Raging Fire

Chapter 14 'Love Could Be As Horrible As It Was Beautiful'

"Finally!" Kíli and Altáriël stopped their second kiss. Fíli was standing in the doorway. "Ohh if Enelya were here I would've gotten a pouch with coins." The blond dwarf laughed. The couple was sitting on the bed, eyes wide. "You betted on us getting together?" Kíli looked surprised. "You knew of her feelings for me yet you chose not to tell?" He went on. "Argh! Altáriël! if this idiot had...." He never finished his sentence, the ground had begun to shake. "The dragon." Altáriël whispered. Long had she dreaded this moment. Her worst nightmare, the monster that had haunted her many dreams was coming towards the city she was currently in. She had looked forward to this moment in the beginning of the journey. She thought that they would simply enter the mountain, and find a dead dragon there, but the beast was very much alive apparently. She looked at the brothers, she was never afraid, but this moment brought back that horrible moment when she had seen Smaug for the first time. Kíli knew now that they both felt the same, and he kissed her again. Fíli made noises of disgust, but his brother only cared about calming his girl down. "We have no time for this! We must go!" Bard's son, Bain spoke up. "We must find my dad!" Altáriël wanted to go with him, she knew exactly how he felt. But she also knew now exactly how her father had felt when he was searching for her mother. "We have no time. We must leave. Grab everything that has worth for you. I know how you feel but we can't search for your father." Bain looked at her, he felt angry, how could the stupid girl say that? "You don't know what I'm feeling!" Altá looked at him. "I do know how you feel. I was as old as your youngest sister when Smaug came to destroy my hometown, Dale. My parents died in his flames. If we don't go now, your sisters will die!" Bain looked at the half-dwarf in shock, before grabbing his cloak and walking outside.

"We have to go back! Legolas! We cannot abandon Laketown. Altáriël is still in there! We have lost track of Bolg. We have seen what he is up to. Let's turn around." Enelya pleaded. Legolas looked back at her, he did love Altáriël. The look on his companion's face made him turn around the horse. "If we die, it's your fault Enelya." As they rode back to Laketown Enelya's worries came back. She didn't know if she could handle seeing Legolas and Fíli at the same time. They stopped on a hill near Dale. They were just in time to see Smaug reach the town. The dragon flew over the town once, and then turned around, releasing his deadly flames over a big part of the town. Enelya heard the screams of the people of Dale, this sounded exactly the same. She was back in the same position as she was so many years ago. Legolas knew of her horrible memory and grabbed her hand, keeping his eyes focused on the town. It didn't feel the way Enelya thought it would be, she didn't feel the same tingly feeling she had felt with Fíli, but she still felt something. Her heartbeat sped up, and she hoped Legolas would think it was her reaction of seeing Laketown burn, should he notice it.

