Silence lay heavily upon the battlefield. Purple and gold were the only colours the warrior could see, ignoring the blood seeping out of the wounds while the soul of her greatest enemy vanished into the cloudy sky above her head.

She couldn't believe it was over. Her journey over, after all the struggles she had been through the past months. She really destroyed him.

"Dovah! Leave this place before your mortal body is trapped here forever."

She could hear those voices. It was Hakon who spoke to her. The ancient Nord hero who had fought by her side as best as he could. She looked up and saw all the other heroes. The Nords. Watching her proudly. Her gaze drifted along them, searching frantically for Tsun who would bring her back to Nirn. To the living world.

Suddenly she stopped and looked down at herself. She spotted all those bleeding cuts on her skin and realized that her journey truly was at its end. What should she do in the living world now that her destiny was fulfilled? There was just one way to gain peace and happiness again.

Slowly she lifted the horned helmet from her head, tightened the grip around the hilt of her golden Dwarven Greatsword and inhaled deeply. Finally she impaled herself on her golden blade. Blood dripped out of her abdomen and her breath caught in her throat. As her body began to tremble, she dropped down on her knees.

The last thing she saw were those people. All those souls kneeling in front of her until finally her mind was wrapped in darkness.

In the end she couldn't recall how long she had wandered in the darkness when suddenly the faint chirping of birds reached her ears and the scent of fresh flowers and grass invaded her nose again.

'What is that? There are no birds in Sovngarde.'

Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. She had never heard about such a thing as birds in the Nordic afterlife. A golden sun sent its bright light down on her and blinded her for a moment. She blinked until she realized she was lying on her back, on a meadow of soft, incredibly green grass right under a huge oaken tree.

She frowned and pushed herself up into a sitting position. This was still too surreal for her. She had expected to wake up in Sovngarde again. Her soul finding peace in the Hall of Valor together with all the other good people she had met on her way to kill Alduin. She forced herself to stand up and leaned her hand against the trunk of the tree as her knees felt a bit wobbly. Her gaze drifted along the landscape which was beautiful and completely unknown to her. True, she hadn't explored every single part of her country but the scenery before her looked almost out of world. Wavy green hills, colourful flowers, field of golden wheat and much more interesting were those small, green and blue round doors which had been built into those hills.

'This is not Sovngarde. Nor any other place I know,' she thought confused and began to walk down the path she had spotted which led her to one of those doors. Soon she reached a blue door and saw a rather small woman cutting grass in what seemed to be her front garden which was filled with even more beautiful flowers.

"Excuse me? What is this place?"

The woman looked up quite surprised. "I beg your pardon? Oh, did you lose your way?"

"Uhm—yes, it seems so," she saw that the woman was pregnant. "May I ask when your baby is coming?"

"Oh yes, it's due in two months. Are you from far away? Not many Humans come across the Shire."

'Shire?'

"And what is your name?" the woman continued to ask.

"My name is Mona. Mona Stormblade. Please, would you tell me where exactly I am?"

It seemed as if the smaller woman was quite concerned now. "This is Hobbiton. In the Shire. Which part of Middle Earth are you from?"

Mona had never heard about a place called Hobbiton; nor was she aware of a land called Middle Earth. On the other hand she didn't want to appear too suspicious and so she simply replied,

"I'm from the north."

That was, in fact, not a lie at all. She truly came from the north. The north of another world, so it seemed. The woman nodded understandingly when suddenly a smile curled her lips as she called,

"There comes my lovely husband! Hamfast, look! This lady is new to Hobbiton. She seems to be a lady from Rohan or Gondor."

Mona turned and saw a man approaching them. He was just as small as his wife, with curly brown hair and of quite burly stature. His blue eyes eyed her suspiciously for a moment.

"My name is Hamfast Gamgee. I'm a gardener. I know someone who enjoys the company of outlandish people like you! Do you see that hill over there?" he pointed into the distance where Mona could see a higher hill and he added, "That is Bag End. Strange people have come across this town to get to that place the past hours. There lives Bilbo Baggins. Maybe he can help you with whatever you are looking for."

Mona nodded and thanked him. She wished them both a wonderful day and good luck with their baby. As she strolled along the path to Bag End, she had a strange feeling that the baby would one day be part of something great.

