Please, get off of the Lake before the dragon destroys it all. Find my children if they survived. Take care of them... until I return.
Marie shook her head, trying to clear Bard's voice from her mind. She didn't need to be thinking of him, not when the rest of Laketown needed her.
The rest of Laketown...
She turned her attention back to the present just as their barge neared banks of the Lake. In the dim half-light of the dawn, she could see that the other survivors had made their way here, as well as what seemed to be every single little bit of wreckage from the town. It was only when they drifted closer that Marie saw that there were dead bodies in the water too.
Dead bodies...
Tauriel pulled the barge up to the shore, and instantly Tilda leaped out onto the ground. "Da!" Tilda shouted. "Da!" Without warning, she took off towards the large crowd of refugees.
"Tilda!" Sigrid cried. She jumped out of the barge and ran after her little sister. "Tilda, come back!"
Marie glanced at the remaining people in the barge- Tauriel and the Dwarves- but they seemed just as surprised as she was. "They're not going to find him there," Tauriel stated.
They all climbed out of the barge too, and for a few seconds they just stood there by the water's edge. By this point the sun had risen enough for Marie to see the chaos: the misery and terror in the eyes of the people, the wooden pieces of wreckage that were still burning, the relief of those who managed to find their loved ones and the sorrow of those that hadn't...
"Where's the Lady?!" she heard someone cry.
"The Lady!" someone else agreed. "We need the Lady!" Soon the cry was taken up by the rest of the survivors, and they were all looking around, as if the Lady would come out of thin air and take charge.
Marie froze, her blood turning cold, half expecting everyone to turn to her. But they barely took notice of her, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Guilt suddenly tugged at her stomach. She had become the Lady because she had wanted to give to those in need, but now, when everyone was in need, she was too shaken to be anything like the Lady. She had helped them in small ways over the course of the last two years, but now, when it really counted, there was nothing she could do.
They needed someone who they could depend on, someone they could follow. They needed someone brave, someone who could get them through this. Not like her uncle, wherever he was, who was too selfish to think of anyone else: not like her, too scared to even consider the next few hours, much less the next few days, or months even: not even like the Lady, always hiding in the shadows instead of showing her face. No, someone like...
Someone like Bard.
Instantly, she turned back to the barge. "What are you doing?!" Kili exclaimed.
Marie climbed in, careful not to tip the boat over. "I'm going back," she said.
Bofur blinked. "Going back?" he repeated. "Lass, you're insane!"
She turned to him, her gaze sharp. "We need Bard," she told him. She pointed to Sigrid and Tilda, who were by now in the midst of the crowd, still searching for their father. "They need Bard. And since nobody else seems to be going back for him, I will."
Tauriel frowned. "We don't even know if he's still alive," she pointed out.
Marie squared her shoulders in determination. "That's a chance I'm willing to take," she replied. She turned to the Dwarves. "If you want to go to the Mountain to meet up with your kin you should take one of the boats here. Nobody's going to need them anymore."
Fili nodded. "Thank you," he said. "For everything." Marie nodded back.
Tauriel held out the pole that she had been using to steer the barge. "Best of luck, then," she told her.
Marie took the pole. "Thank you," she replied. She pushed off from the shore, and within a few seconds she was making her way back towards the ruins of Laketown.
It was only when the figures on the banks were mere blurs that she wondered what exactly had possessed her to go back towards the dead dragon.
000
In a few minutes Marie was amidst the ruins of Laketown, close to the bell tower in which she had last seen Bard. The top half of the tower was completely destroyed, and it seemed to her that it had been knocked down by a swipe of Smaug's tail. Her stomach dropped at the sight; Bard had been on the top of the tower, and if it had been reduced to splinters, what state was he in?
"Bard!" Marie called. "Are you there?!"
Silence.
"Bard?" she attempted again.
"Marie! Over here!" someone shouted.
She whirled around towards the voice, and she instantly recognized Bain standing on a large piece of wreckage from the bell tower, propped up against the dock. "Bain!" she cried. She pushed the barge over to him and hurried up onto the dock, pulling him into a hug. "Don't run off like that again! Are you alright?!"
Bain hugged her back tightly. "I'm fine," he told her.
Marie pulled back and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Bain, where's your father?" she asked.
"Right here."
She turned to see Bard approaching from behind some more wreckage, and instantly a smile of relief spread across her face. "I was beginning to think that you hadn't made it," she told him.
Bard smiled back. "I hate to disappoint you, but here I am," he replied. But the smile slid off of his face, and he was suddenly serious. "Did you get out alright? Are Sigrid and Tilda safe?"
