All Bella had to do was reach out, and the Eye of Agamotto — the Time Stone — was hers. And yet she hesitated.
With the Time Stone in hand, playing Smaug to death would be no trouble at all. But the price? "Smaug, I'm here to negotiate" sounds simple enough, yet every gift of fate has already been quietly stamped with its price.
She had no idea what consequences her actions would invite.
It almost felt as if the Ancient One were smiling faintly at her, as if she could hear the old master saying, No one is forcing you, Miss Bella. This is your own choice.
Wong didn't hurry her. He simply stood off to one side, waiting.
Bella thought for a long time and still couldn't make up her mind. She turned and asked him, "This isn't being given to me, is it?"
He stared at her, puzzled. "What are you talking about? This is the supreme treasure of Kamar-Taj! How could it be given to you? Don't even dream of it!"
Bella let out a long breath. Good, good. "Then my mind's at ease."
She stepped forward, gently lifted the Eye of Agamotto down, and with a touch of solemnity hung it around her neck.
Crossing her hands at her chest, she made a hand seal and shut off the protective seal on the Eye. The pale green glow vanished.
She was no novice. With her own psionic powers, she could already manipulate the flow of time to a limited degree.
But it was precisely because she understood it that she could appreciate just how formidable the Time Stone was. With this gem in hand, she stood all but invincible. To deal with one mere dragon like Smaug, the methods and means available to her now were almost too many to count.
"Thank you. I'll return it as soon as I can."
...
The Lonely Mountain stood alone because there were no other mountains around it for company. That was how it got its name.
In the days of the Kingdom of Erebor, Dale at the foot of the Lonely Mountain had been a major transport hub linking East and West.
Dwarven ores, the exquisite weapons, garments, and crafts made by the elves, and foodstuffs and daily necessities from Men all passed through Dale on their way west or south, distributed to every corner of the world.
This place had once been called the Jewel of the North. Dale, the City of Dale, the Town of Dale: all of these were names for it.
South of the Lonely Mountain lay Dale, and south of Dale lay the Long Lake. When Dale had been burned to ruins by the dragon Smaug, many survivors and travelers passing through from north and south established a settlement on the lakeshore. Over the years, it grew into a small town: Lake-town.
The Long Lake was oval, longer north-to-south and narrow east-to-west. Formed from snowmelt off the Lonely Mountain, its surface was perpetually shrouded in white mist, and large chunks of drifting ice floated in its waters.
With the Lonely Mountain lost to them, Lake-town had no dwarven ironware or gold and silver wares to offer, and its appeal to merchants had dropped sharply. Even though the elves still traded with Men, the income and living conditions of Lake-town's residents were declining visibly. The once-Jewel of the North now seemed nothing more than an unremarkable lakeside town.
The townsfolk weren't starving, since there were fish and shrimp in the lake, but anyone who called them prosperous would have been lying through their teeth.
"Open the gate, open the gate! A merchant's here!" The guards at the gate were dressed in tattered clothes, but their tone made it sound as if easy prey had just walked in.
A somewhat strange-looking, eerie three-masted ship had appeared in front of the guards. Standing on either side and looking out, all they could see was a woman in a white robe standing at the bow. And what a beauty she was! Several of the guards stood there dumbstruck; even the mayor's mistress didn't have skin and bearing like that.
Their stupor lasted a good ten seconds before they snapped out of it. No matter how beautiful a woman was, money was still more useful.
There was still drift-ice on the lake, and the temperature in Lake-town was bitter. Whatever stray thoughts a man might have were swiftly smothered by the cold.
The guards bellowed in coarse voices, "Halt the ship! Cargo inspection! Got papers? No? Then pay your tax — entry tax!"
A short, hunchbacked man in a black cotton jacket — his head jutting forward because of his bent back — bellowed even louder beside them. "By the order of our great Mayor, all merchants must pay thirty percent of their goods as commercial tax! This is the compensation owed to His Honor the Mayor for protecting the townsfolk and you lowly merchants all year round!"
"Thirty percent of the cargo as tax?" Bella nearly laughed in exasperation. These people made no attempt whatsoever to hide how shameless they were. No wonder the town was crumbling. Thirty percent in tax: what merchant would dare set foot here?
The hunchback wasn't the slightest bit moved by her beauty. His dead-fish eyes glared up at her, and even gazing up from below didn't dampen his arrogant air. "That's right! It is the sacred and inviolable right of His Honor the Mayor! Your ship looks rather nice. I've decided to buy it off you. Step over there and fill out the paperwork—"
He pointed at Bella. Before he could finish, Bai Qiu of the Snake Eyes clan raised the iron cannon, thicker than an ordinary man's thigh, and fired. The hunchback's hat went flying, taking a sizable chunk of his scalp with it.
"Aaargh—! They're enemies, enemies! Attack, attack!" Panic-stricken, he tried to rally the guards beside him to fight back, but once Jason and O'Rin joined the fight, those ordinary soldiers stood no chance whatsoever.
Bella stepped slowly off the ship. Legally speaking, this land and everyone and everything on it had been gifted to her by Thorin, so there was no need to stand on ceremony.
Just a handful of village bullies. There was no need to show them any courtesy.
In her right hand she held her staff, at her waist hung Sting, and around her neck rested the Eye of Agamotto. The mist rising off the lake settled naturally onto the folds of her gown, and as she walked, the ice crystals on her white dress shimmered with bursts of luminescence.
Jason, wearing his hockey mask, gripped the hunchback in one hand like a giant lifting a baby. He followed behind Bella as she advanced slowly toward the center of town.
The Snake Eyes clan fanned out on either side, trailing the procession in silence.
"Uh... aren't you going to follow them?" Bilbo Baggins asked O'Rin beside him. The swordmaster of Mibu Village plucked twice at her shamisen, and the hobbit could only shake his head and wander off to one side to scribble in his travel journal.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Aaagh! My leg's broken!"
"Sound the alarm! Notify the Mayor—"
"Aaah! I surrender, I surrender, don't kill me!"
Lake-town had a population of somewhere between three and four thousand. The local tyrant of a mayor knew perfectly well that he had no popular support, so he maintained an enormous personal guard. As Bella's group advanced, more than two hundred guards were beaten down along the way. By the time they reached the town center, the mayor still had a hundred-some soldiers around him.
"Mayor, save me! Save me!" the hunchbacked, greedy man in black cried out over and over.
"Alfrid? This is a rebellion! Quick! Some of you, go rescue Alfrid! Then kill every last one of these lowlife troublemakers!"
Seeing his trusted henchman in trouble, the mayor at least mustered a flicker of sympathy. He shouted himself hoarse, ordering his men to charge.