The worst thing, Ella thought, was that the scenery looked exactly like in her dream, down to the smallest detail.
Erebor's treasury was a hall of enormous dimensions and it was full of gold and diamonds from floor to ceiling.
The chink of the countless coins beneath her feet was the only sound to be heard and the air was cool and stale, but that was to be expected since the fortress had been abandoned for many decades.
Not quite abandoned though, right? You know who has been living here for all those years.
But Smaug was dead. Or at least, fast asleep. He must be.
He had not shown himself when the door opened and they entered the mountain, when Thorin had let his hands roam across its walls so gently as if he was again touching a long lost lover.
Nor afterwards, when the dwarf king had led the awestruck company on a tour through Erebor's gigantic halls. The builders who had once designed and built the fortress must have been true masters of their craft; every room, every staircase, every door was an epitome of striking beauty and proved clearly that dwarves were indeed unmatched when it came to architecture.
To Ella's amazement Thorin still seemed to know the place inside out- and despite the fact that he had not seen it in many years. Not once did he lose his way down here as it would inevitably have happened in the open air.
In the end, he gathered them all in what must be his own former chambers, a big, sparesely yet elegantly furnished room in which the dominant item of furniture was a huge, golden harp, although now thick with dust.
And then the company had a merry welcome party, with food, drink and music, and the high stone walls were echoing with their joyful songs and laughter.
Thorin, who had every reason to celebrate, sang and laughed more and louder than everyone else.
The Erebor, the Seventh Kingdom of Durin's Folk, was again his, all there was left to do now was to find the Arkenstone.
The King's Jewel, that gave its bearer the power to reunite all of his people under his reign. One last step to ensure the dwarves could finally return to former strength. The beginning of a new, glorious era, of prosperous times where all would profit from the riches of this mountain, as he had promised.
And it was her task to fulfil.
This was the reason she was here, this had been the deal from the very beginning.
Hobbit feet, quick, soft and silent, were better suited than heavy boots to search a hall full of gold and not waken the beast that guarded the treasure in the process.
However, there was no guarantee. The contract had been quite clear about that and her companions knew that as well.
Balin had said there would be no dishonour in turning back now, which was probably true, but that was not the point and Ella had known it once she had met Thorin's eyes.
He wanted this gem, needed it, and if she could get it for him, she would.
Because I would do everything for him.
And there was another good reason why she should be the first to enter the treasury, and alone.
The gems of Lasgalen.
Another duty she had to perform, another promise.
It was very unlikely that Thorin would return them to Thranduil should he get hold of them first.
The two kings were both stuck in the age-old feud between their peoples, and Ella knew Thorin was much too stubborn to make the first step towards a new understanding.
If he had despised Thranduil before, he hated him all the more now, and that was partly her fault. It was only fair that she should be the one to make amends.
Carefully, Ella made her way through the golden coins and jewels that littered the ground, feeling transported back to her dream more and more with every step.
Come on now, she tried to encourage herself. How hard can it be to find a big, white jewel and a necklace made of gems like pure starlight?
In a huge, dark hall crammed with tons and tons of gold and jewelry? And a dragon lurking somewhere in the dark...no! Musn't think of him. Concentrate on the task at hand.
Maybe an hour later- it was hard to tell without daylight and time seemed to stand still in here- Ella had lifted, observed and discarded quite a few big, white gems on her way, none of them the ones she was looking for.
And then, eventually, and again exactly like in her dream, she made a careless step, stumbled and slid down a pile of golden coins with a startled cry that echoed back from the high stone walls around her.
The golden mountains around her began to quiver and move, and when the clinking flood ebbed away she wasn't even surprised to see a piece of thick, scaly skin peek out of it.
A closed eyelid as big as her head.
She just had time to tumble behind a pillar and slip the ring on her finger, when the dragon opened his eyes and rose from his bed of gold in all his terrifying glory.
Very much alive, and now, very much awake as well.
