Here's Chapter 2 ya'll!

No big intro this time.

YAY!

I don't own Smaug. I only own Filianix and this story~

Oh wait, I must say that while Smaug's original design is that of your classic dragon (four legs and a pair of wings) I really liked him as a wyvern (two hind legs and wings for arms) in the movie.

I felt it fit him rather well for the role he played in the movie, so I decided he's a wyvern in this story as well.

However Finianix is not a wyvern.

Oh la la, dragonly diversity~

Enjoy! :D

It was the scent that first awoke him.

It penetrated the darkness of his dreams and spread throughout his mind. It caused his consciousness to sharpen and his body to stir. Something about that scent...it was...familiar...it was…

Snorting away the gold clustered around his nostrils, he began to raise his head, taking in a deep breath…

Dragon. It was the scent of dragon.

His eyes opened in surprise. A dragon? Here? The scent was very faint…

Yawning drowsily, he disregarded it. Perhaps one had flown by his mountain and he was merely catching its odor on a passing draft…

A dragon's roar suddenly reverberated in the mountain. A roar that was not his own. Adrenaline coursed through his body like liquid fire as he stood up from his beloved gold. A dragon was in his mountain! Most likely a challenger for his hoard.

Bellowing out an answering roar of challenge, he lifted himself up. He would show this foolish adversary that he could not be defeated by any.

Bending and sliding forward with the ease of a serpent, he moved towards the scent of his challenger. He could smell things more clearly as he moved away from his fragrant gold. It was a female. Why was a female challenging him?

It did not matter. He would only threaten her life and then chase her out of his territory instead of outright attacking her as he would a male. Why it was a female, as odd as that was, did not concern him.

She was waiting for him in the large hall nearest his back entrance. He arrived with another roar, his voice causing any loose stones to rattle and the walls to rumble as though made alive by the power of his voice alone. Leaping forward, he landed on the ground with added force, making the ground shake with his physical strength.

Her response was less than satisfactory. She watched his display with a single sharp eye, taking him in but acting as though his actions were of no cause for worry.

Slashing at the ground, he growled from deep within his belly; a warning of something much worse than mere displays of his power. She lowered her head and growled back in a more respectful tone. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. This female did not act like a challenger.

Her voice caught his attention and his memory stirred as she crooned, "Oh mighty Smaug, it is I...Filianix."

Filianix.

His eyes widened as they fully processed the female before him. The lavender scales, the heat of her stare, her scent, her voice, every way she had wronged him in the past...

His mouth curled in thinly-veiled disgust and he drawled, "Ah yes, Filianix the Evasive."

Her eye flashed and she corrected, "Filianix the Ageless."

With a contemptuous snort he growled, "Filianix the Deceptive."

"Filianix the Timeless."

"The Misleading."

"The Lasting!"

"The Liar," he hissed, beginning to circle the smaller female. Her bright violet eye stared straight ahead, her ears keeping track of his movements as she mused, "Still upset over that?"

"Filianix the Untrustworthy!" he spat, "The False! The Deceitful!"

"And what of Smaug the Magnificent?" she mockingly cooed, "Otherwise known as Smaug the Brute."

He snarled warningly but she continued, "Smaug the Demanding. The Uncivilized. The Vapid."

"Filianix the Spiteful."

"Smaug the Discourteous."

"The Ornery!"

"The Blunt!"

He rose over her, snapping open his wings in a display of dominance, "The Lascivious!"

She opened her wings as well and stood on her hind legs, "The Undisciplined!"

A roar of fury at such insults tore out of his throat, sparks of fire dancing over her lavender scales and bringing out the green flecks in her eye. As the sound of his thunderous roar died, he glared down at the bold female before him. After a few tense moments, her body language changed. To his surprise her wings and head lowered to a more submissive angle before she quietly purred, "Smaug the Glittering…"

Her eye locked on his treasure-covered chest and he felt his pride take hold of him. He opened his winged forelegs more and relaxed his hind legs, lowering himself just enough to show himself off more properly to the smaller female. Of course she would notice his display. How could she not take notice and admire it?

