Land of the King (Thranduil Fanfiction)

II: The Book

They heard the noise again. They inspected the room but they saw nothing. And for the third time they listened carefully. They found out it's coming from Alex's bed. Afraid, Conner grabbed a stick beside the shelf just in case it was an intruder. But why would be an intruder too noisy they thought.

Slowly, they kneeled and peeked under the bed. They were both surprised to find out that the noise was coming from the book. It was the one their grandma gave to them as a gift. The noise filled the room again. They realized the sound was produced when the book shakes and hits the wooden floor. They wanted to call their grandma but they thought of not disturbing her sound sleep. They slowly pulled out the book under the bed. The shaking intensified as they touched it. The twins were a bit terrified but it didn't stopped them to discover what really is happening.

After drawing out the book from the bed, it stopped shaking. The twins held it with their hands. It is only by now that they noticed the appearance of the book. It is a quite big one, you can't carry it with a hand. Although time has faded the color of the book, they still can assume it was red. Alex thought it's heavier now than it was first given to them. The book was covered by dust, leaves and twigs and smelled like forest as if it was born by nature. Beneath the vegetation was a ragged and gashed rock-like cover with carvings they can hardly read the title. The two read in chorus: "Mi..ddle... Earth..".

They gently opened it and a blank white page greeted them. They checked every pages and to their astonishment they discovered that each page was completely empty. They were so confused. They thought maybe their grandma gave them the wrong book. The mystery in their heads was still unsolved when the book suddenly started glowing and shaking wildly. This time, it shone really bright for it to illuminate the whole room. They dropped the book as it was shaking too much. They tried to partially cover their eyes in attempt to see what is happening. Before they could even move, it suddenly went pitched black and they can't see anything. They heard a whooshing sound and suddenly they felt like they're falling. They tried to open their eyes but it was so dark. The twins were so bewildered from the happenings that they lost their consciousness.

•••

They opened their eyes and saw a clear blue sky. Without looking, they knew they were lying on a grass field of a hill, they can smell it, they can feel it. The warmth of the bright sun and the coolness of the wind touching their skin kept them comfortable. It was very relaxing that they kept laying there, staring at the sky for a couple of minutes. Time has passed when they finally decided to rise. They stretched their slightly aching joints and bones before asking "Where are we?...and how did we get here?".

"I really have no idea." the boy replied with confusion on his face. "The last thing I remember was we were at grandma's and if I am not mistaken I am pretty sure it was winter." he continued. It was like a part of their memory was lost. They can't figure out what happened before they ended there. They felt like there was something missing. "Where in the world are we?" Alex asked. "In a tropical country maybe?" The boy scratched his head. "or maybe we are just dreaming.."

Alex punched Conner on his arm. "Ow! that hurts" the boy complained. She pinched herself to make sure and let out another "Ow!". "Then we are not dreaming" he gulped but Alex remained silent "No, this can't be, we can't just be magically transported here. It's not possible. Perhaps we are in a coma or deep sleep." He said nervously shaking his head. "Perhaps." the only thing she can say. They started scanning the area hoping to find someone but they found no one even the presence of wildlife is nowhere to be found. They saw mountains on the other side but it was too far away. The other side was a deep forest. It was much nearer to where they were and they noticed a pathway leading to it. Not far away they saw a smoke rising from the forest.  "It looks like there's somebody living there. We have to check this out. This is our only option" Alex said convincingly. "I'm not sure about that but I don't think we really do have other options." Conner hesitated a bit before agreeing with his sister.

Following the pathway, they started walking towards the forest. "We better hurry before it gets dark." Alex said and Conner nodded. They reached the what they assumed entrance for it's intricate arch made of stone covered with vines and leaves. "This place looks familiar its like I've seen it somewhere but I just can't remember where and when." Alex stopped and looked around. The forest was covered with fog they can barely see what's ahead. "You're just confused as I am, but I am pretty sure I've never been here before.  I just want to go home now. All we need, is to walk straight this path and before we can even notice, we are already at the source of that smoke. So just follow me and stop goofing off." He grabbed her hand and continued walking even Alex's mind was still filled with questions.

She decided to stay alert on their path so they won't get lost. They continued walking following the pavement of bricks. The fog is getting thicker and thicker as they walked. Seconds, minutes, and hours have passed. "It should be somewhere here. The smoke was not that far" Conner said starting to get worried. Alex remained silent and stopped walking. Suddenly, fear filled her face. She sensed that there's someone watching them.

"We need to get out of here, now" she convinced her brother in a very low voice. "What? But wh..." Before Conner can even finish talking, something landed in front of them. It was a spider. A very huge spider. The twins stood still, shaking. The fog is finally clearing out only to realize that they were surrounded by not only one spider but a group of six enormous spiders. They tried to scream but no sound escaped from their mouths.