn.

Thorin followed him, but stopped to hold up a tree branch that was hanging low out of the way as Aira, Fili and Kili came up behind him. He gave them a quick nod before turning back to follow Dwalin.

No one knew how much more time passed as they continued on, but along the way, things started to change. The air began to feel heavy and constrictive. It made everyone in the company start to feel a little lightheaded, which affected their movements as they kept walking.

"Air…I need air!" gasped Aira eventually, her hand moving up just below her throat, finding it hard to breathe.

"My head…!" she heard Oin complain. "It's swimming…what's happening?"

Just then, the line stopped and everyone came to a halt.

"Why aren't we moving?" Thorin demanded gruffly. He stepped out of line and walked to the front to Nori, who was now leading them.

"Nori, why have we stopped?" Thorin asked him.

Looking completely flabbergasted, Nori pointed in front of him and exclaimed, "The path…it's disappeared!"

Those in front of the line looked and, to their surprise and disappointment, they saw that they were close to the edge of a large ravine. It was far too long for them to even try and make their way to the other side. Now, they had a problem.

"What's going on?" Dwalin cried out further back.

"We've lost the path!" Oin answered him.

"It has to be here somewhere!" said Aira. "We have to find it!"

"Find it!" Thorin ordered urgently. "All of you, look! Look for the path!"

With their heads swimming and spinning, everyone in the company scattered about to try and find the path. They could all feel that something in the air was making their heads ache, which made them slower in looking and moving around.

Aira trudged around a few trees, looking down at the ground, and felt her head start to reel again and her body wobbled a little. She laid a hand against the trunk of the nearest tree to brace herself, but then suddenly jerked her hand away in surprise, eliciting a tiny cry from her. The bark had stung her hand; it felt as if it was made of millions of tiny needles that had just pricked her skin. Hesitantly, she moved away from the tree and resumed searching for the path. She could hear some of the others talking, but when she heard them, their voices echoed and bounced around in her head and sounded slightly slurred, which was very strange.

"I don't remember this place," exclaimed Balin. "None of it's familiar!"

"But it's got to be here!" said Dori.

"What hour is it?" Thorin called out, his voice sounding tired.

"I don't know…," Dwalin answered. "I do not even know what day it is…."

"Is there no end to this accursed forest?!" Thorin cried out hopelessly.

"We've been searching for hours…!" Fili called out across the way, irritated.

"Surely, the path is here somewhere!" Kili added.

Desperate, Thorin ordered everyone to keep moving but to keep their eyes out for the path. They all slowly and tiredly trudged along again through the forest.

Aira was starting to feel slightly sick and stepped off to the side to catch her breath and let the wave of brief nausea subside as the company continued onward. She braced her hands on her knees and started breathing heavily as she could feel the unpleasant feelings in her stomach lessen.

Just as it went away, she heard a twig snap nearby. Immediately, she straightened up and her hand shot up to the hilt of her sword, ready to defend herself. Aira looked to where she heard the noise and was startled to see a figure peeking at her from behind a distant tree.

It was a beardless Dwarf-woman with curly auburn hair, adorned with gold and silver beads in multiple braids. She was clad in a flowing white dress with a golden belt. She was peering around a tree and smiling invitingly.

To Aira, the woman looked a lot like…her.

But it couldn't be. The woman appeared quite a bit older than Aira. Was she seeing a vision of her future self? No, it didn't feel like that either. Something about the woman still felt familiar, but not quite in that fashion; it felt familiar in a more distant sort of way…as if she knew her somehow, even though she was sure she had never seen the woman before.

Then Aira suddenly realized who the woman was; someone she, indeed, had never before met but whom she had been told multiple times that she was the mirror image of.

"Mother…?" she asked out loud, still completely stunned.

Telyna said nothing, but simply smiled and nodded her head. Then she turned her back to Aira and began to walk away at a fast pace.

"No, wait!" Aira cried, starting after her. "Mother! Wait, come back!"

Her mother was swiftly winding her way through the many twisted trees and Aira was going as fast as she could to catch up with her. Her mother was there, how was that possible? She had to know. She saw Telyna round a corner and then sped up to catch her. But when she went around the corner, her mother had disappeared and she found herself looking upon a different sight…something far more horrible.

