And I am back with another chapter. Happy Wednesday to you all. I think regular postings will be on Wednesdays now as it seems like it is when I have the time to post. Once I start school back in August if I am still working on this story by then I can always change it up a little bit, but I think it will be finished by then.
Again, some bits of dialogue or text come from the Hobbit and that all belongs to J.R. . Please enjoy!
Adaira's POV
Dwalin stepped in front of me, the others reaching for their weapons, but Gandalf slipped in front of them with his hands raised to calm them as the woman stared at us, her hands on her hips. She was taller than me, her hair a caramel brown falling in tight curls down her back, several braids with beads tying back the hair from falling in her face. Her eyes looked almost grey but with blues, greens, and golds swirling in them. She was thinner than me, but curvy in places I was not and while she had longer legs, her torso was shorter than mine. Her ears came to little points, not completely like an elf, but not exactly human either.
"Lyssaria, I had no idea you would be here," Gandalf said to the woman who turned her gaze to the wizard, harrumphing.
"Not like you were invited yourself," The woman, Lyssaria quipped with a raised eyebrow and Thorin looked to Gandalf.
"You know this woman?" Thorin demanded and Gandalf looked over his shoulder at him.
"Indeed. This is Lyssaria, a friend to Radagast," Gandalf introduced us before turning to the woman once more. "And this my dear is the Company of Thorin Oakenshield."
"Pleasure I'm sure," Lyssaria said sarcastically a small smirk on her face before she sighed. "Well, there is food if you're hungry and plenty of hay to sleep on. I'm sure Beorn won't mind…much," She told us and Thorin glared at her.
"I don't believe I asked your permission. Take what rest you can find. We don't know this Beorn," Thorin told us and Dwalin led me away from the mess and towards the area of Beorn's house which housed the animals. He found a fresh pile of hay for me and helped me down before kissing the top of my head.
"I'll find yah something to eat," Dwalin told me looking to Fili and Kili who were making their way towards us tiredly. "Stay with her," Dwalin told them and they nodded before walking over to me and sitting down on either side of me.
We said nothing and I opened my arms on either side and Fili and Kili scooted over, leaning against me carefully as we clung together. The boys sighed and I took strength in them. The fact that we were all alive...I didn't want to consider a scenario where that wasn't true. Dwalin returned before long with a plate of food piled high. There was bread with butter smeared over it and some fruit. He sat down in front of me and Fili and Kili gave me a final gentle squeeze before choosing a pile of hay nearby and laying down, falling asleep almost instantly with loud snores.
"How do yah feel?" Dwalin asked me and I shrugged as I picked at my food, not feeling very hungry, but knowing that I should try to eat something at the very least.
"Kinda…numb," I told Dwalin truthfully before sighing. "Like I can't wrap my head around everything that just happened," I added and Dwalin got up before sitting behind me, pulling me so that I sat in between his legs, reclining on his chest.
"It was yer first real battle. Yer in shock," Dwalin told me, his voice rumbling through me as he spoke, and I sighed before leaning back on his chest as his arms came up around me and I set the plate to the side of us. "What yah did…it was very brave," Dwalin told me in a low voice and I snorted, rolling my eyes.
"And very stupid," I muttered and Dwalin shook his head slightly.
"Aye, it was, but if yah hadn't done what yah did, Thorin would have been killed," Dwalin said and I hummed thoughtfully at his words.
"I don't know how I did all that. I just…I didn't think. I just knew that if I didn't move, if I didn't do anything, Thorin was going to die," I explained to Dwalin and he was quiet for a long moment before he spoke.
"Rest amrâlimê," Dwalin told me and I hummed, and put my hands over his that were wrapped around me and closed my eyes. Dwalin began humming the sound rumbling through me and it lulled me to sleep.
