The Waistcoat of Fine Diamonds: A Lost Story of Erebor
Thrain closed the enormous iron bolts on the door behind him and turned to address Thror, King under the Mountain, as well as Thror's most trusted advisers and bodyguards. "Father, he's already taken the upper halls! I don't think there is anything we can do to stop him!"
"Do you have the Arkenstone boy!" Thror roared.
"No I do not, and I barely escaped with my life. Wouldn't you rather know that your grandsons Thorin, Frerin, and Dis fought valiantly and were still alive out on the outer walls!" Thrain stood and waited for the King to respond.
"Fine, fine. Thorin is alive, you are alive, I am alive. Is there any part of the great wealth of Erebor that we can save, or must we be satisfied with our lives alone?"
Thrain looked at his father with more sympathy. "This dragon is leaving utter devastation in his wake, but he is pressing down towards the heart of the mountain with blinding speed. I think many of our people may..." Suddenly a great noise, almost an explosion, came from the massive iron doors. They shuddered but did not break.
Thror's royal bodyguards jumped to attention and rushed to the door with weapons drawn. Thror looked at a small passage known only to a rare few among the people of Erebor at the rear of the chamber. He looked at his son.
"Sire, you and Thrain should escape." said Nar. "We will hold back this dragon for as long as we can." Nar was Thror's oldest living friend and his chief adviser.
A great booming voice echoed through the chamber as if the great iron door itself were creating the sound. "King under the Mountain, I have heard rumors of your great wealth and I only wish to look upon it for myself. Open this door for me and we can have a peaceful and cordial discussion." Such was the persuasive power of the great dragon's voice that Thrain looked to his father half-expecting him to order the door open. Then remembering the horrors he had seen only minutes before he shook himself and the spell was broken.
Nar turned to the King. "Thror, I have heard the wisdom of the elves concerning dragons, and the hypnotic power of his voice will be amplified twenty fold if he were able to look us in the eye."
"You will come with us Nar. Grab a few bags of gold from the hoard and we will be off. Erebor is lost. I do retain some things of great value to the dwarves yet. Let us not become casualties ourselves." Nar nodded acknowledgment to the King and began gathering a few bags of gold and gems.
Nar and Thror alone knew that Thror possessed one of the 7 great rings of the dwarves crafted by the elves in the deeps of time. It was the last of the dwarven rings and the only ring not given to the dwarves by Sauron. This ring had been presented to Durin III personally by the Elven smith Celebrimbor. It was the mightiest of the dwarven rings. The elves insisted later that Sauron had been involved in it's making before it was realized that he was an enemy, and that it's power could not be trusted. Dwarves had lived for hundreds of years with the rings without ever becoming wraiths or servants of the dark lord. The dark lord Sauron was dead by all credible accounts and no amount of fear mongering by elves would persuade the dwarves to give up their last ring of power!
"The dragon may not know of the Arkenstone. He may treat it as just any other precious gem. Some day we can return and reclaim it!" Nar said. He felt a pang of guilt, for it was he who had insisted that the great Arkenstone be put on display. It had once been kept here in the deepest vaults, but Thror was always lingering there to admire it. Nar persuaded Thror to have the Arkenstone mounted above the throne in his royal chambers so that all welcome visitors could admire it. Thror was much more sociable when he had the Arkenstone nearby. Nar feared that Thror might not forgive him once they left it behind.
A great booming voice resumed "Great King, I could break down these doors, but you and your people might be killed in the process. Let us be reasonable and talk, one King to another. I am called Smaug the Magnificent among my people, I am one of the dragons of the North and the King of all dragons here in Middle Earth. Surely we can come to some agreement."
Kolgrun was the greatest blacksmith of Erebor, possibly the greatest blacksmith of the age. He turned to speak to the King. "Great King Under the Mountain, go with Thrain and Nar and we will hold back the dragon. I supervised the construction of these doors, but I do not think they could long withstand the onslaught of Smaug the Magnificent. Go while there is still time!"
Thrain and Nar were waiting in the small passage at the rear of the great treasure chamber. Thror lingered within earshot of the door. "Hello Smaug the Magnificent" he yelled, "It seems you are here to unseat me as King under the Mountain, but you will not obtain the dwarves greatest treasure, the last great ring of power. That is for dwarves and dwarves alone! If you would like to kill me, meet me outside on the north face of the mountain in 30 minutes because that is where I will be!" Thror let out a great belly laugh as he ran to the exit, but the dwarves could see that his heart was not in it. He was only trying to irritate the dragon as much as possible.