Scattered upon the ground before her, all beaten, torn and bloody, laid every member of the company…dead…the dirt and the leaves stained crimson with their blood.

Aira's hands flew to her mouth to stifle her gasp and horrified scream. She started to slowly move forward, her eyes looking about and observing everybody through the tears that were forming. There were a couple that had arrows protruding from their chests or backs. Others had been run through with swords or axes or were burned severely by fire. Every set of brothers, she found, were all near each other, each of them seeming to be reaching out for one another just before their lives were ended. They had protected their own in their final moments.

She heard a low groan nearby and her head whipped around to find the source. She saw slight movement of a red jacket and a familiar head of dirty blonde curls and knew right away who it was. Quickly, she darted over to the lone survivor and dropped down to her knees beside him.

"Bilbo!" she gasped as she looked down at him.

The poor Hobbit's face was dirty and grey with soot, mixed with smears of his own blood. The entire right side of his body had been badly burned and the front of his clothes had been torn, leaving the appearance of claw marks through his chest and abdomen. She could see the deep, almost black gashes in his skin underneath the red-stained fabric. With shallow, faded breaths, his eyes fluttered open feebly and he looked up at her, his eyes full of despair.

"I'm sorry…Aira…," he croaked very weakly. "We tried…I tried…."

And in that all too brief moment, Bilbo's eyes closed again and his head fell to the side as he joined the rest of their companions in death.

"Bilbo…!" Aira cried again, her voice cracking with sadness, shedding a few tears onto his jacket.

She stood back up and then noticed Fili, Kili and Thorin all lying together a couple yards away. She dashed over to their bodies and felt her heart break as she looked down upon them. Fili and Kili were close to each other, their fingertips barely an inch apart. Both of them had multiple arrows in them and a cruelly spiked spear laid next to Thorin's body, having been removed from him and showing a large hole in his side.

"No…no…!" Aira gasped, running her hands over her face and through her hair frantically.

But then suddenly, Thorin's eyes flashed open and she jumped back. Her mind flashed back to one of her past nightmares as she looked into his eyes. They were glowing eerily like the Arkenstone again, gazing blankly up at her, which worried her.

Then she heard a deep, growling voice in the air shout, "Kill the she-Dwarf!"

However, the voice spoke the command in the language of the Orcs.

She spun around, looking for the one who had given the order and turned back around just in time to see a large, black Orc arrow flying right towards her. With a startled cry, Aira dropped down to the ground flat on her stomach and shielded her head with her arms. She waited to hear the sound of the arrow making contact with a tree behind her, but there was only silence.

Panting, Aira slowly sat back up and realized that she was alone. All of the bodies of her family and companions she thought she had seen had all vanished. She had imagined it all; everything had just been an illusion, which relieved her immensely.

Just as she was getting over her initial shock, she heard someone quietly say her name and felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled and still a little unnerved, she flinched, whipped around and found herself looking up at Fili, who had jerked his hand away and looked quite startled himself.

"Aira, it's just me!" he said calmly, slowly sinking down to his knees next to her. "You wandered off and I just came to find you."

She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is it really you, Fili?"

"Yes, it's really me," he answered, offering his hand out to her.

Gradually, she reached out for him until their fingertips lightly brushed together. She could feel him and that told her that he was real. With that reassurance, she took his hand and he pulled her up to her feet. Once she was standing, she threw her arms tightly around his neck.

"I thought you were lost to me…!" she said against the fur of his jacket.

He gently rubbed her back. "It's all right, Aira, we're just up here," he answered, pointing over to his left in another direction. He didn't know what she had seen; he had thought she was referring to her wandering off and getting lost. With that, he took her hand and they jogged back through the trees until they found the company again. They had stopped in a very web-infested area and Aira noticed Ori bend over and pick something up from the ground.

"Look…a tobacco pouch," said Dori, taking the item from his brother. "There's Dwarves in these woods…," he pointed out with slightly slurred speech.

He handed the pouch to Bofur, who added, "Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine!"

