Chapter 10 – The Beast Within

"…His skin more hard than brass was found; That sword nor spear could pierce nor wound." - St. George and the Dragon, Olde English

Excruciating pain utterly eclipsed all other senses as Smaug fell from the balcony. He twisted and contorted his body as he fell through the air, squirming as if he were covered in the molten gold once again and was trying to rid it from his burning skin. And he did feel as if he was on fire, the heat rising from him was enough to make him uncomfortable, the searing sensation in his skin was enough to make him roar. The only reason he kept quiet was tight control as he clamped his jaws so strongly, he was grinding his teeth so much they ached, they even caught his fleshy cheeks and drew blood. He felt the rush of the wind in his human hair, and if it weren't for that, he doubted he would have noticed his fall until it was too late. However, feeling the wind and the pull of gravity, he creaked open his eyes to see through the haze of his pain, and saw the ground rushing up to meet him.

A sense of self-preservation came to him through his agony, and he reached out with one hand in order to try and hold onto anything near him so that he might prevent his bone breaking fall. He would not have feared in his right mind, but under the onslaught of such pain and rapidly dropping twenty five feet, he somehow knew that he would break his body if he met the ground at his current velocity of falling. His hand snatched out at anything in particular, desperate to try and break his fall. His grip caught on a carving of a gargoyle sticking out from a ledge, jarring his body in the air until he thought his arm would rip from its socket, only his sheer inhuman strength keeping him whole. But the sudden stop and the resurfacing of the pain was enough to make him hiss, squirming and wriggling in an attempt to escape the pain, but in so doing his grip slipped slightly, and then completely slid away from the stone monster and once again he was falling towards the ground.

Even though he only had ten feet left to drop, falling onto his back, Smaug thought he saw dots play across his vision as the wind was knocked out of him, leaving him dazed and lying upon the ground. It was only when he felt his body throbbing and pulsing with pain that he became aware again and started to force air back into himself as he rolled over onto his stomach, struggling to get up. He managed to get himself up onto all fours, back arching and chest aching as he felt every organ inside of him shiver and throb, until he thought he would empty his stomach onto the floor. He was burning, his flesh felt like it was melting from his face, his skin felt too tight, as if his skull wanted to expand but couldn't because of his mortal skin, causing him all the more agony. In his delirium, he desperately reached up with one hand to his face, pulling on his hair, digging his nails into the flesh of his face until he could feel the sting of it, boiling blood bubbling to the surface to trail down and dribble to the floor. His body convulsed again, making Smaug dry heave as his stomach threatened to twist and tear itself apart inside of him. He pulled his hand away from his face, and when he felt an uncomfortable pinch, he looked over to see a clump of hair in his fingers. A groan escaped him, although deeper and huskier, as if from some form of animal, it was the only way he could prevent himself from screaming as the bones in his right arm snapped and splintered and began to move as if of their own mind, realigning and then slowly knitting themselves back together. Painfully.

"Sir, are you quite alright?" Smaug heard a voice through his delirium.

He didn't know what exactly happened, but sudden panic and rage filled him at having the voice so close, and like a feral animal he snapped his head up to look at the speaker, baring his teeth as he spat and snarled, blood and foam flying from his mouth. A small crowd had gathered around him, and they all leapt back in fear, gasping and crying out in alarm as they beheld his face and beastly mannerisms.

But he paid no attention, all he knew was the panic that set in his heart, that he was injured and in pain and not in best form, and he was surrounded by strangers that could possibly mean him potential harm. In that moment he only knew the need to escape, and so shot to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily as he swayed and almost collapsed again. No one thought to stop him, they all tried to leap out of his way as he came growling at them, looking as if he were possessed. He tried to move quickly so that they would not see him nor attempt to stop him, but some managed to catch a glimpse of his face, and they screamed as they beheld the abnormality of his scales and spikes and distorted features on one side of his face.

