Prologue
"Let go!" A scream echoed through the home, alerting the woman who was standing near the window. She turned, her fear for her daughter quickly changing into a wide smile as her son came rushing through the room. He was carrying his sister over his shoulder, yelling triumphantly while she beat on his back to try and get him to release her. "Mother! Tell Bari to let me go!"
"Torina is right. It is not proper, my son. She is thirty-five years old, not twenty..." Their mother scolded softly, an eyebrow raising sternly. Her children may have looked like simple teenagers, but because of who their parents were, they were older than human children. Half Dwarf children were rare enough, but as their mother was a member of the Dúnedain, the children were blessed with a longer lifespan. The children were known as Umli, a half-breed between dwarves and men.
"No, it's not that! It's not fair...he did not give me advance warning to properly defend myself! He cheated!" The young woman huffed as she tried kicking her way out of the situation. With a small laugh, Bari released her gently back onto her feet and opened his arms, to which she immediately ran into for a tight hug. "Welcome home, brother...I've missed you!" Their mother, Lindris, stared at them for a moment and waited for her daughter to let go of him before moving towards him and enfolding him in a hug of her own.
"It is good to have you home, Bari," she gave him a chaste kiss on his forehead. "How was the hunt?"
"Nothing much to report. Two deer and a few rabbits at the beginning. The past five days were uneventful though, so we turned around and came back home," he told his mother with a shrug on his broad shoulders.
"Well, you made it back just in time. One of your father's oldest and dearest friends is coming to visit as he passes through."
"Will this friend be staying with us?" Bari asked with a warm smile at his excited sister, who adored having guests come to their home and doted terribly on them from the moment they arrived to the moment they left. She was such a kindhearted soul, never one to turn away someone in need, and tried to make everyone around her happy, just like her mother. And if her family or friends were offended in any way, she was fiercely protective over them, which was exactly like her father. It was wonderful to see the best of both parents combined in his younger sister. She was growing into a wonderful woman.
"Who is it, Mother?" Torina asked with a curious sparkle in her blue eyes as she turned to her.
"Come sit, my children." She waited until they were both seated in front of her before speaking again. "Remember the stories I told you of the Lonely Mountain? About kings and princes and magnificent gold..."
"And the desolation of Smaug the Terrible. He destroyed the kingdom of Erebor, the home of father's kin," Torina finished for her and nodded with a proud smile, glad that she remembered so much of her mother's teachings. She could never forget the sadness in her father's eyes whenever he spoke of his lost home or the frown on her mother's soft features as she spoke of the firestorm in Dale.
"The dwarves lost so much that day..." Lindris drifted off in gloomy thought, prompting her children to glance at each other.
"Mum..." Bari spoke softly. "Who is this visitor?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Right...I am sorry. He grew up with your father when they lived in Erebor, during the time I lived in Dale with my family. After the dragon attacked and I lost my family, I relocated to Ered Luin, as did most of the dwarves of Erebor and humans from Dale. In Ered Luin, your father and I met and fell in love. I met his kin and friends soon after." Her children listened intently, especially the hopeless romantic Torina, who adored hearing the love story of her parents. "The dwarves did not approve much of me at first. A Dúnedain and a Dwarf...it was not a normal union by any means."
"So what happened?" She smiled as she heard her daughter prod her in interest.
"I saved one of the young nephews of your father's friend. He had fallen and was injured, and I found him in the mountains and brought him back to the healers. He and his brother are both troublemakers, but they are such loving souls."
"You gained the respect and trust of the dwarves?" Bari guessed, leaning forward a bit in his chair so he could hear her better.
"Not just respect and trust, my son. I gained their love. I became like family, and they became mine. Torina, you were named after your father's friend." Her daughter's eyes lit up as she glanced down at her hands and blushed a deep pink. "He is journeying to the Iron Hills and asked for a warm bed for a few days to rest before he continues on. So when he arrives, I want the both of you to be welcoming and kind," Lindris directed as she straightened out the front of her dress. Torina smiled as she gazed at her mother. She always fidgeted when she was nervous.
"Yes, Mother," the siblings chorused and looked at each other with eager smiles.
"Is he small, as Papa is?" Torina wanted to know. Her brother was lucky enough to inherit their mother's height, but Torina was shorter, though still a little taller than her father.
"I would hardly call myself small," a male voice boomed from behind them. "For a Dwarf, I am quite tall. I am tallest of my kin!"
