Hi there :D I'm so sorry this has taken so long! February was a month of great stress but I'm a little closer to being back on track now. I will do everything in my power to make the next update sooner, I promise, but I have written you a monster one for today so I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed – shout out to those I can't reply to in person including The BookFairy 45 - thank you so much, I am honestly flattered :D and Hermione Granger - I hope your uni's going well, I'm sorry it's been so long again, but hopefully this chapter is long enough for you :D
So, read, enjoy and review!
Chapter One Hundred and Five # Forever Blue #
Gazing down into the inky blackness, Fíli felt the fluttering twist of vertigo in his stomach. His rapid heartbeat was steady and his palms were sweating beneath the strips of fabric protecting his hands from the harsh rope they were curled around. He could feel the straps of the harness digging into the tops of his thighs, but it was a comforting feeling. They were holding him above oblivion.
There was a chasm below him and if he fell it would be his corpse that returned to the surface.
A smile flickered across his face, and he took a moment to lean back against the ropes. The crisp, cool air filled every inch of his lungs when he breathed, and his head was spinning in a way that was nothing less than exhilarating. Here he was, suspended above death's abyss, and every nerve in his body was electrified with the captivating sensation of life. He was alive here, and in this perfect moment he lived forever.
Then he took a deep breath and let the moment break.
Fíli kicked away from the side of the mountain and began to abseil once more, feeling himself drop further and further into the depths of Erebor. The candle on his helmet gave out little light, but it was enough for him to see the dank wall before him and the shadow of his brother to his right. Kíli's candle had been lit too, but the younger prince's enthusiasm had gotten the better of him.
It was his first time abseiling, and Kíli's attempts at going faster than anyone else there had seen his ropes get tangled several times. Then he had once again let himself drop far faster than an experienced dwarf would recommend, and his candle had blown out.
"Kíli Baggins!" Bilbo had yelled. "If you don't stop messing around I'm going to have a heart attack. And severely restrict your access to dessert!"
Suitably admonished, Kíli had been behaving himself – and matching his pace to Fíli's – ever since.
Apart from Kíli, the group of explorers were all adorned with the soft halos given out by their candles – Fíli had to admit that the idea of Nori with a halo was quite hilarious. It was equally odd to see Ehren with the symbol of purity and innocence around his head, but Jari, Bragi, Soren and the three male hobbits looked as though they had walked right out of a painting of angels. Bofur, on the other hand, looked half like a demon, for the hat beneath his helmet cast shadows over his face.
With a crunch, Fíli came to an abrupt stop, the harness tugging painfully as the rope reached its full length. He quickly pulled an iron piton from his bag and brushed his fingers against the stone. When he found a promising spot he quickly hammered the piton's spike into the wall, ensuring that it was secure before threading the loose spool of rope at his side through the iron's eye.
It took him a few moments of adjustment, but soon enough he was on the go again, equally thrilled and awed at how deep they were going. This was the second time his rope had run short – they must be miles below the main levels, or even the main basements.
They did not sail much deeper, however. Soon enough Saradoc cried out in triumph.
"I've reached the bottom!"
Kíli whooped, pushed off the wall with all of his strength and then smashed back into the stone, his twisted ropes twirling around until his nose was pressed against the floor and his feet were up by Fíli's face.
Roaring laughter echoed through the dark as Kíli kicked and squirmed.
"Oh, yes, very funny," Kíli growled. "Fee!"
Chuckling, Fíli let his own feet touch the ground and carefully detached himself before he went to free his brother. "Honestly. How many times do I have to tell you – slow down!"
The final two words were chanted by all ten of the others, and Kíli glared furiously until Fíli met his eyes. Almost immediately the annoyance melted away and the sheepish smile that Fíli knew so well. Shaking his head, Fíli untangled his little brother.
"Thank you," Kíli admitted, rubbing his nose. "Now, let's get exploring, shall we?"
"Aye!" Bofur declared, using the candle on his helmet to light a lantern. "Nori, hold this."
The other ten crowded around as Bofur pulled an old leather binder out of his bag.
"Is that it?" Ehren asked in a whisper.
Soren stared at his friend in mild disbelief. "No, it's his shopping list."
Ehren looked offended. "I'm just trying to add a little drama."
"Well stop. You're ruining the moment."
"Shut up, Soren-"
"Hush up, both of you," Bilbo said softly. "Well Bofur? Open it!"
"Thank you Bilbo. This map," the toymaker stroked the leather reverently. "Is going to take us to a wonder that hasn't been seen in cent- what the…?"
The paper in the binder was certainly not the ancient map that Kíli had seen in the Company Room the night before. It was brand new, and bore a smiling stick figure with curly hair standing on top of a purple mountain. Underneath the mountain was a sad face with three orange triangles for hair. A wobbly speech bubble filled the right side of the page, filled with Nelly's equally wobbly handwriting.
I wareeor prinsess Nelly am happy coz Nori cant go on ne more adventurs without me now. Ha ha ha.
All eyes looked up at Nori.
"What," Bofur's whisper trembled. "Did you do?"
"Nothing!"
Paladin touched the paint. "This is Nelly's doing alright, but how and why I do not know… I know she's annoyed though – very annoyed with you."
"What have I done?" Nori looked baffled.
"You're going on adventure without her and she knows about it." Kíli explained, reading the words again. "She's not happy."
"Never mind that, she's got the map!" Bofur cried.
"Does she?" Ehren narrowed his eyes. "Or does she have a handler?"
"A handler?" Paladin frowned.
