Thank you lovelies! I know I left it at a cliff hanger, but this chapter should build up more of the suspense. Lady Silverfrost asked me a good question in a PM about what Lithuiaew means, and from what I found in translators, it means ashy bird, or ash in the wind. A little fun fact in case you were wondering about Thranduil's name for Lily.
Chapter song inspiration: Save Me by Gotye.
Thanks to the 290 reviewers, the 241 favorites, and the 368 followers!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's and any AU plots you don't recognize.
Smaug observed Thranduil with interest, fascinated because—much like dragons—elves were ageless in face. In that survey, he could say that the Elf King had not changed in the slightest since last he had seen him in person. There was no shock felt on Smaug's behalf that the burn was hidden under an enchantment, as vain as the King had become. The line of Durin might have suffered from their sickness of treasure, but this elf could not proclaim himself to be the better, not when the dragon knew the truth of what he was. Another being in range of the mountain who would seek a share of the treasure when his death came to pass. To those foolish few, Smaug snorted in derision. Let them wait; it would be another age of the earth before the effects of time would even begin to turn against him.
The King sat on his throne, leaning to one side with his head tilted, eyes trailing up and down repeatedly on what he perceived as a human brought before him. He would be more difficult to deceive than someone as slow and dim-witted as the Lake Master, but then Smaug was not entirely sure if that was his aim. A large part of him wanted Thranduil to realized the truth at the last moment, giving Smaug the last laugh once again as he would bring utter ruin and death to the forest. His first priority was retrieving Lily and bringing her to safety though, and so his revenge would have to wait until the opportune time presented itself. The King's son was also present, quiet and still as a sculpture while his brilliant blue eyes were trained on him, ready to make a move if Smaug acted against his father.
"Why are you here, trespasser?" Thranduil questioned of him, his voice teetering on the edge between madness and serenity. "Are you here for the girl?"
"Her family in Esgaroth have been searching for her," Smaug lied, with disrespect in his tone. "I have simply expanded the range of their efforts."
Thranduil frowned gently, sitting straighter as he adjusted his practiced mask. "She has family? You mean to say there are others like her?"
"I'm not sure I know what you speak of, dear King." Of course Smaug knew all too well, and because of the lust for value was surfacing close in the King's eyes.
"And I do not believe you. Such a long way to travel alone, and with barely any rations do you carry. How did you plan on returning, and should you have been successful, with another mouth to feed no less," Thranduil rose from his throne, violet robes brushing the floor as he stepped forward on agile feet. "Are there others waiting for your return, or did you think of other means to travel hastily?"
"In what way do you believe is hasty? You never set foot beyond your borders anymore."
He could see it took every bit of will that Thranduil could summon to refrain from lashing out at him. The elf was riled, but not without prudence as he stared hard at Smaug. "They send a clever human into my midst, this supposed family she has. What is your name?"
Smaug did not miss a beat. "Caladrieng."
Thranduil's eyes narrowed. "You must forgive me if there is any skepticism on my part to heed your word. In order to have an understanding of one another, each must be willing to put forth what the other holds back. I sense there is much you wish for me not to know."
"You obviously are the same, our only other similarity apart from Liliana."
"Ay yes, my son has informed me of her common name, which is not as common as one would hope for under the circumstances," Thranduil turned away, walking slowly to the edge of his Throne room while Smaug kept motionless with his wrists bound. "Let us not continue in this charade. I know why you are here, I had sensed your purpose the moment I was brought word of you. The importance of Lithuiaew cannot be disputed, and I was well prepared for someone to come searching for her, but not a man."
Smaug scoffed. "Do spare me. You do not believe I am some simple, common tub trader. How could I be?"
"Indeed not." The King admitted as he swiveled back around. "But it was not your sumptuous leathers, or your articulate mannerisms that gave you away. There was another matter that stirred a sense of familiarity about you in me, something else dark. Do you know what I speak of, Caladrieng?"
"Oh, please do share King of weeds. Is it my eyes that have charmed you?" Smaug sneered mockingly.
"But of course." Said Thranduil as he reached into his robe. He produced a dagger in his hand, the hilt white ivory with stenciled leaves while the blade shone glassy like a mirror. Smaug was prepared to endure any amount of pain for Lily, but he had no need to flinch back when the elf simply held the blade lengthwise before his face. He had an expectant expression, gesturing with his free hand at the artifact. "Look for yourself, and see in my sight."
