The next morning we began our ascent up the rocky slopes towards the mountain. About midday, however, it was no longer Kili slowing us down, but myself, as I struggled to keep pace with the others. My body was fatigued after the previous nights of interrupted and poor sleep.

"I'm sorry." I huffed as Bofur stopped and held out his hand, taking hold of my arm when I caught up to him.

"Not much longer." he exclaimed, helping me up another rise. "Look."

I lifted my head to see we had finally made it over the ridge and the massive entrance of Erebor was now visible in the distance, flanked on both sides by giant dwarves carven out of the stone itself.

"Wow." I whispered in awe. Bofur grinned, but I could see the apprehension behind his eyes and I knew he was anxious to see if the others were alright.

Before the mountain, however, lay the city of Dale on the westward edge of the valley, its sprawling ruin looking rather ominous in its quiet, abandoned solitude.

I glanced back behind me and could see the entirety of the lake below us, now many leagues away, smoke still rising from the burnt shell of the town.

Bofur squeezed my arm before continuing after the others. We made good time from there, as the terrain levelled out in the passage between the mountains. The remaining distance to Erebor itself, however, had been vastly deceptive. I noticed that once we began passing Dale on our left, our final destination was still quite far ahead - when it had previously looked much nearer to Dale due to the sheer colossal size of the grandiose mountain-side entrance.

We crossed the last field in reflective silence and I gaped at the age old statues, their monolithic stone figures the only dwarves left to protect the entrance to this once thriving metropolis. How such immense figures could have even been created was beyond me - they seemed to surpass the scope of any human architecture I had ever seen.

We approached and climbed the steps together. No words were spoken as we gawked for a moment at the immense fissure that spanned upwards from the gates themselves, where the dragon had burst clean through the thick mountain wall - It seemed even dwarves could do naught but marvel at the sheer power of Smaug the stupendous. How anyone could survive such a leviathan...

With that thought crystallizing sharp in their minds, my companions suddenly sprinted forward, catching me off guard. I followed them over the stone bridge, glancing down at the frozen river below before hurrying inside. The first thing I noticed was the cold, a stifling windless chill and oppressive silence.

"Hello!" Bofur shouted, his voice echoing throughout the grand yet relatively demolished entrance hall. "Bombur? Bifur? Anybody!?" he called desperately as we picked our way through the debris further in, but we heard no response. All was quiet.

"They might be in the lower levels." Kili said optimistically. The others nodded and, after some debate over what direction to go, Fili grew impatient and took the lead.

The immensity of Erebor became quickly overwhelming as we made our way through a few dark hallways and into a vast cavern. Despite the dank chill of the place I was soon sweating and huffing once more, silently cursing the dwarves' ceaseless stamina as we carried on. I tried to glance around at my surroundings, but soon we were sprinting down narrow stairwells with no siding and I found I needed to keep my eyes fixed on only the path and my own two feet lest I simply pitch over a ledge and plummet unceremoniously to my death. Several times I had to come to a near crawling pace as I ever so carefully crossed narrow free-floating archways that seemed miles above any other structure. The dwarves, however, seemed able to simply run across such bridges without so much as a worried glance over the edge.

"This place is a death-trap." I mumbled to Bofur as he was forced to come help me across a particularly damaged overpass.

My point was accentuated a moment later when, following a rather steep descent down a stairwell, I found that in my weary state I couldn't recover in time for the sharp turn at the bottom, and needed to grab hold of Bofur's sleeve to stop myself.

"Did Smaug have an obsessive aversion towards handrails?" I wondered aloud to Bofur as we stepped onto yet another unsafe catwalk. "It seems all the ones down here have gone missing."

Bofur chuckled, turning to face me. "All this was carved from the solid stone itself," he spread his hands to gesture about him. "...railings would be a lot of extra work. Besides," he added with a grin as he began backing away without looking, his feet carrying him in a straight and sure line even though he was mere inches from the edge. "We don't need 'em."

I smiled and shook my head a little in disbelief at his surefootedness, but breathed easier when he finished his little display and turned back forward to catch up to the others.

As we carried on, I began to idly wonder if someone was keeping track of our route. I, for one, would never be able to successfully retrace our footsteps, and, if suddenly abandoned, would be doomed to aimlessly wander the mountain paths forever. Erebor seemed an infinite maze, and I began to think that the odds were poor for finding our friends before we ourselves simply perished from starvation, lost to the deep.

