"We need help" Óin decided and Lhindril jumped up

"Let's find the Master. I'm sure he can help" she decided "Or maybe Bofur and I should go ahead and you come after us with Kíli?" she said with side glance to the sick Dwarf, whose face was very pale.

"Go ahead then" Óin confirmed and Bofur immediately left so Lhindril had to run after him, only stopping in front of the townhall. Even before they reached the door Alfrid and his Master came outside and Bofur told them why they were here, which didn't seem to interest the men at all. Just as they turned away and wanted to go back inside Lhindril yelled

"All you care about is your wealth and own profit. If you get something out of it you help someone if not, it's their problem. You have to help us" Alfrid turned angrily

"And who says we have to? As you said, it is not our problem"

"Have you forgotten that you helped us yesterday?"

"No but yesterday we got promised gold for our help. What can you offer now?" his eyes roamed over her body and a lewd smile crept on his face "I would consider that an appropriate offer" she had not even fully registered the words or could even think about them when suddenly Fíli rushed past her, lunging at the man.

"Who do you think you are? If you as much as get near her I swear to Durin I will kill you with my bare hands" for a moment the man seemed shocked but then caught himself.

"What if she agrees? Perhaps she values your brother's life more than you do" Fíli put his hands around his neck and started choking him.

"If I was you I'd shut up and be glad the lad had no weapons" Bofur said as he tried to get Fíli away from Alfrid, who abruptly pulled away when he had the chance.

"Don't touch me" for a moment she thought Fíli would attack him again, maybe this time even with weapons which he did have, the ones the Master gave them this morning. Instead, he joined Lhindril, wrapping an arm around her waist possessively "Leave and ask your friends for help. Unless of course you accept the offer" with that Fíli dug his fingers into her side painfully.

"Fíli that hurts" she whispered and he instantly removed his hand

"I apologise" in the meanwhile the Master and Alfrid had gone into the house.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Bofur asked defeatedly. "Where else can we go?"

"Bard maybe?" Fíli asked.

"We have to try. It's better than nothing" when Lhindril turned around she saw that also Óin was there, supporting Kíli. Now she understood why Thorin didn't want him to come, the young Dwarf could barely walk. If time hadn't been the problem Kíli wouldn't have had the strength for the walk. So it took them a while until they arrived at Bard's place. But he didn't seem pleased and tried to get rid of them but after they explained that no one would help them with Kíli he gave in. They put Kíli on the bed and Óin tried to examine Kíli who was being calmed by his brother. Lhindril stood around in the room unsure what to do.

"What's wrong with him?" Tilda asked. Happy to have something to do she focused on her

"He got hurt and now needs to he healed"

"Or else he will die?" since she was a little child Lhindril didn't want to tell her the truth

"I don't know. But it would hurt him very much. If you get hurt your mother helps you too, doesn't she?"

"My mother died when I was very little" well, maybe she should not have said that because she had had the suspicion something happened to their mother. "What about your parents?"

"My mother lives in Rivendell. And my father died too when I was young"

"How did he die? My mother was sick. Like him" she pointed at Kíli and the woman was confused about what she meant. Was her mother really sick or did she get killed too? After a deep breath Lhindril started telling the story of her father's death

"I was a little older than you when my father took me to a ride with the sons of Lord Elrond of Rivendell. He didn't want me to come but I have persuaded him to take me to Rivendell at least to pick up his friends there. But they came to us in the morning and my father couldn't convince me to stay home so he took me anyways. Suddenly everyone started shouting around"

"What happened? Have it been Elves you rode with?" Lhindril only nodded and wanted to continue when she noticed Fíli had joined them too.

"We were attacked by two Orcs. One of them tried to shoot us with arrows but missed. Then his leader took the bow away and shot an arrow that hit my father right in the eye" Lhindril almost broke out in tears and Fíli placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze in comfort. To this day she wondered how Azog was able to use the bow with a missing hand and just the claw he now wore.

"And what happened to the Orcs? Were they killed?"

"One of them. I threw my dagger in his head"

"Did the leader die?"

