The Quest Of Dwarves

The Quest Of Dwarves

A Chapter by Lord of the Kings

Chapter 1- Quest of Dwarves

In the halls of Erebor, every dwarf was keenly watching towards the palace under the mountain Thorin Stonehelm, trying to hear the discussion going on inside. Four hours earlier king summoned every minister to his palace. 

The palace was newly constructed after the war of the Ring and the death of previous king Dain Ironfoot. It was a golden palace that lay in the eastern corner of the ground floor, with outer walls made entirely of pure gold lightening the entire Erebor with its reflection. The inner walls were made with shining silver colored marbles and rubies. Diamonds were fitted on the top of the palace entrance. 

The rich dwarves of Erebor were famous throughout the entire Middle Earth. They quarried in the deeps of Lonely Mountain for precious gems such as gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby and platinum. All these gems were abundant in Erebor and the dwarves were not only good at mining them but also with working on them. They carved the gems in different, gorgeous shapes that all the dwarves could be seen with jeweled clothing. These jewelries weren’t only shown as part of their wealth, but it also was a major contribution to the lighting system of Erebor. Because the city was inside the lonely mountain, the sunlight only came through the front porch and windows on the upper floors of the city. When this sunlight reflects on these precious gems, it showers Erebor entirely. In the night dwarves of Erebor also used lanterns like men, but they kept a diamond in front of those lanterns to enlighten the entire chamber with its sparkling reflection. 


The entire city of Erebor was divided in several floors and instead of houses each dwarf or a dwarf family had its own chamber. The size of chamber depended on the number of dwarves who are going to live in it or sometimes on the respectable status of dwarves. Especially dwarves involved in the reclaiming of Erebor or the families of dwarves who died in a battle were often given larger chambers. The upper floors were for warriors or highly respected dwarves and for dwarf widows and orphans. The lower floors were for those dwarves who worked in mines, did jewel crafting or weapon making. Further in that too the deepest floors were for miners whose population was highest in the working class. The ground floor was for king’s palace and his courtesans chambers. The dwarves had no distinction of class and every dwarf was equally wealthy. Only the King was exception who has an exceptional palace of gems as could never be made anywhere else in Middle Earth. The other ministers even the most important ones had equal wealth compared to the working class dwarves. The requirement of their food was fulfilled by the men of city of Dale who had quite good production of grains they exchanged it with dwarves for gold coins which was actually quite economical for dwarves for they never fell short of gold coins as their mines were ever full of gold coins and precious metals. The male and female dwarves both knew cooking but the female dwarves were expert in it and delicacies were prepared by them and when delicacies were prepared they were made for an entire floor on which that female dwarf lived. Although the number of female dwarves remained less in Erebor just one-third of population as it was in the past in the race of dwarves.


Moreover, the jewelries of noble class of men was also prepared by dwarves for they carved the most beautiful jewels like necklaces, bracelets, rings, pendants and jeweled belts. They were the most skilled crafters of Middle Earth in terms of tools and weapons also. Their axes, swords, hammers and spears were of unmatched quality and no craftsmen could match their ability. These weapons were either sold to men or used by dwarf warriors for protecting this wealth. Dwarves had an extremely strong army force for they might be short in height but their strength was no less than the strongest of men and though they had a separate army but every single one of the dwarf could act as a soldier if it ever comes to the protection of their home and family.


 After the urgent calling of King Thorin the ministers have summoned and since then they have been in the palace for two hours discussing continuously. It was quite unusual for the dwarves as dwarves don’t discuss matters for long time not for a single hour unless it is a matter of utmost importance and that was the reason everyone was gathering around the palace. The dwarves had a feeling that something is going on inside that is a significant topic of discourse. The murmur and guessing about the meeting going on inside was now spreading to the distant corners of Erebor and now the entire kingdom leaving their work and job was just interested to know about the matter. Finally after a long interval of 5 hours the doors of the palace opened and King Thorin Stonehelm came in front with ministers standing behind him in rows to address the public who looked at him like a kid who finally got candies after longing for days.


Thorin came in front of his palace entrance and said in a thunderous voice. A proud king he looked about 4’7” in height with long black hair with some white streaks and had a long black beard reaching till his knee. “The people of Erebor, I have been in a long discussion with my ministers and we have made a decision that everyone should be made aware about.”

Then he shifted his tone into polite manner and said “It has been 30 years since the siege of Erebor and now I am proud to say that our kingdom has entirely recovered from that disaster due to the hard work of our stout hearted people. Our mines have once again started and gold, ruby, diamond and gems are once again flowing as the blood of Erebor. And now I think it is the right time to expand our kingdom and let the Middle-Earth know that dwarves of Erebor have once again regained the spirits and strength to become one of the strongest kingdoms of Middle-Earth and for that what could be better than our ancient and true home Mines of Moria, the kingdom of our first ancestor Durin. Vast beautiful halls with our traditional dwarfish architecture and with the last remnants of our forgotten dwarf heroes and ancestors. A kingdom that was taken from us long ago by a terrible evil and since then our forefathers and fathers always dreamt of going there again. Now that the evil is gone so I have decided to reclaim our true home Moria.”


 Then his face became grim and after a brief pause he spoke again “Moreover about 107 years ago Thorin Oakenshield and his company reclaimed Erebor from Smaug the terrible and since then our kingdom has prospered in Erebor. This is our time to reclaim our long forgotten home of Moria and live in the halls of Durin which were made for us not for the filth of Orcs to spread their filth on that sacred place so that we could give our young ones a place to prosper just like our great deceased leaders Thorin Oakenshield and Dain gave Erebor to us. ”


As Thorin was going to speak ahead a voice came the crowd “Have you forgotten about the last time we went for Moria? We lost many lives dear to us?


