Happy Thursday again! This story is drawing to a close, but more on that at the end.

Just a small note for this chapter: think of Âlof as about 16 years old in terms of independence in the eyes of adults. She's actually more mature but dwarves don't marry until they're 90-ish going by the tiny evidence available, so it's hard to put an actual figure on what age corresponds to what. Basically, dwarves grow up differently to humans and because there's so little actual information on it, I guess it's up to a bit of interpretation. It doesn't even matter that much here :)

Enjoy the chapter - there won't be many more of them!


Fili stood in the deserted passage near the jewel smiths' workshops, staring at the wall. He knew he was in the right place. But there was a gaping hole in his plan to use Ori's secret tunnel to the library: he had been along it one way, but he had no idea how to get back.

There were seven bolts on the other side of the invisible door and the second from the bottom would open all of them. The only reason he knew the secret door was here in the first place was that he'd made a note of the scratches at the bottom of the opposite wall which looked as if a dwarf with an iron boot had kicked it pretty hard. He had already examined those markings for clues, hoping against hope that nobody would come round the corner and see him making a fool of himself. He had quickly concluded that there was nothing to be gleaned from the accidental marks.

He stared disappointedly at the wall. There was no use waiting for a thrush to turn up and crack a snail's shell on the doorstep. He was going to have to go the long way round.

Somehow, though, he was very reluctant to give up so soon. Ori went this way all the time - there must be some way to open the door from the outside. It opened inwards - that was another thing he knew - but pushing didn't work; he'd already tried that. The corridor was bare except for the lit torches which burned slowly in their brackets.

Maybe there was something in the torch brackets? Worth a try, anyway.

Fili went for the nearest one first, which was less than ten paces to his left. First he removed the torch, transferring it to his left hand for safekeeping, then proceeded to try and twist the bracket this way and that. It would not budge. Five nails kept it firmly in the wall. Disappointed again, Fili replaced the torch and turned to try the one on the other side. No luck. The next one along yielded the same result. Getting frustrated, he stormed back the way he had come to the bracket to the right of the first one he had tried. That was when the flickering torchlight reflected off a small strip of metal, embedded into the floor, which had been too small and dull for him to notice before.

Bending down to run his fingers over it, Fili found that it was completely level with the floor and no amount of prying with fingernails could get it loose, and neither would it be pushed further in. With no other clues, however, Fili could only assume that this was the key to opening the secret door. It seemed intentional enough, and he could think of no other reason why someone would embed a small piece of metal in the floor near the hidden door.

If only he had a way to force the metal out even the tiniest bit, then he could grip it with the edges of two daggers and remove it. Or else, if he had his forge tools, he could weld another piece of metal to the top to use as a handle. Or...

The thought struck him quite suddenly. He had metal which he could not move. He had a torch. It was nowhere near hot enough to forge a handle, but it would be enough to expand the metal in the heat which would make it lift far enough out for him to use daggers to grip it. Of course, there was the slight problem that it would expand widthways as well which would jam it in the stone, but it was the best that Fili had. He considered briefly what he would do if he removed the metal and it turned out to be nothing at all. Then he stood up and took the torch from its bracket.

It took a longer time than Fili was hoping for before he saw the edges of the metal poke up above the stone floor, as the torch wasn't really hot enough for the job, but the moment Fili thought he could try it, he put a dagger tip on each side of the metal piece and lifted. What he removed was not what he had expected: it turned out that under the surface, the piece of metal was actually wedge-shaped, which meant that its expansion had not jammed it in the hole but forced it out slightly, which had been what Fili needed. Now he was certain he had the means to unlock the door.

After hanging the torch back up in the bracket, he took a moment to peer more closely into the hole he had made in the flat stone floor. There was another piece of metal there, and using his instinct, Fili reached down and found that this one was easy to remove. A bolt immediately slid across the gap he had just opened, and the creak of seven bolts sounded behind him. Fili felt like jumping for joy. Leaping to his feet, he stood in front of the still-invisible door, and pushed. It slid open without a sound.

Knowing that he had to put the mechanism back in place or suffer Ori's wroth, Fili wedged open the door with one spare dagger and carefully dropped the metal pieces back into place. As the first one fell in, he heard the creak of the mechanism getting ready to put the bolts back into place as soon as he closed the door. Then he was through.

