Walking In Starlight

30

Bard looks around frantically, but there is nothing to help him. Smaug begins walking toward him, crushing the buildings beneath him. The Master sees his chance and yells to his oarsmen,

"Now’s our chance!" The Master shouted "go! Go! Into the open water!”

Looking at the tower, Smaug growls and licks his lips, roaring when another one of Ryneela's arrows pierced his hide,

"Is that your child?" Smaug asked "you cannot save him from the fire. He will burn!”

As Smaug continues to approach, Bard fixes the two broken halves of his bow into the walls of the bell tower, with the bowstring taut between them. He fixes the Black Arrow to the bowstring, and lays the front end of the Black Arrow on the shoulder of Bain, who is standing in between the fixed pieces of the bow and facing Bard. Bain pants in fear since he can hear Smaug approaching from behind him, but can’t see him,

"Stay still, son" Bard said softly "stay still"

"Tell me, wretch" Smaug said "how now shall you challenge me?!"

Bard notices a missing scale on Smaug’s chest, the scale that was broken by Girion, Lord of Dale, a small smile crosses Bard’s face, Ryneela seeing the same thing, drawing her arrow back as far as possible

"You have nothing left, but your death!" Smaug shouted

Smaug howls, approaching more rapidly, Bain looks over his shoulder at the dragon, but Bard calls him back,

"Bain! Look at me" Bard said "you look at me"

Bard strains with the effort of holding the Black Arrow taut,

"A little to your left" Bard said softly

Bain shifts a little to his left, moving the tip of the arrow to the right, toward the spot where Bard noticed the missing scale on Smaug,

"That’s it." He said softly

Bard releases the Black Arrow just as Ryneela released hers, they fly off at high speeds. They hurtle through the air and sinks all the way to the feathers, into Smaug’s chest through the spot without a scale. As Smaug leaps forward in pain and fear, Bard grabs Bain, just as Smaug careens into the tower, Bard and Bain fall with the tower into the water as Smaug rolls and slides through the town, destroying everything in the town. He struggles to fly into the sky, and with massive effort, he manages to flap a few hundred feet up, screaming and wheezing in pain, then gasps for breath. His eyes lose their light, and he falls back down upon the city, dead, with the end of the arrow sticking out of his heart. He lands directly upon the Master’s boat, crushing it and presumably killing everyone on board.

Kili throws himself over Ryneela as the others take cover, protecting themselves from the debris.

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The sound of Smaug hitting the ground echoes throughout the land, all the way to the dwarves on the mountain, causing them to jump up in surprise,

"What was that?" Gloin asked "what happened?”

"It fell" Bilbo said "I saw it"

They all peer out at the town in the early morning light,

"It’s dead" Bilbo added "Smaug is dead!"

Thorin, still staring at the Lonely Mountain and not at the town, has a strange expression of happiness cross his face.

"By my beard!" Gloin said "I think he’s right! Look there! The ravens of Erebor are returning to the mountain!"

Several birds can be seen cawing and approaching the Lonely Mountain,

"Aye - Word will spread" Balin said "before long every soul in Middle Earth will know - The dragon is dead!"