"Because it is yours!" Bilbo pointed out. "You understand? We're going around in circles, we are lost!" he said, doing a circular motion with his hand. He seemed to be the only one in the group who wasn't affected too much by whatever was in the air.

Thorin then stepped forward and said to contradict him, "We are not lost! We keep heading east."

"But which way is east? We've lost the sun!" cried Oin.

Aira opened her mouth to say something, but her head started buzzing and spinning again and she felt dizzy. She groaned tiredly and her hands lifted to her temples, trying to soothe the uncomfortable feelings. She could hear the company all beginning to bicker amongst themselves, but her head was buzzing so much that their voices sounded distant.

The fighting of the Dwarves soon escalated and they started pushing and shoving each other back. Someone pushed Dori forward and he ended up bumping right into Aira's back, making her stumble down into the dirt. Now her head hurt even more from the sudden lurch and she didn't even bother getting back up.

Then she heard Thorin shout, "Enough! Quiet, all of you!"

Everyone was silenced and they turned to look at their leader.

He glanced at them, a sense of fear in his face and his voice as he whispered, "We're being watched…!"

As he said that, Aira could hear ghostly whispers in the air that shook her to the core. She couldn't make out what the voices were saying, but she knew there really was something out there.

"He's right!" she exclaimed, standing back up. All heads turned to look her. She continued groggily, "We are being watched. There's something out there in the trees…I can hear them. I'm hearing voices; whispers in the air…."

"You hear them, as well?" Thorin asked her.

She nodded in response.

He turned back to the company. "Be on your guard," he ordered warily.

But just then they heard the rustling of branches not too far ahead and they all drew their weapons, scanning the tops of the trees above them for any signs of movement.

"What was that?" asked Dwalin out loud, brandishing his twin axes.

"Whatever it is…it can't be good…," Balin hesitantly answered.

"Here, let me take a look," said Kili as he sheathed his sword, jogged to the nearest tree and began to climb it.

"Kili, wait!" Aira called after him in a hushed voice. Whatever they heard was in the trees and she didn't want Kili to be up there where he was vulnerable, but he was already up on a branch and was acrobatically making his way to the next highest one.

Suddenly, they heard a half-cry behind them. They all whipped around, but didn't see anything there.

"Where did Bombur go?" asked Bofur.

It was then they noticed that Bombur wasn't there. No one had seen him leave…he just simply vanished.

There was another cry and they all turned again. Still, there was nothing there.

"Balin? Where's Balin?" Dwalin then asked as he circled about in place looking for his brother, sounding concerned.

Like Bombur, Balin too had just vanished without a trace.

Aira inched closer to where Thorin stood until she barely brushed against his shoulder, both of them holding their swords up defensively. He looked down at her, his eyes reflecting his anxiety.

"We have to get out of here…!" Aira whispered apprehensively to him.

Thorin opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off all of a sudden by Kili shouting, "Look out!"

Within seconds, a large horde of giant spiders began dropping from the treetops, still attached to long strings of webs from their bodies, down to the ground where the Dwarves all stood.

They all shouted in defense as well as surprise at the sudden arrival of the eight-legged creatures that were hissing and squealing at them menacingly.

"Scatter, all of you!" Thorin ordered, urging them back.

Quickly, they all started to spread out, but, unfortunately, the spiders were quicker than they were. One by one, they were all attacked and overcome by the evil creatures. Once caught, they were jabbed with a spider's stinger and paralyzed before being taken up into the treetops.

As Aira ran, she saw Dwalin, Bifur, Nori, Ori and Fili all get taken within the span of a few seconds and she was growing even more fearful. Soon, Thorin fell prey to the creatures as well. Aira remembered that Kili was still in a tree and right away, she had to get to him.

"Kili!" she shouted as she made her way to the tree he was still in.

"Hang on, Aira! I'm com—"

Now dreading what had just happened by the abrupt cutoff from Kili, Aira stopped in place and was petrified as she watched a spider, which had been hiding in the canopy directly above, withdraw its stinger from the side of Kili's neck and his suddenly limp body fell off the branch. He fell a few meters and then landed hard directly on his head before his motionless body slumped over on the ground.

