Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit.
So now the waiting game for 'The Battle of the Five Armies' begins, now excuse me while I go watch the trailer over and over till the next one comes out. Hands up whose bringing the tissue for this one?
Read and review, but more importantly enjoy.
'To all burn together.'
It had come to this last ditch effort.
Kill the dragon or die trying.
Thorin had finished briefing the first stages of his plan and had already sent Nori and Dwalin headed out first. Decoys, baiting the dragon down into the forges. Bombur, Dori and Ori took the passage heading south and Bifur and Gloin to the east corridor.
"Now don't let the beast lose sight of you, keep him heading to the forges!" Balin called after them and disappeared into the tunnel.
All that was left was himself, Thorin and Marie. The hobbit was braced against the doorway into the tunnel, feeling woozy. She hadn't given much thought to how she would die, maybe in her armchair when she had reached her time, but not in battle with a dragon. To die for a noble cause, now that would be a tale. But who would tell her tale? Who would remember her? Such things only worsened the unsteadiness in her.
Thorin brushed past Marie and again she drew away from him. This time the dwarf noticed her action.
"What is it?"
"Come, we mustn't delay." Balin's echoed from down the corridor.
Thorin glanced at the sound then back to the hobbit. "Now is not the time to lose courage Miss Baggins. Are you with us?"
"I ..." Marie wished her hand would stop trembling, "Just didn't think this would be how I'd die, that's all." She did a poor job disguising her fear with a shaky laugh.
"Not if we kill that serpent first." Thorin said. He gripped her forearm, and Marie felt a current run through her. "Are you with me Marie?"
She took a long intake of air and, trembling hand and all, place it over Thorin's. "Into the fire." She told him.
"Into hell."
And so into the fray Marie went with Thorin leading her, Balin at her side as they ran with great speed into the cavern. It did not take long for the plan to come into effect.
"Flee ... Flee!" Marie's skin crawled as Smaug's deceptive voice filled the cavern. The trio skidded to a halt as Smaug pulled himself out of his hiding place, coiling his long tail and claws around pillars as he inched towards them. Marie felt a light tug on her coat sleeve and was half hidden behind Thorin, blocking her from the dragon's sight. Smaug noticed this and made a noise that reminded Marie of a snicker. "Run for your lives. There is nowhere to hide."
"BEHIND YOU!"
Smaug whipped his head around just as Dori's group arrived. The dragon changed his target and went for the others. The plan was working.
"Come." Thorin started running again just as Dwalin and Nori took their turn distracted Smaug.
"So we get to the forges, then what?" Marie huffed.
"First we re-light the forges, then we snuff out his fire."
"And how do you propose we do that?"
They came to a junction in the corridor. "That is where you come in Marie." Thorin looked both ways before picking the right pathway.
"It's another right at the bottom of the stairs Thorin." Balin called out from behind. But when they came to them, half the stairs were missing and the remaining pieces were badly cracked. Thorin jumped down with ease. He looked back up expectantly at Balin and Marie. "Jump. I've got you." He said.
"Go on lass , I'm right behind you." Balin gave her the little shove she needed.
Marie steadied her feet on the cracked edge and jumped. As he had promised, there were a pair of waiting arms there to catch her. The hobbit threw her arms around Thorin's neck and she hung in his embrace, feet dangling off the floor. Once she was safe Thorin let her go and turned to Balin. The older dwarf looked to be ready to jump, but an almighty crash accompanied by a roar came from above and the stone all about shook. Balin wobbled on the edge dangerously before moving back. Just in time as the floor he had been standing on gave way.
"Balin!" Thorin cried out.
"I'm alright! Just a little stuck!" He sounded further away than Marie initially thought. "I'll have to use an alternative route! You go on to the Miner's Pass!"
"Stay safe!" Thorin looked loathed to leave Balin behind, but he had no choice. "Come Marie." He took off into the tunnel. Marie kept up as best as she could, but Thorin moved through the tunnel so quickly she almost lost him. Down into the deep of Erebor they went, the sounds of the dragon not far from earshot. They came to a long room with iron grates in the roof. The room stretched at least fifty feet long and was filled with empty racks.