When I awoke, sunlight was streaming through the windows and dust motes floated in the air above me in swirling patterns. There was a heavy arm on my hip, and I turned my head over my shoulder and saw that Dwalin was sleeping behind me. I smiled softly, his face relaxed in his sleep, making him look younger. The action of smiling pulled at the stitches in the long lacerations on my face making me grimace. They were itchy. My entire body ached with pain, my ribs being the worst of the lot, but sleeping on soft hay beat sleeping on the hard ground.
I ignored the pain and carefully turned to my other side, Dwalin's arm tightening around me. I tucked my head under his chin, inhaling deeply and closing my eyes once more. Dwalin smelt of wood smoke, pipe weed, pine from the tree he was in, and something distinctly his own that I just couldn't name. I blushed deeply as I felt something poking me in the stomach and I tried to wiggle away from him, but he pulled me closer, groaning in his sleep. I tried again to get away, but this time Dwalin seemed to awaken slightly, grunting before one of his eyes opened a crack.
"Go back to sleep," Dwalin grumbled in a sleep gruff voice and I sighed.
"Um…I think I should get up," I told Dwalin still blushing a bright tomato red and he cracked his eye open again.
"I'm too tired to try anything," Dwalin grunted and I blushed again at the insinuation.
"Thorin…," I started to say and Dwalin cut me off with another groan.
"Fine," Dwalin grunted before he lifted his arm and let me scoot away from him a bit. I gingerly sat up and found that there was a bunch of hay sticking to me and I began to brush it off as Dwalin yawned loudly and sat up. I laughed brightly at the hay that was sticking out of his hair and he raised an eyebrow at my laugher.
"Do you want me to get that?" I asked Dwalin and he grunted which I took as his consent, not that I thought he would mind if I touched his hair.
I scooched back until I was sitting behind Dwalin cross legged and I began to pluck out the hay from his hair. As I worked, he seemed to wake up more and he stretched before turning around and picking me up cautiously and dropping me in his lap. I squeaked in surprise before cuddling back against him as he wrapped his arms around me gently.
"You seem to be less bothered about propriety," I commented as he pressed his face into my shoulder, and I reached up and played with the ends of his beard. There was just something about it.
"I almost lost yah. I'm not letting yah go anywhere," Dwalin mumbled into my neck and I hummed before reaching back and playing with his hair, leaving his beard alone.
"You didn't lose me. I'm right here," I reminded Dwalin as around us, some of the others began to wake up. Thorin lifted his head from where he slept next to Fili and Kili and I chuckled as hay stuck up in his hair. He raised his eyebrow at Dwalin and me and I sent him a look that meant, "Nothing is going on."
A sound caught my attention then, one I knew well, the sound of someone chopping wood. I patted Dwalin's arm and he let me get up and I stretched, wincing as I did so before I walked into the rest of the house, not really getting a good look at it the night before. Everything was humongous, but it was beautiful. The house was made of wood and it was carved beautifully. When I walked into the long room where a polished wood table took up a lot of the space, I came face to face with the woman from the night before.
"Uh…hi," I said, and she raised an eyebrow at me, a huge tankard in her hands dwarfing her.
"Very articulate," She said, and I rolled my eyes, snorting.
"I just woke up," I told her, and she shrugged, a small smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "Adaira, daughter of Frerin, son of Thrain, son of Thror at your service," I told her with a bob of my head.
"Pretty titles," She said and I thought she wasn't going to give me her name as she stared at me, but finally she opened her mouth. "Lyssaria, daughter of Nordri, son of Gorin at your service," Lyssaria introduced herself to me with a nod of her head and I hummed.
"You said last night that you were a Dwelf," I commented, and she nodded, an eyebrow slightly raised and a self depreciating smirk on her face.
"Ah yes, a bastard of two races as some would say. My father is a dwarf from Nordinbad and my mother was an Elf from Mirkwood. She was exiled of course," Lyssaria said her smile turning bitter.
"I am sorry to hear that your mother was exiled. It is sad to see that racism still exists in this world," I told the other woman who appeared to be about my age.
"World?" She asked and I frowned biting my lip wondering what I could tell her.
