𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

Magic runes | The Company

Footsteps on the dry grass was what was heard on that dull green esplanade. Someone in a pair of sturdy boots was peering over the edge of a small hill. Dwalin was scanning the horizon with one of his axes in hand; his face showed no emotion at all. The rest of the company was behind him. Thorin watched everything also at the same time behind the bald man, dropping his sword on the barren ground and resting his forearm on the hilt.
"We've been roaming the same places we roamed those days for two weeks, and there's no trace of the city or the book," Thorin commented with anger in his voice.

"Do you remember the last words that woman said about her city?" Dwalin asked, looking at the place, then looking away from there to look at Thorin.

"No, I can't remember a single word" he replied with a frown without taking his eyes off the landscape.

"It's just a book, why are you so interested in getting it back?" Kili asked in confusion.

Thorin turned suddenly to look at him with a cold, piercing gaze.
"In that book are written runes that reveal the customs and ways of life of the dwarves," he commented. "They were written by our ancestors, but those pages also hide other kinds of texts."

Kili was even more confused by those words.

"In that book there are enchantments and secrets that no one must know, least of all the people of this world," Balin continued. "Who knows what they might do if one of them discovered the meaning of those texts..."

Kili looked at Fili not knowing what to say.
"Did you know anything about this?" asked the one with brown hair.
"No idea," the blonde replied, also confused, looking back at his uncle. "In the end it seems you haven't told us everything after all, uncle Thorin."

Thorin looked away from his nephews to direct it to the front; his face was still unflinchingly cold and serious.
"I will in due time, you are not ready to know certain things yet," he replied. "But if we don't get that book back, I won't be able to tell you much."

Silence was created among the company, nobody knew what to say, until one of them decided to break the silence.
"I remember a few words that lass said before we left," Bofur commented.

"And she said?" Thorin asked without looking away from the place, turning his back on the dwarf.

"Something about some trees... a fir, an ash and an oak..." Bofur said trying to remember.

Thorin said those same words to himself, whispering them to the wind, and then he remembered what Bofur meant.
"She told us that we would have to cross those trees, first the fir, then the ash, then the oak, and thus we would find her city," he said, opening his eyes and lifting his body from the hilt of the sword. "Let's follow the path, we have to get there as soon as possible."

He disembedded the weapon from the ground and began to walk briskly along that esplanade, down the hill, determined, in an uncertain direction and without waiting for anyone. They all followed him after watching him go for a few seconds, confused about everything.
"Do you know where those trees are?" Kili asked.

"No, but at some point we'll find them, I'm sure," the king answered confidently in his words.

*****

Meanwhile, that woman, Y/N, was contemplating the pages of that ancient book with curiosity, sitting on the edge of a river in the middle of the forest in spring, where she let her feet bathe in the cold water. She ran her fingers over those runes without understanding anything they said. She could sometimes see drawings of everyday tools typical of a humble people, such as farming objects, mining, livestock, fishing, containers to carry food, weapons... also plants, animals, caves and many kinds of jewelry and minerals. There was an entire chapter consisting of several pages for the latter. But after spending a good time looking at each of those pages, she found some that had nothing but text, paragraphs and paragraphs of text; all the runes were written in a fine dark ink.