Finally a new chapter! Yay!
I got good news and bad news for you right now. Good news: my exams are over and I have plenty of time to write again. Bad news: I'm at my parent's place for a while and the Internet connection is really bad. As in really really bad. So I'll try to update daily again but if an update takes a day or two, it's because the wireless broke down. As it does from time to time…
Anyways, thanks a lot for the reviews and faves and everything and enjoy the new chapter!
The river Running gushed through the vast grassland with a deafening loudness. White crests swayed on the surface of the river but the water below was crystal clear. When Bilbo dipped a finger in, he shivered and quickly stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat, for a mountain river like the Running was cold and it was only a matter of time that the large waterfalls that came crashing down the Lonely Mountain would freeze over.
Erebor loomed before them, its highest peak towering above, completely covered by clouds and Bilbo could only guess the height of the snow-capped stone. The closer they came to the mountain, the stranger the feeling became that had befallen Thorin since the morning of their departure from Lake-Town. He was torn to the bones, for even though he wished for nothing more than to see his homeland again, he dreaded the moment just as much. In his memory, Erebor was a glorious stronghold, a magnificent kingdom, unrivalled by any other in this world. Nothing compared to Erebor, not Thranduil's palace in the depth of the Mirkwood, not the glorious towers of the White City of Minas Tirith and not the Great Golden Hall of Meduseld in Rohan. Not even the shimmering beauty of Lothlórien matched the marvellous construction of Erebor. The mere imagination of what Smaug might have done with his beloved home, made Thorin cringe and his steps were heavy and slow.
"What's wrong with you?" Balin asked, his gaze concerned since they had begun their last stage of the journey. "I thought you were happy to come back home."
"I am", Thorin replied quietly, looking at the mountain before them. "I'm just- I think I'm afraid."
Balin smiled gently and patted Thorin's back.
"We all are, laddie. We all are", the old dwarf muttered and walked on, his own heart beating so violently in his chest, that he heard nothing but it's pounding in his ears.
The gushing of water grew louder and louder and when they travelled over the peak of a small hill, Bilbo's breath caught in his throat and he stared at the sight before them, his mouth wide agape.
The Running came from a clear, deep lake that was fed by two high waterfalls crashing down the mountain, born deep within it. By each waterfall was the statute of a dwarf broken into the mountain; both of them so large that Bilbo could barely see the heads. One of the statutes was Durin the Deathless, the other was Thráin the First, founder of the great Kingdom of Erebor. Their faces, armour and weapons were carved so gracefully and in such detail, that a shiver ran down the little hobbit's spine and never before had he seen anything as splendid and magnificent. A wide stone bridge led over the lake to the Front Gate of Erebor, a massive door amidst the waterfalls, made from fine, black wood and adorned with metal carvings that shone in the sunlight like polished mirrors. It was the biggest gate that Bilbo had ever seen in his life. Above the gates were countless balconies and alcoves dug into the mountain, some large and prominent, others well hidden and small and Bilbo guessed those to be the private balconies of smaller chambers.
When the hobbit tore his gaze away from the astonishing side, he noticed Fíli and Kíli standing next to him. There was nothing but wonder and amazement on their faces and neither said a word. Bilbo worried for a moment that they might have swallowed their tongues and was about to ask, when he noticed a single, small tear rolling down Kíli's cheek. And Bilbo understood and he quietly smiled to himself.
They were home at last.
The company travelled on and avoided the Front Gate, much to Bilbo's disappointment. The Secret Door lay further to the north and Durin's Day was only two days away. Not a single thought concerning rest crossed Thorin's mind and they ventured on and on, around the mountain until nightfall came and it became too dark to wander on. They camped at the foot of the mountain and when the rest of the company had slowly begun to fall asleep, Bilbo witnessed the two youngsters sneaking out to the enormous stone wall and he smiled when both solemnly reached out and for the first time touched the stone of their home.
On midday the next day, they reached a path that let them up to one of the six large peaks of Erebor and from there, Bilbo, for the first time, noticed that the mountain was shaped like a star, the peaks reaching out far into every direction. He wondered about the size of the halls below as they followed a narrow mountain path that led them over a ledge towards the centre of the mountain. They reached the large walls of Erebor by sunset but could not find anything that remotely resembled a door or at least a place in the wall that could be some kind of entrance.
