There were many paths that led into the mountains, and many paths that crossed the mountain range. However, most of the paths were just dead ends. Most of them were inhabited by terrifying creatures or evil hidden in the shadows. With Elrond's wise advice and Gandalf's knowledge and experience, the dwarves and Hobbits set foot on the right path and crossed the safe pass.
Even after they had left the valley for a long time, they still kept climbing up. This road was very dangerous and rugged. It was so winding that it made people feel quite annoyed. At this moment, they turned back to look at the land they had left behind. It was already far away at the foot of the mountain. In the distant west, everything had disappeared into the blue horizon. Bilbo knew it was his home, and all the comfort and safety, and his little hobbit cave. He shivered. It was getting colder on the mountain, and the cold wind blowing through the cracks of the rocks was getting more and more shrill. Sometimes, the hot summer sun would melt the snow on the mountain, causing the boulders to roll down in an earth-shattering manner. Sometimes they would pass by them (which was lucky), and sometimes they would fly over their heads (which was very worrying). At night, the cold wind was bone-piercing. No one dared to speak loudly or even sing because the echo was hair-raising. The tranquility in the mountains did not seem to like to be disturbed. The only things that had this privilege were the rushing of snow, the whistling of strong winds, and the sound of rocks cracking.
"It must be getting hotter down there," thought Bilbo. "Everyone must have started drying the straw and gone out for a picnic. At this rate, they will probably start harvesting, planting, and picking berries before we cross the mountain.”The others were equally gloomy, although they did say goodbye to Elrond on the summer solstice. At that time, they even mocked the passage in the mountain and imagined that they could fly over it lightly. They thought that they had already arrived at the secret passage of the lonely mountain and might arrive on the first moon of autumn." Maybe it will be the day of Turin!”They said. Only Gandaph would shake his head and remain silent. It had been many years since the dwarves had passed through this path, but Gandaph had experience. He knew how much evil and danger there was in this wilderness. Ever since the evil dragon drove the humans away from this land, the orcs began to secretly expand after the Battle of the Mines of Moria. Even with the advice of a good man like Elrond and the plan of a wise wizard like Gandalf, traveling in such a dangerous place could still cause problems.
He knew that something unexpected would happen, and he did not dare to expect that the group of people would be able to cross the towering snow-covered mountain range without any injuries. Everything went smoothly until one day, they encountered a storm. In fact, it was not just a storm, but a huge thunderstorm. You should know how terrifying a large-scale storm can be in a valley or on a plain. If two huge storms collide with each other, it will be even more terrifying. However, that night there was a thunderstorm in the mountains, more terrible than any storm we had ever experienced. Thunderstorms from the east and west fought against each other. Lightning struck the lonely peaks and shook the mountains. Deafening thunders drilled mercilessly into all the caves and crevices. The darkness was filled with noise and sudden dazzling light.
Birbo had never seen or even imagined such a scene in his life: They were trapped by a towering mountain wall, and on one side was a bottomless dark abyss. They barely managed to find a big rock on top of the roof as a shelter in the dark night, and could only tremble and shrink under the blanket. When Birbo poked his head out to spy on Lightning's appearance, he found that the stone giants in the valley had also come out to join in the fun. They threw rocks at each other as a game, and they would also throw rocks into the darkness below, smashing the trees in the valley, or exploding into pieces in a thunderous manner. The wind and rain came from all directions, and the rock could not provide any protection at all. Soon they were all drenched, and the ponies were wailing in despair, their tails tucked between their legs. They could hear the giant's triumphant and terrifying laughter in the valley.
"We can't go on like this!" Sorin said," Even if we don't get blown away, drowned, or killed by thunder, we might be kicked into the air by the giant like a football.”
"Alright, if you know what to do, take us to hide!”Gandaph felt very dejected and unhappy about the giants 'actions.
In the end, their argument was to send Philip and Kili out to find better shelter. The latter had very sharp eyes. As a junior who was about 50 years younger than the other dwarves, they usually could only get this kind of job. (Everyone else could see that sending Bilbo was useless.）Finding things was a troublesome thing, especially when you wanted to find something. (That was what Thorin said to the young dwarves.）If you search carefully enough, you will definitely find what you are looking for, but it might be completely different from what you think. This time, the situation was the same.
Very quickly, Philip and Kili came back with their backs hunched, holding onto the mountain wall. "We found a dry cave," they said."It's just around the next corner, and the pony and everyone can squeeze in.”
"Have you thoroughly investigated that cave?”Magi knew very well that the caves in these mountains were often occupied by the residents who had arrived first.