Fíli rolled his eyes. "Have you been watching espionage plays again Ehren?"
"No, I've been reading books," his friend retorted without missing a beat. "I think she's working for someone – someone who knows our purpose and wants to stop us!"
"You're a bigger drama queen than I am!" Kíli looked impressed.
"But if I'm right?"
Fíli decided to insert himself back into the conversation. "We just have to find the old rooms first then."
"Without the map?" wondered Soren. "How?"
"It'll be hard…" Bragi mused. "I don't doubt we could do it, but we don't know who we're up against and if they have the map we probably won't get there before they do."
"I have a pretty good idea who we're up against," Saradoc chipped in. "If not Nori, who would Nelly go to?"
"Dís." Bilbo and Paladin sounded certain.
"Exactly. So who would Dís recruit?"
"Who she would recruit is unimportant-" Bragi interjected. "If Dís is down here we're in trouble, especially if we want to beat her to it. She is ruthless."
"Alright, alright," Bilbo pressed his palms together. "Bofur, do you have the map that we drew up? The one that overlaps the mountain's known natural tunnel systems with the old map?"
"No, that one's gone too."
The hobbit paused. "Ah… Well, if I remember correctly there should be a couple of places that the tunnels intersect, and most of them are eastwards… I think we should head that way."
"Perfect!" Kíli clapped. "Which way's east?"
"That way," Bofur pointed, hope returning to its natural place on his face.
"How do you know that with such certainty?" Saradoc frowned.
"You get a feel for bearings and the like when you spend a century down the mines," the toymaker said cheerfully, marching off in the direction he had so confidently gestured to.
Out of the corner of his eye, Fíli caught sight of Paladin shivering slightly. It was cold down here, and the overwhelming dark was probably very unnerving for the sun-loving hobbit. Saradoc leant over to whisper something in his brother-in-law's ear and Paladin snickered.
"Stop it."
Fíli raised his eyebrows at his brother. "Excuse me?"
"Stop worrying about my hobbits," Kíli grinned, setting off after Bofur and prompting Fíli to keep up. "I've already made sure that they're fine."
"I wasn't worrying," said Fíli. "I was wondering. Must be strange for them to be so far below the ground."
"It is," Kíli nodded, his eyes wandering around what little they could see of their surroundings. "It's very strange… Have you ever been this deep before?"
Fíli shook his head. "No. I've been down the mines in Ered Luin, and to some of the lower levels, but none so deep as this. Hang on – Bofur?"
"Aye, lad?"
"If we're just prancing off without a map, won't we get lost? You said it yourself in the Company Room, it's a labyrinth down here, our tunnels and the old waterways both. If we don't have the maps and we do get lost…"
"We'll be fine," Bofur promised. "I've got the memory of an Oliphaunt, lad."
"Maybe we should've brought a spool of wool with us," Kíli mused. "Like Ainathiel gave to Nórë to defeat the minotaur."
"I have no idea what any of those words meant."
"Well, Ehren, 'like' means-"
Cutting over Kíli's literal interpretation, Fíli translated. "Like some elven lady gave to an elven man to defeat the – minotaur?"
"Man with the top half of a bull," supplied Saradoc. "Scary monster that lives in a big maze under the ground and eats children who don't come home by the time their parents set."
"That's highly specific… I might have to use that on Ari," Jari mused.
"I wouldn't bother," Kíli said. "Vinca's already debunked the minotaur's preference for children. She says that he only eats people that get lost in his maze and wouldn't bother coming out just to 'do Papa's job for him'."
"She's a smart girl," Bragi commented.
"Yes she is," Paladin sounded very proud.
"How did this tree-lover Nobby use string to defeat a minotaur anyway?"
"Nórë," Kíli corrected.
"Nori?"
Kíli shrugged. "Close enough. He used the string to trail behind him through the labyrinth so he could find his way out again. He used a sword to kill the thing."
"Damn right I did."
"Shut up, Nori."
"Do you want to make me, Ehren?"
Bilbo stepped in as Ehren whirled eagerly around. "No, no, no! Not in the pitch black when you have a stick of fire attached to your thick head. Fight later, alright?"
Ehren paused for a long moment. "You make a good case. I'll destroy you later, Nori."
"I'd like to see you try."
"You will, my friend, you will."
Fíli shook his head with a wry smile and continued on his way.
They walked on through the dark for almost half an hour until Fíli noticed a space on the wall untouched by the light of his candle.
"I've found the first tunnel!" he called, peering into the dark. "It's small though – very small."
"Here's another!" Ehren called.
Saradoc came to stand by Fíli's side. "Ah, we could fit down there."
"We could," Paladin sounded much less enthusiastic about this.
"Is no one listening to me?"
Fíli turned to his friend. "Ehren, how is it possible that you display so many symptoms of the so-called 'middle-child' syndrome yet you have no siblings?"
"I have two young cousins and they steal all the love and attention."
Jari swiped Ehren across the back of the head. "Act your age, barmpot!"
"Barmpot?" Bilbo paused.
"Means clumsy idiot," supplied Bragi. "Like fopdoodle, in Shire talk."
"Fopdoodle?" Ehren's eyes lit up. "That is an amazing word!"
"It is," agreed Kíli. "It suits you perfectly!"
"In the exact same way that this second new tunnel I've discovered on my lonely lonesome reflects your heart – dark and apparently bottomless." Ehren retorted.
"Ouch," Kíli winced. "I'd be impressed at that insult if I didn't know it came from a book-"
"Alright," Fíli forced authority into his tone. Without a voice of reason Kíli and Ehren could probably go for hours back and forth trying to get the last word. "That's enough now. How many tunnels are there?"
