Daughter Of Dragons: A Hobbit Fanfiction

We Will All Burn Together

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     Bilbo looked at Valadhiel as she sat at the ledge, then he looked around and thought of the riddle again. "Stand by the grey stone..." he went and stood by the grey stone. "When the thrush knocks..." he looked around. No thrush. "The setting sun... and the last light of Durin's Day will shine. Hmm. The last light; last light..."

     Valadhiel looked back at Bilbo, opening her mouth to speak. Before she could though, a dim light in the sky shone down. She looked up at the parted clouds that revealed the light of the full moon, then she tilted her head.

     Bilbo looked at the full moon above him, then he turned when he heard a sound and saw a thrush banging a snail against the wall. When it flew away, he laughed. "The last light!"

     Valadhiel's eyes widened when the moonlight hit the wall and she gasped. "The keyhole! Bilbo, look!"

     Bilbo's eyes widened, too, and he called out to the others, who were out of sight by this point. "The keyhole! Come back, come back! It's the light of the moon; the last moon of autumn! Ha ha ha!"

     He began looking around on the ground after a moment. "Where's the- where's the key? Where's the- it was here... it was just..." his eyes widened when his foot hit it and it almost fell over the side of the mountain.

     Valadhiel reached out for it but would have missed it; thankfully, a boot caught the key beneath it. She looked up to see Thorin, and she grinned up at him.

     The other dwarves came back up and looked at Bilbo in relief, then they looked at Thorin as he looked at the key and held it up for them all to see.

     "Way to go, Bilbo!" Bifur exclaimed.

     "That's our burglar!" Dwalin added.

     "We never would have made it this far without him." Valadhiel said with a smile. She then looked at Thorin. "Well, Master Thorin?"

     Thorin smiled at her before he stepped forward and inserted the key. All watched in wait as the door opened. Once it was open, the only thing Thorin could say in just above a whisper was, "Erebor." 

     "Thorin..." Balin said, trailing off as he got choked up. 

     Thorin put a hand on Balin's shoulder, then he stepped into the mountain, looking around, seeming far away. "I know these walls... these halls... this stone. You remember it, Balin. Chambers filled with golden light." 

     Balin stepped into the tunnel and looked around before he smiled fondly. "I remember." 

     Valadhiel let the dwarves all walk in, as well as the halfling, before she followed them all inside. She looked around and smiled with fondness herself. It had been so long since she had last seen this place. 

     "Herein lies the seventh kingdom of Durin's Folk. May the heart of the mountain unite all dwarves in defense of this home." Gloin said as he looked at a carving. 

     "The throne of the king." Balin said as he gazed upon it, memories from long ago flooding his mind. 

     "Oh. And what's that above it?" Bilbo asked curiously. 

     "The Arkenstone." 

     "Arkenstone... and what's that?" 

     Thorin turned to Bilbo. "That, Master Burglar, is why you are here." 

     All of the dwarves looked at Bilbo, and Valadhiel turned to him as well, noticing that he looked bewildered. She honestly couldn't blame him. He never would have dreamed of stepping one foot out of the Shire, much less go to Erebor and steal the king's jewel from a fire breathing dragon.