Okay, I've dragged it on long enough. Enjoy!


The blood was washed off to find a beautiful little babe with wisps of blonde hair so fair it was almost white. The tiny girl had pale skin and large brown eyes that made Kili's seem tiny by comparison. Her nose was slight and her ears large, but I was certain that she was the most beautiful little creature I had ever laid eyes on.

"Congratulations Fili," Oin said, handing over the little bundle to the blonde haired dwarf. "You're a father!" I smiled as I watched a huge grin spread over Fili's face. Oin ushered the rest back a bit as he went to check on Tille. My gaze lingered on the baby and the man I loved rocking back and forth soothingly. My eyelids felt very heavy as I lay against the thin pillow beneath my head. Fili made his way over to me and crouched down so I could look into the face of my… our child. Huge brown eyes stared back at me. My smile widened. I felt Fili's lips against my hair and I looked at him. Joy swam in his eyes as he gazed at me. He loved me. He honestly loved me. And I knew then that this was what he wanted, that he didn't feel trapped by the situation. That I wasn't a burden.

"You were amazing, my love." He whispered to me.

"I certainly hope so, cause I feel like I just single handedly stopped an army!" I sighed quietly. Fili chuckled then let out a small yelp as a tiny hand tugged on one of his beard braids. We both laughed and looked down at the tiny baby who looked up at as expectantly.

"I think she wants a name!" Fili smiled.

Geez sis! So demanding!

Yeah, who knew you were so spoiled!

Oh shut it! I don't even remember this! Mom! Stop laughing!

Okay, sorry!

What happened next?

Well… I said, "I think Kalda fits." Fili looked at me for a moment before turning back to the large brown eyes.

"Yes." He nodded. "I agree."

Did you know that Kalda meant 'Little Dragon' back then?

No. Quite a coincidence, don't you think?

Yeah…

"Hello Kalda." I smiled down at her as Fili placed her gently in my arms.

"Little Kalda." Fili laughed. Kalda just stared at the two of us with large eyes.

"When are we allowed to come in?" Bofur asked, poking his head through the door.

"Don't be rude!" Oin scolded the other dwarf, but everyone filed in anyway and crowded around, while still keeping a respectful distance, aware that they were all covered in dirt and orc blood.

"What's her name?" Tilda asked shyly.

"This is Kalda." I smiled, motioning for Tilda to come closer. The young girl took a couple steps closer and peered at the smaller creature. Kalda gave a wide, slow yawn and closed her eyes. Tilda squeaked in delight as everyone else laughed. Kili, however, continued to stare.

"What's the matter lad?" Oin poked him. Kili blinked.

"I'm an uncle now…" he realized. "Does that mean I'm going to get anger issues like Thorin?" Everyone chuckled at this as well and Bofur gave the archer a supportive pat on the back. The corner of my eye caught Tauriel about to slip out the door, but before I could call out to her, an earsplitting roar sounded on the wind. All smiles dropped. Bain hurried to look out the window.

"It's the dragon!" he cried in horror turning back to us. "Smaug's headed for Laketown!" I felt my stomach drop.

"No…" I whispered.

"Where's Bard?" Fili demanded of the boy.

"I… I don't know?" Bain stammered. "He had some trouble with the guards… I didn't think-"

"And the black arrow?" Fili asked. "Where is it?"

"I hid it in the market! Under a tapestry…" Everyone looked around at each other worriedly.

"Show me." Tauriel spoke up at last. Bain turned to her in confusion. "Better yet, retrieve the arrow and take it to the wind lance. I'll find your father. Quickly!" Bain nodded and took off out of the house. Tauriel turned to the rest of us to see Kili's anxious face. "Kili take the others and go. Get as far away from here as you can."

"I'm not leaving you-" he started.

"No, you're helping your family." Tauriel cut in. "Now quickly! Go!" With that she turned and followed Bain into the town. Kili watched her back retreating for a moment before hurrying over to Tille and lifting her onto his back, like he was giving her a piggyback ride. Fili nodded at his brother's decision and turned to me.

"Come on." He said, helping me up. I managed to stagger to my feet, but unfortunately most of my weight rested on Fili who took Kalda into one arm, his other holding me up by the waist. Oin was on my other side quickly motioning for Bofur to lead the way. Sigrid brought up the rear, with Tilda hanging closely behind. We rushed out the front door and down the steps. The night sky had turned an eerie red color as Fire rained down. Smaug. He was even larger than I had ever imagined him. I froze for a second as the great winged lizard curved around again, another jet of intense fire spewing from his mouth. I felt a surge of fear as his shadow passed over us. Oin told me later that I had experienced Dragon Fear. Often, in the presence of a dragon, one will either freeze or loose their mind and run frantically. Both of which leave you as easy prey for the drake's sharp teeth.

