Chapter 15: Beorn

That day, Allen, Alayen, and Desaiwei had just returned from patrolling the north. Because the villagers had cleared a large amount of farmland nearby, Allen had to arrange for the cavalry to conduct frequent patrols to ensure that the villagers busy in the fields would not be suddenly attacked by small-scale Wolf Riders, while the villagers near the Wilderness Village were protected by sentries standing on the Carrock.

It was already noon when Allen returned to the village. When he arrived at the Lord's Longhouse, he happened to see James waiting for him at the entrance, which made Allen a bit nervous. Ever since the village was established, James had also been extremely busy; first, he was taking care of the wounded soldiers, and later he began searching among the villagers for young people willing to learn medicine—specifically, smart and clever children between the ages of eight and twelve. He actually managed to find a few and opened a school with only a handful of students, intending to pass on his medical philosophy and his own medical skills. It must be mentioned here that, aside from a small amount of flora, there was not much difference between the ecology of the Central Continent and Calradia. This was because the authors of both worlds drew inspiration from reality. Allen felt this was fortunate; if they had arrived in a place where none of the plants matched, most of James's medical skills would have been rendered useless.

Therefore, James usually had no time to come find Allen; if he came, it meant there was an issue. The last time he came to see Allen, it was to demand that Allen spend money to buy a large amount of medical equipment. The items were all available in the Simulator; as long as it existed in Calradia and was a common item, it could be bought with Dinar. However, it was too expensive—more expensive than Allen could have imagined. A set of surgical instruments made of refined steel and some ordinary glass bottles actually cost Allen over five hundred Dinar, and he bought four or five sets at once, under the pretext of providing a better learning environment for his students, directly costing Allen three or four thousand Dinar.

But this time, Allen guessed wrong. James did not come to make Allen spend money, but because an unusual patient was lying in his hospital, and he needed Allen to go take a look.

It was a giant of a man, at least two meters thirty or forty tall, with a face full of thick whiskers and messy hair that stuck to his head in strands. When Allen saw him, he was lying on two beds pushed together, his whole body wrapped in bandages, with a metal shackle on his left wrist. It was evident that he had escaped from somewhere, had gone through a fierce battle during his escape, and finally arrived at the Carrock along the Anduin River.

Allen recognized the other's identity at a glance; this was the Skin-changer Beorn from the movie. Some netizens called him a Bear-claw Druid; in fact, that was his magic, a unique ability of his kin.

The reason he could recognize the other at a glance was that, besides his appearance, it was the shackle on his left wrist. The book did not describe such details, but the movie did. In the movie, Beorn mentioned that they were the earliest inhabitants of the mountains. The Orcish came down from the north, and frequent conflicts erupted between them and his kin. His family had all been captured to be exhibited and used for the amusement of the Orcish. At this moment, Allen guessed that he must have escaped from the imprisonment of the Orcish.

Allen did not expect to see Beorn at this time, because neither the original work nor the movie explained exactly when Beorn began living near the Carrock. Moreover, the original work and the movie were likely not the same thing, because in the original work, Beorn had a son and kin. His son was named Grimbeorn. He did not live with Beorn; it was just that on the night Beorn hosted Thorin and his party, Beorn held a gathering with many large bears. Allen did not know if his son was among them. In the year after the Battle of the Five Armies, Grimbeorn succeeded the deceased Beorn as the leader of the Beornings.

Yet in the movie, Beorn said he was the last of his kind. Of course, we cannot rule out that Beorn married and had children later; after all, they were pure Humans, just a bit taller and possessing some special magic. But during the time Beorn hosted Thorin, he was all alone.

Just as Allen was recalling the information about Beorn, chirping sounds came from outside. It turned out that Cress had heard the villagers had salvaged a giant over two meters tall and had come to watch the excitement. Her arrival not only interrupted Allen's memories but also woke the sleeping Beorn.

Upon waking, Beorn saw that he was in a strange environment with a group of people watching him. He sat up abruptly, his eyes full of vigilance, quickly scanning his surroundings. Looking at the people in the room, after a long while, he asked in a muffled voice: "Where am I? How long have I been unconscious? Who are you people?"

Just as he finished speaking, Beorn seemed to see something and stared at Cress's neck without saying a word.

Allen walked up to the giant who was about as tall as himself while sitting, looked him in the eye, and said: "Strange friend, this is Wilderness Village. I am Allen, the leader here. This is the village hospital. You have been with us for about half a day, I believe. Is there anything you need help with?"

Beorn did not speak; he raised his thick arm and pointed at Cress's neck. Allen felt a bit strange, turned his head to look, and saw that Blue Sapphire Pendant shining brightly on Cress's neck.

Allen reached out, signaling for Cress to give him the pendant. Cress was somewhat reluctant, but still aggrievedly took off the pendant and handed it to Allen. Allen delivered the sapphire to Beorn's outstretched left hand.