That entire moment, Aira had forgotten how to breathe, too shocked to even move. But then she remembered how as she cried out for him in worry and started to run towards him.

However, she had only gone a few feet before a sharp, searing pain in the back of her shoulder stopped her. Immediately, her body felt cold, frigid and was losing the strength to stand. Black spots and little stars clouded her vision as she slumped over, feeling herself being caught and wrapped closely by eight prickly legs to the body of the spider that stung her.

"Kili…," she murmured in a daze just before her mouth filled up with frothy foam and she was then carried upwards, her entire world turning to complete darkness.

Aira eyes fluttered open as she awoke to clicking and scuffling noises close by. However, she realized that she was hanging upside down, completely wrapped in a tight, sticky white cocoon and she could barely move.

Her breathing quickened as she remembered the spider attacks and what had happened to the company. Where were they? More importantly, were they all still alive? And what of Thorin and Fili? Or Kili, most of all? After the falling from the tree, he could've been seriously hurt!

What was going to happen to them; to her? She could hear the spiders nearby, so surely they were going to try and eat the Dwarves. Was there a way out of this? With the limitations to her movements, Aira concluded that there wasn't. It seemed as though they were done for.

She heard movement close to her and then a creepy, raspy voice whispered, "Ooh, this one is a female…very tender…and juicy, good enough to eat!"

Something started prodding at her feet and, as best she could, she gave a kick with her leg to push the spider away.

It let out a screech and cried, "It's alive and kicking! Kill it, kill it now!"

Aira expected the spiders to attack her immediately, but they prolonged it and were slow to approach her, preparing themselves for a tasty meal.

"Let us feast! Feast! Feast! Feast!"

She whimpered quietly as she heard the spiders approaching, hissing and groaning, just waiting for them to get it done.

Just then, there was a clattering sound and one spider wailed, "What is it? What is it?" Then the sounds of their movements grew faint. They had left.

"What's going on?" Aira wondered.

But then she heard more hissing right beside her. There was one that had stuck behind and she could feel the tips of its legs prodding at her body.

"Tender…and juicy…!" it creepily whispered, sending chills down Aira's back.

Then she heard a snap and was suddenly dropped a couple feet until she landed flat on her back. Then the spider started to crush her a little with its weight on top of her, slowly squeezing the breath out of her.

"Just a little taste…," the spider hissed evilly.

Just when Aira thought it was going to be the end of her, the spider all of a sudden wailed and jumped off of her. From the tone of its scream, it sounded in pain. Then it wailed again and Aira also heard the sound of a sword being swung and clanging as it made contact with the spider. Someone was out there fighting the spider! But who was it and how did they escape?

"Where is it? Where is it?!" she heard the spider demand.

"Here!" someone whispered. Sadly, the person spoke quietly and Aira couldn't determine to whom the voice belonged to. Still, she felt more hopeful knowing someone was coming to her rescue.

There was an ugly noise of metal piercing flesh and the spider's agonizing shriek then pierced the air. "It stings! Stings!" it screamed.

There was a small thud, then a brief silence before the sound of something crashing on the floor below. The spider was dead.

The voice spoke again, "Sting…that's a good name! Sting!" and this time, she was more certain of who it was who had just saved her.

"Bilbo?" she cried, her voice slightly muffled through the web.

"Yes, Aira, it's me!" he answered.

"Oh, thank Mahal!" she thought gladly.

"I'm going to cut you free along with the others!" he informed her. "Hold on!"

She heard his sword cut the remaining piece of web that held her up and then the stimulating sensation of falling coursed through her body as she descended through the air, landing softly on some webs before making contact with the ground. Once she touched down, Aira started wrenching around, trying to free herself. She then could hear the sounds of the others hitting the ground, following by groans and cries as they too tried to break free. However, she was having a hard time getting out.

"Where's Bilbo?" she heard Bofur ask.

"I'm up here!" came Bilbo's cry from above, but then there was a slight cry. Aira assumed he had run into yet another giant eight-legged creature.

Aira still could not break the barrier of the web she was encased in well enough. She tugged and pulled and pushed as hard as she could, but it just wouldn't give.

