Author's Note: Hello everyone! And welcome my story HotI! Finally, it's here and I must say it feels good to get back in the saddle! First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to all of my fans who have been patiently waiting for this and have been giving me all of their support and encouragement over the past several months. I know this is coming out much later then I said it would, but I wanted to make sure the plot was perfect and everything had been thought through before I presented it to you - I want my readers to have the best experience possible!

Secondly, to new readers who have stumbled across this story, this is the third part of a trilogy. The first two are in the Hobbit archive labelled "Heart of Fire" and "Heart of Ashes". I would seriously suggest you go and read those two stories first before reading this one, as this will make a lot more sense if you do. I hope you enjoy.

Also, apologies for the cover, but fanfiction REALLY got on my nerves because it kept cutting off the top and bottom of my cover that I spent hours working on, no matter how many times I shrunk it down. So, if you want to see it as it should be, check it out on my Deviantart page.

Usual Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hobbit or LotR or the Silmarillion, I only own any OC's and AU parts.

Please Enjoy!

Heart of the Inferno

Chapter 1 – A Secret Meeting

"Elen sila lumenn omentilmo" - A star shall shine on the hour of our meeting

It was in a secret place, far beyond the eyes and ears of others, that the two met in secret. With nothing but the green and shadowed places to surround them, nestled in the heart of nature's bosom they came. The evening light painted the world in a menagerie of colours, even in a place so deep away from civilisation. A state between the worlds of night and day, when the two merge in a form of limbo that can be as equally terrifying as it is beautiful, for one does not know of the horrors darkness brings, even if there is splendour in its endlessness. The trees kept their silent vigil, forming a circle of guardians around the clearing that kept out unwanted observers from seeing the two souls they sheltered in their shadows. The ground was carpeted in moss, and the air was alive with the sound of bird song and the chatter of insects, as if the orchestra wanted to mask the sounds of the conversation about to be held.

An old man walked into this little isolated place, his grey beard reaching down to his belt, his grey robes shrouding his fragile form as he used his staff to help him on his way. But his kind grey eyes watched with growing adoration as he beheld his partner in this little conversation between them. A lady draped in white, her eternal youth shining like that of her golden hair in the sunset light, she watched him with a soft smile as he approached and bowed to her reverently.

"Mithrandir…" She spoke in a voice as deep and rich as an ocean pool, yet had a powerful rumble that was unexpected of one such as herself.

"My Lady Galadriel," Gandalf the Grey murmured as he stood straight to look into her eyes, his old features seeming to dissipate slightly at his happy smile. "Thank you for meeting with me."

"I could not ever forsake you. Especially when you bring such dire matters to order." She spoke in the common tongue.

"So you know of why I come?"

"I do." She nodded solemnly. "And I know that you would only come to me with this if you thought you had no other to turn to."

"I did warn of this." Gandalf muttered as he approached her, one hand on his hip. "Sixty years ago – during the quest for Erebor – I warned the White Council of the dark powers beginning to stir. But Saruman and Elrond will not listen to me. They believe I have cried wolf one too many times. But I know what I speak of. What happened then was just a build-up, a prelude, to what is now coming."

"You forget Gandalf, that I too have seen it." Galadriel told him gravely. "It is a fog that seeps into our lands, unchecked and unseen, poisoning all it touches. It is the work of darkness, an evil that we should guard against with our very lives."

"Up until this moment, they have gone unnoticed, working in secret, moving little pieces on the board at a time. But now, their final move is at hand. I fear that now these dark forces are gathering and beginning to take form."

"Such things concern me greatly, Gandalf. Such things we cannot take lightly." She moved slowly, her body ever holding such grace and regal-grandeur that it was perfection taken form, as she paced in a slow circle around the clearing. "There are whispers that the fires of Mordor can be seen again on the boarders of Gondor… Something is coming. It is coming for us all Gandalf and it shall not discriminate in who it vanquishes and how it achieves its dark ends. When it is done, all shall be naught but dust, and the end of our world as we know it."

"Do… do you believe me, My Lady?" Gandalf asked somewhat nervously. "Do you believe –"

"That it is our enemy?" She raised a brow at him. "Of that I cannot say. If that is true, then it means that we were deceived back in Dol Guldur, but no power has resided over Mordor since ages passed."

"Whether it be our enemy or something else, we can no longer deny that war is brewing upon our horizon. As it stands, we have grown idle in peace, and should dark forces amass we shall be seriously outmatched. Especially if our enemy regains his full strength."

"As Saruman is often fond of telling you," Galadriel's lips twitched into an amused smile that would have made mortal men fall to their knees before her. But then her expression sobered slightly as she continued. "The enemy cannot regain his full power without the One Ring."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that he won't try."

"You would have us go to war, Mithrandir?"

"Believe me, My Lady, I would rather it not be so." Gandalf told her earnestly, his features pulled into a frown of distress. "There is nothing I would dislike more in this world then to drag our time of peace back into the darkness of war. But I cannot sit by and watch as all that I have come to love, all that is beautiful and good in this world, fall."

"What would you have me do?" She asked him softly as she turned to fully face him. "Should the armies of darkness arise, we shall only have fractured peoples to ally together. You know as well as I that the elves are slowly fading… the kingdoms of men are fractured… and the dwarves will never fully trust others."

"We must call upon the goodness in their hearts, make a last alliance that will pull them all together."

"Will that be enough?"

