Yay! Next chapter done! Sorry to the Tauriel fans, her part in the movie felt so incredibly forced to me that I will be leaving it out.

Disclaimer: I do not own this wonderful world or its characters

Ch 19: The fire was red, it flaming spread

Kíli was in a bad way, as much as Fíli didn't want to admit it. Kíli's body was damp with sweat from the fever ravaging his body. They laid wet cloths on his body, desperately trying to lower his fever. It worked, but only marginally. For Fíli it was agony to watch his younger brother slowly succumbing to his wound.

By noon, the young Dwarf was in pain, drifting in and out of consciousness. By evening, Kíli was no longer coherent, trapped in a fevered dream. It was around supper time, when Oin unbound Kíli's wound to wash it again. However, he stopped before he had done anything and probed the wound none too gently with his fingers, muttering frustratedly to himself. Kíli whimpered in response.

"What? What is it?" Fíli demanded, angry at Oin for causing Kíli more pain.

"Poison," the old Dwarf spat.

"What do you need?" Fíli asked, his voice full of concern. Oin ignored him, sifting through his bag and muttering some more.

"I need Athelas, Kingsfoil. I'm all out. Do you have any?" Oin asked, turning to Bard.

"Kingsfoil?" Bard was confused, "The weed? We feed it to the pigs."

"Weed? Pigs? Got it. Be right back," Bofur was gone before anyone could process what he had said. They waited in tense anticipating for him to return. While they were waiting, something rumbled far off in the distance. It made Fíli think of thunder, but it was a clear night. Before he could ask Oin, there was another rumble, this one caused the walls to shake slightly and dust from the ceiling rained down on their heads.

"What was that?" Fíli's voice was hoarse.

"That, my lad, was a dragon," Oin replied, face grim. Tilda, Bard's youngest, gave a small whimper of fear.

"Is it going to eat us, Da?" she just managed to squeak out. Bard's face was troubled.

"You should go, take your children and leave. It's not safe," Fíli tried to herd them towards the door. Bard gently pushed the blond Dwarf aside and made his way into the kitchen. He returned with a wicked looking arrow. It was taller than Bard himself, jet black and wickedly sharp. It was an arrow made to kill dragons.

"No Tilda, I'm not going to let it eat you. I'll be back. Sigrid, you're in charge until I return," he swiftly kissed each of his children before ghosting out of the door. They all stood staring at each other. He wasn't gone more than a few minutes when the door flew open. Oin and Fíli, who had been tending Kíli, whirled around in shock when Sigrid, Bard's oldest child, screamed.

There, pushing through the half open door was a band of Orcs. Panic ensued. Fíli and Bain pushed Tilda and Sigrid under the table, out of harm's way for now. They were outnumbered, but they had the advantage that not all the Orcs could enter at once. One by one, the attacking host was whittled down.

Fíli was pleased to see the last of the Orcs turn tail and flee. That pleasure didn't last however: Kíli screamed from behind him. Fíli turned to see and squat Orc wrestling with his brother. Kíli was thrashing in panic, trying to dislodge the Orc. The Orc snarled before pulling a knife on Kíli.

Fíli realized that he would never get across the room in time so he did the only thing he could. Winding up, he threw his knife. It hit the creature square in the neck. It fell forward with a gurgle, knocking Kíli flat. Fíli made his way over to his brother and pushed the Orc's corpse off of Kíli.

It was then that Bofur crashed through the door, startling them all.

"Orcs! There are Orcs… oh, never mind, you found them," Bofur glanced around the house, taking in the carnage. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of wilted and crushed flowers.

"I found some, by the way. I hope it's still good," he said. Oin rushed over and yanked the greens out of Bofur's hand. He then rushed around adding this and heating that until he had a thick paste.

"Hold him down," Oin commanded in a clipped voice. Fíli and Tilda pinned Kíli's arms while Bofur and Bain wrestled with holding down Kíli's legs. With his patient immobilized, Oin set to work on the wound. He cleaned it again with minimal pain to Kíli. However, when he went to apply the paste, Kíli wailed and bucked with strength Fíli didn't think he still had. Those holding Kíli down were sorely put to the test. Kíli managed to wrench both his arms free.

Finally, Oin had finished applying the paste and had re-dressed the wound. They all sat back exhausted. A little while later, Kíli had once again regained consciousness. Oin didn't think there'd be any lasting damage so long as Kíli rested for the next few day and took it slow. Fíli felt himself grow strangely light and giddy at the news that his brother would be alright.

As they sat around, there was a whoosh outside and a strange, red light lit the interior of the house. Then the screaming began as footsteps hurried by. Fíli followed Bofur to the window and gasped. It was pandemonium. The town was on fire. The reason soon became apparent. A giant shadow swooped low over the town, sending down more fire.

Fíli realized he was looking at Smaug. In all of the drama with the Orcs and Kíli, Fíli had forgotten about the most dangerous enemy that they were to face. The dragon disappeared back into the night then reappeared in with a ball of flames. He watched in morbid fascination as the dragon tore the top off of the Master's Hall in one of his dives.

"Right lad, we need to go," Bofur tugged Fíli away from the window, breaking his reverie. Oin already had Kíli half way to the door. Feeling strangely protective, Fíli helped Bofur herd Bard's children out of the house in front of them. They hopped into the first boat that they found. The waterways were choked with floating debris which made navigating them difficult. More than once Bain and Bofur were forced to get out and free the boat.

With every passing moment, the danger of being burned alive grew. Fíli coughed as the acrid smoke choked him. Burning timber fell around them, with several lucky pieces falling into the boat. One such piece hit Tilda, knocking out the small child. Thankfully she wasn't burned.

After a harrowing hour, they had navigated through the town and were out on open water. It was here that the Fíli realized that Smaug was much bigger than he had ever imagined. The fire drake settled on top of some of the burning houses, crushing them to smithereens. He seemed pre-occupied with something in the town. Fíli didn't know what it was, but he was thankful for the distraction. The dragon had his attention somewhere other than the fleeing townsfolk.

They were halfway to shore when Smaug took off again, great wings flapping as he rose. He swooped upward to raze the town once more. Fíli watched as something shot through the air, hitting Smaug in the chest. The dragon gave one last roar before plummeting down into the lake. There was hiss of steam as the lake devoured his hot body. The wave of impact pushed their boat with alarming speed towards the shore.

With the wave's help, they made it to shore. Fíli was loath to leave Bard's children unattended, so they searched in vain for the bargeman. For hours they scoured the shoreline, helping survivors when they could. It wasn't until dawn that a singed and waterlogged Bard stumbled over to them. He gave them a silent nod of thanks before hugging his children.

The Dwarfs watched the tender moment for a little before slipping off, back to the boat they had left Lake Town in. Piling in, they pushed the boat off, back into the lake. As they set off, Fíli prayed that whatever they found up on the mountain, that it wasn't a massacre, but he wasn't hopeful.