Sorry I'm so late with this again. New job and crazy hours. In other news, got my cat a collar with a bell on it...anyone ever try and catch a cat when their collar, or bell, gets stuck on their teeth? Almost had to tackle her to the ground.

Chapter 2 On the Banks of the Lake

Bain looks down disconsolately at the lake, the last shreds of hope starting to fade away as he lifted his gaze to look around. Realization hit him once spotting the boat he had hidden the Black arrow his father had asked him to keep safe. Determination filling him, Bain looked upwards and saw a hanging hook. As their boat passed under it, Bain took a deep breath and leapt up, grabbing the metal hook and swinging clear of the boat. He could hear his sisters screaming his name and barely avoided the grasp of one of the dwarves as he allowed the crane to swing him over to a dock. Landing on the dock, he scrambled to keep his balance before running to the boat that hid the Arrow. In the wind behind him, Bain could hear the other occupants in the boat yelling after him.

"What are you doing?!" Bofur yelled after the departing boy.

Fili watch the man-child with wide eyes before doing the same himself. "Come back! Bain, come back!"

Tauriel placed herself in front of the two human girls to prevent them from jumping off as well. "Leave him! We cannot go back!" The boat glided across the water, passed the docks where Bain was running.

Sigrid held back Tilda as the young girl screamed out her brother's name. "Bain!"

At the top of the bell tower, Bard reached for his arrows only to find one left. He hesitated, fear running a cold course through his body. He grabbed the arrow and lined up his view to the dragon. Bard released the arrow, shooting Smaug and once again the weapon bounced harmlessly off the scales. The beast passes by the tower once more, this time close enough that the wind knocked him over. A movement at his side startled Bard and he looked over in shock as his son came halfway through the hatch on the platform.

"Dad!"

"Bain?!" Bard continued to look at his son in disbelief. "What are you doing?! Why didn't you leave?! You were supposed to leave!"

"I came to help you."

"No! Nothing can stop him now!"

"This might." Bain reached down and produced the Black Arrow, a small smile appearing on his face at his father's astonished look.

"Bain - you go back." Bard placed his hand on his son's cheek and stroked the skin. "You get out of here now!"

Looking over his father's form, Bain saw Smaug approaching rapidly and his face fell in fear. "DAD!"

Bard sat up and looked around at the remaining top of the tower. "BAIN!" He pushed the broken wood aside and crawled to the side of the tower to see Bain hanging by one arm to the remains of the tower; the Black Arrow in the other. Grabbing his son's arm, Bard hauled him back up. Laying Bain down on the wood next to him, he pulled the Black Arrow out of the hands of his petrified son and stood on the edge of the broken tower; looking over where Smaug had landed in the middle of the burning town. The dragon turned his great head to where he was, a growl rumbled before he spoke.

"Who are you that would stand against me?!"

Bard breathed hard and bared his teeth before grabbing the bow that was at his side without looking away from Smaug. His eyes went to his hand that had grasped the smooth wood, only to find that it was broken in half from when Smaug smashed into the tower moments earlier.

"Now that is a pity." Bard looked back up to the now approaching dragon as it spoke to him. "What will you do now, Bowman? You are forsaken. No help will come."

He began look around frantically as buildings were crushed under the beast's great weight but found nothing that could help him.

Looking at the tower and craning its long neck, Smaug growled and licked his lips before continuing to speak to Bard. "Is that your child?" Bard looked back at his son who was staring at the fire-breather in terror. "You cannot save him from the fire. He will BURN!"

As Smaug continued to approach, Bard slammed and secured the two broken halves of his bow into the remaining wood posts of the belltower, latching the bowstring taut between them. He pulled his son to his feet and positioned him between the two broken halves of the bow and fixed the Black Arrow to the bowstring, laying the front end of the Black Arrow on the shoulder of Bain. "Just focus on me." The teen was facing his father, seeing the focus and concern on his ash covered face as his eye bore into his for a moment. Bain felt his chest start to tighten further and began to pant in fear as he heard Smaug approaching from behind him, but couldn't see him.

