Even with the promising sight of their destination ahead of them the final stage of the journey proved to be every bit as strenous as Ella had expected.
If she'd had doubts about leaving Kili behind in Laketown, she saw now that Thorin's decision had been the only sensible one- the wounded prince would by no means have managed the steady climb in increasingly colder and thinning air.
They had been walking in a fast pace all morning, without so much as a breakfast break, and even though the city behind them was only a small spot in the distance now, the mountain in front of them didn't seem to come any closer.
It was oddly quiet up here in the foothills, which made their puffing and panting sound all the louder.
They were all weary, of course.
When was the last time that they'd actually had time to rest, or even a full night's sleep? Must have been back in Beorn's house, and even that had been merely a short break.
Only Thorin seemed unaffected by tiredness or exhaustion, on the contrary. The closer they came to their destination the more vibrant he appeared, as if the mountain itself filled him with new life and strength. He led the way with powerful, determined strides, only now and then looking back and shouting at them to hurry up.
And hurry they had to. Today was the day. Once the sun set behind the mountain, the chance to open the secret door would be squandered- for at least a whole year until next Durin's Day, if not forever.
This was the final destination of their quest, the reason why they had endured all the rigours of this journey. Who would have thought they would make it this far when they first set out from the Shire, and despite countless grim enemies who had tried to stop them? And still they were here now, and before their eyes the Lonely Mountain rose in all its majestic beauty above the surrounding hills. No matter if they succeeded or failed to enter it- it would be the end of this adventure.
And that, even more than the fact that it wouldn't feel quite right to take the final step without Kili, Fili, Oin and Bofur, was what made it so hard for Ella to share the joyful anticipation of her companions.
What was homecoming for the dwarves meant farewell for her; when Thorin had reclaimed the Erebor, her services would no longer be needed. Whatever would he need a burglar and a thief for, once his forfather's legacy, the great stronghold and all its treasures would be his?
And while there would probably forever be a place for every member of the company in his halls, how could Ella ever fit in? She was a hobbit, not meant to live beneath the ground, surrounded by thick and heavy walls of stone. They would certainly expect her to want to take her share of the treasure and return home as soon as possible-
Home.
Back to the Shire, to green meadows and soft hills, to sunlight and birdsong and seven meals a day.
To waking up in the morning and already knowing how the day would end.
Back to monotony. Back to boredom. Back into - insignificance. It had been hard to bear before their journey, how much harder would it be now, after all she had seen and experienced?
Not to mention the fact that she would not come back with her pockets full of gold as she had liked to imagine upon her departure. Her share of the treasure would be a particular necklace she had promised to return to the Elvenking.
The girl she had been when she started this journey might have forgotten such a promise and not lose any sleep over it- after all, it had been given under pressure and for the benefit of someone who planned to let them all rot in his prison- but the woman she now was, could not.
So no riches for Ella Baggins to bring home. What was she supposed to do once she got there, crawl back under Grandma Ermentrude's thumb, endure the old woman's strict supervision and endless tirades in hopes she would pass one fine day and maybe bequeath the house to her? Eru, anything but not that.
She could of course live with uncle Bilbo- provided he would want her to after what she did. There was a certain charm to the thought of rubbing it all under his nose, all the things he had missed when he refused to join the adventure Gandalf had originally planned for him.
He would probably not be sorry about Mirkwood or Goblintown, but he would have loved Rivendell.
She could even write a book about the journey, like the weighty tomes on Bilbo's bookshelves. It would make a thrilling read, to be sure, even if she left out the juicy parts- not to mention the fame it would bring her in Bree's taverns.
Ella imagined to grow old as the kind of pathetic eccentric who had people buy them ale in exchange for heroic stories from times long past.
In the sad knowledge that she had once left her heart behind in a faraway mountain...
How many years, how many mugs of ale, until she would no longer care?
A beautiful, sunny place could be as much a prison as a fortress beneath cold stone when one did not belong there.
And the Shire had never really been her home. The only time she had ever felt like she belonged was on this quest, in the company of the dwarves and their leader. And one way or another, it would end tonight.