Once she reached Bag End, the sun was completely set. This place had a green door with a blue glowing sign carved into it. She had no idea what this sign was signaling, but she could already hear muffled voices and noises coming from inside the hole.

'Seems he already has guest,' she thought and knocked carefully at the door. Nervously she waited for a reaction. After several moments, the door finally opened with a quiet creak and she found herself in front of a tall, elderly man. He was so tall that he even had to bent down a little to look outside while she still had to look up to meet his gaze properly.

"Can I help you, my dear?"

Mona stepped back and sensed that she was going to stumble into something strange. She had been in such situations multiple times before and so she tried to calm down and cleared her throat.

"No. Yes! I mean—are you Bilbo Baggins?"

The old man stiffled a laughter and watched her curiously. "No, my name is Gandalf. But if you are looking for Master Baggins, you are at the right house. Step inside," he gestured her to enter. Still a little reluctant, and asking herself if this was a good idea, she stepped inside after realizing that she had no idea where else she should go.

She was greeted by a warm and cozy entry hall.

"Master Baggins is a bit—busy—at the moment. Follow me. We are having supper and it seems you are hungry, too?"

She nodded gratefully. 'What am I doing here?'

Wordlessly, she followed Gandalf into the dining room. It was a rather small room, but as she saw what it was filled with she stopped dead in her track. Dwarves! Twelve dwarves! And they all stopped eating and drinking and looked at her just as surprised.

"Hello, beautiful," one of the younger dwarves said. She examined him quickly, taking in his brown hair and puppy like brown eyes. He grinned and winked at her cheekily.

Mona was still quite uncertain. She had never met a dwarf in her life, but she knew that dwarves had never been the nicest companions in her country. As far as she knew it, they had been wiped out. She had often enough fought against the last remaining constructs of the Dwemer-culture. Deadly metal steam robots.

"What in Oblivion is going on here?" she finally found her voice again.

"Well, we're having supper, lass. Sit down and join us. You look like you could do with a warm soup," one of the elder dwarves said. He had a long, bushy, white beard.

She lowered down next to a dwarf with a funnny shaped hat and an interesting cut beard. He grinned at her just as cheeky and handed her a plate filled with cheese, grapes and bread which she took thankfully.

"Ah! There is Bilbo! Bilbo, we have a new guest. A surprise guest!" Gandalf suddenly exclaimed cheerfully and Mona looked up and spotted a short man who looked not very amused. His hair was curly and dark blond. His eyes were big and blue. But what was even more obvious to her was, that he was more than annoyed and stressed by this entire situation in his home at the moment.

"You mean, more surprising than twelve dwarves in my dining room?" he snapped at Gandalf. The elder man's gaze drifted to Mona. Bilbo followed his gaze and was just as surprised about her presence as the dwarves had been before.

"Hello. My name is Bilbo Baggins. And who are you?" he introduced himself and it seems his level of stress vanished a little as he offered her his hand.

"Mona Stormblade. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope it is fine if I eat a bit of your food?"

"Well, it's definitely too late to say no," he gestured at the full laden table. "Go ahead. There's enough for all of you, I suppose."

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed from the front door and the whole company fell silent. Dead silent. Gandalf looked up and mumbled, "He's here," before he went to open the door. Mona was curious who that newcomer might be as she saw that the others seemed to be more serious and full of anticipation. She could hear a deep voice talking with Gandalf before he called,

"Bilbo, would you come here for a moment?"

Bilbo gulped and went to the entrance hall, followed by the entire company. Mona hid behind the tallest dwarf. His head was bald and decorated with tattoos. She listened to the conversation between the newcomer, Gandalf and Bilbo. And it was clear to her that the newcomer with the deep voice was making fun of poor little Bilbo.

"Well, Thorin—there is another thing I have to tell you," Gandalf said after a couple of moments.

"And what might that be? Did you bring a gardener to join us as well?" the newcomer, whose name seemingly was Thorin, said amused.

Gandalf simply smiled a little sheepish. "No, I am actually not certain who she is—"

"Wait. She? You brought a woman here?" Thorin was clearly not amused about this turn of events.

"I did not bring her. She showed up at the door not long before your arrival. I don't know where she is from, but I'd suggest we should try and find out if she is of value for our quest."

