Many years ago a Dwarven warrior pledged himself to Aule the Vala. Along with his pledge the warrior asked a question of old and in turn he was blessed with the Four, who rose from the land itself. Together they grew, they learnt, they fought and they lived...
Bilbo dropped his quill and sat back in his chair, a slight frown creasing his brows. He ran his hands over his face and smoothed down his hair as he sighed.
"No, no, that will not do" He huffed as his nose twitched.
A roar of laughter and the sound of mugs clanking together brought him from his thoughts, a soft smile formed on his lips as he leant forward retrieving his quill and a fresh piece of paper.
It was at one of Old Took's Midsummer's eve parties that I first met them. They had come with Gandalf, the wizard with the spectacular fireworks. No one else was interested in them, too busy with the fireworks, food and ale, but I couldn't wait to be introduced, their was something about them.
The party was in full swing before I finally got my chance, we were sat off to the side where it was much quieter and less hectic.
"Bilbo, I'd like to introduce some friends of mine" The wizard had started waving a hand at the figures behind him. "Feredir, son of Elves, Storim, son of Elf and Man, Loki, son of Elf and Dwarf and Calliope, daughter of Elf and Dwarf. The children of Valin"
As he spoke each name they had stepped forward nodding their heads at me. I had stared at them openly, drinking in their appearances, not that it mattered much, to this day they still look the same.
I never managed to say much to that before Gandalf began to speak again. He told me how they were all mothered by the same Elf, but she disappeared after the birth of the last two, the Dwarf twins and so it was the Dwarven warrior Valin who raised them.
They lived with the Dwarves and flourished. Until one night, it seems that Calliope and her king had a difference of opinion. She defied his orders and in punishment their father was sent away and the four siblings were banished.
"Bilbo, are you at that writing table again? Your supper is going cold!" a loud voice broke through Bag End pulling Bilbo from his writing.
With a huff Bilbo called out a reply to the voice as he read over what he had wrote, his nose twitching as he sighed and scrunched up the paper throwing it to a pile on the floor. Another sigh escaped him as he made his way to the dinning room.
"How's the writing coming along?" Loki asked with a smirk. Bilbo simply glared in answer.
"When Gandalf returns, you should take him up on his offer, might give you something better than us to write about, and I dare say you might even meet a decent Elf instead of this riff-raff" Storim laughed as he pointed a fork full of food at Feredir who growled at his brother.
"No thank you, adventures are not for me, and I think Gandalf may have listened, for tea has been and gone and there has been no sign of him"
"I miss the Took side of you, where has he gone? He would of jumped at this opportunity. Did you lock him a box with your toy swords?" Loki's voice was loud and laced with laughter.
The table roared with laughter as Bilbo's cheeks coloured, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find words. A reply finally came but his voice was drowned by the shrill ring of the door bell. His face paled and his eyes grey wide , he stared at the siblings who simply shrugged their shoulders.
As the bell rang again Bilbo finally stood for the table and made his way to the door. He expected to see Gandalf when he opened the door but instead there stood a dwarf who pushed his way inside and hung his cloak on the nearest peg.
"Dwalin at your service" His voice was gruff and he bowed low, his beard sweeping the floor. Something about the dwarf reminded him of Loki, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
Before Bilbo had a chance to say anything the dwarf had moved further into the house making a beeline for the dinning room. When Bilbo finally managed to get his legs to work he followed after the dwarf and found him sat at the table eating his tea, but something was wrong. Instead of five plates and five people sitting at the table there was only the dwarf and Bilbo's plate. There was no sign that the siblings had been there. He spun on the spot trying to spot a sign of them but there was nothing.