The voice of Smaug was unlike anything Brianna had ever heard. It was deep and booming with a snake like hiss. It was so deep that Brianna could feel her chest vibrating from the decibels. His teeth were as long as Brianna was tall and were serrated like knives.
"Well…thief…" he said as he slithered around the pillar from behind "I smell you. I hear your breath. I feel your air." he stopped for a moment as his neck appeared from behind the pillar along with some of his body and he turned towards where Brianna was "Where are you, oh where are you?!"
When he finished that sentence, his teeth were at least ten feet away from Brianna's face. Then Brianna made the biggest mistake she could have made: she panicked and turned, trying to run back as fast as she could to the way she came. It proved incredibly difficult to run with all the gold and jewels on the floor and she ended up tripping and sliding when she tripped on some cups.
But Smaug wasn't far behind. Despite his size, he was extremely maneuverable and slithered round the stone pillars holding up the roof like a fish swimming through a river at alarming speed, his fingered claws on his wings grasping onto the pillars to lurch himself forward. Brianna managed to duck behind another pillar as Smaug zoomed past her, spraying what was practically a wave of gold in his wake. He then stopped for a moment when almost his entire body in full view save for his tail and his back legs, with them being buried in gold behind the pillar.
"Come now, don't be shy." he hissed in a booming yet uncomfortably slithering sounding tone "Step into the light. There's plenty of gold to spare."
Brianna didn't answer but kept quiet as much as she could. It was then Smaug detected something else about his invisible opponent. You see, dragons are aware of every piece of gold in their treasury and Smaug was now detecting a small but new piece of gold. It was Brianna's ring, though she didn't know it.
"Oooh, interesting." Smaug said as he turned and began maneuvering round the pillar "There is something about you. Something you carry." he continued as he rounded the corner and now his head and right wing were in front of Brianna "Something made of gold…but far more…precious."
As soon as he finished saying 'precious', Brianna suddenly felt like her chest was caving in. It was that same feeling she'd felt all the way back at the edge of the Elven gate of Mirkwood, only now it felt even worse. She shut her eyes and grasped onto her chest with her right hand as her breathing became labored when suddenly a frightening image of an eye writhed in fire flashed in front of her. Acting out of fear, she immediately ripped the ring off her finger and became visible. The chest pains suddenly vanished and she started breathing normally.
Unfortunately, Smaug could see her now, with his eye looking right at her.
"There you are, thief in the shadows." he said as a wicked grin came on his face.
Brianna gulped nervously as she shoved the ring back in her pocket. She had no idea how to talk to a dragon, especially one as huge as Smaug. She'd have to make up a reason for being here and fast.
"I-I-I didn't come to steal from you…" she stammered "…Smaug the Wealthy."
"Then why the hell are you here?" Smaug asked.
"You see, I wanted to gaze upon your magnificence." Brianna lied "I wanted to see if you were as great as the old tales say. I honestly didn't believe them but now…"
Before she could finish the sentence, Smaug turned around and began emerging from the other side of the pillar, his tail brushing against the rock-wall. Brianna stumbled away from the safety of the pillar and now stood in full view as Smaug finally fully emerged, his tail and the rest of him being unearthed from the sea gold, with him being illuminated by shafts of light from the cracks in the roof.
"And do you now?!" he roared as he raised up his neck and chest with the aid of his wing claws.
Brianna was stunned. He was even larger than she thought. In fact, he was practically the size of a small city. His wings were almost as tall as the pillars and when spread out stretched from one end of the room to the other.
"Truly the tales and songs fall utterly short of your enormity, Smaug the Stupendous." Brianna said.
"Do you honestly think flattery will keep you alive, little thief?" Smaug inquired.
"N-No." Brianna replied "I don't think so."
"No indeed. At least you are an honest thief." Smaug said as he began coming towards her "You seem to be familiar with my name but I don't remember smelling you're kind before." he went on as he stopped with his head thirty feet away from her "Now tell me, who are you and where do you come from? May I ask?"
