Queen Under the Mountain - Thorin Oakenshield

~Fifteen ~

~'Dragon Fire and Ruin' - A Prophecy Fulfilled~  

Dahlia had now faced a dragon twice in her life. The same dragon, twice. 

The others must have reached the Mountain, for Smaug had been set loose, now only to wreak havoc upon the poor, innocent citizens of Lake Town.  

A warning bell chimed in the distance, but there was little the people could do. 

"We have to wait for Da," Bain insisted.

"There's no time, we must leave." Tauriel was trying to get them all out of the house and on the move. 

"Not without our father," the boy insisted. 

"If you don't, you and your sisters will die - is that what your father would want?"

The group scrambled out of the house and into a boat that was so small it barely fit all nine of them. Half of the town was already overtaken with flames.  You could feel the intense heat of it even from across town. 

Dahlia was flashed back to that fateful day many years ago now, the day Dale fell.  

She had taken the boys into town for the day - it had started out as a beautiful day and she didn't want to see it wasted. 

"Look Auntie Dahlia!" little Kili was tugging at her robes. "Look at the giant bird! It's huge!"

She looked up to where he was pointing in the sky. "That's not a bird-"

They were already too late.

A fierce roar pierced the peacefulness of the day. The first blast of fire struck the other side of the city, striking down the bell tower but it was so hot that Dahlia could feel the heat of it from where they stood.

"DRAGON!" She grabbed the boys, shoving them behind her so that she shielded them.

By the looks of it, Dale was just a minor conflict to the dragon - his eyes were on the prize: Erebor.

She could see masses of their people pouring from the gates, trying to get to safety.  She and the brothers rushed to meet them. 

At the front, Thorin was leading them. 

"Thorin!"

"Dahlia!"

"Uncle!"

"Fili! Kili!"

The boys ran into their uncle's arms, shaking. Kili was sobbing.

"We tried to stop it, but we couldn't," Thorin was saying.

"You did the best you could," she assured him. 

Erebor was lost. 

She was broken from her memory when suddenly, Bain dove out of the boat. "Da!"

"BAIN!" wailed his sisters. 

"Leave him - we cannot go back," Tauriel told them gravely as Bain disappeared behind them. 

No looking back - that was how they would survive this.  No looking backwards, only forwards. 

--------------------------------------- 

Perhaps by some miracle, they eventually reached the bank of the lake.  It had seemed so very far away during their approach. 

They scrambled onto land with the other surviving citizens of the town.