Treasure
By Klose
Author's Note: This is an entry for the
Henneth Annûn Quickies 2002 Challenge, based on ' A girl of Laketown, trying to
collect a jewel from Smaug's carcass'. I have interpreted 'carcass' to be a dead
body of an animal here, just so you know.
Dedicated to Una, Mike and all the other cool people at HA.
Thanks also to Marnie for her advice on the ending.
~
Not long ago, when Smaug came down to terrorise Lake-town, the settlement had
been engulfed in utter chaos. Now, it was in a state of emergency, with the
locals urgently tending to the fallen men and broken structures which were the
devastating results of Smaug's attack.
Dawn had been afraid- of course she had been afraid- when the dragon had swooped
down to destroy Esgaroth, her home. But when her grim Uncle Bard's Black Arrow
pierced the dragon's weak spot, her fear dissolved to relief. Smaug was dead.
At least she hoped he was.
'Its' eyes are open, it has to be dead,' Dawn assured herself, as she inched
closer and closer to the massive carcass that lay in the middle of the Long
Lake. Everyone else was too distracted with the aftermath repairs to notice a
fifteen year-old girl with flaming red hair make her way towards the dead
dragon with the intention of stealing a jewel from it.
Was it greed that induced her to this? Of course not. Dawn was not that
seedy. She was on a mission, rather. The local bullies had dared her to
steal a gem from the worm's limp form- and she was not going to give them the
satisfaction of bowing out. Dawn never refused a challenge. She could not deny
that it was an audacious dare, to be performed during an inappropriate time.
Then again, prudence had never been the strong point of the useless bullies
that set Dawn on this task.
She came as close to Smaug as was necessary. Dawn did not wish to be nearer the
hideous body, nor did she want to risk falling into the lake. When the Dragon
fell, it was full on the town. Under his massive weight, the buildings had
collapsed, pushing him to the surface of the lake. Most of the dragon was
submerged underwater, supported by the debris of the fallen buildings and the
crushed foundations that lay on the lakebed. The area of the wreckage, which
had come to be known as the Desolation of Smaug, had yet to be cleared, and the
precariousness of the situation was but one of the reasons.
As Dawn cautiously stood on broken planks, regarding the exposed bit of the
bejewelled body, her stomach continued to churn. Her heart, which had been
pounding at an impossible speed, skipped a few beats as her green eyes made
contact with Smaug's red ones.
'It is dead, it is dead,' Dawn repeated silently, even as she unconsciously
took a few steps backwards. Forcefully shifting her gaze to the beast's underside,
the young girl studied the small strip of gold and gems that were exposed to
the air.
Her breath was, simply put, taken away. Even though it was but a small portion
of the dragon's decorations that she saw, it was an awesome sight nonetheless.
Encrusted on Smaug's pale belly were beautiful emeralds of the brightest green,
fiery rubies of the darkest red and splendid sapphires of the deepest blue. But
their brilliance was dwarfed by a most magnificent white stone, a sparkling
adamant the size of her palm.
Trying not to get closer to the carcass, Dawn stretched out her hand, but it
was obvious that the adamant was far out of her reach. She reluctantly took one
tiny step, but it made little difference. She took another little step- but her
progress was negligible. Dawn repeated this procedure quite a number of times
before coming even remotely close to the adamant. But finally, her fist closed
itself upon the stone-
"Dawn."
"AAH!" Dawn screamed, jumping up and down, nearly breaking the shards
of the plank upon which she stood. A hand touched her shoulder, and she stopped
her wild thrashing, which could have resulted in her falling into the lake, had
it continued any longer.
"Uncle Bard," she said, blushing, after she realised who was behind
her. "You had scared me." She did not add that she had foolishly
thought it had been Smaug calling her name.
"Oh?" Uncle Bard replied, arching an eyebrow disapprovingly. "I
suppose my scaring you overshadows you scaring your family by wandering off
without telling them? Hmm?"
"I- I," Dawn stuttered, not knowing what to say. Her uncle looked at
her expectantly. "Everybody was busy- you were giving out orders, and
Father was helping you, and Mother was tending to the wounded- and, and well, I
did not wish to disturb anyone," she finished lamely.
"I see," Uncle Bard said, his lips pursed tightly. Either he wanted
to laugh and slap her back cheerily, or he wanted to strangle her. Dawn was not
sure, but the latter seemed more likely. Her uncle did not laugh much.
"Well, hurry up then," he said, breaking the silence. "Take your
souvenir. This is not a safe place to be."
Dawn quickly complied. She was no longer afraid of the dragon because her brave
Uncle Bard was with her. Knowing that he would not let harm befall her, Dawn
bent down and made to snatch the adamant. But it did not come off, so she
heaved with as much might as she could muster. Still, it did not move. Uncle
Bard gave Dawn his knife, and after much poking and prodding; the adamant fell,
revealing a patch of silver from Smaug's silver mail coat. Admiring the white
jewel, Dawn walked carefully to Bard, who, in an uncharacteristic show of
affection, fondly put his arm around his niece.
"Come now. The elves of Mirkwood are to arrive shortly."
"Elves?" Dawn asked, surprised.
"Yes, my dear, elves," her Uncle replied, as they climbed the debris,
moving towards the tents of the Lake-town refugee camp on the shore. "I
suspect that they go to confront Thorin and his band of dwarves. We will aid
them in their endeavours, for they will aid us in this time of need."
"Is there going to be a battle?" Dawn asked, her freckled face etched
with excitement.
"Indeed, there will be battle- but it shall not turn out as we expect it
to. My heart fears a greater and more devastating battle than what any may
foresee*…"
"Oh, Uncle Bard," Dawn groaned. "Must you always be so gloomy,
foreboding such dark things as war and death?"
"You have forgotten my prophesying of floods, poisoned fish-**."
"Uncle Bard!"
"Come now," he said, and Dawn wondered if it was a small smile that
his lips were twitching into. "Let us show your parents your gem."
Dawn followed him towards the area set out for her family to sleep. There were
few shelters, and Bard had decided to keep the severely injured protected,
rather than the civilians. Of course, the Master had one, but no one could do
anything about that.
As they walked, Dawn saw the two bullies who had dared her to do this in the
first place, Duck and Forge, people nicknamed them. Her heartbeat rate
immediately accelerated and her eyes narrowed into thin slits. She was going to
get the last laugh, she would make sure of that. Straightening her shoulders,
and standing tall and proud, Dawn held out the adamant to them as she passed.
"Do you like my souvenir from the Desolation of the Dragon?" she
asked, smiling amicably, before walking off. The looks of utter shock that
decorated their faces caused her to erupt into fits of joyous laughter.
"What were you doing?" her uncle asked her, as she caught up with
him, still giggling like a mad woman.
"Having the last laugh, Uncle Bard," Dawn replied, when she could
finally keep a straight face. "Having the last laugh."
-Finis-
*Yes, Bard is being his usual depressed self. He's also, in a way,
predicting the occurrence of the Battle of the Five Armies, which was the
unexpected twist to Thranduil's siege of the Lonely Mountain.
**In the Hobbit, Bard's friends accused him of 'prophesying floods and poisoned
fish'.
Author's Note: Was the ending weak? Tell me by pressing that little 'Review' button (yes, I'm feedback whore. Humour me). I welcome all sorts of reviews with open arms.