Tris' POV

"What is going on?" Christina asks when an alarm goes off.

We've just been celebrating end of initiation and our amazing rankings when an alarm went off. I feel Tobias' arm snake around my waist and pulling me close to him.

"Four?" I ask, using his nickname. He looks down to me with a stern look on his face. "What is this? What is going on?" I ask.

"I don't know. But I think we are about to find out," he says looking toward the balcony where the Dauntless leaders are gathered. Just as Max opens his mouth to say something an infernal roar is heard coming from outside of the compound.

The sound is a twisted yell of a large animal combined with the sound of thunder and powerful wind. My heart starts beating faster and I feel a chill run down my spine. Whatever made that sound is outside and I have no intention of going out to see what it was. Several people start asking questions and shortly there is so much noise that no one is making any sense.

"Shut up," Eric yells into the microphone he is holding and every pair of eyes turns to look at him.

"Thank you, Eric," Max says in a sarcastic tone, but Eric doesn't let this faze him.

"What is going on?" a man in the front asks and we all wait for Max's answer.

"I just received word that something happened in the city," Max starts saying.

"You don't say," a woman to my left, with magenta spiked hair says and a few around her laugh. If the situation wouldn't be so confusing and a little bit scary I would probably laugh too.

"Thank you, Aimes, for that insightful comment," Max snorts. "As I was saying, the alarm went off in the entire city. It hasn't been used in over two hundred years. We need to seek shelter," he says.

"Shelter? Where?" a man asks.

"From what?" another asks as well.

"All I know is that that alarm means trouble and we need to get going; we will all leave in fifteen minutes. If you are not in the Pit by then you'll be left behind" he says and leaves.

"Four?" I ask and turn to look at him. His expression is hard to read and I wish we were alone, but we aren't.

"You two," he says pointing at Christina and Will "go to the transfers dorm and gather your things, only what is absolutely important to you. Bring Tris' stuff too. You," he says pointing to me "come with me." Before any of us can say anything Tobias pulls me out and up the stairs to his apartment. He unlocks the door and pushes me inside, closing the door behind us.

"Tobias, what is going on?" I ask frustrated that he won't talk to me.

"I don't know. But that alarm can't be good. Dauntless is a fortress. If this place ain't safe then I don't know where we could be," he says and picks up a rucksack and throws a few items inside.

It seems like ages ago that we were downstairs celebrating my ranking and me kissing Tobias in front of everyone in the cafeteria. When he finishes he grabs my hand but before we leave his apartment he turns around, cups my cheek and presses his lips against mine. I open my mouth and he slides his tongue inside mating it with mine. Reluctantly he pulls away, aware that we need to get to the Pit. We arrive there just in time and we are lucky to find Christina and Will among all the Dauntless. To my surprise Uriah, Marlene and Lynn are here as well.

"This is my brother, Zeke," Uriah says. I shake hands with him and he tells me he is also Tobias' best friend. I didn't know that, but then again we didn't really have time to talk that much. He introduces me to his girlfriend, Shauna, who happens to be Lynn's older sister. Christina hands me my rucksack and I thank her.

When the group starts walking we all fall in line. Tobias and I ahead, holding hands, followed by Christina and Will, Uriah, Marlene and Lynn in the line behind, followed by Zeke and Shauna. We soon realize that the path is slowly descending until we reach a metal staircase. We carefully climb down for at least ten solid minutes until we follow a narrow corridor. The smell down here reminds me of a toilet so I assume we are in the sewers. A loud yell is heard again, just like before, but this time it is combined with screams of people. I stop and Tobias looks at me concerned. He squeezes my hand in an attempt to calm me. I give him a shy smile and continue walking. From everywhere around us I hear people asking all kinds of questions, from "are we there yet" to "what is going on". They remain unanswered and I feel even more frustrated. Then, we finally start ascending again and after what feels like forever we reach a huge room where hundreds of people are gathered. The room looks like a giant indoor theater with the stage right in the middle and several dozen rows surrounding it. We all start to fill the rows, sitting according to our faction. I look for my parents and I'm flooded with relief when I see them sitting across from me. They look around concerned, probably to see if Caleb and I are here as well. I immediately scan the area for my brother and find him talking near the stage to Jeanine Matthews. I look back up to my parents and they have spotted me. I wave at them and smile. They do the same and we all sit down. On stage are five leaders, one from each faction. There's Jeanine from Erudite, Max from Dauntless, Marcus, that scum-bag, from Abnegation and a leader each from Candor and Amity.

