Chapter 23

All rights go to Peter Jackson and Tolkien respectively, except my OCs.

"Well I see I've been beaten." Erich sighed, pretending to be incredibly disappointed by his 'defeat.' Kili kept his dark eyes glowering at the man, and Erich inwardly rolled his eyes at the smaller dwarf. What was he going to do?

"You have." Nina growled. He had to admit, he enjoyed seeing the girl with such a high amount of confidence. He could hardly wait until she was on his side again.

"You'll regret this, when I return with my most formidable army you will wish you had chosen my side. When everyone you have ever loved is dying before you, you will wish you had joined me." He warned her. Nina eyes went wide with horror as she imagined his threat coming true.

"I will never join you, and I will never stop fighting you." She stepped forward, locking eyes with him. He gave her a sickening grin.

"My dear, I will leave you with nothing left to fight for."

With that the evil man stalked out of the house, ready to inform his master of these recent events. They had lost Nina, but it was only temporary. He had a new plan to take her, and this time it would be as she watched the dwarves die.

"His threats are empty, there is nothing he can do." Fili tried to reassure her after silence had passed. Nina didn't move.

She thought hard about the book—oh that stupid book—and thought of what had changed so far. Kili had almost died twice now, and neither of those times were recorded in Tolkien's tale. Tauriel did not exist in the book, and Nina knew that if Tolkien had thought of such a brave warrior he would not leave her out of the story. The cold realization hit her that Erich shouldn't have been in this world either, and she wondered if her presence had brought him here. She thought of what was to come. Where was Smaug? All of the dwarves should have gone to the mountain, but how did they defeat Smaug? She sighed in frustration and walked out of the house, leaning on the rail outside. The cool breeze reminded her that winter was underway, and she subconsciously shuddered.

"How do you feel?" A familiar melodic voice sounded from beside her. Nina jumped a little until she looked over and saw Galadriel standing before her.

"How did you get here?" Nina countered. Galadriel smiled.

"I sensed that I was needed."

"Seems legit." Nina shook her head, wondering when this kind of thing had become normal. "I feel…torn."

"Because of the dark influence that was cast upon you?"

"Oddly enough it's not that," She answered. She gestured to the dwarves that were inside the house. "I feel the need to help them. I miss my family, and I want so much to go home. But at the same time, these dwarves are my family too now. I care about them." Galadriel nodded.

"I understand your feelings, this responsibility you have been given is not an easy one to cope with." She admitted. "Nevertheless it has been given to you. There will come a day when Middle Earth will need a hero to protect it, and that hero has been chosen and it is you. You must not lose sight of that."

"I understand." Nina peeped, a sinking feeling setting in her as she thought of how she would never see her family again. "But how can they possibly defeat a dragon?" She sighed to herself.

"Perhaps you already know the answer to that my dear." Galadriel smiled gently. When Nina looked back at the elf, she was gone. Nina sighed before thinking about what she had said. Then she realized the importance of the one thing she hadn't thought of yet.

"Whose house are we in?" She burst back into the house. The others looked around in confusion at her sudden question. "Whose house?!"

"Bard, the bargeman." Kili answered her. "Why does it matter?"

"Bard…" She tested the name on her tongue. It was so familiar. Why was Bard familiar? "Where is he?" She looked at the children that were no doubt Bard's. "Where is your father now?"

"I don't know where he went." Sigrid peeped, all of them still wary of the girl with the healing powers. The two girls were confident in their lie as Nina studied all three of them and rested her gaze on the boy. He couldn't meet her eyes.

"You know." She observed, and the boy looked to her fearfully. "Please, you have to tell me where he is."

"Bain?" Sigrid whispered expectantly when he said nothing. He seemed to be having an internal struggle.

"He has the black arrow to kill the dragon." He finally confessed, Sigrid glaring at him for telling her their business.

"What?" Nina frowned as she leaned back against Kili's makeshift bed. Then it started to sound familiar. "Not Bard the bargeman, but Bard the Bowman!" She gasped. "The dwarves don't kill the dragon, Bard does!"

"How do you know that?" Oin asked as the dwarves watched her carefully.

"You talk as if you know the future." Fili implied warily. Nina instantly regretted talking out loud. Who knows what could happen to the story if the dwarves knew it was a story? Galadriel clearly hadn't thought anything good could come from it.

"I mean…that's just a guess." She covered awkwardly. She continued thinking about Bard as she looked out the window toward the mountain. So how did he do it? Was Bard going to the mountain? She racked her brain for any clues, and thought back to her English class. They had been forced to memorize something, and Nina thought hard to remember it. It was an important prophecy that all of the dorks already knew.

