Chapter 3: Gold

Fili could hear himself breathing heavily as he crept through the halls of Erebor. An oppressive, thick scent enveloped him as he came closer to the Great Hall. He stopped as he came to the vast, uncounted horde of gold and wondered why it was all scattered around the floor as it had been in the time of the reclamation of the mountain.

A deep stirring awoke in his heart as he beheld that endless sea of gold; vast, immeasurable, scintillating... the surface rose and fell like so many waves in the ocean as his feet touched them. As he walked forward, he felt as though he were drowning, blissfully drowning in the precious metal, and all the bright gems afloat in those shimmering waves...

He looked up and was met by a different sea, an icy, watery depth that struck him as being frozen. That is to say, instead of being a living, moving body of water, it was as motionless as Kheled-zaram and much more lifeless. A deep voice came up from the depths as the pools flashed.

"Do you have it?"

"Have what?"

"The Arkenstone... you have it. You would hide it from me. You would be king!"

Thorin drew back, his steely eyes flashing with anger at Fili. "I regarded you as my sons, my heirs... one of you has taken it! One of you has betrayed me!" He reached out slowly as if to strike Fili, but Fili drew back and knelt in the gold. He ought to have been looking at his king, swearing his fealty, but he was drawn by the gold as it pressed itself unrelentingly against his knees. He allowed himself to look down at those waves again, even under the gaze of his uncle's eyes. He resisted it, but it pulled him down until he was cupping it in his hands, caressing the cold metal, feeling every detail of the etchings, desiring it with his whole heart and strength.

"Ah, I see... you and I..." Thorin said, brokenly, while drawing himself up to his full height, "You and I are the same..."

Fili looked up, eyes blazing. He felt in him a nameless fire and the consciousness of having to defend something, fight to the death for it, but he didn't know what.

"Welcome, my sister-son, to the kingdom of Erebor," Thorin said now, gesturing to that yellow sea. He was inviting him to partake of the richness, and gladly Fili took the chance.

Thorin stretched out his hand, and Fili took it. Bending down, Thorin began to press his forehead to Fili's. Fili's eyes closed as he prepared for the contact, but something made him open them. Thorin's eyes were hollow now, a blazing, empty flame. Fili felt that he could almost see into his mind, and he beheld an endless, maddening kaleidoscope of gold, the Arkenstone, gold, the Arkenstone...

He jumped as he realized that the hand that was holding his was beginning to freeze and toughen. Looking up, Fili screamed, and the sound echoed through all of the vast hall as Thorin raised his head and cascading golden scales covered his face. He turned to fix a lidless, penetrating eye on Fili as he tried to run away...

He couldn't get out. Those piles and waves that he had so lusted over before had turned on him and blocked his exit, and made his steps drag...

The golden dragon laughed cruelly as he prepared his final fire.

"FILI!"

Fili opened his eyes with a start as he realized that he was now in his own bedroom. What had saved him?...

"Fili, are you alright?" Fili sat up and fingered the beads of sweat that had broken out on his forehead as he realized that it was just a dream. He clutched at Valni's hands and the terror in her eyes tore at his heart.

"What happened?"

"You—" she said, her voice breaking, "Well, at first it was tossing and turning, and then you whimpered like you were in pain, and you sat up and started screaming and I didn't know what to do..."

"Shh," Fili whispered, holding her to his chest as he tried to comfort her, "It was just a nightmare, I think."

"I know," came the muffled response, "But it still scared me to see you like that."

Fili breathed deeply. A gnawing suspicion was crawling in his mind, and he wanted to find out the truth.

"Valni," he said, stroking her hair and trying to sound casual, "Do I... have I started doing anything recently that bothers you or scares you?"

She looked surprised. "Of course not."

Fili wasn't so sure.