Chapter 1

The water pooled in my hands, so cold it could've turned to ice at any moment. I splashed some onto my neck and sighed with relief. I closed my eyes, willing my mind to stop spinning. The dream had come again – this time, way more vividly. I was standing at the mountain's base, as always, but this time I remembered the wind. A voice whispered in my ears, urging me up the submit and into the dark gate. The Lonely Mountain. That was what it was called. I entered through the gate, breathing through my mouth so as to stay as silent as possible. There was something big in there, but I couldn't exactly figure out what. This time, unlike the others, I could smell metal – lots of metal, I had never experienced such a strong stench before, under that Lonely Mountain.

My slippers made a soft shushing sound on the smooth, polished stone as I made my way toward the smell. When I came out under an archway 10 times the height of me, I gasped. The riches in that room could not have been counted, even if I had sat and tried for an age. There was also a deep rumbling under the gold that I did not remember in any of the other dreams. The dragon, I thought, the dragon that will live under this mountain until the Dwarf King comes to claim his Throne.

"I smell something." Rumbled a voice from under the treasure "Something I have not smelled for many years. Elf, yes – but there is something strange, not quite an Elf, no; there is a wrongness about you that I cannot place. You, little creature, will not belong anywhere, because you are not one thing – but two. I can smell it; it's in your blood – you are two races, and that means a lifetime of confusion. Good luck little creature, I will see you again." A snort erupted from a pile of gold, and my eyes fell to the place where the snout must have been. But then, about 100 yards away, I saw a slight movement, a flash of red and my eyes jumped to the movement – a tail. He's huge! I thought with a start. I needed to get out of there, but just as I turned around to leave the dragon spoke again.

"When the time comes, and you find who you truly are, remember me little creature. The creature of two lines, two races. So much confusion, so much pain. Now go, you had better get back." The dragon chuckled again, and then went silent. I finished my rotation and hurried back up the way I came. What did the dragon mean? I am of two races? I shook my head, and as soon as I was out of the mountain, everything lost its color. The world turned grey and faded, ending the dream.

I rubbed water over my arms, willing them to wake up, I just wanted to wake up, get out of that horribly confusing dream. I am awake, I'm awake, everything's alright. The dragon was just trying to get to me. I am the daughter of Elrond; my place is here in Rivendell, with my people. I am an elf, and I belong here. I shook my head and turned from the basin. I needed to tell Elrond of this dream, and ask him what it meant. He would know – he always knows.

I hurried down the hallway, and into the main study – if you could call it that. There were always books, books everywhere, and all kinds. Histories, languages, and my personal favorite, Elvin folk tales. But when I arrived there, my father was nowhere to be seen. He could have been in the garden, but it was unlikely, as it was barley sunrise. I sighed, closing my eyes, and hoped that Elrond was in the garden. Those were the two most likely places – his study and the garden. If he wasn't in either of those places, I wouldn't have known where to look after that. Looking up, I searched for my favorite volume with the tale of a beautiful elf maiden that fell in love with a man. It was such a sad story – so much emotion, so much hopelessness – that I could not help but wonder what it would be like to fall for someone that deeply, even if it was a man. A smile played at my lips. Oh what Elrond would do to me if I fell in love with a man – the thought in and of itself was ridiculous. When I had the folk tales in hand, I looked again, but this time for anything on fire drakes, and the history of Erebor. Once I had everything, I headed to the garden, hoping that there was enough light to read by.

That was how I spent the morning, switching between the familiar tales of love and death, and the informational tales of drakes of the north. I saved the falling of Erebor for last, as I was planning to spend the most of the afternoon looking through it. I was going to see if my dream was even close to being realistic, or if my mind was just going crazy. But I never got the chance. Just as I was opening up Erebor, a brown haired elf came up to me.

"Lady Lafora, the Lord Elrond wishes to speak with you later this evening – he knows something troubles you. He knows it is urgent, but he is busy at the moment, there was a rumor of an Orc pack just outside or borders and Lord Elrond has gone to deal with it. They were sighted near the Hidden Pass, I was told. I will leave you now." The elf inclined his head and turned to leave. Just then, the sound of many feet came to both our ears, in the direction of the main gate. Our eyes met and we hurried toward the noise. Before us stood 15 bodies. 13 of which were dwarves, 1, was Mithrandir, or more commonly known as Gandalf the Grey, and finally, was a small soul, shorter than the dwarves with a softer look about him – as if he had never been out and about in the world before. Now, why would a company of dwarves be at the steps of the last Homely House?

My eyes fell on a dark haired dwarf with eyes the color of sapphires, he seemed proud, no doubt one that did not deal with authority well. He would be quite a handful for my father – when he returned. Until then, I don't think any elf would know what to do.