"Come and get me!" Radagast yells and successfully gains every orc's and warg's attention.
"Come on! Stay together." Gandalf pushes the dwarves to follow the elf even after their multiple objections. Durion leads them from boulder to boulder, doing his best to keep the company out of sight. The elf digs his heels into the ground as he suddenly stops, the weight of a couple of dwarves slamming into him.
"Ori! No, come back!" Thorin grabbed at the dwarf who almost ran past them. The clang of armor against armor is loud. So loud it makes Durion wince. Paws hitting the ground stop above them, on the large rock they are hiding behind. Thorin nods at one of the younger dwarves, who notches an arrow into his bow and with a deep breath moves to kill. The shot is off and it is definitely not a silent kill. The warg howls in pain as it falls in front of them. The orc riding it screams before he is crushed by the large animal. Before the dwarves kill it, it manages to let out one more howl and Durion curses.
"All of you, come on. Come on! Quickly!" Gandalf yells.
"Follow me!" They should make it, they're not far.
"Move! Run!"
"There they are!" One of the dwarves shouted and swung his weapon at the warg.
"This way!" Durion yelled as he finally saw the hidden entrance to the small tunnel. The elf jumped in, Gandalf swiftly following. They let out a sigh of relief and smiled at each other before they realized the dwarves weren't following.
"Where's Gandalf?!"
"He's abandoned us!" They heard from the outside.
"Damn it..." Groaned Durion and prepared his bow. He then climbed back up and provided cover as Gandalf got the attention of the company.
"This way, you fools!" The dwarves pile in while Durion keeps the orcs at bay. He curses again when he hears an elven horn and he jumps back into the tunnel. An orc falls after him and he barely rolls away so that he isn't crushed. The orc does not move from the ground. Thorin ripped the broken arrow out of its back.
"Elves!" He spats out and Durion rolls his eyes. The elf slings his bow back over his shoulder and continues through the tunnel. After a while of grumbling the wizard convinces the dwarves to follow. The sunlight hits his face and he sighs.
"The Valley of Imladris. In common tongue it's known by another name." Durion heard Gandalf behind him.
"Rivendell..." The hobbit, Bilbo, as he introduced himself, sighs.
"Here lies the last homely house east of the sea." A sudden shove makes Durion stumble and he turns to face a very angry dwarf.
"You let the elf bring us here?! To our enemy?!" Thorin speaks to Gandalf but his eyes don't leave Durion.
"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself."
"You think elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try to stop us."
"Of course, they will. But we have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful this will need to be handled with tact, and respect, and no small degree of charm, which is why you will leave the talking to me." The wizard's eyes sparked with warning before turning to Durion. "You didn't do anything too stupid in the last decade, did you?"
"Like... to Elrond?"
"To any important person in Imladris." Durion stared for a moment before biting his bottom lip and looking away. "Durion..."
"Okay, to my defense, gold is totally not Elrohir's color. And I didn't want Elladan to feel left out."
"Both of them?!"
"They were kind of asking for it..." Durion shrugged and Gandalf groaned.
"How- you know what? Never mind." The wizard gave up and a victorious shit-eating grin settled on Durion's face.
***
"Mithrandir!" Lindir greeted the wizard at the entrance gate.
"Ah, Lindir."
"Hey, Lindir." Durion grinned and the pleasant smile on Lindir's face was replaced by a distasteful scowl.
"Durion." The brown haired elf muttered less than excitedly.
"We heard you had crossed into the Valley." Lindir spoke in elvish, the smile back on his face. Durion decided not to take it personally.
"I must speak with Lord Elrond."
"My Lord Elrond is not here."
"Not here? Where is he?" Then they hear a hunting horn in the distance and soon there are multiple horses running across the bridge to them. The dwarves group up and ready their weapons, while the elves and the wizard just watch.
"Lord Elrond." Gandalf bows to the elf at the head of the hunting party. "My friend! Where have you been?"
"We've been hunting a pack of Orcs that came up from the South. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass." Gandalf and Durion exchange embarrassed glances as Elrond gets off his horse. "Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something or someone has drawn them near."
"Ah, that may have been us." Gandalf admits with a laugh.
"Welcome, Thorin, son of Thrain." The elven Lord turns to the company.
"I do not believe we have met."
"You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled Under the Mountain."
"Indeed? He made no mention of you." Thorin said rather rudely. With a sigh, Elrond turned to the ebony haired elf.
"I believe these are yours, Durion." Elrond said and handed him a few of his arrows that he lost while covering for the dwarves.
"Yes, thank you." Durion nervously smiled.
"You're lucky the twins aren't here. They took your last visit very personally."
"I think I did them a favor. I wouldn't have Elrohir promenading himself around with a golden circlet when he is clearly a silver boy. And the rubies horribly clashed with Elladan's eyes." As Durion rambled on, Elrond's lips turned up with amusement.
"And I believe they went for a good price?"
"They're gonna feed a widow's family for at least seven winters." Durion smirked, not at all ashamed to speak of his crime. The dwarves behind him frown in confusion. Elrond then invites them to dinner, but he does so in elvish, which the dwarves don't take kindly.
"What is he saying? Does he offer us insult?!"
"No, Master Gloin. He's offering you food." Gandalf hums with a smile. The dwarves group up for a brief discussion before making a decision.
"Well, in that case, lead on."
***
The dwarves are a rowdy bunch. Durion watches them with his own small dinner from a balcony and silently laughs at the mess they are making. After finishing his food he wanders the halls of Imladris. As the evening turns into night Durion finds himself staring at the paintings depicting the War of the Ring. He studies the painting of Isildur wielding the shard of Narsil, he sees Elrond fighting with an army of elves at his back and even Celebrimbor, standing up to Sauron, which led him to his death.
"Looking for some new loot?" A voice speaks behind him and Durion startles. He turns with his hand at his chest and sighs with relief as he sees Elrond.
"I wouldn't steal from here." He says and looks around the room. "I do have some manners, even if I've been raised by two wandering wizards." Elrond stands next to him and also glances at the painting of Celebrimbor.
"How are they these days?"
"I haven't seen Alatar or Pallando in many years. I looked and they don't want to be found... or they..." Durion trails off, eyes saddened. "A shame, really. Makes me realize I have so many questions I might never get answers to."
"Like?"
"Like my mother's name. I don't know why, but I never asked."
"Blood isn't everything."
"Yes, but it helps us discover who we are."
"You are Durion, isn't that enough?"
"Ahh, Durion, Son of the Dark. I wonder why she named me that. Perhaps she saw something in me rooted deep within. Something that would one day burst to the surface and burn." Durion sighed, staring at the towering figure of Sauron. For a moment he forgot himself, let that cheeky smile fall. Elrond looked at the younger elf, worry written all over his face.
"It is us who give our names new meanings." The Lord said after a while. "As for who we are..." Durion rips his eyes from the painting and looks at the wise elf next to him. "...I'd say actions speak louder than words, wouldn't you?"
Some good words of wisdom from Elrond here... Thanks for reading, if you're enjoying the story so far feel free to leave a comment and a vote!