Chapter 12 - All Things Must End

"A dragon is no slave." – A Song of Ice and Fire

"Did you think you were clever?!" Wilhelm spat out as he seethed as Kathryn was brought before him. She knelt on the floor, her hands bound by rope behind her back from where the guard had taken her at the city gate from Faervel, who was kneeling right beside her. Kathryn had expected this, she knew that Wilhelm would be furious when they returned, but she was dead to it all as she knelt there with a completely blank expression, allowing it all to merely pass over her head as if in disinterest. She didn't even look at the king or those who had been assembled as he continued to speak. "You elves have always been so self-righteous!" he spat. "And now you steal what you believe to be yours for the taking?! Well, I will not let you take what is mine!"

Kathryn's head jerked up at that, she hadn't thought that Wilhelm would blame Faervel of thievery. She had suspected that perhaps he would congratulate him or thank him for returning her, she almost thought herself stupid for thinking otherwise. But Faervel did not seem to be concerned by the threat that Wilhelm posed, as he looked at him with complete boredom.

"With all due respect, You Majesty," Faervel began smoothly, his tone almost as dull as his eyes, though that respect that all elves demanded was present in him as all listened to his words. "I was not stealing. I was merely helping the Seer with a task that she had bestowed upon me,"

The Lords grumbled, not believing him, but Kathryn's head snapped to face him as she felt her heart beat wildly in her chest as fear turned her veins to ice. No, surely he wasn't going to tell them?! Was he? The whole journey back to Vathvael, Kathryn had kept her word and explained everything to Faervel, every last detail, she held nothing back, except for some private issues in the story, such as the scale necklace, for example, and the bond that she and Smaug shared. That was something personal and would not be shared with anyone else. She had talked the entire time and Faervel had not interrupted her nor did he comment other than the odd question here and there, he had listened patiently and listened to it all. When Kathryn had finished her tale, he had remained silent for a long time and it was only when Kathryn pestered him for an answer on what he would do that he told her that he still had to think about it. Did this mean that he had reached a decision? Was he going to tell everyone about Smaug? Kathryn couldn't take it! In that cave he was helpless!

"Oh really?" Wilhelm drawled. "And what, pray tell, was this task?"

"We elves have an extensive knowledge of the world, Your Majesty," Faervel began, and Kathryn frowned at him in confusion. What was he playing at? "The seer bade me take her to the woods so that she may find something in order to help her with a vision,"

"A vision?" Wilhelm gaped, his anger completely leaving him as he turned desperate eyes unto Kathryn. The poor woman gaped from Faervel to the king and back, she had not expected this, and was struck dumb by it. Was Faervel covering for her? Well, her mother always used to tell her to never look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Y-yes… y-Your Majesty," she stuttered, her mind racing to try and find a good lie. "I had a vision… about your son…"

"My son?" Lalemwen gasped as she stood, her eyes wide as she looked onto Kathryn not with greed, not with desperation, but with a fear and apprehension that only a mother's love could bring. Kathryn felt oddly envious but also guilty for the lie and false hope she was bringing.

"Yes," she murmured. "But the vision was blurry at best, I needed some remedies in order to bring it into the full, to see it clearly." The lies came off of her in waves, but these people had never heard of the powers of a seer save that they had them. As long as they didn't know what she was capable of, she was safe.

"Why did you not ask the guards to get you these things?" Wilhelm asked, his eyes narrowing with slight suspicion.

"There was no time, Your Highness," Kathryn said. "If I waited for your guards to go out trampling through the woods and finding any old leaf, he could bring me back the wrong one or worse waste too much time. In instances like this, when the vision was not clear, I needed to be quick in order to bring forth the vision whilst it was still in my mind."

It was lies. All of it. But they didn't know that, and she would prefer to keep it that way.

"And?" Lalemwen asked quietly. "What did you see? What is to become of my child?"