Fili whispered into my ear, causing me to start forward again. Bofur led our little precision into the quickly panicking pathways of Laketown. Men, women, and children poured out of their houses, running around wildly, searching for families, or trying to escape. I saw one little boy crouch in a corner and cry. I wanted to help, but the others pulled me along quickly and I was too exhausted to argue.

"Look out!" Kili shouted over the din as the house next to us burst into flames and the dragon swooped past. A familiar face rushed past us.

"Bain?" Sigrid asked. The older boy turned around briefly, spotted us, and dashed off again, the black arrow in his hand. We continued forward, but stopped when we saw Sigrid and Tilda conversing quickly.

"Watch are you doing lasses?" Oin called to them. "There's no time to dilly dally!" They two girls glanced over at us.

"I'm sorry," Sigrid apologized, backing away. "But we have to help Bain and Da!" Tilda nodded and they both took off after their brother. We stared after them for a moment, feeling as though we should be going after them.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Fili said, turning back to look at Bofur. "Take Kalda, we'll move quicker that way." Bofur quickly took the soft bundle and we started forward again. People jostled us from every side, no one seeming to know quite where to go to get out.

"Something must have happened to the bridge!" Kili shouted over his shoulder.

"We'll have to risk it anyway!" Fili responded. We all halted, however, as we looked at the path in front of us. A small burning bridge was suspended over top of it, looking ready to fall apart any moment.

"Should we go around?" I asked. "Find another path?"

"No time." Fili shook his head. "We'll just have to rush under. We can make it." We all looked at him worriedly. "Go Bofur!" He shouted. I was surprised by the strength in his tone, the command of it. Bofur wasted no time and hurried under the bridge, hunching over the baby to protect her from falling cinders. I let out a small gasp of relief when he turned around safely on the other side.

"Hurry up!" he motioned to us. Fili nodded and Kili and Tille went through next. Fili started the three of us forward before the other two had cleared it. He must have seen it sliding before hand and tried to sneak through. But we weren't fast enough. A loud crashing sound floated into the din as I felt something knock into my back. Oin and Fili's arms were gone as I was forced on to the planks beneath me. The heat and weight were immense as I finally got my wits back together. My vision was clouded for a moment until the finally cleared. Kili had dropped Tille and was now struggling to lift a large plank off of Fili, Oin, and I. We were trapped under it, though Fili was trying mightily to move it from underneath, ignoring the fact that it was still burning in some places. Bofur dithered for a moment, unsure of what to do, until Kili called for him to come help. The dwarf gently set Kalda down on the path and hurried over to help. Together, the beam slowly began to lift. Then I heard another large roar as the large drake came swooping back around.

My heart almost stopped.

In fact, for a moment, it did. As a stream of fire blazed through the air right next to us, enveloping Kalda in it's tongues. I could do nothing but watch as the tiny bundle disappeared into flame. Fili and I cried out and heaved on the plank. The wood went flying as we scrambled to our feet and hurried over as the flame disappeared as quickly as it had left. Ignoring the fire that remained, I threw myself down and scooped up the tiny bundle. The cloth, fell away in ash. And there, completely untouched, was a tiny babe, crying in distress and fear. I did not stop to think about what had just happened, or why it had. I was just thankful. I hugged Kalda close to me and tried to calm her. Fili's arms too wrapped around us, holding us both close.

"We have to go!" Kili called us back to our plight, Tille again on his back. Fili nodded and prodded me along, Bofur again leading and Oin bringing up the rear. I heard Bofur mumbling apologies from the front, but I was focused on calming Kalda down and putting one foot in front of the other.

"Oh no…" Fili's voice sounded from next to me. I looked up quickly to see what the others had stopped for. The bridge was gone. Only a few burning embers remained, which were also sinking into the lake. We were trapped.

"What now?" I turned to Fili.

"We could take a boat." Bofur suggested. Fili shook his head, a pained expression on his face.

"Then someone else would be trapped." He frowned.

"Lad," Oin looked at him. "Theirs a time to be courteous and a time to think about yourself. This is one of those times! So find a bloody boat and get on it!"

"Most of them are already gone though!" Kili said, searching for one as he spoke. "I hope Tauriel found Bard! All our hope lies in them now!"

"No, we can't give up like that!" I heard myself speak. "There's got to be another way out! So find it!" Everyone looked at me for a moment.

"float on the ice." A weak voice sounded. Everyone turned to Tille in surprise. Her eyes were half closed, and she seemed as though she could barely move her mouth as she spoke. "there were big ice flows on the water…" her voice trailed off and she dropped again into unconsciousness.

