Chapter 8: Lair of the Ancient


"So, how large is this Arkenstone?"

"It is a little round piece of crystal. You will see no difficulty in its transportation. Finding it will be the hard part."

Bilbo wanted no more than to fill the ominous silence that had embraced them as they traversed into the bowels of the mountain, and received his reply from a more than wary Balin who had wordlessly but visibly counted their steps as though to properly gauge their distance. Probably so he would not stray a step closer than was probably wise and potentially be noticed by the slumbering beast.

"In truth, lad..." Balin sighed, "I do not know... what you will find down there."

On that, H'anigi went and remarked dryly, "Beside an underground kingdom, lots of gold, and a sleeping dragon?"

He stroked his beard, "Right. My point is, you need not go if you don't want to. There is no dishonor in turning back."

"No, Balin..." Bilbo groaned exasperatedly, "Promises aside this must be done. Or at the very least... I'm going to give it my best shot."

Balin wheezed a laugh, "It never ceases to amaze me."

"What's that?"

"The courage of Hobbits." he continued and they shared a smile. "Well then, go on you two... with as much luck as you can muster. I for one can go no further."

Bilbo hummed, "Right." as they left the aging dwarf behind and progressed once more in steep silence. It did not take long before they could see no more of Balin in this dark.

A hiss suddenly left H'anigi's lips, "It's growing hotter..." in curt but uneasy observation.

That was odd, for he noticed no increase in heat. But rather than ask about what was up with that, he concluded she was simply more sensitive to the change of temperature and left it at that, "We must be close."

Which did in fact seem to be the case as the passage slowly grew more crisp and ornate until it improved no more and instead supplied them a corner. What lay beyond was a grand vista made of an elaborate hall massive beyond belief. Bilbo never quite grasped to what extent dwarves could shape their dwellings of stone, but this view blew from his mind every misconception he had.

Bilbo paced slowly into the open and gazed on the massive stretch of empty space, before his eyes fell to the mountains of gold. Momentarily he was struck by a gold-fever as he greedily took in the sight, dumbstruck at how rich the King under the Mountain was. "Hello..." he breathed in astonishment.

And across of it all, he saw no sign of Smaug, "It looks like no one's home."

H'anigi – who he was surprised to find was still with him – wanted none of that and sternly snapped a hushed, "We don't know if that's the truth of it..." as she gazed into the distance, "Do not for a moment assume he's not there."

"U-understood, I'm sorry..." Bilbo held his hands up and apologized, "I'll be careful."

"You had better." the busty marauder's voice softened, "I would rather you not lose your life to some foolish stray notion of assumed safety."

"I won't." he reassured, "But H'anigi... should you not return to the passage?"

"... I intend to." she replied tersely, impatience etched in her tone as she rubbed her temples, "Just tell me, do you by chance see a... ghostly rope in front of you?"

"N-no?" Bilbo was alarmed as he thought of what the miqo'te mentioned about the air growing hotter, and what happened to them back in Mirkwood, "Did you not say the aether here is stagnant... or inert?"

"I did." she confirmed and blinked dazedly, her eyes strangely distant, "But it seems it's not entirely so... Something out there's targeting me."

The implications of that did not at all sit right with the hobbit who immediately questioned; "Are you going to be alright?"

"It's not too bad. I probably just need to go sit down and... center myself some."

"Go then, back to the passage and stay till I return." Bilbo told her sternly, "Shoo!"

"If you promise to be careful." H'anigi chuckled softly, though she nevertheless did turn tail and paced to whence they came.

Bilbo rolled his eyes, "I promise." and waited for her to vanish round the corner before he moved down the closest flight of stairs, toward the carpet of gold.

A little bit flustered, he adjusted his coat in attempt to keep himself cool and continued his slow descent to the golden landscape where his first foray onto it resulted in a brief scare as he applied his weight from solid rock to the gold itself and felt it shift under his feet.

It almost made him jump back, at how the clink of gold thundered through the silence. Bilbo stood still for what felt like an eternity before relief asserted itself. He wiped the sweat built up on his brow and began with a sense of forced ease to sift through the riches, among which he found numerous crystals – none of which resembled what he determinedly sought.

"Arkenstone..." Bilbo whispered as he tread across a further length the treacherous ground, "Arkenstone..." and realized the enormity of his task as he looked from atop a nearby hill a chamber seemingly without end, and a carpet of treasure that stretched even further.

How was he supposed to find the Arkenstone within any reasonable time frame?

Bilbo shook his head at the futility of such complaint, and continued on the difficult search. Frustration did however eventually leave its mark with the passing of time when finally he tore a golden bowl from the bottom of a pile and watched as his rash action resulted in a little landslide... that to his horror exposed a stretch of scaled flesh larger than himself that belonged to an enormity who required no introduction.

What had appeared to him was Smaug's closed eye, followed by the snout further away as the shift in its extravagant bed caused it to sharply snort.

Alarmed, he pulled back and hid himself behind the nearest pillar, from where he listened numbly as more of the dragon was unearthed. Bilbo looked on to the other side as the tail surfaced and coursed through the gold like an oversized serpent. The poor hobbit stared at length before he returned his gaze to the head and back again and attempted to gauge the dragon's size from what he could see, and measured himself up against the enormous creature.

It seemed nonsensical an action, but it had an undeniably calming effect on him in a way that helped the Tookish side of him bring itself to the fore. Bilbo evaluated his options thus with a clear mind... though it took no more than an instant before it was choked with ire.

Naturally, much to his chagrin, the first option that came to mind was to put on the accursed ring still snug in his pocket.

No, not yet... Bilbo shook his head in the rejection at the thought of it.

Instead he tried to simply walk away as softly as possible in an attempt to disturb the treasure no more. Hopefully once he was away, the dragon would simply shrug off what happened to that little portion of its impromptu bed sheet and fall still again.

