Hi, I'm back from a trip to Alaska:) It was the first time ever, and let me tell you, it was literally like being in Middle-earth. There wasn't very much internet, though, but nature calls. When on the tour excursion, I literally looked around with wonder saying, "This is totally like New Zealand, only it's Alaska!" It would be the other way around for the other: "This is totally like Alaska, only it's New Zealand!" Lols:D Either way, it was magical!
Anyway, let's see how our characters are doing in Rivendell. Everyone's on vacation, after all!
Chapter 24
Prior the rising sun, Deathstroke paced outside the borders of Rivendell.
It was surrounded by mountains and forests, but it was not what complicated the path. It was what the unseen forces that protected it. The power of the elves and the eyes of the Rangers. And while Deathstroke could hide from the sharpest of eyes and ears, making hardly a sound as he crept within every shadow of the forest, it would not allow him easy passage through the protective magic of Rivendell. Its vibrating presence was soothing like honey and sang like the purest of music, brushing across his skin like the gentle breeze fluttering his cloak.
Of all his years, despite the opposition with the Firstborn, he had never found a reason to waste precious time to find any gaps within one of the most protected sanctuaries in Middle earth. Nor shall he now, if survival was a necessity to complete his task.
The dark Ranger leaned against the tree, crossed his arms and closed his eyes to listen to all the sounds of the forest. The fading moonlight made the bone of his mask glow in the shadows of his hood as he exhaled. He heard birds, crickets, frogs, and the faintest of movements that could belong a nearby Ranger, or a scouting elf, but he did not react to that instinct. It was best not to move at all, until all was complete silent.
Besides...he needed to get away from the orcs for a while. He ordered them, threatened their lives and guts if they disobeyed, to wait a fair distance from the outskirts of the Ford, where their pompous loud noise and animalistic screeches could be kept to a minimum.
He will wait until they leave. It might take days, but patience overruled immediate action. The Company of Dwarves would have no intention of staying a realm full of elves for very long, given to the lifelong prejudice the two races have had against each other.
And when they would leave, he would follow, bringing the orc pack at his tail. Should his master give the order, he will feel his blades bathe in dwarf blood, a smell so strong that he could taste it.
Sitting still in the shadows of the tree, Deathstroke reached to his side and slowly pulled out the plushy object of the teddy bear that had been safely tucked into his belt and stared at it. Its beady black eyes stared back up at him with the roundness of glassy innocence. But he knew what was behind that innocence. A power that rivaled with even the unseen power of the elves, and more.
Power hidden up the face of innocence. Was that not the face of the elves, beauty to judge them as "good people" while they have yet to show their darker side? The darkest revealed from that of the orc?
But still, the bear...it clearly belonged to a child. There was a child among them that owned this bear.
His gloved hand closed around the bear, feeling the hardness in the middle.
He had every intention to return the teddy bear...and on that same hour, blood will be shed.
"Soon," he whispered to the bear, feeling the vibrations of its power chill him. The back of his neck prickled and stung from where Azog had clutched him, making his shiver and clutch where it burned with a vengeance. "Soon..."
When the first signs of daylight appeared the sky, he darted out of the forest where his warg waited for him behind a boulder and rode off to rejoin the orcs.
"That was the biggest and bestest bed in the whole wide world!" exclaimed Lori happily, bouncing up and down next to Maia in the hallway after they had breakfast in bed. "That was like being in a big princess bed in a castle! It was all so soft and cushy! And they gave us a tray of breakfast! IN BED! I wanna bed like that, Maia! And a big, sunny room, too! Can I? Can I?" She tugged at her sister's hand with wide, twinkly eyes.
Maia shrugged, saying nothing. Lori's face fell. "What's wrong?" she said quietly.
Maia rubbed her temples, sighing. "Morning headache," she muttered.
More like morning heartache. She had slept very little last night, her thoughts and feelings storming around her mind and heart like Hurricane Katrina and Irene together. After that last night with Fili, kissing him in the river below Rivendell, it was impossible to forget. But most of all, she could never forget the words he said to her last night at the doorway of her bedroom, his eyes full of such pain and longing. Eyes that reflected her own heart.
She dreaded seeing him. It hurt badly enough to recall saying she loved him back before turning away. She might as well have rejected him and then rubbed salt in the wounds! Did he hate her for it now? Disgusted at her cowardice and uncertainty, for leading him on, only to kiss and retreat?