"Don't completely know," Bofur said.
"I count five, but this one goes on a little further, give me a moment…"
Watching Bragi jog into the darkness was like watching a ghost disappear, and Fíli's stomach clenched when the flame disappeared altogether. A few moments later, though, Bragi re-emerged.
"There's nothing more here, just a dead end and a crevice too high to reach."
"Right…" Bofur paused. "So, we've got five tunnels, maybe six, and eleven of us."
"So we split up?" Bragi suggested.
Kíli frowned. "Things always end badly when people split up in stories. It's the least sensible thing to do."
"Aye, but this isn't a story, lad." Bofur patted Kíli on the shoulder. "But if we do there're some rules you young'uns have to follow – especially the ones who haven't mined before." With that, he fixed his gaze on Kíli and the hobbits. "The golden rule down here is the rule of three. That's the smallest your group can be – that way if someone gets in trouble someone can look after them while the other person goes for help."
"Wouldn't four be more sensible in that case?" Saradoc mused. "That way two can go for help in case something goes wrong with them."
"You'd have to be very unlucky for that to happen, lad."
Fíli's eyes flickered to Nori as Kíli shifted uncomfortably by his side. Though he had been on death's door in a tent at the time, Fíli knew full well that Nori's attempt at getting help for Bilbo during the Battle of the Five Armies had been thwarted by a wounded orc. The rule of three had not helped then.
Bofur cleared his throat. "Besides, if we split into threes we'll cover four tunnels."
"But there's eleven of us," Fíli realised. "Threes won't work."
"Jari, Ehren, you both have experience with mines and tunnels, don't you?" The pair nodded at Bofur's question. "If you're comfortable, the two of you could be a pair?"
Ehren raised his eyebrows at his friend. "That's fine by me. I've gone solo before, and-"
"That's not going to happen today," Jari replied.
Ehren grinned. "And how will you stop me sneaking away with my hobbitish prowess?"
"Don't offend us, Ehren," Bilbo said mildly. "You're sneaking sounds like a troll in metal shoes."
"That's a little uncalled for, but I surrender to your superior knowledge on the subject." Ehren nodded sombrely.
Jari swatted him on the back of the head. "Behave."
"So," Bofur gently brought the attention back to himself. "That wee hole over there… Saradoc, Paladin, would you like to take that one?"
"Of course," Saradoc smiled, while Paladin rolled his eyes.
"Alright then," the Took gave a long-suffering smile of his own.
Soren glanced at the tunnel in question. "If I can fit I'll accompany you. Keep you out of the way of goblins and the like."
"There aren't any goblins down here." Paladin said firmly. "I know, because I asked."
"There might be wretched cave dwelling Gollums, though," Fíli chipped in.
"That would be a good idea," interrupted Bofur. "Soren, Paladin and Saradoc will take tunnel one. Ehren, Jari, tunnel two. Lads," he addressed Fíli, Kíli and Bragi, "you take the third tunnel, and Bilbo and I'll take Nori down the fourth."
"Excuse me?" Nori raised his eyebrows, but Bofur was not paying any attention.
"Sounds good to me." Fíli nodded.
"Communication'll be an issue down here, so we'll meet back here in two hours or so. You've all got some sort of watch, haven't you? Good. When we get back someone will've hopefully actually found the place and beat Dís to it, but we'll have to see. If you're missing, we'll assume that you're in mortal peril and come and find you. This is non-negotiable, unless any of you have a century worth of mining experience that lets you contest it? No? Good. Oh, and if you do find the ancient quarters, be careful. I know we build things to last, but these rooms have been unattended for so long that even if they were crafted by the same regulations as the rest of the city they could be a little less safe now. Any more questions? Wonderful! See you all in two hours."
Immediately there was a scramble, even as poor old Bilbo yelled "It's not a race! Dear Mahal, Bofur, they're going to burn each other to charcoal with those candles…"
Despite the twang of guilt he felt at the hobbit's concern, Fíli could not help but smile and dart into their assigned route behind Bragi and Kíli. It was a little tight at the beginning, but soon the tunnel widened enough to let them walk upright without too much of a problem.
And speaking of problems…
"Fee?"
"Aye?" he knew that tone. "What's wrong?"
"I think you were right about something. Something I truly did not want you to be right about."
Fíli could see Bragi glancing over his shoulder in concern.
"Alright... and what was that exactly?"
"Remember the shooting stars?"
Shooting stars? "Vaguely… wait, was that the night we brought Frodo home?"
"Exactly! You said that Frodo and I would be fighting for Bilbo's attention, that he wouldn't have the time for me anymore. I think you're right."
Fíli laughed out loud. If this was Kíli's biggest worry, Fíli was a very happy big brother. "Kíli, you little fool, what are you talking about? If I recall correctly I said that you were unused to sharing a parent's attention, not that your hobbit would not have the time for you."
"It's the same thing, though," Kíli worried. "This time last year Bilbo would be with us, not Bofur and Nori."
"As I'm sure he would be, had we decided to split into groups of four, but if he replaced Bragi that would be breaking Thorin's golden rule, would it not?" Fíli reminded his brother.
"I didn't want him to replace Bragi," grumbled Kíli. "I know why he went with his 'bodyguards' and I'm happy that you're here, Bragi. But he didn't look upset at me going off into the big dark tunnel without him and that upsets me."
"You are incorrigible, brother! Had he protested, you'd be protesting his overprotectiveness!"
"Bilbo has grown strong at controlling his emotions, Kíli." Bragi said.
