Well, my friends, I have news: we have now reached the FINAL chapter of this, "Home Is Where the Heart Is Part II"! Unbelievable, isn't it? I can hardly believe it myself. It's apparently been 3 years in the making. That's what happens when you suddenly add 2-3 more stories to your fanfiction workload xD
So I hope you enjoy this last thrill of a ride in "Desolation of Smaug" as the company takes on Smaug in the forges! :D
Have fun! :)
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Soon thereafter, a plan was devised by the company and they were ready to take action. They were going to split up into four separate groups. The first was Thorin, Airaním, Bilbo and Balin. The second was Dori, Ori and Bombur. The third was Dwalin and Nori and the fourth was Gloin and Bifur. They thought that splitting up would help confuse the dragon when they came upon him and would distract him, as well as giving the others the chance to escape to the forges, where the rest of their plan would be carried out. They went their separate ways and the rest of the company waited for Thorin's group to go first.
When they were ready, Thorin said to other three with him, "This way!" and they ran outside back into the open corridor. Aira was right behind him with Bilbo and Balin on her tail. Within seconds, they could hear the rumbling of the dragon's movements nearby.
"Flee…flee! Run for your lives!" Smaug's voice taunted menacingly as he suddenly came into view before them. The four of them stopped in their tracks as he then hissed, "There is nowhere to hide."
"Behind you, worm!" cried out Dori on another walkway behind him. That got the dragon's attention and the beast immediately went for them, leaving Thorin, Aira, Bilbo and Balin alone.
"Durin protect them all," Aira prayed in her mind just before they kept on running into another closed off hallway where the dragon couldn't get to them.
"Do you think they'll be all right?" Aira asked once they got away, feeling a little worried for her friends.
"Don't you worry, lass," Balin replied. "They are all brave and hardy Dwarves. They know what they're getting into. They'll be all right."
"Now is not the time for fear, Aira," said Thorin as he approached her. "Now is the time for all of us to have courage and be brave in the face of danger."
"I am being brave, Father," she said back. "I simply want to be sure that all of us are going to get out of this alive."
Just then, they heard a thundering roar from the dragon just outside, which was never a good sign.
"Either he's angry or he's breathing fire," Bilbo pointed out.
"I certainly hope it's not the latter," Aira commented.
"Come on, we have to go," Balin urged them as Thorin started running again.
Both the Hobbit and the young Dwarf-woman obeyed. Bilbo placed a hand on Aira's back and gently pushed her in front of him as they began to run themselves, keeping her in a safe place between him and the other two Dwarves in front of her. They kept going through the small passageway until they came back to the bridge in the same large corridor they had previously been in.
Just then, they heard the eerie voice of Smaug above them taunt them from above, "You can't hide from me."
Before they could register that the dragon was in the same area of the mountain as they were, the dragon's tail was thrust down onto the bridge and smashed where it hit, creating a gap and separating Thorin and Balin from Aira and Bilbo. The impact of the tail sent all four of them to the ground with dust and stone flying all around them.
Bilbo quickly helped Aira back up as they heard Thorin and Balin crying out for them on the other side.
"Keep going!" Aira shouted, knowing that it was important that they make it to the forges.
"Not without you!" Thorin yelled back.
Suddenly, they heard a very loud growl and, when they looked up, they saw Smaug was coming down towards them and his long neck slithered its way down just above the gap. His glowing yellow eyes looked right at Bilbo and Aira.
"Go! Now!" Aira cried.
Balin gave a tug on Thorin's arm. "Come on, laddie," he told him, "we'll go find a way to get them across. They can handle themselves."
"Against a dragon?" Thorin questioned with worry.
"Bilbo has already done so. I'm sure Aira can do the same," Balin answered. "Now, let's go find something to bridge that gap and get that dragon away from them."
From the other side, Aira and Bilbo saw Thorin and Balin go the opposite direction and Aira felt satisfied, thinking they had listened to her. Then, despite how shaky and fearful she felt inside, she steeled herself, looked the dragon straight in the eye and drew her sword.
"Stay behind me," she ordered Bilbo as she raised her sword in defense.
"Ahh, what a quaint display:" said Smaug coolly upon seeing her, "a little she-Dwarf who thinks she can face me."