Brianna was about to answer when something gleamed in the corner of her right eye. She darted her eyes in that direction and turned her head slightly and there she saw it. Half-buried in gold coins was a large, round jewel which gleamed like a star. It seemed as if a light was encased inside the stone for it had a very bright glow to it. It was the Arkenstone, the thing Brianna had been sent to retrieve. However, she still had Smaug to deal with. She decided quickly that would be best not to give away her name, the girls or her intentions for the Arkenstone. So she decided that if a game of riddles worked on Gollum, it'd be worth trying on Smaug.
"I come from under the hill." Brianna said shyly "And under hills and over hills my path has led. A-And through the air, I am she who walks unseen."
"My, my. How impressive." Smaug said with sudden interest "What else do you claim to be?"
Brianna gulped and stuttered as she looked for the right answer as Smaug's mouth was inches away from her body as he growled in a rather strange manner.
"W-Well, I'm also called l-luck-wearer." Brianna continued "Riddle-maker and spider-slayer."
"Lovely titles." Smaug said as his stinky breath encompassed Brianna which nauseated her "Go on."
"Gee, I have so many." Brianna chuckled "Well, there's barrel-rider, bane of my friends existence-"
"Barrels?" Smaug snarled, interrupting her as he backed away slightly "Now that is interesting." he paused for just a second as he held his neck and chest up again "And what about your little dwarf friends? Where are they hiding?"
Brianna was perplexed. How did he know about the girls? She hadn't told him a thing about them except 'barrel rider' and…oh drat. Then she remembered Smaug had been able to smell her while she had the ring on, which meant that he could probably smell the girls. She tried her best to conceal the fact that the girls were outside for a little more time.
"Dwarves?" she said as she began making her way slowly towards the Arkenstone "Oh no, no, no, dwarves are just a myth! There are no dwarves here! You've got that all wrong!"
"Oh, I don't think so, barrel-rider." Smaug replied wickedly "They sent you in here to do their dirty work while they lazily skulk about outside."
Brianna froze and turned back to Smaug who had his reptilian eyes fixed on her as if she were some sort of prey.
"You must be mistaken, Smaug Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities." Brianna said.
"You have nice manners…for a thief and a liar!" Smaug hissed "I know the smell and taste of dwarf better than anyone else! They're drawn to treasure like vultures to a kill."
He then extended his right wing forward and slammed it onto the floor. The force of the impact nearly caused Brianna to fall over and caused the gold around the Arkenstone to slide down like a golden mudslide, taking the Arkenstone with it. Ignoring her own safety, she ran towards it and tried to grab it, only for her foot to accidently kick the stone even further away and cause it to pounce down the golden slopes while Brianna tumbled after it.
"Did you think I did not know this day would come?!" Smaug roared as he pursued poor Brianna "That a pack of wretched dwarves would come crawling back to the mountain?!"
He slammed into an already unstable pillar and pushed against with all his might as he chased Brianna. The pillar crumbled at it's center and fell over with a tremendous and thunderous crash. During all this, Smaug stayed where the pillar was, his left wing claws grasping the fallen pillar. Before him the treasure room finally reached it's end with a giant hill of treasure on top and under the platform Smaug was on. At the foot of the gold pile was another platform and more rock wall with the flat stone floor. There was also now enough space for Smaug to spread out his wings. Brianna was hiding under the platform while Smaug searched for her with a surprising amount of determination.
"The line of Durin is dead!" he roared "I took their throne and their kingdom! I ate their people like a wolf among sheep!"
Brianna ran out into the open and quickly looked up while he was talking. He wasn't facing her but was looking back at the area where Brianna first saw the Arkenstone. Not wanting him to see her, she quickly began running down the hill of gold but the noise caused by her feet and her scent caused Smaug to whizz his head around and catch sight of her. He slammed his tail into the gold pile, intentionally causing some of it to slide downwards and make Brianna trip and start sliding down with it.
"I kill where I wish when I wish! I have eaten dwarfs, men, trolls and even the great whales of the Bay of Belfalas!" Smaug gloated while he moved his tail out of the gold and began spreading his wings "My armor is iron! The shock of my tail is like a thunderbolt!"
And with that he launched himself from the platform and glided down towards the last platform below, with the breeze and air in the cave flowing through and around his wings partly through some holes in his wings. Brianna finally finished tumbling and rolling and ducked under the platform as Smaug landed on it above her and the impact forced her to the ground.
"No blade can pierce me!" Smaug bellowed "And even then, who could stop me now?!"