"You mean my quest."

Mona rolled her eyes. She sensed she wouldn't like this dwarf. He was arrogant and stubborn.

"Show her to me," he demanded. Suddenly the bald dwarf reached behind himself and pulled her to the front. Mona was quite surprised and lowered her face. "Look at me," Thorin said with a light growl in his voice.

Slowly she lifted her head again. A flick of her long, golden hair dangled in front of her face. She looked at him and saw that he was well-dressed and looked almost regal. His mane of long, dark locks with two braidings in the front tumbled over his broad shoulders and a short-cut dark beard framed his face and lips. He was quite tall for a dwarf. She saw he might be just as tall as she was. While she was quite small for a Nord. But what caught her attention the most were his eyes. Oh, what captivating blue eyes.

'Stop! You don't like him!' she chided herself silently.

Thorin, on the other side, watched her just as intently. He saw that she was taller than the hobbit and also taller than an average dwarf, but still she was the same height as his own or Dwalin's. Her hair was long and blond and reached down to the middle of her spine. But her eyes. Her eyes caught his attention the most. Oh, what captivating green eyes.

'Stop it!' he chided himself silently. "What are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm a Human from the north."

"North of what?"

'Damn. What's that land here called again?' her thoughts were rushing, desperately trying to come up with an answer that might satisfy him. "Of—Mid—land?"

"Midland? What is Midland? Are you making fun of me?" he grumbled and turned to look at Gandalf. "Is this a sick joke of yours, wizard? Who is that girl?" he pointed angrily at her.

Gandalf looked even more sheepish. "Like I already told you, Thorin. I didn't have the time to ask her. If you don't mind, I will take her with me and interrogate her while you and your company finish supper."

The dwarves seemed to agree and headed back to the dining room. Thorin followed his company, but couldn't help it and shot a dark look at Mona as he passed by and vanished into the dining room.

She was more than confused about this entire situation at the moment. She stood in the middle of the hallway, feeling Gandalf's eyes resting on her. She looked up at him and met his warm, friendly and yet curious gaze. Bilbo stood silently next to her, obviously just as confused as she was. So much had happened in his lovely home this night.

"Bilbo, go and be a good host. Look after your guests. Mona, follow me," Gandalf said and she followed him into a little study-room. He closed the door and pointed at a chair to signal her she better took a seat. She lowered into the comfy armchair while Gandalf took the chair in front of her.

"Tell me, Mona Stormblade: Where are you really from?"

"I—I'm from—" she wasn't certain what she could tell him without risking him to think she was insane.

He seemed to read her mind. "There is no need to lie. I am here to help you."

She sighed heavily and rubbed the palm of her hands. "I'm from Skyrim."

"I have never heard of such a place before."

"Nor did I about this Midland—"

"You mean Middle Earth?"

"Oh yes! That was its name!"

He smiled amused. "And what is your story?"

She remained silent for a moment until she finally found the guts to tell him everything. He listened silently and carefully to her whole story which took them quite a little while. Once she finished, she said,

"I should be dead. But instead I came here and this is obviously not a place I have ever been to. Why am I here?"

Gandalf watched her intently and saw that she was quite nervous under his intense stare. She fumbled with the sleeve of her tunic. Suddenly he got up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I am certain we will find the reason for your being here. Come, let us join the company. We have much to discuss before sunrise."

Once again she followed him to the dining room. She sank down next to the dwarf with the funny shaped hat again. To her left, at the head of the table, sat Thorin. Much to her relief he ignored her completely.

Gandalf took his seat across from her. "Before we start I should introduce you to the company. Here we have Kili, Fili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori, Ori, Dori, Balin, Dwalin and the leader of our company Thorin Oakenshield."

He pointed them all out while naming them and Mona tried to memorize who was who. Gandalf chuckled. "Don't worry. You don't have to remember them all by now. Take your time. You'll have plenty of it."

Thorin sent him a dark look that signaled she would not come with them, but Gandalf decided to ignore him. "Now, let's get down to business," he said and revealed a map out of his robe and spread it on the table.

Mona leaned closer and read, "The Lonely Mountain...and you want to reclaim it? From who?" she suddenly asked and looked at each of them.

