Walking In Starlight

28

Legolas dispatches the two Orcs and runs over to where Orcrist is lying on the ground, and he picks it up, standing, only to fall back against a wall in pain, breathing heavily. His eyes open wide in shock and he raises his hand to his nose, comes away with blood, and he is shocked. He looks to the side and sees Blog on a Warg, heading out of the town. Blog rides across the bridge on his Warg, close behind him is Legolas on a white horse.

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Balin, Thorin, and Bilbo run through a large hallway, Balin turns into a side tunnel, but Thorin continues forward with Bilbo at his heels,

"It’s this way!" Balin said "this way! Come on!"

Bilbo stops by the tunnel, and calls out to Thorin, who is still ahead,

"Thorin!" Bilbo shouted

Thorin turns and begins to go back to Bilbo and Balin, but stops suddenly, they all see Smaug at the end of the hallway,

"Follow Balin!" Thorin yelled to Bilbo

"Thorin!" Bilbo shouted

"Come on!" Balin yelled

Balin pulls Bilbo into the side tunnel just as Smaug’s chest glows orange and he unleashes his fire throughout the hall. Thorin runs the other way and leaps into the air, falling into a deep pit, catching onto a chain with a bucket at the end of it, and it begins descending just as Smaug leaps into the pit as well. Smaug claws his way down the tunnel, snapping at Thorin on the chain, Dwalin runs up to the mouth of the pit,

"Thorin!" Dwalin shouted

Dwalin smashes his axe into the machinery holding the chain Thorin is holding on to, and the chain stops descending abruptly. Beside Dwalin, a heavy holding bucket on the other end of the same chain begins descending rapidly, causing Thorin’s chain to fly upward. Thorin soars upward, narrowly missing Smaug’s head, who turns and manages to grab the end of Thorin’s chain, stopping its movement. Smaug pulls down, at the machinery holding the chain at the top of the pit breaks free of its moorings and falls into the pit. His chain slacks, Thorin falls and lands right on the tip of Smaug’s closed mouth, standing on Smaug’s top lip as Smaug growls and opens his mouth; fire is visibly rising up his neck. Just as Smaug snaps closed his mouth to eat Thorin, he leaped to the side and grabs another chain, causing the dragon to turns to bite him, but the falling machinery strikes him in the face.

Nori, at the top of the pit, hits another machine, and its gears spin rapidly, pulling Thorin on his chain rapidly upward. Smaug roars and blows smoke straight up the pit after Thorin, who manages to reach the top and throw himself on a ledge just as the fire erupts beside him. He stumbles over to Nori,

"Go! Go!" Thorin ordered

Thorin and Nori run through narrow slits between tall, stone pillars and join the other dwarves and Bilbo, standing in front of several massive dwarf furnaces, each at least 10 yards high,

"The plan’s not going to work" Dwalin said "these furnaces are stone cold"

"He’s right" Balin said "there’s no fire hot enough to set them ablaze"

The furnaces are all dark, with no sign of fire within, Thorin turns back toward the pit,

"Have we not?" Thorin asked "I did not look to see you so easily outwitted!"

Smaug’s claw emerges from the pit, his body following it,

"You have grown slow and fat in your dotage" Thorin taunted, causing Smaug to snarl at him "slug"

As Smaug snarls and advances, Thorin gets behind a pillar and yells to the others to do the same,

"Take cover" Thorin ordered "go!"