Smaug half stumbled half sprinted his way to the walls of the castle, for he knew that beyond the south-eastern wall lay a small wood that eventually led out into the great forest beyond Vathvael. Sensing somewhere deep down that he would be safe there, he made his way towards it. And he was rather fortunate that he managed to keep his contorting body under control enough to allow him to get there, and also that there weren't that many guards. However, when he finally reached the top, he was confronted by two guards that both drew their weapons on him. They shouted, and Smaug did not understand exactly what they said, only that their noise was hurting his suddenly sensitive ears. With a roar of fury and pain, he charged at them, and as one came close, he back-handed the man with all his strength, striking him across the face. There was an audible "CRACK" as the guard's neck was snapped completely, until it was almost facing the back. The other human gave a scream of rage and swung his sword at Smaug, who easily caught the man's wrist in his hand before the blow could connect. However, he didn't seem to notice the guard rear his leg into the air and kick him square in the chest.

Smaug roared in pain as he was sent reeling back, the back of his knees hitting the wall edge, and sending him tumbling over the other side to the drop below. He allowed himself to hit the branches of trees on his way down to help to break his fall, until he finally hit the ground. Rolling over, he growled and coughed as bloody foam bubbled at the corners of his mouth, his jaws aching from the effort to keep his mouth closed.

He suddenly screamed, allowing all of his pain to leave him in one great rush, the sound exploding from his chest as he attempted to rid himself of the pain. Hearing it echo across the landscape around him, Smaug quickly flew back into his panic when he heard people from the castle walls behind him. Surging forward, he stiffly stumbled to his feet and ran into the darkness of the shadows of the trees.

Kathryn stood frozen in horror as she looked down over the edge of the balcony to where Smaug had disappeared. She had screamed down to him, called and shouted even as people had gathered around his still form. She still couldn't believe that he was alive after such a fall, surely it should have killed his human body! But then, she had seen the crowd part, heard their screams and although she couldn't quite see clearly what was happening, Kathryn prayed that none had been foolish enough to get too close to him and died as a result. She could only think of Lake-Town, the she-elf that Smaug had mercilessly killed, the way he had hunted the bowman… it all brought a shiver to her spine, as if someone were walking over her own grave. Smaug had then pushed his way through the crowd, and Kathryn had been powerless to do anything as she watched from above as he made his way to the southern wall and escaped over the edge and into the forest below.

As soon as he disappeared, she was already turning and sprinting back into her chambers and across the room to her door. Her mind was a scrambled mess as she tried to process everything that had just happened, but her heart was screaming at her to act, to do something, and she moved on instinct rather than by logic.

Throwing open the door, she was immediately greeted with the sight of the two armed guards posted outside of her room. They both grew tense as they quickly turned to face her, one even reaching for his sword. Kathryn was in no mood for their nonsense as she glared at them, her feeling of panic and fear allowing the magic to flow through her until she could feel it pushing against her skin, filling her up until she had to swallow it back down her throat like bile. She could feel her eyes growing hot and stinging, and she was almost sure they were glowing from the force she was struggling to keep inside of her.

"Get Faervel the elf!" she half hissed-half screeched at them.

"What?" one guard grunted at her.

"There is an elf in the city," Kathryn explained, every word pronounced to the letter in her impatience. "His name is Faervel, he is of Rivendell descent; he is staying in an inn in the city centre called 'The Shepard's Morning'. Get him for me!"

"Can't do that." The other guard said snappily. "The King specifically said you were not to –"

"I don't care what your orders were," Kathryn spat as she took a dangerous step closer to the guard, the magic swelling within her, making her feel drunk on its effects and causing her to become bolder as she glared at the man before her. "I have something that may be of use to the King, but I cannot do anything unless I have the elf. You will bring him here. NOW!"

And with that she walked back into her room and slammed the door. She rested her weight against it as she tried to fight the magic that was still swelling inside of her, uncontrollable due to her raging emotions. It didn't take long however, for her to hear the guards buy her little fib and one of them running away down the hall as fast as he could.

Kathryn then began to pace about her room, back and forth, back and forth. Wringing her hands as she bit her lip, mind reeling and her heart pounding as she tried not to think that every second she spent wasting here, Smaug was out there in pain and possibly in danger also. What had happened to him? One moment they had been talking about the mountain, then arguing over whether they should go back, the next, as Smaug's mood had become more… animalistic in its greed, she had felt a sudden pull upon the bond between them, dragging from her very core into him. Then, he had been in pain and… changed… Kathryn still couldn't comprehend such a sight. It was almost exactly as she had seen in her first vision of him, a half way meeting of dragon and man, and all of it a monstrosity. It was as if his dragon form had been asleep inside of him and was now awakening and raging and demanding to be set free.

