I do not own any of the characters or The Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC). These are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fanfics would not be in existence.
My apologies to my readers! I had fully intended to update last fall, but God had an unexpected plan for me. Turns out, I was misdiagnosed! Yep, six years ago I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome because, in short, they couldn't find anything wrong with me. But there was something wrong, because the pain and symptoms disabled me. But last September, my friend told me she had endometriosis and adenomyosis and needed a hysterectomy (uterus removal) and endometriosis excision (cutting it out). Then she suddenly looked at me, and said, "I think you have what I have." Fast forward, got RIGHTLY diagnosed by the only Endometriosis specialist between Gig Harbor, WA state, and Wisconsin- and he works at the hospital 5 minutes away! Fast forward, and last week I finally got my surgery, and I now have photographic PROOF that I did, indeed have endometriosis and adenomyosis and pelvic floor (muscle) dysfunction as a result of the endo. And proof that I wasn't crazy and truly WAS sick!
So my apologies for not updating since the end of August, but I had to do physical therapy for 16 weeks prior to surgery, and fighting with insurance to pay for it (I'm still on Idaho Medicaid until March 1 (got it when hubby had unpaid internship and I couldn't work due to the illness) and they did NOT want to pay for the much-needed surgery. It was a heck of a fight (hardest one I've ever done) on my part and thoroughly exhausting). But it's done! Thursday, January 17
th I had my hysterectomy and endo removal! I am now looking at 5 more weeks minimum of recovery, at which point PT will start up again. Here's hoping my brain cooperates for the duration of my recovery so I can make up for the months with no word! This should heal me of the debilitating illness and pain of the past six years, and it was a complete Godsend for sure! I respect other beliefs, but I am a Christian and I KNOW that God's hand was in this. After SIX YEARS of pain and suffering, I am now healed (except for actual post-op recovery)!
A reminder- check out my novel Amazing Grace on amazon DOT com! Search "Amazing Grace Amanda Longpre" and it will take you right to it! Only 1.99 on Kindle! Print also available 15.99
I would like to spread the TRUTH about endometriosis and adenomyosis because SO many myths abound that are considered fact, EVEN BY DOCTORS. The average time between symptoms and diagnosis is TWELVE YEARS and I find that absolutely unacceptable. As such, if you would like more information about these conditions, please feel free to email me through FF and I would be happy to fill in the blanks and correct the myths that the internet and even modern medicine have set in place so others won't suffer like I did.
Please review, favorite, and follow (this story and Amazing Grace too!) I really appreciate it!
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Cirashala practically glued herself to the left side of the path as she walked, mindful of the very steep drop not more than 4 feet to her right. Her slender hand trailed along the smooth stone wall, and she marveled that the elves were able to cut the path out of the rock itself without modern technology and equipment.
It's so smooth, she thought to herself in wonder. It's almost as if this part of the path had always been here. Her gaze wandered over toward the far side of the ravine to the south of them, and she stared at the very dim forest with no small amount of trepidation and fear. She was in almost uncharted territory right now. She knew what happened in the books, but Tolkien had been very sparse in his descriptions of this forest.
Dark, dank, and full of flies, moths, and spiders, she thought to herself as she swiped away yet another swarm of flies with her free hand. Flies, moths, and...spiders. She remembered all too well the chapter in The Hobbit when the dwarves were nearly eaten by the giant descendants of Ungoliant, and how the valor of a certain hobbit was the only thing that spared them all.
Her heartbeat quickened as fear filled her, and she quickly looked away. She knew that Mirkwood was an exceptionally large forest, and that there were many weeks of travel ahead before they should encounter the spiders' nests.
But what if they're closer? She thought to herself, trembling. We must be at least a fortnight behind schedule, and the spiders could have moved closer. She did not realize that she had stopped walking until someone tapped her on the back. The young woman nearly jumped out of her skin, and she turned toward Ori with very wide eyes.
"Cira?" he asked, concern in his gaze. "Why did you stop?"
"And why are you so pale?" Nori asked behind him. "You look absolutely terrified!" Cirashala's eyes widened further as she realized the entire company had now stopped and was staring at her. Her pale cheeks turned crimson with embarrassment as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.
