The Treasure of Erebor
Chapter 9 - The Treasure of Erebor
Bilbo was losing his mind with worry, both for Luna, and now Thorin, who grew ever more obsessive about finding the Arkenstone.
He was relieved as the others to see the dragon fall, but that relief was short lived when not days later Thorin pulled him aside to question the loyalty of his kinsmen.
Therefore, it was a relief unmatched when Luna, who appeared from nowhere, tapped on his shoulder.
He spun and upon seeing her fair face exclaimed, " Luna!"
She grinned down at him, her wild moon-blonde hair looking very clean, and her blue pants and baby-blue vest looking newer than the day he had first met her. The white undershirt was looking a bit worse for wear, but her boots, well, they looked like the muck and weeks of travel had been washed away.
He thanked all the powers that be that she brought with her a large sack of foods, mainly potatoes and salted-dry fish. He was most excited about the potatoes.
“Where have you been?” Bilbo demanded.
“I got lost in the woods and then I helped a bowman kill Smaug.”
“Excuse me?” he squeaked.
“I talked to it and Bard shot it with an arrow through its missing scale.”
The company spotted them, calling out in a wave of sound.
Bilbo whispered hurriedly to her, "I think Thorin is unwell."
Her smile fell but before she could answer, the rest of the company had joined them.
Even Thorin, who was pulled from his gold hunger, seemed more himself as they all celebrated that Luna was back with them.
A celebration that ended when a warning went up that they had guests at the gate.
Thorin argued with those below, refusing to give an inch, his greed and bloodlust clear in every word.
Bilbo was appalled by what he heard, and Luna was speechless as she watched the Dwarven King with wide blue eyes.
Bilbo tried to reason with him, "You made a promise to the people of Lake-town. Now is this treasure truly worth more than your honour? Our honour, Thorin. I was also there, I gave my word."
Thorin placed a warm hand on his shoulder and for a moment, Bilbo was hopeful as Thorin said, "For that, I'm grateful. It was nobly done. But the treasure in this Mountain does not belong to the people of Lake-town. This gold… is ours, and ours alone."
Dread filled Bilbo's gut, as he swore he almost heard Smaug's voice in the Dwarven King's voice and tone; "With my life I will not part with a single coin. Not one piece of it."
oOo
Luna was horrified.
The dragon had told her that the treasure of Erebor was cursed, but she hadn't believed that someone as true hearted as Thorin would fall prey to it.
She said nothing as watched the sickness eat away at their minds.
She had told the dragon that she knew of no other way to free someone from such a sickness.
The mere thought of her friend needing to be 'put down' made her physically ill, sorrow clouding her thoughts. She could feel the war coming, between dwarves and elves and possibly humans or whatever other evil would befall this place.
Thorin had forgotten his promise to help send her and Bilbo away once the dragon was defeated. Forgotten his promise to her to not purposely start a war.
Thorin didn't forget she existed, however.
She almost didn't notice the chest of gems he threw open to show her, "The White gems of Lasgalen. I know an Elf-lord who will pay a pretty price for these."
The gems looked like stars, like light of water, she reached out to touch them, finding them hard and cold, but her fingers felt out a thin silver chain, though the metal felt both lighter and stronger than silver, and set in the chain was a single circle cut gem. In it, she saw slight imperfections that the others did not have.
"They are yours."
"What?" she asked, startling as she turned to look at Thorin.
He took the necklace from her fingers and made to put it on her.
She pulled back her hair for him, as his large hands easily worked the tiny clasp, the weight of it settling on her neck like it always belonged there.
"The gems are yours, your piece of the treasure, you more than deserve it."
Luna's heart sank, she didn't want any treasure, save for Thorin being himself. But she thanked him anyway, a plan forming in her mind as she gazed back down at the gems.
oOo
Haldir was rather amused when two figures stepped into the tent.
The first he almost mistook as a child until he noted his feet and ears, a halfling who Gandalf heralded as "Bilbo Bagins!"
Elrond's sons greeted in unison the child behind him, "Luna!"
