The company had gathered on one of the eastern watchtowers, looking down helplessly at Laketown which had been set ablaze. Agarwaen wasn't sure what to feel. She was distraught, sad, and angry. Angry at Thorin, at herself, the prophecy, and growing evil that prompted this whole quest. Her fingers itched, wanting to take up arms and kill something. As she watched Smaug take out yet another section of the town, she turned on her heel. She wouldn't be there in time, but she could help any survivors that washed up on shore.

She didn't say anything to the dwarves, not even to Bilbo, and just started down the stairs, her jaw clenched and eyes fixed on the stone below her feet. As she passed Thorin, he put his arm out in her path, stopping her.

"There is nothing you can do." He said, his odd tone of voice back.

"Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Oin are down there. The least I can do is help the survivors." She protested.

"There will be no survivors. Not as long as Smaug lives and has his way."

"Don't say that!" She yelled, gaining the attention of everyone else. "That's what we thought when we faced Azog. That's what we thought in Thranduil's halls! And yet here we are! I will not sit by idly while my friends die!"

"There is nothing you can do!" Thorin shouted back. "Any survivors will be found and eaten. This is not an orc or an elf, this is a dragon! If you go down there, you will die too."

"Then I will have died trying to help. Just as I was prepared to do a hundred and seventy years ago." She pushed past him but he grabbed her arm.

"I cannot let you waste your life." He ground out.

"What would your sister say?"

"I will not lose more to save that which cannot be saved. Dis won't like it, but it is for the best."

"I was never yours to lose." She snatched her arm away. "I am not your kin." Thorin was about to reply when the ground rumbled beneath them.

"What was that?" Ori asked. "What happened?" Agarwaen looked to the burning city, not able to see Smaug anymore.

"It fell, I saw it." Bilbo said, walking toward the edge of the tower. "It's dead. Smaug is dead!"

"I think he's right." Gloin spoke. "Look there, the ravens of Erebor are returning to the mountain!" Agarwaen looked up at the cawing birds that flew back to long forgotten nests on the face of the mountain.

"Aye. Word will spread, before long, every soul in Middle Earth will know the dragon is dead!" Balin said with a smile. Agarwaen looked between everyone. How could they think thoughts of triumph right now? Yes, Smaug was dead, but so were men, women, and children of Esgaroth. What if their four other companions failed to make it too? Her voice was not among the cheers, and when she looked back to where Thorin stood, he had already left, heading for the mountain again.

"Why do you rejoice when so many have perished?" Her voice was quiet and broken, but they'd all heard it and their smiles dropped.

"You've never seen war or battle, have you lass?" Balin said sadly.

"It shouldn't matter if I have or not. Those who are left need our help. We brought this upon them, did we not?" The rising sun in the east made her squint as she looked at everyone.

"Thorin was right about there being nothing we can do right now. If you go down there, what do you plan on doing?"

"I..." She hadn't really thought about that, her only goal being to do everything in her power to help. Balin was right. She was no healer, she had no food or supplies to give, and would merely be an extra person among the crowds.

"Fili is smart, and was raised to be a leader. He will bring the others home safe." Dwalin added. "I know he will."

"Come on, let's get back inside and see what Thorin would have us do next." Balin finished and began leading the way back to the mountain.

When they found Thorin, he wore his grandfather's cloak. He stared up at the throne seated above the treasure horde, his eyes locked on where Agarwaen assumed the Arkenstone would have been kept.

"We must find it." Thorin said. "It is the only way to reunite the kingdoms."

"It will be found." Dwalin replied, motioning for the company to follow him down to the horde.

The sea of gold felt strange beneath Agarwaen's feet. The metal clinked as she walked, the coins slipping out from under her. Everyone began to spread out, and she ended up walking the expanse alone. Smaug's words played over and over in her mind,

"I'm almost tempted to let you take it. If only to see Oakenshield suffer. Watch it destroy him, watch it corrupt his heart and drive him mad."

Smaug may have been a dragon, but she knew deep down he spoke truth. The Arkenstone would only suck him deeper into whatever greed-filled fantasy he was living in. She had to find it before anyone else and ask Gandalf what to do once he came back. At least she hoped he was coming back.

She knew where the Arkenstone last was. She'd seen it when Bilbo was nearly incinerated before he disappeared. That reminded her, she still needed to talk to him about that.

When she arrived at that side of the cavern, Bilbo was already there, looking like he was worrying himself silly. He paced back and forth, fiddling with his fingers all the while.

"Bilbo." She called. He looked up, and stopped pacing. "It's later." She told him. The hobbit nervously looked around for any other dwarf before the two walked into a tunnel together.

"I...oh, where to start..."

"How about you just tell me how you did it? There are few things and even fewer spells that can make a person disappear into thin a—" She stopped as he held out a simple gold band.

"I, um... I found it in the goblin tunnels." As she stared at the ring, she could feel a pulsing throughout her head, and her eyesight grew cloudy while the ring remained clear. It made her dizzy and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Put it away." She demanded, not liking that it felt like the object was calling to her. Is that what Thorin felt like with all the gold?

"Sorry." Bilbo muttered as he shoved it back in his pocket.

"You found that in the goblin tunnels?" She asked, knowing full well what that was. What she didn't know, was which one it was. She knew who held the three, and the nine were supposedly buried with their masters, so it could very well be one of the dwarven rings, as they were not all accounted for.

"Yes, I...There was this creature. Old and...and crazy. I stole it from him."

"Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie, Bilbo. That is not something anyone should possess."

"I didn't exactly choose to steal it. I just...I found it on the ground, and by the time I realized it was his, he was trying to kill me." Bilbo tried to explain. "What is it?"

"A ring, obviously."

"How can a simple ring make me disappear?"

"It's a magic ring, Bilbo. And according to the tales, it can do a lot more than make you disappear."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Very much so, yes." She replied honestly.

"Then...then you take it. You'd be much better at keeping it safe than I." He held it out to her again, and the throbbing was back along with the clouded vision. She barely noticed her hand reaching out to it, and when it was close enough for her to grab, her ears started ringing and the throbbing went from her head to her entire body. It wanted to be taken. She wanted to take it. But...she had no desire for gold.

She tore her arm away and backed up against the wall.

"No, Bilbo. Do not show it to me again." She held her head in her hands and tried to get rid of the deafening ringing in her ears. As soon as Bilbo put it back again, it began to fade. "Do not show it to anyone." Her breath was heavy and beads of sweat dripped down her back.

"Are you alright?" He asked with concern.

"I don't know. Whatever that is, it calls to me. It wants me to take it. It radiates evil, Bilbo. I cannot take it."

"Then who can?"

"You."

"What?"

"Hobbits. They don't lust after gold or power. Only simplicity. It is incredible, really. What happened when you first saw it?"

"I...I didn't know what it was, so I picked it up."

"You didn't feel like I did just now?"

"N-no."

"Don't lose it. And most of all, do not, under any circumstances let any of the dwarves know you have it."

"Why not?"

"The dwarves once used magical rings, either much like that one, or that one exactly, to create their treasure hoards. It is said that it gave them the power to multiply that which they desired, but due to their stubbornness and resistance to magic, could not turn them invisible like those rings did to elves or men."

"I will keep it safe." Bilbo nodded, and Agarwaen sighed now that the pounding was finally gone.

"There is one more thing,"

"Yes?"

"Have you found the Arkenstone at all? I remember seeing it over here somewhere when I came in after you." Bilbo thought for a moment, wondering if he could trust her. He knew Thorin and her were close, and that worried him.

"No, I haven't found it."