"I don't want him to worry," Kíli paused. "I just want…"
"Him to be worried?"
"It does not sound as if it makes sense, but-"
"I understand," Fíli said in the exact moments that the same words left Bragi's mouth.
"It's a natural sensation," Bragi said. "Concern is associated with caring, and as such it hurts when those we care about seem to have no concern for us. On the other side of the coin, we have no desire to see our loved ones hurt or worried."
"Tease you as I might, Bragi is right," Fíli subtly put his hand on Kíli's shoulder. "You're fine, Kíli. Don't worry – you and Bilbo are still unnaturally co-dependant."
"People say that about me and you as well, Fíli, I'm starting to think that unnatural dependency is not all that unnatural for me."
Fíli snorted with laughter, relieved that Kíli's worries seemed to run less deep than he had thought at first. It also pleased him that Kíli felt comfortable enough to voice these concerns around Bragi – he had known that the pair of them would get along a house on fire. It was why he had asked Thorin to make the albino his brother's bodyguard.
That and Bragi's incredible fighting prowess.
"How angry d'you think she'll be, your mother?" the smile in Bragi's voice was audible.
"Hmm… on a scale of 'Frodo ate some of my dessert' to 'Thorin took my sons on a suicide mission' I would say…" Fíli paused.
"How about 'Nelly 'borrowed' my dagger for 'practise' and almost cut her toes off'?" suggested Kíli. "Too amused to be furious but alarmed enough to be angry."
"I was going to suggest 'Kíli ruined the braids I just finished by running through the legs of the nobles and knocking the Orocarni ambassador off of his feet' angry, but yours works too."
Kíli sniggered. "I did that?"
"Yup. Would've been in more trouble had he minded, of course. As it was he was more amused than anything, and it led the way into some nice old negotiations." Fíli recalled the memory fondly. "You must've been about Pearl's age…"
No one bothered qualify whether they spoke of the equivalent ages or the years lived – it was much too complicated to dwell on the numbers.
"Oops…"
"Just don't do it again," advised Bragi. "I doubt they'd be so amused this time."
"No," Kíli shook his head. "I'd think not. I'd like to see the Orocarni one day, I think. The first elves were awakened near there, according to elvish historians."
"That's no reason to wish to see to Orocarni," Bragi said. "I have seen them for myself, and they're a sight to behold in their own right. The rock is red and alive with rivers that make the most incredible music… and the mines! They're beautiful. Just beautiful."
"When did you go to the Orocarni?" Kíli asked curiously.
"Well, when Soren and I-"
Fíli paused, his concentration slipping from Bragi's story as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something was wrong, and when he glanced down he was surprised to see his knees shaking.
No – his whole body was shaking. And so were the walls.
"Do you feel that?" he interrupted sharply.
"Fíli-" Kíli sounded affronted for Bragi's sake, but Fíli grabbed his brother's shoulder.
"Do you feel that?"
Bragi looked more like a ghost than usual as the blood drained away from his face. "Oh, shit…"
With a short gasp, Kíli's eyes filled with horror, and Fíli knew he understood. The last time they had felt anything like it the ground had split between their feet and they had been hurled through the air by stone giants…
"It's an earthquake," Kíli croaked, somewhat unnecessarily. "What do we do?"
"Stay calm," Bragi commanded before Kíli could. "They're rare in this region, and not often that strong."
The rock around them trembled and shook, and the sound of stones pattering against the floor was not reassuring.
"But we're in tunnels deep below the surface, the force will be greater down here, surely?" Kíli pressed. "Not to mention the fact that we have no idea if these tunnels are safe-"
"Yes, but panicking-"
"Fíli," Kíli frowned. "I'm not suggesting we panic. I'm suggesting we hurry – if this tunnel leads into a dwarven made one, a reinforced one, we'll be safer. Not to mention the fact that I don't like the look of that crack above your head."
Fíli looked up quickly and swallowed. "Ah… that, uh, that makes sense."
The shaking grew stronger and the rumbling began.
"Let's move," Bragi nodded, and then he ran.
Their controlled breaths and thudding feet joined the sound of creaking stone and crashing rock, and despite the fear Fíli could not help but feel a little excited. After a few more seconds the shaking stopped, but they kept running until Bragi cried out.
"I've found someth-"
The dwarf was cut short by both princes crashing into him.
"Ow!"
"Ah! Get off, Fee, get off!"
Fíli pushed on his brother to stagger backwards, but instead all three of them fell through the wall with a trio of screams that were emasculating, to say the least.
"Ow…" Kíli repeated in a groan, pinned down by his brother. "What just happened?"
"I don't know," Fíli moaned, rolling off onto the splintered wood and rock by Kíli's side. "Get up, Kee, you're squashing Bragi."
"Sorry!" Kíli said sheepishly, following Fíli and allowing Bragi to push himself up.
Coughing the albino shook his head. "I tried to tell you… boarded up hole in the wall… but no… you just… kept going…"
"Well, you should know better than to stop in a dark tunnel with two people behind you," reasoned Fíli. "It's not entirely our fault. Mahal, that hurt."
"Rhaich!" Kíli cried suddenly, batting at the wood around Bragi's head and extinguishing the small fire that his candle had set.
The blackness enveloped them then, and Fíli realised that his candle must have been blown out in the fall.
"Who has the tinder box?"
"I do," Fíli said, patting his many pockets. "At least I did. Oh wait, here it is."
