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I'm sorry for this chapter. I've discovered that I'm not very good at writing action-ey stuff and so this one might suck in the writing bit and you probably won't have a clue what's actually going on. And I'm sorry this took so long to update as well. My bad.

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Chapter 25 – Red VS Gold

"That, Master Baggins, is why you are here." Thorin said as he moved to stand behind their burglar and his old friend, joining them in looking at the carved image of the Arkenstone that was on one of the walls in the dark stone passageway.

Bilbo swallowed hard and looked between the dwarves. Balin gave him a sympathetic look and took his arm, leading him further into the mountain whilst Thorin turned around and left to step back through the door.

"Come on laddie." Balin said, feeling guilty as to what he and the company was about to put their poor friend through. "I do not know what you will find down there. But if there is a dragon, try your best not to wake it." He said softly and patted him lightly on the shoulder before he too left the Hobbit alone.

Bilbo stood a little shell-shocked just gaping at his lonely surroundings. He brushed himself down, shook his head, gulped and walked through the open doorway he had found himself in front of.

Gold. It was all he could see.

It shimmered in the room. The jade stone walls that lined it seemingly black as they disappeared in the distance of the rooms vast expanse. His jaw dropped open at the sight of the golden treasure hoard, possibly miles deep, but the thought of a dragon caused him to jump back to reality. There was no sign of it, so maybe it had fled the mountain. Maybe.

"Thank you Tauriel." Kili said, looking up at the elf from behind his dark lashes with a genuine smile on his face unlike his mischievous smirk or grins. He even seemed to be blushing as she tended to the cuts and injuries that he had collected in the spat with the orcs and since the beginning of their journey.

Aella was stood in the corner of the room observing it and listening to their surroundings in case of another attack. Her right hand never left one of her daggers whilst the rest of her weapons and belongings were slumped on the floor next to her. It seemed that they were safe, for now.

She sighed and relaxed slightly not sensing any immediate danger and instead watched Kili trying to flirt with Tauriel. So far it seemed to be working out for him as he proceeded to tell her stories of their quest, despite some elaboration and extra details to make certain parts more interesting and flamboyant.

"My brother. Always the charmer." Fili said quietly as he sidled up next to Aella in the corner. They shared a small laugh and continued to watch the pair. "He's probably not used to making an effort to get a girl to like them. They usually jump at his feet."

"And you don't have anyone waiting for you back home?" Aella asked softly smiling at him in the dim light from the lanterns and small fireplace.

"No not really. There was a girl I guess but not anymore. Besides she probably didn't know who I was, and if she did she would've forgotten about me by now." He sighed sadly but smiled anyway.

"Fili, heir to Erebor, line of Durin; I highly doubt she would've forgotten about you." He just shrugged and Aella gave a light laugh at his self-doubt. Whoever this girl was she was wrong to not like him. He was caring, selfless and brave anything a girl would want out of a husband, right? "Anyway, I've seen you sneaking looks at Bard's daughter."

"What? No I haven't, I don't know what you're talking about." He said very defensively but at that moment he had been looking at her. Watching her from across the room as she helped Tilda with something.

"No need to get defensive." Aella simply smiled and he gave her a glare, not liking that he was the one being teased when it was normally him teasing her. "I guess your family is becoming very multicultural."

He shoved her shoulder gently and they both burst out into soft chuckles, looking over at where Kili was still flirting relentlessly with Tauriel. Aella's mind wandered to Thorin, hoping he was alright and they had made it safely inside the mountain.

Well, he was inside the mountain, just not exactly safe.

Their infiltration had gone swimmingly. Not only had Smaug been wakened but he was now charging around Erebor chasing the dwarves in a more vicious game of tag. Upon walking into the mountain, Thorin had been amazed at the treasury and felt like he never wanted to leave it. But when Bilbo said that they had to get out his need to stay grew, until a giant dragon appeared from behind one of the pillars and they ran.

When they had found the charred bodies of innocent dwarves, Thorin's mindset changed and he suddenly decided that he would not fall to the dragon hunting them down. If he was going to die, he was going to die honorably, although he would've prefered to have lived a while longer.

As Thorin pulled himself up the mismatched stone casting he could vaguely hear Bilbo's conversation with the beast below.

"No you cannot go to Lake Town." Bilbo ordered. It seemed out of all the people in the world; only fussy and comfort-loving Bilbo would have the courage and the audacity to tell a dragon what it could and couldn't do. Thorin felt a stab of fear at the though, surely Smaug wouldn't go to Lake Town, where his two nephews – and heirs – Aella and Oin were, all sat unaware of the possible destruction awaiting them.

"You care about them do you?" Smaug hissed, his long neck coiling around to face the bumbling hobbit on the floor that was looking rather exasperated like he was dealing with a stubborn child not a dragon. The exact beast that caused him to faint back in Bag-End at the thought of its fire melting the flesh off of him in the blink of an eye. "Then you can watch them die."

"Here you witless worm!" Thorin shouted from atop the finale of his master plan. He was not going to let it go to the wooden town and destroy the three people he loved most in the world. "I am taking back what you stole." He announced, authority ringing in his voice.

