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In Defence of our Friends
by Dis
Gimli and Legolas were going up the street to the house they were charing
in Minas Tirith with Gandalf and the Hobbits when they heard a familiar
voice behind them calling their names. They turned around and saw a woman
of Men running up the street. Gimli went back to meet her with Legolas
following him and the woman knelt in order to be able to embrace him. "My
dear Gimli" she said to him warmly and he replied "my dear Dís". Then she
studied his face carefully and Gimli could see the worried look in her
eyes until she relaxed and told him "I have been worried for you". Gimli
snorted, even if it did sound a bit like strangled laughter, as he
answered "you know, my dear Dís, that it takes a good deal more than a few
Orcs to get me". "Indeed I know, but it looked likely that you would meet
more than a few Orcs" she said with laughter showing in both her eyes and
woice, "not to mention other dreadful servants of the Enemy".
By then Legolas had also arrived and asked the woman "so you weren't
worried for me then" who answered "of corse I was worried for you also, in
fact I was worried for both of you". It was then that they both saw a sad
look in her eyes and both asked her "is all well with father?" "Both Glóin
and Thranduil are well" she answered. "Has anything happened?" Gimli asked
and Dís answered sadly "a good deal has happened, and I ... I don't know
where to start". Legolas looked down at the woman, normaly about his own
height, who was now looking up at him and both he and Gimli could see the
tears in her eyes. "Well, to begin with you could come with us to the
house where we are staying now" he said and the woman nodded.
If the people of Minas Tirith had thought the sight of Gimli and Legolas
quite astonishing, they now marveled even more as the three of them went
to the house. A Dwarf, an Elf and a daughter of Men laughing and talking
happily about things they had seen. When they came to the house, she
greeted the Hobbits and gasped as she saw Gandalf. "Gandalf, but...you're
white! How is this possible?" she asked when she had regained her ability
to speak and Gandalf answered "that is a long tale and I will tell you
about it, aswell as your husband and the people of both Dale and Erebor.
In the meanwhile I think that you have a tale to tell."
"Before you do that", Frodo said, "I would like to know how it is that a
child of Men has a dwarven name". "Dís is my mothername" she answered, "my
fathername is Aredhel but I use that name very rarely". At that both Gimli
and Legolas looked at eachother and Gimli added "you would be speaking
more truthfully if you said that you hardly ever use it". "Well" she said
"there are a few relations on my fathers side who dislike that I use a
Dwarfname and so I use my fathername in my letters to them and when they
visit, which they fortunatly only do twice in a decade. Other than that I
use my mothername because I am proud of it" she says with a proud gleam in
here eyes.
But she isn't at all sure how she can tell her tale while the Hobbits were
listening, even though she has heard that they were battlehardened.
Fortunatly, she was saved by a voice asking the Hobbits to come in and
have a snack, which all of then wished. So Dís, Gandalf, Gimli and Legolas
were sitting in the garden. They were also joined by Aragorn, prince
Imrahil and prince Faramir. Finaly Dís was able to tell her tale, a tale
which she didn't look forward to telling but it had to be told and so she
finaly started telling it.
"After the council of Elrond in Rivendell I returned to Dale and Erebor
with Glóin and the others" she started to tell when Imrahil asked her "so
you would travel with a group of Dwarves?" "I do so often" she answered
"king Dáin asked me to do so and I like to do it". Imrahil looked pussled
at her and Gimli said to him "she is one of the people who are full
willing to go with us when we go on a jurney". "Aren't you afraid when you
go with them?" Imrahil asked and Dís answered "I have never felt afraid
with them, not even when I have gone to Erebor alone", which caused the
three Men to eye her with amazement. "But it didn't take long" she
continued her tale "for the groups of Men and Elves to catch up with us,
telling us that Lord Elrond had told them that we should all go in one
group in case Orcs or other creatures would lie in wait for us. Glóin
snorted as he heard the message but he agreed that one never knows what
might lie in wait so he agreed that we should all go together.
