Keith woke up and had survived the crash. His only weapon was a pistol and he checked the ammunition to see if it was a real. The shells that were used in the tactical exercises differ from the ones used in the mission. Keith found a town nearby and approached it.
He knocked the gate and the porter answered, "What do you want?"
"Is there a place I can stay?"
"Go find the Prancing Pony," the porter opened letting Keith in.
As the V.S.S.E. agent went through the town, people were staring at him. Keith reached a building with a sign having a horse in it labeled, "Prancing Pony". A woman who helped running the inn gave the agent the dishes he ordered.
"Thank you," Keith began eating.
Minutes later, an old man wearing grey approached him, "Mind if I join you?"
"I don't mind."
"I should be introducing myself, my name is Gandalf, Gandalf the Grey."
"I'm Keith Martin from the V.S.S.E., which is Vital Situation Swift Elimination agency, it's nice to meet you."
"It's nice meeting you too, what brings you to Bree?"
"The helicopter, the flying machine I'm riding, crashed into this world somehow and I'm lost."
"Do you mind telling me about yourself and this … V.S.S.E.?"
Keith told the old man about the organization, his previous mission with his partner, and that he worked as a technician and stunt double for Hollywood film industries.
"Are you up for another … mission?"
"Name it."
"Here's what you need to know. It began in the city of Dale. Its markets known far and wide. Full of the bounties of vine and vale. Peaceful and prosperous. For this city lay before the doors of the greatest kingdom in Middle-earth: Erebor. Stronghold of Thror, King Under the Mountain. Mightiest of the Dwarf Lords. Thror ruled with utter surety never doubting his house would endure for his line lay secure in the lives of his son and grandson. Erebor was built deep within the mountain itself … the beauty of this fortress city was legend. Its wealth lay in the earth in precious gems hewn from rock and in great seams of gold running like rivers through stone. The skill of the Dwarves was unequaled, fashioning objects of great beauty out of diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire. Ever they delved deeper, down into the dark. And that is where they found it. The Heart of the Mountain, the Arkenstone. Thror named it 'The King's Jewel'. He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule was divine. All would pay homage to him even the great Elven King, Thranduil. As the great wealth of the Dwarves grew, their store of goodwill ran thin. No one knows exactly began the rift. The Elves say that the Dwarves stole their treasure. The dwarves tell another tale. They say the Elf king refused to give them the rightful pay. It is sad how all the alliances can be broken and how friendships can be lost, and for what? But the years of peace and plenty were not to last, slowly the days turned sour and the watchful nights closed in. Thror's love of gold had grown too fierce. A sickness had begun to grow within him. It was a sickness of the mind and where sickness thrives, bad things will follow. The first they heard was a noise like a hurricane coming down from the North. The pines on the mountain creaked and cracked in the hot, dry wind. It was a firedrake from the North. Smaug had come. Such wanton death was dealt that day. For this city of Men was nothing to Smaug. His eye was set on another prize. For dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire. Erebor was lost. For a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives. Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin against the wrath of the dragon. No help from the Elves that day nor any day since. Robbed of their homeland, the Dwarves of Erebor wandered the wilderness, a once mighty people brought low. The young Dwarf prince took work where he could find it, laboring in the villages of Men. But always he remembered the mountain smoke beneath the moon, the trees like torches blazing bright. For he had seen dragon fire in the sky and a city turned to ash, and he never forgave and he never forgot."
"You're asking me to help slay the dragon and to retake Erebor for the dwarves?"
"Yes, you won't be alone on this."
"You're taking part too?"
"It's not just me," Gandalf turned to see a dwarf entering the Prancing Pony. "I'll go talk to him."
"Take your time, no rush."
Keith watched the same woman gave the dwarf the dishes he ordered and saw two men were staring at the dwarf. They got off from their seats and were approaching him slowly. The dwarf assumed the men as assassins and prepared to defend himself.
"Mind if I join you?" Gandalf reached him. "I'll have the same."
After the old man introduced himself to the dwarf, Keith heard, "I know who you are." The V.S.S.E. agent wondered what made Gandalf famous and assumed that he was someone greater.
"Well, now. This is a fine chance. What brings Thorin Oakenshield to Bree?"
"I received word that my father had been seen wandering the Wilds near Dunland. I went looking. I found no sign of him."
"Ah … Thrain," Gandalf sighed.
"You're like the others. You think he's dead?"
"I was not at the battle of Moria."
"No, but I was," Thorin began recalling his past. "My grandfather, Thror, was slain. My father led the charge towards the Dimrill Gate, he never returned. Thrain is gone, they told me, he's one of the fallen. But in the end of the battle, I searched amongst the slain to the last body. My father was not among the dead."
"Thorin, it's been a long time since anything but rumor was heard of Thrain."
"He still lives. I am sure of it."
"The ring your grandfather wore. One of the seven given to the Dwarf Lords many years ago … What became of it?"
"He gave it to my father before they went into battle."
"So Thrain was wearing it when he went missing …"
"My father came to see you before he went missing. What did you say to him?"
"I urged him to march upon Erebor, to rally the seven armies of the Dwarves to destroy the dragon and take back the Lonely Mountain. And I would say the same to you. Take back your homeland."
"This is no chance meeting, is it, Gandalf?"
"No. It is not. The Lonely Mountain troubles me, Thorin. That dragon has sat there long enough. Sooner or later, darker minds will turn towards Erebor. I ran into some unsavory characters whilst traveling on the Greenway. They mistook me for a vagabond."
"I imagine they regretted that."
Gandalf took out a leaf-shaped sheet, "One of them was carrying a message. It is Black Speech. A promise of payment."
"For what?"
"Your head. Someone wants you dead. Thorin, you can wait no longer. You are the heir to the Throne of Durin. Unite the armies of the Dwarves. Together, you have the might and power to retake Erebor. Summon a meeting of the seven Dwarf families. Demand they stand by their oath."
Keith wondered who would hate Thorin so much and predicted that the dwarf's unknown enemy would become the V.S.S.E. agent's new enemy.
"The seven armies swore that oath to the one who wields the King's Jewel, the Arkenstone. It is the only thing that will unite them, and in case you have forgotten that jewel was stolen by Smaug," Thorin reminded Gandalf.
Keith and Gandalf watched the two assassins left the inn.
"What if I were to help you reclaim it?" Gandalf spoke in a willing-to-help tone.
"How? The Arkenstone lies half a world away buried beneath the feet of a fire-breathing dragon."
"Yes, it does. Which is why we're going to need a burglar," Gandalf came up with a solution.
"A burglar that can act for the good," Keith thought.