Within a few minutes they had a little light again, and Fíli looked around curiously at his surroundings. These new tunnels were obviously dwarf-built – while they were not the decorated, smooth corridors one would find further upwards in the mountain they sported wooden beams every dozen feet or so, and the floor was worn with the footsteps of feet long gone.
"Do you think the others are alright?"
Fíli put a hand on Kíli's shoulder. "I'm sure they are. The only harm done to us was Bragi's fault, was it not?"
"Hey!"
"Everyone is with someone who knows what to do," Fíli continued. "They're fine."
Kíli did not look convinced, but he did turn his attention to their surroundings. "Well… looks like we're winning. This way or that way?"
Fíli looked at the tunnel. "I haven't a clue."
"Ip, dip, sky, blue," Bragi murmured, switching between pointing left and right with every word. "Who's it, not, you. This way, then."
"Really? Ip, dip, sky, blue?" Fíli raised his eyebrows.
"Honestly, Bragi, everyone knows that eenie, meenie, miney, moe brings you better luck. And you said the rhyme wrong anyway."
"I did not," Bragi frowned. "You must say it wrong in the Shire."
"Whatever," Kíli shrugged. "Ours sounds better."
"What is your version?"
"Ip dip do, the cat's got flu, the dog's got chicken pox so out goes you," recited Kíli, stepping carefully through the tunnel in the direction Bragi had pointed. "But I digress."
They began to talk quietly as they walked, following it with ease until Kíli, who was at the front, turned a corner and responded to a bloodcurdling scream with a higher pitched scream of his own.
Dís had seen many ruins in her life. She had run through the still-smouldering city of Dale, and camped in the long abandoned watchtowers of the dead kingdom of Arnor. She had tiptoed into the desolate half-city in the Iron Hills, deserted before it was fully built in favour of more promising stone, and she had glimpsed the tortured walls of Moria after a battle that took her brother away. She had searched forsaken hobbit holes in search of a place to hold the prisoners of a battle that never should have happened, and she had explored forgotten outposts of Ered Luin.
Every ruin she had ever seen had the sense of a lingering soul, an aura that remained for the years, even centuries, after its inhabitants left. In Dale it was raw and screaming – the living had only just been stripped away after all. The fear drowning the once-vibrant city had filled Dís' lungs, pushing a grieving, traumatised child back under the waters of terror.
Most often, the auras were more subtle than that. The ghost of Amon Sûl's watchtower days chased sleep from the wandering princess, and the half-city of the Iron Hills held the bitterness of a broken promise. Moria had radiated violence and death, but the overwhelming aura was that of power.
Here, it was mystery that lingered in the musty air. As dust danced in the light of their torches the walls seemed to whisper, and the aura of secrecy took Dís' breath away. It felt as though they were intruding somewhere incredibly private, despite her knowledge that any to visit this place before them were long dead.
Given the maps Nelly had gleefully swiped from Bofur, the women had found their way to the secret areas with relative ease. Getting in had been more difficult, but Esme had borrowed her sister-in-law's hairpins and picked the lock ("Whatever you do, don't tell my mother about this, Eglantine!") It took a few minutes, but eventually they had made it into the room they were standing in now – a strange nine-sided foyer with a simple stone alter in the centre. Above them, the ceiling formed a low pyramid, and a small copper bowl hung from its point. If she stood on her toes, Dís could probably reach it.
"I recognise this…" Dana gently broke the silence that had followed them through the door. "The architecture."
"You do?" Rúna frowned. "From where?"
"The Old Ways," Dana said. "To those who follow them the nonagonal pyramid is highly symbolic, as it represents each one of their lagân – those they worship and serve – sharing power for one purpose, or point, if you will."
"They do not honour the Valar?" Ellie looked surprised. While hobbits did not seem the most religious of people, Dís knew that they maintained a deep respect and adoration for the higher powers.
"Nor Sulladad," Dana paused at the confused looks of the two hobbits. "He whom the elves call Eru Illúvatar."
Esme's eyes widened. "They do not? Then how do they think the world came to be?"
"Oh, they believe in Him, but they believe him to be full of malice and cruelty, so they worship those they deem capable of shielding them from His sight," explained Dana. "I studied the Old Ways for decades, I find them fascinating. In a somewhat morbid and alarming way, I might add. Most of their practises are downright disturbing. But what I did find was that there are some who wish to assimilate into other kingdoms, and while these few are willing to comply with our laws they often wish to continue practising their religious rituals."
"Why wouldn't they be able to do that anyway?" asked Esme.
"Because many of their customs are cruel and bloodthirsty." A particular story passed through Dís' mind, but it would not pass her lips. Bragi's story was not hers to share. "So the followers are mistrusted deeply."
"It went further than that," Dana fixed her with a look. "Several hundred years ago there were a series of murders within Erebor that were blamed on the influx of Old Ways followers, and the king at the time started what one might call a witch hunt. It was whispered that there may be a secret area below the city where the Old Way followers were practising black magic, but I think it was less sinister than that. A place to be practise their ways without persecution."
"Then why did they abandon this place?"
"I don't know," shrugged Dana. "We don't even know for sure if that's what has happened here. Perhaps they gave up their beliefs, perhaps they left the kingdom. Perhaps they were arrested or any manner of things."
"All we know from the maps and documents," Dís chipped in, "is that the passages have been blocked and hidden for about three hundred years."
"Hang on," Aria turned away from the ornate stone door she was looking at. "I thought you said that these were created by the first kings of Erebor?"
"This is what Vinca heard Bofur say, and what is says on the maps, but I doubt it." Dís said. "The royal wing is vast, with secret passages and chambers of its own. Or perhaps they did, and the architecture is purely a coincidence. Without more evidence we'll have no way of knowing. Maybe we can look in library later."