"Help! Somebody, help me!" she shouted.

"Aira?" she heard someone cry out.

Only seconds later did she hear heavy footsteps, followed by the sound of a sword being dropped in the dirt and then she felt someone kneel beside her. There was a low grunt and then she saw the web being stretched and torn as it was starting to get pulled away from the outside. Seeing there was now a tear, Aira helped whoever was assisting her and starting breaking it from the inside. Within moments, she was able to stretch out her arms to the sides and completely break the webby cocoon. Then she found herself locking gazes with Thorin leaning over her, his deep blue eyes wide with panic, anxiety and also a hint of relief.

He cupped her face in his hands and asked through labored breaths, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she answered. But as she looked up past his head, she saw another spider jumping from a tree branch and soaring right towards them. "Look out!" she shouted.

Thorin whipped around and saw the spider, as well. However, he had dropped Orcrist to help free Aira and realized there was no time for him to retrieve it. Impulsively, he bent over, wrapped his arms around Aira and clutched her close to his chest, shielding her from the oncoming arachnid.

There was a loud yell, the sound of stone meeting bone and then was followed by a crash! Both Thorin and Aira looked and noticed the spider was lying dead only a few feet away. Then they saw Bofur standing before them, panting, and wielding his giant war hammer. Clearly, he had come to their aid just in time for his hammer to do a bit of damage.

Before either of them could utter a word of thanks, Bofur jumped forward and took one of Aira's arms as Thorin took the other. "Come on, there's more coming!" he warned them.

Aira got back to her feet, unsheathed her sword and then the three of them caught up with the rest of the company, running at great speed with the rest of the horde of spiders on their tail. Soon the spiders were upon them and they had no choice but to fight.

Dwalin lunged forward and slammed his hammer into a spider's face; Thorin whirled around majestically and sliced the leg of another. Aira sidestepped and dodged one that charged her before bringing her sword down upon its back and killing it. Then she turned just in time to see a few of the other Dwarves ripping the legs out of another spider's body to free Bombur from underneath it. They all were fighting hard, slicing off the many limbs of the spiders and killing them off one by one, even though there were many.

"Thorin!" she heard Dwalin shout as Thorin was being charged by a spider. Then the burly Dwarf intercepted it by full-on tackling the creature to the ground and then punching it dead in the face.

Close by, she saw Kili too was running from a spider but he was caught in its eight legs rather quickly.

"Kili!" she shouted in worry as she jumped forward and sliced one of its legs off. After being freed, Kili turned and thrust his sword right up into the spider's mouth and Aira shoved hers into its side. It squealed as they withdrew their weapons and then it dropped dead.

Kili looked at Aira curiously and then uttered, "Thank you," to her.

Why he had said it that way, she wasn't sure, but she didn't have much time to think about as another creature started charging them.

"Go!" he cried urgently, shoving her firmly yet gently away before taking a defensive stance.

Her momentum kept her moving, but Aira wanted to turn back. She wasn't going to leave him; she couldn't let him fight the spider alone. Although, before she could go back to Kili, Nori came up next to her, took hold of her arm and started pulling her along. She resisted for a second but then found it useless and decided to join the rest of the company as they started to run again. Most of the spiders had been dealt with already and it seemed as though they were all gone, but none of the Dwarves believed that for a minute.

"Come on, keep up!" Dwalin bellowed to those who were falling behind.

"Clear!" Thorin cried out as he circled about, making sure there were no more spiders around. But then he stopped as another giant arachnid dropped from the trees in front of them, blocking their way.

Then there was movement up in the treetops and they all looked up, thinking it was another spider coming. But they were surprised to see it was the figure of a person running through the trees. They jumped onto a web, swung down the web to the ground and then they slid across the dirt underneath the spider, slicing its underside with their weapon.

The Dwarves all raised their weapons as the person stood up directly in front of them and pulled out a bow and arrow, aiming it directly at Thorin's head.

It was an Elf.

Then, out of nowhere, an entire team of Elves all appeared and encircled the company, each with their bows and arrows drawn and at the ready.

The Dwarves were surrounded.