Forgetting about the three steps halfway along the tunnel and tripping in the dark did nothing to dampen Fili's spirits. After deep frustration and being on the verge of giving up several times, he had figured out how to enter the secret tunnel out of sheer luck, instinct, and a small pinch of logic. He knew he still had to get out the other end, but he had no doubt it would be easier than getting in.

One problem. It was pitch black and there was no way he could see whatever challenge was there, let alone get past it. After five minutes of fumbling in the dark, his hand fell upon something in the wall that was square-shaped and turned clockwise, and after a failed attempt or two where he realised he also had to pull out as it turned, and that the door opened inwards, he managed to stumble through into the library. And come face-to-face with Thekk, the old dwarf he had met the last time he was in here.

"Hello," Fili greeted cheerily, brushing off the dust from his tunic and smiling unabashedly.

"Good afternoon, your majesty," Thekk answered, getting over his surprise at seeing the prince using the secret passageway. "Can I help you?"

"Have you seen Ori?" Fili hoped his friend was indeed here, or else his efforts to get through the tunnel would have been for naught.

"Just around that corner there," smiled the old dwarf, "Then left, first right, right, second left, right all the way to the end and left again. Or else he'll be at the other side in the yarncraft section."

Fili was surprised. "There's a whole section for knitting?"

"And crochet," added Thekk, "and lacework and a hundred other things. I believe he was trying to cable without a cable needle earlier. Apparently it's quicker so long as the tension is loose and you don't have to hold too many stitches behind or in front."

"You lost me at cable," laughed Fili, "I'm sorry, but could you repeat those directions please?"

He was lucky: Ori was in the first place Thekk had directed him to, but to the prince's surprise, Ori wasn't the only one there. Sat at the desk beside him was a small figure Fili recognised as the small dwarf he had briefly seen at the Master's house. He knew he should remember the name, as Kili had mentioned the lad on several occasions, but somehow it eluded him now.

"-see how this letter is slightly different? They are the same letter, only this one is used more commonly than that one," Ori was explaining, "The Moria Angerthas is more widely known, even though Moria itself is lost."

Fili stood slightly back and cleared his throat, reluctant to interrupt but not wanting to wait either, as his errand wouldn't take long. The dwarf lad turned quicker than Ori and immediately hopped up from his stool and did a ridiculous little bow. The scribe laughed and put a hand on his shoulder, noticing Fili's look of bewilderment.

"Svîur, this is Prince Fili, though he will no doubt tell you just to call him Fili."

"Yes, please, and there's no need to bow," Fili added hastily. It was hard enough getting used to all the nobles from the Iron Hills bowing to him without twenty-year-olds doing it too. The lad was far too young to be showing anyone any respect - or at least, Fili knew he and Kili hadn't at that age. More likely the important adults would end up with sticky-weed on their backs and daisies in their hair and their shoelaces tied up with those of whichever dwarf had been sitting on their left during that tedious three hour meeting with Thorin Oakenshield.

Ori smiled knowingly. "Fili, this is Svîur, son of Svithrir, whom you have probably met before. I'm filling in the tuition that he has missed over the years - but really, I'm teaching him above and beyond what anyone needs to know, since he learns so fast! I'm considering asking Gloin to teach him maths because I can't answer half of his questions well enough. But did you want to see me about something?"

"I was wondering what you used to crack that code, actually," said Fili, "And whether I could send a copy to the elves. You see, we found a map which will hopefully reveal the location of their bases, but it uses the same code as the letter."

"Yes, as a matter of fact you can have the original," replied Ori, "I doubt I'll be using it again, and if I need to I can remember enough to work the rest out in no time. The only problem is, I can't remember where I left it. It may take me a while to find it. But have you seen Svîur's Da recently by any chance?"

"I think I did," frowned Fili, thinking back, "Yes, he left from a meeting with Thorin a while ago."

"Then could you possibly take Svîur with you back up to the main levels?" Ori asked hopefully, "I meant to take him back a while ago but I lost track of time. Then I can find the cypher for you in the meantime."

"Of course," agreed Fili immediately, seeing nothing wrong with this plan.

Svîur smiled slyly and Fili turned his attention to him. "He didn't really lose track of time. He's just fed up with his brother right now and wants to put off any chance of seeing him."

Fili laughed. "Which brother?"

"Both of them," replied Ori darkly.

Fili grinned. "Well, your troubles might be over at last, my friend. Dori has conceded to allow Nori his tavern."

Ori blanched. "Oh no!"

