Hello to all, here is the third book. I hope everyone had a good first week of the new year. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you all think, I will be going to sleep early because my boss(es) are assholes.

Chapter 1 I see Fire

"Listen to me! You don't know what is coming!"

Bard yelled to Braga and the soldiers who were partying in their barracks nearby, but they readily ignored him. Scoffing at their indifference to the situation that was obvious but oblivious to them at the same time. In the distance, up in the sky, Bard heard another rumble similar to thunder and knew Smaug was on his way even though he couldn't see far outside of his window. Screams came from outside his cell and Bard looked out into the town and saw the townspeople frantically leaving their homes and loading their boats with whatever possessions they could fit. He glared at the barred doorway as he heard the sounds of Braga and his men standing and evacuating the prison hold. Yelling to them again, this time to set him free, "Open the door! Do you hear me!" His heart dropped when the door slammed behind them and he was left alone in the town jail by himself.

Desperately, he began to throw himself up against the bars in effort to break down the door. Bard froze on the third attempt as a large shadow passed over his cell and rushed over to the other side of the room to look out the small, barred window again and saw Smaug flying overhead. He watched as the beast circled around and blasted the town in dragon fire, screams and orange flames filled the night air. Picking up a pail which sat next to the pallet, he threw it at the bars and then rushed over to pull the lock off with what strength he could. Bard let go of the lock in disgust and glanced about his cell trying to find something to help him escape. He picked up a blanket and looked at it thoughtfully for a second before starting to tear it into strips. Quickly and efficiently, a rope was created with all the fabric from the pallet bedding and Bard tied a loop at the end, throwing it out the window before quickly tying the other end to the window bars as the makeshift rope was pulled out the window by something. He barely had tied the other end off when the rope was pulled taunt, bars bending before the window was torn off completely was whatever the rope was attached on the other side.

Bard partially climbed out the window and grinned when he saw where his tool had landed and aided in his escape.

Tauriel stood out on the porch of the human children's home and watched the sky ominously. With her elf-hearing, she could hear Smaug approaching and roaring. His words reached her ears and not long afterwards a huge shadow swooped overhead and her green eyes followed it; Smaug had arrived. Her long red hair whip around as she turned and entered the house. Inside, Sigrid and Helena were packing the gathered belongings that they would need to survive, including a bag for Bard.

"We have no time. We must leave!"

Everyone stopped their movements briefly as the elf swept into the room and over to Tilda, bundling the young girl up in a coat. Bofur blinked and looked to Fili. "Get him up."

Fili nodded and hooked his arms under Kili's armpits to lift him up. "Come on, brother."

"Come on, come on! Let's go." Bofur started grabbing bags along with Oin, who had hooked his hearing instrument to his belt.

Kili shook his brother's hands away and pulled himself to his feet. "I'm fine - I can walk." His eyes went to Tauriel who had glance towards him when he spoke. She turned her attention back to Tilda before adding her two cents.

"As fast as you can."

Bain walked over to stand behind the elf. "We're not leaving. Not without our father."

Straightening the jacket a final time, Tauriel spoke to him. "If you stay here, your sisters will die. Is that what your father would want?" She turned to look the boy in the eye. Everyone in the room could see his eyes flicker to his sisters before nodding. "Good, let's go."

With Bain at her side, Tauriel led everyone down the stairs the dwarves had climb when they had first arrived and walked around to the back of the house where the boat was. Helena was at the back of their company, whispering instructions to Daemyn before throwing him into the air and watching him fly away. Tauriel looked around before ushering them forward. Fili and Bofur were the first into the boat followed by Tauriel who held only a pillar to keep the boat somewhat steady as everyone else climbed aboard.

"Quickly now! Hurry!" Tauriel kept her gaze on the sky while the others situated themselves.

"Kili, come on!"

Helena hooked her arm with Kili's and together they walked as quickly as they could and joined the rest of them. She found herself sandwiched between Kili and Oin, facing the front of the boat where Tauriel was posted. Glancing behind her, Helena saw Fili and Bofur steering the boat with poles through chunks of ice that were floating on the lake's surface. Her attention was pulled away by the sky darkening briefly over them and saw the dragon swoop down and around, causing the townspeople to scream.