"It's a very long story and I just got to chapter two, we've got a long way to go to get to the end," I told her, and she nodded, a slightly confused expression on her face. "You mentioned that your father was a dwarf of Nordinbad, correct?" I asked Lyssaria and she bobbed her head once. "My mother is from Nordinbad. Perhaps you have heard of a darrowdam named Alayla?" I asked feeling hopeful and Lyssaria frowned before tilting her head to the side.
"I know of only one Alayla who resides within Nordinbad. Our people are fewer in number than even those who reside within Ered Luin, but we make do," Lyssaria told me and when I pressed her for more information she sighed only slightly. "The Alayla that I soeak of is my adad's sister," Lyssaria said and my eyes widened in surprise.
"Your adad's sister?" I asked Lyssaria, frowning in confusion. "I don't know much about my mother. I was raised by my adad," I told the woman as some of the others walked into the kitchen behind me.
"Well, I can tell you one thing about her, my Imad Alayla is Princess of Nordinbad," Lyssaria informed me and I frowned at that information.
"Princess?" I muttered under my breath before reaching for the bead around my neck, my father's marriage bead that had been my mother's, a bead with the sigil of my mother's family.
"There was only one Alayla that I knew about, but I could not confirm if she was who I suspected was your amad," Thorin said behind me and I turned around to look at him, the others standing behind him. "She and her brother Nordri and their father Gorin visited Erebor to pay homage to Thror when the Arkenstone was discovered. They kept to themselves, but they were kind," Thorin told me and I sighed deeply.
"Just another thing adad never told me," I muttered before turning to look at the others who were peeking out the windows and idling by the front door. Gandalf appeared out of nowhere and he seemed to be on edge.
"Well, now that you are all rested, we should introduce you to our host," Gandalf said and that was met with resistance, some the others wanting to simply sneak out and leave.
"I say we should leg it and slip out the back way!" Nori suggested to some agreement from the others.
"I'm not running from anyone, beast or no," Dwalin told Nori and I sighed, knowing that this could go very badly.
"There is no point in arguing amongst yourselves. We have no supplies and no ponies, and you are still being hunted. Azog will not dare to come for you here which is but a little comfort. It will be impossible for you to make it to Mirkwood without Beorn's help," Gandalf scolded us as I walked over to Dwalin and put a hand on his shoulder. He almost rolled it off, but upon seeing it was me he stopped.
"This will require some delicate handling; we must tread carefully. The last person to have startled him was torn to shreds," Gandalf informed us, and my eyes widened in shock at that little tidbit of information.
"You had better wait here," Gandalf told us with a thoughtful look on his face. "and when I call or whistle begin to come after me, but only in pairs, mind, about five minutes between each pair of you. Remember you all must be very polite. After all, we must be respectful to our host," Gandalf said, reminding us a second time to wait for his signal before he turned to Bilbo. "I will go first and-Bilbo? You will come with me," He said to the Hobbit.
"Me? I-Is this a good idea?" Bilbo asked the wizard in dismay.
"Yes. Beorn has never met a Hobbit before. Perhaps he will listen upon seeing you. Now the rest of you, you just wait here and don't come out until I give the signal," Gandalf told us a third time before opening the door, he and Bilbo slipping outside together before the wizard turned back to us once more.
"Right, wait for the signal," Bofur agreed with a nod.
"And no sudden moves or loud noises and don't overcrowd him," Gandalf added, lingering by the door and I frowned. I could tell he was rather nervous himself. "And only come out in pairs," He reminded us a fourth time. "No actually, Bombur," Gandalf said as Bombur took a loud crunching bite of a carrot, "You count as two so you should come out alone," Gandalf said, and Bombur beginning to protest and I slipped in front of the dwarves and raised my hands placatingly.
"We know. It'll be alright," I assured Gandalf and he nodded before turning.
"Remember wait for the signal," He threw over his shoulder once more, the others agreeing before he and Bilbo finally left.
