A/N: Happy New Year! =) We are now truly in The Battle of Five Armies.
Elvish...
"Smaug is coming…"
Tauriel was the first of us to go into action. She ran outside to gauge how far the dragon was from the town. I went to Sigrid.
"Give me Tilda's coat. I'll get her ready. Grab anything of sentimental value."
The eldest girl handed me the youngest's jacket for me to put on her and she rushed around the small house. As I was helping the young girl's arms through her coat, Tauriel rushed back in. She grabbed Tilda's scarf.
"We have no time. We must leave! As fast as you can."
She buttoned up the girl's coat when Bain came up behind her.
"We're not leaving without our father."
"If you stay here, your sisters will die. Is that what your father would want?"
I looked at the young boy. "Where is he? I thought you said he was just evading some of the guardsmen."
Bain looked distressed as his eyes glanced at the door, clearly hoping Bard would show up, "He was. He gave me the black arrow and I hid it in one of the boats. I thought we could get it once he came back."
Tauriel pushed us down towards the lower level of the house, piling us into the boat that was docked. Fili and Bofur rushed into the boat first. We made sure Kili was on, then Tilda and Sigrid, then Bain. Fili held his hand out for me to steady myself and I took a place between Bain and Sigrid. Fili and Bofur behind us began to push our way through the canals.
We barely went three feet into the canals when something like thunder sounded above us. A gust of wind blew around us as a giant, scaly, golden red dragon soared above us.
"Oh my gods…"
The creature was fast, his wings barely moving to propel him forward in the air. This town was doomed…
We had to at least make sure we weren't. I glanced over at Bain who was still frozen in place at the large reptile.
"Do you remember which boat you hid the arrow in?"
"I could lead you to it, but I couldn't get you there by explaining it."
"He has a horrible sense of direction…" Tilda's small voice sounded as she clutched tightly to her doll. Bain's face flushed and I nudged him.
"It's okay. What we need to figure out right now though is where the arrow is and how to get it to your father."
The first burst of flames came from overhead and I pushed the children's heads down. Even though it was snowing and freezing, all of it seemed to evaporate in the dragon fire. It's heat beat down on our backs and I gripped tightly onto Tilda's back. Too close. Too hot.
The screams around us grew in intensity and fear. Some of them faded off into the roar of flames. The smell of charred wood and burning flesh burned at my eyes. Although the smell was unfortunately familiar, the bile in my stomach turned, threatening to escape. My hands started to shake with anxiety as I thought back to the Uruk Hai that had captured me and the Hobbits…
I would be no use being pulled back to that now. Suddenly another spurt appeared behind us, obliterating the boat that was on the water. Tilda was sobbing. Sigrid pulled her sister close to her, her own eyes welling with tears that had nothing to hold them back. There were those who were on fire, rolling, jumping, diving into the canals to stop their burns.
I'm sure some of them were gone by the time they reached the water.
Even after everything I had endured during my previous time in Middle Earth, nothing then compared to this. I'm sure much of that had to do with the protection Legolas, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Eomer attempted to give me. My appreciation for them grew as I did what I could to comfort the terrified children around me.
Oin yelled, pointing ahead of us. "Look out!"
We all jolted forward as our boat crashed into a giant one in front of us. Fili's hand was on my shoulder, his head on my other one. He groaned slightly.
"Are you alright?" His gruff voice sounded. My head looked up to see the old fat asshole this place liked to call "Master". In his giant boat, full of riches and gold. Anger burned in me at the size of the boat and how many of these people it could save.
"I'm alright Fili," I growled out. His head lifted to what I was looking at and he squeezed my shoulder in response. He pushed himself back up.
The horrible fat lard pushed past us, moving us off course. He screamed and screamed about his riches falling into the canals. Unfortunately, greed wasn't something we had time to punish or fix currently. We continued on the route we started. There was no time to be behind a boat that was slowed due to greed.
