Then, out of Erebor, a massive figure burst through the front gates.
Stone cracked and fell away as Smaug forced his way out, his enormous body pushing through the entrance. Dust and fragments of rock scattered down the mountain as he emerged into the open.
His wings unfolded slowly, stretching wide against the night sky.
With a deep roar, fire poured from his jaws and shot upward into the air, lighting the darkness in a violent glow.
The sound rolled across the mountain and into the distance, heavy and furious.
Smaug's claws dug into the stone as he steadied himself outside the gates, his wings still spread as embers drifted around him.
Then his gaze lowered.
Locked.
On Luke.
"You insolent human," Smaug growled, lowering his massive head, smoke curling from his nostrils. "Running will not save you."
Luke rolled his shoulders, stretching his back like he was warming up for a spar.
"I'm not running," he said. "That was just a warm-up. Now we've got open space… easier to beat you properly."
Smaug's eyes narrowed.
The next moment—
Luke disappeared.
Smaug's head snapped to the side just as Luke reappeared beside him, already mid-motion. His leg drove forward in a clean, direct kick, aimed at the side of the dragon's jaw.
The impact landed.
A heavy shockwave burst outward from the point of contact, the force strong enough to scatter loose stones and dust across the mountainside.
Smaug's massive body lifted off the ground for a split second.
Then he was thrown sideways.
The dragon crashed into the mountain with a thunderous impact, stone cracking under the force as his body carved into the rock before stopping.
Debris rained down.
For a brief moment, everything went still.
Then Smaug moved.
A low, angry rumble built in his chest as he pushed himself back up, claws digging into the stone to steady his weight.
His head lifted again, slower this time.
Not careless.
Not amused.
Smoke poured from his nostrils as his gaze locked onto Luke again.
This time, there was no underestimation in Smaug's eyes.
"I'm getting started," Luke said. A sharp flash passed through his eyes.
Above them, clouds gathered quickly, pulled together by a strange pressure. Lightning cracked across the sky and struck the mountain, the sound rolling through the valley.
Smaug narrowed his gaze.
This was no ordinary human.
Then Luke disappeared.
He reappeared behind Smaug, low and close, his hand locking firmly around the base of the dragon's tail.
Smaug reacted instantly, muscles tightening, claws digging into the rock as he tried to turn—
But Luke had already moved.
He stepped in and pulled, not trying to lift the dragon, but to break his balance. The motion dragged Smaug's rear off line, just enough to shift his weight.
That was all Luke needed.
He pivoted with it, turning his body and using the movement to swing the tail in a wide arc. Smaug's massive form followed, pulled sideways as his own weight worked against him.
The dragon roared, claws scraping hard against stone, trying to anchor himself.
It didn't hold.
Luke continued the motion, keeping control of the rotation. Each turn built momentum, forcing Smaug further off balance.
"Hahahahahah—" Luke laughed.
Then he ended it.
He planted his foot and pulled down sharply, redirecting all that motion into a single point.
Smaug's body slammed into the ground.
The impact cracked the rock beneath him, sending debris and dust outward.
Before Smaug could recover, Luke used the rebound—pulling again, dragging him across and slamming him down a second time from the opposite side.
The second impact hit harder.
The ground fractured deeper, loose stone breaking away under the force.
Luke released his grip at the peak of the motion.
Smaug's body lifted off the ground, carried upward by the force of the throw, rising toward the storm clouds above.
Luke bent slightly and pushed off the ground.
A sharp shockwave spread from where he stood as he launched himself upward after the dragon, the air cracking behind him while lightning flashed again across the sky.
High in the air, Smaug steadied himself and beat his wings hard, trying to gain distance.
For a moment it looked like he would take control of the sky.
Then Luke appeared.
Right beside him.
In his hand, a spear of lightning had already formed—bright, unstable, crackling with energy. Without pause, he drove it forward and struck Smaug's wing.
The impact tore through the membrane.
Lightning spread across the scales, snapping and bursting as it ran along the wing.
Smaug roared.
The rhythm of his flight broke.
His body tilted, then dropped.
The dragon fell from the clouds, crashing down toward the mountain. He hit the ground with a heavy impact, stone breaking under his weight as dust and debris burst outward.
Above, Luke remained in the storm.
He extended his hand.
Blue energy gathered in front of him, condensing into shape. It didn't form instantly—it built layer by layer, pressure tightening around it as lightning struck around the forming weapon.
A massive spear took shape.
Long, sharp, and glowing with a deep blue light, its surface wrapped in arcs of lightning that cracked through the air.
Luke held it steady, pointing it downward.
At Smaug.
Far below, in Lake-town—
People began to notice.
A glow in the sky.
They looked up.
There, above the mountain, a massive blue spear had formed within the storm clouds, pointed straight toward the ground.
The lightning around it lit up the sky in flashes.
One by one, people stopped what they were doing.
No one spoke.
They just stared.
Because whatever they were looking at—
Was not something they would see twice in their lifetime.
*****
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