The Dragon's Curse

In Middle Earth of the beginning age there was a rare race of the Riders. They were alike to men, same appearance, yet they could shape shift into dragons. Their human skin was hard like dragon scales, their sense sharp and the ability to bend fire. The one fear that strikes the Riders is water, it's their weakness and phobia. They can't swim, they fear of drowning.

They've been hidden to Middle Earth, their Kingdom said to be a legend. How have they been kept hidden all of these years? The Kingdom is hidden behind a magic wall, when anyone gets to near to the wall, it sends them back the way they came disillusioned or mad. Only a dragon can fly so high into the air and over the magic wall.

The Riders were peaceful creatures and tended to keep out of the affairs of Middle Earth. Except the Rider Prince Smaug, brought the doom to his people. His love for gold, drove him mad, as he destroyed his home, leaving it in pieces for the survivors to pick up each piece and try to rebuild their home. Leaderless, as Smaug had killed his very own parents for his greed. He traveled far until the gossip about being gold in Dale caught his ears.

And one day in the City of Dale, where humans and dwarves happily walked through markets and bazaars he decided to attack. The city of Dale. Was widely known for its markets, full of the bounties of vine and vale. Peaceful, and prosperous. For this city lay before the doors of the greatest kingdom in Middle-earth: Erebor. Stronghold of Thror, King under the Mountain, mightiest of the dwarf lords.

Thror ruled with utter surety, never doubting his house would endure, for his line lay secure in the lives of his son and grandson. Erebor; built deep within the mountain itself, the beauty of this fortress city was legend.

Its wealth lay in the earth, in precious gems hewed from rock, and in great seams of gold, running like rivers through stone. The skill of the dwarves was unequaled, fashioning objects of great beauty out of diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire. Ever they delved deeper, down into the dark. And that is where they found it. The heart of the mountain. The Arkenstone. Thror named it the King’s Jewel. He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule was divine. All would pay homage to him, even the great Elvenking, Thranduil.

But the years of peace and plenty were not to last. Slowly, the days turned sour, and the watchful nights closed in. Thror’s love of gold had grown too fierce. A sickness had begun to grow within him; it was a sickness of the mind. And where sickness thrives, bad things will follow.

Smaug, came from the North roaring loud in the air burning the city of Dale. He didn't have the heart to give mercy, as he burned the people and the town to the ground. Such wanton death was dealt that day, for this city of men was nothing to Smaug; his eye was set on another prize.

Smaug wouldn't give up knowing what treasure awaited for him inside the dwarf kingdom. Smaug soon breaks through the gate of Erebor and starts killing dwarves left and right, trampling them and burning them. Thorin is nearly stepped on by the dragon, but he escapes. Thror fearfully runs to his throne and detaches the Arkenstone, running away with it. As he runs through a doorway, he sees Smaug in front of him; tripping, he drops the Arkenstone, and it rolls into a massive pile of gold.

Erebor was lost, for a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives. As the dwarves run away from Erebor, they see King Thranduil and his elves approaching the mountain. Thorin and the others scream to the Elves to help them, but Thranduil, astride his deer, turns away. Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin against the wrath of the dragon. No help came from the elves that day, or any day since.

The remnants of the Dwarf kingdom slowly journey across vast, swampy lands. Robbed of their homeland, the dwarves of Erebor wandered the wilderness, a once mighty people brought low. The young dwarf prince took work where he could find it, laboring in the villages of men, but always he remembered the mountain smoke beneath the moon, the trees like torches blazing bright, for he had seen dragon fire in the sky, and his city turned to ash, and never forgave, and he never forgot.

Meanwhile as Smaug rolled around like a dog in his treasure he changed back into a dragon snarling to who was coming forward only to frown to see a beautiful Elf. Lady Elizabeth of Wisdom, sister of Lady Galadriel of Light, looked up at Smaug with disgust. She had been asked by his father in his dying breath to watch over him and make a decision on his fate, hoping she would guide him towards good.

She cursed Smaug. He would be stuck in his dragon form till the day he die, and she cursed his descents until Erebor would be rightfully taken back by the true host of the dwarves and that his children would be cursed for the monster of their father until they were forgiven by the line of Durin. As her words cut into his skin, he roared painfully as he was trapped inside his dragon form. Smaug thought he would be fine since he had no children before his eyes rested on a deep red dragon egg.

Shining like a ruby his mind ignored the curse as he cherished his egg. Fourty years later the egg finally hatched to a girl with brown hair. A deep brown/redish colour eyes. On her hand was burned into the skin and image of a dragon to remind her of the curse. By day she was human, and by the touch of moonlight onto her skin she would transform into a dragon. She was born into an adult with the knowledge of what had come to past.

She had escaped Erebor one night when her father was sleeping, but she knew she would be labeled as an outcast. She wasn't accepted anywhere. Her accent was different to men, which raised a few eyebrows. She mainly never stayed in one place for too long, but at night she would cry as she saw her reflection of a blood red scaled monster. Her human skin was soft yet her skin was hard like her dragon scales.

One night she was visited by Lady Elizabeth who felt almost guilty of placing a dreadful curse on such a sweet girl, and gifted her with a sword, able to break through any scale of a dragon. The perfect weapon to kill Smaug. It was a deep red blade with a black handle and a red gem at the base. She was given knowledge of how to fight, how to use a sword even use a bow, though she never carried one. Her final gift from Lady Elizabeth was a cloak black on the outside but deep red on the inside.

If she wore this special cloak then she would be able to travel by night as human. However on a full moon the power of the cloak would vanish. Her name was Artemis and she soon learned that all magic had a cost. She didn't know what her price was to pay but she knew that she would have to pay a deep price for this freedom from her curse. She was granted one wish, and she requested a friend.

Elizabeth thought it was wise, as she granted her a friend with Gandalf the Grey, as she knew of the quest he was planning on enduring. She knew that Artemis had a part to play, even though Gandalf didn't know Artemis's full story he treated her like his own. Teaching her languages and everything he knew. The only thing Artemis didn't know about her fate, was that her life was tied to her father. What Artemis didn't know was that her price maybe even her own life….