"Yes, really!" they said. However, everyone knew that they had returned too quickly and could not spend much time inside. "Actually, the cave isn't that big, and we didn't go very far.”
Of course, this was the most dangerous part of the cave: You had no idea how deep they were, or where the passage would lead to, or what was waiting inside. But compared to the current dilemma, Philip and Kili's news was good enough. Therefore, they immediately began to pack their things and prepare to leave. The wind was still howling and the lightning was still fierce. It took them a lot of effort to lead the pony away. As expected, they did not walk far before they arrived at a place where a large rock protruded from the mountain path. If you walked around the boulder, you would see an opening in the mountain wall. The passage was just enough for the pony to unsaddle and squeeze in. After everyone finally entered the cave, the wind and rain outside did not sound so serious anymore. The giant's roar did not seem to be that threatening anymore. However, the Magus was still unwilling to take any risks. He lit his staff (he had done the same in Birbo's dining room many days ago, if you remember) and explored the cave thoroughly by the light of his staff.
The cave looked rather huge, but it was not so big that it felt unfathomable. The ground under his feet was very dry, and there were also some comfortable grooves. At one end of the cave, there was room for the ponies, and they stood there obediently (they were actually very happy with this change), chewing the grass hanging in front of their mouths. Orin and Gloin wanted to start a fire on the floor to dry their clothes, but Gandalf forbade them from doing so. They could only spread their wet clothes on the ground and take dry clothes from their luggage to change into. Then, they rolled up their blankets, took out their pipes, and began to blow smoke rings. Gandalf changed the smoke rings into various colors and danced around the cave to provide some entertainment. As they chatted, they completely forgot about the storm outside. They excitedly discussed how much treasure they would get (at this time, the possibility did not seem so low). Just like that, they fell asleep one by one. This was also the last time they would use the ponies, luggage, backpacks, and tools they had brought from afar.
It was not until that night that they realized it was a good thing to bring little Birbo. For some reason, he couldn't fall asleep. When he fell asleep, he kept having nightmares. He dreamed that a crack at the back of the cave was growing larger and wider. He was so scared that he did not know what to do. He could only look at it helplessly. Then, he dreamed that the floor was sinking in, and he kept falling down, falling down, and God knew where he would fall…
As soon as he dreamt of this, he immediately woke up and realized that part of the dream had come true. There was a crack at the back of the cave, and he saw the tail of the last pony disappear into it. Of course, he immediately used all his strength to roar. With their bodies, this was a very shocking sound.
Many orcs jumped out from inside. Tall orcs, ugly orcs, in short, many orcs rushed out before you could breathe. At least each dwarf had to deal with six orcs, and even Birbo had two. Before you could take a second breath, everyone had been carried back into the cave, but Gandalf was an exception. Birbo's shout bought him some time. Gandaph immediately woke up. When the orcs rushed over to catch him, there was a strong flash in the cave and the smell of gunpowder. Several orcs immediately died on the ground.
The crack closed with a clatter, but Birbo and the dwarf were on the other side! Where is Gandalf? Neither they nor the orcs knew anything about this, and the orcs did not intend to stay there to find out. This cave was very deep and dark. Only the orcs who were used to living underground were used to such an environment. The passages and alleys they passed through were almost all intertwined, but the orcs knew where to go, just as you knew how to get to the post office near home. The tunnel continued to extend downwards and became more and more crowded, making it difficult for people to breathe. The orcs were very rude and tortured them mercilessly. They cursed and laughed at each other with their hoarse voices that sounded like they were hitting stones. Birbo felt even sadder than when he was grabbed by the cannibal woman. He wished over and over again that he was in the comfortable Habi Cave now. Of course, this was not the last time.
A red light began to appear in front of them. The orcs began to sing, or rather, roar. They stepped on the ground in unison and shook the poor prisoners.
Crack! Crackle! A black crack!
Grab, pull! Dragging, beating!
Deep into the orc town,
Go, boy!
Clang! Boom!
Hammer and pliers! Chisels and gongs! Boom boom boom, underground music!
Ha, ha! Kid!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whip!
Knock and hit! Caw, caw, baa, baa!
Work, work! Don't be lazy,
The orcs laughed, the orcs shouted,
Going around underground,
Get down, kid!
It sounded really scary. The walls responded to their chanting with cracking sounds and slapping sounds! There was also the sound of rumbling and rumbling, as well as their terrifying laughter. Because they also took out their whips at the same time and kept waving them, the meaning of their songs became very obvious. Moreover, they would force the unlucky captives to run faster than them. When they finally ran into a large cave, a few dwarves were already out of breath.
