If this is to End in Fire: Hobbit Fan Fiction Skin-changer

Chapter 19- Fire and Flame

When the hobbit saw what was being uncovered, he gasped and tiptoed backwards. Turning carefully around, he lifted his foot to scurry away but noticed further cascades of treasure dislodging all about him. He was trapped. Encircled entirely by this huge, awakening dragon, he scratched his head and stared about him. He tried again to move, but as he drew forward, his feet were flung from under him and he tumbled loudly down the slope. Over and over the burglar rolled, until he finished once again in a heap amongst the piles of gold. Spinning wildly around, he watched the eyelid flutter open and scrabbled to his pocket for the ring.

As he slipped it on, the huge head of the dragon was lifted from where it lay. Its nostrils flared and its eyes narrowed in sinister suspicion. It opened its mouth slightly as it sniffed at the air, before moving suddenly to snake its head directly towards Bilbo.

"Well, Thief..." came a deep, raspy voice, "I smell you. I hear your breath. I feel your air. Where are you?" The huge body of the coiled dragon rose from its rest, sliding through the air like a snake through water. It weaved through the pillars and slithered upon the gold, "Where are you?"

Bilbo stood straight and twitched his nose as the thin eyes searched him out. He quivered and stared blankly out into the cavern.

"There is something about you. Something you carry."

Then Bilbo made a dash for it, the voice echoing in his head and the long limbs of the dragon slipping and flicking around him.

"Something made of gold. But far more..." then the eye came to a stop abruptly in front of the hobbit, "precious."

Bilbo froze. He shook his head and squeezed his eyelids tightly shut. A fierce flame cast across his mind and a silhouetted monster flashed at him in his thoughts. Faster and faster it came, over and over, sending him spinning so that he ripped the ring ferociously from his finger and collapsed to the ground.

"There you are, Thief-in-the-shadows."

The burglar stared in terror, his mouth agape. He nodded, then shook his head.

The dragon laughed mockingly and drew a vast intake of breath. Its chest glowed with an orange light and its spines flared.

Bilbo knew he was going to burn.

But suddenly, a dark shape sprung from behind the preoccupied dragon. It changed as it came through the air, before landing agilely in front of Bilbo, eyes hard and glaring at the beast.

"He did not come to steal from you, oh Smaug, the inaccessibly wealthy."

The dragon paused and the glowing in its chest dissipated, as it watched this new creature with curiosity.

"He came to see if you were as great as the old tales tells. He did not believe them."

Bilbo shuddered in momentary relief.

"How many more of you hide in the shadows?"

"None, oh Smaug, the stupendous."

"You seem familiar with my name. But I don't remember smelling your kind before. Who are you and where do you come from?"

Smaug's face turned also to Bilbo, his piercing eyes catching the hobbit's heart.

"I...I come from under the hill." stuttered Bilbo, stepping forward with an unexpected force of courage, "And under hills and over hills my path has led. And... and through the air, I am he who walks unseen."

"Impressive," replied Smaug, swooping his head down close to Bilbo's, "what else do you claim to be?"

The hobbit caught Lupine's eyes suddenly then looked away again. She realised why when suddenly, she too noticed the shimmering glow of a stone to their left.