But then, to the surprise of us all, a voice rang out.

"WAIT!" it shouted.

We all slowed, coming to the bottom of another stairway.

"WAIT!" it repeated and we could now hear footsteps padding quickly towards us.

"It's Bilbo! He's alive!" Bofur exclaimed happily.

Before any of the rest of us could make a remark, however, the hobbit's shouting continued.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Bilbo entered our corridor, he had his hands held out in a halting motion as he ran towards us. We gaped at him before quickly glancing at each other with uncertainty, this was certainly not the greeting we had expected.

"You need to leave." Bilbo ordered, coming to a stop in front of us and struggling to catch his breath. "We all need to leave." he urged, without so much as a happy exclamation to see us still alive.

"We only just got here." Bofur retorted, the smile falling from his face.

"I tried talking to him, but he won't listen." Bilbo carried on gravely, ignoring Bofur's remark.

"Wh...what do you mean, laddie?" Óin interjected.

"Thorin!" Bilbo expelled so loudly that it caused all of us to jump. "Thorin." he continued quickly, lowering his voice and fixing each of the dwarves with a serious look as he spoke. "Thorin, he's been down there for days. He doesn't sleep, he barely eats. He's not been himself, not at all. It's this... it's this place. I think a sickness lies upon it."

We all glanced at each other worriedly, save for Fili, who seemed to be focused on something beyond Bilbo.

"Sickness? What kind of sickness?" Kili asked, but Bilbo was unable to respond as Fili suddenly and wordlessly shouldered past his brother and started down the stairs that the hobbit had just climbed to intercept us.

"Fili!" Bilbo shouted as he started after the dwarf.

We all followed and as we rounded a bend in the stairs there below shone a golden light. Fili ran towards the source and we soon passed under a large entranceway, then suddenly we emerged from a small covered alcove and I almost stumbled down the last few steps as my eyes took in what lie before us.

Gold.

It covered the hall in vast mounds, mountains really. Even the stairwells simply disappeared into it, making it impossible to know how deep the sea of wealth truly was. It was unfathomable, more gold then I could possibly comprehend.

After a few moments, I managed to wretch my eyes away and instead looked to Bofur. He was staring down at the treasure much the same way I had been, as if transfixed, though a small smile ghosted about his lips.

The tinkling of coins gave us warning when Thorin suddenly emerged. It took only a mere moment for me to to understand that Bilbo's worries were not exaggeration or from misunderstanding on his part; for Thorin did not even display a hint of emotion to see his nephews alive and well - in fact - he did not even spare us a glance as he stepped into the hall.

"Gold... Gold beyond measure." he muttered, his eyes transfixed on the coins underfoot. "Beyond sorrow... And grief." Then his gaze finally drifted upwards and landed on us.

"Behold! The great treasure hoard of Thror." he uttered loudly before returning his attention to the gold below. Then quickly and without warning he hurled something up at us. I flinched back in fear, but Fili easily caught the projectile. I looked over to see him holding a large red gemstone, but both he and Kili were frowning.

"Welcome, my sister's sons," Thorin announced, widening his arms, "to the Kingdom of Erebor."

He said no more, and with some hesitation we made our way down to him. Fili began to ask of the others but Thorin simply flourished his hand in a general direction, his attention otherwise focused on the treasure around him. It was unsettling how truly detached he seemed, and I was not the only one to cast him a nervous look as we carefully tread over the coins and into the corridor he had indicated towards. Luckily torches had been lit along this pathway and so we followed the light until we heard voices. Bofur rushed ahead and burst into the room from where we could hear the others.

I smiled but hung back in the doorway as everyone shouted in joy and began to embrace their comrades. I saw Bombur wander up, his arms outstretched for his brother and I felt a weight I didn't even know I had been carrying lift off my chest. I was so busy watching them reunite that I started in surprise when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and I was lifted off the ground as Dwalin unexpectedly but enthusiastically hugged me.

"Good to see you, lass." he growled as he let me go. Suddenly I was tugged into the fray, and I found myself being embraced, clapped on the back and group-hugged along with everyone else. I felt a surge of happiness and love towards these dwarves at being included and welcomed just the same as their kin.