"What is this?" Marie asked once Thorin slowed down.
"A storage room for the pike axes and hammers. Once those who worked in the deep mines used it to keep spare tools. Right above is the trader's offices."
"And Miner's Pass?"
"At the end of this corridor. It will take us straight to the forges."
The light streaming in from the grates reflect the dust kicked up from their movements. "You still haven't told me how I, of all people am to stop Smaug from burning us all."
"You will see when we get there."
"And how will the forges help? He's a dragon, fire doesn't hurt him." Marie didn't like being naggy but she needed to know.
"It's not the fire I am to use ... quiet."
"What. Use what?"
"I said quiet."
"I only ..."
All of a sudden Marie found herself with a hand closed over her mouth to snuff out any protest. She stared wide eyed at Thorin as he looked up at the roof. It was then Marie heard the thud of footsteps.
Smaug.
A horrible grating noise filled the long room as the end of the dragon's tail brushed against the grates.
Thorin slowly retracted his hand from over Marie's mouth and kept his gaze on the roof, while the hobbit did her best to keep quiet as she heard the dragon sniffing above.
"Where are you, Thief in the shadows?" Smaug growled. "I can practically taste the dwarves' stench on you."
Thorin very quickly had Marie by the waist and dragged her into shadows, putting her against a wall and shielding her with his own body. He held a finger to his lips, to which Marie complied with her kept her's firmly shut.
"Cutting up more webs in the dank and filth are you thief?" The grates above gave way and one of Smaug's claws came crashing down, shattering the table beneath it. Unable to scream, Marie pressed her face into Thorin chest, her arms like clamps around his waist. Thorin placed a comforting hand at the junction of her shoulders, his jaw against her scalp as he shushed her.
"Here!"
'That's Dwalin.'
The two waited until the sound of Smaug's footsteps were far enough away before they dared to breathe again.
Marie shifted her head and let out a strange sound both a breath and a cry. The hand on her back moved to cradle her head and large fingers threaded through her hair. "He's gone." Thorin hummed.
"Bloody hell Thorin, if this plan of your's works I may kiss you senseless." Marie blurted out.
The dwarf went rigid in her arms and pulled away from her, wordlessly moving on between the tables and rack.
"Something I said?" Marie asked, though knowing full well that she had indeed said something she shouldn't have.
"Keep up." Was all she got in response.
The made it to the end of the store room without further complications, other than a door Thorin had to kick down to get up to Miner's Pass, or so Marie believed with the amount of old of carts and discarded pulleys all the way down the large tunnel.
"You two in one piece I see."
Marie looked around. Balin was shuffling at his pace towards them. The hobbit gave him a small wave of the hand, "You too it thank goodness."
Balin caught the crook of her arm and guided her along. "Best we keep with the lad."
Thorin had already gone on ahead down Miner's Pass, leaving Marie and Balin to trail behind.
"Wait lass, it's this way!" Balin had stopped at a door in the wall. Marie had turned back but Thorin was still running in the opposite direction. Balin sighed, "Never had a sense of direction that boy." He grunted.
"Thorin!" Marie shouted at the top of her lungs. That was enough to get him to stop and take notice of his wrong turn. He made to come back, but something made him stop and stare beyond Balin and Marie.
"Oh not again." She whispered as she went to see what had made him stop. Smaug had found them and had his mouth opened and ready.
"Go with Balin!" Thorin shouted to Marie, slowly backing down the pass. Balin grabbed the back of Marie coat and pulled into the safety of the doorway. "Come lass, you heard him."
"No, wait we can't ... no Thorin!"
She was pulled back just in time as a ball of fire hurled by, blocking the entrance.
"It's no use lass. We have to keep going." Balin to reason with the struggling hobbit.
"I'm not leaving him."
"You're no good to him dead now come."
Seeing no more use in resisting, Marie let the old dwarf drag her by the scruff of her collar into the dark.
'Please be alright Thorin.'
