This tale may not start out as a happy one.. No rainbows and butterflies. It starts with dragon fire... Dragon fire I awakened and thrust upon those innocents bodies that reside near in Lake Town. Smaug has begun to burn the bodies of all the bystanders under the foot of the mountain. The struggling humans make way for the below freezing waters... The heat of their breath filling the air with swirls of mist. I felt a aching in my belly as tears welled in my eyes. "I'm so sorry..." I whispered incoherently into the darkness. The gust of Smaug's wings knocking me back against the stones that littered the mountain... The kingdom of Erebor once again left behind the decay into nothingness. A shattering, heart pounding ache lingered about my body.. I'm responsible for this... For the fire now taking over the streets of Lake Town...
Our journey has been a long one... Myself following 13 dwarves and Galdalf the Grey into territories unknown to myself or my hobbit kin. This journey was once long forgotten.. The misty mountains but a memory in the eyes of Middle Earth.
" 's," Balin asked softly behind me. "Bilbo... What're we going to do?" His voice is soft and uncomfortable. I'm almost positive he is feeling the same guilt I am. "We want to help... all of us. But, we haven't the slightest idea how... And King Thorin... He has disappeared among the mountains... we haven't seen him in a long while..."
"I shall go find Thorin, you stay here... We will fight the dragon fire together." I stumble over my abnormally large feet and gather my mind. Where would he have gone?
I follow the dark, ragged, beaten trail back to the entrance of the mountain. A tug of anxiety pulls at my chest. The rocks cut grooves into the pads of my feet, although the years without shoes have produced a tough layer of callus on the lower portions of my feet. "THORIN!" I scream into the chasm that is surrounding... In the distance a glow so bright it hurts my eyes... The sound of terrified people fill the air... chilling me... What have I done?
I shuffle forward.. tears stinging in my eyes. "THORIN!" I scream. "Thorin... The dragon fire." I whisper and fold in on myself... How could I let this happen... How? That's when I heard the deep hum coming from up on the mountain... deep inside the corridor in which led me to Smaug...
"The gold once lost...has now been found... and once again... The trees like torches blaze with fire..." Thorin sings to himself the Arkenstone in his hands... "Bilbo... what have we done?" His eyes fill with tears... and together we cry for a moment... "All this for this stone? Was it worth it?" he asked himself... "Was it worth it?" he tosses the stone to the side and lets out a deep moan of pain... He feels as I do... we all feel the same.
I pull him up from his spot on the mountain and we descend to join Balin and the others. Tonight will be sorrowful... But, it shall end with the dragons head upon a steak for all to see.