The happiness, however, was short-lived. The room immediately quieted as Thorin unexpectedly sauntered in, his presence akin to that of a stormfront - ominous, heavy, and unwelcome. He looked around with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Don't you all have work to do?" he questioned in a low and deadly voice. "Or has the Arkenstone been found?" He raised his eyebrows at Balin who wordlessly shook his head in response.

"There will be no rest until it is." Thorin continued, resting his steely gaze on each of his followers in turn before he suddenly shouted "Out! All of you!"

The dwarves stiffly obeyed and I made my way to the door as well but my progress was halted as Thorin reached out and wrapped his fingers around my arm.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in little more than a whisper, not meeting my eye.

I began to stammer an answer and glanced to the door, hoping to see a few dwarves surreptitiously hanging back, but I was alone.

"It would not have been my choosing to host a human in Erebor before even the rest of my kin. We helped you to Laketown, was that not enough?... That is where you belong."

I looked back at Thorin and swallowed hard, unsure if he meant to imply that I belonged at the bottom of the cold waters, burned and broken like that of my town.

"Make yourself useful, or I may find you're not worth the cost to feed you." he said into my ear, finally loosening his grip. I tugged the rest of the way out of his grasp and stormed out.

When I returned to the hoard I crashed into the nearest pile of gold and began roughly sifting through it, cursing under my breath.

"Bloody Thorin. Damn this treasure. Damn the Arkenstone. What the hell is it even?" I glanced up to see Bilbo watching me critically.

"Well? What does it even look like?" I snapped at him.

He blinked a few times and took a few cautious steps towards me.

"Um, well, it's a large, white jewel… Or so I've been told." he stammered, shrugging slightly.

I sighed dramatically as my gaze trailed across the mass of treasure. It stretched on as far as I could see, and there was no telling how deep the piles even were.

I groaned loudly. "Brilliant. That's very helpful." I spat sarcastically. Bilbo grinned sympathetically and then moved along to search another area, likely wanting to distance himself from my frazzled and somewhat hostile mood.

The hours passed slowly. I found probably a hundred large white gems and made piles of them, hounding any dwarf that came near to check them over. It annoyed me to no end that they would barely glance at my collection before telling me that I had not yet found it.

"You'll know it when you see it." That was all they would tell me, which was the vaguest and most unhelpful comment they could possibly say.

Some time later, Thorin took up watch from an upper balcony and began to question our progress.

I scattered my latest pile of rejects with a kick, wanting nothing more than to pull him down from his lofty perch so that he could painstakingly search through the mass with the rest of us. Or better yet, I could go sit on my arse on a balcony while he bruised his fingertips digging through heavy piles of treasure.

"No one rests until it is found!" Thorin shouted before taking his leave once more, likely into some lavish backroom to eat and nap while we continued his needle in a haystack search for some mythical blasted jewel. I clenched my jaw in anger. I had no possible idea what time it was, but I was exhausted, and thirsty, and famished besides... plus had to tend to other needs as well, but I simply did not know where to go.

After another hour or so I had reached my absolute limits. Thorin had not yet returned to supervise our efforts and so I forced my aching legs to move, my ankles rolling painfully as I tried to prevent myself from falling with every step. I struggled to keep balance, growing more and more frustrated while pushing through the sliding coins, making very slow progress, but finally I found Bofur. Yet when I came to a loud stop behind him, he did not even seem to notice my presence.

I stepped forward and lightly touched his shoulder, causing a few coins to spill out of his grasp. His eyes followed the coins as they dropped, then he looked at me, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Come with me to find some water, and maybe a bed... I really need to get some sleep." I told him quietly.

"Sleep?" he repeated distractedly. "Why would you want to sleep? Look at this place." He glanced around almost hungrily.

"Please, Bofur, I cannot search any longer-"

"I know. We shouldn't be wasting our time on one gem." Bofur interrupted, shaking his head. "We should be focusing on all of this." He bent down and picked up another handful of the gold. "Thorin is blind to it, but the Arkenstone is nothing, nothing, compared to the wealth within these halls." he began letting the coins fall through his fingers as he watched them.

"Bofur, I think you need to rest as well. Come on." I took hold of his arm and attempted to pull him, but he stayed rooted to the spot. I dropped my hand and looked at him with exasperation, but he simply frowned and shook his head.

