"Caladhiel!" Balin called out, "what are you doing here?"

I didn't think there was much point in withholding information. After all, I had already spilt most of it to their captors, "Gandalf sent me."

"Why?" Dwalin sounded from the darkness. My chest began to tighten and my shoulders felt heavy.

"He wanted me to watch over you all and make sure you stayed out of trouble." Not that I succeeded, I added mentally with regret.

"Yet here you are," Balin stated, "trapped like the rest of us." They were beginning to get on my nerves. I tried my best, and they hadn't even given me their trust. I felt slightly taken for granted. They didn't know what I was willing to do to protect them.

"None of you have noticed Bilbo, have you?" I fired back, angrily.

"Actually, now that you have said it, where is our burglar?" Now they notice.

"Also, where is Thorin?" He usually has a lot to say.

"He has gone to negotiate with Thranduil," Dwalin answered, sounding nervous. Thorin is rarely pleasant towards his elven allies, I didn't feel confident about his manners towards his elven enemies.

Suddenly I heard a voice fade in. It sounded like Thorin, and he was shouting.

"...Thranduil, the great king, to honour his word should the end of all days be upon us!"

It was not going well, to say the least.

"You lack all honour! I've seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!"

I could hear the pain and anger in his voice. This must be why he hates me and all my kin. I felt pity for him. But he should still not accuse a whole race based on the actions of few.

He then shouted something in dwarvish that I didn't understand "Imrid amrad ursul!"

"What does that mean?" I called out to Balin suspiciously.

"What?" Balin sounded confused. Perhaps he didn't hear it.

"Imrid amrad ursul" I said, trying my best to mimic what I heard. At first, I thought I had gotten it wrong as Balin's face twisted in concern.

"Oh no." he finally uttered.

"What?" I asked suspicion crept into my words accusingly.

"Thorin just told Thranduil to die a death of flames" Balin replied, quieter this time, "Negotiations are not going well then."

Harsh words; but they weren't exactly unexpected.

We hadn't waited long for Thorin to return. He was pushed into his cell and the door slammed behind him with a deafening crash before the sharp click of the lock sounded.

"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin asked, trembling with anticipation.

"He did. I told him he could go 'Ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!' - him and all his kin!"

"What did he say this time?" I sighed in disappointment. Thorin was more childish than I had remembered.

Balin sounded hesitant to answer me. "He... said he spits upon Thranduil's grave. Which extends to his kin." He murmured the translation shamefully, like a child being scolded.

"How dare you!" I'd had it with these dwarves, "you prejudiced, childish bastard! AMIN DELOTHA LLE ILYA, MIBO ORCH!"

{"I HATE YOU ALL, GO KISS AN ORK!"

After my well-justified outburst, there was a long pause as my anger sunk in, then Balin sighed in defeat, "Well...that's it, then. A deal was our only hope."

I remained silent on the matter. I no longer cared about their fate, even if it meant I had to stay here with them forever.

"Not our only hope."

***

Bilbo, with his ring, snuck through the woodland realm unseen. Suddenly, Thranduil stepped out from behind a pillar and looked straight into Bilbo's soul. Bilbo froze in place, thinking he had been seen.

"I know you're there. Why do you linger in the shadows?"

The petrified hobbit stayed in place, desperately trying to think of a way out of the mess. When relievingly, a fire-haired she-elf stepped out past Bilbo. Bilbo breathed out the tension in his lungs.

"I was coming to report to you," She spoke with a silken voice but Bilbo noticed a hint of nervousness about her.

The silver king sighed in frustration, "I thought I ordered that nest to be destroyed not two moons past."

She started to offer up an answer, "We cleared the forest as ordered, my lord, but more spiders keep coming up from the south. They are spawning in the ruins of Dol Guldur; if we could kill them at their source-"

"That fortress lies beyond our borders. Keep our lands clear of those foul creatures, that is your task," Bilbo found this order to be quite strange. Surely a king should be concerned about more than just his own lands.

"And when we drive them off, what then? Will they not spread to other lands?" I comforted bilbo to know that he wasn't the only person thinking this.

"Other lands are not my concern. The fortunes of the world will rise and fall, but here in this kingdom, we will endure." Bilbo had been told that the elves of Mirkwood were less graceful than other elves but this was a surprise to him. Perhaps it was time to leave to avoid detection.

As Bilbo snuck away and down into the heart of the kingdom, he caught the ears of the Silver King. Luckily for Bilbo, Thranduil dismissed the sound.

As he carried on down into the labyrinth of stone trees and torchlight, Bilbo found himself in the wine cellar, narrowly missing the dulled vision of the elves below.

"...we're running out of drink." one of them mutters. Bilbo peered round from a barrel he had hidden behind to assess the state of his situation. Something seemed off to him.

"These empty barrels should have been sent back to Esgarrouth hours ago. The bargeman will be waiting for them."

"Say what you like about our ill-tempered king, but he has excellent taste in wine. Come, Elros, try it." It became clear to Bilbo very quickly; these elves had been drinking wine and had become rather squiffy. Their senses would be dulled but Bilbo still knew they would still be able to sound an alarm if he wasn't careful. Now he had to find his dwarven company.

As if on queue, Elros pulled out a set of keys, "I have the dwarves in my charge."

Elros passed the keys over to his drinking partner who hooked them up on the wall a with a laugh, jests, "They're locked up; where can they go?"

Bilbo smiled to himself as a plan formed in his mind.

***

There wasn't much conversation since my expression of anger. The air still hung heavy around the cells.

Despite some of the company, I had developed a fondness for the dwarves. They showed bravery and purpose, even in their darkest days. There was a certain beauty in their determination which I couldn't help feeling motivated by.

Even from the start, I rooted for their victory. I always liked the stories where the protagonists claimed victory. I missed hearing Radagast's tales and anecdotes. It was a shame that I would never hear them again. We were going to die in these cells. Thranduil would never release us.

Bofur finally found the courage to speak, "I'll wager the sun's on the rise. It must be nearly dawn."

Ori replied with despair "We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?"

Suddenly my head shot up in reaction to the shrill rattle of keys, "Not stuck in here, you're not!" Bilbo was here!

I stood to attention; we had to escape quickly.

I noticed Bilbo hastily tucked something into his pocket. I stared in confusion but my eyes darted away just before he noticed. Something was not right.

"Bilbo!" The dwarves began to chorus in joy.

They were going to give us away! "Shhh! There are guards nearby!" Bilbo was thinking the same thing. He hurried to unlock all of our cells. I remained at Bilbo's side but some of the dwarves began to wander off, avoiding my eyes.

"The stairs. You first. Ori!"

Bilbo stared at them with mild panic, he had a different plan, "Not that way, down here. Follow me."