Thorin looked in the crowd for the dwarf who interrupted his speaking. The angry expressions on his face made clear that he didn’t like the interruption at all and the speaker hid himself in the crowd fearing his wrath. Thorin was very quick to resent on anything or anyone who he believed to be disrespecting him and the dwarves were aware of that. 


But Thorin answered quite politely as if the interruption didn’t bother him “Nothing has been forgotten my people I assure you. I had sent some scouts who are returning by tomorrow and will tell about circumstances of Moria and only after that a final decision of recolonizing Moria will be made. That’s all I have to say for now” and with that he went inside his palace.


The ministers came out and one by one all of them left without saying anything to people.

No one made any interruption or did any questioning for the answer satisfied them all although the dwarf public had got a topic hard enough to digest and a lot of discussions in public began about this decision.


This was queer for dwarves for the King since the death of his father Dain had been away from political matters and especially he had given up everything that has anything related or could in any way lead to a battle. His attitude was rather same but his decisions were mostly taken by his ministers but this one was taken solely by him for he has planned it before and had already sent scouts for the matter and in an unknown manner had just changed the fate of Middle-Earth.


The most famous discussion spot was made in front of the chamber of Bofur, one of the oldest dwarves of Erebor about 226 years old and the most trusted minister of Thorin Stonehelm who once was the member of the company of Thorin Oakenshield in reclaiming Erebor. Bofur was a highly respected dwarf in the Erebor just like all the other members of the Thorin’s company for the dwarves always took them as their heroes who reclaimed their home and even King Thorin [III] Stonehelm always appreciated their valor, courage and loyalty that they showed to their king at the time of that quest Thorin [II] Oakenshield and always considered Erebor a gift from those thirteen dwarves of Thorin and company and none the less of their hobbit friend Bilbo Baggins. Bofur was the only member of that company who had any interest in kingdom and its care and therefore he was the only member of that old company who was in king’s ministry and king too always had his consent in his decisions.

The chamber was on the easternmost corner of the second floor of Erebor directly two floors above the king’s palace and some holes were made in the mountain walls of his chamber so that air and sunlight could easily enter in the chamber as Bofur liked the feel of fresh air and brightness in his surroundings. On hearing the noise of crowd outside he came out of his chamber and with his coming the dwarves began discussing about the king’s decision. Bofur expected this as whenever people had to know more about discussions inside the king’s palace they came to him for they knew that he was always present in king’s meetings and had a significant impact on the decisions taken by him.


“So people you must be here about king’s decision, I suppose” said Bofur.


“Yes Bofur” said a middle aged dwarf with brown beard and quite chubby look coming forward. His name was Barthrid, a miner he was who was always interested in discussions and debates whether they concern him or not. He did less mining and instead he spent most of his time in gossiping and gathering news of any event that could spice up his confabbing mind. He said “I don’t understand the need of it; we already have Erebor then why to go into Moria, a place long forsaken, full of perils and foul creatures where numerous dwarves have lost their lives.”


“The reason for reclaiming Moria is not for our need neither was the reclaiming of Erebor for that purpose. The purpose is to redeem our honor and to re-establish dwarf kingdom once again as the strongest realm in middle-earth as it was in time of King Thror” said Bofur “yes at first I too thought that it was not required and I would not have agreed if I haven’t heard the voice of our king. It was a voice that I once heard 107 years ago, a determined voice of a true leader, to reclaim the honor of dwarves, at that time by reclaiming Erebor and this time by reclaiming Moria. It wasn’t a weak confused thought of a leader who has been given much more responsibility than his level as he usually had but a determined decision and I thought that his name has rightly been kept, the name of a person that I always followed ‘Thorin’ and I agreed cause I could hear in his voice that his decision was a true king’s decision taken after a proper thought and with a firm resolution.”


“Yet he could be wrong” said Bungus a weapon merchant of Erebor.       


“Besides even Thorin Oakenshield you talk about was not able to reclaim Moria” said Barthrid. “He was not even able to defeat Azog and his army in battle of azanulbizar but it was Dain who beheaded Azog and made sure the victory of Dwarves and even after the victory he too forbid the dwarves to enter Moria. Then why King thinks about recolonizing it.”


Bofur’s face turned red on hearing such an insult of Thorin Oakenshield for he always took Thorin as the greatest dwarf and he was still loyal to him and with rage he replied in a harsh tone “You know nothing of the Battle of Azanulbizar and the greatness of Thorin Oakenshield so don’t you dare disrespect him again. He was wounded in the battle and his shield was broken yet he cut an oaken branch with his axe and using it as his shield he fought on and his axe continued hewing orc necks and even with his wounded arm covered just by an oaken shield he had slayed hundreds of orcs as I was told the tale of the Battle of Azanulbiazar by Balin who was also present there and saw this with his own eyes.”


Then a young dwarf stood up and spoke “Yes Mr. Bofur is right. I have heard the entire legend of Battle of Azanulbizar many times by Mr. Dwalin and yes Prince Thorin II was given the name of Oakenshield for he killed such an amount of orcs with an oaken shield which even an armed dwarf with a mithril shield could not have killed and he earned the respect of every dwarf in that war. So you better think of what you are speaking Barthrid”.


“Well you certainly know better than Barthrid” said Bofur “So tell me your name lad and how a young stripling of merely thirty years like you knows so much about such an old battle”.


“I am Ayush son of Ayron son of Aymar” said he. 


“I learned all of this from Mr. Dwalin. I used to live with him before his death and he took me as his heir. He used to tell me tales of Battle of Five Armies and Battle of Azanulbizar and of Durin’s bane.”


“Well yes Dwalin was present in many battles and knew a lot about these things and he was a good friend of mine. I miss him very much. And he was most loyal to Thorin and he too had fought bravely in Battle of Azanulbizar not knowing that there efforts will be considered as defeat by their own kin.” Bofur said.