Her eyes came to rest on Thorin's broad back in front of her and she felt a sharp pang in her chest. How long until he would have forgotten her once she was gone?
And if she stayed?
What could her place be in this mountain? Her housekeeping talents such as cooking and cleaning were more than lacking, and even with Dwalin's training the same applied to her fighting skills.
So what else? A place in Thorin's council? Downright ridiculous.
When it came down to it, there was but one possible role for her in his new kingdom- in his bedchambers.
And only until he would take a wife as was expected of a king. And then, if she was very lucky, perhaps the new queen would keep her as her chamber maid or wet nurse for the royal children- a less than promising prospect, true, but at least this way she would be able to stay near him-
Around noon the company reached a high plateau that looked down into a valley.
Thorin sprinted towards the cliff and stared at the ghost town that lay before them.
"What is this place?" Ella panted, when she and the rest of the company had caught up with him.
"This," Balin replied solemnly. "was once the city of Dale. Now it is a ruin. The desolation of Smaug-"
"The sun will soon reach midday," Thorin intervened quickly. "We must find the hidden door in the mountain before it sets. This way-"
Clearly he had no desire to be reminded of the dragon and his destructive powers right now.
"Wait," Ella called out and made him turn back to her. "Is this the overlook? Gandalf said we would meet him here, and that on no account-"
"Do you see him?" Thorin interrupted her impatiently. "We have no time to wait upon a wizard."
"But-!"
The dwarf king met her pleading eyes, then looked around to survey the rest of his exhausted entourage.
"Fine." he sighed. "We'll have a short break and see if he turns up. Sit down, rest, and eat something. You have ten minutes, then we'll have to move on."
But he did not act on his own advice but kept standing at the edge of the bluff, his gaze avoiding the ruins of Dale but instead remaining fixed on the mountain behind it.
Ella sat down against a rock and gratefully accepted the water tube and the loaf of bread Balin handed her.
"Thanks for the break, lass" the white-haired dwarf panted as he seated himself next to her. "Hate to admit it but I'm getting too old for such forced marches. Fortunate that we're almost there."
"Fortunate, yes."
Thanks to her gloomy thoughts from before, it must have come out less enthusiastic than intended, for Balin threw her a questioning glance.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly. "I would have thought you must be as happy as the rest of us when this ordeal is over."
"I am," Ella replied quickly and forced a smile. "I'm happy for you all, and I'm proud to be allowed to be there with you when you first set foot into your new home. You deserve no less."
The old dwarf lifted his bushy, white eyebrows. "Methinks you underestimate your own share in our success," he said almost reproachful. "You have risked your neck for us more than once, and proven your loyalty and worth to the company time and time again. I could not think of anyone who would have earned the right to be by our side when we enter that mountain more than you do."
Ella blushed when it occured to her that she must have sounded as if she were fishing for compliments. Embarassed, she broke off a piece of bread and crumbled it between her fingers.
"That's kind of you to say," she mumbled under her breath. "And as I said, I'm happy for you. It's just that, once this is over, our ways will part and I- I know I'll miss you all so much."
"Then why leave?" Balin watched her with a confused frown. "Not that I wouldn't understand if you wished to see your home again, but I thought," he paused and cleared his throat. "well, as matters stand between you and Thorin, I would have thought-"
Ella almost choked on the water she was just about to swallow and stared at Balin who chuckled lowly at her nonplussed expression.
"My dear girl, I may be old but I'm neither deaf nor blind. It is clear that the two of you are- ahem, well- attracted to each other, and not just recently-"
Ella felt her cheeks burn even hotter and lowered her head to the dismembered bread crumbs in her lap. Did everyone know by now?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarass you, and of course it's none of my business" the old dwarf said quickly. "It was impossible to overlook, you see, being so close to each other as we were on this journey, but none of us wanted to say anything before you would-"
But had Thorin ever planned to tell the company about them, Ella wondered.
She loved him with all her heart, but in the end it had only been that one night in Thranduil's castle, long dammed-up tension errupting in a heated encounter, fuelled by anger, jelousy and too many wine.
No declarations of love had been exchanged, no promises been made, neither before nor after. Not that there would have been much time to discuss such matters on their wild flight from Thranduil's kingdom to Laketown...