"Papa," she greeted her father with a loving hug and laughed aloud. "I am sorry...I did not mean to offend..."
"Well, you are not overly tall yourself. I fear that while you have your mother's kind heart and beauty, you are cursed with this size..." Dari paused to laugh as she stuck her tongue out at him. "And my stubbornness."
"Manners!" her mother scolded before all of them began to laugh together. He released his daughter and walked over to kiss his wife. It had been a long day, so he was glad to be home with his family.
"Amrâlimê..." he murmured as his wife leaned down and placed a kiss again his lips before they heard noises at the door. With a wide smile, Torina squared her shoulders and walked over to the door as gracefully as she could manage, preparing to open it for their most welcomed guest. However, no knock came, and her eyebrows knitted together before a horrid smell overwhelmed her. She could heard snarls and growls outside.
"What is that?" she asked with a disgusted wrinkle of her nose.
"Torina...away from the door...NOW!" Dari roared as he grabbed for his axe and Bari ran for his sword. Just as the young woman began to back away from the door, it was ripped from its hinges, and standing there were hulking creatures that should have only existed in the darkest of nightmares, their eyes beady and merciless as they snarled down at her. Her voice could not work up a scream as she stood frozen, her fear incapacitating her. She had never seen an orc up close, though she had heard her father tell tales of the Battle for Azanulbizar, when he fought alongside his kin to reclaim Moria. He had painted them to be gruesome beasts, something to fear and loathe, and he was absolutely correct.
"Torina!" her mother was screaming her name as she watched the creatures grasp their weapons and advance on her daughter.
"O-orcs..." Torina whimpered in horror. Her father grabbed her arm and spun her out of the way just as one of their blades sliced through the air towards her. She cried out as the cold steel caught her across the upper right arm, and Dari growled in fury as he lunged for the orcs.
"Child, come!" Lindris took her hand and ran with her to the other side of their house. "I need you to hide. I need you to stay safe..." she pleaded even as Torina protested, but she could not argue for long. The back of their home was being smashed through by an axe, and two more orcs came sauntering in through the opening they had made. Torina's arm was hurting her fiercely as they backed away, though the injury did not seem not life-threatening. Her fear was growing, but she tried not to let it show in front of the enemy. One of the orcs spoke in another tongue, a hauntingly wicked smile on its face. Bari stepped in front of the women and began to fight the orcs that were beginning to attack, giving his family time to find another place to hide.
"Lindris! My other sword! Take it!" Dari yelled over the sound of steel clashing together. She grabbed it up and handed Torina a dagger from the nearby table.
"Bari!" Torina screamed in warning, seeing a third orc come up behind him. But she had seen it too late. Just as he turned, the orc sunk its jagged blade into her brother's chest and gave a snarl of malicious satisfaction.
"NO! Bari!" Torina's scream was full of terrified grief as she almost ran towards him. Her heart almost stopped in her aching chest as she stared at the life leaving her dear brother's eyes.
"No..." Her mother was looking on in a disbelieving daze and shook herself from it quickly as she thought only of protecting her daughter. "Torina...Torina! Listen to me..." she grabbed the crying girl's shoulder with a white knuckled fist and turned to face her, her voice dropping low. "The side door is still free. I will draw them out to the front. You get your horse and get out of here. Do you understand?"
"I'm...I'm not going anywhere...I can defend myself!" Torina glared hatefully at the small but deadly orc pack through tear-filled eyes, ready to fight all of them but knowing that she could not.
"Curse the pigheadedness of Dwarves..." she heard her mother snap and winced. The orc in front of them dropped her brother's limp form to the ground and turned his attention back to the women. This one was different than the others, larger and paler in color. He had a claw for a hand and razor sharp teeth.
"Filth! You will pay for this!" Dari had killed five orcs and was now facing down this fearsome orc who seemed to be the leader. His eyes widened in a grave and scared recognition. "You..." The creature laughed cruelly and held his claw out in front of him, making a slashing motion in front of his throat and pointing it back at the Dwarf. He spoke in his language but they knew the implications of what he had said. "Torina...do as your mother commands."
"But Papa, I-"
"NO. I love you...I love you so much. I am so proud of you. Please...go." With a choked sob, Torina grasped her dagger and took one last look at the pale orc who would haunt her nightmares every night before breaking into a run right as her parents ran at the remaining orcs to give her time to escape. She whistled for her pony in the pasture, but she was suddenly slammed backwards. Torina gasped breathlessly as she hit the ground hard and an orc loomed over her. Letting all of her anger boil over, she waited until he bent over her and embedded her dagger into his chest. She cried out as he fell on top of her, lifeless. Her body struggled to get out from underneath him until she heard the rest of the orc pack coming out of the house.