Bofur looked out a high window, standing on Bifur's shoulders and he asked, "What signal would that be?" I turned to the open door and peeked out to see what was going on. Beorn was outside of the house, a very large man, bare chested and wearing rough spun trousers as he chopped wood with a gigantic axe. He was very hairy with big bushy eyebrows and a beard. Gandalf was very obviously nervous as he and Bilbo approached him, Bilbo hiding slightly behind Gandalf.
"You're nervous," I heard Bilbo say to Gandalf and I could see that the wizard was indeed fidgety.
"Nervous? What nonsense," Gandalf rebuked before smiling up at Beorn from a safe distance. "Good morning!" Gandalf announced his presence carefully but Beorn seemed not to hear him as his axe swung down and chopped through another large block of wood. He put another log on the block and his backwards axe swing was so large that it came close to Gandalf who stumbled back a few paces. "'Good morning!'" Gandalf tried again in a somewhat singsong voice and Beorn stopped and turned slowly to Gandalf, still holding his axe which was stuck into the block.
"Who are you?" Beorn demanded, looking at Gandalf over his shoulder, his voice low and dangerous.
"I'm Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey," Gandalf introduced himself, bowing slightly and Beorn grabbed his axe and I inhaled sharply as he turned, the axe pointed down in front of him. He was a giant. Easily seven to eight feet tall, dwarfing Gandalf and immensely strong by the looks of him.
"Never heard of him," Beorn said dangerously as he leaned on his axe handle.
"I'm a wizard! Perhaps you've heard of my colleague, Radagast the Brown. He resides in the southern borders of Mirkwood," Gandalf said, obviously searching around for some sort of introduction, but Beorn seemed not to be having it. His eyes flicked towards the door and I ducked back inside, still listening in.
"What do you want?" Beorn asked Gandalf and I snuck a peek outside once more.
"Well, simply to thank you for your hospitality. You may have noticed that we took refuge in your lodgings here last night," Gandalf told Radagast and Bilbo, who had been hiding behind Gandalf, poked his head around for a better look. When Beorn spotted him, he frowned and readjusted his grip on his axe handle, obviously ready for a fight.
"Who is this little fellow?" Beorn demanded as Gandalf moved so that Bilbo was now in plain view of the man, awkwardly standing next to Gandalf. I had to hand it to the Hobbit. He conducted himself rather well, nodding respectfully at the giant of a man.
"Well, this would be Mr. Baggins, of the Shire," Gandalf introduced Bilbo as Beorn picked up his axe.
"He's not a dwarf, is he?" Beorn asked, flicking his eyes back towards his house and I darted back inside. This was going south quickly.
"Why, no, no. He's a Hobbit," Gandalf explained carefully, putting a hand on Bilbo's ack. "A good family and unimpeachable reputation," Gandalf added, tapping Bilbo on the back and Bilbo nodded once more.
"A Halfling and a Wizard," Beorn said, putting his axe back down and leaning on the handle. "How come you're here?" Beorn asked once more.
"Oh, well, the fact is that we've had a bad time of it…," Gandalf began as I poked my head out once more. "from goblins in the mountains."
"What did you go near goblins for? Stupid thing to do!" Beorn chastised Gandalf who nodded in agreement.
"You are absolutely right," Gandalf said, waving his hand around as he spoke.
"There it is! Go! Go! Go!" I heard Bofur shout and I looked back inside the house in alarm, making frantic gestures. Dwalin looked at me and I shook my head quickly, so he poked Balin and the two began to walk out of the house.
"No! Don't!" I hissed after them, but they were already out in plain view. I squeaked in fear as Dwalin stepped out first, his hands on his belt, as Beorn picked up his axe once more.
"Dwalin and Balin," Dwalin introduced himself and his brother and Balin smiled merrily and waved slightly, the two standing a bit back from Gandalf and Bilbo.
"I must confess that several of our group are, in fact, dwarves," Gandalf hurriedly told Beorn who was baring his teeth.
"Do you call two… "several"?" Beorn demanded of Gandalf, his eyes fixed on Dwalin and Balin as he held his axe.