"I am not afraid of you," she stated as boldly as she could, which was sort of the truth. She was trying to be brave and not show her fear, but in reality, she was terrified. All her life, she had heard stories and knew of this fearsome beast that took the home of both her blood father and her adoptive father and now she was face to face with the giant monster. She could feel his hot breath fanning her face as he slowly got nearer, which strangely sent chills down her back.
In reply, Smaug hissed at her, "You should be, little Dwarf. Not even the bravest warriors in this mountain stood a chance against me."
Defying all thoughts in her head that were telling her to run or tremble in her boots, Airaním twirled her sword in her hand and declared, "Well, I am unlike any of those warriors!"
Smaug merely chuckled at her, amused at her attempted bravery.
While he did so, Aira whispered quickly to Bilbo out of the corner of her mouth, "Bilbo, I need you to pick up one of those large stones next to you. Very soon, Smaug is going to prepare to breathe fire. On my signal, I want you to throw that stone down his throat."
Bilbo gave a small discreet nod and then knelt down slowly, picked up one of the large stones with both hands and stood back up. "What are you thinking will happen?" he asked quietly while still keeping his eye on the dragon.
"I'm hoping the stone will get lodged inside his throat," she explained in a hushed voice, "and that Smaug will double over. When he does, we'll use the back of his neck to get ourselves across to the other side."
Having taken no notice of their secret conversation, Smaug then said to her, "If you think are much better than other Dwarves I have destroyed, how is it that you are now at my mercy and I am not at yours?"
"I never said I was at your mercy…you slothful, scaly parasite!" Aira taunted him.
That made Smaug angry and a rumbling growl sounded from his throat. His head rose up, taking a deep inhale, and his chest began to light up, showing that he was about ready to breathe fire. Now was their chance.
"Now!" Aira shouted.
As hard as he could and with a loud cry, Bilbo launched the large rock up into the air and it hit its intended target, right into Smaug's throat. Just as they had hoped, it got caught about halfway down and the dragon started gagging. His head doubled over as he tried to cough the stone out, just enough so that the hump of his neck was right where they needed it: in the gap of the bridge.
"Go, Bilbo! Go!" Aira urged. Bilbo was about ready to protest, but she was already pushing him ahead of her, so he saw no point in it. He ran quickly towards the dragon, jumped up on the hump of his neck and proceeded to leap over to the other side of the bridge.
"Come on, Aira!" Bilbo cried out to her after he landed.
She sheathed her sword and took off towards Bilbo, the sounds of Smaug's gagging still echoing off the walls and ringing in her ears. However, as she hopped up onto his neck to jump across, Smaug's head lifted up and the speed at which he did flipped her up into the air and caused her to scream in distress as she plummeted back down.
"Aira!" Bilbo shouted in alarm. He positioned himself accordingly, keeping his eye on her falling body, and got himself ready to catch her when she landed. A couple seconds later, she was right upon him and crashed hard into him, sending them both down onto the hard ground and they both cried out and grunted in pain.
Bilbo sat up as best he could and asked Aira, "Airaním, are you all right?"
She lifted her head, still slightly dazed from the crash, and answered, "Aye, I'm all right." But then, right behind them, they heard a loud hack followed by a frustrated growl from the dragon. When they both turned around, they were met by Smaug's fiery, angry gaze.
"Run!" Aira cried, jumping up and pulling Bilbo up with her effortlessly, as if he weighed nothing. They bolted through the doorway ahead of them and almost ran straight into Thorin and Balin, who stopped them as they came through. They both looked surprised to see them.
"Are you both all right? How did you get across?" Thorin asked.
"We'll explain later. Now, run!" Aira replied in a hurry and pushing past Thorin's arm that held her back, as she could hear the dragon's pounding footsteps coming and the loud inhale of him about to breathe fire again.
The other three followed suit and, just as they did so, they heard Smaug roar and a wave of fire came scorching through the doorway and the dragon came crashing through it, destroying the entire entryway to follow them, but the three Dwarves and the Hobbit were already ahead of him and had rounded a corner.
There was a doorway up ahead on the left and Balin exclaimed, "This way! It's this way! Come on!"
Aira and Bilbo stopped to follow Balin but realized that Thorin had kept going. Aira wondered how he didn't even know the way around his own mountain. Bilbo called after him and Thorin realized his error. He started to go back, but then stopped as rumbling footsteps were approaching. Sure enough, there was Smaug, right on their tail.
"Follow Balin!" Thorin ordered Bilbo and Aira, seeing as how he wasn't going to be able to get to the entryway in time. He could already see the dragon's chest lighting up with fire.