"I…" she began, trying to find a way to explain her fright without giving herself away. "I just…remembered falling in the Goblin Tunnels. That's all. Frightened me for a minute." She swallowed heavily even as she tried to slow her breathing down.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights," Dwalin spoke up from his place near the front of the line. He looked incredulously at her, and the young woman's face burned even hotter as she realized that dwarves undoubtedly took heights for granted.
"N-no," she stammered, even as his eyebrow raised. "I just…have a healthy respect for them, that's all."
"I'd say she has a right to be," Bofur spoke up from his place near the front of the line. "I'd be frightened too if I had fallen like she and Kili did." Balin sighed.
"Lass," he said, looking at her with both seriousness and compassion. "I understand that the fall frightened you. It frightened all of us when you and Kili fell. But we're dwarves, lass. Our home is riddled with high passes and narrow bridges. You'd best be getting over that 'healthy respect' soon, else you will never be able to live inside the Mountain." Her eyes grew wide as she stared at Thorin, whose own head had quickly turned toward the older dwarf. Balin turned slightly and she could see the dwarf king glance down where the white-haired dwarf's left hand was concealed.
Iglishmêk, she quickly realized. He and Balin are signing to each other. It was rather obvious that the dwarf king had been a bit taken aback by Balin's comment, and she swallowed nervously.
I don't think Balin passed it by Thorin first, she thought to herself. She didn't have much time to wonder though, because the dwarf king turned back toward the group.
"Enough of this talk," he stated firmly. "We need to keep moving, not wasting time discussing heights of all things." He looked pointedly at Balin, before turning and heading east along the path. The young woman stared at the king for a moment, before looking down at her boots.
Of course, she thought to herself sadly. Dwarves are very secretive, and few are permitted to enter their kingdoms. She felt another slight tap on her shoulder, and looked down at Bilbo. He glanced up ahead, before leaning in.
"Cira, I don't blame you," he said even as his own hand trailed along the wall. "Hobbits are not exactly overfond of heights either." He glanced down and shuddered.
"No," he finished. "Not fond at all." She turned her head and looked to the front of the line again. She knew she was only meant to travel with the group until they reached Laketown. It was what was agreed-upon. But that did not stop her heart from feeling a deep sadness and disappointment at the thought of not being welcome in Erebor itself. She hadn't given it much thought up until now, but as she stared at the backs of her newfound family, she could not help but wish that she could just stay with them instead of living amongst the world of Men.
As one of them. As a dwarf.
XXX
Thorin's mind was troubled. It had been many long years since someone of a kindred other than dwarves had dwelt among them. In the First Age, the elves had at first thought the dwarves to be witless beasts, and had hunted them like carrion. Once it was discovered that dwarves, could, in fact, speak and were a race unto their own, the hunts stopped, but the animosity did not.
There had been brief moments in the past ages where elves and dwarves had been amicable toward each other, but they had been brief and short-lived. The Noldorin elves were most alike, each race taking a pride in the objects and riches they crafted, and there were many a remarkable creation made in those days. But Sauron had arisen and betrayed them, the balrog in Khazad-dum awoke, and the friendship between Thorin's people and those of Gil-galad failed.
Not since the Second Age had anyone other than dwarves dwelt within a dwarf kingdom, and Balin knew this. And yet, he had mentioned it to the young woman as though it were a certainty. The dwarf king had severely chastised the older dwarf for daring to make such a bold announcement without permission, but something held him back from completely turning down the possibility altogether.
She most certainly bore the blood of Men in her veins, that much was obvious. But he wasn't entirely convinced that she didn't have any dwarf blood in her whatsoever, and therein lay the problem. Few marriages between dwarves and men had ever existed, and were exceedingly rare and never mentioned. The couple never dwelt within the mountain halls of the dwarves together, and if the dwarf did not perish before their husband or wife did, then they would usually return to their people, alone and in grief. And almost every dwarf/man marriage that had happened ended this way.
He marveled that she had borne two children, as there were no records of any mixed-blood children bearing their own offspring. There had been reports of mixed-blood children occurring within these marriages, but none of those who returned ever brought a child with them, so Thorin chalked it up to mere rumors. Still, if she did have dwarf blood in her, he would be remiss in not offering her a place among his people.