"Well, now that you pit it that way…no," Gandalf told Beorn, trying to work on damage control. "Yes, there could be more than two," Gandalf said, looking down at Bilbo, who bless him was trying to remain calm.
"Go! Go!" Bofur shouted again as Gandalf began counting on his fingers and Gloin and Oin rushed past me.
"No!" I hissed again, trying to grab at their shirts to pull them back, but they broke my hold, walking outside and standing near Dwalin and Balin, Dwalin flicking a look back at me and shrugging.
"And here are some more of our happy troop," Gandalf said as Oin and Gloin bowed and Gandalf pointed back to them with a nervous smile on his face.
"And do you call six a "troop"?" Beorn demanded, not getting more relaxed as more and more dwarves stepped out of his house. "What are you, a traveling circus?" He asked as Gandalf laughed and lowered his hand.
"Go!" Bofur said, waving more of them on and I made for him to strangle him as Ori and Dori made their way out of the house.
"You're going to get them killed!" I hissed at Bofur, trying to pull him away from the window.
"I'm only letting them know Gandalf gave the signal," Bofur told me innocently and I groaned in frustration. If I had hair, I would be pulling it out. I ran back to the door as Dori and Ori introduced themselves, standing in front of Dwalin and Balin.
"I don't want your service!" Beorn growled at their introduction and Gandalf hurriedly turned back to Beorn.
"Of course, of course," Gandalf said, raising his hand placatingly and I grabbed Kili by the scruff of his neck as he and Fili made to walk out the door upon Bofur's call to," Go!"
"Please for the love of Mahal," I told Kili as Fili walked out the door and he shrugged me off, joining Fili.
"Oh, Fili and Kili, I'd quite forgotten yes, and Nori and Bofur, Bifur" Gandalf said sounding tired and exasperated as the rest of the dwarves barreled past me out the front door. "…and Bombur," He said as Bombur stepped out, leaving only Thorin and I inside the house. I thumped my forehead on the door repeatedly as they did exactly what Gandalf told them not to, overcrowd Beorn, and Thorin placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.
"It's already done," Thorin told me and I groaned and put my head on his chest. He hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head before letting me go.
"Is that it? Are there anymore?" I heard Beorn ask and Thorin squeezed my shoulder before he stepped out of the house, joining his Company and as I peeked outside the door, Beorn and Thorin where sharing a rather intense look. "There's another. A little bunny, hiding just out of view," Beorn said and I inhaled deeply, blowing out and inhaling again. I couldn't do this. I just couldn't. I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"Can I?" I heard Dwalin ask but no audible answer was given to him. He walked back into the house and when he saw me hyperventilating he pulled me into his arms. "It's alright amrâlimê," Dwalin told me in a low voice and my breathing slowed down as he held me. "Are you ready to come out?" He asked me after a moment as my breathing slowed back to normal.
"Will you stay with me?" I asked him and he smiled at me, bumping his forehead to mine.
"Forever," He told me, and I nodded, getting my game face on. I wasn't sure why I was nervous. I never had issues meeting new people before, but I felt self conscious and small in that instant knowing that Beorn was already most likely angry.
Dwalin stayed true to his word and his arm stayed around my hip, holding me close to him as the others moved, making room for us to walk out together. We stood in the doorway next to Thorin. At first, I was looking down at my feet but with another deep breath blown out I raised my head and looked directly at Beorn. He and I stared at each other for a long moment before his expression softened. He dropped his axe then and walked past Gandalf and Bilbo towards us. I squeezed Dwalin's hand and he let go and I stepped forward to meet the giant of a man feeling more confident now. Beorn knelt down on one knee, so he was closer in height to me and he stared down at me.
"And who are you, little bunny?" Beorn asked me curiously, one bushy eyebrow raised.
"Adaira, daughter of Frerin, at your service," I told Beorn, bowing my head slightly and leaving out my fancy titles. Beorn was a man who worked the land. He didn't care for all that.