Aria turned back to the door and pushed it open. A waft of musty air wafted at them, and the curious young dwarf took a step into the black. The other women quickly followed, and their torches and lanterns illuminated a room with several other doors and an old fountain filled with stagnant water. Dís looked around, her eyes drawn to a large stone statue of a lion, standing proudly on an old wooden bracket. While the stone had weathered the years well, the wood seemed to have suffered a little from termites.
Insects, it seemed were the only living things to withstand the dragon's presence.
All of a sudden she felt vibrations beneath her feet, and she turned to Dana quickly.
"Earthquake!"
"What?" Esme yelped.
Dís looked around for cover, but then she saw Aria standing beneath the statue of the lion. She saw the rotten wood crack.
Dís did not think – there was not time for that. She dove forward, the quaking barely setting her off course at all, and knocked her late friends' daughter out of the way, crashing into the doorway beneath the statue and falling right through.
"Dís!" Aria screamed as the lion crashed down, bringing a lump of rock with it that utterly covered the door between them.
Enveloped in the pitch dark, Dís clambered to her feet.
"Stay there!" she roared, praying that her voice would carry through the rock. They had been through what to do in an earthquake as they abseiled down, and she only hoped that the other's would have the wits to take cover and wait it out. "I'll get back to you!"
"Are you hurt?" Thora's voice was muffled, but audible.
"No!" Dís yelled, but she could feel the ground beneath her feet creak and crack. "I'm fine, but I need to find sterner ground! You wait there for me, alright? Follow the plan!"
"Dís-"
"The plan!" she bellowed, backing away from the growing cracks beneath her feet. "That is an order!"
A rusted torch bracket fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing her face, and Dís ran through the black. One hand was held in front of her in preparations for walls or other obstacles, while the other stroked the walls she passed in hopes of finding supports to shelter beneath. She had experienced earthquakes before. All she had to do was –
Dís could not help but scream as the ground beneath her feet disappeared entirely. She could hear wood splintering, rock giving way, stone crashing and a flash of flame passed her eye, and then she smashed into the ground. She cried out at the pain that reverberated through her whole body.
"Dís?" a unexpected, terrified voice cried out. "Dís, is that you, are you alright?"
"Bilbo?" she groaned, blinking at the lantern hovering five feet above her.
"It's me," the hobbit said. "By Mahal… Dís, are you alright?"
The princess paused, assessing the levels of pain as best she could. It was severe, throbbing pain, but it did not feel like there was anything seriously damaged. "I think so."
"Thank goodness!"
"Where are the others?" Dís asked, trying not to sound too frantic. "Where are the boys?"
"We split up," Bilbo called down, and she could see the fear in his faraway eyes. "They're with Bragi, all in groups. You're not alone?"
"The others are safe," Dís hoped with all her heart that her words were true. "I think I'm the only one who fell."
After a few more moments the ground stopped shaking and she dropped her head to the floor, sighing in relief. If her sons were with Bragi, they would likely be safe. Bragi and Fíli knew what to do.
"We have a rope here," Bilbo said in a voice that was still shaking. "Can you climb up?"
"I think so," Dís stood up slowly, mindful of the debris beneath her feet.
The rope was lowered down and Dís grasped it with both hands, climbing up the small rock face. When she was almost there, Bilbo helped pull her onto the small rock ledge. Bofur and Nori were also there, and it appeared that they had been holding the rope for her. She nodded her thanks and looked around.
"We fell too," Bilbo explained glumly, pushing his long hair away from his eyes. His forehead was bleeding, and he caught her concerned glance. "It's alright, it's just a graze. I landed on Bofur."
"Aye, and I had a soft landing on good old Nori."
"So how do we get out of here?" Dís looked up, unable to see anything in the darkness above them.
"Well, I have no idea what we fell through. Probably an old hatch to let some fresh air in or something." Bofur sounded cheerful. "But we'll've left a trail, and if we don't show up to the meet-up point the others will come and find us."
"You had an earthquake plan?"
"No, just a general one. Why, did you?"
"Aye. They'll split in two, a search party and another group to stay put, as long as it's safe. They'll get us out of here."
"Unless they're hurt too…" Bilbo said softly, his eyes trained on his feet.
An awkward silence fell.
"This is not how I wanted to surprise you," Dís murmured after a while.
Bilbo laughed hollowly. "We should've told you."
"Yes, you should've," Dís smiled a little. "But really it should only have been fun. We didn't know this would happen. You couldn't know this would happen…"
"Don't blame yourself, Bilbo. This is entirely Bofur's fault."
"Shut up Nori!"
"Dís," Bilbo interrupted Bofur. "You're bleeding!"
"What?" she blinked, but now that Bilbo had said it she could feel the blood, warm and wet on her shoulder. She tugged her top down to see a long, shallow gash and sighed heavily. "Dammit. Well, it doesn't look serious. As long as Óin looks at it when we get back I'm sure I'll be alright."
Bilbo pursed his lips and passed her a handkerchief. "Here."
"Thank you," she smiled, dabbing at the scratch. "Really, though, I will be fine. I just hope that the others…"
"Ah, don't worry," Bofur said. "We made sure everyone was in groups where at least one person knew what they were doing."
Bilbo began tugging at his hair. "Good gracious I need a haircut… My mother would roll over in her grave if she saw how ragged I look now."
"Don't you dare," Bofur frowned. "That's a terrible idea."
