Dragon Soul 1 (Smaug Fan Fiction)

Chapter 7: A New Respect

The next few days passed uneventfully. Hegda, not wanting to appear suspicious, engaged in random conservations with the company of dwarves. With each conversation she tried to hide her dislike of them.

With Bilbo though, she did have some great conversations. He told her tales of his ancestors, stories of when he was a boy and other hobbit tales. He confided in her about how he missed his warm fire and beautiful garden. Hegda found herself strangely interested in the simple life of hobbits.

She told him much edited tales about her life. She recounted the story of training so extensively that death was never far away. She told him about how she cheated death many times. She bragged about how she was a master at using a sword and other special weapons to kill those savage dragons.

Bilbo being so naive never questioned anything she said. He took her word at face value. He trusted her and even started to feel a strange bond with her. These conversations bought back many long forgotten feelings to Hegda. She had promised herself a long time ago that they would never be thought of again, that she would put them out of her mind forever but somehow she felt she was obligated to share them with the little hobbit. No one would ever understand the cruelty of the Dark Lord Sauron. The pain and misery that he put the people of Middle Earth through was trivial compared to how he treated the dragons.

On the fourth night of the journey while Hegda was watching the hobbit feed his pony, she heard an all too familiar and frightening sound. It was the sound of orcs talking to each other and it was way too close for comfort. Bilbo heard it too. Being unfamiliar with orcs he did not know what was happening but he was uneasy regardless. He asked Hegda if she knew what was going on. Hegda ignored his question, got up and walked to the edge of the cliff. She closed her eyes trying to hear what the orcs might be saying. When she opened them again her pupils appeared as dark slits. With her dragon eyes she could see the foul orcs below. There were twelve of them and they were looking back at the company. A shiver ran down her spine.

The sound of Bilbo's voice caused her to turn her attention away from the orcs. She turned around hoping that her eyes had returned to normal and Bilbo had not noticed her dragon eyes but Bilbo was too busy getting teased by Fili and Kili. They were not helping Bilbo's nerves by joking about night raids by orcs. Hegda was about to lash out at them when Thorin stepped in and put the brothers back in their place.

"Thorin has cause more than most to hate Orcs." the old Dwarf said catching Hegda's attention. She noticed Thorin standing a few feet away from her staring off into the distance. She quickly turned her head away to hide her dragon eyes. She wasn't quite sure that they were gone yet.

She listened as Balin continued, "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria, but our enemy had gotten there first." Hegda smiled as she imagined a great bloody battle, "Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog the Defiler."

Hegda did not miss the hatred in Thorin's face at the defiler's name.

Balin continued, "The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad with grief. He went missing. Taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him."

Hegda watched Thorin, he stood silent and emotionless. The wind gently blew passed him. Hegda thought to herself, "As if his good looks weren't enough it's as if nature itself is helping him to look more heroic. What a joke."

Balin continued his story. He explained how the young dwarf prince Thorin bravely fought the pale orc alone with only an oaken branch as a shield. "So that's how he got the name Oakenshield," Hegda thought.

Balin then said how the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. He told of how Thorin bravely rallied the troops and together they defeated the orcs. The victory came at a great cost. Many Dwarves were killed. "Beyond the count of grief," in Balin's words.

He recounted how Thorin stood on a hill looking out over the battlefield, "I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one who I could call king."

Hegda choked back a laugh. She looked over at Thorin expecting to see a look of arrogance on his face instead what she saw surprised her. It was not arrogance but grief and humility that filled his face. There was more to this dwarf king then Hegda thought.

She turned her attention once again toward the orcs and noticed that they were retreating. "What were they after?" she wondered. That night she had gained a little respect for the king in exile.

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