When we came to the High Pass the Beornings told us that their King had
told them to tell us that the Lords were gathering in Dale and we were all
of us to go there. So we all went on, through the Misty Mountains to
Wilderland, through Mirkwood to Dale. By the time we reached Dale it was
clear that the others weren't willing to tell the Lords what we had been
told and I was given the task of telling the Lords, and my mother who was
also there. When I had told them that the ring the messenger of Mordor had
called a trinket, the least of rings was in fact the One Ring they looked
at me with awe in their eyes. Mother said that she had always had a
nagging feeling that the ring that Bilbo had was something more than just
a tool that would make the wearer invisible but what I told me went even
beyond her worst fears. 'It is all to clear that it has to be destroyed'
she said. 'It will be destroyed', I answered, and I told about the
Fellowship setting out to do so, to take the Ring to the Mountain of Doom
and cast it into the fires. All agreed that this was the only thing to do
if the Enemy was to be prevented from covering all of Middle Earth in
darkness. Then king Dáin asked if anything had been old about Balin and
the people who had gone with him. At first I wasn't sure about how much I
could tell but after an encouraging wink from king Dáin I said 'the ring
of Thrór will not be found in Moria. Thrór gave it to Thráin but Thráin
didn't pass it on to Thórin. When Thráin tried to come here, a hundred
years before Thórin Oakenshield and his companions came, and was taken by
the servants of Sauron he still had it with him. Gandalf told us that it
had been taken from him with torment in the dungeons of Dol Guldur and
that he had come to late to rescue him.' Both mother and king Dain wept
and mother said 'now I understand why Thráins body was so twisted in my
dream, it was a result of the torment' and Dáin said 'so that is how
Sauron got one of the rings he has been holding as a bait before us'. 'It
is' I answered 'and I doubt not that the other two were obtained in a
similar mannor'. I could see the anger in his eyes as my tale sank into
his mind. 'What are we to do then' he asked and I answered 'we must fight
the forces of Sauron, with hope or without it, but we don't stand alone'.
And the decition was made, when the messenger came back he was to recive a
message of rejektion, none of the Lords were to accept his offer because
there are things that can't be accepted and the slaying of kinsmen and
friends is one of them."
CHAPTER 2
"When the decition had been made," Dís continued the tale, "king Dáin and
mother asked me to go to Khazad-Dûm and tell Balin what I had heard, or at
the least find out what had happened. 'I cant give you any command to do
this' he said to me, 'but I do ask you to do it as a friend may ask
another'. 'I will go' I said, 'I need only to gather some food and other
supplies. I can be off in a few hours.' But mother told me to get some
sleep and go in the morning. So I gathered medicins, food and other
supplies and left Dale the following morning.
King Aragorn looked at Dís with awe in his eyes. "Do you truly mean to say
that you were to go to Moria alone? Were you not aware of the danger?" "I
was" Dís answered "but that didn't hold me back. When it comes to my
friends I am full willing to do all that I can." Gimli nodded. "Father
once told me that Melian and her children would jump the throats of
Dragons in order to rescue us."
"So I went to the East Gate of Khazad-Dûm but I ... I couldn't get inside
them" Dís said. "There was a group of Orcs at the gate and even if I slew
a number of them I still couldn't get past them. They were taunting me,
and giving Balin and the others foul names. I was slightly injured and
finaly I had to withdraw." Legolas laghed. "You would say that you were
slightly injured even if your arm had been severed" he said. "So I
returned to Erebor and told king Dáin what I had seen and heard. 'I don't
know for certain what has happened to Balin and the others but I fear the
worst' I said and he agreed with me."
"So you didn't enter Moria" Legolas asked and Melian answered "I wasn't
able to". "Then you was spared the dreadful sight that we saw" Legolas
told her "for we found them slayed by the Orcs". "All of them?" Dís asked.