But he had no such luck, and managed no more than a couple of scarce steps before Smaug further stirred and caused a large stretch of gold coins to noisily recede. Bilbo lowered himself onto a knee and stared up at Smaug out the corner of his eyes till the dragon once more was still and he attempted a further few steps to build distance. Only to see Smaug's eyelids start to budge.

Having removed himself from the pillar and about to be caught in the open, Bilbo did the only thing that immediately occurred to him and in a single bound fell behind a protruding dune of coins, where he lay in breathless silence as Smaug scrutinized the area. Any hope to remain undiscovered was duly crushed though as the dragon started to rise from his coat of treasure in earnest. It would seem Smaug was not about to leave things to chance.

Bilbo was forced to confront the fact that he had no choice but to rely on his first option to get out of this. So it was with hearty disgust that he fished out the ring and glowered at it in both fear and loathing before he at last put it on and immediately embraced by a more shadowed world cautiously lifted himself back on his feet – ready to make a run for it even as he craned his neck to look wholly on what he had disturbed.

Smaug had by then already unearthed much of his gigantic frame and now loomed over the comparatively tiny hobbit as he sniffed exploratorily at the air.

"Well..." Smaug boomed with an odd sort of calm as he came about and leaned close to where Bilbo stood and sniffed again, "Thief... I can smell you."

Smaug leaned close, "I hear your breath." but instead of lashing out he strode past, his colossal frame such that it took many seconds for its whole length to pass him, "I feel your... air. Where are you?"

Reminded from what old tales said of dragons, of their sharp sense of smell, Bilbo sincerely wished he wholly supported H'anigi on the issue of bathing as he found that while the ring shrouded him from Smaug's relentless gaze, it offered no defense against his disturbingly keen snout. The only apparent reason Smaug had yet to douse him in flame was mild intrigue with the little mystery his invisibility provided.

"Where are you?" Smaug leaned close again, his patience about to eb.

Against this, what little Tookish bravery held him in place failed him. Bilbo turned and dashed down the hillside in a wild attempt to escape, and Smaug, who could easily see a plethora of coins being trodden down and kicked aside even if he could not see the hobbit himself, sneered at the effort and swiftly pursued.

OoOoO

H'anigi had hoped that during the time spent sitting in the passage not far from where it ended that she could shed a bit more light on the spell she had been afflicted with through a bit of meditative contemplation, but was only reminded of just how truly little she actually knew about magic. All she knew was that in terms of complexity it put what haunted the path in Mirkwood to shame.

It had caught her flat-footed so completely she had no idea when it was first applied. Only that it slowly activated moments after they left Balin and made her feel feverish. At first it was unclear, but now whenever she closed her eyes... the aether that hung in the air contracted to produce what passed for a string that stretched erratically into the distance.

A path to follow it would seem.

What exactly it lead to she had not even the foggiest notion of, only that she was apparently the only one to suffer this spell for whatever reason.

"As if I don't have enough things to worry about..." H'anigi leaned on the wall and groaned at the trouble of it, before yet another reason to worry invited itself as a terrible cacophony exploded from the chamber beyond.

No one needed say what it entailed.

H'anigi got back on her feet in an instant, "Don't tell me... Bilbo?!" and instantly regretted the speedy motion in spite of its purity of purpose. Just one blink of the eyes and she was forced to fight back a wave of disorientation as the spell imposed itself on her once again.

It was bad enough that she dizzily fell onto her knees and had to use the wall for support. "Not now..." H'anigi hissed, furious at the weakness as the vision of hers positively swam. Forcefully she focused and managed belatedly to return a semblance of normalcy to her senses, "Twelve help me..."

By which time the chamber had fallen quiet again.

"No!" the miqo'te whispered despondently as she crawled to the chamber entrance and looked out across the expanse, where she found a shadowed shape greater than any creature she had ever seen. Terrible enough in scope that it froze her in a fit of primal fear before she willed it away in her attempt to gleam if her friend was still alive out there.

A confirmation given by Smaug of all things as he rumbled a surprisingly jovial "Oh, don't be shy." and turned his long head and longer neck to peer at something at the foot of a pillar, "Step into the light."

"There is something about you..." Smaug continued in a curious tone, complete with a speculative narrowing of the eyes as he leaned closer to where he looked as though fixated, "Something you carry. Something made of gold, but far more precious!"

It's the ring... isn't it? H'anigi resisted the urge to palm her face, and watched as though petrified as Bilbo suddenly flashed into view, an agonized expression on his face as he removed the ring from his finger. Did... Smaug just cast some sort of spell?

Smaug chortled in dry amusement, "There you are, thief in the shadows."

"I did not come to steal from you O Smaug the unassessably wealthy." Bilbo made his squeak of a reply, the hobbit's voice carried by the vast emptiness of the chamber, "I merely wished to gaze upon your magnificence, to see if you are as great as the old tales say. I did not believe them..."

Under the circumstances H'anigi supposed it was understandable why one would resort to simple flattery, but had doubts it would actually have any effect here... until Smaug proved that wrong when he pulled back from the hobbit and positively pranced into the open where he turned his colossal frame with great flourish.

The dragon veritably preened himself and in startling glee boomed, "And do you now?!"

"Truly," Bilbo said so breathlessly that his voice was barely carried, "The tales and songs fall utterly short of your enormity, O Smaug the stupendous."

"Do you think flattery will keep you alive?" Smaug asked, though he did seem to enjoy the flattery, and again edged closer to the little hobbit.

Bilbo shook his head quickly, "No, no."

"No indeed." the dragon verbally nodded, "You seem familiar with my name. But I do not remember smelling your kind before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?"

"... I come from under the hill." he stuttered.

"Under hill?" it asked with a smidgen of interest.

