Chapter 53

Back in Laketown, Bard runs into a shop, and the storekeeper greets him. "Hello, Bard. What're you after?"

Bard begins looking through a pile of tapestries. "There was a tapestry, an old one; where's it gone?"

"What tapestry you talking about?"

Bard found it. "This one." He picks up a tapestry and unrolls it on a table. It has the names of the members of the Line of Durin sewn into it.

He overhears the woman who saw the dwarves earlier speaking to some other townpeople not far away. "There were dwarves, I tell you. Appeared out of nowhere. Full beards, fierce eyes; I've never seen the like."

"What are dwarves doing in these parts?"

"It's the prophecy."

"Prophecy?"

"The prophecy of Durin's folk."

Bard traces through the lineage on the tapestry and finds the last entry, Thorin. He looks up, thinking deeply, and talks to himself. "The prophecy...prophecy."

The people of Laketown are beginning to talk about the dwarves now as the word spreads. "The old tales will come true."

"Vast halls of treasure!"

"Can it really be true? Has the lord of silver fountains returned?"

This phrase jolts Bard's memory, and he begins to recite the prophecy to himself. "The lord of silver fountains, The king of carven stone, The king beneath the mountain shall come into his own, And the bells shall ring in gladness at the mountain king's return, But all shall fail in sadness and the lake will shine and burn."

Bard runs quickly to his house; the setting sun causes the lake to glow orange as he recites the last line of the prophecy. Bard burst into his house and finds no dwarves remaining. His son comes up to him. "Da! I tried to stop them-"

Bard asked, "How long have they been gone!?"

St. Anel said, "They're doing something stupid that's what!"

That night in Laketown, the dwarves are sneaking through the town toward the armory, hiding from watchmen. They hide behind a boat as two watchmen walk by. Dwalin said, "Shh! Keep it down."

Thorin said, "As soon as we have the weapons, we make straight for the mountain. Go, go, go!" With the watchmen gone, Thorin points to Nori, who gets a running start and runs up a pyramid of dwarves who have pressed themselves against the walls of the city armory. He is able to get high enough that he can reach a second floor window and dive through. "Next." Bilbo does the same thing as Nori. Soon, several dwarves are in the armory, and they begin collecting the weapons stored there. Kili struggles under a load of several different weapons, and Thorin hands him another one. "You all right?"

Kili replied, "I can manage. Let's just get out of here." Thorin looks at Kili, then lays another sword on the pile Kili is holding. Kili begins walking down the stairs, but his wounded leg gives way and he falls with a cry. The weapons make a terrible clanging noise, and the dwarves both inside and outside look around warily.

In the distance, the watchmen cry out, and running footsteps approach. Dori yelled, "Run!"

The dwarves still outside begin to run, but are stopped by two watchmen pointing pikes at them. Bilbo and the dwarves in the armory grab weapons, but several other guards point pikes at them too. Braga, the captain of the guard, is holding Kili with a dagger to his throat. Kili looks sadly and guiltily at Thorin.