Middle-earth, and all who dwell within it, belongs to Tolkien. I am grateful to him for growing this beautiful garden in which our imaginations can play. Please review!
"We have told you of the Great War between dwarves and orcs that was fought upon Azanulbizar before the east gate of Moria, and that the battle was waged to avenge the death of our great-great grandfather. But King Thror would never have been murdered by the cursed orcs if he had not first been driven out of his kingdom under the mountain of Erebor."
Fili glanced at his brother. Kili was watching and waiting, wondering how much Fili would reveal and as eager to hear it as Betta.
"The Mountain of Erebor was founded as a city of dwarves nearly one thousand years ago by Thrain the First, but the dwarves left it not long after for the mountains of the north. There, the dragons who have been our enemies since before the days of Azaghal, of Belegost and the land under the sea, there dragons dwelt and harried our people. After many battles and the death of his own brother, King Thror left the north and returned to Erebor.
"This was three hundred and fifty years ago," Fili added, wracking his brain for the history lessons of his youth. "It was then that the mountain flourished, growing in gold and glory. Thror ruled as King Under the Mountain for nearly two hundred years. The halls of Erebor were grand and filled with light and song. By our folk, the Lonely Mountain is counted among the great kingdoms of Dwarves. It was not as beautiful as Moria, nor as sacred as Gundabad, but it was a powerful realm in its time, admired by both Men and Elves…"
"You speak as if you have seen the place," Betta said.
Fili shook his head. "No, but I have heard it described many times by those who have. Our mother and our uncle were born there and witnessed its fall; Thorin was younger than you are now when the dragon came, and that is very young for a dwarf." He thumbed his nose at her, but his smile was sad as he thought of his uncle alone in the dark halls of Ered Luin, brooding on past wrongs.
"Some say that it was the wealth and fame of Erebor, and the hills of gold piled in its treasury that tempted the dragon out of the north. He was not the eldest, nor the most terrible of evil things that survived and bred in the Forodwaith after the elder days, but he came down suddenly upon the mountain as a storm of thunder and raging fire and laid a siege for three days, burning to ashes the town of Dale that lay below along the River Running.
"In the end, even the great gates could not withstand the heat of his wrath, and they were broken. The dragon burst into the mountain, destroying as he passed from hall to hall.
"Many dwarves were killed that day, but more than hope could guess had been saved. Some escaped to the Iron Hills, and others into the south. Our uncle, Thorin, as I have said, survived with his brother and sister, our mother. Thrain's wife, Nis, who was our mother's mother, did not escape…"
Fili hung his head and Kili, too, looked away.
"I am sorry," Betta said.
"So are we all," he told her, but he was reminded of the many losses that she had suffered in her life. He felt uncomfortable to sit before her, mourning the death of dwarves that neither he nor his brother had met in life. To them, they were only faces carved in stone or etched upon metal lockets that hung about the necks of other dwarves. In that way, Betta was more like Thorin, grieving for faces that she had looked upon and loved.
"Thror and Thrain escaped the mountain and with their surviving kin they wandered south to make their living along the northern ridges of Ered Nimrais. Later they would go west and found the settlements in Dunland which you have seen.
"Not long were they there before Thror went wandering and was killed by Azog the Cursed who was then leader of the orcs that had taken possession of Moria. And the tale of the dwarves' revenge upon Azog, and his death at the hands of our cousin, Dain Ironfoot, is one that you have heard before.
"After that battle, Thrain led the remnant of his people west to Ered Luin, but soon after he, too, wandered as his father had and was lost. No dwarf knows now where he is or whether he is dead, and Thorin has ruled in the Blue Mountains ever since. But before his father left, Thrain laid upon his son the duty to one day take back Erebor and its treasures, to reclaim his rightful kingdom and revenge our family upon the dragon that stole it. Our mother heard this oath as it was spoken, and she was not pleased. She remembered the sight of the dragon circling overhead and the fear of that day, and she worried that Thorin's oath would bring darkness and death upon our family once more. For this reason, he spoke rarely of the Mountain while she yet lived."