The beast flared its nostrils and sniffed, then bared its huge fangs into a snarl and began to crawl towards her position.
"Well, thief" Smaug said and the dark rumbling of his voice covered Ella's skin all over with goosebumps. She didn't know what terrified her more, his voice or the fact that the monster was able to speak at all. "I smell you. I hear your breath. Where are you?"
In headless panic Ella began to run, but even though he could not see her the dragon had no difficulties to follow her by the rustle of clinking coins beneath her hurrying feet.
"Come now," he teased. "Don't be shy. Step into the light."
He slithered around her as she stood pressed against a column. "There is something you carry," he mused. "Something made of gold. But far more precious."
When the dragon said those last words, something very strange and alarming happened.
Suddenly Ella's head felt like it was about to burst under an assault of frantic whispers in a foreign tongue, and she saw before her the terrifying vision of a huge, blazing eye.
It burned like a thousand suns, scorched the flesh off her bones and drew and sucked her into its hungry, all-consuming darkness.
With a horrified gasp, Ella tore the ring from her finger and pressed her eyes shut.
When she opened them again, the nightmarish vision was gone and she found herself face-to-face with the dragon.
"There you are, thief in the shadows." Smaug seemed to grin.
It all felt so unreal. As if she was still dreaming.
But it was no dream, and this time she would likely not wake up to see another dawn.
Why, oh why had she not listened to her gut feeling? They should never have entered this cursed place, she had known it!
She had not wanted to make Thorin unhappy, but an unhappy Thorin would have certainly been better than a dead Thorin.
Well, now they would all find their grave here.
Had Gandalf forseen that the dragon was still alive, she wondered. Was that why he had not joined them at the overlook as he had promised?
When she thought about it now, the wizard had been conspiciously reluctant to answer the question how many dragons he had already killed.
Probably none. And a creature like Smaug wouldn't be defeated by funfair magic tricks-
So, that's it. This was the end.
Now that the worst had happened and the monstrous drake loomed over her as the culmination of all the other terrors they had faced on their quest, Ella felt suddenly oddly calm and beyond fear.
"That's a very rude thing to say," she replied coolly and looked up to meet the dragon's fiery eye. "I'm not a thief. In fact, I just came here to see if you were really as great as the old tales say. I did not believe them."
The dragon snarled and a shower of coins rained down on her when he spread his enormous wings and pulled himself up to his full height in front of her.
"And do you now?" he roared.
Ella shrugged. "I've seen worse. You should meet my grandmother. Granted, you're a little bigger. And definitely much better looking."
The dragon gave an amused snort. "Do you think flattery will save your life?"
Ella was quite sure that the answer to that question was no, but what else could she try? Smaug was clearly as vain as he was mad, and in dealing with megalomaniacs flattery was certainly a more promising survival strategy than reason.
"Well, it was worth a try," she sighed. "But no, I guess it won't."
But the strange, light-headed feeling would not leave her and she couldn't seem to care.
"No indeed." the monster hissed spitefully.
"You could of course kill me," Ella agreed. "But considering your size and mine, it wouldn't exactly be an epic achievement, would it? And I would hardly make for more than a little snack."
While talking, Ella had slowly stepped backwards and away from the dragon, her eyes searching left and right for a possible escape route.
"Look, I have a better idea. " she continued. "You've been in here for-what- sixty years? Must have been quite boring. And lonely. How about an excursion to the north? You know- where all the other dragons are. I bet you'd find one or the other dragon lady there who would gladly- well- lay an egg from you or something."
The answer was a menacing growl.
"Well, not the north then." Ella prattled on. "What about the south? I hear Mordor is lovely at this time of the year. Nice and warm. Lots of fire-"
And then, she suddenly saw it, lying on the gold-littered ground exactly in the middle between her and the monster.
A big, white jewel that outshone all others.
The Arkenstone.