"We have gathered here because something incredible and terrible at the same time happened," Marcus tells us. "We are under attack."

"Under attack?" a few people ask out loud and Marcus raises his right hand to silence them. I hold Tobias' hand and rub the back of it with my thumb. He looks at me and gives me a quick smile.

"Yes."

"Who is attacking us?" the people ask.

"A creature," Jeanine says.

"What creature?"

"A dragon," the dark-skinned Amity woman says.

"Did she just say dragon?" I hear Christina ask next to me. Everyone in the room seems shocked, even Tobias looks at the scene before him stunned into silence. But somehow I'm okay with what I just learned. It doesn't seem so out of the ordinary. Why? I have no idea.

Jeanine continues talking about this dragon that is attacking us, but I stopped listening to her. The mere thought of such a creature fascinates me. I'm not frightened, but I respect the magnificence of this creature. I wish I could see it with my own eyes. Then, out of nowhere, I hear someone humming. I look to my left where Tobias sits. He doesn't seem to hum. To my right is Christina who is engaged in a heated conversation with the rest of our group. I look behind, where an older woman is sitting a child in her lap. I doubt she or the child is humming. And the person just in front of me just stood up and asked a question.

The people on the stage seem to be overwhelmed by the situation and I can tell this is not something that was ever thought of happening. Another humming sound, different from the one before joins the first. I look around again but I can't identify where it is coming from.

"What's wrong?" Tobias asks me.

"Someone's humming. I feel like I know the tune, but I can't remember where from," I say and still look around when a third person joins this humming choir.

"I can't hear anything. The loud noise must be playing tricks on you," he says dismissively. I want to counter, but just then Jeanine shows us a picture of the dragon; it's blurry but one can see that it is in fact a dragon. They show us a few more pictures and now instead of humming I hear three, no four male voices singing.

"This is a shot of the creature from the front," Jeanine says and shows us how the dragon looks like.

Oh my God! I know this dragon. I know him. His name is... his name is...

"Smaug," I say mainly to myself.

"What?" Tobias asks, turning to look at me confused.

"Smaug," I repeat keeping my eyes glued on the horrific sight in front of me. I didn't think I would ever see him again. Wait. How do I know him?

"What's a smauk?" Tobias asks.

"Not smauk, Smaug. That's his name," I say.

"Tris, this is not the time to name a people killing dragon," Christina says exasperated next to me.

"But that's his name," I repeat but they just ignore me.

If this is to end in fire, then we should all burn together I hear the tune again and it sounds even more familiar. Like I know the song, like it's on the tip of my tongue, but I just need a little more time to remember it. Watch the flames climb high into the night. Where did I hear it before? I'm sure I heard it before. Calling out father oh, stand by and we will watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side. Jeanine is still talking but I ignore her. I know that I know this song. Ugh, this is so frustrating. And if we should die tonight then we should all die together the song continues. I close my eyes, trying to figure out where I know this song from. Raise a glass of wine for the last time. I can see it. I can see four figures standing before me raising their glasses. Calling out father oh prepare as we will watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side. I can see it. I see the flames burning the trees on the mountain. Desolation comes upon the sky. And I see the dragon flying high above my head. I remember.

"Now I see fire inside the mountain. I see fire burning the trees. And I see fire hollowing souls. I see fire, blood in the breeze. And I hope that you remember me," I sing.

"What?" Tobias asks again and I open my eyes to look into his dark-blue and confused ones. I turn my head and see that my friends all look at me. "What did you just sing?" Tobias asks.

"I don't know. I just remembered it from last time," I say.

"Last time?" Will asks confused.

"Last time of what?" Marlene asks.

"When Smaug came," I say.

"What's a smauk?" Christina asks. I'm getting tired of this. I need to find my brothers. Woah. Wait. I only have one brother, Caleb. But at the same time I feel like I have more. I get up and Tobias grabs my wrist.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"Finding my brothers. I need them to help me stop the dragon," I say out loud even though I have no idea where those words came from.

"Brothers? I thought you had only one," Will says confused. Oh Will, I'm as confused as you are. I turn my head to the left and see two men, I've never seen before in my life and yet they look familiar as they walk down to the stage. Somehow I know that that's where I must go. I pull away my wrist and turn around to look at Tobias.