She smiled at them, her eyes of winter-sky and hair moonbright. She looked an instant like an elleth, beautiful and ethereal even among their kind. Even her voice was lyrical as she greeted, "Elrohir, Elledan, Gandalf."
The image of happiness shattered when her gaze fell on the seated Thranduil, and something like disgust crossed her features.
He saw that her ears were rounding and Haldir realised that she was too young to be an elleth.
"Ah," Thranduil greeted, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Halfling who stole the keys to my dungeons from under the nose of my guards."
Bilbo shook his head, straightening his shoulders, "You can't go to war with the dwarves."
"The choice is not up to us," Thrandruil said loftily.
"Hogwash," Luna snapped at the King.
Haldir smothered the impulse to smile as the King of Mirkwood rose to his feet to glare down at her.
Bilbo stopped whatever would have followed by revealing the package he had been carrying on the table.
The Arkenstone glowed with its light.
Thranduil breathed, "The Heart of the Mountain. The King's Jewel."
The human bowman who had felled the dragon, Bard, said, "And worth a king's ransom." Crossing his arms he looked at Bilbo. "How is this yours to give?"
Bilbo lifted his chin, "I took it as my fourteenth share of the treasure."
Bard asked, "Why would you do this? You owe us no loyalty."
Bilbo frowned at him, "I'm not doing it for you. I know that Dwarves can be obstinate and pigheaded and difficult. And suspicious and secretive with the worst manners you can possibly imagine, but they are also brave and kind and loyal to a fault. I've grown very fond of them, and I will save them if I can. But Thorin values this stone above all else. In exchange for its return, I believe he will give you what you were owed. There will be no need for war."
Haldir did smile at this, it was the kindest words he had ever heard of dwarves and he admired this halfling's love for his friends.
Thranduil shook his head, "Obstinate, you don't know them as I do. They will not bend for reason or threat."
Luna, the petite young woman who had dragged in behind herself a sack that smelled of fish and potatoes, threw said sack directly at the elven king.
Haldir could only gape as King Thandriul had just enough time to brace before the sack hit him and a sparkle of light came out the top of the sack as the king's legs hit his chair and he sat back hard and awkwardly.
The sparkle came from white gemstones.
Luna put her hands on her hips and said in an authoritative tone, "Those are mine to give. And I give them to you in the understanding that when morning comes you and your people will be gone from this place."
Thranduil held the sack awkwardly, looking up at her bewildered as he asked, "Why?"
Gandalf began to speak, but Luna held up a slight hand, silencing the wizard as she said, "Because Erebor is home of the dwarves and the treasure inside of it is meaningless, just as your purpose here, King Thranduil, is meaningless. No one should die for nothing."
Haldir was rather sure, in all the many ages he had seen pass, he had never met this girl's likeness.
Gandalf finally spoke, "There are other enemies—"
"More dwarves are coming, they can handle it," Luna said.
"No they can't."
She spun on the wizard, "Did you know about the entwives?"
Haldir felt his eyes go wide. The randomness of the topic raised every elf's interest who was present.
"The ents have long been searching for their entwives," Gandalf the Grey began.
"Well, I found them," Luna said. She turned back to the King, "And Legolas left to go get the ents so they could be united because I needed to help with Smaug."
Thranduil looked at her utterly bewildered, "My son–"
"Yes," she said sharply. "Your son, who is being useful , unlike you. So why don't you go take your shiny army home, and follow your son's example by doing something meaningful. Like getting rid of evil spiders, for instance."
Haldir had to bite his cheek, he was thousands of years old, but this was going to be one of his most treasured memories. One he imagined he would be just as eager to share with Lady Galadriel and her Lord as the twins would be for recounting this story to their father and sister.
Thranduil's gaze flicked to them and he seemed to remember that he had an audience for this.
"You dare to question–" he began drawing himself up.