“Pardon me Mr. Bofur, I didn’t mean that. But still the King’s decision is a perilous one.”


“The only peril in Moria was the Durin’s bane and it was killed by Gandalf as was told by Gimli to us” said Bofur. “Therefore his decision is right for the moment.”


“And if it is perilous then it will be known tomorrow when scouts return” said Ayush. 


“Although I wonder how Moria looks like and I would certainly like to visit it and see it with my own eyes. The beautiful home of our ancestors, a mine full of stunning wonders and its halls made in the Durin the deathless true panache.”


“Aye it was one of the most striking places of the world although now due to those filthy creatures the place has turned into a dark, dangerous, mud filled and full of holes cave which no dwarf would like to dwell until it gets clean and renovated” said Bungus.


“Well Mr. Bofur don’t you know anything about it?” asked Ayush.


“Nay I do not know anything about Moria and all the knowledge I have gained I learnt it through the company of Thorin Oakenshield for I am originally from Blue Mountain and before becoming part of his company I had no business with Erebor or Moria.”


Then Bofur noticed one thing that Ayush did not have a long beard like rest of dwarves. He looked different from the dwarves of his kin. He had long black hair and height of 4’4” which was like dwarves of Erebor but his beard barely reached his chest.


“You don’t look like a dwarf of Erebor Ayush. So with which kin do you belong?” asked Bofur.

The rest of the crowd which was till now much busy in listening to the debate began observing him.


A miner named Oldor said “Yes Mr. Bofur is right. Your beard is too short and you are not younger than twenty years so it can’t be said that it has not grown yet.”


“Well I belong to the Blacklocks family of dwarves. My grandfather Aymar after the Battle of Azanulbizar followed Dain Ironfoot instead of returning to the mountains of the East beyond the Rhun with his kin. He lived in Iron hills along with the dwarves of Erebor and my father Ayron too came with the longbeards to the Erebor and fought alongside Thorin Oakenshield in the Battle of Five Armies at a young age of just twenty four years and after that we started living in Erebor.”


“So that is your story Ayush of being in Erebor.”

“Indeed it is Mr. Bofur.”


In Erebor two families of dwarves lived Longbeards and Firebeards. Longbeards was the original family of Erebor and Moria with which all the kings of these kingdoms belonged. Just like the name Longbeards were actually identified by their long beards which reached till their knee. They were extremely valiant and the most noble family of dwarves. The second family that lived there Firebeards too had long beard but shorter than longbeards reaching till their abdomen but they were characterized by their two fork like parts of beards as they usually divided their beards in two braded parts. Firebeards were actually a minority for they were mostly the member of Thorin’s company and other dwarves of Blue Mountains who were closely related to Thorin’s company. Bofur was also a firebeard.


The reason for presence of a Blacklock Ayush in Erebor dated back to the Battle of Azanulbizar. Ayush’ grandfather Aymar was actually a great warrior and fought alongside the dwarves of Thrain in the battle of Azanulbizar representing his family Blacklocks. During the battle he was deeply wounded along with Thrain and Thorin Oakenshield but for avenging the death of Thorin’s grandfather Thror or the leader of the eldest family Longbeards he fought on with all his courage and strength. He somehow survived the battle but for healing his wounds the dwarves of Iron hills took him along with themselves. After healing he asked about the war and after hearing the story of the brave deed of just a 32 year old dwarf Dain, a mere stripling in the eyes of dwarves who slayed the leader of legions of orcs Azog the defiler and thus ensured the victory of dwarves by making the orc army leaderless, he decided to live in the company of Dain. Dain too was impressed by his valor and they soon became close friends and remained so until the Battle of Five Armies in which Aymar lost his life as he was slain by a goblin while defending Erebor. While Aymar was elder than Dain yet he married very late at the age of 171 years and thus while Dain’s son Thorin Stonehelm was seventy five during the Battle of Five Armies Aymar’s son Aynor was just twenty four at that time. Though their age difference was much yet Aynor became the closest friend of Thorin Stonehelm and remained so until the seizure of Erebor. During the war of the Ring the dark lord’s forces also tried to win North but their forces were stopped by the valiant alliance of men and dwarves of the Lonely Mountain. Seventy seven years later on the same spot of the Battle of Five Armies another fierce battle took place not extensive as Battle of Five Armies but yet a terrible one. King Dain and Brand rallied their forces to fight off the evil forces of Mordor. Prince Thorin and Ayron too went in the battle to serve Dain and fought alongside. At the time old Dain was surrounded by enemies Thorin and Ayron both jumped in and tried to put their own bodies on the line to save king but it was in vain. Dain couldn’t survive the battle as he was too old and a single blow of orc arrow became his doom and after his death Thorin and Ayron took charge of the battle. Leading the dwarf army the two brave warriors went in front and destroyed the leading lines of the enemy but the damage was not only taken by enemy side and they too faced some orc axes on their skin. Ayron lost his life in the process while Thorin was severely injured. Yet they succeeded and the victory was theirs but Thorin was deeply hurt not from the wounds but due the loss of his father and his best friend in a single day and it had a great impact on his verdicts for a long time. 


Ayush was just a four years old kid at that time and Dwalin whose chamber was just beside Ayron’s chamber took care of him like a grandson and his mother Ciriline like his own daughter for he had grown old and needed something to live for and as he was a highly respected dwarf so he was given a large chamber at northern side of first floor upward and Ayron’s chamber was soon taken by the other survived dwarf warriors for very few knew about his family and even Thorin was himself unaware of that. Dwalin had grown attached to Ayush and told him tales of old times and thus Ayush was aware of the stories of every single war for he keenly heard Dwalin’s every story and was fond of his tales. Although Dwalin too died on 22nd year of fourth age about five years before the time of this tale. Since then Ayush just memorized his stories and was extremely keen to find an opportunity to go on an adventure himself and to serve his people through some valiant act just like his father and grandfather. Though he never felt alone for his mother loved him the most and tried to give him everything he desired but what he desired was to become a part of a legend himself. Well soon his dream was going to get accomplished but on a very high cost.  