Snorting, Bilbo should his head. "Bofur, I cannot see."
"I could braid it for you, if you'd like," Dís said before she could stop herself. "To keep it out of your eyes, I mean."
Inside, her heart began a sprint and her stomach twisted as Bilbo stared at her. Then he ducked his head and looked back up with a smile she could not read. "That would be lovely, if you don't mind."
"Of course not," Dís ignored the bewildered glances shared by Nori and Bofur and knelt beside the hobbit, removing the dwarven helmet and letting his curls fall through her fingers. "It'll give me something to occupy my mind. Stop the worrying…"
"Then I am happy to help," Bilbo said.
Dís had no idea what she was doing. She thought she had her foolish ideas under control, she thought –
No. Dís was just being friendly. Friends braided friends' hair all the time. Why, it had been she who taught Dwalin to braid in the first place!
The look on Bofur and Nori's faces made her stomach churn.
Dís' hands were shaking.
How could she think of this now? How could she sit on a cold, filthy ledge in the dark without knowing how her friends fared, without knowing if her sons were alright, and think of an impossible possibility? Bilbo thought of her only as a friend, she knew it. It was selfish to think of a love life that could never be in such a moment.
But really, deep down, all Dís wanted to do was kiss Bilbo Baggins.
"Mahal above!" Fíli cried, rounding the corner himself as Kíli immediately dissolved into laughter.
"Saradoc!" his brother choked. "You scared me."
"Yes," Saradoc cleared his throat, looking rather embarrassed. Behind him, Paladin and Soren were clutching at each other and howling with laughter. "Well. You scared me more – if I'd had a mirror you'd've understood how terrifying it is to see such a monstrous face in the dark."
Kíli stopped laughing. "Give me five minutes and I'll have an appropriate comeback. My mind turned to jelly at the sight of your hair, I'm afraid."
The hobbit's hands flew to his once blond curls. "What's wrong with my hair?"
"It's the same colour as mine," snickered Kíli. "By the way, you're going the wrong way."
"Says who?" Soren raised his eyebrows.
"Ip, dip, sky, blue."
Fíli nodded at his brother's explanation. "How'd you find this tunnel?"
"There was a hatch in the passageway. You?"
"We fell through a boarded up wall." Fíli admitted.
"It was Bragi's fault," added Kíli.
Bragi just shook his head.
"I must tell you, I'm not happy to walk back that way if we're following ip, dip, sky, blue," Paladin said with mock sincerity. "Brings bad luck, you know that Kíli."
"What do you think seeing him was?" Kíli pointed at Saradoc, who laughed.
"And there's the comeback. Not your best, Baggins."
"Not my worst, either."
Without discussing the matter, they began to walk in the same direction, and Fíli felt his fears for the others dripping away. The two hobbits were unfazed, and that definitely boded well for the more experienced groups. When the chattering began he was quickly engaged with the conversation, and once again Fíli began truly enjoying himself.
"Hang on-" Saradoc interrupted Paladin's hilarious recount of Nelly and Pippin arguing about the differences between males and females with a frown. "Is that a light ahead?"
"A light?" Fíli squinted, amazed to see that Paladin was right. A soft, silver glow was just visible ahead. "Damn… Amad must've beaten us to it."
As if drawn by the light itself they sped into a jog, but the light did not seem strong enough to come from torches. They came out through a nondescript archway into an enormous cavern, and Fíli's mouth dropped open.
High above them, the cavern's ceiling was aglow with sparkling blue lights that reflected off the silver-veined wall opposite them and shined on a large pool of glimmering water. For a moment, Fíli thought that it was the strange sapphire stars that made the water such an ethereal shade of blue, but then he realised that the stone at the bottom of the pool was aquamarine. It glowed in the light of the candles and stars, especially the shallow streams that ran through the walls and beneath their feet into the pool and then out through a tunnel too small for even a hobbit to venture into.
When Kíli broke the silence, his voice was utterly breathless. "What is this place? What are those strange… stars? They cannot be stars!"
"They're glow-worms," Bragi murmured, his eyes misted with awe and tears. "I have not seen the likes of them since… Well, not in more than sixty years…"
Fíli caught the sympathetic glance that Soren sent the albino and instantly understood. He had indeed heard of the caverns of luminescent insects in the lands east of the Iron Hills, but he had not known that Bragi had ever seen such a sight. For a moment, Fíli could not help but wonder whether his friend's memory was a good or bad one.
If the sad smile told him anything, it was a little bit of both.
"I did not know worms could make such a light," Kíli blinked for the first time in five minutes. "Fireflies, I have heard of, but this? It's so bright, for the size of them, anyway."
"Durin's stars, I've heard them called," Soren supplied. "They're incredibly rare – in fact I thought them extinct in these parts."
"It's beautiful…" Kíli breathed.
"They're still bugs."
"Soren," Bragi scoffed, grinning properly this time. "Really?"
The dwarf sniffed. "I can appreciate their beauty, as long as they stay all the way up there."
Lured by the brilliant blue of the water, Fíli walked slowly across a smooth stone floor to the edge of the pool, lowering his hand towards the surface.
"Fíli!" Kíli hissed, startling him. "What are you doing?"
"What's the matter?" Fíli frowned.
"This place feels… It feels as though it should be sacred, Fíli."
Bragi laughed gently. "Don't worry, Kíli. This place isn't designed for worship – I think you'll find that water to be warm, Fíli."
"Warm?" the blond dwarf dipped his fingers into the pool, recoiling instantly. "Mahal, you're right!"