"Stay still, son. Stay still."

"Tell me, wretch - How now shall you challenge me?!" As Smaug took another step forward, his winged leg moved to reveal his breast. Bard's eyes widened upon seeing the missing scale on Smaug's chest, the scale that had been broken by Girion, Lord of Dale. A small smile crosses Bard's face, mixing with the astonishment. "You have nothing left, but your DEATH!"

Smaug howled, the sound echoing in the night and started approaching more rapidly. Bain, who was now shaking in complete fear, looked over his shoulder at the dragon, but Bard calls his attention back to him. "Bain! Look at me. You look at me." Bain faces his father again and Bard pulls back just a little further on the stringed arrow, straining from the effort of holding the Black Arrow taut. "A little to your left."

Bain shifted a little to his left, moving the tip of the arrow to the right, towards the spot where Bard noticed the missing scale on Smaug.

"That's it."

Grunting, Bard pulled back and released the Black Arrow as soon as the spot where the missing scale became visible. As it flew from Bain's shoulder, his body jerked from the motion, and it sunk up to the feathers into Smaug's chest through the spot without a scale. As Bard pulled Bain back and away, they watched as Smaug lurched forward in pain and fear, then careened towards and into the tower. As the rest of the remaining, flimsy structure collapsed and Bard, still holding onto Bain, fell with the tower into the water as Smaug rolled and slid through the town, destroying everything in in his path. To those who were paying attention, they would see Smaug struggling to fly into the sky but only with a massive amount of effort did the beast manage to flap a few hundred feet up, screaming and wheezing in pain. After the last flap of his wings, Smaug gasped for air one last time before the light left his eyes and his body began its descent back to the lake below, dead.

No one saw nor heard the dragon fall atop the former Master of Laketown and his horde of gold. But the sound of Smaug hitting the water did echo across the land, all the way to the dwarves on the mountain.

Ori looked up from where his eyes were on his hands when he felt the ground shake. "What was that? What happened?"

Taking a step forward, Bilbo looked over at the flames surrounded by water. "It fell. I saw it." They all stood and peered out at the town in the early morning light. "It's dead. Smaug is dead!" Bilbo jumped in excited, looking up at Gavin before suddenly calming down at his expression. Gavin was also looking out into the distance before glancing down at Bilbo and then over his shoulder to Thorin. Bilbo followed his eyes and saw Thorin, still staring at the Lonely Mountain and not at the town, had a strange expression of happiness across his face.

"By my beard!" Gloin exclaimed in excitement. "I think he's right! Look there! The ravens of Erebor are returning to the mountain!" The other dwarves looked in the direction of his finger and saw several birds cawing and approaching the Lonely Mountain.

"Aye - Word will spread. Before long every soul in Middle-earth will know - The dragon is dead!"

As the dwarves laugh in glee at the proclamation, Thorin hurried down from the lookout point and to the gates of Erebor.

In the early morning light, on the banks of the lake, were town folk and wreckage from Laketown. Screaming and crying, only this time more in sorrow as people tried to find their families through the dead bodies and still burning wood that was washing ashore. Fili and Bofur steered the boat to the bank, Oin jumped out and pulled the craft further onto the rocks with the help of the other two dwarfs. Tauriel and Helena helped Sigrid and Tilda out, who both immediately started calling for their father.

"Da!"

"DA!"

Helena spared a glance over her shoulder to catch Fili's eye before hurrying away to follow the two girls who were wandering away, now screaming for their father. Tauriel was a half-step behind the three when she hesitated to look behind her to the young, dark haired dwarf who staring at her intensely. The burning look in his eyes caused her to react and swiftly walk after the other departing females, attempting to squash the feelings building up in her that she had never felt before this strongly.

Not far from where their boat came to shore was Alfrid, trying to make his way pathetically out of the water. "Will somebody help me? HELP!" Trying to clamber over a dead body, he realized that the person was still alive. Alfrid rolled over him into the water, screaming once again. "HELP!" Ignoring the survivors around him that were helping each other and salvaging whatever supplies they could, Alfrid crawled to the bank and screamed up to the sky. "WHY ME?"