The discussion still continued taking things from long ago in the past to the recent tidings. Though most of the dwarves criticized the decision yet there was a spark ignited in their hearts to behold the beauty of Mines of Moria by their own eyes that they had only heard in stories of their elders, their true home which they had never seen with their own eyes in their entire lifetime. The entire day and night was restless for them and even after their discussions have ended they wished to be in Moria again and dreamed of its beauty as expounded in the tales of their ancestors. Most of them were very excited and the few dwarf kids were curious and interested about the Moria and its tales. They had numerous questions like what was mithril, who was Durin and why did the dwarves left Moria. The entire Erebor was bursting with an excitement of unexpected events. During the dinner time, delicacies were being made at every floor and entire Erebor was filled with the loud sounds of laughter and merry gathering. Feast was set on every floor and even King’s ministers and courtesans were preparing a banquet. The dinner was the gayest time of the dwarves and they always ate it along with some food games, light-hearted gags and songs and etiquettes while eating was never ever taught or followed by them and on that night the Erebor was just bursting with all this. Songs were being sung on their return to their ancient home. It went something like this


The time has come, the time has come,

the flying birds shall return to their nest,

after hundreds of years of soaring in the wilderness,

they shall return again to their nest,

yore in the deeps laid their home of silvery twigs,

 there they lived with joy and bliss,

 it was full of exquisite jewels,

rang in their ears the mithril bells,

but it had a great price,

and took them towards the devil’s eyes,

the evil arms came out,

destroyed their home and above it sprout,

the birds found their home gone,

and there only the fire shone,

away from their burnt dwellings they flew,

and the darkness in their nest grew,

but now the devil has met his doom,

the grey wizard demolished that goon,

and the birds have their priceless nest again,

for the home is precious than any gem,

hence they will return with no doubt

and the trespassers will be shown the way out,

the King has announced the going,

for the time has come for the birds’ homecoming.


The entire night hither and thither songs like this echoed in Erebor and in the joy of dwarves the nature too joined them. Soft breeze with sweet aroma surged throughout the night and the nightingales joined the dwarves in their songs with their syrupy chirping. Ravens filled the sky of Lonely Mountain and the joy in Erebor attracted them too for they were the dwarves’ favorite messengers although they never went farther than Dale since the reign of the dwarves was re-established in Erebor. Only extremely tired dwarves slept that night for most of the dwarves couldn’t wait to hear from the scouts till the next day. Although they were unaware that their joy was momentary and between their homecomings there still lies a tale of ferocious bravery, vicious battles and agonizing deaths.


The next morning was bright one, full of sunshine and the weather looked warm and pleasant. It was an autumn morning at September’s end. There was an extravagant verve in the ambiances of Erebor. The birds were singing beautiful, sweet songs and a swift fresh wind was blowing and all the dwarves were roused even the little kids and they looked with ardent eyes towards the foot of the mountain assessing the approaching of the scouts.


Then suddenly like forest fire news began to spread that the dwarf scouts have returned. All the dwarves of Erebor began gathering towards the mountain gate. The gate of the Erebor was instantly opened and in came seven dwarves clad in Elven cloaks with worried faces and their expressions made clear that everything was not good at Moria. At their head walked Larneth, the head of the company and also an important dwarf army member.


The scouts looked at the fervent crowd and then bowed their head as if to show the crowd that their hopes and energy are in vain and useless. Then they straightly went into King’s palace and the significant dwarf ministers followed them. As Bofur was going to follow them Ayush asked him “May I also join you Mr. Bofur.”


“Well come on Ayush after all Dwalin chose you as his heir and he was one of the most prominent minister of Dain. So join us on his behalf.”

All of them entered the palace and public with keen eyes desperately waited for hearing the news.


Ayush followed them into the hall. As he moved in, the magnificence of the hall of King left him in awe for he had never been inside the King’s palace.  The entire hall was glistening as all the walls were covered with silver tiles. It had marble flooring painted with molten gold and its bright reflection looked marvelous. There were carvings on the walls depicting the figures of all the deceased Kings under the Mountain and they were clearly visible for they were studded with rubies and there were small sapphire decorative items too hung there. The entire hall was sparking and its beauty was mind-boggling even for the dwarves. Ayush was incredulous at that view and he felt as if he had entered into a world of gems. There at the other end of the hall lied the throne of the king made entirely of gold and small diamonds were studded on its borders and it lied on a raised platform that was built with platinum. Its splendor outstripped every other that lied in Middle Earth. On the left and right side there were series of chairs for the ministers. Although these were less in height and grandeur yet these too looked stunning as they too were decorated with gems. Thorin went straight ahead and sat on his throne while the other dwarf ministers took their seats. The closest seats were taken by Larneth and his company and the other ministers sat in their accustomed manner while Ayush followed Bofur and sat next to him on the left side.    


Thorin began the discussion “So Larneth what news have you brought?”

“My King the news is not good. We don’t know clearly what lies in Moria but the evil we saw was exceptionally dreadful. The orcs have abandoned it and a lot of them were seen running away towards the Lorien. We met with some of them and expected a conflict but they did not heed us and continued to run towards East and South. We caught one of them but all he could speak was death and fire.”

“Have a dragon entered the Mines of Moria?” said Mardith an old minister.    

“No it is not a dragon but something far more terrible” and a dread came over his face and his voice became like a frightened whisper. “It is something that equals the terror as that of the Sauron.”

