Homeward Bound Part One: An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Forty-Three

Smaug passed away a few hours later.

The discoloration spread until every speck of russet red was drained and the dragon was the color of a dried out corpse.

His breathing became harsh and his movements sluggish. Eventually he curled into a ball and closed his eyes.

He would not open them again.

It was probably not the death he had envisioned. There would be no songs or ballads about the final moments of Smaug, Terror of the Third Age.

He did not die in a titanic battle over his ill-gotten gold like Scatha.

No mountains were crushed with the force of his fall as with Ancalagon the Black.

He did not, with his final words, bring utter ruin to his foes as Glaurung did.

Smaug, the last of the great worms, usurper of the throne of Erebor, false King under the Mountain...

Died in his sleep.

Kili was the one who noticed.

"Bilba," he grabbed her shoulder and shook it lightly. "I think he's dead."

Bilba ignored him. She was currently curled on her side with her head in his lap having a crisis.

Was she even ready to be a mother? Her grandfather didn't think she was ready to handle her own money. Priscilla had chided her in the letter she'd written as though she were a wayward faunt.

She was almost thirty-one years old, very near to her maturity, but she was treated as though she were still a child, incapable of making responsible decisions let alone taking care of another, helpless life.

What if they were right?

Priscilla's oldest son was about her age and he was already married with an infant daughter. She couldn't imagine Priscilla scolding Adalgrim in a letter like she had Bilba. What was the difference? Why did no one believe in her?

What if they had reason? What if there was something wrong with her that everyone but she could see?

"Bilba!"

Kili's voice broke through again. She twitched, and then rolled just enough to glare at him. Couldn't he see she was busy having a mental breakdown?

"Come on," he ordered, urging her up. "Smaug's dead and I think I've been hearing noise from the doorway."

She muttered something uncharitable but allowed him to help her to her feet and went with him toward the blocked off doorway. Once they arrived Kili leaned against the rocks with his ear pressed to the stone.

Bilba stood next to him, facing back into the Treasury. Smaug's corpse dominated the immediate area; past him were mounds and mounds of gold and precious jewels.

Riches beyond measure but not a single coin could be used to stave off hunger or slake thirst.

A shiver ran through her. She didn't want to be pregnant. Not when she was trapped in a room with no exit and no food or water.

Kili straightened, his face tense. "I can't be sure," he said. "Sometimes I think I hear something and other times I don't."

Bilba shuffled forward and pressed her ear to the rock, resting one hand on it. Distantly she thought she heard sound but, as Kili said, it was so muffled and far away she couldn't be sure if it was real or just her mind playing tricks on her.

She moved back and sighed. "I don't know. How deep do you think Smaug buried the entrance?"

Kili shrugged. "It was a big column."