Elf of Fire and Light (Book 1 Fire) Hobbit/LOTR Fan-Fic

Chapter 82

Miranda's POV

"It is done," I told Balin upon returning to him. He nodded solemnly, his eyes far and away. I smiled softly at him, "Do not worry. Thorin is strong. He will pull through this darkened greed."

"The orcs have arrived," Balin said. "Will you not fight?"

"What was Thorin's stance?" I asked.

Balin's face fell, "We are not to do anything."

"You have your answer. When he goes into battle, I will follow him. Weather he wants me to or not." I replied.

Balin smiled sadly at me, "You are a good friend to him."

I nodded, "He may not realize it right now, but he has many good friends."

"Do not worry. He will realize it before the end." Balin replied. I only nodded; he did not know how true those words might be.

~*~

Balin had returned to the others to watch the battle. I walked about the golden halls, remembering Smaug.

"You have to deepen your breath!" Smaug said, taking in a rattling breath, and breathing fire away from me. "Breathe deeply and try again." I had nodded, doing as I was told.

"Try to close off your mind to me. Imagine your mind has walls, layers protecting your most precious self." Smaug ordered. "What do you see?"

"I see..." I began before my thoughts wandered farther.

"You play instruments yes?" Smaug had asked me. "There are some golden harps farther in. Why not end practice early today? Play me something."

I smiled letting the memories filter through my mind. My hand traced the walls and columns, following every carving and scratch mark. Before I knew it, I found myself in a hall with a floor made of gold. I spotted a lone dwarf pacing, looking into the gold as if he was fighting with himself. I quickly hid behind a pillar of stone and tried to enter his mind.

~*~

"You sit here with a crown upon your head. You are lesser now than you have ever been," I heard Dwalin's words repeat within Thorin's mind.

"But a treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost," Thorin's own voice seemed to haunt him now.

Balin's voice said, "A sickness lies upon that treasure." Bard had said it was the blind ambition of a mountain king that would lead the people of Laketown to ruin.

"Am I not the king?! This gold is ours. And ours alone. I will not part, with a single coin." Thorin words echoed inside his mind, sounding more dragon than dwarf.

Then I heard my own words. "You have no conscience or thought beyond gold. You are just like your grandfather was so many years ago. I might carry the fire of a dragon, but you hold a curse, dragon's greed."

Then the words inside his head became muddled. Mixing together in a foreboding cloud. "Thorin Oakenshield... Oakenshield." "The sickness that drove your grandfather mad." "You would go to war over a few jewels?... dragon's greed." "This is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror." "I am not my grandfather." "You are the heir to the throne of Durin." "They are dying out there." "Take back Erebor." "Dain is surrounded." "Take back your homeland." "You are changed, Thorin." "I am not my grandfather." "Is this treasure truly worth more than your honor?" "I am not my grandfather."

The words echoed painfully through my mind until I had to pull away. I leaned against the stone column breathing heavily. I strained to reenter Thorin's mind. I heard Smaug's growl and hiss, Gandalf's voice rose above all the rest, "This treasure will be your death." I could hear the sounds of Thorin screaming, then silence. I was brought back into my own mind with the sound of Thorin's crown clattering to the floor.