They rose before the sun did a few hours later, and on they went through the morning.

Thorin ran to the overlook of Dale upon noticing it, and everyone followed after him. Memory plagued not only Thorin's mind, but Agarwaen's too. The last time either of them were there, the city was on fire, and burned to the ground.

"What is this place?" Bilbo asked, looking down at the city.

"It was once the city of Dale. Now it is a ruin." Balin replied. "The desolation of Smaug."

"The sun will soon reach midday. We must find the hidden door into the mountain before it sets. This way." Thorin started leading the way down.

"Wait, isn't this the overlook? Gandalf said to meet him here, on no account are we to—"

"Do you see him?" Thorin asked. Agarwaen had to agree with the dwarf. If Gandalf wasn't here now, he would not be there with them on time. "We have no time to wait upon the wizard. We're on our own, come." The company followed their king the rest of the way to the western base of the mountain. The peak loomed over them, making them feel like fleas in an oliphaunt's presence.

"Spread out and search. The door should be around here somewhere." Thorin called, so everyone did. Agarwaen climbed atop peaks to look over every surface, looking for anything that resembled a door on the face of the mountain. She was walking with Bilbo when they both rounded a corner and looked up to see a gigantic statue of a dwarf, leaning on what looked to be steps.

"Dwarves were never ones for subtlety." She laughed. "Call them over." She started toward the structure, relieved to have found it. Bilbo announced the discovery to the rest of the group, and soon they all began to climb up. The steps were big squares that awkwardly led back and forth, making it slightly difficult for the dwarves to get across each large gap when they had to change direction. She helped up whoever needed it, and soon they found themselves walking up the stone dwarf's arm, and then the shaft of his axe. Above the statue was a ledge that met with a flat wall of stone on the mountain.

"This must be it." Thorin ran to the wall.

"I've heard about your invisible doors sealed with magic." Agarwaen said, amazed that she had the honor of seeing such a thing in her life.

"Let all those who doubted us," Thorin turned the company with a smile, holding up his key, "rue this day!" They all cheered, excitement and pure joy running rampant among them.

"We have a key," Dwalin walked up to the wall and ran his hands over it, "Which means that somewhere, there is a key hole." Everyone followed him over, and began looking over the wall. Agarwaen looked behind them at the setting sun, praying to Iluvatar that this was, in fact, the right place. They had one shot at this. Thorin seemed to be thinking the same thing, and had Nori try to find it using a cup and spoon. A good idea, but this was stone, enchanted stone.

"Elves have better eyes, can you see it? Can you see anything?" Thorin then asked her. She swallowed her nerves, and stepped toward the wall, looking it up and down, running her fingers along it, searching for any hidden crevice.

"We're losing the light, come on." Thorin begged. Dwalin started kicking it, messing up Nori's process and earning complaints from the thief.

"It has to be here somewhere." She muttered, searching high and low, but it was difficult to focus when Dwalin almost smashed her fingers with his foot. She snatched her hand back, and glared at him.

"Break it down!" Thorin ordered, and other dwarves came forward with axes and hammers.

"That's not going to work." She said as she stepped away, still looking at the wall. "If it's under a spell it'll..." The metal of the weapons began chipping away and shattering. "Well at least we know for sure that this is the door."

"The door is sealed." Balin agreed with her. "It can't be opened with force." The sun finally faded behind the Misty Mountains and the wall grew dark. "There's powerful magic upon it."

"No." Thorin turned back to the wall, map in his hands. His voice sounded broken and Agarwaen just had to keep searching. She felt every crevice, every hole, anywhere a keyhole would be, even places that weren't directly on the wall.

"The last light of Durin's day will shine upon the keyhole." Thorin read from the map sadly. "That is what it says. What did we miss?" In that moment, he felt as if he failed them all. He led them all this way for nothing. Several of them had almost died on this journey. His nephews will never get to see their home. He fed them all false hope. "What did we miss, Balin?" He asked.

"We've lost the light. There's no more to be done. We had but one chance, come on men. It's...it's over." Balin said dejectedly. Agarwaen shook her head. There had to be more to it. Those kinds of maps never lied, never misled, and the sun never wavered either. Sounds of the dwarves leaving filled her ears, but she couldn't look away. It had to be here somewhere. Maybe it was higher? The light reached higher longer. She started to climb as Bilbo yelled that they couldn't give up. She was willing to try anything. She had to get them in. They came all this way to reclaim their home, and she wouldn't let them give up. She wouldn't let this all be for naught. In her blind determination, she grabbed a loose handhold, and fell, gritting her teeth as she landed on her back and her broken rib erupted in pain again.

"Are you alright?" Bilbo rushed to her side. He held the map now, and they were the only two that stood on the ledge now.

"I'm fine." She pushed herself up. "There has to be more to it. We're in the right spot, and so was the sun."

"It says 'stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the keyhole'." They both walked up to the wall.

"We're standing by the stone." She talked through it. "What...what thrush is it talking about? Just a normal bird?"

"I don't know." Bilbo said, looking down at the map.

"The setting sun with the—with? It says with?" She asked.

"I think so. I-I can't exactly read it."

"Well, hold on a second." She turned to face the west. "The sun will set in that direction all year round. Sure, in the spring it will be a little offset, but it would still shine on the majority of the wall. So what makes Durin's day so special?"

"This is all these bloody moon runes say!" Bilbo held the map out to her.

"These are moon runes?" She'd never been told that before.

"Yes. Lord Elrond had to read them on the right moon. He—" Agarwaen's eyes widened.

"Bilbo!" She exclaimed with a smile. "What's never the same every night save for the same day of a different year? What was used to make up calendars?"

"The moon!" They both shouted at once. A tapping noise made them spin around and stare at a bird, tapping a snail shell on the rocks.

"You can't not love prophesies." She smiled, looking back up at the partly cloudy sky. When the moon finally showed itself, it shone down through a gap in the rocks above them, sending a ray of light directly on the wall.

"The keyhole!" Bilbo shouted down over the ledge. "Come back! It's the light of the moon! The last moon of autumn!"

"Where's the key?" Agarwaen asked. "Does Thorin still have it?"

"No, he-he dropped it." Their eyes fell to the ground, searching through the rock and patchy moss that grew around them. Agarwaen dropped to her knees and started frantically searching. Metal scraping stone made her look up to see that Bilbo accidentally kicked it, and it was about to fall off the ledge, when Thorin caught the string attached to it with his foot. She breathed a sigh of relief as she got up and watched him grab it.

They locked eyes for a moment, both grinning, before he slowly walked back to the wall, where the moonlight now lit up a keyhole. All the other dwarves had come back as well, and followed behind him. They all stood silently around the door as Thorin inserted the key, and as Agarwaen looked down at the group, she realized what this meant for them. What this meant for her.

She'd gotten so caught up in the moment, she suddenly felt intrusive. Her job was finished now. She'd gotten them into the mountain, alive and unharmed just as Gandalf had asked. The concept of her contract now being up came crashing down on her, and she felt almost numb. There would be no more nights around the fire now. No more spars, no more dancing and singing with Bofur. No more of Bombur's cooking or Fili and Kili's banter. Soon she would depart from them and there would be no more dwarves. She'd be alone again.

She stepped away from the group and let them have their moment as Thorin pushed the door open.