Guardian of the Mountain

Disclaimer: I do not own either "The Hobbit" or "Avatar: The Last Airbender" but the wonderful lady firebender in the story is my precious.

NOTE: Here's the big change and it really works well if you listen to "Dust and Light" by Twelve Titans (the BOFA trailer song) while reading. Hopefully, I do justice to what I imagined.

And hopefully it's not such a ridiculous development. After all, it has happened before in Narnia and in "Sleeping Beauty" so it's not completely far-fetched. Anyway, please do let me know what you think. The last part will be up tomorrow.

Enjoy.

PART II

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Ainara's condition stabilized after several hours, much to everyone's relief. Her fever went down, she stopped thrashing about wildly, and her breathing became steady at last. She was finally able to settle into a deep sleep.

Bilbo and the dwarves were grateful that she seemed out of danger and waited patiently for the help Bard had promised to bring. They trusted the man and knew that his concern for their friend was genuine but they all knew that it would take some time for him to be able to return to the mountain with whatever help he could find.

"At least she is on the mend somehow," Balin commented, looking gently at the sleeping firebender.

The other dwarves decided to leave the room so as not to disturb their friend's slumber. Only Bilbo and Thorin remained, holding true to their promise to watch over her carefully. Holding her hands no longer felt like burning and she had weakened her grip on them but they still did not let go.

"This is unjust," Thorin muttered somberly, "She does not deserve to suffer like this for ridding the world of that foul beast. Is this the price she must pay for her victory?"

"This is a wretched state of affairs indeed," the hobbit agreed, "but if there was anyone who could triumph over this adversity, it would be her."

The dwarf nodded as they continued their vigil. This unexpected circumstance had kept them so occupied that for the moment, no other thoughts could be entertained, and already this proved a better state of affairs than what would have been had the firebender not succumbed to her strange illness.

After a couple of hours of undisturbed sleep, Ainara stirred and noticed Thorin and Bilbo who had fallen asleep by her bedside. She smiled warmly at them, immensely grateful for such friendship.

But before she could utter a word, she was seized by a terrible pain, even worse than what had plagued her hours ago. She felt a surge of powerful energy such as she had never known and she knew that she would be producing a great amount of fire.

"Get away from me!" she cried in alarm, instantly waking her two tired companions.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo cried rushing to her side but Ainara pushed him away.

"Stay back!" she warned, "This is for your own safety! I must get as far from you as possible!"

"What's happening?" Thorin asked her, and then watched in horror as the warrior seemed to be consumed in flames.

"I can't control it," she replied frantically, getting off her bed and running out of the room.

Thorin and Bilbo followed her while the former cried out to the rest of the dwarves. The firebender, still engulfed in flames, fled through the narrow corridors of Erebor until she found a vast open space, the very cavern Smaug used to frequent. But unlike the dragon, she paid no attention to the mountains of gold and treasure. She clambered up these mounds so that she could distance herself from her friends.

"Stay away from me, all of you!" she shouted as she saw them following her, "I don't know what's happening but I can't control my firebending and I don't want any of you to get hurt!"

"But what can we do to help you?" Bilbo asked.

"Nothing," Ainara replied sadly, "you must simply stay away!"

She had barely uttered these last words before a shrill cry escaped her throat and she fell to her knees, still swallowed up by flames that did not seem to harm her. The warrior was in agony and her cries echoed across the mountain but the company could do nothing but watch in horror as the flames around Ainara grew larger and larger until they could no longer see their friend in the midst of the inferno.

They kept a safe distance but never took their eyes off the spectacle. None of them understood what was happening but they all refused to abandon their friend to her fate.

At length, a large, shadowy figure began to take shape in the blaze. Then, a tremendous roar echoed across the mountain and as Thorin's company watched in amazement, a dragon emerged from the flames.

They all blinked their eyes in astonishment but there could be no mistake. As the flames died down, the massive figure became more visible and to the horror of the company, there seemed to be no trace of their friend's body anywhere.

The could not believe what was happening and they were all at a loss. What had happened to Ainara? Had this great beast devoured her? Was this the accursed Smaug come back to wreak havoc once more?

The creature still had its eyes closed and seemed to be stretching its entire body, as if waking up from a long sleep. Bilbo and the dwarves immediately hid behind some nearby pillars and observed the dragon from there. Recovering from the initial shock, they got a better look at their new guest and they all concluded that this was not Smaug. Though still an impressive figure, this dragon looked different from their sworn enemy. This one was significantly sleeker and more slender than the greedy beast and inasmuch as any of them could tell, younger than Smaug. The current dragon's scales were also of a distinctively red color. Unlike Smaug, it had four legs all unconnected to its vast wings.

The creature still had not noticed their presence and though some of them felt the instinct to flee before anything untoward could happen, they could not leave without knowing what had befallen their friend. Displaying the hobbit courage that constantly surprised others, Bilbo stepped forward and addressed the beast.

"Who are you?" he demanded as confidently as he could, "And what have you done with Ainara?''

The great beast opened its eyes at last and turned to the hobbit. Bilbo saw himself reflected in two enormous golden orbs.

"Bilbo?" the dragon asked in a voice they all recognized immediately.

"What are you talking about?" Ainara asked, noticing with surprise how her voice seemed louder than usual, "I'm right here. And I am feeling so much better now."

"Ainara? You…you're," the hobbit stammered incredulously. Thorin and the rest of the dwarves had emerged from their hiding places and were now staring at the dragon in similar states of shock.

"What's the matter, my friends?" Ainara asked, puzzled by the stunned and even frightened expressions on their faces. They seemed even more shocked to see her than when she first revealed her firebending and she had hoped that she would never have to see such expressions on their faces again.

"You're looking at me in a very strange way," she remarked, "And why do you all seem so tiny, all of a sudden?"

"You don't know?" Thorin asked her softly.

"Know what?" Ainara replied, "Honestly, someone had better explain what is going on because I am so confused right now and…."

Ainara paused as she caught sight of a dragon in a large golden shield mounted on one of the walls. She gasped in horror and was about to cry out when she noticed the creature mimicking her every expression. Slowly, she looked down, from the dazed dwarves and hobbit to her own body. Gone were the hands of the firebending master, replaced by large, sharp claws. And as she moved around, she felt weight of enormous wings as well as the swish of a long, scaly tail.

"No," she whispered, though her voice still echoed across the hall, "how is this possible? I don't understand."

Seeing that even Ainara was having trouble adjusting to her new circumstances, her friends tried to reassure her.

"Please try and calm down," Bilbo said reassuringly, "I'm sure we'll find an explanation for this somehow."

But Ainara was still lost in confusion. And finding no other way to express her overwhelming emotions, the dragon took a deep breath and blew a large flame up to the ceiling of the mountain, still careful enough not to harm her friends.

She marveled at this new power. With one simple movement and very little effort, she had created more fire than she had ever been able to produce as a firebender. After the many hours of pain she endured, she not only felt invigorated but stronger than ever. And thankfully the next thing that came to her mind was that she was now better able to protect all her friends. She turned to face them and saw that they remained nervous though none of them had fled.

"My friends," the dragon said in a gentler tone, "I am still here though in a different form. You have nothing to fear from me."

And they believed her. On that day, the company of Thorin Oakenshield gained a most formidable ally.