"Why was your dress all wet?" asked Lori. "What were you doing last night?"
"Swimming."
"Swimming?"
"Yeah. The water was cold. At nighttime, especially." And she remembered the warmth of Fili's arms around her as they kissed.
One the elf maids, Vendethiel, had found Maia's still wet and dirty dress laid out across the mattress, tsking disapprovingly at the soaked damage on the silk while Maia apologized continuously with a red face. She was forgiven, of course, learning that there were many others that could be replaced, since it wouldn't be the first time a person (or rather, a young elf) had fallen and dirtied their dress in either a river or a landslide.
The sisters now wore simple dresses of white and chestnut brown, Maia's tightened with a leather vest around her torso, along with a belt that bore straps for her two Elvish daggers and other future gear. They wore light-padded Elvish boots, rather than slippers.
They said good morning to a few passing elves. One of them was Alasse.
"Mornin', Alasse!" sang Lori, and Maia said, "Morning!"
She smiled and nodded her head at the girls. "Good morning, my ladies! How fares your awakening?"
"It's great, thank you," said Maia, smiling back. "Hey, have any of the dwarves been around?"
"Most of them were awake, the last I have seen of them. My friends were meant to serve them breakfast, before the dwarves managed to find their own way to the fields. They have brought their weapons with them. The training grounds are not far from the stables. Would you like me to take you to them?"
Noting the clothes folded in Alasse's arms, Maia shook her head. "That's okay, I think we'll run into them eventually. We're just on our way to wake our brother, if he's still in the crib."
"Yeah, he sleeps a lot," agreed Lori.
"Very well. If there is anything you both need, you are welcome to ask."
They thanked Alasse and then moved on.
"Ya think Sparky's awake?" said Lori.
Maia scoffed. "Knowing Sparks, now that he's got a room to himself, he'd take the time to sleep it off till the p.m. Not that I blame him. We were up a whole night picking a beef with a bunch of hungry trolls."
"Well, I'm not tired!"
"Yeah, I noticed. I'm kinda jealous of that, you know. I feel old."
Lori giggled. "You're not old!"
Maia wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to the hip. "Thanks for the comfort, baby girl, but we all got our dealings."
Lori looked up at her. "Like getting chased by a buncha scary orcs?" she said. "Are we gonna tell 'em about the monsters yet, Maia?"
Maia tightened her hold. "Yeah, we're telling them," she said grimly. "It's about time we did. We just need Kyle to be there when that happens. You know he doesn't like missing out on things."
There was also the fact that they needed to discuss this place. A place that had been part of their childhood bedtime stories, told by their father.
When they found Kyle's room and entered, the boy's body was lost in a tangle of silk sheets, unmoving. Only one arm and a bushel of black hair stuck out of the covers. His heavy breathing was heard. Nearby, on the small table, was a tray of breakfast that had yet to be touched.
Maia and Lori shared a glance. They smiled. Then the girls charged forward and pounced on top of the sleeping form, which gave a yelp from the weight of the two girls. Awake, Kyle scrambled out from under his sheets, popping his messy headed self up straight, looking around rapidly. "Wha...What? What happened, what?" he mumbled fuzzily. He wasn't wearing a shirt.
Laughing with Lori, Maia reached over and ruffled his hair.
"Good morning, sunshine!" she said. "It's eleven a.m. and way past 'get the hell out of bed.'"
Kyle batted her hands away rapidly. "The hell out of bed for what? We're not even going anywhere!"
"Doesn't mean we have to miss a fine, beautiful day in this lovely elf city," cooed Maia, while Kyle narrowed his sleepy eyes at her. "Seriously, though, we have to go find the dwarves and let them know we made it through the night."
"Alasse says they're gonna go practice sword fighting," added Lori, standing up and jumping up and down on the bouncy mattress. "I wanna go!"
"That's what you're worried about?" Kyle fell back on his pillows and folding his arms over his eyes to block the sunlight. "They'll be fine. They almost denied us food at the gates, but I'm not gonna let 'em deny me my beauty sleep, especially after the other night. Oh!" He opened his arms and sat up with wide eyes. "That reminds me. You're not gonna believe what happened to me last night."
"What?" exclaimed the bouncing Lori excitedly, while Maia folded her arms, "What, the dwarves dared you to kiss an elf and she liked it?" We're running out of a lot of stuff that we're having trouble believing, Sparks.