"Father, no!" Aira cried, but Bilbo grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the entryway just as Smaug's dragon-fire sped through the hall. Bilbo held Aira close, shielding her from the heat. Once it died down and there was only smoke left, they saw Smaug speedily crawling by in the direction that Thorin had been, roaring loudly. Surely that meant that Thorin was still out there and Smaug was going for him.
Aira burst from Bilbo's arms and went outside the doorway. She couldn't see Thorin but Smaug was heading down what looked like a chasm just up ahead and there was a pulley system going down. That had to be Thorin, she thought. She had to get to him somehow. The dragon's tail was about to pass right by her and an idea popped into her head…a very reckless and possibly suicidal idea.
"I must be out of my mind…!" she whispered out loud.
Then, mustering her courage, she sprinted forward and leapt up onto the end of Smaug's tail. Once she landed, she wrapped her arms around the tail and held on as hard as she could. She could hear Bilbo and Balin shouting her name in panic, but it was already too late. The dragon was already fully going down into the chasm and Aira was being violently swung back and forth as he kept trying to follow Thorin down, whom she briefly saw below standing on a wooden dumbwaiter attached to the pulley rope; one of a few she saw hanging around the gorge. Aira was sure she was going to get whiplash from all the jerking and swinging if she wasn't completely thrown off first.
Just then, she heard Dwalin shout Thorin's name followed by hers. She didn't see him, but she knew that he was nearby and saw them going down. So she yelled as loud as she could, "Dwalin, help!"
A few more seconds of thrashing and holding on for dear life passed by until suddenly, Smaug stopped, sticking his claws into the walls for support. Aira then noticed that the pulley rope next to her that Thorin was on was beginning to move in the other direction; it was moving upwards. As she saw him coming up towards her, whizzing past Smaug's eye, she knew she had to get to him. Timing it just right, she let go of the dragon's tail and fell a few feet down until she was able to catch onto the pulley rope that was controlling Thorin's dumbwaiter and she slid down onto it. Her sudden appearance startled Thorin.
"Airaním!" he gasped. "What are you doing?"
"In all honesty…I really don't know," she responded, trying to keep her balance.
Thorin pulled her up against him with one arm and cried, "Hold on!"
However, at that precise moment, Smaug had jumped up underneath them and caught the end of the rope in his teeth, halting their ascent. They could feel the strain in the rope from Smaug pulling down on it and knew that it wouldn't last much longer.
"Jump over to the next pulley," Thorin commanded Aira, pointing to a nearby dumbwaiter. She didn't even get one word of protest out before he said in a louder and more urgent voice, "Do it now!"
Doing as he ordered, Aira quickly leapt across to the nearest pulley and landed with only one foot on the dumbwaiter. But she was quick with her hands and grabbed onto the tethers and hoisted herself right up, repositioning her foot so she could get the other one up and get a good foothold. Just as she flipped around to look at Thorin, the entire pulley system lost its strength from Smaug's tugging and went crashing down, taking Thorin with it.
"No!" Aira shouted.
But, luckily for Thorin, he actually managed to land safely…right onto the snout of the dragon below him.
Seeing Thorin actually standing on Smaug's nose, looking right down almost into the belly of the beast, made Aira's entire body freeze and feel overcome with spine-rattling chills. He couldn't have gotten any closer than that; he was just about literally face to face with the terrible beast that had taken his home and essentially ruined his life and whom he was now going up against to reclaim what was rightfully his. He was staring right down his throat, which was now glowing bright yellow. Aira was unsure if Thorin would be able to jump to her pulley from where he was. She was just right out of reach.
"Maybe if I try shifting my weight back and forth, I can swing it closer to him," she thought to herself.
So she did exactly that: she started shifting back and forth on her dumbwaiter, causing it to start swinging. Then she took notice that Smaug was beginning to open his mouth and was getting ready to snatch Thorin up.
"Father, jump!" she shouted to him.
With a loud cry, Thorin took a great leap, just as Smaug snapped his mouth up towards him, and managed to grab a hold of the end of the pulley rope at the bottom of the dumbwaiter. It was good timing because as Smaug was coming back up for another try, the remainders of the pulley system that had broken before came smashing down into his face and drove him a little further. As that happened, the dumbwaiter that Aira stood on started moving up fast.
