Óin was wakened by a hand shaking his shoulder before the sun had yet made its way above the horizon, and he grunted and draped his arm over his eyes. The night had been long-longer than even he had intended-and none of them had gotten to sleep until late into the evening; and so he was not quite ready to start the day. But he was shaken again, and after grumbling quietly to himself, he stretched and yawned and looked up into Fíli's eager, though tired face.
"You should be sleeping," the older Dwarf scolded.
"It's morning," the boy said, his voice hoarse. "You said you'd finish the story."
"I meant after sunrise, Fíli."
"You didn't say that. You just said in the morning."
After growling low at himself for not being more specific, Óin sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I did say that, didn't I?" He glanced over at Kíli, who was curled up under his blanket and snoring noisily, then he returned his attention to Fíli. "Did you get much sleep last night, lad?"
Fíli nodded. "Yes," he said. "Lots."
Óin looked at him doubtfully, then turned to the fire. It was still burning brightly, and he figured that Fíli had either stoked it when he'd woken, or else he had not slept much at all and had kept it fuled all night. Regardless, Óin let out a long breath and began to gather his thoughts.
"Where did I leave off?" he asked.
"You saw something on the wall," answered Fíli, hugging his knees as he had done the night before. "And it frightened you."
"Ah, yes... that was..." He stopped and gritted his teeth, then reached into his pack and pulled out a hard biscuit, breaking it in half and handing a piece to Fíli. "Here. Some breakfast mightn't be a bad idea."
Fíli took the offered food and nibbled on it, all the while keeping his eyes on Óin. "Were there nail-marks on the wall?" he asked. "Was Heggi clawing to get out?"
Óin choked on his biscuit, then coughed a few times to clear his throat. "No... no, nothing of the sort," he said. He grabbed his water-skin and took a long drink. "What would give you that idea, anyway?"
"Well, when you and Kíli were asleep, I was thinking what I would do if I was buried alive and..." His voice trailed off.
"Got lots of sleep, did you?" asked Óin, raising an eyebrow at him.
Fíli shook his head, then shrugged. "I wasn't frightened or anything," he said. "I was just thinking a lot about what you told us, and... it kept me awake."
"Hmm..." Óin took another bite of biscuit. "Well, Heggi didn't try to save himself when he discovered where he was, so... no. There were no nail marks on the wall."
Kíli's snoring stopped and he shifted a bit under his blanket; and Óin and Fíli watched him until he had settled down once more.
"Why didn't he?" asked Fíli, turning back to the older Dwarf. "The first thing I'd do would be to try and get out."
"Maybe if you knew you'd been buried alive," said Óin. "And Heggi did not."
Confusion showed on Fíli's face, but he said nothing and Óin went on.
...
Óin placed his hand on Thorin's shoulder and the prince looked up; and when his eyes fell on the marks, he reached up and ran his fingers along the gouges. They were words, roughly-carved and ranging from neat and deep at the left end of their writing, to scratchy and shallow at the far-right.
The prince stood and held his torch high as he studied the writing; but even as Óin began reading the words silently to himself, Thorin began speaking them out loud- though low enough at first for only the two of them to hear.
"I wake at last from my Dead Sleep," the words said, and so Thorin spoke. "I felt myself being placed in my stone bed. I heard the carving of my name and the keening of the mourners.But where now are the lanterns? Where is the breeze? Where are my family that went before me? They should be waiting here..."
...
"What does Dead Sleep mean?" asked Fíli breathlessly.
"Ah... y'see," said Óin, "some folks believe that when you die, you are truly just falling into your deepest sleep. And that when you wake from it, you will meet with your family once more in the... well..."
"Wait, so... wait..." Fíli's eyes widened. "Heggi thought he was dead, and that he was in the..." He placed his hand over his mouth. "He thought he was in the Halls of Waiting?"
"He did," said Óin. "And he was not pleased with his quarters..."
...
Thorin took a deep breath before going on.
"This does not seem to me the place my father told me about," he read, though his voice was growing slightly louder. "He should be here, and my mother and my wife. I have found no one. Nothing is in this chamber save small rocks on the floor, and with one I carve this. I cannot see the words, but I can feel them. I have nothing else to do here, and so I write."
Óin looked to Thorin as the prince fell silent, and at once they both realized that the crowd beyond the door was quiet. A voice on the other side spoke up - Fari, asking what those words had been. Neither Óin nor Thorin answered, but after a few moments the prince kneeled and pulled back on Heggi's hand. The finger that wore the ring snapped, and Thorin pushed the door shut a little more, popping the ring loose from underneath and sending it skittering across the dusty floor.
Thorin dragged Heggi's remains carefully away from the door, which was then pushed slowly open by the people in the passage. The mourners began filing in silently, each looking down at the old Dwarf on the floor and stepping back in shock as they entered. The young girl and her mother held back for last, but even they finally came into the space; and Sulki's shrouded body was left alone in the hallway.
...
A small sound rose from the other side ot the fire, and Fíli looked back over his shoulder towards where his brother lay on ground. Óin followed his gaze and saw that Kíli was shaking beneath his blanket.
"Kíli?" asked Fíli, his voice low. "Are you awake?"
"...No."
Óin scratched the back of his head, then sighed. "Come on over, lad."
"I'm fine here," said Kíli, his voice barely audible beneath his blanket.
Fíli grinned slightly and crawled to his side, then patted him on his covered shoulder. "You want Óin to stop telling the story?" he asked kindly.
Kíli poked his head out from under the blanket. "No. I'm just... I'm fine." He sat up and blinked in the light, then scooted close to his brother. "I want to hear more."
"Are you certain?" asked Óin. "As I said, your mother might not want you to know these things."