The response from Smaug was devastating. The massive iron door creaked and groaned under the strain. The force relented briefly but was replaced by an enormous roaring sound. Visible waves of heat began radiating out from the doors as Thror slipped out the tiny rear passage into the darkness, followed by Nar and Thrain.
They continued to hear the echoing roars from the chambers below as they felt their way up the passage. "You have the last of the rings of power, Father? Or was that just a tale to make Smaug even angrier?" asked Thrain.
"No, it is true. I have the last great ring of power. I will gladly give it to you or to Nar for safe keeping when my end draws near. It was given to me by my father."
After a short time, Nar interrupted the silence "It is said by the elves that the dwarven rings were cursed by Sauron so that we could never give them up willingly, but that is so clearly wrong, we suspect none of their fears may be founded on facts. I have held the ring for your father for months at a time, but only felt the smallest reluctance to return it to him. The elves may be wise in their own ways, but they are either completely wrong about this ring, or they simply do not understand the dwarves. They say we have become obsessed with crafting and hording great wealth because of the curse of the ring!"
"All good dwarves are obsessed with crafting and hording great wealth, and it has always been so, ring or no," said Thror. Still walking on in darkness they could no longer hear any sound from below in the great treasure chamber.
Kolgrun the blacksmith and the rest of the king's bodyguard took up defensive positions. The roar continued for some minutes and seemed to grow quieter but steadier. There were a few lamps lit in the chamber, but dwarves generally feel quite comfortable underground in total darkness. Their eyes adjust quickly underground but sometimes take a long time adjusting to sunlight. Even in the light of the lamps, the great iron doors could be seen giving off a dim red glow.
"Boom." Something massive struck the door like the sound of stone striking iron, but the door did not bend. The glow grew more intense. The heat became intolerable and the dwarves took up positions at the far end of the chamber with their backs against the cool stone walls.
"Boom" went the doors again and the doors visibly bent, allowing fierce flames to shoot through a widening crack.
"Boom" again as the great iron bolt ,holding the doors, bent and began to glow as well as the flames licked around it.
"Boom" one last time. The door was glowing nearly white hot and the iron bolt was red hot as it broke away from the door on one side. An enormous stone boulder fell part-way into the room. The doors swung open and the roaring flames subsided.
"Well dwarves, if you do have a back entrance, it would have been wise to use it. I am not above enslaving you to serve me now that I am King Under the Mountain."
"We will never serve you Smaug. We stayed behind to kill you." There were two ballistas armed and aimed at the boulder now blocking the doorway, as well as a few dwarven crossbowmen. Kolgrun and some others had axes ready to charge Smaug when he showed himself. The lamps had been extinguished and the glow of the doors was subsiding as several dwarves took up closer positions. Behind the doorway and the boulder, fires were visibly burning, casting an eerie glow into the treasure chamber.
Suddenly the boulder shot through the chamber striking a dwarven crossbowman dead. Both ballistas fired into the doorway striking something with what sounded like glancing blows. "Come now my minions. I could simply vaporize all of you on the spot, but I would really prefer that all your gold and jewels remain intact. I would prefer not to melt your gold or turn your diamonds into coal if I have a choice!"
There was some movement in the doorway. A bolt was fired, barely missing the silhouette of a very young dwarf who came walking into the chamber.
"I'm.. ah... mmmm" he looked around at Kolgrun, and the other dwarves and walked back out through the doorway. They could hear him speaking outside. "Oh great king under the mountain. That is the main treasure chamber. There are 2 dwarves with armed ballistas, 4 crossbowmen, one already dead and 3 armed with broad axes."
"It's that cursed dragon's spell" said Kolgrun, "He's got that young lad under his control." He began whispering to the axeman nearby. "I really don't think we would fall victim. We've got to pretend to be under his spell if any of us are going to escape alive."
"I heard that dwarf" came the loud boom of Smaug's voice. " I know you dwarves aren't nearly as easily swayed by my charms as men and elves are. I understand the situation, but you are correct, this young lad is under my sway. I am willing to negotiate in exchange for his life."
"Fine, come on in and lets negotiate."
Smaug's terrifying visage emerged at the top of the door. Both ballista shots bounced harmlessly off of his head as two carefully placed firebolts from his nostrils took out the dwarves arming those ballistas. The crossbowman continued to fire as rapidly as possible as Kolgrun and the axemen charged through the door looking for Smaug's body, as his head was too high to reach.