None of the others could answer but the way they looked at her told the
whole tale. "We found Balins Tomb" Gimli said with tears in his eyes and
he gave Dís the Book of Mazarbul. As she read the pages carefully all of
them could see the tears falling down her cheeks and after reading the
last words she gave it back to him. "I..." she said "I shouldn't have left
them. But Balin told me that I was the only person he could trust to go on
even if the whole host of Mordor would try to stop me. He told me that he
would send word to me as soon as the Orcs had been thrown out of
Khazad-Dûm but the messenger never came and king Dáin wouldn't let me go
down there. 'It would be a foul reward of your loyalty to us if you were
taken and killed by the Orcs' he said."
"I found this lying on the floor" Legolas said as he gave a letter to Dís.
It was sealed with a special seal that Dís recognised as the seal Balin
used as Lord of Moria. She opened the letter and in it Balin had written a
message for her. He wrote that the number of Orcs had decreased during the
last few days and that it didn't seem at all improbable that they were
almost expelled from the Halls. Soon he would be able to send for her and
it would be a joyous day when she returned. He also wrote a question which
he would also ask her when she returned, but he wanted her to consider the
matter thoroghly, as what he wanted to ask her was if she would take him
as husband. It was signed "your (soon to be, I hope) Husband Balin".
She folded the letter and wept. "I would have married him" she said "had I
only known about it. My husband has always known that I couldn't give him
all of my heart but that I am fond of him and he said that my fondness was
all he could ask for. We have a good life together and our children are
the bond between us.
When the messenger came for the third time he was astonished to find the
generous offer made by his Lord rejekted. 'You will be sorry that you
didn't accept my Lords offer' he said but king Dáin answered 'I doubt not
that I would be sorry even had I accepted his offer. He has always been
the base master of treason and I doubt not that we would have grief in the
end.' The messenger then asked, as he saw me, what the King of Dale
thought about the matter and I answered that the King also rejekted the
Dark Lord. 'Tell your Lord that his host may come to Dale and Erebor but
it will be lessend before it comes here and lessend further before it can
enter either place' was the message I gave the messenger at the request of
king Brand.
He was most appalled when he realised that the offer was refused and he
tried to smite Dáin but I stepped forward and blocked the attempt. He
promised us that we would pay for our contempt to Lord Sauron the Great
and then he left.
After the messenger had left Dáin looked at me and asked me what advice I
could give. 'We had better brace ourselves' I said 'and store food,
medicins and arms in storagerooms in the Mountain as I am certain that we
will need them and soon. The Dark Lord will attack us fairly soon I doubt
not and we need to be prepered when that day comes'. Still, it seems
likely that the Dark Lord was taken aback for a while for he didn't start
his war emmediatly. So we had some time which we used in order to gather
supplies. The peoples of Mirkwood and Esgaroth also prepared as much as
they could.
Then the war started, at first there was minor skirmishes along the
eastern borders but they increased in severity and strength. It was then
that we recived refugees, telling us about the great hoard of Easterlings.
A few days later, my Uncle Boromir had led a group of scouts when they
found a group of Dwarves in a glade in the forest. They were worn and
hardly able to walk but still they tried to flee from the Men. But my
Uncle then called out to them 'I am Boromir son of Edrahil, I am of the
children of Melian'. The Dwarves stopped and turning their chief asked
'are you one of the children of Melian the gouldenhearted?' to which my
Uncle answered 'I am'. It was then that the Dwarfgroup returned to the
scouts. 'We will bring you to the children of Melian' he said and brought
them to me.
It was quite clear that they had suffered greatly. They were underweight
and their bodies were scarred. But that wasn't the worst injuries they had
suffered. When I treated them it was clear that they were testing me,
wondering if they could tell me what had happened. Finaly they decided
that they could tell me what had happened to them and the tale was even
more horrific than I could possibly have expected."
CHAPTER 3
"Melian the Goldenhearted" prince Faramir said, "I don't think I have
heard the name". "Neither have I" said prince Imrahil but Aragorn nodded.