The face of the other six of his company also looked horrified like that of a mouse escaped from the venomous adventure of snake made to remember it again.

“What is it that fills you all with fright?” asked Thorin anxiously.

“Balrogs” and as he spoke the entire chamber filled with the thoughts of darkness as if the glistening gems of the hall has lost all its effect. Ayush held Bofur’s hand strongly as everyone’s thoughts went back into the dreams of darkness of Durin’s bane and trepidation took them. At that time none of them had the courage to speak anything. All hopes of reclaiming Moria died in their minds for the entire planning was only done on the fact of the fierce Balrog’s death but more than the melancholy of losing Moria, the horror of Balrog’s return was the cause of their silence. 

“So Gandalf was not successful in killing him” after a while Thorin spoke breaking the silence but his voice was not much strong and it looked as if even though these words were in a low voice he spoke them with quite an effort.


“No my King he might have been efficacious for there is much more” after hearing Thorin’s voice Larneth too gathered courage to tell his entire tale. “After the encounter with the orcs we continued our journey towards the Moria through the beautiful enchanted forests of Lorien. It gave our troubled hearts some hope and made our way less tiresome. Its beauty was as glorious as was told by Gimli. Our hopes were raised and we found courage to go forward overcoming the fear that we had since our meeting with the orcs. We continued to walk forward towards Moria and after a week we had passed through the forest of Lorien and a day later we finally reached towards our destination. On the entrance of Misty Mountains the very air was warm as if the mountain peaks were hot instead of being cold. And very soon we found that it was so. The first look of the south-central misty mountains filled us with astonishment and shudder. There ubiquitous heat was present and all the mountains were bare. There were neither any winter trees nor any bush in the valleys and the mountain tops had no snow. The great evil Caradharas ever snow filled, the one we all dared to go any closer, whom we thought as invincible. The peak whom not even the greatest of wizards had ever been able to conquer now lay there defeated. First time in the history snow filled evil peak of Caradhras was seen bare by a dwarf. It was burning from inside, met with its match, a greater evil more vicious and hazardous than Caradhras, which dwells inside it and is consuming it like a disease in its body. Now we knew that the orcs had indeed seen something that made them leave Moria for which they were ready to fight any battle. Walking a little farther we reached the Moria’s entrance. The ground at the Moria’s entrance felt burning from inside. We took each step with much caution and attention and with every step towards the Moria we felt the heat increasing. We were drained and full of sweat when we finally reached the Eastern opening of Moria. On reaching the entrance we found the bridge that was destroyed but it seemed as it had been rebuilt by orcs for there once again laid a narrow bridge there. On entering Moria a hot breeze came from inside and our faces just felt burning and we drew our hoods over our faces. The whole surrounding felt like a frying pan on which we were standing. On moving just a little inside we saw burnt orc bodies lying all around. It was a horrible and disgusting scene and there whole body was burnt like a roasted chicken. We were just recovering from what we had seen when suddenly a sound came and anguish took over us. It was one of those evi….l creatures” and he was shivering with fear as he said that.


Thorin stood up and went to Larneth and kept his hand on Larneth’s shoulders and said loudly in his accustomed proud manner “Fear not my plucky friend; you are now in the hall of your king not in that glum mine. You have survived that evil and now you need not be afraid of it. Speak what you want for you are miles away from it and your people need to know about what you faced.”

Larneth looked up and rubbed his eyes as if he was still having difficulty to remove the murderous view of that creature. Even in Thorin’s bright hall he was finding it hard to recover from that darkness. Somehow he conquered his fear and saying that “I belong to the doughty dwarves of Erebor and I fear talking about no creature” he began rest of his tale “A fiery creature it was and at least thirty feet tall. It had fire all around his body and dark smoke came from his monstrous nostrils. It held a bright whiplash but the brightness was not of its material but of fire in it. We stood there like a stone although it was about a league between it and us yet the brightness of its fire was clearly visible in those dark mines. But it was not all and we saw around twelve more fiery creatures coming out from the other tunnels and we beholding it stood flabbergasted. Then suddenly one of them threw a whiplash and a stream of fire came from its whiplash towards and we suddenly remembering our peril used our shields to defend ourselves. Yet we got blisters on our skin and then we started trotting away from Moria without looking behind. We covered around twenty leagues without taking a single rest and then only the horror of the creature lessen enough to allow us to rest. Yet we walked on and all seemed dark to our eyes and we had forgotten where we were going or where we were, we just wanted to get away from that terrible creature when a wood Elf of Eryn Lasgalen met with us and took us to the hall of King Thranduil. There some Elf healers healed our blisters and the darkness of our mind. Our wounds were healed; we were provided food and clean elven attires were given to us for our clothes were tattered and burnt. King Thranduil had supper with us and talked with us about our trouble and after hearing it he too looked threatened as if our doom was upon us. He sent his most swift riders to carry us to Lonely mountain and they left us in the city of Dale and from their we came as hastily as we could to Erebor for we were also told to inform you that Elven king is going to Rivendell to take advice of Celeborn of his kin and has sent hastiest of his riders to call for all the great kings of middle earth or someone from their halls to represent them and he told us to apprise you that King Under The Mountain is also called.”  


“Aye I will certainly go for this indeed is a great evil more than any known in my life. And Bofur I guess you would also like to visit Rivendell again.”

“Of course my lord, it would bring the memories of my old journey back.”

“And I will also come” cried Ayush. The voice of the young dwarf roared in the hall and everyone except Bofur noticed for the first time that an unfamiliar dwarf was sitting between them and in their worries and terrorizing thoughts they had given no heed to their surroundings not even to an outsider present among them.