The dragon followed her gaze and his giant, sharp-toothed jaw curled into a devious grin. "So that's why you're here, thief," he said. "To do the dirty work for your little dwarf friends. Did you think I would not know this day would come? That a pack of canting dwarves would come crawling back to this mountain?"
Ella had carefully and unobtrusively ventured closer to her booty, but before she could reach for it, Smaug cut her off. He stomped his huge clawed foot on the ground before her and the Arkenstone vanished under a churning flood of golden coins.
"It is Oakenshield, am I right?" the dragon snarled. "He sent you in here to get the Arkenstone for him. I guessed his foul purpose some time ago. But it matters not. His quest will fail. A darkness is coming. It will spread to every corner of the land."
Ella shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about." she said. Which was true, at least for the last part of his words.
"Don't bother denying it," Smaug snorted. He moved closer and his hot, foul smelling breath brushed her face.
"You have his smell on you, I would recognize it always and everywhere. He is your lover, isn't he? And still he sent you to your death to get what he wants. He has weighed the value of your life and found it worth nothing."
"No, that's not true." Ella whispered. "You're lying!"
But it is true, an ugly little voice whispered in her head. She must have been in the treasury for hours now, and the dragon's roars and stomping had certainly rocked the whole fortress- her companions must know by now that something had gone terribly wrong. And still nobody had come to her rescue-
"Oh, have I touched a sore spot?" Smaug mocked. "I'm sorry. You should have known better than to put your trust in the faithfulness of dwarves. Their true desire has only ever been for gold and treasures. But this treasure is mine and I will not part with a single coin, not. one. piece. of it."
He glanced down at the Arkenstone before him. "I'm almost tempted to let him have it," he said with a malicious grin. "If only to see him suffer. Watch it destroy him. Watch it corrupt him. Watch it poison his heart and drive him mad."
"But I think not." he continued in a matter-of-fact tone. " I think our little game ends here. So tell me, thief, how do you prefer to die? "
Ella preferred not to die at all.
She slipped the ring back on her finger and plunged sideways, a split second before Smaug's gigantic jaw snapped shut in her former position.
Rolling over the floor she grabbed the Arkenstone before she quickly jumped out of the line of fire when the angry dragon emitted a breath of flame.
She rushed towards the saving exit and stumbled up the stony staircase that led out of the treasury, then she pulled the ring from her finger and stood a moment pressed against the cool stone wall to calm her breathing and her heavily pounding heart.
As she reached the end of the staircase she saw Thorin standing there, and with a sobbing cry and without thinking twice she ran towards him and threw herself against his broad chest.
The king wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. "Mahal be praised, you're alive," he whispered in a a shaky voice and planted a kiss on the top of her head.
His large hands stroked her shivering arms up and down, then he gently pushed her away in order to look at her face.
"Do you have it?"
"What?" For a moment, Ella had no idea what he was talking about.
Thorin sighed impatiently. "The Arkenstone," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Did you find it?"
Ella stared at him, unable to understand how he could think of this now when it was clear that they had to run for their lives.
Thorin was sweating, and his eyes were wide and sparkling in an unhealthy, feverish glow. He did not seem to see her at all, nor did he seem to care about the terrible impending threat that was about to come upon them any moment.
Ella swallowed the lump in her throat. So the dragon had not been lying. She meant nothing to Thorin, all he desired was the gem she was supposed to get for him. And when he had it, it would destroy him and drive him mad.
Truth be told, he looked pretty mad to her already.
"No," Ella shook her head. "No, Thorin, I don't have it. And it doesn't matter now. We have to run- the dragon-"
They both looked down the balustrade, and as if on cue, Smaug in all his horror crawled towards them.
At the same moment, the rest of their companions came running down the stairs and positioned themselves in front of them with their swords drawn.
The dragon flared his nostrils and inhaled the scent he hated the most- dwarves. He growled deep in his throat and his massive upper body lit up in a red glow.
"You," he roared and his hateful voice shook the walls of the treasure hall around him. "will BURN."