The great claws rent one dwarf asunder as Kolgrun's and another's axe struck deep into the flesh of Smaug's chest. The other dwarf was struck dead by a firebolt but the great claws of Smaug grabbed Kolgrun. He lost the grip on his axe, which was now too deep in Smaug's flesh to pull out. "You've hurt me little dwarf. I feel the sting of your weapons, but I have a deal to make with you."
"What deal could you offer me dragon, I am willing to die rather than surrender to you." Kolgrun struggled to free himself, but Smaug's grip was firm.
"I offer you the life of this young dwarven lad, and the lives of your other women and children and even the crossbowmen still guarding your treasure chambers. I could kill you now and ransack the rest of this mountain. I could kill hundreds, if not thousands still inside this mountain now struggling to escape, in short order, but I will let them live if you will agree to my conditions."
"What are your conditions?"
"Now we're talking. That's what I've been asking for all along. This young lad here tells me that you are the greatest blacksmith in the world, perhaps the greatest blacksmith of all time. He told me about the fine arrows you crafted for the men of laketown, and swords for the kings of elves and men. I imagine axes for your fellow dwarves as well. He tells me you crafted this very treasure chamber door. I found that very challenging. I need you to make something for me."
"Fine, you let everyone else leave and I will craft whatever you want. Do we have a deal?"
Smaug placed Kolgrun back on the ground. "Absolutely!" He began climbing back up the ruined chambers to the upper halls.
"Wait" called Kolgrun, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to guard the entrance. I don't want anyone leaving with any of my treasure. You get everything of value from the entire mountain gathered in my treasure chamber. Get this place cleaned up a bit. Then I will let everyone else go of their own free will, except you who will remain behind until you are finished with my project."
Thror, Nar and Thrain heard 4 enormous booms from deep down in the mountain before they reached the front porch of their secret exit. Thror closed the door behind them and inserted a large ornate key into the keyhole, closing it with a twist. The door glowed with a magical light and the keyhole disappeared completely.
"Thrain, I'm going to give you this key. This door can only be opened when the last light of Durin's day shines upon the keyhole. Here is a map to help you find your way back here if needed, though an army of dwarves might have better luck at the front entrance." Thror handed him the map and key.
"What about the ring of power?"
"Nar and I still have some work to do with this ring of power, but I'm sure it will pass on to you eventually. Don't tell anyone I have it, not dwarves, not elves and certainly not the meddling wizard Gandalf. He's been 'advising' me to give it up for centuries! He just acts like it's common knowledge that I have it and he completely ignores me when I deny it."
"Then why do you deny it?"
"This ring was given to dwarves and dwarves alone! We do not have to admit that we have it. We do not have to cow-tow to the likes of Gandalf! It does not matter how good his intentions are, and I certainly do not trust his boss, that Saruman. He seems sinister to me and his name sounds almost the same as Sauron! That can't be mere coincidence." Nar stood by Thror nodding with agreement on every point.
"Alright father. I'm going to go to the city of Dale and see if we can get any help with the evacuation of the dwarves. I think if Smaug were coming out to greet us, we'd have seen him flying around here somewhere by now."
Smaug actually kept his word. He stood guard at the main entrance of the mountain while Kolgrun and a few hundred trapped dwarves moved everything of value into the main treasure chamber. Every piece of armor, every weapon, every gem and gold-piece were piled up on the floor in one giant pile.
Kolgrun recovered the Arkenstone and entrusted it to one of his assistants to try to smuggle it out the back entrance where the King had escaped, but he returned the next day. The outer door would not open. He spent a good part of a day with a pickaxe trying to get the door open but could not make a dent. Kolgrun had crafted that door himself, but Nar had also done some sort of magic on it as well while Thror was off visiting the Iron Hills. It simply could not be opened after the door had been locked from the outside.
Kolgrun was too late to smuggle out the Arkenstone. Smaug was satisfied with the cleanup of the mountain and had begun strip searching every dwarf before they were allowed to leave. It was humiliating, but preferable to a fiery death. When all was said and done a dozen young children stood attentively with Smaug gazing at Kolgrun. "Now is the time for you to fulfill your part of the bargain" said Smaug.
"No, no, NO!" said Kolgrun. "You agreed to let everyone go! I'm not constructing anything until these children are free as well."
Smaug faked a laugh. "I don't think you understand the situation. I agreed to let everyone but you leave voluntarily. These young ones have no family. Both their parents are dead. They have voluntarily decided to serve me for remainder of their lives. You are welcome to try to persuade them to leave, in fact I encourage it, but I don't think they want to leave. I'm not feeling particularly hungry today, but if you don't get to work on my project I may decide to start eating these young ones. And when you are finished with my project I will encourage them to leave myself. I can be very persuasive."
