Part 3

Chapter 32 Smaug The Terrible

Smaug the Terrible had come.

Elwen and Tauriel stood on Bard's balcony staring up at the cloud-covered sky. They couldn't see him yet, but they could hear the beat of his wings like a heartbeat and his low growl. He hadn't begun the firestorm yet, but Elwen knew they had only moments.

What did it mean, that the dragon was in Lake-town? What had happened to Thorin, Bilbo, and the others?

Elwen shook her head. She couldn't think about that.

"I have to get those kids out of here," Elwen said. She looked at Tauriel, feeling as much gratitude as one person could for another. "You've already done so much for us, I won't ask anything else of you. If you want to get out of here, I won't fault you for it."

Tauriel shook her head sternly. "My duty is to you, aranel."

Elwen made a face. "Maybe cool it with the princess stuff," she muttered. "But thank you."

Tauriel looked back to the sky. "We need to get to a boat," she said. "In all the chaos, we may be able to cross the lake and make it to the forest."

Elwen knew that meant leaving her uncle behind. She didn't know where they were keeping him, and even if she did, she couldn't leave her young cousins. They were her responsibility now. She and her companions had brought this doom upon them; she owed it to Bard to do what he would want; to see his children safe.

The two women went back into the house, urgency written with every step.

"We have no time," said Tauriel. Elwen didn't know how she could sound so calm with a damn dragon flying around outside. "We must leave."

"Get him up," said Bofur, motioning to Kili.

"Come on, brother," Fili said, lifting Kili to his feet.

"Come on, come on, let's go." Bofur gathered coats quickly.

Elwen remembered the way he'd described what dragon fire could do to a person in detail back in the Shire, right before Bilbo had fainted dead away. He'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye.

"I'm fine, I can walk." Kili shrugged off his brother grumpily.

Elwen flicked the end of his nose. "Don't be an ass."

"We're not leaving," Bain said to Tauriel as she tended to Tilda. "Not without our father."

"If you stay here, your sisters will die," Tauriel replied baldly, turning to the boy. "Is that what your father would want?"

"She's right Bain," Elwen said, her voice a smidge more gentle. "This is all my fault, and if you want to hate me for it later, that's your right. But I'm not letting you die here."

Bain looked like he'd want to argue, but his sister stepped forward.

"This is what Da would want," said Sigrid, wrapping her arms around Bain. "We have to go."

Outside, people were beginning to shout and panic in the streets; it would soon be so congested, they'd have trouble reaching the boat. They'd be trapped like rats and easy pickings for the fire breathing dragon above.

"Okay," Bain said. "Let's go."

They took little more than the clothes on their backs and whatever weapons they had left. Elwen thanked the stars no one had yet commandeered Bard's small boat. It was going to be a tight fit and she could only hope their combined weight wouldn't sink the thing.

"Give me your hand," Fili said, helping Sigrid into the boat.

"Here we go!" Bofur said, helping the girl get settled.

"Quickly now," Tauriel said to the rest of us. "Hurry!"

"Kili, Elwen, come on!" Fili urged.

Kili was no longer in danger of dying from poison, but his limp was pronounced. The wound was healing rapidly thanks to Tauriel, but he still lagged behind and Elwen refused to go ahead. She couldn't help him when his need had been great, but she'd be damned if she let him fall into the frozen lake. She could do at least that much.

Once everyone was loaded into the boat, Fili and Bofur used the wooden oars to push themself off into the canal. People were scampering over planks, all trying to find their own escape. Elwen's heart seized, knowing many of them would not. She wondered if the others were thinking the same thing.

These people, she thought. My mother's people. Their blood will be on our hands.

Elwen wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to forgive herself.

It was then that Smaug's great form swooped down out of the clouds, his enormous body barely missing the tops of houses. He was circling them, purposefully terrifying them and driving the folk to panic.

"Dragon!" a man shouted, as if anyone missed the behemoth in the sky.

Elwen turned her face to the sky as the great beast rounded on the town. Gods above and below, he was enormous. He was exactly as had been described, but seeing him in person…it was worse. It was so much worse.

An arm wrapped around her shoulders. She looked over to see Kili beside her, looking up at the sky. He was still too pale, weak from what he'd endured, yet he pulled her into his arms protectively, as if he'd shield her from the flames with his own body if necessary.

Together in their horror, the group watched as the dragon's gullet began to swell and burn bright against a darkened sky. Smaug swooped down, a white hot stream of fire pouring from his mouth with a roar, cutting a swath straight through the heart of Lake-town.

The bells had begun to ring.

Bard grabbed the bars of his cell and shook. He knew it wouldn't do any good, but he was desperate.