"No, he lives"

"How do you know?" swallowing Lhindril looked down

"I saw him not too long ago" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes "Azog the Defiler is still alive"

"Azog?" Fíli asked in surprise.

"You know him too?" Tilda asked

"Yes. Most of the Dwarves where I come from heard of him. He killed my great-grandfather and my grandfather too probably"

"Did you know why the Orcs did this?" she was just a child. How could they tell her that there just was evil in this world?

"I don't know" was what she said instead and was glad that the girl didn't ask further. And Óin interrupted them anyways because he needed herbs to help Kíli. His brother joined him again and Bard searched the house's apothecary to see what he had. Lhindril suddenly thought of the rest of the company. Had they managed to get to the mountain?

"Do you have any kingsfoil?"

"Athelas?" she asked unsure, having heard of it from Elrond. But she never liked these lessons about medicine much, so she forgot most about it. She only really remembered kingsfoil because she heard it helps with Morgul poisonings and thought it could have saved her father. When Bofur rushed out of the house she lost her train of thought and asked what he wanted to do.

"Seems like he's getting kingsfoil" Bard explain when he put his herbs away. There was a weird rumbling from afar.

"What's this?" Lhindril asked. It sounded like thunder but so different. Fíli jumped up and approached Bard

"You should leave us. Take your children. Get out of here" then he turned to her "I can't say for certain but I fear it's the dragon. And I also don't know what he will do in case he comes here but it's likely we all die" he took her hands "Which is why I want you to go with them"

"But what about you?" she asked with a side glance to the other Dwarves.

"Don't you worry about us"

"Are we going to die? The dragon, it's going to kill us" Tilda whispered in fear. After hesitating Bard removed something from the ceiling

"Not if I kill it first" Fíli seemed very surprised to see it was what he called a Black Arrow. Bard took it and left the house with his son.

"A Black Arrow?" Lhindril asked in confusion and Fíli explained that it was the only thing that could kill a dragon. It had been attempted the day Smaug came and now Bard – ancestor of the Lord of Dale - wanted to finish it.

"Do you remember what Thorin said about it yesterday?" vaguely she remembered the conversation between the Dwarves as she was talking to Tilda. She did overhear the words Dale and Black Arrow quite often.

"So an ancestor of Bard was the one that tried to kill the dragon when it came? However, he missed and so now Bard…" she was interrupted by Bard's older daughter who staggered back in the house from the balcony with a scream. Ere someone could ask what she had, an Orc followed her and another one entered through the roof. Without hesitation, Fíli let go of Lhindril and slammed one of the Orcs into the doorframe but then was hurled backwards that he landed roughly in front of her feet. He just wanted to get back up and lunge at the intruder again if she had not grabbed his sleeve.

"Wait" she called when he wanted to break free and held out his dagger that he had given her in Mirkwood. With a smile he took it before attacking the Orc again, this time with success. Lhindril took her own dagger to help Bard's daughters. Just as she sliced one Orc's stomach he got stabbed by another dagger. In shock she turned around and saw a red-haired She-Elf entering the house, followed by a blond Elf. With a sigh of relief she dared to have a look after the two girls that were alright luckily. Lhindril wondered who these Elves were, probably some that held her companions captive? Kíli gave a cry and she whirled around and saw that an Orc had grabbed his leg and pulled him out of the bed. She ran towards them and dug her blade into the Orc's shoulder but he didn't seem bothered and continued.

"Give it to me" Kíli ordered so she tossed it to him and he managed to turn to the Orc and stab him before lying down in exhaustion. Although Lhindril wanted to help him get back into bed she knew she had no chance and called for Fíli. He turned around very quickly, most likely thinking she was in danger and an expression of relief was on his face when he saw no living Orcs near them. She told him what she needed his help for and together they managed to lift Kíli up but since they were closer to the table, they placed him there and had to hold him because he was trashing around like mad.

