Walking through the woods of Lothlorien, I could not help but notice the beautiful summer weather. I had been out in the woods gathering herbs and plants to put up for the winter to come. I had been living here for the last ten years, after a certain wizard petitioned The Lady of the Wood for me. I kept to the outer part of the woods, not wanting to push my welcome too far with the elves. As I rounded a turn in the trail, my small cottage came into view. It was a humble dwelling, built out of golden brown wood like the trees around it, with green creeper vines growing up the walls and over the roof. But the sight of my home was not what drew my attention; it was the sight of that same wizard leaning against a tree five feet from my door calmly smoking his pipe.
"Gandalf, it's good to see you. What brings you all the way here to Lorien?" I asked
"Ah, Farren, I have been waiting on you, my dear girl." He answered back with a smile.
I scowled slightly at him referring to me as a "girl" even though I was still young by my people's standards and very young compared to him. He just laughed at my look and I sighed, "He would never change." I thought with a shake of my head.
"Would you like to come in?" I asked, "I could put on some tea."
"Tea would be nice, as I have had a long trip, but I cannot stay long." He said and followed me into my cottage.
Gandalf settled himself at the table as I finished laying out the tea and the last of my bread and jam. I waited while he made his tea and had some bread before my patience finally started to wear thin.
"So what brings you here?" I prompted.
He smiled a little at my impatience, I was not known for being very patient.
"A quest." He answered, vaguely.
"Really?" I answered, trying not to sound interested, "I think I have had enough adventure for one lifetime."
"Farren, I have convinced Thorin Oakenshield to march on Erebor and destroy the dragon." He explained farther and I set my tea down and stared at him in disbelief.
"I think it would be very helpful to this quest if you came along." Gandalf said carefully, watching my closely.
"What?!" I asked rising from my seat and backing away from the table. "You want me to help the son of the Dwarf that wanted me dead?!" I asked incredulously.
"Now Farren, Thorin is not his father or his grandfather. You should give him a chance." Gandalf said rising from his seat as well.
I shook my head, not believing what he was asking. These last ten years I had been safe and able to lead a quiet life. Now he wanted me to throw all that away. "What good could come from me going?" I asked.
"That dragon is going to be more than they can handle alone. Fire is your specialty after all. You do not need to explain what you are at first. This could also mean a healing between your peoples and maybe a chance for you to go home." He explained, "If you decide to listen to and trust my advice, like you have these last ten years. Come to this address, in the Shire, on this date." He took some parchment from his robes and handed it to me, then took his hat and left.
I looked at the address, Bag End it said and started to think about the past as I had not for years: My name is Farren Firebringer and I am an elemental, a fire elemental to be exact. I was born in a small village in the forest just north of the Lonely Mountain. My people are a shy race, keeping to ourselves most of the time. When people see us they usually mistake us for either small humans, (please we are not that weak), or elves, (HELLOOOO no pointy ears or prissy attitudes.) This is because we hide our true elemental forms and only show them when we are fully involved in our element. I have three siblings: an older sister named Saren, an older brother named Doren, and a younger brother named Joren. Saren takes after our mother and is a wood or plant elemental. She can make plants of any kind do whatever she wants; even bring life back to long dead seeds, bulbs and small plants. As a child I was envious of her talent, she could disappear into one tree and then appear out of another forty feet away. Doren is an earth elemental and can do anything with the slightest amount of earth and Joren is a water elemental. Don't get Joren mad unless you want to end up either drowning or having your water jump out of your cup any time you try to drink. I am the rarest elemental talent and when I was born my mother was extremely proud. Not only did she have all the talents represented, but both of her daughters had rare talents.
*** Flash Back***
I was only sixteen when Smaug destroyed our home, along with the City of Dale, and took Erebor. Our people tried to settle on the edge of the Greenwood, but King Thranduil was not very welcoming to us and forced us to move. We then moved to a forest at the foot of the Misty Mountains and had peace for a while until we heard about the great battle between the Dwarves and Orcs that happened before the gates of Moria. After King Thror had been killed they say that his son Thrain went mad. He stared sending parties of Dwarves to attack our villages. He was looking for fire elementals, said that our fire talents were what drew the dragon to Erebor; not King Thror's vast hoard of gold.
One day he found our village and I will never forget that day. I was out with my sister gathering herbs when we heard the screams. We ran back toward the village, but by time we got back it was in ruins. My father came out and yelled at us to hide. That was when I saw him, King Thrain. He was a large dwarf with graying black hair and missing an eye. He was questioning the village elder.
"Where are the fire elementals?" he was asking.
But the elder, whose son was a fire elemental, kept quiet. Finally King Thrain had had enough and ran the elder through with his sword. That was the first time I had ever seen anyone killed. I hid myself in the ruins of a cottage and prayed for them to leave. I was never more terrified than I was at that moment. Finally they left and we had to leave that forest and travel over the mountains, hoping to get away from him. I could understand now why people had started calling him Thrain the Insane. We were always terrified that he would catch up to us and stories of the horrific tortures that happened to fire elementals that he happened to catch started to circulate. We finally settled in the forests in the Tower Hills beyond the Shire, knowing that the Dwarves would not come here as they were too close to the elven sanctuary of The Grey Havens.
But, like my element, I grew restless. So twelve years ago, I had left the Tower Hills to explore and see Middle Earth. Unfortunately, a year into my travels, I was happened upon by a group of dwarves who mistook me for an elf maid and attacked me. But they found out, rather painfully, what I was and after that I was pursued across Middle Earth. One night came upon what I presumed to be an elderly man on the Greenway that helped defend me against a group of dwarves that had found me again. The elderly man turned out to be Gandalf, and I thanked him for his help. "My dear, one of your kind should not walk so openly." He had said kindly as we parted ways. The next year, he contacted me and suggested a brief stay in Lorien. I was glad for the invitation, as I could not go home without leading the dwarves back to the village and was tired of traveling.
*** end Flash Back***
I came back to myself, standing in my kitchen holding the parchment that Gandalf had given me. A chance to go home he had said, but which home was he referring to? The Tower Hills or the forests north of the Lonely Mountain? Even now, sixty years later, I could still see the beautiful greens of the north forest, as we called it. I could still smell the fresh pines and hear the wind in the boughs over our family home. Could there be a chance of reclaiming that home for my people? Could I really take this risk and trust Thorin Oakenshield to not be like his sick grandfather and murderously insane father?
