The Hobbit: There and Back Again

Heir of Darkness

Chapter 1:

Warmth, sunlight and joyous laughter filled the streets of Dale. The trading capitol of the north, the city of Dale was at the peak of its wealth. The people, human and dwarf alike, were celebrating constantly. Clothed in rich silks and fine jewelry, they had little care in the world. The great dwarf kingdom, the mountain of Erebor, loomed over them like a protective parent.

The streets were bustling with business as merchants sold their goods in the marketplace. Too caught up in their own worlds, the people took very little notice of the shadow growing in the dank alleyway just outside the center of business. Two warriors whom had descended from the mountain to enjoy some sunlight, prowled the market place looking for anything that might truly be worth buying.

"Do you see anything brother?" Balin, the older of the two, asked curiously. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his face. It had been far too long in his opinion since he had been able to relish the sunlight. The older of the dwarves looked interestedly at a booth set up with fine silver jewelry. "Not mithril, but it is pretty." He noted.

The younger dwarf, but the taller of the two, Dwalin, looked at it boredly. His thick brown Mohawk making him seem even taller. "I guess so, if you are into that kind of thing." He grunted. He had crossed his arms over his chest and was looking around disinterestedly. It had been his brother's idea to come down. In truth, the young warrior had wanted to stay inside and look after the young dwarf prince, Thorin. The prince was still a toddler by most standards, but followed his father and the other warriors around like a puppy. He had grown particularly close to the brothers, Balin and Dwalin. The boy's father paid him little mind.

"Relax dear brother. Try and enjoy yourself somewhat. We have an entire day to enjoy the sun and celebrations of prosperity." Balin countered. He put the bracelet he had been holding back on the table and brushed past the younger dwarf. Dwalin had just only seen his twentieth year, but his older brother believed he was much too serious for his age.

As the pair sauntered through the bustling marketplace, something caught Dwalin's eye. "What is that?" he asked, looking down an alleyway. Balin stopped and followed his brother's gaze down the shadowy alley. The darkness seemed to be hovering, in particular, in the farthest corner. "Come on." The youngest urged, stepping into the shadows. Balin hesitated, not thinking it a good idea.

"Dwalin, maybe we should not go near…" he hissed, following the other dwarf further. As they approached the darkened corner, a pair of large red eyes met theirs. The oldest dwarf gasped as he realized there was a small infant hidden in the shadows. The child was wrapped in a raven colored blanket. It had a small tuft of pale blond hair on its head. Its red eyes fixed on the dwarves as Dwalin knelt down in front of it.

Suddenly, the darkness shifted, snaking up the walls like vines, moving closer to Balin as he backed up. "Dwalin, get away from it!" he snapped, eyeing the slow moving tentacles of shadow. But his brother ignored him. He was looking at the dark runes on the child's skin. They seemed to be vibrating softly, but the infant took no notice, as if it didn't realize they were there. The runes were of a language unknown to the dwarves.

A feeling came over the young dwarf, almost like a trance, and he found himself reaching out, carefully picking the baby up and into his arms. The moment the infant was secured in his arms, the red in the child's eyes transformed into a clear blue. The runes slowly faded, as did the shadows that had closed in on Balin.

"We need to take it to the king." Dwalin said quickly, folding the baby into his embrace. His brother looked at him skeptically.

"Brother, you do not know what that thing is. It is not normal. There is a darkness about it. Maybe we should put it back in the alley and be on our way." The fellow warrior argued. His eyes never left the baby, now dozing in his kin's arms. His brother thought about it, but one look down at the infant and he had set his mind.

"Balin, I understand what you are saying, but… what if this is the child of lore?" his brother countered. The older dwarf looked back at the sleeping child uneasily, his face paling some. "If it is, then we must take it to the king. He will want to see it. Besides, it is only an infant." Dwalin persisted. "If we are right, then we cannot leave it out here, for darker beings to find."

The elder warrior hesitated, but nodded. "Very well. Let us make haste then." Balin concluded, gently pushing his brother in the direction of the mountain. Dwalin tucked the baby under his cloak to hide from view. As they hustled through Dale, he felt the infant snuggle closer to him for warmth. He felt the baby slowly start to heat up, to where his hand had begun to sweat just from holding it.

