Walking In Starlight

31

The people quiet down and let Alfrid fall to the ground, Bard turns about, addressing them all,

"Look around you!" Bard shouted "have you not had your fill of death?"

Alfrid pops up,

"Aye" he said

Bard pushes him back down

"Winter is upon us, we must look to our own, to the sick and the helpless" Bard continued "those who can stand, tend to the wounded. And those who have strength left - follow me. We must salvage what we can"

"We will do what we can with healing" Merius said, speaking for himself and his brothers

Bard gives them a nod, turns and begins to stride through the crowd,

"What then?" A woman asked "what do we do then?"

"We find shelter" Bard replied

The townspeople begin to follow him as he walks away.

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Fili, Kili, Ryneela, Bofur, and Oin climb up the Lonely Mountain, and as they approach the gates, they stop in shock and fear as they see the destruction caused by Smaug as he had smashed through the front gate to fly out of the mountain. They look at each other, then run into the halls of Erebor,

"Hello!" Bofur called out "Bombur? Bifur? Anybody?" his voice echoing in the silence

They clamber through the halls, looking for their kin. As they run down a staircase, Bilbo runs up toward them from another part of the city,

"Wait!" Bilbo called out "wait!”

"It’s Bilbo!" Oin said "he's alive!"

"Stop!" The hobbit shouted "stop! Stop!”

They meet each other in a corridor,

"You need to leave" Bilbo said urgently "we all need to leave"

"We only just got here" Ryneela said in slight confusion "why must we leave?"

"I have tried talking to him, but he won’t listen" Bilbo said

"What do you mean, laddie?" Oin asked

"Thorin!" Bilbo replied "Thorin. Thorin. He’s been out there for days. He doesn’t sleep. He barely eats. He’s not been himself - not at all. It’s this - It’s this place. I think a sickness lies on it"

As Bilbo speaks, Fili looks past him and sees something that causes him to wrinkle his face in consternation,

"Sickness?" Kili asked "what kind of sickness?"

Fili walks past the group and starts heading further down into Erebor, looking at something, Bilbo and the others run after him, trying to stop him,

"Fili" Bilbo said "Fili. Fili!"

As they continue heading down, a golden light begins to be visible on the walls. They round a corner, and stop short at the sight of Smaug’s treasure, heaped so high over the floor of the cavern that the ground is barely visible. As they stare, they see Thorin, dressed in ornate robes and covered in jewelry, stride slowly out of a doorway. Thorin begins speaking softly, apparently to himself. He looks strange, almost possessed, and the dwarves look at him in surprise,

"Gold - Gold beyond measure" Thorin said "beyond sorrow and grief" looking up and sees the others standing there "behold - the great treasure hoard of Thror."

He suddenly flings something high into the air to where the dwarves are standing on a stairwell landing, and Fili catches it, seeing that its a giant bloodred jewel. Thorin flings something else high into the air, Ryneela catching it in her hands, seeing that it was a deep green emerald jewel, causing her to look back at Thorin, instantly realized that this wasn't the Thorin she knew.