Honor-Bane

“It’s Oakenshield,” Smaug hissed accusingly. “That filthy Dwarvish usurper! He sent you in here for the Arkenstone, didn’t he?!”

“No, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” Nori called out making himself as small as possible behind another pillar.

“Don’t bother denying it,” Smaug snapped. “I guessed his foul purpose some time ago.” Nori could feel Smaug’s large presence on the other side. “But it matters not. Oakenshield’s quest will fail. A Darkness is coming; it will spread to every corner of the land!” He spoke on but Nori’s attention was only fully grabbed when Smaug muttered, “You are being used, thief in the shadows. You were only ever a means to an end. The coward Oakenshield has weighed the value of your life and found it worth nothing!”

Nori gulped. Bilbo was supposed to be the ‘means to the end’, but Thorin had sent him instead. Did that mean the others cared more about Bilbo’s wellbeing than his own?

~Honor-Bane, archiveofourown.org/works/1461…

[EDIT: Sorry I deleted the last version of this! I had to edit one thing and even though it looks the same believe me, it's better!]