All Kathryn knew was that for some reason or another, Smaug was in danger, and she had to help him, no matter the cost.

Suddenly, she heard her door open and whirled around to see Faervel escorted into her room by the armed guard. Kathryn physically sagged with relief with a sigh upon seeing him. But then she saw that the guard had not left the room either.

"Leave us." she commanded, borrowing what she remembered of Smaug's air of authority in order to reinforce her will.

"Can't do that." The guard grumbled.

"I said…" Katrhyn growled as she leaned towards the guard, hissing through her teeth as she felt the magic swell within her once again, causing her eyes to burn as they glowed. "Leave. Us."

Eyes going wide at the sight of her, the guard quickly turned around and hurried out of the room as quickly as he could. As soon as the door closed behind him, Kathryn's anger faded, and with it, a fraction of the magic within her, and she felt her knees shake as her body suddenly became weak, threatening to make her collapse.

"Kathryn!" Faervel exclaimed as he dove to catch her, bracing her back against his chest as he held her against him. After a moment, the weakness and dizziness passed, and Kathryn felt a little bit of energy re-enter her body.

"I'm alright…" she murmured. But as she pulled herself up, one hand clasped onto Faervel's shoulder and dragged his head down so that she could whisper into his ear. "Follow me,"

She then quickly exited his arms and made her way back towards the balcony, with Faervel faithfully following at her heels. Once out in the open air on the balcony, Kathryn closed the doors behind them, making sure that what she was about to say would be kept from prying ears. All the while she tried to act as normal as she could, so that Faervel might not guess how much her sudden temper spooked her.

"Kathryn what is wrong?" Faervel asked, and when she turned around to face him she saw his brows knotted in confusion and concern, a hand half reaching towards her as if she might fall again.

"I need you to get me out of the castle," Kathryn murmured quietly.

"What?" Faervel blinked in surprise.

"Shhh!" Kathryn whispered frantically, ears craning to hear the slightest noise. "Don't speak too loudly, there are now spies listening in on my chambers."

"What? No – that doesn't matter," Faervel quickly corrected himself as he took a step closer to her. "You wish to escape?"

"Yes,"

"Is this because they know you are Tharŷliel?" he asked.

"How do you know that name?" Kathryn asked in a whisper, taking a step back from him in sudden fear.

"All elves know of the Seers." Faervel said, noting her drawing away from him and was unable to disguise the flash of hurt that crossed his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't," Kathryn whispered helplessly.

"Kathryn, you know you have nothing to fear from me," he sighed sadly. "I am your friend,"

"I know, but I just… all my life it has been a secret," Kathryn whispered, her breath hitching in her throat as she turned from him and began to pace again. "I've never voluntarily told anyone…"

"And now you wish to escape because Dorwinion knows your secret,"

"Partly…" she murmured.

"Partly?" Faervel raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously.

"Yes, my friend, err-Cail, he's hurt and he's outside the city. I need you to help me find him." Kathryn said quickly, almost forgetting Smaug's fake name in her panic.

"Why not send the city guard after him?"

"They would kill him if they found him. Faervel, please, I'm begging you! There is something wrong with him. Something… something terrible, and I need to help him!"

"Where did he go? The last I heard he was in the dungeons."

"He escaped," Kathryn said quickly. "He managed to escape over the south wall," It was all truth… only that Kathryn had decided to leave certain pieces of the story out.

Faervel watched her, as if reading her like an open book and she hoped to all the Valar she could name that he didn't find her lies.

"Faervel please," she begged him, coming closer to grab his shoulders in a firm and desperate grip. "I need to find him, and you're the only one I know that I trust to help me with this. You can track him, you can lead me to him. Please, I need you!"

She waited on baited breath for his answer, knowing that there was nothing more she could say to him. An eternity seemed to pass as Faervel gazed into her eyes gaze unreadable as he watched her. But finally he let out a sigh, extracting her hands from him as he held them lightly in his grip, giving them a soft squeeze.

