Chapter 21

Din awoke the next morning feeling glum. They had gotten what they wanted and the townsfolk were supplying them to make their way across the lake, but a state of melancholy hung over her. She lingered on Thorin now and then when he was busy directing people or arguing with a guard along the dock about the ration of food they were being provided with. Instead of the flutter she normally felt when she saw him, it left a sorrow in her spirit. He had kept his distance since the previous night and it pained her to be continuously isolated from him. They seemed to be butting heads a lot more recently. She scolded herself for such frivolous thinking. There were more important things happening and the knowledge of that made her feel worse, as if she were being selfish for letting it affect her to this extent.

She jumped when someone nudged her arm and she whirled to face Fili. A humorous smile pulled at his lips at having startled her but she saw concern in the depths of his blue eyes. "What's the matter?" Din asked. He peered over his shoulder through the gaggle of people wandering the dock to where Kili was sitting on a barrel, pale and shaking with fever. Din's heart clenched.

Frown lines crinkled Fili's cheeks. "I don't know what more we can do for him. Oin has tried everything he can think of but nothing is having any effect. Whatever poison was on that arrow, he doesn't know how to fight it. I don't think Kili got any sleep last night." He didn't say it, but Din could see that he was afraid for his brother.

"We should talk to Thorin. Ask him to wait a few days to give Kili proper time to rest." Din turned to find Thorin at the dock but instead came face-to-face with the weasel of a man who had been at the Master's side. She believed Bard had called him Alfred. His beady eyes leveled on her as he approached.

"You, halfling. Follow me a moment," he said.

Fili thumped a hand onto the man's chest as he started to pass and glared up at him. "She's not going anywhere with you."

Din couldn't help but notice a small piece of parchment scrunched in the human's dirt-dusted hand and was swept with curiosity as she scrutinized the man. What in the name of Durin could he possibly want to discuss? She gripped Fili's shoulder and his long blond braids swung like ropes from a tree as he looked at her. She gestured past him and muttered, "It's alright. We'll go right over there where you can see us." Fili glanced at the nearby alleyway that lead between the two nearest buildings, cluttered with soggy fishing nets, rusted fishing supplies, and rotting crates and begrudgingly removed his hand from Alfred's shirt. Alfred seemed to accept the opportunity and followed Din. She stepped inside just far enough that they were out of the way of the bustle along the dock and spun on him, crossing her arms impatiently across her torso.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Alfred pursed his lips and glowered down at her, brandishing the folded piece of parchment. "We received this interesting letter by carrion bird this morning. It's from the Elves of Mirkwood. Says you caused quite a bit of trouble while you were in their hold. We've been told not to let you leave."

She could not go back to the elves. After what had happened, they would kill her for certain. Fear gripped her but she hid it behind a stern scowl. "I can't help but notice that you don't have any guards with you."

He crossed his arms over his thin torso, his expression giving nothing away. "As of now, you and I are the only people who know this note exists. I could simply rip it up and burn it, and no one would need to know."

Din rolled her eyes. "Just tell me what you want."

He leaned closer to whisper his demand and she cringed at the rank of his rotten teeth on his breath. "Gold. I want gold. Whatever you can bring me from the mountain."

"Right. And say I agree to bribe you. Once you let me go, what incentive do I have to actually bring you any sort of reward? I could simply never return."

A smirk curled his chapped lips. "This note doesn't only tell me what you did, it tells me what you are, dwarf. I dunno why you dwarf-women like to hide, but I'm guessing that if you're telling everyone you're a halfling, then you don't want them knowing the truth. If I don't get my gold, then I'll tell everyone what you really are."

Din growled, her fingers digging into her upper arms, but she bit back an insult. Over at the dock, she heard one of the guards say that they would need to get moving if the company planned to reach the mountain in three days time. She didn't have time for this nonsense. "Fine, I'll bring you what I can." She pushed past Alfred to return to Fili's side but found both him and Kili arguing with Thorin.

"You cannot take this away from him. Not when we're so close," Fili said. Thorin frowned down at Kili, sadness etched into his face. He placed a hand in the nook of Kili's shoulder the way a father might when trying to deliver unpleasant news to his son. Kili, with all the willpower he could muster, straightened as if Thorin would change his mind if he could only show his uncle how much strength he still had.

