THE CELESTIAL AND THE COMPANY *A Hobbit fanfic*

Chapter 22; Smaug destroys Laketown

*Author's note*

Now this will be a short chapter that kicks off the Battle of the Five Armies part of my story but no worries I'll have the next couple of chapters up momentarily after this is posted. Now like I said this kicks off the start of the BOTFA so that means there will be death by fire, mentions of people on fire, death, dragon fire, and ghostly spirits. Other than that I hope you all enjoy these next few chapters.

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The toll bells rang, the panicked screams of people, and the hurricane flap of wings were getting closer and closer. Smaug was coming, and he was raging with fury. I got up from the bed, staggering to get back on my feet. Bofur came to my side and said to me.

"Hela, you—"

"We have no time. Where are the others? Where are Bard's children?"

"In the living room." I pushed onward and trudged through the house and urged everyone.

"We have to leave. Now!"

"Hela..." the dwarf princes spoke in unison.

"Sigrid, go with Fili and Kili and get the boat ready for departure. Oin, gather whatever medicine you can find, Bofur, grab the first piece of clothing you can see. Tilda come here." Everyone did as they were told and Tilda came up to me holding her raggedy doll I once gave her for Yule Time. "Just stay close to either me or your sister, okay?" she nodded as I stroked her face comfortingly before removing Haldir's cloak from my shoulders.

"Aunt Hela we're not leaving. Not without father." Bain said as he came up to me. I wrapped Haldir's cloak around Tilda's shoulders and told Bain the blunt truth.

"If we stay here, we're all going to die." I stood up and gripped Bain's shoulders and said to him as I looked him dead in the eyes. "And I can't bear to lose you children to dragon-fire." Not again.

After packing only what we could, we raced down below to the escape boat Bard and I built together when he and his wife first settled here.

"Quickly now! Hurry!" I said getting into the boat first before helping Tilda on board, followed by Sigrid, then Bain, and then my dwarvish friends and brothers. The panicked screams of the people as they began to row as fast as they could, some even claiming to see Smaug through the thick clouds that surrounded the city.

Once we were all on board, Fili and Bofur took the long oars and began to row us away from the house and down the lake. That's when a rush of air came from behind us and an exclamation from a man nearby.

"DRAGON!!" then finally for the first time ever, I got to see the Dragon Smaug with my own eyes. In fact he was my first dragon I've ever seen in person.

A mighty fire drake with a long, snake-like body. Great large wings that flapped like a hurricane, claws like spears, and his eyes burning with a fiery wrath. He let out a great, fearsome roar that pierced the hearts of all around us, including myself.

He flew high above the town before swan-diving downward. From his chest, a fiery glow shined which soon spread up along his neck until finally—ROAR!!! A wave of dragon fire rained down upon the city.

The heat was almost like a Celestial's enhanced flame, however unlike providing some form of control, dragon-fire was wild, untamable, and full of hatred and rage. I saw as people who were still trying to escape, were set ablaze like dry grass on the field. Their screams of agony as they tried to put out the fire on their skins.

If only the Deviants hadn't taken my attention away from Dale and Erebor, I might've been able to prevent all of this from happening.

After his first attack, Smaug flew back up to the sky to make ready to strike another part of the city. I looked around and saw nothing but ruin and death. I extended my hand hopefully to see if I could call upon Cersei's power to raise the water and douse the fires out, but I was still too weak to use my powers.