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Predator or Prey
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.
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He was coming.
Smaug was coming.
Selene stood outside of Bard's home, standing at the top of the stairs, watching the people of LakeTown rush around their homes. Some were preparing to leave, while some gathered their families to hide somewhere safe.
She knew that their thinking would do them no good. They wouldn't be able to escape from Smaug's wrath. He was a dragon. He was fast. They'd end up dead before they could even blink.
Tauriel stood beside her, watching everyone panic as she remained calm. Though, her face showed slight fear.
"We need to get the children and the others out of here." Tauriel spoke, not looking at Selene. The two were too focused on the screaming and crying families running around.
"I need to protect these people." Selene said. She clenched her fists at her side, then craned her neck to look up. She could feel him up there. He was going to attack at any moment now, and she needed to stop him. She turned to the she-elf, "You need to get them out of here." She gestured behind her, where the dwarves and the kids huddled close to each other.
Tauriel shook her head. "I wish, but I know how fond the youngest child is toward you. She will not leave unless you're with her."
Selene knew the elf was right, but kept quiet.
"Just come with us, Selene. You don't have to protect the others... they're all leaving too." Tauriel carefully wrapped her hand around Selene's wrist, pulling her away from the crying children and their parents.
Selene, Tauriel, the children and the dwarves all piled into one boat.
Tauriel and Bofur rowed the boat, doing their best to stay calm so everyone would be safe. Tilda sat between her sister and Selene, clutching onto the latter's arm in fear when Smaug flew right above their heads.
Then, everything went downhill.
Smaug flew back to the town, his belly glowing orange, before he spewed out thick flames onto the homes and people of LakeTown.
Bloodcurdling screams and cries rang out from all around her, and Selene watched in horror as Smaug continued to burn people alive. They were children, mothers and fathers, the elderly and even a few animals whose skin melted off their bones.
Selene trembled in her seat, frightened and angered by the scene that happened in front of her. "No..." she whispered, her eyes welling up with tears. More flames came from Smaug's mouth, destroying more homes and more families in front of her. "No!" She furrowed her eyebrows, and when she blinked, her gold eyes were pitch black as her skin hardened into scales.
She jumped to her feet and leaped off the boat with a growl, landing onto the Master's boat, but not for long since she jumped right off his boat too.
"Selene!" Tilda cried out, her older sister holding her back.
"Selene!" Bofur yelled, watching her leave. Why was she leaving them?
His question was answered when he watched her run up the steps of someone's house, then climbed up onto the roof and sprung off the edge, where her body was soon replaced with a big, black dragon.
Her dragon.
***
The dwarves on the mountain, watched from afar as the city of LakeTown engulfed in flames and heavy, black smoke.
Smaug was angry with the dwarves who tried to kill him, and now he was taking it out on LakeTown.
"Poor souls." Balin said with a long face.
The dwarves behind him had the same looks, feeling sorry for the people of LakeTown.
Nori placed his hand on Ori's shoulder, who sighed heavily.
At the sound of a second dragon's roar, the dwarves felt a chill run down their spine. They all perked up, watching as a tremendous, black shape of a dragon fly up above LakeTown.
It was too dark and too big to be Smaug, and they all knew right away who it was.
"Selene." Bilbo said, astonished at the sight of her.
A small smile crept onto his face and he bit down on his lip to hide it. Even though, he felt guilty for what he and the others had done. He now felt a little better.
Selene was there to protect them from Smaug and she was fulfilling Gandalf's words.
"I hope she gives that worm a taste of his own medicine." Dwalin stated, standing at Bilbo's side.
Bilbo nodded silently, before saying, "You can do it, Selene."
***
At Selene's deafening roar, Smaug sharply turned his head toward her, stopping him in his tracks just before he could burn a family of five, running for their lives.
Her cold, gold eyes bore into him with anger. She flapped her wings and let out another roar as she flew at him with incredible speed. She opened her mouth and crunched down on Smaug's neck, pushing him as far away from the burning town as far as she could. Smaug cried out in pain at the impact, and tried to fly up but it only made Selene bite down harder.
She let out a low growl in satisfaction when she felt her teeth break off a few of his scales, but that feeling was short-lived when Smaug spewed his fire onto her, which made her release her hold on him. She backed away, making sure to keep a good distance away from him to let her body heal the burn he gave her.
"You..." Smaug spat out angrily. "Who are you?!" He bared his teeth when she didn't respond. "Answer me!" He roared. "No? Then, I'll have to kill you along with the rest of this worthless town." He flew up into the sky and lunged for her.
Selene reacted quickly, dodging his attack and spun around, her tail smacking him in the face, causing him to lose his balance. Her chest began to glow brightly, signifying the fire that was charging up to spew at Smaug.
She was caught off-guard when Smaug slammed into her with a screech. His bottom feet clenched around her waist, while his hands clawed at her shoulders. His tail winded up with hers, as he bit down on her snout. Hard.
She bellowed in pain, squirming in his hold as he bit down, again and again. Blood dripped down onto her face, then down onto her neck.