Marie nodded. "I'm fine," she said. "And your daughters are with the rest of the town, on the shore. They're fine." Then she noticed that there was a cut on his cheek, and her eyes widened. "What happened?! Are you hurt?!"
He shook his head. "It's nothing," he replied. "Bain and I fell when Smaug knocked over the tower." Marie was about to ask the obvious question, but Bard cut her off. "I'll explain on the way back. We should get going."
They all climbed back onto the barge, and Marie gave Bard the poll. He expertly steered it away from the tower, and soon they were drifting down the channel, back towards the shore.
Bain immediately launched into a dramatic narrative about how Bard had killed the dragon, describing in detail every moment of the fight on the top of the bell tower. Marie listened with a small smile on her face, amused by the child's enthusiasm. He was a good kid; despite Bard's doubts, he had raised him well.
And Marie also had to admit that as well as being a good father, Bard was also impressive as an archer. She didn't know the first thing about how to shoot a bow, but she knew that it was quite a feat to kill a dragon with nothing but a Black Arrow, a broken bow, and Bain's shoulder.
As if he sensed that her thoughts had shifted to him, the Bowman glanced over to her. "If you want to get anything of yours from your house before we leave, now would be the time to do it," he told her.
Marie thought back to her room in the Master's mansion, but nothing that she had there was of any value to her. "Let's get back to the others," she replied. Bard nodded and continued on, down the channel.
It was a second after they had cleared the ruins of the town that Marie remembered her cloak, the one that she had made herself when she had decided to become the Lady. It had been with her through every night that she had spent out in the town, through all the ups and downs and everything in between. By now it was almost as much a part of the Lady as she was.
But it was still in her room, hidden beneath the floorboards. She hadn't had a chance to retrieve it before Smaug had attacked, and now it was too late to tell Bard to go back.
She turned around to see the remains of Laketown behind them, getting smaller and smaller as they headed to shore. When she had first arrived here three years ago, she hadn't imagined that things would turn out like this, that the entire town would be forced to flee because of the wrath of a dragon. But then, she also hadn't known that she would become the Lady.
Her life had changed when she had first stepped foot in Laketown, and now as she left it for the last time she felt her life changing again. For better or worse, she didn't know.
000
Meanwhile, a drenched Alfrid surfaced by the banks of the Lake, gasping and sputtering for breath. "Will somebody help me?!" he yelled to the sky. "HELP!" He had been swimming ever since the Master had pushed him out of the boat, and even though it had turned out to be a good thing because the boat had ended up getting crushed by the dragon, Alfrid didn't feel too grateful at the moment.
He stumbled over a dead body in his path. Irritably, he pushed it out of the way, only to realize that it was still alive. Alfrid hesitated, staring at the body speculatively, then he shrugged and rolled him back over.
"HELP!" he shouted again.
Meanwhile, the other survivors had started salvaging supplies from the wreckage, and Sigrid, Tilda, and Tauriel were walking amongst them. "Da!" Sigrid called.
"Da!" Tilda added.
"DA!" Sigrid repeated.
Alfrid fell to his knees on the ground. "WHY ME?!" he cried.
The people were still screaming and crying as they pulled the bodies of their loved ones onto the shore from the water. In the middle of the chaos, the Dwarves took one of the boats off to the shore, unnoticed by anyone.
Meanwhile, a woman hurried about, handing out blankets to some of the survivors. "These are dry," she said. "You need them."
The man nodded and accepted the blanket gratefully. "Thank you," he replied.
Instantly, Alfrid was pushing through people towards the woman, who was still holding more blankets. "Oi!" he shouted. "Give me one of them! I'll catch my death in this cold!"
But the woman just glared at him. "Oh, find your own!" she snapped. "You're not in charge now, Alfrid Blackspell!"
Alfrid's eyes narrowed. "That is where you are wrong," he told her. "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 lunged forward and grabbed at one of the blankets, but the woman stubbornly tugged back on the other end. Soon they were viciously yanking on the opposite ends of the blanket, each refusing to let go.
"Master's deputy?" the woman repeated mockingly. "Don't make me laugh." She pulled back suddenly, yanking the blanket away from him. "You're a sneak-thief, more like!" she accused. "I'll be dead, before I answer to the likes of you!" With that, she hit him with the blanket, then turned and began to walk away.
Alfrid sneered at her back angrily. "Maybe that can be arranged!" he exclaimed. He reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her around. She let out a shout of protest, and he raised a hand to strike her.