"I saw… a child… I believe it to be a boy…" Kathryn said vaguely, not wanting to lie to the good queen but knew that she must. "He was standing by the sea… He wore a crown, and behind him people were bowing to him,"

All remained silent for a moment, staring in quiet shock and slight awe.

"Thank you," Lalemwen whispered, her eyes shining with tears of happiness, her hand drifting down to stroke her swollen belly affectionately.

"My wife and I thank you for this," Wilhelm spoke gruffly, clearly as awed as his wife, but still trying to maintain that air of authority. "But I cannot let this insubordination go unpunished. You must learn to obey. You will be confined to your quarters until further notice,"

Kathryn felt her rage roar like a fire within her as she was ordered to her room; "you must learn to obey" as if she were a dog or even less than that, a possession to be told to sit and stay. Damn it all, she had been in the presence of a dragon not hours ago, she had lived in the Lonely Mountain itself, she loved the great and powerful Smaug, and yet she had to be treated like this?! She was even shocked at her own thoughts and feelings of such intense anger, and that only made her all the more upset. Not a few days ago she would have been a nervous wreck in front of the king and considered herself lucky and grateful to be let off with this. But Smaug's re-emergence into her life had stoked the fire, the defiance, within her once again; he pushed her to be better, to be fierce, she was reminded by him that she was not weak, she was stronger with him. Perhaps she had forgotten that when she had been separated from him for sixty years, and then it died when she thought him dead, but now it was awake and it was alive within her.

But despite this fire, when surrounded by guards and soldiers on all sides, she knew that she still had to keep her head. She nodded her head to the king, biting her tongue in case she blurted out something she might regret.

"I will escort her," Lalemwen said as she walked from her husband's side to stand in front of Kathryn.

"I will send my assistant in case you have any more dizzy spells," the physician spoke softly from his place at the side of the throne room. He snapped his gaze to a young woman who stood by his side in the shadows. Kathryn had not seen her before at court, she must have been as new as this new physician. The woman was tall, standing close to 6 feet in height; Kathryn instantly noticed her dark skin, betraying that she was from the east, perhaps from Haradrim or Rhun, in which case Kathryn had to wonder why she was in Dorwinion of all places. However, her dark skin glistened beautifully in the light of the fires on the torches around the room, and made her long black hair shine like ebony, full of curls like Kathryn's. The woman had almond shaped eyes which had an amber tint in the dim light. She had a strong yet curvy physique, her muscles hard but lean as if she had been doing physical work for most of her life. The physician snapped his thin insect like fingers at her, and the girl jolted as if she had been dozing off and came to stand by the queen obediently.

"Thank you," the queen spoke softly, almost tiredly as she began to walk away.

Without being told, Kathryn got up to her feet, her guard unbound her wrists and she followed the Queen out of the Throne room. Kathryn didn't look back as Faervel was addressed by the king, and soon the doors closed after her and she followed the Queen through the dimly lit corridors. Night was closing in, the white walls of Vathvael turning an eerie silver under the encroaching moonlight, lights inside buildings flickered in their homes down in the city as if they were the reflection of the stars above. Kathryn and Lalemwen walked in silence for a while, but it was the Queen who spoke first.

"I must thank you," she said at last, her voice soft and wilting. "For what you saw in the vision,"

"It was not of my doing, Your Majesty, you mustn't thank me," Kathryn said, trying not to show any physical clue to her guilt at having fooled the good Queen.

"But you have given me hope," Lalemwen's lips curved into a small smile, and Kathryn noticed how her whole face seemed to become a moonbeam with angelic light, the smile doing so much to enhance her mature beauty.

They walked on in silence for a while, Kathryn trying to suppress the guilt she felt welling up within herself. Then finally, Lalemwen broke the silence once again.

"I understand that you predicament isn't exactly… ideal," she began, and Kathryn had to resist the urge to scoff. "But trust me when I say that nothing lasts forever," That made Kathryn look up sharply, looking at the fair queen as if she had grown a second head.

