Back To You (Thranduil Fanfic)

Part Twelve

In the short six months that Lúthien spent in the hidden valley where the mages sought refuge she had learned a great deal. For some reason Eris never told her where they were exactly, she just happened to pick it up from another persons conversation.

She studied magic almost all day and practiced most of the night, supervised by Eris of course. It was difficult at first, and required lots of patients but Lúthien was determined. Soon she'd become a mage herself. Despite everything being so rushed, Lúthien seemed to be adapting well to all the new techniques.

Although her daily life consisted of hard work and dedication, she often wondered what it'd be like to fight Onna. Sometimes it worried Lúthien how powerful she sounded and if she'd be able to live up to Eris's expectations.

As for her ability to create fire, that she had to learn on her own. There hadn't been many instances where people were able to make it and learn to control it. The dragon's blood was sacred and normally kept hidden from others. Dragons themselves weren't rare, but capturing them was extremely difficult and collecting blood even more so. Most people who sought out its magical properties ended up perishing because their bodies couldn't handle its power. And for some reason, it didn't seem to be effecting her negatively.

During the time she spent practicing her new skill, Eris spent studying her. The way she moved, how she felt, her responses to different things. She did everything she could to try and understand her power, but it felt wrong to her. Everything about it made her feel anxious. Of course she never brought it up to Eris, she didn't want to trouble him with such nonsense.

Even though most of the mages lived in the valley where all the grass grew and the animals resided, Eris and Lúthien remained in a cave inside one of the mountains. That's where she practiced and studied, oddly enough she wasn't allowed to leave without him. She didn't understand why, but then again it wasn't like she had anywhere to go anyway.

Even though she wasn't allowed to leave without him, it's not like he was with her all the time. Lúthien enjoyed her time alone to rest and do nothing but relax. Her chambers were quite large and she had a large balcony  that overlooked the entire valley. The view was beautiful at night when the stars shone brightly. It was her favorite thing to do when she wasn't otherwise occupied, it felt familiar and comforted her in a way she couldn't put into words. Watching them glimmer diminished her worries completely, she often fall asleep beneath them rather than in her own bed.

  *+*

One night she had fallen asleep on her balcony, she used her magic to keep herself warm throughout the night. Normally she wouldn't have awaken until at least dawn, but something shook her entire core. She jolted awake and immediately rose to her feet, prepared to face whatever had awaken her. But she didn't find anything that could've possibly done so in her chambers.

There was something calling Lúthien from beyond the confines of her bedroom. It wasn't a voice though, something internal was pulling her. So she left her bedroom and made her way down the darkened corridor. Eventually she reached a door and once opened she discovered a set of stairs that descended in a spiral.

"It's dark, don't go." There was a voice in the back her mind that attempted to get her to turn around. She simply scoffed at it, and ignited a flame in her palm

"The dark doesn't effect me anymore." She never heard that voice again

After walking for a solid twenty minutes she arrived at the bottom of the stone staircase there were large tunnels spreading out in all sorts of directions. The invisible string that tugged her heart pulled again with a bit more force to the tunnel to her left. It startled her enough to begin running in that exact direction. Lúthien realized that the farther she ran, the larger the tunnel grew.