Hello all! Just want to thank everyone who has been reading this story! I hope you are still enjoying it, and thank you to all who put this on alert and favourite, I appreciated you all very much! My kids are still stoked over this story as am I. I can't believe it is already Chapter 29 and more to come! I do hope you'll stay for the duration and find out the rest of this story.
Again, Thank You!
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Coming Of Age – Chapter 29
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Surprisingly it was ThoraLee who was sitting up when Thorin began to stir when the sun was beginning to rise.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked about him and saw all his cousins fast asleep. At first he was angry, he had assigned Dwalin to be the last one on watch ere daybreak not Lee!
He sat up intending on shaking his cousin up and give him a blistering lecture when Lee leaned close to him and kissed him on his lips and whispered, "Do not be angry, Khazad-zukin, I couldn't sleep so I told Dwalin I'd swap with him, he did put up an argument but of course he lost." She smiled.
Thorin looked at her as he shook his head, "Of course I should have known, my dear. Poor Dwalin, he didn't stand a chance, did he?"
"He did not even get one word out," she chuckled as she put her hands upward and stretched out and yawned.
Thorin lay where he was as he continued to watch her indulgently, wishing his cousins were not with them as he felt deep urgings stirred within him. He caught her hand as he held it and began to kiss her knuckles gently and quietly, his blue eyes turning into a forest green as he continued his slow assault on her hand. Lee was breathing hard as she watched him, her green left eye amazingly turning into a matching color as his forest greens while her hazel right darkened to a light chocolate caramel.
He sat up and gathered her to him as he kissed her heatedly, she tried to close the gap as much as she could as she put her arms around his neck while he ran his hands all over her back, snaking one under her shirt as he felt bare skin, her heart beating faster as he began to run his hand to the front…
"…I wish they would go somewhere a little more private, certainly not for my eyes and certainly NOT this early in the morn!" Gloin said grumpily.
"My poor eyes! My poor young eyes are forever burned!" Dwalin was laughing as he jestingly covered his eyes.
Lee buried her reddened face into Thorin's beard and chest as a deep rumble sounded within him, his hand still within her bare back.
"I think I'll lie here for while, if you don't mind," he said pointedly at her with an arched brow as he looked a little embarrassingly down at his pants.
Lee followed his looks and saw his 'problem' and chuckled as her face inflamed even more as she stood up and nodded, "I'll go...and have drink by the stream," she covered her mouth with her hand as she began to walk from him and towards the stream.
Thorin quickly tried to cover himself.
"I'll find some breakfast of sort," Oin said as he stood up and stretched, as he looked about him.
"More rabbits would be lovely," Gloin groused, accompanied by his growling stomach. "See? My belly agrees with me too." He inclined his head firmly.
"When are you not hungry, Gloin?" Oin shook his head while Balin and Dwalin shrugged their shoulders. They all knew Gloin was always hungry.
"When you find some breakfast, dear brother. And why are you still lying about Thorin? Are you not well?"
Thorin looked up at his cousin and nodded, "Oh I am, just enjoying the woods about us," he smiled genially.
Gloin eyed him suspiciously, "I think someone is hiding something, you have food and you're not telling!"
"No! I do not!" Thorin laughed at his cousin who had bent down and grabbed a handful of dead leaves and threw it at Thorin.
"Oi!" He sputtered as a few pieces landed into his mouth as he glared at his cousin in surprised. Thorin turned and grabbed two handfuls of dead leaves and threw it back at Gloin who ducked and Oin got the leaves on him.
Thorin tried to apologize but less than a minute later, as well Thorin's problem had receded, all five cousins were flinging dead leaves at each other.
Ten minutes later, dead leaves abandoned, the cousins were rolling around the ground wrestling and laughing, their hair and beards covered with leaves and twigs…
"Ahem!" Lee cleared her throat loudly. "Am I interrupting a family ritual of sorts?"
They all stopped their wrestling as they poked their heads up and saw Lee eyeing at them, with an arched brow and saw her hands full with…
"FISH!" The cousins began to clamor to get up but pushed each other down again, another bout of wrestle match ensued.
Lee watched them a moment with a grin as she turned away from them and moved to the edge of the stream to begin cleaning the fish.
She had caught eight fish, one for each of them and an extra one for Gloin, she smiled.
"Here, let me help you." Balin and Dwalin offered as they set some sticks down by the fish.
She nodded as she stood up, "I see you children are done playing?"
Their faces reddened as Dwalin giggled and nodded as he picked up a fish as he began to clean it.
"How did you catch these fish, Lee?" Thorin asked as he came by the stream.
Oin and Gloin were busily making a fire.
"Saw them in the deeper part of the stream." She answered. "And I learned how to catch them when I lived with Eluin and his people."
Thorin nodded, "We have much to be grateful to them, then."
Then he added, "After we break our fast, we must get moving."
They nodded solemnly, eager to get started.
…
Later, after making sure the fire was put out, the party left their little encampment and led their ponies down the stream.
