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XIV. Burn

"Where's the sulfur?!" Balin yelled out from the storage room.

Ori, Dori, and Athena were rushing to and fro to gather supplies and ingredients that the Dwarf needed to create the flash-flames, trying not to bump into one another in their flurry of rushed movements.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Dori asked him.

"Whatever happens, it can't exactly make our situation any worse than it already is," Athena called out, grabbing a sack of powder before pouring it into one of the many empty jars that lay on the table in front of them.

Balin let out a gentle chuckle as he made the finishing touches to one of the jars, Ori and Athena still filling more up with as much haste as they could manage, Dori urging them to be faster with their actions. It took everything inside her to keep her hands steady, the adrenaline pumping through her causing some of the powder to shift onto the table from the shaking of her hands.

Athena handed the jars over to Balin, turning around again to collect the other jars while he dropped a small ball into each of them. Perhaps if they survived this she'd ask what the full ingredients were to these weapons that they were creating.

Her head whipped to the doorway when she heard a thunderous roar echo into the storage room, the sound of rushing water in the background filling her ears, only being snapped back to their current business by the voice of Balin.

"All done."

The four of them made their way to an opening that would give them the perfect shot of the dragon, Dori and Athena at the front of the line. Balin picked up the jars before throwing them to Ori who in turn threw them to Dori and Athena. While Dori threw one of the flash-flames, Athena would be handed one and vice versa, creating a steady flow of attack on Smaug. She pulled her arm back and launched one of them at the dragon that walked in front of them, it exploded on impact with a crash and an eruption of blue light and dust. The flash-flames did nothing to injure the dragon, but they were enough just to briefly slow him down and give the others down below more time.

Then he strayed too far for them to reach and it was now down to Glóin and Bifur. They released a section of suspended carts that went plunging down against the back of Smaug, sending him to the ground from the impact before he shook off the shock and regained his footing.

Athena looked on in astonishment when Thorin opened up the furnaces and allowed a river of molten gold to pour down the channels, the sight was beyond mesmerising and if it weren't for Thorin rushing by with a wheelbarrow she would not have had the heart to look away from such a beautiful sight.

"He's a little big for that!" She called out as she watched the King under the Mountain run towards the dragon, Dori pulling on her arm to urge her to run with them to where they next needed to be — the Gallery of the Kings.

"Did you honestly think he was going to use that to cart Smaug away?" Balin asked her as they rushed through the entrance of the storage room.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind, his eyesight's never been the best."

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Athena managed to make it into the Gallery of the Kings with the rest of the Dwarves, but while they moved behind the statue she jogged forwards to stand beside Bilbo and gently pull him away from the snarling dragon that was staring straight at Thorin who stood on top of a large stone structure, a chain clasped in his hand.

"You," Smaug seethed at him.

"I am taking back what you stole."

"You would take nothing from me, Dwarf. I laid low your warriors of old. I instilled terror in the hearts of men. I am King under the Mountain." With each of his hate-driven words he stalked closer to the Dwarf that was defying him, unknowingly stepping into a lower part of the floor as he faced off Thorin.

"This is not your kingdom. These are Dwarf lands, this is Dwarf gold, and we will have our revenge. Ikhf' id-ursu! [Feel the fire!]"

With his cry the Dwarves pulled on chains and ropes that held the outside of the statue together, pulling apart the chains that wrapped around it and kept it together, releasing a gigantic statue of a Dwarf king made from pure gold. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of it, briefly forgetting the threat of the dragon as she gazed upon the statue, completely awestruck at the creation as she admired the way the smooth golden surface shone brighter than any torch she had seen.

And then it fell apart, liquid gold bursting through the fragments of hardened gold as it escaped the confines it was being held in. Smaug reared his head back in confusion and pain as it began to pool at his feet. The dragon writhed with agony as the burning liquid throttled him to the ground and pushed him underneath the waves. Athena had found it a fitting end for the dragon, being killed by the one thing that it had desired most and had stolen from those it belonged to.

On the sidelines her and Bilbo watched the river of gold turn still, but their relaxation was disrupted when Smaug emerged from the burning river, the both of them taking a step backwards to avoid the flecks of gold that were flung from his squirming limbs.

"Revenge?! Revenge!" He cried out from the torture he was enduring, stomping against the ground as he tried to escape the red-hot solution, "I will show you revenge!" He bellowed with finality before he took off and crashed through the front door of Erebor and into the night air, coated with gold that dripped from him with each step he took.

Bilbo rushed off in the direction of Smaug, Athena quick to follow after the Hobbit. She collapsed against a piece of fallen rock, kneeling beside Bilbo as they watched on in horror.

"What have we done?" He whispered.

They had failed to kill the dragon and now he was free and filled with a burning hatred. He soared through the air, his wings beating against the wind and urging him forwards towards where he planned to direct his anger. He was heading straight towards Lake-town, and there was nothing they could do to stop him.