The Shapeshifter (A Hobbit Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

"I am willing to release your company and spare Skyrena if you return the Starlight Gems to my kin and if you release Skyrena from any allegiance and allow her to rejoin my kingdom."  I yelped in surprise.

"Never!  I refuse to rejoin your kingdom!"  One of the elves silenced me by striking me across the face.  I bared my teeth at him, daring him to hit me again, but Thraudril stopped the elf before it turned into a fight.

"The Starlight Gems are like your Arkenstone to us elves.  Return those to me, and you free your company from my dungeons.  However, you release Skyrena, and you spare her life."  Thorin glared at him.

"Why would I give her to you against her will?"  Thraudril rested both his hands on my shoulders, causing me to tremble.

"Because, otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to kill her for breaking her banishment."  Nearby, Legolas's stare turned into one of horror.  I swallowed hard and looked over at Thorin.

"I won't allow it, Thorin.  I won't go back, and no one can make me."  Thraudril's grip tightened on my shoulders as his voice went harsh.

"It seems to me that you need some time to think, Thorin Oakenshield...  I'll give you a fortnight to choose Skyrena's fate.  After that, she faces death."  He flung me to the floor at Thorin's feet.  Before Thorin could kneel down, several elves grabbed us both and started to drag us to the dungeons.  I whimpered in pain as I was thrown into the cell, crashing into the wall before I could stop myself.  Thorin was thrown into the one across the way from me.  Balin was beside him.

"Did he offer you a deal?"  Thorin sounded extremely bitter.

"Yes, he did...  Give up Skyrena?  How could I?!?!"  Balin looked across the way at me.  I sat in the back corner and tucked my knees to my chest.

"Starlight Gems...  Hardly worth fighting about.  However, I would sooner die than be forced to rejoin their kingdom."  I turned to a wolf and slammed into the door in rage.  Balin and Thorin both shouted, but I couldn't hear them.  That sick, twisted, coward of an elf...  Soon, my anger diffused, and I reclaimed my dwarf form.  "I won't let you do it, Thorin."  He hung his head wearily.

"Skyrena...  He'll kill you if I don't.  I swore I'd bargain for your life...  However, there may be hope yet."  I sat back in my corner and rocked back and forth for awhile.  When I started to doze off, I heard a clanking against my door.  There, Legolas stood.

"The king requested we separate you both."  An elf came and yanked me to my feet.  They took me up a few flights and tossed me into a new cell.  Legolas looked me up and down.  "He also demands you stay an elf."  I glared at him defiantly.

"He may be my captor, but he is not my king.  As for my form, I'll take whatever form I choose."  To prove my point, I shifted into a wolf, then back to a dwarf.  He shook his head at me.

"I know you're mad, Skyrena, and you have every right to be.  I just want to know...  How'd you come to the company of the dwarves?"  I turned my back to him.  He sounded regretful, softening my temper slightly.  It seemed as though he missed me.  I swallowed hard.

"It matters not to you anymore than Lord Thraudril."  He huffed.

"You have a fortnight till you may be killed.  Think of that, Skyrena..."  I turned and watched him leave.  I paced around awhile before sitting against the wall.  If only Bilbo would be able to help us.

"Skyrena?"  I looked up and saw Tauriel.  She held up a blanket and a small bowl of soup.  "Provisions for prisoners."  I looked away, too upset to accept her offer.  She sat down beside the door.  "You remember all those games we played as children, just Legolas, you, and I?"  I bit my lower lip.

"Yeah...  I remember.  What's it to you?"  She looked over at me.

"Legolas admitted to me a long time ago that he loved you."  I felt sick to my stomach, but I didn't respond.  "He tried to convince King Thraudril to take back your banishment, but he was refused.  I see now that you aren't what we feared you would be."  I looked over at her.

"It's a little late to do anything about it, isn't it, Tauriel."  She shrugged.

"He bought you some time, though.  King Thraudril would have run you down and killed you..."  I shrugged and looked up when I heard the music.

"The Starlight Festival?"  She nodded.

"You remember when we were younger and we would play hide and seek during the festival?"  I nodded and came over to the door.  "Or how we would stay up until sunrise and fall asleep in a corner while the adults cleaned up afterward?"  I laughed and nodded.

"And how we would see who could eat the most fruit in one setting...  It was always a tie between Legolas and me."  She laughed and looked me up and down.

"Why dwarves, Skyrena?"  I bit my lip and hung my head.

"I found myself in Dale after I was banished.  The humans didn't even notice until I accidentally shifted in town during an Orc attack...  If it weren't for the dwarves, I wouldn't be here..."  When she nodded, I expanded my meaning.  "I mean, I would have been killed."  She handed me the soup and blanket.

"I just hope Legolas doesn't anger your friends...  He hates them for bringing you here because Thraudril may have you killed because of the dwarf's stubborness."  I looked down the stairs and sighed.

"I hope so, too."  With that, she left.  I paced around before I sank to the ground, tears streaming down my face.  It all looked so helpless.  I stared at the wall as I sang the song the dwarves and I have been singing for years.  "Far over, the Misty Mountains rise..."