"Trust me," I say and lean down and kiss his lips. I make my way through the row until I reach the stairs. I descend them all the while the song continues in my head. I sing along and see how two other men climb down as well and we all head for the stage. I can hear them sing louder and I join their tune.

"Now I see fire inside the mountain. I see fire burning the trees. And I see fire hollowing souls. I see fire, blood in the breeze. And I hope that you remember me," I sing together with the four men as we ascend the stage.

"What's the meaning of this?" Marcus asks confused and angry at the same time. The rest of the leaders look confused at us but don't say anything. The closer I get to them the more I remember.

"And if the night is burning I will cover my eyes," the five of us sing out loud and slowly the room falls silent. "For if the dark returns then my brothers will die." We get closer until we are only a few feet away from each other. "And as the sky is falling down, it crashed into this lonely town and with that shadow upon the ground I hear my people screaming out." We now form a circle and hold hands. I feel thousands of memories flooding my mind and I suddenly remember everything. Who I am, who they are, what we are together and what we have to do. "Now I see fire inside the mountain, I see fire burning the trees. And I see fire hollowing souls. I see fire, blood in the breeze," and I feel a fire enveloping us, the flames shooting up in the air and I can faintly hear gasps and screams of those who watch us. "And I see fire burn auburn on the mountain side." When the fire dies down and we've finished our tune I open my eyes, which I now realize were closed and look at the men before me. They are dressed in armor, with helmets and all. On their left hip they each have a sword and on their backs they have a quiver with arrows and a long bow. They shine auburn, like they are still on fire, but the flames have long subsided. But the most spectacular thing about them is their wings. They are golden and long, from the tip of their heads to just below their knees. I try to inspect myself and realize I'm wearing a similar attire, a sword, not as long as theirs, but still, attached to my left hip, a quiver and bow on my back. I look back at the men and search their faces. They all have long hair, two have dark-brown hair, while the other two platinum blond. The eyes of the first two is a warm brown, while the color of the blonde ones is an icy blue. I wonder how my hair and eye color looks like. I pull out a fighting knife, that is attached to my right hip and look myself up in the blade. Red hair and green eyes. Tauriel. My name is Tauriel. And I'm a phoenix, a guardian, a protector. And they are my brothers.

"Legolas?" I ask the first one, who stands closest to me on my left. He smiles and nods. I turn to my other side and name the man there. "Elrond?" He smiles and nods as well. I look to the one next to Elrond and say "Galion". He nods. Last but not least I say "Thranduil" and he, just as the others nods.

"What is going on here?" Marcus yells, demanding answers.

I turn to look at him and I must have giving him a terrifying look because he backs away.

"How dare you speak like this in front of us?" Thranduil demands. I hold my hand out to stop his advancement.

"That is not the way, my brother. They are confused and for good reason," I say.

"Who are you?" the Candor leader asks.

"Well, as a citizen of this city I am known as Tris Prior, one of the newest members of Dauntless," I say smiling and look toward the crowd of Dauntless, who despite the situation start cheering and stomping their feet. Max glares at them but they continue until I raise my right hand and they stop. "As for my companions I do not know their names as mere citizens," I say and look toward them.

"I am Steven Michaels of Erudite," Elrond says and bows.

"I am Kirk Mitchell of Candor," Thranduil says and bows.

"I am Matthew Finch of Abnegation," Galion says and bows.

"And I am Marty McEntire of Amity," Legolas says and bows as well.

"What do you mean as citizens?" the Amity woman asks.

"Forgive me, I do not know your name, neither the name of your Candor colleague," I say and they share a glance.

"I am Johanna, one of the Amity leaders and this is Jack one of the Candor leaders," she says and the five of us bow.

"We are the guardians of this city," Thranduil starts talking.

"Ages ago, long before any of your ancestors lived our people were in charge of protecting the land. There were many dangers and we vowed to protect men for they were young and did not comprehend the ways of the world," Elrond continues.

"Through time dangers became fewer and fewer but our people anticipated that some will return," Galion says.

"While we are born human our true selves are only awoken if a terrible danger lies ahead. Otherwise we remain dormant," Legolas explains.

"What danger? What are you talking about?" Jeanine demands.

