Sorry about the delay. I have not been well. Whether that is stress from my new job or genuine illness is anyone's guess. But I do want to keep updating regularly, so you guys don't have to wait for ages. I'm so glad you've been enjoying the revamp. It has been a great joy to go through this story again.

The plan was simple.

Actually, scratch that. You can't really call a plan that involves killing a literal dragon simple. I meant to say that the plan did not have too many moving parts. We didn't want to over-complicate anything with something too intricate and complex. It would only lead to failure if one part of the plan didn't work.

It involved a lot of fire and flammable material, which I found odd, considering that we were supposed to be fighting the living embodiment of fire. All around the mountain side the elves set up large bonfires and doused them in oil. The type that Adar had scolded that man for nearly dropping. It was a fuel that was very quick to ignite and could cause a blazing fire in seconds. Adar told me that because Fire drakes were formed from fire they had an affinity towards it. It drew them in. So a roaring fire would attract Smaug and move him where we wanted him.

The pyres were spiked with more Deliosp. That way, Smaug wouldn't have the chance to catch our scent on the breeze. The heady, cloying smell of the herb would hopefully be enough to confuse the dragon.

The bonfires were set up around the front of the mountain and were to be lit sequentially, one after the other, like a crumb trail for Smaug to follow. They led to a wooden platform the elves had quickly constructed. On top of it stood an immense crossbow. One powerful enough to destroy buildings and, hopefully, kill a dragon. Bard was positioned there, ready to aim the killing blow.

It sounded so easy when you said it like that.

However, reality was never so simple. Smaug was a sentient creature, not just some animal. We counted on Smaug following the bonfires like a cat with a laser pen, but we couldn't really be sure what he would do. We could only hope.

When the sun started to wane, the plan swung into motion. All the evacuated townspeople were moved under the cover of the trees, deeper into the forest, until they were clear of the open plane. The canopy would be used to shield their presence away from the dragon's burning eyes.

Fires were snuffed out all through camp. A light smoke rose through the air, accompanied by the hissing of water on flame. We had to shroud ourselves in the shadows so that Smaug could not see us in the darkness. If he could see the light from our torches, he would be able to find where we all were. That meant we had to give up our light source and hold tight in the darkness.

Losing our fires came with other problems too. Today was Durin's day. The last day of Autumn. Winter was slowly clawing its cold hands into the surrounding wilderness. Face-numbing winds blustered through the trees, and the mist of everyone's breath hung in the frigid air. The loss of the warm fires was quite a blow to the people of Laketown. Humans weren't as hardy as elves or dwarves. The cold could be detrimental. Some of the poorer people didn't even have adequate clothing for winter. No gloves or hats to cover their extremities. It left them vulnerable.

In a bid to protect these people, Mum and Bard had been giving out blankets to everyone. They also told them that they needed to stay close together for warmth. Some men tried to scoff at the idea of huddling with someone else. However, Mum straight up told them to stop being children. "Would you rather hug someone or be dead? It's your choice."

I looked up at the sky. A deep orange glow bled across the surface. Mixed with subtle reds and a wash of blue, like an artist's canvas. It would have been beautiful any other day. Now it only sent a slick feeling of dread through me.

The darker the sky became, the more panic set in. My stomach twisted painfully with my growing anxiety.

A hand found mine and squeezed. The pressure drew my eyes away from the sky and towards the person next to me. He must have noticed my heartbeat picking up. Kili gave me a soft smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"We are going to be okay, Leah," He said, trying to convince himself too.

I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. "We can do this."

I squeezed Kili's hand hard and tried to get a handle on my emotions. Kili remained unflinching despite my crushing grip.

My armour was back on. The shine of it more of a worry than a comfort now. What if I accidentally drew Smaug's eye like a magpie looking for silver? Kili told me to stop being silly, his own chainmail tinkling as he shifted. He was right, of course, I was just finding anything to worry about.

We stood along on the edge of the tree line, the mountain bearing down on us in full view. Stoic and stable, no indication of what danger lay within. Adar wanted me to be with all the other evacuees. Safe under the confines of the canopies. But blind and dumb, swallowed up by shadow, not knowing what was happening while danger lay close by was its own kind of hell. I couldn't do it. I needed to be able to see what was happening. Even if what I saw was horrific or nightmarish. Seeing it made me feel like I had some semblance of control. Even if I essentially had none.

I told Adar that I felt safer among my own people, and he could find little argument in that statement. As long as I was within sight of someone at all times, he would allow me closer to the front. Gwaenir and Lithion were stationed close by for my protection. Though what they could do against a dragon was beyond me. When I asked Adar if Tauriel could be placed with me instead, I got a stern look and a shake of his head.