"I dare to hope that you will leave now that you have nothing to fight for," Luna interrupted him. "Unless you would like to continue to illustrate to me how the wisdom of the elves is as inferior as that of men. "
Haldir flinched a bit at the venom in those words. He glanced at Bard, but he didn't seem upset with her. He seemed more suspicious of the elven king if anything.
"I feel like I have missed much," Gandalf said lightly into the heavy quiet.
Luna turned on her heel, Bilbo catching her hand as they made to leave without another word.
Haldir asked benignly, "What just happened?"
Gandalf, who had been briefly lost in thought, looked up sharply, "We can't let them leave—"
There was a pounding of hooves by their tent and Gandalf cut himself off as Elledan, the older twin, bowed his head, "She took my horse again, didn't she?"
"Again?" Haldir asked.
Elrohir's smile was downright gleeful as his brother sighed in defeat.
oOo
The next morning hailed a new dawn, and Luna felt gittier. The need to run was growing ever harder to withstand.
The elves had departed from Dale, but she worried over Gandalf's words.
War seemed to be in the wind, despite the brightness of the sun. She could almost hear it in the chatter between the crows that returned in greater numbers to the mountain.
Gandalf, Bard, Elrond’s twin sons, and another fair elf that didn't quite look like any of the others she had met thus far.
Bard called up to them as she, Bilbo, and the dwarves gathered above the barricade, "We've come to tell you payment of your debt has been offered and accepted."
Thorin sneered down at them, "What payment? I gave you nothing. You have nothing."
His sickness was growing worse.
Bard took out the Arkenstone from his coat and held it up, "We have this."
Kili exclaimed, "They have the Arkenstone. Thieves!”
“How came you by the heirloom of our house?” Dori demanded. “That stone belongs to the king!"
Bard replied, "The King may have it, with our good will." He put the Arkenstone back in his inner pocket. "But first he must honour his word."
Thorin roared, "They're taking us for fools. This is a ruse, and a filthy lie. The Arkenstone is in this Mountain, it is a trick!"
Bilbo stepped forward, "I-it's no trick. The stone is real. I gave it to them."
Thorin turned to face him and Luna had never seen such an ugly expression on any of the dwarves before that moment.
"You?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.
Bilbo nodded, "I took it as my fourteenth share."
Thorin bared his blocky teeth, "You would steal from me?"
Bilbo shook his head, backpedaling a bit, "Steal from you? No, no. I may be a burglar, but I like to think I'm an honest one. I'm willing to let it stand against my claim."
Thorin snarled, "Against your claim?" before he chuckled, which unnerved Luna worse than anything. "Your claim? You have no claim over me, you miserable rat!"
Bilbo seemed to deflate, and Luna wondered if any of the dwarves understood just how much Bilbo valued their opinion of him.
"I was going to give it to you. Many times I wanted to, but…"
Thorin asked sharply, "But what, thief ?"
"You are changed, Thorin. The Dwarf I met in Bag End would never have gone back on his word, would never have doubted the loyalty of his kin."
"Do not speak to me of loyalty." He motioned to the company, "Throw him from the rampart!"
Luna was as shocked as any of them.
"Did you hear me!" Thorin raved, and grabbed Kili who fought him.
"No!" he yelled.
"Fine, I'll do it myself!"
A roll of panic went through them and Fili and Bofur tried to hold Thorin back but he easily shrugged them off.
Luna stepped in front of the hobbit and said coolly, "I think not, King of Broken Promises."
Thorin looked at her angrily and the other dwarves stood by anxiously, "He's the thief."
" He is the only reason you got this far, Thorin."
"We returned to Erebor because it was meant to be, it was our birthright," he declared.
"So treasure is worth more to you than honour, than friendship, than family?" She gestured to Fili and Kili, "Worth more than your people ? Worth more than your sister's sons?"
"He is not one of us!" Thorin raged.
"Like hell he isn't!" she yelled back, "You said after the dragon was defeated you would send Bilbo and I home back to the Shire. You promised those men who you endangered by waking a fire-drake that you would give them some portion of the gold so they might rebuild their homes in Dale. You promised to keep Bilbo and I safe from Smaug himself. It is you who are the liar, an honourless fraud, a dwarf who may have a golden crown, but who is no true king."