It was Kíli who noticed some rough steps that reached up to a plateau above their heads. He quickly grabbed his brother and the youngsters climbed up to find a small bay above a cliff and when they glanced down, they saw the company still searching below. The walls surrounding the bay were steep and high and so smooth, that neither rain nor storm could have polished them like this. It was dwarven doing, both boys were sure and thus they shouted down to their companions.
By nightfall, a campfire was blasting on the stony ground of the bay and pheasants were roasting above it but the dwarves kept their voices low and nobody sang or chatted too lively, for somewhere not far from them, a dragon dwelled on gold and treasure and neither of them was keen to wake him.
"Are you sure he can't hear us?" Bofur asked, clearly concerned since he had obviously frightened himself with the thought of a 'furnace with wings' and the other colourful descriptions of Smaug, that had already scared the poor hobbit into a welcomed unconsciousness back in Bag End.
"If we keep the noise down, he should not hear us", Thorin replied, though the word should did not ring well in Bofur's ears. They tiptoed around the bay and whispered to each other and nobody slept well that night. The next morning, a strange restlessness crept over Thorin and took a good grip of him. He wandered around the camp, looked at the map over and over again and played with the key, occasionally stopping by the polished part of the wall and eyed it carefully. Fíli and Kíli watched every move, not sure whether they should be concerned or just as excited.
Midday came and went and a sultry silence lay on the camp, though this time it was not caused by the dragon. Every now and then, the dwarves caught themselves staring up at the sky, waiting for the moon to show itself. They waited until the early evening, when suddenly Ori's excited voice rang across the bay.
"Look!" the chronicler shouted, oddly clear and loud.
"What? What's with the yellin' it's still nothin' but a bloody wall!" Dwalin noticed disgruntled when he looked at the polished wall.
"Yes, but there! By the wall. That's a thrush!" Ori pointed at a small dark bird that skipped across the flat stones of the bay, a snail in its beak. The animal made it's way to a pointy rock and forcefully smashed the snail shell open, completely unaware of the sudden attention, for all thirteen dwarves and one hobbit stared at it in wonder.
"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks-", Balin quietly began.
"And the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole", Thorin finished and looked over his shoulder at the red and orange sky and the sun setting over the mountains.
The stone began to creak and dust trickled down the wall. Large cracks appeared in the smooth wall and the dwarves carefully took a few steps back as glowing lines appeared on the dark grey surface, slowly drawing the shape of a door, adorned with dwarven runes and drafts. It was Thorin who dared to step closer first and as he reached out and touched the stone, the glowing slowly began to fade and nothing but a single keyhole remained.
"Go on. Open it", Glóin whispered, clutching his brother's arm in excitement.
The key smoothly glided in and when Thorin turned it, a door sprung open, deep darkness lying behind the narrow gap. The small hobbit believed to faint for a moment, for the excitement seemed unbearable. Any attempt to open the door any further was in vain though, for the massive stone soon proved to be far too heavy for Thorin alone and it took Dwalin and Dori to join him, before the door stood ajar and revealed a dark path that led deep into the mountain. A foul stench came from the tunnel, the stench of fire and coal and of melted copper and Thorin began to fear that Smaug had burned the gold and melted it down to one large heap on which he sat.
"We need some scouts to go in first. I'll lead the company, the rest will wait out here and make sure the door stays open. Dwalin, Nori, Fíli, Kíli, get some torches", Thorin commanded, already excited to venture in and finally see the halls of his beloved home again, when Fíli gently held him back by the sleeve of his coat.
"Do you really believe this is wise?" he asked carefully, reassured by Nori who shuffled from one foot to the other nervously. "Remember what Gandalf said. The dragon knows the smell of dwarves."
"And what would I care about the words of a tattered wizard?" Thorin retorted, his eyes still fixed on the door.
"Do you want to die in there?"
"If that is what will happen, so be it."
And to everyone's astonishment, both Fíli and Kíli put down the weapons and torches they had already picked up and sat themselves down on a flat stone, only to pull their pipes out.
"And what do you two think you're doing?" Thorin asked, slowly growing impatient.
"Smoking", Kíli replied bluntly.
"Not wasting our lives", Fíli added. "We didn't come here to die in a rush."
"Or risk the lives of the people of Esgaroth", Kíli nodded and Thorin couldn't quite believe what he heard and saw there. He remembered those two boys that had been pestering him for months to take them with him, promising that they would be good and listen to orders and not do anything stupid and yet here they sat, smoking pipes and openly disobeying him. And even though Thorin was secretly proud of them and their growing ability to form their own opinions and make their own, more or less rational, choices, he somewhat felt that they were growing up too fast.