The rest was a haze of memory to Bilbo, all the images blurring into one as he watched the scene take place. The stone…thing that Thorin was stood on broke away to reveal a large Golden dwarf. Smaug leaned forward in awe of the colour, a new treasure to add to his collection. But the statue began to morph and sink into itself flowing across and onto the dragon coating it in the hot metal as he sank to the floor with a roar getting lost under the golden tsunami.

Bilbo sighed out in relief. Sweet victory flowed into Thorin via a smile as he watched the dragon disappear.

In that moment everything was good, everything was as it should be. They had won back the mountain and killed the dragon. But the relief, victory and cheers quickly dispersed as Smaug erupted from the floor storming away from them gold falling off him as his steps caused tremors.

"Revenge!" He screeched angrily. "I will show you revenge!"

And with that he was gone.

All was quiet in Lake Town. But then a terrible rumble broke that silence and for some reason everyone looked to Aella horror in their eyes. Along with the earthquakes and deep vibrations that lightly shook the house another person burst through the door. She lept across the room, blade at the ready and pushed it against the person's neck ready to slice it open. She was not taking any chances after the orc attack.

Bard looked down at her in startled confusion at the violence taking place on him, when he saw Aella he relaxed a little, even more so when she pulled away.

"Sorry." She mumbled, putting the dagger behind her back but not loosening her grip. "Reflexes, you know." But he had already forgotten it as his youngest daughter ran into his arms soft tears falling from her eyes in fear.

"The dragon. Is it going to kill us?" She asked quietly, her voice shaking and he looked down at her in his tight embrace.

"Not if I kill it first." He announced looking around the room at the other faces. Some were clearly scared, even the dwarves who were expecting it. But looking at the two other unfamiliar woman in his home neither of them seemed scared at all, unless they weren't showing it.

"We need to evacuate." The elf said calmly but sternly as a roar broke through the tension it was much closer and louder then the muffled rumbles.

"It's coming here." Aella said, not even looking out of the window she could sense its presence. Bard reached up and grabbed something from what looked like a herb rack, but pulling it down it turned out to be a long black arrow. The whole room gasped even if the gasper didn't know why they were gasping, they just knew the item was of significant importance and that it was a mighty weapon.

"Bain, stay with your sisters, keep them safe, get out of the town." Bard said, but his son just shook his head.

"I'm coming with you Da." He said confidently and grabbed his coat along with his sisters who were both preparing to leave despite their fear. Bard just sighed, he didn't want to start an argument and he knew that his son would follow him anyway.

"Aella, we need to go now." Fili grabbed Aella's arm, pulling her back to reality as another roar cascaded from above them. "Aella! Come on we need to go! It's here!" His fear was evident but like Bain she shook her head at him.

Instead of running from the house with him she grabbed her saddle from the floor and threw it into his arms. He looked at her confused with wide eyes.

Screams could now be heard from outside the house and a horrifying orange glow flashed into the room through the window which should've been black like the night. Another roar and the sounds of wings swiping through the air from above.

"Aella what-?" Fili began.

"Go. Get out of here. Take the rest of them and get out of here." She said sternly, walking to the stairs that led to the dock beneath the house. Fili hurried behind carrying the saddle and Aella's weapons, everything slowly started to click together.

Tauriel and Kili were helping the girls onto the boat, but their heads kept flicking around to watch as the dragon, that they'd only ever heard about in stories was causing destruction to the little wooden town and fire blazed up around them.

"Aella you can't! It's too dangerous for you, you of all people know that!" Fili shouted to her as he once again grabbed her arm and confronted her, trying to ignore the chaos that surrounded them.

"If I don't do this more people will die. Besides, since the last time, my power has grown stronger – I can feel it. Now get on the boat, forget about me and go." And with that she left. Fili stood standing as he watched her form run around a corner before his brother practically pulled him into the boat next to him.

"Poor souls." Bilbo said as they watched the fire light up the defenseless wooden town. He glanced around as the rest of the company watched on with solemn faces, the dark shadow of Smaug flashing across the sky through the flames.

Thorin was the only one not with them. He was, instead stood away from the company and was watching the mountain with a sort of mad look in his eyes, only briefly flashing his gaze to the burning town.

"Wait! What was that?!" Bilbo said as he watched the town, squinting in the darkness. The others looked at him in confusion. "I saw something! Something flew up into the air, it was gold… Oh no."

Their faces instantly went shades paler at the realization. Their friend, a company member, was going to face a dragon despite it being life threatening for her.

Aella climbed onto one of the roofs of the houses and looked around for the beast. Her hair was flowing and rippling out behind her in the wind and the fire making it shine even brighter whilst the rest of her was just a silhouette against the bright flames licking at the houses below. Smaug landed on one of the houses in front of her, not noticing she was there as in proportion to his gigantic body she was merely an ant.

"Hey!" She shouted above the screams, her voice full of anger and determination. The dragon's head turned from where he was busy crushing a house with his body and burning a walkway.

A/N: Not very good at these sorts of scenes so imagine the dragon fight in the first How to Train Your Dragon. Thanks hope you enjoy my bad writing anyway!