The sound of arrows being released reached both of the dragon's ears, pausing their battle momentarily.
Selene watched as an arrow whizzed passed her and poke Smaug's right eye, making him wince and pull away from her.
"Selene, go!" Bard's voice shouted at her. He continued to shoot more arrows, letting Selene escape from Smaug to recover from his attack.
Smaug glared at the Bowman, completely distracted from Selene. He perched himself onto two homes that were safe from the fire, staring down Bard. "Who are you that would stand against me? Now that is a pity." He smiled devilishly, when Bard grabbed the broken piece of the windlancer that could have killed Smaug. "What will you do now... Bowman?" His hide rose up to intimidate the Man, who watched him fearfully. "You are forsaken. No help will come."
Bard's eyes widen at the sight of the figure coming toward Smaug, and Bard let out a sharp breath. "You are wrong." He said confidently, watching Selene appear behind Smaug and clamping her teeth around the back of his head and dragging him up into the dark sky.
Selene shook Smaug around violently like a rag doll. She tossed him further up with all the strength she could muster, following him, then slashed at his belly with her knife-like claws, where Smaug's blood came oozing out.
Smaug threw her off with his fire, but it did not last long. Selene returned, her fire finally charged up and ready to be blown. And at the same time, both dragons breathed their fires, battling their powers against each other. A big, bright ball slowly formed in between their powers, showing off their strength and how powerful their fire was.
Though, they were neck and neck, Smaug was growing weak against Selene. Smaug knew he wasn't going to beat her with this, so he stopped and used his slim body to weasel away from her fire, and tackled her from behind. They continued to go at it, snapping at each other's necks and clawing at each other's faces.
Smaug had the upper hand, as he was on top of her. He used his advantage to shove her into the lake with a loud splash, creating waves that pushed the very few people of LakeTown further away from their burning homes.
"Die." He snarled out, using his weight to keep her down under water. He watched in enjoyment as she struggled under his grip, trying to fight him but she was too weak and too slow under the water.
Then, she stopped.
Selene was no longer fighting against him. Her eyes fluttered shut, as her heavy weight pulled her further down into the lake.
Bard, who watched the entire battle felt his heart rip in two, when Smaug rose up in triumph. Selene was gone.
"No!" He screamed, his eyes started to water. Selene was one of the chances that could help him kill Smaug. Now, she was gone. He pushed his tears back and let his newfound courage and anger take over him.
Smaug turned to Bard, laughing darkly. He returned to the spot he was perched on, and started crawling toward the Bowman. "Is that your child?" He noticed the young boy next to the older man, cowering in the corner. "You cannot save him from the fire. He will burn." Smaug crawled closer, the few homes under his hands and feet crushed at impact.
Bard gritted his teeth, then quickly went to work to make his own bow with the broken pieces of the windlancer. When he finished, he notched the black arrow onto it and pulled back, aiming it at Smaug, with the help of his son.
"Stay still, son. Stay still." He said, trying to calm Bain down.
"Tell me, wretch, how now shall you challenge me? Your beloved dragon is dead. You have nothing left... but your death!" He roared, displaying his many rows of sharp teeth, now crawling faster.
Bard calmly ordered his son to do as he says, waiting for the right moment to release the black arrow. When the missing scale was lined up with his shot, Bard released the arrow. He watched it fly in the air, straight into where he needed it.
Smaug hissed in pain, when the arrow pierced through his tough skin. His red-orange eyes grew wide in shock. He tried to fly away, but a loud splash broke Smaug's cries, as Selene reappeared.
Water dripped off her body like pouring rain, while she flew at Smaug who tried to escape from her, but he was too slow. She latched onto his back, and flew him up, using her feet to hold onto his wings, so he could stay still. Then, she extended her neck to chomp onto Smaug, who wheezed in pain.
"No..." He choked out. "You... I- I killed you!"
Oh, how wrong he was. Selene was a black dragon. Black dragons could not die from water. They practically lived in water. Before she was submerged under, Selene made sure to take a deep breath, so she could fake her death and fool Smaug. It worked, and here she was now.
Selene growled in response to his words. She let the claws on her feet pierce through the thin skin on his wings, to keep him still. And with one more powerful bite, she snapped Smaug's neck in half with a satisfying crack.
With a dark look, she watched him gradually fall from her grasp. The light in his eyes faded away until he finally fell into the lake. Dead.
Selene let out a loud huff, lowering herself until she was hovered right above Smaug's corpse. Her gold eyes met Bard's for a brief moment, before they moved onto Smaug. They both killed him. Bard gave her a nod as he held onto his son, where they both watched her.
With one last look at the dead dragon, Selene charged up her fire and threw her head up. She let out a thundering roar of victory, followed by a big breath of fire into the sky.
They won.
anddd... that's selene + bard vs smaug! honestly, i think i could have written it better but idk. i really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, though. ik so many of you were really looking forward to it.
until the next chapter! vote and comment <3