It was slow moving as the undergrowth was thick with intertwining roots that reached up to their thighs. A few times Oin and Gloin had tripped over hidden roots.
Their ponies became even more skittish and reluctant to move forward as they pulled them hard on their reins.
"Any signs of our elusive friends?" Thorin asked Lee for the fifth time of the morning when Dwalin fell this time.
"I'm okay!" He assured them with his hand up waving at them.
Lee was about to snap a snarky retort at her husband when she saw a cut mark high on a tree bark. She hurriedly handed the reins of Grakarbor to Thorin as she climbed on a root that grew from the tree. She traced the mark on the bark and looked at a tell-tale direction; only one familiar with the elves would know how to read the inconspicuous mark. Fortunately for the group, it was what Lee was hoping to find; it was Eluin's people.
"They were headed that way!" She indicated to the left ahead of them.
"How did you know? All I can see is a straight mark!" Balin was scratching his head as he tried to make heads or tail at the simple straight line.
Lee pointed at it, "You see the faint line indicated up here?" She pointed at the end of the line, Balin could barely see it but he did. Lee continued, "That tells whomever seeking the elves that they are heading that way."
Balin nodded but he still looked quite confused, "Elves and their secretive ways!"
Dwalin nodded in agreement, "Indeed, we dwarves are not much into such trickeries, just point it simply." Oin and Gloin nodded together.
"Come on, you all. Let's get going. And please stop looking for the ground…Oi!" As he teased his cousins for falling constantly, Thorin tripped himself as well and down he went, in a much undignified manner!
Lee laughed at him, "That's for teasing your cou…"
"Not a word from you!" Thorin exclaimed as he hurriedly got up, his hair all over his face as he impatiently flicked them off and glared angrily at her. "Not one word, woman! Now march on!" For emphasis, he smacked her rump, earning a dark glare from her.
"Old man!"
"Wench!"
"Goodness, there they go again!" Dwalin rolled his eyes up again as they moved on again.
But they trudged on with their ponies steadily and without much bantering.
As the afternoon sun began to heat up, the group growing uncomfortably sweaty and humid in the dense woods, they saw something different; the tree trunks were thicker. Thorin stood before the biggest tree amongst and found he couldn't put his arms around it; he estimated it would take about four of him holding hand to hand to be able to encircle the tree trunk. And the undergrowth was not as thick here.
Lee smiled as she looked about her; she was remembering these trees and its surroundings. This is where Eluin's people lived.
But where were they?
Then she remembered something else as she bent down and plucked a blade of grass. She held one end of the grass, and applied both her thumbs as she bent them together and catching them together, bent her lips slightly, put them right up against her thumbs and blew so that the air went between her thumbs and over the blade of the grass, gave it a high pitch sound. The ponies upon hearing it nickered in response.
Lee waited for a while before repeating the process.
"I don't understand," Lee said despondently. "They usually respond to this call…they taught Jora and I…"
"ThoraLee? That was quite loud for our ears!" Eluin's light trilling voice came from above the trees.
Lee began to laugh as she looked up at where his voice came from and saw not just Eluin staring down but several more elves standing upon thick branches of the biggest tree Thorin was hugging previously.
When Eluin came down to stand in front of Lee, she bowed respectfully to him. He inclined his head. "Welcome my friend, I see you are well healed. Indeed you have a skilled healer in your Ekhëbûr."
Lee nodded as she turned to Oin, "Indeed, thanks to Master Oin's skilled healing powers."
Eluin turned to face him and inclined his head, "Master Oin, son of Groin. Our people are most grateful to you."
Oin bashfully nodded his head, "It was my duty and pleasure to do so, ThoraLee is kinfolk."
Eluin glanced over to Thorin who stood next to Lee.
"ThoraLee's Khazad-zukin." Thorin nodded proudly.
The rest of the elves had descended from the trees by this time and stood behind Eluin as well as some surrounding the dwarves.
"Eluin, may we talk?" Lee asked politely but anxiously.
Eluin looked at the dwarves individually before settling on Lee, "Certainly, is something the matter?"
"Tell me about my father."
"The dwarven Erimm?"
She nodded, "Yes. What do you know about him and where he came from? And my uncle Crimm."
His eyes narrowed slightly as he thought for a moment. "They were orphans we found in the woods almost 250 years ago."
"Orphans?" Lee whispered.
Eluin nodded.
"I was with Ruluin, my sister when we heard babes crying. We were on our way home at that time and the sun not quite setting yet when we came neat them. We decided to follow the cries whereupon we saw two male dwarves and a female dwarf who was trying to protect the two tiny infants and a young dwarfling boy. The men were holding knives above them. Ruluin shot her arrows upon the dwarven men and killed them instantly."
Lee gasped in shock, her eyes wide as saucers. Thorin's were an angry sky blue. The other dwarves were shaking their heads.
Eluin continued, "When we neared them, Ruluin held the arrow over the dwarven woman who told us they were Nogrods from Mount Dolmed in the Blue Mountains. Yes, quite far from here. She had just birthed them and was hurrying home.