"We can't leave now… Just look at it..." he turned back, gesturing across the mountains of coins that lay all around us.

I nodded irately. "I see. This is why you went on the quest then. Is this all you wanted?" I asked dully.

He glanced at me absentmindedly. "It's all we need... All I ever needed." he muttered with a grin.

I could tell I wasn't getting through to him. His eyes remained dark, flitting around restlessly, never meeting mine.

I looked around helplessly, but the others nearby seemed to be in similar states, moving like the walking dead between and through the piles of wealth amassed around them.

I took a frustrated step back, away from him, and my foot caught on a buried step, causing me to fall backwards. My hands shot out behind and I hissed when my wrists twisted as they took the impact on the unstable surface. Bofur turned to look at me - no, not at me, but at the gold now swirling around me. He made no move to help me up, more focused on the cascade of glittering prizes than my well-being. I pushed myself back to my feet and shoved past him angrily.

I followed the weaving trail of torchlight back towards the upper levels, lamenting my current state and wondering if I would have been better use with Bard and the refugees of Laketown. The need to relieve myself was also becoming near unbearable and I was seriously beginning to consider simply squatting in a corner somewhere when a voice called out from down the passageway.

"Thorin, is that you?" The voice was unmistakably Balin's, and I felt a relief that it was not Thorin himself. The aged dwarf, however, seemed disheartened when he initially rounded the bend and saw me instead of his friend.

"Ah, it's you lass... I had hoped... well, never mind that. What brings you up this way all alone?" he questioned, his voice friendly and his eyes clear and alert - which I was immensely thankful for after dealing with Bofur.

I suddenly felt a surge of emotion and blinked back a few tears; I swallowed hard then hoped my voice would not betray my despondence.

"I- ah- I was hoping to find a place to sleep, and a..." I hesitated, unsure what kind of facilities Erebor might have, "well, a chamberpot at the least."

Balin nodded, his expression kind. "Of course, dearie, of course. Come, I'll show you the way."

Balin led me further up through the expanse of the kingdom, which I was beginning to realize was at least ten times larger than Bree and Laketown combined. In my current plight, however, I was finding it hard to appreciate the enlightenment that the aging dwarf was providing.

"...and this corridor leads to the royal kitchens. Bombur hasn't had the chance to clean them out and take stock, given our current, ah, more important task. We've been making do in one of the lower store rooms for now..."

I looked politely, but my discomfort must have been more obvious than I thought, since the dwarf cut off and quickened his pace.

"I'm sorry..." He added as we moved on, passing - much to my disbelief - halls more extravagant (despite soot, dust and debris) than even those we saw initially. "It's hard not to reminisce." I assured him it was alright, but was thankful for the haste we were now making.

When we neared at our destination, I began to speculate that the 'room' Balin was showing me to was, in reality, much more than that. We entered a grand hallway with torches lit in sconces all the way down, each one next to a doorway. As we turned into the hallway, he claimed one of the torches to bring with us. Fifteen doors down, he bade me into a room without a torch at the door, passing me the light source.

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to tidy it up. I didn't know whether to expect you or..."

I entered the room, which turned out to be one of the most lavish apartments I had ever seen. I was surprised, having thought that dwellings underground would appear more like caves, with little luxury or comfort, yet besides the cold, the room was lovely and better furnished than anything I had ever before lived in. I turned about to admire the large space, and then noticed Balin was still waiting in the doorway, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Are you sure it's alright I stay in here?" I questioned incredulously. Balin grinned and nodded once.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed with a smile, finally glad for some kindness as I rushed forwards to hug him tightly.

"Ah-" He lifted his arms up, then hugged me in return and patted me on the back. As I drew back, he added "Oh, the plumbing still works - believe it or not - and you won't have to share with anybody." He waved a hand to a door off to one side, and then nodded.

"Right then, I'll leave you to it... I'll make sure to keep the torches lit to and from this wing. I'd advise you not to wander. It would be only too easy to get lost, especially given the state of things..." he added somewhat wistfully.

I assured him I would stick to the lighted path, and with that he turned and meandered back down the hallway, his hands clasped behind his back.

I expected that he too was happy, after spreading a little kindness.