"What? I thought it was good news?"

"It's not that. Of course that's good news. But I made a bet with Nori that he wouldn't!"

Fili stared, speechless, then all of a sudden he started laughing hard. "Ori...Ori, I have to say," he gasped between bouts of laughter, "That is entirely your fault!"


After about five turns, Kili knew they were lost.

"You have no clue where we're going, do you?" Gwyn accused him.

"It's this way, I'm sure," he replied confidently, "We've got to be getting closer, in any case."

"We haven't met a single person so far," pointed out Gwyn, "And you said yourself we'd need to ask people for directions. Face it, you have no idea where the library is."

"It has to be this way!" protested Kili, "All the corridors link up anyway. If we keep wandering around for long enough we're bound to find it."

Going over the worst case scenario in her head, Gwyn decided that there was no harm in following her friend for now. She really hadn't had enough time for exploring the mountain yet anyway and it might be quite interesting.

Half an hour later, she was beginning to regret that choice.

"You know, I'm sure we've gone down way too many staircases to be on the right level," she contemplated as they considered a fork in the path, the rightmost passage of which seemed to dip down more than the other.

"Nah, we've gone up some too," disagreed Kili, "Let's go right. More likely to go somewhere."

Gwyn seriously doubted that. They carried their own torches now, as the passages they entered were all unlit and dusty, bordered with spiderwebs and containing the occasional bat which swooped down suddenly and startled them. The dwarrowdam felt unnerved in these deserted passageways, and knew Kili did too. They were probably the first people to set foot down here for a hundred years.

All of a sudden, they turned a corner and the sound of falling water met their ears. Sharing a look of surprise, they made their way forward to the end of the corridor and to their great astonishment a great sight met their eyes.

They were standing in a cavern of sorts, on the edge of a deep gurgling pool fed by a stream gushing from the rocks at one end and trickling away through a crevice at the other. This was, no doubt, the river running itself. But the most magnificent thing about this hollow was the feeling of being inside the mountain; not in some carven dwarf-made tunnel, but a natural hollow of the mountain itself, deep within the stone. Stalagmites rose majestically from the river-smoothed floor, while stalactites hung from the ceiling like many teeth enclosing them in a small space. Their footsteps echoed strangely above the rushing of the stream.

Another sound, too, met their ears. Gwyn saw her friend's eyebrows lift as he met her eyes again. It was undoubtedly the sound of someone putting chisel to stone. Against every probability, there was someone down here already.


As soon as Fili reached the main levels again with Svîur trotting closely behind, he heard the lad speak up.

"It's okay, I know my way from here. You don't have to come any further with me."

They had taken Ori's shortcut again and the dwarfling had been insisting all the way that Fili was only accompanying him as far as the main levels. Fili knew a ploy to get away when he saw one, and this was hardly subtle. Besides promising Ori, the prince would not by choice leave a dwarf as young as Svîur wandering Erebor alone and the sling now supporting the dwarfling's arm was just further reason not to give in.

"I will not leave you until I have seen you to your da safely," he replied firmly.

"Aww pleeeease?" begged Svîur, realising that he was not winning.

"Where are you going to go?" asked Fili reasonably.

The dwarfling gave him a scrutinising look, seeing that this adult had more of a kid in him than he let on. Either that, or he had the ability to read minds. He sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you. I was going to go and find Âlof because she promised earlier to teach me how to spin a dagger."

"Like this?" Fili offered, grinning as a dagger appeared in his hand out of nowhere and did a lazy twirl.

Svîur nodded solemnly. "I don't want to be helpless again."

The prince was taken aback by this statement, but he understood immediately. He had fallen into the trap of expecting Svîur to be like most of the other Iron Hills children he had met in the Mountain, the majority of whom had a parent in Dain's army: brash, eager to impress and striving for the glory that came with mastery of a weapon. But Fili had rarely thought to contrast them to himself at that age: just as eager to prove himself with a weapon, but for reasons of survival and protection as well as the glory. Svîur was rare; he only wanted to protect.

Fili nodded seriously. "That is a noble wish, Svîur. I am sure Âlof will be a fine teacher. But do you know she's been missing since lunchtime?"

To his surprise, Svîur nodded. "She probably just went on a walk to get lost."

"Get lost?"

"There's no better way to hide than to lose yourself," the lad proclaimed wisely.

"But why would she want to hide?" questioned Fili.

