The Elf, the Hobbit and the Dwarf - Book 1 NEW VERSION

Dwarves

Imladris, the last homely house east of the Sea, was in the realm of Eriador. It was a very peaceful, sheltered town at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river Bruinen. It was well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Misty Mountains and here ruled Lord Elrond, one of the wisest Elves left in Middle-earth, and the person whom Lady Míriel had grown to care for enough to consider a parent figure.

Rivendell was now her second home despite not being born nor raised there. Míriel's second family lived there though; her uncle Elrond, her cousins Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir. Arwen had grown to become the closest thing Míriel had to a sister, and even though they were not living with each other in Rivendell at the moment, it never felt as though they were apart. In their hearts they were connected like sisters were; they had so much in common even beyond the fact that both their mothers were gone.

"Did you hear?" Mirima suddenly entered the common room where Míriel usually spent her days with her closest friends. Mirima's young blue eyes shone with excitement as all the Elf-maidens turned their attention to her and started asking what had happened.

"Mithrandir has come! And you will never guess who is accompanying him."

It wasn't very strange that old Gandalf showed up in Rivendell without any notice for that was in a way what he did. Gandalf was a powerful Istari or a Wizard as most knew him as, but that was about all that was known about his story. Míriel and the rest of the Elves in Rivendell knew the Wizard well nonetheless for he had spent much time amongst them, ever since he first set foot in Middle-earth.

"The King of Mirkwood?" suggested Alya with a light chuckle and brought Míriel's attention back to her. Perhaps Gandalf had brought another Wizard or a gift.

"The Prince of Mirkwood," guessed Adanessa which made all the girls giggle since there was a rumour going around that the Prince of Mirkwood, son of Thranduíl the King, was a very handsome Elf. It was a rumour brought by the most untrustworthy of people, though.

It was a ridiculous guess of course because the Mirkwood Elves rarely left their land and none of the Elf-maidens had ever met one. They were quite isolated which was a shame since none of them would have minded glancing upon a handsome prince. It was not likely, though, for Míriel's grandmother had told her long ago that Galadriel and Celeborn had not been very popular with the King's father Oropher, who had not liked the Noldor Elves much.

"No, no it is none of those people," Mirima said and shook her head. Míriel glanced at Mirima and saw that her friend would soon burst if she couldn't tell them what she had seen. It truly had to be something out of the ordinary to make Mirima this excited.

"Dwarves."

"Dwarves?" Míriel repeated and stood up. "Is it true?"

Dwarves in Rivendell, that was not something any of them had expected. In fact, none of the Elf-maidens had ever met Dwarves before since they rarely ever visited Elf-lands. Elves and Dwarves did not go well together for they had a long history of quarrels and conflicts. Elves thought Dwarves to be very greedy and careless, while Dwarves thought Elves to be too full of themselves and disloyal. None of it was true of course but none had ever tried to resolve this issue. Therefore, it had to be a very rare occasion for Dwarves to enter Imladris.

"Oh..." Alya said with obvious disappointment in her voice. "What on earth are Dwarves doing here in Rivendell?"

"That is what I want to find out," Míriel said eagerly and started hurrying out of the room, hearing the others call after her that it was not a good idea, but then they merely snickered since they knew there was no use. Míriel was like that, and it was for that reason that they were so fond of her.