An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Two: The Bright Light

"What are you doing tonight?" one of Thalia's co-worker's asked as their shift finished for the night, it was early in the evening and the place had been dead for the last hour meaning that they could head home early.

Looking up from putting on her coat, Thalia thought for a moment; she had no plans really and the weather was bad out so there was no way she could do what she usually did after shift.

"Not much... quiet night in," Thalia replied with a shrug of her shoulders, she had planned to do a little running but the weather wasn't right for that; she wanted to stay in shape so that she was prepared for anything that might come her way.

It had been a while since she'd a night out and Thalia couldn't remember the last time she'd done anything that people her age seemed to enjoy.

"I've got a hot date with my boyfriend," another co-worker added with a wink, she was meant to be going to some fancy restaurant and she was looking forward to being spoilt for the evening.

Smiling politely at the other woman, Thalia couldn't help but feel jealous that she had never had anything like that in her life; she doubted that she would ever experience anything like that in her own life.

No human would ever willingly stay with a witch if they knew the truth since their lives would be in constant danger and most witches only got involved with people that they deemed worthy of entering their families and covens.

Heading into the staff room, Thalia listened half-heartedly to the chatter around her about what everyone had planned for their Friday night; it must have been nice to have someone to come home to that cared about you.

Thalia shrugged on her coat and made sure that she had everything out of her locker that she needed, she had a couple of days off and she didn't want to forget anything meaning that she would have to come into work early.

***

Lord Elrond frowned watching his old friend search for something in his library, he didn't know what he was looking for since the wizard had refused to tell him anything about what he planned.

It had come out of the blue this visit and Elrond couldn't help but feel like he was missing something; he could only imagine what the wizard had planned this time.

"What is it you are looking for again Mithrandir?" Elrond asked continuing to watch the grey wizard search his archives; he could see that the wizard was desperate to find something and he didn't know what it was.

Gandalf paused for a moment and looked back at Elrond, who that was watching him; he knew that he could not reveal what he had planned to Elrond, who would certainly not approve of what he was going to do.

It was a crazy plan but he didn't see what else he could do, they were going to need all the help that they could get if his plan was going to work.

His blue eyes swept the titles that sat before him, he had to act quickly if he wanted this to work and he knew that he couldn't draw any more attention to himself than he already had done.

"Just a passage from a book," Gandalf mused finally finding what he was looking for, his blue eyes lit up as he stared at the book that he had been seeking.

Pulling the book from the shelf, he turned the pages hastily to find the spell and start memorising it; he wouldn't be able to take the book with him and he'd have to remember the spell.

Elrond glided towards Gandalf as the wizard snapped the book closed, he looked at the Elven Lord knowing that what he was about to do was against the rules; he was going to steal away someone who did not to belong in this world, someone who would have a power that no one processed here.

"I'll be going now," Gandalf said placing the book back, he had a long way to travel and he still had to do this; he had a burglar to find and a witch to collect before the company turned up wanting to retake their home.

Elrond raised an eyebrow at the wizard, who attempted to step around him so that he could leave the vast library that he had been searching through.

"There is something that you are hiding from me," Elrond said watching the wizard, he had a horrible feeling that the wizard was going to meddle with powers that he didn't understand and that should never be used.

Gandalf stared innocently at him for a moment, he wasn't about to reveal what he had planned and that he knew that it needed to be done; there was a power out there that would help with the quest and he was sure that it would help them.

Moving to walk away from Elrond, Gandalf knew that there was nothing that could be said to stop him; this was going to happen and the world as they knew it depended on him finding the right power to help them as he felt the world was going to change.

It wasn't easy and he had spent a lot of time planning for what he was about to do, he was hopefully that he had picked the right being to help them now.

"Mithrandir, I truly hope that you know what you are doing," Elrond said staring at his friend, who paused at the doorway as the elven lord spoke; he knew that this was a massive risk and that it could all go wrong as he opened a door way between two worlds.

Gandalf turned and looked at Elrond, he watched him for a moment as his eyes filled with an emotion that worried the elven lord greatly; he wished that he could see what the wizard had planned.

"As do I," Gandalf whispered before he turned and walked out of the door, he could only hope that his powers would be able to bring someone from another world to Middle Earth; he needed to just find the right person to help on his quest.

***

Arriving home, Thalia set down her bag and called for Kit sure that the cat would be around somewhere; she was usually waiting by the front door for her to come home but tonight was different.

Closing the door behind her, Thalia frowned when there was no sign of the cat coming to greet her; she moved further into her apartment hoping that Kit hadn't gotten herself stuck somewhere.

Just as she pushed open the bedroom door, a bright light appeared to blind her and she stumbled back away from it; there was a sharp tug on her navel and Thalia gasped wondering what was going on.

The world around her seemed to slowly fade away into darkness and before she knew what was happening it felt like she was falling.

The darkness around her seemed to smother her and Thalia tried to call out for help only for her voice to get lost in the sudden silence that surrounded her and drowned out any other noise.

As she seemed to continue to fall, Thalia could hear chanting in the silence that engulfed her; she found it difficult to make out what was being said.

Before she could fully catch on to what was happening, the world around her seemed to suddenly come back into focus; she found herself falling towards a forest that had appeared from nowhere.

The last thing Thalia remembered before she lost conscious was the sight of the ground hurtling towards her.