Svîur shrugged with one shoulder. "Her parents want to withdraw her from the cadets. She's angry and doesn't want to take it out on people."

Fili thought on this. From what he knew of Âlof, withdrawing her now would be a complete waste of talent and a loss on all sides. If Erebor was at war, the argument might be quite different, but in a time of peace and growing prosperity such as this there was very little danger, even in the role of a guard.

In the meantime, recent events had proven that these lands were by no means cleansed of evil, and the defence of Erebor remained as vital as ever. Furthermore, the fact that Âlof had purposely removed herself from those she might hurt in her frustration showed a control that was a rare trait in all dwarves, let alone young ones. It was a clear fact that the dwarrowdam had a level head on her shoulders. It made Fili wonder how much her parents saw, if they were considering removing her from the cadet training against her will.

"Will she come back, do you think?" he asked Svîur.

"Of course," replied the dwarfling, "That's why I'm looking for her."

"In that case, let's go and find her," said Fili decisively.


"Hello? Is anyone there?" Gwyn called into the cave.

The tapping stopped.

"Declare yourself!" demanded Kili, stepping slowly forward between the stalagmites, "In the name of King Thorin -"

Ducking under a low part in the cave roof, he came face-to-face suddenly with someone familiar.

"Âlof!" he exclaimed.

The young Dwarrowdam's face relaxed instantaneously. "Your highness, I -"

"How on earth did you find this place? We only came here by accident," Kili said, looking around. The cave was vaster than he had imagined.

"I got lost," Âlof admitted.

At that moment Gwyn stepped up beside Kili and also took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the natural cave, before commenting, "I suppose that means that none of us know the way back then."

Kili looked startled, as if he had not considered this, but Alof shrugged. "It can't be too hard. The mountain narrows upwards so the worst case would be going right to the top before finding the right passage.

"You sound as if you've done this before," commented Gwyn.

Âlof just laughed, then shook her head. "Only once. That didn't work out so well; here there's only one mountain, but the Iron Hills is built under several. My parents thought my brother and I had been abducted before we got back. Oh - Âlof at your service, by the way." She bowed warrior-style.

"Gwynedd at yours," the taller dwarrowdam replied, giving the proper bow in return, then straightened and smiled. "You can call me Gwyn though, it's shorter."

They regarded each other for a moment, then Kili spoke.

"What were you doing, before we arrived?" he asked Âlof with curiosity.

"I'll show you," she said, before turning around to lead them between the rock formations, "It's quite amazing, really."

As they reached the far side of the cave, they were met with a vertical stone wall that, naturally, would have been perfectly smooth. However, all over the surface, runes were dotted, ranging from scratches the size of a gold coin to embellished letters chiselled cleanly and expertly into the wall. A hammer and chisel lay at the foot, and it was these that Âlof stooped to pick up.

"I found them here," she explained, indicating the tools, "It's a miracle they haven't rusted. But I've almost finished my initial, you can do yours after if you want."

Kili stepped forwards towards the wall, running his fingers over its carven surface. The runes to the right looked oldest, as the edges had been subtly smoothed and the small scratches had almost disappeared completely. On the other hand, at the left, where Âlof was carving, the marks looked brand new.

They must be more than a hundred and fifty years old, Kili reminded himself. No living dwarf could have been down here since they had taken Erebor - well, if they had, it was very unlikely. He took a closer look at the most recent runes.

A 'D' and an 'F' were chiselled one beside the other. Beneath that, small and wonky, was another 'D'. By the looks of it, a child no more than ten years old must have made those last marks.

A thought struck him and he suddenly felt nauseous. Did that child escape Erebor when the dragon came? Or were they trapped in the fire, like so many dwarves that day? How many of these people who left their mark on this wall were slain by Smaug?

It never crossed his mind that some might still be alive.

One small comfort, however, was that no matter how much time passed, these dwarves would be remembered in a small way, by those who accidentally stumbled across this cave. They had left their lasting mark on the Mountain.

"Do you want the chisel?" Âlof offered Gwyn.

The seamstress shook her head, a funny expression on her face. "It...it doesn't feel right. It feels as if...as if carving it in stone seals it somehow. If I carve my initial into the rock, I don't think I'll ever find this place again. If I wait, I might get another chance."

"It's strange, but I get that same feeling," agreed Kili, "There will be another time; a proper time. Not right now."

Âlof shrugged. "If you say so. Are you going back now, then?"