"Your Majesty?" she asked, bewildered.

"No one deserves to be treated as a possession, as if they are an object," Lalemwen spoke so softly, Kathryn was struggling to hear her, but her words still caught at the string of hope inside of Kathryn, making her heart lurch. "Perhaps, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday… it will end,"

And it was then that they reached the doors that led to Kathryn's chambers, and Kathryn paused half way between the door and the Queen as she looked back at the woman, wanting to stay, to know more of this hope that she had been given. But the Queen smiled tiredly.

"I must bid thee goodnight, Lady Kathryn," she said softly.

"And you, Your Majesty," Kathryn bowed.

"Come Your Highness," the physician's assistant said softly, leading the queen away back down the hall. And without further ado, Kathryn opened the door and went inside her chambers with an exhausted sigh. It had been a long day.

"And where have you been?"

And it was about to get even longer.

Kathryn sighed as she turned and saw Lord Beronor standing by the fire, his scowling face cast into shadows as he glared at her from across the room.

"Lord Beronor, I was not expecting you this evening," Kathryn murmured. The Lord's eyes narrowed at her nastily, telling her that he was not fooled by her little act, and Kathryn struggled to remain standing still under his condemning gaze.

"Do you know how I got to where I am now?" he suddenly asked rhetorically. "Yes, I was born into my family title, but it was I who dragged my family name up to become one of the most influential houses in Dorwinion. And I did not get here by allowing anyone to stand in my way," He spoke as if he were educating his grandchild on the history of the castle architecture as he stalked closer and closer towards Kathryn. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as she shuffled her feet nervously as those old eyes locked onto hers mercilessly. "Do not stand in my way, witch… life will become very unpleasant for you if you do,"

"Is that a threat?" Kathryn hissed softly, steeling herself as she prepared for the worst.

"No, that was truth. A threat would be if I proposed something I had a chance of completing; when I say truth, I mean it with utter certainty."

"You will leave my presence please, Sir," Kathryn spat as she felt herself go rigid with fear despite her best efforts.

"You need to understand the natural order of things Kathryn," Beronor sighed in disappointment as he looked down his nose at her. "You are a parlour trick, nothing more. Yes, your powers may be extremely advantageous to us and a great thing to possess now. But soon the novelty will wear off, and when you cease to be useful it will only be a matter of time before your brash and insubordinate behaviour gets you killed. However, if, from now on, you do as you are told and do as I say, that can be avoided."

"Do you believe me to be a little puppet for you to pull the strings?!" Kathryn rounded on him with blazing eyes at the outrage she felt. "Do not think that because I am a woman, I am feeble! I too can command the winds sir! I have a hurricane in me so great it will strip the leaves of your Noble House bare if you dare to try me!"

"You dare to threaten me?!" Beronor growled dangerously as he glared at her, leaning in close like a dog as he bared his teeth.

"I do!" she met his stare defiantly. "You are little more than a dog scrounging for food at the King's chair! I am more then what you or that weakling of a king could ever dream of! You have no idea who you're dealing with – ARGH!"

Kathryn yelled in pain as Beronor back-handed her across the face, his knuckles grazing her cheek and the flesh feeling as if fire had ignited upon her skin. Kathryn stumbled back, a hand going instinctively to her face as she looked up with wide, startled and terrified eyes. But Beronor was already walking away as if he had just swatted a fly, all calm and controlled. He only paused once as he grabbed the handle of the door before he could exit. He did not even look at her as he spoke over his shoulder to her.

"And apparently… neither do you,"

Gandalf looked out across the long-lake, his ancient grey eyes looking out mournfully onto the empty surface of the waters, the slight waves only broken by the floating debris. No town now floated on the Lake, no people lived there anymore; it was all gone, destroyed, completely dead. Most of the inhabitants of Lake Town had survived the dragon attack, but all were now homeless, penniless, and most were fighting for their lives either from horrid burns by dragon-fire or from wounds sustained from the Battle of the Five Armies. It seemed almost hopeless for the people of Esgaroth.

