[IC] The Hobbit/LOTR: Another Age of Evil Beginnings { Elven & Angel }

[The Elvenqueen]

Mel nodded slightly and looked back at Fili when the older twin spoke up.
"Will he be alright now?"
"I'm sure your brother will be fine." the she-elf nodded reassuringly. "You and your group should have been more careful. Those Orcs were tracking you, they came to kill Oakenshield. Why?"

"You have nice manners," the dragon continued in a purr, though his tone got angrier as he went on. "for a thief, and a LIAR! Do you think I do not know the smell and the taste of dwarf? There is noone who knows it better!" the dragon hissed angrily as his tail lashed, knocking the gold which made the Arkenstone fly through the air, and off-balance Bilbo too, who went sliding down the mound of treasure, just managing to hide under the platform of some stairs before the dragon caught up to him. "It is the gold, they are drawn to treasure like flies to dead flesh!"

[AngelBites15]

Bilbo tries to stealthily walk towards the Arkenstone without drawing attention, but Smaug moves, and the Arkenstone falls further down the pile of gold coins, causing the Hobbit to run after it. "Did you think I did not know this day would come? That a pack of canting dwarves would come crawling back to the mountain", Smaug continues moving around, causing Bilbo to fall down the heap of gold coins.

Outside, the dwarves hear and feel the rumblings from inside the mountain. "Was that an earthquake?", Ori asked. "That, my lad, was a dragon", Balin slowly answered him.

Maleficent was about to say something, until an earthquake-like shake manifests, causing the house to rumble. Bard makes it back inside the house, right after it stopped.

[The Elvenqueen]

"The King under the Mountian is dead!" ranted Smaug as he stormed around the hall, knocking over pillars and sending coins and other treasure showering down everywhere. "I took his throne, and I ate his people, like a wolf among sheep! I kill where I wish, and when I wish! My armour, is iron!" he swooped low over the hobbit's hiding place, alighting on the far side of the hall. "No blade can pierce me!" the dragon boasted, his eyes glowing with an angry light.

Bane looked out of the window towards the mountain in the distance. "It's coming from the mountain!"
"The dragon..." Mel murmured quietly, her face grave. Sigrid looked worried.
"You should leave us." Fili said urgently to Bard. "Take your children and get out of here!"
"And go where?!" the Lakeman asked the dwarf, a hint of anger in his voice. "There is nowhere else for us to go!"
"Are we going to die, Da?" Tilda asked, the young girl looking very frightened. "The dragon, it's going to kill us!"

[AngelBites15]

Taking the last black arrow from the ceiling, Bard looks upon his children. "Not if I kill it first", he told them with clenched teeth. After he sneaks out, holding the black arrow, Bain starts following him. "A Black Arrow. Why did you never tell me?!", his son accused him. "Because you did not need to know", the bargeman whispered to him, hoping to keep quiet from the guardS.

[The Elvenqueen]

"It's Oakenshield!" hissed Smaug as he prowled back towards the platform, trying to peer under it so he could see the hobbit hiding beneath. "That filthy little dwarvish usurper! He sent you in here for the Arkenstone, didn't he?"
"No!" protested Bilbo, who had seen the stone just outside where he was hiding, if he inched closer, maybe he could get it... "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Don't bother denying it!" the dragon snarled, Bilbo jumping and retreating backwards as the dragon's snout and eye suddenly appeared blocking the opening. "I guessed his foul purpose some time ago! But, it matters not, because his quest will fail. There is a darkness coming, and soon it will spread...to every corner of the land!"

"Listen to me carefully," Bard turned to his son. "I need you to distract the guards, once I'm at the top of the tower, I can set the arrow to the bow." he explained.
"There he is!"
"Bard!" the guards suddenly appeared and the two had to run.
"After him! Stop him!" shouted the lead guard.

[AngelBites15]

"Quickly! Down there! Go!", Bard told his son as they ran. "Bain...Bain", Bard stopped him from running and gives him the Black Arrow. "Keep it safe. Don’t let anyone find it", he told him. The guards began to get closer. "I’ll deal with them!" "I’m not leaving!" "Go!", Bain runs off with the arrow, while Bard stayed behind.

Outside the mountain, the dwarves continues to listen. "What about Bilbo?", Ori asked, already worried. "Give him more time", Thorin told them. "Time to do what? To be killed?" "You’re afraid" "Yes, I’m afraid. I fear for you. A sickness lies upon that treasure horde. A sickness which drove your grandfather mad" "I am not my grandfather" "You’re not yourself. The Thorin I know would not hesitate to go in there" "I will not risk this quest for the life of one burglar", Thorin firmly told Balin with a hint of anger in his voice. "Bilbo. His name is Bilbo", Balin told him, correcting him.

[The Elvenqueen]

"Braga." Bard nodded to the chief guard as they surrounded him.
"You're under arrest!" Braga proclaimed to the barge man.
"On what charge?" Bard demanded.
"Any charge the master chooses!"
Knowing he had nothing to lose, and they would just take him in anyway, Bard swung and punched Braga in the jaw, pushing through the guards and making a run for it as he stumbled backwards.
"Bard!"
"Stop him!"
Meanwhile, Bane had hidden the black arrow under a pile of fishing nets, in a small boat by the statue of Girion in the middle of the town.