As her expression became one of rapture, he decided to admire her own form. She was petite for a female but that had always added to her incredible speed. She probably was just as swift and graceful while in flight as she had been several hundred years ago. Her endurance certainly hadn't faded since he assumed she was able to fly all the way to the Lonely Mountain from the Withered Heath without resting.

The quality of her scales hadn't changed at all. Time could not affect the soft lavender that shimmered like moonlight even in the shadows. He remembered more than saw the iridescent green highlights he knew to be still there. They had always caught the sun whenever he had seen her flying during the daylight hours…

Wanting to see her eye, he blew his searing breath over her head, once again making sparks frolic down her body. Her glazed over eye blinked and looked up to meet his. Yes...he remembered when there had been two of those eyes...those enchanting violet and green eyes...he had once known those eyes all too well…

A low vibration was starting within him as they gazed at each other. A vibration of pleasure. Thoughts of his threatened hoard faded into the back of his mind as his body reminded him just how well he had known this female.

Unlike his appearance which was that of a wyvern, she had four limbs with which to walk on. This did not make them incompatible in any way, it merely was the evidence of some diversity within the dragon species. His body was naturally larger and more powerful than her's, made for causing destruction with ease. Her body was more...refined in his opinion. It was made for lounging among piles of sparkling jewels.

Her voice was smooth and pleasing to the ear. He recalled how it often carried just a hint of playful teasing in the past. She was never a creature to stay serious about something for long. However her spirited nature did not stand in the way of her dragonly elegance and pride. She moved as though she were made of water; he could not call to mind a time she had ever come off as clumsy or ungainly, even after the loss of her other eye.

"Filianix the Captivating," he purred seductively. Her eye glowed as she murmured back, "Smaug the Glorious."

"The Alluring."

"The Wealthy."

"The Immortal."

"The Luminous," she was becoming excited now; he could smell it as they flattered each other.

"The Engaging."

"The Resplendent and Prosperous!"

"The Stunning and Gratifying."

Half-closing her eye, she pressed her forelegs and chest to him with an adoring tone in her voice, "Smaug the Golden."

He felt a internal shiver run through his body at her touch and he moved his wings around her, "Filianix the Delicious…"

Her chest quivered against his as she chuckled to herself, "Now I am delicious?"

Leaning his head down, his touched the tip of his muzzle to her neck and breathed in, savoring the half-remembered scent leaking from between her scales, "Yes...you have always been delicious to me."

"My delightful one," she trilled, "You flatter me much more and I shall be forced to forget how you threatened me just a turn ago."

His pleasure disappeared and his paranoia for the safety of his hoard re-emerged. Baring his teeth at her, he reared his head back and hissed, "Why have you come here?"

Releasing a breath that showed her obvious displeasure at his change in attitude, she curtly replied, "As impressive as your hoard most likely is, I want no share of it. I come for more important matters than the obtaining of gold."

Smaug's mouth opened as he gave a deep, rumbling laugh. The concept of her travelling all this way for something other than gold was humorous to him. Why else would any dragon make such a journey? For a female, there was nothing else worth travelling that distance for. Nothing save her life and, if that were so, she should know better than to expect him to let her share in his territory. He did not care about what she had once been to him, if she thought he would allow as sly a creature as she to stay with him then she was a fool.

"Smaug," she roughly shoved aside his laughing maw with her head and stared at him with that eye of her's, "I want you to give me eggs."

Her words took him so off guard he choked on his own breath.

Eggs?! She traveled to his territory, invaded his mountain, and woke him from his slumber so that he could...impregnate her? Yes he had done so in the past, but why now?

The obvious conclusion came to him and his initial shock subsided, "The others have perished."

Her voice reflected some grief, "Yes."