I shut the door to my quarters and tested the lock. It turned heavily into place with a satisfying and secure click, and I instantly felt a little more comfortable and at home in the rooms. It was a habit that I didn't know I would carry with me from Bree, having had spent so many nights in open air with no lockable doors to separate me from my travel companions. Still, I couldn't quite bring myself to leave it unlocked if I had the option, and so with a small shrug I turned and went to explore the privy.

It was, as promised, fully functional, with an attached room leading to a separate bathing area which was comprised of a small, yet deep, inset pool full of hot water that was gently bubbling up from a geothermal pipe. I was so weary, however, that I simply washed my face, pulled off my dirty clothes and fell into my large, slightly dusty smelling bed, with plans to bathe more thoroughly when I awoke.

I was surprised to be pulled out of sleep by light falling across my face. I opened my eyes a crack and, when my vision had cleared, I looked up. High on the wall opposite the door was a series of tall narrow openings I had not noticed in the room's darkness the night before. The light was hazy and faint, but still much brighter than torchlight, and I realized upon closer inspection that this was due to the light's point of origin. Far beyond the walls of my room, the sun was shining on the mountain peak, the inlet for its dazzling light likely hidden away in some nook untouched by the desolation on the outer slopes.

I was grateful for the taste of natural light. Not only did it provide for some familiarity in such a strange and currently somewhat hostile subterranean world, it also served the more practical purpose of giving me a sense of night and day. Were it not for that light, I might have lost track of time altogether.

After a long bath that was almost too hot for my liking (but certainly helpful in removing the chill from my body), I slouched on a short robe that was hanging near the door then explored my rooms looking for something to wear. My quarters were divided into a two separate spaces: a moderate sitting area with an assortment of cosy yet regal seats placed about a fireplace, and a large fully furnished bedroom. I ran my hands along the dresser. The wood was stained dark and was embellished with intricate carvings, nothing like the graceful sweeping designs I remembered in the elven kingdoms, but flawless, repeating geometric patterns. I looked through its drawers and then in the armoire, but found nothing else in terms of clothing, save for a few frilly, moth-eaten undergarments that definitely did not fit. I crinkled my nose and resorted to pulling on my usual and now much wrinkled garb.

When my hair was almost dry, I poked my head out into the hallway and noticed another similar, albeit larger, light source filtering down at the end of the hall, likely a comparable design to that in my room but this one reflected multi-coloured facets from strategically placed gems that the light filtered through.

A nearby door swung open and Kili stepped out.

"Ah, you managed to escape as well." he said with a grin when he saw me. "Do you like your room? We're in the royal suites... I expect most of the common quarters are quite shabby in comparison."

"It's wonderful." I replied with a smile, happy to see that Kili was acting like himself. I then hesitated a moment, biting my lip. "Did any of the others get to sleep?" I asked tentatively.

He frowned and shrugged. "I don't know."

I frowned as well, leaning casually against the corridor wall. After pondering on it for a moment, I voiced what I was thinking out loud.

"Do you really think that a sickness lies on this place?" I asked, worried by not only Thorin's, but also Bofur's unusual behaviour.

Kili stepped towards me, his expression troubled. "I don't know what Thorin is going through." he said quietly. "He's not himself…" he trailed off, as if reluctant to say anything more. I nervously twirled my hair and Kili's face unexpectedly lit up. He reached up a hand, causing me to still my own, and then gently lifted up my courting braid for inspection.

"That's lovely, I'm glad that worked out at least." he added offhandedly before he looked up at me and continued with our previous topic. "Anyway, as for the rest, it just takes some longer than others - to get over the gold lust. Hopefully they'll all come around in the end."

"Gold lust?" I repeated questioningly.

Kili nodded. "Fili has it bad right now. All you can do is try to remind them that there are some treasures more important than gold… Are you hungry?" He suddenly asked while patting my shoulder, a most welcome subject change for the both of us. "I think Bombur got out of search duty as well - sure, he can cook, but I suppose Thorin could also be afraid he'd sink in the gold piles and take the Arkenstone with him." He smiled and winked in jest then held out his arm. I grabbed hold and we made our way back down the route Balin had escorted me up the previous night.

Kili eventually diverted from the path and we headed down towards the storerooms.

