Walking In Starlight

24

Thorin stands his sword in the ground and pants, calling up to the other dwarves, who are all scouring the sides of the Mountain, trying to find the secret entrance,

"Anything?" Thorin called

"Nothing!" Dwalin shouted back

"If the map is true, the hidden door lies directly above us." He said

Bilbo, walking around, sees a massive statue of a dwarf carved into the side of the mountain, causing him to look closely, noticing a set of stairs built into the statue,

"Up here!" Bilbo shouted, pointing to the stairs

"You have keen eyes, Master Baggins" Thorin said

They painstakingly make their way up the steep and treacherous steps and find a little rock-walled clearing in the side of the mountain, Thorin runs to the clearing,

"This must be it" he said "the hidden door" the remaining dwarves and Bilbo come into the clearing as well, "let all those who doubted us rue this day!" holding up the key

"Right" Dwalin said "we have our key, which means that somewhere, there is a keyhole"

He begins exploring the walls of the clearing with his fingers, looking for a keyhole, Thorin walks to the edge of the clearing and looks out at the setting sun,

"The last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the keyhole" he said to himself

Thorin looks at the wall and tries to figure out what the light hitting the wall means, and as the sun gets lower and lower on the horizon and nothing changes on the wall, Thorin begins to get frantic,

"Nori" he said

Nori, who is known as a thief, runs to the wall and begins tapping it in different places with a spoon while holding his ear to a cup held against the wall. Meanwhile, Dwalin strains and pushes against the wall, the sun slowly going lower behind the mountain,

"We’re losing the light" Thorin informed

"Come on!" Dwalin urged, beginning to kick at the wall

"Be quiet!" Nori ordered "I can’t hear when you’re thumping"

"I can’t find it" he said frantically "it’s not here! It’s not here"

As the sun gets closer to disappearing, Thorin frantically gestures to the other dwarves,

"Break it down!" Thorin ordered

Dwalin, Gloin, and Bifur smash at the wall with their weapons, to no avail,

"Come on!" Thorin shouted

"It’s no good!" Balin replied "the door’s sealed. It can’t be opened by force. Powerful magic on it"

The dwarves hitting the door drop their weapons in tiredness and disappointment, the sun disappears behind distant mountains,

"No!" Thorin shouted

Thorin stumbles forward and re-examines the old map,

"The last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the keyhole" he read out loud "that’s what it says"

He holds his arms open is disbelief, the other dwarves mutter in disappointment and anger,

"What did we miss?" Thorin asked himself

Thorin walks up to Balin and repeats his question, earnestly and tearfully,

"What did we miss, Balin?" He asked