The Navigator

Queen

"Wake up! Wake up!" Vistial wakes up slowly to Thorin's voice. Suddenly, the floor underneath her opens up and she falls. She and the Company slide down a tunnel leading deep into the caves. Vistial lands on top of Dwalin, rolls out of the way of a falling Bombur, and stops next to Kili.

"You alright?" He asks. Vistial nods before spotting goblins running toward them.

"Kili!" She shouts. Kili spots the goblins and immediately pulls Vistial's hood over her head.

"Keep your head low." He says quietly before being pulled away. Vistial nods, having heard stories of what goblins do to woman they capture. But when she was pulled onto her feet, she couldn't stop her hood from falling off. The goblin that gripped her arm screeched joyfully.

"Queen! Queen!" It shouts, pulling Vistial along with the others. Vistial's eyes widen she sees a massive, fat goblin sitting on a throne, presumably the Goblin King.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?" A goblin steps forward and addresses the King.

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence." The goblin says.

"Dwarves?" The Goblin King questions.

"We found them on the Front Porch. And we found this." The goblin that held Vistial yanks her forward and she falls onto her knees in front of the Goblin King. The Goblin King smiles nastily as he inspects the girl.

"Well done. She will make a fine queen." He smiles.

"I will never be your queen." Vistail spits. The Goblin King lifts her chin up to him with his staff.

"You will learn to love and respect me, girl." He says.

"Never!" Vistial shouts. The Goblin King looks back at the Company. Kili was struggling against the three goblins that were trying to hold him back while the dwarf glared daggers into the Goblin King.

"He is a dwarven prince. You're a simple girl. You are nothing compared to him. Why would he ever love you?" The Goblin King whispers into Vistial's ear. The statement hit Vistial like a rock.

"Take my queen below. I'll be there momentarily." Vistial didn't have the strength to fight the goblins that led her away. The dwarves' shouts and calls fade into the background as she was dragged deeper into the Goblin Tunnels.

'He's lying. He was just trying to get into your mind.' One part of Vistial says.

'But what if he wasn't lying? What if he's right? What if Kili doesn't share my affections?' Another part says. Vistial mentally shouts at herself.

'Only one way to find out.' Vistial looks at her goblin escorts. She knew she shouldn't expose herself, but it was the only way she could get out of here. Just as the escort rounds a corner, Vistial shifts. The goblin escorts scream as the newly-appeared dragon roars at them. Vistial knocks the goblins back before leaping into the air. She had spot a large gap in the caves and quickly dives through it. Vistial finds herself outside the caves and laughs happily. The Goblin King wasn't making Vistial his queen today. Now to find the Company.

"Thorin!" Vistial's sensitive hearing picks up the dwarves' cries. Quickly, she dives towards the sound. She spots an unconscious Thorin being protected by Bilbo as an Orc approaches, ax raised. With a roar, she shoves the Orc out of the way, placing herself between Bilbo, Thorin, and the orc pack. She hears the dwarves gasp and start to whisper to each other, but she shoves it off and faces the pale Orc that glared at her.

"Come on, you filthy bag of bones. Come on." Vistial roars at the pale Orc again, urging him on. With a shout, the Orc urges his warg towards Vistial. Just as Vistial goes to smack the warg down, an eagle beats her to it. Vistial watches in amazement as a whole flock of giant eagles start to fight the Orc pack. The eagles start to grab the dwarves off the fallen tree.

"Kili!" Vistial turns at Fili's voice and spots Kili's hand starting to slip. She bolts forward and dives off the side of the cliff as Kili starts to fall.

"Gotcha!" Vistial roars triumphantly as her claws wrap around Kili. The dwarf grips her talons tightly as she soars forward.

"Let me go!" He shouts, struggling.

"Kili, for Mahal's sake, stop wiggling or I'm going to drop you again!" Vistial says. The dwarf looks up at Vistial in shock.

"Vistial?" He asks.

"At your service." Vistial replies with a smile.

"How..."

"Long story. I'll explain later when the entire Company can hear." Vistial says. After flying for a while, the eagles start to drop the dwarves off on a mountain cliff. Vistial lands gently and Kili slips off her back, where Vistial had put him after he had complained for half the flight. Vistial sees Gandalf rush to Thorin's side and whisper something.

"Thorin." The wizard sighs in relief as the dwarf opens his eyes.

"The Halfling?" Thorin immediately asks.

"It's all right. Bilbo is here. He's quite safe." Gandalf replies. Thorin stands with the help of Dwalin and Fili before turning to Bilbo.

"You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the Wild? That you had no place amongst us?" The dwarf king approaches Bilbo, speaking loudly. Bilbo lowers his head in defeat. "I have never been so wrong in all my life." Thorin engulfs Bilbo in a hug. "But I'm sorry I doubted you."

"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero or a warrior. Not even a burglar." Bilbo says. Something seems to catch the Hobbit's eye. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Erebor... the Lonely Mountain...the last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth. Your home." Vistial says. The Company finally sees the dragon and create a defensive circle.

"Who are you and how did you sneak up on us?" Thorin demands, holding his sword at the dragon. Vistial chuckles and shifts back to her normal form. The dwarves' eyes widen as they recognize the girl that now stood before them.

"It's not that hard to sneak up on dwarves as one would think." Vistial smiles.

"Vistial!" Fili runs forward and hugs the girl.

"We thought we lost you to that Goblin King, lass." Dwalin says as the Company surrounds her.

"You can't get rid of me that quickly." Vistial laughs.

"How did you escape?" Ori asks.

"I just showed them my teeth." Vistial says.

"And how exactly can you do that? Why do you have the powers of a skin-changer?" Thorin demands, looking at the girl. Vistial looks at Gandalf, who nods.

"I'm not completely human. My father was human, yes, but my mother..."

"Was an elf." Thorin finishes. Vistial nods. "I've heard of the myths that human-elf breeds can have skin-changer powers, but I didn't know they were real."

"Well, they are. And you're probably looking at the only real proof of those myths." Gandalf interjects.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Bilbo asks.

"Of course I did. I may not be Vistial's father, but I did raise her." Gandalf says. A bird lands on Vistial's shoulder for a moment before flying off.

"A raven! The birds are returning to the mountain." Oin exclaims.

"That, Oin, was a thrush." Vistial corrects.

"But we'll take it as a sign. A good omen." Thorin says.

"You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us."