"Nori was saying that there still seems to be ample provisions since the dragon couldn't seem to fit through anything below a certain level. Nothing fresh, of course, but enough for a while at any rate. Now that game is returning to the mountain, we can hunt before winter to add to the stores as well." Kili explained as we walked.

We were fortunate that when we arrived Bombur was indeed there and looked to be putting the final touches in a large pot of steaming broth. The room was large but cluttered considering the front had been haphazardly cleared to make space for four large tables and benches for the company to sit at. At the back there were numerous shelves laden with glass jars of preserves and boxes and sacks of dried goods. Much of the floor space was taken up by large storage barrels and amidst it all a black iron wood stove, with a makeshift counter nearby for food preparation. An array of pots and utensils littered almost every other free surface as well.

"Looks like we're just in time for breakfast." I said jovially, more than ready for a hot meal.

"Lunch actually." Kili corrected, walking to the back and grabbing a bowl off a stack of them and passing it to me. He took one to himself and greeted Bombur who lifted the lid and moved aside so we could dish up. I thanked him liberally, especially when he gave us each a large chunk of warm brown bread, though of course he simply bobbed his head but said nothing in return.

Kili and I nearly matched pace as we, in the most undignified manner possible, practically inhaled our meals. We were almost done when Nori, Ori and Dwalin came in looking for food. Smiling at each other briefly, Kili and I straightened up, wiped our faces and opted to finish our lunch somewhat more civilly.

"How is your leg?" I asked, dipping the heel of my bread into the last of my broth.

"I just walked you down a dozen flights of stairs and halfway through a mountain." he replied blatantly, holding a matter-of-fact stare for a moment before grinning from ear to ear. "Much better, really."

I smiled. "Well that's good. I can't imagine Dwalin would have taken to the idea of carrying even a prince of Durin to and from his bedchambers."

When we were through Kili informed me he was going to track down his brother and so I took the bowls and gave them a rinse at a corner fountain Bombur had pointed me towards. I thanked him again and then left to retrace my steps back up towards the treasure hall. Balin had kept his word and the torches were still alight.

Not in the mood to search for the Arkenstone, I instead searched for Bofur - though I soon realized that finding him may be just as difficult and fruitless of a task. After having spent a good portion of the afternoon sliding over and around the hills of gold coin, growing more and more aggravated by the minute, I eventually concluded that Bofur must not be within the main hall at all.

After asking a few dwarves, I finally got a heading from Gloin, who appeared to have been trying to count and stack the gold rather than search through it. He seemed rather put-off to be pestered by me, but begrudgingly nodded towards one dark corridor nearby, saying he thought he saw Bofur go down it earlier.

I frowned, debating on whether or not I should ignore Balin's advice and venture into an unlit tunnel alone. Eventually Gloin cleared his throat impatiently, clearly wishing for me to vacate his personal space. I hastily thanked him and made my way towards the corridor. Surprisingly he yelled after me to watch my footing, stating that the path may not be sound. I waved at him in acknowledgment and then grabbed the nearest wall torch before entering the passageway. I held my light low to the ground, trying to ward off the slight fear that prickled my skin at venturing into the darkened tunnel. Gloin was right, some areas of the passage had collapsed, forcing me to slowly pick my way over large boulders and keep a careful eye out for crevices. I fervently hoped that the dwarves and I were the only living beings left inside the mountain.

Finally I saw a dim light ahead and soon came to the end of the corridor. As I emerged from the darkness I saw a familiar figure holding a torch and standing next to a wall on the edge of a large chasm.

"Bofur?" I questioned softly as I stepped up next to him and leaned forward a little to look down.

The pit was bottomless. The light from our torches spread meagrely out along the walls of the expanse before us, but did not reach even one tenth of the way around, let alone to the far side. Darkness pressed in against us, and with the emptiness of space above, and below, and only a step away, I felt dizzied. I took a fumbled step back. My light spread out along the ledge we stood on once more, illuminating a machination - a damaged mining crane from the looks of it - and other assorted tools of the trade scattered where they were left the day the dragon came.

"This is where it all came from." Bofur said suddenly, his voice strained and lacking its usual spirit. I looked at him and he continued. "The gold. It was mined right here. Look." He held up his torch to the wall beside him and I saw a blaze of shining yellow trailing through the dark grey stone. "There's still more. We could get more..." He trailed his hand across the gold seam, slowly, lovingly, as I stared on in discomfort.