We continued to push through as often as we could, but the dragon continued unrelentlessly on its attacks on the town. As our boat moved under bridges and houses, Tauriel would stop us momentarily to peek up. Her Elven eyesight probably aided us more that I'd admit to say out loud. It slowed our progress, but did make our movements more secure.
Well as secure as they could be with a pissed off dragon flying around trying to obliterate us all.
As we were passing through one of the canals, I heard Bain's voice.
"DA!"
All of our attention went to a bell tower. Bard was at the top, firing with small arrows. There was no Black Arrow in sight. I grabbed Bain's attention.
"Where did you hide the Black Arrow? Did we pass it already?"
The boy shook his head and his eyes fervently looked around us, trailing back to his dad every now and again. Finally his eyes caught sight of something on the same side as Bard. He stared forward at a boat that appeared to have a fishing net in it.
Okay, so that's where it is.
As I was starting to think about how to get that information to Bard, I saw Bain's eyes slink forward. Determined. Reckless. I looked ahead and saw a giant crane. The boy's arms began to move.
I was faster.
"Oh no you don't!"
My body heaved off the boat and rotated around until I stumbled onto the dock. My footing misplaced as I tumbled to my knees. Immediate disbelief and regret crashed on me. There were other things that needed to happen right now though, Bain needed to be there for his sisters if all else failed.
"WYNTER! WHAT IN DURIN'S NAME-"
I cut Fili off, making eye contact with Bain. "TAKE CARE OF YOUR SISTERS. I'LL HELP YOUR DAD."
Fili continued to yell my name. I looked to him and nodded before running to where the boy had looked when the Arrow came up. My hands ripped at the netting in the boat, finding the large arrow. I grabbed it with both hands. The weight startled me a bit as I heaved in up. I could thankfully see the bell tower from here. I'm sure I could find my way.
Houses and smoke burned around me as I evaded holes and smaller fire on the walkways. It thankfully didn't take long to make it to the bottom of the tower. I hefted the arrow on my shoulder and began to run as fast as I could up the several floors of the tower.
Smaug's form once again appeared as I was almost to the top of the bell tower. The wind he produced rattled the wooden structure and I stumbled slightly. As much as I wanted to stop, that was the push I needed to hurry my pace. I reached the ladder and pulled myself up with one hand, rung by rung.
"Bard!"
I popped my head up to see that the rattle had taken Bard down.
"Wynter! Where are the children? Why didn't you leave?!"
"They're on their way out of Laketown now. Your son thought you'd need this," I hefted the arrow up so the tip peeked out from the opening, "and rather than let him do it himself, I came instead. They'll be together."
The relief appeared on his face as he grabbed my head and kissed it. "Thank you for keeping my children together. Now go."
I pulled myself up. "Unfortunately my ride just left. You need help now."
My eyes caught sight of a high speed figure racing towards us.
"B-Bard!"
The top of the tower was ripped right off. I was knocked back, gripping the edge of what remained while the debris fell around me, my other arm weighed down by the arrow. "Bard!"
The man grabbed my arm that held the ledge and pulled me up. I caught my breath on the platform as Bard grabbed the arrow I left by my side. He moved around the platform.
Then the most bone shaking, fear inducing voice appeared, "Who are you that would stand against me?"
I watched as Bard reached for the top of his bow… and only the top appeared.
Shit.
"Now that is a pity. What will you do now? Bow man, You are forsaken. No help will come."
The reptile climbed over the burning houses, crushing them to come closer. His molten gold eyes landed on me.
"Is that your spouse? You cannot save her from the fire.. She will BURN!"
Bard grabbed me. "I have an idea, you just need to follow my lead."
I nodded and let him pull me to the front of the tower, facing Smaug. I turned around to face Bard instead. Bard was staking the two halves of his broken bow in a way that tightened the string again. It almost seemed usable. He notched the Black Arrow and laid the tip on my shoulder.
Oh hell no.
