A Mixed Platter for the Solstice by Himring  

Toads of Kheled-zaram

Early on in Balin's attempt to reclaim Moria, nothing has yet gone wrong. Ori, left to himself for a bit, reflects.

Ori crouched on the sward beside Mirrormere. Small pink cyclamens grew around his boots. Balin and the rest were investigating and had left him as a look-out. He had been as enthusiastic as anyone about their plans, wanting to lay eyes on the ancestral halls that the songs told of! Now he was fighting down misgivings.

Three toads hopped into the lake, ignoring him. Plop. Plop. Plop. He did not remember any songs mentioning toads... Had they already lived here in olden times? It was fanciful but he wondered whether the toads of Mirrormere had their own legends featuring dwarves.

Chapter End Notes

This was written in response to an extended prompt set based around "Toad in the Hole", which included the following prompt: They saw tiny rose cyclamens between their toes, growing / Where the slow toads sat brooding on the past.
(From: Sicilian Cyclamens, by D.H. Lawrence)