"Very well,"

Getting out of the castle had been relatively straightforward. Although the guards had been a little alarmed at "Cail Agonn's" absence from the dungeons and then this "creature" as people were calling it escaped over the southern wall, killing a guard in the process. But, he was out and in the forest, it would take them a while to form any kind of counter attack. That was the time that Faervel and Kathryn had needed. They had quickly called for a made to bring hot water and salts, and once she arrived, Kathryn had said the story that she and Faervel had come up with, how she needed the water to see in to for her "mystic powers to focus", and that the salts were to settle her mind so that she might sleep. It was more for the benefit of any spies listening in, and once that was done, it had been easy for Faervel to quietly knock the maid unconscious so that hardly a noise was made and no suspicions would be aroused. They had quickly stripped the maid down to her underdress, and Kathryn had changed into the maid's clothes, tying up her red hair and hiding it beneath a cloak, she had then poured away the water whilst Faervel put the maid in Kathryn's bed and tucked her in. They had then exited the room, Kathryn holding the empty bowl and salt powders, keeping her face low so that the guards wouldn't recognise her. Faervel had told them how "The Seer" was now asleep, her mind at ease so that she may sort out her visions in dreams so that she may report to the King in the morning. The guards had bought every word of it, and allowed them both on their way. As soon as they were through a servants' door into a narrow passage, they had dumped the bowl and powders and run through the castle, using servant routes so that they might not be spotted by guards and anyone that might recognise Kathryn. They quickly came out into a courtyard and made their way into the city through a smaller gates reserved for supplies to the castle. They had then managed to find a way past the walls and were then in the open and making their way south and finally into the forest.

The sun was setting and night was drawing in as they worked their way along the path through the forest. Faervel lead them both as he followed a trail that Kathryn couldn't otherwise see, Kathryn faithfully followed him as she constantly looked over her shoulder, drawing her cloak tighter around her as she kept a fearful eye out for any pursuers. So far they had reached no trouble. Either the royal guard was unaware of her absence still or else they simply had no idea of which way they had gone.

"Agonn must have been in some terrible pain, or he is rather heavy footed, clumsy and stupid. His trail is rather obvious, as if he were stumbling through here drunk." Faervel said, as if thinking his thoughts aloud.

"So are we close?" Kathryn asked through gritted teeth as she rubbed her temples, struggling to fight off a headache that was making her dizzy, the pain sending shockwaves through her body that threatened to make her tilt and fall again. She could feel something tugging upon her core, draining her, and no matter what she did, she was powerless to stop it completely.

"I would say he is perhaps ten minutes ahead of us," Faervel told her, before he quickly stood up and looked at the trees in front of them, his eyes scanning for something that Kathryn could not see. "There is a cave up ahead,"

"What?" Kathryn asked, suddenly pushed her way through the foliage to stand by his side to try and see what her poor human vision made her blind to. "Are you sure? How do you know?"

"The land is getting more steep and uneven and rocky. I can see the bottom of a short cliff up ahead, a cave is there. That is where he is." The elf explained to her patiently.

"Then we must get to him," Kathryn murmured as she looked straight to where Faervel had indicated. Faervel grimaced as a strong breeze rattled through the forest, disturbing the trees and making them groan and the branches crack. He looked up, watching the darkening skies and the swaying canopy with worry.

"We must collect him and leave, dear Kathryn," he said softly, eyes scanning the heavens. "There is something not right here, the forest is unbalanced. If he has found shelter, perhaps we should –"

"I'm not leaving without him,"

"I know, but we must – Kathryn!" Faervel exclaimed as he saw Kathryn suddenly push her way through the forest, running and leaping over roots as she pushed her way through the brush. She crashed and thudded, not caring for stealth as she soon began to spot the cliff that Faervel had mentioned, and as she came through the trees she also saw the cave at the bottom. As she broke through the tree line and began to make her way up the small ascent to the cave, Faervel was not far behind.

"Kathryn! We must be careful, something is not right here!" he stressed, and she could hear the unease in his voice.