"If Fíli is old enough, then I am old enough," said Kíli.
Fíli nodded and threw hs arm over his brother's shoulder, then they both looked to the older Dwarf once more.
Óin tightened his jaw, then took another drink out of his water skin. "Fine, then..."
...
With all the torches now inside, the chamber was much brighter than it had been; but the fresh illumination did little to ease the horror of the situation. Still, nobody spoke, and after all were standing behind Thorin and Óin in dignified silence, the prince continued to read the carved words aloud.
"I am hungry and thirsty," he went on. "I suppose it must be because I died hungry and thirsty. I suppose I will remain that way until the end of things, until the world awakens."
There, the first column ended; then to the right, another began.
"I slept again," Heggi had written. "I grew tired, and I slept. I did not know that would happen here. I am still hungry, and thirstier than I was. Will it get worse, I wonder? The door will not open. Perhaps I have been forgotten here. Perhaps they do not know that I am dead. Or perhaps I have not done all that I need to do."
Thorin paused and looked back at the crowd. Fari stepped up to Óin's side, and the two joined hands as the young Dwarf stared down at his grandfather, then up at the words he had carved. He began reading aloud, himself.
"What do I need to do to be let out?" read Fari, his voice cracking. "Need I write a record of my days so that they may be judged? Would that please Mahal? Would that please Mandos?"
From there, yet another column began; but Fari could not go on. Óin heard choking sobs from the people behind him, but he did not look back. The words on the wall were now thin and weak; the thoughts they conveyed were confused. And again, it was Thorin who read them.
"I wake from another sleep. The air is heavy now. Why is that? Need I breathe, really? I am hungrier now, and thirstier than I have ever been. Mahal, send me water. Send me a flood. I will not drown."
Again, Thorin fell into silence. Óin looked over and saw that Fari's eyes were shut tight and his face was wet with tears. And so, it was Óin that read on.
"You lifted me from my bed for this, Mahal?" he spoke, and Fari's hand began to shake in his grip. "Yes, I will give you a record of my days. From back to front. How I died to how I lived to how I was raised and how I was born. I will do it when I may. I have forever, do I not?"
The words that came next were closest to the floor; mere scratches, and Thorin again raised his voice in the reading.
"...I hear words..." they seemed to say, though it was hard to read. "I hear speaking... but I will not call out... I will not pound... I will not scratch... I will not beg at the door of Mandos..."
And there it ended.
...
Óin looked to Fíli and Kíli. They were staring at him, wide-eyed and silent; and the elder brother was holding the younger tight, seemingly protecting him from the tale.
"So, are you happier in the knowing?" asked Óin softly. "Will you sleep better tonight, now that you have heard the rest of the story?"
"No," admitted Fíli. "I can't believe he thought he was in the Halls of Waiting. How could... I mean, why did he not realize he was alive?"
"Perhaps because he hoped he wasn't," said Óin. "Perhaps, in some deep place in his mind, he knew he was not dead yet, but was afraid to admit it. Truth is, nobody can say except for Heggi, and he is really and truly long-dead."
Fíli nodded. "How did Fari take it?"
"Not well at all, to tell the truth," said Óin. "It took him many years to get over it... and even then I don't believe he really was."
"Heggi was brave, wasn't he?" asked Kíli abruptly.
"Hmm?" Óin took another drink of water, then pursed his lips and nodded. "Brave in life, and in death," he said, holding the water-skin out to Fíli. "But he was never one to just accept even the inevitable."
"But he did, though," said Fíli, taking the skin. He took a quick sip of water, then handed it to Kíli. "I mean, he accepted the wrong death, but he accepted it still."
"Aye, and that wasn't a bad thing for him to do. His belief that he had already died made him fear his real death less. From the words he wrote, he was angry about it... but not afraid."
Kíli hugged the water-skin to his chest and cast his eyes towards the horizon, where the sun was now on the rise. "Heggi said... he wrote that he heard voices on the other side of the door," he said, turning again to Óin. "If he'd have just let them know he was there..."
"I just can't believe he lasted so long," said Fíli, cutting him off. "Four days? Without air or food or water or... anything?"
You didn't make that all up, did you?" asked Kíli. "You weren't just trying to scare Fíli and me, were you?"
"On my honor, every word I said was true," said Óin, holding his hand up. "And if you ask your uncle, he will tell you the same. Though I would prefer you don't tell your mother. She mightn't be so happy to hear that I told you about it."
The boys nodded, then looked at one another before turning to the flickering fire; and as they fell into silent thought, so too did Óin.
Every word I said was true, he repeated to himself...
...
Thorin turned to Óin after he had finished reading the record of Heggi's last moments, then he let out a long breath and turned to the other mourners. Óin's back was to them, but he could see well the expression on Thorin's face; and he saw his eyebrows draw together as he stared deeper into the chamber.
After a few deep breaths, Thorin stepped forward, and Óin turned to watch him. The crowd parted, and the prince walked to the three stone coffins lining the back wall. The ones on the left and right were to be Sulki's and Fari's, when their day for burial came; and though the lids were already in-place-to be lifted and replaced for their interment-they had yet to be carved with their names.
The third and middlemost coffin was Heggi's. It was carved of the same granite as the others, but it was larger and set upon a low pedestal. A few steps led up onto it, but Thorin stopped at the bottom and moved his torch back and forth, seemingly examining the stone.
Óin watched him for a moment, then released Fari's hand, leaving him standing by the petrified remains of his grandfather, then Óin moved to the prince's side. Together, he and Thorin stepped up onto the pedestal and looked down at the coffin lid - solid and whole and carved with Heggi's name, and much too heavy for the old Dwarf to have put back into place where it still sealed his coffin closed.