"I know," Bragi grinned, putting down the small bag he carried and taking out a torch. He lit it, then slid it into a bracket Fíli had not even noticed. "This place is designed for swimming. There'll be a hot spring somewhere nearby, I'd bet my bed that some of these little tributaries are dwarven made to get the temperature just right."
"I can't imagine so beautiful a place as a swimming hole," Saradoc's eyebrows furrowed together. "Nor did I think dwarves so concerned with the temperature of the water in which they swam."
Bragi's grin grew. "That's because we don't usually swim naked…"
Kíli blushed like a tween, but Saradoc was a bit slower on the uptake.
"Naked? Why would people swim naked here-"
Fíli cleared his throat. "Wouldn't you say it's a bit romantic here, Saradoc?"
Paladin and Kíli snickered as the other hobbit paused.
"Oh," Saradoc blinked, but then understanding dawned in his eyes. "Oh!" Then the Brandybuck winced. "Oh…"
Fíli chuckled, amused at how the same exclamation could convey such distinct emotions.
"Don't worry, Doc," Paladin clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I think it's been long enough since folk had romantic rendezvous here that you won't get cooties. Or pregnant."
"Ha, ha, ha," Saradoc rolled his eyes. "I know that. It's not my fault that you have such filthy minds."
Kíli scoffed. "Saradoc, you have no claim to an innocent mind. The number of times you've scandalised village elders – why, there was the night that you managed to make your mother faint, Otho Sackville-Baggins choke on naught but air and Bilbo bury his head in a bucket within, what was it, five minutes?"
Tuning out the playful bickering, Fíli lowered his hands into the water. He was expecting the warmth this time, and cupped his palms together. His skin quenched the aquamarine glow, but if anything the water was more beautiful as clear as glass, reflecting the lights of the glow-worms like a diamond in the light of a candle. Fíli let his fingers part and watched the clear liquid turn blue once again.
"Of course," Bragi's calm voice caught his attention again. "The warmth is not only for lovers. Most warm pools like this are believed to have healing properties. In my opinion it's just an excuse for full grown men to relax and swim in such a pretty place."
Kíli snorted, his eyes transfixed on the water as he walked closer to Fíli. "For a confident race of people, dwarves are complete wimps."
"And how do you figure that, my dwarven brother?" Fíli raised his eyebrows.
"I've met toddlers more comfortable with their masculinity. Needing an excuse to swim in a pretty place. Honestly. You wouldn't catch a hobbit hesitating about that at all."
"Or a dwobbit." Paladin nodded.
"Exactly," Kíli said.
"Really?" said Soren, and then he shoved Kíli into the pool with one swift movement.
Bursting up out of the water, Kíli shook his head like a wet dog to the roaring chorus of laughter. "Soren!"
"I thought you said no hesitation?"
"And I meant it," Kíli swam to the surface and clambered out. "But I wasn't counting the time taken to don appropriate attire as hesitation."
"Appropriate attire?"
"Well, swimming in this many layers-" Kíli gestured to his (now soaking) dwarven garb. "Is foolish. And damaging, to your clothes."
"Don't let the maturity fool you," drawled Paladin as Kíli began to strip. "These words are all Bilbo's."
"And the problem with that is?" Kíli let the question trail into the air as he quickly draped his clothes over nearby rocks to allow them to dry. Dressed only in his trousers and Merry's medal hanging around his neck, Kíli rolled his shoulders. "Just so you know, if any of you don't get in I'll be sure to splash you until you look like you took a dip in the Anduin, so you may as well just embrace your fate." He paused. "That said, while I love you all deeply it is strictly platonic, so if you can manage to keep your advances to yourself I'd be much obliged."
"Oh no, my afternoon plans are ruined," said Bragi monotonously, pulling off his own coat and tunic.
"I'm so sorry," Kíli said seriously, his eyes dancing with friendly malice. "I only hope you'll survive the heartache."
With that, Fíli's brother took a running leap and crashed down into the water with a whoop. Fíli only just managed to roll out of the way of the wave that flew his way, and he grinned. Tugging off his own outer layers, Fíli climbed up a nearby rock to one of the streams that fed the pool. He jumped into the stream, and to his joy he instantly slid downwards, picking up enough speed to fly three feet across the pool before landing in the water just behind Kíli.
"Tag!" he yelled, pushing his brother underwater. "You're it!"
When Kíli's head broke the surface he swore gleefully, but Fíli was already halfway across the pool at this point. Saradoc and Soren both copied Fíli's sliding approach to enter the game, while Bragi dived in with the annoying natural grace that Fíli would probably never achieve. Paladin seemed to have the best idea of them all – he ran along a rock about three feet above the water's surface and then leapt off, turning a somersault in the air before he entered the water.
"You realise," Kíli yelled as he swam strongly towards the hobbits. "Bilbo will skin us alive if we're not back in an hour!"
"We've got time," Fíli assured him, watching as Kíli caught a cornered Saradoc.
"No it-backs!" Kíli sang, diving underwater and swimming away.
For a moment, Fíli was thinking about how they must bring the little ones down here, but then Paladin was chasing him down with the speed of a shark and every thought was chased from his mind, allowing a singular instinct to take over his entire body.
The instinct to let go, and to play.
I hope you enjoyed that chapter :D I really hope that the Bilbo/Dis/Bofur/Nori bit wasn't too awkward – as I have said before romance is definitely not my strong suit :/
If anyone can guess who Ainathiel and Nórë are based off of hats off to you :D
Please do let me know what you think if you fancy, your feedback is always noted and appreciated. Thank you so much for reading :D
