Dis' Story - Part 41 (Finale)

Dis walked along the path and climbed as high as she dared.

When the air was too hard to breathe, she stopped climbing and gave a satisfied sigh, her smile making one last appearance.
The sun was setting in the West, and it was to the West that Dis turned.

The World was at peace now.
Mordor had been beaten, there was a King in Gondor, and Middle-Earth was happy.

But Dis no longer belonged to Middle-Earth. She wasn't wanted here.
She had heard a calling in her sleep.
From...
    ...the....
          ....West....

Her left hand opened. Still shining, was Fili's ring, which Krili had given him.
Fili had wanted it back. She would give it to him.

Tenderly, Dis sat down and leant against the Mountain, feeling her body relax...and her heart...beating....slower...
Each breath she took seemed tired and her eyes began to droop. Her energy was abandoning her for good.
But Dis did not mind.

~~~~~~~~~~

The burnt orange sky shimmered above her and her eyes fixed themselves on the distant horizon.
It seemed as though Middle-Earth was melting away. As it ran past her, Dis saw a 10 year old girl, facing the Dragon as her home was stolen.
She saw the same girl struggle for survival in the perilous wilderness.
Then the girl grew slightly older and she was joined by a golden haired boy with cornflower blue eyes.
She saw the girl mourn the loss of her grandfather as she fought in battle, slaying beasts and taking lives.
Then she mourned for her brother, who was a Burned Dwarf.
The girl grew older again. The girl watched as her Father left...and never came back.
But the girl soon grew into a woman and was married to the golden haired man with the cornflower blue eyes.
That woman then had a son. A tiny golden haired boy with cornflower blue eyes.
But she had lost her second unborn baby.
This woman also lost her golden haired husband just as she was about to have another child.
She had a second son, born with ebony hair and chocolate brown eyes.
But this woman lost them.
Her brother, dark as dark, fell while her golden son and her ebony son fought for him alongside each other.
But they had also fell.

The last drop of Middle-Earth trickled away and Dis saw, in its remains, a lonely, broken She-Dwarf, so very changed from that 10 year old girl, returning home.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dis looked up.

She saw the sea on the horizon and then white shores appeared beyond it.
Standing in the shallows, the waves delicately lapping their feet, stood Dis' Grandfather, her Father, her two Brothers, Thorin and Frerin, her Husband, Krili, and her two Children, her sun-child and her moon-child, Fili and Kili.
Behind them were double doors...and they were open. The Gates to the Mansions of Mahal, her Maker. Where her Mother and Grandmother would be.
Her family were waving to her and calling her name.

Dis smiled and she released her last tear.

She had been determined that her last tear would fall as a tear of joy...and it did.

Now, her body felt lighter....
    ....and as she was finally pulled from Erebor.....
                                  ....she heard a voice she did not know....

It was kind and fierce. It was soft and strong. It was gentle and stormy. It was beautiful and terrifying.
It was a voice of love. It was the voice of her Maker...

"Well done, Little Dis. Well done......"

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

When  you think of heroics, of battles, of war,
And you think of the Dwarves that came, 13, before,
And you marvel and nod and sing of their praise,
And you re-live their moments throughout your days,

When you enjoy the adventures of glory and woe,
And you laugh and you cry along with Thorin and Co.
And you watch as they struggle and love and learn,
And you wish yourself with them at their lonely return,

When Middle-Earth gives you your far-off look,
When you gaze at the film, and be absorbed in the book,
When your hearts are moved by Tolkien's peace...
Please, dear friends, always remember poor Dis.

The End.