The Dragon Girl

Chapter 17

I awoke early in the morning to see Bilbo packing what little things he had brought to Dale up. I yawned as Bilbo turned to face me, "Bilbo, do we really have to go this early?" Bilbo nodded in response, "If we don't want the company to figure out that we have been gone for so long, we have to get there while they are sleeping." I nodded and morphed back into my elven form and snuck along the outskirts of sleeping townspeople as Bilbo and I made our escape. Bilbo followed my lead as we made our way to the exit out of Dale and ran towards the rope that we had climbed down to get out of Erebor with. Once we arrived at the rope, I let Bilbo go up first and I climbed up the rope after he was up a certain distance. When we reached the top of the main balcony, Bilbo hid the rope and left me on the balcony to make my position believable for the company. My heart rate picked up once I saw the sun rise a deep reddish orange color, meaning that blood may be spilt this day. I then out of pure instinct conjured Aslan and Faedra to my side to comfort myself. Faedra sighed as she sat upon the head of the statue adjacent to that of the one that had been used to break down the road to Erebor, "The two armies approach. I won't let anything happen to you Wisteria, should Thorin not take too kindly to the fact that you carry his kin." I nodded as I sat with Faedra on the statue head and scratched her from underneath the chin, "Thank you old friend." Aslan then joined us on the statue head with his tail flicking in anticipation, "I hope that Thorin makes the choice that we want him to." I gulped once I saw the army of elves from the Woodland Realm line up in front of the entrance to Erebor, blocking out the color of the rocky floor with golden shining armor. Not too soon afterward, I saw the company appear out of the corner of my eye and spot the very large army of Elves and Men combined outside the door. Bard and Thranduil were also riding their mounts at a slow pace towards the front of the army and toward the entrance to Erebor. Both of them met my gaze and I nodded, acknowledging that I was ready for whatever was about to happen between them and the dwarf King under the mountain. Thorin appeared in full armor, along with the rest of the company excluding Bilbo, and aimed an arrow at my father's elk's feet and smirked, "I will put the next one between your eyes." The company began to cheer for Thorin, which only resulted in Thranduil signaling his army to aim their arrows at them, but not me. I dismissed Aslan and Faedra once the dwarves hid behind the stone wall. Seeing this, Thranduil indicated for the army to stand down, which they did in a mechanical motion. It was then that my father smirked, "We've come to tell you payment of your debt has been offered and accepted." Thorin sneered with his bow still aimed at Thranduil's head, "What payment? I gave you nothing. You have nothing." It was then Bard's turn to smirk as he pulled out the Arkenstone from his inside coat pocket, "We have this." I felt Fili's gaze on me as Kili yelled, "They have the Arkenstone. Thieves! How came you by the heirloom of our house? That stone belongs to the king." Bard then responded with, "The King may have it, with our good will. But first he must honor his word." He then placed the Arkenstone back in his coat pocket as Thorin paused for a moment. He shook his head and whispered to the company, "They're taking us for fools. This is a ruse, and a filthy lie. The Arkenstone is in this Mountain, it is a trick!" I cringed once I saw Bilbo walk out of the line of dwarves and stutter out, "I-it's no trick. The stone is real. I gave it to them." When Thorin turned to face Bilbo, I could tell that this wasn't going to go well, "You?" Bilbo nodded, "I took it as my fourteenth share." Thorin sneered, "You would steal from me?" Bilbo shook his head as he rocked on the balls of his feet, "Steal from you? No, no. I may be a burglar, but I like to think I'm an honest one. I'm willing to let it stand against my claim." Thorin chuckled, and then I knew that the dragon sickness had taken over him completely, "Against your claim? Your claim? You have no claim over me, you miserable rat!" As Thorin made his way over to Bilbo, he sighed, "I was going to give it to you. Many times I wanted to, but..." Thorin growled as he got closer to Bilbo, "But what, thief?" Bilbo then found his courage and spit out everything that was eating out him and me as he responded, "You are changed, Thorin. The Dwarf I met in Bag End would never have gone back on his word, would never have doubted the loyalty of his kin." Thorin then stepped back as he glared at Bilbo with a boiling rage, "Do not speak to me of loyalty." Once Thorin turned to the dwarves, he yelled, "Throw him from the rampart!" I then shot up from where I sat as the dwarves didn't move and refused to carry out his order. Thorin sneered as he grabbed Fili's arm to force him to do it, "Did you not hear me?!" Fili lurched himself out of Thorin's grip as Thorin then sighed, "I will do it myself." He then grabbed hold of Bilbo as the rest of the company tried to stop him from throwing Bilbo over the edge, "I curse you!" Fili cried out, along with several members of the company, "No!" As Thorin held him over the rampart, he yelled, "Cursed be the wizard that forced you on this company!" As Gandalf appeared from the ranks of the elven army, I shot an arrow at Thorin's hand that missed only barely because I wanted it to, "If you don't like my burglar, then please don't damage him. Return him to me. You're not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain, are you, Thorin, son of Thrain?" Thorin jumped at first from my arrow, but let Bilbo go once Gandalf started talking, "Never again will I have dealings with wizards!" It was then that Bofur escorted Bilbo to the rope and let him slide down to join Gandalf and the others, "Go." Thorin continued with, "Or Shire rats! Or Mirkwood skin changers!" It was then that when Gandalf received Bilbo, he added, "Not to mention that if you start this war, children that haven't even had the chance to be born will die!" I then felt the tension between the company and Gandalf thicken as Thorin asked, "What do mean by that wizard?" Gandalf sighed, "I feel sorry that I am the one that has to tell you. But Wisteria could as well," I then felt the company's gaze boring holes into the back of my head as Gandalf continued, "If you start this war, there is no guarantee that the twin sons of Kili Durin will survive this." I didn't want to meet the gaze of any member of the company after Gandalf said that. When Thorin hesitated, along with Fili and Kili, Bard took this opportunity to bring some sort of peace that he could muster, "Are we resolved? The return of the Arkenstone for what was promised." Thorin turned to look at the horizon as Bard yelled, "Give us your answer. Will you have peace or war?" I could sense that Thorin was about to decide when a black crow landed in front of him and he answered with, "I will have war."