"It seems I cannot trust this particular captain to stop you from doing something foolhardy. So no, she has been placed elsewhere."

I had to drop my eyes from Adar, cheeks burning. Hopefully, Tauriel wasn't in too much trouble for enabling our escape.

Adar moved somewhere nearer to the front of the camp. He was a leader, guiding everyone in their tasks. The elves assigned to lighting the flames were already in position. Hidden amongst the boulders and ruins around the mountain, a little ways away from the bonfires. A line of oil led from their hiding spots to the pyres so they would be lit from a distance. It would hopefully give them time to find cover.

Bard took his place on the newly constructed platform. I could make out his silhouette in the dying light. He was pacing around the small plateau at the top. It could have been a form of preparation, getting used to his surroundings. Or it may have been a way to work off some of his nerves. If I were up there, it would be the latter. And I wouldn't be pacing, I would be halfway through a huge panic attack.

Mum wanted to be close to us when the attack finally occurred. However, she was in charge of the healers. Should anything befall these people, they needed to be the first responders. If they were quick enough, there would hopefully be no casualties.

Legolas was with the elven guard. They were all armed with the strongest arrows in their arsenal. If it came to blows, they would have to fire upon Smaug. Though I knew that none of them would be strong enough to pierce Smaug's hide. The elves didn't have any spare Black arrows hidden away. If anything, they were to be used as a distraction.

Everything was in place. All that was left was to wait. It was its own form of torture.

When the sun finally disappeared and sent us into darkness, it held a dreaded sense of finality. This was it. Whatever happened now would decide the fate of hundreds of lives. Had we managed to save them, or were they still doomed to die?

My breath caught in my throat as the first beams of moonlight streaked across the mountain. The last light of Durin's day. The hidden door would be found at any moment. Bilbo was going to enter first. Hopefully, he could find the Arkenstone too. It would make things easier if that jewel was out of Thorin's hands.

Silence hung like a held breath. My ears strained to hear any hint of what was happening in the mountain. I don't know how long I stood there, waiting in the cold and shadow. I could feel a tremble starting at my fingertips, getting stronger with each passing second.

The earth beneath our feet trembled. Its power emanated from the mountain itself. There was a distant sound of stone hitting stone, crushing and grinding. To be able to hear it from this distance was a testament to Smaug's strength. What kind of destruction was he wreaking? Was the company okay?

Kili's hand tightened around mine, and I heard him make a pained noise.

"They're okay, Kili. They'll be okay." I breathed, barely above a whisper.

Even though I didn't really need to whisper, Smaug's hearing wasn't that strong to hear me through a mountain. But at the same time, I couldn't will my voice any louder.

"I came back to save them," said Kili with a pained breath. "Now I'm here, and I can't help."

My heart went out to him. It felt like my fault that he was here with me and not with his family. If he wasn't bound to me, he would have been able to stand with his brother, fighting alongside him.

Then again, if he wasn't bound to me, he wouldn't be here. Life was complicated.

A violent explosion of rock, dust and fire reverberated through the night. One second there was only smooth rock, and the next, there was a gaping chasm. Parts of the dwarven gate launched into the air, smashing into the ground below. The earth shook with the might of it.

A guttural roar sent a tremble of fear right to the marrow of my bones. A fear intrinsic and instinctual, telling me to run, hide, never look back.

My mind refused to comprehend what it was seeing. The sheer size of Smaug was near unfathomable. Whenever I imagined this moment, I thought I understood just how massive he was. But imagining and seeing were two completely different things.

With his wings spread, he blocked off a decent amount of the mountain from view. He flapped his wings and twisted upwards, launching himself like an arrow into the air. A golden sheen coated his skin, flying off him as he spun. His belly glowed a menacing red, like a burning ember, before a torrent of fire spewed from his maw.

A part of me felt like I could feel the heat of it from here. But that may have been my mind playing tricks on me.

"I AM FIRE. I AM DEATH!"

Even from down here, Smaug's voice was thunderous. You could feel the weight of it vibrating through your bones. Terror was alive, wild and thrashing against me as Smaug turned his eye towards us.

The first pyre was ablaze within seconds. A roaring pillar of fire set into the stone. Like a moth to a flame, Smaug was drawn towards it. His body twisted in the air, strangely fluid and serpentine. He turned to face the bonfire, wings moving with great, turbulent strokes. The force of them created immense winds, sending the fire twisting upwards like a fiery tornado.