"More..." I repeated slowly. "Bofur, there's already plenty."

He glanced at me, his expression puzzled. He leaned forward suddenly and I gasped, reaching out and quickly taking hold of his coat, for some reason afraid that he was going to jump off, but he simply let go of his torch and watched it fall, his eyes darkening as the golden flickering of light dropped into the unfathomable depths.

"Bofur. Please, come with me. You need to rest." I urged, moving my hand down and grasping his. His fingers did not curl around mine like they usually did, but he at least allowed me to pull him away from the edge a step. His gaze, however, wandered back and settled on the vein of gold, only slightly glimmering from my distant torchlight.

I began to plead with him further, but my words seemed to have no effect in breaking the enchantment he was under. I brought his hand up to my hair, forcing him to trail his fingers along the courting braid he had placed in it only a few nights prior. I paused at the bead he had fashioned, the bead of simple wood that I loved so dearly even though it was, in essence, worthless - but it was priceless to me, worth more than any amount of gold in these halls. I needed to know he felt the same. Finally Bofur looked up at me, but his eyes were dull, as empty as the maw stretching out alongside us. My heart plummeted.

"Bofur," I whispered imploringly, slowly moving his hand down over my chest and placing it on my hip, covering it with my own to hold it in place. "Please. Stop all this... I need you."

I moved forward and placed my lips gently on his, but he barely responded. I pushed myself against him, kissing him more ardently, but he remained cold, emotionless and unmoving.

His indifference - gold lust or not - began to anger me. I huffed in irritation and pounded my hand against his chest before I stepped back from him. When I still received hardly a flicker of acknowledgement, I yelled his name as a curse, grabbing his upper arm with my free hand and shaking him, hard, and then finally in desperation I tried the only thing I was sure would get a reaction from him. I grabbed his hat in a fist and yanked it from his head in a fury, screaming his name again as I threw it uncouthly to the ground. This finally provoked a reaction from him - but not the one I expected.

"So that's the way it is, is it? Fine, lass, I'll give you what you need." he growled as he yanked my torch out of my grasp and flung it aside. It sputtered against the stone, but miraculously stay lit. He then roughly spun me around and yanked me back against him so swiftly that it knocked the breath right out of me. His one arm tightened like a vice across my chest, holding me firm against his body. His other hand he shoved down the front of my trousers despite my yells of shock and indignance.

I struggled to free myself but quickly realized just how overpowered I truly was. Where once Bofur's strength made me feel safe and protected, I now felt piteously vulnerable in his unyielding embrace. Bofur took no notice of my attempts to get away from him and continued his ministrations with a rough and quiet abandon.

To my humiliation, my body began reacting to his touch - as if a part of me remembered that I had longed for his warmth, his closeness. My struggling slowed as I began to tire and, though I still knew it wasn't right, I hoped that this might help him lust for me again, and so I eventually stopped fighting him.

When I became wet he slid his fingers into me somewhat jarringly, but soon I felt my body begin to tense in anticipation, my breath coming out in uneven gasps. His hand found my breast and squeezed it, and then I was right on the brink. I tossed my arm up around his neck, leaning fully into him as I climaxed.

I sighed in pleasure and his grip on me slackened. I then moved to turn around, to kiss him and let him have me fully, but he dropped his arms and stepped away from me so abruptly that I fell to my knees, my body still weak and trembling from its release.

He picked up my torch and then, to my horror, began walking away.

"Bofur!" I called, quickly standing up and moving to follow, but already the darkness was closing in around me. I tripped over a rock and then frantically stumbled forward, arms outstretched, trying to chase the disappearing light. Soon it was gone altogether and I had barely made it to the opening of the tunnel.

"BOFUR!" I screamed, but he did not return.

I fell to my knees once again, sobbing as I roughly yanked out my braid and fervently wishing I had stayed with the townsfolk rather than following the dwarves into this accursed mountain.

I jolted awake when I heard a gruff voice echoing through the cavern. I blinked, but could make out nothing through the darkness; it was a most unsettling sensation. Still I lifted my head from the rock wall, my neck sore from the uncomfortable position I had somehow fallen asleep in.