Beorn took the pendant and said nothing, just quietly looking at the sapphire, gently stroking it with his right index finger, and said: "This is a gift my brother gave to his daughter. It is a pity that their family was captured by a group of Orcish riding wolves a year ago. Stranger, it seems you have killed quite a lot of Orcish."

After saying this, he handed the sapphire back to Cress and urged: "Please treat it well."

Then Beorn looked at Allen and said: "Thank you for your treatment. I must go now. I have to save my family; they are still in the imprisonment of the Orcish. Goodbye. If there is a chance in the future, I will repay you."

As he spoke, Beorn stood up and walked out of the hospital room, stooping low.

Allen followed closely behind Beorn out of the wooden house, looked up at Beorn, and said: "Do you intend to go save them while covered in wounds? All by yourself? And what makes you think that you, in your current state, can defeat the Orcish guarding them?"

Beorn stopped, turned back to look at Allen, and pondered. He wanted to ask for Allen's help, but he did not know how to bring it up. He was not eloquent, and he did not believe that his few words alone could make the strange young leader before him help him.

Allen did not need him to speak. Seeing his conflicted expression, he said directly: "We both live in this place full of evil forces and should help each other. Strange friend, I can help you, but we need a plan. First, I need to figure out where they are."

Beorn looked at Allen, a hint of excitement appearing on his face. He was not good at expressing himself and spoke very bluntly, not knowing how to be tactful at all. At this moment, he was very anxious and said in a muffled voice: "I know where they are. They are being guarded by Bolg, the son of Azog the Defiler. There are hundreds of them. When I escaped, they were moving through a tunnel, preparing to go to Orc Town to exhibit my kin. I know that tunnel. We can get ahead of them and ambush them."

By the time Beorn finished, he was already gnashing his teeth. It seemed that Beorn at this time was far from as calm as he was when he met Thorin.

"Good, strange friend. As long as you can provide a familiar guide, then I think I can help you with this favor."

Allen looked at Beorn and said decisively, then turned back to instruct his subordinates:

"Alayen, go notify Aota to come see me immediately; I need their strength now. Cress, go notify Yamila and have her prepare food that is easy to carry for three to five days. I will need it in an hour."

After instructing Alayen and Cress, Allen said to Beorn: "I suggest you use this time to eat something and let our doctor, James, take another good look at your wounds. I need to go gather some other forces. Don't worry, we will set off soon."

Having said that, Allen left. He was going to find Gangding; he needed the strength of the Nord Royal Guard.

An hour later, more than a hundred people gathered at the village entrance. In addition to the Woodland Residents who had recently joined Allen, there were Allen, Beorn, Alayen, Desaiwei, as well as Cress who insisted on joining the fun, nine Rhodok Veteran Crossbowmen, and ten Nord Royal Guard. Since this trip involved fighting in a tunnel, no Swadian Knight were summoned, and Bandak and the Rhodok Sharpshooter were left to Fatis. At the same time, Allen handed the right to recruit the Rhodok to Fatis, telling Fatis that the village's guard work was left to him until he returned.

After Allen finished giving all his instructions, he set off with the people he had gathered. When summoning them, Allen had already informed them of the ins and outs of the matter. Their presence here showed that they had no objections to this mission.

The terrain of the Misty Mountains was very complex, with cliffs, precipices, dense forests, river channels, valleys, and waterfalls, all of which were present. It was precisely because of this that Allen chose the Woodland Residents, who lived long-term in the Misty Mountains, as the main force for this ambush. Desaiwei, Cress, and the Rhodok Veteran Crossbowmen were also quite comfortable walking in this mountainous area; only Alayen and the ten Nord Royal Guard walked very exhaustedly. Even though their equipment was shared among more than a hundred people, and even Allen was carrying one person's helmet, they were still panting as they walked.

This situation was somewhat alleviated when they passed through a hidden cave with torches and entered the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. However, before entering the tunnel, Allen ordered the soldiers to collect a large amount of firewood.

The road in the tunnel was also difficult to walk, but the terrain was relatively less complex than in the mountains. It was all stone roads, and not all of it was uphill; there were flat roads and downhill paths, which were easier to walk than the mountains.

While traveling, Allen and Beorn kept talking. Beorn found it strange why Allen, a complete stranger, would risk so much to help him save his family. Beorn asked Allen this question many times on the road, and Allen would always reply, "Living in such an environment, we should help each other." "I have enough strength to help you now, so why not?" "I am helping you now; won't you help me in the future?"

Such answers were not enough to dispel Beorn's doubts, but he could feel that Allen had no ill intentions toward him. Not only were there no ill intentions, but he had personally led soldiers into the dangerous tunnels of the Misty Mountains to save his relatives. What else could he say? He was not good at expressing himself, so he stopped bringing up such topics with Allen later on.