"It's not so surpricing that you haven't heard about her, the tales about
her are mostly told in the North" Gandalf answered. "I heard about her in
the Prancing Pony when I heard Dwarves, Elves and Men tell strange stories
about a group of Men who had aided a Dwarfhost. The Dwarfhost had routed
all Orcs from the Misty Mountains and these children of Men had aided in
the hunt of the Orcs, and in the process rescued many who had been taken
captives by the Orcs. Usually Dwarfgroups and Elfgroups don't go well
together but if both Dwarves and Elves had been rescued by the people of
Melian, as they were called, they could sit together and even mingle."
"Melian the Goldenhearted", Dís said, "was my mothers maternal great great
great great grandmother. She was a healer and erly in life she met and
befriended Thrór son of Dain, Durins Heir and the rightful Lord of Erebor.
She and the people of her village promised to aid the Folk of Durin if
their aid was needed and when Thrór was killed by, as my foremother named
him, Azog the Dreadful and they were asked to give aid they did. But our
people have never made any boasts about what we did as we didn't see the
need for it. We did however give the same promise to all of the Folks. And
this we have ever cince done."
"So the Dwarfgroup that your Uncle had rescued told you what happened to
them" prince Faramir asked. "They did" Dís answered "and it was a terrible
tale. 'We were taken by surprice by a host of Easterlings' their chief
told me 'and taken to their camp. Their chieftain looked us up and down,
and he seemed pleased to see who we were.
He told his men to take us to a large tent and there we waited, not
knowing what would happen to us. Finally the chieftain came into the tent
and told us that his men would make an example of us and then he left.
There was a pole in the middle of the room and a couple of the guards took
me, dragged me to the pole and tied me to it. Then they whipped me, I dont
know how long but it felt like ages. The lash fell on my body and the pain
spread until I could hardly breathe. Then I must have fallen unconsious
because I woke up I lieing on my side. I asked my people how my back
looked and they told me that it looked lumpy but it hadn't bled. I was
stiff and had trouble moving but I was able to get up and go to a stool
where I sat down.
Then they came back again. This time they took another one of us and he
was whipped in the same mannor. This went on, day and night until finaly
all of us had been whipped and had trouble moving. Whenever one of us
moved, he groaned, and it was difficult to sleap. So I thought that they
had finished but they had only begin.
The morning after the day when the last one of us had been whipped a group
came inside the tent, I was dragged forward and flung down. When I got on
my hands and knees I felt a hand on my back. The man who was standing
behind me suddenly started to remove my clothing after which he removed
parts of his own clothing. He lifted my bottom and I felt something
pushing against it. I resisted but the man told me that he would get
inside me and finally he was able to penetrate me. It was painful' he said
'but his dagger, as he called it, moving inside me wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was the names he gave me. He said that I was a bum and that
I was to be bummed, as he called it, by them all. He kept asking me what I
was and what I was useful for and finaly I gave the answers he wanted. He
asked me what I would do when the next person demanded entrance inside me
and I said to him that I would open myself for him. You had better, he
said to me, for we will punish you if you don't.
While this person bummed me I could see in the courners of my eyes that
the others were being treated in a similar mannor. As they had seen that
it was useless to resist they had been quickly penetrated and the men who
had penetrated them told them that it was wise of them not to try to
resist. They were told that they would have their insides filled by the
fluid and I was told so also. I could hear the man who was using me told
me that it was so pleasant to do so, he even lay still with it fully
inside me in order not to pour, as he called it, to early. But finally he
did and after groaning with pleasure he removed it.
I lay still until another one of them came and demanded to have entry
inside me and I ... I didn't resist him. He took possesion of my body and
penetrated me. He jeered at me, told me that it was good for me that it
had been so easy to penetrate me and he laughed at me. When he finished he
was followed by another, and another, and another. It felt as if it went
on for ever.
But finaly they had finished, we were given food and drink and they told
us that this was how it would be. They would use us and if we were
pleasant to them they would give us food and drink but if we didn't please
them we would be punished. Then they told us that others would come the
next day in order to enjoy us, as they put it, left us for the night.
