The Three Women Of Durin

First Steps

Cece heaved for breath, her body thrumming and aching. They had just spent the last few hours clambering up the fallen dwarf statue, weaving their way in and out of its cracks and curves (some of them implied some of them the result of weathering). They had made it to the little overlook where the dwarven door was hidden in the stone-cold rock. They still had a few more minutes of sunlight left and Cece spent it sitting near the edge of the cliff, the height not affecting her as she looked to where Laketown lay, now a small puddle in the distance.

It felt weird being on her own, without Frankie and Rosie, just herself. However, the company was still the company, they were still her friends and she would look out for them no matter what. Sighing, Cece flickered her eyes to where Thorin stood not too far away from her, he too was staring out at the scene before them, but not at Lake Town, but up at the setting sun. Cece could almost hear his thoughts as he wished for time to speed up.

Eventually, the sun set behind the mountains and the company held their breaths as they watched the moon rise and slowly settle over the area they were standing on. As the moonlight danced upon the grooves and grains of the stone it illuminated a shadow which could not be seen before. The shadow, upon further inspection, was, in fact, a keyhole. At the revealing of this news, a sigh of a mixture of things escaped the lips of many as they realized that they were about to enter their homeland.

Thorin walked over and removed the key from his neck, he held it in his hand for a moment and ran a finger over the carvings of the handle. This was it. Thorin pushed the key into the hole, and once it was in he turned it with some difficulty. From within the sound of a door sliding could be heard, then another and then another. Dwarves and their architecture Cece thought to herself with a smile.

Thorin then pressed to hands on the area of stone from which they keyhole had been presented, with what looked like some horsepower, Thorin managed to open the door revealing the first look of Erebor Cece had ever got to see. Cece watched, emotions now filling her, as Thorin stepped into his homeland, his people following in his path.

"I know these halls," His voice broke and Cece felt something hit in the chest. For she had not just heard the moody, sick Thorin that she had been recently no, she heard the Thorin from the late nights of camping, the Thorin who laughed with them and wasn't afraid to smile, the Thorin who had offered them a place in his company as they started their friendship over apology pancakes. This was Thorin Oakenshield. This was Thorin Oakenshield home.

Cece chocked back whatever was rising in her throat and moved into the stone halls behind the group. As soon as she stepped into the stone, something came over her and she realized why the dwarves were so driven to reclaim their homeland. There was something so blissful about standing under the rocky earth yet so high above everyone else in the world. The walls thrummed and seemed to be slightly warm to touch instantly making the stone feel homely and comforting.

Smiling she turned and looked up at where the picture was carved into the stone above the secret doorway. The lines were intricate and portrayed great care, the runes she could not read but that did not mean that she did not understand. When she felt that the dwarves had got familiar with the fact that they were in fact here, she began pushing the plan into action.

"So, Bilbo, Balin will take you down to the halls," Cece bent down towards to hobbit and took him by his shoulders, "Now remember, you're looking for the Arkenstone, don't worry you'll notice it when you see it, trust me. There is, in fact, a dragon there but that should not worry you too much. If he wakes just use your brilliant delaying skills," She smiled happily, Bilbo gave a nod but his eyes revealed that he was in fact scared. "Bilbo," She said softly so the others could not hear, "In the story, you do just fine, better than fine, brilliant is what you are!" She smiled, this caused the fear to die down, "Trust me, nothing bad is going to happen. Before you know it, Smaug's going to be dead and everything's going to be okay."