The King And The Dragon

The Mountains

Saphira's POV

We walk out of the tunnels and start to walk East, over plains, towards the mountains, where Thorin directs us.

I was completely silent for most of that day, until a certain Hobbit friend of mine caught up with me.

"Hello, Saphira!" he exclaims, cheerfully; so cheerfully in fact, that he makes me smile.

"Hello, Bilbo." I reply, looking at my friend as I walk on.

"I am glad that you caught up with us, I don't know what I would do if you didn't."

I laugh at this. "You would have been perfectly fine without me. But, I chose to come not only for my obligation to the Company, but also for my family."

"Well, in my opinion, I think what you are doing for this Company is very courageous."

"Thank you, my friend. You possess much courage, yourself."

"Me?! No no, I haven't even used a sword in my life, let alone killed anyone!"

"Bilbo, bravery is not always the same thing as courage. True courage is knowing not when to TAKE a life, but when to SPARE one."

He did not speak after I said this, thinking. And by the look in his eyes, he did not really understand, but it made sense to him.

But, I have a feeling that what I said would influence him someday in a choice he may have to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, I stay with Dwalin, Bofur, and Bilbo. I want to be sure that my dear Hobbit friend will be safe in this treacherous weather.

The rain is pouring, thunder is roaring, and lightning flashes. The storm rages and makes the climb up the mountains miserable.

"Hey! Hold on!" Thorin yells from the front, one hand on his ax and the other on the stone wall.

The rain pours down, mercilessly. Suddenly, Bilbo slips and is about to fall of the mountain when Dwalin and Bofur grab him and pull him back against the mountain!

"We must find shelter!" Thorin yells again, still pressing forward.

"LOOK OUT!" Dwalin shouts, causing us all to look at the huge boulder that soars through the air and hits the mountain above us.

We all pin ourselves to the wall as the boulder collides with the mountainside. The pieces fall just barely away from us, then, after the boulder fell, Balin stands out from the line.

"This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder-battle! Look!" he shouts as he points to a tremendous figure walking. . . towards us!

"Well, bless me. The legends are true!" Bofur says as he also steps out of line. "Giants! STONE GIANTS!"

The giant walking toward us throws another boulder at another giant not too far from where we are.

"TAKE COVER, YOU FOOL!!!" Thorin roars before another flash of lightning appears.

I pull Bofur back as the pieces of the boulder fly and the ground which our feet stands upon starts rumbling.