If This Is to End in Fire Chapter XXII

Chapter XXII: Then We Will All Burn Together

A/N: Picture is of my fancast of Dori, Helen Mirren.

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The King Under the Mountain had forgotten how beautiful gold was. He felt its call and he wanted to protect it. Thorin vaguely remembered he should kill Smaug for reasons besides for stealing the treasure, but it seemed unimportant now.

Using a grenade launcher was a brilliant idea by… someone. Who was it? Thorin decided it did not matter. Smaug actually did take some damage to his wing at the edges. It might mess with his flight pattern and slow the worm down.

As Thorin quickly packed the grenade launcher, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He drew his gun. The burglar ran towards him.

Right. The burglar. The burglar had awoken the dragon. It was why Thorin had come in.

“You’re alive,” Thorin said.

“Not for much longer! I ticked off a dragon. Hurry!” the burglar said.

“Did you find the Arkenstone?” Thorin asked as he put away his gun.

“Did you miss the whole dragon thing?” the burglar snapped.

“The Arkenstone!” Thorin demanded as they both stopped at the entrance to the tunnel. “Did you find it?”

“Dragon!” the burglar insisted, “We have to get out, Thorin!”

Thorin blocked the burglar’s way. It was a burglar after all. Maybe it did have it. Maybe it had decided to keep the Arkenstone…

“Thorin. Thorin? What’s wrong? Are we waiting for the others?” the burglar asked as it stepped away from the Dwarf.

The king walked slowly towards the burglar, stopping only when they stood at the edge of the platform.

“What’s wrong? I don’t know… don’t know what you’re doing. What am I supposed to do to help you?” The burglar reached out and touched Thorin’s hand. “Tell me what you need.”

Thorin blinked rapidly as he felt a haze lifted from his senses. Bramble’s whole body shook with what he could only describe as fear. Before he could say anything, Bramble’s eyes looked at something behind him.

Smaug snarled when Thorin turned. The Dwarf pushed Bramble behind him as he drew his sword.

“Should I grab the bazooka?” Bramble said quietly, placing a hand on Thorin’s shoulder.

Thorin nodded as Smaug drew closer. The rest of the Dwarves came out from inside the tunnel or from the upper-staircase, having failed in keeping the dragon distracted for long.

Smaug roared, “You will burn!”

The Company jumped off the staircase and tumbled down a pile of treasure toward the entrance of another tunnel. Dwalin snatched the rocket launcher case as they ran away. Smaug sent fire after them as they escaped into the tunnel.

Thorin barely made it into the tunnel as the flames licked at his clothes. He threw himself into the room, rolling on the ground to put out the flames until he could toss off the coat he wore. Thorin jumped up and saw the absolute panic in Bramble’s eyes. He grabbed her hand and yanked her after him as he ran. “Come on!”

Smaug roared in rage at the loss of his prey.

“We have a big problem,” Bramble said.

“Really? I didn’t notice!” Thorin snarked.

“BIGGER!” Bramble replied.

“HOW CAN WE HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM THAN A DRAGON UNLESS IT IS A BIGGER DRAGON?” Thorin snapped.

“I don’t talk and run well and this affects your strategy!” Bramble said.

Thorin made the Company halt. “What is it?”

“Uh, well, do you remember me saying back in the lecture we don’t know much about how dragons originated?” Bramble said.

“We don’t have time for fairy stories!” Thorin said.

“There is always time for fairy stories,” Bramble said, punching him in the arm, “And this one is important. One of the supposed origins of dragons is Morgoth corrupted and twisted Eagles. What was so odd about the Eagles we met?”

Balin said, “You cannot be serious. He’s a skin-changer?”

“I am serious. It may not be that dragons are from Eagles, but it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Smaug can change into the form of one of the Free Folk. He could be following us right now. We don’t have size to our advantage. He is a little shorter than Thorin and he is… fit? Is fit the appropriate term? I got a bit of an eyeful and I am really trying to kill the memory,” Bramble said.

Ori was about to ask what Bramble meant by an “eyeful” when Smaug roared again.