She stopped moving under him, pretending to be dead. As her wound was starting to cause her more pain, her head was throbbing immensely, and she could barely breathe at that moment anyway, it was an easy feat. She heard more of that harsh foreign tongue and then the sound of heavy footsteps moving away. The woozy young woman waited underneath the dead creature for what seemed like hours and then finally crawled out from her hiding spot to see her house slowly going up in a fiery blaze.
"No..." she stumbled towards her home and was a few feet away when something grabbed her hair and growled behind her. "No! Papa!"
"Dwarf runt..." It was an injured orc the pack had left behind. Her dagger was still in the dead orc who lay near the pasture. She sobbed once and tried to fight back, but he laughed at her, a guttural noise that chilled her. "Just a taste...your blood is new...not pure..." He ran his gaze over her bleeding arm and licked his lips.
"Let...let go of me, filth!" He would've bitten down on her if a hooded figure hadn't come galloping up on a pony, throwing his or her sword at him and spearing him. The abomination dropped to the ground instantly, and as his hand was still tight in her hair, she fell with him. Torina screamed and thrashed around, wanting nothing more than to escape his clutches.
"My lady, stop! He is dead," The figure pulled his pony to a halt and leapt off, running towards her. He bent down and disentangled her from the deceased piece of filth. She immediately began running for the front door of her house but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the carnage that lay inside.
"Wait! What are you doing?! You could get yourself killed that way!" The Dwarf man under the cloak exclaimed as he chased after her and grabbed her around the waist to hold her back. However, he too froze when he saw the dead Dwarf and his wife laying inside.
"Mahal..." he cursed in horror, unable to say anything else. His normally distant and hardened gaze was full of tears as he tried desperately to blink them away and bit his quivering lip. "My...my friends..."
"Mama! Papa!" Torina was sobbing openly, using the man behind her to keep herself upright.
"T-Torina..." A strangled sound drifted to them from inside.
"Mama!" Both the stranger and she ran into the house on fire and knelt next to Lindris.
"My...my ch-child..." She knew her mother was dying and took her hand, trying not to show her weakness. Lindris looked up into the face of the stranger. "You...it...it's you..." A coughing fit wracked her body, and specks of blood appeared on her lips. The dark-haired man looked away for a moment before looking back at her, his eyes softening. "You c-came..."
"I came, my dear friend..." he answered somberly, allowing himself to shed his tears for her. "I am so sorry that I came too late..."
"Not...for all...of...us..." she responded as she weakly lifted her hand to his face. He glanced at the wounded young woman next to him sobbing over her parents and covered her hand with his.
"I'll keep her safe. I promise you, Lindris," he answered determinedly, rage burning under his mournful gaze.
"I...saw him...p-piercing...blue eyes...p-pale skin...the...orc..." Snarls of wargs could be heard in the distance, and the hooded man looked around hesitantly. Lindris could not have been talking about him...that scum was dead. He had been killed years ago.
"No! Mama! I love you...I love you!" Torina's panicked voice drew his attention back down to Lindris's expressionless eyes. She was no longer with them.
"We must go..." he urged the girl softly and stroked her hair once in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. "Come." Torina felt him pick her up and cried for her lost family, not bothering to hold herself back. "I'll look after you." The man used his free hand to grab up his weapon from the corpse of the orc as he moved them to his pony, where her own stood close by. A few minutes later, when her cries had slowly faded into a stunned and pained silence, she looked up at the Dwarf who was offering her his hand to help her onto her now tacked up pony, the same short stranger who saved her life only minutes before. He had bound her wound the best he could with cloth from the bottom of her dress.
"You are the friend my mother had spoken of..." the small woman guessed, and he nodded while he felt her hand slip into his. She was accepting his offer of help. "I'm Torina..." Hoisting her into her saddle, he took a deep breath and stared at the young woman.
"You look so much like your mother, Torina," he answered as he swung up into his saddle and looked back at the house before settling his gaze back on her. "We must go, or their deaths will have been in vain."
"What is your name? My...my mother said they named me after you..." she pressed as gently as she could, her grief-stricken eyes searching his as they started off, moving further away from the house and the family that meant so much to them.
"Thorin. My name is Thorin Oakenshield."