He spotted one of the female shop keepers walking about, handing out blankets to the survivors.

"These are dry. You need them." The man she had passed a blanket off to nodded his head, "Thank you."

Pushing his way between people, he approached her and stopped the course her feet were walking. "Oi! Give me one of them! I'll catch my death in this cold!"

"Oh, find your own!" She turned around and walked away huffing in the cold air. "You're not in charge now, Alfrid Blackspell!"

A look of scorn came across his face and Alfrid stood as straight as he could, speaking once again while wagging a finger. "That is where you are wrong - In absence of the Master, the power cedes to his deputy, which in this instance is my good self. Now give me that blanket!" He leaned forward and grabbed the blanket but she pulled back on the other end, keeping hold. They tug it between them, yelling at each other.

"Master's deputy? Don't make me laugh." She managed to pull the blanket away and began hitting Alfrid with it. "You're a sneak-thief, more like. I'll be dead, before I answer to the likes of you!" As she turned away, Alfrid grabbed her arm.

"Maybe that can be arranged!" Raising his hand to strike her, his action was stopped by someone grabbing his upraised arm. He looked over his should of the captured arm, letting go of the woman's in the process, and saw Bard behind him. The sneer falling from his face as the bowman leaned in close.

"I wouldn't go turning on your own, Alfrid. Not now!" Bard spun Alfrid around, towards his son who was waiting with an outstretched foot which Alfrid trips and falls over. Bain and the woman smile at the fallen man as Sigrid and Tilda come running out of the crowd.

"DA!"

Bard whipped around at the sound of his youngest child's voice and spotted his daughters. "Come here!" The girls ran to his outstretched arms and Bard grabbed them up in a huge hug. He clutched them to himself as the townspeople look on and Bain behind him. "It's alright."

Helena side stepped through the ground of people till she came to the woman still holding the blanket to her chest. "I'm glad to have seen you survived Hilda."

Hilda jumped and looked down to the smiling child – dwarf princess she reminded herself- and smiled in return. "And to you as well your Highness." She watched the girl grimace and look to the reunited family.

"Don't bother with all that, just call me by my name."

As the woman went to speak again, she was interrupted by Percy stepping out of the crowd and exclaiming loudly, "It was Bard! He killed the dragon! I saw it with my own eyes. He brought the beast down. He shot him dead, with a black arrow."

The people began cheering for Bard and laying their hands on him, exclaiming their thanks. Various people were heard saying "You saved us all! Thank you."

Alfrid suddenly appeared next to Bard and raised his arm, then cheering loudly for him. "ALL HAIL - TO THE DRAGONSLAYER! ALL HAIL - KING BARD!" The people grew silent, and Bard yanked his hand away from Alfrid's. Alfrid, still with his hand up in the air, spoke to the crowd. "I have said it many times - This is a man of noble stock. A born leader!"

Helena snorted at the obvious insincerity and fraudulent declaration. It was obvious from the look of disgust on Bard's face that he felt the same.

"Do not call me that! I'm not the master of this town." Bard looked around and yelled, "WHERE IS HE? WHERE'S THE MASTER?"

Hilda was the one to speak up, "Halfway down the Anduin, with all our coin, I don't doubt. You would know!" She pointed at Alfrid, who was now looking scared. "You helped him empty the treasury."

Alfrid stepped away from the approaching, accusing woman. "No - I tried to stop him." He raised his voice to try and address all the people, scared and pleading. The towspeople began yelling at him angrily, calling him a traitor and a mongrel. Attempting to hide behind Bard, keeping the bowman between himself and Hilda while trying to talk his way out of the situation. "I pleaded. I pleaded. I said, 'Master - NO!'" He finished by posing, as though admonishing the Master. But as the people continued to yell abuse at him, Alfrid looked even more terrified. Alfrid grabs Tilda and holds her in front of him. "Think of the children. Will nobody think of the children?!"