"Open this door!" he shouted, shaking the bars again, but this time out of anger. "Do you hear me?"

No, no one could hear him. They were all gone. They'd run for their lives and left him alone in his cell to burn.

Bard didn't have time to focus on those cowards. He was the only one who had even the slightest chance of bringing that dragon down, and he couldn't do it from inside that cell.

He heard the shouts of panic begin to rise to a fever pitch. Outside, the dragon flew in and out of cloud cover, barely a smudge against the dark night sky. Bard desperately shook the bars, hoping perhaps age and exposure to the elements had weakened the iron over time, but no such luck. He reached out through the bars and jiggled the thick lock holding him in but it didn't budge. He ran to the other side of his cell and looked out as the townsfolk began to spill from their home in terror. Some were fleeing on foot while others made it to the boats.

He thought of his children, of his little Tilda who would be so afraid. Are we going to die, Da? The dragon, it's going to kill us.

Elwen was with them, which was a small mercy. He knew that she would get them to safety or die trying. He could do no less. He would honor his word to his daughter. That dragon would try to kill them all, but he would kill it first.

That's when he heard the screams and a great roar as the dragon swooped down from the sky, bisecting the town with a long line of red and orange flame. The night was pushed back by the eerie glow of dragon fire.

Anyone directly in the path was incinerated on the spot, the dragons fire so hot there would likely not even be bones left to bury. For those people, it was a mercy, for others were not so fortunate. Their clothes caught from the intense heat, their bodies to burn slowly. Others had nowhere else to go except to plunge into the icy water.

As buildings exploded around him, Bard began to tear strips off the thin blanket he'd been given. He twisted the material into tight curls so as to hold more weight and tied them together with strong knots. He peered out and snarled when he saw the large boat of the masters carrying him, Alfrid, and so much gold he knew that the boat was having difficulty staying afloat. That was gold enough that it could have saved every single person in Lake-town from poverty.

As angry as he was, he knew he could take advantage of the master's greed and heavy boat. He threw the twisted rope out through the bars, hoping to hook the boat and use the momentum to pull the bars.

It worked out better than expected.

Not only did the rope hook the boat, it also hooked the master! Bard couldn't see clearly, but he could hear the master choking. It wasn't long until the bars came loose with a loud crash and he found himself hanging out of his cell, staring into the burning night. He let himself smirk a little as the master coughed and sputtered.

Bard made his way to the city armory as fast as he could, smashing through the window with a great kick. He found a sturdy longbow and a cache of arrows and slung them both over his shoulders.

Bard punched a hole right through the ceiling of the building, sending shingles flying, and climbed onto the roof. He looked up just in time to see the dragon Smaug sore from within the rising black smoke just above the rooftops. He ducked to avoid being seen and was frozen for just a moment, taking in the monstrous size of the creature. He never thought he would gaze upon the same creature that had destroyed Dale, the creature his ancestor Gideon had failed to kill, all those years ago.

Bard began to run, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as the city burned all around him. He needed to reach the bell tower. It was the highest point in the city, and his best chance of getting a decent shot off at the beast. His best hope now was that someone would find the black arrow and see him trying to take down Smaug. If they could just reach him…

The dwarves and their ambition were the cause of all this, but Bard would see it right if it was the last thing he ever did.

From the Lonely Mountain, Lake-town looked to be a churning pool of flame. The dwarves and Bilbo stood helpless as they watched the town burn to cinders and heard the screams and sound of bells tolling across the distance between them.

"Poor souls," whispered Balin.

Everyone was silent, each lost in their own thoughts and guilt. Bilbo was wishing very much that they'd never come, because it was very likely the people they left behind in Lake-town were dead, and he wasn't sure he could live with himself if Elwen was dead.

He looked for Thorin and found him staring at the great doors leading into Erebor. What could he be thinking, Bilbo wondered. His nephews were in Lake-town, his heir…and his One. Bilbo couldn't pretend to understand the depths of that kind of connection. He'd never been in love himself. But if the thought of Elwen swallowed up by the flames was tearing him up inside, what must Thorin be feeling?

Thorin felt the hobbit's eyes but did not move. Could not move. He kept staring at the doors of Erebor, his ancestral homeland. Floating in front of his eyes, he kept getting glimpses of the vast treasure within. It had a vice grip on his mind. He tried to push through the glittering jewels and piles of gold and through a darkness he couldn't seem to shake. Somewhere in the very depths of his soul, he could almost hear himself screaming. Elwen. Elwen. ELWEN!

A roar echoed inside his head, drowning out the name his soul was calling out. The darkness in his mind rose up and swallowed him, dragging him down inside it with clawed hands, and all Thorin could see was the glinting of gold, and the voice in his soul was no more.