Kathryn decided to pretend that she hadn't heard him, unable to come up with a good reply without lying to him. She did not even care if he came in and saw Smaug with her, all she cared about was finding her dragon.

As she reached the cave entrance, she paused for just a moment to notice how deep claw marks had been scratched into the stone around the cave. Kathryn had to pause to catch her breath, for not a few hours ago Smaug had been human and almost harmless. But now all she could see in her mind was the gigantic dragon with his claws like meat-hooks, tearing down the buildings of lake-town, impaling an elf upon the tip of his claw… she shuddered, for she knew full well what he was capable of. But she pressed herself on, trying to reach into the bond and find him, to make sure he was still alive; but oddly, he was sealed off from her, and she was locked out from finding him. And so with no other choice, she bravely walked into the cave.

She was met with instant darkness, and Kathryn felt her insides turn to ice as she went completely rigid, stock still as her heart began to thunder, her pulse like a drum in her ears as the darkness closed around her and swallowed her up. Her breathing was suddenly short, and she felt as if her lungs were not getting the right amount of air, her mouth worked to try and gulp down air as if she were a fish in water. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Kathryn kept trying to whisper to herself that the darkness was not real, it was just because her eyes were closed and that when she opened them, there would be light; she was not in the darkness, the darkness did not have her, the madness wasn't still there… A whimper escaped her throat, her legs trembling as she fought down the panic in her soul, knowing that she would push herself back into the arms of the madness if she didn't find a way to conquer this. But she couldn't… the idea of the darkness pressing upon her, suffocating her, squeezing the life out of her, only to throw her into more examples of endless torture… she couldn't face it. She had faced up to a dragon and lived, but she was almost soiling herself because of the dark. What a pathetic creature she felt herself to be.

"Hold on," she heard Faervel's voice whisper close to her ear, making her struggle not to flinch and scream with fright and surprise. "Let me try and light a torch,"

She felt him leave her side, and bit her lip, hard, as she fought down the rising hysteria and abandonment. The magic inside of her was reacting to her fear, drinking it in as if it were a sweet wine, growing in size and making her dizzy from the force of it, it was a building pressure at the back of her throat and against the confines of her skull, threatening to tear her apart from how much was inside. But then, she heard the clomp of Faervel's boots and felt his presence soon beside her, and a wash of warmth tickling her neck and face.

"You can open your eyes now," he said softly, not patronisingly or as if she were a child. And Kathryn felt oddly grateful to him for that. And so she opened her eyes.

She sighed in relief when she saw that the darkness had been mostly banished, a small circle of light illuminating six feet around them as Faervel held up a flaming torch. Kathryn eyed the fire warily, her skin prickling as she remembered the flames of her madness. She was suddenly not sure which evil she preferred more: the darkness or the fire. The pain she remembered when fire had eaten her flesh, always burning her before the darkness ate her soul, she wanted to cry at realising the nightmare she was in. Seeing the look on her face, Faervel stepped forward so that he was in the lead, holding the torch out and away from Kathryn, so that she was in the light but at a safe distance from the flames. Once again she was very grateful to him.

Thy made their way deeper into the cave, the red light of the flames casting sharp and devilish shadows upon the rocks around them. And in various places, Kathryn noticed the claw marks on the stone, some a little higher then she would have thought possible… Gulping down her nerves, she ventured further in. The tunnel they were in was slowly opening up into a larger chamber at the back, the ceiling reaching up into the heights of the cliff until a small opening in the top looked out onto the night sky, a small shaft of light filtering down into the depths of the darkness below. Kathryn and Faervel edged further in, Kathryn growing increasingly nervous as a foul stench began to creep up her nose the deeper they went. She could smell sweat, blood, sulphur and… dragon. She would never forget that smell as long as she lived, and it –

Suddenly, a huge head dropped down from above to hover in front of the pair of mortals. Kathryn only caught a flash of red and pale white before a massive maw opened and a deafening, glass shattering scream exploded in her face, a wash of foul and hot breath sweeping over her and flinging back her hair, before Faervel yanked Kathryn back away from the creature. It was only when she was back away from it did Kathryn finally see it.

The creature had secured itself to the wall of the cave above them, dangling its head down in order to snap at them, and with them out of reach, it pushed away from the stone and landed on the floor of the cave. It quickly turned to face them, rising up until it towered over them.

