Prologue
New Story, read, enjoy and review
My dear daughter, my precious jewel, my time in Middle Earth is coming to an end. I can feel life fleeing me more and more each day. But before I go, I have to write this for you. I know I already told you all you have to know about my journey and your father. And I am sure you will always remember the story I told you about the journey your father and I made. But I thought that for the sake of history, this tale must be written down. This way one day when you'll have a family, and I am sure you will, you will tell them all about your legacy. You will tell them all about your father and his jewel. And may he live again through this story and never shall he be forgotten.
Delaina, my precious girl, you have grown to be a beautiful maid. Strong, fierce and proud. You look like your father more and more each day and yet I can see in your eyes the same eagerness that once was in mine, the same eagerness that has resided in my heart. I know you don't feel at home here in Rohan. I know you are looking for a place where you will finally belong. Sometimes, I can see that you seem lost in your thoughts, looking to the horizon, hoping for something more. Don't be too hasty, my girl. The day will come when you will live your own adventures. You're only twenty-nine my dear, for a dwarf, you haven't seen enough of the world, you haven't live your life, yet. For a man, you should have been married by now and have a bunch of children running behind you.
If I have to be honest, at your age, I wasn't married either, I was longing for adventures and only for them. However, even though I told you the truth, I may have not told you everything about it. I think it's time for you to know some more things about your father, his company and our journey.
This journey find its origin in a land far away to the east, the like of which you will not find in the world today. There was the city of Dale. Its markets known far and wide. Full of the bounties of vine and vale. Peaceful and Prosperous. For this city lay before the doors of the greatest Kingdom in Middle Earth: Erebor. Stronghold of Thror, King under the mountain. Mightiest of the Dwarf lords. Thror ruled with utter surety never doubting his house would endure for his line lay secure in the lives of his son and grandson.
Ah, Delaina, Erebor. Built deep within the mountain itself, the beauty of this fortress city was legend. Its wealth lay in the Earth in precious gems hewn from rock and in great seams of gold running like rivers through stone. The skills of the dwarves, was unequaled, fashioning objects of great beauty out of diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire. Ever they delved deeper down into the dark. And that is where they found it. The Heart of the Mountain. The Arkenstone.
Thror named it "The King's Jewel." He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule was divine. All would pay homage to him. Even the great Elven King, Thranduil. As the great wealth of the Dwarves grew, their store of good will ran thin. No one knows exactly what began the rift. The Elves say the Dwarves stole their treasure. The Dwarves tell another tale. They say the Elf King refused to give them their rightful pay. It is sad how old alliances can be broken. How friendships between peoples can be lost, my sweet daughter. And for what? Slowly the days turned sour and the watchful nights closed in. Thror's love of gold had grown too fierce. A sickness had begun to grow within him. It was a sickness of the mind. And where sickness thrives bad things will follow.
The first they heard was a noise like a hurricane coming down from the North. The pine on the mountain creaked and cracked in the hot, dry wind. It was a firedrake from the North. Smaug had come. Destroying everything in his wake. Such wanton death was dealt that day. For this city of men was nothing to Smaug. His eye was set on another prize. For dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire.
Erebor was lost. For a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives. Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin against the wrath of the dragon. No help came from the Elves that day, nor any day since. Robbed of their homeland the Dwarves of Erebor wandered the wilderness. A once mighty people brought low. The young Dwarf prince took work where he could find it laboring in the villages of Men. But always he remembered the mountain smoke beneath the moon, the trees like torches blazing bright. For he had seen dragon fire in the sky and a city turned to ash. And he never forgave and he never forgot.
But Delaina for me, it all began in Rohan I was a young maid then and I was always seeking for an adventure, for danger. When my peers will search for a good husband, I will go on adventures, walking the lands, meeting new people. My parents were desperate to see me marry but never had they have the heart to stop me, for I was too happy. Also, when an offer came from an old wizard, I promised to my dear mother and father that it would be the last. And upon my return I will grant them their wish by taking a husband. I was a fool then, I was a fool to believe that journey would be the last. Oh, Delaina, how wrong I was…
The description of Erebor's decription is from the Hobbit Movie. So, I take no credit for it.