The Adventure of Andrea Baggins

Tales of Moria

After chatting for a while longer, everyone lay down to get some rest. Balin had the first watch. But Andy couldn't sleep. She had her bedroll a little away from the camp so she wasn't too close to the dwarves. But that also meant she was furthest away from the fire. And the nights were still a little fresh. After she still couldn't sleep about half an hour later, she got up and walked over to her stallion. Suddenly a distant screech pierced the air. Startled, Andrea whirled around, her hand instinctively pulling out a dagger. Balin, keeping an eye on everyone, raised his eyebrowes in surprise. He had no idea, she had a weapon on her.

"Was that, what I think that was?", she asked. Fili and Kili, both still up, exchanged a look.

"Orcs"

Andy took a deep breath and put her dagger away again.

"Throat cutters", Fili continued. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them. "

"Well, seems like some things never change", Andy muttered to herself, turning away from the dwarves.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone is asleep", Kili spoke. Andy knew they were joking. But she was about to lash out on them, of they did not stop. "Quick and quiet. No screams, just a lot of blood. "

Andy spun around on her heal, with fury in her eyes. Fili and Kili flinched startled, not expecting such a reaction.

"You should not be joking about something like that.", she growled. Immediately, Fili and Kili looked guilty.

"We're sorry. We didn't mean anything by it. "

"No you didn't", Thorin spoke and stood up from his spot. "You know nothing of the world. And neither does the girl. "

Outraged by that statement, Andy stared after Thorin with her mouth agape.

"That's it", she said and threw her hand up into the air. "I'm gonna throw the next apple to his face, when I lay hands on one next time. From close up. With a hammer. "

Fili and Kili chuckled and watched her pace left to right muttering angrily about their uncle.

"Don't mind him, Lassie", Balin cut in, setting down closer to the fire. "Thorin has more cause than others, to hate the orcs. "

Andy moved closer and slowly sat down opposite of Balin.

"After the dragon took the lonely mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom Moria. But our enemy had gotten there first. "

Andy looked down into the flames. Old pictures filling her head, adding to the story Balin was telling.

"Moria has been taken by legions of orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the defiler. The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began with beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad with grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we do not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog, the Defiler, learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces railed and drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night. For our dead were beyond the count of grief. We view had survived. "

Andy felt a tear fall down her cheek. She remembered that. But she was not aware, that these dwarves she was holding company, where the ones, she once helped all those years ago.

"And I thought to myself then, there is one, who I'd follow. One, I could call king. "

"And the pale Orc?", Andy asked with small voice.

"He sluck back into the whole he came from. That filth died of his wounds long ago", Thorin cut in, walking back to his bedroll. Andy didn't think so. That orc would not give up on his goal that eazily.

"Balin missed a part of the tale", Thorin suddenly spoke. Surprised, Andy, Fili and Kili eagerly looked up to him. Waiting for him to continue. "We weren't alone", he spoke after another few moments of silence. Andy's eyes widened. She did not think that someone actually saw here that day.

"Who was it?", Kili asked leaning closer like a eight year old kid.

"A shadow. She must have been there, before we arrived at the gates of Moria. No one could have been there in time by any other chance. "

"She?", Fili asked surprised. Thorin nodded.

"Aye. She. After my grandfather was beheaded and my father disappeared, Azog was after me. There was no one to help me. Just as the pale orc was about to thrust his mace through my chest, she came leaping out of the crowd. She was wrapped in a cloak that was as bright as daylight on the outside. Inside as dark as the deepest dwarven cave under a mountain. She fended off the first blow. Before Azog could launch another attack, she threw me an oak branch. "Catch!" she called over to me. The only word I ever heard from her. I caught the branch and just managed to protect my body before the pale orc's mace struck me again. Then, as I was able to stand my ground again, she retreated, knowing very well that this was my fight to win. But she left me one more gift. She threw me her sword. The very same sword I used to defeat Azog. After we won the war, I left the sword behind and rammed it into the rock where we had lost so many of our kind. But when I looked back. The sword was gone. "

Silence fell over them. When Andy thought about it now, she hadn't really been stealthy that day. She probably hoped that the dwarf had forgotten about her. She had no idea that it was the prince she had saved his life back then.

"Do you think she's still out there?", Kili asked still caught by the magic of the story. Fili gave him a smack around his head.The second that evening.

"You don't just ask things like that," he scolded his younger brother in a whisper. "Besides, it's not like she's Uncle's guardian angel who follows him everywhere. If that were the case, she would have shown herself much earlier. Or at the latest now that we are on our quest to return home. Can you see her anywhere?"

She's right here, Andy wanted to say, but of course she didn't. She stood up and went back to her bedroll. The dark looks of Thorin's eyes dug into her back.

"Carve my face into a piece of wood and stare at that. It will last longer," she called over, which elicited a stifled laugh from Fili and Kili. Thorin finally turned around and laid down facing the other way. Andy exhaled in relief, her muscles relaxing. But she was still cold. Fili and Kili whispered quietly to each other. They snuck over to her and picked up her bedroll, where she still laid still on top. They waddled back with her and made their way through the sleeping bodies on the floor.

"What are you two doing?", she muttered, not opening her eyes. After they set her down, she could hear them lying down again, left, and right from her.

"You were cold. "

"So, we brought you closer to the fire. "

Feeling the warmth of the fire, the shelter of the small cave and their bodies against the wind Andy started to drift off. Turning onto her side she pulled her cloak tighter around her body.

"Thanks boys", she whispered and finally fell asleep.