And therein lay another problem. The dwarf king highly suspected that his subjects would not take too well to having a half-breed man-dwarf dwelling within their sacred halls. If they were successful in reclaiming Erebor, she would face many challenges within the mountain, and no dwarf would ever completely trust her or accept her as one of their own. It was only through her courage and actions on the journey so far that had led him and the others to be accepting of her place within the group, and his people could not be expected to feel the same. Mahal, Kili was a true dwarf, and even he had troubles in Ered Luin due to his sparser beard and lack of stature!
But if he were to leave her among the world of Men, she would be an outcast there as well. Kili's story about the Woodsmen had told him enough to know that she could be mistaken for a dwarf woman amongst Men, simply because of her height and that slight peach fuzz of a beard on her face, if they were to get close enough to see it. And no self-respecting dwarf man, a king no less, would ever leave a dwarf woman among Men unguarded and unprotected. It was not in their nature.
This is the trouble with dwarves marrying with Men, he thought to himself in frustration. Their children belong to both, and to neither.
He had every intention of keeping his word to Dwalin when he said that she would be welcome to visit Erebor as a dwarf-friend once the dragon was dealt with and the Mountain was reclaimed for their people. But living there was another thing entirely. Thorin sighed in frustration.
She cannot make anything easy, can she?
XXX
Thranduil looked at his high captain, concern in his gaze as the young, golden-haired elf finished orating the patrol reports. His people had become used to fighting the spawn of Shelob on their borders for several years now, but this was the first time that the foul beasts had been spotted within his realm proper.
"Are you certain?" he asked in Sindarin, and High Captain Legolas nodded.
"Yes," he replied in the same tongue. "Captain Erestor reported sighting them on the northern side of the elven path, and Junior Captain Tauriel reported a second nest on the western borders of our land." The elf king sighed in frustration.
His scouts had first reported spiders coming from the south several years ago, and had tracked them back toward the ruins of Dol Guldur. There the elven scouts had become afraid, though they knew not why, and had journeyed very quickly back to his realm.
"'A menace dwelt there,'" they said. "'We felt evil in the forest, and we would go no further. Not even if our Lord commanded us would we enter those ruins.'" At that time the elf king had moved his borders north, and a watch was set on the surround.
Ever since then, the spiders kept coming. More and more nests would be found along their borders, and patrols would be dispatched to kill the beasts and destroy the nests. Their numbers were growing, and his people had moved their forest dwellings closer and closer to the safety of his halls. He looked down from his chambers to the vast cavern below.
Thranduil had carved his halls many years ago out of living stone and cave with the dwarves' help before relations soured, and they and housed not only his kingdom, but his treasures, his prisoners and, in times of danger, his people. For the most part, his subjects lived, worked, and hunted in the forest filling his lands. In times of peace, they were content to dwell among beach, oak and yew. But as the spiders became more numerous, many of his people from the south had sought refuge in the massive underground palace. Those who had learned the skill of carving stone from the dwarves had delved deeper and created many living spaces to house them, and a market hall was constructed where they could trade or purchase various goods. His palace had, in effect, become a small elven city as well.
He thought about those who still dwelt among the trees. If the spiders had indeed broken the lines of the patrols, then they would be in danger. Elven women could fight just as well as elven men-if they were armed and trained to do so. But many of the women instead sought healing and the arts, leaving the men to answer the call to arms. They would fight valiantly, but more than one village had succumbed to the foul beasts, leaving the people who once dwelt there either dead, or fleeing to the halls of their king.
And though they were very few, he knew that there were indeed some children amongst his people as well. Thranduil knew the terror of nearly losing a child. Along with the spiders had come roving bands of orcs and a few other unsavory creatures, all issuing out of Dol Guldur. Not being aware of this, he had taken his wife and infant child out into the forest armed with only one sword, for the forest still had some light in the north then and the star-flowers his beautiful Lalaith loved were in bloom. Believing themselves to be safe from the orcs in well-lit clearings and paths after seeing no orcs in his lands for well over a hundred years, he had made the mistake of telling his guard that they could remain behind. A moment's decision to step away from his laughing wife and child for a few minutes to take care of a pressing need was a grievous error that would haunt him forever.
Remembering the other occupants of the room, Thranduil immediately ceased his painful memories lest they overwhelm him. Turning toward the only survivor of that fateful day besides himself, he did his best to appear stoic and kingly in spite of the pain in his heart.