Smaug did as was commanded, not guessing the King's purpose as he looked at the reflection of his eyes. The burning orbs flashed brightly back at him, two black pupils that held a deep stare, taking a hold on whomever he wished to capture with his gaze. Coincidently, his eyes were the only things that remained identical when he reverted to a man. Not slipping from his calm demeanor, he looked back at Thranduil questioningly. "I see what is always there."
"And what would that be Caladrieng," Thranduil patronized, taking back the knife in his tight grasp. "A scorching fire, one that has put fear in the hearts of all creatures, or a spell that wishes to deceive all who fall prey to it? You are no mere man, and you are no more a Phoenix than I am."
"I never confessed to be either." Said Smaug cryptically.
"No, but you have confessed little else." Thranduil signaled for his son, the soft patting of his footsteps approached as he strode gracefully across the stone floor. The King indicated for his son to take a hold on Smaug, and he did so with his Elvish strength, pulling Smaug down on to his knees with a tug.
The degrading position had Smaug silently seething, his shoulders squared even as the Prince kept a grip on him, not letting him up from the ground. Even in human form, Smaug doubted they could overpower him for long, but he refused to struggle despite his pride in wanting to shove the elf away. Thranduil's feet halted just before him, fitted into soft suede and tanned leather that Smaug had the pleasure to scrutinize in the close proximity. The King brandished the dagger, holding the blade against Smaug's sharp cheek as he looked down on him with contempt. "What colours do you bleed in I wonder?"
It would be only too easy for Smaug to take the dagger from him and deliver a devastating blow to both father and son, but the rest of the guards would get to Lily before he could make a break to her cell. A fire caught in his chest, and he gritted his teeth when he spoke. "You may find that out yourself."
A thin line of blood was released as Thranduil dragged the knife against his cheek, splitting apart the thin flesh like it was a crisp new envelope containing a letter inside. The clean blade became smeared with red blood, and the King appeared disappointed by what had been expelled. Smaug knew why. He was hoping to see green ichor, the blood of the dragon. Smaug could only recall the myrtle green substance being spilt from his body during days of battle, and long had it been since anything sharp had punctured his armor of gilded scales. He had known the blood would be crimson this time as much of the wounds he had sustained from his fall had exposed this miraculous change while still under roof in Lake Town.
The King wiped the blade clean against Smaug's sleeve in dismay, and he gestured with his head for his son to loosen his hold. "You may be disguised well as a man, but neither of us will pretend to believe it. Is it possible that the beast has aligned with another creature, sending you in his stead to retrieve his lost treasure? Perhaps you are unwillingly under his dragon-spell, but there is also a family in Esgaroth you speak of," Thranduil was speaking aloud more to himself rather then to Smaug or his son whom occupied the room with him. "Bring the girl to me." He ordered at his son while disregarding Smaug's place on the ground.
The Prince left, bowing respectfully before he went. Smaug continued to watch the pacing King with malice and a black heart. While he was anxious to see his Lily, he knew it was not out of the question for Thranduil to do something unrepentant. He wanted to see how they would interact together; a test of how much further Smaug could stretch the truth before they were both discovered. A distraction was needed, and Smaug smiled cruelly to himself as he thought of a most sensitive topic for the King. "Phoenix tears will not heal your scars. Time has surely preserved the burn, it permanently deforming you into something grotesque." He goaded.
Thranduil stopped so suddenly, that his spine went straighter than thread through a needle. "You dare insult me in my own halls with such objectionable words?"
His eyes flashed to Smaug's, dangerous and demented was he as his face grew with anger, darker than obsidian, and sharp from being weathered. Smaug could not look away from the present rage on the King's face, it filling him with delight even as a volcanic eruption was building up in the elf's collected visage. "Your screams were so loud that they could have shattered mortar and brick."
"How came you by this information. Was it the brazen wyrm who has kept you and Lithuiaew under his claw," Thranduil condescended as he placed himself back on his throne, looking down his nose at Smaug as he held his head high. "Are you a slave to the slugs' will, accommodating to his every whim? I confess you do not stink of dragon like the girl, but she is the kind one would wish to keep close, and his claws must have been impedingly tight around her for her to have sought escape. Her value has earned her a revered place in my halls."
"A cell, to be kept caged for you to exploit her gifts." Smaug retorted dryly.
"Better than in ruin, with a petty creature who cares for nothing but his own profit."