There was a campfire in the middle of the cave. With the help of the many torches on the wall, one could see that it was filled with orcs. When they saw the dwarves being driven in by the orcs with whips (poor Birbo was last in line and closest to the whip), they all laughed, stomped their feet, and clapped. The ponies huddled in a corner of the cave. All their luggage had been thrown nearby and turned upside down. The orcs were still busy fighting over it.
Regrettably, this will be the last time you will ever see them, including the lovely white pony that Elrond lent Gandalf (because his own tall horses are not suitable for trekking in the mountains). Orcs eat horses, ponies, and donkeys (among other horrible things), and they are hungry all year round. At this moment, the captives could only think of themselves. The orcs tied their hands behind their backs, lined them up, and dragged them to another corner of the cave, poor Birbo still trailing last.
Under the shadow of a large rock sat an extremely tall orc with a huge head. Beside him were many orcs armed to the teeth with axes and twisted swords. Orcs were cruel, vicious, and evil. They did not know how to create beautiful things, but they had a belly full of bad ideas. If they were willing to spend time, they could dig a hole and mine like the most powerful dwarves. However, most of the time, they were only willing to laze around. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, chisels, pliers, and other tools that could be used to hurt others were the things they were best at forging. Or, they would force other captives to follow their design, and these captives would eventually die underground due to the lack of light and air. Perhaps, many machines that destroyed world peace came from their heads, especially those weapons that could kill a large number of people and animals. Because they loved wheels, engines, and explosions, they didn't want to work with their hands if they had the chance. It was just that in that era, the wilderness was not that advanced (that was how they described it). They didn't hate dwarves, but they hated them as much as anything else. Especially those rich and orderly races, they were a thorn in their side. In some areas, the evil dwarves would even ally with them, but they especially hated the people of Thorin, mostly because of the previous war. Unfortunately, we won't spend too much time describing it in this story. In any case, as long as they could catch the other party at lightning speed and make them unable to resist, the orcs would not care too much about who they caught.
"Who are these poor fellows?”the tall orc said.
"Dwarves, and this!" A soldier pulled up Birbo's collar and made him kneel in front of him. "We found them hiding at the front door.”
"What do you mean?" The tall orc turned to Thorin and said,""I think they must be up to something! They must be trying to find out the secrets of my compatriots! Thieves, I see that you all have thieving looks! He was probably a murderer and a friend of the elves! Tell me, what do you have to explain?”
" Dwarf Thorin is at your service!" he answered, and it was just meaningless politeness,"What you suspect and speculate has nothing to do with us. We just found an empty cave that seems to be unused to hide from the rain. We don't want to disturb the orcs or any of their work.”This was absolutely true.
"Yes!" The tall orc said,"You said so! May I ask why you came to this mountain, where did you come from, and where are you going? In fact, I want to understand you completely. Of course, Thorin Oakenshield, this won't do you any good. I already know people like you too well. You'd better tell the truth, or I'll prepare a super uncomfortable meal for you!”
"We are going to visit our relatives. Those aunts, uncles, aunts, cousins, cousins, uncles, and aunts live on the east side of this beautiful mountain range.”Thorin did not know what to say for a moment, only knowing that he could not tell the truth.
"He is a liar, a very experienced liar!”" When we went to invite them down, several of my men were struck by lightning in the cave," one of the soldiers said." Their bodies were stiff as if they were dead. And he didn't explain this!" He took out the sword that Thorin was wearing, the treasure that the dwarves had found in the cave of the cannibal woman.
When the tall orc saw the sword, he immediately let out a furious roar. All the soldiers gritted their teeth and began to hit their shields and stomp their feet. They all recognized the sword. It had killed hundreds of orcs in the past. At that time, the beautiful elves of Gondolin hunted these orcs in the mountains and outside the city walls. They called it the Beastbite Sword, a divine weapon used to kill orcs, but the orcs simply called it the Biting Sword. They hated this sword, and they hated the person who carried it even more.
"Murderer, friend of the elves!" The tall orc shouted,"Whip them! Beat them up! Bite them! Tear them apart! Throw them into a cave full of poisonous snakes so that they would never see the sun outside again!”The powerful anger made him open his bloody mouth, jump off the throne, and rush towards Thorin.
At that moment, all the lights in the cave disappeared, and the vigorous flame in the middle of the cave also went out with a puff. A white smoke rushed to the top of the cave, and many embers scattered in all directions.
