Eruwen (Part 1 & 2)

The Keyhole

In the morning I woke up in Thorin's arms, we got dressed and I got on Feon, who flew past the balcony. The dwarves went through a ceremonial boat ride before heading across to the other side of Long Lake, the current was strong and it took a long time to sail against it.

So we devised a plan to have Feon pull them along. I jumped down into the boat with a stout rein, tied them to the horse, and he began to pull.

Some of the dwarves didn't go, and I hoped they would find a cure for Kili, since I hadn't had time to give it to him. We set off for the Mountain, where just about no one dared to go. What used to be a beautiful place with green trees was now Smaku's dragon desert.

We were looking out over the ruins of a formerly prosperous city.

"What is this?" Ori asked.

"This used to be the city of Dale," Balin replied, "Now it's ruins."

"The sun will be up soon," Thorin began, "We need to find the secret door before it sets. This way."

"Wait," Bilbo interrupted, "Isn't that the lookout? Gandalf said we'd meet here. No way-"

"Do you see him? We don't have time to wait for the wizard. We'll go without him. Come on."

According to the map, the entrance to the secret door was not far from us. I was looking at it when I heard Bilbo say he'd found the stairs.

"Upstairs," the hobbit yelled.

"You have the sight of an eagle, Master Baggins," said Thorin, and the hobbit was very pleased.

"Bombur," I said, "come."

So the others wouldn't have to drag him along, I put him on my horse. He wasn't too happy about it, but luckily it was only for a short while. I helped them up, which they were all grateful for, especially since they didn't have to deal with Bombur.

Feon gave me an annoyed look when we showed up at the door. I gave him a hefty helping of apples as a reward.

Thorin was happy and beaming like the sun.

"All those who doubted us," he spoke happily, "Shame on you."

They all began to cheer, though the most important thing still remained, finding that keyhole. The sun began to set and I didn't notice the keyhole, if it was indeed a spell-protected door, it should appear.

 "Break down the door!" Thorin yelled desperately.

"You can't force it open, Thorin. They are sealed with a powerful spell," Balin spoke.

The sun had set and no one had found the keyhole.

"No," said Thorin, walking over to the rock, "the last ray of Durin's day will point to the keyhole. So it stands there. What have we missed?"

"We've missed the light," Balin replied, "There's nothing more to be done. We had one chance. Let's get out of here, it's over."

Bilbo then looked at them in amazement that the dwarves had given up so quickly.  The hobbit walked over to the rock and began to say aloud the wording of the moon runes they had found in the Rivendell.

"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks. The sun is setting and the last ray of Durin's day will point to the keyhole."

"When the thrush knocks?" I asked, "When we stood here, no-"

At that moment a thrush appeared beside us and began to knock on the stone. The moon appeared in the sky and its light began to shine magically on the rock - that last ray of Durin's day was the moon.

"That's the last one," said Bilbo happily.

Then the moon showed the keyhole with its light.

"The keyhole. Go back, go back. That ray is from the moon, the last moon of autumn," he shouted and started laughing, "Where's the key? Where is the key?" he asked himself, "Where is it? It was here. It was here. Somewhere here-" he didn't finish the sentence as he kicked the key away with his foot and if it wasn't for Thorin, he would have fallen down the cliff.

Thorin picked it up and smiled, putting the key in the keyhole and turning it. He pushed on a piece of stone and the door opened. We managed to find the entrance to Erebor.