11

chapter 11

Fíli is lying on the ground looking up at the stars. He can barely breathe. All the world has disappeared. He closes his eyes. It was too much. The battle with Cirler and Oin. Thrain turning on him. Thorin dying. Then the death of Ori. The Elfland Queen fighting for their life. And finally, being tortured by his own father.

He wipes his bloody face on his sleeve and continues walking. He reaches down to his side and picks up the sword, breathing a sigh of relief. He heads towards the entrance to Dori's kingdom. His stomach rumbles and he thinks about food. Maybe he should eat something before continuing his journey.

Before entering the woods, he passes a pool of water. At first glance, it seems like a dark green circle. When he peers closer, though, he sees bright purple streaks swirling throughout. The smell of apples and berries fills the air. There's a small patch of blue flowers, too. Fíli crouches down and sniffs them, only to find they taste awful.

Fíli: they probably poisoned these, but I don't have anything else to eat right now so I might as well eat some anyway

he reaches into his pocket and takes out an apple, taking a bite out of it. It's actually delicious! As soon as he's done eating it, he puts the core in his mouth and chews on it carefully, knowing that anything left will eventually rot in his stomach if he leaves it alone.

Fíli eats another one, too. It tastes almost as good as Ori's apple cakes! He wonders if she made those, too. Probably not. Fíli knows what Ori's talents were. She probably just baked stuff like this often. Fíli keeps thinking about how the past couple of days went. What happened when he returned to Menosim? Why was he brought here to learn? What does Durin want with him? And why won't anyone tell him anything?

Fíli bites into the apple again. As usual, it tastes even better when it's crunchy and cold. He imagines Ori eating this while sitting at the table next to him. He leans against a tree trunk and opens the book again, hoping that the words will appear. Nothing happens. But then again, the way things have been going, nothing usually happens, either. Fíli wishes he could make the page speak. Or his imagination. Anything other than nothing.

"Hey!" A boy calls out from the bushes.

"Um, hello?" Fíli replies nervously. He wants to keep moving, but he doesn't know where he is. He hasn't seen any signs or buildings in miles.

"Are you lost?" the boy asks.

"No." Fíli answers honestly. "I was just admiring the night sky."

The boy laughs. "Yeah, sure. Sure thing."

"So what's your name?" Fíli asks curiously.

"I'm Irrik."

"Hi Irrik." Fíli offers a smile. "Do you mind if I ask where we are?"

Irrik shrugs. "This isn't exactly your typical realm, alright? We're definitely not in Middle Earth."

"How do you know?"

"I mean, duh." Irrik rolls his eyes. "Look around you! Where else would we be?"

"So... which realm is it?" Fíli tries again. "I don't recognize it."

"Uh, trust me. You wouldn't. This isn't exactly the same as our home.