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Chapter One: A Wish Upon a Star

Earth

December 24, 2011

Five Years Earlier

Snow was falling thick and fast that night, fat flakes pummeling the frozen earth as if intent to blanket the entire world in white by dawn. The streets were empty and quiet, the shabby buildings lining the blackened sidewalks dark and foreboding, ugly gargoyles standing vigil through the night. All but one of the many windows visible from the street were lightless, and if one happened to look up to the single lit window, they would see a sixteen-year-old girl staring through the frosted glass, her elbows propped on the sill and her head tilted upwards, as if searching for something in the sky.

Kate Miller was not one to wish upon a star. She knew how the world worked, and it was not because of faith, trust, and pixie dust. Being abandoned before she could even walk and growing up a foster child had given her a realistic view of life, one that was often described by adults as "harsh," "critical," and even "fatalistic." That didn't mean she had to make everything so doom and gloom though; it just meant she could see fantasy for what it was: fake and full of false hope.

A knock on her doorframe made Kate stir from her seat at the window, and she turned to see one of the younger girls living in the group home, Molly, peeking in at her.

"Hey, kiddo," Kate greeted, pushing herself off her knees with a slight grunt. "What's up?"

"Ms. Smith says she wants everyone downstairs for hot cocoa and a movie," the younger girl said, already dressed in her nightgown and her brown hair tied into pigtails. She moved closer until she was right next to Kate, dropping her voice to a whisper as she said, "I don't think she wants any of us to feel alone on Christmas Eve."

Kate smiled sadly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Of course not. Let's go get that hot cocoa."

She started out of the room she shared with the three other teenage girls in the house, but Molly's voice held her back. "What were you doing at the window?"

Kate paused on the threshold, turning to look at the younger girl. She was standing at the same spot Kate had been earlier, on her tip-toes, gazing out curiously.

"Nothing, really," Kate said. "Just watching the snow fall, I guess."

Molly suddenly gasped, causing Kate to hurry over in concern, but the younger girl just whirled around to face her with shining eyes.

"You were making a wish on a star!" she exclaimed, and Kate faltered, frowning. She wanted to point out that they were no stars to make wishes on considering the clouds and snow, but she figured bursting her bubble would be a shitty thing to do.

"Uh, yeah," she said instead, tugging her lips back up into a smile. "Yeah, I was."

"What'd you wish for?" Molly asked, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet and looking like it was already Christmas morning.

"I can't tell you that, silly," she said, flicking her nose lightly and causing her to giggle. "Then it won't come true!"

"Oh, yeah." She was only stumped for a little bit before turning back to the window. "Well, which star did you wish on? I want to tell it my wish too!"

"Er…" Kate leaned next to her, searching through the window and preparing what to say if she couldn't find one, but – there. Just overhead there was a faint twinkling star, barely discernible through the plummeting snow, but she pointed to it. "Right there. See?"

Molly let out a small "oh" of awe, before promptly closing her eyes and squeezing the palms of her hands together, her lips forming silent words as she wished.

Kate watched her for a moment, a strange feeling stirring in her chest, and she looked back up to the star, wondering if she was only imagining it winking at her.

Of course it's not winking at you, idiot. It's just a hot ball of gas floating around in space, probably already long dead.

That still didn't keep her from sinking onto her knees next to Molly, watching the girl's concentration before she clasped her own hands in front of her, feeling foolish.

Fighting through the absurdity of it all, she closed her eyes as well, thinking silently to herself while picturing the star clearly in her head.

I wish I wasn't stuck here anymore. I wish I could see the world and be able to enjoy my life for once. I just want to be out of here already.

She opened her eyes, only to find that the star was gone, hidden from sight by another cloud. Ignoring the sinking in her stomach, she got to her feet and waited for Molly to finish, before taking the girl's hand in her own and departing the room, flicking off the light as she went.

Arda

June 24, TA 2936

Five Years Earlier

When next Kate awoke, it was to find herself somewhere very, very far away from the group home in Boston.

Her first sensation was that of wet. She opened her eyes blearily, hissing in a sharp breath when beating sunlight seared her eyeballs, sending her reeling as her head swam and stars exploded behind her eyelids. She waited until her eyes had adjusted to the brightness before cracking them open again, trying to get her bearings through the tiny slits between her lids.

Not only was she wet, for whatever reason, but she was also outside, as depicted by the brighter-than-hell sun and the itchy grass digging into her back. She turned her head to the left, seeing nothing but the offending grass stretching out for yards, and when she looked to the right she saw much of the same thing.

What the hell…?