Very carefully, Aira stooped down and held a hand down to Thorin underneath where she stood. Thorin grabbed her hand and she managed to pull him up enough that he could grab the chain that held the dumbwaiter to the tethers and he wrapped an arm around it, clinging to it tightly.
"Thorin! Aira!" they then heard the voice of Nori shout to them from up above, which signaled to them that they were close to the others.
There was a boisterous roar below them and the whole tunnel suddenly lit up as a wave of dragon fire began to soar up towards them. Just as Thorin and Aira thought they were going to be engulfed in the flames, they caught sight of Nori right above them and knew it was time to dismount. Thorin caught hold of Nori's hand, which had been extended out, and Aira practically threw herself off the dumbwaiter, tumbling and rolling onto the stone ground. Right as she stopped, Thorin wrapped his arms around her body, scooped her up and set her on her feet, urging her to run by pulling her arm as he did so.
"Go! Go!" he cried as they followed Nori between two pillars and entered into a large room, which was the forges of Erebor.
In front of them were many huge, circular, stone furnaces and all along the ceiling were systems of chains and winches, pulleys and cranes with wooden carts attached to them. All across the floor was dust, dirt and remains of tools that had once been in use many years before.
"The plan's not going to work," Dwalin informed Thorin as they came in. "These furnaces are stone cold."
"He's right. With no fire hot enough to set them ablaze…," Balin added, trailing off at the end of his statement to just shake his head in defeat.
Thorin's head turned back in the direction of where he had left the dragon, hearing his echoing growl in the chasm behind him at that moment.
"Have we not?" he asked out loud as he then began walking towards the pillars.
"Oh dear…!" said Aira, turning to Bilbo next to her. "That doesn't sound good."
"I did not look to see you so easily outwitted!" they then heard Thorin taunt at the dragon, who was now making his way up the chasm. The rest of the company took a cautious step back as they could see Smaug's claws come into view on the opposite side of the gap, followed by the rest of his body.
Thorin continued goading, "You have grown slow…and fat in your dotage! Slug!"
At that moment, Smaug turned his head and growled at Thorin, his eyes blazing with fury, and he jumped over to the side of the chasm closest to them, readying his fire once again.
Thorin turned to the others, with a seemingly satisfied grin on his face, and told them, "Take cover." Taking his own advice, he threw his back up against the pillar he was standing in front of him and the rest of them followed his example, jumping in front of the remaining pillars and facing towards the forges as Smaug breathed fire right into the room and making it overwhelmingly hot.
However, Thorin's trick seemed to work. Just as the fire subsided, the furnaces suddenly burst into life as fire spouted from the vents in the bottom and big billows of black smoke erupted from within. They were working again and the company gave shouts of triumph before running towards the furnaces as Smaug began throwing himself into the giant pillars, trying to break in.
Thorin then began barking orders. "Bombur! Get those billows working! Go!" he said to Bombur, who then jumped onto a giant chain that controlled the large billows that fueled the fires, using his enormous weight to pull it.
"Bilbo!" he then called out. The Hobbit, hearing his name, went right up to him and was ready to do what Thorin wanted him to do. Thorin gestured up to one of the walls nearby. "Up there! On my mark, pull that lever," he told him.
Then he looked to Aira and said to her, "Go with him, Aira."
"Aye," she responded right away. She went to follow Bilbo, but then stopped and grabbed Thorin's arm before he could walk away. She looked him straight in the eye, seeing as how it could be the last time she'd ever say the words, and said, "I love you, Father."
He reached out and traced her cheek as he replied, "I love you, too, Airaním. Now, go."
With a heavy heart yet bold determination, Aira let go of her father's arm and bolted after Bilbo.
Smaug's continuous thrashing into the pillars was weakening them and the Dwarves could tell that their time was now limited before the dragon would be upon them.
"Balin, can you still mix a flash flame?" Thorin then asked his older friend.
"Aye, it will only take a jiffy," he answered. He called for Dori and Ori to follow him to a back storage room.
"We don't have a jiffy…," Dwalin mumbled skeptically, observing how Smaug was just about to break the pillars down.
Sure enough, Smaug gave one final push and the pillars came crashing down. The ground trembled as the dragon came stomping in and the sounds of his snarls and growls echoed through the mostly empty room.
