The Light that Wakes [Bagginshield]

Revelations

Far over to the West, the Hobbits of the Shire still went on about their daily business as if nothing had changed in the world since last spring, and to their knowledge, it had not. They liked the world not changing further beyond the natural turning of the seasons, from the cold, dark barren days of winter to the bright, fruitful sun-filled hour of summer. That was the sort of change they knew what to do with.

One thing about the coming of spring that they could never quite grow used to, however, was the occasional appearance of travellers through their corner of Middle Earth. Perhaps it was on account of the considerable lessening of travel during the winter months – tucked away in their warm holes under the snow-covered earth, Hobbits seemed to forget altogether that other people inhabited Middle Earth. When strangers started to turn up on their roads and in their inns with the coming of spring, it always seemed to take them by surprise.

Certainly, surprise was the least that could be said about the look on the hobbits' faces when two dwarves traveling along the East Road entered Hobbiton on a mild afternoon in late March of the year 2942. One could have described their reaction better as suspicious, and even a bit hostile, especially since the two dwarves did not seem very hesitant about where they were going. Not that they seemed in a hurry. In fact, their ponies rode at a steady pace, as if they were heading to a place where they could rest soon, and the riders did not seem to lend much attention to being looked on with suspicion. One of the dwarves, a rather noble-looking fellow with the kind of luxuriant red beard that only Dwarves were known to grow, even took time to give little nods of greeting to some of the less hostile-looking hobbits along the way. The other one, who rode in front, seemed more full of himself, as he held himself very straight on his pony and did not care to offer in greeting anything more than sharp looks, matched only by the sharpness of the two axes he carried on his back.

Surely to the alarm of the entire village, the two dwarves rode on through Hobbiton only to dismount with an air of confidence at the gate of Bag End, the seemingly abandoned home of Bilbo Baggins, the most peculiar of Hobbits this side of the Brandywine river.

"I'm sure Bilbo would appreciate this warm welcome of his kin if he were here," said Gloin, the red-bearded dwarf, issuing a cloud of smoke from his large pipe as he looked around the valley.

Dwalin only answered with a grumble as he dug in his pocket and finally produced a ring of keys. He opened the gate with one of them and allowed Gloin and the two ponies in before shutting the gate again and locking it behind him. The ponies were set loose to graze on the short grass that was already springing forth from the dirt. Then, Gloin and Dwalin disappeared behind the door of Bag End, leaving the whole of Hobbiton in fretful disgruntlement that would no doubt last until they were gone.

"Alright then," said Gloin, "here we are at last. Why don't you have a look around, make sure everything's where it should be, and I'll start a fire in the meantime?"

"Right," agreed Dwalin.

Even though the house had been uninhabited for almost a year, Gloin felt a wave of warmth taking over him just from standing there in the hallway of Bilbo's home. That was where their almost hopeless quest had started. He had known then it was not altogether hopeless, but they would have needed considerable luck on their side to succeed, in addition to courage and resilience. And yet, they had succeeded. The Lonely Mountain was theirs again, and here they were, back to where it had all begun, back on their way to the Blue Mountains, to take the happy news to Lady Dis and prepare the great journey of the Dwarves of Erebor back to their ancient home.

"You said you would be starting a fire," said Dwalin, appearing again from one of the many rooms of Bag End.

"Oh," said Gloin, obviously startled. "Yes, I'm sorry, I must have lost track of time thinking. I'll get to it right away."