SEVEN DEVILS, fili durin

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Now, isn't this a suprise."

The dying screeching of the spiders remained inside of her mind long after their corpses started to decay in the rot of the forest, bouncing off the walls of her mind, making it twist and bloom with some kind of agony that set her teeth on edge like a snarling beast of old. She didn't like this, didn't like any of this, and Nymeria honestly wondered if she would of preffered being slaughtered by the vile creatures that had hunted them most horrifically to being touched by the elves as they reaped the benefits of their capture, and she could practically taste the smug ease in the air, heavy on her tongue which only made her want to spit.

I really am spending far too much time with the dwarves, the faè throught to herself in displeasure, making sure to swallow the salvia pooling in her mouth because she truly didn't trust herself all that much, not with the rough housing she'd received from the beings that were supposed to be gentle like the tales and legends perceived. That seemed to be a rather cruel joke indeed, perhaps even mocking irony considering between she and Thorin, she didn't know who's dark glares were harsher as the elves made sure everyone was wiped clean of their belongings as they searched their every crevice for any hint of a blade.

Of course, the search for her weapons had been over before it had truly begun considering she, unlike the others in her company, didn't exactly have anything deadly upon her person, well, nothing that their elf eyes could physically see anyway. Which meant that Nymeria was pretty much pushed to the back of their circle with her deadly hands tied, discarded without a second thought because of her lack of threat, probably mistaking her for a innocent and weak maid who'd got sucked into the realm of the messy dwarves like a fool with her trembling legs and pained grimace whenever she so much as moved.

There was a part of her that was desperate to prove the self righteous creatures dancing around wrong as she watched them with her gaze narrowed lazily, wanting to use those sharp teeth of hers to bite, wanting to find out just how far she could take that small smidge, that small glimmer of chaos hidden inside of her stomach and buried under her grief. But she didn't exactly see that going well, so, swallowing her temper, she forced herself to stare around the rotting forest in contempt...hoping that her hobbit was staying hidden, because it seemed that more often than not he was disappearing from her side without a trace.

"All of them, dwarf."

Her fingers twitched at the voice that was filled with venom and hatred, feeling a certain possessive rage twist in her veins as she turned her head to the side where she knew Fili stood, glaring up at the enraged looking elf in front of him with a look that was so smug she almost wanted to laugh, especially as he picked a knife from his hair to drop it into their outstretched palm. How many blades did the blonde actually have? And should she be impressed or scared that they were so well hidden that not even her own watchful mind hadn't been able to see them as she watched him pull another one from his waist like it was a magic trick.

However, this time, she couldn't help the snort that slipped out of her mouth, amusement pulling at her bruised lips that formed a grin that of course Fili noticed as he twisted his head to look towards her, something soft replacing that dark look that had once maimed his features as he looked at her like she looked at the stars, like she was a dream just out of reach, like she was ethernal in the moonlight air and a gift for a weary soul...she liked the way he looked at her, she realized with a start, she liked the way she felt seen, not for what she could do, but for the vile and ruined thing she called a heart.

And then there was a rough cuff to the side of the dwarves head, something that almost sent him off of his feet as he grunted with a pained grimace as the elf still standing in front of him ordered him to stop playing games...and Nymeria felt her chaos flair and flicker with red sin as she jerked forward abruptly, hatred rushing through her veins and filling up her hollow bones with vile intentions because how dare he lay his hands upon him, on any of the company that she found herself with...and the faè remembered too late that she was supposed to be keeping herself hidden.