His Fire

Stories by the Fire

We ride on to the East, towards the mountain.

The whole way, Fili asked me about my powers and my past adventures. I didn't tell him everything, though.

We stopped at a long shoulder on the trail.

We ate and go to sleep.

Or at least try to.

Oh beard of Thor, I can't sleep thanks to Bombor's avalanche like snores!

Then I hear a familiar sound. An Orc pack.

"What was that?" Bilbo asks.

Apparently, Gandalf, Thorin, Fili, Balin, and Kili were awake, too. I go to sit by Fili, who sits up and let's me lean on him. He puts his right arm around my waist, sending shivers up my back.

"Orcs." Kili answers.

"Orcs?" Bilbo asks, not wanting to believe Kili's answer.

"Throat cutters, there'll be dozens of them out there." Fili says, smoking his pipe.

"They come in the night, make no sound. And when they kill, there's no sound, just lots of blood." Kili tells Bilbo.

They're trying to spook Bilbo.

"Bilbo, don't listen to them. That's nothing like an Orc pack." I snap, bitterly. "Orcs come and they don't just slaughter people. They'll raid villages and butcher people. They kill without remorse and without mercy."

I've had my fill of Orcs, enough to make a sane man go insane, but I still fight.

"I'm sorry, love, I didn't mean to offend you." Fili whispers in my ear, apologetically.

Did he just call me, 'Love'?

Kili chuckles, deciding that I was messing with him, which I wasn't.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by Orcs is amusing?" Thorin says, angrily.

"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili says, guiltily, looking down at the fire.

"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin snaps, angrily.

Thorin walks to the edge and stands there, staring at valleys and hills, apparently thinking of his past and the battle with the Orcs he had.

"It's alright, laddie. Thorin has more reason than most to hate Orcs." Balin says, trying to comfort Kili.

He told us of the battle at Moria. I was unaware that I was listening to the story, I was making the bonfire into the images of the story.

I listen as Balin tells the Company how Azog the Pale Orc killed Thorin's grandfather, Thror. Some grudge against the line of Durin and vowed to wipe them out.

So many of Thorin's people were killed, it angered me. As I listen, my anger grows and so does my admiration for Thorin. All alone and he brought Azog to his knees.

"......there is one I could call 'King'." Balin finishes the tale.

Thorin turns to look at us. Everyone of us look at Thorin, most of us with new eyes. When I first met Thorin, I thought he was a spoiled prince/king and that there nothing he wanted more than his gold.

Now, I see that he is a dwaf king who lost most of his family, his home, and his people. He has plenty reason to be bitter.

"The Pale Orc. What happened to him?" Bilbo asks.

"That scrap of filth slinked back into the pit from which he came." Thorin says. "The monster died of his wounds long ago."

Gandalf and I glance at each other, knowingly.

Azog the Defilier is still alive. I've been hunting his minions for years, slowly reaching him.

After Thorin's answer, everyone turns silent and the fire goes back to its normal curling and swirling. I have an idea.

"Well, now I've learned something about your history," I start. "I'll tell you all something from mine."

Everyone turns to look at me, even Thorin.

"You all know about my powers, but there's something none of you know." I say as I look at Fili, Bilbo, and Gandalf before looking into the fire, ready to create the images I may need.

"When I was an infant, my parents abandoned me in the woods to be killed. Not only because of what I am, but because their love was forbidden.

"My mother was a dwarf princess of the Iron Hills. And my father was the nephew of King Thraindell of Mirkwood. He was half elf and half human.

"I guess I don't need to tell you all how love between the two kingdoms are forbidden.

"Anyway, about three months after my birth, my parents found out what I am and abandoned me. I don't know how I remember all of this, but I wish I didn't."

There's silence for a few moments except for the crackling of the wood in the fire.

"How did your parents find out what you are?" Fili asks.

"Because of the Mark of Fire." I answer as I make an exact version of my Mark in the flames (A/N: THE OTHER PICTURE ON "HELLO"). "Every Fire Enchanter or Enchantress bears it."

"Are there more than just you?" Bilbo asks.

"No," I shake my head. "It's just me."

"Where's the Mark?" Fili asks.

I loosen the dress a bit, then pull my hair off my right shoulder and gather it all on my left. Then, I pull the collar of my dress to the edge of my shoulder to reveal the Mark.

I can feel it glowing red right now, along with my eyes, since I'm using my powers.

After a few moments of letting my companions see it, I let go of the collar, it returns to its original position, and I tighten the dress once again.

"I except that some of you hate me for who my parents were," I look at Thorin as I say this. "And believe, if I could choose my parents, I would have chosen anyone except them."

"What happened after you were abandoned?" Thorin asks.

"I was adopted by a very kind and loving man. He raised me as his own daughter. Because of him, I became a Ranger. And because of him, Gandalf is one of my very dear friends and that's how I'm here now." I answer Thorin.

After a few more moments, Thorin says:

"We dwarves hate elves, but since you're not completely an Elf, you don't count. You're one of us"

I smile and nod my gratitude. Everyone tries to go back to sleep. Fili and I feel tired, so I say, 'Goodnight, Fili'.

"Goodnight, love."

As I lay down, I felt as if an enormous weight had been removed from my shoulders. No one hated me and they accepted me, despite who parents were.

It feels so perfect.

But, what we all didn't know was that an Orc scout was sending word to his master that they found us.