~Chapter One~

Under the Mountain

I Must Confess:
The Weight of This Is Overwhelming.
With Things Unsaid, They Were Walking The Other Way.
They Have Defined This Heart of Mine By Darker Shadings,
When They Can't See Me At All.

So Light It Up, Light It Up, Burn It To The Ground,
Or Dig It Up, Dig It Up, Never Knowing.

They Can't Begin To Comprehend What's Lying Under.

~Light It Up, by Nine Lashes

Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.

"Goodnight, Eli," I whispered because his Mom had already fallen back asleep. After checking my sleeping bag for snakes, finding none, and slipping in, I clicked the flashlight off and kissed his forehead. "Sweet dreams."

My own were vivid and bright with magic. My dreams echoed with the clashing of metal hitting metal and fire screaming through the air, rushing by stone, and lighting the night sky like Fourth of July fireworks. A Dwarf, his hair dark and his face handsome, slowly lowered his sword and lifted his other hand, stretching it out to me. I reached out for him and smiled.

That night, I dreamed of Erebor.

Four Years Later

Sunshine beat down, hot and bright and heavy, on my eyes and cheeks. My upturned face lowered, ducking behind the safety of the baseball hat I had shoved down over my eyes earlier, after departing the plane. It was old and blue, tattered along the bill, but the ratty blue cap was good enough protection against the heat of the glowing sun. It bathed everything in red light, making it look like the tents and the four wheelers had been bathed in fire. I smiled at the familiarity of it all.

Somebody short, though not too much shorter than myself, stepped out of the last tent in the line and walked out into the open. I squinted at the familiar shape of the black figure that darted out into the wet grass and started running back and forth with excitement. Its excitement, coupled with the familiar curly black hair flying around its head, made my smile widen.

"Eli!" I called out to him while setting down my suitcase and closing the door of the fire red Jeep Wrangler. My right hand pulled the right backpack strap over my shoulder, and I lifted the other hand high in the air, waving at him to catch his attention.

"Sammy!" Eli shrieked with happiness. He was still about thirty yards off to the right, but the little boy had heard the call and responded with his own. Long feet sank and then repeatedly shoved through golden dirt. Years of practice had made it easier for him to run in the sand.

Face bright, I dropped down with my arms open wide, just in time to catch the boy that thrust himself at me. I pulled him closer and hugged him tightly, face buried in his thick dark curls. I inhaled shakily. It had been three, almost four, years since I had last been face-to-face with him. We Skyped all the time, but it wasn't the same as pulling him closer, ruffling his dark hair, and giving him hugs. I pulled back, giving him the once over, and then smiled widely. He was so much taller!

At just shy of five feet, the ten (yeah, Eli, almost eleven) year old put his head to my shoulder. I was, at five feet and two inches, only four inches taller than him, which meant that I should not, really, pick him up. I still did it, though, and happily carried him back to camp. He curled his skinny legs over my waist and put his face next to mine, happily chattering about the latest archaeological finds. A pipe, a vest with only six buttons, a collection of silver and golden beads, and two hammers, Eli dutifully reported, had been catalogued by Mr. Bill. It was amazing because nobody had been permitted to explore anywhere but the Main Hall.

Imagineall of the artifacts just waiting down there for us! I mused happily, and quite excited at the prospect of being set loose within the ancient ruins of Erebor, the Kingdom Under the Mountain.

What would I find…?

"You wouldn't believe how much stuff is in there! Vases, carpets, and pictures! We're just now getting to the hallway, which branches off into, like, three million directions!" Eli exclaimed this exaggeration in excitement, his boyish voice loud in my ear.

Ouch. I winced at the volume but did not curb his enthusiasm. Instead, I smiled brightly at him and hefted him higher in my arms, my eyes open wide and surveying the familiar faces and big smiles of old friends and the unfamiliar stares from the fresh meat. I called happily to several people and waved politely in greeting to the rest. As I walked leisurely through the campsite, reacquainting myself with everyone and everything, Eli happily chattered in my ears. It was sweet, but I secretly likened the continuous chatter to waking to the loud buzzing sound of a weed eater too early in the morning.

"Sounds like it will be an interesting next couple of months! Good thing I brought along my old book of fairytales for inspiration," I replied with a wide grin. He could not see my expression of happiness, but Eli and I had known each other long enough that the boy could hear it, loud and clear, in my words.

"Yes!" Eli cheered, lifting his dirty hands in the air and then quickly putting them back down as my arms protested the movement. I swayed dangerously from the sudden change in weight distribution, nearly dropping him, and Eli clawed desperately at my arms. "Shit!"