"Hello?" I called out, quietly at first, and then again with more urgency. My voice echoed about, and I began to worry that the voice I heard had been just that - some far away echo. I scrambled to my feet, and took a few tentative steps forward, my hand against the wall for stability.

Then I saw a light, and my spirits rose slightly as it soon became evident that it was not some imagined apparition behind my eye, but an actual physical light growing larger by the second. Gloin then emerged around a bend in the tunnel, holding a large torch ahead of him. I had never been so happy to see that particularly stern dwarf in all my time with the company and I took a few rushed but cautious steps towards him when he was near enough to illuminate the path ahead of me.

"You won't find the Arkenstone down there, girl." he said grumpily, though beneath his heavy eyebrows I could tell that he wasn't scowling quite as heavily as he usually did. "Come on - it's nearly time for supper." With that, he beckoned me to follow. I removed my hand from the wall and sidled up next to him, nodding silently. He took that as a sign to move on, and so we walked back down the tunnel side by side.

As we exited the threatening passageway and returned to the safety of the well-lit expanse of the treasure hall, my temper had an opportunity to fester and grow. I left Gloin in a foul silence, and sought out Bofur with scornful vengeance.

Surprisingly I found him not amidst the coins, but in the makeshift dining hall. He was sitting down with many of the others, and for a moment I hoped that he had come to his senses. Yet no boisterous conversation graced the hall as I had come to expect from a group of dwarves, and so I knew he must still be plagued with the gold sickness or else he would surely be gabbing away as he was prone to do at mealtimes.

"Bofur. A word please." I demanded loudly from the entrance, causing everyone's head to suddenly swivel in my direction, everyone except Bofur who, infuriatingly slowly, looked towards me over his shoulder. The whole table sat frozen for a moment, then glances began to shift nervously between he and I. He pushed his food away from him, again so slowly that it made me clench my jaw in frustration. Finally he rose to his feet, not meeting my eye, but by then my patience had run clean out.

I growled in exasperation as I stormed towards him and before I could stop myself my hand had snapped out and struck him across the face so hard that it made his head jerk to the side and caused my whole hand to tingle in pain. The resounding smack made the room fall into an even heavier silence. He finally looked at me, though still seemed in a daze. Before my nerve faltered, I grabbed one of his hands and shoved the simple wooden courting bead into his grasp, forcing his fingers closed around it between my hands.

"You were all I had left in the world," I whispered - though I knew my words would carry given the absolute quiet of the room. I no longer cared, however, and some of the anger within me gave way to sadness, "and I am in love with you..." I added quietly, squeezing his hand slightly. "But you have humiliated me." I hissed, fixing him with a hard and hurt look.

His eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing, did nothing. I shook my head and released his hand. As my tears began to fall I turned on my heel and quickly strode to to the room's exit.

"If you can sort lust from love," I shouted back to him, my voice cracking slightly despite my best efforts, "you know where to find me."

A lone dwarf stood on the edge of the precipice, the gaping maw of Erebor's mineshaft open before him. Torchlight danced down the sides of the pit, its ever shifting patterns causing the gold to run in rivulets down into the depths. Such wealth. Such potential. The dwarf stood wide eyed, willing his eyes to adjust beyond their natural capacity to see further into the heart of the mountain.

His free hand reached up to brush his fingers through his hair. His hat must still lie where it had fallen so long ago - hours, days, he could not tell how long he had been here. He had the feeling of a waking dream, conscious but not in control. His eyes caught the sparkle of gold once more, and he reached a hand down into his pouch for one of the coins secreted away there - just to touch, to hold, to get a feel for the precious metal.

As he fished for the coin he turned and placed his torch in a wall sconce. Two hands were needed to fully appreciate the intricate designs on the coin's surface, to feel the weight of it. When his hand finally withdrew from the pouch, it held a solid golden coin, and a simple wooden bead.

Again he traced his fingers over the gold seam running along the wall, but the gold's lustre had worn off. He turned away and returned to the pit's edge, transferring the golden coin to his now free hand.

The events of the last several days suddenly rushed back with such a force that the dwarf had to clench his fists tight around the objects he held, steadying himself on the edge of darkness. He turned, holding his hands out over the emptiness. A deep breath drew in, and then released. One fist opened.

The golden coin tumbled down into the darkness, catching the last glints of light before vanishing to the gloom.