The Elf, the Hobbit and the Dwarf - Book 1 NEW VERSION

Homesickness

After what must have been days of wandering amongst the hills, Míriel found herself on another large mountain in the middle of a storm. None of them could truly tell where they were because the storm kept them from seeing further than what their arms could reach. They clung to the edge of a cliff as they tried to grab onto something while the howling wind attempted to make them fall into the shadows of the abyss below. Míriel did not dare to look down over the edge in fright of falling down and never be seen again. Her hair was dripping wet of the rain and she was thankful to herself for braiding her long hair the night before since she had expected it to be in the way.

"Everyone, hold on!" Thorin yelled to overpower the sound of the rain and thunder. Bilbo suddenly stepped on a loose rock and almost fell face forward over the edge of the mountain, but four Dwarf arms grabbed him and pulled him up again. He had given them quite the fright and Míriel was almost a little angry - Bilbo needed to watch where he stepped for she truly did not want to lose him or any of the others.

"We must find shelter!"

Dwalin cried something else that not even Míriel could hear clearly, but soon after a large boulder flew over their heads and smashed into the mountain. The pieces of the large boulder broke into hundreds of others that rained over them, forcing them to press themselves toward the wall of the mountain in order to not to get crushed. What was this weather? It had to be something more for this was not normal at all.

"This is no thunderstorm!" Balin called from the front of their line. "It's a thunder battle! Look!"

And then suddenly a great giant made of rock rose from the opposite mountain. The giant was as black as the rock it was made of, and it was huge, its head almost touching the clouds above them. Míriel had never seen or heard anything like it before, and she stood there in fear as it started moving toward them. Every step it took made the ground vibrate and more boulders fell over them.

The giant grabbed a boulder and threw it with great force toward another giant. More of them seemed to come incredibly enough, and it looked like they were angry at each other. If Míriel hadn't been scared to death about being crushed, she might have admired the giants.

"Bless me," Bofur said with widened, terrified eyes. "The legends are true. Giants! Stone giants!"

Bofur was right, the giants were at a battle; they were fighting each other. More and more of them rose and it soon became evident that Míriel and the rest of the company were indeed standing on top of one of them. When the stone giant stood up, Míriel, Thorin, Nori and Glóin were separated from the others who seemed to stand on another leg. They were now in two different places, two different legs, hanging on for their lives as the giants walked and smashed their heads together.

Míriel could see Bilbo, Kíli, Fíli and the rest of the Dwarves struggling to hold on. The giant fell and smashed the leg Bilbo was standing on against the mountain wall. It all went so fast that Míriel didn't even have time to react before they were gone - crushed against the mountain. There was no way that they could have survived such an impact and when the giant removed its leg from the mountain again there was no sign of them.

"NO!" Thorin cried as his nephews disappeared under all the rock. "No, Kíli!"

Thorin pushed on and ran for his nephews and Míriel couldn't do more than to do the same. They ran together toward the spot where they had been seen last. As they got closer, Míriel could hear cursing and muttering, but no crying or screaming of pain. The Dwarves were there - alive and safe, only a little shook up. Míriel sighed and smiled faintly toward the Dwarves who were spread over the ground, shaking their heads and muttering that it hurt.

"They're alive!" Dwalin said and smiled widely, she had never seen him smile that way before since he always made out to be an emotionless, scary Dwarf that only knew how to kill. He cared for his companions, though, and it was sweet.