Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay in getting this chapter up. I hadn't given up on the story, but I didn't have much inspiration for this chapter. It really fought me, so I apologize if it isn't any good. I also started a new story (I know I promised I wouldn't, but I had too many ideas to ignore), and that took up a lot of my writing time.
It took the Company three days' travel by boat to reach the far shore of the Long Lake. When the boats carrying the dwarves landed, there were ponies there waiting for them. Thorin thanked the Men for helping them, even though they were brought closer to the dragon in doing so. The Men had been visibly nervous the closer they came to the Mountain, and everyone could tell that they were anxious to return to their homes.
After the Men had departed, the dwarves and Bilbo quickly divested themselves of the heavy, awkward, ill-fitting armor the Master had bestowed upon them. They were happy to leave it behind. Thorin was anxious to be within sight of their goal, and so he wanted the Company to travel at speed, despite Gwyn's assurances that they would reach the Mountain with time to spare before Durin's Day. Each member of the Company quickly chose a pony and mounted up, wanting to cover as much distance as possible before the sun went down.
There were fourteen ponies for the Company plus two packhorses laden with supplies. By some twist of fate, one of the ponies happened to be a beautiful, high-spirited filly. It was that same twist of fate that dictated that Gwyn be the unfortunate soul to have to ride her, as the filly would not allow any of the men of the Company to approach her. As the Company set off, Balin and Bilbo on their ponies leading the packhorses, Gwyn's pony began engaging in a battle of wits and wills with the girl. The filly would be fine, following Gwyn's directions well, until another member of the Company came too close. Then the filly's ears would press back against her skull and Gwyn would be forced to steer the filly away lest the ponies get into trouble.
After the fourth time Gwyn had to separate from the group, she began thinking of ways to calm the filly if anyone else rode by. When the filly nipped at Kili's pony though, that's when Gwyn's patience with the filly finally ran out. Reining the pony up sharply, Gwyn swiftly dismounted and walked around to face the pony. Grabbing the filly's bridle just under her chin, Gwyn jerked the filly's head down so that the two females were eye-to-eye. The other members of the Company reined in their own ponies to watch how Gwyn was going to handle the filly's misbehavior.
"Now, you listen here Missy. I am sick and tired of your attitude. I don't care if you like the others or not, but right now, your attitude is getting in the way of our progress. Every time I have to steer you away from the others and ride apart from them is time lost. Now, are you going to behave, or do I have to resort to more drastic measures to make you understand?" The filly seemed to nod in understanding, and Gwyn moved to remount her pony, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes as she swung back into the saddle. Seeing that Gwyn was ready to continue on, Thorin gave the signal that the company was to move out. The dwarves, Bilbo, and Gwyn all nudged their respective ponies forward, hoping to make at least a few more miles' progress to the Mountain before night fell. Catching Fili and Kili's furtive glances at her, she motioned them over, intending to test her pony. When the filly's ears only briefly flicked in annoyance at the dwarves being nearby, Gwyn smiled and gave the filly an affectionate pat on the neck, praising her for her good behavior. Fili and Kili were startled by the change in the pony's demeanor, and they asked Gwyn about it.
"What sort of sorcery did you cast on your pony, pundurîth?"
"Indeed, mizimel, not even an hour ago your pony would not suffer either of us to be so near her for so long."
"It wasn't sorcery, Kili. Ponies and horses are intuitive creatures. I simply let her know, in no uncertain terms, that her behavior was not going to be tolerated. She understood the message, if not the actual words themselves," Gwyn answered, smiling at her dwarves. "Besides, I'm married to two dwarves of the line of Durin, which is renowned for its stubbornness. One uppity pony is nothing in comparison!" she said, throwing a cheeky wink at her husbands, who just laughed at the truth in her statement.
The Company continued riding for several days, often starting out just as the sun was beginning to rise on the eastern horizon and not stopping until dusk settled over the land. The Lonely Mountain loomed ever closer, and with each passing mile the Company's agitation grew, but especially Thorin's. Gwyn tried to reassure their leader that they would reach the Mountain and find the hidden door well before Durin's Day, but that did not lessen the dwarf's anxiety. Finally, when the Company reached the base of the Mountain, Gwyn broke away from the Company, and steered her filly toward the western flank where there were two large statues of dwarves carved into the Mountain.
"Hey, lassie! Where are you going?" Bofur called out. Gwyn turned in her saddle to face the others.
"The door is on this side of the Mountain. We'll save time if we camp here until Durin's Day," she shouted back. The others looked to Thorin for guidance, and when he steered his pony to join Gwyn on the western flank the others followed. Looking up, Gwyn caught a flash of sunlight on a bird's wings, but she didn't give it a second thought, remembering that Oin had said at Bag-End that birds were returning to the Mountain.