Smaug's return was obvious and destructive as he soared down to the down and releases the fire that had built up in his chest. Screams filled the air again and the heat from the fire hit everyone in the boat when the houses near them were attacked. Tilda shrieked, making Sigrid cover her sister with her body as the teen watched with wide eyes behind them at the inferno destroying the town.

Helena held onto Kili as the boat continued to glide across the water, watching as people tried to escape their homes or climb out of the freezing water they had been knocked into from the fires. To the left, she saw a man kicked back into the water and didn't have enough time to react before their boat collided with the other. It was the Master's boat they had crashed with, upsetting everyone. As their boat tipped dangerously, Tauriel braced the girls with her arm and glared up at the Master as the gaurds pushed their boats apart, the gold spilling out of his large vessel. More gold fell into the dark waters as the ladened boat glided unsteadily away. Most of them watched as the Master began to shout and frantically wave his arms about.

"Move it! Move it! Come on, faster!" One of the guards gave a hard push and more trinkets and coins fell off the large pile. "My gold, my GOLD!"

"We're carrying too much weight. We need to dump something!"

Helena watched as Alfrid looked at the pile of treasure. While they were too far away now to hear what was said, she watched as the Master push the greasy man into the lake and wave his hand to signal them to move faster. Unbeknownst to the dwarves, children, and elf in the boat once they were out of sight, was Bard's cloth rope looping around the Master's chest and throat and tying him to the boat's rear post. Braga, who hadn't noticed yet ordered the boat to move faster and resulted in the rope tightening around the Master, making him choke and gag. Eventually the pressure was too much for the prison and yanked the window bars off and releasing Bard. He climbed out in time to see the fat man struggling to pull the rope from his body and grinned.

Looking around at the destruction, Bard saw Smaug fly overhead and climb over the roof and down a building; breaking through a guardroom window to grab his bow and quiver they had taken. Climbing to the roof, he broke through the shingles and peered out before clambering onto the roof where the was a better vantage point and ended up ducking as Smaug flew flow across the town again. With a grim look, Bard takes off across roof tops, heading towards the bell tower that was the tallest building in the town.

Back at the Lonely Mountain, standing on a high overlooking peak, was the rest of the company of Thorin Oakenshield watching as the town went up in flames as Smaug flew up, down, and around spewing fire. Everybody was silent as they stood there, unable to do anything.

"Poor souls."

Balin was the only one to speak, the sorrow that cracked his voice had them all staring at each other in sadness and fear. Bilbo looked behind to his left and spotted Thorin turned away from the burning town and staring back at the halls of Erebor, not at Laketown. Worry took up resident with the sadness as the hobbit watched the dwarf king. When a large hand landed on his shoulder, Bilbo didn't jump, only looked up at Gavin who was also watching Thorin. Bilbo returned his gaze back behind him as the dwarf descended the rocks back to the ruined entrance.

Bard continued leaping from roof to roof, trying to avoid Smaug's fire and eye sight. He dodged up and down the tops of the buildings when the dragon spotted him and chased him across the town. Diving over a steep rooftop, Bard slid down the shingles and hid as Smaug flew over. Peering over the top, he saw the tail of the beast as it flew away and rapidly climbed up and jumped the final houses to the bell tower and quickly climbed up the winding steps of the bell tower. Once at the top, he pulled all the arrows out of his quiver and looked out at the sky. As Smaug soared by, Bard shot an arrow at him; however, the arrow merely bounced off Smaug's scales. Standing directly below the bell as the hot air pushed it about causing it to ring, he pulled out a dagger and cut the bell's rope and silencing the booming sound that was beginning to nauseate him. Bard took aim and shot another arrow at Smaug, but this one, like the first, bounced harmlessly off. In the canals below, Bain, on the boat with his family, the dwarves, and Tauriel, noticed his father at the top of the tower while look up to spy the dragon.

"Da!"

Tilda whipped around and almost climbed over Sigrid. "DA!"

Her shouting caught the attention of everyone else in the boat and they all watched as Bard shot yet another arrow, harmlessly hitting the dragon.

"He hit it! He hit the dragon!" Kili nearly bounced out of the boat in excitement.

Tauriel followed the dragon and shook her head. "No..."

"He did! He hit his mark, I saw!"

"His arrows cannot pierce its hide; I fear nothing will." The definite quality in her voice had the others looking at her and back to Bard.

And to those who want to know who will live and/or die, you will have to wait for I will not tell!