Benders: Dragonfire

Fate's Hand

Thank you to jijifiji, TeresSue, and fateclaws for commenting and voting on the previous chapter! I love you people.

"It is simple really," Oin said. "We send the burglar in to see if there is a dragon down below."

"Oh, but I say!" Bilbo exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Why me, I should like to know?"

"You are the burglar," Thorin said. "This is what you came for."

"You crept into Mirkwood's halls," Bombur said. "How much harder can this be?"

Bilbo thrust his finger toward the ground. "In Mirkwood's halls there was not a dragon down below!"

Thorin put an arm around Bilbo's shoulders and guided him toward the open door. "Come now, Master Baggins, Smaug is surely nothing but a pile of bones by now! Nothing to worry about; nothing at all. All you need concern yourself with is seeking the Arkenstone. You will know it when you see it."

"But," Bilbo said, as he was thrust into the cold interior of the mountain.

Balin accompanied him until the passage forked and Thorin's anxious face could not be seen. He patted the hobbit on the back. "Be careful, laddie."

As the hobbit took a few steps forward, Balin added, "And, ah, lad . . . if there is a dragon down there . . . be careful."

Bilbo nodded. The darkness swallowed Balin as he plunged into the gloom ahead. He glanced behind him as he slid his hand into his pocket and slipped the cool band of metal awaiting him over his finger.

His feet were soft against the stone as he went, his careful progress bringing him out at the top of a flight of stairs. He inched down until he stepped onto the landing and grasped the railing to keep his balance as the sheer power of the gold before him threatened to overwhelm him.

The hall rested in shadows; the ceiling supported by pillars of unguessable heights. The floor disappeared under a sea of gold, the waves of hidden depth. Coins made the majority of the hoard but gems and jewel-encrusted goblets, dull breastplates and weapons swam in the sea, accompanied by crowns and circlets, brooches and glorified rings.

Bilbo descended until the stairs disappeared and his feet met gold. With the first step, he slid, coins cascading around him as his weight caused the ocean to move, casting up echoes of tinkling metal. He stirred up the coins, despairing as jewels ran through his hands of finding the Arkenstone. One might waste a lifetime searching and never find it.

He crawled on his hands and knees, holding up fist-sized gem after fist-sized gem only to shake his head and discard it. He slapped his fist against the gold in frustration as he stared out at the long hall before him.

The hobbit blinked as he heard the coins shift behind him and turned to stare into a blue and gold streaked eye. The floor heaved and bucked and took bilbo with it as it cascaded down. Hard red scales rose up, the glittering blanket sliding off Smaug as the dragon raised his head from his pillow. His serpentine body uncoiled. Legs as thick as pillars supported him as he rose, neck touching the ceiling and nostrils snorting smoke. He stretched his wings before folding the leathery lengths.

Smoke wafted as he growled, "Who dares enter my mountain?"

Bilbo scrambled back and grabbed a hold of a stone poking out of the sea. He pulled himself onto a small surface of platform and peeked around the short pillar holding up the square roof above him, turning in bewildering circles as the dragon's body spiraled around him.