The Elf in front of them, who was tall with long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and dressed in Elven armor, drew his arrow further back in warning and spat out at Thorin, "Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf! It would be my pleasure."

Thorin growled deep within his chest. This was exactly what he didn't want to have happen when going through the forest; this was what he wanted to try and avoid. Seeing as they were surrounded, he reluctantly lowered his sword and the rest of the company did the same.

Suddenly, they heard a distressed cry in the distance that sounded like Kili.

"Kili!" both Fili and Aira cried out, panicking.

"Silence!" the blonde Elf ordered them in a harsh voice, turning his bow towards them. The two young Dwarves glared at him, but kept silent. Fili took Aira's hand in his to try and calm her down and she grasped his hand firmly in return.

A couple of moments passed when they heard leaves crunching nearby and a tall Elf maiden with long, fiery red hair came through the trees, pushing Kili ahead of her. Aira heaved a sigh of relief in seeing that he was all right.

"Search them!" the blonde Elf ordered to his troops after the Elf woman put Kili with the others in their huddle. The Elves all came forward and started to search the Dwarves, who all grudgingly stood their ground and let themselves be searched and relieved of their weapons, all the while glaring coldly at the Elves.

"Tauriel!" the blonde Elf called to the Elf woman. She stepped forward and he gestured towards Aira. "Search that one, since she is a female."

"Yes, Legolas," Tauriel answered with a nod as she took a step towards Aira.

She held up her hand to the Elf woman. "No need," she said firmly as she lifted her sword, turned it so the hilt was facing the other way and held it out to the Elf. "This is the only weapon I possess." What she said was true, but moreover, she didn't want an Elf near her in fear that Tauriel would find the key around her neck. She just wanted to get it over and done with.

Luckily, Tauriel took the sword and didn't even question her, which, to Aira, was quite strange, but she said nothing as Tauriel moved away. She warily glanced to Fili next to her, who was still having weapons from his secret, personal arsenal removed from his clothes, muttering under his breath as each one was discovered and removed.

Legolas was searching Gloin when he removed something from in his beard and the Dwarf growled, "Hey, give it back! That's private!" It was a small golden locket that he carried with him at all times.

The Elf glanced down at the pictures inside. "Who is this? Your brother?" he asked Gloin disdainfully, referring to the picture on the left.

"That is my wife!" Gloin corrected him, sounding offended at the Elf's assumption.

Legolas shifted the locket and looked at the picture on the right. "And what is this horrid creature…Goblin mutant?"

"That's my wee lad, Gimli!"

Without a word, Legolas raised his eyebrows questioningly and then proceeded to go over to Tauriel, speaking to her in Elvish briefly before he was called over by another Elf who held out Orcrist to him. He took the sword and examined it closely, mumbling Elvish words to himself as he flourished it around.

Aira could feel Thorin tensing up beside her, knowing he didn't like watching an Elf handle his sword, despite the fact it was a weapon of Elvish make.

Legolas lowered the sword, looked to Thorin with an angry, stony look on his face and demanded, "Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me," he replied in almost a whisper, trying to retain his anger and distrust.

However, Legolas didn't buy that excuse at all. He pointed the sword at Thorin's throat, making the rest of the company flinch, and said, "Not just a thief, but a liar, as well."

Aira was not going to let him get away with that comment. "He is no liar!" she spat, earning a cold glare from Legolas. "He speaks the truth. That sword was given to him with the blessing of Lord Elrond of Rivendell himself!"

"You expect me to believe that?" Legolas questioned her, slowly striding over to where she stood.

Keeping a firm reserve, she replied smartly, "We are Dwarves. Do you really think we would lie about associating with Elves or having Elvish weapons just to save our skins from the likes of you?"

"Yes, I do," he answered, now pointing the sword at her.

Thorin flinched beside her, but Aira did not. She simply stood her ground and kept her hard, unwavering gaze locked with Legolas's.

"Your kind is nothing but dishonest," he hissed at her. He then shouted an Elvish command to his troops and they came forward and started to push the Dwarves along, taking them away.

"Thorin…where's Bilbo?" Bofur asked as he passed by.

