I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year!
Also I went back and made a couple of changes to a few of the chapters of Lake Town, changing the characters so that the Master of Lake Town is now in the story and Bard is just Bard! :-)
Chapter 35: The Thrush and the Dragon
A gentle twittering noise made Evelyn stir from her uneasy sleep. Up until then she had been plagued with vivid dreams filled with a terrible voice that roared and instilled fear in her heart.
She opened her sleepy eyes, and tilted her head to one side as the twittering noise came again, a bit closer this time. Sometime gently tapped the tip of her nose, and she rubbed her eyes as to clear the blurriness from them that had appeared during her sleep.
A tiny bird stood in front of her. From what she could tell in the darkness – and she was quite proud of her identification of the bird's species – it was a thrush. She smiled as she realised that it was perched on Bifur's head – more specifically on the handle of the tiny axe imbedded in his forehead – who was still asleep and completely unaware of the tiny feathered creature.
She deduced that the bird must have flown in during the chaos caused by Smaug earlier, and it looked very similar to the one that had been tap-tapping away at the rocks near the Hidden Door shortly before its appearance. She wasn't sure if it was the same bird or not, but she reckoned it was.
"You should probably get off his head you know," She told the bird quietly, not even caring that she probably looked like a right fool for talking to a bird. "He won't be pleased if he wakes up,"
The bird chirruped in response. Tentatively, she held out a hand, and the bird immediately hopped onto her open palm, as if tame. The bird was only a tiny weight in her hand as she sat up and rested her upper back against the rocky wall. She smiled as the little bird cheeped again, hopping about on her palm like a little sparrow. She almost laughed as it gave her something akin to a quizzical look.
Do you have any food? The bird's expression seemed to say.
"I have no food for you unfortunately," She told the bird.
Thorin stirred beside her. "Who are you talking to?" He sat up, and widened his eyes at the sight of the tiny bird sitting in her hand. "A thrush. They are very sacred to my family,"
She smiled as the bird gave another tweet and flew away with a whir of its wings, landing on a nearby rock. "It's quite cute,"
"My grandfather used to keep thrushes and tame them. The men of Dale would train them to speak so they could carry messages to others," Thorin said as he watched the little bird.
There was a rustling sound, and footsteps approached the company after a couple more tense hours had passed. They sat bolt alert, and the tiny thrush flew away into the gloom at the sound. They were certainly relieved as Bilbo appeared in their sights, looking very much alive, but shaken.
"Any news?" Thorin addressed the burglar. The rest of the company were on edge, and listened intently.
Bilbo sighed and shuddered slightly at the memory of encountering Smaug. He then regaled them with his tale, telling of how he had spoken to the dragon in riddles, giving himself titles in order to make himself sound more impressive. He also, to Thorin's great interest, informed them of how he had noticed a patch on the left side of Smaug's chest where the scales did not protect his soft skin. As soon as his tale was done, the hobbit went to attempt to rest, choosing not to ask why there was a thrush in the tunnel.
"I have to get some fresh air," The hobbit declared desperately after time had passed and he had calmed down somewhat. Thorin glared at him, but chose not to protest vocally as Evelyn voted to go with him to the Hidden Door so they could get some fresh air.
They instantly regretted going in the first place, however the first breath of fresh air was welcome, especially to Evelyn's head. For as they took their third breath of air, Evelyn let out a scream of terror as she caught glimpse of something huge and scaly coming straight for them. She yanked Bilbo backwards and, with the aid of Dwalin who had come just before Thorin, closed the Hidden Door, just as Smaug the Terrible hit the mountain with his armoured, horned head.
Evelyn gave another cry of terror and covered her ears like a small child, trying to block out the horrifying sound of Smaug attempting to break down the door and get to the company. A great roar came from the outside, and everyone's bones were instantly chilled as the monstrous sound reached their ears easily. Terrified, she let out her own scream, which was not heard one bit over Smaug's roar of rage.
