Much as Ellisaria dislikes the intimation of weakness, she dislikes being impaled on a mountainside even more. Her human form is simply more subtle, and thus better suited to evading the gronn.
Unfortunately, it is also conveniently sized to be eaten in one gulp by the mirror-faced snake (what) that comes out of literally nowhere.
At least she is alive to be indignant, even if she's no longer in Outland.
She laughs and stretches languidly. "I like fighting with you so far. You're good, and you don't do silly things."
Heee.
"I'd like to get better too, though. Still have a long way to go. But fighting's fun, and so's the Song, and so's practicing."
"Yes, though I would like to do slightly more reconnaissance before our attack."
"I was thinking I would use my human form to get closer to his lair. It is less noticeable."
She hums. "He'll smell you anyways if you go in, and maybe if you hang too close to the mountain. Though I don't think he'll notice if you ask around the humans at the edge of his territory."
"I do not need to get inside, necessarily, but the closer I am the easier it will be for me to map and manipulate the earth. Asking the humans may be worthwhile as well."
Her tail flicks. "I think it'll be easier if you stay downwind of him - and the wind usually blows from the north, around there this time of year."
She nods. "We're to the west of Smaug by a good bit right now, only a little bit north - but south of the Grey Mountain's the elves, in a big forest between us and Smaug. Still, they mostly have bows, and if we don't mind them knowing we're there we can just stay too high for them to shoot. Dunno if we want to hide - we could also keep north, in the Wastes, and head east, overshooting Smaug's territory and coming over the Iron Mountains to the east of there. Dwarves live there, but they're not as sharp-eyed as elves, so they might not notice us."
"I am reluctant to announce my presence without emphasizing my power, and making an enemy of the elves at this juncture is premature. The northern route seems best."
"Alright. It'll add a bit of time, but not too much - and we're fast, anyways."
She stretches, grinning. "I'm more than ready to head out when you are, then."
She laughs and takes off in a flurry of wind, angling east at a quick pace, curling north only briefly to cross back over the mountains.
East and north. It is truly a pleasure to fly in a clear sky over a land that is whole.
Brisingr seems to agree - she keeps adding little flourishes to her flight.
Still, even as fast as they are, the sun's setting when Brisingr again turns south, a lingering twilight that has their shadows vanishing as they pass over the Iron Mountains. Brisingr has them loop around fairly far south, as the twilight fades into a starry night, then west and up north, over broad plains, towards a singular mountain. A dark forest forms a looming border to their west, the wind carrying a smell like rot briefly from the southern half.
The human settlement near the Lonely Mountain is barely visible, at the edge of an ashen Desolation. The land fairly reeks of it, even outside of Smaug's territory - something evil sits here, something with a deep hatred for all things green, and a deep lust for whatever riches and power he can unearth. The human town sits in stilts on the water, a single bridge connecting them to farms on the shore.
"Any elementals I draw up here will be likewise twisted. I cannot rely on their assistance."
She hums. "That might complicate the fight, and Smaug'll notice if I start dispelling his curse while he's alive... Could we carry some elementals in, for a little edge?"
"No. They are ineffective away from their home ground, and I have not yet the familiarity with this land to call deeper ones."
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