"And under hills and over hills my path has led. And through the air, I am he who walks unseen."

"So I can well believe." said the dragon, "What else do you claim to be?"

"I am the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number."

"Lovely titles!" Smaug brought himself so close to the hobbit that surely the jaws and snout must be the only things Bilbo could see, "But lucky numbers don't always come off. Now go on."

"I," Bilbo struggled momentarily to do so, "am also friend of one who came from a different world."

Guess it had to come up eventually.

Smaug snorted at that, but nevertheless queried, "Different world? How curious."

"Indeed, and she regaled me about tales of her world."

"Such as?"

"That of a realm I estimate you would surely find most favorable; the dragon kingdom of Dravania."

Smaug's eyes and nostrils flared as he took this in, "How very interesting. And what about your dwarf friends? Where are they hiding?"

"Dw-Dwarves?" Bilbo asked, sounding puzzled, "No, no, no. No dwarves here. You must be mistaken."

Bad move...

"Oh I don't think so, luck wearer." Smaug's nostrils flared again, this time in affront, "They sent you in here to do the dirty work while they skulk outside."

He's not exactly wrong.

"Truly, you are mistaken," Bilbo denied with a simple shake of his head, "O Smaug, the chiefest and greatest of calamities."

Don't fan the flames Bilbo, please.

Smaug growled, clearly agitated as he went on to throw its formidable weight around, "You have nice manners for a thief and a liar! I know the smell and taste of dwarves, no better!"

"It is the gold." he continued fiercely, momentarily lost in his fury while Bilbo carefully edged away, "They are drawn to treasure like flies to dead flesh!"

"Oh the hypocrisy." H'anigi could not help but mutter to herself even as resurgent worry made her heart pound.

With clear rancor the dragon approached in massive strides that made Bilbo drop himself out of sight as though down a hill in order to build distance. "Did you not think I knew this day would come?" Smaug glared, "That a pack of canting dwarves would come crawling back to the mountain!"

Against her better judgment, H'anigi made a hair of an attempt to follow them. A rank foolishness that was objected to in the strongest of terms as the spell that harried her returned in strength. She had but to hold her eyes shut for any length of time and was rendered unable to advance for fear that she in her disoriented state would drop off an edge and potentially fall for too long a while.

"Twelve confound you!" fury took the miqo'te who barely managed to remain on all four and in desperation went on to strike her head against the floor, "Get out of my head!"

It did not relent.

"You don't know everything, O Smaug the Mighty," cried the now more distant hobbit, "Not gold alone brought us hither."

Smaug laughed, "Ha! Ha! You admit the 'us', Mr. Lucky Number."

"I tell you," Bilbo persisted, "gold is not the reason for our being here. We came over hill and under hill, by wave and wind, for revenge. Surely. O Smaug the Tyrant, you must realize that your success has made you some bitter enemies?"

Now Smaug truly did laugh, and the very roots of the mountain quaked at its clamor, "Revenge!" he snorted and the whole chamber lit up as though a volcano just erupted, "Revenge! The King under the Mountain is dead and where are his kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and I have eaten his people like a wolf among sheep, and where are his sons' sons that dare approach me?"

"I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong!"

"Thief in the Shadows!" Smaug continued, gloating, "My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!"

H'anigi despite her brave facade trembled as Smaug roared and the cacophony increased. She could no more gleam what went on than shake at the spell that continued to stubbornly pester her, and muttered a fervent prayer for Bilbo's well-being. It was all she could do while pinned down like this until a harsh voice from behind interrupted her.

"Where is Bilbo?" Thorin demanded, his sword drawn.

She looked puzzledly over her shouldes at the armed dwarf, "Why are you here?"

But he would not relent, "Bilbo. Where is he?!"

"Bilbo is..." H'anigi looked back across the golden landscape and felt her heart jump at the sight that awaited her as the hobbit climbed into sight and hurriedly approached, having somehow evaded Smaug. She was about to call out when Thorin stomped past her in a way that did nothing but alarm her, and culminated as when Bilbo left the gold behind and came close, Thorin barred the way and pointed his sword at the confused hobbit's chest.

"The Arkenstone." Thorin glowered, probably eying the obvious failure of what was probably the only chance they had in deep anger, "Do you have it?"

She stared for a moment in abject disbelief, so abrupt was this act of hostility in the face of what bond they had just a short while ago. Bilbo was stunned to a lack of words, but H'anigi was not as her eyes darkened into visceral fury. "Thorin..." the spell seemed to loosen momentarily as she rose and gripped the handle of her axe, every fiber of her being lit with murderous intent, "What are you doing?"

Such was the venom in her words that Thorin even as fixated as he seemed gave a start and glanced at her. "Stay out of this." he growled.

"Spill one drop of his blood and you die." H'anigi spelled out, every word laced with solemn conviction that left no doubt in her will to go through with it, "Lower your sword."

Thorin hesitated, torn between his sudden obsession and equally abrupt fear of the miqo'te who glowered dangerously from where she loomed over him. It was in the middle of this stand-off that Bilbo found his words again and intervened, "C-can we have this confrontation later?" he stuttered nervously and pointed in the direction he came from as Smaug emerged, his eyes focused on the three of them like sinister twin suns, "We really ought to run..."

Made aware of Smaug, Thorin seemed to forget all about Bilbo as he stepped to the fore, and was quickly joined in turn as the rest of their company rushed in with their weapons held high. Defiant in the face of their adversary.

While admirable it only further encouraged the dragon who roared in glee at the upcoming slaughter and propelled himself onto the attack. "You will burn!" Smaug boomed his intention and turned red across the long neck and chest as staggeringly huge amounts of fire-based aether rapidly accumulated, about to let loose a cone of flame at them.