Thorin had said he didn't regret it, but those might have been just words spoken in post-coital bliss. Maybe he did now.
That he cared for her too, was apparent- even to the others as it seemed- but where could a relationship as unequal as theirs possibly lead?
"Even so, he's still a king, isn't he?" Ella voiced her doubts with a sad smile. "And I am no one. Worse, I'm not even a dwarf."
If she had hoped to hear Balin say it didn't matter, she should be disappointed.
"He is a king, indeed," the white-haired dwarf confirmed in a serious voice. "Which means he will be able to shape his kingdom as he wishes. Now tell me, what more could a king wish for than a woman at his side who chose to follow him when all he had to offer was a quest with numerous dangers and an uncertain outcome? Who risked her life to save his? King or not, he can be glad to have you, Ella Baggins, and if I may be so bold to speak for my companions, we all are. There is absolutely no reason to hide your light under a bushel."
He squeezed her shoulder and Ella did her best to return his smile. If only it were this easy.
"It is Thorin I love," she said very quietly. "The man, not the king. I don't care about titles. And I don't want a crown."
"No you don't," Balin replied and watched her thoughtfully."And perhaps that is precisely why you should wear one."
"Time's up," Thorin's voice came from the edge of the cliff. "We cannot wait any longer. Let's get a move on."
Where's Gandalf? Ella wondered as she struggled back on her sore feet. He had promised to meet them here, particularly emphazised they should not enter the mountain without him.
But there was no time to speculate about what might have kept the wizard from rejoining them as he had promised. The descent into the valley began, and it was just as strenous as the climb before had been. And then it went up again, on a steep rise towards the mountain.
It was already getting dark when the company finally reached their destination, a small ledge guarded by a huge dwarf-statue carved into the rock around it.
Thorin rushed ahead, reached out and put one of his large hands on the rock wall.
"This must be it," he whispered, his voice shaking with contrained excitement. "The hidden door."
He turned around and raised his fist with the key in it.
"Let all those who doubted us," he called out in a loud voice. " rue this day! "
A choire of euphoric cheers from the rows of the dwarves answered him.
Never before since Ella had first seen him had Thorin looked so happy, practically radiant with joy. A broad, triumphant smile lit up his beautiful features, deep blue eyes sparkling like diamonds in the low winter sun.
All the dwarves were grinning like idiots, cheerful as little children on Yuletide, and just to look at them brought a smile on Ella's face as well.
But then- and perhaps because she was no dwarf- she just could not, by any stretch of the imagination, see what they saw.
The Lonely Mountain was an imposing sight at close range, to be sure, but it would seem to her that it did not bear its name without good reason.
There was nothing welcoming about the thick, heavy rock faces in front of them, at least not towards her, they appeared cold and rejecting, even hostile.
Not at all like a home.
And beyond that, she saw no door either. Only tons and tons of solid, impenetrable stone.
"Well, we have a key, which means that somewhere there must be a keyhole," Dwalin announced with more optimism than actually undeniable logic.
He stepped forward and began to tap the rock with his fingers, soon joined by Nori with a cup and a spoon.
"The last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole." Thorin solemnly repeated the words of the prophecy, his face bathed in the light of the setting sun behind them.
He looked at Dwalin and Nori who were still searching the rock wall for a keyhole. "Quickly! We're losing the light!"
But despite their combined efforts, there was nothing to be found. No door. No keyhole. And with every minute that passed confidence turned more and more into frustration.
"Break it down!" came at last Thorin's desperate command when the last glows of dusk disappeared behind the hilltops.
The dwarves raised their axes and began to beat and hammer against the rigid stone, but it was to no avail; the door was sealed by a powerful magic, as Balin reminded them, it could not be opened by force.
And then the sun set for good.
"NO!" Thorin tumbled towards the rock, map in hand. "The last light of Durin's Day," he read once more, his voice breaking, "will shine upon the keyhole. That's what it says."
He looked up and stared at them in complete bewilderment. "What have we missed? Balin?"
Unhappily, the old dwarf shook his head. "We've lost the light," he said very quietly. "There's no more to be had but one chance. Come on, lads, let's go. It's over."