Of course, Allen had no ill intentions toward him; he just wanted to establish a friendly relationship with Beorn. He was not thinking of subduing Beorn—this was not the Three Kingdoms period where he needed to subdue fierce generals or strategists to attack other warlords. This was Middle-earth; the enemies of the order faction were right there. Sauron was on the Barad-dur every day, staring with that Great Eye at all the kind people. When the crisis came, it would be enough for everyone to form a situation of mutual support; why make it so complicated?

Moreover, the Beornings were talented; they were not only good at taming animals but also proficient in making various dairy products and pastries, and they also kept bees, which could produce a large amount of honey and brew Honey Mead. These were all things Allen would need in the future. Did a town not need its own commercial goods? These were all reasons for Allen to help Beorn. When the time came, he would find a few clever villagers to learn from Beorn; Beorn shouldn't refuse, right? At that time, it would not only greatly improve the quality of life for the people, but perhaps they could mass-produce Honey Mead and use it to trade with the Elf or Dwarf—wouldn't that be wonderful?

Of course, the attitude of Allen's villagers toward animals was truly too unfriendly. There were very, very many hunters among them, which might not quite match the living habits of the Beornings. However, Allen did not intend to have Beorn live in his village. Wasn't there a large oak forest nearby? That was where Beorn lived in the original work. Allen had already decided to settle Beorn's family there and form a nature reserve, simply forbidding the villagers from going there to hunt.

Allen kept looking for a suitable place for an ambush on the way. Beorn actually didn't quite understand this. Allen guessed that Beorn's so-called ambush might just be jumping out suddenly from somewhere, pouncing into the enemy pile, and slapping the enemies away with his big paws. But the art of war was not like that; the right time, the right place, and the right people were all very important. Now, the right time was gone; it was pitch black in the tunnel, and Allen could only barely see clearly with the light of the torches. But for the right place, Allen still had to strive for it.

Soon, after walking in the tunnel for about two hours, Allen found a suitable place. It was a river channel about a hundred meters long, only four or five meters wide at its narrowest point, and perhaps ten or twenty meters at its widest. One side led directly to the top of the tunnel, and the other side had a jagged cliff fifty or sixty meters long, with most sections being over two meters wide and about four or five meters high. Allen solemnly confirmed with Beorn whether Bolg's troops would pass through here. After receiving an affirmative answer, Allen ordered the entire team to stop.

Allen first ordered Cress to find a place to climb up the cliff, while he himself walked slowly through the entire river channel. After observing the overall situation of the cliff and concluding that it was not easy to climb, Allen decided that this would be the location for the ambush.

An ambush required a lot of preparation. Allen first ordered Aota to take more than a hundred Woodland Residents and climb to the cliff with the help of the ropes Cress had lowered. After thinking about it, he had Alayen take his personal guards up as well. And he had them move all the collected firewood to the cliff.

Finally, he gave Aota a few jars of Fire Oil, telling him that he could use this to start a fire quickly. Once Allen gave the signal, Aota and the others would light the bundled firewood and throw it into the enemy's ranks. This would not only cause panic among the enemies, but Aota and the others could also use the firelight to shoot at the enemies from the cliff, without harming the captives Allen wanted to save.

Allen, Beorn, Desaiwei, and the ten Nord Royal Guard hid on this side of the river channel, waiting for Bolg's arrival. They would block the exit of this canyon and block the enemy's path forward. This time, Allen specifically had the Nord Royal Guard bring their Nord Royal Shield; after all, when blocking the enemy's path, a Shield was much more useful than a Great Axe.

Of course, Allen did not choose to cut off all the enemy's retreat routes. As the saying goes, they were here to save people; if the enemies had no way out at all, heaven knows what these evil and cruel guys would do.

After all the preparations were completed, Beorn calculated and informed Allen that because the Orcish liked to be active at night and were mostly nocturnal, the escort convoy would arrive here in about half a day, which was the second half of tonight.

Allen thought about it. It was already the afternoon of the second day, and everyone had traveled at least a hundred kilometers, including some mountain roads. In order to save time, the rest time arranged for the soldiers was extremely short. To ensure the upcoming battle, Allen issued an order for everyone to rest. Everyone ate cold and hard food, drank the pre-prepared boiled water, and then went to sleep.

After resting for three hours, Allen woke up and also woke his subordinates. He dared not sleep for too long. Although there were people on guard, so many people waking up suddenly in the environment of a tunnel would certainly arouse the enemy's suspicion. Allen could not gamble.

Subsequently, everyone waited in silence in the darkness for the enemy's arrival. This was agonizing; they could not speak, could not light a fire, and the range of vision was extremely limited, only being able to see the teammates beside them. This was very difficult for people who had lived under the sun for years to adapt to.

This agony seemed to last for a very, very long time, until a little movement came from the distance of the tunnel.