"No! God, stop talking, I'm being serious! We found a way to read the map to Erebor."
This got the girls' attention. "What? When?" demanded Maia, surprised. "How?"
"Just right after you carried Lori to bed. Thorin, Balin, and Bilbo were following Gandalf out and I followed them."
"Typical," muttered Maia, while Lori pouted, "Aww, I missed it!"
"Anyway," continued Kyle, "it turned out they were meeting with Lord Elrond. The dwarves weren't up for it much, but Gandalf got him to read the map. It turns out that the sucker is full of invisible letters called moon runes."
"Moon runes?" echoed Lori. The little girl stopped jumping on the bed.
"Runes that can only be seen in the light of a moon on the day and season they were written, which happened to be last night. How Elrond knew that, no idea, but we apparently went up into this wide, beautiful observatory way high up on the mountain where we got a better view of the moonlight. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Once the moon started shining more clearly, these shiny, white runes started appearing on the map in the blank section...kinda like the one we saw on Bilbo's door, remember? And then Elrond was able to read them. I swear those runes looked impossible to translate."
"Well, what did they say?" said Maia, leaning forward.
"Do I have to be exact?"
"If you're able to."
"Okay, so..." He thought for a moment. "'Stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks...and at the last light of Durin's Day...will shone upon the key-hole.' Something like that. It was kinda stretchy."
"What Durin's Day?" asked Lori, crawling in her brother's lap.
Kyle wrapped his arms around her. "It's the last day of autumn and first day of winter. Gandalf says it's the new year for the dwarves."
"So, wait..." Maia frowned. "Are you saying that we have until December to reach Erebor? It's December 21, right?"
Kyle grimaced and scratched the back of his head. "October 22."
Maia's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!"
"That's before Halloween!" exclaimed Lori. "Are we gonna go home for Halloween?"
Kyle nodded. "I guess so."
"So let me get this straight: we have four months to reach Erebor," said Maia slowly, "before the last light to reach this secret door in the mountain on October 22, otherwise we're stuck here for another year? We don't get another chance."
"Yep. And the dwarves miss their chance to reclaim their homeland. Either way, nobody it going home if we're late."
"But that's not so bad," said Lori, glancing up at both her older siblings. "Four months is a long time, right?"
Kyle shook his head. "Maybe for you, but we have no idea how many miles away Erebor is. For all we know, we probably need more time to get there."
"Right before we left Bag End, Gandalf told me the journey would at least take four or five months to get there," said Maia. "We've been on the road for a month now, so I guess if we put in another four months...then I think it's possible we can make it without any delays."
"Yeah..." echoed Kyle, uncomfortable, "except that we're probably going to stay here for a little while."
"How long?"
"A few days." Kyle's eyes widened. "Gandalf said there may be a possibility that Elrond will know how to get us home."
Lori gasped and Maia's heart jumped in her throat. "What? Are you sure?"
Kyle shook his head. "Not really, but we're going to find out soon. Even Thorin agreed to it. I think this is worth the wait, guys, because we're not exactly sure if our way back home is in Erebor or not. This may be our best chance in figuring this all out."
Maia nodded. "You're right," she said. She tried to ignore the her own heart aching at the thought of Fili and leaving him so soon. It hurt more than she could say, but she wouldn't let Kyle and Lori see that. "It's for the best," she added, more to herself than to them.
They were all silent. Seeing her younger brother and sister's sad faces, Maia realized she was not alone. Leaving Bilbo and the dwarves would be hard for them, too. Gandalf, as well.
"Guys," whispered Lori, "you know October 22 is Durin's Day?"
"Yeah?" Kyle and Maia looked at her in confusion. "Why?"
Lori's brown eyes were shining with tears. Her lip trembled. "I just remembered," she whispered. "It's that same day. The day Daddy..."
"Oh, man," whispered Kyle in realization, and Maia nodded breathlessly.
October 22...the night when their dad got attacked and then taken. The night when Maia and Kyle heard it happen over the phone, while their grandfather called the FBI. Maia was the last person to have spoken to him, and Kyle was the one to have heard the heavy breathing of their dad's kidnapper.
Lori was good at names and dates for her age, listing their importance like they were a holiday or a memory. Sadly, the night of their father's disappearance was a nightmare that was hard to forget. Neither Maia and Kyle had ever thought about the specific date until now.