One by one, with hanging shoulders and sad faces, the dwarves turned around to begin the long descent until it were only Ella and Thorin left on the ledge.
The dwarf king stood with his head bowed, like petrified, and suddenly looking even older than his almost two- hundred years.
Very slowly he raised his hand and let the key glide from his fingers and down on the stony ground.
"Thorin," Ella whispered in a tearful voice. "I'm so sorry."
He looked up at her with an expression of such utter despair that it tore her heart to pieces.
"You heard Balin," he said and he sounded endlessly tired, as if all life had been drained out of him. "It's over. Time to leave."
He turned and began to trudge after his companions, but Ella stood still for another moment and cast a last glance at the rock that had refused them entry.
A variety of emotions rushed through her.
First and foremost there was sadness and deep compassion for her beloved. Thorin had set all his hopes and invested all his energy into this endeavour, but they had still failed and now his dream was dead.
She was disappointed too, of course, and how could she not be? They had come so far and suffered through so much- and for nothing at all.
And yet, there was another emotion behind the sadness and disappointment, one she was ashamed to admit to herself because it was both cowardish and selfish, but she couldn't help feeling it all the same:
Relief.
They would not enter that mountain and perhaps it was for the better.
Perhaps her first intuition upon their arrival had not deceived her, this superstitous fear that had been crawling over her at the sight of the rock wall.
This was no home.
Something dark and evil was in this mountain and it did not want them here.
Some doors better remained closed.
And was it really so bad after all?
Of course, Thorin was devastated now, and it broke her heart to see his despair, but he still had so many other things to live for, his friends- his family in the first place.
And she could become a part of it.
Once Kili was better, they could return to the Blue Mountains, all of them, to the good if simple and sometimes even harsh life there.
Where it wouldn't matter that she was a hobbit and of nowhere near noble descent.
She would love to meet Thorin's sister, Kili's and Fili's mother.
And had Thorin not said he could have been happy there were it not for his perennial dream of reclaiming the Erebor?
Well, they had tried everything to make it come true, no one could deny that.
Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.
It might take some time, but in the end he would learn to accept it, learn to be happy with what he had. And she would do her best to make him as happy as she possibly could-
Ella turned around to follow Thorin and the dwarves on the long way back to Laketown, and as she did, she suddenly heard a knocking sound and saw a small, black bird picking against the stone in search for insects.
When the thrush knocks.
A crescent moon rose from the dark clouds in the sky and bathed the scenery in a pale, mysterious light.
Light, Ella thought in sudden realization.
The last light of Durin's Day.
But not the sun.
The moon !
She spun around and there it was, clearly visible now in the light of the moon as if it had always been there.
The keyhole in the wall.
Ella stood and stared at it in disbelief, for a moment numb and speechless with amazement.
Then, before she had the chance to make up her mind, she began shouting, shouting after Thorin and her companions to come back.
She did not want to enter this mountain, she really didn't, but it was what they wanted- what Thorin wanted more than anything else.
His legacy.
His birthright.
She didn't know what awaited them here, if there was even a chance of a future together with Thorin within these walls, but she knew for a fact that there would be none if she deliberately deprived him of this now, and only out of a vague feeling of perhaps completely unfounded fear.
Within seconds, Ella was on her knees and searched the stony ground for the key he had dropped when it seemed as if the quest had failed.
In her frantic search she happened to stomp on the key and accidently kick it towards the edge of the slope, but before it could fall down and probably be forever lost, a heavy boot stepped firmly on the banyard.
Ella looked up and watched Thorin pick up the key as slowly as he had dropped it before.
His eyes were shiny with tears as he held it up before his face and slowly his lips curled into a grim smile.
The other dwarves had returned now as well and they stood and stared awestruck as their king walked towards the hidden door.
He put the key into the keyhole and gently turned it, then he placed his big strong hands on the stone and pushed with all his strength.
The secret door swung open with a dull thud.
"Erebor," murmured Thorin in a deep, throaty voice, visibly overwhelmed with emotion, and stepped over the treshold.
The king under the mountain had come back home.