"And what of your precious gems of starlight that reside in those halls?" Smaug smirked triumphantly at how stony Thranduil's expression had become. "Those Oakenshield fools never returned to you those white jewels, but you would claim them as your own if possible. I have seen the true face of avarice, and the nature of those who try to conceal it. You cannot lie to me, Woodland King. The madness that drives you has made you slow, forgetful of things that you fear others have discovered."
"Do not speak to me of the Oakenshield name," He spat, hands poised on either armrest, clutching them hard beneath his strength as he pushed himself forward on the seat. "Miners and smelters, blacksmiths and stone masons. Their name and importance has been driven out from these lands since the calamity came. The one thing ever unchanging was the prosperity of others on this side of the world. Whether it was by dragon or dwarf, no wealth was shared from that mountain. No gold overflowing the Long Lake and down river. May the line of Durin suffer for their mistakes, and to those few of Erebor scattered across the corners of Middle-Earth, I say let them remain in cold and discomfort. They may carry their pain and loss just as the rest of us have for an age, for that is what happens to those who live much too large and beyond their own weight in worth."
A fondness for dwarves was something they both lacked, but Smaug felt no closer to the Elf King than he did to the line of Durin. Usurpers and scroungers' the lot of them. The King was quickly becoming belligerent, but the interruption of his son and Tauriel diffused the tension considerably. Lily stood nervously between them, though only her body conveyed her anxiousness. She had trained her face to show indifference, even while her eyes met with his from his place upon the ground. Smaug hated those elves for leaving him this way, not wanting for his Liliana to see him so weak and humanized before the feet of the King. The predicament was quickly rectified when he was nudged on the shoulder by the Prince, demanding silently for him to stand.
Smaug rose on his own accord to his feet, fighting the temptation to want to shake away the hand that the Prince had on him as he was the center of focus in the Throne room, Thranduil's eyes watching him to an undesired degree. The earlier activity of elves when first he had been brought inside had diminished considerably, though he did recognize the fair female elf Tauriel as she approached with Lily and the few elves charged with guarding the King. Smaug could not help but feel out of his element in their realm the longer he was present. Everything was green and alive, the air clean and woody as he breathed, filling his lungs with more oxygen that could extend the life of his flames if they were set free from his jaws. The layers of clothing on his body were constricting him of breath, and he had felt the heat continue to permeate his body since his eyes had met with Lily's across the floor of the entrance hall. She was the spark to his blaze, the perfect trigger to ignite the cooled furnaces in his chest. As he furthered in his progress as a man, he knew it would not take much for him to control a shift back to his true form, the magic already feeling familiar to his mind as he adapted to the change. Contact with Lily would be the sure-fire way of obtaining their freedom from the clutches of elves, and he would act upon it soon, now being the most opportune time before they would be separated indefinitely.
"I apologize with having you move about on your feet so often Lithuiaew, but my guest is being difficult, and perhaps you can shed some light as to why that is," Thranduil signalized with a wave of his hand to Smaug. "This man has come here with the intention of finding you."
Lily frowned, and she paused to look at Smaug with enough apathy to make him shudder. "Why?"
"Your apparent family in Esgaroth have put forth efforts to find you. This was unknown to me, for you failed to mention your life outside of the prison of the dragon."
Lily swallowed, her hands desperately reaching for each other, revealing her timid habit once again. That cruel detachment on her face melted away as she looked at Smaug, and his stomach was filled up with a sense of butterflies lethargically flapping about, contorting in a disarrayed flight pattern of a dance that he could not hope to stop them in. It was plain that Lily did not comprehend the truth of who he was, and the look of yearning directed at him was both gratifying and troublesome. He was simultaneously filled with lust for her and the concern that she could be filled with such longing for a stranger, even if unbeknownst to her that stranger was him. A need to control took hold, wanting to lord over her body with ownership, drawn at the thin line between hurt and euphoria. She left his spell all too soon to address the King.
"I did not think they would look for me, being ousted as the outsider for years, I assumed my absence would go unseen."
"Ah, the black sheep," Said Thranduil as his lips turned coyly into a ghost of a smile. "They know not of your greatness?"
Lily hesitated before answering. "No."
"And what of this trespasser? He seems to know you, all too well. Did he happen upon the mountain as your liberator, or should all of Middle-Earth be concerned that the dragon has found allies in men?"
"I have never been acquainted with him, nor do I recall another presence strutting about the mountain," Lily said with more honest naivety than one should have been able to muster. "Why would he know me?"