"Be careful, Elijah!" I yelped at him, but the warning didn't do much good because, in the end, Eli and I still toppled forward and landed atop the sand in a graceless heap. I sputtered, hand brushing the sand from my cheeks and forehead, and groaned, "Language!"

"I speak English, Sammy. What about you?" Eli cheekily responded before falling to his back with a small thud and repeatedly swiping his limbs back and forth in the sand. He laughed, "Look, look, look! I made a sand angel! Cool, isn't it?!"

"Jesus Christ! You haven't changed at all, have you?" I dryly asked the hyper boy – the preteen, really – before frowning at him in mock disappointment. Elijah pouted at me and then, without warning, blushed brightly in embarrassment.

"What's wrong?" I asked him in concern. Eli and I might not be related by blood, but I had been there at his birth, and I had pretty much stuck by him ever since. We both had little quirks. Eli recognized most of mine, and I could point out all of his – except for this one, anyway.

"…Sand in my crack," Eli sheepishly mumbled the explanation with a groan. He immediately jumped to his feet and waddled for his tent, two identical waterfalls of sand cascading down from the legs of his shorts. I burst into peals of hysterical laughter.

Hearing the sound of laughter, Mr. Black poked his balding head out from between his tent flaps and glanced around the campsite, searching for the cause. He smiled faintly, seeing Eli waddle by like a constipated penguin, and called, "You are early, Ms. Steel."

Normally, I would've asked how Mr. Black had figured out that it was me. However, I had been scampering and nosing around his excavation sites for nearly two decades now. Daddy had been working for him since I was around two, and after Mom left, I was pretty much glued to his side. Some part of me was afraid – terrified, really – that I would lose him, too. Abandonment issues aside, I had been a relatively normal little girl, with really big dreams and insatiable curiosity. Much of that could still be said of me now as well.

Mr. Black was a very stern man. He was, though, also kind, attentive, and considerate. He listened. Instead of ignoring his plight and firing him right then and there, Mr. Black permitted Daddy to travel from site to site while raising his small daughter. Mr. Black also helped Daddy keep an eye on me and teach me – not only the required school curriculum, but also of ancient civilizations and archaeology. Since then, Erebor had become my passion. An obsession, really…

As such, I was pretty much bound and determined to make it here, to Erebor, ahead of schedule. I wanted to help excavate and catalogue finds, and I wanted to do it now. I did not want to wait back home an additional three days when I could simply call and ask for another flight to New Zealand. Thankfully, United Airlines did not disappoint.

"Hello, Mr. Black, and yeah, I managed to book an earlier flight," I explained, standing back up and dusting the sand from my rear. My pants were worn and ripped, like most of the clothes I had packed, but I planned to crawl around in dusty and dirty ruins, so what did it matter?

"You have always been an ambitious girl," Mr. Black noted in amusement, the deep wrinkles in his weathered face lengthening at the sight of the shy smile I offered in response. "Well, I will not keep you. Your father is waiting and has been told to assign you your responsibilities."

"Thanks, Mr. Black," I said, hand out to take his in a quick but firm handshake, and then reached down to retrieve the backpack I had dropped when Eli and I tumbled into the sand. He kindly asked if I had brought anything else, and I replied in the affirmative, pointing to the Jeep.

"You're welcome, Ms. Steel." Mr. Black smiled back, turned around, and ordered Mr. Ron to get the other two bags I had brought with me. As the older archaeologist passed by, I smiled sweetly at him. He scowled back with dark eyes and yellowed teeth.

Gross. Mr. Ron really needed to quit smoking…

"Sammy! Wait for me!"

I slowed down.

"Thanks," Eli gasped, bracing his hands against his tanned legs, and then straightened. He had retrieved his pack – and changed into fresh shorts, I noticed with amusement, but I refrained from teasing him again. "Mr. Black said I could tag along with you. Is that okay?"

Amused, I ruffled his hair, ignoring his cries of protest and distress, and announced, "Duh! Just like old times then, huh?" I marched ahead while the preteen sought to fix his wild hair by licking his dirty hands and smoothing it down again.

Cheeks stretched, dimples showing, and smile wide, Eli unknowingly showed off two silver train tracks of little blue and purple squares. He shoved his hands in his back pockets and agreed, "Yep! Just like Finn and Jake, from Adventure Time!"