Against such an attack the narrow tunnel they came from would offer no defense. Instead they all after a collective howl leaped away, off the ledge, and left the chamber through a more favorably positioned door, their retreat momentarily protected by the bridge they left behind as the area was veritably bathed in blistering fire. Into the adjacent room the gout of flames failed to follow, but brought itself just far enough to set Thorin's cloak aflame and force him to shed it. "Come on." he tersely ordered, and their escape from the irascible Smaug continued.

An escape that led them through a considerable stretch of the underground kingdom's labyrinth-like halls of stone for wherever Thorin intended for them to go. H'anigi kept pace for the most part, her previously white-hot temper forcefully cooled down by the trepidation that now hung in the air together with the urgency of their current plight to simply survive. It however did not take long before the spell that she found subdued by her intense anger made its return, if in a strangely milder fashion than before.

Still, she stumbled and lost her balance oft enough that several of the dwarves became worried. Enough so that before long she came to be flanked by Balin and a well-meaning Glóin who kept her steady after Bilbo told them what happened to her.

"I can not believe it." Balin commented with unease as he eyed their surroundings distrustfully, "To know Erebor was stained with such aether all along."

"Don't jump to such a conclusion." Glóin scoffed and argued, "Smaug must be at fault."

H'anigi shook her head, "Smaug had nothing to do with it. Of that I am sure."

"How?"

"This magic is a product of specific design. Far as I can tell, all of this aether is here for no other reason than to facilitate it."

Balin narrowed his eyes, "What sort of specific design?"

She softly groaned, "Its purpose... is to lead me somewhere, and disturbs my senses if I do not follow the instruction given... or in this case, avoid endangering myself."

"In what form is this instruction given?"

"Contraction of aether. All of it around tightens into what you might call a string whenever I as much as blink."

"Strange." Balin grimly nodded, "It sound like the opposite of Mirkwood's curse."

"It really does." Glóin growled in kind.

"But that makes me wonder." Bofur joined in from ahead, "How come you're the only one affected?"

H'anigi resisted the urge to blink as they crossed a bridge, one more narrow than she was comfortable with, "I... don't know."

"Maybe it comes down to sensitivity." Balin theorized curiously, "You're the only one of us who can sense this 'aether'."

"That does make sense." Glóin accepted the reasoning with a nod, "But it doesn't explain how it's here in the first place. If it was neither Smaug nor dwarf..."

A sullen silence settled, the dwarves uneasy about this new knowledge of their homeland, until they were pulled out of it after a further distance when finally Thorin called in a hushed tone for a halt in front of another chasm, complete with a dangerously narrow bridge of its own. It was an aspect of the otherwise very impressive architecture she found herself like very little. Not even kobolds could have built a city like this.

Huh, how would those beastmen react had they seen somethimg like this?

"We've given him the slip." said Dori hopefully.

"No..." cautioned the wiser Balin, "He is too cunning for that."

"Based on which set of standards?" H'anigi questioned in annoyance, "He's a moody git with a prideful streak that could have bridged this kingdom from end to end in a single bound."

Bilbo looked around, "Never mind that. Where are we going?"

"The western guardroom." Thorin supplied solemnly, "There may be a way out."

"It's too high. There's no chance..." Balin said, skeptical.

"But it is our only chance. We have to try."

Aside from, perhaps, the main gate? H'anigi thought, but their course was set. With muted enthusiasm did they all proceed across the bridge, hopeful that Smaug would not pick up on their location. So total was the silence that when a single coin abruptly fell made a decent boom to the consternation of every one who tried to figure out who lost it. Chiefly the attention fell on Nori who simply held up his hands and shrugged confusedly, and Bilbo who rummaged through his pockets in a similar fashion before yet more coins fell and made them look up.

Lo and behold, there was Smaug on his way past. Strangely unaware of the quarry underneath.

Thorin urged them to move on, and they left the bridge with cautious haste. Soon after with the dragon comfortably far away, they picked up their pace and hurried through the subsequent series of hallways. And at the end of it, a scene akin to a morgue awaited them that stopped everyone dead in their tracks.

"That's it then. No way out." Dwalin growled as he beheld the collapsed entryway at the far end of this space, which spelled the doom of these unfortunates who littered the floor. Many of whom, the miqo'te noticed barely, appeared to be women and children. All who starved and thirsted to death as they huddled together in fear.

"The last of our kin." whispered a sullen Balin, "They must have come here... hoping... against hope. We could try reach the mines... there we might last a few days."

"No." Thorin refused numbly, "I will not die like this, cowering and clawing for breath." and made a decision, "We'll make for the forges."

"He'll see us. Sure as death." Dwalin stated, matter of fact.

The dwarf leader looked on his friend evenly, "Not if we split up."

"Thorin..." Balin seemed less than sure, "We'll never make it."

"Some of us might." Thorin stood unbending, "Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon. If this is going to be our end, then we shall all burn together."

OoOoO

"Two more flights. Come on."

An hour had quickly passed since Thorin made his declaration of defiance, and the company had since fully separated into twos and threes and dispersed through the many paths that stretched from the relative area they started in. H'anigi on her side found herself in the company of Dwalin and Glóin, the latter of whom insisted that they plunge further into Erebor's dark depths before they would take a turn for the city forge.

H'anigi supposed that was why Glòin conferred with Balin for so long, to find a relatively safe route that took her condition into consideration. Her tail swished agitatedly as she thought about it, her hatred toward the curse almost blinding in its intensity. It had turned her into a liability, and she loathed how it forced her companions to plan accordingly.

They were already far from where the others traveled, and felt the tremors as Smaug found them and gave chase.

"Now where to?" Dwalin hollered as they crossed the two flights and indicated the same-numbered exits that presented themselves.

Glóin frowned at each, then nodded at the one straight ahead and made a run through it, "This way."

