(3/3)
--x--
2838
Almost two decades passed and life on the mountain flourished, far from the world, people would almost forget Smaug if he wasn't seen flying around every now and then.
It is also a happy year, because it was the birth of His Majesty's third son, Smaug.
Tauriel's son, his name is Berkas, Tauriel begged him to use vitality, making many unfavorable deals, such as doing it outdoors and sucking him under the table, even opening the back door, in the end, Smaug reluctantly agreed.
But the deal came with double rewards, because Helena, upon learning of this, discovered that he wanted it and offered to do it too.
Smaug was very happy for a while.
Berkas had Tauriel's red hair, the shade of autumn leaves, with Tauriel's eyes and black horns, pointed canines, and sharp nails.
He looked a lot like Alduin when he was born, but with red hair and less pale skin.
Alduin was 22 at this point and Hela was 20, yet they were just brats running around and giving their mothers a hard time.
Smaug? Well, he slept more soundly at those times.
-Alduin! Wait! - Hela laughed as she ran after her brother, the pair ran through the corridors with wooden swords, fighting among themselves, they didn't seem much different in height, Alduin a little taller, their features were also similar, only the white and black hair, besides the ears, differentiated them.
Passing a gargoyle, they laughed and climbed on it, the gargoyle snorted, but said nothing, continuing to patrol holding its steel club.
-Hey, Balthazar, let's go to the garden! - Alduin pointed in a direction.
With a heavy, gravelly voice, Baltazar spoke. -No, I'm patrolling!
-Come on, there's never any intruder, let's go, nothing will happen! - Hela laughed at the side and helped.
Balthazar looked thoughtful, but remembering Queen Helena's order, he denied it again. "No, Queen Ruby said no!"
Baltazar started walking again, his horse nostrils releasing a wave of steam, he refused fiercely.
-You're a bore, I won't bring you chickens anymore. - Alduin pursed his lips and pretended to be serious.
Baltazar stopped, very nervous, he began to struggle internally, scratching his horse's head.
Luckily, someone appeared behind Baltazar at that moment. - Where do you think you're going?
The pair stopped, looked back, and saw the beautiful woman in the black dress and white hair, her red eyes fixed on the two.
-Hehe... Mom, I was asking Baltazar to take us to Grandma Olwyn's class. - Alduin smiled and lied with a smile.
-Really?- Helena smiled back, looking at Hela.
-Yes! - Hela nodded quickly.
-Well... it's okay, I'll take you, since you're so honest, I'll reward you with double the lessons. - Helena said kindly, smiling at them both.
Alduin and Hela were silent, the pair looked at each other, then as if they had had a secret agreement, they jumped and ran, but still in the air, they were caught by a large hand.
-Balthazar, you traitor! - Hela screamed in rage.
Baltazar pretended not to hear, looking into the queen's eyes, he lowered his head and handed over the puppies, then walked away as if nothing had happened, the pair glared angrily at the usually dim-witted Baltazar.
Soon, held by the ears and moaning in pain all the way, the pair arrived at Olwyn's room. Helena left them there, told them to double the class and left satisfied, going to look for the king.
-Oh... mother was smiling, I think she's going to look for father. - Alduin said thoughtfully.
-Mommy says Aunt Helena is a bitch. - Hela laughed.
-Bitch? What is this? - Alduin asked confused.
-I don't know, but I find the word amusing. - Hela replied.
Olwyn, now brown-haired and younger, looked at the pair and sighed heavily, feeling that her days were not good, everything that no one wanted to do was left to her! Besides, what kind of things are you teaching these children?!
"Okay, sit down and be quiet, today we're going to look at the history of Gondor." Olwyn sighed, picked up a book, and opened it.
Alduin and Hela groaned but sat down obediently, the time they ran away their father got mad and hammered their butts until they bled, well they healed quickly but it still hurt a lot!
--x--
Smaug was flying over the mountain, looking around calmly, the number of subjects in the mountains increased every year, it took 50 years for an elf to reach maturity, even with orc blood, these children were still more elves than orcs, so the time did not vary much, so what grew was the number of children, the parents with very active sex lives and with his blessing, the numbers grew every year.
Each family already had at least three children.
Especially the giant elves, who seemed to have an average of ten children, it was a population explosion, but still a small number for the mountain.
The imps and dwarves also settled and were no longer blessed, they grew much faster, even without the life gift, he himself had to limit their birth rate or the imbalance would be harmful.
Luckily they're still slower than orcs, or the place would be a sea of imps and gray dwarves.
Oh yes, he gave the name to the new dwarves, gray dwarves is what stuck.
Now with a good adult population, they more easily took over the forge and mines, with only a few giant elves scattered throughout the forges.
The trees were also able to make some bigger noises now, to the point that not only Aluna could hear them, much to the imps' delight, they always made various noises when they saw Smaug, but "swimming" in the lake with Helena around them felt a little strange, so he stopped.
