CHAPTER ONE
INVITATION

In Middle Earth, most of the people who lived there knew about the other kinds of people who lived there, if only in the fact they existed in the absence of greater knowledge of them. Those who wandered from place to place without ever really having a place to call their own were among those who were best known by people all over Middle Earth. Wherever Aninth went, people knew who she was and what she was seeking and she’d never been able to decide whether this was to her advantage or not. But, given the companion she always travelled with, it wasn’t like she could get away from being known to everyone she came across.

The inn she was currently staying at was one she liked a great deal. The owner was kind, not just to her, but to her companion as well. That wasn’t the most common thing. While most other owners of inns and taverns she’d stay at wouldn’t often turn her away entirely when she flashed some gold at them — often all she had — they weren’t happy at having her companion inside their establishment with her. Preconceptions had changed a great deal since she was a young girl.

Blowing a stray strand of blonde hair out of her eyes, Aninth had just secured her bag when there was a knock at the door of the room she had rented. Figuring it was the innkeeper, wondering whether she would be leaving or paying for another night, she simply called out, "I'll be leaving in just a moment, sir!"

Aninth was surprised when there was no verbal reply and simply another knock at the door. Going to answer it to see what the problem was, Aninth had to look way up when she opened the door to see the familiar face of the man dressed all in grey. Of all the people she expected to see on the other side of the door, the face of Gandalf the Grey was definitely near the bottom of her list.

"Come in," she told him, beckoning him inside and closing the door behind him.

He sat down at the small table inside the room and Aninth hurried over to the fireplace where her small kettle was sitting on the stone and lifted it, placing it in the flames for it to begin to boil. She then moved to grab the two cups she owned, setting them on the table in front of Gandalf, finally looking up at him with a smile as she waited for the water to boil.

"It is very nice to see you again, Aninth," he told her.

"And you, Gandalf," she said. “It’s been too long since our paths last crossed. It was in Bree, wasn’t it?”

“No, I believe it was in the Shire.”

“Ah, yes,” she said, remembering now. “I was visiting Bilbo. When I lost my father’s home, those of his belongings I was able to keep were entrusted to him.”

“That was kind of him.”

"Yes, our fathers were friends, I’ve known him for a long time. Though I will admit I don’t visit him as much as I should,” Aninth admitted, before shaking her head and turning back to Gandalf. “But enough of that, what brings you to my lodgings?"

"I have a proposition for you. One I hope you will be unable to refuse," he told her. As he looked at her, his eyes moved down to her neck and shoulders and his expression turned to one of confusion. "Where is your companion?"

"Just keeping himself warm," she told him. Aninth stepped aside and gestured to the fireplace, where a small black dragon could be seen curled up amongst the flames. "We shan't need to disturb him. What is this proposition?"

"Do you know Thorin Oakenshield?" Gandalf asked her.

"My mother knew him," she answered. "But I have not crossed paths with him in my travels."

"So you know of him?" the Wizard asked.

"Yes, where is this going?"

When the kettle began to whistle, Aninth grabbed a towel and then the kettle, bringing it over to the table and poured out the tea for herself and Gandalf, sliding the second cup over to him. She first set the kettle back near the fireplace and finally took the seat across from where the wizard was sitting.

"Thorin is putting together a Company to begin the quest to take back The Lonely Mountain from Smaug the Dragon," Gandalf explained. "And I believe you would be a lovely addition to his Company."

"He is going to take back Erebor?" Aninth questioned.

Hope filled her chest at the very thought of the Lonely Mountain being reclaimed but just as quickly, it dissipated. How could they possibly defeat a dragon such as that? How could she be a part of a plot to kill a dragon in good conscience when she is what she is? Her eyes turned back to the fireplace where her companion lay sleeping. Perhaps sensing the conflict within her, Gandalf continued.

"You may not be a dwarf, but at one time your people did live alongside the dwarves of Erebor. Should you not be there when they take back the Mountain and all that is within?" Gandalf questioned.

Aninth stood from her seat and paced across the room. With her own young memory not retaining anything of the few times she had been inside Erebor, her mother had told her a great many things about Erebor, about the glory of the halls within, the mountains of glittering gold. The captivating beauty of the King's Jewel, the Arkenstone. But there was one other thing she had also always been told.