"Ugh," I said while scrunching up my nose and grimacing at him, pink tongue sticking out and blue eyes crossed to make him laugh. I nudged him with my arm. "Your Mom lets you watch that sh – uh, stuff?"

Little Eli shifted guiltily beneath my gaze. "…Not really," Eli admitted, shrugging his thin shoulders, "but Mom is usually too busy out in the field to care. I can pretty much watch whatever I want to with the iPad."

My shoulders slumped, and I frowned, silent for another moment. I loved Eli, and I liked Mr. Bill and Mrs. Hannah well enough, but I wished that his parents would take the time to pay attention to him. Daddy had been a single parent and, although absentminded, had always managed to find time to play with me. After I turned fourteen, though, I was pretty much responsible for entertaining myself – and Eli. Little Eli turned two that year.

And Eli was only four when I left…

I sighed.

University had been necessary. I was already knowledgeable and skilled in most of the subjects pertaining to archaeology, having been raised by a small team of archaeologists, but I wanted – and needed – to go. I wanted to learn, to chase after those childhood dreams of becoming an archaeologist, to live out that fairytale. But I hadn't wanted to leave Eli behind. I would've taken him in a quick heartbeat if I could have managed it!

"Sorry, Eli," I apologized softly while reaching out and taking hold of his shoulder, pulling him close enough to hug lightly to my side, like I used to do while reading to him at night. I kissed the top of his head and, while Eli grumbled, the preteen boy did not wipe it away and let it be. Progress!

Little Eli shrugged his shoulders again, hands shoved deeper in his pockets now, and mumbled, "'s okay. I spent lots of time with Mr. Daniel, learning how to catalogue the finds from the dig sites at the Iron Hills. It was pretty cool."

"He was a great help, too."

A man of about fifty had stepped out from amidst the rubble – the rocks, broken pillars, and the remains of a really large statute – surrounding the dilapidated stairs leading to the ancient ruins. Black hair, speckled with strands of silver, dropped into light blue irises, which lifted to meet mine. He cleaned his dusty hands with a spare cloth that had been sticking out of his back pocket and then lifted his arms up as an invitation. "Where's that hug you promised?"

"Right here, Daddy," I laughed at him, leaping forward and curling both arms around his thicker shoulders. I squeezed him tightly, knowing that Daddy, while older now, was strong enough to take it. Most people nowadays were only of the Race of Men. We, however, were proudly descended from both Men and Dwarves.

My father was shorter than most men, at about five feet and six inches, but tall for somebody that claimed to be part Dwarrow. I could almost stare him in the eye. So I pulled back from his hug, smiled at him, and then bluntly demanded, "What do I do first?"

Snorting, Daddy ruffled the hair hanging in my eyes, much like I did to Eli. He absently smiled back and then glanced at the ruins in the mountain with thoughtful blue eyes. "Well, Mr. Black said that Bill and Hannah finished clearing the path to the Hall of Gold. Why don't you and Eli head there first?"

"Sounds good," I replied, leaning forward to kiss his bearded cheek. My father gruffly wiped at the invisible mark, before wandering off in the direction of the main tent, already pulling out his rumpled notepad and penning down additional observations. I smiled fondly after him.

Eagerly bouncing from foot to foot, Eli tugged at my arm, released it, and then bolted towards the ruins. "C'mon, Sammy," Eli begged from the topmost step, "I want to get started before Mom and Dad get in there. They'll hog all the good finds!"

Amused, I tightened the thin straps clinging to my shoulders and raced after the smaller boy. As a child descended from both Men and Elves, however, Eli would most definitely be taller within the next five years or so. At the moment, Eli and I could both crawl around in the smaller spaces without hindrance. So I bypassed the staircase several other archaeologists examined in favor of the small crevice at the back of the Main Hall. They waved and called their greetings. I waved back but squatted down in front of the crevice, all attention glued to the opening to the Hall of Gold.

"Holy shit," Eli mumbled, shoving in between me and the wall and squinting into the darkness of the other room. He pointed at something that I could not see and exclaimed, "Is that a golden chair?! Are you going to sit in it? 'Cause I'm going to sit in it!"

"Quit cursing, it's probably the throne, and it's for Kings. Let me go in first," I dryly said to Eli, who looked ready to wet himself. I gently nudged him to the side and then rifled through my pack, searching for my gloves and flashlight. "Here, Eli. I have extras for you, too."

"Thanks, Sammy," Eli beamed, his dimpled face and his braces shining brightly in the glow of the flashlight I pointed to his left. It made his tanned skin glisten like golden pearls in the darkness, and I was reminded yet again of his heritage.

