Calm The Fire

32

Now that there were a group of dwarves before him, he took a thundering step forwards. One step turned into two, and two into one lurch which caused his head to raise and lower while his eyes stayed focused on the group. He crashed down the mounds of gold getting ever closer. All the while he let out low rumbling growls which echoed off of the walls and died away in the shadows of the ceiling.

From deep within his chest, a fiery orange glow slowly started to appear. "You will burn!" Smaug exclaimed while opening his mouth wide as the gullet of his throat was now starting to glow too.

"Come on!" Thorin shouted and pushed his friends to move as the dragon became more intent on following through with its words. The walkway of which they were just standing on was suddenly engulfed and showered with fire. The group had managed to avoid the flames by jumping down the staircases to their sides. They ran and a small doorway appeared in front of them, everyone ran through it as quickly as they could. Only Thorin lingered by the doorway just long enough to see and pay witness to Smaug unleashing as much fire as he could.

It was this fire which suddenly burned through the top tunic he was wearing. He exclaimed and ran into the small room which everyone was in. Dropping onto the floor, he managed to get it off with help, the material sat smouldering on the floor. "Come on," he said casually while jumping to a stand and moving off with the echoes of Smaug's growls and fire behind them. When leaving the room, they all walked tentatively and quietly through the corridors which now opened up to them. Reaching the end of one corridor, all that could be heard was the low moans from the wind outside. "Shh," Thorin stopped and held up a hand so the rest of his friends stopped and were silent too. Not that any of them were making a sound.

"We've given him the slip." Dori said from behind him.

Thorin looked around the corner of the corridor and frowned. "No, he's too cunning for that." Dwalin said while shaking his head, Thorin turned back to the group behind him.

"So, where to now?" Bilbo whispered.

"The western guard room, there may be a way out." Thorin said quietly and thoughtfully.

"It's too high, there's no chance that way." Balin said from the back of the group.

"It's our only chance. We'll have to try." Thorin said while turning and slowly stepping forwards onto the walkway in front of them. "Come on," he looked briefly at his friends before stopping. They had made good progress until the quiet sound of a coin landing on the floor echoed quietly. Thorin turned and looked slowly to Bilbo, he seemed just as shocked as anyone else. He patted himself down once he looked to the coin at his feet. It wasn't him.

Slowly, and rather unwillingly, he looked up; everyone else did too. What confronted them was a scaled underbelly with coins caught in the kinks of the dragon's armour. From moving they were slowly dislodging and falling back down to earth. One clawed foot appeared clutching onto the high stone bannister, then another, while the front half of the dragon roamed on ahead, the company stood stock still watching as he went. Gesturing a hand, Thorin quickly beckoned everyone to move again as he slowly backtracked along the pathway. They managed to get across it without anymore problems. Each in turn walked through the doorway and ran down the long corridor which led to their destination.

Only when Thorin finally led them into where they wanted to go, they weren't expecting to be greeted by death and decay. There was death in this room. A long standing death which seemed frozen in time, so many bodies of fallen dwarves. Some even still had locks of hair, clothes, armour, children clasping out desperately in their final moments.

Thorin moved slowly forwards and looked about him. He didn't think he'd see this sight, and he wished he didn't have to, it was hard to see. "That's it then," Dwalin's low voice said from the doorway. "There's no way out."