I was unable to lie on my back and I saw that the others were as sore as I
was. I had never felt so ravaged before and I could see that the others
felt dreadful. Those men had treated us with contempt and as if we were
tools for their use. They had laughed as they left us and we had a feeling
that whatever they had planned for us would not be pleasant for us.
During the night one of us kept guard, in case some more of them would
come, but they didn't come. It had all been planned, it seemed, to keep us
off balance and reeling from the blows.' He looked at me and said 'we
couldn't stop them from using us, they had us pinned and they knew it'. I
simply embraced him and said that he needn't tell me more but he answered
that he needed to tell me the whole tale. After a pause he continued
telling me what had happened to them."
CHAPTER 4
So Dís continued the tale."'The following morning' the chief told me,
'some men came and opened entries to small tents attached to the large
one, gave us food and drink and told us what to do and ask. Then the first
group came in and looked at us. It didn't take long until I felt a hand on
my shoulder, indicating that someone had chosen me so I turned and went
inside the small tent with him.
When we had gotten inside I asked him wether he wanted upper or lower.
Lower, he answered, and I stood on my hands and knees while he removed my
lower garment and his own, lifted my bottom and put his dagger at it. Then
I opened myself up and he entered me. He moved it inside me, groaning with
pleasure and telling me that I was as good as his friend had told him. His
friend had said that my bottom was so good to bum and indeed it was, he
told me. When he finaly poured he told me that I was the best bum he had
had in a long time and after putting his clothes on he left me. I put my
clothes on and went back into the large tent. This time it was a shorter
wait until I was chosen, I went to the small tent with him and asked the
same question. Upper, this second person said, so he removed his lower
garment and put it inside my mouth, and then I had to put my lips tightly
around it.'
Why didn't you bite him? I asked and he answered 'I would have, but they
told me that if I did then my people would be whipped. I didn't want them
to harm my people so for their sake I had to endure it. When he poured I
had to swallow it and lick his tip so he knew that I had recived it. When
he was done he took on his clothes again and left and I went back to the
large tent. Again I was chosen and used, and again, and again until finaly
the last person left and we were given a meal.
The days after was like the first one, I was chosen and used over and over
again by them so I thought that things couldn't get any worse but they
could. One morning I was taken from the large tent to a smaller one and
paraded before a group of them. They were asked what they would give in
order to have unlimited access to me for one day and finaly one of them
remained. He told me to undress, which I did, and then he removed his
clothes, ordered me onto my hands and knees and looked at me. Now where do
I start? he asked himself before deciding on that and entering me. He used
both openings and would sometimes wary the position, so that it would give
more pleasure to him. That day was the longest for me, because the days
before I had some respites but on that day I had none. He went from one
opening to the other, one way to the other until he had emptied himself in
me as he put it. In the evening I was taken back to the large tent.
The day after the others came and used me, and that day another of us was
taken to the smaller tent. This went on until all of us had been used in
that way. It wasn't the act that was the most painful' he told me, 'it was
what they told us about the peoples in this place, what they will do with
you when they put their hands on you. They said that they will be able to
enjoy the peoples living here and they looked forward to being able to put
their daggers inside you all, particularly the women.
When they had all done it with us, we were released and told to go here
and tell you. We went in the direction of your city but we were still
shaken when your Uncle and his men found us. We thought that some of the
Easterlings had changed their mind and wanted us again, so we tried to
flee from them but we were told by your Uncle that we needn't be afraid,
that he was one of the children of Melian and they would bring us to his
sisterdaughter. And so it was that we came under your care' he told me.
When he had finished his tale he said to me that he and his group wouldn't
be able to return to their people 'not after they have heard what we ...
let them do with us' but I told him that they hadn't consented to any of
the things the Easterlings had done with them. They had been forced to
accept being treated as objekts and I am quite certain that when you
return to your people that you'll be accepted there. Should the unlikely
happen, then you can come back and live with us. So you needn't be
worried, I said to them and all of them looked relived.