Smaug hit back with flames of his own, casting an ominous glow against the side of the mountain.

A second pyre lit up further down the mountain. The sickly sweet scent of Deliosp built in the air as the herbs burned. An enraged growl shot from Smaug as he beheld the new bonfire.

"You foolish men," he bellowed. "You think you can play games with me."

A line of fire burned between the two pyres. Scorching anything, it hit. Panic rose within me when I thought of the elves up there. Had they found relative safety? Were they hidden from his flames?

My ears caught the sound of some stirring behind me. Of movement and indecipherable talking. I had a vague sense that someone was arguing. The humans were probably reacting to the sonorous noise that Smaug was creating. Maybe someone was telling someone else to be quiet. I couldn't be sure.

But was now really the time?

I cast my mind away from the forest and focused on the bigger problem at hand.

Smaug's anger was building. More fires lit across the valley floor, leading Smaug away, making his body contort to attack them. He turned towards the new flames and directed his ire towards them. Only a few more and Smaug would be facing Bard.

I let out a juddering breath. It was working.

I could no longer see Bard's shadow through the darkness. He must have been lining up the shot. Smaug was so close he just needed to–

The ground rocked beneath my feet. A quake emanated from somewhere infinitely closer than where Smaug was. A cacophony of screams erupted behind me. Screams of terror and pain and panic. All coming from within the forest.

My stomach was in my throat as I spun towards the trees. I expected to stare into the darkness. My eyes should have had to adjust to see, but they didn't need to. I could see fierce, angry light coming from within. A choking smoke coalesced around me, making my eyes water.

Adar ordered all fires to be put out. There shouldn't have been anything there. Except now, in the distance, there was a towering inferno punching its way through the air. It burned through the canopy, spreading like a ceiling of fire through the leaves. The flames illuminated the backs of humans as they tried to run away.

How could this have happened?

Commands flew through the air to quench the flames, questioning actions, demanding answers.

It was a new beacon. Another bonfire for Smaug to follow.

"Ah. There you are," Smaug's voice rang through the air. Triumphant.

I turned just in time to see Smaug change course. He had been so close. So close to where Bard could have made the fatal shot. Instead, his malicious eye had turned to us. He rose high into the air, gathering momentum. Then once he had reached a precipice, he barrelled down towards us, a blaze of sparks leaking from his gaping jaw.

I had just enough sense to dive out of the way. Kili came along with me. Gwaenir and Lithion jumped too, only in the opposite direction. Smaug decimated the forest, not 100 metres from where we were. Fire burned across the tops of the trees, and the heat I felt this time was not just some figment of my imagination. It was immense and overwhelming. The air thinned as the surrounding fires soaked up the oxygen.

Pandemonium was happening around us. Everyone was running. The commands of an army were mixed in with the screams of the wounded and scared. A hail of arrows shot out at the dragon, bouncing uselessly from his thick hide.

He flew out away from the camp with a nauseating laugh. He didn't rush back either; he flew at a sedate pace, taking his time, enjoying the moment. He was toying with us.

My mind raced at a mile a minute. What could we do?

Bard was nowhere near. He couldn't aim a killing blow from where he was. Something would have to bring Smaug back towards him.

But what?

What could distract Smaug enough to leave the destruction he was bringing? No more beacons would work now that Smaug had found us.

Unless.

I peered down at my shaking hands. Smaug could detect magic. He could sense the ring's power from Bilbo and was drawn towards it. If I got to Bard, my magic may be a powerful enough beacon to attract his attention. Distract him.

I couldn't see any other choice.

"Kili, I need to get to Bard!" I shouted to him over the roar of the flames.

"What? Why?" The words sounded strangled.

Smaug banked around, elegantly curving to make his way back towards us.

"I need to distract Smaug," I let a little light seep into my hands to hammer in my point.

Kili looked at my hands with dawning terror. He shook his head. "No, no, Leah, please. Not you."

Smaug's belly started to glow with that sickening orange colour, readying for another blow. Gwaenir and Lithion were caught up in the panic. I saw them blindly searching for Kili and me in the flashing hysteria. They could not see us from our position, and though I would feel bad about it later, I would use that to my advantage.

I cupped Kili's face, drinking in all of his features. Then I crushed my lips to his. It lasted barely a second, but I poured as much of my feelings into it as possible.

"It has to be me," I said, a cry in my voice. "I love you."

I didn't give him a chance to reply, pushing away from him and running toward Bard's platform. My name rang through the air as Kili called out after me.

