The Darkling(Legolas/The Hobbit) Book 1 ✔️

VII

For Jackelyne 8 - for being excited about what is going to happen next!

She could feel the flames licking up her arms.

Hear the crackling of the fire all around her.

Smell the scorching heat.

What she could not feel, was any pain. 

Opening her eyes she glanced down on her body, where flames were lapping at her skin, the clothes and armor on her body disintergrating as the flames moved up her body. She couldn't hear much apart from the crackling of the flames, but she managed to lock eyes with the terrifying dragon in front of her.

        "No..." Smaug's voice just about reached her through the crackling of the flames. Through the smoke and flames she could see his large eyes, his slitted pupils focusing only on her. She had first mistaken the tremor in his voice for fear, but she realized now that there was surprise in his voice. Not fear. What did he have to fear from her anyways?

Hearing several voices behind her she turned around slightly. Well, tried to turn around. Only then did she realize her feet no longer touched the ground. Stretching her arms out to the side she again glanced down at her now naked body. It was turning black. It almost looked like the skin was pealing away from her body. She noticed after some time, that she could move around with the power of her mind. so after some attempts she managed to turn her body around so that she had her back against the dragon, and the dwarves and Bilbo finally came into her sight.

They looked horrified. All of them.

        "Arya.." Thorin's voice sounded broken beyond words. She offered them a smile, doubting her own voice to reach them. She wanted to assure them that she was in no pain.

The flames had started dying down. And after a while her blackened body was just floating in the air, smoldering as the last remains of her skin dissapeared. Her hair, she realized, was still intact, floating around in the air around her.

Opening her mouth to try to tell them she was fine, she felt the words get caught in her throat. Instead a bone chilling scream made its way out of her throat as her head was thrown back, her whole body bending grotesquely.

She could hear the faint screams of her companions.

The way Smaug inhaled behind her back. Slowly, as if he was anticipating something. As if he knew what would happen. 

Soon, all the noises except from the cracking of her bending and breaking bones was cancelled out. Her throat was starting to get sore, so she had a brief thought about how she had to be screaming still. All thoughts flew from her head though as her spine cracked.

By the Valar, she thought. I am dying. I am really dying. 

But she wasn't dying. It took a while for her to realize this, but her body was not only breaking, it was growing. bones that had not formerly been there had appeared, stretching her skin, her arms stretching out as curious bumps appeared alongside the outer planes of her arm.

She curled herself together into the fetal position - well at least she thought it was the fetal position, it was hard to tell. The last change happened quickly, her body exploding outwards, arms stretched wide

The pain ebbed away.

Slowly, carefully, she opened her eyes. Looking down at the dwarves she only saw the wide eyes in their faces. Bilbo had stumbled several feet back. Dwalin held his axe up in front of himself protectively. Thorin looked like he was lost for words, his eyes roaming over her wildly.