"Ruluin saw that she was weakened from birthing and wanted to offer aid but she refused. She could not possibly care for three young dwarflings. We offered help again and with sanctuary but she proudly refused our aid. She said it would endanger us. Her people were looking for her, as well as her mate's enemies.
It was then that we heard shouting noises. The dwarven lady panicked and picked up the infants and tried to move them, the young dwarfling began to cry, giving away our location. In haste, I carried the child as Ruluin took one of the infant and we began to run. We were able to outrun them, as elves did run fast but we had to wait for the lady with her infant and we were able to hide them in a deep ditch. We asked her her name in which she told us she was Yorlin of Nogrod, her mate was Gul Mon.
"Wait, Gul Mon I?" Lee cut in with anguished tones.
Eluin looked at her and nodded, "Yes, he was the one, we found out it was an enemy who had fell him and took over the kingdom.
"She told us a dwarf named Mored had plotted to take over the Nogrods, he had betrayed her husband's trust, letting him into his confidence.
He convinced her husband to war with the Durin because he heard of the gold and the gem the Arkenstone."
Lee glanced at Thorin who was listening to Eluin's tale grimly.
"Those men were near us again so we fled from them. This time we had nowhere to hide, Ruluin and I were able to climb trees easily but Yorlin still fresh from birthing and carrying a babe could not was shot by one of the men pursuing her.
Hiding the child on a high limb, I was able to shoot them with my arrows from above. They could not reach us nor could they see us with the infant and young child who was clinging onto the limb for dear life. As soon as they thought the lady dead, they left the woods.
We climbed down as soon as possible and saw that the poor lady had not gone yet but soon. Her life was weakened as the arrow was quite near her heart, a fatal shot.
She implored Ruluin and I to take the children to Ekhëbûr to be raised amongst her kind, the boy's name was Crimm. The babes were Erimm and Killimm, a boy and a girl."
"I have an aunt?"Lee's cheeks were wet as well as the other dwarves.
Eluin sadly said, "Yes and no."
"I don't understand, Eluin."
"Yorlin passed her life to Aulë soon after but what she didn't know was the infant daughter Killimm had taken the fatal arrow her mother had received as well."
Lee turned within Thorin's arms as she sobbed hard.
Eluin was looking downcast, having to relive the tragic moments of her kinfolks.
Thorin's cousins were heard sniffling sadly.
Eluin then took out something from within his shirt, there were two pieces of metal on a chain, one was rather big and long, the other a small one "This key was around Crimm's neck, I kept it in case Mored found the children. And the ring was Yorlin's. It was the Nogrod's family ring." He handed them to Lee.
The key had an inscription written with Mount Dolmed in it, "I believe it is a key to your home in the Blue Mountains." Eluin added.
She nodded as she wiped her tears. She stood up as she walked away from them and she fingered the ring lovingly. She slid it into her left hand, on her forefinger as it was small. It fit her perfectly.
All this time, she had never known who her people were. She thought she was from Dale but there was always an unknown element that hung in the air around her that asked; who was she? Where did she come from?
No more. Now she could say; I'm ThoraLee of the Nogrods.
"Hey, where are you wandering off to?" Thorin grabbed her from behind and pulled her close to him as she leaned back and rested her head on his chest.
"Just thinking," she answered.
He released her as he kissed the top of her head, "Don't wander too far, will you?"
She nodded as she continued her solitary walk, Thorin watched her as she meandered through the trees.
"You love her deeply, do you not Prince of Ekhëbûr?" Eluin came up quietly behind him, he was watching her as well.
Thorin nodded, "With all my heart." He admitted to him.
Eluin nodded, "This Mored had taken her father, did he?" Eluin asked again.
"Aye, and Crimm as well. We do not know where they went."
"What does Mored seek?" Eluin asked.
Thorin looked at the elf, "The Durin gold…and the Arkenstone."
The elf nodded wisely, "And has it been found?"
The dwarf nodded.
"Then, Mored could not be far from what he covets."
Thorin closed his eyes for a moment to think, "And we have a betrayer or betrayers in our palace aiding Mored."
"I see, he could be hiding them."
"Aye." Thorin opened them again as he watched his beloved returning. He smiled at her.
"She is always welcome here, and now you and your cousins too." Eluin nodded.
Thorin felt touched at his hospitality and inclining his head to him, "You're much welcomed within the palace of Erebor, my friend Eluin."
"As are you, my friend Thorin." Then Eluin saw that Thorin's cousins had gathered close to him, "Ah, your cousins too. Master Oin, Master Gloin, Master Balin, and Master Dwalin."
"Eluin," an elf came to him and spoke to him in Elvish and stepped away.
Eluin turned to the dwarves, "Please, my new friends, we have prepared a simple meal for you before you continue you journey." He spread his arm out beyond the biggest tree where there were elves about the ground smiling, as well as atop the tree still.
Balin looked up and said nervously, "I hope we do not need to climb up those trees…do not like heights," he mumbled to Gloin who nodded."
….
End of Chapter 29