Well, until Helena whispers in his ear, then he stops caring, they are just trees after all.
For a moment he wanted to see what would happen if he crossed trees and orcs, but he was stopped by Tauriel and Hera, the funny thing is that Aluna also wanted to see what would happen.
In the end, Helena broke the tie by siding with the king, of course, so, to not make Tauriel and Hera mad, he decided to try with just one tree.
Now he was thinking about what to cross. Should he really cross a tree with an orc? He thought that with their DNA it would be easier, maybe the Trolls too. Changing his mind about using an orc and a tree, he thought of the white tree of Gondor. When he thought of this, he was shocked for a moment. The white tree!
Mid-flight, Smaug roared and altered his course, using his spiritual connection, he informed his wives that he was leaving for a while.
He spent hours flying to Gondor while wanting to kick himself for forgetting about it.
Are the trees descended from the trees of Valinor? He doesn't know, perhaps they are, perhaps they aren't, whatever Tolkien means by "remembrance," but what if it really is a sacred tree? What if it really is descended from Telperion?
He didn't know, but he would find out.
With that he flew to Gondor with all his strength, when he got close, he transformed into a black falcon and flew towards the tree that currently still lived.
As soon as he got closer, he felt it, light, it was weak, it was small, but it was there, like the opposite of all the corruption he consumed, he wanted to eat the tree, but stopped, it was just a tree, he would make a forest, he would turn the dragon mountain into the white mountain if necessary.
The tree itself was white and smooth, the leaves like those of a laurel, they were green on top and silver on the bottom, he ate a leaf and felt pure positive energy inside him, he had never felt this before, he had always liked eating corruption, because it made him stronger, but this light, it made him feel good, warm inside and even a little at peace.
Looking at the tree greedily, he couldn't find a fruit, so he would force it to give him one.
He began to give it vitality, trying to convey his emotions, but the tree didn't respond. In the end, he gave it so much vitality, enough for a hundred orcs! But it still didn't respond, without giving him a single fruit.
He got angry and tried to convey a different meaning, if she didn't give him the fruit, he would take her with him.
The tree seemed to rumble a little, at the end, something that looked like a pine cone grew, it was silvery white, he watched the fruit grow until it stopped.
Feeling the same positive energy of the tree in the fruit, he expressed his thanks and placed the fruit in his storage, flying away, returning home.
The people of Gondor never knew about the agreement between the dragon and the tree.
Returning to the mountain, he chose an empty plot of land nearby and warned the imps that they could not let this tree die, no matter what.
When he planted it, he filled it with vitality, much more than the tree in Gondor gave, so the tree sprouted in a few hours, seeing the white tree being born, feeling the positive energy, he was happy beyond measure.
-Is that...? - Aluna appeared behind him at some point, looking at the sapling with great interest.
"I got this from the white tree of Gondor, this tree is a descendant of a tree said to be a memory of Telperion," Smaug explained without turning around, looking at the tree with enthusiasm.
-Telperion? - She was surprised, looking at the tree, she nodded. - There is indeed a similarity, but it is very far from Telperion.
-It doesn't matter, I will make it grow as big as the original and spread it throughout the land, this land is corrupted, so I will make it pure again. - Smaug spoke with conviction.
Aluna looked at him with surprise and confusion. "That doesn't sound like you, why would you do that?"
"Why? Because it's energy, of course! I've only found corrupted energy so far. Now that I've found a way to get positive energy, I won't give up!" - Of course, Smaug didn't say that. - Corruption will affect my kingdom. This land will become darker and darker until everything born here is impure. I don't care about balance, in fact, I prefer it. A world that's too black or too white isn't appealing to me, so I'll balance the game.
Aluna looked at him, not understanding this dragon for a moment, but she shook her head and looked back at the tree, a smile appearing in her eyes as she spoke. - I hope you can do it.
"Yes? Well, then be prepared, we're heading back to Moria as soon as this tree grows big enough." He said, then turned to the imps, eyeing the sapling curiously nearby. "Hey, bring fertilizer, lots of it!"
The imps nodded and ran off, seeing the little ones was really fun, they looked more and more like their relatives.
-Moria? Why? - Student frowned, not understanding.
"Vitality, I need a lot of vitality, this tree consumes it, a lot of it, the amount I gave it could transform a hundred trees from seedlings to full bloom, but it barely grew." He sighed.
"Yes? Actually, I think you really helped, but what this tree really needs is another kind of life." The woman pointed to the imps nearby, and Smaug was confused.
-Kill the imps and use them as fertilizer? - He asked confused and shocked.
Aluna rolled her eyes and said irritably, "No! You idiot! She needs happiness, kindness, purity, not just vitality."
Smaug looked at the tree that emitted positive energy and fell into deep thought, it is no wonder that the tree of Gondor did not want to give him a fruit for vitality, it turns out that it needed something else, in the end it only gave him this so that he would not tear it down.
