Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
□
The following day she woke to see Gandalf looking at her along with Thorin. Annet was now stood guarding Erthril.
"It is all right." She whispers, standing and placing a hand on her dragon's neck. "What is it you want?"
"Balin offers his apologies. We wish for you to join us." Thorin tells her, making her roll her eyes, lifting her mat and rolling it up.
"I accept, but I was going anyway." She tells him as she places the mat into the pouch. "Shall I have her in the air and me on a horse?"
"Just to make things easier." She explains as Annet looks at the two men. "She will warn if something is wrong. She never flies too low to be seen."
She pats Annet on the neck as Gandalf says, "The bond between a dragon and rider is a marvelous thing. They don't have to use words to communicate. It is quite useful for us."
Thorin looks between the dragon and rider and nods. "That will do us fine. Gandalf saved a horse for you." He says, making her nod.
"Annet covers the skies. Never too low, never too loud." She whispered, and Annet looked to her rider before leaping into the air.
"Shall we?" She says, motioning the way they had come. They return down the hill and toward the horses. She sees a black and brown horse waiting.
She pets it before hopping into the saddle. "I will follow from behind." She tells them, knowing Annet is above them.
As they set out, her horse road behind the brothers Fili and Kili. They did not speak much, but she kept feeling that eyes were on her.
"Must you keep looking back here?" She asked directly to the brothers. She sighed, seeing Fili slow down his horse.
"Is it true you have a dragon?" He asked curiously as Kili glanced back at them. "If it is?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow at the dwarf beside her.
"What is it like?" He asks, making her say, "It is like having a horse. The only difference is our bond is stronger, and mine can fly."
She watches him tilt his head, "I have an excellent bond with my horse." She rolls her eyes, saying, "So you can communicate without words. Or being near each other."
"So it's true." He says again, making her sigh. "Annet is above us as we speak." She tells him, making him lift his head to look.
"You won't see her. She never flies too low to be noticed." She explains, making the dwarf nod. "Is it possible to meet this, Annet?"
"I may let that happen." She tells him, looking away as a smile crawls onto her face.
Fili looks at her, then the sky, then back to his brother. Kili knows even before his brother or Erthril would.
As they continued, she heard a voice yelling from behind her. She turned her head, seeing the small hobbit running toward them.
They all stopped waiting for him. He stopped in front of Balin, holding up a piece of paper. "I signed it!"
Balin took out his eyeglass to look down at the paper. She looked down at the hobbit as he watched the horse. "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."
"Give him a pony," Thorin says, making Bilbo begin to disagree. She covered her mouth as she smiled, watching him panic.
"No, no, that won't be necessary. Thank you. I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know? Even got as far as Frigmorton once." He told them.
She let out a small laugh as two of the dwarves lifted him. Fili glanced back, seeing her laugh, and smiled.