Kili had been listening intently to the tale, for much of Fili's speculation was news to him. "I did not know of this," he said, looking up at his brother.
"Because our mother did not want you to worry," Fili told him. "She would not have spoken of it to me, except that she knew that she would not always be able to keep an eye on her brother." He sighed and shook his head. "Many of the things she told me, I did not understand at the time. I was young and careless then, thinking that Thorin's grief could not touch us. No dragon had troubled the days of our youth, as it had theirs…"
Fili puffed his pipe and was thoughtful for some time. It was only when he looked down to see Betta still watching him intently that he remembered why he had begun the tale.
"There now," he told her, "after too much talk, I shall finally tell you what you wish to know. I do not tell it lightly, but we are friends now, are we not? And I will trust you, though other dwarves would say that I should not."
"This dwarf will not say so," Kili assured him. "He has often encouraged you to trust more."
"And he has often interrupted the tale that he so earnestly wished to hear," Fili replied. Kili grinned and gestured for his brother to continue.
"For the last several years since our mother's death, and growing in recent months, I believe that the thought of his promise has lain heavily upon our uncle. He does not speak of it openly, not yet, but those who know him well have begun to suspect that he is up to something. I think that he has often brooded on the time to come when he should fulfill the oath to his father and lead his people back to Erebor, as Thror once did. But there was always the dragon to consider and it is only recently that our folk have been well off enough that he might make the attempt."
"You see, we are not so rich as you seem to think us," he added, "and even royal dwarves must work to earn their living."
"To a woman with ten half-silver coins to her name, you seem very rich indeed," she answered. "And you are rich in family, which I no longer am…but I did not mean to offend you with my words."
"And we are not offended," Kili said. "On with the tale, brother!"
Fili nodded. "Much of what I say now I have only guessed at, but we know that one month ago, our uncle met as if by chance with the wizard Tharkun who will undoubtedly have whispered some plan of his own into Thorin's ear. He has become convinced that the time is come to retake the mountain and if nothing happens to change his mood, this very year he will set out east.
"There are some among our folk who blame the wizard for the loss of Thrain and Thror. They believe that Tharkun lit some spark under them that set them wandering – and it is certainly a habit of the wizard to do such things to unsuspecting men and dwarves. Our uncle, I think, does not believe this. Thorin knows more than he says aloud but he would not trust the wizard unless he believed that some other dark power had drawn them to their end."
Fili sighed. "Whatever has caused it, Thorin has made up his mind to return to Erebor. He will undoubtedly wish to gather an army and overwhelm the dragon by force, but it seems unlikely that one will be found." He shook his head and remembered Balin's words, that their folk were not eager for war. He knew what the old dwarf meant. Even those who still counted themselves as warriors were reluctant to return to the battlefield, not when their numbers were still so few and their homes and families were safe.
"With or without an army, he will go," Fili said. "My brother and I have made up our minds that he will not go without his nearest kin beside him, but Thorin thinks us too young and green to be of use on such a quest. And so, you see how your arrival at Ered Luin with your little box gave us just the thing we needed at just the time we needed it to prove to our uncle that we are not as inexperienced as he thinks us."
"At least we shall not be after all the trouble that we have had on this journey," Kili added.
Fili coughed uncomfortably. "Yes, well… Now, Betta, you know what my secret has been. I made up my mind almost as soon as I heard your story that I might use you for my own purpose. Our uncle has all but promised us that he will reconsider his decision if we prove our courage in the north and return with profit in our pockets."
He chewed the nub of his pipe and waited for her to be angry, but she only frowned and looked down at the road. She did not look at him, and he could not guess her thoughts.
"Believe me when I say that I have greatly improved my opinion of you in the weeks since our introduction or I would not have told you all that I have tonight," he assured her. "When first we met, I did not think that this quest would take us very far or for very long from Ered Luin. I do not know what I expected, and it has always been the weakest part of my plan. A simple quest would not convince our uncle, but a dangerous one was… not what I had planned."
"Your plans seem to have a way of going awry," Betta said. Her shoulders trembled, he thought with anger until he heard her quiet laughter. "So, this is the great secret that has caused so much trouble between us!" she said. "A young dwarf who would prove himself to his king uncle. Why not admit it from the start? We might have had an easier journey."