Marie was pulled into a gigantic cavern where nine huge furnaces stood in three rows, blackened with use. Above there were lines of empty pulleys just hanging without purpose and along the floor of the forge lines that were cut into the stone. Marie had seen a forge once on a day trip to Bree. It was an impressive sight for a child then, but now it looked so tiny in comparison to the forges of the dwarves.
At the same time Marie and Balin had made it, Dori, Ori, Dwalin and Bombur came running through a set or enormous metal gates.
"The beast is not for behind!" Dwalin told them.
"Aye. Are Gloin and Bifur not with you?"
"Haven't come across them since the dragon chased them into a mine."
No sooner had Dwalin finished speaking, Nori came running in, with Thorin close behind. Marie fought the urge to run over to him and either hug him or slap him, perhaps both just to be safe.
"It's no use." Dwalin grumbled, "These furnaces are stone cold. We've no fire hot enough to set them ablaze."
"Have we not?" Thorin questioned as a fierce snarl came from behind the metal gates. Smaug was pulling himself up out of a hole, his whole body shook as he gasped for air. The dwarves must have taken him for a right old run around, exhausting him of most of his energy.
"I did not look for you to be so easily outwitted!" Thorin called out to the dragon.
"Ugh, Thorin," Marie croaked, "Do you know what you are doing?"
"You have grown slow and fat in your dotage, Slug!"
If what Thorin hoped to achieve was to incur Smaug's wrath he certainly succeeded in doing so. The raging dragon finished climbing out of the hole and took a long breath in.
Thorin, looking awfully pleased with himself, glanced back at the company, "Take cover." He told them and went behind one of the bars. Quickly catching on, the dwarves and Marie made a dash for the bars, just in time as Smaug fired upon them. The bars were wide enough to protect them from the flames but Marie still felt as her skin was on fire.
When the fire ceased the old fuel still left in the forge had ignited. One by one the furnaces caught light in a bellowing rush of soot and dust, the hum of the fires and the yellow glow of them filled the cavern. Marie risked a glance around the bar just in time to see Smaug look of shock at what he'd done. It did not last very long as he began beating down the gates to get at them.
"Marie!" Thorin called her over. She gladly moved away from the gates and towards the dwarf. He pointed to a pair of statues, dwarves with their hands clasped on the floor and a mill under their chins. Next to the statues was a set of stairs and a large lever. 'Mills? Oh of course! A mill. Water.' Now Marie understood what Thorin intended to do.
"On my mark, pull that lever." He told her and sent her running towards it. It did not take her long to climb the stairs, but once at the top she had to sit and wipe her brow. Her skin was boiling from the heat that filled the cavern. How did the dwarves work in such conditions all the time? And they wore more layers than hobbits. She glanced down at the ground, seeing the dwarves spreading across the forge. Bombur set to work pulling the chain for the bellows, which turned the gold flames blue, as for the others Marie wasn't quite sure what they were doing. She also spotted Thorin place himself in the open where Smaug was sure to see him
Smaug managed to pull open half of the gate and almost had the other half ripped off its hinges. Marie stood up and readied herself, watching as Smaug gave one more push and had obliterated the last of the door's defence. He skulked over the furnaces, searching. The light of the forges turning his scales bright gold, and his chest glowed brighter still. From her position, Marie was just out of his reach, only just.
As Thorin had planned, Smaug spied him and instantly went for the kill, opening his jaw wide.
"NOW!"
Marie jumped and caught the lever with two hands. Using both force and her weight, it unhitched and came down, releasing the water onto the unsuspecting dragon. It hit him with such force he slipped up off his back legs and was knocked into the side of a furnace. Steam filled the sweltering cavern and Marie could hear a painful fizzing coupled with screeching.
The water had doused the dragon fire from within Smaug's chest. Stunned and in pain, Smaug wildly flapped his wings trying to get up, his size was too great to let him do so in a confined area. He reeled back and writhed about like a worm between the furnaces. Marie could hardly make it out with all the smoke.
The water flow eased down and the mill began to turn, setting clogs and gears into motion. The pulleys above jolted sharply before moving across and Marie heard a loud pop from the smelting pots settled on top of the furnaces.
'Just what is in those?' Marie let go of the lever and landed lightly on her feet.