He growled softly to himself. He knew that was bound to happen, just not so soon. He had believed that his kin could hold on for many more centuries to come. There had been at least four females to breed with since his last visit to Withered Heath...

"Smaug, you understand what we must do."

Her statement irritated him and he turned away from her, walking towards one of the giant columns, "Your inability to do something about this before they were all gone reflects badly-"

"I did much before coming here!" she snapped, "I mated with the available males and-"

"I'm sure you enjoyed that!" his irritation turned to anger, "I know how you relished in the attentions of other males."

Her disgruntled silence felt like cold water trickling down his body. Of course she had no response to what he said. They both knew it was the truth. He shook off the sensation and snarled, "I have no desire to mate with you."

He could hear her sigh, "Smaug, I-"

"No Nix!" he turned on her, "My answer is no! If the others were too short sighted-"

"We were not blind!" she interrupted, her tail twisting and curling as it always used to when she was insulted, "We females saw our numbers were dropping. Males who came to us often had stories of others who had perished in one way or another. We females became concerned when less than twenty males came to mate in a single year. We became even more concerned when only three hatchlings were produced that year and they were all mine," she took a deep breath, "But they became...feeble and not two years had passed before they...died. Dreyla followed their example the year after. That left only myself and two other females. When it came time for mating again, only six males returned to us. Tranoc was among them."

Smaug snorted in dislike but she ignored it, "He was a male of true strength. Just as you still are," her voice became like silk dipped in the slime of a stagnant pond, "He told me of how the others were being hunted and killed like vermin. By Humans."

An abrupt snarl caused Smaug's nostrils to flare. Had the others really become so weak that mere Humans could defeat them in battle? It was almost insulting on a personal level, but as he knew such a thing would never happen to him so he kept silent as she continued.

"We feared for our race and requested every male who came to mate to do so with at least two of us. They knew their duty and most stayed far longer than they should have to assist us through hunting and providing for us. Thus we mated and laid our eggs as quickly as we could, but we could only mate so many times successfully. Like the time before, most of the eggs that we produced were dead inside. Those few that were alive were mine but after some time it became apparent that they, again, were very frail. By this time most of our food sources in the nearby areas had died off or moved on and the males remaining with us could barely find anything suitable for food. We could not survive off the land as we had once done. We released the males from their duties and concentrated on the living hatchlings. We watched over them and took care of them but still none lived long enough to stretch out their wings and take their first flight."

He listened to her, feeling confusion. He couldn't think of a good reason for hatchlings to be so sickly. Nor for the other females to be infertile while Filianix continued to produce living eggs. It was unusual that the food had disappeared as well. His mind began to rapidly work on this odd puzzle...

"I continued to work with the other two surviving females, but still to no avail. As the years went on I became the only female left to breed with as the other two gave into the wills of their bodies and faded away into nothing. Tranoc was the last male to come and mate with me. He has not returned since then and that was ten years ago. I do not know if there was something wrong with us or something wrong with the males we mated with, but we have nothing to show for all that we did to postpone our fate. Nothing but death and starvation."

"Perhaps something deadly leaked into your water supply," he met her eyes, "Something weakening."

For a moment she stared at him blankly, "I…" she suddenly grew stiff, "The eastern lake...they all drank from it…"

"Are you still in the cave I left you in?"

"Yes!" Filianix shook her head in distress and abruptly collapsed to the floor, "I drank from the spring in that cave. I did not drink of the lake…but my hatchlings drank of the lake as well as from the spring..."

"It's the only solution," he tried to ignore her show of weakness, "If the lake was tainted by something powerful enough, it would not only affect your food sources but the others as well. Though how a taint that powerful escaped the notice of dozens of dragons I fail to see."

She remained silent, her eyes staring listlessly past him. Something in him stirred, something he did not wish to acknowledge. Besides the sudden urge to investigate and discover the truth behind this matter so that he could properly avenge his kin, he wanted to give her comfort. He wanted to crouch over her protectively, his wings held open as he assured her of his strength and his abilities to keep her from the harshness of despair.

