The Eyes of Emerald

Chapter 24

Chaos quickly spread through the town and people already had the idea that they had to evacuate from the town if they valued their lives. Already there was crying, yelling, shouting and screaming all around. Outside of Bards home, Nendes and Tauriel stood and heard the roar of the dragon.

"Can they survive?" Nendes asked Tauriel as she looked inside to see the children looking terrified fro what was to happen.

"If we leave right away, we might have a chance." Nendes stepped back in horror as she saw the shadow of Smaug, and how it stretched to about the third of the town.

"We have no time. We must leave," Tauriel ordered as the two elves entered the home. Fili began to try and help Kili up while Bofur was grabbing everyone's coats.

"Get him up!" Bofur said.

"Come on, brother."

"Come on, come on. Let's go!"

"I'm fine! I can walk," Kili snapped as he stood up on his own. Dawn and the two elves were helping the children get ready.

"We're not leaving!" Bain stated. "Not without our father."

"If you stay here, your sisters will die. Is that what your father would want?" Tauriel asked.

"Enough arguing. We have to get to the boat. NOW!" Nendes ordered. All followed her to a boat where the group boarded.

"Give me your hand!" Fili said to Sigrid.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Bofur said.

"Quickly now! Hurry"

"Kili, Dawn! Come on!" Fili shouted. Once the two got onto the boat, Fili and Bofur began to row down the path. But just then Smaug flew down close to the town, causing Dawn and Sigrid to scream out of fear. The others stared in fear. He flew down once again and set a straight line of the town to flame. And once he breathed his second round, The group could see and feel the fire from their backs as the homes set ablaze.

"Watch out!" Bofur yelled as they bumped into a much larger boat filled with treasure rather than civilians. And on the boat was the Master and Alfrid. Finally, they passed and they were able to continue.

They continued to row until Bain saw something that made the entire family cry out. There at the bell tower, was Bard, trying his best to shoot the dragon with a bow and arrow. Then Kili shouted.

"He hit it! He hit the dragon!"

"No," Tauriel said cooly.

"He did!" Kili insisted. "I saw!"

"An arrow cannot pierce its hide. I fear nothing will." Just then, Bain grabbed on to a hook and went to the docks. Those on the boat tried to call him back, but to no avail.

"Leave him! We cannot go back!" Tauriel said over Tilda's tears. Nendes stood up, which made the boat rock slightly.

"How can you say that? We never leave anyone behind!" Tauriel did not answer. She just looked away. This only made Nendes more angered. She began to go to the edge of the boat to jump but then was stopped by Tauriel.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that there's a boy and father to save." Nendes then turned to Sigrid and Tilda and showed a light smile. "Don't worry. I'll be sure that your father and brother return to you." And with that, the elf jumped off and ran after the boy.

The situation was getting worse and worse as the small amount of time they had begun to pass. Suddenly the buildings began to crumble and break apart. Tilda let out a blood chilling scream as a large part of debris was falling right towards them. Dawn raised her hands above her to shield herself, and suddenly the screaming stopped, and her hands felt a relaxing warm.

As Dawn looked up, she saw that emerald fire had come out of her hand, and burned the debris before it could harm anyone. She looked at her hand and saw another emerald mark engraved in her palm. This must have been the pyrokinesis Gandalf said. Tilda couldn't stop staring at Dawn. But they soon returned to focus once they heard a great rumble, and saw Smaug claws across from them. He began to approach the bell tower, where now three figures were seen. But there was so much smoke that no one could see what was happening.

Finally, the boat reached outside the town, but they were still close to the burning town. Smaug was coming close and closer to the bell tower, then finally began to fly towards it. But hen, something happened that no one expected. Smaug began to scream in pain and began to fly upward. As Dawn watched, she saw the horror of Smaug's light going out, and him falling to the ground. There was a rumble, and suddenly more screaming as a large wave came towards them. Fili grabbed onto Dawn and they braced themselves for the worst. Then as the wave came, it pushed them farther away, soaking everyone to the bone. Dawn thanked Valar that they were safe. But there was still much rowing ahead.

As the morning was now clear, the boat reached the shore, and all left the boat. Tauriel left the boat to the dwarves so they could head for the mountain while she left them to help Sigrid and Tilda find their father and brother. It would take them a while for them to get ready to leave once more. Finally, Tauriel returned, and to everyone's relief, with Nendes. If she was alive, then it must have meant that Bard and Bain were alive as well. Kili approached Tauriel and began to speak with her. Dawn watched as it seemed he was finally admitting his feelings. Fili had no expression on his face.

"You disapprove?" Dawn calmly whispered.

"Again, I have no opinion. However, I think it's too early for him to make certain that she is his one," Fili simply said

"Are we not that?" Dawn asked. Fili had a surprise to this.

"We are not, because we had one thing that they don't: time. We had time to know each other. Time to fall in love. They've only known each other for perhaps two days. But...he's my brother. We always told each other everything. He's the first I told about my feelings for you, even though he seemed to already know it. but how come he hasn't said anything?" Dawn looked over to Kili, then back at Fili, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Have you ever considered that he might be afraid of your judgment? He may not be afraid of his feelings, but he may fear what his brother and best friend will say." Fili looked over to Kili and realized that Dawn might be right about the situation.

"Alright. The boats ready. Let's get going," said Oin. Fili called his brother, and he came, then they began to row away to the mountain.