Fire, brimstone, and smoke. It was all I knew for the longest time. I don't remember much about my childhood, but what I do remember is dark. It all muddled together in my brain after these long nine and a half centuries of life. My life was dark, and my home was dark. That was pretty much all there was. That and orcs. Then again, darkness and orcs weren't all that appealing, anyways.

I was born on the eve of the Great War of the Ring. Sauron was guarding our home- a decrepit stone fortress at the center of a volcanic wasteland known as Mordor. Granted, it was warm, but a change in weather would be nice every now and then. My mother always portrayed Sauron as some sort of hero. I wasn't so sure. Everyone else in Middle Earth hated and feared him- and by result, me and my brother.

I thought she was insane. A beautiful elf from Mirkwood fell in love with the literal Lord of Shadows, an evil psychopath bent on bending the world to his will under slavery in eternal damnation. I'm not even sugarcoating it. He still wanted that, just didn't have a body to do it. She thought he was a "dreamer" or some orc shit like that. I thought it was pathetic how in love she was with him. Normally, it would be sweet, but considering who and what Sauron was...I couldn't give a positive assessment.

Rather than calling him what he was, my mother told me in my early years that Sauron was a brilliant sorcerer and goldsmith, with this dreamy look in her soft blue eyes. I inherited all my looks from Sauron. The only thing I got from her was my elvish appearance. A part of me was thankful.

"Imara, remember your father loves you, even if he's just a fiery eye. He always is looking out for you." My mother would tell me. I didn't exactly take that to heart.

Especially because neither Sauron nor my mother ever took the opportunity to get to know my brother, Baldor, even if he was Sauron's first born. We were polar opposites. And my father counted on that. I became his favorite because I inherited his red hair, gray eyes, and ability to control shadows. The power of the One Ring also called to me, as well. As a result, I was able to summon and command the Nazghul- the only one besides Sauron himself.

Baldor, on the other hand, was a Skin Changer. A result of a marriage to another Skin Changer. He left her for my mother, however. And that's how we are here today. Baldor was proud of his Skin Changing abilities, claiming he wanted nothing to do with his father. He looked a lot like him, though. Save for his black hair.

Baldor favored his mother because his mother favored him. I was a bastard, after all. Not born of a marriage. But Sauron didn't care and claimed me as his heir rather than Baldor.

There weren't any hard feelings between my brother and I. He didn't want to rule. He much preferred bothering the dragons to the north. He was always more of a rebel.

My mother got sick eventually and passed away, closely following her, was Baldor's mother. When they died, Baldor ran off with some human girl he fell in love with. He left me alone in this barren wasteland with nothing but orcs, trolls, and wraiths for company.

I barely counted the Eye on Barad Dur as company. He never spoke back, anyways. Just whispers and creepy staring.

I received news from Baldor he was expecting children of his own as the years went on. I was happy for him. At least he had a family. We were five centuries old. It only made sense we'd go our separate ways at some point.

But that's when my father began to get more corporeal. There were Necromancers to the north in Dol Guldur at the base of Mirkwood Forest, where my mother came from. They wanted to bring my father back, and that was when Sauron began to speak to me. The whispers became more full sentences, words, and commands.

And the first thing Sauron did with his newfound well of power was rip Baldor and his wife from each other.

I remember that day clearly in my mind. It was the day my brother was broken. Baldor didn't smile and became bitter after Sauron killed his wife and made him watch. He claimed his children were out there somewhere, but when he couldn't find them after a century of looking, he lost hope.

I didn't know how to comfort him during this time. I merely did what I could.

I hated my father for what he did to my brother, and wondered myself if my niece and nephew were even alive. But Baldor...he became even more rebellious and spiteful towards our father. It was understandable.

Sauron wanted us to take his place, so it only made sense we were shaped into the villains we became. He became bitter and angry, rage oftentimes taking over in the form of villages being burned to the ground, villagers displaced as they fled the raging dragon.

And me? All I had in me was a will to restore Sauron. What else was I to do? I had no other purpose. I didn't dare find love, because I feared the same thing happening to me. No. My torture was his voice. Day in and day out. I didn't sleep. Didn't eat. Didn't rest until Sauron had poisoned my mind and heart, brainwashing me into utter submission. It became so unbearable for me that I would oftentimes join Baldor in reigning terror in Gondor.

I was his puppet and I never hoped or believed I'd escape it. I hated myself and everything I did, and I knew Baldor felt the same way.

