Hello People! I NEED MORE REVIEWS ;.; I appear to be lacking in that area...also more favourites and followers would be nice...please? Ahh well...here we are we've reached the point beyond the movie aid! EEK! SO FREAKING EXCITING! SMAUG IS ABOUT TO ATTACK ZOMG THEN WE HAS THORIN AND GOLD SICKNESS AND THEN THE BOFA...oh so exciting! ok ok I'm calm...I think! Shall we continue?

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Chapter 26 – Watch the Flames Burn High, Into the Night

Fili smiled as Anne traced random patterns onto his chest. It was very late now, Tilda and Sigrid had fallen asleep long before and Bain paced round waiting for their father to return. Oin and Tauriel were talking quietly and the couple had joined them a few hours before. Everything was quiet...almost too quiet. Bain looked at his sisters and then out of the window.

"Where are you Da?"

Bard hit his cell bars again. The guards were talking amongst themselves and laughing.

"Please! You must let me out! Don't you know what's coming?!"

A wind blew through Bard's hair and his eyes widened. He looked up to the dark sky. Nothing was stirring...at least...not yet.

People wandered through the town, happy that the prophecy would be fulfilled. The first they heard was the noise of a hurricane, coming down from the mountain. The boats in the harbours creaked and groaned in the hot evening wind. Everyone was now outside and all looked around...Sigrid asked.

"What is it?"

Anne looked to Fili. His face was grim and his hair blew in the wind. The girl looked at her friends, then to Bard's family. People had begun to talk and some even to scream. A bellowing roar sounded from the sky.

"Dragon...DRAGONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

A boat flew past, ripped from it's mooring. Smaug had come. Anne gasped when she saw fire fill the sky and hit the large building in the centre of the town. Screams filled the area, people ran for their lives. Bofur, Oin, Fili and Anne grabbed Bard's children and dragged them from their house. They had just crossed onto a pier when a large claw crushed the wooden shack flat. Tilda screamed and Sigrid lifted her up. The claw moved and another roar filled the sky. The winds picked up as Smaug flapped his wings and Anne couldn't see him clearly through the smoke. Anne grabbed Sigrid and Bain's arms and pulled them away as the dwarves rushed forward to help the townsfolk. She heard Bain yell.

"NO DA IS STILL IN THERE! HE HAS A BLACK ARROW!"

Anne skidded to a halt and looked at the boy. She then glanced back to where houses were alight and the lake glowed in a deathly heat. She was about to speak when she heard a voice clear over everyone elses.

"Out of my way out of my way! I need through, out of my way!"

The Master of Laketown pushed through the screaming crowds and nearly collided with Anne. He was in his nightgown, his hair was dishevelled. He glared momentarily at the girl and then ran onwards. Anne huffed and looked after him.

"Some Master he is!"

She then lunged forward and grabbed Bain as he made for the burning town.

"BAIN NO!"

"DA! WHAT ABOUT DA?!"

The girl looked at where Sigrid was holding Tilda. They were both sobbing and Bain was on the verge of tears. Anne looked at him firmly.

"Keep running, try to reach the river. I'll find your father...whatever you do don't turn back!"

Without another word Anne ran back to the town. She didn't look back to see Bain lead his sisters away from the chaos. Woman, after child, after man pushed and shoved past her, desperate to get away from the fire. The dragon roared again and Anne heard his deep grumbling voice.

"Here's my revenge Barrel-Rider!"

The girl screamed and jumped as a large tail swung round and smashed into a building. Anne covered her head as bricks and wood flew over her, some hitting and bouncing off her form. Faintly she heard the Khuzd-Dhul shouts from her dwarves. Fili's voice was inaudible over the crackling sound of the flames. Sweat rolled off her brow as she ran, one place in her mind. The cells.

"LASS LOOK OUT!"

Anne felt someone shove her into the water as a large claw landed where she'd previously been. As she burst up for air, she saw Bofur giving her a crooked grin. His hat looked slightly charred and he had dirt and ash smeared over his face, nevertheless his toothy grin never failed to fall.

"Thanks Bofur!"

"Whatareyeadoing?!"

"Trying to find Bard! He knows how to kill Smaug!"

Bofur nodded and helped her to a side. She rolled into the boat he'd found, the dwarf following after her, and felt something sharp prick her back. She moved the cloth and spotted the large metal black arrow. The girl grabbed it and jumped onto the side, sprinting to the cells. The dwarf ran after her and then she turned and stopped him.