Smaug stopped writhing and pulled himself back up. He may have lost his fire for the moment, but as he had boldly claimed before he hand teeth claws and impenetrable armour. His body shook with every ragged breath he took, the sound of it blending perfectly with the whirling of gears and the roar of the forges. Marie felt the marble ground beneath her tremble.
'That can not be a good sign.'
There was a sudden flash of light, accompanied by a loud hiss from Smaug. Then came another, an another. Flash bombs. So that's where the dwarves had gone off too, to make those. While Smaug continued to be pelted with the flash bombs, the small doors at the bottoms of the furnaces opened and from them poured a steaming hot gold liquid that flowed down into the grooves along the floor, the lines turning amber and joining up, all heading in the same direction. But where?
The marble moved again and Marie tripped up on her own foot. She rolled onto her stomach and continued to watch the debacle unfurling. Smaug stood up on his back legs and knocked unto the pulleys above. The iron cables tangled themselves around his spikes and the pulleys crashed into his sides. The dragon roared in frustration and swung his frame about, snapping at the pulleys with his teeth and only causing more damage. During his fight with the cables and flash bombs, one of his wings slammed into the frame below the mill. A large crack formed and travelled all the way up the pillar, splitting it in two. Marie scrambled her feet in time as the crack reached the top. In a moment of fight or flight, Marie thought it best to get down from the top of the mill but before she could another loud crash erupted from the right. Smaug's tail had shattered the stone support and the platform began tilting to the side. Marie found herself sliding down the marble at an alarming rate. She yelped and tried to latch onto something to slow down. She grabbed a broken ledge and stopped with sharp jolt. Pieces of stone, marble and wood rushed by her head. The ledge gave way and Marie continued downwards, but at a much slower rate. She landed on her feet but tumbled backwards off the rubble.
She groaned and grabbed the back of her head. Her sight when in and out of darkness and all she could hear was a sharp wringing.
It was so painful.
She looked up and tried to make out what was in front of her. All she could see was dark gold, swirling before her. She blinked and the gold started to take form, snaking back and forth.
The wringing died out and the wall of grinding metal and steam hit her ears.
"Keep going Marie! Run!" Someone called from in the distance.
Her sight improved only for her to see Smaug swing his head round to her, murder alight in his eyes.
Marie rolled onto her other side and took off like hound, the terrible thumping of the dragon's feet close behind her. She ran for a small alcove that hopefully lead out of the forges and was too small for Smaug. She ducked under the open and ran hard and fast, not daring to look back at the noises of the dragon crashing through stone. Marie ran blindly through the dark until she passed into a great chamber illuminated by the captured light of the moon outside.
'Outside. Oh what a joy for the outside air.'
Marie could not keep going. Everything hurt too much, from her aching feet to her battered head, and every breath felt like a chain wrapped around her chest growing tighter. Her wheezy breath filled the emptiness of the chamber.
"Nori, Gloin? Anyone?" She sputtered out, "Bombur? Dwalin? Tho.."
The wall above broke and sent pieces flying forward with a great tapestry that had been hanging high along the rafters. Smaug had found her. She tried to limp herself to safety but the gush of wind created by the falling tapestry was so strong the hobbit was knocked clean off her feet.
"YOU!" Smaug growled. Marie remained prone of the floor as the dragon landed in front of her, shaking free of the debris. "You think you can deceive me Barrel Rider?" The hobbit looked through the veil of curls that hid her face. The dragon was poised against a pillar, his large chest expanding and falling like an over worked horse. "I know the secret behind your riddle now. You have come Lake Town." He guessed.
Something changed about Smaug.
What was once smugness and grace had turned suspicion and jittery. "Yes. This is some sorted scheme hatched between these filthy dwarves and those miserable tug trading Lake Men. Those sniveling cowards with their long bows and Black Arrows!" Marie could hear paranoia in those words and a deep seeded hate.
He remembered the Black Arrow, and he feared it.
"Perhaps it's about time I paid them a visit." Smaug sneered and turned to leave.
Marie realised what he intended and she felt her voice rising in her throat to stop him. "WAIT!" Marie staggered to her feet and chased after the dragon, "You can not go to Lake Town. They had nothing to do this with!"