"A great injustice was done to you," Beorn said as he studied me, and I nodded.
"I got a few good swings in," I quipped back without thinking and Beorn chuckled a deep rumbling belly laugh.
"There is a story in this, I can tell. Come you can tell it with fully bellies," Beorn said and I squeaked in surprise as Beorn picked me up and carried me towards the house. Dwalin gave a shout of protest and I looked down at him and shook my head. I was alright, even if this wasn't a mode of transport I preferred.
Beorn walked into his house and placed me on the bench to the right of his table. The others trailed back in, Dwalin storming forward and he got a boost from Gloin and Bifur and sat beside me, angrily glaring at Beorn who was bustling about in his kitchen. Before long, the table was set with large portions of food and Beorn was pouring fresh milk from a pitcher into a large tankard in front of me. Dwalin made a big show of making up my plate first and I ate slowly as Beorn sat at the head of the table next to me.
Gandalf began recounting our tale and the reason we had a run in with the goblins and what had transpired since then. Beorn listened with rapt attention, not interrupting while he studied each of us in turn. He rose once more once Gandalf finished, not speaking as he went back down the table, pouring us more milk. As he poured Fili another cup, he addressed Thorin who was leaning against a carved post, sitting apart from us slightly.
"So, you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Beorn asked Thorin and Thorin frowned before turning to Beorn, surprise written all over his face.
"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin asked Beorn and the giant of a man looked back at Thorin as he spoke, standing near the fireplace.
"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved," Beorn recounted and Bilbo and I shared a look across the table, the both of us noticing the remnants of manacles on Beorn's wrist. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him," Beorn added and I looked at Beorn sadly, shaking my head. In this world so many bad things happened.
"There are others like you?" Bilbo asked Beorn as he poured milk into Ori's tankard.
"Once, there were many," Beorn answered the Hobbit, a far off look on his face as he turned away from the table.
"And now?" Bilbo pressed and Beorn turned back slightly.
"Now, there is only one," Beorn told Bilbo as we looked on in silence.
"You have my sincere sympathies," I spoke up, Beorn looking surprise as he looked to me. "Such horrors are hard to speak of and even harder to live through," I told him and he bowed his head to me.
"You know something of these horrors. I see it in your eyes," Beorn said and I shook my head.
"Not me. I lived a quiet life before all this. But I will do my part to try and make this world a better place," I told Beorn, meaning what I said. As a Princess of Erebor, maybe I could do more for the people of Middle Earth. Beorn hummed slightly, studying me before nodding.
"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asked us, changing the subject, putting the pitcher down once more and sitting.
"Before Durin's Day falls, yes," Gandalf answered Beorn, moving his pipe away from his mouth.
"You are running out of time," Beorn pointed out and I nodded in agreement. We were. Durin's day was steadily approaching and we still had to travel through Mirkwood.
"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood," Gandalf said, and I sighed at that. Dwalin pulled me back into his arms and I snuggled up close to him, closing my eyes.
"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliancebetween the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need," Beorn warned us as he watched us from his chair.
"We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe," Gandalf assured the skin-changer as Fili picked up his tankard with two hands and took a drink, spilling quite a bit down his front in the process. Kili giggled and Thorin elbowed him in the ribs, Kili falling silent.
"Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous," Beorn said as Thorin got up and began to pace. "But it matters not," Beorn said and Thorin turned back to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Thorin demanded, looking slightly worried if you knew how to read his expressions.
"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive," Beorn informed Thorin who looked shocked. Beorn stood then, ducking under one of the rafters as he faced Thorin.
"I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own," Beorn said, picking up a mouse that had been scampering on the table, Bofur having brushed it off of him and he held it, all the while approaching Thorin who was standing with his arms crossed. "But Orcs I hate more. What do you need?" Beorn asked Thorin who I could see seemed to sigh with relief.
"Lodging for a week at most. Adaira, my niece, she was injured in our fight with Azog. Supplies. We have nothing. Everything was lost in the Goblin tunnels," Thorin told Beorn and they both looked to me as I stared back from Dwalin's arms.