The orcs began to lose control and shout, beating each other and cursing. The chaos that followed was indescribable. Even if you put hundreds of wild cats and wolves on the fire to roast, it would not compare to this commotion. The embers left behind by the flames burned the orcs, and the white smoke that had rushed to the top of the cave fell down, making it difficult for them to breathe and see. Soon, they tripped over each other and fell to the ground. They began to fight each other crazily.
Suddenly, a treasured sword shone. Birbo saw it pierce through the confused orc leader. He fell, and the soldiers fled screaming in the light of their swords.
The sword was sheathed again. "Hurry up and follow me!" said a stern voice. Before Birbo could figure out what had happened, he found that his little feet had already started to move forward involuntarily, trying to keep up with the pace of the crowd. As they continued down the dark tunnel, the orcs 'cries behind them grew fainter and fainter, and a pale light led them.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" The voice said,"The torch will soon be rekindled!”
"Wait!" Dori happened to be beside Birbo at that time. He was a kind-hearted dwarf, so he tried his best to carry Birbo even though his hands were tied. Everyone began to run for their lives, listening to the sound of iron chains hitting each other while enduring the miserable state of people falling in the team. (Because their hands were tied and they couldn't keep their balance). After a while, they stopped. At that time, they might already be in the center of the mountain range.
At this moment, Gandaph lit up his staff. Of course it was Gandalf! However, they had been in a hurry and had no time to ask him how he had gotten in. He pulled out the sword again. It flashed with a unique light in the darkness. The killing intent in its body made it flash when orcs appeared around it. Now, it was flashing with blue flames, as if it was proud of the orc leader it had just killed. It easily cut through the iron chains of the orcs and freed all the captives. If you still remember, the name of this sword is Enemy Fencing Granry. The orcs called it the sword, and their hatred for it was deeper than biting the sword. Gandalf had brought the Bite Sword with him in the chaos, because he had used the chaos to take it from a frightened guard. Gandaph was quite meticulous. Although he couldn't complete everything at the same time, he could create many miracles for his friends in times of emergency.
"Are we all here?" He bowed and returned the sword to Thorin. "Let me see. One, this is Thorin. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. Oh, over here, twelve, thirteen-and Mr. Baggins, fourteen! This was great, this was great! The situation could be worse, but it could also be better. We have no ponies, no food, and we don't know where we are. There's a large group of angry orcs behind us! Let's leave this place quickly!"
Gandaph was right. They began to hear the terrifying cries of the orcs from the passage behind them, which made them run faster than before. Poor Birbo was about to run out of energy. When the dwarves were in a hurry, they could run at an amazing speed. Therefore, they could only take turns to carry Birbo and run forward.
However, the orcs were faster than the dwarves, and they knew the roads better (they dug the tunnels themselves), not to mention their anger. Therefore, no matter how hard the dwarf tried, he could not shake off the orcs 'incessant roars. The voices were getting closer and closer. Soon, they could even hear the chaotic sound of numerous footsteps. The scarlet light from the torches also began to catch up from behind. The dwarves were already exhausted by this time.
"Oh dear, oh, why did I leave home!”Poor Mr. Baggins complained as he bounced around Pombo's shoulder.
"Why the hell did I bring this damned little Hobbit to find the treasure!”Poor Pang Bo was panting heavily. The fat on his body kept shaking, and his face was covered in sweat because of fear and nervousness.
At that moment, Gandalf ran to the back of the group, and Thorin stood with him. They stood at the corner. "It's time!" "Thorin, draw your sword!" he shouted.”
The orcs had no choice. They disliked the situation even more. They tried their best to circle around the corner, only to find that the Enemy Sword and the Bite Sword were shining coldly in front of their surprised eyes. The one at the front threw down the torch in a panic and only had time to scream before he died. The orcs behind them let out even more piercing screams and kept retreating, knocking down those who were running behind them. "Biting the sword and striking the sword!" They screamed, and soon, everyone fell into chaos again. They all ran back in the direction they had come from.
After a long time, they dared to go around the corner. By then, the dwarves had already run far away and were leading the dark tunnel for a long time. When the orcs realized this, they put out their torches, put on soft shoes, and picked out the fastest warriors with the most sensitive eyes and hearing. These orcs ran forward as fast as moles in the dark, and the sound they made was not much louder than that of a bat.
Therefore, Birbo, the dwarves, and even Gandalf did not hear their movements, nor did they see the other party's attack. However, in the eyes of the silent orcs, the light of Gandalf's staff became the best target.
Suddenly, Dori, who was running at the back and carrying Birbo, was grabbed from behind. With a cry, he fell to the ground, and the hobbit rolled off his shoulder and hit hard stone, and could not remember anything else.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]