She pushed up on her elbows, wincing at the sudden soreness in her limbs. Her clothes from the night before were still on, but they were sopping wet, her T-shirt and sweatpants clinging uncomfortably to her slick skin as if she had just pulled herself out of a swimming pool.

When she heard the sound of rushing water, however, and looked further down the grass to see a gently babbling river, she realized that that was exactly what had happened, only except for a swimming pool, she – or someone else, she realized with a flare of panic – had dragged herself out of the river.

Kate sat up, now more aware than ever, her eyes scanning the empty landscape around her. Where was she? How did she even get here? Had she been kidnapped? The last thing she had remembered was crawling into bed the night before (if it had even been the night before – how long had she been unconscious?) – listening to the slow breaths of Samantha, Hayley, and Abby before falling asleep herself. How could she possibly have ended up…wherever she was?

Her stomach cramped painfully as her anxiety kicked in, but before she could start hyperventilating she was distracted by an unexpected voice.

"Calm yourself, child," the voice spoke, as deep and rumbling as an earthquake, and Kate spun around, her eyes widening. "There is no need to fear when you are in my presence."

On a jut of rock not five feet away sat a man she had never seen before, and despite his words, her unease only grew when she realized that neither he or the rock had been there a moment before. He was huge; even sitting down she guessed he must've been about seven feet tall, and his muscles rippled with every movement he made as he sharpened a very large, very sharp axe on a stone that she had no doubt he could cave her skull in with if he used it on her.

His hair and beard were long and wild, a shade of black so dark it looked obsidian, and upon closer inspection, it looked as if the ends were smoking, like they had just been on fire and he had only put them out seconds ago. Her eyes trailed down the length of his body, catching on the strange tattoos and symbols inked into his dark skin, and the strange dark fabric of his toga, for that was the only thing she could describe it as.

"Are you…are you…" Her voice gave out trying to speak, shock and fear making her clam up, but he did not look at her, only continuing to sharpen his axe.

"I am not a god, if that is what you were wondering," he said in that deep voice, and she could feel the marrow in her bones tremble at the sound. "At least, not one by a name you would know in your world." He cocked his head, considering. "Or perhaps you do. It is hard to see what goes on beyond the gates of this world."

"What am I doing here?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper. "Did-did you take me?"

The man grunted. "That depends on your definition of 'take.'"

Kate was sure she was hallucinating, or having the worst dream of her life, at the least.

"Does 'taking,' in your sense, correlate to kidnapping?" he asked her, still sharpening his axe. Every schick of the blade against the stone made her teeth chatter together, but she tried to keep her mouth closed. "If so, then you are mistaken, Kate Miller. You are here because I summoned you here."

"W-why?"

He paused in his task, turning to face her, and she involuntarily gulped as she met his eyes. They were bright gold and seemed to change and shift in the sunlight, dancing with amber and red and orange and blue, as if she were staring directly into a fire.

"There is a quest," he said simply, "and I want you to join it."

There was a heavy moment of silence in which Kate merely stared blankly at the man, mouth slightly agape.

I'm hallucinating. There is no way this is a dream – it feels too real. Fuck, did I accidentally eat Dylan's shrooms or something? Shit. Shit. Shit —

"You are not hallucinating, or whatever else your human mind is pressuring you to believe," the man said, and his voice held the faintest note of annoyance. "This is very much real."

"But…how?" she croaked. "Where even am I? How did I get here?"

"You are in my world, Arda," he said, going back to his axe. "You might know it by another name: Middle-earth, perhaps?"

Middle…? Oh, no. Oh, fuck no.

"I take it you are familiar with it?" he asked, raising a bushy black brow at her silent panic.

This is so not happening. They're – they're just books! Books! That I read once, like, three years ago! BOOKS!

"As for how you got here," continued the man, as if he hadn't just dropped the bombshell of a lifetime on her, "well, that is tricky to explain. Imagine there is a wall separating our two worlds. Sometimes, certain cracks and fissures appear along that wall, and if you wait for the right moment and apply the right amount of pressure – or, magic – you can slip through the holes, and bring someone back through with you, if you so wish. It is complicated, and extremely dangerous, but I got you through all right, eh?"

He looked proud of himself for not destroying her, but she could only focus on the tilting earth around her, forcing herself not to throw up right then.

"Who are you?" she managed to get out.

"Aulë," he said. "However, most know me better as Mahal."

Mahal. As in…

"The one who created the Dwarves, aye," he said, finishing her incomplete thought.

That's it. I'm officially insane.

"Are all Men so thickheaded?" he growled when she fell silent again, disbelieving. He scoffed. "And I thought my dwarves were the stubborn ones."

