~50 Years Later, Bree~

I clenched my fists around the mug of ale I held. Thorin sat to my right with his own dinner and ale to match. I should be eating, but I was nervous. Nervous about a lot of things.

For fifty years, we had spent all this time away from Erebor, and for fifty years, I didn't utter a word about handing the mountain over to Smaug. For fifty years we were homeless, and for fifty years, Dwalin looked at me differently.

He didn't tell anyone, claiming he cared about me too much for the others to find out. I would definitely be killed. Their argument would be the elf side of me was what caused it and they shouldn't have even trusted the dwarf in me.

"Relax, Freya. We are merely getting a drink and a meal and meeting with Dwalin and the others once we exit the Shire." Thorin said next to me, lifting a hand to rest on my shoulder. He gave it a reassuring squeeze and I nodded, letting out a slow breath to calm my nerves.

But I still felt on edge. I glanced to my left to see a large man staring directly at us, leaning forward menacingly. I glanced to the right to see another man staring at us.

My fingers curled around the hilt of my sword as I muttered, "'Merely getting a drink' seems to also mean 'sitting with targets on our backs'."

"Well I'm lucky to have you here then, Freya. You could scare anyone off." He says gruffly as he lifts his tin mug of ale to his lips. He, however, did not take his eyes off the stranger to the right. His sword leaned against the table next to him.

Then, as one, the two men stood up. I stiffened and Thorin slowly began to reach for his weapon.

But we didn't have the chance to break out into a fight because an old man took a set across from us.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked nonchalantly as he waved down a barmaid to bring him some food and drink as well.

Neither of us answered.

He eyed me for a moment, taking in my strange appearance and the headscarf I wore to cover my pointed ears. It did not, however, do anything to disguise my unnatural silver hair.

The old man seemed to take this all in in an instant- that I wasn't all dwarf- and merely said, "Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey."

"I know who you are." Thorin said blandly next to me, shoulders relaxing. I let him do the relaxing for me because those two men still stared at us, even if they had sat down again.

Gandalf chuckled and said rather plainly, "Well, now that is curious. What is even more curious is this: what is Thorin Oakenshield doing in Bree?"

Thorin looked at him closely, but said, "I heard news of my father in this area."

I watched the strange man to my left stand and leave the Inn and I narrowed my eyes as the man who was on Thorin's side left behind him.

I looked to Thorin and the look in his eyes was undeniable. Go get them.

I got up without so much as a second glance towards the wizard and made my way outside. I pulled the hood of my cloak up as I entered the pouring rain outside and I spotted a man disappear around a corner to the stables.

I headed for that direction quickly and quietly. I crouched behind the fence around the stables and listened to them talking.

"...out of here before it's too late. We have to tell him what we saw." One man was saying. There was a clinking of metal on metal and the squeak of leather as he adjusted what I assumed to be his horse's saddle.

"I seriously doubt he'll care much about some Dwarf King with no kingdom, Geoffrey." The other said scathingly.

"No, Ulric, you daft shit. The girl with 'im! The one with the silver hair! What's a dwarf doing with such nice hair like that? She didn't even have a beard neither. Don't those dwarf women have beards, too?"

My heart skipped a beat and it took everything in me to stay as still as possible. Why would this man that they serve have interest in me?

Geoffrey seemed to pause. "I think so. But you don't think that her silver hair means what I think you're getting at, do you?"

Ulric let out a grunt of annoyance. "No, Geoffrey. I know her silver hair has everything to do with everything. You know just as well as I that a half-breed like that is what the master wants. What we were paid to find! It's been a damn twenty years of searching, Geoffrey. And she was right there in our grasps. And then that stupid wizard got in the way."

"What do you think we should do about it then, Ulric? Kill the wizard? I doubt that Dwarf King would like that very much. He's been in wars! And that silver-haired girl seemed to be protecting him. I don't very much want to get in her way if she can guard a dwarf who has the battle prowess of legends!" Geoffrey said agitatedly.

There was a scuffle and a sound of leather speaking. "I say we get out of here now and then we can begin to track them. Follow where they go for a while."

I couldn't let them escape. Not without answering a few questions first. I slid a knife from my sleeve, bouncing it lightly in my palm and let out a slow breath.

I was ready to throw it when they said something that caught me off guard. "But remember, Geoffrey. We aren't gonna kill her. Because we could use a Dracari on our side."

Dracari? There was that word again.

With clenched jaw, I stood and threw the dagger. It embedded itself square in Geoffrey's neck and blood spurted from the wound as he coughed the red stuff into his partner's face.

He sank to the ground with a slump and Ulric cursed loudly and spun around, pulling the sword from the scabbard as he wiped the gore from his face which was gaunt with rage.

But I was already in a new hiding spot.

"Get out! Show yourself, ye big coward! Murderer!"

A sword now in my grasp, I side-stepped out from my hiding spot and sliced the blade across his calves and he fell to his knees.

Before he could let out another scream, I clamped a hand over his mouth and held the sword to his throat.

"Don't worry. You'll join your friend soon enough. You have two options. Die right here and now in a very painful sort of way, or tell me what you know about me and the Dracari and I'll kill you quickly." I snarled under my breath.

He spat in my face and growled, "Go to hell, Dracari. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

I glared at him and pushed him back into his torn muscles and he let out a cry in pain. "You have no idea who you are dealing with. Ulric was your name, yes? Well, let me tell you something. I know exactly what I am. And if you think for a moment you can threaten my family, that wizard, or me, you are sorely mistaken. I'll let your bodies be a message to whoever it is you are working for that I am not to be trifled with."

