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

Khazad and Quendi

"Iron Foot," Gandalf mumbled and shook his head in disbelief for this was no good at all.

Suddenly their plan had completely failed for now Thorin was not forced to do anything that he did not want to. With an army of Dwarves on his side, they could easily try to fight the Elves and Men which he would. This would, in turn, give the Orcs of Gundabad yet another advantage for when the Elves, Men and Dwarves fought each other the Orcs would come as a surprise, leaving them unprepared and vulnerable.

Míriel felt like a fool as she sat there on her horse. She had thought, wished, with all her heart that this would not end in battle but now she saw that it was what they all wanted. Thranduíl nor Thorin ever wanted to settle this peacefully because there was more to this than just the gems that Thranduíl so waned.

Míriel turned her head as Thranduíl gave orders to his army to turn east instead, to prepare for battle against the Dwarves as he rode away to meet the Iron Foot's leader. Míriel stayed put by the mountain though, terrified of what was going to happen. Míriel saw that the Elves still had the advantage number-wise, but the Dwarves had horrid machines that they had brought with them which Míriel had never seen the like before.

"Hey Thorin!" the leader who was riding on a swine, said and smiled. He waved with his axe toward Thorin cheerfully, not at all as if he was close to facing a hard battle. Míriel tried to remember his name, Dwalin had told her about him but she could not for the love of Middle-Earth remember it.

"The Iron foot has come!" Thorin and his company cried out in happiness as the Iron foot continued to march toward the Elves, but then stopped so their leaders could speak before the attack.

"Who is that?" Bilbo asked Gandalf as they walked to meet the leader. "He doesn't look very happy."

Míriel's Elf-hearing allowed her to hear all that was said between the two, even if she were quite a distance away by now. She didn't want to get any closer to what was going to be a battle because she had no side to stand on. Elves or Dwarves? Her own people or those she had tried to protect for so long? A part of her said that she shouldn't care about the Iron Foot Dwarves since she did not know them, but Thorin did and they were his kin.

"It is Daín, Lord of the Iron Hills," Gandalf muttered to answer Bilbo's question. "Thorin's cousin."

That was it, his name had been Daín. Míriel knew nothing about the Iron Foot Dwarf, otherwise, she would have had an idea how easy it would be to convince him not to attack. But since Daín was a Dwarf, Míriel could only assume that he would be as stubborn as all the others she had met. He would not be easy to talk to, she knew so.

"Are they alike?" Bilbo asked.

"I always found Thorin the more reasonable of the two," Gandalf muttered. Well, that was no good, but not surprising. Míriel had started to give up by now for everyone seemed to have decided what they wanted of this. Thranduíl wanted a battle, so did Daín and Thorin. Míriel and Gandalf could talk until they had no voices left, but that would not change the minds of these stubborn, stupid males.

"Good morning!" Daín as he rode toward the battlefield alone on his swine. He seemed quite cheerful, and he sort of reminded Míriel a little bit of Glóin since they had similar hair colour. "How are we all? I have a wee proposition if you wouldn't mind giving me a few moments of your time. Would you consider... just standing off?! All of you, right now!"

He scared some of the Men who stood in a little group together and made them back away, but Bard told them to stand fast.

"Come now!" Gandalf said and stepped forward toward Daín. "Lord Daín."

He was not giving up just yet. Gandalf was the only one except for Míriel, who seemed to know exactly what was threatening them. But trying to talk to Daín would be just as hard as talking to Thranduíl about it. Míriel did try to have an open mind and hoped that Gandalf could talk some sense into the Dwarves.