✓ | 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ♡ Legolas Greenleaf

1.2 | The Dwarven King

"Uh, what beast?" Bilbo inquired making Maristela smirk, She had seen a great Firedrake before; Not Smaug but another who was merely a child compared to the dragon that took over the halls of Erebor. "Well, that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age," Bofur began explaining to the Hobbit, "Airborn fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meathooks, extremely fond of precious metals--"

Bilbo cut Bofur off, "Yes, I know what a dragon is." Maristela shook her head before locking eyes with Gandalf, The wizard knew she would be happy to join the company but she knew he needed that Hobbit to come along. "I'm not afraid! I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie!" Ori exclaimed as he stood from his seat, Dori demanding him to sit down with an unimpressed expression.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest," Balin expressed with a frown causing an uproar from the company of Dwarves. "We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us, to the last Dwarf!" Fíli exclaimed with pride. "And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time," Kíli spoke up next.

Maristela turned to her father with a raised brow, "Well, how many dragons?" The Dwarves began pestering Gandalf who glared at his daughter, the fair lady simply grinning back at him while Thorin finally took notice of the familiar face of Maristela Maladrosa; the two had met briefly in the past. The overlapping questions from the Dwarves began to overwhelm Gandalf who coughed on his pipe.

"Shazara! (Silence!)" Thorin demanded causing the Dwarves to fall silent as he continued, "If we have read the signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years." That did not ease Maristela's concerns about a dragon considering that Smaug was most likely sleeping upon his piles of stolen gold and jewels, that would be why he had not been seen rather than the belief that the Firedrake was dead.

"Eyes look East to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours?" Thorin questions his kin with a strong tone of determination, "Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? Du Bekâr! Du Bekâr! (To arms! To arms!)" The Dwarves all cheer while Maristela notices Bilbo's intrigue.

"You forget: the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain," Balin spoke up silencing the Dwarves and gaining Gandalf's attention again. "That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true," Gandalf spoke before he produced a Dwarvish key, ornately wrought. "How came you by this?" Thorin questions as he looks at it in wonder. "It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now," Gandalf answered him before handing the key over to the Prince.

"If there is a key, there must be a door," Fíli exclaimed as Gandalf pointed at the runes on the map with his pipe. "These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls," Gandalf pointed out, Maristela noticed the runes seemed familiar to her but she couldn't quite place it; many years of learning seemed to blend language and runes together. "There's another way in!" Kíli exclaimed joyfully, the others smiling at the knowledge.

Gandalf nodded, "Well if we can find it, but Dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can." Maristela knew Gandalf spoke of Lord Elrond in Rivendell but to get the company of Dwarves there is the real challenge due to their ongoing feud that truly blinded them from noticing their likeness.

"The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe it can be done," Gandalf informed the company. "That's why we need a burglar," Ori said causing Bilbo to nod before speaking, "Hm, A good one, too. An expert, I'd imagine." Maristela zoned out of the conversation at the distant whispers in the wind, She moved closer to the open window and let the words form.