On the eve of our ninth century, Baldor and I sat on a cliff face, shoulder to shoulder, just taking what little comfort we could from one another. Our backs to the volcanoes, we sat facing the green of Gondor laid out before us in the distance past the gray and brown dust that bordered Mordor. The sun was rising over the horizon, casting the sky far away into yellows and purples and oranges.

"Do you ever wish you weren't born, Imara?" Baldor asks suddenly. I turned to look at him. His gloved hands gripped his legs, his chin on his knees. His black hair blew in his face somewhat but he brushed it aside.

"Sometimes. But that's sort of depressing, don't you think? And besides, if you weren't born, I'd be alone in this damned wasteland." I say and rest my hand over his, leaning my head on his shoulder. Normally my sarcasm would make him smile. Today, it did not.

"That's true." He says and laid his head on top of mine and I moved my arm around his shoulders. He was the only one in my life I felt an emotional connection to. A desire to protect. The only one I truly cared for.

"Maybe dad will let us just go for a year. Just a year is all I ask. It's not a lot for an immortal. But I want to find them. Make sure they're safe and happy. That would mean a lot to me."

"Tell me their names again." I say gently, knowing he loved to talk about them.

"There's a bot and a girl. They're twins. They have their mother's green eyes. My black hair. Draco and Freya. He's older by a few minutes. I don't even know if they're immortal like me or mortal like their mother. If they're mortal, they'd be 87. While I look no older than a 27 year old human. Immortality really does confuse me." He lets out a mirthless laugh, sliding a thumb under the gauntlet on his right wrist.

We each had a pair of red leather gauntlets on our wrists. A mark of station, our father said. But I wasn't an idiot and didn't have to have magic to know they bound us to him.

"Baldor, I'm sure-" I broke off as a ringing sounded in my head and I stood up, squinting off in the distance. Then, my stomach lurched and I flinched as the ringing got worse in my head.

The Ring. It was being used. After years of silence, it was being used in the Misty Mountains. The Misty Mountains? Who had it? I closed my eyes and reached out with my magic for the Ring and I heard murmured voices. A game of riddles, I realized. Fingers holding on tightly to the Ring, then intense fear. Running.

"Imara, what is it?" Baldor asks and stood up next to me, towering a foot and half taller.

"The Ring. It's being used in the Misty Mountains. I can sense it." He looked at me.

"Maybe dad will grant us that year after all. We're tracking his Ring, after all." He stuffed his hands in his jacket's pockets, looking out towards those far-away mountains with a determination in his gray eyes.

I closed my eyes as a cold tingle went down my spine.

Very well....one year...go.... my father's voice whispered to me. I looked at my brother. He had heard it, too.

He cracked his knuckles and then offered me a hand.

"Shall we, sister?"

I grinned and took his hand. "We shall, brother." And I pulled us through the shadows.

We appeared in Dol Guldur and I gazed around at the decrepit ruins. I heard voices and two wizards appeared before us. One dressed in brown, the other in gray. They froze when they saw us.

A devilish smile crossed Baldor's face. "Wizards. Welcome. It is a glorious day, is it not?" He asks and spread his arms out to the sides.

The gray wizard lifted his staff as if to cast a spell and I snapped my fingers, shadows curling around his ankles and more appeared on the walls around us, engulfing the ruins in thick shadows and the ghosts of the nine Ring Wraiths gathered around us.

"Do you think we should stay here, Baldor? It seems our father is working to come back."

"I'm not confident these wizards will be able to do much about it." My brother hissed, eyes turning blood red as reptilian scales crawled across his arms and up his face as he began to turn. "But I like a challenge. Why don't you head out to find our friend? I'll handle this." Baldor hissed, now a fully formed dragon covered in red, gold, and black scales.

Before the wizards could stop me, I was gone and in the shadows again, resurfacing in Mirkwood forest. I worked my magic and I was in a green Mirkwood guard attire, a bow and arrows on my back, and red hair braided in a crown on my head.

To compete it, the elves of Mirkwood would also know me by another name. Tauriel.

I invaded their minds, planting fake memories as I sensed the Ring's presence closer and closer.

And I made it within the ranks of these elves. But I was in for a surprise. Because catching the Ring would be harder than I thought when I stumbled across a spider attacking a young bearded dwarf with a bow and arrows.

*******

Hello readers! Welcome to chapter one of my LiaToD rewrite! Agh, I'm so excited! I have some new characters, wider plot, and more fun! I hope you like this new rewrite, and once you see this chapter, be prepared for several more updates.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in future updates!

Love always,
~Cora Knight xoxo

Note: The old copy will be available only until December 31st, 2020, and then it will no longer be viewable.