SEVEN DEVILS, fili durin

CHAPTER ONE

Five years later.

Under many bright and colourful blankets, hidden under the shadow of darkness with the door closed, shutting off any connection to the outside world, a weak but loud groan echoed around the quiet of the room like it was a phantom lullaby of ghosty screams. And the there was another whimper that soon followed the first as sweat gathered along their hairline, twisting their body through the sheets uncomfortably, flashes of something splattering through the walls of their mind, haunting, terrifying and painful as they festered and clawed at her.

Until, of course, the dream hit its frightful climax, and young Nymeria shot up from her bed, breath coming out in panted heaves and her body shaking with shameful fear. And everything hurt, it hurt, it hurt because her magic was blossoming under her skin, under her veins, filling her every crevice with darkness and destruction, tearing her apart from the inside out. The very memory of her dream was turning her mortality to dust as she gasped greedy gulps of air, eyes clenching shut in frustration.

She would not permit her sorrow to destroy her, but that didn't mean she couldn't topple over from time to time. And with that thought in mind, Nymeria sat there for a few dreaded moments, before gathering her bearings with a certain degree of desperation as her hand clenched over her rapidly beating heart, feeling it pound through the tough skin of her chest and worrying that it was eventually going to just tire itself out and stop all together, taking in her surroundings with frantic eyes as she tried to ground herself.

A small wooden chair, with her dark hole-ridden cloak hanging over it, swaying the slightest bit due to the draft coming from the open window, the birds singing songs dancing over her ears pleasantly and calming from outside. A small closet, no doubt filled with the clothes she'd managed to snag over the years, or force her friend to knit and another small dresser filled with ointments for her tremendous back pain. Everything in the room was small, and, technically, not even hers.

Nymeria's heart finally slowed to a normal pace, causing the girl to breath out a quiet sigh of relief, taking the stifling blankets from her body and hissing as the cool air assaulted her naked skin as she stood up, going to take a step and, as usual, forgetting how much lighter she now was, stumbling slightly across the carpet before getting her footing with a curse. And then snarling, she strolled over to her closet and grabbed a few idle pieces of clothes as she tugged them on, flinching when she walked past her mirror and caught sight of her grizzled back, the reason for her haunted mind and dreams that plagued her at night.

She managed to get her shirt on over her head, though not without cursing when a button got caught into her hair and instead of trying to gently unwrap it, she chose to simply yank it out impatiently. And, once she was finally 'decent' she opened the door to her bedroom to start the day, just in time to catch Bilbo Baggins, her very peculiar hobbit, roughly closing the front door that lead to the garden, slamming it shut with wide eyes and holding his body against it sturdily as he fiddled with the locks frantically, unaware of his guest-turned-friend who truly, indeed, had long since overstayed her welcome, watching him in confusion.

"Bilbo, what are you doing?"

"There's a bloody wizard outside! He's talking about adventures and all sorts of dreadful things and he hasn't left yet!" The hobbit paused, tilting his head to the bottom of the door, eyebrows furrowed, then continued just as quickly, "And I think he's scratching at the door!" He hissed, walking towards her and gesturing backwards wildly, before stepping back, quickly rushing out of the window to try and spot him, only to squeak when he met grey eyes staring back at him, quickly rushing back over to the faè who's face had twisted up into a confused scowl.