Bilbo:
Thorin had sent me down into the treasure room with no other instructions except find the Arkenstone. In my hunt for the stone, I had awoken the dragon. As I ran up the stairs as fast as my feet would take me, the dragon fire streamed behind me, barely nicking my heels. The ground vibrated as Smaug angrily tore around the mountains of gold, causing avalanche upon avalanche. I had gotten half way up the open corridor when a familiar face rounded the corner.
"You're alive!" Relief had filled Thorin's eyes as I stopped next to the opening of a staircase.
"Not for much longer!" I gasped between breaths.
"Did you find the Arkenstone?" His eyes fixed on the gold behind me as he spoke.
"The dragon is coming!" I tried to run past him, but his arm caught me. With a swift movement he drew his sword, his eyes boring into mine
"The Arkenstone. Did you find it?" He pressed the sword against my chest. Greed filled his eyes, anger in his voice. Something had changed in those few seconds. I am almost tempted to let you have it. If only to see Oakenshield suffer. Smaug's voice rang in my head.
"No, we have to get out!" I tried to push his sword down, but he brought it right back up to my neck. His face was now steel, no emotions or anything of the sort showed. "Thorin. Thorin?" I gazed at him in fear. We would die if we did not move soon. Thorin's eyes shifted to the mountain of gold, the dragon crawled over it, noticing Thorin and I immediately. A snarl escaped his lips and Thorin sneered. All of the sudden, the company came crashing down the stairs, their weapons drawn to defeat the dragon.
"You will burn!" Smaug's booming voice almost knocked us off our feet as he sprinted over, his wings spread, and chest burning like the embers of a fire. Just as the fire spilled over the platform we were standing on, we leaped onto the other side, cascading down the gold into a smaller room. The fire rolled over Thorin's back, catching his coat on fire. He collapsed to the ground, rolling to put out the fire. He immediately popped up.
"Come on." He lead us into the next room. As we reached an open bridge on the other side, the coast seemed to be clear, no sight or sound of a live dragon.
"We've given him the slip." Dori whispered from behind me.
"No, he's too cunning for that." Dwalin's hushed tone sounded from in front of me.
"Where to now?" We stood on the foot of a bridge, each side leading into a deep chasm, that seemed to go on for miles.
"The western guardroom. There may be a way out." Thorin replied over his shoulder to us.
"It's too high, there's no chance that way." Balin argued.
"It's our only chance. We have to try." Thorin motioned to us to follow him. We tiptoed along the bridge in utter silence. Out of no where, a small ringing sound echoed throughout the entirety of the chasm. A coin had fallen, I checked my pockets and sleeves for other misplaced coins. Another ring, that echoed throughout, came crashing down. Everyone's eyes slowly made their way to the dragon slithering it's way above us. Silently, Thorin motioned for us to keep moving forward. When we got to the corridor that was on the other side, we came to a full sprint. Entering the western guardroom, the piles of rotted bodies, covered in cobwebs littered the floor. The door way across from us had caved in, leaving no escape for anyone. Was there no way out of this accursed mountain?
"The last of our kin. They must've come here hoping beyond hope." Balin said solemnly, his face matching his tone. "We could try to reach the mines. We might last a few days." Everyone's eyes fell upon the bodies that laid before us. All of them, gray and rotted, their faces eerily peaceful as if they were sleeping.
"No. I will not die like this. Cowering, clawing for breath. We make for the forges." Thorin's grip on his sword had grown so tight that the whites of his knuckles showed.
"He will see us. Sure as death." Dwalin stepped forward.
"Not if we split up." Thorin replied, his grip lessening.
"Thorin, we'll never make it." Balin stepped closer to him.
"Some of us might. Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon today. If this is to end in fire, we shall all burn together."
Nylelyth:
"We don't have any time!" I shouted to everyone in the house, the ground vibrated. The dragon would come soon, I could feel it. "We must leave now!"
"We're not leaving without our father!" The boy, Bain, shouted. He had come earlier, returning with the news that his father had been captured by the guards.
"You cannot stay." I came in to finish packing a bag of food. "If you stay, you and your sisters will die a terrible death. Is that what your father would have wanted?" He slowly shook his head as I handed him the bag. I went to stand at the door again, a dark mass loomed above the mountain, getting closer and closer to the town. "We need to leave-NOW!" I rushed back into the house, pulling Sigrid and Tilda with me down to the dock below their home. Fili, Kili, Oin, and Bofur followed with Bain. A crash of wind sent my hair flying in all directions. The dragon had come. Fire spewing out from the black mass with a glowing red chest, set everything in it's path ablaze. I pushed the boat from the dock as Fili and Bofur rowed behind us. The dragon swooped down again, lighting a pathway of fire two docks over from us. We maneuvered through the water, making our way beneath and between burning homes and trying our best not to get seriously burned. The flames around us caused me to start sweating, my brow dripping. Coming to a stop underneath some docks that were the only building not on fire, the smoke whirled around us, making it almost impossible to see. The dragon swooped around again, bringing the powerful wind that almost knocked me off my feet. I nodded back to Fili and Bofur to signify the coast was as clear as it was gonna get, they rowed us out into the open canal. Out of nowhere, a huge barge, carrying piles upon piles of gold, came barreling through almost knocking our boat over. I jumped back to catch Bain as he almost toppled over the side.