Up on a higher level, Bilbo and Aira were running up a set of stone stairs which led up to the lever Thorin wanted them to man. A moment prior, they had to stop because, as Smaug had come crashing into the room, the stairs had started shaking and they felt unsteady and unable to keep going up. When the trembling had ceased, they resumed their running. On either side of the platform were multiple giant stone heads of Dwarf warriors carved with their mouths wide open, which made them both wonder what they were for.
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Bilbo asked as they reached the top.
"I wish I could say," Aira answered. "Seeing as how I have never been here, I don't really know how anything in here works, not to mention none of this has been in use for many years. But Father has faith that everything will still function properly, so we should, too."
From where they stood, they had a good viewpoint of the entirety of the forges. They could see Smaug creeping around in between the furnaces, looking for the rest of the Dwarves.
Feeling a tremor in her soul, Aira couldn't help but admit, "I'm glad that Kili isn't here. There is no possible way he could've survived this."
"He's better off where he is. Forgive me, but it was a good decision to leave him behind," Bilbo told her. "He was too weak as it was and this ordeal would have killed him for certain."
Aira looked back up at the lever and realized that it was too high for both of them, since they were both pretty short in stature. Neither of them would be able to reach it on their own, so Aira came up with a plan.
She told Bilbo, "When my father gives the signal, I'll give you a boost up to the lever. Put a little jump into it so it makes it easier."
With a nod, Bilbo replied, "I can do that."
At that moment, they saw Smaug come around a corner ahead of them and then Thorin emerged on the ground below. The dragon just then behaved as though he had just heard Thorin appear; he stopped in his tracks and his gaze slowly turned in the direction of the Dwarf King, a look of anger and rage on his face.
"Now!" they heard Thorin shout.
"Go!" said Aira to Bilbo, dropping to a crouch and cupping her hands in front of her.
Bilbo reacted right away. He put one foot in Aira's hands and put a little jump into it, which helped his weight shift and made it easier for Aira to push him upward. Bilbo extended his arms above his head and grabbed hold of the lever. Then, with Aira tugging on him with her arms around his waist, the two of them pulled the lever down. Just as they did, water suddenly burst forth from the mouths of the stone Dwarven heads and overran Smaug with its waves, extinguishing the fire he was about to breathe and bringing about steam instead. Smaug screeched in anger and pain and started thrashing his wings about around him, sending himself crashing into one of the furnaces behind him.
Aira and Bilbo released the lever and surveyed the scene in front of them. They noticed that one of the vaults of water started pushing a giant wheel, which then in turn caused a few cogs and gears to turn and then the entire cart system on the ceiling began to move.
"It's all water powered!" Bilbo observed out loud.
Another thing that Aira noticed was that she could see the openings at the tops of the furnaces. Inside, she saw that they were filled with hardened gold which was beginning to melt from the heat beneath them.
Just then she saw movement from two of the carts above them. When she turned her attention to it, she realized that it was Bifur and Gloin hiding inside them and a grin crossed her face.
"Everything's going according to plan," she thought, pleased at what she saw.
Her and Bilbo's attention was then diverted as the dragon then emerged from behind the furnaces again, making his way towards Thorin. However, the Dwarf King wasn't budging from where he stood.
"What is he doing?" Aira asked out loud with worry.
"You said it yourself, Aira:" said Bilbo, "Thorin has faith that everything will function properly, and that includes the plan. We now need to have faith that he knows what he's doing."
As Smaug was getting closer to Thorin, he was then bombarded by small blue explosions right in his face. Dori and Ori were throwing vials of the flash flame they had concocted with Balin to help distract the dragon and keep him off guard. While they were doing that, up above, Gloin thrust his sword down over the edge of his cart and chopped a rope below him, severing it, and sending several cars full of huge gold chunks falling down onto Smaug's back and trapping him. Because he started jerking and twisting, the ropes tangled themselves around Smaug's body and he was trying in vain to get out of them. At one point, his head jerked back and knocked the carts that Bifur and Gloin were in down to the ground, but fortunately, neither Dwarf was harmed.
During this time, Thorin took the chance, while Smaug was distracted, and pulled a large chain nearby, which released the molten gold from the furnaces. The now liquid metal came flooding out down metal tubes and into a series of small channels carved into the floor, which converged together at a certain point into a larger channel that led outside the forges.
However, Smaug's whipping and thrashing about was sending him all over the forges, trying to escape from his bindings, and one of the carts attached to it was sent flying towards Bilbo and Aira on the upper platform. They were able to duck in time and the cart collided with the wall behind them. But a moment later, Smaug ended up throwing his enormous tail right into the wall beneath them, causing the platform to shake and the base to crack and crumble.
