"It seems we have a visitor."

Kili's hand moved toward his sword, undoubtedly – and understandably – thinking that the strange creature must be of orc-kind, but Fili stopped his brother's hand. He had never heard of an orc that would pillage found baggage without first making sure that the owners of said baggage were dead or bound. Fili could also see all too clearly that the blue light of the lamp shone upon the sharp blade of a large and heavy axe lying within easy reach of their visitor's hand. Though the weapon was not so well-made as the axes of the Dwarves, something told Fili that if he or his brother made any wrong move, they would find the creature fast enough on the draw to make up the difference.

Not knowing who their strange guest was, nor what it wanted, Fili was not willing to risk his brother's life by attacking a creature that had not yet attacked them.

Kili glanced at his brother, less eager to give up what he thought was the advantage, but he followed Fili's lead and did not draw his weapon – though he kept his hand close to the hilt. The two brothers sat upright and close together, watching warily the creature that seemed for its part to be wholly occupied with searching their supplies and was indifferent to the Dwarves themselves.

Their baggage – Betta's pack and their two slings, one of meat and one of torch-wood – had been dragged away from the brothers while they slept and now they lay on the other side of both the cold campfire and the lamp. The slings had already been despoiled, though the meat was stacked neatly on its cloth and the torches were laid on theirs. The creature was chewing something in its mouth and, by that token, Fili guessed that it had already helped itself to a bite of their food. Now, it pawed through Betta's pack, taking each item out one at a time and dividing all into various piles the meaning of which Fili could not begin to guess.

With leisure to examine their uninvited guest, he reluctantly acknowledged that it was not of orc-kind, though he was not yet ready to admit that the strange creature was a Dwarf. Its features were too narrow, its body too thin, but it was also too short by far to be a Man.

"Where did it come from?" Fili asked. After Betta had left them, he and his brother had taken to speaking the Dwarf tongue to each other, and he used it now, not thinking. The creature seemed so lost in its own world that it did not occur to him that it might be listening.

Kili shrugged. "He was here when I woke, and that was only a few moments before I woke you. I challenged him, but he gave no answer. He only hissed at me and went back to the search."

Fili frowned at that. It did not help him to discover what they should do now. So long as the creature sat before them, they were trapped between it and the blind wall behind. The roadway was not so wide that they might slip past without coming in range of the creature's sharp axe, and they could not escape without their food, anyway, which was scattered across the floor. And yet, the more that Fili considered their visitor, the more he was certain that the creature must live underground and in the very tunnels that trapped him and his brother. If they could make friends with their guest, he might convince it to show them the way out, or at least to show them where they might find food and fuel in the underground caverns and thereby extend their life long enough to find the exit themselves.

The creature had emptied nearly everything out from Betta's pack when it gave a sudden cry of surprise that interrupted Fili's thoughts. He looked up to see that it had thrust its arm up to the elbow into the pack and was drawing out something small and round and bright.

At first, Fili did not recognize the thing. The creature held it close between its hands and breathed on it, then polished it on its vest. It held the round thing up to its eye, then smiled and bared its broken teeth at it. The lamplight flashed over the thin circle of gold and inlaid silver. The creature made a move, as if to slip the circle into its own pocket, and Fili could stand it no longer. He leapt to his feet and put his hand on his sword.

"No!" he said. "That is not yours." The command in his voice was as stern as any king's, and the creature gave a start, nearly dropping the mirror. "Take what you will of our wood and food, if thief you are, but that glass belongs to my wife and I will not suffer you to keep it!"

The creature glanced at Kili, who was staring at his brother with more than a little surprise by the words that he had chosen – or, one word in particular. And yet, if his brother chose to engage the creature in battle, Kili would stand by him. He rose to his feet and put his hand on his own sword, but he did not draw it yet. His earlier eagerness was gone and, the more he looked at the little creature, the more he felt that it would be wrong to fight so small a being, two to one and with their stronger weapons.

The creature looked back and forth between the two brothers and down at their weapons especially. It frowned, and Fili saw its large eyes dart toward the axe at its knee. He tightened his grip on his sword, but to his surprise, their enemy did not attack. The creature sat suddenly back on its heels and laughed a deep, throaty laugh that echoed down the passage like the groaning of ancient stone deep underground.

"Ah-ha! Sit, you," it said, when its laughter had lessened a little. "This one be no thief. No, not even to steal from Khazâd trespassers who come in uninvited."

Fili did not sit down, not right away, but he did step back in confusion and surprise. Though the creature's words were stilted and strangely spoke, the syntax was not wholly accurate and the grammar would have been more at home falling from the mouth of a child, there was no question that the strange creature was speaking Khuzdul, the secret language of the Dwarves. A wiser Dwarf might have been able to say whether it was the ancient language itself much distorted by long years' separation, or a dialect of one of the distant Houses. Fili did not know, but he guessed the former, that here was a member of the Dwarven race long sundered from its kin.