But no, Gandalf would make sure that the sacrifice of others would not go in vain, that they would mean something. He had offered to stay to help Bard use his share of the dwarves treasure in order to rebuild the City of Dale so that his people could regain their former glory. It was a slow process, trying to find workers and labourers who were reliable and honest coming at such short notice. But Gandalf was doing all that he could to help. He owed the people of the Lake that much.

With a sad and defeated sigh, he looked out over the Lake once again, his eyes trying to penetrate the darkness of the water in order to try and see the giant bones that were supposedly beneath the waves. It was all his fault, for he had started the quest that pushed the company of Thorin Oakenshield to try and re-take Erebor, it was he who went to Kathryn to see if he could get any useful information from her. But because of his actions, this had happened: the death of one of the last Fire-Drakes, and one of a powerful bloodline to boot, the destruction of an entire town, a people left homeless again, and the death of an innocent young woman, whose only crime was to love. His heart still felt heavy with the loss of her, the thought of her great spark gone from the world was something he truly regretted. He had broken his promise to her, he had sworn he would do everything in his power to keep Smaug alive, and he had failed. And now she was dead. If ever he could come to forgive himself for that, he could only hope that his dear friend Elrond could learn to forgive him also.

"Everything alright?" Gandalf heard Bilbo ask softly, and he turned to see the hobbit looking up at him with concern in his brown eyes. Gandalf smiled at him, proud to see the little man up and about, for he was still recovering from his injury from when the dragon had attacked him, his sides all stitched and bandaged from where the dragon tooth had sliced him open, although thankfully not fatally. Despite the fact that it had been weeks since he had received the injury, dragon wounds were slow to heal. "Gandalf?" the hobbit squeaked at him.

"Yes Bilbo my boy," Gandalf smiled for the hobbit as he turned away from the lake to walk back towards the ruins of Esgaroth and their camp with Bilbo. "I'm merely thinking,"

"You've been doing that a lot lately," Bilbo commented softly.

"Lately there has been a lot to think about," the wizard grumbled as he climbed up a steep embankment, on top of which was the camp that the people of Esgaroth were using as housing whilst the reconstruction of Dale was taking place.

"Oh!" Bilbo exclaimed suddenly, clicking his fingers as something suddenly came to his mind. "Gandalf, I forgot to say – Elrond is here,"

"Elrond?" Gandalf looked at the hobbit, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yes, he wants to see you when you have the chance,"

"Oh… thank you Bilbo. You go lie down and rest, let me have a chance to speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf said, though he didn't wait for a reply from the Halfling as he quickly strode through the camp towards the centre where Bard – as the new King of Esgaroth – and his family were kept. There he found Bard standing at a table, a crutch under one arm to help him stand from where his leg had been partially crushed from where the dragon had seized him in his jaws. He was looking over the plans on the table, as well as lists of all the provisions and materials needed for rebuilding Dale, and standing beside him was Lord Elrond, dressed in moderate yet finely crafted leather armour with a long and elegant cape fanning out behind him in the soft breeze. As soon as Gandalf came to them, Elrond noticed his approach and looked up.

"Gandalf," he said softly in greeting, though his eyes were a little sad. Gandalf couldn't help his heart sink at the thought of his dear friend forever looking upon him like that because of Kathryn's death.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf said with a small smile, trying to be cheery and polite despite the heavy tension that hung between them. "I did not expect to see you here,"

"The kind Lord Elrond has offered us help, Gandalf," Bard said as he straightened himself up to look at the wizard. "He is providing food and craftsmen, two things that we are badly in need of,"

"Well… thank you Elrond," Gandalf said, not having to force his smile this time as he looked at Elrond gratefully. "We truly do appreciate this,"

"You'll need all the help you can get," Elrond said, and the very small beginnings of a smile twitched at his lips sadly, before he turned back to the papers on the table.

