Disclaimer: This is an Alternate Version of some of the key characters of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. I do not own these key characters created by him.

. Please enjoy,

Children of Erebor

Chapter 1

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A Pre-Hobbit Story.

Kidnapped

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…You must promise me…Jul…please…

"Save your strength! Grandpy!"

…No…it's too late, go back to your people…the Grey Mountains…they are your …true people…

"What are you talking about? You will be on your feet in no time and I'm going to find Mera!"

…Jul, you must promise me. Don't go after her. Mera is not your…sister...

"I don't understand, Grandpy," Jul wiped her tears. "Mera is my sister! You are wounded, you don't know what you are talking about."

Adin shook his head painfully, "No…Mera is…not …is not …your sis…"

Jul frowned, "What do you mean? What are you talking about? It must be the pain…" She looked up at her friend, "Reen, is he delirious? Do something, please?"

Reen, who was a healer and Jul's best friend, came to check on the old dwarf, shook her head and said softly, "Jul, he does not have long. The wound is too deep, I'm sorry I can't do anything for him anymore." She cast her eyes down sadly and sighed, "You must let him go." She patted Jul's shoulder before leaving her alone in the room.

Adin spoke again, this time even more laboriously, "Jul, I don't have much time here…don't." He held his hand up when he saw Jul shook her head. "I know my time is soon up. I did all I can to protect you… I must see Comet, yes, Comet… you must ask Comet to come in now..." He pointed to his things near the wall and said, "Go to the shelf …and get…my book…"

Jul frowned, "Grandpy now's not the time to write, you must rest."

He shook his head, "Please…do it for me, and get Comet, I must explain…before it's too late."

Much later, her best friend, Comet came out of the room and placed an assuring hand on her shoulder, "You tried Jul," He patted her hand softly. "You did your best, but Adin's heart was not strong to begin with and those bandits…they will pay for what they had done to him!" He muttered angrily as he walked away to face a window. He was thinking hard yet he was confused by what the old dwarf had told him before he died.

Jul knew what Comet meant; Adin was nearly 152 years of age and could barely walk much less keep up with a lively dwarfling like Mera.

Up until now, Jul had always thought Mera was her little sister.

"Wait!" Jul came up to Comet, "What did Grandpy said to you?"

Comet turned to her with an odd look, "He made me promise to protect you."

"Protect me? What do you mean? I don't need protection."

"I know…I don't get it either." He shrugged his shoulders and continued, "He kept talking about the book."

"The book…he wanted me to read the book…says it's important." Jul muttered. She was soon gone into Adin's room.

Comet raised a hand to stop her but lowered them again; Jul was just as stubborn as the old dwarf, they hardly listen to anyone once they had something urgent in their minds.

Finally she came back from the room; she found it, unwrapped the book that was in a soft cloth. She opened and began to read….

Earlier that evening the old Dwarf had told her the secrets…her secret, her true identity.

She was not a Durins but a Stiffbeards.

Fingering the ring on the middle finger of her right hand, she felt it odd to wear such a heavy jewelry.

The Stiffbeards sigil ring; Adin had told her when she was a baby, it was around her neck in a gold chain; it had belonged to her real father.

And someone had wanted to kill her.

Certainly it was not a very assuring thing to hear.

That had been eighteen years ago.

It was not safe to return to her home; there was still some unrest in the Grey Mountains, as it had been for so many years, as it had been now.

Her real father, King Vallor II had been deposed. In his place was his greedy nephew, Ballnor. With Vallor jailed, Ballnor declared himself King of the Stiffbeards.

He was just as ruthless as the corrupted members of the Council in the Palace.

Word had spread that the true heir to the Stiffbeards along with Ring of Power was missing. Without the Ring of the Stiffbeards, Ballnor could not prove to his people that he was King. Ballnor, at first, was not bothered by it, he was driven with ambitions and the need to rule and become King of all 7 Dwarven clans. First he would take over the lower clans of Broadbeams, Firebeards, Stonefoots, Blackblocks, and then he'd come for the Iron Fists, and finally the high and mighty clan of Durins who was currently ruled by King Thrain II!

As for the Iron Fists, he knew the King, which was ruled by his uncle's son, King Thelor II.

He had obtained allegiance from the clans of Broadbeams, albeit forcefully by holding their families hostages and commissioning all their males into his army. And now, with the soldiers of Broadbeams and his army, he was advancing towards the clan of Stonefoots.

Jul looked at her hand, at the ring…she was wearing what would be her birth right.

"Who am I really?" She muttered.

"You are the Princess of the Stiffbeards...well, if your father, the King, is dead; that makes you the Queen."

She looked up and saw Comet gave her a grime smile. "My lady." He nodded at her and left the room.

"That does not even sound right." She whispered.

Two sets of parents came to see Jul about their missing children, hoping she had some news.

Jul was surprised they came to seek her instead of the constable of Dale or even up at Erebor!

Strange...what about the parents of the last missing child?

Then again, she was still in shock over the death of her grandfather and Mera being taken.

Putting the book down, after being interrupted for the umpteenth time from some concern people, Jul decided that she needed to get out of the house; she was not used to being interrupted by these constant incoming visitors!

Leaving a note for Reen or Comet to find, Jul took her sword and stole out her own house and took the back road and was soon up a trail least used by the people of Dale.

She was not really paying attention to where she was going and before she knew it, it led her to a path that many called the Old Mine Road.

No one used the road as the mine was closed a long time ago. Many were afraid to use this path, believing it was haunted because the mine was cursed.

Jul had been here before but she was not afraid of it, she had used this path when she and her mentor used this for training purposes.