"You've made a mistake," she said, reaching the conclusion that if she wasn't going crazy, then there was some colossal mix-up happening. "I'm not the person you're looking for."

The man (it was too creepy to refer to him as Mahal) cocked a brow at her.

"Your name is Katherine Rose Miller, is it not?"

"Well, yes, but — "

"You are sixteen, and have grown up alone?"

"Yes, but — "

"And you are familiar with this world and its inhabitants, particularly one Thorin Oakenshield?"

Kate choked on her next words, her face blanching, and Mahal – the man – smiled smugly at her, as if catching her in a lie.

"You are aware of the Quest for Erebor, and the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, are you not?"

All she could do was stare, but he accepted this as a confirmation.

"Then you are also aware of the destiny that awaits Oakenshield and his heirs," he said, fixing her with a stern gaze, and his eyes seemed to blaze brighter.

"A lot of people know of their quest, and their…fate," she said haltingly, trying not to cringe under his fiery stare. "Perhaps you meant one of them — "

His eyes burned hotter, like glowing twin coals, and she shrank back as he seemed to swell, the air suddenly turning dry and scorching.

"Do not take me as a simpleton who makes careless mistakes, plucking people off the streets at random," he said, and his voice boomed like tectonic plates crashing together under the earth, his gaze turning to molten gold. "I am of the Valar, child, and it is by my will that you are here."

He took a deep breath, and the inferno in his eyes lessened, his voice quieter but still tinged with that same thunder.

"I made a dangerous gamble in bringing you here, Kate Miller," he said. "Even now I can sense the others' anger at having brought an outsider, but I had no choice. Should Oakenshield's quest fail, I fear this world will fall into a darkness unseen before, and perhaps take your own with it, as well."

"But why me?" she asked, her voice small, scared. "I'm only sixteen! I can't do this!"

"It was foretold you would be the one I had to call upon," he said, and she glimpsed a sliver of sympathy on his stony face. "And do not fret, child; I have brought you here before your time of need, to better prepare you for the journey you will have to take.

"You have five years to do as you see fit in this world. I shall not interfere over this course of time, for it is yours to decide what to do with. However, I will be watching you, and when the time comes to fulfill your task and join with Oakenshield, hear me when I say that you should heed my request, Kate Miller. Or your punishment will be severe."

Kate gulped, her eyes flicking toward the giant axe in his hands, and she knew then that whatever punishment he was talking about would be infinitely worse than just getting her head chopped off by that thing.

"This task…" she said, her voice a bit stronger. "What am I supposed to do?"

He stared at her as if her question was outrageous. "Well, that should be obvious. Keep any of them from dying, and help them reclaim their homeland."

Right, Kate thought in a daze. Because trying to keep people alive and taking back a kingdom from a fire-breathing dragon are reasonable requests. How silly of me to think I couldn't do this. I do this every day back home.

"That's the spirit," the man – oh, all right – Mahal said, smirking to his axe.

"My home," she said. "What about it? Will I ever be able to get back?"

Mahal grunted. "Perhaps. If you succeed in your task, then we can talk."

"I want to make a deal," she said quickly, and he squinted at her, but she kept talking before she could lose her nerve. "If I complete the quest, and do as you asked, then I want you to send me back to my world at the end of all this."

"You realize that might take a while, even years, aye?"

She wouldn't allow herself to be cowed, not any longer. She raised a pointed brow. "Then I suggest you get to work."

She held her breath as he scowled at her, but he seemed to ponder on her words, his eyes tracking over her face with a calculating gaze.

"Very well," he said at last, and some of the tension in her shoulders dropped. "You have a deal, Kate Miller, so long as I have your word that you will aid Oakenshield and his quest."

She hesitated, her jaw working. There was a lot to process, and she still thought he had made a mistake somehow, but she was here, wasn't she? And even though Charlie had only lent her Tolkien's books once, she had still enjoyed them, still grieved for all the characters' deaths. And now she had a chance to put a stop to it and save those same people. Thoughts aside about how the books possibly exist in her world before the same events happened in this one, she could help. She could be useful. It was just as she had wished upon that star: an adventure, a chance to escape that dreadful foster system and live her life – a free life.

"Done," she said, meeting Mahal's eyes squarely for the first time. "You have my word."

The Vala smiled then, his eyes blazing like an inferno.

"Excellent," he said. "Then your journey starts now, Kate Miller. Do try not to make too much of a mess of things."

And with that encouraging advice, he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a haze of smoke while somewhere, far to the west, Thorin Oakenshield awoke to the sound of thunder and the undeniable sensation in his bones that somehow, the winds of fortune had changed.

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