Tilda angrily stomped on Alfrid's foot, forcing him to let go of her. The people started to yell for Alfrid's head. "To the tree with you!" It was when several men grabbed Alfrid and raised him up, preparing to hang him with a rope, with him screaming in fear, Bard stepped in and stopped them.

"Enough! Let him go! Let him go!" The people quieted down and let Alfrid fall to the ground. Bard turned about, addressing them all. "Look around you! Have you not had your fill of death?"

Alfrid popped up behind the man. "Aye."

Bard pushed him back down and Helena smiled at the action.

"Winter is upon us; we must look to our own, to the sick and the helpless. Those who can stand, tend to the wounded. And those who have strength left - follow me. We must salvage what we can." Bard turned and began to stride through the crowd.

A woman spoke up from the crowd. "What then? What do we do then?"

Bard stopped and turned slightly. "We find shelter." As he began to walk away, the people around him followed as he continued to walk away with his children.

Helena stayed where she was, with Hilda next to her. The older woman smiled and place a hand on her head in farewell and she walked away as well, helping those who were still trying to gather themselves and whatever remnants were left of their possessions. Looking around, Helena wondered where Tauriel had gotten off to as she could have sworn the elf was behind them when the girls had begun their search. With a shrug and a sigh, she walked back in the direction from before. As Helena drew nearer to where the dwarves were, there was still more screaming and crying people all about, as they pulled the bodies of their loved ones out of the water and onto the shore. It was just beyond them, on an empty stretch of shore, did she spy the four dwarves and the She-Elf. Oin, Bofur, and Fili were shoving the boat back into the water and helena approached them as Kili walked up to Tauriel.

"Tauriel."

Helena watched the proud posture of the Elf droop a little and her eyes soften when he addressed her. Fili nudged her to climb into the boat before calling over his shoulder to his brother.

"Kili, come on! We're leaving."

Taking a shuddering breath, Tauriel looked away from the dark eyes that bore into hers. "They are your people - You must go." Tauriel looked at Kili both sadly and guardedly, then walked past him. Kili looked down distraught for a second, then whirled around to face her again.

"Come with me. I know how I feel; I'm not afraid. You make me feel alive."

"I can't." Tauriel turned her head away, intending to walk away again.

Not one to give up, Kili reached out and grabbed her arm, saying something in Dwarvish that made the elf look at him in shock and surprise.

"Tauriel, amrâlimê."

She was unable to tear her eyes away from him. "I don't know what that means."

"I think you do."

Tauriel smiled slightly and began to lean towards Kili, only to suddenly straightens up and make her face blank. "Hîr nín, Legolas." [My Lord Legolas.]

Kili looked with hostility over Tauriel's shoulder at Legolas as he approached them.

"Maewado i Naug." [Take your leave of the Dwarf.] He kept his face blank when addressing her, but Helena could see the sneer she was. "Boe i nadh egeno." [You are needed elsewhere.]

Tauriel looked at Kili for a few more seconds as though unable to decide what to do, but then, torn by her duty, turned away. Kili sadly turned towards the othera launching the boat. He suddenly paused, turned back around and hurried to Tauriel. Grabbing her hand, he placed his black stone into it, folding her fingers closed over it. She gasped and looked at him as he gets close to her face, holding her hands to his heart.

"Keep it. As a promise."

They smiled at each other for a second before Kili dropped her hands and ran to the boat. Legolas looks on, confused while Tauriel looks down at the stone in her hand, then after Kili and the dwarves in the boat; her eyes wet. Kili looked back at her for several moments after jumping into the boat with the others. Helena placed a hand on his shoulder, near his skin before waving to the She-Elf. It took her hand shaking his should for Kili to look away and begin rowing as well, to the dire ton of the Lonely Mountain.

and there we are. Forgive me if the word in dwarf is wrong, I finished this on my phone and accidently erased it. Let me know how it was.

Never mind, my lovely Calenithlon helped me out.