It stood about fifteen feet tall, standing on two legs that looked like something between a human's and a bird's, with longer ankles, three toed feet, each tipped with long black talons. It had a long reptilian tail that lashed back and forth like a cat's when preparing to strike. The back was hunched over and slightly twisted, one shoulder seemed larger than the other, giving it a lopsided look. The stomach was unnaturally thin, though muscles bulged from the back, leading to horrid looking stumps of flesh, bone and skin stretched tightly over the top, just behind the shoulders and closer to the spine. The arms of the creature were long and gangly, the hands tipped with black talons like the feet, the arms held in a position as if it were protecting the chest that seemed to be little more than skin stretched over bone as Kathryn could see every individual rib, a long, crooked black scar upon the left breast. A long, snake-like neck stretched up so that the creature appeared taller, and an ugly head perched on the top. Caught somewhere between a lizard and a human, the face was one of the ugliest Kathryn had ever seen. The nose had been pushed down to meet the lips and jutted forward to form a type of snout, the cheeks pushed out and stretched longer, with the brow that was flat with the top of the head. The bottom jaw seemed to be too small when compared to the top, and seemed almost disjointed as it looked loose on one side. All over the creature, red scales broke through pale white flesh, though some areas were bare to reveal the coarse muscle beneath. But even though it was a grotesque abomination of a creature, the one thing that was pure and beautiful of it, was the flame yellow eyes. Smaug's eyes.

He stood before her, Smaug the magnificent, the ever beautiful and mighty dragon she had once known, he had even been a handsome and terrifying human she had come to see, but now he had become an ugly, disgusting formation of the two. As he stared at them, a growling snarl came from deep within his chest, his eyes clouding over with rage and pain, he did not seem to be in a right state of mind. In truth, Kathryn did not recognise the single-minded animalistic way he was staring at them as if he were a common beast… that was as angry as all hell.

"Ed' i'ear ar' elenea! Mani naa tanya nat'?!" Faervel cursed under his breath as he stared in horror at the monster before him.

The creature that Smaug had become, seemed roused by the sudden noise, and screamed again at the intruders. He opened his unhinged jaw impossibly wide, and from the back of his throat, Kathryn saw a sudden light. The two mortals quickly leapt aside as the creature tried to sprout fire, but something seemed to be wrong, for once she was out of his line of the shot, Kathryn turned to see the that the fire did not fly out and strike the stone where she and Faervel had been standing a moment before. Indeed, it was not like normal flame, instead like liquid fire the spilled from the back of the throat and pooled into the mouth, dribbling down from between pointed teeth. Where the flesh of his chin and jaw were not as well armoured and protected from the flame – having still some elements of the soft human flesh – where the liquid fire touched, angry blisters and deep burns cut through the flesh, making it weep puss and blood. Smaug screamed in pain, cutting off the fire as he whipped his head back and forth on his long neck, trying to rid himself of the fire, spraying the liquid all about which Kathryn and Faervel desperately tried to dodge.

Suddenly, the creature screamed again, the sound so loud that Kathryn and Faervel had to cover their ears from the pain of the assault on their eardrums. Smaug contorted, his back going rigid, the awful sound of snapping bones and joints crunching together echoing through the cave, the stumps on the back seemed to be growing and contorting, bones sprouting from it, leathery membranes growing, but then the bones broke and shattered, the skin tore apart and the "wings" went back to being stumps. The jaw realigned itself, the face became more like what Smaug once looked like, all spikes and scales and teeth, before his muscles seemed to undergo a form of spasm, and reverted back to that monstrous mask. His back arched and the spine vertebrae popped in and out of place, trying to get straight and correct, but unable to move as they reverted back.

He was stuck in this half state. Kathryn realised in a wave of dawning horror, that Smaug's body was trying to push him further but was unable to complete the transformation, leaving him suspended in this painful, confusing, and terrifying half form. And his mind was all but lost, locking him out and leaving behind his base instincts in the process. He was little more than an animal at this point. And that unpredictability was oddly more terrifying then when he had been fully conscious and thinking.

