Rue (A Thorin Oakenshield/Hobbit Fanfiction)

9

Thorin and Talia stood on the ramparts overlooking the gates to the fortress city, watching the common people mill about in Dale some distance away alongside the guards. He had come to visit briefly before they went their separate ways for the day; Talia would stay here as Head of the Guard and Thorin would go deeper into the mountain to conference with his grandmother. Their expressions were that of peace, yet their faces held no mention of a smile like they had in their previous years. The young couple was worn with responsibilities, yes, but those responsibilities had only made them stronger. Balin smiled as they interlocked hands, watching from his own post on the ramparts.

That was when they heard it.

The prior serenity of the morning was whisked away in the harsh wind, it's force creaking and snapping the forest's trees in the distance. The sound was like a hurricane. Flags whipped in the air as their wooden posts moaned from the wind against them. Pines on the mountain itself began to give way, bending at the wind hailing from the North. Exclamations of surprise and murmurs surface among the guards as they shielded their faces from the wind, looking to their prince for explanation.

"Thorin," Talia looked to him, the pit of fear in her stomach growing by the minute. "These are no winds of a natural calamity."

It was then that realization dawned upon him. "Balin, sound the alarm. Talia, call out the rest of the guard. Do it now!"

"What is it?" Balin asked hurriedly as Talia barked out the order.

Thorin could only spare a grave glance his way. "Dragon. Dragon!" He roared into the kingdom below.

That was the very moment that all hell broke loose. Smaug, the last firedrake of the North, had come for his prize; the gold within the mountain. The dragon's body sailed over them, launching it's attack on Dale with nothing but dragon fire. He yearned for that gold with a dark and fierce desire, like all dragons did. It was much so that the cities outside and inside the mountain meant nothing to him, including their people.

Talia gasped as Dale was hit with it's first blow of white-hot flame, the screams of the city's population erupting in a frenzy. She grabbed Thorin's forearm, stopping him from following the dwarves away from the ramparts and inside the gates. "I must go to Dale!"

"Talia, no!" He roared over the wind, both of them jumping and ducking low as another building was hit in the city behind them. "We must fight! I'm not going to lose you, not like this."

"The only way to pierce a dragon's hide is with a Black Arrow, and the only ones the Guard knows of are in that burning city!" She screamed back, pointing a shaking finger behind her to Dale. "We cannot launch an attack without them. If we are to kill this beast, I must go to Dale!"

"Talia, it's too—"

"For my mother!"

Those words stopped Thorin short, making him turn to look at her. Tears ran down her face, her eyes desperate and wild.

"This is my only chance to save her. Please."

After a moment's hesitation, Thorin pulled her into a fierce hug, pressing a rushed kiss to her lips and holding her close. "Come back to me."

Talia broke her forehead from his, dropping her hands from his neck. "I promise." She whispered, gripping the rope leading outside the ramparts before tearing her gaze away from him.

She jumped, letting the rope run loose through her hands as she slid down the gates, breaking into a run the second her feet hit the ground. She gasped at the wind in her hair, wiping her tears away as she ran, the adrenaline pounding through her system. In no time, she had reached Dale, rushing in and making a break for the highest tower in the city, where she knew the weapons were hidden.