She remembered some of the marks he had made and she found them. She smiled at the simple markings on the base of the tree trunks he had cut; it was subtle so for a walker, it was not noticeable but to a tracker, who was looking for a certain sign, one would have instantly spotted it.

There! She saw the tell-tale signs he had subtly made at the base of the elm trees...only the elms.

As she was running her hand over the indents of the marks, she heard voices...and quickly climbed up the elm tree, thankful for the many branches that enable her to hold on to.

As she was half way up, she saw them; an ugly large dwarf with a female in the front leading four something that were covered in large sacks with legs...followed by two more male dwarves.

Could they be the 'nappers? The ones that took Mera and the other dwarflings? Jul wondered. She continued to observe them on her perch.

"Get a move on!" The ugly brute yelled at the covered dwarflings as he pushed on them roughly.

Jul saw that they were tied up and the ropes were tied to each other and were held by the female in the front and a male in the back.

They kept on moving as they walked up to the blocked off old mine.

"Hold it!" The ugly brute shouted, and everyone stopped moving.

"Let me get this opened." The ugly brute placed something on the seal and soon a loud blast sounded out, frightening the four sacks with legs who began to cry as the ugly brute yelled and hit them, telling them to be quiet before he pushed them into the opening, and soon they vanished into the mine.

Jul stayed where she was for a moment longer before she jumped down and ran all the way home.

…...

The mine, the forbidden mine of Erebor...as she ran home, she thought about the story of her parents, or what she thought were her parents:

As indicated in the book she had read earlier, Alin and Shen were killed in a mining accident, it was not until now, the old dwarf Adin had kept, that as she read and learned how it all began; the life of Adin and Metara, the only grandmother Jul had heard Grandpy talked about but never met.

Adin was of Durin descent. They were the first Dwarven Clan in the Middle Earth. There were six other dwarven Clans; Iron Fists, Stiffbeards, Blackblocks, Stonefoots, Firebeards, and the Broadbeams. As the Durins were created first by the Great Aulë, or otherwise known as Mahal in the Dwarven language of Khuzdul. The Durins had the best of everything and the best miners. They lived in the oldest Mountains which was the Lonely Mountains. The other Dwarven Clans were much scattered throughout the Northern regions of the Middle Earth where they dwell underneath mountains mining in the deep. The proud clan of Durins had a large town of Dale near their Palace of Erebor under the Lonely Mountains. The Stiffbeards traveled the farthest north towards the Gray Mountains where they settled and build their grand Palace of Pell. The Iron Fists on the other hand, founded the Blue Mountains which was in between the Lonely Mountains and the Grey Mountains, their city and Palace was called Trolfrolhuh.

It was not uncommon to find dwarves traveling around cities, selling and trading their wares amongst themselves, as well as finding wives when none could be found within their own Clans as females were far lesser than the males.

Here we find Adin who was a little bit past his adult life and having not found a wife in Dale, he decided to travel to the city of Trofrolhuh, the principle city of the Iron Fists Clan in the Blue Mountains. There, he met and fell for his future mate, Metara.

Adin brought Metara back to Dale where they began a family and he continued his life as a blacksmith.

Metara was a skillful dress maker so she would supplement for their family by taking in orders for dresses around the neighborhood.

When their son, Alin was born, Adin and Metara were the happiest of happy people! They were expanding the Durin line. Although they were not in direct descendent to the Durins of Erebor as they were the fourth or fifth cousins to Prince Thrain who later became King. Nonetheless, they were in the keeping of expanding the line of the Durins.

Family life for Adin and Metara was simple and blissful as their son grew big and strong.

One summer when Alin turned 15, Adin took his family to Trofrolhuh in the Blue Mountains for a visit. His dear Metara had been homesick to see her family; she had not been home since her marriage.

There, Alin met Shen who was the daughter of Metara's best friend.

As they were only a few dwarflings in the village, Alin and Shen spent quite a bit of time together playing children's games while the adults gathered, so much so that they formed a very close bond.

When it was time for the family to leave, it was a very sad parting.

Metara and her best friend soon discussed a union between them.

It was then settled that Alin and Shen were to be wedded when Shen reached her eighteenth birth year.

Alin was 22 when they traveled back to Trofrolhuh. He was eager to meet with his future wife again!

The wedding was a much anticipated event in the village! Everyone was invited as they feasted and dined from morn till eve.

The happy groom and bride laughed and dance together all day and only had eyes for each other, and they couldn't wait for their wedded lives to begin.

They stayed for a few more days before they set forth for Dale. Shen knew she'd miss her family in Trofrolhuh and it would be many years before she would travel back to see her kinfolks. Many tears were shed between her and her mother for they were close but her love for her new husband beckoned her to her new life and soon they were gone.

On their long way back to the Lonely Mountains, they found a pair of female dwarves being attacked by bandits! Taking up battle axes and swords, Adin and Alin jumped out of their wagon and began engaging in a battle with the bandits.

Metara and Shen rushed to the females' aid and saw that they were mortally wounded.

One of them spoke up, "In the wagon…please take her…protect her…"She did not complete her words before she succumbed to her injuries.

Metara went to the wagon to investigate what she meant and saw that it was a newborn Dwarfling!

"Oh my! Adin…!" Metara uttered but before she could pick up the baby she felt a sharp stab and fell instantly onto the ground!

"METARA!" Adin shouted.

One of the attackers had broken free and had stabbed Metara.

But not for long as Adin managed to catch up and kill him in return, stabbing him in his eye.

But it was too late, he saw. His beloved was dead.

…..

End of Chapter 1