"I have no claim over the gold within that mountain," she said, turning to face the Wizard. "That gold belongs to the dwarves."

"But do you not have a right to once more live inside like your mother had, like your ancestors?" Gandalf argued.

"Perhaps I do," Aninth admitted. "But I have met a few dwarves who once lived within Erebor and they despise dragons above all else. I have not been welcomed with open arms, they cannot accept me as they once accepted my people. Smaug destroyed the bond our peoples had when he ran them from their home."

Gandalf's eyes went to the dragon still curled up in the fireplace and then back to Aninth. She could see clearly on his face he knew without her having to say exactly what was causing her to be ostracized by people who had once done the opposite.

"They can't accept how close I am with a creature which is in many ways similar to the one that destroyed their home. And I don't see that ever changing," Aninth finished.

"And you will let this stop you from returning to the home of your mother? Should the last of the Dragonkin not want nothing more?" Gandalf asked her. “Have you not said time and again you want a home of your own? To be able to leave behind having to rent rooms and make camps in the wild?”

A single, airy laugh fell from Aninth's lips. "I should have known you would play that card."

"Do I not make a good point?" Gandalf said.

"Let's say I do join Thorin's Company," Aninth said, sitting down again. "What then? What do I do when I am shunned by him and the dwarves he chooses to bring with him? Is it worth it to make such a long journey enduring more hardship than those I travel with?"

"I believe that is something only you can decide," Gandalf told her as he pushed himself to his feet. "But if you do decide to join the Company, we will be meeting at a house in the Shire with this mark on the door. I do hope I’ll see you there."

With that, the Wizard slid a small piece of parchment to her with a rune on it and left her to her thoughts. Alone once more in the Inn, Aninth couldn't help but think of what she would do. She just didn't know. What she'd said to Gandalf was true, while she did crave a home of her own above all other desires, she didn't know how long this journey would take them, how long she would have to put up with the ire of the dwarves she would be travelling with.

"Well?" said a voice. Aninth turned to see the fireplace empty as her dragon companion, Ryvniss, stretched just out front of it. "Are we going or not?"

"You think we should go?" she asked, surprised.

The dragon hopped up onto the bed with a flap of his wings. "You're going to let some ordinary dragon and the effect he's had stop you from taking what is rightfully yours?"

"The gold is not mine," Aninth reminded him.

"No, but inside there is a bed, a closet, a desk and an entire room that are rightfully yours." He stretched once more and yawned. "You shouldn't let anyone keep that from you."

“I’m not letting anyone do anything,” she argued.

“Whatever you say. We don’t have to go. It sounds like it’d be a lot of work if we did,” he said, curling up on the bed and promptly falling asleep once again.

Aninth pondered his words for a moment. What Gandalf had said was true, ever since she was young and had lost both her mother’s home of Erebor and her father’s home in the Shire, she had craved nothing more than to have the comforts of home once again. A home she could call her own, truly. A place she could look forward to returning to after the adventures she had. She had spent most of her life with either vague memories of a home or none. She’d been born with two homes and it had only taken a few years for her to end up with none at all.

She supposed there wasn’t really any question about what to do, was there? She had known what she wanted to do from the moment Gandalf had invited her to join the Company. Aninth sprung up and grabbed her bag before she could change her mind. She gave a sharp whistle from the door and the dragon unfolded himself and flew to perch on her shoulder. She beelined for the stairs to the roof as he settled himself around her neck.

"Where are we going now?" he asked.

"You're right," Aninth admitted. "I have a right to make a home in that mountain. And I'm not gonna let anyone keep me from it."

When they reached the roof, she wasted no time in running for the ledge. A man sat on the roof who was smoking a pipe looked at her in alarm, jumping to his feet and shouting for her to be careful and not to jump.

"You know the drill, Ryvniss," Aninth called, giving another sharp whistle as jumped off the roof.

The dragon uncurled from around Aninth's neck and dropped below her. As soon as he was under her, wings unfurled, Aninth spread out her arms and turned herself so she was parallel with the ground. Now that she was in position, Ryvniss grew till he was more than five times his size and caught Aninth swiftly on his back before soaring into the air. She let out a joyful cry as the wind whipped through her blonde hair.

"Come on, Ryv, if we wanna make it to the Shire before it's too late, we gotta hurry."