Beauty and the Dragon

Chapter 6

It had been five days since Smaug had saved and captured her, and Arabelle had quickly grown accustom to having a dragon as her only companion; if you could even call a dragon a companion. She had spent the last two days combing through the seemingly infinite amount of books that Erebor had to offer. She had even figured out how to use her climbing gear to hook up to a pulley system they had set up to reach the top shelves; which made Smaug nervous but he kept quiet about it. That morning, though, she had spent skinning a deer that Smaug so graciously dropped in her lap to wake her up. The skin was drying by the fire in front of her room, the horns and bones she was saving to use for whatever she might need. The meat she had just finished carving and she brought it to the opening in the castle she had made herself. There was still a healthy amount of snow which would have meant it snowed again or the sun hadn't been out lately to melt it. After she salted the meat and covered it with snow she looked to the opening. It seemed cloudy from where she stood but she wasn't exactly sure. Then something hit her; all her belongings that she had packed-aside from the small satchel she had fashioned closely around her-were all still in the forest.

She ran back to her room to grab her two long blades-just in case-and went back to climb the pile of broken stone. It took her a few moments but she finally managed to reach the top. Though the sun was blocked, it was daytime enough for her to shield her eyes while they adjusted. Having lived in the darkness of the under-mountain castle, her eyes burned at the sunlight, even from behind the dark clouds. Once she had adjusted she looked at her surroundings, trying to guess where Smaug had taken her from. She pushed herself up and began to climb down the side of the rocky mountain, slipping occasionally, but catching herself. When she had made far enough that the side of the mountain was no longer blocking her view, she scouted the nearby woods and scrunched her eyebrows when she saw that half the forest seemed to be missing. She headed off in that direction which took her no more than an hour to reach. The trees-what was left of them-were charred and blackened. Some of them were still hot to the touch, others were orange around the edges as they still slowly burned. The snow around the edge of the forest was significantly lower than the amount she trudged through to get there; sign that it had snowed since she had been there last.

The sight was a sad one. She had never seen such a natural beauty look so sad; it was, no doubt, the desolation of Smaug. She sighed as there was nothing she could do, and moved on towards the river. As she did she passed the scorched bodies of what used to be three wolves. She paused a moment but continued on; she felt no remorse for them as she did for the forest. All creatures, and all natural things could be beautiful, and she mourned the loss of any one of them. But not these animals. For the reason they had attacked her but mostly for the reason they were the creatures that betrayed the trust of her parents, and killed them. She hoped they were the exact wolves that had killed her parents, though there was no way for her to be sure; it did put her mind at some rest to believe that they were. She leapt across the river in two jumps, so as not to get her boots too wet. Once on the other side she could faintly see hers and the wolves' tracks. She had the useful gift of a good memory but the forest was a much different place in the dark than in the daylight; besides, she was being chased and not so keen on remembering her path as she was saving her own life.

But she managed to follow the faded tracks until her first bag appeared in the snow, untouched by other woodland creatures. After it was slung over her shoulder she continued on. The walk seemed longer than the run from where she had dropped her first bag, but again, she was running-running through the trees, it might be added. She picked up her other bag and slung it over her shoulder, and turned back to follow her tracks. Then she stopped at the realization of something. Arabelle was a captive of the dragon Smaug, and now she was free. If she made a run for it she could certainly reach the elf kingdom or even Credondale before he even realized she was gone. It probably would have been smarted still for her to hide in Dale whilst he did search for her, then travel after he had given up. She could be free now. But then her thoughts stopped again. And then what? What if she did escape? Her and the other hunters barely seemed welcome for the night in Watertown, she doubted the Elves would be much more kind, as the Wood Elves were rather the recluse themselves, and she hadn't been welcome in her own Credondale in nearly nine years. There was always the possibility of traveling directly through-or even around-the Mirkwoods to lands on the other side. But how welcome would she be there? She knew nothing of other people, would it be safe for her to assume that they would be accepting of her, or folly?