"Whatever you need I will provide. All you need is to ask," Beorn told us as Lyssaria walked into the room.
"What did I miss?" She asked and Beorn chuckled as he looked down at the young woman.
"When will you be on your way?" Beorn asked her and she shrugged.
"Probably another week like them. Still deciding where to go," Lyssaria replied and Beorn nodded before harrumphing.
"Many decisions to make then," Beorn said before nodding to us and walking outside.
"Yes, why are you here my dear? I haven't seen you this far South in several years," Gandalf asked the young woman who stared up at Fili until he helped her up onto the bench next to him. She picked up a piece of bread and began to slather it in butter and jam, taking a large bite and chewing as she contemplated her answer. She swallowed thickly before smiling at the wizard.
"I'm on my Wandering," Lyssaria told the wizard and he made and "ah" sound and nodded.
"What's Wandering?" Bilbo asked her as Lyssaria continued to eat.
"It's when an Elf comes of age. They leave home and wander Middle Earth, adventuring on their own and living off the land. I'm off age for a Dwarf, but since we have to guess ages for me, I decided to go on my Wandering now. I'm beginning to rethink it," She answered Bilbo, popping the last bite into her mouth.
"I ran into a pack of Orcs as I was making my way South from Nordinbad. They chased me down this way. Thankfully Beorn was around. He's met me before when I was visiting Radagast and was nice enough to let me stay," She told us, and I nodded before shrugging.
"Seems like you can't travel anywhere these days without running into Orcs. It can't always be like this, is it?" I asked the others and they shook their heads.
"Orcs are growing bolder and larger in number," Thorin answered me darkly.
"This Necromancer that Beorn mentioned…in Dol Goldur… it reminds me of something my father told me of," I said with a frown on my face, shifting in Dwalin's arms so that I was sitting up once more.
"Can you elaborate?" Gandalf asked me, looking perturbed, and I nodded as my frown grew deeper.
"Mind you…this is what my adad told me quiet a long time ago," I prefaced, and Gandalf nodded, gesturing for me to continue. "He told me once how he had been captured during the Battle of Azanulbizar," I began and noticed that everyone was listening intently to my words.
"He was near Kheled-zâram. An Orc shot him in the knee with an arrow and he was set upon by several Orcs. He fought as hard as he could, but he was overpowered. Azog was on the battlefield. He was forced to watch as Thror's head was cut off, but then he was dragged away as your battle began with Azog," I recounted as I looked to Thorin and he nodded in understanding.
"The Orcs argued amongst themselves about what to do with him. Some said they should kill him, others said to bring him to the Master. They decided in the end to do nothing without orders and he was dragged from the battlefield. They forced a disgusting drought down his throat and broke off the shaft off the arrow, leaving he head buried in his leg. It took days he said, but he didn't know where he was, there was a sack over his head. He was brought to the ruins of a once great hold," I explained, talking with my hands before I shook my head.
"My memory is foggy about the rest. He said something about meeting mother there and something about grandfather, about Thrain, but I was too young to listen to more and I always thought it was just a story. Adad always walked with a limp though. His left leg," I said and Thorin rubbed his chin thoughtfully as the others looked on.
"Perhaps indeed your father spoke of Dol Goldur," Gandalf said at last before shaking his head. "Well, we should take advantage of our time here. It will pass quickly. Rest. Heal. Durin's Day swiftly approaches," Gandalf told us, and we all made sounds of agreement. Dwalin helped me down from the bench, lowering me down to Kili who had jumped down without care.
"Let's go outside. Could use some air," Dwalin said gruffly and I nodded tiredly, letting him lead me. I needed some time to just relax my mind. So much had just happened and the road ahead was just as dangerous if not more so than the road behind and Smuag lay at the end of our journey.
Khuzdul:
Amrâlimê- My love
Adad- Father
Imad- Aunt
Amad- Mother
Kheled-zâram- Mirrormere