"The King Thr-" He began but his throat was already slit and all that could be heard was a wet gurgling choke as he fell back next to his companion, dead. Blood was pooling rapidly in the hay around them.

I turned to their saddle bags and took what I needed from them- some money, food, supplies that would help anyone on a long journey.

But then I found a sealed envelope. That I hid in my bodice securely before washing my hands and face.
I dragged the bodies into a corner to hide them, then sold the horses to the closest swindler for 150 silver pieces each.

I then went back into the Inn and sat down next to Thorin once more, who was still engrossed in conversation with Gandalf. How long had it been that I was out? One hour? Two? Three?

I wasn't sure.

But I picked up my mug of ale and took a long drink from it and ordered a second.

By the time I was halfway through that second mug, Thorin turned to me and asked, "Well, Freya? Is it done."

"Mhm. Yeah. Here."

I plopped the bag of three hundred silver pieces onto the table in front of him and grumbled out a quickly formed lie, "They were assassins. Sent to find you. To stop you from doing something. They wouldn't say what. I sold their horses after killing them. You can have that, I don't care."

Gandalf eyed me carefully and I locked eyes with him.

The wizard was silent for a moment, then said, "Could Freya perhaps accompany me into the Shire? I might have need for her."

Thorin raised an eyebrow and seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, "Very well."

"Just a moment." I said, coughing once. "What am I doing exactly?"

"You will accompany Gandalf to the Shire. You will recruit a hobbit to join us. We are going back home. We are going to reclaim Erebor." Thorin replied.

I felt a wave of dread wash over me and a pit formed in my stomach. "We...we're going back?" I whispered.

"Yes. We are."

"No offense to either of you." I say and swallow hard, knowing I was going to need another mug of ale if I was going to get through this. "But why in Illuvitar's name do we need a hobbit to come with us?"

"The Arkenstone was lost in the mountain when Smaug attacked. The only way for us to have hope of uniting the dwarf clans is with that Stone." Thorin began. "We need someone to go into the mountain, take it, and come back out without waking the dragon."

"And to do that, we must find something with a scent the dragon is not accustomed to. The scent of hobbit is alien to him. And hobbits can move quite silently and undetected by the Big People, as they call us." Gandalf said as he finished his meal. "And I have just the hobbit in mind."

I looked at Thorin, wondering if he saw just how crazy this plan was, but he seemed to think it was a great plan.

I wasn't about to disagree with my king, but I have known Thorin my whole life. He must be desperate if he's willing to agree to such a crazy plan. 

I took a deep breath, then asked, "Alright. When do we leave?"

"At dawn. Get some rest. We head for the Shire as soon as the sun rises." Gandalf replied with a simple nod.

"I've never traveled with a wizard, let alone meet one before. This should be interesting." I say as I study him carefully. I picked up a loaf of bread and tore of a piece and ate it.

Gandalf chuckled and replied, "And I have never traveled with someone like you."

I stiffened a little at the words and asked uncertainly, "Thanks?"

"I meant no disrespect, Freya." Gandalf quickly amended. "I was not referring to your blood. I was referring to you. I have never traveled with anyone quite like you. Your daring attitude and spunk. Your bravery and determination."

I didn't really believe him and just gave a terse nod before saying, "If I am no longer needed, I'm going to get some sleep. Until next we meet." I say and squeezed Thorin's shoulder before I stood and made my way to the room on the second floor of the Inn.

Once I reached my room, I closed the door behind me with a soft click and walked over to the bed and sat down heavily and dropped my head in my hands. 

Maybe this wizard would know something about what Dracari means. The only catch is...can I trust him?

******

The walk to the Shire was a long one, but it wasn't boring. As I walked beside Gandalf, I looked around and caught the eyes of a few hobbits. I had never seen a hobbit until now, and despite myself, thought they were adorable even though I was only a few inches taller than them.

The silence between us was beginning to get hard to bear, so I cleared my throat and said,

"So, Gandalf. Could I ask you something?"

He looked down at me and merely nodded once. "What is it, my dear?"

I paused, then said, "When I caught those men that were spying on us, I listened to their conversation and they said that they were looking for a Dracari. What does that mean?"

He stopped walking suddenly and looked at me with raised eyebrows, fingers curling. Tightly around his staff. "A Dracari? Is that what you heard? Curious. To answer your question, my dear, a Dracari is someone who was marked at birth by a dragon. They can talk to and in some instances control the minds of a dragon. This is not something that even an accomplished sorcerer could do. Dragons are curious creatures, after all."

I nodded slowly and asked carefully, "Are Dracari dangerous?"

He paused, then said, "No one has seen a dragon since the days of the Silmaril. Far to the North, where no mortal has gone- that is where some believe that the dragons come from. Where there are even more Dracari. But dangerous? Some can be, yes. I have not known a Dracari to want to use a dragon to do harm, but I have heard of one who harnessed a dragon and flew off on its back.  It that was nearly four centuries ago."

"Where did they go?" I asked.

"No one knows for certain. Dragons can travel faster than a horse can run at full gallop. They could be anywhere by now. Even in a new world." He paused and looked at me and said with a knowing glint in his blue eyes, "I, for one, have not meet a Dracari in person until today."

******

Hey guys! Cora here. Just want to let you know that I am back at college (yay!), but that means I won't be able to update as often, but I'll try my best! Thank you for reading and I can't wait to get on with this story!! I have a lot of plans for this one!

Love always,
Cora Knight xoxo