-I see... -Smaug began to think with a frown and soon came to a conclusion. - There is only one type of creature that meets that...
-Which one? - Student asked with interest.
"Kids! Come on, the tree's going to move. Let's move it to an open area and turn it into a playground." He dug up the tree and ran away.
Aluna looked in surprise at the direction the Dragon went, the Imps still confused bringing fertilizer.
In the end she laughed lightly and followed the dragon.
In the next few days, Smaug planted the tree in a previously empty spot in the garden, he even called elves and dwarves to help build a place for the children to play, as long as they didn't touch the tree, they could play as they pleased.
When the people discovered the objective was to blossom a tree that would bring purity, they all took their children there.
The place would then become known as the white tree park.
The parents told the children stories about how the power of their happiness made the tree grow.
The children would then keep this and tell their own children in the future, but for now, Smaug did not give up using vitality.
Vitality was a positive energy after all, even if it couldn't be used to make it grow directly, the tree could extract positivity from it, even if just a little.
The excess vitality was trapped in the tree, making it healthy and vigorous, but not growing.
So he still returned to the abyss with the reluctant Aluna, he spent the next five years there, until he returned in 2343, with much more Mithril, but the vitality and power he gained was ridiculous, that place basically had its own ecosystem after thousands of years, he barely navigated a small part of it, but its growth was explosive.
Furthermore, he encountered another Balrog, after saving him, he didn't care about arguments, even Aluna couldn't convince him, in the end, the dragon ate him before he fell apart, after all it was a very pure energy, this strengthened him a lot, but Aluna was sad for a while after that.
Not because he ate the Maiar, no, he only ate the outer shell, the Maiar itself didn't care and neither did she, the problem was that it reminded her of her own situation.
After that he decided to go back, the woman needed some sun.
She wasn't much help down there, he just took her so he wouldn't feel alone, she was a Maiar and could handle herself, it could be more dangerous for his three wives.
As soon as they returned, he went to the white tree, it had grown taller, twice as tall as the last time he saw it.
He then gave it vitality, a lot of it, the tide seemed to have no end and before the surprised eyes of the children and the imps, the tree grew from two meters to three, then to four, then to five, six, seven, eight...
For five years he killed hundreds of thousands or even more, he lost count, he threw everything at her.
The tree stopped at eleven meters, by this time it already had many leaves, a thick trunk and several branches, the people seemed shocked and looked at the tree in wonder.
-Your ancestors had a name, so you will have one too, your name is Yggdrasil. - He spoke calmly.
Aluna at the side, thinking of all those corrupted creatures and looking at this Tree, felt that what Smaug said was true, he would purify Middle Earth.
-What does that mean? - She asked curiously.
"Nothing in any known language, it's just a name I like, but if it had to have a meaning, it's the world tree, I hope its roots one day spread throughout Middle-earth." Smaug placed his hand on the tree.
-How big would she have to be for that? - Aluna laughed lightly.
"Well, it's just a metaphor! One day it will bear fruit, and from its fruit new trees will grow; these trees will be its roots." Smaug rolled his eyes at her.
-Well... Yggdrasil. - Aluna nodded.
Soon his family came, including Berkas, who was very small when he left, now looked like a child of two or three years old.
Alduin looked at the tree with Hela and for some reason, he felt happy, just looking at it. "Father, why does this tree look... different?"
-Different? - Smaug smiled and pulled the two children onto his lap.
-Yes, as if exuding happiness. - Hela nodded beside her, holding her father's horn, making Smaug snort.
-Yes, she will bring a little more light to this land, her name is Yggdrasil, remember to be kind to her. - Smaug said.
"Yggdrasil? Well, I see, hello, Yggdrasil!" Hela shouted to the tree, she was shocked when the tree shook slightly. "Father! Did the tree respond?"
"Idiot, the orchard trees can answer too." Alduin rolled his eyes.
"Really? I don't remember." Hela rolled her eyes.
-Idiot, what are they going to say to you! - Alduin laughed at his sister.
The pair began to fight in his head and Smaug's face was getting worse and worse.
Smoke coming out of his mouth, the pair smelled the sulfur and realized something was wrong, jumping up and running to their mothers.
Smaug snorted at the little pests and received an exasperated look from Hera and an amused look from Helena.
In fact, Helena wasn't even looking at the tree, she was looking at him like a resentful wife since she arrived.
Smaug pretended not to notice, but when she approached and whispered something in his ear, he stopped, picked her up, and flew away.
Hera and Tauriel looked at each other and thought for a moment, then quietly went to their room.
Aluna saw all this and shook her head slightly, looking at the growing tree, she placed her hand on it and felt the gigantic vitality.
The tree however did not keep this to itself, but was slowly sending it to the soil, nourishing it.
-You are a gentle spirit... - Aluna smiled and placed her head against the tree.