Light shone through his eyelids, and Smaug groaned as he was roused from unconsciousness. His mind felt heavy and lethargic, as if a fog had rolled across his brain, preventing any quick thought. He slowly opened his eyes, the fading light of the sun not enough to hurt his eyes, though he was dazzled by the light briefly. He breathed deeply as he slowly became more aware of his surroundings, namely how uncomfortable he was seeing as his gigantic bulk was squashed into the cave that could barely contain him. His sides were pressed against the walls of the cave, his tail tucked tightly against him. Looking at the opening leading to the tunnel and cave entrance, Smaug knew he wasn't going to be getting out in that way, and if he was correct – judging by the light weight of the ceiling upon his back – there was only a few feet of rock and earth above him, meaning that when he got out of here, he would have to break the cave. He felt a little restless, his energy coming back to him from his transformation at last. But at least he was in his proper skin once again, which he relished as he shifted in his place, trying to get comfortable as he rubbed his iron hard scales against the wall of the cave. He sighed as he closed his eyes, not sleeping, but merely dozing as he enjoyed the moment of feeling in his proper body once more, undisturbed, with his most precious treasure by his side. She must have fallen asleep during the day, and Smaug curled his tail in order to wrap her up in his coils so that he could feel her flesh against –

Smaug's eyes snapped open when he felt nothing but empty space. Shifting his head so that one eye could look down onto the spot where he had left her, he noticed that she had vanished. Panic shot through him at such a ferocious rate he felt his heart stop momentarily as his senses worked to try and locate her. But he couldn't hear her breathing, he couldn't feel her in the cave, couldn't see her, and her scent was old. She had left, perhaps a few hours ago. She had left him in his sleep and had not returned.

The familiarity of the situation was not lost on him. Smaug felt his insides burn with hurt and he bared his teeth in outrage. Had she left him just like before? But then his nose twitched as he picked up another scent in the cave… the smell of elf… and then flickering images came to him, of Kathryn and the elf, Faervel, in the cave, fighting him. It was only fragments, mere images of what was previously a black gap in his memory from where the transformation had gotten stuck. It hadn't even entered Smaug's mind hours earlier when he was speaking with Kathryn that the elf might be with her, he had been too focused on simply being in the moment with her. But there was no doubt about it now, the elf had been here and his scent was as old as Kathryn's, meaning that they had left together. He had taken her away.

Smaug snarled as his rage consumed him, burning within him like the fires he created, he pushed up with his legs, driving his back up into the ceiling of the cave and easily broke through it and into the air above in a fountain of dirt and rocks. He erupted from the earth like a demon as his eyes were blazing in his head, flocks of birds flying from the treetops around him as he snarled and raged like a rabid animal. Only one thing was on his mind: revenge. No matter what Kathryn thought now, Smaug was going to make that elf wish he had never been born onto this world, he was going to tear him apart so badly that not even his family would be able to put him back together to recognise him!

He looked out over the small wood to where the walls of Vathvael stood proud and white glistening with silver as the sun disappeared and the moon took its place in the sky. Smaug growled deep in his throat, imagining those spires of the castle on fire, crumbling beneath his claws, relishing the feel of the dead and the dying of those pompous and hateful humans!

But instead of taking wing and storming the castle from the air, Smaug sunk low as he went between the trees, trying to be less noticeable as he slunk through the darkness towards his prey. The humans were too ignorant and inferior in order to notice his colossal shape, and Smaug had to employ all of his stealthy abilities in order to make his passing quite so as to remain undetected. For all of Vathvael's splendour and all of the its praise, not one guard looked Smaug's way, not one of them knew he was there. Smaug halted his progress when he was three hundred yards away from the wall, the castle looming above as he searched the twinkling lights in the windows until he found… there! He could tell by the balcony and angle of the wall and where it dropped onto the section of the castle grounds below, he had found the balcony to Kathryn's rooms. It would be so easy, to merely jump up and latch onto the side of the castle and smash his hand through the wall and grab Kathryn. But, he had to think of what if she wasn't there… it was obvious that the elf had brought her here, but would that disgusting man of a king put her in the dungeons? Or somewhere else?