One, two, three, four, five loud bangs came from the outside as he attempted to break through, but the mountain would not let up, even though it seemed like he would get through.
"YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM MY WRATH!" The voice of Smaug came. "I WILL FIND YOU ALL, AND I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!"
There was a great whooshing sound as his wings spread and lifted him off the ground. He took off and dived away, momentarily giving up on the company. Now he would head to Lake Town, where he could vent his anger on the unsuspecting people there.
Evelyn shakily uncovered her ears and whimpered as she collapsed on the floor, ignoring her now throbbing hands that had grazed the rocky floor. She jumped as warm arms wrapped around her, and she refused to relax even though she could smell Thorin's familiar scent as he held her, attempting to comfort her.
"Smaug has gone now," He said, hushing her all the while as she whimpered, terrified out of her mind. He had sworn to himself that she would never have to face Smaug like that, and now that she had he hated himself for breaking his promise.
Kili came forward. "What do we do now? The door is closed and the keyhole is not visible on this side of the door!"
The dwarf prince was right; the keyhole which would have been their way – Thorin still had the key – of getting out was only visible on the outside of the Hidden Door. After all, whoever had crafted it would not have expected people to be wanting to get out rather than get in. Even though this was perfectly logical, they cursed the unknown craftsman all the same for the misfortune they found themselves in.
"What if we suffocate?" Kili asked worriedly.
"Be silent you daft boy," Thorin scolded him. He turned to Bilbo. "Would you care to show us down to the treasure room Master Baggins?"
The hobbit gave him a worried look at this request. "Are you sure it would be safe?"
"Oh I have no doubt that Smaug will not return just yet," Thorin said with confidence. The amount of surety in his voice was something to be perhaps suspicious about, nevertheless Bilbo nodded reluctantly and led the way down the tunnel towards the treasure room.
The sight that greeted them was something out of a dream for the rest of them, although Bilbo had adjusted to the sight more as he had seen it twice now.
Gold everywhere. That was the only way to describe what they saw before them, rising and falling like sand dunes in a desert, piles of glittering gold and other forms of treasure. As if in a dream, the dwarves plus Bilbo and Evelyn descended down the flights of stairs into the treasure, knowing that touching the gold would surely prove its existence in front of their eyes.
They could not rejoice yet, and the atmosphere was alert as they expected the dragon to come crashing through the doors and release his wrath upon them, therefore time was precious.
Thorin had a strange glint in his eyes as he looked around, eyes scanning the treasure as if searching for something in particular.
"What are you looking for?" Evelyn asked him, tugging on the sleeve of his coat gently to gain his attention.
He looked at her, but that glint did not retreat from his eyes. "I'm searching for the Arkenstone. It is a great treasure, worth a great deal to this kingdom. It was lost when my grandfather attempted to retrieve it,"
The lack of a reassuring smile or warmth in his voice was slightly strange to Evelyn, and she nodded before edging away, pretending to take interest in a large gold disc that could have been a plate or something similar.
Fili and Kili approached her, and she drew comfort from the smiles on their faces. The feeling of being back after so long was a good feeling to them. Kili held out something for her; on closer inspection she saw it was a ring. It was silver, plain except for a simple engraving in it that she could not make out due to the small size of it.
"Thank you," She said, smiling.
Fili presented his own gift, a pair of earrings with small rubies set in gold decorating them. She smiled, then gulped as she looked at the tiny needle part of it that would be inserted into her ears.
"I do not have any piercings," She said in an off-hand voice, not wishing to insult Fili for the thoughtfulness of his gift.
He shrugged. "I'm sure Thorin would organise for someone to do that for you!" This sounded painful to her, but she smiled and gave them both hugs as thanks. She made a mental note to herself to find something nice for them both later.
A great rumbling sound came from somewhere in the earth, and they knew that even though their return to their home was something to be joyous about, something was very, very wrong indeed.
DUN DUN DUNNNNN