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"Thorin, Bilbo, Fili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bombur, Balin, Dwalin, Nori, Ori, Dori..." Valadhiel frowned when she spotted Kili. His leg wasn't fully healed yet, so he would slow them down. She didn't want to be rude, but they needed to make haste. Plus, if Smaug was still in that mountain, the last thing they needed was to keep an eye on an injured dwarf.

     "We're missing someone." Bilbo said upon hearing Valadhiel, looking around. "Where's Bofur?"

"If he's not here, we leave him behind." Thorin replied.

     "We have to, if we're to find the door before nightfall." Balin added. "We can risk no more delays."

     Valadhiel nodded in agreement and, as they began walking over to the pier, she scooted a little closer to Thorin so she could whisper to him, her shoulder brushing against his as they walked. "I don't think Kili should come with us. With a wound like that... he would only slow us down and put himself in danger."

     "Agreed." Thorin murmured in reply, sighing in disappointment. Once they reached the boat, he turned to stop Kili from boarding. "Now you. We must travel with speed; you will slow us down."

     Kili blinked, shocked, then he smiled and gave a short laugh before he furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? I'm coming with you."

"No." Thorin replied in a softer tone.

     "I'm going to be there when that door is opened- when we first look upon the halls of our fathers, Thorin." Kili said, no longer smiling at all.

     "Kili, stay here. Rest." The dwarven king laid a hand on Kili's shoulder. "Join us when you're healed."

     Kili didn't say another word. He simply stood there and watched as Thorin removed his hand and walked closer to the boat. He stepped back to allow the others through, then watched as Oin got off the boat and as Fili walked towards their uncle.

     "I'll stay with the lad." Oin had said. "My duty lies with the wounded."

"Uncle, we grew up on tales of the mountain." Fili said, his brow furrowed as he frowned. "Tales you told us. You can't take that away from him!"

"Fili." Kili said gently. He seemed to understand why they had to leave him behind. He was disappointed, greatly so, but he understood.

     "I will carry him if I must!"

Valadhiel smiled softly before looking down at her feet. She felt bad for those two, she really did, but it was best that Kili stayed. She had a feeling that Fili wouldn't be coming with them. The brothers were, after all, inseparable. One would sacrifice himself for the other in a heartbeat.

     "One day you will be king, and you will understand." Thorin replied as he got into the boat. "I cannot risk the fate of this quest for the sake of one dwarf; not even my own kin."

     Fili looked at Thorin, then at the mountain, then he glanced back at Kili. After another brief glance toward the mountain, he got up and got off the boat.

     "Fili, don't be a fool." Thorin told him, getting up and gently grasping his arm. "You belong with the company."

"I belong with my brother." Fili replied before pulling his arm away from Thorin, getting off of the boat.

     Thorin had been about to go after him, but when Valadhiel gently touched his arm, he decided to leave them be. He wouldn't force him to come. Kili was his little brother, after all, and the two had always been pretty inseparable.

     Once Thorin was ready, they all set off towards The Lonely Mountain. They chatted amongst each other as they traveled, and somehow, the topic of Valadhiel's fire came up.

     "You can make fire come out of your palms?" Ori asked.

     Valadhiel nodded. "Yes. And I can breathe it, too, of course."

"What types of fire can you create?"

"Your typical yellow, orange, and red fire, of course." Valadhiel began. "I can create green fire, as well—"

"What does the green fire do?" Bombur asked.

"It can heal wounds." Valadhiel replied. "However, I cannot heal mortal wounds. Sometimes, death is just unavoidable."

"It honestly sounds kind of useless in that case." Dori commented.

"I can heal wounds before they become mortal, though. Internal bleeding, things like that. It's just... if the heart or lungs have been damaged, or if the brain has been damaged, then I'm incapable of healing it." Valadhiel explained. "So it still comes in very useful. It's simply not as useful as I would like it to be."

The conversation eventually died out, and part of it had been because Valadhiel had grown pretty quiet for the time being. A lot was on her mind. She wasn't snapped out of her inner thoughts until they reached the shore, and when she was offered a hand up by Dwalin, she smiled and accepted it. "Dolzekh menu, merar." [Thank you, friend.]

     Dwalin helped her out of the boat then smiled. "Ai menu duzhuk, azbadu men." [At your service, my lady.]

Valadhiel couldn't help but smile even more, and she then looked around at the others. They were all ready, and they soon began to set off once more. Because it was convenient, she shifted into her snow leopard form before she began the uphill climb.

     After awhile, they stopped for a rest. Valadhiel jumped up on a rock and looked down at the view. Well, it once was a lovely view.

     "What is this place?" Bilbo asked as he looked down at what looked to be ruins.

     "It was once the city of Dale." Balin replied, also looking out at it along with the other dwarves. "Now it is a ruin."

     "The desolation of Smaug." Valadhiel finished quietly, pinning her ears back as she looked down at it, a faraway look in her eyes.

     Thorin looked at Valadhiel and gently patted her furry head before he looked at the others and spoke. "The sun will soon reach midday; let's find the hidden door into the mountain before it sets. This way!"

     "Wait... is this the overlook?" Bilbo asked after a moment's hesitation. "Gandalf said to meet him here. On no account were we-"

     "Do you see him?" Thorin interrupted. "We have no time to wait upon the wizard. We're on our own." He turned and began leading the way once again. "Come."

