Thyri, Daughter of Thrain, Dragonslayer (Book 3)

The Aftermath Of The Nightmare

Meanwhile, Smaug lands closeby in the town, crushing buildings underneath him. He is directly in the way of the Master's boat. The Master shouts "Stop ! Stop ! Halt ! Halt !" Bard pulls the Black Arrow out of the hands of the petrified Bain and stands up, facing Smaug. Smaug looks at him "Who are you that would stand against me ?!" Bard grabs his bow, only to find that it was broken in half when Smaug smashed into the tower earlier. Smaug says "Now that is a pity. What will you do now, Bowman ? You are forsaken. No help will come." Thyri growls which matches with Smaug's. Smaug looks at her "That is a surprise. The princess of Erebor is really alive. Such a shame that you will die in my flames. And your pitiful brother will see you die and he will not care about it since he wants the Arkenstone." Thyri roars "Shut up you slug !" 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 ! Go ! Go ! Into the open water !" Looking at the tower, Smaug growls and licks his lips. He continues speaking to Bard "Is that your child ? 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 belltower, 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. Thyri joins them to protect them.

Bain pants in fear since he can hear Smaug approaching from behind him, but can't see him. Bard tells his son "Stay still, son. Stay still." Smaug shouts "Tell me, wretch - How now shall you challenge me ?!" Bard notices a missing scale on Smaug's chest, the scale that was broken by Girion. A small smile crosses Bard's face. Smaug tells him "You have nothing left, but your DEATH !" He howls, approaching more rapidly. Bain looks over his shoulder at the dragon, but Bard calls him back "Bain ! Look at me. You look at me." Bard strains with the effort of holding the Black Arrow taut "A little to your left." 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." Bard releases the Black Arrow and it flies off at high speed from Bain's shoulder. It hurtles 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, Thyri grabs Bard and Bain, just as Smaug careens into the tower. Thyri jumps from the falling tower, landing near a building still standing. 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. 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.