Into the Fire: Book 2

7

The elves shouted some things in elvish and pointed to our company. I was pretty convinced we were not going to be treated with the same care and respect as we were by Lord Elrond in Rivendell. The elves grabbed us and ripped our belongings apart. They took weapons, shields, food, as well as personal belongings.

"Hey! Give that back, that's private!" Gloin yelled at the blonde elf.

The elf opened a silver clasp that held personal pictures. Gloin tried and failed continuously to get the clasp back.

"Who is this? Your brother?" The elf snickered, looking at one of the pictures.

"That is my wife!" Gloin responded, still reaching for the locket.

"And what is this horrid creature? A goblin mutant?"

"That's my wee lad, Gimli."

The elf scoffed and tossed the clasp back to Gloin who held it close to him for a moment before placing it in his pocket. The elf rolled his eyes and walked over to me. Thorin was being handled by other elves so there was no one to protect me now.

"So what are you? Some pint-sized human?" The elf asked me, searching through my bag.

"Half dwarf, half hobbit," I responded shortly, grabbing at my bag.

"What? So like some sort of failed experiment?" He laughed.

"Oh fuck off. You don't look much better Mr. Man. You look like the ugly stepsister of some wheatgrass," I placed my hands on my hips.

He looked down at me clearly amused. Instead of responding he pulled a small golden locket from my bag and held it just out of reach.

"This is important to you isn't it?" He asked as I stood as high as I could.

"Please, anything else but that. My mother left me that when she died. Please, it is the only thing I have of hers," I begged the elf, immediately regretting trying to intimidate him.

He surprised me and lowered the locket so I could take it from him. His serious demeanour wavered for a moment and I thought I could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. The look disappeared quicker than it had arrived and he through my bag to the side, shoving me forwards. Thorin had been shoved forwards and he took his place at my side, holding my hand tightly. An elf stopped the blonde one and handed him Thorin's sword. The elf spoke in elvish and lifted the sword up to inspect it. He then pointed it at Thorin and changed his dialect.

"Where did you get this?" He asked the dwarf.

"It was given to me."

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well."

The elf yelled at the guards and they pulled us along, walking single file. Thorin pushed against the elves, ensuring he could walk beside me. I held his hand when he reached for mine but held no care for where we were being taken. I unfurled the hand that held my locket and looked at it. It had come undone as the elf taunted me with it and I caught a peek at what was inside. It was the only picture of my mother that wasn't removed when my father remarried. I had almost forgotten I had it with me. I remember debating on whether or not to take it. It had never been worn but I had decided if a situation occurred and I didn't make it back, I wanted her to be with me.

When I was a child, and as I grew, I watched the photos of my mother disappear as my father's relationship with Belladonna grew. The pictures were replaced with them, with her, with landscapes of the Shire. As a kid, I didn't quite understand what was happening but, as I got older, I realized this locket was the only way to ever see my birth mother. I closed my hand tightly around it and it stayed like that for a moment. I eventually placed it in my pocket as we got in view of a large bridge. The bridge was made of what looked like white stone and stood over a river. The path led us to the doors of the elves kingdom. I took a pause and admired it's beauty. It looked as if the forest had been build around the kingdom itself. If I wasn't being held hostage, I would have loved to explore this for all that it was.

Instead, we were pushed into the front doors and up a series of stairs. I was shocked to see that paths over large empty pits were a common theme. When we got to a fork in the path we were on and an elf guard roughly grabbed Thorin, pulling him to the left path while the rest of us went right. I pushed myself past some of the guards.

"Hey! Where are you going with him?"

The guards ignored me and pulled me back. I struggled against them, refusing to be separated from Thorin.

"No! No wait, where is he going?"

The blonde elf from before, yanked me back and held onto my arm tightly. Thorin didn't struggle against the elves leading him away, almost as if he knew what was coming. I however, remained terrified and continued to struggled against the elf's grip. We were led down a ramp-like path and into an opening full of cells. The elves shoved two dwarves into each room. The blonde elf stood off to the side, keeping my arm in his grasp. I had stopped struggling and stood impatiently, waiting for the elf to do something.

"Where did you take him?" I asked the elf, keeping my gaze on the room in front of me.

"To my king."

"We didn't do anything wrong."

"Have you never heard of breaking and entering? This is our home and you lot invaded it."

"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are holding that against us. Have you never heard of just being a decent person?"

The elf didn't respond and instead shoved me into an empty cell. I put my arms on the bars and looked up at him.

"What? No roommate? If I'm to be here for a long time, it would be nice to have some company."

He rolled his eyes and locked the door, "You talk too much for someone who is about to spend the next couple hundred years rotting away."

I opened my mouth to respond but no words came out. He couldn't be serious. The next couple hundred years? The she-elf from before walked down and stood beside the blonde. They conversed in elvish, glancing back at another cell before she rushed off, leaving him alone. I could tell he liked her and when he looked back towards my cell I smirked. He ignored me and rushed off in the opposite direction. I sighed and walked around the cell. It was tiny with only a small cot that took up half the space. I sat down and put my head in my hands. The dwarves were still shouting at the elves.

"Shut up," I whispered, putting my head in my hands.

The noise continued. Even Balin, who usually remained calm in these situations was shouting at the elves. I stood up and walked over to the door of my cell.

"Shut up! Don't you understand, we aren't getting out any time soon."

"Y/n is right," Balin called, finally done with his protesting, "There is no way out. These are some lowly orc dungeons. These are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the King's consent."

So this was it. The King, if he was anything like his guards, would not let us go. We had "trespassed" on his lands and this was our punishment. I hoped wherever Thorin was, he was having better luck than we were.