Smaug tugged on the bond, wanting to see if she was still awake and hopefully be able to pinpoint her location by her response.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of energy trickle into him, filling him up until he thought he would burst. Every scale and spike stood on end, as if with the tug upon the bond, Smaug had pulled a chain that had unleashed something into his soul. Every joint locked as he felt electricity snake through his body, hurting him, though nothing to the degree of what he had experienced before. He was filled with fear momentarily that he might be stuck in that half form again, as he felt the electrical pulses that swirled through him to cause his muscles to spasm and his heart to race. He closed his eyes tightly shut against such an uncomfortable pain, and clamped his jaw shut and dared not even breathe in order to stop himself from making any noise that could give away his presence. But as he did this, he saw spots dance across his vision behind his eyelids, and felt the energy swell until he thought he would explode…

When he next opened his eyes, he was lower than he was before, and looking down warily, he was mortified to find that he was back in his human form. Smaug sighed as he wobbled for a moment, getting his bearings as he reacquainted himself with his human form and felt a little woozy, as if the energy that had filled him a moment ago had drained him, leaving him exhausted. He was completely furious that he was forced into this degrading state not hours after he had just got his rightful form back. Did he do this? He remembered slightly how Kathryn had saved him from the transformation by joining their magic into one steady stream that flowed between them, had he accidentally tugged on that when he had meant to call Kathryn through the bond?

How this had happened he did not know entirely, but would try to understand later. For now, whilst he was stuck in this form, he might as well use it to the best of his advantage. At least in this form he could storm the walls and infiltrate the castle without being so conspicuous.

His first thing to do was to find clothes, seeing as his human form was naked and he knew how he was more likely to be spotted by humans seeing as they didn't like nakedness. In fact, it was rather easy to find both clothes and his means of getting into the castle to find Kathryn. He found an entrance onto the castle walls, and quickly ambushed two guards on patrol. It was almost ridiculously easy to overpower them with his brute strength and snap their necks. Tossing one body over the wall, he stripped the other of his clothes and armour before dropping it over the side to join his companion in death. Then, it had simply been a matter of blending in with his surroundings, something that Smaug was naturally a master of despite his unusual size by human standards, due to his hunters instincts and predatory nature. He made his way through the castle, but oddly found himself not going to Kathryn's chambers like he had originally planned. Instead, he changed course and made his way to a very familiar room.

He entered without announcing himself, and saw Andraya sitting on her own in an armchair, working over a parchment with a quill in her hand. She seemed to be concentrating and was lost in her work for she didn't notice Smaug's entrance until the door closed behind him. She looked up at him, her eyes becoming guarded and defensive, almost aggressive, until Smaug reached up to lift his helmet from his head, revealing his face. Andraya blinked in surprise as she gawked at him.

"Smaug?" she whispered, frowning as she stood. "What happened? Where have you been? I heard that the King has a bounty on your head since you escaped custody,"

"If he wishes to take me prisoner, I'd like to see him try," Smaug growled quietly.

"What happened?"

Instead of answering, Smaug merely took off one gauntlet, and raised his hand for her to see. He then closed his eyes as he pulled on the stream of magic that flowed into him and gathered the electrical ball into the flesh of his hand. He instantly felt most of his energy drain from him, but his iron will forced him to remain standing, refusing to show any form of weakness to this harpy of a woman. He allowed the electrical charge to seize his flesh and he gritted his teeth against the pain, forcing himself to watch as before his eyes, his palm became rough, his fingers shifting to different positions, his knuckled becoming wider and stronger, his nails growing into talons and red scales burst through his skin. Smaug felt his knees threaten to buckle as he watched his hand morph into a full dragon claw, merely on a smaller scale. But he could only hold it for a few minutes, as he released the magic, and allowed his hand to return to human form. As he lowered his limb with deliberate slowness, he turned his head to look back at Andraya, who's ice blue eyes were wide and fixed upon his hand, all colour draining from her face as realisation came to her.