After speaking the name of the Khazâd, the creature spat upon the ground. It would have been an insult, but the brothers were both in too dire of straits to take it as such. The action was performed precisely, with such straightforward and indifferent manner, and – as the brothers would soon see – the creature repeated the act with every mention of the Dwarves, their race or their culture. In time, Fili would begin to suspect that the gesture, for this creature, at least, had no meaning at all and was only done out of habit not malice.

Kili took his hand from his sword, but Fili did not do the same just yet. He stepped toward the creature and thrust out his hand, demanding the return of his property.

Their visitor laughed again and dropped the mirror onto his palm. There were other things of Betta's in the piles scattered about, but Fili knew that now was not the time to stoop to gather them up. He pressed the mirror tight to his palm and stepped back again to his brother's side. They were about to enter into some very difficult negotiations, and it were best for them both if they did not appear to be too greedy at the start.

The brothers both sat down again, close to each other and with their weapons near, but the creature drew its knees up to its chest and looked across at them with shining eyes, seeing much but saying nothing.

"We did not expect to find any peoples here," Fili said. "But we are glad to find them, and your company is welcome." He spoke as politely as he could but did not know how his words would translate into the strange dialect of the creature. He spoke Khuzdul, because it was the only language that he knew they had in common. "Who are you? What manner of folk are you?" he asked.

Their visitor laughed once more and shook its head. "Strange are the ways of Khazâd. They demand Magha's name, yet guard their own so carefully," it said.

"I make no demands," Fili said quickly, "and I would not ask for your true name. I only ask what name my brother and I may call you."

"He is making fun of us," Kili muttered in the common tongue. He did not like the creature's laugh or the way it spat every time it spoke of the brothers' own folk.

"That one does not know his danger," Magha said, speaking to Fili, but pointing a stubby finger at Kili. "He does not know his luck! Magha found you first, and she is very kind to let you sleep while she looks to see what manner of creature are you. Other Naug would not be so kind. They kill you first and find out what you are after."

"Naug?" Kili repeated. "That is what your people are called?" He thought it was a more polite question than to ask whether Magha were really a woman. If she was, her beard would have been the pride of any Dwarf-woman of Ered Luin, but the rest of her was far from fair. "Then you are Naugrim, a remnant of the Exiles who were the Petty Dwarves of old?"

Kili knew the old tales as well as any Dwarf, but he had never put much faith in their veracity. Magha was not so eager. She scowled at him. "Not petty," she said, "not Khazâd!" She spat on the floor at his feet. "We are Naug! Khazâd did not want us, did not need us. Now, we not want you. Go away, Khazâd. These are not your hills. Go home!"

Magha turned her face away from them, but Fili knew that she was still watching out of the corner of her eye. Her axe was nearby, but he guessed that she watched more to see what they would do than out of fear that they would attack her.

"My brother did not mean to offend you," Fili said gently, making note of her gender but not mentioning it. He had learned a great deal of diplomacy in dealing with Betta over the past few weeks and was much improved since their first meeting at the pub beneath Ered Luin. He certainly knew better than to catch this woman by the arm.

"As I said," he went on, "we did not expect to find anyone living in these halls. They are very beautifully carved, but seemed empty to us."

Magha looked around again. She still frowned at Kili, but Fili smiled so politely at her, that she waved her hand at him and sat down again to talk. "Some halls are empty, yes," she said, and there was the trace of sadness in her voice. "Some are less empty. Khazâd know nothing about it. They go running in where they are not welcome. Khazâd and Urkhs, too, always take what is not yours."

Fili frowned at the comparison with orcs, but he continued to smile. "You have seen all of our supplies here," he said. "We have taken nothing from you. What we carry is our own that we brought with us or what came from the hoard of the old troll east of here…" he hesitated. "Or, I believe that the cavern lies east of here. We have been lost for many days in these tunnels looking for a way out."

"You came in," Magha said, not much impressed. "Go that way out, clever Khazâd."

She smirked at him, and Fili nodded. "Yes, we did come in. We were captured by the troll and brought into his cavern, but that way is now blocked. An avalanche covered it four days ago. We have been searching ever since, following the tunnels west until we found this road."

Magha frowned and said nothing to that. Kili cleared his throat, and she shot him a withering glance, but he pressed on, careful to speak more politely this time. "Perhaps you might know a way out from these hills?" he asked. "If so, then we will gladly be on our way home. If not, then we must search for a way ourselves…"

The Naug-woman laughed at him. "Search? Ha! Search all your life and you will not find it, but your life be short down here. Food for eight days, I think," she said, holding up eight fingers to drive home the point. Fili noticed that she used seven fingers and one thumb. The fourth finger of her right hand was missing.