"High Captain Legolas," he commanded, using the younger's military title in front of his subordinates, "Issue my orders. All of our people are commanded to withdraw into my halls until the spiders are forced from our lands permanently." And the other filth that came with them. The High Captain turned and spoke to his second-in-command, and the elf immediately left the chamber to do his Lord's command. Legolas turned to go as well, when Thranduil's voice stopped him.
"How is Junior Captain Tauriel progressing?" he asked as he poured himself some wine. "Is she ready?" Legolas nodded his head.
"Yes," he replied. "She is doing very well in both her archery and knife-work, and her patrol and tracking skills are quickly surpassing that of the other junior captains." Thranduil nodded in approval.
"Do you think she is ready?" he asked, seriousness in his gaze. "Being one of the Captains of the Guard is a great responsibility. I am surprised you recommended her, as she is still very, very young." Legolas nodded.
"She is young, yes," he replied, seriousness in his own gaze as well. "But she is very skilled, and dedicated. I think she would serve my Lord very well as a Captain of the Guard."
"Are you certain?" the king asked. "Never before has any elleth achieved the rank of Captain of the Guard before they were one thousand years old." Legolas nodded.
"Yes," he said firmly. "She is ready." Thranduil hummed, before sipping his wine.
"Very well then," he commanded. "You are to take her along on your patrols from now on, to ensure that she masters the skills needed for her upcoming advancement. I want those nests to be destroyed as quickly as possible, and more patrols along our western and southern border. The spiders must not be permitted to cross the Elven Path."
"And what of Dol Guldur?" Legolas asked. "Would it not be better to kill the spiders at their source, instead of allowing them to continue spawning and invading our lands from the south?" The young high captain did not expect the fiercely protective look in Thranduil's eyes as his head spun toward him.
"No one is to leave these lands," Thranduil said firmly. "Destroy the nests, and keep our borders and our people safe. That is your task." His tone left no room for argument, and Legolas bowed his head.
"I will do as my Lord commands," He stated, before leaving the king's chambers.
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A response to guest reviewer Lania (ch 39): It's all good! I keep forgetting to moderate my guest reviews (though I do respond to them all!) and now have to figure out how to get them back on there…I wonder if there's a time limit or something : ( Yes I am published! I released my first novel Oct 4 last year, and am working on 3 more (when my stupid brain cooperates anyway- it's working great for TLBTM but isn't doing so well cooperating with my other novels). If you do purchase it, please review it! I would love to know what you think : )
On your critique- I was SOOO tired when I wrote this one, and after I posted it I did notice the inconsistency too. I'm embarrassed to have made it, as I am a learning archer as well and know better O.o I was just too tired to go back and correct it at the time, and I was fighting with my computer for the next chapter (it just kept spewing out gobbledegook or something weird) so it ended up being forgotten. I will correct it when I have more time ;) Thanks for letting me know :)
As to harvesting- some things did well (I've got oodles of green beans and I freeze those because they are very tricky to can and I prefer frozen anyway) and some things not as well as I would have liked (my tomato starts flopped over the second I took them outside, so I had to plant some from seed and are only JUST seeing flowers on the dumb things, and I doubt wildfire smoke helped this past month :( But I am doing what I can, no pun intended ;)
A beekeeping course! I want to keep bees someday! I love honey and use it in tons of stuff, and I want to grow my fruit trees organically under mosquito netting to keep fruit flies out (horrible here my inlaws still strain larvae from their cherries even though they spray every two weeks), but that will keep bees out too so I plan on putting their hives under the fruit trees inside the netting structure (think Quonset hut but with mosquito netting as the roof so sun and rain still get in). I think fruit tree-flavored nectar honey would be delicious (I know huckleberry honey made from their blossoms is!) Good luck on the bees!
Thank you so much :) I am glad you're still reading after all this time! Lol I get you and I'm good :)
A response to guest reviewer Laina (ch 40)- I do :) Especially as seeing a steep ledge is bringing back memories of the fall in Goblin Town, and to this point the most horrifying moment in Fili's life (and Kili's too). As to mini, this chapter was around my average 2,000 words, but after reading it it did feel a bit shorter for some reason :( I will try to make the next chapter a bit longer (keep an eye out I want to post it really soon! ;)
Many thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- you guys are amazing! And if you read my novel Amazing Grace, please please please review! It helps new authors get noticed (and become better writers ;) A.L.