Bard had at long last completed his sheet rope, despite the fire and smoke billowing around him and starting to fill the building. He shook his head whenever he felt exhausted and it helped clear his head. But just before he put his plan into action, he heard a particularly loud amount of yelling coming from just outside. Nearing the bridge prison where he was were Braga and the other people on the Master's boat who had managed to dump out most of the gold and jewels and were now rowing for their lives. Bard ran up to the window bars and sure enough could see them rowing past.
"Hey! I need help!" he called out "Get me out of here! Wait!"
But Bard was completely ignored as the boat sailed on without stopping and the passengers frantically rowed to get away, much to Bard's simultaneous chagrin and shock.
"Oh that's great, don't wait for me!" he yelled.
Just then, a massive explosion almost knocked Bard over as the building right next to the prison was set aflame. The fire then began to spread further into the prison building and Bard's fear began to mount. He began pounding at the walls, hoping to find a loose board or a weak point to break. Suddenly there was a creaking sound and what sounded like crackling wood. The bed suddenly started to shift to the other side of the room and Bard slowly realized what was happening: the building was tilting. The fire from the next door building had burned right through the support beams holding the bridge section where the cells were up and the beams were starting to break apart. Bard knew he had to act quickly. He rushed back to the cell door to try and knock it down, to no avail. He heard a thump sound and turned to see the bed had hit the wall on the other side. There was then a creek and a loud breaking noise that nearly knocked Bard over as one of the support beams below split in half and the cell-bridge was now tilting to the left. He grabbed onto the door bars and looked around for anything he could use to escape until..
Bingo! The makeshift rope he had fashioned earlier. And in no time he knew what he had to do but he only had an ever-shrinking amount of time to do it. He hastily tied it firmly to the bars of the door and then tied the other end around himself. He grabbed onto the bars, closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He thought of his children and how they needed him, the people of Laketown who were under attack, the dwarves who had come under his care even with all they had to do in their quest and, for a moment, he thought of his wife and what she would want him to do. She would've wanted him to do what was needed and slay that dragon by any means. It was clear: Bard had to get out of this cell and find that arrow to slay the dragon. It was the only way.
Then with a loud creaking noise, the entire section of the prison collapsed into the water with a tremendous splash and Bard felt the floor below him give way but he'd tied the rope thoroughly and it managed to catch him in the knick of time. In fact, the way that section had collapsed had left a part of it standing, including the part of the door. After dangling for a few moments, Bard clambered onto one part of the remaining section that jutted out, observed that a part near the door had given way, stood up, untied himself and so gave another hard push against said door. With hardly any support beams anymore, the door finally fell onto the floor on the water, creating an opening for Bard to leap to the building on the other side that contained the armory and rest of the prison. He took a deep breath, exhaled and then made the leap to the other side.
/
In the midst of a burning blaze around them, the snow falling from the sky that did nothing to stop the fire and the screams of terror sounding like an agonized chorus, three guards managed to get to the top of the tower containing the dwarf windlance. Obviously lacking in a black arrow, they were resorting to spears and arrows. As luck would have it, Smaug was finishing another pass and was close enough for them to take aim.
"Here he comes!" their leader ordered "Ready…aim…fire!"
They fired their arrows at Smaug who felt irritated as they bounced off his thick skin and he passed the dumbfounded guards. It was then that his eyes darted towards the windlance. That cursed thing. He remembered how a stubborn man had fired three shots at him with one chipping a scale of his chest, dangerously close to his heart. And now one of them is here. But they didn't seem to have a black arrow with them. With that, he spun around and then headed directly towards the windlance tower with cold-blooded determination. The guards attempted to reload but it was too late. With a mighty roar, Smaug lifted his head up along with some of his body, revealing his gigantic clawed feet. They stretched out like eagle talons and then in the blink of an eye they crashed into the tower, snatching the windlance and ripping it to pieces as it was dragged off the tower and then dropped into the water, with the tower collapsing onto two nearby burning buildings and the dead bodies of the three guards falling along with it onto the boardwalk.
One of the buildings was loaded with fireworks, mostly used for celebration, and when the tower collapsed on it, it ignited every single explosive in that building, triggering a truly massive blast that sent debris falling everywhere and spreading the fire even more.