"Who are you?" He rumbled back his head jolting forward with the pronunciation of the words and his lips curled up into a wicked smile barring some of his deadly fangs.

"My name is Aella." She announced although her voice shook slightly from the power surging through her body, waiting to be released. "And I'm here to end your disgusting life. Not much of a mighty enemy to fear if you only kill innocent and defenseless people, no you're just a bully. If you want a real challenge and to prove that you truly are a beast to be feared then you'll fight me."

Her eyebrow raised at her proposition, knowing that she would have to taunt him away from the town that was slowly becoming a wreckage due to the spreading fire.

"A challenge. Well this won't be too hard will it." He took a step towards her, crushing another wooden building as he moved. But much to his surprise she smirked at him and suddenly became a blur of gold as she lept into the twirling around, her new golden scales glittering and reflecting on the lake. Her wings opened up and she flew high into the sky, pushing the air down underneath her powerfully as she flew higher.

Smaug followed her with a roar but when he reached the sky she was gone, her treasure no where to be found in the black smoke. Another angry roar ripped from his throat as his wings flapped to stay hovering whilst his head flicked around the sky looking for his challenger.

Aella ascended high into the sky, taking note of Bard stood on the bell tower with an arrow poised and Bain stood behind him holding the black arrow. Looking down she saw Smaug flapping around confused and roaring in rage that he was being deceived.

Suddenly turning in the sky, she dived down towards him reaching deep inside and a roar ripped from her throat along with a flash and bite of lightning crackling from her jaw and hitting the other dragon in the wing creating a large hole in it, hidering his ability to fly.

The sky clapped and flashed with the white light slashing out of her and onto the other dragon, her speed causing him to not see her coming as he roared in anger and agony whilst she elegantly flew around him sending more lightning bolts towards him.

The rest of the town watched in fright as the black smoke was lit up and the roars ripped through the air. Still the townsfolk screamed and tried to run from the spreading fire engulfing their homes and lifestyle.

Fili glanced at the sky and the shape of Smaug lashing out as another shape hurtled towards him with another lick of bright whiteness. He gulped at the sight worried for his friend, surely she wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Tauriel guided them on the boat through the burning town whilst Fili and Kili rowed them along and Oin looked after th girls who were fretting for there father. As they took a turn they saw Bard stood on the bell tower as flames crept up it but he had Bain positioned and a black arrow set on his sons shoulder.

Smaug was pretty much still in the air, his damaged wing making it harder and harder for him to saty flying but only his head flicked around for his enemy that kept disappearing and then hitting him again. His mark was on display, almost begging to be hit with an arrow.

Bard drew the bow back holding it tight and aiming it to perfection. Smaug let a wave of fire into the air to try and catch his attacker off guard but once again she was nowhere close to him and was too quick for him.

Bard, the man on the tower standing alone with his son, let the arrow loose.

Smaug let out a petrifying roar, loud enough so that the company could here him as if he was next to them. Bilbo had watched along with the rest of the company as another draagon had joined the sky and had flew in with lighting to agile for Smaug to catch.

But now Smaug flew up above the smoke where Aella was hiding in the air waiting for the next move. He thundered in pain and then anger as he saw the other dragon, the golden dragon, flying above him; and with his last ounce of energy he flew up to her and hit her hard with his foot sending her sprawling in the air until she turned to nothing.

The last roar came from his throat until his body went limp in the air and he fell to the lake along with the lifeless human body of Aella.

Back at the mountain they heard the dragon's last screech and then its body crashing into the lake taking several building with him.

"Wh...what was that? What happened?" Ori said as he shook in fear, his innocent eyes widening into two circles as he looked to the silent lake in bewilderment.

"They both fell, I saw it. It's dead." Bilbo said stepping forward. He was certain he had seen the red beast fall but where the golden version had gone he did not know. He looked back at the dwarves that were all looking at him expectantly. "Smaug is dead."

"By my beard, I think he's right!" Gloin said he too stepping forward and looking to the black lake with its pinnacle of fire bright in the middle, casting reflections on the ripples of the water.

"Look there! The Ravens of Erebor are returning to the Mountain."

"Aye, word will spread. Before long, every soul in Middle Earth will know the Dragon is dead!" Balin announced, confirming all the suspicions and that their quest had been complete.

They had succeeded in taking back Erebor. In taking back their homeland.

In response to the reviews:

lovingthisbook : I can't deal with them dying either! So I doubt I will kill them. And thank you for your help with this chapter and the content proportions!

ggghhhaaarrr67: I hope this was alright despite the bad writing with the dragon bit! I was planning to do something like that anyway but thank you for your suggestion as it made me more confident!

So yeah. That happened. I'm really sorry about how awful the writing was and how long it took me to update and write this chapter. It was such an important chapter and I'm kind of disappointed with it but oh well, it's done now!

Oh and I started a new story (again). I'm sorry I couldn't help myself an idea popped into my head and I thought I'd write it. This won't stop the uploads on this and I'll try and make sure my updates get back on the regular instead of taking so long for me to do them so sorry about that!

Thank you for reading and sticking with this!

xx