"Are you sure of it?" asked Dwalin gruffly as he and she followed close behind, the hallway quick to give away for a large tunnel complete with many mine carts suspended by great lengths of old rope or wire.

The brown-bearded dwarf positively beamed as well as can be expected as faint tremors from above demonstrated Smaug's ire at his elusive prey. H'anigi felt anxiety and anger as she recalled that Bilbo wound up with Thorin, the irritation born from knowing that only softened by Balin's presence alongside them.

"Positive." Glóin confirmed and for a spell looked at either end of the tunnel before he staked out a course to follow. A path that led them across what looked like the boundary of a mine so massive that she could only guess as to how far it stretched on, into which the only entryways appeared to be huge shafts surrounded by winch-like contraptions so deep the bottom was far out of sight.

When the dwarves decide to dig into the soil, nothing could conceivably stop them.

The mining guilds of Ul'dah could probably learn a thing or two here... H'anigi thought with passing amusement, who would not mind a look down one of these shafts if it was not for their current plight. It was too bad really.

After another pair of tunnels they came upon the greatest shaft yet, so wide that Smaug could probably traverse it with much room to spare. A thought the busty marauder immediately wanted to snatch away when the greatest tremor yet erupted, this one too close for their comfort.

"Smaug is almost upon us!" Glóin cried out.

Dwalin reacted immediately, "Behind the carts, quick!"

With more haste than grace they ducked in behind a line of mine carts where H'anigi found her heart sink in subtle disbelief as her compatriots tried and abjectly failed to be quiet, and only wound up shifting noisily in place. Subtlety was most certainly not their strongest suite.

"It's Thorin." the bald dwarf observed with at least the sense to speak in a low voice.

H'anigi saw him too, but only had eyes for the hobbit who together with the aging Balin brought up the rear. All of them looked as though they had Smaug on their collective tail, which was by all accounts true as the dragon extricated himself from the narrow passage they had just traversed and made from them with a holler of hatred so pure it was holy.

"Oakenshield!" Smaug cried, apparently having learned the dwarf leader's name, and set about the task to set him aflame. Balin shouted in alarm as the resulting fiery tidal wave raced for them and pulled Bilbo with him into an alcove on the side, a decision that saved both of them. Thorin on the other hand was too far ahead and could only continue to run at a frenzied pace in a hopeless effort to outpace the fire already licking at his heels.

A feat he only accomplished through a suicidal leap into the shaft, followed by an erratic screech of the winch closest to where he fell as its rope was caught on to. Unfortunately its counterweight had been locked in place by whoever operated the winch last.

This meant that even if Thorin did not lose his grip once the rope went down as far as it could, he would be easy prey for the irascible dragon who plunged into the shaft next, unwilling to let simple gravity rob him of his kill.

Dwalin, not about to let either come to pass, jumped out of cover soon as the final length of dragon was gone from sight and dashed to the winch with a holler, "Thorin!" and with his weapon struck the mechanism so it released the counterweight.

Inevitably Thorin's descent came to bone-crushing halt and he was instead launched back up and past the dragon at a dizzying speed. Smaug sneered at this development, but twisted himself about just in time to shut his jaws on the harness that hung at the rope's end. A cry echoed from the dwarf, followed by a far closer shriek of metal as Smaug tugged and ripped the winch free from its mount like it was so much paper much to the dwarves' collective dismay.

"Another rope, hurry!" Balin bellowed despondently.

H'anigi joined them at the edge and stared at the spectacle below while Dwalin and Glóin made haste to operate another winch in spite of Thorin's hopeless position. While his fall was short, he landed on the snout of Smaug, who only delayed the execution to contemplate a manner of death. There was no way they could lower a new rope in time.

Still, she stared as though bewitched at the fate that would be all of theirs before long when all sense told her they should get going to at least rob Smaug of an audience, until a steely voice that was not her own overrode all of it.

Position Viable For Utility Capture. Must Acquire.

It came with such suddenness that H'anigi could only blurt out a strangled gasp before the aetheric rope that has till now been no more than an annoyance explosively gained in power and struck her chest like it was a physical object, then latched onto her spirit.

Initiate Assault.

That moment H'anigi lost all semblance of control over her body, and everything turned into a daze. A hollow sort of absolute terror was all that she could feel as her body was made to draw her axe then made a running leap off the edge to the alarm of everyone else. Bilbo's outcry sounded distant enough that it could have come from many leagues away.

Guidance – its apparent identify far as she could discern – had her grab hold of the rope Dwalin and Glóin worked to lower and used it to plummet in a controlled fashion. Its target however was not Thorin, but Smaug who chortled in sadistic glee as he finally decided on how to end the dwarf's life.

She crossed the gap at such speed that only too late did Smaug even see the approaching female and pivoted his left eye to try and focus on her. It did not occur to him, convinced about his own invincibility, to even try and close it until she came within inches of it, and in a fluid motion plunged the weapon deep enough to smash his eye in twain.

Smaug was rendered utterly silent, unable to comprehend what just happened, before the world seemed to shatter in a rock-splitting scream of agony that made the region quake like never before.

Guidance was merciful enough to numb down her sense of hearing as her muscles strained from the abrupt halt, caught footholds in what gaps existed amidst Smaug's coat of scales, and wedged the lids that had slammed shut on her axe just far enough agape to next thrust her right arm in, so she could grasp at the meat in the far end of the socket, where she grabbed hold and dug her nails in.

An invasion that furthered the flailing Smaug's misery.

Connection Imparted. Guidance growled monotonously. It did not care about the dragon's suffering, but neither did she. Assuming Direct Control.

And in an intensive burst of aetheric transmission that utilized her body as a conduit, the curse that plagued her since their entry into Erebor became Smaug's as well.

Utility Acquired.

