It took some coming around, but finally, Thorin understood that Bilbo needed to be saved. Sword in hand, he charged into the mountain, jogging through the tunnels in search of the Hobbit. Much to his dismay, Elvira followed. He knew how much the Hobbit meant to her, and so he only protested a little bit at her coming.
Elvira followed him down into the mountain, until they came to a halt. There Thorin stood, overlooking a vast chamber, positively overflowing with gold. The chamber glowed a bright ember color, and Thorin gasped at the sight. Elvira's breath caught in her throat at all the wealth in that room, but the real shock that came to her was a little Hobbit running towards them.
"You're alive!" she gasped, her heart overflowing with relief.
"Not for much longer," Bilbo panted, putting his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath.
"Did you find the Arkenstone?" Thorin asked him, eyes growing dark. Bilbo stumbled for words.
"There's a dragon coming!"
"The Arkenstone," Thorin said dangerously. He put his sword up against the entrance to the tunnel, blocking Bilbo from running away like he so desperately wanted to.
"Did you find it?"
"No. We have to get out!" Bilbo tried again, tried to walk past, but Thorin would not let him.
"Thorin!" Bilbo said, confused. The Dwarf King stepped forward, forcing Bilbo to take a step back. He put the edge of his sword dangerously close to Bilbo's heart, and fear grew in the Hobbit's eyes.
"Thorin, stop!" Elvira tried, but of course, he would not listen. Suddenly, a sound could be heard from further into the chamber. Thorin, Bilbo, and Elvira all looked that way, waiting.
Amidst the hoard of treasure stood a creature Elvira had yet to see with her own eyes until now; a fearsome dragon, tall and covered in scales, its eyes glowing red with the hatred that it held in its heart.
The dragon Smaug seemed to recognize Thorin Oakenshield, for its eyes narrowed and it bared its terrible fangs. It stood taller, and the scales on his chest and neck began to glow underneath. "You will burn!" he roared, and all at once, he bellowed fire in their direction. They all seemed to have the same escape route, for at the same time that the horrible creature blew fire, all three turned and jumped off the edge of the staircase. They tumbled down a pile of gold and landed near a different tunnel entrance, quickly diving through it. The other dwarves stood further along inside it, calling for them to run faster.
A room stands on the other side of the tunnel, and Elvira and Bilbo make it through, with Thorin behind them. His coat was on fire, and all at once he fell to the ground rolled the coat off in one sweep, and stood up again.
"Come on," he said, leading them down another tunnel, taking them further and further into the mountain as the echoes of an angry dragon's roars emanate all around them.
Across the lake, Kili's screams could be heard for miles around. Tauriel gathered a bowl and tore the Kingsfoil into pieces, putting it in boiling water. She orders the others to hold him down as she began to gather up the pieces of the plant and mold them together in her hand, chanting an elvish healing incantation that she was taught when she was much younger.
As she chanted the words, her palms brought the plant down and pressed hard against the wound in his leg. He screamed and writhed in pain, and Sigrid and Tilda jump up to help hold him still. As Tauriel continues, he quiets down, his breath still ragged. He watched her, eyes foggy. Her voice began to cloud him, and a shining white light stood behind her. It encompassed her, until the red haired elf that stood in front of him was only a shadow, an outline of a figure.
Her voice began to change and mold into one that he knew so well. The light began to fade and her outline changed to that of a warrior that he recognized. Elvira pressed again on his wound, but he didn't feel it this time. He only saw her; saw her lips move slowly, trying to save him. She looked at him, eyes blue and shining with joy even in the circumstance she was in. He couldn't believe she was there, he was certain he saw her leave for the Lonely Mountain earlier that day. Yet, here she was, right in front of him, saving his life for what felt like the hundredth time. And he was so happy to see her.
"I've heard wonders of the Elvish medicine," Oin said, "but that was a privilege to witness."
Tauriel bound his leg with a cloth, her nimble fingers creating a tight bind that would not come undone. Kili, groggy and half-conscious, groaned, opening his eyes only slightly.
"You cannot be her," he whispered, his voice hoarse. Tauriel did not make out what he had said.
"Sh," Tauriel said gently, "Lie still."
"You cannot be her," he said again, and she heard it this time. "She is far away," he closed his eyes, and Tauriel looked down at him in slight confusion. "She is far, far away from me. She walks in starlight in another world." He sighed. "It was just a dream," his voice was barely above a whisper now, as his fingers gently intertwined with the girl in front of him. "Do you think she could have loved me?"
Tauriel was overcome by emotions, and opened her mouth to say something, but was silenced forever by the name uttered from the man's lips: "Eli."
He mumbled it a few more times, growing quieter and quieter until he fell back into a state of unconsciousness, his hand slipping away from hers. A tear crept silently down her pale cheek, but she said nothing else. The strong elf warrior gathered the last of her supplies and things, and walked outside the little house.
The dwarves had come up with a plan. Elvira was not sure how it would work exactly, but she was willing to try anything, because this dragon had given her a nasty burn on her arm and shoulder that now pulsed with every movement, and she knew that they had to kill it.
In a storage room, Balin and some of the others were mixing up what Thorin had called "flash-flames", while Thorin, Dwalin, Bilbo and Elvira were on the floor, trying to evade the dragon.
Thorin and Elvira stood side by side, watching as the dragon began to come crashing through the metal lattice gates that stood between them. They were far enough away, but could do nothing except stand and watch as the dragon pounded into the gate until it all at once came crashing down, bending beneath his weight. A large metal beam went flying as a result, and had Elvira not grabbed his shoulder and pulled him towards her with all the strength she could muster, Thorin would have been squashed.
