Bloodstained (Thorin x OC)

Then We Will All Burn Together

After explaining his plan to the company, Thorin was the first to run out of the room, followed by Balin, Bilbo, and Agarwaen. They ran through the massive halls and back out into the open over the great mine beneath the mountain, hearing Smaug taunt them.

"Flee, flee! Run for your lives!" The dragon's voice bounced from wall to wall as he slithered down from his perch above them. "There is nowhere to hide." He said as he stalked toward the four. Another group of dwarves yelled at the dragon from the other side of the chamber, causing the wyvern to turn his attention to them. Before he could take a bite out of Bombur however, Dwalin shouted from yet another part of the cavern. Thorin's plan was working.

The four then took off again, Agarwaen having to remind herself to slow her pace. She refused to run at her full speed and leave her companions behind. The sudden warmth behind them meant that Smaug had grown tired of chasing and resorted to trying to cook them all. They could only hope that everyone had been fast enough to escape.

Balin stopped before a doorway with Bilbo and Agarwaen, but Thorin kept running, forgetting which way the forge was.

"It's this way! Come on!"

"Thorin!" Bilbo yelled, and the king finally turned around. Smaug rounded a corner a ways behind them, his eyes set on Thorin.

"Follow Balin!" He called.

"Thorin!" Agarwaen yelled back as a plume of fire was hurled their way and Balin pulled them both into the tunnel. They pressed their backs to the wall as a surge of heat flew past, and Agarwaen did her best to shield Bilbo from it. It was gone as quickly as it had come, and smoke then filled the tunnel, followed by a massive gust of wind from Smaug flying past, toward where Thorin was.

Agarwaen coughed from the smoke, and ran back out, just in time to see the dragon dive down a mining shaft. Dwalin and Nori were there too, yelling down to where Thorin no doubt had fallen before the dragon.

"We have to keep going!" Balin called to her as Bifur and Gloin also ran for the forge. She looked back at where Dwalin had knocked a contraption over the edge, and reluctantly ran back to follow the others. The hallway led directly to the cavernous forge with the largest smelters she'd ever seen.

"How does he expect us to light these in time? They're huge!" She asked Balin.

"I don't know."

"Valar help us." She muttered before sighing in relief when Nori ran in through the giant barred doorway with a very much alive Thorin.

"Our plan's not going to work." Dwalin said. "These furnaces are stone cold."

"He's right. We've no fire hot enough to set them ablaze." Balin spoke.

"Have we not?" Thorin asked.

"We're all going to die." Agarwaen muttered next to Bilbo. "Isn't it fun?"

"Well, I...no! But slightly yes." Bilbo said before making a confused face at himself, causing Agarwaen to smile.

"I did not look to see you so easily outwitted!" Thorin called out into the mine as Smaug clawed his way back up the shaft. "You've grown slow and fat in your dotage. Slug." He turned the company with a hint of a grin. "Take cover." Everyone wasted no time in running to the giant metal pillars which made up the gate, pressing themselves up against it to escape the oncoming fire. By the time Agarwaen had run to the gate however, the nearest empty pillar was seven dwarves down. Noticing her predicament, Thorin yanked her by the coat and pressed her between himself and the pillar, sheltering her as much as he could with his arms wrapped around her waist and their fronts squished together. The contact sent a shiver up her spine, and she was suddenly hyper-aware of his hands on her back and his head by at her chest which ended up pressing on her broken rib, making her grit her teeth. Her attention, however, was quickly diverted to the flames that flew on either side of them. She cursed her elven skin for the second time that week as the fire scorched her exposed hands, neck, and cheeks.