Lúthien wheezed as the cloaked man approached her from the shadows. He placed his lantern on the ground as he crouched down beside her.
"It's alright, do not be afraid." The man pulled back his hood, revealing his face to her
"You...you're him aren't you?"
"I'm Eris, I've come to help you." His eyes scanned her injury "But your wounds are far too severe for me to treat here."
"No, please." Lúthien begged "Just end it."
"You're time on this earth will not come to end so soon, you will live."
Eris took her frozen hand in his, and it was as if she were sitting next to a fire. His touch brought warmth to her entire being, and her shivering ceased.
"What did you do?" She looked up at him in shock
"A simple spell, you must be freezing."
"thank you."
"Don't thank me yet flame, there's still much work to be done."
"What... are you talking..about?"
"I need to get you home, I'm really sorry about this." Eris scooped his arms underneath her legs and back, picking her up as gently as possible
Lúthien hissed in agony "And where's that?"
"Forgive me." He said simply
She looked over at him as he placed his palm on her cheek. Immediately her eyes began to flutter and she fell into a deep sleep.
"Rest now flame, for tomorrow you shall be reborn."
*+*
Thranduil and Elros had ridden all night, and by morning they made it to the end of the river. They both stopped their horses as soon as they saw the crimson snow.
The King eagerly dismounted his horse and rushed to the pool of of blood. Immediately he began searching for a trail, something that would eventually lead him to Lúthien. But his efforts were in vain, they couldn't find a single trace of her.
"She's gone." Thranduil breathed, he tried to prepare himself for what he was about to find. But finding nothing at all felt so much worse. "Lúthien's truly gone, Elros tell me where she could've gone."
He looked down at his King, ashamed that he couldn't give him a proper answer. "I don't know Thranduil. Nobody would've been able to get up and just disappear like this."
"You said you imprisoned the assassin, did you not?" The King said turning around to face him
"I did."
"There has to be something he knows, we've got to get it out of him. I won't give in so easily, not with Lúthien still out there somewhere."
Elros couldn't help but pity his King. The false hope he kept giving himself would soon become to difficult to bear.
Thranduil and Elros arrived at the palace before the night had begun to fall. Everyone around them were disappointed that they had returned without Lúthien. The entire household prayed that they would, hoping that their King would have some closure.
He had the assassin brought up to the throne room, and the man arrived with this largest grin on his face. Little did the prisoner know, he was staring death in the face.
"You will tell me everything you know and if you refuse, you'll suffer greatly." Thranduil announced, descending from his throne with a sword in hand. But the man remained silent.
"Where is she?" Nothing
"The girl on the bridge! Where'd she go?" Still no response
"Very well." Thranduil said looking over at his men "Bring him outside."
There the man was tied up and hung by his feet to the branch of a tree. Beneath him, the King's guards began stacking up piles of wood, one of them came and drenched the lumber in oil.
Thranduil strode up to him with a flaming torch in his possession.
"You will answer to me, mortal."
"Tell me what you know and I promise to let you go." The man didn't so much as blink, it was obvious that he wasn't planning on speaking. So Thranduil took the torch and effortlessly tossed in onto the pile of wood. The fire roared at the sudden burning of lumber, and it grew tall enough to singe the prisoners eyebrows.
"Lúthien where is she?"
"You must really care for this girl, don't you your majesty?"
"Don't attempt to play games with me, I will not hesitate to let you burn to death."
"I never cared for the girl, it's clear that I was aiming at you. She just interfered."
"And why were you trying to kill me?"
"You were warned, weren't you? And yet you still refused to listen to her."
"What is your task? To kill me? Take my throne? My kingdom?"
"It's your fault Lúthien's dead and burning in the afterlife."
"Don't you ever say her name again! Filth!"
"It's a shame, she was quite beautiful even at her worst. Too bad she sacrificed herself for your sake. Had the situation been flipped and you were the one who was shot, I would've taken the sexy maiden for myself and made her mine."
The King immediately whirled around, grabbing a sword from one of his men and cut the rope that was tied to the tree. The man slammed into the flaming wood, sending embers flying everywhere. His screams filled the emptiness of night with horror, but Thranduil didn't mind. He watched on as the filth suffered, no matter how much he cried, it wouldn't ever be enough to satisfy his corrupting heart.
"My Lord, should I just end it?" One guard asked, clearly uncomfortable
"No." Thranduil said turning to his guard, staring him down "No one is allowed to kill him, he will remain there until he breathes his final dying breath. I do not care how much he screams and begs! Anyone who does not obey, will be executed!" Everyone took a step back, making sure to stay quiet
"Am I understood?"
In which all replied "Yes your Majesty."
Elros watched Thranduil cautiously, he could see his friend's heart becoming tainted with hatred and grief. The fire snapped and crackled behind his King as he made his way towards him. Thranduil stood before Elros, for he understood more than anyone how much Lúthien meant to him. Tears threatened to trickle down his face as he spoke...
