Do not own anything LOTR related...well I own a couple of DVDs personally but nothing that would earn me any money
The town people frantically paddled boats loaded with their personal possessions towards the banks of the lake as Smaug flew overhead, blowing fire indiscriminately, setting ablaze anything in his path.
Tauriel watched as the dragon swooped low over Laketown. She turned and hurried back into the house to prepare the dwarves that remained and the children. "We have no time, we must leave."
Bofur hurried to Kili. "Get him up."
"Come on, brother," Fili said, also trying to help his brother up.
"Come on, come on, let's go!" Bofur hurried.
Kili tried to shrug them off. "I'm fine, I can walk."
Tauriel quickly began to usher the children towards the door. "As fast as you can."
Bain tried to protest. "We're not leaving. Not without our father."
Valisilwen appeared in the door, she was breathing heavily as if she had been running hard and long. "Come on, before the dragon unleashes his rage."
Tauriel looked to Bain. "If you stay here, your sisters will die," she said pointedly, bringing Valisilwen's attention to him. "Is that what your father would want?" Bain looked from Tauriel to his sisters, disheartened. Tauriel looked up gravely to Valisilwen.
"Where is he?" Valisilwen asked the children, as Tauriel ushered them out the door.
"We do not know, he took off not long before the Orcs arrived," the oldest of the sisters, Sigrid, replied.
"He went to retrieve the last black arrow," Bain answered, stopping at the bottom of the stairs while his sisters clambered into the boat with the dwarves. "The guards saw him and he gave the arrow to me while he distracted them. I worry they caught him."
Valisilwen looked to Tauriel who shook her head. "We have no time," Tauriel warned.
Valisilwen was thoughtful for a moment as she glanced from Tauriel to Bain. She sighed and nodded. "You're right." Tauriel looked relieved before continuing to grab Bain and lead him to the boat. "Get them to safety, I'll look for their father, what is his name?"
Tauriel gaped before shaking her head. Bain answered hopefully. "Bard, look in the guard house!" Tauriel finally dragged him into the boat while Valisilwen hurried towards the state house in the centre of the town.
Valisilwen leapt from jetty to jetty as the dragon loomed overhead, blowing fire here and there. He had yet to notice her, she kept beneath the houses as best she could while still hurrying. Every now and then she dodged a resident who dragged their feet escaping the town.
"Hurry! Leave your things and run!" she would urge them, grabbing their things from their hands and throwing them into the nearest boat. "Go!"
Finally she arrived at the guard house, she could hear shouting from within the highest tower. "Open the door! Do you hear me?"
She vaulted the stairs three at a time until finally she made it to the door. "You! Are you Bard?"
"Yes! That is me, get me out of here!"
Valisilwen looked around for keys but could see none. She bit her lip, she really didn't want to expose herself to this man of unknown origins but it would appear she had no choice. He stood at the door, looking hopeful.
"Stand back," she warned taking a deep breath. He looked at her in confusion but did as she asked. She stepped toward to the door and took a deep breath, concentrating for a moment. She felt the heat in her arms and legs build before she let out a roar and shoved at the door. It splintered, sending a shower of wood pieces over the man who cowered inside the cell.
She took another deep breath, glaring into the space, before looking around to see the man staring back at her in awe. "Are you hurt?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, but we must hurry and stop that dragon." He hurried past her, while she looked at him in surprise. Of all the things she had expected him to say, that was no one of them. She hurried down the stairs after him.
He collected his bow from his house, Valisilwen hurrying after him, following him as he leapt to the roof tops and began leaping from roof to roof, heading towards the highest tower left in the town.
"What exactly is your plan here?" she asked keeping pace with him easily, keeping a wary eye on the dragon that swooped overhead.
"I'm going to kill that dragon."
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to see if he had taken a knock to the head at some point. "That dragon's scales are like iron, you will never break through it with any weapon of men."
"This is not the first battle with man this dragon has taken."
"I've heard the tale, and from memory, they did not succeed then either," she said as they leapt to another roof.
"Girion loosened one scale with his black arrows. If I can find my target I can rid the world of that dragon," Bard said, stopping to look at her.
She raised her eyebrows. There was no doubt in the man's eyes at all, he was sure of himself. "Well, i hope your aim is as true as your confidence."
They finally reached the tower where the bell tolled. Bard pulled out an arrow and aimed at the dragon, the arrow bounced harmlessly off its scales. The ringing bell was hurting Valisilwen's ears, to the point she fell to her knees, blocking her ears with her hands, although it did not help much.
Bard noticed her struggling on the ground. "Ranger, what is wrong?" he asked, quickly hurrying to try and offer her assistance.
"The bell," she panted. The problem with shapeshifting to a wolf was that like her second form, her normal form had increased hearing. The bell ringing directly above made it feel like she was being hit by every vibration from the bell. Bard quickly drew his dagger, reaching up and cutting the bell's rope, finally stopping the tolling.