Lori sniffed and wiped her nose, her lip trembling. "I can't believe I lost Teddy," she whimpered. "Daddy said whenever I miss him, I'd have Teddy to watch me. And then that big, scary warg..." Tears ran down her face.
Though his jaw was clenched and eyes were hardened, Kyle hugged her to him, stroking her hair, while Maia reached over to rub her sister soothingly. "I know, baby," she whispered. "We're sorry, honey. You know we miss Dad and Teddy, too. Don't we, Kyle?" She looked at her brother hard, her look telling him not to argue otherwise.
Frowning in annoyance, Kyle exhaled through his lips. "Yeah, okay," he muttered through his teeth. "Me too." Then he muttered under his breath, "But I'm still gonna kick Dad's ass if we ever-"
"Kyle," hissed Maia, "not now!"
"Sorry. I'm just saying."
"It's not Daddy's fault, Sparky," mumbled Lori, looking up at Kyle. "Somebody took him."
Kyle shook his head. "You know why I'm mad at him, L," he said. "He was gone for almost a year without a word and only called twice, without telling us why. He clearly left us out of the blue and didn't visit once, not even after Mom's accident. He broke her heart. I'm not gonna forgive him for that until he's has a pretty good reason."
Lori nodded sadly. Kyle looked at Maia. "Speaking of Dad, guys, doesn't this place ring a bell? Rivendell, the elves, their language…."
"Yeah!" Lori sat up and looked at them both with wide eyes. "They speak out code-talk! Daddy's stories are true!"
"Okay, so we're all thinking the same thing," said Maia slowly. "All of this was something a part of made-up bedtime stories told in our childhood, but suddenly places like Rivendell, elves, wizards, and their language are true? Sindarin, right?" Kyle and Lori nodded. "What if….guys, do remember what color the orcs' blood was when I stabbed that one in the eye, or when the dwarves cut down a few?"
"Black," said Lori, trembling from the memory.
Kyle pursed his lips. "Like from the crime scene in our farmhouse?"
Maia glanced at him. "You too, huh?" she guessed, and he nodded. Lori looked in between them, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Do you think…." Kyle swallowed. "Maia….do you think the orcs have something to do with Dad's abduction?" Lori's gasp was quiet.
"It's possible," muttered Maia. "Very possible….but even if it was true, how are Dad and the orcs possibly connected? Maybe because he lived in Middle Earth before, or been here at some point in his life? Think about it."
"Already ahead of you," said Kyle, and Lori nodded, seeming to make sense out of everything, but looked amazed all the same. As much as they were trying to sort out the possibilities aloud, it was still difficult to process the idea that their father could actually be a former Middle Earth citizen. "I mean, Dad's never actually talked about his childhood, or most of anything after that." He let out a shuddery breath, his eyes going distant. "God, it makes a ton of sense…..but I still can't believe it. This is all messed up!"
"But very cool!" said Lori. "Daddy lived here! He even made pictures!"
"We're not one hundred percent sure, L," Maia told her sister, "but let's say for one minute that Dad really has been here and knew everything around here…..it would explain the stories and the imagination. Hell, it would even explain a few reasons of why he had all those scars, why had tried teaching us how to fight, or why he hated most of Kyle's video games."
"Hey!" protested Kyle, even though that was entirely true.
Maia ran a hand through her scalp in thought, her fingers digging tensely and her expression frowning in thought. "It would make a lot of sense," she murmured, almost to herself, "but the real question is, how on earth would have gotten into our world? How did the orcs get into our world, and more importantly, why all the trouble just to capture Dad?"
Or kill. It was the unspoken thought that they refused to dwell on.
"Do you think the orcs have Daddy?" Lori whimpered fearfully. "Is he….still alive?"
Maia sighed and dropped her hand in defeat. "We don't know, Lori. There's no way of knowing unless there's a chance we can talk to an orc without getting chopped up first. Other than that…." She trailed off, feeling a heavy weight on her shoulders. Her dad's final words to her still echoed in her mind from that night, and the possibility of him being captured, tortured, and killed by orcs made her feel sick.
Kyle hugged Lori to comfort her, rubbing her back to stop her trembling. He too looked burdened with silent distress, but didn't say anything. Whatever their conclusions, there was nothing to be done about it. They had no evidence, no leads….they didn't even know their way around without the Company's help.