And he would resist! Knowing her, it was all an act anyways...

With a hiss she suddenly stood back up and slid past him, "You were my last resort, Smaug of the Lonely Mountain. I see I should have come to you sooner."

He frowned as his desire to comfort her disappeared. He did not care to be called her 'last resort'.

"It sometimes takes the eyes of one who is far away to see the obvious," she turned her head towards the hole she had entered by, "I should have remembered that. Now we are all dead. All except for us," she then turned to him, her eye glowing like a tiny sun, "The likelihood of you siring a good clutch was always high. We must mate now."

He looked to the side, letting out a slow breath through his nostrils. He did not wish to reconnect himself to this particular female. Even if it was just for a mating flight. Even if it was to rekindle what was left of his own kind. He knew he could not fully trust her or her intentions. Just her being in his mountain felt too close for comfort.

However...he was duty-bound to breed with a female in order to ensure the continued existence of his species...and besides, she only wanted to mate. It did not seem as though she were trying to stay with him, threaten his hoard, or take over some part of his territory. Since when had he ever refused a mating flight anyways?

"Smaug," her voice was soft and pleading, "I ask that you put aside my past thoughtlessness for the sake of our future. If we are to have a future at all, we must mate."

He snorted at the thought of his future being dependent on whether he mated with her or not. He would continue on as he always had and live many more centuries to come. Whether she did the same mattered little to him.

"I will mate with you Filianix," he casually let his eyes slide over her body, evaluating it, "On the condition that you immediately leave when we're done."

"But I-"

"That is my condition!" he snapped and walked to her side, using his bulk to force her to move aside, "We will mate and then you will leave. Now walk ahead and follow the scent of gold."

She fluidly stepped forward, "Why do you not lead me yourself?"

"Do as I say Nix," he growled, watching her and allowing his body to feel some attraction to the graceful female. She flicked her tail towards him as she left the hall and he trailed after her.

He wouldn't be comfortable with her at his back, though he'd never admit it to her. He would be vulnerable to an attack from her should she suddenly turn on him in some desperate attempt to take his treasure. Not that he couldn't defend himself from her, but how was he supposed to know for certain that they were really the only two dragons left? She could easily have made up that story in order to get him off guard. He would need to test her self-restraint.

When they were close enough to one of the openings to his hoard, he positioned himself beside her. She barely seemed to notice as his hoard came into sight and her eyes widened as they flitted around, taking it all in. She radiated delight and he felt pleased. He'd forgotten how good it felt to impress a female with his accomplishments.

As she began to lean forward as though to go down to his treasure, he snarled threateningly and shoved her backwards with his head, "You are not to go down there!"

She looked shocked then deeply offended, "You agree to mate with me but refuse to let me examine your wealth?"

"I will not allow you to touch one single coin!" he bared his teeth at her. Her eye burned with disgust, "I find your manners wanting."

"My manners are enough for the likes of you," he purred sardonically, "And you will stay here until I am ready for our evening flight."

"Then we will mate by the moon's light?"

"Possibly," he observed her carefully, "We will fly together tonight and see if anything happens."

"But we need to mate as soon-"

"We will do as I say!" he roared, "And if you move from this spot, I will forcefully remove you from my lands!"

She slowly shrunk down onto her belly, making herself small and casting him a resentful look. He eyed her a few moments more before diving down into his cherished hoard. The gold rolled over his body in a comforting wave, calming his mind and giving him pleasure. He dug deep into it and released a sigh. The top of his head was left uncovered so he could observe Filianix's movements.

Could she resist being so close to his treasure? Could she hold back the hunger he knew to be inside her? He would wait and see.

I hope you enjoyed!

Please let me know how you liked it! I welcome ideas, comments, concerns, etc~