OoOoO

Thorin had no idea in the world what just happened. Just a moment ago he saw H'anigi drop past him with one hand on her axe and its sister clutched on a length of rope, an entirely futile and unbelievably reckless gesture followed immediately by the eruption of pandemonium as Smaug shrieked in obvious pain.

Whatever she did, the woman had struck a blow that even the whole army of Erebor and Dale could not.

At the moment though he was far more busy with saving himself as the wildness of Smaug's subsequent thrashing made him lose balance and tumbled down like a rag doll. All thoughts of dignity thrown to the wind as he tried to grab for literally anything that could break his descent, until he found a rope and caught on.

Thankfully it held, but expected Smaug to smash him into the shaft wall any moment now till the gargantuan form stilled and grew quiet like someone had flipped a lever. Even more bizarre, it relinquished its grasp on the shaft and dropped almost limply into the darkness below.

Rendered speechless, Thorin could only stare as questions without number pounded against his skull, unable to believe what he had beheld as those above got around to pull him up.

OoOoO

The immense strain on her muscles just to stay on aside, H'anigi was after the initial panic perfectly relaxed in her resignation – funny how complete helplessness feels the same as being in complete control – as Guidance used her and Smaug both to whatever end it intended. Was it not for how worried the others must be at the sheer promptness of her departure, she would have giggled madly at the utter absurdity of their situation.

As for Smaug, she could only imagine what he must feel about this. Given his previous behavior, it probably amounted to a fit of roiling hatred only matched by the agony and pain. Doubtlessly he now tried to find a chink in Guidance's impossibly intricate spell work with every intent to devour her whole after the fact.

She mentally shrugged as well as able and focused on their short trip through the darkness of Erebor's mines. The dwarves had truly dug greedily and deep, enough to produce a massive canyon that did nothing but stretch on – like everything they embarked on. Occasionally she could gleam masterfully built scaffolds that stretched down from the various shafts as they flew on.

Guidance had Smaug travel through this canyon at length, and after what amounted to a minute of flight it had the dragon rear back and latch onto a wall of dirt and rock seemingly no different from any other wall down here. H'anigi only knew that here... is where the path set out for her ended.

Or to be more precise, her destination lay beyond it as Guidance readily attested to as Smaug started to dig deep furrows into the wall, utilizing his enormous strength to rip and break off massive chunks till it collapsed to reveal an odd chamber covered in ornate tiles, fully dark except a distant couple of panels that shone a gentle blue and yellow light respectively.

As if pleased by this progress and eager to have her come closer, Guidance laid Smaug's long head against the floor to allow her disembarkation.

H'anigi waited for the entity to make her move again, only to gasp in surprise as a strange coolness blasted the feverish heat caused by the curse from her body... and found that her flesh was hers again. The only reason she did not cry out in elation was the knowledge that if the curse had faded from her, then Smaug's freedom would not be far behind.

Fueled by that understanding, she pulled her gore-drenched arm out of the dragon's butchered eye socket and let herself fall to the ornate floor where she against the protests of her fatigued body made for the closest pillar.

"You wounded me. You took my eye. Tainted me with your vile sorcery. Rode me like a beast." Smaug hissed dangerously as the curse slipped from him as well, and allowed him to stir with the apoplectic rage that had built up over his brief imprisonment. "How dare you?!" his previously articulated voice had turned into a bitter howl, "I will see you burn!"

With just a second to spare, H'anigi managed to throw herself behind the pillar before the dragon lit up and blasted his fire at where she hid.

"Die!" Smaug roared hatefully, "DIE!"

Only the obstacle between her and the dragon who sought her demise kept her from being burnt to a crisp in an instant, but the ambient heat alone threatened to kill her before long as the enraged dragon kept up the barrage, before the oddest thing happened.

H'anigi felt the heat taper off, and blinked in astonishment as the pillar seemed to pull in and devour the flames. No, that was not entirely correct. It deconstructed the dragon fire into its original aetheric state, and absorbed it – plus a large amount of the stagnant aether that permeated Erebor even this far into its depths (though she began to suspect that aether was somehow released from here in the first place)

"What is this?" Smaug blurted out in abject shock.

Once the last sliver of fire fell away, the whole chamber lit up. Every pattern on the pillars glowed a strong green, while the other facets in their turn emitted a bright cyan light except the far back wall which put on display a mural that depicted a bronze giant whose face had been drawn into a perpetual frown. The dragon merely stared at it all in bafflement, but H'anigi's attention focused entirely on what was mounted in the chamber's center.

An aetheryte. An honest to Twelve aetheryte!

She was disappointed to see it was dormant, but it being wholesome meant it was a damn sight better than the wreckage of what she came out of in the Misty Mountains. And if a quick glance at the blue panel on its socket told her anything, her hope was not lost.

Further investigation had to wait though considering the current crisis, and the next thing to catch their attention. What she thought was a yellow panel had just seamlessly risen from its socket in the floor to reveal a bizarre construct that was essentially an entirely golden cube. It divorced itself from the socket entirely and came to hover without aplomb.

If she was a betting girl, that had to be Guidance. And it confirmed as much:

"Guidance Node Operational."

"Welcome To Nexus Installation #003."

And was immediately blasted by the uncomprehending Smaug, only to see his fire absorbed again – this time by every pillar. The cube as it turned out did not even flinch.

"Usefulness Of Utility Expended." it droned dismissively, "Disposal Procedure Enabled."

H'anigi watched wide-eyed, unable to tear her gaze away as alcoves burst open across all the six pillars that surrounded the aetheryte and released dozens of pinioned constructs of not so considerable size – barely half a dwarf's height at best – yet made their purpose most clear as they raced upon Smaug like a swarm of angry hornets.