Then I asked my daughter to tell everyone that there was a need for an
assembly of both peoples as I had something dreadful to tell everyone. 'I
will go and tell them' she said and left. They asked me to tell the tale
for them and I promised them to do so."
CHAPTER 5
The Men listening to her tale at first thought her uncaring, until they
looked at her and saw the tears in her eyes and the white knuckles on her
fists. "During the night each one of them asked my pardon", she said, "but
I told each one of them that he had done nothing wrong. 'If there is
anyone who should feel guilt', I said, 'then it is those Easterlings and
they are about as likely to feel any as I am to become Lady of
Nargothrond'. 'You can't become that' they said and I answered that it is
true. 'For one thing I am not an Elf', I said, even though I knew what
they had ment to say. Noone can become either Lord or Lady of a realm that
lies under the waves. When they heard me say that they couldn't help
laughing and then they understood that it had been my intention to lift
their spirits, so sorely tried by what had happened to them.
The following morning all of our peoples had gathered and I told them what
the Dwarves in my care had told me, only adding my comments to it.
Everyone listened to it and finaly one of my neighbours said 'these are
indeed grim tidings. But you don't look overly afraid' and I answered 'I
don't doubt that they indeed have the intention to do as they have said.
But they have forgotten something' I added, 'they have to lay their hands
on us first. I belive that they thought that these tidings would scare us
into submission but they will not find us cowed. On the contrary, we will
fight them, the more now that we know our fate chould we fall into their
hands and that will become their undoing.' 'So what are we to do?' they
asked and I answered 'I know that each one of us have been trained in the
use of a weapon of choice; Axe, Bow or Blade, and that each one of us
practices with that weapon regularly but we need to practice as much as we
are able to during the coming days. All of us, even the women of Dale must
be practising.' All nodded and said to the Dwarves bearing the tidings to
us 'we will fight these people who did you such harm. Should we be able to
lay our hands on them, what would you want to be done with them?' and they
answered, after exchanging glances 'if you're able to take them alive,
hand them over to us and we will give them what they deserve'. 'If you
need aid in carrying out the sentence, don't hesitate to ask our aid for
we will give it to you' we all said and they suddenly smiled. They no
longer had that haunted look in their eyes but instead they looked
determined and calm.
So we continued gathering as much food, arms, medicins and other
provitions as we could in storagerooms in the mountain and also practised
as much as we could. Every one of us, from twelve years and up did so,
both men and women and this amazed some of the older people who saw it. I
was with a group of our women, practising with our Axes when Glóin and
Dóri passed. Looking at us and seing the determined looks in our eyes,
they said that we were quite Dwarvish and we all bowed before them,
thanking them for their praise. 'It is likely' they said to us 'that the
Easterlings will get more than they have bargained for when they come
here. Whatever happends, you will have made yourselves worthy of many
songs, if anyone lives to sing them.'
In the meanwhile the fighting continued and our hosts were pushed back to
Dale, but they held the hosts of Easterlings back, so they could only
advance in a slow pace and taking heavy losses. Whenever they came to a
farm or village they found it evacuated and almost empty, with nothing
left for them to take other than some things that the people living there
had been unable to remove and bring with them. This apparently angered
them even further and they told our hosts that we would not only be made
their slaves but their toys aswell. But the men in the hosts simply
answered that their words were meaningless unless they were followed by
deeds. 'Our fathers fought in the Battle of Five Armies, against a large
host of Orcs and Wargs. Such people as you don't frighten us' they said.
To this the Easterlings gave no answer but it clearly angered them that
they had been unable to frighten us and we all felt quite certain that
their wrath had increased in measure.
The Dwarves I cared for recouperated quickly and asked to be given arms
and mail, which king Dáin was most willing to give them. 'We have a
quarrel with these Easterlings' their chief said 'and we will settle that
with them'. 'I know you will' king Dáin answered 'and I am glad to be of
assistance to you. All who are able must now fight against these servants
of the Dark Lord and all of us will do so, each in his, or her, own way.'