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

Nina's blood went cold as she whispered in horror.

"And the Lake will shine and burn." She gulped fearfully. "He doesn't go to the mountain to kill Smaug, Smaug is coming here."

Thorin raced through the halls of the mountain, something he'd never thought he'd be able to do again. There was no time to reminisce over such things though, considering Bilbo's life depended on him. Bilbo was a dear friend and invaluable member of the company to Thorin now, and he couldn't believe he had been so blinded by greed not to see how foolish he was. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

"You're alive!" Thorin gasped with joy as he ran into Bilbo. The hobbit was covered in sweat and panting, clearly running from something. Most likely a dragon.

"Not for much longer," Bilbo breathed. Thorin's smile faded as he became unable to ignore the nagging feeling of wanting to know where the Arkenstone was. He swallowed hard, resisting the urge as Bilbo caught his breath. Finally he could hold it no longer.

"Did you find the Arkenstone?" He asked shakily. Bilbo stopped and looked at him incredulously.

"The dragon is coming!" He stared at him wide-eyed. Bilbo moved to walk past Thorin when the dwarf drew his sword to block Bilbo's way.

"Did you find it?" He narrowed his eyes accusingly at the hobbit. Bilbo was shocked to see such aggression from Thorin directed at him. Something in Thorin's eyes, it seemed to be…desperation. Bilbo subconsciously brought a hand to his chest where the Arkenstone lay. He had grabbed it just before Smaug had engulfed the place in flames.

"No." Bilbo lied. Something didn't seem right about Thorin, and Bilbo did not think giving him the stone would help at all. "We have to get out."

"Now wait just a minute." Thorin suddenly growled, pointing his sword at Bilbo's throat and pushing him further into the dragon's lair. "You were sent here to find the Arkenstone, the King's Jewel, and you plan to leave these halls without it?!" He needed that stone, he was the King. The King had to have his jewel. He needed all of the gold in this mountain!

"Thorin!" Bilbo half-whispered looking in horror at something behind him. Thorin almost pressed on about the Arkenstone, when logic started to return to him. He heard an all too familiar sound and turned to see the malicious dragon creeping toward them. He was spectacular as a sight, so massive and fiery colored, but Thorin knew him to be a worthless snake.

"YOU WILL BURN!" The serpent bellowed, his chest heaving and glowing as he charged at the two. The other dwarves then burst out of the corridor and into the fray, screaming threateningly at the dragon.

"Go, go, go!" Thorin commanded, ushering the others out just as Smaug's flames reached them. The others ran to safety, but Thorin lingered too long and the fire licked his back. He screamed in agony as he felt the burning sensation of Smaug's hateful fire, and shed his burning coat. He rolled on the ground to burn it out and came up quickly. The thought of gold in his mind was gone.

"Come on."

The dwarves and hobbit ran as fast as they could until the sound of Smaug's angry roars had faded away. The halls of Erebor were eerily quiet and dark. Bilbo looked around as they walked and noticed that things were so vacant. There was no sign of life there, making their presence seem like trespassing. They were crossing a massive stone bridge now, with Thorin in the lead. He held out a hand to quiet them. Their eyes were peeled, ready at any moment for Smaug to appear.

"We've given him the slip," Dori whispered after there was no sign of the dragon. Dwalin shook his head.

"No, he's too cunning for that."

"So where to now?" Bilbo inquired, eager to get out of the silent place.

"The western guardroom. There may be a way out." Thorin replied, racking his brain for a feasible plan to get them away from Smaug.

"It's too high, there's no chance that way." Balin countered. Thorin met his eyes with a solemn gaze.

"It's our only chance, we have to try."

"We have to leave Laketown right now." Nina announced to the group. Fili and Oin looked to her in confusion and Bard's children started to protest.

"We can't leave our Da!" Bain exclaimed.

"We shouldn't leave the children…" Oin argued.

"There's nowhere else to go," Tauriel added. Fili nodded along with Oin, and Nina felt panic set in. Smaug destroyed Laketown in the book and she knew that he could fly down at any moment. She raked her hands through her hair and tried to think. Everyone was talking at once and wasting precious time.

"Please," She tried to get through to them, but her words fell on deaf ears. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Why do we have to leave?" Kili asked softly. She looked up at him.

"The dragon…Smaug is coming. He's going to burn this town, I just know it. We have to get out of here before he comes." Her blue eyes pleaded with him. Kili sighed and nodded.

"If you think we should leave, then we leave."