Unfortunately, Aira was too close to the edge when Smaug hit the wall, so when it trembled, it caused her to lose her footing and she slipped over the edge, screaming out. Bilbo saw her falling and moved faster than Aira had ever seen, diving forward to his stomach and catching her hand before he could lose her. Though, as she was dangling from the edge, she could hear the wall breaking and falling apart. Sooner or later, the platform would go crashing to the ground with them on it.
"Bilbo, let me go!" she cried up to her friend.
"No, I won't let you go!" he protested.
She said back, "The base is falling apart; this platform will go down and us with it. There's no time for you to pull me back up. I'll be all right. Let me go now!"
Bilbo didn't like doing it, but reluctantly, he released Aira's hand and let her fall. For a few seconds, she fell until she hit the ground hard, her legs buckled beneath her and she landed on her back. Even though her back throbbed from the landing, Aira got right up and ran a few yards away from the wall by the largest floor channel, anticipating how far its remains would fall once the base gave out.
Just then, something flew right past her atop the molten gold in the floor channel. She realized that it was Thorin floating on top of metal object, heading down the channel towards the exit.
"Mahal be with you, Father!" she shouted to him.
He turned over his shoulder and cried back in reply, "Be careful, Aira!"
A giant crack sounding in the air brought Aira's attention back to the shattering wall and her eyes went straight to where Bilbo stood. He was struggling to keep his footing and his balance. Her heart then about stopped beating as she watched the floor beneath him slide down the crumbling wall.
"Jump, Bilbo!" she cried.
Giving heed to Aira's words, Bilbo took a leap from the platform just as it was about to hit the ground and went flying towards Aira. She braced herself for impact and caught Bilbo in her arms before they both collapsed to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Aira. Are you all right?" he asked her.
"I'm fine. Consider us even now," she answered, remembering how she had landed on him earlier.
"Keep going, Bilbo! Run!" they heard Thorin's voice shout from ahead of them.
When they both looked up, they saw that Smaug was looking straight at them and was coming towards them, now seeming to have broken free of the ropes. Both Bilbo and Aira got up and ran for a ramp up ahead of them that went down towards the forge's exit and led to the Gallery of the Kings, which was a vast, empty hall full of giant tapestries depicting past rulers of Erebor. They slid down the ramp on their backs, hearing the dragon's howling behind them. Once they reached the bottom, they got back up and started running again. They hadn't gotten very far when they heard a thunderous boom and saw Smaug bursting through the stone wall, his mighty roar echoing through the hall. The huge tapestry that once hung where he had broken through came tumbling down through the air and Bilbo pulled Aira down to the ground, ducking and bracing for its impact.
"You think you could deceive me, barrel rider? You have come from Laketown." said Smaug, spotting Bilbo as he and Aira peeked out from underneath the cloth. Then he gasped with realization. "This…is some sordid scheme hatched between these filthy Dwarves and those miserable, tub trading Lake-men! Those sniveling cowards…with their longbows and black arrows! Perhaps it is time I pay them a visit!" The dragon then turned his head and started heading through the pillars to the right to the neighboring hallway, which led the exit of the mountain.
"Oh no…!" Bilbo whispered.
"Kili…!" Aira gasped, her mind wandering to her One who was still in Laketown.
They both came out from underneath the tapestry and Bilbo called out boldly, "This isn't their fault! Wait! You cannot go to Laketown!"
Smaug stopped for a moment and then turned his neck, slithering his head down to their level. "You care about them, do you?" he asked them. Then a hint of an evil grin crept upon his scaly mouth and he stated maliciously before turning back his intended direction, "Good…then you can watch them die!"
"No!" Aira shouted and she tried running towards the dragon to stop him, but Bilbo grabbed her around the waist and held her back. Even though she tried resisting briefly, she knew why she was being stopped and tears fell down her face. There was no way she could stop Smaug. He would surely kill her.
He was going to go to Laketown and her friends as well as her One would be killed…and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Just then, they heard the voice of Thorin shout out, "Here! You witless worm!"
Both Aira and Bilbo exchanged surprised glances and then made their way towards the next hallway, listening to the conversation taking place between Thorin and Smaug.
"You…!" Smaug sneered.
"I am taking back what you stole!" Thorin declared.