"Our race is called Phoenix. There are legends among humans of fire birds that live for thousands of years and when one life is consumed they burst into flame and are reborn. The legends are partially true. We live just like you, as humans, but when danger seeks to destroy peace we are called to protect the innocent. A phoenix can be born in any family and not be let's call it activated at all during a human lifetime. But on occasion, such as this one, we are called to protect you. Smaug is a terrible fire drake that will not stop until all of you are dead," I tell them and everyone starts talking again.

"Smaug?" Max asks.

"That's the name of the dragon," Thranduil explains.

"We fought him before and to be honest I thought we defeated him," Elrond says.

"Something must be here in the city that drew him here," Galion suggests.

"Have you found something lately, something out of the ordinary?" Legolas asks Jeanine.

"Like what?" she asks confused.

"Well, a dragon has only one purpose in his life: plunder. Unless he thinks there is something valuable here I don't know why he came," Elrond speaks more to us than to the others.

"Plunder?" Jack asks.

"Yes. In the ancient times Smaug and others like him plundered mountains for their riches. Many died," Galion explains.

"We don't have riches," Marcus says forceful.

"There is no need to be aggressive, Marcus. We are only here to help you. It's for your own good," I say, using the same words he spoke to Tobias each time he hit him. That thought makes me angry and I turn away before I draw my sword and behead that bastard.

"There must be something here that he wants. Think people," Thranduil urges the humans.

"What about that shiny stone?" Johanna asks.

"What shiny stone?" Elrond demands.

"A few weeks ago my people who farm near a hillside found a large white stone," she tells us.

"Show me," I say.

"I don't have it," she answers.

"Where is it?" Galion asks her.

"I gave it to Erudite."

"Why?" Legolas asks.

"It gave off some strange energy," Jeanine explains.

"Do you think it's possible?" Elrond asks us and we ignore the questioning look of those near us.

"It might be," Legolas says.

"But we hid it," Galion says.

"It's been thousands of years since. I do not remember what happened since we were last awake. Do you?" Thranduil asks.

"There's only one way to find out," I say. "Jeanine, give me your hand," I say and extent mine. She reluctantly puts her hand in mine, surely afraid I might hurt her. I close my eyes and search her mind. I concentrate on the stone and when I find it I almost let go. The Arkenstone. It is truly the Arkenstone. Where is it? Show me, Jeanine. She involuntarily thinks of its location and I let go of her hand. I open my eyes and walk to my brothers.

"I know where it is. Legolas, go and retrieve it," I say and then Jeanine speaks up.

"You can't," she says loud.

"We can and we will," Elrond says.

"But it's ours," she argues. My brothers, always the hot-heads stand up straighter, but I push my way in front of her.

"It is not. It belongs to our people. And it needs to be returned to us," I calmly say.

"But the stone has so much energy. We can use it to power the city for years to come," she explains and looks around to find approval. I turn my head to Legolas and nod once. A fire embraces him and when it dies down he is gone. He went to Erudite to retrieve it.

"Let me tell you something. That stone, is called the Arkenstone. My brothers and I are in charge to keep it safe, especially away from human hands. It is a very powerful relic of our people," I start saying.

"Legend has it that our mother-goddess cried a single tear when her first child was taken by darkness. She created the stone to guide her child's soul back into the light. The stone can do many things, among them rejuvenate a dragon. Right now Smaug is old and near death. While a dragon can live for hundreds of years he will eventually die. But with the power of the Arkenstone he will revive and kill every living being on this Earth. We hid the stone to keep it safe," Elrond tells them.

Before anyone can say anything else Legolas returns with the Arkenstone in his hand. We gather around him when we hear the roar of the dragon approach. We start chanting an ancient verse to send the stone far away from this place and make it move every time evil lurks around it. Just as the stone disappears in a bright light Smaug crashes into the room and breathes in deeply to exhale a scorching flame.

I wake up with a start and look around the room. It's dark and cold. I shiver. Where am I? Where's the dragon? What the fuck is going on?

"Tris, honey, you alright?" I hear Tobias next to me. I look his way and see into his concerning eyes. I then look up and realize we are in our bedroom.

"Yeah, I just had a nightmare," I say.

"You okay now? You wanna talk about it?" he asks and caresses my cheek before placing a soft kiss to my lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He lies back and pulls me with him. I lay my head on his chest and let it lull me to sleep. No more Tolkien before bedtime!

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