Initially Smaug thought little of these miniscule challengers as he emitted a harsh snort and brought up his great claws to simply swipe them all away. His contempt, however, turned to incredulity as they like silvery fish nimbly dodged what would have been a fatal blow and made their attack.

At the foremost point of each one, aether amassed in unbelievable concentrations to produce narrow beams of immense power to accomplish what only black arrows could do previously. Smaug howled in added agony as these struck home and cut into his flesh, the scales unable to offer him protection at all. Hatred turned to panic and defiance as he made attempts to strike back, to swipe, to bite, to char them into flying puddles of melted metal. Retaliations that were rendered futile as the machines closed the gap and swarmed all around him. Defiance turned to fear as they cut away scales and spilled his blood that was cauterized by the beams soon as it bubbled from open wounds.

Arrogance gave away to cowardice as Smaug grew acutely aware of his own mortality and launched himself from the chamber, turned tail and fled with all the considerable speed he could muster, with or without the knowledge that the contraptions would not leave him alone anytime soon as they sped off in pursuit of their quarry.

OoOoO

It was not common knowledge, but even Smaug suffered bad dreams from time to time, chief among them nightmares of theft where he never found the culprit nor the treasure stolen. He could rage endlessly yet never succeed in his thorough search, and was doomed to writhe in bitter regret as eventually the next dream took him over.

Never did even the worst of his nightmares conceive of a travesty such as this, helpless to defend himself as he was chased through the mines and up the largest shaft from whence he came by an utterly inscrutable and soulless swarm that persistently tore and bit into his flesh as they skimmed alongside him, implacable in their purpose.

Smaug heard the many screams that tore from many tiny throats as he brought himself from the shaft, and even saw the horrified Thorin among the throng that scurried away from him, unable to discern that it was in fact he who now was the victim of aggression.

No care was taken as he struck his mighty frame through walls and knocked any number of flimsy obstacles aside on his way to the next open space where he took flight once again, and howled as further pain spread along his back. One of the tiny gnats shot past his head and he impotently snapped at it, an effort wasted as it darted out of the way and shot the tongue for his effort.

Even now as he made his way through the city the pests still followed. Smaug ignored the copper taste that spread in his maw while he considered on which direction to take. A decision that proved all too easy. One he would never otherwise contemplate.

It took too long for his liking to clamber up and find the grand hall that lead up to the main gate and greater world beyond, a journey that passed in a daze as the torture inflicted upon him became nigh unbearable. Only after what felt like an age did he reach the cold outside and there took briefly to the sky.

Smaug thought the miniscule contraptions remained in pursuit for a short while yet, and only realized the infliction of new pain had finally stopped as he clumsily landed onto the ruins of Dale and turned his enormity to gaze at the gates of Erebor, where the gnats had come to hover for a scant moment before they sped back inside.

No doubt they hid away, in wait for him to come back.

A paltry trick he would not fall for. Not ever.

That said, Smaug contemplated his next course of action when the injures caught up to him now that the adrenalin in his veins started to ebb. With a slump he laid himself against the ruins and crushed several houses under his bulk before he coiled about to assess the damage.

Impotent anger lit up his one remaining eye as he stared at the many scars that now stained his form, with many patches of flesh fully exposed, as naked and vulnerable as when he came from the egg.

Unforgivable.

Smaug wheezed and tore into the cobbled streets, with every desire to murder and butcher for what had been inflicted upon him... though he knew well neither the dwarves, thief, or that woman could be reached with those dread guardians in the way.

What did that leave for him to cast his frustration on?

Then it struck him. Where else could these wretched thieves have readied themselves in and traveled from but Esgaroth?

Greedy little lake-men must have conspired against him. Him. The King under the Mountain.

Esgaroth it is then. He would come down and butcher with abandon, chase them into the lake, and watch as they starve and freeze to death in the open water. A thought that provided him some anticipative cheer as he lowered his head to what was once a plaza to rest and regain his strength for the effort to come.

Vengeance would be his... as if his right.

OoOoO

H'anigi had no idea how much time passed since Smaug bid his retreat, and found little reason to care. She was exhausted both in mind and body, unable for a long while to even find the strength to stand. Bad enough that only the desire for a proper bed, some food, and a bath to clean herself up in kept her conscious.

Eventually she looked up from the floor she sat upon and thoughtfully examined the dormant aetheryte that come to think of it was quite block-like in appearance compared to those she's seen in the past, and lushly ornate. What it looked like was not important though. She finally found an aetheryte, and needed only to find out how to start it up.

"Okay..." the miqo'te whispered to herself as she went through the ordeal to get back on her feet and approach the panel that she gleamed earlier and see if she could make sense of it. The cube that introduced itself as 'Guidance Node' was in its turn mercifully silent and for all she knew did not pay attention to her at all.

It guided her hereto, probably to fix this thing, and that's all that mattered far as it was concerned.

She came to lean against the aetheryte's pedestal and looked at the panel that contrary to what she observed was actually an opening that laid the interior bare. Still, she peered in and was not surprised to find she could not make heads or tails of the mechanism. It appeared as an incredibly sophisticated latticework laced with incredibly resplendent oval-shaped crystals. Each of them small enough to fit in her palm.

But while much of it was completely inscrutable, a lone empty socket among them that noticeably bled aether – vast amounts of it – into the environment was what finally clued her in as to why this aetheryte wouldn't function.

"Heh." the miqo'te smiled tiredly, "So the vaunted Arkenstone's a missing component."

"That's going to make for a fun conversation."

H'anigi pushed herself from the pedestal and approached the cube next, "You want me to put this thing in working order, right?"

"Affirmative." Guidance Node flatly replied.

"Thought so..." H'anigi drawled, "Okay. I think I know how to fix this, but I'm going to need a way out of here."

"Acknowledged." Guidance Node without ado produced from its upper facet a heavily inscribed rectangular stone that was roughly the size of the average key. "This Will Facilitate Conveyance."