"Please go and help Fee and Oin!"

"Lass ye cannae go by yersel!"

"Please Bofur! Go and help. And if we never see each other again..."

She hugged him tightly. Then the girl ran off into the smoke. Bofur heard her voice distantly.

"ALSO TELL FILI I LOVE HIM!"

Anne turned corners and ran through streets. She had tripped twice over the bodies of innocent victims, but her mission left her no time to grieve for them. The shadow of a building came into view and she heard someone coughing, shouting for help.

"BARD?!"

"YES PLEASE PLEASE HELP!"

Anne ran round to where she saw the man kicking at the bars of the cell. The girl could see that they were weaker due to the damage inflicted around them. She spotted a bench, half cracked to pieces, and picked it up.

"LEVERAGE!"

She hooked it on the bars and pushed it up. The metal gave way and the door of the cell came crashing off. Smoke swirled around them and they heard the whoosh as the fire-drake flew overhead. Bard saw the arrow in her hand.

"THE ARROW?!"

"YES WE NEED TO GET IT TO THE WINDLANCE!"

Bard grabbed her hand.

"FOLLOW ME!"

The crackling of flames, on the lake, grew louder. The screams echoed all around as Bard and Anne ran towards the old watch tower. They reached the locked door, which Bard kicked down, and then they ran up the many stairs. The building seemed to shelter the noise outside and the only thing to be heard was the panting coming from the people who were racing up the stairs. Anne helped the man push open the door to the platform and there stood the windlance, still in perfect condition, untouched by dragon fire. Bard hooked up the arrow whilst Anne scanned the area. She couldn't see anything in the smoke below and she coughed as a gust of wind blew some of the dark cloud towards them.

"Bard how are you going to get a shot through this smoke?!"

"We'll make him come to us!"

"WHAT?! Are you crazy!?"

The man gave her a weak grin.

"Probably."

Anne nodded and then pulled the knife from her boot. She then turned her gaze to the skies, searching for the dragon stalking the air. The wind began to pick up.

"SMAUG!"

A twister seemed to form as fast wing beats approached the tower. A large shape filled the gloom and as the smoke spread apart Anne gasped. There was Smaug, his scales gleamed in the fire, his face was serious, his eyes fierce, teeth bared and wings spread apart majestically. When he spoke his voice was more smooth and sarcastic.

"Did someone call my name?"

Bard glared at the beast and Anne tightened her hold on the knife.

"I did!"

"And who might YOU be?"

"I am Bard descendant of Girion. Lord of Dale."

The dragon growled.

"So this allegiance is between the skulking King Under the Mountain, the squirmy Lord of Dale and the weak Men of the Lake?! Oh that is preciousssss!"

Smaug gave a rumbling laugh. Bard growled.

"Today will be your end Slug!"

The dragon's head snapped up.

"Oh will it?"

Anne found her voice.

"Yes it will!"

"A woman?! Ha ha ha Oh this just keeps getting better...now you can watch this town burn and as I kill every woman, man and child!"

"No Slug. I said today your reign will end!"

The dragon laughed again. The fire drake casually slunked closer. Anne aimed up her shot and Bard adjusted the windlance.

"My reign...Lord of Dale...LASTS FOREVER!"

"Not if I have a say in it."

Anne threw her knife. The large beast shrieked as the blade pierced his eye. He howled in pain and began to writhe. His wings began to flap and he began to lift into the air.

"I WILL START WITH YOU!"

He approached the pair and Bard took a breath. Anne looked at the man and then ducked down as he loosed the arrow. The black dart shot through the air, whirring lightly as it sliced through the wind. It's blade gleamed as the sunrise hit it and as Smaug bared his chest, the loose scale came into view. The black arrow saw it's mark and embedded into the dragon's hide. Smaug gasped and choked. His wings went limp and he began to crash to the ground. The drake shrieked as he fell from the sky, the sun began to part the smoke as the large mass pushed the clouds away. Bard yelled and Anne screamed as Smaug's tail smashed into the watch tower. Anne grabbed the man's arm and pulled them both from the top, plunging them into the water. Smaug's eyes turned glassy and unseeing just as his body hit the water. The large wave, caused by this, doused over the town...washing all who remained. The Great Wyrm was slain...but at what cost?

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