Without saying anything else, I grinned back at him, crouched down, and ducked into the crevice. Eli, who did not trust easily, immediately followed suit. We were able to squat down, thighs curled tightly, and waddle forward for about halfway down the rocky path. Soon, though, the tunnels that had been cleared became smaller, and thinner, and thus too difficult to continue traveling that way. Refusing to be deterred, I dropped to hands and knees and crawled forward, praying that my curvier than normal hips would not get stuck. It was a close call, but I finally managed to squeeze my way through the tunnel and into the Hall of Gold.

My mouth dropped, and I gaped at the splendor of the Hall of Gold. I carefully climbed to both feet and stepped into the spacious chamber and then whirled around, spinning in place to take it all in at once. Everywhere I turned, I found gold – golden floors, golden sconces, golden chairs, golden tables, and much more! When Eli had asked about the chair, I had been wrong. I had automatically assumed that the golden chair would be meant for the King. Here, though, I spotted fifteen golden chairs at first glance, which meant –

"King Thorin and the Thirteen," I breathed, completely in awe, and hesitantly stepped closer to examine the rectangular table. A small, trembling hand reached to reverently touch the golden but dusty surface of the table. In front of each chair was a small collection of runes. Dwarf Runes.

I inhaled sharply.

Names!

Immediately, I wiped at the surface of the table with a special brush and crouched down to squint at them in curiosity. I could almost make out the name. It started with S. I frowned down at the little line, confused about which Dwarf it meant. Which of the Thirteen had that letter in it? Was I reading that rune wrong? Dammit!

A flashlight beamed brightly through the cloud of dust that had risen from my search, making the small particles glitter like tiny diamonds. Eli bounced forward, waving his hand through the dust to clear it from in front of his face. "There're fifteen chairs here, though…" He pointed out.

Frowning in thought, I began mumbling their names. "Bilbo, Fili and Kili, Oin and Gloin –" I stopped suddenly, hearing the telltale signs of furniture being moved to the side. I whirled around, squinting in the darkness for his flashlight. "…Eli? Eli! Where are you?"

Nobody answered, though, and I cursed quietly, fumbling for the flashlight that I had set down in order to investigate the odd Dwarf Runes. I left the rest of the ancient etchings intact and started walking forward, though I wanted to stay put to discern the rest of that name – all of them, really. Mouth pursed, I slowly picked through the debris littering the floor, and headed for the stairs that I discovered lining the Hall of Gold, which had turned out to hold the Council Chambers.

Irritated, I squeezed between two pillars and down another walkway, searching for the wayward boy. I glared around the seemingly empty room and threatened, "Elijah Michaels, I'm going to count to ten, and if you're not out here where I can see you at that point, then…uh…" I trailed off.

Golden hair fluttered in the hot breeze blowing softly through zigzagging cracks in the walls and the ceiling, which had formed from the foundation settling after thousands of years. I gazed at it in awe and settled down against a pile of rubble and bricks, fingers swiping down the sides of a claylike substance. My fingers were raised to quivering nostrils, and I smelled the fresh earthy scent of the dark brown sediment with curiosity. I stared it, before retrieving a plastic bag and placing a sample in the Ziploc. It should have been much lighter in color after being stored in the bowels of a mountain for several millennia, but if it had been exposed to water, then…

Humming in thought, I scooted down the banks of what appeared to have been a rather large lake in the past. It was slightly damp, like the moisture had yet to completely evaporate, and the mud stained the bottoms of my pants, which had been tucked into lightweight boots. My soles, I also noted, had mud and bits of seaweed and tiny bone fragments. Upon closer inspection, I figured them to have belonged to fish. This, too, I collected samples of for cataloging.

"Do you see that down there?" Eli, standing in the middle of a vast valley, turned to stare at me. When I had finished labeling the samples with a permanent marker and turned to scold him, Eli interrupted to point at something rather strange and puzzled, "It looks kinda like…"

"…Bones," Eli and I breathed together in shock, before I stumbled forward to examine a jagged talon protruding from the hand – perhaps foot – of the extraordinarily preserved remains. I nervously, and needlessly, added, "Really, really, really big bones!"

Whatever once owned these bones had been big, clawed, and, from the quick glance at the sides of the beast, winged. I hesitantly removed several pieces of chalk from my pack and tossed two to Eli. Wordlessly, Eli and I began chalking the circle around the gigantic beast, starting at the same point below the head, splitting left and right, and then meeting at the tail. I removed the digital camcorder from my pack and filmed the perimeters, regretting that I had not thought about doing the same in the Council Chambers. All of those beautiful Runes…!