King Thror was the current king of the kingdom of Erebor. His son, Thrain, sat beside him, with his son, Thorin, fidgeting beside his own chair. Thror turned a golden coin over and over in his hand. Admiring the detail and markings of the coin, it took the king a moment to realize a guard had entered. Thrain cleared his throat to draw the king's attention away from the coin.

"Thanu men," the guard acknowledged his majesty, kneeling before his ruler.

"Vemu!" the king boomed, eyeing the golden clad guard curiously. With these times of peace, he had had very little need of his guard, often retreating into his treasure room to be with himself. To have a guard come before him without a previous appointment was odd.

"My apologies for the intrusion, but Balin and Dwalin have returned from Dale." The guard reported, standing before the royal men of Erebor. Thrain looked at the guard oddly.

"Of what importance is that to the king?" the prince asked irritably. It was not uncommon for petty news to be brought before the king, but not this mundane. Thrain knew the king had the same interest in this news as he did, which was bar none.

The guard bowed to the prince respectively. "My prince, I do apologize, but they have returned with something to show the king." He answered, glancing sidelong at Thorin, who was toying with one of the braids in his hair. Thrain got the guard's meaning, although he was still uncertain.

"Thorin." The young boy looked up at the prince with curious grey blue eyes, but when his father made a nod towards the door, the child groaned, climbed down from his seat to his father's right and scampered out of the throne room. Once the giant stone doors crashed shut, Thror gestured for Dwalin and Balin to be brought forth.

One of the small side doors opened and Balin walked in, leading his brother. Thrain smiled, greeting his fellow warriors. "Vemu thanu men." The brothers kneeled to honor their king. Thrain and Thror stood, anxious to hear this discovery of theirs.

"Vemu," Thror bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls of the hall. "Now, rise and tell me of this urgent discovery." He ordered in a deep kingly tone. The brothers looked at each other uncertainly before Dwalin removed his arm from beneath his cloak. The king and prince watched intently as a small black bundle was revealed to them. The king gasped when it moved.

"A child?" Thrain demanded, looking down at the pair uncertainly.

Balin was the one to answer. "An infant, yes. However, you must understand something your majesty. We found it in a cloud of shadows and darkness. The shadows seemed to be alive as we approached."

"We believe this child may be the infant of the dark legend." Dwalin cut in with a more blunt tone.

The two descendants of Durin looked at each other. "Impossible. That child would have to be hundreds of year's old." The king argued in disbelief. "The child of the dark lord was born in the first age. This cannot be that child."

"Exactly." Thrain agreed with his father. Despite their disbelief, both dwarves paled and grew more anxious. "What proof have you this is that child?"

"Only what our eyes have seen my prince. It is true we do not have much certainty ourselves of this claim. However, we saw the shadows and darkness about it. It had runes of the like we have never seen upon its skin. Runes of the Black Speech most certainly. And its eyes were a crimson red when we first stumbled upon the child. It may be a regular child but we could not leave it out there." Dwalin explained more fully.

Thror stepped down from his throne and approached the pair of brothers. He looked down at the sleeping infant. "It looks more like an elfish child." He noted, gently stroking one of the infant's pointed ears. At his touch, the child's eyes popped open, red as they were when it had been found. The king jumped back with a yelp, causing his son to leap to his feet and join his father. Dwalin quickly offered the child the comfort of his finger, which it grabbed softly, closing its tiny fist around his thick index finger. Its eyes slowly transitioned back to a beautiful blue as its attention was drawn away.

"If this is the child, why is it so young?" Thrain asked, watching the child nervously. It had proceeded to pop Dwalin's finger into its mouth, gumming it.

"If it is indeed the dark lord ling, we believe that it has been kept hidden and under some sort of dark magic to keep it little until its father had need of it. Somehow, it ended up here in Dale." Balin suggested, stroking the child's small tuft of hair lightly. Thror looked thoughtfully at the child.

Thrain was more concerned for the safety of the kingdom. "Then it should be killed, now before it has a mind to kill us." He ordered angrily. The brothers tensed. Dwalin subtly tightened his arm around the baby protectively.

