The Waterdancer

Chapter 31

I was sitting on my throne, paying no mind to what was going on around me. My body felt heavy, and I couldn't keep the thought of my treasure out of my head. It was consuming me. But I was alright with it. The feeling that the gold gave me...I liked it. It felt right.

My mind was lingering on thoughts of my precious possessions when I heard Dwalin approaching the throne. "Since when do we forsake our own people? Thorin, they're dying out there!" he exclaimed.

The minute his voice ceased, the memory of what he said was wiped away. I could barely recall the word "dying", and then I remembered what was going on. There was a war going on outside. I widened my eyes and was looking aimlessly from side to side.

"There are halls beneath halls within this mountain...places we can fortify. Shore up, make safe. Yes." I stood up from my throne. "Yes. Yes, that is it. We must move the gold further underground, to safety." I then turned around to make my way to the treasure room.

"Did you not hear me? Dain is surrounded! They are being slaughtered, Thorin." Dwalin stopped me.

I sighed indifferently. "Many die in war. Life is cheap. But a treasure such as this, cannot be counted in lives lost. It is worth all the blood we can spend!" I seethed.

Dwalin looked at me sadly. "You sit here in these vast halls, with a crown upon your head. You have regained everything you have lost. Your mountain, your wealth, your child, and yet you are lesser now than you have ever been." he lamented. I narrowed my eyes as I felt a terrible pain in my head growing.

"Do not speak to me as if I were some lowly Dwarf lord. A-as if...I were...still...Thorin...Oakenshield." Regaining myself, I drew my sword, nearly dropping it from the unexpected weight. "I AM YOUR KING!" I angrily bellowed.

Dwalin took a step towards me. "You were always my king! You used to know that once. You cannot see what you have become. And if you don't realize that, then you'll only end up hurting yourself and that poor little girl all over again." he said, bowing his head when he said the last sentence.

My eyes flared with anger at his comment. I nearly raised my sword to cut his throat, but something stopped me. This wasn't my enemy. This was Dwalin, my finest, most loyal warrior, my best friend. I couldn't do this. I took a step back.

"Go. Get out. Before I kill you." I didn't want to say it, but I could feel my rage trying to get the better of me. I had to make him leave. Dwalin stared at me for what felt like hours before he finally walked away.

The next thing I knew, I was walking down the hall where we tried to kill Smaug. The gold that nearly drowned him had hardened, leaving the room with a solid gold floor. My body felt heavier with every step I took. And the next thing I knew, I was hearing voices in my head.

A sickness lies upon that treasure...a sickness that drove your grandfather mad. Balin's voice echoed. He was telling me something that I already knew, but...I hadn't fallen, had I?

No, I am not my grandfather.

You sit here...with a crown upon your head...and yet you are lesser now than you have ever been. They're dying out there...Dain is surrounded. came Dwalin's voice. He said that to me earlier, didn't he? My kin were out there now, fighting a war. I was wrong to think that we should stay here, but...had I truly become too taken with the treasure?

No, I am not my grandfather.

You are the heir to the Throne of Durin. Take back Erebor...take back your homeland. That was what Gandalf said to me so long ago. I remembered then. That was why we even set out on the quest in the first place. We wanted our home back. That's what this was about, not treasure.