/
During that, Bard finally managed to make his way into the armory but was shocked by what he saw. The room contained some debris on the floor due to a man sized hole in the roof with snow now falling through it that led to snow piling up on the table. Almost all the bows, arrows and quivers were missing along with several other weapons. But he noticed that some were spilled out rather messily on the floor so the guards had left in haste. And it was then that he saw tucked away in a corner near a broken window was a quiver loaded with arrows and a bow jammed into it. Bard was so relieved that as he grabbed the bow he expected an angelic chorus to burst out singing any second. He then quickly slipped on the quiver and then clambered onto the snow-covered table. With great effort, he managed to grasp onto the roof beam and clamber through the hole and looked out at the burning town that surrounded him, with the bow in his left hand. He found it hard to gain a footing on the roof as he attempted to clamber up so he used one of the arrows like a climbing hook. But as he was just about to reach the rooftop, the massive explosion from the fireworks building occurred and Bard lost his footing as the shockwave rippled through the block and he would have fallen into the lake had he not grabbed and stabbed the arrow into a firm part of the roof. Debris and snow mixed together as they fell down around him. He gulped nervously and once more clambered onto the rooftop.
This time, he actually managed to reach the roof and once he had his balance he grabbed the arrow he'd used for climbing and tucked it into his quiver. He looked straight ahead and that was when he saw it. Just a block away was the bell tower, it's bell still ringing proudly as it had been ever since Smaug began his attack. It was remarkably undamaged if partly obscured by the billowing smoke and falling snow. It looked as good a place as any for him to fire his arrows. He was about to head over there when a loud roar forced him to duck. As he did so, he looked to his right and saw Smaug make a sharp turn and soar over him as he attacked a nearby section of town. Bard felt as if his heart would stop as his eyes tracked the creature as he incinerated the entire block. He was even more dangerous than he had been told. And he was witnessing his wrath at full force. But he decided now was the time to act. He mustered up his courage and then bolted forward, doing his best to run on the rooftops and balance himself as she ran towards the bell tower.
/
Tadeusz still stood at the front of the boat while Beth, Terrence, Kamilla and Ophelia huddled together for warmth as Frieda, Shane and Bertha rowed. They were just passing under a bridge when a nearby tower (not the tower from earlier) collapsed and crashed onto a boat filled with some refugees, killing them instantly. The ice cold water sprayed towards Tadeusz and the others, with the water stinging their skin due to how cold it was. It really said something about how this destruction affected them when even Tadeusz felt completely helpless. Some embers from the fire blew through the air, most of them sizzling as soon as they contacted the water.
Beth, Terrence and Shane could only watch in muted, silent horror as the town they'd called home burned like a candle doused in oil, with the screams of everyone around them feeling like daggers in their hearts.
/
Bard had run along so many rooftops she wondered if he'd ever even get to the tower at this rate. But luckily, he was actually getting closer to the tower with it's bell still ringing. At long last he approached the last building as he looked to his lower left and saw a balcony. Naturally, he knew that where there was a balcony, there was a window. He then slid down the roof and landed with a thud onto the balcony. That normally would have hurt a lot more but thankfully the quiver loaded with arrows helped soften the landing. He ignored the irritating sore in his back as he got up and shoved the door open. The house was abandoned with the fire outside casting a deathly reddish-orange light into the empty building. Bard hurried through the building and soon found the staircase. He ran down at lightning speed and was relieved to see the door already open. He exited the house and found himself on the boardwalk and just a few steps away was the bell tower.
He wasted no time in running faster than he'd ever had before and kicked the door open, accidently causing the knob to fly off as the door swung open. He then entered the deserted building and saw on his left the staircase leading to the tower. He paused for a moment to catch his breath as he leaned down and put his hands on his knees as he collected himself. He stood up and bolted for the staircase. He practically zipped up that staircase as fast as his legs could carry him. He accidently inhaled some smoke but he ignored it and just shook his head. Finally, he opened the trap door which led to the top of the tower and he collapsed onto the platform nearby the bell, coughing out some of the smoke. His eyes stung as he again shook his head as the smoke and fire went higher and higher, but amazingly the tower remained unscathed. The tower had an open view of the entire town and was wide enough for three people to stand in at once. The bell hung just above Bard's head, still ringing proudly if slightly quieter now. He then stood up defiantly with the bell still ringing behind him and loaded his bow with an arrow. The open air view helped him adjust his aim as he saw Smaug in the distance bombarding a section of town with fire with him now turning in the direction of the tower. He was specifically turning towards Bard's left so that's where he moved, with his body inches away from the balcony. As soon as Smaug was within striking distance from the tower, Bard fired the arrow. It flew through the air at Smaug but when it impacted the area where his neck connected to his shoulder it bounced off and fell downwards and disappeared, with Smaug just flying by as if nothing happened.