Thranduil's face twitched in a motion of irritation and impatience, the bones in his hand visible as he clenched it tightly into a fist, pulling the skin taut. "Aside his claims of knowing your family, he also knows you by the name of Liliana. I cannot throw aside reason and presume this as a coincidence, and by the look on your face, it leads me to believe I am correct in doing so."
"Who are you?" Lily spoke out of turn as she turned to Smaug, no comprehension of who he was.
He never wanted for her to look at him with that wariness again, so painful was it to his heart, crackling like a piece of hot coal in his chest cavity. Those blasted chains were shifting again, links from the tether unwinding, and bonding in other places as each beat was a struggle. He pondered over the idea of forever, what it meant in that moment, and how its value was increasingly growing in his mind. Lily's lost stares attacked him, like an onslaught of gale-force winds battering at his body as he tried to stand on his own two feet, helpless without the support of his tail or the spread of his wings. He was alone out on a great steppe, vulnerable from all sides, the enemies he had made in life closing in around him. Their faces were meshing together into one blank canvas, there for him to paint in the details of his foes. His roar was like the bellowing of a thousand horns at war, ripping apart the earth below his feet in jagged lines. The great crack in the earth threatened to swallow him, everything going black as he cascaded into the fissure, but it was his Lily who brought him back. Her eyes alight before him, and thoughts of her swam in his mind of how he fantasized about her innocence. His Lily of the Valley, White Jewel of his mountain and Phoenix to his dragon. It would always be her who brought him back.
"Who are you?" The reverie broke as she inquired of him again, his identity.
"I am Caladrieng," He forced her into a deep stare so that she might know his familiar eyes. "And I am yours to command."
He cherished the look of surprise that garnered on not only Lily's face, but of the elves encumbering them. He could never obey anyone, it was not in his nature to be complying, but he would act in accordance to what Liliana wished if it protected her. He was made slave by the need for her to survive. A guttural noise escaped through Lily's lips, throat constricted with the strangling of a gasp and a choke as she tried to speak. "But I do not know your face."
"Perhaps you do," Thranduil chose that time to interrupt, Smaug's eyes instantly were hardening in response. "You mentioned that your memories have been lost to you. Caladrieng is not ignorant to the matter of your race, Phoenix."
"I see." Said Lily in a small voice.
Thranduil rose from his throne, sweeping past Smaug as he approached Lily. The she-elf was watching her King keenly, also dangerously close to mistrust that gave cause for Smaug's anger to surface when he dared touch a hand to Lily's face. The fingers traced down to her jaw before he reached a lavender blonde lock that hung stubbornly in her face, clinging to her cheek. He felt it between the pads of his fingers, antagonizing slowly with his gesture all the while a dead stare was behind his eyes that held nothing wholesome. "Cry for me."
"I'm sorry?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Show me your tears Lithuiaew, or watch your Caladrieng suffer," He gave an order in Sindarin, and Smaug felt himself be surrounded by the guards, two forcing him down while an Elvish blade was held to his throat by the Prince. His instincts drove him to snarl and thrash about, but they only drove him deeper to the floor until he could taste the dust of stone. From the corner of his sight, he saw as Lily tried in vain to reach him, but she was held back by Tauriel, she herself who had a torn expression from the behavior displayed by her brethren. "What I ask is simple, give me your tears and I shall set him free."
Lily's conflicted emotions drove her to turn her head back and forth between the horrific hold they had on him on the ground, and the savage look on the King's face, driven by lunacy and desperation to have what he coveted for in pride and vanity. All of her begging and pleading meant nothing to the King, amidst her cries for help he indulged in the satisfaction that he held all of the power. "But I cannot just cry on will."
"You will if I command it." Thranduil retorted venomously.
Lily turned to Tauriel, distraught as she grabbed the she-elf by her clothed wrists, silently asking for her assistance. "Please, make it stop."
Tauriel's face turned apologetic, and Smaug saw red when the she-elf swung her opened palm into Lily's face. A loud slap resonated, and all fell silent while Lily stumbled from the impacting strength of the elf. Her face glowed from where the flat palm had made contact, swelling as it throbbed, and Lily's eyes welled with her crystalline tears. Tauriel held her by one arm wrapped around her shoulder, at odds with herself over what she had done for the greed of her King.
