When I started Shadow Huntress, I had ever intention of making it a saga. I had done the Hobbit and am no taking on the Fellowship of the Ring, followed by the Two Towers and finally the Return of the King. If you haven't read Shadow Huntress: The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey, I would recommend it but you don't need to.
Please enjoy and if you have any problems, please feel free to PM me.
Enjoy
++++++ I do not own the Lord of the Rings or any affiliated characters apart from my OC. All rights belong to Tolkien ++++++
One
It started with an invitation.
You are invited to a party
of special magnificence.
Mr Bilbo Baggins
Requests the pleasure of the company of
Falathiel and Breya of the Shire
at the celebration of his 111th birthday
at Bag End on the hill, Hobbiton,
on Thursday, the 22nd September
It was the first thing that I saw that morning when I came from the stables to the house. Having been up all night helping one of my mares Lily birth a young foal I would have almost missed it if I hadn't dropped the keys to the door. I couldn't help but smiled as I unrolled the invitation-the same immaculate hand writing had me thinking back to the Quest of Erebor and all the trouble we had gone through.
One hundred and eleven years old, I mused as I put the invitation down on the table. I cannot believe it has been sixty years since we buried Thorin and killed Smaug, time truly passes by in the blink of an eye for an elf. It was safe to say that I would definitely be there to celebrate with the hobbit who was one of my closest friends but I wasn't so sure about Breya. I hadn't seen the child in almost ten years. Last I heard, she had been in Erebor helping set up new trading routes that would be free of elven and orcish interference. The moment the young wizard had reached eighteen years she was snatched up by Gandalf to be taught how to use her powers. She was young and incredibly reckless according to my old teacher but also so in tune with her elemental abilities as well as deadly with a sword and her staff.
If Breya was with Gandalf than she would come but other than that I had no way of telling her that her uncle was celebrating his one hundred and eleventh birthday. I knew that she would want to see Frodo and Sam again, having seen the two hobbits as they had grown up she was quite attached to them. In fact, when Breya was in Hobbiton, many a young hobbit was often seen in trouble due to her teaching them habits their parents would never approve of in the first place.
"What do you think Ghost?" I smiled, scratching the wolf behind the ears. "What do we get for the Hobbit who practically has everything?" The charcoal black wolf looked up at me with the flick of his tail. Once he'd acknowledged I'd spoken to him, Ghost buried his head in his paws and went straight back to sleep. "The life of some," I laughed.
Ghost had only been with me for four years, he was one of the best dogs I had ever trained to hunt with. Many a farmer or trader would offer to take him off my hands for a hefty sum but Ghost I wouldn't not part with, he reminded me too much of Spirit in all his mannerisms.
I sat there for quite some time thinking about what I would gift the hobbit when finally I came to the only logical conclusion I could think of. In my bedroom underneath the bed, there was a sapphire rose and a ruby rose made of the finest white gold and gemstones available. They had been a gift from the King Under the Mountain for my five hundredth and fiftieth birthday. Kili advised me that the roses were a gesture of friendship, he said I would keep both or gift another to a friend so that each had one of the great jewels. I pulled the chest out from under my bed and pulled out two identical mahogany boxes. The only difference was that one was painted blue and silver and the other painted red and silver-putting back the ruby rose I was left holding the sapphire rose.
Satisfied that I had made the right choice I busied myself with packing.
Over the years I had grown accustomed to the life I had made myself. When people from Bree or various homes and farms around the Shire traded with me they all balked at the fact that I wasn't what you would call your typical elf. I was lucky enough to be blessed with the extraordinary grace, skill and beauty that all elves in Middle Earth possessed but instead of employing a skill like healing or craftsmanship, I was gifted with the ability to track and to kill. Before I had traveled to Erebor and helped thirteen dwarves, one hobbit and one wizard to reclaim the mountain from the dragon Smaug, I had even been so bold as to sell my blades for the right place. Now that I had Breya and friends to call my own, selling my swords had come a thing of the past.
Truthfully, taking the young wizard-to-be in had been a spur of the moment choice but you would never catch me saying that it was a bad idea. She had been a handful that's for sure but I did love her like she was my own child. Sixty years on and I would still joke about how the first time I met her, she was trying to rob me.
I had let my mind wander away from me and eventually found myself sitting in her dusty room. Ten years was a short length of time to an elf but to me it felt like an eternity. I sat down on her bed and picked up the stuffed cat toy that she used to drag around with her, when I sniffed it, the fabric smelt like tiger lilies and citrus-oddly, just like Breya.
I carried the stuffed toy to my room and tucked it in beside the sapphire rose.
Packing for travel never takes me long, I packed a couple of dresses and some tunics and leggings as well as some boots. When I strapped my bag closed, I glanced up at the wall where the elven Narylfiel and dwarven Dornessi were displayed over the top of a finely crafted shield with our family crest of a white horse and rose vines etched into the metal. Narylfiel had been one of a set, her brother, Mornenion, had been buried with Thorin when he passed. The pommel was black and made from the finest metal etched with leafy, silver vines and small rubies trailed along the vines, the blade glistened in the moonlight and the metal had 'Narylfiel', meaning 'fire brand', stamped into the metal. Mornenion had been exactly the same only decorated with sapphires instead of rubies. Dornessi however, was a blade crafted by dwarven blacksmiths. Her pommel was black with leafy, gold vines and small sapphires trailed along the vines. The word Dornessi was carved into the metal, Balin had told me that Dornessi meant queen.
I shook my head. There was no way I would need these weapons, Hobbiton was less than half a day's travel away from my home. I only took them with me when I traveled to Erebor and I hadn't even done that in a long time.
No, I decided, my bow would be enough, just as it always was.
I carried everything into the sitting room and piled it on the armchair. Ghost had moved room underneath the table and was now eyeing off a bird that was pecking at the seed at the window. "Leave the bird alone, Ghost," I laughed. "He's not harming anyone."
Picking up the invitation off the table, I sat down in my armchair by the fire. One hundred and elven years old, I thought to myself. What a life to have lived for a hobbit.
Suddenly I laughed.
It had been many years since I last thought of it but the memory was still fresh in my mind.
Laceration…evisceration…incineration?
Oh, aye. He'll melt the flesh of your bones in the blink of an eye…think furnace with wings…flash of light, searing pain, then poof, you're nothing more than a pile of ash…
The thought of the hobbit fainting in sheer terror still managed to bring tears of laughter to my eyes no matter what Bilbo argued. Oh yes, this was going to be a good party indeed.