his exception

chapter twenty-six: fire

The fire bloomed in the darkness, faint on the flanks of the Lonely Mountain. It was Tauriel who sees it first, and in that instant, she could not bear the thought of telling Kili.  She hoped, in that moment between pulse-beat and breath, as the words are pinned behind her lips, that her eyes deceive her.

They were awoken by screams and shouting in the middle of the night. "What in the world..." Bard squeezed his eyes shut and tried to put together what could have caused a such mayhem, but he just couldn't put his finger on it until one word cut clear through the noise: "Fire!" As he rushed to the window he knew what was going on. The dragon, the dwarves had woken the dragon.

Together the three of them ran down the stairs only in their nightclothes and out of the house.
The chaos outside was overwhelming. The whole town seemed to be up, running around like henns without heads. People screaming, shouting, crying, running, tripping, ... Tilda cried out in fear and Sigrid held her close. Tauriel and the remaining Dwarves scurried out of the house not too long after. Bard looked towards the flames which were engulfing homes around them. Sigrid looked at her father. "You can't go into the fire!" She all but screamed at him. Her voice was high pitched with fear and her eyes widened in terror. "I have too." She shook her head. "Come with me!" She reached out for his other hand and squeezed it hard. "Please!" Bard shook his head. It broke his heart to do this to her, but they both knew he had too.

"Dad, I'm begging you-"

Sigrid stared at the spot he had disappeared in the crowd. "Dad!!" She screamed his name into the night like her life was depending on it. "Come back!" She searched the crowd for his tall figure, but it only took seconds and she couldn't see him anymore. Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke. "Dad," she sobbed to herself.

"The dragon comes," Tauriel told the human children and the four dwarves, and cannot look Kili in the eye as she looked away from where Bard had gone too, "We must leave this place now."

"What? Tauriel, what do you mean the dragon is coming? What about-" And then Kili stopped, and the silence is so terrible, and Tauriel cannot bear to look at the brothers as they stand at the window, Kili's arm hooked about Fili's shoulders, their silhouettes grimly etched against the distant flames. "What about the others?" Kili asked, breathless, frightened, hopping to shift his weight from his injured leg. No one replied, and the air is heavy, smothering them under the weight of that awful truth. "But ... but Uncle and Bilbo and the others..."

"Dead," breathed Fili, and Kili whipped round to look at him, dark eyes frantically scanning his face. "No, Fili, no, it's not true! It can't be true!" Tears fell from Kili's dark brown eyes. The other dwarves are silent, a vast mourning silence. The older girl sweeped her sister from the floor, settling her firmly against her hip, and the quiet courage in her eyes loosens the knot in Tauriel's throat. "Kili-" Tauriel started looking into the dwarf's eyes. "NO! No, it isn't true! They're NOT dead, they can't be dead! They can't!"

His voice cracked and wavered, and below in the streets, someone blew a horn in warning. The deep brazen note echoes off the narrow streets, and in its wake rise the first disbelieving screams. "We must go," Tauriel said as gently as she could, but the little group remain frozen for a minute longer, and she allowed them that because she is already learning just what a burden to bear death is. "What about Maethel? What about your best friend? I-I haven't seen her since last night. We cannot leave her.. she means dear to my uncle."

Tauriel quickly whipped her head around to face Kili. Her face looked pale. "She's somewhere here, we'll find her on the other side. We must go now!" cried Tauriel not too long later, and Fili stumbled into motion, dragging Kili beside him. The night behind them is full of screams, a wave of panic which threatened to crush them all. Fili found his voice, and banished Erebor from his thoughts; it will not save them to dwell upon it now. "Oin! Your medicine bag! We will have need of healers before this night is through! Grab your weapons! We must leave the city at once!" Distantly, he is shocked at the strength and steadiness of his words; the commanding tones of Thorin streaming forth from his tongue, and the others leap to obey. Fili grabbed at Bain as he darted past. "Boy! Where is your father?"

"H-He's gone into the flames.. I think h-he's going to try to slay the dragon.." Bain breathed out quickly in panic as he felt the heat from the flames.

"Calm yourself! Does your Da know where the arrow is?"

"No, no - but I do!"

"Then you must take it to him, else Laketown is doomed!"

"Brave lad!" Fili roared over the uproar from outside, and Bain's bloodless lips twitched into a small smile. "Wait! He cannot go by himself!" Bard's eldest daughter cried, staggering towards them, free arm outstretched towards her brother, her face a rictus of horror. Suddenly, a great roar blasted the air, a colossal agonising shriek that rended the ears and mind. Kili lost his balance and Fili fell with him, sprawling awkwardly onto the boards, Kili yelping as his leg strikes the ground. A great gout of flame howls past the house, and the next street explodes into light and heat. "The dragon! The dragon!" Sigrid screamed senselessly as Tauriel wrestled her to her feet and towards the stairs. "We must leave now or perish!"  The Elf roared at him, and Fili and Oin between them haul Kili up again. And then the boy was gone into the blackness of the stairwell, gone beyond recall, and Fili's clutch on Kili's arm as they clumsily descend afterwards is as much to keep his brother close as it is to support his weight.

If he and Kili are destined to burn this night, at least it will be together.