"You know nothing!"
"I know war marches down on us," she roared back, her heart twisting, she never yelled at anyone but here she was, yelling at two kings in less than two days. "I sent the woodland elves away. I took your payment, that I never asked for, and I gave it to them so they wouldn't be the ones to hurt you. But they are not the only ones who will fall upon Erebor. Is the dwarf on the road more honourable than the dwarf who stands on a mountain of dragon treasure!?"
He blinked at her.
She stepped forward, grabbed his hand, put it to her throat where the necklace he had put on her still sat, and leaned herself over the edge of the barricade, "If you throw Bilbo over the rampart, you'll have to drop me first."
The other dwarves exclaimed.
Sanity returned in a rush to his face and he pulled his hand away from her throat and pulled her into a hug. His wide shoulders shook as he apologised over and over again. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
He looked up over her shoulder, "Bilbo, I'm sorry—"
Bilbo ran at them, hugging them both, and soon the entire company was in a massive bear hug, with Thorin, Bilbo, and Luna at their centre.
When they parted, Thorin called down to Bard, "I accept your terms."
Bard chucked the stone up the wall in what Luna thought was quite an impressive toss.
Thorin caught it, paused to admire it for a moment, before handing it to Luna, "You are right, little one, this stone, no more than this crown, is not what made or makes me a king."
She took it, and with the last dregs of her magic from Exile, she transfigured the stone into glass. The magic seeping away from her into the stone as it appeared to ice over, the flickering light inside of it going still.
And then, Luna dropped it.
All the dwarves' heads followed it as it fell and shattered at their feet in a million pieces.
There was another silence.
"Really, Lassie?" Balin asked.
Luna nodded, "It's cursed, no matter how pretty it is, curses are meant to be broken."
The company stared at her in bemused confusion.
Thorin, still shaking his head, said, "Speaking of which, let's break down this wall."
Not an hour later they heard a horn blow as Thorin's cousin joined them with an army, which was fortunate because not an hour after that, as Luna had feared, the battle began as goblins came like a black hord from the opposing hillcrest.
oOo
Haldir found himself instructed by both the wizard and Elrond's sons to protect Luna and the halfling when the barricade came down and battle broke out in the valley.
He directed the two small figures up the mountain and he shot down anything that tried to follow them.
"I don't think we were formally introduced," Luna said as they bunkered down on a ledge.
Haldir, keeping his attention split on anything trying to climb after them and frequently recounting his arrows as things indeed tried to follow them up.
He introduced himself, "Haldir, from Lothlórien."
"I'm Luna Lovegood, and this is Bilbo Baggins of Bag End," she said. "You're not like the other elves I've met. You… you seem more full of light."
He shot her a smile, "I'm a High Elf."
Bilbo was shaking at her side as he peered around the side of the ledge, "Are we winning?"
Haldir glanced down at the valley, "I believe so."
"Where are Elrohir and Elledan?" Luna asked.
"With Thorin Oakenshield."
"Oh good," Bilbo said, "Elves and dwarves working together, that will no doubt make Thorin happy."
Haldir couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
But Luna snorted with laughter which made Haldir smile, and despite their peril his heart sang at her nearness.
He knew that for his people, when an elf found their other half, that they would simply know , and in that moment he did. At her side, Haldir knew that this was his other half that he had been waiting all these long years for. The part of him that had sent him wandering through the world in hopes that he would find someone who would keep him from journeying across the sea.
In that moment, he was so blindingly happy that he nearly forgot that she was not an elf. That she was a Daughter of Man, and thus, she was mortal.
Nearly.
oOo
Luna was happy when Gandalf joined them on their stakeout.
"I bring more arrows, Haldir," the wizard said.
Luna and Bilbo cheered as Haldir took the quivers with a grateful nod then went back to sniping off bad guys.
She and Bilbo had been keeping a tally of Haldir's kills that pretty much equalled his arrows. Bilbo was counting heart and centre shots while Luna counted headshots.