"From Smaug," Fili replied.

"And that is—who?" she added curiously.

"Most terrible calamity of our Age. Let's say—furnace with wings," Bofur explained with his typical cheeky grin.

She winced and watched them in shock. She noticed Gandalf was watching her intently again. Her gaze locked with his and she just now realized why she was brought to his place.

"No, Gandalf. No, I cannot—I won't do it."

Thorin seemed to be very pleased to hear that as she could see the triumphant smirk on his face. She decided not to care what he was thinking and got up, left the dining room and headed to the front door. With a frustrated growl she left Bag End.

Her gaze drifted along the landscape which was now covered in the blanket of the night. The only light came from the lanterns along the path. A few feet down the road she saw a building which seemed to be the inn of the town. She spotted a wooden bench in Bilbo's front garden and lowered down on it.

She placed her head in the palms of her hands. It could not be possible. Was it really her fate to live this over and over again? She had hoped after her death that her soul would join the others in Sovngarde. Just like every Nord warrior.

She had been in deep thoughts for quite a while when suddenly, she sensed the presence of someone else sitting down next to her. A hand was carefully placed on her shoulder and she looked up to see the friendly smile on Kili's face.

"Hey," he said softly with an encouraging smile.

She tried to return that smile at him. "Hey. I am sorry that I just stormed off. I acted foolish."

"Nah, don't worry. If it relieves you, the hobbit also said no and even fainted. I guess you are not very used to go on adventures."

She looked surprised. "No, that is not the reason. I always lived and liked adventures. It's just—oh, it is too long and too complicated to explain it now. Plus, you wouldn't understand it anyway."

He shifted to take a closer look at her. "I know it seems that my uncle, Thorin, doesn't want you to come with us. But he is just suspicious towards every other race. We all are, to a certain point. That is the nature of a dwarf," he smiled before he added, "But having a woman in our company would be great, I think. You have to know that dwarf-women are rare and not always good to distinguish from the males."

Mona couldn't help but laugh softly. She felt like growing to like this young dwarf.

"Look, you are able to laugh about me! You are perfect!"

She shook her head, still a little amused. "I am certain that your uncle doesn't want me to go with you. And he pointed out that this is his journey. If he denies, I think I can't do anything against it."

Kili grinned at her. "He is just sparing with emotions. Believe me, actually he is interested in you. I mean, your story. And he won't leave you behind, I am certain about that. He is curious who you are. Especially because you are not from Middle Earth."

"What? How—"

"Midland? Really? It was so obvious that you have not a single clue where we are," he said and laughed. "Now, come on, back inside."

He was so friendly and funny that she decided she could trust him. And so she followed him into the hole again, just to see Thorin and Balin standing across each other in the hallway seemingly in a deep conversation. As Kili and she entered, both dwarves looked up. Thorin's gaze lingered on her a bit longer than Balin's.

"Come here," he finally said and without much thinking she walked towards him. As she stood in front of him they locked gaze for a moment.

"I have no idea who you are. What you are. Or where you are from—but I will find out," he grumbled.

Balin watched him surprised. "Does that mean I give her a contract, too?"

Thorin nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on hers. Kili patted her shoulder and went into the living room to join the rest of the company in front of the warm fireplace.

"What changed your mind?" she asked as soon as Balin left them to get another contract.

Thorin grinned triumphantly at her. "I just think it might be interesting to see if you can catch up and survive in the wild. Especially because you are not from Middle Earth."

She tried to look puzzled, but he hissed, "Don't deny it. I know you are outlandish. I take you with us because I want to know the truth!"

Now it was her turn to grin. "What makes you so certain that I will tell you anything about me or my past?"

He leaned in closer until she could feel his hot breath on her face. Much to her dismay, her heart started racing rapidly.

"Because I am the leader of this Company and you have to earn my trust to make me protect you in danger," he whispered and left her alone in the hallway.

Balin returned with a long sheet of paper. She barely read the contract and signed it quickly. She had no idea what the contract included. And it didn't matter to her. She knew what was waiting for them at the end of this quest.

Smaug. The Terrible.

A dragon.

Again.

This was my very first fanfiction ever! It follows movie and book events.

If you enjoy it, please leave some feedback :)