Suddenly, in the midst of the victorious carnage, Golden Angara landed to join in the celebration. Her effect on the hobbits was immediate. Mothers screamed and grabbed for their children. The men folk re-gathered their weapons and surrounded the great Wyrm.
Niter and Azra called out frantically, trying to push their way through the confused, frightened gathering. "No! Wait!" cried Niter, "It's alright. She was fighting for you!" Some heads turned and looked at the persistant halfling as she tried to make herself heard, and since the dragon remained perfectly still and made no threat, they paused with weapons raised.
But suddenly, another dragon, black and silver descended from the skies, also calling, "Wait! Stop!" The crowd around Angara gasped in fear as it seemed that all the Wyrms of Morgoth were coming down upon them. The mass of Hobbits surged back as swords and pikes were again raised.
The black and silver dragon landed beside the gold, and rising on its hind legs, stretched its mighty claws towards the Halflings, calling "Stop!" Then suddenly, a confused look came upon the wyrm's face. Looking down at its massive form, it shrugged in embarrassment, muttered "Oh. sorry about that", and immediately began to melt.
Dead silence descended on the Halflings of Gondolin, as the golden dragon shrank to the size of a cat, and the black and silver blurred and ran, until nothing was left but a small, bedraggled woman. The only sound to be heard was Ancalimon, laughing so hard he had to lean on his staff.
Then Niter and Azra ran forward, calling "Angara! Bird!" The woman held out her arms and embraced the two hobbits, and the golden dragon wound herself around their feet.
Slowly Maura, Lindo, and the Snow Hobbits pushed their way forward. Maura suddenly burst out laughing as well. But Lindo just stood, shaking his head in wonder as one small part of Niter and Azra's secret was revealed. For one instant, he still expected to see a small black and white crow descend from a tree and try to snatch his cloak pin.
The woman looked up over the shoulders of her friends, then stood up, brushing off her skirt and slowly approaching the group. "Hullo, Maura. Lindo. I hardly feel that we have been introduced."
For the first time, Lindo noticed that the woman's coal black hair was marked at the forehead with one streak of pure white.
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