Daughter of Beorn: The Hobbit Fanfiction

The Plague

As I thought his efforts couldn't stop the dwarf, and it certainly didn't stop the rest of our party as we too caught sight of a devilish yellow glow. Upon turning the corner, we soon learned where this glow was originating from.

Gold. Jewels. Treasure- all together in a glittering, glistening, shimmering pile of wealth, surpassing any possible stretch of the imagination, catching every last source of light and reflecting it across the cavern. Everywhere one looked, all that could be seen was Smaug's former treasure. Diamonds the size of heads, pearl necklaces a mile long, a large enough mass of gold to buy all of Middle Earth and still have a good sum left over. It was truly breathtaking, yet, overwhelming. I knew that dwarves were known for their greed, but I could feel a strange sensation bubbling up in my chest, so much so that I felt my cheeks burning up & a dull ache in my head. Was it greed, or selfishness that I felt inside? Although they were one in the same, perhaps this sickness affected more than just the line of Durin.

At the sight of Thorin, however, I could have recoiled. The dwarf himself was dressed in ornate robes & strutting about the gold like a proud peacock. "Ready to be plucked of its feathers, too." I growled. When Oin gave me a confused look, I shook my head in response.

"Gold- gold beyond measure. Beyond sorrow and grief." He murmured to himself. As soon as the dwarf king spotted us, his lips stretched into a sickly grin. "Behold: the great treasure hoard of Thror." Thorin then flung something into the air without warning, and Fili caught it with a perplexed look on his face. It was a blood-red gem, obviously holding some value. "Welcome, my sister's sons, to the kingdom of Erebor!" In response, he received a stunned silence. His red-rimmed eyes soon met my gaze, and I narrowed my own as a means of demonstrating I would not be taking any of his ridiculousness. Even if he was "sick." The tension faded down some when the other dwarves entered the room & greeted their friends & family with warm hugs.

Hours had now passed.

It was night in the mountain, and where the sky was accessible, the light provided by the moon contrasted from the flickering torches set in the hallway. I was standing with my arms crossed alongside Balin, Dwalin, and Bilbo as Thorin sat on his throne. We- well, they- had been speaking of the Arkenstone, which had been the dwarf's obsession ever since we had arrived. Dwalin shifted his weight. "Thorin, we would all see the stone returned." He said.

Thorin's eyes sparked as he leaned forward in his throne, every muscle of his body tensed like a cougar ready to pounce. "And yet it is still not found!"

"Do you doubt the loyalty of anyone here?" Balin replied. I absentmindedly rubbed the back of my hands as Thorin rose from his throne, walking towards the two other dwarves with a dangerous expression. The elder dwarf swallowed- a nervous gesture. "The Arkenstone- it is a birthright of our people."

In that moment, I could see a change in Thorin's mannerisms. Pure rage was visible in every aspect of the dwarf as he glared at Balin. "It is the King's jewel. Am I not the King?!" He roared. No sound could be heard, except the faint tinkling of coins as the other dwarves navigated the mass of gold in an attempt to find the Arkenstone. When none of the dwarves or Bilbo responded, he set his jaw and turned the other way. "Know this- if anyone should find it and withhold it from me, I will be avenged." Bilbo looked at me as Dwalin and Balin left, motioning for me to leave with him... but grew still when I did not move. He anxiously shifted his weight before following after the dwarves.

"And just how will you be avenged?" I snapped, once we were alone. My jaw clenched when he didn't turn around. "Face me, you sickly bastard." Outwardly I remained calm as Thorin whipped around with surprising speed to glare at me.

"You have no right to speak to me with disrespect! Or to speak to me at all!" He roared.

The hairs on my arms soon became black in color as patches of fur began to grow along my collarbone as well. I took a step forward and glared down at him. "If you do not want me to speak, then rip my tongue out from my mouth and bash my throat in, since you are so bold to make that claim." I snarled.

When he raised his hand to hit me, I did what I had been wanting to do for this entire journey to the present time. Nails elongated, I slapped the dwarf with all my might, making sure my nails drew some form of blood from his clammy skin. As Thorin stumbled back from my blow a low growl escaped my lips before I kicked him square in the chest. "Does this bring back memories of Rivendell, my king?" I roared. "Do you not see any form of resemblance? Of similarity?!" A bit of blood escaped from Thorin's lips as he looked up at me with ferocity in his eyes. I stomped on his chest just enough to make him winded before kneeling beside the dwarf, clenching the fabric of his robes. "I confided in you." I hissed, the edges of my teeth growing sharper. "I made the imbecilic mistake of trusting you, speaking to you about a subject so sensitive that you have no relation towards!"

His response was what stunned me. "It- it is you." He growled. "You're the traitor... you have the Arkenstone." After all that I said. The poison in his mind was still taking effect, still blocking his thinking.

Shaking my head, I let go of his robes before rising to my feet, glowering down at the treasure-obsessed fool. It was somewhat pitiful, to see the ancestor of kings lying on the ground like a dead man. "Confiding in you was a mistake." I said. "But... you were sympathetic towards my loss." I grit my teeth. "This... is not you, Thorin. See how pained all of the other dwarves are. How dedicated they are, even in your time of illness." I turned and took a few steps to leave, but not before looking back at Thorin as he attempted to stand. "Or is there no cure for the corruption of a man's mind?"

I soon left him in the company of his demons of gold.

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How is this book nearly at 200,000 reads.... I swear, you all are amazing. I love reading your comments, even though getting through over 100 notifications isn't fun.

Seriously, I go through the first few chapters, and especially "Inner Pain" and I want to jump off a cliff. It suuuuucks -_- But then again, I'm really hard on myself.

Hope you enjoyed!

~ Orla