Unwanted Attractions

Chapter 33

  Thorin charges with his sword out through the tunnels deciding to save Bilbo and Rosa, stopping as flames light up the walls of the tunnel. He runs out onto the same overhang Bilbo had earlier reached, then stops abruptly when he sees the mountain of treasure all around him. He breathes heavily. Just then, Bilbo and Rosa run up to him. "You're alive!"
  "Not for much longer!"
  "Right, we need to get out of here, right now."
  "Did either you find the Arkenstone?"
  "The dragon's coming!"
  "The Arkenstone!"

  They are standing at the entrance to the tunnel, but Thorin is blocking the hobbit's way. They pause and look at each other for several seconds, then "Did you find it?"Thorin asks again, more quietly.
  They stare at each other for several seconds, panting heavily.
  "No. We have to get out." Bilbo grabs Rosa's hand and they try to enter the tunnel, but Thorin swings his sword across it, blocking the entrance. He presses the blade against Bilbo, and Bilbo stumbles back, the sword still touching him. Bilbo and Thorin face each other, with the tip of Thorin's sword against Bilbo's chest. "Thorin. Thorin!"
  "What are you doing?"
Thorin steps forward, forcing the two to step back. Bilbo's and Rosa's eyes widen in fear, and Thorin's face is steel and blank of emotion. Suddenly, Bilbo looks off to the side, and Thorin hears a sound in that direction. He turns and sees Smaug approaching over the mountain of treasure. Smaug, recognizing Thorin, snarls. Suddenly, the remaining dwarves run out of the tunnel and face Smaug, their weapons out.
  Smaug roars and rushes at them "You will burn!"
  Just as Smaug bellows fire at them, the dwarves, Bilbo, and Rosa turn and jump off the staircase. They tumble down the pile of treasure and land near the entrance to another tunnel, which they run into.
  "Come on, Bilbo!"
  Angrily, Smaug breathes fire in all directions. Thorin, the last one in the door, is pushed in by the force of the flames. He runs into the room at the other end of the tunnel with the back of his coat on fire, and he throws himself on the ground and rolls to extinguish the flames. He jumps back up. "Come on."

  Later the group approaches a stone bridge over a chasm. Thorin raises his hand and quiets the group. They near the foot of the bridge and Thorin peers around the edge of the tunnel, looking for any sign of Smaug. They all whisper.
  "We've given him the slip." 
  "No, he's too cunning for that." Dwalin mumbles to his comment 
  "So where to now?" Bilbo asks them
  "The western guardroom. There may be a way out."
  "It's too high. There's no chance that way."
  "It's our only chance. We have to try."
  They start to quietly,  tiptoe across the bridge, looking all about. Suddenly, a coin falls to the floor right in front of Bilbo and Rosa rings loudly. They all freeze and look at the two, who frantically check to see if some coin had been stuck in a fold of their clothing. Hearing another coin fall, they look up and see Smaug crawling just above them, looking for them. He hasn't seen them. The coins that fell came from his chest and arms, where several coins and gems have embedded themselves after years of him sleeping on them. Thorin motions for them to keep moving. 
  "Stay close," Thorin says as they run through a hall and then emerge in the western guardroom. They all stop abruptly when they see that the guardroom is full of rotted, dust- and cobweb-covered corpses. A landslide or something seems to have blocked the exit, trapping the dwarves in the past in the room to die.
  "That's it, then. There's no way out."
  "The last of our kin. They must have come here, hoping beyond hope. We could try to reach the Mines. We might last a few days."
  As Balin talks, Bilbo squeezes Rosa's hand in reassure seeing her shaking a bit
  "No. I will not die like this. Cowering, clawing for breath. We make for the forges."
  "He'll see us, sure as death."
  "Not if we split up."
  "Thorin, we'll never make it."
  "Some of us might. Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon. If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together." Thorin says

  The group gathers around devising a plan.