“Who are you and what are you doing here? It is an assembly of ministers and no outsider is allowed. Tell me your name and a reason why you shouldn’t be punished” screamed Thorin angrily coming suddenly to his senses as if he had thoughts of Ayush being related to something horrific. His yell made the entire ministry silent.

But Ayush too was a robust dwarf and he didn’t look afraid at all. He replied in a proud voice “I am Ayush son of Ayron son of Aymar. I am also the heir of Mr. Dwalin chosen by Dwalin himself and I came here on his behalf as elder ministers with the permission of Mr. Bofur. I don’t think I have committed any crime.”


In dwarves the heir was not given the property and the system of providing chambers depended on one’s job not on the inheritance but instead an heir inherited the job and the wealth of that dwarf. In this way a dwarf usually granted his job to a younger dwarf for there was no higher authority to look out for a young dwarf for replacing the older dwarf. Moreover a lot of dwarf had no kid and many of them did not find their offspring to be worthy of that job or their young ones did not like their job. The wealth was granted to the heir only if he or she is the descendant of that dwarf or the dwarf had no offspring of his own. Therefore Ayush was inherited Dwalin’s position in the ministry and he was granted his wealth also for Dwalin had no son.


“Well here is a proud young lad. No you haven’t done anything off beam. You are Ayron’s son and he was a good friend of mine and a trustworthy and audacious warrior. That also explains my fear of your strange looks. You are a Blacklock or shortbeard as I called your father yet you are one of our folk and not a mole for you are his son and Dwalin’s heir. You also had Bofur’s permission so you became a legal member of this ministry” replied Thorin in a polite manner.


Thorin actually looked glad and blissful on knowing him. For Ayron was very close to him and knowing that Ayush was his son elated his mood for one moment he had forgotten the peril at hand. He could memorize the esteemed voice of Ayron who spoke in the same flair as that of Ayush. Ayush’ action of blindly entering into a perilous matter without having any knowledge about it too resembled his father for Ayron too entered the War of the Ring on Lonely Mountain with no fear of death or any threatening evil. Ayron found honorable death more worthy than a life of cowardly disgrace and the same thing he could see in the eye of his young son Ayush.


“And what about taking me with you to Rivendell?” just as Thorin ended speaking Ayush jumped up with another question in an agitated manner.


“You seem pretty excited about it. Of course you are allowed for I don’t see anyone else here who is willing to go anywhere near Misty Mountains.”

“So it is decided then that I will go with Ayush and Bofur to Rivendell. We will start tomorrow morning and Mardith go with some lads and inform King Dain of this, Bofur get the comestibles packed as much are required for our journey and for you Ayush if you wish to come with us, go and get four eminent ponies ready for our journey” and after this decision the meeting ended.


Thorin once again in his fashion walked with his ministers to the front of his palace. While all the ministers followed Thorin walking behind him, Ayush went beside him walking equally and this was disliked by all ministers but Thorin didn’t bother it and on his palace’s front he once again made his loud speech over his decision and the peril that lay on Middle Earth.


After listening to his speech the people Erebor looked dismayed “But fear not the stout dwarves of Erebor no evil has proved to be greater than the strength of Durin’s race” added Thorin to his speech so that his people don’t lose their mettle after hearing about the most spine-chilling evil in their life. For dwarves were afraid of Sauron too but his fear has no power in front of the terror of the Balrog who once became the doom of the Longbeards of Moria and even his thought filled them with  darkness and fear that Sauron’s presence could only give to Men.


The entire Erebor was quiet that entire day and night was even more horrifying with the dreams of Durin’s bane and no discussion on King’s words was to be seen anywhere. Where a day before the Erebor was full of joy and liveliness with celebrations and feast all over the realm, tonight it seemed mute and comatose. All chambers were shut and no dwarf was to be seen outside his chamber. The kids were being hushed for they did not know anything about these evils and were snooping to know even about it. Barthrid the most gossiping dwarf had no words to speak that night, the discussion crowd, Oldor, Bungus no one could be seen in the deep silence of Erebor as if it was a mountain abandoned long ago. A single sound echoed like thunder in Erebor. The feast areas lay there deserted and not a single laughter was there about it. The mines lay there in the deep with no miners in them; no sound came of beating of hammers or of carving of gems. The city of Erebor and the ever running daily life of dwarves were immobile that night. That night gloom has conquered not only the atmosphere but also the dwarves’ minds. No raven entered the city that night and the nightingales as if they were aware of fear of dwarves sat on the mountain dead silent.


Although there were some sounds of argument from the house of Ayush for his decision was not liked by her at all but what could be done against a sturdy, stubborn dwarf thriftie [a dwarf in his thirties which was also the most aggressive age of a dwarf’s life] who was not ready to listen anything against his going to Rivendell.


“You do not know anything about this evil and you are not aware of what terrible power it has. You are not safe anywhere from it and you have decided right in the perils mouth. No you must not go near Misty Mountains” said Ciriline.


“Nay mother I won’t sit back here while others go on fighting for us in this time. I will certainly go for I too want to help our people by becoming one of those folk who become a part of its destruction. I wish to become a hero in this time of peril.”


“You speak just like your father but what happened to him, he died in the battle. He would also not listen and now you too behave like that. It is too early for you to………….” and she stopped with a sob.


“What he had was an honorable death and he will be remembered forever. But you need not fear for we are just going for a meeting in Rivendell not for a war against those evil creatures.”


“Nonetheless you are still going near Misty Mountains which is the home of that evil. You don’t stand a chance against those fiends if you ever came to face one.”


“I might not have a chance against them but I am not afraid of them. I will fight with all I have and certainly I won’t sit here hiding from its fear only. Anyways now I am going to Dale now to get the ponies arranged for our journey.”


 “So you won’t listen to me. Go then but do remember this you are going without my acquiescence.”