Fili looked at her in surprise. "I suppose that we might," he said, "but our uncle has fought in many battles and made many enemies. The name of Thorin Oakenshield is well known among the goblins of the Misty Mountains, and there are those who might like to hear that the heir of Durin's line was out wandering with a small company through dangerous lands. Thorin would not be the first King who fell prey to the Wild."
"I suppose that is true," Betta admitted.
"This is a secret that our uncle would be very angry to hear that we have shared," Fili added, "but I trust you with it now, for we are friends."
Betta frowned. "Yes, friends…" she said. "But a dragon... That is certainly not something to be taken lightly, if the old stories are true…"
Fili glanced at his brother. He knew that Betta was not a dwarf, however like one she sometimes seemed to him, and she would not understand the honor and duty of a dwarf to his kin, even in the face of a dragon. She would think their quest was a fool's errand.
"There now," Kili spoke up, "my brother has come clean to you, and we both agree that he should have done it sooner. Your journey is just one stone step of ours towards a greater quest with a greater reward, and he has been ashamed of it. Tell Fili that you are neither angry with him nor jealous of our future wealth and perhaps we can yet get some sleep tonight."
"A stepping stone, yes," she said, still only half-hearing what was said, "but one that is not safe to balance all your hopes upon. You say your uncle wants you to return with profit in your pockets, but what of that? We do not know what profit might lie in the north. Have we had adventure enough to convince him of your worth? What proof does he demand?"
"I suppose that I had hoped to bring back our promised share of the treasure," Fili admitted.
"And if there is no treasure?" she persisted. "I do not enjoy reminding you that there is only my father's unfounded belief that says there is anything but snow and stone at the end of our quest."
"There is your father, and there is this," Fili said, taking the pearl from his pocket and holding it out to her. "This says that there is a treasure there."
Betta flinched back and stared at the thing as if it were a burning hot coal in his hand. Her reaction puzzled Fili and Kili who saw it also, but the dwarves knew that the pearl had been a point of contention between them, and Fili put it away without thinking too hard on her sudden horror of it.
"If you are worried that we will abandon you and your quest if we find evidence that there is no golden reward in our future then put aside your fear," he said. "There was a time when that might have been true, but that time is not now. We are friends and companions on this journey; my brother and I shall see you through to the end. If there is no treasure, then we must hope our tales and our bruises are proof enough for Thorin."
He frowned and his gaze grew distant. His hand was still in his pocket, clutching the pearl, and there was a strange light in his eyes. He said, "I think that there will be treasure…"
He nodded to himself. "Yes, I think there will be. I have never been as confident as my brother in this, but there has been too much danger for there not to be some reward in our future. Your friend Ranger's tale has given us a clue. The people of Ankor were well-off in their time, and they came down from these hills. It may be that they have left some treasury hidden and forgotten that we are meant to discover."
"Maybe…" Betta said. She was not pleased for in his eyes she saw the same gleam that she had seen on the faces of dwarves before him when they counted in their hearts the gold that they would earn through their work. She had not recently seen it upon Fili's face, but it had been some time since he had brought out the pearl before her.
"There is something else that bothers you," Kili said. He saw the wary look she gave his brother, but not his brother's look.
"Many things," she answered, "but none that need worry your sleep tonight. I am glad to know the story of Erebor. To prove yourself to your uncle is noble motive for a quest, but I understand your desire to keep it secret. No one shall hear of this from me."
"Am I forgiven, then?" Fili asked.
She smiled and then she laughed when she saw how earnest he was for an answer. "Yes, forgiven," she said, "but you are no less a fool in my eyes."
"That I can accept," he agreed and smiled back at her, "for now."
Kili shook his head at them and thought them both great fools, but he did not say so. He rested his head back against the black stone. It was his turn to watch, but he gave no more thought to standing guard and soon fell fast asleep.
Thank you so much for reading! It's been such a long journey, both in the story and in how long it's taken me to write all this. I'm so glad that you're all enjoying it so much.
-Paint