"It must be." He said. "And if not, we shall have to consider the need for more drastic measures."

At his words, Galadriel eyed him, her eyes unreadable as one could not tell if she were curious or had the gaze of a predator sizing up its next opponent. The power of the elven lady was far greater than one would have ever thought, and it could all be felt in that one look. Gandalf decided to take her invitation to continue, and hesitantly spoke.

"Suppose, My Lady, that we were to have a secret-weapon… one our enemy would never expect."

"I know of what you speak," she murmured, a slight frown creasing her perfect features. "The Dragon has long been on your mind."

"It is true, My Lady." The grey wizard nodded. "As of this moment, Smaug owes allegiance to no one. He has kept himself hidden away for the best part of sixty years, ever since the incident at Vathvael. But if he should side with the enemy, I fear for our very survival. There are no more black weapons, even the ore with which to craft them has not been found in hundreds of years, we have no way of defeating even a common wyrm. A dragon such as Smaug in the hands of evil could be used to terrible effect. But imagine what we could achieve if he were to side with us."

"Now you talk of miracles, Gandalf." Galadriel fixed him with a piercing stare. "Smaug is a creature of greed and selfishness, he will not ever reform."

"No, I doubt he would completely. But even a creature as twisted as he is, is not purely evil."

"And what of the crimes he has committed against the free peoples?" She demanded. "He has slain countless in his search for gold, destroyed an entire Kingdom, he slaughtered innocents in a fit of rage and then attacked an entire city in the name of darkness. He brings nothing but misery and destruction and I dare say he relishes it. These crimes cannot be forgotten."

"I am not suggesting they should be. But he also saved the life of a young woman and helped to stop a plan to unleash Morgoth himself." Gandalf defended.

"And what of the darkness that lurks within him?" She asked gravely, her immaculate golden hair shifting in a breeze that whispered through the trees. "He succumbed once to its temptation, and it will only take one mistake for him to fall completely in its grasp. Can you gamble the fate of our world on the fine line he now walks?"

"My Lady, there is something at work beyond the evil of Smaug, something far more powerful. And I fear that we may need something just as equally dangerous with which to fight it." Gandalf tried to tell her. "Whether Smaug be with us or against us, we cannot leave anything to chance."

"Will his darkness be kept at bay?"

"I once told you, My Lady, that it is not great power that defeats great evil, but little acts of kindness and goodness." The wizard said slowly, a soft smile gracing his lips, lost in his own thoughts. "Smaug may be a wicked and cruel serpent, to be sure. But… I believe… that love can do many great things. Perhaps it can even redeem someone from the clutches of evil itself. If there is a love in this world for him, then I know without a doubt that it is powerful enough to conquer even the greatest of evil."

"I know of whom you speak." Galadriel said softly, her tone no longer as stern as it had been.

"Then I need not remind you that the dragon is not alone," he inclined his head to her as he leaned on his staff. "Smaug has with him a Seer: someone who would be very advantageous to us, but also someone that the demon Fankil thinks will be the key to unleashing Morgoth. If this is indeed the work of Sauron, we will have enough to handle without also including the true Dark Lord, for then it will surely be the end of days."

"I agree."

"So we must act! We have to act before the enemy is aware of what we are doing and takes one step ahead ahead of us."

"You think she will help us?"

"I believe that Kathryn will try. She is a soul frightened to death of the darkness that now haunts our boarders, but also of the danger that comes with her abilities. I hope she will do what she feels to be right."

"Gandalf… can you be sure that Smaug will not succumb? Dragons were once the creatures of darkness itself, chained to its will."

"Then perhaps it is time to break those chains." Gandalf murmured with an edge of defiance to his voice. "Smaug is one of the last great Fire-Drakes, the greatest dragon of the age, and the descendant of Ancalagon himself! In him burns a fire so great it could melt the rings of power – apart from the One Ring, of course."

"All of which means he could be all the easier for the enemy to control."

"Either way, My Lady, I honestly believe that if nothing else, we must at least try to have Smaug on our side." Gandalf pressed, almost in a desperate plea. "And perhaps, with Kathryn's help, he might be more inclined to agree."

"You always have a way of seeing the light, even in the darkest corners of our world…" The Lady Galadriel's smile was soft and slow, and Gandalf heard the warmth in her voice that inspired him so. "Hold on to that gift, Mithrandir, for it will hold you well in the dark days to come."

He looked down at his hands to find her suddenly in front of him, as if she had always been standing there. The great elven lady took his old hands in hers, her gentle touch filled with such grace and affection that it warmed his seemingly ancient flesh down to his very core. He looked back up to meet her beautiful gaze with his, a small smile on both their lips to be happy to be in the other's company, even if they wished it were on better circumstances.

"I cannot begin to even guess at what the future has in store for us… how your actions will change our current path, whether it be for good or ill… but I trust you, Mithrandir, I know your heart will do naught but good in all its intents."

Her words were spoken with truth, and Gandalf found that he had no answer with which to give her that would even begin to compensate for what she gave him. Even to a Maiar such as himself, she still had the power to render him speechless.

"So go." She whispered to him softly, gently lifting a single strand of his long grey hair from his face to tuck it behind his ear. "Venture forth with my blessing and good luck."

"Thank you My Lady," Gandalf bowed his head to her in nothing short of worship, before he straightened with an amused smirk. "I fear I will need it."

She smiled.

A/N: Please review! All comments are welcome!