"Move it! Come on! Faster!" The Master of the town shrieked as he commanded his guards. I sneered as he went by us, knowing that his selfishness would get hundreds killed. The screaming, the crackling of the wood burning with such intense heat, the swooping of the dragon was something out of a nightmare. Smaug was playing cat and mouse with the town, swirling and swooping all over the place to instill fear into us, only to light the whole town ablaze. We turned a corner to reveal the bell tower at the center of the town. A dark figure, holding a long bow and launching arrows at the dragon, stepped to each side of the tower.
"Da!" Bain shouted.
"Da! Da!" Sigrid and Tilda followed, though their screams could not be heard by him.
"He hit it! He hit the dragon! I saw the arrow hit it's mark!" Kili yelled, his voice filled with hope. Smiles had spread across everyone, a glimmer of hope in the desolation.
"The arrows cannot pierce it's hide. I fear nothing will." Killing any hope they had that Bard would kill the dragon, Fili and Bofur rowed on. Bain abruptly latched on to a hanging rope above us, swinging himself onto a dock.
"Bain!" Sigrid shrieked, reaching out for him, but never letting go of Tilda. "Bain!" He glanced back at us, only to turn back and run down the dock towards the bell tower.
"We cannot follow him!" Fili shouted, still rowing. "We would surely die!" Sigrid's face had gone pale, Tilda had tears streaming down her cheeks. Without another thought, I knew what I had to do. My conscious wouldn't allow me to let these two girls lose everything they have, just as I had. I grabbed onto the bridge we were passing under, hoisting myself up on top.
"Nye! Nye!" Kili yelled, his voice panicked. "Don't leave us! Nylelyth no!" His voice faded off as I 'ran after Bain. The smoke had accumulated so much that I could hardly see in front of me.
"Bain! Bain! Where are you?" I screamed between coughs. A faint shadow could be seen through the smoke. "Bain!" I sprinted in that direction, covering my face. As I got closer to him I noticed he was holding a long black pole that came to a twist at the end. It was a giant arrow, strong enough to pierce a dragon.
"I'm not asking you to come with me." He shouted over the swooping of the dragon.
"I'm not leaving you to die, if there is a way to stop the dragon, and stop all this death, I will do it no matter the cost." He nodded and sprinted off towards the bell tower, I followed him without hesitation. The burning rubble littered the ground making our journey excruciatingly long, the bodies that were scattered around the remaining docks were all burnt till they were unrecognizable. The nameless faces that fell, now only to be remembered by their burnt bodies, had been scarring. I knew I would never forget the sight of mothers cradling their dead children, husbands mourning over their dead wives, only to be swept away by the same dragon fire. We came up to the bottom of the bell tower, Bard releasing arrows at the top.
"I'm going to give my father the Black Arrow, can you distract the dragon somehow?" Bain asked, his eyes swelling with courage. I nodded in return, wondering how I could ever manage to distract the huge beast. Watching Bain climb to the top of the tower, I formed my plan. If I could get the dragon to look any where but the bell tower, I could give them enough time to kill it. I sprinted to the building that was in front of the bell tower, the only one that was not up in roaring flames, watching for the glowing ember chest. Out of what seemed like thin air, the dragon appeared, crashing into the top of the bell tower.
"NO!" I wailed, my heart crashing in my chest, without the Bard or Bain, there would be no way to defeat the beast. Landing across the way from me, the buildings crumbled below the dragon, threatening to fall with every shift of his weight.
"Who are you to stand against me?" The roaring voice sounded over all of us, leaving an echo that reverberated throughout the town. There was movement on the tower, Bard was alive. Now was my only chance. The power surged through me, my heart clamored, my hands high in the air.
"Russe tuulo' moriloomir!" My voice didn't sound my own, the balls of light shot out of my hands, colliding into the face of the dragon. He looked to me and snarled, a single tooth of his was taller than I stood.
"I see we have someone magical over here." He snickered slightly at his own words, and shifted his body to face me. Bard and his son rustled on top of the tower, readying whatever bow and arrow they had left. The pulsations that waved through me began to lessen. A few more moments was all I could spare. My hands fell back down to my sides as clenched fists.
"You are slower than I was warned!" I screamed as I sprinted more towards the top of the roof. "I was warned that a fierce and powerful dragon was about, and I see the warning was mistaken!" His eyes narrowed as he looked closer at me, ignoring the two men completely. I climbed on the top of the chimney to look closer into the dragon's eyes.
"And who are you, to insult me?" He roared, throwing his head back. "I am more powerful than you could ever be, you conjurer of cheap magic!"
"I am no traveling magician!" I shrieked back at him, trying not to get too flustered over his words. "I am a descendant of the Valar, I am more powerful than you could ever dream to be!" I pointed a condescending finger at him.
"Not just a conjurer of cheap magic, but a liar as well." He leaned in closer to me. "You will die like the rest, no matter where you come from!" He rose his head as if he was readying himself to swallow me whole.
"Hey!" I heard from the top of the tower. "You answer to me!" Bard hollered at the dragon, leaning the black arrow on Bain's shoulder.
"Is that your child?" Smaug turned his attention to them. "You cannot save him from the fire, or your cheap magician. They will BURN!" He let out a roaring laugh. "How shall you now challenge me? You have nothing but your DEATH!" Smaug charged the bell tower, knocking over the house I stood on in the process. I fell, sights of whirring flames and burning buildings all around me. I don't know how far I fell until I reached the coldness that enveloped me at the bottom, colder and colder until all I saw was a blackness that swallowed me whole.