"Thank you Elros, for being here with me." As Captain of the guard and his closely friend, all he could do was nod and accept his King's gratitude.
Thranduil retired to his chambers feeling anxious, as if something in the atmosphere was trying to tell him that there's something more. That he shouldn't be here, he should be out there looking for Lúthien. Everyone knew that if she really wanted to disappear for whatever reason, she'd make it difficult for anyone to find her. But not impossible, there was no way she could've gotten far. Not with the injuries that she had, not in the winter snow. It all felt so wrong.
He'd find Lúthien, even if it meant flipping Middle Earth upside down. It didn't matter what it would cost him, Thranduil would see her again. Little did the King know that his heart would corrupt before he had the chance.
*+*
Everything was warm, comforting even. Breathing was no longer a struggle, Lúthien finally felt at peace. She could hear the soothing sound of running water. Slowly her eyes opened and she found herself lying in a shallow pool. Lúthien sat up and when she looked down at the water, she noticed that it was glowing which was odd. Eventually she realized that there was no longer an arrow sticking through her body, there was no more pain. Assuming it was a dream, she let herself fall back into the water and just lay there.
"You're awake."
Immediately she rose to her feet. But the sudden rush went to her head, causing her to become dizzy. Lúthien staggered backward, stepping away from the approaching man.
"Where am I? Who the hell are you?"
"Lúthien, my name is Eris. We met a few days ago, don't you remember?"
"All I can remember is pain, an arrow impaling my body."
"Listen, you were shot and you fell into a river. I found you and brought you here so that I could treat your wounds."
"Why was I shot in the first place?"
It became clear to Eris that Lúthien had fragments of her memory missing. She didn't recall anything that happened other than being in pain.
"There was an ambush." Which was true, but then he thought about it more. If she was to become overwhelmed there was no telling what she could do. Especially after receiving treatment, side effects were unknown but not completely dismissed. So he refrained from telling her anything else regarding her memory.
"So where am I now?"
"You're somewhere they can't reach you. Somewhere safe." He assured
There was something within that made Lúthien feel uneasy as if maybe she wasn't fully healed. The idea stirred in her mind, that it was possible she still wasn't right and it frightened her. When she looked down at her palms she found that they appeared normal but felt horribly wrong. Slowly she made eye contact with Eris and it became clear that there was something he wasn't telling her.
"You're going to tell me what really happened to me and then I'm going to get the hell away from this place."
"Lúthien just clam down, I'll explain everything."
There was flame that ignited in Lúthien's heart which spread throughout her entire body. Eris could see the fire in her eyes growing, he understood she was afraid and confused. She then lifted her palms so that they'd be facing upward. And in the time it took him to simply blink, flames of anger began spouting from her hands.
"You will tell me."
"Alright! But you must remain tranquil." Eris approached Lúthien slowly with his hands up. "I pose no threat."
He proceeded to walk towards her with caution and eventually grabbed hold of her wrist. Slowly the fire that had been growing from her palm began to recede, soon it was gone entirely.
Lúthien watched him wearily as he took her wrist in his grasp and it seemed like he was saying some sort of incantation that drained her power completely. The moment her fire disappeared she quickly pulled away from Eris.
"I'll tell you everything, you have my word." She simply nodded for him to continue
"There's a Sorceress that goes by the name Onna who plagues Middle Earth and grows stronger each passing day. She's a threat to life itself, and she hunts Mages like me. My people have been slaughtered trying to keep her powers a bay. Her black magic will soon over power ours and when that day comes, a hell with no end will be unleashed. It'll be too late to stop her. She will build her empire on nothing but the suffering of others. Starting by taking over the major Kingdoms. That's where you come into the picture, when I found you by the side of the river that night I knew immediately you were the one. Lúthien you aren't ordinary, you're strong and you have an iron will. But most importantly you've got a heart of fire. Which is why I brought you here, you needed medical attention. Your wounds were far too great to treat alone and with that poison in your system it might as well have been impossible. The light from within you was quickly fading, but your will to live still remained. There wasn't enough blood in your body to keep you alive, so I had to provide you with more. It was experimental, but for now it seems to be working."
"What exactly did you do to me?"
"You have dragon blood running through your veins Lúthien. It's probably why you have the ability to produce fire the way you did. I don't know what the other side effects may be, if there even are any. I understand that it may sound terrifying, but I think that it'll work."
"Dragon blood?"
"With my guidance, you'll have the power to defeat Onna and save Middle Earth. You'll be the only one who possibly could. I'll teach you magic and I'll see what I can do about your fire attribute."
"You said that I was shot during an ambush."
"Yes, Onna has been hunting you for months now. And she saw the opportunity to bring you down and she took it because you're the only one capable of destroying her. She had her men shoot you down and as of right now, everyone thinks you're dead. That's a good thing because Onna won't be expecting you."
"And when I kill her? What then?"
"You'll be free to do whatever you wish."
"How long until she becomes powerful enough to bring a Kingdom to its knees?"
"There's no telling."
"Then we're wasting time."