"Urulokë!" Faervel whispered the word for "dragon" in his own tongue. Kathryn almost grimaced as she knew that there would be no hiding the truth from him now.

Dropping the torch so that it lay upon the floor, still giving the cave its brief illumination, Faervel suddenly reached for his bow at his back, quickl notching an arrow, his face set in grim determination as he aimed the weapon at the pitiful creature with them in the cave.

"No – Don't!" Kathryn screeched as she reached for –

The monster rounded on them, furious eyes blazing in its skull as it roared again, making the stone shake from the force of the noise, before it charged. It snapped its jaws at them, but the aim was off, giving Kathryn enough time to leap aside, and Faervel to lean away, putting off his shot. The monster then spun around, its tail flying through the air and hitting the two mortals and flinging them aside.

Kathryn was thrown back, she going in a slightly different direction from Faervel. The force of the blow left her gasping for air as the wind was knocked from her lungs. Her head hurt as she hit the stone, though not enough to send her into unconsciousness. She had been flung to the side, whilst Faervel had flown back and hit the cave wall, before sliding down, groaning in pain as he held the back of his head. The creature that was Smaug advanced upon the elf, jaws dribbling saliva as a low hiss reverberated from up its throat. Kathryn struggled to get herself even into a sitting position, her head pounding and making her feel dizzy, so that all she could manage was to prop herself up onto her elbows. She watched with growing terror, as Smaug used one of his feet to pin Faervel to the floor, tilting his head as he peered at him, reminding her of a vulture or a bird of prey. Smaug then opened his jaws as he made to lean down and encase the elf's head between his tee–

"Smaug! No!" she screamed.

The half dragon-human froze in place as her voice rang across the cave, the shrill edge contrasting the musical notes of her natural voice. Faervel, still pinned beneath the half dragon's foot, looked at her fearfully, finally coming to his senses as death was only a few inches away. Slowly, the half-dragon turned its head to glare at her from across the chamber, yellow eyes casting a glow upon the rest of his hideous face, another hiss escaping its mouth as those eyes settled on her. Kathryn had hoped that some part of him remembered her, that there was something in him even now… But all she could see was a lion that left one kill in order to pursue another.

Abandoning his victim, the creature turned and came towards her, its footsteps loud and ominous as it stalked closer and closer to her. It leaned down towards her, body leaning over hers and casting her in its immense shadow, clawed hands digging into the floor on either side of her waist, tail lashing behind him, face leaning in to hers until there was only a few inches between them. Kathryn struggled to keep her breathing under control as that foul breath washed over her, and she remembered the liquid fire dribbling out of the mouth. She fought the mental images of the fire coating her, dripping from his mouth and onto her as the flames ate her flesh, melting it away. But she tried to ignore it all, she instead focused on that hideous reptilian face that was looming above her own.

Smaug still had to be in there. He had to be! Why else would he come when he heard her voice say his name? But even these thoughts were of little comfort, as the dragon-human abomination growled at her, lips curling to reveal its teeth that inched towards her neck, tongue twitching to taste the air.

Kathryn lay trembling beneath Smaug as that fiery gaze pierced into her soul, telling her of the pain, the madness… and the hunger within him.

And she suddenly realised that she was utterly helpless in the face of the dragon's teeth.

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm not dead, just been very busy over the Easter break, what with updating my other story, trying to write this chapter, wondering where to stop this chapter - another mean cliffhanger, I know, sorry! - but then I've been sick for the last week and a half :( then I've been visiting family and... yeah. I'm a little beat at the moment. But I've actually now had the time to sit down and write and read through this chapter to make sure it is the best that it can be. So I hope you liked it. :)

And now please review! Please tell me what you think of: Smaug's fall? His pain/transformation? His escape? Kathryn asking Faervel for help? Escaping the castle? Kathryn's fears? What did you think of Smaug's half/half form? And the cliffhanger I left you guys with? Sorry, but next chapter shouldn't be as long a wait as this one was. :)

Another announcement: the contest has now closed, thank you to everyone who entered. But now myself, Mussymay14 and an outside judge are now going to deliberate and choose our three winners. They will be announced in my next post for this story.

Until next time! Love you guys! x X x