"You are being used, Thief In The Shadows." sneered Smaug as he wrapped his talons around the pillar, leering underneath the platform at the halfling. "You were only ever a means to an end. The coward Oakenshield has weighed the value of your life, and found it worth nothing!"
"No!" Bilbo protested angrily, shaking his head. He didn't want to believe what the dragon was telling him. "No, you're lying!"
"What did he promise you," the dragon laughed out loud, "a share of the treasure, as if it was his to give?" another hiss left the great red beast as he snarled in anger. "Well I will not part with a single coin, not one piece of it!"

[AngelBites15]

Bard tries to get away from the guards, but he gets tripped by Alfrid, and is knocked out with a piece of wood by the Master.

At that moment Smaug says this, Bilbo makes a run for it to grab the Arkenstone, but Smaug moves his body again, causing Bilbo and the Arkenstone to go flying in the air and landing back onto the pile of gold. "My teeth are swords, my claws are spears. My wings are a hurricane!", as Smaug stomps in front of Bilbo, he notices the spot in Smaug’s chest where Girion had managed to pierce him with his arrow. "So it is true. The Black Arrow found its mark", Bilbo gasps once he noticed the mark. "What did you say?!" "I-I was just saying, your reputation precedes you, oh Smaug, the tyrannical. Truly, you have no equal on this earth", Bilbo continued to stroke Smaug's ego.

[The Elvenqueen]

The guards then caught up, capturing Bard and locking him up in the town's jail cells.

Smaug's gaze then went from the hobbit to the Arkenstone.
"I am almost tempted...to let you take it." he crooned, almost mockingly. "If only to see Oakenshield suffer. Watch it destroy him, watch it corrupt his heart...and drive him mad!" the dragon's tail lashed as he thought it over, then shook his wide head, his eyes flashing with fierce fire. "But I think not. I think that our little game ends here. So tell me, thief," he asked, his jaws opening wide, "how do you choose to die?!" the dragon finished in a thunderous roar, fire spurting from his open maw. He roared again in fury when he realised that the hobbit had disappeared again, and doused the whole hall in flame. He was bound to have hit that little creature somehow that way.

But Bilbo luckily, had managed to seize up the Arkenstone, and retreat back to the stairwell he had come down into the chamber from. The hobbit barely got around the corner in time to avoid the flames.

[AngelBites15]

Thorin runs into the mountain to go and find Bilbo, but finds no one there, as the treasure was below, and before him. When Bilbo suddenly runs up behind him, Thorin is slightly relieved. "You’re alive" "Not for much longer!" "Did you find the Arkenstone?" "The dragon’s coming!" "The Arkenstone? Did you find it?", Thorin firmly asked the Hobbit once more, hoping that he, at least, found the king's jewel. "No, we have to get out", Bilbo stammered as he was about to leave, but only to see Thorin's sword blocking his path. "Thorin?", the dwarf Prince wasn't himself at the moment, and something was wrong. He used his sword to push Bilbo back. "Thorin!", Bilbo called his name again, but Thorin seems to be in some trance.

[The Elvenqueen]

It was then that Smaug caught up to the hobbit again, and upon seeing the dwarf prince he bellowed out "You will burn!!" and broke into a run towards them
"Run!" Thorin bellowed and he and Bilbo had to dive behind a stone platform again to avoid the dragon's fire.

[AngelBites15]

However, the fire caught Thorin on his clothes, but he managed to tear them off in time, as soon as the other dwarves caught up with them. "Come on", he told them as he led them away from the treasure room.

Back in Laketown, Maleficent kept her watch on Kili, and silently stayed at his side, admiringly hoping that he would awaken before the dragon awakens, even though she didn't realize that it was wide awake. However, her gaze fell from him, as she looked down at her feet.

As they continue to get through the mountain quietly, a coin drops, making the sound echo. Thorin looks back at Bilbo, who looks up to see Smaug moving above them with the coins, stuck to his body, falling down. Quietly, Thorin indicates for them to keep moving while Smaug was not aware of their presence. As they run towards the western guard room, they stop to see the decaying corpses of their kin. "The last of our kin. They must’ve come here, hoping beyond hope", Balin solemnly said to them.

[The Elvenqueen]

"Well, that's it then." murmured Dwalin in resignation, his shoulders slumping. "There's no way out..." the other dwarves all sighed amongst themselves, resigning to the fate that the dragon would eventually find and kill them all, and they'd never escape this place that had once been their home.
"No." Thorin protested as he shook his head and turned to face the group behind him. "I will not die like this, cowering and clawing for breath! We make for the great forges, we kill the dragon, and take back what is ours!" he declared firmly, lifting one fist into the air as he finished.

"He'll see us, sure as daylight." Dwalin insisted, not seeming too keen on the idea himself.
"Not if we split up."

[AngelBites15]

"Thorin, we’ll never make it", Balin told the dwarven Prince in exasperation. "Some of us might. Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon. If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together", he told them before telling them the plan of splitting up.