After a while of heavy silence, Kyle exhaled heavily and glanced at Maia. "So," he said, "are we gonna tell everyone about the orcs or what?"
"Tell us what about the orcs?"
The Dainson siblings all turned to see Bilbo enter the room. Lori jumped from Kyle's lap off the bed and ran over to hug Bilbo. "Morning, Bilbo!"
"Good morning, Lori! Maia, Kyle," Bilbo smiled at every one of them. "As it should be, although it is nearly noon. Did you eat breakfast yet?"
"Uh-huh," said Lori.
"Not me," said Kyle, nodding toward his untouched tray on the table. "I only got jumped minutes ago by a couple of psycho girls."
Maia shrugged. "It happens."
Bilbo chuckled at that, but then paused as he studied them closely, the air of sadness still lingering about them. He even noticed the tear streaks on Lori's face and wiped them away. "Is everything alright?" Then he frowned and glanced at Kyle, before realization dawned him. "Oh...did-did you tell them?"
Kyle nodded solemnly. "Everything," he said. "Including the part about...you know, Elrond possibly helping us go home."
Bilbo sighed. "Yes, I...I suppose there is that." He chuckled softly. "You know, I want to be happy for you three, but...uh..." He cleared his throat. "But I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be sad to see you go so soon."
"We would be sad, too, Bilbo," said Lori, softly. "I don't wanna go now. We wanna finish the adventure with y'all. Don't we?" She looked at her brother and sister desperately.
"Yeah, we do," said Maia sadly, and Kyle nodded in agreement. "As much as we want to go home, we'd be lying if we said we didn't want to stay here a little longer either. But..."
"I know. I know." Bilbo nodded and took a deep breath. "Now, then, I don't mean to be a bother, but the Company is really eager to see you again. There already scattered about on the fields, doing who-knows-what with their erratic ideas." Lori giggled. "And I would very much not want to be left alone with them a while longer."
"Bilbo," spoke Maia, before the hobbit would continue, "um, Kyle, Lori, and I've been needing to tell something. Something we should have told you and the others a long time ago."
"It's about the orcs," said Kyle slowly.
Bilbo looked at every one of them, thinking their expressions strange. They all looked nervous, as if they were about to reveal some deep, dark secret and were worried about how he would react. "What about the orcs?" he asked.
"What do ye mean there were orcs back in your world?" demanded Dwalin, his battle axes pausing midair.
"We mean that we had monsters chasing us back at our farmhouse," said Kyle patiently, "the night we landed here. And it turns out, they're orcs."
"We didn't even know what they were until were chased by that warg pack yesterday," said Maia, looking at the dwarves surrounding them, staring in surprise and disbelief. "I don't how they got in our world, or why they were at our house of all places, but they were definitely orcs."
They were standing in the middle of the field out back, a waterfall viewed from the looming mountain beyond, causing a watering hole that formed multiple streams flowing beneath the fells of Imlardris. They had been weapons training when they greeted the Dainsons, Kili lifting little Lori in the air, causing her to squeal with excitement, while Fili hung back, attempting to smile but somehow not looking as confident. He barely looked at Maia, and Maia barely looked at him, both looking unhappy, which Lori found odd. It was as if they were afraid to breathe in each other's presence.
Whatever it was, Lori could feel the obvious tension and she didn't like it. Did something happen to them last night?
After seeing their troubled expressions, despite the attempts to be cheerful, the siblings started to tell the dwarves what they told Bilbo before. About their drive at the farmhouse for a campout night, how Kyle had went around the back of their house to turn on the generator (which they quickly explained was backup electricity for the lights and tech in their home), and how Kyle had found two orcs hanging around their back shed before the boy took off to warn his sisters. How they had hid in the house until the two orcs broke through the window and chased them into their dad's old closet office. How an orc had nearly succeeded in hurting Maia while trying the barge through the door if Lori hadn't fished out a pen, passed it on to Kyle, who passed it on to Maia, who clicked the pen and stabbed the orc in the eye. How they waited in the office helplessly as the other orc tried to break down the door, thinking they were going to die as the orc finally broke down the door….only for the three siblings to be overcome by a flash of light, fire, roaring sounds, and dreamlike images (adding that it was the same dream they had many times since their arrival, until they met the dwarves and saw the map of Erebor)….and concluding with how they had crash-landed into the Shire, confused and lost.