But then someone else reached out and grabbed his upraised arm. Alfrid whirled around to see none other than Bard standing there.
"I wouldn't go turning on your own, Alfrid," he told him. "Not now."
With that, he spun Alfrid around, and the former deputy tripped over someone's foot. He stumbled but caught himself, and he glanced up to see Bain smirking at him, with Marie standing slightly behind him.
"DA!"
Everyone turned to see Sigrid and Tilda running up to them. Instantly, a smile split Bard's face. "Come here!" he exclaimed. They smothered him in a hug, and Bard clutched them closer to him. "It's alright," he soothed.
Sigrid glanced over to Marie, and without warning, she pulled her into the hug as well. "You brought him back to us," she said. "Thank you."
Suddenly a man stepped out of the crowd. Marie recognized him as Percy, the person who used to check the papers of the boats entering the town. "It was Bard!" he declared. "I saw it with my own eyes. He brought the beast down. He shot him dead, with a Black Arrow!"
There was a moment of silence as they all digested that, but then the crowd erupted into a giant cheer. "You saved us all!" someone exclaimed.
"Thank you!" another one added.
Alfrid suddenly appeared by Bard's side and raised his arm, cheering loudly. "ALL HAIL- TO THE DRAGONSLAYER!" he cried. "ALL HAIL- KING BARD!"
But suddenly the others all fell silent, and Bard angrily yanked his hand away from Alfrid's. "I have said it many times," Alfrid continued. "This is a man of noble stock- a born leader!"
Bard glared at Alfrid. "Do not call me that!" he snapped. "I'm not the master of this town." He turned his gaze out to the crowd, looking around. "WHERE IS HE?!" he demanded. "WHERE IS THE MASTER?!"
The woman from the blanket fight scoffed. "Halfway down the Anduin with all our coin, I don't doubt," she grumbled. She nodded to Marie. "No offense, Marie."
Marie shook her head. "None taken," she replied. "I agree."
The woman gave her a smile, but then turned to glare at Alfrid. "But you would know where he is!" she accused. "You helped him empty the treasury!"
Alfrid's eyes widened. "No," he said. "No, I tried to stop him."
He turned to look at the people. "I tried to stop him," he told them. "I pleaded. I pleaded! I said, 'Master, NO!'"
The people started yelling angrily, and Alfrid hid behind Bard. "Think of the children," he continued. He grabbed Tilda and held her in front of him. "Will nobody think of the children?!" But Tilda merely stomped on Alfrid's foot, and Alfrid let out a shout and let her go.
"To the tree with you!" someone yelled.
Instantly, several men grabbed Alfrid, preparing to hang him with a rope. "The niece too!" another shouted. "She's just as much a part of this as he was!"
Marie's eyes widened. "No, wait-" she started.
"She hasn't done nothing but be kind to us since she first got here!" the woman protested.
But they had already grabbed Marie and were beginning to lift her up towards Alfrid. "Let me go!" she cried. Over the yells of the men holding her, she heard some others shouting in protest, but nobody paid them any attention.
"Enough!" Bard finally shouted. "Let her go! Let them both go!"
Everyone fell silent, and they dropped Marie and Alfrid to the ground. Instantly, Bard was by Marie's side, helping her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'll be fine," she replied, shaken.
Bard gave her a concerned look, but nodded and turned to the others. "Look around you!" he exclaimed. "Have you not had your fill of death?"
Alfrid popped up next to Marie. "Aye!" he agreed.
Without missing a beat, Bard pushed him back down. "Winter is upon us," he continued. "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."
Everyone shared a look. "What then?" the woman asked. "What do we do then."
Bard didn't hesitate. "We find shelter," he answered.
He started heading away towards the wreckage, and the townspeople followed him. Marie reached out and placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. "You've already decided where we're going," she stated, quietly enough that nobody else could hear them.
It seemed for a second that he was going to deny it, but he nodded. "Dale," he told her.
Marie was silent for a bit as she considered that, but then she nodded. "Of course," she agreed. For a second, neither of them spoke, but then Marie gestured to the wounded. "I should go help out over there. I know a bit of simple medicine."
Bard nodded. "Do your best," he said. "Try to have them on their feet in an hour- I hope to leave by then." She nodded and turned to go.
"Marie!"
She turned around at the sound of her name to see Bard standing there, a small smile on his face. "Thank you for coming back for me," he told her.
Marie smiled back. "It was nothing," she replied. They nodded to each other and then parted ways, Bard to the scavengers and Marie to the healers.
And the Lonely Mountain stood tall over them all, casting a dark shadow over the shores of the Lake.