When Bilbo and Aira came to the other side, they kept themselves hidden behind a pillar but they still could see what was going on. Thorin was at the opposite end of the hall, standing upon some stone sculpture of some kind. Neither of them knew what was going on; this hadn't been mentioned in Thorin's plan, so the two of them watched in both fear and wonder as the scene before them kept unfolding.
Slowly crawling his way towards Thorin, Smaug jeered at him in response, "You will take nothing from me, Dwarf! I laid low your warriors of old. I instill terror in the hearts of Men. I am King Under the Mountain!"
"This is not your kingdom!" Thorin argued back as Smaug raised his head up in his direction. "These are Dwarf lands! This is Dwarf gold…and we will have our revenge!" He then shouted a command in Dwarvish and yanked hard on a chain above his head. There were other shouts heard and Bilbo and Aira assumed that the others were somewhere behind the large stone, doing the same thing that Thorin had done and obeying his orders. Within moments, the stone sculpture fell to pieces and revealed a giant statue of King Thror made completely out of gold. Thorin was now hanging in the air by the chain that he had pulled in the first place. Smaug, on the other hand, only stared in awe at the statue, apparently entranced by the brightness of the gold that he so coveted.
Suddenly, before their very eyes, the statue was losing its shape fast and began to melt, catching Smaug off guard. The visage of Thror was lost in seconds and it all became a giant, falling blob of gold that turned into a speeding wave. Smaug tried to back away from it, but speed was not his greatest ally in that moment. The molten gold soon overcame him and in seconds, he was lost beneath it and there was silence in the hall.
After waiting a moment to be sure, Aira whispered in shock, "We did it…! We defeated the dragon!"
She spoke too soon.
Right in that moment, the dragon came back up out of the molten gold, completely covered and roaring in pain as well as fury.
He then charged towards the front gate, yelling deafeningly for the Dwarves to all hear, "Revenge?! Revenge?! I WILL SHOW YOU REVENGE!" There was a loud crash and they all watched the dragon exit the mountain and he vanished.
"No! Oh no, no! Oh no! NO!" Aira kept saying as she bolted for the front gate without a second thought.
"Airaním, wait!" she heard Bilbo call out behind her.
"This isn't happening…this cannot be happening…this cannot be happening!" were the words that running through Aira's mind as she continued to run, going to the outside. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, she could feel it in her head. Her eyes looked up and finally, she just collapsed down onto a broken piece of a Dwarven statue in despair. The dragon had already taken flight and was well far away. About two seconds later, Bilbo was kneeling next to her.
"KILI!" she screamed in horror.
Just after that, they heard the eerie voice of Smaug speak, his words floating on the night air like an evil ghost, "I…am…fire…! I…am…death…!"
Bilbo stared out in terror and gasped, "What have we done…?"
"Kili…!" Aira whimpered, now crying in hopelessness. Then she looked up at Bilbo, tears spilling like waterfalls from her eyes. "He's going to die because of me, Bilbo. Our friends are going to die and we can't save them."
Then she let out a heart-wrenching sob and cried to the sky, "I've killed them…I've killed Kili!"
.
Part of me wants to believe that's a suspenseful ending, but...ya'll know how the story goes, so you know that Kili, Fili, Bofur and Oin are all gonna be okay! But Aira doesn't know that xD
I am so grateful for all of you that have stuck with me through this story, even during loooooong periods of time between each chapter. I know this one is significantly shorter than Part I...but that was cuz in the first one, I spent, like, 13 chapters in Rivendell :P I got a little crazy with that and ended up having half the story in one location. I didn't do that this time xD
Like last time, I want to thank ZabuzasGirl and mrsmiawallace88 for being my helpers throughout this whole writing process and for helping me with all my ideas as well as helping me in preparation for Part III! You guys are the absolute best and you keep me going with these stories!
Likewise, I want to thank all my other loyal readers for being the best in the world! I enjoy sharing my stories with you all and you keep me going, as well!
Keep your eyes peeled for "Home Is Where the Heart Is Part III", which will be following "Battle of the Five Armies", coming soon! I'll post an author's note here when it's put up so you won't miss it! :) It's gonna be even more intense than this was and we'll see Aira having to make some very difficult decisions that will strain her relationships with Thorin, Kili, even Bilbo and the others. It'll be a ride you don't wanna miss! :)
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Thanks so much, everyone! Stay tuned! :D