He leads Bilbo and Balin to the forges. "This way!", that was until the dragon came upon them from behind. "Flee! Flee! Run for your lives! There is nowhere to hide", he taunted with a growl before Ori, Dori and Bombur come behind him. "Behind you!" "Come on!", it seemed to have worked since Smaug's attention was towards them. While distracted by them, Dwalin and Nori come up behind him from another direction. "Hey, you! Here!", the creature now turns to attack them, but Dwalin and Nori make a run for it. That was until he notices Bifur and Gloin running in another direction, and he goes after them instead, unleashing a cloud of fire as they fled.

[The Elvenqueen]

Bifur and Gloin barely managed to slide down the chute in time to land in the carts and escape the fire. They were so close to the forges now.

(apologies for the short post, I don't really remember this part all that well and I'm still in a lot of pain from my operation yesterday)

[AngelBites15]

As they reach the forge, everything was black, dusty, and old. Stone cold. "The plan’s not gonna work. These furnaces are stone cold", Dwalin said to his comrades after they grouped together. "He’s right. We’ve no fire hot enough to set them ablaze", Balin agreed. "Have we not?", Thorin had an idea as they heard Smaug approaching. "I did not look to see you so easily outwitted!", he taunted at the beast as the dragon started coming towards them. "You have grown slow and fat in your dotage. Slug!", Smaug turned to him in anger and Thorin faced the others. "Take cover. Go!", he told them as they hid behind the stone pillars as Smaug unleashes his fire into the forge, which was so hot, it ignites forge’s fire. "Bombur! Get those billows working! Go!", Bombur goes off as Smaug is trying to break through the iron gate of the forge. "Bilbo! Up there. On my mark, pull that lever", Smaug continues to break through the iron gate. "Balin, can you still mix a flash flame?" "Aye, it will only take a jiffy!"

Smaug breaks through the iron gate and enters the forge. Bilbo runs up to his position to stand by the lever as Smaug takes a step further into the forge, and then looks at Thorin. "Now!", he shouted to Bilbo as the Hobbit pulled the lever, releasing the water and dousing the dragon. As the dragon paces towards Thorin, the dwarven Prince pulled a lever, which poured the molten gold down a path. "Lead him to the Gallery of the Kings", he told the other dwarves as he rushes and rides down the molten gold. Smaug starts destroying the forge with an enraged roar as Bilbo falls from his position. "Keep going, Bilbo!", Thorin shouted back before Bilbo followed the rest of the dwarves with Smaug following them to the Gallery of the Kings.

[The Elvenqueen]

"You think you can deceive me, Barrel-rider!" snarled the dragon as he crashed through the wall, Bilbo scrambling to get out of the way of the rubble in time and thankfully only one of the hanging banners fell on top of him. "You have come from Laketown!" Smaug hissed and turned around as he muttered to himself, knowing that the Lakemen had helped the dwarves from Bilbo's slip of the tongue about the barrels, and the smell of course.

"This is some sordid scheme between these filthy dwarves, and those miserable tub-trading Lakemen! Well, perhaps it is time I paid them another visit!"
"Wait!" shouted out Bilbo in horror. The Lakemen had done nothing to deserve the dragon's wrath. "You cannot go to Laketown!"
"Oh, you care about them do you?" Smaug sneered as he faced the hobbit. "Good, then you can watch them die."

[AngelBites15]

"Here, you witless worm!", the voice of Thorin shouted at the beast. "You", the dragon growled in annoyance. "I am taking back what you stole", the dwarven Prince annouced as Smaug stomped towards him, anger in his eyes. "You will take nothing from me, Dwarf. I instill terror in the hearts of men. I am King Under the Mountain", he protested in triumph. "This is not your kingdom. We will have our revenge!", Thorin then shouts in Khuzdul as the dwarves pulled apart a large column of stone to reveal a giant gold statue of Thorin's ancestor that they have created with the gold.

[The Elvenqueen]

Smaug stopped where he stood reared on his back legs, staring at the shimmering gold in awe. Even though he had the entire hoarde of Erebor that he had kept to himself for all these years, like all dragons he was weak to anything gold or treasure, and for a moment he forgot that he had been about to try and kill the dwarves.

He hissed in surprise as suddenly a bubble appeared in the figure's face, and the gold statue collapsed on top of the dragon.
"Argh!!" Smaug cried out, flailing frantically underneath the swirling sea of molten gold. The dwarves looked on in surprise and were silent as they wondered whether the plan had worked, when the gold stopped rippling and they could no longer hear the dragon's cries. But seconds later, he burst out of the molten gold, which sizzled against his scales as he yelled in pain.
"Revenge?! Revenge? I'll show you revenge!!" the dragon bellowed, crashing through what had once been the front door of the kingdom.

[AngelBites15]

Back in Lake-town, the rumbling went through the fishing port as the civilians chattered warily. In the jail, Bard knew what the rumblings was, and he knew that Thorin was going to wake the beast sooner. "Listen to me! Do you not know what is coming?!", he shouted in panic to the oblivious guards outside through his prison cell, and there was no answer among them.