Ayush looked back with a little sad and confused face thinking whether to go against his mother’s wish or stay back at Erebor but soon his hunger for honor overcame his mother’s counsel and he departed for Dale.


While Thorin began thought of whom to make the caretaker of his kingdom in his absence for he was unmarried and had no heir and he felt himself concerned for the first time that who would become the next king. But soon his thoughts returned to the present for there needs to be Middle Earth and Erebor in it for the next king to rule and both are in danger now. On the other side there were only two dwarves active in Erebor, Bofur and a sixty year old dwarf Grindori who was also a member of Larneth’s company. Grindori came to Thorin at around 8 o’clock of evening but it appeared as if he has come at midnight for all the Erebor seemed quiescence. He said “My lord I was in a daze at the time of meeting but now I wish to come with you to Rivendell.”


“What suddenly came to you of coming with me Grindori?”


“My King I am Ori’s son as you know and you also know that he died in the mines of Moria along with Balin and others. I came to Larnith’s company and now I wish to go with you for he was killed by that creature whose folks still lurk in Moria and I wish to be a part of their even if it takes my life for it. He wished to see our folk in our ancient kingdom of Moria and I wish to complete his dream.”


“All right then come with us but go and inform Bofur and Ayush for extra food and another pony for you.”


Grindori was the son of Ori who was one of the members of Thorin’s company and was also Balin’s companion when Balin travelled to Moria about fifteen years before the war of the Ring. There he was slain along with Balin’s entire company by the orcs that dwelt there. Grindori was thirty one year old at that time and the same figure later at the end of war of the Ring at the return of the Elf-friend Gimli he learned the news of his father’s death. He was taken as a scout by King Thorin III Stonehelm for bravely fighting by his side on Lonely Mountain in the battle against the Mordor and someway inherited him his father’s job who was also a scout before his death. Since his initial planning King chose him for the quest of Moria and he too was eager to go there for he wished to complete Ori’s dream of dwarves residing in Moria and along with it he intended to take revenge on the orcs of Moria for his father’s death. Though his findings in Moria had left him hopeless of dwelling in Moria yet he wanted to put every single effort he could to see his father’s dream completed.


Grindori hurried to search for Bofur and Ayush as ordered by King but he didn’t need to work hard as finding Bofur was a piece of cake for he was the only dwarf who was outside his chamber in the entire Erebor. Bofur was engaged in packing food and other provisions like cooking vessels, ropes and drinking bottles when Grindori came to him.


“Mr. Bofur King has asked you to pack supplies for one more dwarf.”


“Anyone else is coming” said Bofur in an astonished manner for he did not expect any other dwarf after having perceived the fear and silence of dwarves of Erebor.

“Aye I am coming with you all.”

“Okay then I will do it and I will also send the message to Ayush for one more pony by my raven friend Aroc. It will fly quickly to Dale and give him this message for he has gone there to bring ponies.”


The next morning five ponies were set on the Erebor’s entrance by Ayush at their side. The ponies he had brought looked marvelous, all healthy and white with golden mane and all of them were standing full of pride as they belonged to the noble race of ponies bought at a high price by Ayush from Dale as was ordered by king.

Dwarf public too came out to send them off in their customary manner as the darkness that has taken over their minds has been pierced by the bright sunlight. Ciriline stood ahead of the crowd and as Ayush saw her she gave an adoring smile to him. Ayush quickly went to say cheerio to her before his journey.


“I can’t remain angry on you not when you are leaving. It is no use warning you because you will do what you want. So I thought I should give you a hearty farewell so that you go without any sorrow. But promise me that you will return.” 

I will come back I promise. I will come back and eat my favorite delicious sweets, pastries and critanias. [A famous delicacy among dwarves made from the roots of rentinol plant that grew above lonely mountain and its long roots reached inside the walls of Erebor. A special area of wall was kept for that purpose for it was the only food item that grew on Lonely Mountain. The part of root inside Erebor was used by them and in this way the plant also remained alive for the plant lived hundreds of years and had already been replaced by another younger plant before. It was an ancient plant for it was present on the Lonely Mountain before even the dwarves had discovered it and it had survived the worst situations including the desolation of Smaug.]


“We will have feast and parties in our sweet home on my return and there will be no sinful creature remaining to haunt us.”


“Live long my son and I wish your journey to be full of pleasing memories.”


“Farewell Mother. We will meet soon and with your blessings I can defeat any dark thing that lay in my path” and with that he went back to his pony. Tears covered Ciriline’s eyes as she watched her son walking away towards the company. She loved her son more than anything in the world and the view of her son going into danger’s mouth was just piercing her heart. The only thing that held her hopes was her son’s promise of his return. A promise that he made with resolute and truthful eyes.


All was set and as Ayush went, the King and his company mounted on the ponies and one of them was loaded with their luggage.


As they were going to begin their journey Mardith came with a man on a handsome white horse. It was Dreuf the royal horse of Dale and the favorite one of King Bard II. On it came the Prince Renefald, son of King Bard II of Dale with Mardith riding with him. He was a mid-aged prince around forty who was sent by his father King Bard II for this meeting as he wanted his son to start taking charge of his kingdom and thought to send him to Rivendell so that he could learn handling some tremendously vital matters. Behind him came another rider on a brown horse. He was Mohnoir son of Prandrin the chief of Lake-town. He was a young and bold man of about twenty one with an honorable tanned face.


Mardith dismounted himself and came to Thorin.

“My king I have informed King Bard II as you said.”


“Yes he had and troublesome news it is. So I shall also ride with you and so shall this young man from Lake Town to represent our people” said Renefald.


“Fine then let’s ride on towards Rivendell” said Thorin and hence began their journey to Rivendell.    