"But you do know a way out?" he asked, trying to hide his desperation.

"This one knows many ways out to the over-lands," she said. "Many ways, and many that Khazâd cannot use. Naug use them. Naug will kill you if they see you."

Fili sighed and felt his hopes, struck down once more. "Then we are trapped," he said, looking sadly at his brother. "Well, Kili, will you blame your brother for his failures now?"

"We are in no worse a place than we were before we went to asleep," Kili said. "Although, if there are many more of these… Naug, down here, then we must go carefully. If they are as dangerous as she says…"

"Yes, yes, very dangerous," Magha said, but she had gone back to searching through Betta's pack. This time, she stuck her hands into each of the small pouches that were sewn outside the larger bag.

Fili frowned as he watched her and began to wonder just how much of her information they could trust. She might just as easily be leading them on in hopes of luring them into a trap or convincing them to trade all their supplies for an exit that they might easily find themselves if they had a few more days to look.

Almost as if she had heard his thoughts, Magha looked up and her eyes met his. Fili sucked in a breath. For an instant, the sharp gleam in the Naug-woman's eyes had been identical the looks that he remembered, to the sharp, knowing glances that Betta used to give him early on in their adventure. In those days, Fili had often been convinced that Betta could see right through him and could read his thoughts, but her own thoughts were forever barred from him.

It was a fleeting impression but shook Fili very deeply. He held tight to Betta's mirror until the round edges cut into his hand and any thought he might have had of negotiations was put on hold as he struggled with his grief.

Kili had been watching Magha as well, but his view of her looks was less impressive. He saw only the clever, cunning eyes of a creature used to sneaking about and bartering for its next meal. There was pride in there also, and Kili guessed that it would cost them dearly to parlay with this woman.

"You said that you knew many ways out that were dangerous," Kili said, ignoring the sneering way she looked at him. "You said many, but not all. So there is a road that your people do not use? One that we may take that will bring us out from under the mountain?"

Fili looked at his brother, then back at the Naug-woman. He saw her eyes darting between them, weight the chances that both Khazâd would be fooled by her lies.

"If there is a road, we will pay you to guide us," Fili said. "We have little, but that is all worth nothing if we cannot get out of this place."

Magha's eyes narrowed, but she nodded to him. "There is one road that the Naug do not use, but it is dangerous, too. Dangerous to Naug, and to Khazâd."

"You need not take us all the way," Fili said. "Only take us as far as you can, and then tell us how to cross the rest of the way. We will go alone if we must."

Magha frowned at them, and she seemed to gauge how well the dwarves would be able to finish the journey alone. "You say old troll caught you, took you to his cave before snow-fall," she said. "Where is old troll, then? Nothing he catches gets away."

"The troll is dead," Kili told her. "We drove him into the sun. Betta and I, we…" He felt silent and glanced at Fili, but Magha did not understand.

"Betta?" she echoed. "Strange name for Khazâd." Her eyes were on Fili.

"It is not my name," Fili said. "You have told us your name, but we have not done you the same courtesy. I am Fili, and this is my brother Kili, whose name you have already heard. We have journeyed long from Ered Luin, the mountains south and west of these, and we are at your service for the kindness that you have shown in not killing us in our sleep." He sighed. "Betta is… was, my wife," he said. "We were three when the orcs attacked us in the room below, and her body was lost to the river. Now, we are only two, my brother and I."

Magha nodded, sadly. "That is bad news," she said with more kindness in her voice than she had shown them before. "Bad to lose wife, very bad." She shook her head. "But Urkhs is dead, too, that killed your wife. No worries that."

"We counted six orcs that attacked us down below," Kili said. "Five, we killed, but one escaped. Do you mean that you killed that one, or that you saw the other five?"

"Four, five, six…" Magha counted them off on her fingers. "Five bodies down below, gone now. Naug took them. One more they found in dark places. Him, they killed. Six we counted, came from old fortress, all dead. Others come here sometimes, but we kill them. No other Urkhs but six dead. No worries that." She bared her teeth, and it was a small comfort to Kili that the Naug seemed to love even less the orcs than they did dwarves. He shuddered to think how it might have happened if he and his brother had stumbled onto a large number of Naug while they had walked blindly up the dark road.

Fili was glad to hear that the escaped orc had been killed, though he would have much rather had his vengeance upon the rat. He was also glad that the Naug, even if they were Exiles, had kept clean the tunnels of other vermin. They and the old troll were both to thank for the brothers' safe passage so far.

"The news is good to hear," Fili said, "but my brother and I must still leave this place. I ask again, will you take us to the road that you know and tell us how to get safely out? We will pay any price that you ask."

"Not any price," Magha said, shaking her finger at him. "You hold back like Khazâd, keep best things for yourself."