A horse was tied to a post. It reared backwards, tugging at the line, but was stuck fast. My sword was in my hand in an instant, and I cut through the tethers. Then in a motion that surprised me, I flung myself onto its back and urged it into a run. The horse was more than happy to comply, racing away from the flames.

My eyes stung as I forced the horse to run faster. I'd just left Kili in the eye of the storm. Left him crying my name. Sickness twisted in my gut. What was I doing?

In my certainty that it had to be me, I had forgotten it wasn't only my life I was risking. If Smaug killed me, I'd be sentencing Kili to death too.

I shook my head, tears glancing down my cheeks. No, this had to work. It had to be me. I couldn't see how we would make it out of this otherwise. Yet guilt still dug its claws into me and made breathing harder.

Smaug drew back over the camp. A new line of fire emerged through the centre of it.

The platform rose up above me. I jumped from the horse and ran over to the ladder. My shaking limbs refused to cooperate, and I stumbled against the rungs. I pulled myself together through sheer desperation and raced to the top of them.

Bard stood on top of it. His skin was deathly pale, and he sent a panicked gaze in my direction.

"What happened?" he exclaimed.

"No time," I huffed as I ran towards the front of the platform. I needed to do this now. "You need to close your eyes."

I didn't check to see if he had followed my instructions and raised my hands well above my head. Magic pooled into them with astonishing speed. I urged it to be brighter, stronger. Like when I created the pool of light to get us through Mirkwood. But I let it go instead of controlling how far my light spread. Engulfing the platform in a swirl of light.

My eyes squeezed shut against the assaulting light. The thunder of two heartbeats pounded through my ears. My breath shook, but that was more from panic than exertion.

"Come on, you bastard," I spat through my teeth.

The sound of roaring stopped as my light illuminated the sky. I couldn't see through the bright white radiating from my hands.

A sound crashed somewhere in front of me, and the ground shuddered beneath a mighty body. The shock of it made my light stutter. I blinked the spots from my vision and nearly cried out.

Smaug was here, in all his awful glory. Seeing him from a distance was bad enough. Now with his focus squared solely on me, I felt what true terror was.

My light withered away when I saw his malevolent gaze. He was captivated.

Everything in my body told me that I needed to flee. I needed to get out. Get away. I wasn't even sure I was breathing.

Smaug tilted his head to the side, assessing, trying to see me better

"Well, would you look at this," Smaug taunted. His clawed wings grabbed the earth, and he edged himself closer. "A little girl out of her time."

What did he mean by 'out of her time'?

I was frozen. Cemented to the ground. I hoped that Bard was aiming his arrow, but I honestly couldn't hear anything else. My mind could only see and hear Smaug. Nothing else got in.

"A mere candle against the night. The darkness has already tried to snuff you out once before. They couldn't let your power grow," Smaug was getting closer. The heat from his body started to reach me.

Was he talking about the orcs that killed me?

"They succeeded the first time. Cutting you down like you were nothing." He tilted his head once more. "Yet here you stand."

A strangled cry escaped me that I couldn't squash down. I tried to find my voice. To say anything to get him to stop talking. But no words would come.

"I could leave you to the orcs," he said. "Their armies march ever closer. They would relish in your second demise."

He pondered it for a moment. Then his mouth split open in a twisted facsimile of a smile. "But I don't think I will."

The smouldering golden light bubbled deep in Smaug's body. A fire roared beneath the surface of Smaug's throat. He reared up, ready to make the final blow. I scrambled back, but there was no time. I could not get away.

The sound of a crossbow rang through the air. An arrow shot out quicker than the eye could see. Before Smaug could fully rear up, it found its mark, burying itself deep into his belly.

An unearthly screech rocked through the air. So loud it could make your ears bleed. Smaug stumbled back. Blood and acid poured out of the wound, making hissing sounds as it left his body.

Smaug launched himself into the sky with one final, desperate move, clawing at the air like a drowned animal. His movements were erratic and uncalculated. Gone was the fluid elegance he had before.

He flew directly over top of us. We had to duck underneath his massive torso. The heat coming from his body almost burned the air. I felt Bard's hand on my shoulder as he pressed us into the wooden platform. For one horrifying instance, I was suffocating. All the air had been sucked away.

It felt like forever, but it was only a matter of seconds, and air rushed back in. Smaug's body cleared our platform, and I thought we were safe.

I lifted my head just in time to see Smaug's tail crashing into us. The platform disintegrated under the force of it. As if it was nothing more than a sandcastle. The wood beneath my body splintered on impact, collapsing under the immense weight.

I barely had the chance to scream as my body was swallowed up by air and darkness.

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