Both Thorin and Aira whipped around and realized that they hadn't noticed if Bilbo was even there. They looked and he was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" asked Aira. "He was just here."

Before Thorin could give her an answer, she was shoved forward by one of Elves, eliciting a menacing growl from Thorin as he too was pushed forward and they walked along.

Aira made her way by Kili and whispered to him, "Kili, I'm so glad you're all right. You really took quite a fall."

When he looked at her, she was surprised to see a puzzled look on his face. She herself was now feeling perplexed as to why he appeared like he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Kili…?" she asked curiously.

He slightly shook his head and said, "I'm sorry…but do I know you?"

Aira was taken aback immediately. What did he just say?

"It—it's me, Aira," she stammered, unsure of what was going on.

His narrowed a little and he shook his head again. "I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name."

Now, she felt as though a stone wall had hit her square in the chest. What was going on? Why was Kili acting like he didn't know her?

"No…," she mumbled in disbelief.

"Aira, what's the matter?" asked Fili beside her, who had noticed her shocked expression.

"Kili…; he doesn't know who I am," she answered.

Fili looked baffled. "How?"

"I don't know…I do remember he fell off a tree earlier and landed on his head. Maybe that's the cause?"

Fili then turned to Kili to test their theory. If the cause of his memory loss was because he hit his head, then he most likely would have forgotten just about everything else.

As they kept walking, Fili asked him, "Kili, do you know who I am?"

Kili grinned and said, "Of course, I do! You're my brother."

Aira's heart dropped. It wasn't an injury to the head after all…now she was really worried.

"Although…," Kili continued, "…where are we, Fili? And why are we here?"

Both Aira and Fili shared a concerned glance before Fili replied, "You don't remember why we're here?"

"I remember Uncle Thorin saying something about a quest and we wanted to go with him…is that why we're here?"

"Yes…we're going back to Erebor. We're in Mirkwood right now."

"I thought Mirkwood was a realm of the Elves? Thorin hates Elves, why would we be here?"

"We had no choice. So you don't remember anything about the quest?"

Kili closed his eyes, thinking, for a moment and then replied, "No, I can't. I'm sorry."

Sounding frustrated, Fili went on, "You can't remember the quest and you can't remember Aira at all?" He gestured to Aira. "She is our best friend. She is your fiancée; your One!"

Kili turned and glanced at Aira, who was gazing at him with sad yet hopeful eyes. But then he just shrugged and said, "I'm quite certain that if she truly was my One, I would know her and recognize her."

His words cut her deep like a knife in the heart and tears began to form in her eyes. What was happening? What had happened to Kili; her best friend, her love? She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Kili, no!" she protested. "How is this possible? How can you not remember me?"

"What seems to be the problem?" asked Tauriel, who had been walking a couple steps ahead and had then stopped when she heard Aira's comments.

Aira whipped around to face her. "You!" she snarled, pointing at the Elf woman, and then motioning to Kili. "You were the one who came back with him in the forest. What did you do to him?!"

"I give you my word that I did absolutely nothing to him," Tauriel replied in a firm yet calm manner.

While a bit surprised at Tauriel's calmness, Aira went on, "Then why is it he's lost his memories?"

Tauriel inhaled and then exhaled sharply. "I did notice that he was stung by a spider high up on his neck. I believe the poison from the spider's stinger is in his blood and has affected his mind."

"What are you talking about?" asked Fili, full of scorn.

"I have seen this happen with some of my soldiers in the past," Tauriel explained. "The spider's poison flows through his blood and has infected his mind…and that causes memory lapses."

Aira noticed a slight look of sadness in Tauriel's eyes. She was telling the truth, which surprised the young Dwarf woman even more.

The Elf maiden paused briefly and then stated before leading them back to the others, "Sadly, there is no cure for it."

That one sentence was the final blow that made Aira's world start to crash down upon her.

Kili had lost his memories of the quest and, worst of all, of her…and there was nothing they could do to save him.

.

Ohhhh snap! xD

Awful cliffhanger, I know...! And just wait...I'm just getting started! xD Please don't hurt me!

Leave a review or PM me with your thoughts, my awesome readers! :D