OF FIRE & BLOOD
─── true courage is knowing not how to take a life, but when to spare one

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❝SHE REFUSED TO
LET IT BREAK HER.
SHE FACED TRAGEDY,
SHE FELT PAIN
AND IT ONLY MADE
HER STRONGER.❞

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There had been a time in the history of Middle Earth when the Lonely Mountain stood as not only a monument to what the Dwarves could accomplish but one of few examples of what true peace and trust between species could look like. Since the Dragonkin had come into existence in Middle Earth, they'd lived alongside the Dwarves of Erebor. Dragonkin and Dwarf people did not see the other species as a threat or as someone to be wary of, but as family, the same as the Dragonkin who lived in the Shire and the Hobbits that had made that land their homes for a long time. And it was because of this that it was not just the Dwarves that were affected by the dragon Smaug's takeover of The Lonely Mountain. As both species were forced out of their home, both would face consequences. And in the years that followed, the Dragonkin suffered greatly, their numbers dwindling until only one was left in the entirety of Middle Earth.

Aninth is the last of the Dragonkin, the last in all of Middle Earth to carry the magic that made her people and allowed them to bond with the Pygmy Dragons. With the dragon that she had been bonded to most of her life, Ryvniss, they must find their way through the world, trying to survive so that the legacy of their peoples don't disappear forever. When word reached them that a quest was being put together to reclaim Erebor, there was no other choice but to join up. After all, her people had once lived alongside the Dwarves in the mountain and though she would make no claim over the gold that dwelled inside, she had every right to the hospitality of the mountain. A home was all that she wanted in the world.

On this quest, she is joined by a Wizard, his daughter, thirteen Dwarves and one Hobbit. Aninth and Ryvniss knew that it would not be easy, crossing Middle Earth to reach the Lonely Mountain, but they had no idea just what kind of an adventure truly laid ahead of them. And things get all too complicated when feelings begin to grow inside of Aninth for the leader of the Company, Thorin Oakenshield, at the worst possible time.

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❝TELL ME, FATHER
WHICH TO ASK
FORGIVENESS FOR:
WHAT I AM, OR
WHAT I'M NOT?
TELL ME, MOTHER,
WHICH SHOULD
I REGRET:
WHAT I BECAME,
OR WHAT I DIDN'T?❞

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❝ 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐄 ❞
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

☾ ✧ ☽

ANINTH
THE LAST DRAGONKIN
( gaia weiss )

THORIN OAKENSHIELD
THE KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN
( richard armitage )

YGRITTE
THE WIZARD'S DAUGHTER
( hannah new )
pepperronys's

and...

LÓTERIEL ─ saffron burrows
BILBO BAGGINS ─ martin freeman
GANDALF ─ sir ian mckellan
FILI ─ dean o'gorman
KILI ─ aiden turner
DWALIN ─ graham mctavish
BALIN ─ ken stott
ELROND ─ hugo weaving
THE HOBBIT CHARACTERS ─ their actors

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❝I'VE NEVER BELIEVED THAT
BEAUTY COULD EXIST IN
SELF DESTRUCTION.
THEN I SAW YOU.
AND YOUR EYES TOLD
STORIES WITH
DANGEROUS BEGINNINGS
AND LOST ENDINGS,
WHERE EVERY PAGE
WAS BREATHING
WITH COLOUR.
YES, YOU WERE
BEAUTIFUL TO ME.❞

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disclaimer
I do not own The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. It's shocking, I know, take your time to process that. All I own are my original characters, scenes, lines and dialogue. Everything else goes to the rightful owners.

dedication
this story is dedicated firstly to the lovely pepperronys with whom this is a collab with! Also to my other amazing friends void-daniella dunbonnet -beewrites- capnbarnes KookieANDLeo vecnas xonceuponatimex dash-of-clarity 

note
this book is a part of the Fire & Gold Series, an amazing collab between myself and Kelly! This was actually our first collab! There will be other books in the series following the events of Lord of the Rings and the Rings of Power but those books are not published yet. You can check out Kelly's half of this collab on her profile and read Ygritte's story, Of Love & War, which you definitely should. 

if you are reading this note, congratulations, you are reading this after I've decided to finally update not only the summary to the format I now use in all of my fics but also after I've decided to probably slowly but definitely surely work my way through editing the old chapters so they match the standard I write at now and the later chapters. There won't be any major changes because of this, just somewhat longer chapters and they'll be written better. And yes, that is why all my friends got tagged years after this fic was initially published.

important notice
just wanted to remind everyone at the beginning of the fic that I want to hear each and every thought you have and I especially want you to leave them in comments. Seriously, I don't care if you are referencing something off of something I wrote, because there's a chance I might have been thinking it as I wrote the line! I want people to comment on it! And I don't care if it's nonsensical "asdfghjkl"'s or anything similar. I am a person that thrives on people responding to my work. It's part of why I write, I want to touch people with my writing. It also lets me know better than a vote that you're enjoying my work. Which is important to me!

ENJOY THE FIC!