"Are you not?" frowned Gwyn.

The young warrior kicked a stalagmite with a heavy iron-toed boot which clanged loudly. "I don't think I can face them yet."

"Your parents?" asked Kili, and she nodded.

"They don't want me to be a warrior. They think I need a trade, like them."

Gwyn frowned. "But you are old enough to make your own decision, aren't you?"

Âlof nodded. "They haven't realised yet. They still think I'm a dwarfling. But all I need to do is move out and they won't be able to do a thing to stop me."

"But you don't want to leave," guessed Gwyn.

"No," sighed Âlof morosely. "I love my parents. But they're trying too hard to control my life and I can't live with that. I need to make my own choices."

"They won't be happy," said Kili, recalling the two dwarves who he had met outside Thorin's study.

"That's why I won't be staying here," the young dwarrowdam met his eye, "I'm going back to the Iron Hills."


Evening came, and Fili took Svîur back to his father, promising to continue the search. He ate quickly with Thorin and his mother, pondering over the absence of Kili, who should have been back by now. It was not unreasonable, however, to assume that the youngest of the house of Durin had attempted to find the library in order to find Fili and got lost in the process, so they did not worry overly much.

Âlof's parents returned, demanding a complete search of the Mountain as their daughter had not yet been found. Dwalin stormed off to raise the awareness of the guard.

The younger brother of Gwynedd came, and after greeting Fili with enthusiasm, asked if anyone had seen his older sister. The answer being no, they puzzled again over the people who had gone missing all, seemingly, at the same time.

Lying on the bed in his own room - a luxury he was finding it hard to get used to - Fili stared up at the ceiling, wondering if his brother was back yet. He wouldn't know until the morning, he suspected. His mother had made him retire early to bed, insisting that he need the rest - which was true enough - but still he could not relax when he was worrying about Kili. He could never relax when he was worrying about Kili.

It was not surprising, then, that when the door to his room creaked open at an hour not long past midnight, he was up like a shot, knife in hand just in case (one of the very few he kept on him while sleeping; the small remnant of those he had been accustomed to wearing during the quest) and peering through the pitch blackness to see who was the intruder.

He could tell just by the sound of the footsteps that it was his brother.

"Kili! Where on earth have you been?" he exclaimed, tripping over a chair in the dark as he made his way towards the door and clumsily grabbing Kili's arm to keep himself upright, almost pulling his younger brother down with him.

Kili laughed as he regained his balance, replying with an invisible shrug, "I got lost. Gwyn and I were trying to find the library. But Fili - when are Svithrir and Svîur leaving?"

"Tomorrow, isn't it?" said Fili, "Or it might be the day after - it doesn't matter though, does it? They're coming back anyway."

"Âlof isn't."

"What? What do you mean, Âlof isn't coming back? Where is she going? Wait, did you find her?"

"She's tagging along back to the Iron Hills then staying there. Her oldest brother has enough room for her and she's going to go back to her old training and become a warrior without her parents interfering."

Fili blinked, processing this information. "Well, that's her choice I guess. I suppose you've offered to help?"

Kili nodded, though it was invisible. "She said it would be hard breaking the news to her parents. I said I'd get Thorin's support so that they don't try and lock her in or anything stupid."

"Well then. Any reason for waking me in the middle of the night?"

"You were already awake."

"I might have been asleep."

"But you weren't."

"But what if- oh, never mind. Ma's not happy though, so you'd better sleep now while you can," Fili shoved his brother gently towards the door.

"I'm not -" began Kili, but he was cut off by his own yawn. "Fine, I'm going. Don't trip over the chair again."

He left, and Fili was alone again. He found himself yawning too, suddenly tired now that his mind was at peace. He tripped over the chair and fell clumsily across his bed, then was asleep in moments.


So a small announcement: this story officially ends next chapter, since it's dragged on long enough, don't you think? ;) I just had to cut it off somewhere, since my brain wanted to make it roll straight on into the next one I'm planning but my common sense kicked in for once and reminded me that writing during exam period (which has sort-of-ish started already) is a no-go. But it took a while for my brain to listen, and hence the last chapter is not the last chapter - there will be an in-the-middle chapter which is sort of a bridge that I didn't want to cut out but doesn't really fit in either story, then I'm planning on putting the first chapter of the next story up as a promise/reminder to self before I launch headfirst into revision and stuff. So, how does that sound? Reviews make my day! :)