"What… h-how?! W-what…?!" Andraya stammered, and Smaug couldn't help but smirk.

"It would appear, even to an imbecile, that I have acquired the ability to transform," he said smoothly.

"What?!" Andraya's eyes went wide, and Smaug could practically taste her fear.

"You did not change me back to my true form, Andraya… myself and Kathryn did," the human-dragon gloated as his eyes sparkled with merriment at her obvious distress. "So now, our deal is over,"

"But everything I've done –"

"The specific requirements of the deal were for YOU to transform me back. Kathryn, and natural circumstances, have beaten you to it,"

"But what does this mean for us?"

"'Us'?" Smaug snorted. "You seem to be under the impression, witch, that there was anything to begin with. You did not fulfil your end of the bargain; therefore, our agreement is off,"

"No… you can't do this!"

"Do not presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, human," Smaug growled at her dangerously.

"We had a deal!" she shrieked, her eyes utterly furious as she stormed towards him.

"Well, the deal just expired…"

"So why not kill me now?! Why did you come back to tell me? Was it manners or a sense of courtesy?"

"Well, for what you have done, you have served me well," he sneered. "So let it not be said that I don't repay my debts,"

"We're not finished Smaug!"

"Oh, I believe we are," Smaug growled out lowly as he chuckled darkly whilst turning his back on the witch to leave for good. "Should I ever see either you or your daughter, Andraya, I will not hesitate to end your life for the wretched and foul thing that you are,"

"You can't do this!" she screeched coming after him as if to strike him or to force him to stay.

"I am Smaug." He hissed, whirling around to face her, his teeth bared, his eyes glowing unnaturally as his rage swelled within him. Andraya stopped dead in her tracks, eyes going wide as she shrank away from him instinctively, and in her fear, his snarl turned into a sneer and then a smirk as he straightened to regard her coldly. "I am fire and death incarnate. And you would do well to remember that…"

Smaug trailed off as he felt something along the bond that joined him and Kathryn. At first he thought it was a rush of energy, one that would change him back to his original form, but it wasn't. He felt the shift of magic, around him draining down the bond towards Kathryn, and he felt a sense of dread emanating from her, one that he remembered well from all the times he had felt her in the same situation in the Mountain.

A vision. Kathryn was experiencing a vision, and she was distressed by it.

Without another word, Smaug left Andraya's rooms, grabbed the guard's helmet and placed it over his head as he made his way towards Kathryn's chambers.

Author's Note: Sorry that this Chapter is late, but I've been really busy, final exams are here so over the next week I'm going to be really busy, but after that I only have one written assignment and then I'm done for this year and I'm on summer break! Yay! :D

So I got a lot of Faervel hate from the last chapter, LOL! But as I said to people, I hope that he starts to redeem himself, and his actions in this chapter reflect that first step. But other then that, thank you to everyone who reviewed, your comments and support mean the world to me! I really really love you all and read every comment, so for those who I couldn't message back either to being a guest or you don't allow PM messages, just know that I still read and adore your comments, so here's my thank you to you!

So please tell me what you thought of the chapter, a little short, but hopefully you still enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of: Kathryn before the King? Faervel covering for Kathryn? We also got a look at the OC who won the competition, so big thank you to Faerydame for that. Also, what do you think of seeing Gandalf again? Smaug's reaction to Kathryn's disappearance? Him turning back to human form (again)? Him breaking off the deal with Andraya? All reviews welcome with open arms!

Until next time my wonderful readers! xXx