"Um, I think this wing is about fifty feet in length," Eli helpfully offered from beside the remains of the left wing, letting his measuring tape shut with a snap. "His wingspan would be, uh, 100 feet, right?" He scrunched his face and grumbled, "Ugh, I hate math…"

"Well, I did mention that some math would be involved in the field," I absently reminded Elijah, oblivious to his glowering facial expression, before smiling at him. I ruffled his hair and praised, "You're right, though, Eli. His wingspan would 100 feet. His body is about 70 feet from the snout of his skull to his tip of tail. All of that would make him, well, huge!"

"Him, huh? How do you…?" Eli interrupted himself by raising his hands in front of his face, as if to ward of the explanation I had already formed, and mumbled, "You know what? Never mind! I don't want to know!"

Giggling, I ducked down to point at the pelvis of the creature. "Get your mind out of the gutters, Eli!" I teased him with a smirk. My small fingers pointed to the outside of the pelvis and then its opening. "You see? A female pelvis is much wider, and if it wasn't male, then the opening here would be slightly wider, too."

"Its pelvis is shaped like a…" Eli paused to squint down at the outline of the partially crushed remains of the left half of the pelvis bone. "…butterfly."

"This creature is male," I cheerfully confirmed, getting another shot of the remains to document proof of what I had just told Eli. Archaeology was my major, but I also studied paleontology for the fun of it.

Yeah, I was a nerd…

"What is it, though?" Eli asked, clearly frustrated, and thrust his hand between the thick bones of the ribcage. I hesitated, not wanting to frighten him, but Eli frowned at me. "C'mon, Sammy! I'm not a child! I'm ten." He puffed out his slender little chest. "I can definitely handle it!"

"Okay, okay!" I relented, sighing at the reminder of just how stubborn Eli could be if interested enough in something, and sending sweaty blonde bangs flying in the air. "This beast is, if I'm not mistaken, a dragon."

"'A dragon,'" Eli dumbly echoed the words, mouth opening and closing momentarily, and then stared at me. He squeaked, "You think this thing is a…dragon?!"

"It is large, with a very wide wingspan, which would've made it heavy. Judging by the scales back there…" I pointed to the ground below its chest. "…our mysterious creature appears to have been predominately red. From its pelvis, I can tell that it's male. A male dragon," I concluded.

"Huh," Eli mumbled, bending down to glance at a chipped red scale that had fallen from the ribcage that the boy had just examined. He delicately lifted it with his fingertip, a strangely faraway look in his eyes, and muttered, "Hey, Sammy. Do you remember Big Red?"

"Big Red is that stuffed dragon plush that Daddy and I gave you on your third birthday, right? Why? Do you still have him?" I asked him, confused about the change in subject – but, then again, Eli always jumped from topic to topic. He usually made a point. Eventually…

"Yeah, I still have him. He's in my pack. Do you, uh, remember why I wanted him that badly?" Eli continued while staring down at the remains with the strangest gleam in his brown eyes. He shifted his pack, clearly thinking of the stuffed red dragon placed inside of it.

"Well, I was reading Fairytales to you, and I had just finished the story of The King and the Dragon –" I immediately stopped, petrified by his train of thought. "No. No way in Hell! We're amateurs! You and I can't have found…" I gulped lightly. "…him."

"Who else could it be – Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon?" Eli demanded, his voice squeaking prematurely with his sudden bout of nerves. He shifted anxiously, bouncing from boot to boot, and bit his lips to keep from stuttering out another sarcastic question.

"'One day, though, Prince Thorin promised, Smaug would die by his hand – and his hand alone,'" I quietly whispered the words of the old fairytale: The King and the Dragon.

With that in mind, Eli and I slowly turned to stare at each other, dumbfounded, and then the skeletal remains of –

"…Smaug!"

***Author's Note***

WOW! O_o Thank you so much for the sudden rush of alerts, favorites, and reviews! My email went crazy! Honestly, I don't think I have ever received that much attention to the first chapter of anything I have written. So I really, really, really hope that this lives up to reader expectations! I worked really hard to get it done by Saturday, but I wasn't 100% satisfied with it. Here it is now! :)

NOTE: The Poll for this story is closed! It is officially Thorin X OC! Please review with who you'd like to see as a romantic couple other than Sammy/Thorin. (i.e. Kili and Tauriel.)

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

Update = Um, 20 Reviews?

:)