Smaug followed Thorin agonizingly slowly, grinning with a terrible toothy grin. Thorin had called the dragon names, had lured into position, and right before Smaug went up to engulf his surroundings in fire, Thorin yelled, "now!"
Bilbo was above, and he pulled a lever at Thorin's signal that opened the floodgates so that huge jets of water came rushing out from the mouths carved in stone. The water slammed into Smaug, knocking him over and putting out the fire within him.
The strong jets of water caused the conveyor belts all around to begin to run again, carrying large metal carts on wires all around. Smaug, angrier now than he had been before, flapped his large wings to get above the water, but the chain of carts in the air above him came crashing down upon him as he tried to fly higher, entangling him in a web of carts and chains.
All of this had done what it was supposed to: the furnaces were lit, and the gold in the giant pots above the furnaces began to melt. Thorin had fell on a wheelbarrow that was flowing down a river of molten gold, and he yelled, "Lead him to the Gallery of the Kings!" before disappearing into a tunnel and out of sight.
Elvira was about to take off with the rest of the company, but she noticed that Bilbo had fallen off of the mound he had once stood on, as it collapsed. He rolled, and looked up to notice Smaug now sneering down at him, ready to attack.
"Run Bilbo!" she screamed, and saw him get up and take off running, a large dragon hot in pursuit. She followed, running fast enough so that she had caught up to it, and without thinking twice, had jumped on the tale of the dragon. Gathering herself, she stood and sprinted fast up Smaug's enormous body, all the way until she was on his back. He hadn't noticed her yet, but one swoop to the side caused her to lose her balance and fall to the side, gripping onto his scales to avoid falling off completely. He noticed her then, and growled loudly. Down they slid, down a very large stone hill, and she watched as Bilbo ran into an empty gallery room, before the dragon knocked into the side of a pillar and caused Elvira to lose her grip and fall off of him. He came crashing down into the room, and Elvira found herself in pain as she stood up from her spot on the rubble of a pillar that he had knocked down, overlooking the large gallery room. She stood on the outside, breathing hard, and watched as Bilbo dove beneath a large tapestry the dragon had knocked over and lay still, disappearing right in front of him.
"You think you can deceive me, Barrel-Rider?" The dragon snarled, it's voice a deep grumbling echo that Elvira swore she could feel in her chest. "You have come from Laketown," Smaug said again, this time seemingly talking to himself. "This is some sort of scheme hatched between these filthy dwarves and those miserable cup-trading lakemen! Those snivelling cowards, with their long bows and their black arrows," he spat bitterly. "Perhaps it's time I paid them a visit."
"Wait!" Bilbo gasped, and Elvira dropped her head at the sound of Bilbo's voice. He scrambled out from his hiding place. "This isn't their fault. You cannot go to Laketown!"
The dragon turned to look at Bilbo, who was running after the dragon that had just been trying to kill him. "You care about them, do you?" he sneered. "Good, then you can watch them all die." And as the dragon turned to leap into the air, he stopped at the sound of Thorin's overpowering voice.
"Here, you witless worm," he shouted. Smaug turned around, eyes narrowing.
"You," the dragon snarled, anger officially overtaking him.
"I'm taking back what you stole," Thorin said, looking the dragon straight in the eye.
"You would take nothing from me, Dwarf, I laid low your warriors of old. I instilled terror in the hearts of men. I am king under the mountain," Smaug declared. Bilbo had managed to scurry to an adjoining hall, away from whatever last battle came to pass now.
"This is not your kingdom," Thorin demanded. "These are dwarf lands, this is dwarf gold, and we will have our revenge!" The giant statue that Thorin stood upon now began to groan from the strain upon it, as dwarves from all sides pulled the chains that held it together until the rock molding fell away. Thorin pulled a rope above him, and the stone all came down at once, pins that once held it together torn off. Beneath the rock, a giant sculpture of a dwarf king stood, shining brightly, made entirely of gold.
Smaug could not take his eyes off of it, because to him, it was hideous and marvelous at the same time; it shone with splendor and golden light, and he was completely entranced. But the gold had not set long enough to harden, it all at once came crashing down as liquid gold, hotter than hell itself and burying the dragon beneath the amount of it. It settled in the gallery room, covering the floor several feet deep in gold. The dragon had yet to resurface, and the dwarves began to celebrate, but it was too soon.
With a massive roar, he came billowing up from the ground, covered in gold and screaming in pain.
"Revenge?" He roared, "I'll show you revenge!" Smaug went crashing through the stone, out into the night air. With a heave, he pulled himself up into the sky, spinning so that the gold fell off him, and he opened his wings wide, headed straight for the little town on the lake.
The rest of the company followed outside quick to see where he had gone, and as they saw him soaring through the night towards Laketown, they heard his growl echo over the valley below : "I am fire, I am death."
No one could say a thing, for the damage had been done. Only Bilbo, eyes filled with dread at what was to come, said the last fleeting words that left them all in utter despair. As they would watch the little town light up the night sky with smoke and fire against the water, Bilbo asked the one question they were all thinking but didn't have the heart to say aloud: "What have we done?"
guys. desolation of smaug is done.
the battle of the five armies is beginning now! how exciting, i didn't think we would make it this far.
hope you guys enjoyed, i'm working hard to try and finish this and it's kind of rushed and you can tell but i just really want to for some reason
anyway
keep reading, voting, commenting, etc
thank you!
em