"Rest up and join us in a couple of days. The mountain will still be there." Thorin spoke gently, sounding more like the dwarf she knew and seeing this glimpse of his true self brought a tightness to her chest. She feared the time when it would once again be hidden. Kili swatted Thorin's hand away and spun around in a huff and stomped as quickly as he could manage in his ill state to return to the barrel he had been sitting on before. Oin bustled past to take care of Kili and started checking his vitals again, despite Kili's annoyed protests. Fili turned to follow him but Thorin grabbed his arm. "Fili, you belong with the company."

"I belong with my brother," Fili snapped. He yanked his arm from Thorin's grasp and strutted over to Kili's side. For a moment, Thorin stared down at the empty space before him in an anguish that threatened to break Din's heart. He looked so weary, so worn, as if everything was slipping away from him little by little. He quickly composed himself, however, and glanced over at her as she stepped closer to him.

"I suppose you'll be staying as well."

Oh, how she wanted to stay and make sure Kili was alright, but she knew she couldn't. Alfred was her smallest concern at the moment, though for the sake of all the other dwarf-women, she knew she couldn't just let him reveal her secret. She would deal with him later. And aside from wanting to do as Balin suggested and stand by Thorin through this difficult time, her mind also turned to the dragon that slumbered beneath the mountain. She knew the original plan was for Bilbo to sneak into the mountain and find the Arkenstone, but what if Smaug awoke? The idea of allowing something so evil to once again wreak havoc on these lands was unacceptable to her. These people had suffered so much already. Of course, there was little she would be able to do against a dragon, but she could not just stand by, either. And that meant she could not stay in Laketown.

"No. I will stand by your side."

Bofur had been left behind, as well. He must have overslept and in the bustle of the morning, Din hadn't noticed. The people of Laketown would not hurt him, if for no other reason than because doing so would jeopardize their new alliance with Thorin and squash any chance they had of receiving any gold. Since Fili, Kili, and Oin had remained as well, he would not be alone so Din wasn't worried, despite how she disliked being separated from her kin.

It took three days to reach the far shore beneath the shadow of Lonely Mountain and Din stared in awe at the immeasurable size of it towering over the land. She tried not to shudder at the haunting sight of the ruins of Dale as they passed through them and mostly kept her gaze down the entire time. They had to wrap around the side of the mountain and Din caught only a glimpse of the enormous front door of Erebor. She was humbled by the sight, nonetheless. It took them ages to find the secret stairs that lead up the mountain and they were even more difficult to climb due to their vertical formation. Din, Bilbo, and Ori all had to be hoisted up each time the stairs broke off and continued above them. The horizon was kissed with lightly pinked hues when they reached the top. Durin's day was coming to an end.

After having Bilbo scout ahead since he was the smallest, they skirted along the narrow ledge after him until the wall pulled away to a high-walled bay, still and quiet. Here, somewhere, resided the secret door. Din slumped onto the ground, finally giving her legs a chance to rest. Thorin rushed forward, staring at the wall in awe. "This must be it. The hidden door," he muttered to himself. The rest of the company hung back, allowing him to revel in this small victory privately for a moment. "Let all those who doubted us . . ." Thorin began as he slowly turned to them. He held the large dwarven key Gandalf had given him with the map up as a token of success. "Rue this day!"

The troop cheered jovially and advanced on the wall to go about finding the keyhole, but there didn't seem to be any obvious spot for it. The wall was lumpy and full of holes that could all contain the keyhole. Din looked confusedly at the setting sun and back to the wall. This was the last light of Durin's day, was it not? So, if the map was to be trusted, then the light should be shining on the keyhole specifically, not the entire wall. Perhaps the last flash of light before the sun dunked behind the horizon would show them?

Thorin glanced anxiously at the sun. "We're losing the light. Find it!" Nori, as the only dwarven thief in the company, was tapping on the rock with a spoon to listen for any hollow spots while the others felt along the rocky surface to scour for it. Bilbo, on the other hand, stood at the edge of the little bay, looking over the beautiful land. Like her, he seemed to think he would only be in the way since the small area was already flooded with dwarves.

Dwalin let out a growl. "This is getting us nowhere! Year after year we could look for this blasted keyhole while our beards grow until they hang down the mountain. And what is our burglar doing?"

"Do not blame Bilbo," Thorin scolded. "It is our job to open the door. His job is to sneak inside once it is done." Dwalin grumbled to himself but dared not argue with his king. "The light is nearly gone. Break it down!" Thorin called out. The dwarves all started hacking away at the mountainside with their axes, but couldn't so much as scratch the rocks.

"It's no use! The door is sealed. It can't be opened by force. There's powerful magic on it," said old Balin.