Fili remembered Betta's mirror that he had refused to let go. He looked down at it sadly; he had few things left of hers, but if the Naug-woman demanded this thing, or anything of Betta's, or everything of the Dwarves, they must give it up.

His sad thoughts were interrupted by Magha's deep laugh. "You think I want mirror," she said, shaking her head. "No use for that here."

"What else would you have?" Fili asked. "We hold back nothing but our weapons and the clothes that we will need to guard us against the cold winds outside."

"Ha! Not even Khazâd should be left to walk naked," Magha laughed again, "not through Black Door, very dangerous that. Bad air, bad water, makes skin burn and eyes sweat! Fire dies and meat rots."

"Is it so bad as that?" Fili asked, dismayed. "If it is, then we will have more trouble than the crossing. We must have light to see our way, and food to eat, too. We cannot be sure that there will be meat to hunt when we first get out into the barren lands beyond."

As they had been speaking, Magha had continued to search and empty Betta's pack. She had taken from the small pouches, things that even Fili did not remember seeing before. Most were of little use, a packed with needle and thread, string and feathers for fletching arrows, a single copper coin. Finally, Magha reached into the last pouch and drew out the leather envelope that Betta had used to carry round her neck and that held the map of their quest and the leather drawing that Kili had made of her tattoo. Fili remembered seeing her remove it, after she had given up her quest for him, and slip it into the pack.

Magha unfolded the pages. She seemed to have little interest in the map, but the scrap of leather, she laid out carefully and held her hand over the mark as she whispered, "This be good luck. Clever Khazâd to carry such secrets with them."

"Clever?" Kili glanced at his brother. "You recognize that mark? We have seen something like it carved twice in the stones above."

"Copied from them, you did, clever Khazâd. Very clever."

Fili shook his head. "No, we did not copy the mark from the stone floor. If you know those marks, then you also know that this one is not exactly the same as they are."

Magha frowned and leaned down until her nose was pressed nearly against the cloth and her eyes picked out the few differences. "No, not the same," she said finally. "But this mark will not help you here. No safe passage here for Khazâd. Where you find this?"

"It was known to my wife's family and stained into her skin. My brother copied the mark from her."

If he expected the Naug-woman to find that strange, he was disappointed. Magha nodded if she had expected such an answer. "Your wife was not Khazâd," she said.

"She was a human woman," Fili answered. "Why does that matter?"

Magha sighed and seemed to sink deeper into herself. "Does not matter," she said, shaking her head sadly. "No matter no more. Men lived here once, high above here. They trade with Naug and, sometimes, Men come carrying Safe Passage." She nodded to the mark. "They come for feast and trade or to visit with us. They tell fine tales. I hear them from mother of my mother, but Men left long ago. No new tales for long, long time."

Kili frowned. He knew that he and his brother could not make use of a mark meant for Men. If Betta had lived, perhaps the Naug would have let her pass and led her out through safe passages, but they would not help two brothers of the Khazâd.

He frowned, but suddenly he looked up. "Magha, you say you like tales and stories. My brother and I have been on many adventures in recent weeks. Would you guide us to the road you know and help us on our way in exchange for a tale?"

Magha made a face at him. "No Khazâd tales," she said angrily and spat on the floor.

"It is not a tale of the Khazâd but one of the tales of Men that you like so well," Kili said. "There once was a hero of the northern lands who went into the Forodwaith and cut from the belly of a dragon a large and beautiful pearl…"

"Kili, no!" Fili remembered all too well Betta's anger when he had revealed too much of her tale to Harandir. He could not stand to her the history of his love told to the creature squatting down before them, but he had no reason to fear. Magha spoke up as well and waved her hand at Kili.

"Not that one," she said, unimpressed by his beginning. "Naug know that tale. Everyone know that tale. Pearl lost, dragon dead, the end."

"You know the story?" Fili asked, amazed.

"Yes, yes," Magha waved her hand again. "Big war, dragon dead. No worries for him, eh?" She grinned at her own joke. "You want to trade, must be new tale of Men. Not old tale everybody knows."

Fili bit his tongue, though it took all his strength not to demand answers. He had told Betta once that they would not find anyone under the mountain who could answer her questions but, it seemed, he had been wrong. Here was just the person, but they could not press her yet. She was in a good mood and Fili only wished that he had listened more often down in the town to the tales of Men. He could think of none but what Betta had told him of herself and her family.

He shook his head. "All my tales are of the Dwarven folk," he said.

"No Khazâd!"

Kili laughed. "Well, I will do one better than you, brother," he said. "And this is a tale that Betta will not mind me sharing. It is a legend of the southern horse-lords, of tall Men with hair as yellow as the sun and eyes as sharp as swords. Long ago, a great war was fought between the wild Men of Dunland and the golden-haired soldiers of King Helm Hammerhand…"