What If

Chapter 1

The Lady of silver fountains,

The Queen of carven stone,

The Queen beneath the mountain,

Shall come unto her own.

And the bells shall ring in gladness,

At the Mountain Queen's return,

But all shall fall to madness,

And the world will

SHINE and BURN.

There once was a Queen that ruled beneath the Lonely Mountain. Lady Aislin was the most unusual and stubborn elf you would ever have the misfortune to meet. She was kind and loyal, but if you made her angry, there would be hell to pay. Aislin was tall and slender, she was around five feet and eight inches. She was quite pale, for an elf, she had sharp cheekbones and freckles dotting her face, giving her some colour. Her raven black hair was long and curly, with tints of red and gold popping out here and there. If ever you looked her in the eyes, you will see that they change hue, though mostly they were green, they ranged in every colour, even grey and blue.

The Lady Aislin from the kingdom of Erebor, was once attacked in her home beneath the mountain by a firedrake from the North. All of her people fled the now hollow halls and met their dying fall, under the blazing moon that sad and fateful day. Although her brothers fled the mountain, she had stayed behind, to protect the one thing that the dragon must never find. The Arkenstone was hidden among the hoards of gold but despite her determined trying, the dragon had found it still.

She had hid deep within the caverns to stay out of the dragon's sight, but one dark and stormy night, he spotted dusty footprints leading to the throne. The dragon knew that if he kept this form he would scare the poor intruder, so he used the magic that he had to change into a human version of himself, wings and all. From where she had laid for rest, Aislin heard his footfalls on the stone, she had gotten up and hid behind the throne. As the dragon was drawing closer, she had noticed something odd, his footsteps were very quiet, too light to be his own.

'Dragons are such massive creatures, with a lot of weight to them, how can this monster be so silent with his feet?' she had all but said aloud, but the dragon had heard her exhale and was very well determined to find what had made the sound. Aislin peeked around the corner of the great chair made of stone, just as the dragon looked in her direction, she tried to duck back but he had caught her anyway.

"Come now, I know you're hiding. Don't be shy, step into the light." he said so sweetly, and she replied,

"And if I do not come out, what will you do, dear sir? Burn me to a crisp or, perhaps, crush my fragile bones?"

"If you should not show yourself, I shall just walk away but I will always sense your presence. Pray tell, what are you, my dear? I know you are not Dwarvish, yet you ruled them all the same." the dragon responded in a voice so demanding, Aislin had no choice but to answer.

"I am not a Dwarf, you are correct. I am an elf by blood. My father had come to see the King, Thrain, and when he went to leave, he had left me behind. So, the Dwarves of Erebor took me in as their own." With that the mountain queen came from behind her hiding place, and when she finally looked at the dragon, all she could do was stare, for now she saw why his footsteps were so silent.