Smaug slowed to a stop, his long neck pulling back so that his head was concealed behind the pillars. "You care about them?" His voice echoed about the hall. As Marie drew closer, his head snapped around, his glowing eyes pinning her down. "Good. Then you can watch them all die."
Marie felt like all the wind had been sucked out of her lungs. Had she just condemned hundreds of people to die? All because she had mentioned the barrels? Because she dared to be as clever as dragon? All that death ... because of something she had said?
Leaving her with this fact, Smaug went to complete the terrible task, only to be stopped once more.
"Here! You witless worm!"
The hulking mass of dragon froze at the taunt, and a growl filled the air. Smaug coiled around to face his new priority. "You." He said in a long drawn out tone of loathing. He crawled down the corridor, Marie following in his wake. Her knees were the consistency of jelly and she struggled to keep up. She gave up as she reached the first pillar at the junction and lent against it, watching the dragon approaching a massive set of stones at the end of the chamber, draped in chains and bound in two iron casts. On top of the stones stood a long figure, and anyone with two wits about them would know it to be Thorin. Marie was lucky she was still standing to see him, given that she felt like the world would flip on her any second.
"I am taking back you stole!" Thorin challenged Smaug, who merely laughed a haughty laugh at him.
"You will take nothing. I laid low your warriors of old. I instil terror in the hearts of men." Smaug pulled himself upright saw as to be eye to eye with the dwarf. "I am King Under the Mountain."
"This is not you mountain! These are dwarf lands! This is dwarf gold! And we will have our revenge!" Thorin gave an almighty shout in the dwarvish tongue, an order, and the iron cast around the stones popped open with a 'clunk', letting the stones fall away. As they did, a glimmering gold statue fifty foot tall appeared in the shape of a dwarven warrior, similar in style to the one by the hidden door. So that's what all the gold was for, but Marie could barely see to what purpose it would serve. The sight of the gold did stun Smaug for a moment, the beast humming in awe of the gift. But Marie spotted something not quite right with the statue.
The left side of the face had started to bubble and fester.
Marie's frazzled instincts told her to step back against the wall, which felt and awfully long way back. But as her fingers skimmed the wall, the statue's whole head exploded in a shower of steaming hot gold in Smaug's face. The ripple effect resulted in the statue caving on itself. The dragon tried to back away from the event but the gold as viscous and trapped his back legs. The wave overwhelmed Smaug and he roared and floundered about helplessly as the gold swallowed him up while he fell backwards. The heat hit Marie's skin, making it tingle. A bead of sweat ran her temple as the gold ceased to move and stilled, with Smaug trapped beneath its surface.
Was victory theirs? Had the dragon finally been killed?
Marie heard no joyous cries from the dwarves. Perhaps they too had their uncertainties. They had to be sure. The gold looked to be setting again, but Marie felt every hair on the back of her neck standing on end. She took a tentative step towards to gold, but reeled back as from within its molten depths Smaug emerged, howling in pain as the gold coated him in a brilliant shade that seemed unearthly. Flecks of it came flying towards Marie and she ducked to avoid being hit.
"IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" The dragon screamed as he moved fast down the chamber, trailing moulted gold with his tail. "I'LL SHOW REVENGE!"
'He can't. The town will be ... The children. Bard. Bofur. Oin. Fili. Kili. They'll be ... oh no. Oh no, no, no, no!'
Marie followed the trail of gold, her chest heaving.
'Dragon fire and ruin.'
The sound of stone cracking led Marie to the long forgotten entrance to the city. What once was sealed up to the rest of the world now was splinted and opened. Traces of gold along the edge proved this to be Smaug's work.
'Ash and desolation.'
Marie climbed up one of the boulders that had fallen from the gate, her eyes searching the sky frantically. It was not hard to spot Smaug. A great flurry of his wings and the gold fell from his rising body like dust in the wind. The beating of his wings carried on the air as he flew away from the mountain, down into the valley of Esgaroth.
Marie collapsed to her knees.
It was too late.
Too late.
"What have we done?"