"What exactly do you want me to construct for you, oh great king under the mountain." Kolgrun did not conceal his sarcasm.
"You may have noticed how vulnerable I am, especially in the region of the chest! We have a vast collection here of the hardest substance known to men, elves and dwarves, diamond. I would like you to construct for me a waistcoat of your strongest iron and I would like, mounted upon every scale, a diamond, harder and stronger than steel. If you can construct for me a waistcoat of fine diamonds I will persuade all these children to leave voluntarily."
Kolgrun contemplated how diamonds would compare to mithril, but said nothing. He had access to the finest forges and the finest iron in all of Middle Earth. He could construct a waistcoat that would make Smaug nearly invulnerable. In retrospect, Smaug did seem heavily inclined to protect his chest during battle, but Kolgrun's own axe had struck deep without doing any serious damage. If Smaug were to be killed something would need to pierce directly to his heart.
The young children seemed inclined to spend most of their time with Smaug. They slept with him, talked with him, sang songs for him, sang songs he had written about himself back to him. However, they all came to the kitchen and food storage areas regularly, not just to get food for Smaug, but to feed themselves. Kolgrun made a show of trying to persuade the children to leave right in front of Smaug, but for those he thought he had the best chance with, he saved it for mealtimes when they seemed more persuadable.
One young lad named Pike seemed to shake free from the spell and began crying on Kolgrun's shoulder. "Pike, you have to help me get justice for your parents. I know you could tell Smaug you're ready to leave, but I'm asking you not to leave just yet. We need to work together first."
Smaug was relishing the worship of his little dwarven children. He now allowed them to sleep on the soft areas of his chest. "My chest won't be this soft and comfortable very much longer little ones. Best sleep here while you can!" It put pressure on Kolgrun to keep working and rubbed in the fact that the children were staying voluntarily. Pike slept, or pretended to sleep on Smaug's chest, while actually listening for where exactly he could hear Smaug's heart beating most clearly. He found one space in the hollow of Smaug's left breast where the heart seemed to be right beneath the surface. Kolgrun and Pike double and triple checked their designs for the waistcoat of fine diamonds.
Kolgrun finished construction of the waistcoat but put extra special work into the hollow of the left breast. He constructed a diamond mounted iron scale that was designed to remain attached until Smaug placed external pressure on it a few times, or if it were struck with a weapon, it would break free entirely. The surrounding scales where modified to channel incoming missile or spear strikes into the resulting hole. Unless Smaug looked in a mirror, he would likely not be able to see the missing scale once it became detached.
Kolgrun did his best to unobtrusively conceal or remove every mirror Smaug might be able to see. He placed the Arkenstone among smaller similar gems. He then presented Smaug with his waistcoat of fine diamonds. Smaug examined it carefully, but Kolgrun's skills at concealing his craftsmanship were greater than Smaug's senses could penetrate. He declared the waistcoat of fine diamonds mounted on hard iron to be a military masterpiece of the highest order, flawless and perfect.
As promised, Smaug persuaded the children to leave and seek dwarven companionship outside the lonely mountain. Smaug would not allow Kolgrun to leave however. Kolgrun had done what was necessary to save hundreds of his fellow countryman but now he needed to find a way to tell others of Smaug's vulnerable spot.
"I'm not leaving without Kolgrun" said Pike as the other children were leaving.
"No, Pike, you need to leave. Tell people what has been done here. Tell them everything. That's your job now." Kolgrun told Pike firmly.
"I don't really like the sound of that." said Smaug. "Pike doesn't want to leave without you? How long has he been out from under my spell? Pike, son." Smaug looked into Pike's eyes and turned on his full charm. "What exactly has been going on between you and Kolgrun here?"
Kolgrun grabbed his nearby blacksmithing hammer and charged at Smaug with full force, striking him in the eye. Pike managed to wriggle free and run to catch up with the other fleeing children. Smaug ripped Kolgrun limb from limb. When he was finished he took to the sky and incinerated every dwarf, child or adult that he saw within a mile of the lonely mountain.
He flew back into his lair. Settled himself firmly on his pile of gold. Pressed his chest onto the ground and releasing the one detachable scale from his otherwise perfect waistcoat of fine diamonds. Then he went to sleep.
A short story by Darwin Xavior, based in Middle Earth, the Universe of J.R.R. Tolkien.