"Stay still. You're gonna be fine" Fíli tried to calm him. And that was when Lhindril noticed it had become silent again, the Orcs were dead and the Elves were about the leave but the woman stood in the doorframe irresolutely but then left anyways. But shortly after she came back with some plants in her hands, followed by Bofur. The two girls helped getting her a bowl with water and the Elf put the mashed the plant, Lhindril supposed kingsfoil, in it. Then the Elf told them to hold Kíli down while she tended the wound on his leg with the medicine she had just prepared what made the Dwarf thrash around even more. Everyone was helping hold him and stared at the Elf in awe how she mumbled some words in Elvish and Lhindril regretted not having paid more attention in Lord Elrond's lessons. Finally, Kíli calmed down and lay back in exhaustion. Since Lhindril knew it was better to give him peace, she slightly pulled Fíli away from him. Óin joined them and told them that witnessing this had been a privilege. It wasn't before long that Fíli had to return to his brother and sit down next to him. It was obvious how much he cared for him and was worried. In contrast to him, she really was a bad sister, she thought.

Her brother and she had been playing and he asked why she had been with Elrond earlier and what he wanted. It had been the day the Elf told her that she needed to decide whether she wanted to accept her duty for the people and become queen or pass it to her brother. She had always wondered why she, a girl and born to an unmarried couple, was even considered for the throne. When she told her brother he seemed thrilled for her and told her what a great queen she would make. His words triggered something in her and she simply ran away. At first, her brother, who thought it to be a chase ran after her laughing but he kept and kept falling back and yelled after her to stop and wait for him. But she didn't and continued running. From afar she heard him calling to come back home. Which she didn't. For more than ten years... Another rumble broke the silence and a bell was ringing as if there was no tomorrow. The She-Elf, whose name was Tauriel as Lhindril had learned, ordered them to pack their necessities and get out of here. Bain, who had just gotten back didn't want to leave without his father but Tauriel persuaded him that if they stayed they all would die. Panicking Lhindril held onto Fíli's arm asking what was going on.

"The dragon" he whispered, taking both her hands. "In case… we don't make it. I just wanted you to know that I love you. More than my own life" her heart started to race even more.

"I love you too" she replied. Their moment of bonding time was abruptly interrupted when Tauriel again urged them to leave. Reluctantly, Lhindril broke away from Fíli and tried to support Kíli who refused her help. Outside they entered the boat in front of the house. They weren't the only ones trying to flee, almost everyone of Lake-Town seemed up and about in panic. And that was when she saw the dragon, heading towards the town and how his stomach began glowing orange before a flame came out his mouth, setting a part of the town, quite close to them, ablaze. Since the only way out of the place was per boat and they weren't the only ones trying to get away of course there was a lot going on here and so they often bumped into other boats. Suddenly they rammed one that was much bigger than the others and loaden with gold and treasures. On it was of course the Master and Lhindril started feeling angry that he cared more about his gold than the people. Instead of the treasures he could have taken people with him. Because as she knew him he would not even share it to help the people rebuild their lives. Some of the coins fell into their boat and Lhindril hastily pocketed them. Bofur looked at her in surprise.

"What do you want with those?"

"Well, it's gold" she replied shrugging.

"Soon we'll have reached Erebor and there's enough gold for a lifetime and more"

"And what if we don't make it there?"

"Then the gold won't be of much use" it was only now that she realised that they would probably need to be dead in order not to reach the mountain. Suddenly Bain jumped out of the boat and no one could stop him. The next moment she saw Bard on the belltower, shooting arrows at the dragon. He hit it a few times but of course it did no harm to the beast. Maybe Bain wanted to join and help him? Indeed he showed up next to his father not much later and then Smaug destroyed the roof of the tower but luckily they didn't fall. The dragon stopped on a roof, seemed to be talking to him and got closer and closer. Bard used his bow, which seemed broken and his son's shoulder to aim the Black Arrow – at least she guessed it was that one - at the dragon. Nervously, she dug her fingers into Fíli's arm while watching the scene. Then Bard released the arrow and even hit Smaug. And it didn't bounce off his shell.

"He hit it" Lhindril jeered "Look. Look he did it!" she pointed at Smaug who flew higher and higher into the sky before falling down. "It's dead!" she fell around Fíli's neck and pressed him close.