Luna had a higher count despite some of the monsters having helmets.
Gandalf, who looked rather worn out, took out his pipe and settled in to watch the end of the battle.
It was over far sooner than Luna expected.
Haldir squinted, "The King and your company look safe," he told them. “As are Elrond's sons."
Gandalf breathed out a sigh of relief, "Good, Elrond is a good friend of mine, I would not wish upon him any more heartbreak."
A great cry went out from the valley from the dwarves, a cry of fear, as they pointed and raised weapons to the sky.
They all spun to see as a white dragon descended from the clouds.
Luna grabbed Haldir's hand before he could reach for an arrow, "No, wait she's my friend."
The elf who looked and felt so different to her, familiar in ways she could not describe, looked down at her with wide eyes, "She?"
Ithilwen landed on the side of the mountain beside them. She was a large dragon, but not as large as Smaug.
"Ithilwen!" Luna greeted, hugging her snout.
"I thought I told you to stay in the Shire," the dragon spoke for only the four of them to hear.
The onlookers below were still dispairing.
Gandalf had his staff up, his hat had fallen off on the downdraft from her wings.
"You said I needed to go East if I wanted answers," Luna said, pulling back to meet her opal gaze.
"And did you find those answers, Little Moon?" the dragon asked.
"Yes, and I discovered that Smaug was your father. That your egg was stolen by men from your parents and that's why Smaug came South. I'm sorry that happened to you Ithilwen, that you had to live in Exile, and that you never got to meet him. He asked me to tell you that he is very proud of you."
Ithilwen paused, then nuzzled Luna, "It is alright, Moon Child, this was how it was meant to be." She peered at Gandalf, "I defeated the evil in the North, and I will continue to protect it. Tell all to stay away from our territory."
Gandalf merely bowed his head.
Ithilwen lowered her gaze to look at Bilbo, "You're the troublesome one, but, I suppose, necessary."
Bilbo didn't move, just stared up at the dragon that was probably closer to him than even Smaug had gotten.
Finally, the white dragon turned on Haldir and breathed in his scent.
Haldir stood very still.
Ithilwen bared her teeth at him, "Take care of this one, she is the greatest treasure."
Haldir followed Gandalf's example and bowed.
Luna hugged the dragon again, "You stay safe and be happy."
Ithilwen laughed and nuzzled her back before pulling away for a final time, "Till we meet again, Child of the Moon."
With several beats of her large snow-white wings, she launched off the mountain back up towards the clouds.
Bilbo fainted and Luna dropped to her knees to catch him.
She smiled up at Gandalf, "Guess we end this journey as we began it, huh."
The wizard just shook his head.
oOo
It took many retellings for the story to stick that Luna had charmed the second dragon.
No one used the term dragonologist aside from the company, but trick one dragon to its death, charm or scare off a second, and suddenly she was known as the Dragon Expert.
Haldir believed Gandalf when he said that if it hadn't been for the dragon, Ithilwen, the dwarves would have been slaughtered by the second wave of dark forces from the North he saw coming. The single army of dwarves without the Woodland elves would not have been enough.
And yet, thanks to the actions of this one Daughter of Man, the tides of all their fates, perhaps the fate of Middle Earth had been completely altered.
It was Elrohir who spotted Haldir's heart when Luna was speaking with the hobbit.
"Bilbo, I was wondering, may I return home with you to the Shire?"
The halfling's expression was full of joy, as he exclaimed, "Of course! But I thought you were looking for your family in the East?"
She smiled at him, "I did find my family, on the road East."
Thorin laughed at that, and the dwarves, Fili and Kili, hugged Luna who grinned at the affection being shown to her.
Haldir had to look away as his heart ached to join the merriment where he very much doubted his welcome. He turned back to watch her laugh and let the image and sound wash over him one last time, before ducking out into the night.
He didn't get far before Elrond's sons caught up to him. He tried to ignore them as he readied his horse for the ride back to Lothlórien where he had too long been away from.