He looked at me when I said that I was most willing to fight with them and
said that he didn't doubt it but that my aid as healer was more worth than
that as an Axewoman. 'Glóin told me about your determination as you
practised with your weapons and I do belive that any enemy that tries to
attack you, or any person under your care, quite soon will learn that he
has tried to target the wrong person.' I thanked him and he said that with
such determined people, both Dwarves and Men, against them the Easterlings
would were fighting an upphill battle. That's the hardest battle to fight
and even if it's won the attacker will have taken great losses before he
even came near enough to use ladders or any suck things. They will not
find us easily defeated, he ended and I nodded, saying that they most
certanly will not get the easy victory they thought they would get."
CHAPTER 6
"Finaly the Easterlings had driven our host back to Dale and the battle
of Dale started in ernest. There our hosts fought hand in hand and there
was fierce fighting in the valley. For three days the battle lasted and
many valiant Dwarves and Men fell in it. Amongst them were king Brand and
king Dáin. But they fought valiantly, at first they together slew many
foes but then King Brand fell unconcious, wounded with many wounds. The
Easterlings would have killed him and hewed his body had not king Dáin
stopped them. He wielded his axe in such a manner that had I not known
his age I would have said that he wasn't older than 150. Again and again
he made a wall of bodies before himself and king Brand before moving king
Brand closer and closer to the Mountain.
So the battle went on until in the evening of the third day, not far from
the Gate, king Dáin finaly fell on the ground severely wounded. But when
the Easterlings tried to kill them both, Amlash and Imlash, two of my
Uncle Boromir Onehands grandsons came to the place and kept the
Easterlings at bay while some others put the kings on litters and carried
them inside the Mountain. When this had been done the call went out to
them to come inside but they had fallen there, using not only their
shields but also their bodies to protect the rescuers and the kings."
When the Men looked amazed at Dís she added "the valour of Fili and Kili
is a prowerb in Dale, to be likened with them is considered great praise
and many bears their names, regarding them as honorable."
Both Gimli and Legolas looked with great sadness at Dís and asked her to
continue with the tale. "We did what we could for the Kings but they were
so severely wounded that our efforts were unavailing. They both passed
away that night, but not before each of them had been able to speak with
his son and hand over the kingship to him. Mother was asked by king Dáin
if she had any messages she wanted taken to the Halls of Awaiting and she
answered that he should tell Thorin Oakenshield, Fili and Kili that she
misses them dearly; and also ask Thráin to pardon her for not being able
to rescue him. 'I will do that' he said to her, then he told us not to
weep because if we did he would haunt us.
Then he passed away, and in spite of our best efforts we couldn't keep
our tears from falling. Dwarves and Men alike wept for our fallen kinsmen
and kings until finaly Thórin Stonehelm and Bard son of Brand said to us
'there is a time and a place for everything, and right now is a time for
fighting, not weeping'. So we kept fighting and the Easterlings couldn't
get inside the Mountain. After a number of attempts they decided that
they should lay siege to the Mountain and wait for hunger and despair to
take it's toll amongst us. They didn't know that we had stored wast
amounts of supplies inside the Mountain and that we were able to endure
quite a long siege if neccesary.
We beried the Kings and all of the fallen whom we had been able to rescue
inside the mountain, as we were unable to go to the graveyard and all of
us agreed that it was befitting that those who had fallen together should
be beried together. But a number of bodies lay outside and the
Easterlings used their warmashines to throw them on the mountainsides.
Quite soon the bodies of Dwarves and Men who had fallen in the battle
were lying on the mountain and we were unable to get them inside as the
arrows of the Easterlings slew all who dared to go to them. But during
the nights we were able to go out and harry the Easterlings with swift
sorties so we kept them from resting. Also during the days we were able
to get at them with small sorties and ambushes. We had no way of knowing
what had happened in Mirkwood and around Esgaroth but we knew Esgaroth to
be safe. As far as we knew the Easterlings had no boats and as soon as
the people of Esgaroth had cut the bridges to the city then the
Easterlings couldn't attack them. They could of corse fire flaming arrows
and bolts against the city but the people of Esgaroth were aware of the
danger and would make sure that any fire was put out as quick as may be."