Valisilwen swallowed and continued to kneel on the ground as Bard took aim at the dragon again. Once again, his arrow bounced off the dragon and into the lake below.
"Normal arrows won't do the job, Bard!" Valisilwen said, finally catching her breath again. She stood and watched as the dragon swooped, blowing flames into the town again. Screams reached her ears of the people who had not escaped in time. She shook her head as Bard reached for his last arrow, taking aim.
Smaug swooped close to the tower this time, and Bard released his arrow. Smaug swooped so close to the tower, the wind from his pass knocked Bard down, almost knocking him from the tower itself. The dragon howled as Valisilwen caught him, righting him before he could fall.
Suddenly, Valisilwen turned to the hatch, hearing approaching footsteps as she pulled Bard back up. Bain appeared in the bell tower.
"Dad!" Bain shouted, hurrying to help his father.
"Bain?" Bard grabbed him by the shoulders. "What are you doing?" Why didn't you leave?" Valisilwen moved to keep watch for the dragon. "You were supposed to leave!"
"I came to help you," Bain replied quietly.
"No!" Bard scolded angrily. "Nothing can stop him now."
"This might," Bain replied holding up the black arrow in his hand. His father stared in shock from the arrow to his son before stroking his son's face.
"Bain," Bard said taking the black arrow. "You go back. Get out of here."
Valisilwen looked to the sky and saw Smaug approaching the tower quickly. "No!" she shouted quickly running towards the man and his son. "Get down!" She launched at the two, tackling them both to the floor, covering them with her body. Smaug smashed into the top part of the bell tower, bringing the roof down.
Valisilwen shielded the pair from the falling debris of the tower roof, before rolling off groaning. Bain quickly sat up to check on the Ranger while Bard picked up the black arrow that his son had dropped. Valisilwen sat up, with the help of Bain, before moving to stand beside Bard, watching as the dragon landed close by, crushing buildings beneath his huge body.
"Who are you that would stand against me?" Smaug demanded.
Bard looked around for his bow, only to find it was broken in half. He looked to Valisilwen, who narrowed her eyes, before looking back to the dragon. She reached back for her own bow slowly and discreetly, only to find it was missing. She must have lost it when she skirmished with the Orcs.
"Now that is a pity. What will you do now, Bowman? You are forsaken. No help will come," Smaug taunted with a malicious grin. He began to make his way towards the tower. Bard quickly took his two bow pieces and fixed them to the leftover walls of the belltower. The bowstring pulled taut between them as the dragon continued on its course toward them.
Valisilwen took a step forward, pushing Bain behind her. "Is that your child? You cannot save him from the fire, he will burn!"
"You, Ranger, help me with this. Bain, stand here," Bard instructed as he moved his son to stand in front of him. Bard fixed the black arrow to the bow string, resting it on his son's shoulder.
Valisilwen raised an eyebrow as she moved to stand beside him. "Are you sure about this?" she asked dubiously as Bain panted in fear. She looked sympathetically at him as the giant dragon continued, crushing more buildings as he moved.
"Bain, stay still, son, stay still," Bard breathed as he pulled back the string. Valisilwen helped him, carefully.
"Tell me, wretch – how now shall you challenge me?" Smaug taunted again, before sniffing the air. "Hmm, I smell a smell I haven't smelt in an age. The smell of a changling! How delicious."
As Bard lined up the shot, Valisilwen grit her teeth at the worm's words. While she pulled back the bowstring with Bard, she followed his aim. She saw it then. An empty space where a scale should have been. "Bard, the missing scale," she breathed in awe. She glanced sideways to see the Bowman with a small smirk on his face.
"You have nothing left, but your death!" Smaug howled as he approached more rapidly. Bain turned to look over his shoulder at the dragon, fear written on his face.
"Bain!" Bard called his attention back to him. "You look at me."
"Everything is going to be just fine," Valisilwen said, beginning to pull the bowstring back tighter, ready to release it on Bard's command. They both begin to strain with the effort. "A little to the left," she murmured. Bard nodded at Bain, who shifted himself slightly as asked. The tip of the arrow shifted right, aiming directly at the desired target.
"That's it," Bard said. He and Valisilwen released the bowstring and it flew with great speed from Bain's shoulder. It hurtled through the air and sunk to the feathers into Smaug's chest through his breached armour of scales. As Smaug leapt forward in pain and fear, Valisilwen grabbed Bain and Bard, pushing them from the tower and into the water below as Smaug rolled and slid through the town, destroying everything in his path including the tower.
He struggled to fly into the sky, with massive effort he managed to flap a few hundred feet up, screaming and wheezing in pain, before gasping for breath. His eyes lost their light and he fell back to down, crushing the city beneath him, and anyone left below.
xo
Krayzee