Title: A tale about friendship, Part 16?

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

E-mail: Overall rating: M, for violence and orctorment. This chapter: M

Summary: A group of children are told the tale of their friendship with the dwarves in general and the Folk of Durin in particular.

Warnings: The overall rating of this fic is M, as parts of it deals with violent battle and torment. There are also Original Characters in the fic, but no Mary Sues. Unbetaed, all mistakes belong to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own any one of Tolkien's characters, never have, and never will. The only ones I own are the people you have never met before.

Chapter 16, The Day of Pyres

Melian had tears in her eyes when she continued her story. "The following day Thráin stood before the host limping with the leg wound and said ´we have the victory, Khazad-Dûm is ours but the Folk of Durin said to him ´you may be Durin´s Heir but even with one eye you ought to see clearer. We fought this war for vengeance and vengeance we have taken, but it isn't sweet. If it is victory then our hands are too small to hold it´, and Boromir added ´we have also fought for vengeance, to avenge our friend. But it isn't sweet to us either and not even our hands can hold this victory.´ The children of other Fathers said that to them Khazad-Dûm was a hope for treasure. If they couldn't get any rewards then the sooner they returned to their homes the happier they would be." Dáin added

"Finally Thráin turned to me and said ´surely my own kin will not desert me? I said to him ´you are the father of our Folk and we have bled for you, and will again. But we will not enter Khazad-Dûm. You will not enter Khazad-Dûm. I then told him that I had seen Durins Bane in the first chamber and that it was waiting for him. I also told him that a force stronger than ours would be needed and that our Folk will not be able to walk in Khazad-Dûm until then. Melian agreed with me, she told him that she had felt the hostile eyes when she examined my father. ´Your Folk and your son needs you she said and between us we were able to convince him that he shouldn't go there."

Melian said, "So the Army dispersed. But before it could do so they had one final task to do, to bury the fallen and that was a hard task. So many had fallen and it would take time to bury everyone according to custom. To bury all in earth would have been the quickest way but Dwarves don't bury their dead in earth, and to bury them in stone tombs would have taken months. As Melian said in her book ´we didn't have that time. A few Orcs had fled from the valley and even though they wouldn't return in a hurry, they would be back. And if we were still there then things would be disastrous.´ So finally the decision was made to burn the dead rather than leaving them to be eaten by beasts, birds and Carrionorcs. ´They have enough Orcflesh to eat and needn't be given the flesh of our kinsmen´ our foremother said. So after a burial ceremony seldom given in the village the people of Huor threw torches on the pyres and all the fallen were burned. Melian made a list of the fallen in her book and in this list she wrote about how each of them had fallen. There are many details like ´he slew two Orcs at the same time´, ´when one of the Orcs tried to slay his father he slew that Orc but was slain by one who came from behind´ and the marks left by her tears are clearly visible. The fires burned through the night and only then could the survivors start to sing dirges.

The following morning, after the pyres had turned the bodies of the fallen to ashes, the companies went back to their homes. Each Dwarf carried a heavy burden of arms and mail taken from the dead kinsmen before the bodies were placed on the pyres. Before they left the people of Huor told them that they wouldn't tell anyone, other than their kinsmen, what they had done. They also promised all the companies that if they ever needed the aid of the people of Huor they would receive it, and they were also told that they would also be welcome in the village of Huor. The Dwarves who were burned have always been honoured and if a Dwarf says about one of his sires ´he was a burned Dwarf nothing more needs to be said. The fallen from the people of Huor have always been honoured in the village."

Gandalf nodded and said, "The people of Lorien sent word to Rivendell, saying that a number of Orcs had fled Nanduhirion and some of them had tried to enter their forest but they had been slain by the Elves. Those who escaped went south and were never seen again. They also told us that they had seen the smoke from the pyres and heard the dirges sung there. I think that Elrond was relieved to know that it would take a while for the Orcs to return to the Misty Mountains and his sons would be at home a bit more."

Melian said "our foremother wrote in her book that she heard Thráin speak with Thórin Oakenshield at the pole with Azogs head, asking his son whether he would return to the anvil or beg his bread at proud doors, and Thórin replied that he would return to the anvil as the hammer would keep the arms strong until it was time to wield sharper tools again. She commented ´I was relieved to hear that. The head they were standing at had indeed been dearly bought, with the lives of many valiant Dwarves and a number of Men. I almost said to Thráin that the doors of our village aren't proud but I knew that he was thinking about such chieftains as Beleg the Half dragon and therefore I kept my peace.´

The people of Huor went with the people of Thráin to Dunland and were met by Huor and some others there. They were going to Iron Hills and Melian thought it wise to go with them. She didn't know how it had gotten there but somehow Náins mail collar had been found in her pack and she wanted to return it to the father. Grór received the mail collar and the tale of his son's death that Boromir could tell him and he sighed. ´I see that my son fought well. Even though I grieve for him I am proud that he did well before he died´ he said and Boromir answered I am proud that I knew your son. Should my aid be needed I will give it.´ "

The children embraced Balin and Dáin and they wept. "I have always been proud of my name" Náin said "I am even more proud of it now, knowing that my namesake was most valiant" and Fundin agreed with him about it. Thrór said

"Now I understand why you made sure that none of us was born either on the day of the Battle or the Day of Pyres as you have always named the following day. Neither of the days are suitable for feasts and I don't think we would have been able to be happy on any of them" and Melian nodded.

Dáin said "my grandfather knew when we set out that not all of us would return and he had prepared himself for it. But it still hurt him to see our company return so lessened and father's death was a hard blow to his heart. Five years after the battle he passed away peacefully and I became Lord of Iron Hills. Whenever some of our people went on journeys I would tell them that they should go to the people of Huor and that they would be welcome there. When they came back they told me that they had and showed me the gifts they had been given. They had paid for their stay but somehow the money had found its way back into their packs and I told them that this wasn't hard to understand. ´We are their friends and not asked for payment´ I said to them.

TBC