Bard slid down the roof, one arm flailing to keep his balance as he ran across a narrow rooftop. The movement was enough to draw the attention of Smaug, who rounded on the bowman with blazing, wrathful eyes. He ran as fast as he could without stumbling as the beast rounded on him.

He leapt from the rooftop just before Smaug brought his razor sharp talons down on top of the building, destroying it utterly. Bard hit the rooftop of an adjacent burning building hard, unable to gain purpose as flames began shooting out of the shingles. He rolled through the flames, his clothes luckily not catching. He was able to reach for an arrow and dig it into a patch of still solid wood, catching himself dangling over the side of the building just in time.

All around him, Lake-town burned. Smaug let loose another long string of fire, and with it came the screams of the dying. These people were his friends, folk he'd known his whole life. He thought of his children and could only pray their screams were not among the din.

He managed to reach the bell tower without catching fire. As soon as he reached the top, Bard readied his arrows, and when the beast drew near, he let one fly. The arrow hit the side of the dragon and was swatted away into the night. Despite the well made tips, they just weren't enough to pierce the armor like scales.

The bell clanged on as if to mock him. He used a knife to cut the rope and end the incessant ringing, angrily knocking another arrow. He let it fly and once again, he struck Smaug to no avail. He knew it was hopeless, but he couldn't stop trying, not even if there was a sliver of a chance. His family was depending on it.

Bain saw him first. "Da!" the boy said with a strangled cry. Tilda gasped, and Sigrid also shouted for her father. Elwen's head whipped up toward the belltower and she saw her uncle at the top, bow in hand. She saw him loose an arrow and…oh my gods…

"He hit it!" Kili cried. "He hit the dragon!"

"No," Tauriel said in disbelief, because it was nearly unbelievable. Smaug flew so swift, so fast, it was a marvel he could hit the winged bastard at all.

"He did! He hit his mark! I saw!"

"His arrows cannot pierce its hide," Tauriel said somberly. "I fear nothing will."

Nothing except dwarven forged arrows meant to do exactly that.

They floated away, nearly losing sight of Bard, when suddenly Bain reached up and grabbed hold of a hook hanging above the canal. The boat rocked as the boy lifted himself up and everyone grabbed for him.

"What are you doin'?" Bofor shouted.

"Bain, no!" Elwen screamed, scrambling so far out of the boat Bofur and Fili had to pull her back.

Bain swung himself over to the dock and began to run. Sigrid and Tilda were screaming, and Elwen was fighting to get off the boat.

"Let me go!" she said, kicking Bofur away from her. "He's just a boy! I can't let him!" She'd almost made it into the water when both Kili and Fili wrapped their arms around her and hauled her back, nearly tipping them all into the frozen lake.

"Elwen, stop, please!" Kili said into her ear, sounding pained and desperate. "He's gone! It's too late!"

"Leave him!" Tauriel ordered. "We cannot go back."

"Bain," Tilda sobbed, and the boat moved forward.

Suddenly, all the fight drained from Elwen as the boy disappeared from her sight and into the burning village. She leaned back into Kili, who still had her wrapped in his arms. She grabbed his hand and looked at him.

"We did this," she sobbed, hot tears pouring down her face. "This is our fault. All of these people…"

"I know," Kili pulled her into his lap and cradled her to him. "I know, love."

Elwen buried her face in his chest and let out all the emotion she'd been feeling since the moment Thorin left her on that dock. Anger, betrayal, fear, terror. The whole day's weight settled on her like an unholy blanket. She'd nearly lost Kili, watched as poison swept through his body and she could do nothing but watch helplessly. Her newfound family had been attacked by orcs, and now Smaug was raining down fire onto their home.

Why couldn't I stop this? she screamed inside her head. Am I here to witness all this death and destruction? If I hadn't come, would this have never happened?

Elwen screwed her eyes tightly shut, willing herself to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Somewhere everyone she loved was not in danger. Somewhere the world was not burning down around here. Somewhere the screams of the dying would not haunt her, though she knew they would for the rest of her days.

Authors Note:

I know, I know, it's been far too long. I am terribly sorry, but life is life.

I do hope you enjoy the chapter! It's not a long one, and it's got a bit less of the romancy feels, but I promise if you stick with me, all the pay off you're looking for shall happen!

Again, sorry for the late posting. I promise I'm still here plugging away.

Let me know what you think is going to happen moving forward as Elwen deals with the trauma of what has transpired and Thorin's mind is further gripped by the dragon sickness. And what about Kili? What about that vision Elwen had?

I cannot wait to hear from you all! Hope you're all grand!

Cheers-L