     Valadhiel jumped down from the rock and began following the others. She looked back when Bilbo hesitated. "As much as I would love to wait on Gandalf, Bilbo, I don't think we should. Otherwise, we'll never make it into the mountain, and all of this will have been for nothing."

     Bilbo looked over at Vala, then he nodded softly. "I suppose you're right." He replied. He looked back at the overlook one last time before he followed after the others.

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     Thorin planted his sword into the ground and leaned on it slightly, panting and catching his breath. They'd been scouring the side of the mountain. "Anything?"

     "Nothing." Dwalin replied.

"If the map is true, the hidden door lies directly above us."

"Up here!" Bilbo called to them. He'd been walking around and noticed that a massive statue had been carved into the side of the mountain. Surely this was it.

Thorin, Valadhiel, and the others looked up when Bilbo called to them, then they looked where he was looking. "You have keen eyes, Master Baggins."

"His eyesight seems even better than an elvish, skinchanging dragon's eyes." Dwalin said, smirking at Valadhiel.

"I hadn't gotten over here yet." Valadhiel replied, cheeks becoming a shade darker.

"Someone was too busy watching Thorin." Ori said in a tone of voice quiet enough for only he, Dwalin, Balin, and Valadhiel to hear.

Valadhiel shot them a look, then she flapped her wings and flew up. She reached the top before the others because of this, and she was already on the search for the hidden door.

     The dwarves soon got to the area where the door should be, and they all began helping Valadhiel look for the hidden door. Bilbo also started looking around, doing his best to pay attention to every little detail.

Thorin walked into a clearing and looked around, the others following behind him. "This must be it. The hidden door. Let all those who doubted us rue this day!" He held up the key for everyone to see, and the others cheered.

Valadhiel would have cheered, but she just didn't feel it. She found that she felt no joy in this moment. All she felt was dread and worry. When she noticed that Balin was watching her, she offered a forced smile. She couldn't manage anything else.

Balin noticed that something was going on with Valadhiel, therefore was watching her at the moment. Something was on her mind. No doubt the dragon that laid in those piles of gold within the mountain. Was she worried for them, perhaps? Worried for Thorin? Or was it something else entirely?

"Right." Dwalin said when the cheers died down. "We have our key, which means that somewhere, there is a keyhole."

'Really? No way, I had no idea that keys and keyholes went together.' Valadhiel thought to him sarcastically, though she gave a playful smirk.

"Ey, keep your thoughts to yourself, Lizard." Dwalin said, giving the elven skinchanger a look.

"Enough, let's get to looking." Thorin said. "The last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole."

So they all got to searching for the door. However, much time passed, and the sun kept setting lower and lower.

"We're losing light." Thorin said frantically. He'd been getting more and more frantic as the time passed and the sun set. "Vala, did you ever come through this way?"

"Unfortunately not." Valadhiel replied. "I was never shown the hidden door, though by my choice rather than Dur— erm, the Dwarven-Lords."

"Dur erm Dwarven-Lords?" Nori questioned, narrowing his eyes at Valadhiel somewhat.

"Simply a mispronunciation; when my mouth is dry I have a bad habit of it." Valadhiel replied, glancing away from Nori before she turned to look for the door once again.

"It's got to be here somewhere!" Ori exclaimed with a frown as the light continued to fade.

"Come on!" Dwalin shouted before he kicked the side of the wall.

Nori had started tapping on the wall and listening closely, so he gave Dwalin a look when he kicked the wall. "Be quiet! I can't hear when you're thumping."

"I can't find it... it's not here! It's not here."

Valadhiel sighed before she sat down and tried to think quickly of what to do. Why had she passed up the opportunity to learn where the hidden door was? But who could tell if she'd remember even if she had been shown. When she'd been offered to see the hidden door for herself, it had been a long, long, long time ago.

"Break it down!" Thorin ordered. When the weapons thrown at it failed to break it down, he frantically turned to Valadhiel.

"I may not have ever seen the door, but I do know that the weapons and myself won't be enough to break the door down." Valadhiel said as she got back up to her feet, stretching her wings out some. "There's powerful magic cast upon that door."

Thorin's heart sank upon hearing those words. He saw the light continuing to fade before he looked at Balin. "The last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole. What's what it says. What did we miss? What did we miss, Balin?"

"We've lost the light." Balin said solemnly. "There's no more to be done. We had but one chance. Come away; it's over."

"Wait a minute!" Bilbo spoke up, his expression saying that he was in disbelief.

"You wait." Gloin said as he began to walk away with the others.

"Where are they going?" Bilbo asked as he looked at them then at Valadhiel, then back at them. "They can't give up!" He watched as Thorin dropped the key.

Valadhiel walked over to Thorin and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thorin, you can't just give up now. Not after all we've gone through to get here."

Thorin looked at her. "It's like Balin said. There's nothing more we can do; we're too late." He replied calmly but solemnly, handing the map to her before he walked away with the others.

Valadhiel watched him leave with a heavy heart, then she let out a frustrated sigh. She was highly disappointed, too. But there was no way they could just give up... right? They'd come all this way. They'd been so close! What was going to happen now?

She sat on the edge of the ledge before she put her face in her hands. She was being too hopeful, she supposed. Too idealistic as always. There really was nothing they could do now. They'd run out of time. The last light had vanished.

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