When the other members of the Company had caught up with her, she led them closer to the statues guarding the Mountain, before stopping at the base of the one on the right.
"There are stairs carved into this statue, those will lead us to a ledge where the hidden door is located," she told Thorin. The dwarf looked closely at the statue, realizing it was a carving of his grandfather, Thror. He also saw the stairs Gwyn mentioned, cunningly disguised as geometric designs on the statue's clothing.
"We will camp here for now. Fili, Kili, see what you can hunt," Thorin said. Before he could continue with his assigning of duties, however, he was interrupted by a feminine shriek. Looking at Gwyn, he saw a large white bird perched on her head, looking down at the girl curiously. Several of the dwarves began laughing at Gwyn's crossed eyes, as she tried to see what exactly had landed on her head, startling her. Thorin walked over to Gwyn and held his arm up in offer to the bird, who just hissed and clicked its beak at him. Considering the situation for a moment, he told Gwyn to mimic his posture, wondering curiously at the bird's acceptance of Gwyn's arm, but refusal of his own.
"Greetings Little Princess, Rorka has been wanting to properly meet you for many years," the raven croaked in a raspy, vaguely female sounding voice.
"What do you mean, 'properly meet me'?" Gwyn asked nervously.
"Rorka watched Little Princess when Little Princess was a hatchling," the raven responded. Gwyn's eyes widened as she let out a soft gasp.
"What is it, mizimel?" Fili asked.
"When I was a child there was a field near my house that I walked by every day on my way to and from my lessons. There was a flock of ravens that lived in the field, and there was a white raven in the flock. I always felt like the ravens were watching over me, but especially the white one," she said quietly. Turning back to the white raven perched on her arm, Gwyn asked, "That was you, wasn't it?"
The raven preened a bit, seeming very pleased with herself that Gwyn remembered her. "Rorka will serve as messenger for Little Princess only, but the rest of Rorka's flock will serve Dwarf King Under Mountain," the bird said.
"Rorka, where is your flock?" Thorin asked.
"Rorka's flock nests on Ravenhill, as Rorka's ancestors have for generations, Dwarf King."
"Who leads your flock?" Balin asked.
"Roäc, son of Carc, who is Rorka's grand-father is our flock-chief," the raven responded.
"Thank you Rorka," Thorin said, before drawing Balin away to discuss the Company's situation with him.
When Durin's Day dawned three days after Rorka's appearance, the Company was restless. Thorin woke everyone well before dawn, so that they could begin their trek up the Mountain, courtesy of the stairs Gwyn had pointed out before. Everyone grumbled a bit at Thorin's impatience, but it was worrying Gwyn, who wondered if the Gold-Sickness was manifesting already, just because of the proximity to their goal. If anyone noticed her furrowed brows they attributed it to morning grumpiness, which they were all well used to from Gwyn at that point. However, when Gwyn started chewing her lower lip because of her concerns about Thorin, her princes took notice. Gwyn, Fili, and Kili had paused in their trek up the stairs to talk, having found a small landing.
"If you chew on your lip anymore, you're going to chew it right off!" Kili teased, before he used his thumb to gently tug her lip free of her teeth, and kissed her for good measure.
"What has you so worried, mizimel, that you would do such a thing?" Fili asked, concern for Gwyn lacing his tone.
"I'm worried about Bilbo, is all. The door will open tonight, and Bilbo will have to go face a dragon," Gwyn said. Fili and Kili each wrapped their arms around Gwyn, murmuring reassurances.
"Bilbo will be fine, pundurîth, you'll see," Kili said.
"Kili's right, mizimel. Bilbo will be fine. He was able to pass undetected for weeks when we were imprisoned in Mirkwood, it will be just the same," Fili said, pressing a kiss to the top of Gwyn's head.
"Gwyn, Fili, Kili, hurry up!" Thorin's voice called down to them.
"We'd best do as he says," Gwyn said with a small sigh. The three resumed their journey up the stairs, and before long they had caught up with the rest of the Company.
It was midday by the time the Company reached the top of the stairs. Everyone began setting up their camp for the night, since there wasn't much else to do. As the sun began its descent towards the western horizon, Thorin's anxiousness grew by leaps and bounds.
"I'm trusting that you are right and that this is where the hidden door will appear," he said gruffly to Gwyn.
"It is, I'm sure of it. And speaking of the hidden door, I've been thinking about the riddle on Thror's map. You said it was written in moonrunes, right?" she responded.
