Prologue

"Clara, my dear child. Your task will be hard. Harder than you have ever imagined it to be. And I am sorry for what I am about to tell you."

The voice was fleeting and dreamlike, yet firm and warm like one of a father.

Clara rose her head where she sat, leaned against the cliff, and her eyes scanned the darkness. She was not scared. No, the voice did not allow her to be.

"Who are you?" She called out, despite the fact that her friends slept beside her. She needed to know.

"I am Irmo. I am the master of dreams, visions and illusions." From the shadows stepped a tall man. Light glowed about him and made the night bright as day.

"Is this a dream?" Clara rose slowly, her eyes glued to the bright man before her. He had the same fair face as an elf, but yet he was so much more.

"Both yes and no", replied the man and smiled. "You are indeed asleep, but you are also awake. And you, my dear, will remember this clearer than any dream." He extended his hand towards her. "Come with me and I will show you your task."

Hesitantly, Clara put her hand into his. It was so much bigger than her own and she felt like a little child once more, holding the hand of her father.

Irmo lead her up the path of the Carrock, the night silent about them. It was as if the man had stopped the entire night with his presence, something Clara actually did not think too impossible. He was someone powerful, that she understood very well.

"What is this all about?" Her eyes was glued to the distant mountain and her hand clasped Irmo's hard. The height was still something that bothered her, dream or no dream, and she felt rather ashamed over the fact that she acted like a child in the presence of this mighty lord.

"This." Irmo gestured to the land before their feet and hugged her hand in a calming way. "This is the way you and your companions have to take. To the Lonely Mountain." Clara nodded. This was something she already knew very well. What other way was there? "And this way will also lead you to your home. To your world. The world of Men and Men alone." Irmo smiled, almost a little sadly. "I am aware of that you have never heard all the legends of this land, but I can assure you that in your memory, you have them. Just as you have the Tongue of the Commoners and that of the Elves." As he spoke, Clara realised that he had changed into the Elvish language and to her surprise, she replied in the same tongue.

"And what is this task you spoke of?"

"The task that lay before you is hard. I cannot say how it will end, for I cannot foretell endings, but I know it will be harder than intended for you." Irmo sighed deeply, his eyes meeting hers. His eyes was old, older than even those of the Lord Elrond and the Lady Galadriel, and it surprised her. For he did not look older than any other elf she had earlier met. "Your friends have become too important to you and that will end in loss and grief. I am afraid these losses will be troubling for you." Irmo paused for a moment, his eyes seeking the solitary peak.

"What losses are you speaking of, my lord?" Clara frowned, an uneasy feeling growing in her chest.

"I am sorry, my dear child, but that I cannot tell you." The lord pursed his lips and hugged her hand comfortingly. "Now, your task." He turned back to look at her, his eyes dark and sad. "One of your friends carry something. Something of great importance. This is something that cannot come to light. He has to keep it hidden and not let anyone else take it from him. It is dangerous, more dangerous than anything." Irmo sighed deeply at this, his eyes growing distant. "You have to make sure he only uses it for good purposes."

"And who is this? And what does he carry?" Clara frowned, suspicions already clouding her mind.

"The hobbit. Bilbo Baggins. He carrys a ring of gold. A powerful ring." Irmo smiled softly at her worried expression and lifted a hand to her hair. His fingers stroke over the ring hanging from one of her braids. "To help you see him when he uses this ring, you have received one of your own. Your friend did not know of this when he gifted this to you, but this ring is the making of the Valar." Irmo now also raised his second hand and with soft fingers, he loosened the ring from her hair. "Whenever the hobbit wears his ring, slip this upon your finger and you will be as him. Remember, though, that he is the only one to know of this. None other can know that you carry a ring as his." Irmo placed the ring in her palm and smiled. "Guard it well." He closed her fingers around it and then took a step back, as if he was about to leave.

"Is this my only task?" Clara frowned, gripping the ring tightly. No losses were a part of this and it made her suspicious.

"No, it is not." The man before her once more received a troubled expression upon his face. "By the help of this ring and your little friend, you have to take something. Something that will cost much." He paused to take a deep breath. "You must take the Arkenstone from its place in the treasure and bury it under the roots of the Mountain. It has caused much harm to the dwarves and their kin, but their creator will not allow this any more." He met her gaze, a gaze full of so many memories and sorrows. "But this will cost you greatly. The lord of the dwarves have grown greedy for this price and a sickness lingers in his thoughts. You must not let him have it for any other purpose than to bury it where it can never come to light again."

"I understand." Clara nodded slowly and turned her eyes towards the Mountain in the distance. Worries clouded her mind as she saw its mighty shadow. How was she to claim what Thorin so greatly wished to have?

"Good." Irmo placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "Remember. None other than the hobbit is to know of this." His eyes met hers one last time, before he stepped back and the darkness grew thick "Good luck, my child." His voice echoed around her, as she slowly returned to the world of the wake.

Author's note: Righto, here's the prologue for the next part of A Lost Treasure :) I really hope you will like it and that you will all be fine with the fact that I will make my own little twist on it all. I will not follow the book like a slave and instead make it more about the things I want to concentrate on. I hope I won't disappoint you with this one, since it will be a bit different from the first one and contain more of my own things than that one. Happy reading! xx