"What about you?" Gloin turned to Din and the others followed suit curiously. Din felt her face redden at the feeling of ten pairs of eyes all watching her. "What about your fancy magic with that gem? You cleaved through that trolls head like it was warm butter."

"I don't recommend that, either. What if it backfires?" Balin shook his head, his white beard wagging.

"It's worth a shot," Dori argued. "Perhaps her magic will be able to get through it." Din didn't need to be asked twice. They seemed out of options and the light was quickly fading. She pushed to her feet and strode past Dwalin to the wall while the others formed a semi-circle. But, looking down at her war axe, she wondered if it would have enough weight to provide the force she would need. The skull of a troll was one thing. This was a mountain.

"Do we have a slightly bigger axe?" She asked. Nori stepped forward and held out his own war axe, which was a good bit bigger than hers. It was the smallest they had, though, so she accepted it. However, she underestimated it's weight and the moment he let go it plummeted toward the ground and pulled her with it. Her face blared even brighter red and she refused to look back at the others out of embarrassment. Instead she readjusted her grip closer to the head of the axe and lifted the hefty thing. She hardly had to think to ignite the metal with her magic-it astounded her how simple doing so had become—and she brandished the axe. As it had before, the metal even felt warm to her as the magic of the Silmaril pulsed through it. Inhale. Imagine the magical shield around the door. Exhale. Imagine the shield breaking down. Swing!

The moment the axe made contact with the wall an invisible force shoved her backward with such vigor that the air was knocked from her lungs. Her entire body flashed with pain and her brain felt as if it were being squeezed. She felt her back collide with someone behind her but was unconscious before the two of them hit the ground.

Dirt and small rocks were embedded in Din's cheek and jaw. She winced as she lifted to her hands and knees and gingerly brushed the moistureless earth and rocks away from the imprints they had left in her face. She forgot about how it stung, however, when the faint sound of screams was carried to her on a breeze and perked up to find where they came from. It took a few moments for her to realize where she was; the ruins of Dale. There was no time to ponder how she had gotten there. A set of stairs nearby lead up to the wall where guards would once have kept watch, so she scampered up its crumbling white stone steps to the top for a better vantage point. It took only a moment for her to settle on a place to look. Off in the distance, embers engulfed Laketown and Din could still hear the terrified shrieks of people attempting to flee from a large, winged creature soaring above.

A horn blared so loudly and abruptly that Din crouched beneath what remained of the wall of her building in surprise and clamped her hands to her ears. When it ended she stood once more and whirled in the opposite direction to the field that expanded between the ruins and Erebor. It had been empty and barren when the company had passed it, but it was now riddled with the countless bodies of soldiers, though she could not discern their race from here. More horrifying still were the monstrous orcs that crept along checking corpses to make sure they were actually dead and violently dispatching those that weren't. Large, troll-like monsters roamed near the gates of Erebor.

All at once, they all seemed to sense her presence. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of red, dark eyes all moved to her and a horn gave another terrible roar. Din's heart stopped. The monstrosities all began to charge, shrieking war cries in their own grotesque language. Suddenly she was holding the Silmaril and it shone in her hand, ready to meet this evil. Her heart pounded at the sight of the horde advancing on her alone, but she couldn't seem to force her legs to move. The Silmaril's brilliance grew and Din had to shield her eyes from its glory. The glow expanded until all she could see was pure whiteness.

Din bolted upright and clamped a hand to her chest to ease her speeding heart. "Whoa! It's alright, dearie." The sound of Bifur's voice startled her and she jumped violently. Bombur's meaty hands gripped her shoulders to hold her steady. Fortunate, too, because she gave another severe start at being touched, as if he were one of the orcs from her dream and not her beloved uncle. Nine dwarves were crouched around her now, but kept their distance to allow her to breath. She did so and her breathing soon returned to normal.

"Are you alright, Din?" Thorin's blue eyes watched her cautiously.

She gave a feeble nod. Looking around at all of their concerned faces warmed her heart, but one was missing. "Where is Bilbo?"

"He is inside, as planned," said Balin.

"Inside?" Din perked up confusedly but then remembered. The door. Peering around Gloin and Dwalin, she spotted a gaping hole in the wall that disappeared into blackness like the mouth of a stone giant. "It . . . worked?" The company nodded, smiling at the success of their journey so far. Even Thorin was smiling.

AN: Holy crap this chapter went long. xD I hope you all enjoyed it! And don't worry, I have reasons for both having Din force the door open and giving her the dream. She's not just suddenly psychic. xD