My anxiety soared. The bowman looked at me for a moment. "Trust me Wynter."
And I had to. This was our only chance. I took a deep breath of smoke and closed my eyes. Hopefully, incineration was a quick death if it came to it. The bow stretched. The back tip of the arrow touched my ear. I held my breath as my anxiety spiked again.
"Stay still Wynter," Bard's voice was cool and collected and I looked at him, straining to keep the arrow at the ready. I stood as still as I could.
"Tell me, wretch - How now shall you challenge me?"
I saw Bard's eyes flicker around and then land on something that caused a small smile on his face.
"You have nothing left but your DEATH!"
I heard the reptile quicken and my breathing became troubled again. Bard made eye contact with me once again.
"Breathe, evenly. Keep your focus on me… now I need you to move a little to your left."
I shifted slightly and he nodded. "Good girl."
Bard released the arrow. It wooshed past my face and I flinched slightly and thankfully after the shaft had left my shoulder. Smaug screeched behind us. Bard grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. The dragon's body still propelled towards the bell tower, slamming into it and destroying what stability was left. We fell with the debris into the water. The freezing lake startled me as the air escaped my lungs. I tried kicking up, to move towards the surface. Some of the heavier pieces of wood got caught on my dress, weighing me down. The fabric of the skirt tangled between my feet. I couldn't move. Couldn't move.
My chest burned. My joints ached from the freezing water. I reached up blindly trying to move somewhere. Black clouded around my vision as something broke the water above. Darkness overtook as my lungs gave out.
~3rd Person POV~
Fili yelled for Wynter until she was finally out of sight. Unbearable anger and frustration filled the golden prince as he pushed his boat forward. The she-elf had said to leave them. Why in Durin's name would that foolish woman continue to make reckless decisions? A part of him wondered for all the foolish decisions she made he still felt some sort of infatuation with her. None of it mattered though. Finally the woman made a decision that would truly end her life and there was nothing to change it now.
Kili watched his brother, wondering if the glossy look his eyes took were from only the fire's smoke.
Soon enough they and other refugees had made it out onto the lake. Raging fires lit the lake up in dances of red, orange and gold. Their music was the screams of those left behind and the sobs of those escaping. Fili's amber eyes were staring intently at the burning town behind him, his hands still moving to push the boat forward. They were almost to shore when the screams of Smaug drowned out the rest of the noises in the night. The group on the boat could see the glow of the dragon as he shot into the sky.
Bofur and Fili's arms made to move them faster across the water, worried that the beast was done with the town and going after those escaping. As Smaug flew higher, though, the light within him grew dimmer. Soon only his outline was left as the lifeless creature tumbled into the raging fires below.
The group on the boat made it to shore and for a long time, stared out at the engulfed town. Only one of them managed to say something.
"Da did it. He took down the dragon."
Those who were unable to get to a boat began appearing on the shore as dawn broke. Calamity ensued as more and more displaced persons appeared on the shore, looking for loved ones, many not finding them. Bard's children began going around shore, calling for their father while Oin and Bofur sought the woman who helped him. Fili sat by one of the boulders, letting the grief fall on him as the morning light did. The dark haired prince went to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll wait until her body resurfaces. Then we'll lay her to rest."
The golden prince's shoulder shook, from rage or tears, Kili couldn't be sure.
"Why? Why did she stop him? She keeps making the most reckless decisions… Why…?"
Kili gripped his brother tighter, his eyes landing on the children that Tauriel assisted. "Wynter did what she thought was right. She kept Bard's children safe, like he asked, and now those girls will have someone who can provide for them now."
The brothers stayed together, comforting one another. Slowly the morning light became brighter and soon they made moves to join with the search.
"Uncle will be expecting us soon, especially now that you're healed."
"They'll understand if we don't go right away… once we tell them."
Kili squeezed his brother's shoulder once more before going to Tauriel. Fili went to join Oin and Bofur in their search.
