Unexpected

Chapter 19: What Have We Done?

Bilbo jumped into the air. He grabbed the lever and it dropped with his weight. Jets of water bursted out of faces that were carved into the walls around Bilbo. The water forced Smaug into the side of a furnace and he began to trash about wildly. The water caused the watermill to move, which set off a series of gears and conveyer belts.

Eili ran down the hallway with Balin, Ori, and Dori. The quartet began throwing their bombs at Smaug. The dragon didn't appear to be fazed as he continued to chase Thorin. Gloin, who was perched above Smaug, cut the rope of the conveyer belt full of heavy rocks below him. They dropped onto the dragon, causing him to fall to the ground.

The gold atop the furnaces had completely melted. Eili and her uncle ran to them and opened the gates of the furnace. The liquid gold flowed through troughs in the floor.

The dwarf king turned and ran as he shouted to his company. "Lead him to the Gallery of the Kings!"

Eili quickly surveyed the room, searching for Bilbo. She spotted him just as the cliff beneath him collapsed. The dwarf ran towards him and helped him up.

"Keep going, you two! Run!" Thorin yelled.

The couple sprinted and leaped onto a large stone slide, avoiding the dragon behind them. They quickly got to their feet and continued running.

They emerged into a massive hall decorated with banners hundreds of feet tall. The wall above the doorway toppled down violently as Smaug broke through it. The duo ran frantically, dodging flying rocks and debris. Suddenly, a banner fell onto them and they were knocked to the floor.

"You think you could deceive me, Barrel-rider?" The dragon bellowed. "You have come from Laketown. There is some sort of scheme hatched between these filthy dwarves and those miserable cup-trading Lakemen. Those sniveling cowards with their longbows and black arrows!" Smaug faced the town. "Perhaps it is time I paid them a visit."

"No!" Eili yelled.

Bilbo scrambled out from under the banner and Eili chased after him. "This isn't their fault!" He exclaimed. "Wait! You cannot go to Laketown."

Smaug stopped for a moment and turned to them. "You care about them, do you? Good." The dragon snarled. "Then you can watch them die."

Suddenly, a voice called from the end of the hall. Smaug turned and strode towards the voice. It was Thorin, and he stood atop a massive stone mold of a dwarf.

"Here, you witless worm!" He cried. "I am taking back what you stole."

Smaug slowly stalked towards him. "You will take nothing from me, Dwarf. I laid low your warriors of old. I instilled terror in the hearts of men. I am King under the Mountain."

"This is not your kingdom." Said Thorin, who was now face to face with the fiery beast. "These are dwarf lands, this is dwarf gold, and we will have our revenge."

Thorin yelled something inaudible and yanked on the rope to his left. The other dwarves followed his lead, breaking chains that held the mold together. Pieces of stone fell to the ground and a massive statue was revealed. It was a dwarf king, made entirely of solid gold.

Smaug's eyes widened as he gazed upon the statue. All of a sudden, the golden statue began to burst in heaps of burning hot liquid. The dragon roared as he was engulfed by the wave of liquid. The remainder of the gold spread throughout the hall, covering it in its entirety.

The gold settled, and Smaug was nowhere in sight. Eili's expression quickly turned sour. She stared in horror as the golden floor exploded. Smaug emerged from the liquid entirely covered in gold.

He thrashed around in anger. "Ahh! Revenge?! Revenge! I will show you REVENGE!"

Smaug ran down the hallway and smashed through the side of the mountain. He lingered for a moment, breathing heavily. He flapped his wings mightily and lifted off into the sky. He spun, causing the gold on his skin to fall off.

Eili and Bilbo ran through the destroyed gates of Erebor and watched as the beast flew off into the night. The dwarf's gaze fell to Laketown.

"What have we done?"