Altáriël helped the little girl into the boat. They were all scared for their lives, but the girl was determent on not letting her fear show to Bard's kids. He had helped them, now she would help him. They were manoeuvring through the canals of the burning Laketown, avoiding all chunks of ice. She was steering, her gaze often falling on Kíli, and every time she looked, his eyes were already staring into her green orbs. She ducked as Smaug released another storm of flames, this time closer to their little barge. "Da!" She heard Bain yell. She followed his gaze towards a man standing on the highest tower of the burning town. "DA!" Tilda screamed, she had noticed her father as well. Bard fired another arrow, it hit the dragon, but it simply bounced off the scales. "He hit it! He hit the dragon!" Kíli called. But Bofur shook his head. "No..." Kíli looked surprised at the protest. "He did! He hit his mark! I saw!" Altáriël swiftly dodged another small iceberg. Before answering. "His arrows cannot pierce its hide; I fear nothing will." She looked around to see where the beast was. He still looked as terrifying as he did when she first saw him. The colour of his brown reddish scales, she noticed some golden coins stuck between them, his yellow eyes. No, the dragon hadn't changed one bit. When she looked forward again, Bain had grabbed the hook of a crane, and swung towards a dock. He was going to help his father. He ignored everyone's screams for him to come back, and ran towards a boat. "Leave him! We cannot go back." Came her harsh answer, she didn't care, she wanted to make it out of the town before Smaug's rising flames would kill them all. But her eyes still followed Bain for a moment, hoping the boy would reach his father safely. Fíli looked at his friend, noticing the pain she tried to hide. She was doing a good job, but her eyes betrayed her. He rose from the place he was sitting, and took over the girl's job. She was tired and scared. She quickly sat down next to Kíli, who hugged her and planted a small kiss on her lips. They hit another boat, the boat of the Master of the town. The bastard was saving his cold, not his people who pleaded him to let them come aboard. When Smaug flew over them again Altá was as scared as she had been on the day Dale was destroyed. She squeezed Kíli as close as possible. "Kíli, I'm afraid." She whispered. For the first time in her life she showed someone that she was actually vulnerable. In the few hours they had been together he had already found out that she could be calmed down with a kiss; so he kissed her again, and again. They were out of town when they heard the agonizing cry of Smaug. Kíli watched as the terrible beast flew up for the last time, and watched him fell down on the burning town. Smaug was dead. His eyes lit up and he looked at his girl, expecting to see her face lighten up again. And it did, her eyes grew wide with hope, a smile of true happiness evident on her face. The combination of her smile with the red of the flames behind her would be a picture he remembered until the end. She turned towards the girls, saying that they made it. That they would go ashore to look for the men. And then she turned towards him. Her bright smile became even brighter, and she kissed him. This kiss was different from the others, the first kisses had been full of passion, of love. But this time there was more in it, longing for a place where they could be alone, and the kiss became one full of lust, forgetting everything around them once again. There was only the two of them, nothing else mattered in that moment.

Enelya and Legolas had started to make their way through the people, trying to find the person they were looking for most. They saw the group after minutes of searching. Altáriël was standing with her back towards them. but it was easy to recognize her long brown hair, that was always braided the same. "Altáriël! Altá!" Enelya yelled, watching the brown haired girl turn around she saw that, even though there was death and chaos all around, she was still smiling. Legolas had reached her first. He wanted to hug her, but he noticed that she was holding hands with one of the dwarves. His feelings had been flickering between Altáriël and Enelya ever since the older girl had betrayed the elves. But when he turned around after greeting Altáriël he saw Enelya look at the blond dwarf. "Enelya, you still own me those coins, remember?" Legolas heard him say, he turned his attention away from Altáriël and focused on the two others. He watched as she blushed, handing him a small bundle assumingly filled with the promised money. Fíli asked her to come with the dwarves, saying she still belonged with the company after all. The others asked Fíli to hurry up, they were already leaving towards the mountain, Legolas didn't want this to happen. He needed – no, wanted, at least one of the girls by his side. He was relieved when Enelya spoke again. "They are your people – you must go. I am no dwarf, I have no connection to the mountain, I never truly belonged with the company." The dwarf looked disappointed but wasn't giving up yet; "You are a part of the company! Come with me. I know how I feel; I'm not afraid. You make me feel alive. Do not say that you have given up on me after that kiss. I know you remember it." So she had actually kissed Fili, she didn't remember it but didn't have the guts to tell him she had been too drunk to remember. But if there was one thing Enelya had learnt from Altáriël, it was being stubborn. "I can't." "Enelya, amralime." Was Fíli's last attempt to persuade her. "I don't know what that means." Enelya answered, but the dwarf smiled; "I think you do." Legolas decided to speak up, he knew Enelya well enough to know when she was about to give in on something, he had seen it enough times when he was teaching her how to shoot with a bow. "Maewado i Naug. Boe i nadh egeno." [Take your leave of the Dwarf. You are needed elsewhere.] His knowledge of her behaviour won over the dwarf's sweet words. Enelya turned away, she got on the horse again and Legolas followed. She looked back one more time, seeing Fíli look at her too before turning around to start rowing, she saw Altáriël splash some water to Bofur, making Kíli laugh at his girl. She hoped and she wondered if she had made the right decision going with Legolas. Why did everything have to be so complicated, why couldn't she just make a choice? Love could be as horrible as it was beautiful. [Lpz

I am sorry it's such a short chapter... I will update again tomorrow.

Only Altáriël and Enelya are owned by me, the hobbit does not belong to me.