From beyond the upheaval stood a lone figure, his blue eyes surveying the scene before him. As soon as he had heard the beating of the wings in the sky his course had been turned around. He couldn't leave Tauriel… or the haunting green eyes. Most of the survivors had already left the water, looking for shelter, food, and dry clothes. His eyes were easily able to find Tauriel, her blessing from the Valor radiating off of her. The dwarves were spread out along the shore. He couldn't find the individual he was missing. One of the dwarves, the one with the hat, was closest to him, about seventy feet away.
"Little Bird!" The dwarf affectionately, panickedly, called out. His heart began beating slightly faster as the elf's body took initiative to hurry down. The blonde slid to a halt just behind Tauriel. He was about to call out to her when he took note of the dark dwarf prince who fancied her. The prince listened, displeased at their conversation, quickly righting himself though.
"Where is the woman?"
Both Tauriel and Kili looked to the prince, surprised he was there, even more startled at the question.
"She went to help the bargeman with the dragon as we were evacuating," Tauriel answered first.
"We're looking for her or her body now… before we move on."
Suddenly one of the children cried out, "It's DA!"
In the distance one could see Bard slowly making his way across the lake. One of his arms carried the brown haired girl, her face pressed against his shoulder. Tauriel and Bain had already moved to help them out of the Lake. The auburn elf grabbed the girl and placed her on the shoreline. Quickly she checked her breathing and heartbeat. The dwarves gathered around the elleth, breath still as she assessed Wynter.
"She's barely breathing and her heartbeat is faint."
"Do you know how to clear her airway?" Fili asked.
Tauriel looked down and back up, unsure. Although they had several waterways surrounding Mirkwood, soldiers were never taught how to care for those who had been drowning. Bard moved her to the side.
Quickly he tilted the woman's chin up, putting his ear close to her mouth. He then gripped her nose in between two of his fingers and pressed his mouth to her's.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
Nothing was happening. Once again, artificial breaths were given to the woman. Another round of three breaths and nothing was still happening.
Tilting Wynter's head up one more time, Bard went in for a third set. The eighth breath pushed her chest up. The next moment Wynter turned on her side, throwing up water. Coughs shook her between each retch. Tears streamed down her face.
After a few moments of expelling water from her lungs, Wynter laid her cheek on the cool stones. She took a few more deep breaths and moved to lay on her back. Green eyes fluttered open and landed on Bard.
"You… You could have ju-ust said you'd dr-rown us in Laketown."
Fili ran forward to the mysterious woman he'd been travelling with. His knees hit sharply on the ground as he grabbed Wynter's head. He cradled the brunette in his arms, holding her close to him. Tears of relief dropped quickly down his face as he pressed small kisses to her forehead.
"Praise Durin you're alright."
Legolas watched from beyond, simultaneously relieved and sick to his stomach. He went to Tauriel.
"Boe i nadh egeno."
With emotions in disorienting turmoil, the prince wanted to be gone before the woman noticed him.
A/N: So! I know it seems like there's some kind of relationship development between Wynter and Bard - this is kind of intentional, but not for the reasons of romantic sub polt. I've tried to make it a point to have Wynter positively interact and engage with Bard's children. For her, they're good kids who don't have a mother and want to do everything they can to help their father. For him, I would think if it's been a while since you're wife passed and there comes someone along that is positively engaging your children (especially when your "village" struggles as is and either isn't interested in or capable of some aspects of child rearing), you ask them to keep them safe because you feel like you can trust them and they understand your feelings for your children, and they protect your children while also putting their own life at risk, there would be an affection there. It's not romantic (slight sexual tension at first? sure, maybe.), but its definitely set in a more familial aspect now. I hope that clears up the intention for the two of them.
Anyway! Thank you so much my lovely readers for sticking with me (and hey, reasonable update time!)
If you want to, leave a Review! Each one makes me smile and fills me with joy.
Much Love and Appreciation,
Secret Moon Princess