"Aye, that's correct," Thorin answered.
"Well, what if the keyhole is only shown by the moon?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"The map said that the last light of Durin's Day would reveal the keyhole," Balin answered, having been listening to their conversation.
"Exactly. Durin's Day is when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together. Strictly speaking, the last light of any day is the light of the moon, so the keyhole will probably be revealed by moonlight," Gwyn said confidently.
"But the map says the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day, the keyhole will be revealed by the sunset," Thorin insisted.
"As I said, the last light of any given day, including Durin's Day, is moonlight. But we shall see who's right this evening, do not be surprised when I'm right," Gwyn said, before she walked away to join Fili and Kili.
Eventually, the sun was only just visible on the horizon, and the tension in the Company was palpable. Thorin stood nearest to the wall of the Mountain where Gwyn had said the hidden door would be, key in hand, ready for the last light of the day to reveal the keyhole. When the sunlight faded, and there was no sign of a keyhole appearing, murmurs of disappointment rippled through the Company. Thorin turned away, shoulders slumped in defeat. Gwyn smiled to herself, and with one eye on the sky, counted down from three. When the clouds drifting across the sky parted and the moon shone through the break, Gwyn whistled shrilly to get Thorin's attention.
"Remember what I said about the moon revealing the keyhole? Take a look, it's appeared," she said with a smirk, pointing to the side of the Mountain. Sure enough, there was a slight shadow amongst the rock that hadn't been there a few minutes before, and a slight shimmer could be seen in the moonlight. Thorin hurriedly inserted his key and a dull click was heard when he turned it. With an expectant look at the Company, he placed both hands firmly on the rock near the keyhole and pushed. There was a faint scraping sound and the door opened inward. The dwarves all looked on in awe as they filed into the Mountain – into Erebor.
Everyone was looking around, taking in their surroundings, when Bilbo noticed runes carved above the door.
"What does that say?" he asked quietly. Surprisingly, it was Gloin who answered, voice hushed and reverent.
"Herein lies the seventh kingdom of Durin's folk. May the Heart of the Mountain unite all Dwarves in defense of this home."
"What's the 'Heart of the Mountain'?" Bilbo asked.
"That, my lad, would be the Arkenstone, the reason why you're here," Balin answered. Bilbo seemed to pale in the dim light filtering through the open door as he realized that it was time for him to fulfill his contract as the Company's appointed burglar.
Bilbo looked around at the Company, receiving reassuring looks from all except Thorin, who gave Bilbo an impatient look, and gestured further into Erebor with a sharp tilt of his chin. Bilbo gulped audibly, but he shakily nodded and began moving down the passage, deeper into the Mountain, preparing to face a dragon. The dragon. When Bilbo passed out of sight of the Company, they filed out of the narrow passageway and back onto the ledge where they had set up camp. Gwyn was checking her satchel from Lord Elrond for something to treat burns, when she saw Thorin's distinctive boots stop in front of her.
"You were right about the moonlight revealing the keyhole. For that, you have my thanks. My nephews are lucky to have you as their One. They chose wisely when they approached me during our stay in Beorn's Halls," he said gruffly.
"Thank you for thinking so," Gwyn muttered, blushing. Before Thorin could walk away though, she continued, "If I am not overstepping my bounds, I would remind you that there will come a time in the very near future, where you will be tested. Will you heed the counsel of others, or will their advice fall on deaf ears? I would ask that you hear their words, even if you do not listen to them," she finished quietly. She didn't want any of the others to hear her advice. Thorin nodded, puzzled by her cryptic words, before going to speak with Balin and Dwalin near the door.
Just as Gwyn found a jar labeled "to treat burns", Fili and Kili sat themselves on either side of her.
"So, pundurîth, what were you talking about with Uncle just now?" Kili asked, nudging her with his shoulder.
"He was saying how lucky you two are to have me around," she answered cheekily. "His exact words were 'My stone-headed nephews are truly fortunate to have you here to save their hides, and I thank you for being willing to put up with them!'" she said. When the two dwarves realized she was teasing them they laughed loudly at her attitude, especially when she had seemed so worried earlier that day. When their laughter died down a bit Gwyn smiled softly at Fili and Kili and amended her earlier statement, "All he really said was that you were lucky to have me as your One, and that you chose wisely when you spoke with him at Beorn's."
"Aye, he's right mizimel, Mahal has truly blessed us with you," Fili said gently, before giving Gwyn a soft kiss. Gwyn smiled when she felt Kili's lips on the knuckles of her right hand, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Both brothers put their arms around Gwyn, and together the three of them waited for Bilbo to return.