Bedtime Stories

***Stasia Demons are my own creation. They are not part of the JRR Tolkien world. I own them. I also own the Elf kingdom Ashryn comes from.***

The next morning I got dressed, grabbed my bag, and said good-bye to Bilbo, before saddling up a pony and heading off with the company.

We had all asked Bilbo one last time if he was sure he wanted to stay behind and he assured us he wanted no part in our little venture. I was sure I would miss him but I understood and respected his decision.

As we rode off out of Bag End and into the forest I took one last look back at the hobbit hole I had called home for the last 10 years. Leaving was bittersweet but I was beyond excited to start this new chapter of my life.

We were already off to an interesting start. I was a little worried about riding my first pony and it took some getting used to but I got the hang of it fairly quickly. The only thing I'd ridden before was a deer or an elk but the longer we rode on the more I realized it really wasn't that different after all.

I caught myself looking back a few times, I couldn't help myself.

"Home is behind you Ashryn. The world is ahead." Gandalf reminded me.

I smiled and nodded feeling the excitement swell within me once again. That was the last time I let myself look back.

Eventually we stopped for the night. Most of the company quickly fell asleep while Kili, Fili, and I stayed awake to take first watch.

We heard a shrieking sound in the distance and I scooted myself closer to Kili.

"What was that?" I asked.

I'd never heard a sound like that living in Bag End.

"Orcs." Kili replied.

Thorin was just about asleep when the mention of Orcs jolted him awake.

"Orcs?" I asked nervously.

I had some knowledge about Orcs and what I knew terrified me.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili added not helping my anxiety.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Kili explained.

I stared at them in horror, but after a moment they both grinned and gave a chuckle.

I slapped them both upside the head. We used to do this all the time when we were younger, we'd tell each other stories each of us trying to scare the other. Fili would join every once in a while and they'd team up to try and scare me.

"You think that's funny?" Thorin growled. "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?"

I paled remembering the stories I'd heard about what the Orcs had done to his family. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to joke about them in front of him.

"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili said looking like he wished he could take back what he'd said.

"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin said as he walked away.

"Don't mind him, lads. And lass." Balin said approaching us. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs."

By the looks on their faces I assumed that Fili and Kili may have been spared the details of Thorin's experiences with the Orcs.

"After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient kingdom of Moria." Balin explained. "But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, lead by the most vile, of all their race: Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began...by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father was driven mad by grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death are upon us. That is when I saw him." Balin smiled with admiration as he looked at Thorin. "A young Dwarf prince, facing down the pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler, learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. And our enemy, had been defeated. But there was no feast, nor song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call king."

By now more of the Dwarves had awoken and all were on their feet looking at their king in admiration. They needed no words, the look of respect they gave was enough for Thorin to know they'd follow him to the ends of Middle Earth and would gladly die fighting along side him.

This story was nothing like the ones I'd heard growing up. Those stories were far less detailed and didn't paint as heroic of a picture of Thorin. There was no mention of how he fought the pale Orc, Azog by himself. No mention of how he'd single handedly defeated him and brought his people victory. The stories I'd heard painted him a coward who had others do the fighting for him. Although I always questioned that part, I never pictured Thorin as a coward. Now hearing the true story from someone who actually fought along side him I knew for certain he wasn't.

"What happened to Azog?" I asked.

"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds a long time ago." Thorin answered.

After that everyone was silent. The Dwarves who had awoken all fell back asleep leaving only Fili, Kili and I awake.

"Get some rest." Kili said to me. "You're not used to all this yet, you'll need your strength."

I sighed and flipped myself around so I was laying on my back with my head in his lap.

"I'm not tired."

Kili smiled down at me for a moment then frowned. He reached out and ran his thumb over the scar on the side of my face.

"Who did this?"

I took a breath and closed my eyes for a second.

"The Elves."

"What? They're your family, how could they do this?" He asked surprised and I think angry.

I let out a laugh.

"The group of Elves I was born into was not a family. Not even close. We were all slaves to our king and it was every Elf for themselves."

"But why do this?"

"They discovered a secret I'd been keeping since the day I was born." Kili gave me a curious look and I continued. "My mother was quite rebellious, always leaving the kingdom to meet new friends of all kinds."

"Sounds familiar." Kili smirked referring to me always sneaking out to meet up with him.

I rolled my eyes and continued on with the story.

"Well one night she met a Stasia Demon. Normally Stasia Demons reside underground for the majority of their lives but this particular Stasia Demon had a thing for being topside. They ended up tangled in this whirlwind romance that resulted in her getting pregnant with me. Unfortunately the Demon was killed before she ever got the chance to tell him. Back in our kingdom people started to ask questions when they realized my mother was pregnant. Luckily one of the males cared for my mother and claimed he was the father. Everyone seemed to accept that and things were fine." I sighed knowing this next part was gonna be difficult.

"Until?" Kili asked.

"Until the male and my mother had a falling out and he ran straight to the king to inform him that I was the bastard spawn of an unknown paternity. They took my mother into custody and tortured her until she finally broke and told them who my father was. They killed her and immediately came after me. Our king was furious that my mother had tainted her lineage that ran through our kingdom. They beat me for hours before turning me loose. They chased me for three days before finally giving up. That's when Bilbo found me and took me in. He saved my life."

"I'll have to thank him some day. I'm glad he found you. I'm glad I have you back."

I smiled up at him and grabbed his hand playing with his fingers until I finally fell asleep.