She asked bluntly in puzzlement, "How?" as she picked the item up and held it up close for examination through narrowed eyes.

"Authorization Required For Use Of On Site Teleporter." it replied, nonplussed, "Device In Turn Require Thought To Designate Destination."

"Intended For Swift Travel By Officers. Cannot Use Without Knowledge Of Destination. Oversight That Doomed On Site Work Force."

"Something went wrong." commented the miqo'te conversationally as she looked around for this teleporter, and supposed she found it upon walking onto the only tile on the floor that was shaped like a circle and watched as it and the stone in her possession lit up and harmonized with one another to a brilliant tune.

"Rebel Infiltrator Displaced Vital Component. Collapsed Tunnel In Progress."

"That explains why this important a piece was so far from where it was intended." H'anigi replied, gaze fixed on the stone as she strained her mind to produce an image of the intended destination, "Came from an aetheryte deep in the mountains to the west. It was pretty messed up, and not secluded like this one. Any reason why?"

"Disposable Transportation Node." Guidance Node droned, it sounded almost like a snort, "Only Six Installations Were Fortified. Our Lord Saw No Reason To Do It Onto The Rest."

H'anigi grimaced at the memory of the fellow traveler who died in the Misty Mountains, who could probably have survived the ordeal if the builders had not skimped on their budget, "I... see." and kept her mouth duly shut from questioning about this lord it spoke of. While it had not explicitly been told of yet, she already knew who the builders of the implied-to-be many aetherytes that dotted the Middle-Earth were, though only because of one lone moment in the past, courtesy of a pirate who was once upon a time a scholar of Sharlayan.

But rather than delve into it, H'anigi focused wholly on the stone till the place where she wanted to go had all but solidified in her thoughts, which was followed by... the completely airy nothingness she associated with travel through an aetheryte as the device activated and took her away.

For a moment all aches vanished, a glorious sensation she enjoyed fully for the entirety of the couple of seconds it lasted before she and the pad underneath her feet materialized in the much larger chamber upstairs and was met by the cacophony of more than a dozen voices that yelled in surprise. But that was as far as she could acknowledge before the strain of what she had been put through made its harsh return.

Only a weak smile and a nod of reassurance did H'anigi manage to put up to the shocked audience before she fell bodily against the pad, out like a light.

OoOoO

"H'anigi!" Bilbo shouted, first to break out of the stunned stupor that her return – and the manner of it – impressed upon all of them and ran down there where she lay upon the strange pad. It was strangely warm to the touch, but his attention was laid solidly on the woman as he knelt down by her and placed a couple of fingers onto her neck.

This was in fact real and not some fanciful collective hallucination. Bilbo seethed in relief as his hand met the miqo'te's smooth skin and felt her pulse. "Off, lad!" the first dwarf to arrive kindly ordered. Oin was noticeably reluctant to stand on this strange plate, but his duty as their medic overrode all other concerns.

With a start and a nod, Bilbo leaned away to offer more space as Oin lowered himself on the other side of her and went to work. Oin took her by the nearest wrist to feel the pulse while he opened an eye to take a good look at her pupil.

A deduction was not far off, by which time the whole company assembled around them, a healthy step from the boundary marked by the plate. "How is she?" Thorin demanded.

"Buggered to the void and back."Oin sighed as he continued to care for the unconscious woman, every motion made with the utmost of care, "I'd be surprised if she woke three days from now. I suggest we move her to a more well-suited place so she may rest."

"Do so." Thorin said quietly, "Dwalin, you will carry her and otherwise assist Oin however you can. Glóin, you will aid them as well – go ahead and find a proper place, one fit for all us."

A chorus of "Aye!" followed as Dwalin jogged to the woman's prone body and under Oin's supervision hoist her onto his back. A sight that was mildly comical given her greater stature.

"Oi, watch the tail." Oin growled in turn as Thorin's closest friend neglected the fur-covered appendage. Dwalin on his side growled an expletive as he awkwardly fenced her tail in underneath his arm.

Glóin briefly looked on the stone she dropped upon arrival, and hesitated before he carefully retrieved it and shoved the thing into the nearest of H'anigi's pockets.

"I want to go with them." Bilbo implored.

"Nay." Thorin interrupted, adamant, "You, Fili and Kili will go and seek out Smaug. See if those mechanisms," he applied a meaningful look to Bofur and Bifur who discerned the creatures that chased Smaug as artificial in nature, "managed to kill him. Or assess the damage if they haven't."

He wanted to argue, but the dwarf leader made his order with utmost finality. "We'll do as you ask, uncle." Kili replied solemnly, and was seconded by his brother immediately after.

Thorin gave a nod to his nephews, "Balin, you will come with me to the backdoor. If there are any ravens out in the sky, we must enlist one to bring a message to my cousin Dáin. To tell him Erebor is back in dwarven hands, that Smaug has been scarred and wounded, laid bare of scales across great swathes. If he yet lives, a hail of black arrows can now easily slay the beast."

"All the rest of you spread out to scour every armory, every storage room and elsewhere. Find supplies, find bows and black arrows wherever you may. We must consolidate before Smaug thinks to make a renewed attempt on our lives, so the next time he tries... we will lay him low!"

After the chorus of affirmatives, the company scattered from the strange pad. No questions asked about it, or even a cursory attempt to examine the thing. All of them unanimously decided without a word that the subject of it and all else they did not know was best left for when H'anigi's in a position to talk, unaware of how profoundly the discovery made far below might affect the whole of their world in the future.


Author notes: Big chapter, plenty of action, a few passages from the book, a big reveal, and a few references. In many ways due to the ambitiousness of this chapter, it was a real pain at times to put together. I also modified the seventh chapter at its very end to accommodate the contents of this chapter.