"The ice flows…" Fili looked over the water. "It might work." His eyes scanned over the remaining white sheets upon the water. He started forward towards the edge of the wooden pier. I followed tentatively, but hung back as he put one foot over the edge onto a bobbing ice sheet. The rest of the dwarves inched forward and watched with baited breath as he lowered his other foot, then the rest of him onto it. He crouched down slowly. The ice bobbed, but stayed up. "Glenn, you and Kalda can fit on this one too." He said, turning to us slowly. "Kili, you and Tille take that one over there." He pointed to another. "Oin and Bofur, find sizable chunks that will hold you." The other dwarves moved to find their own floats as I came over to the edge with Kalda tightly in my arms.

"Are you sure it'll hold?" I asked worriedly.

"There's no other option." Fili stood slowly and held his arms out to me. "You've got to trust me on this one." I inhaled slowly. Crouching down, I handed Kalda into his outstretched hands. She was still crying and had no more cloth around her since it had burned off in dragon fire. Fili tucked the squirming Kalda into one arm and held out his other hand to me. Slowly, I moved myself from the pier onto the bobbing ice. Fili held me closely before handing Kalda into my arms as we crouched on the sheet. I glanced around to see the others already paddling slowly toward the shore. They'd gone about five feet. Fili pushed off the pier and we bobbed forward about three feet. Then we started paddling with our hands. I soon realized why the others had only gone five feet. It was slow going, as the four ice flows bobbed forwards, bouncing off one another every now and then. I glanced briefly over my shoulder as another roar came crashing over Laketown. The dragon's fire rained down upon some barges a little ways up from up. Cries sounded, as many bodies leapt into the freezing cold water to escape the intense heat. Most didn't come back up. I didn't have time to dwell on this, however, as Smaug weaved through the air back toward us, fire bursting from between his teeth. I felt Fili try to shield me with his body as I, in turn, tried to shield Kalda. I felt the heat coming towards me, and past me. I looked up in confusion, and the sight I saw baffled me greatly. The dragon fire seemed to be… flowing into Kalda. The tiny child had stopped crying and opened her large eyes as the tendrils of flame melted into her. Fili and I stared in a mix of fascination and horror as Kalda's eyes began to glow purple. She gurgled happily and smiled up at us, the glow disappearing as the stream of fire stopped.

"How are we not dead?" Kili's voice spoke up from next to us. I looked over to see the others looking around in confusion as well. Fili and I shared a glance.

"Come on." Fili said at last. "We've got to keep moving, next time we may not be so lucky." The others nodded and began paddling once again.

It was slow going. Our arms were heavy and tired as we continued forward at a steady pace towards the shore. I was worried that we wouldn't make it. Afraid that the ice would melt beneath us if we weren't burned to a crisp first. But somehow, we did at last reach the far bank. We got off the ice for the last couple feet, seeing as we could wade through at that point. Though, our knees down were soaked. But it didn't really matter at that point. We were tired and scared and relieved. I just wanted to be on dry land, away from fire and dragons. We all collapsed on the grassy bank, the edge of woods just behind us. Panting, we looked back at the burning city. The dragon circled it again and again, adding more fire to the pile of cinders and ash.

"Tauriel…" I heard Kili whisper. I grabbed Fili's arm with my free hand and he turned to me, worry on his face.

"Fili, what happened? Kalda, she…" My words dropped away as I looked down at the content little babe with large purple eyes that thankfully weren't glowing any more.

"I don't know." Fili shook his head. "But it'll be alright. Gandalf will know." Some how, I doubted that. We all watched as the dragon continued to fly back and forth over Laketown, which fell off in chunks into the depths of the lake.

"Is that…" Bofur started, pointing at a tall tower. We all followed his gaze to see a lone figure clamber up to the wind lance and fit a large arrow into the contraption. Again and again, the dragon flew back and forth over the town, the crossbow following the lizard closely. Finally, the strings released and the arrow was launched through the air. Straight into Smaug. The beast seemed to pause for a moment, as if realizing what had just happened. Kalda cried out loudly and began wailing. A second later, she was joined by a huge roar of pain and agony. It sounded like thunder. Or when you turn on the car in the morning, only to have Eye of the Tiger blast into your eardrums at an insane volume because your mom was out late last night and forgot to turn off the...

Anyway, you get the point. It was LOUD. And long. The howl lasted as Smaug writhed in the air, flapping his wings painfully. The waters of the lake parted in huge waves as he at last crashed into them. Steam rose up from the water, hiding most of the lake from view. When it at last cleared, Smaug was gone.


*cue trumpets and fanfare*

But seriously, if you guys liked this chapter, or hated this chapter, or were moved by this chapter, or scared for life by this chapter(though unlikely), Please Review! I really LOVE to hear feedback and suggestions from you guys!