Afterward, there followed mixed reactions, all of them exchanging wary glancing and whispering among themselves. It seemed to be overwhelming to them. Lori remembered how Bilbo reacted to the details of their supernatural arrival and smiled a little at the memory.
"Why did you not mention this before?" said Thorin, his expression hard to read. "Why the need for secrets?"
"It was Maia and Kyle's idea," said Lori quietly.
"Thanks, L," muttered Kyle.
Maia threw up her hands helplessly, while exchanging a glance with Kyle and Lori. Behind them, Bilbo was sitting on a nearby stone bench with his arms cross and expression deep in thought. "Because we didn't think it was important," she said. "Not at the time, anyway. We were so focused on trying to get home that we all decided to investigate more about them when we got back. For all we knew, they could have just been a couple of creeps dressed in costumes and make-up, trying to assault us or kill us."
"Except for the part when I saw them eat a whole raccoon!" Kyle added pointedly.
"Ew, don't say that!" complained Lori.
"What? It's true! I'm just lucky I didn't end up like that raccoon!"
"How is it possible that there were orcs in your world?" asked Fili, suddenly stepping forward after listening in with clear worry. He looked toward Maia, demanding, "You said yourselves that you didn't know what an orc was, so how can they suddenly have attacked you in your home?"
"If you recognized them before, why didn't any of you not say something yesterday?" said Kili, standing beside him.
Maia shrugged sheepishly. She looked awkward, struggling to hold Fili's gaze. "I don't know, we...we just got out of danger and everyone was recovering. We had a good time last night and..."
"We wanted to wait for the right time to bring it up," Kyle jumped in. "Believe me, we were pretty much in shock after seeing those orcs. It was a lot to process."
"They were really scary," added Lori.
The dwarves nodded with the little girl's word choice. "You're right about that, lass," said Bofur, while Dori said a little distantly, "One way to describe them."
"If this is true, you three were fortunate enough to have gotten away unharmed," said Balin. "The question is, if you still intend to go home and should you succeed, what then?"
"Aye," growled Dwalin with a nod. "For all we know, those orcs could still be lurking around yer home, waiting for their prey to return." The dwarves spoke out all at once in agreement.
"It can't be a coincidence," said Nori.
"They could catch ye unawares," added Gloin. Bifur grunted loudly, moving his hands rapidly. Whatever he was saying, Lori could tell he was worried. Looking behind her, Bilbo watched worriedly from the bench, seeming to wait for the answer to that question.
Lori felt the roots of her hair rise in fear at the thought of going home to find those scary orcs waiting for them. She never told anyone, but she already had three nightmares about them: one in Bag End and two more during the beginning of their trek across the wild. She stopped having them when they arrived in Rivendell, but after that warg chase yesterday and the incident with the trolls, she worried that her fears will take control of her sleep eventually. Maia and Kyle always say think about happier things and it will keep them away. So far it works...until they come back at full force.
When she grows up and learns how to read and write better, she is going to do what Maia usually does: use her nightmares as ideas for making stories and write them down. But for now, she draws them.
"We'll fight them," said Kyle loudly, "and this time we'll be prepared. We're not completely helpless."
"Yeah!" said Lori loudly. She stood up straighter, hoping she looked tall in spite of being the littlest. "We wanna kick their butts!"
Thorin grunted, and then turned to Maia. "You agree with them?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
Opening and closing her mouth, Maia shrugged awkwardly. "Actually...we were hoping we would learn from you guys. Y'all keep saying we were going to have to train eventually, so what better time to do it than now." She glanced briefly in Fili's direction, and then quickly back at the Dwarf King. "What do you say?"
Everyone was looking at Thorin, waiting for his response. Lori gulped.
Then Thorin smiled grimly. "Grab a weapon," he said. "Your lessons start now."
To Be Continued
Way shorter than usual and less than satisfactory, but it felt proper to end it here, it being mostly some private sibling interaction and their confession of seeing the orcs to the others. We will continue the time at Rivendell in the next chapter while I finish my summer school online. There will soon be some other characters to meet. Many of you are looking forward to the Dainsons meeting the Lady of Light. Don't worry, she and others will be coming up soon.
It made sense that Durin's Day happened to be the same day of the story's prologue, counting back the months. It brought out some more feels, I'd say.
Thank you for continuing the favs, follows, and reviews! A penny for your thoughts:)