“Right now it seems he is still in dragon form, but this information is necessary. Is he easier to kill in his other form?” Thorin said.

“I have no idea. I didn’t get a chance to hit him. Girion did hit his mark when Smaug attacked Dale. There is a weak spot beneath his left wing. Your bazooka,” she nodded to the case Dwalin held, “did do some damage. Do not look into his eyes in either form. It makes your… thoughts go wrong,” Bramble rubbed her arms.

Thorin took Bramble’s hand again. They walked briskly, but no longer ran.

Thorin said, “So we have drowning, stabbing, and Black Arrows for certain to kill a dragon. High-explosives are a possibility. Another possibility is he is weaker in his other form. What else? Anything from any story, even the most absurd ones?”

“Uh… switching out virgins with ladies of the night for eating causes indigestion, dragonsbane is poisonous (though I have never heard of the plant outside of books), hoist by his own petard type stuff of drowning dragons in their own gold, nuclear bombs…”

Thorin stopped at a stone bridge over a chasm to glare at Bramble.

The Hobbit began to explain, “Looking at the timing of Smaug’s ‘sleep’…”

Thorin covered her mouth and shushed her, motioning around them and the echoes her voice made. Bramble licked his palm. He glared at her, but did not move his hand until Balin cleared his throat.

“As I was saying,” Bramble whispered as Thorin wiped his hand on his shirt, “Smaug went off the radar around the time of the nuclear arms race. He probably didn’t want to get nuked in the mountain. It took the combined forces of the Lady Galadriel, Lord Elrond, and King Thranduil to stop Gondor from nuking the Yukon at the time.” The Hobbit paused and tilted her head. “Has anyone heard the dragon recently? This is generally the point in the horror movie when people start getting killed.”

“We’ve given him the slip,” Dori said as she relaxed slightly.

“No, he’s too cunning for that,” Dwalin said.

Bramble motioned to Thorin. “So where to now?”

Thorin nodded to the bridge. “The western guardroom. There may be a way out.”

“It’s too high. There’s no chance that way,” Balin said.

“It’s our only chance. We have to try,” Thorin said.

Moving as silently as they could, they made it half way across the bridge without incident. A coin fell to the floor in front of Bramble. Everyone looked at her, but she was just as confused as everyone else.

Bramble looked up and her eyes became wide with fear. The rest of the Company looked up and saw how the coins fell from the belly of Smaug as he silently prowled around the mountain, looking for the Dwarves and their thief.

Thorin motioned for the rest to follow him, taking Bramble’s hand when she hesitated to move.

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The Company saw the corpses first and then the blocked exit. Men. Women. Children. All were huddled together in their last dying breath.

“That’s it. There’s no way out,” Dwalin said quietly.

“The last of our kin. They must have come here, hoping beyond hope,” Balin said, “We could try to reach the mines. We might last a few days.”

Thorin remembered the deaths. He remembered his people choking on the smoke, ash, and dust. And the fire. Even his own Mother… no, he could not think of her death.

He did think on a promise he made to two children crying out for comfort after the loss of their mother.

“No. I will not die like this. Cowering, clawing for breath.” A plan began to form in his mind. “We make for the forges.”

“He’ll see us, sure as death,” Dwalin said.

Thorin turned around. “Not if we split up.”

“We’ll never make it, Thorin,” Balin said.

Something stirred in Thorin as the plan became clearer. He dared not call it hope. “Some of us might. Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon. If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together.”

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The Company divided into four groups. The first to leave would be Thorin, Bramble, and Balin as Smaug would be more likely to recognize them. Dori, Ori and Bombur were the second group as they were the slowest, but loudest. Dwalin and Nori were the next group, a mixture of brawn and brains while also carrying the grenade launcher. Glóin and Bifur were the last group as they had more experience in mines than the rest.

Thorin held his sword in one hand and Bramble’s hand in the other. As Smaug began to chase them, he remembered Bramble’s words in Mirkwood how going after a dragon was the most dangerous and stupid idea she had ever heard. He disagreed. Purposefully angering</a> a dragon was far more dangerous and stupid.