"No!" Thror boomed, startling the three men in the room. His son looked at him, terrified. The king was looking at the baby thoughtfully, but there was a darkness to his look. One Thrain had only seen when his father was in his treasure room, a sickened look. "We keep this child. If this is the child of legend, it is most certainly a living weapon." The king began, turning and walking back up to his throne. "We could use a weapon such as this to our advantage. True, this child is very young. Therefore, impressionable. It shall remain in Erebor, but by no means is it to be known that it is being raised to be our little dark horse." The king concluded.

The dwarf prince sighed, seeing his father's reasoning, but thinking it incredibly risky. "Then who is to take care of it?" he asked, looking up at his father. Thror's eyes locked on Dwalin.

"The child seems to have bonded with Dwalin and Balin here." He pointed out. "Beings that they found it, I am holding them responsible."

The brothers exchanged uncertain looks, but nodded. "Thank you your majesty." Dwalin smiled slightly. In the short distance he had carried the child, something had stirred inside of him and he wasn't sure how he would have reacted if they had tried to seize the child. After the pair had been dismissed, the younger brother turned and looked at his elder. "You do not have to help me if you do not wish it." He said. "I pushed to bring it here, it is my responsibility."

Balin chuckled. "I am not going to let you raise that child alone. You might very well corrupt it or something. It will take us both, I am sure. Come now, let us take it to its new home." He smiled reassuringly at Dwalin, whom looked back with the slightest of smiles.

The mountain of Erebor was a labyrinth. Its paths and walls created a maze that if one was not sure of, made it very easy to get lost and never get out. Erebor was a kingdom though, complete with dwellings for its people as well as kitchens, furnaces, forges, mines, and every other possible anomaly one could think of. The young warrior's little hole in the wall was quaint. It had two bedrooms, a tiny bathroom no bigger than a broom cupboard, a petite sitting room and a kitchen area. There was no electricity or plumbing, only rivers and torches. Dwarves spent little time in their homes so they didn't need much space. Just as Dwalin unlocked the door, the child began crying.

"Shh! Shh, hush little one!" Balin cooed, bouncing the baby lightly in an effort to calm it down. The child refused to be soothed, crying even louder than before. "What's wrong with it?" the elder dwarf demanded.

"Maybe it needs to be changed!" Dwalin snapped, closing the door behind them. Balin placed the bawling child down on the chair so they were looking down at it. Balin stepped back and gestured to his brother. "What?"

"Change it!" Balin ordered, glancing from his brother to the baby and back.

"Is it a boy or a girl?! If it is the latter, you do it!" his brother snapped. The pair looked down at the baby, neither one moving as the baby continued to wail. Hesitantly, Dwalin unwrapped the squirming, bawling infant. As the blanket fell away, Dwalin cringed, "Girl!" he screamed, looking away. Balin looked curiously before fainting himself. "Ah! Blast it Balin!" his brother growled. Closing his eyes, the young dwarf quickly rewrapped the infant up, deeming that the reason for crying was not her cleanliness.

When Balin came to, he staggered to his feet. "Well, it is not her rags that are the problem. Maybe she is hungry?" he suggested. "What do they eat?"

Dwalin handed the crying baby girl back to his brother before storming off to the kitchen. Within seconds, he returned with a small cutlet of meat he had left to cook above the fire before they had left for Dale. The meat was still hot, but warm enough to touch. He took the infant girl from his brother before gently offering her the small chunk of meat. The girl paused in her crying and eyed the meat hungrily. She opened her mouth for Dwalin to put it in. Having no teeth, the girl gummed the meat gratefully until it was swallowable. Having been fed, the girl yawned and slowly closed her large blue eyes to go back to sleep.

"Well, that settles that then." Balin stated as his brother sat down on the chair, cradling the baby close. "What are you thinking of naming her?" he asked once they had settled down.

Dwalin looked down at the sleeping baby nestled up against his chest. He thought long and hard about it. A dwarfish name would not do for her. She was clearly not a dwarf and it would be odd to name her after one. However, he recalled Thror pointing out how she looked more like an elf ling than anything. The dwarf warrior thought about any elfish words or names he had ever heard. Dwarves and Elves did not get along so his vocabulary was limited. Then, one name came to him, "How about Anvanya?" he asked, looking up at his brother for approval.

Balin laughed as he looked down to see the infant had opened her eyes at the sound of her name. "It sounds like a beautiful name. And may I say, she seems to like it." He chuckled. Dwalin nodded, meeting the baby's gaze.

"Little Anvanya."