"And what do our wise Princes next to the Mountain propose then?" he asked, folding his arms before his broad chest.
"To wait and carefully draw out a plan and then go in, as soon as we know what to do with the dragon", Kíli replied and all the dwarves shook their heads in wonder, unsure whether the boys were serious or actually staging this whole thing.
"That I would live to see the day when those two are the ones to wait and see", Dwalin muttered gobsmacked and his brother gently patted him on the back. The youngsters of course looked incredibly proud of themselves and whilst Thorin groaned and proceeded to fill himself a large mug of grog, Bilbo silently chuckled.
The patience of the youngsters didn't last long however. Or at least the patience of one of them. Long after nightfall, when the company was fast asleep already, Kíli still sat by the fire and his gaze wandered to the open door again and again. The urge to just go in and see what awaited them at the end of the tunnel grew with every passing minute but when he looked at his sleeping brother, eyeing the still scratched and probably soon scarred face, he was reluctant to waste his life like this. Fíli quietly mumbled in his sleep and Kíli grinned when his brother started grinding his teeth, for the poppy seed addiction had grown quite bad already, to the point when Fíli even dreamt of poppy seeds.
"Can't sleep?" Kíli flinched when he heard Bilbo's quiet voice in his back, but smiled quickly when the hobbit sat down by the fire with him, wrapped in his cloak.
"I wonder what's in there", Kíli replied quietly, looking at the door again.
"A dragon", the hobbit replied dryly and did not seem too happy about it. "And I'm not overly fond of seeing it ever, to be honest."
"I am", the young dwarf admitted, his gaze somewhat dreamy and Bilbo began to worry that Kíli might do something incredibly stupid in the end.
"You don't want to go in there tonight, do you?" he asked warily.
"No! No no, no worries Master Baggins", Kíli quickly waved the worries aside and Bilbo relaxed, though he should have known better. For Kíli's mind had begun working at a frightening pace, the cogwheels in his head scrunching and turning and it was a remarkable thing, for Kíli usually was the one to be reluctant to think too much, yet when he did, the outcome was brilliant and terrifying at the same time. And usually someone else had to suffer under it.
"Remember when Gandalf said the dragon doesn't know the scent of a hobbit?" he began innocently and Bilbo should have known that this was the right moment to run for it.
"Yes", he chuckled instead. "I keep hoping he won't find hobbit smell particularly tasty."
"Well if he doesn't know your smell", Kíli scratched the stubble on his chin. "Why don't you go in?"
Bilbo suddenly turned pale and stared at the glowing fire, frozen in shock.
"Me?" he piped up after a while, his voice so high pitched it could have busted glass.
"Of course you! That's it! That's how we can do it! You've got that ring, don't you?" Kíli beamed excited, amazed at his own brilliant mind. "You put on the ring and you go in there. He won't see you, he can't smell you and you can find out where he is and what he's doing!"
"W-What he's doing?!" the hobbit shrieked. "What do you think he's doing?! He's probably preparing a barbecue in there already and I'm for starters!"
"Nah, you'd be nothing but a quick bite", Kíli waved his hand, not noticing that he wasn't exactly helping Bilbo. "But think about it. If we knew what awaited us, then we'd know how to deal with it, right?"
"Right", the hobbit had to admit, though he didn't like it.
"And nobody could find out better than you! You're invisible and you're quiet and if you felt unsafe, you could always come back again. Just imagine how happy Thorin would be, if you could tell him about your findings."
Whether Kíli was aware of how unfair he acted towards Bilbo, was unknown to the hobbit and he didn't appreciate it. Ever since they had set out from Bag End, Bilbo had felt a constant need to prove himself to Thorin one way or another. To prove that he wasn't useless, to prove that there was a reason why Gandalf had picked him as the burglar of this company and the Took in him tingled and twitched with anticipation. The Baggins however felt like turning on his hairy heels and return to the Shire.
Kíli watched, a broad smile on his features, as Bilbo grabbed a torch and his sword and made his way to the dark tunnel beyond the door.
"I'll wait here for you. Don't worry. And if you get too scared, you simply return and nobody needs to know", the youngster assured him and after a last, long glance, Bilbo stepped into the darkness of Erebor.