CHAPTER 7
"Then on the 25th of March", Dís said, "the Easterlings attacked the
Mountain and the attack was the fiercest we had ever seen. We were slowly
giving way and I felt certain that they would be able to get through the
Front Gate.
Then suddenly the attack lost fiercness. It didn't lose any momentum, as
the momentum had been built up during the day and it took some time to
slow the attack, but the attackers weren't as bold as they had been. The
Kings wondered what was going on when suddenly the earth shook, there was
a rumble as of thunderstorms and a great cloud climbed up the sky in the
south. Then the cloud was swept aside and torn to pieces but that wasn't
the greatest marvel. The thing that surpriced us the most was that the
Easterlings no longer attacked us, it was as if their will to attack had
been removed from them. The great cloud that had been layed on our hearts
was suddenly lifted from us and the Kings gave the order to attack. Our
host came out through all the passages and the Easterlings gave way for
them, they retreated and we routed them.
They fled south and east and so we could join up with the hosts of
Mirkwood and Esgaroth. As our combined hosts went after them we found out
that Esgaroth was unscathed and Mirkwood had taken little damage. The
Elves told us that they had had the feeling that we were the main targets
and they had only been attacked as a way to prevent us from escaping. The
people of Esgaroth had had the same feeling, they were merely kept at bay
and as the city isn't easy to attack they had settled to siegelaying. So
the Easterlings were defeated and if the pace they were running at is any
indication they will not return anytime in the near future."
She laughed suddenly, the feeling of great joy bubbling up in her. "It was
at that time that we recived the message that Sauron had been defeated and
that his strength had been unmade, thanks to the valiant Frodo and his
faithful Sam, that the King had come to Gondor as the wise had forseen and
that he had reunited the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. The Kings and the
Master of Esgaroth decided to send ambassadors to Minas Tirith, to pledge
their allegiance to the Reunited Kingdom and so we vere sent here."
All the listeners looked at Dís and Gimli who were weaping, as they
remembered good friends who had passed away. Finaly Gimli asked "have Dale
and Erebor taken any damage"? and Dís answered "Dale took some damage but
not much, and Erebor took no damage save some watchtowers that were
demolished by stones thrown by the catapults of the Easterlings. Mirkwood
also sustained some damage but not much, as far as I could see."
Gandalf nodded as the tale came to its conclution and then he asked "what
happened to the Dwarfgroup who gave you the tidings"? "Three of them fell
in the battle but the rest survived and have made friends with both Dale
and Erebor, as they were grateful that they were able to get vengence on
the Easterlings. 'We may have had dealings with them before' they said
'but never again. We will tell our people what happened and tell them that
we need to move from that country.' 'There are a number of mountains
around here and I am certain that you'll be able to find a place to your
liking' king Thórin Stonehelm answered and then they left us with our
blessings and a recompence for the injuries they had sustained."
Gandalf looked sad when he thought about king Dáin Ironfoot and king
Brand. Finaly he sighed and said "this is a sad tale, I would call it a
heavy blow had it not been a marvel that king Dáin was able to wield his
axe as well as he did in spite of his great age. You said that you would
have put his age at 150 had you not known it and that is a fitting remark
to give such a great fighter. He it was who slew Azog, the murderer of
Thrór, and then he was 32 years old; a mere stripling in the reconing of
Dwarves. He fought many battles but no enemy was able to bend him. He fell
in a befitting manor, and king Brand likewise." "So it was" Dís finaly
said, "and I am proud to have known them. They were great friends and will
be sorely missed. But now, Gandalf, I think it is time for you to tell
your tale." "I will" Gandalf answered, "but not now. I think we all need a
meal first" and with that they all went to the set suppertable.
-End-
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