"The look in your eyes, Haldir, brings Luthurian to mind," Elrohir teased in elvish.
Haldir shook his head, not at all in the mood as he returned in his own tongue that he knew none of the men, dwarves, or halflings would understand, "She is a child, and I wouldn't take that choice from her."
Elledan returned in the same dialect, his mother's tongue, "Your heart sings for her, does it not? Could you not make her happy? She is young, true, but men age—"
"Yes," he cut in, "They age. Do you think that's what I want? To watch her fade from the world?" Haldir's heart was in his throat as mere thought twisted a dagger through his chest, "And if my sentiments were returned? She would know that I would die with her. How could I ask that of anyone? No, there is a reason why we have so many stories and songs of human and elvish pairings despite their rarity."
Elledan raised a dark brow at him in question.
Haldir mounted his horse, and before taking off into the night, he answered, "They all end in tragedy."
oOo
Epilogue
Luna lived in the far corner of Bree, closest to the Old Forest. She visited Bilbo often in the first few years, living a humble quiet life. She finally reached her maturity, that slight bit of visible ageing convincing a certain Gandalf the Grey that she was in fact just a rather special human.
Though Thorin himself rarely travelled so far West again, her adventures with Bilbo were not the last she saw of her dwarven company.
They, before the elves, before Gandalf, and before even the hobbits in the Shire, realised Luna was of Elvish birth. They accepted her whole-heartedly, her worst fears were put to rest, and King Thorin Oakenshield declared Luna Lovegood his favourite elf of all time. Though rumours of her heritage never quite reached back to the ears of elves themselves, seeing as the two peoples so rarely spoke to one another. To the dwarves, Luna being an elf was the least notable thing about her and often left it out of any narrative that included her.
This is not to say that had Gandalf been paying closer attention, he wouldn't have realised that the hobbits referring to the elven maid, Luna Lovegood, went beyond flattery of her fair beauty. Of course in this time, Gandalf did seem to miss a great deal as he attempted to keep track of the larger happenings of the world.
For instance, Gandalf did not notice Saruman's betrayal. However, this hardly can be blamed solely on Gandalf as no other who was accounted among the wise noticed the waning of old alliances. Saruman the White, whose heart fell to darkness, which led the Valar to seek to even the scales. And from the Lands of Exile, beyond the veil of Death, the Valar created from Light another Istari, an angel, an addition to Maiar.
Harry James Potter died in the Lands of Exile, peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family on his hundred and eleventh birthday.
He awoke in Middle Earth, his body old as all Maiar vessels are, but not without strength. He looked exactly as he had when Luna had last seen him, with wild salt and pepper hair, and more smile lines than one could count.
He was known in the Shire as Harry the Black and Beardless.
She was there to greet him on the Shores of Lune, Hedwig had of course made sure she arrived on time at the correct location.
"Did you miss me?" Harry asked.
Luna proceeded to nearly hug the life back out of him.
From there, they set out in search of one adventure after the next. They began travelling all the Northernmost roads. Though the hobbits saw them less, and Gandalf would not meet them again until a certain council meeting, the pair became dear friends of Tom Bombidil, his wife Goldberry, Boern, the Ents and Entwives, and naturally, the dwarves.
Thorin became particularly close with Harry the Black.
Gandalf the Grey got it into his head that he was being jested with when he heard of Harry the Black, thinking there was no possible way for another wizard in the world, especially considering none of the elves ever met him.
Regardless of the elves and the other wizards' lack of awareness, Luna and Harry the Black were well beloved by almost all who met them.
Their adventures were many and the roads they took were long, and the love between friends was never forgotten.
oOo
Billy Boyd - "The Last Goodbye"
Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don't regret
Nor will I forget
All who took that road with me
oOo
To be continued...: The trilogy will be handled in four large pseudo-short stories in a similar style to this fic, featuring Harry The Black and Luna's adventures in Middle Earth. Until then I will leave it mark as complete, but I will post the sequel here, so be sure to favourite and follow. And please, please review if you enjoyed?