© 2015 Lord of the Kings


Author's Note

Lord of the Kings
This is the first chapter of my tale. My apologies for not providing much info about writing in prologue. All I wish to know from you people is should I continue on or am I just wasting my time and have got no creativity.

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This was a fun read that reminded me alot of The Hobbit, in that you established a clear picture of your characters. I have some suggestions:

1) it was a golden palace that lied in the eastern corner of the ground floor, with outer walls made entirely of pure gold lightening the entire Erebor with its reflection (Change lied to lay, otherwise you have a fibbing palace.)

2)The rich dwarves of Erebor were famous throughout the entire Middle Earth. They quarried in the deeps of Lonely Mountain for precious gems such as gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby and platinum. All these gems were abundant in Erebor and the dwarves were not only good at mining them but also with working on them. They carved the gems in different, gorgeous shapes that all the dwarves could be seen with jeweled clothing. These jewelries weren’t only shown as part of their wealth, but it also was a major contribution to the lighting system of Erebor. Because the city was inside the lonely mountain, the sunlight only came through the front porch and windows on the upper floors of the city. When this sunlight reflects on these precious gems, it showers Erebor entirely. In the night dwarves of Erebor also used lanterns like men, but they kept a diamond in front of those lanterns to enlighten the entire chamber with its sparkling reflection. (This paragraph has some tense changes throughout--I would just keep it in past tense)

3) Indent at each new paragraph to make it a more manageable read.

4) I would like to see a little more back and forth dialogue between characters that really highlight their interactions with one another

5) reread throughout for grammar and tense changes.

Happy writing!

Posted 9 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

alright thanks for suggestions and your review. I will surely try to do so. I haven't reread it once.. read more
Kelsey Schadt

9 Years Ago

I rarely edit until I'm done either



Reviews

I am very impressed with volume of your work, great stamina and perseverance for young writer. Of course you have creativity or I wouldn't have read your entire chapter. You have skills and believe me they will grow and mature as you continue to write. I'm 61 (about Gandalf's age) and I just read Lord of the Rings about a month ago. You are taking on a great task wanting to add to Tolkien's masterpiece, but our friend Frodo conquered mammoth odds in his quest to destroy the Ring, so carry on. Try copying some of Tolkien's text as an exercise before you begin your own writing. Study his character description, details of dwarf homes, food, clothing,weapons.etc. How they differ from tall people, how the readers mind will remember distinctions about a character when he returns to story. I look forward to reading more of your work and having you help me with mine.

Posted 8 Years Ago


This was a fun read that reminded me alot of The Hobbit, in that you established a clear picture of your characters. I have some suggestions:

1) it was a golden palace that lied in the eastern corner of the ground floor, with outer walls made entirely of pure gold lightening the entire Erebor with its reflection (Change lied to lay, otherwise you have a fibbing palace.)

2)The rich dwarves of Erebor were famous throughout the entire Middle Earth. They quarried in the deeps of Lonely Mountain for precious gems such as gold, diamond, sapphire, ruby and platinum. All these gems were abundant in Erebor and the dwarves were not only good at mining them but also with working on them. They carved the gems in different, gorgeous shapes that all the dwarves could be seen with jeweled clothing. These jewelries weren’t only shown as part of their wealth, but it also was a major contribution to the lighting system of Erebor. Because the city was inside the lonely mountain, the sunlight only came through the front porch and windows on the upper floors of the city. When this sunlight reflects on these precious gems, it showers Erebor entirely. In the night dwarves of Erebor also used lanterns like men, but they kept a diamond in front of those lanterns to enlighten the entire chamber with its sparkling reflection. (This paragraph has some tense changes throughout--I would just keep it in past tense)

3) Indent at each new paragraph to make it a more manageable read.

4) I would like to see a little more back and forth dialogue between characters that really highlight their interactions with one another

5) reread throughout for grammar and tense changes.

Happy writing!

Posted 9 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

alright thanks for suggestions and your review. I will surely try to do so. I haven't reread it once.. read more
Kelsey Schadt

9 Years Ago

I rarely edit until I'm done either
You're writing is well thought out and in depth! Very detailed and you put in time into making sure the reader knows what is happening every step of the way. As well you provided enough description to give great imagery.

It is a very long chapter. I would suggest to cut it into 2 or 3 because there is so much information to take in as a reader. And I want to make sure I don't miss anything so maybe space it out with more chapters. Also personally I like more talking, dialogue from characters then description but that's a personal flavour.

But it's really good! :)

Posted 9 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

well thank you very much for your motivational comment. about information I will try to cut details .. read more
This has so much thought in it. I can tell you really wanted this story to have an excelent setting and realistic characters, and it shows in your writing. Although there are grammar errors, this was interesting to read. Good luck!! :)

Posted 9 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

on the city thing, actually the entire city was inside the mountain so sunlight could come only thro.. read more
Annabelle Dreams

9 Years Ago

Haha, yeah I know don't worry. That makes sense! Thanks for clearing it up for me, but maybe make su.. read more
Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

its alright. if you read it over then it was my mistake that it wasn't interesting enough to make yo.. read more
It is hard to put into words the happiness that can be felt when reading a fantasy plot like this and anybody who has never read tolkien, should set aside some time to do so. Great job making your own rendition

Posted 9 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Barbara Tennyson

9 Years Ago

There are some basic writing goofs.
Here: In the halls of Erebor, the city of dwarves in the.. read more
Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

alright I will try improving these flaws. Thanks for advice.
Lord of the Kings

9 Years Ago

also sorry if you had spent long time reading it only to find its boring

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Added on July 10, 2015
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Lord of the Kings
Lord of the Kings

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I am a teenager and a huge fan of Tolkien's novels one of the greatest fiction novelist. Now I am writing a bit of my own imagination but to know whether its worth or not I wish to share it with you a.. more..

Writing