"Let him up," The King instructed, and Smaug felt himself be forced to his feet, the thunder in his chest threatening to tear him asunder as he pulled at the restraints of the elven binding. "You see Lithuiaew, I always keep to my word."
"May others be the same in their treatment of you," Lily said icily, and she abruptly shook herself free of Tauriel's embrace, the latter gladly letting her go so she could approach Smaug, steering clear of the King. Smaug felt his blood come alive under his skin as she stepped into him, paying little heed to the guards with their weapons drawn at the ready, awaiting the orders of their King. Thranduil made no mention of acting out against her, curiously watching amongst the rest as she delicately wiped her tears away from her left eye, holding up her hand to the Elf King. "These will never be yours."
Smaugs' nostrils flared and his eyes widened as Lily swiped her damp fingers across the thin gash on his cheek, the hot wetness blending with his blood and mending the cut until the stinging sensation went numb. For a moment their setting was forgotten to them, ignoring the elves encircling them at just a sidelong glance away. Lily's brown eyes, which felt so ordinary in contrast with the rest of her, glistened as she gazed at him with no restrictions holding back her emotions like the so many times before when he had gazed at her. What did she see in the face of this man that allowed her to break down her barriers that she otherwise held when in his presence as a dragon? Often he found that her petrified gaze would beat him down until he was nothing but a serpent in the grass.
With nimble fingers, she reached through the collar of her robes, unfastening a small clip inside the fabric before she brought forth something small in her palm. She was presenting him with one of his own treasures, a small ruby brooch he could recognize just as soon as he looked upon it. Her small hands worked quickly, stuffing it into the inside pocket of his coat. Her hands slowly brushed along his chest, leaving scorch marks like forest fire through the material of his tunic. This care she showed him now, unabashed and bold, made him relinquish logic, and he acted without constraint, grabbing her face between his bound hands, palms cupping her jaw on either side while he laid his lips upon hers. Liliana tensed under his gesture, mouth trembling between a distorted sense of weeping and arousal.
They were not connected long before he was pulled back by the guards and Lily to Tauriel's grasp. The carnal desires stirred in him once more, but he was left with no other stirrings except of disappointment for both the shortness of the warm embrace, and how he still was left in a state of dissonance when he did not revert back to his true self. His eyes sought Lily, and he was taken aback by the wounded look on her face as she sunk to her knees with struggled breath.
"Liliana." Tauriel said in concern, touching a hand to the cheek she had previously assaulted. She whispered sweet words, trying to coax Lily out of whatever trance had seized her.
She was breathing fast and hard, chest heaving as she panted at the air for any ounce of oxygen she could take in. A white explosion burst through the Throne room, everyone taking to shield their eyes behind the sleeves of their arms as the luminous waves shook the tranquility of the wood. A great wind went blustering through Smaug's hair, and he dared not steal a look at the room until everything had settled. When all was quiet and calm, Smaug lowered his arm from his face, taking in the sight of the destruction and ruin in the Throne room. The elves were also shaken up, blinking rapidly while they attempted to get back their bearings. Tauriel who had been on the ground with Lily, rolled over on to her side, becoming enamored in awe at what she saw, a sight that had also captured Smaug's attention. A most splendid creature, Lily had sprouted great wings of vermillion, standing on two thickly scaled legs of gold. The nimbus crown atop her feathered head was regal, and the length of her long body burned brightly like a precious garnet from his hoard. The brilliant gaze of the avion joined with Smaug's, and from deep within its golden eyes, he could see his Lily. The short, sharp beak of onyx cracked opened, the sanctity of her song washing over the wood, spilling between the stone walls and columns as they became bathed in the cry. Smaug felt his heart beat in time with hers as their connection ran deep, her true beauty exposed while his was locked away under enchantment. Her wings unfurled from her back, lifting to an impressive height that towered over their heads, and she fluttered off the ground, craning her neck to look at Thranduil as Smaug watched in dark satisfaction. The Elf King could only watch helplessly, not stumbling back fast enough on his feet before the Phoenix was upon him.
Another cliff hanger. I'm sure many of you thought it would be Smaug who transformed, but I think it's Lily who should have her revenge against Thranduil, and the girl can fight her own battles if she has to. The next part of the story is going to focus on more Smaug and Lily figuring out the connection between them and how to control their shifts. Also, she still doesn't know the truth of who he is, so we'll get to that. And I'll stick with the majority of you, keeping this as one long fic instead. Fun question, has anyone played on the app, Dragonvale, it's so cute, I love it!