Chapter 171

Just as Allen had thought, his communication with the white horse was indeed extremely smooth, but for some reason, Allen felt that this white horse trusted him very much, without the slightest doubt about the promises he had made, as if he were naturally worthy of trust.

Very quickly, the two sides settled on the content of an extremely simple agreement on this cold morning.

Allen would guarantee that the entire herd would safely survive this cruel winter, and in the days to come, he would protect the safety of the herd and provide a peaceful, fertile pasture for them to gallop upon.

In return, the herd would continue to provide adult horses to serve Allen in the future; as long as it did not affect the breeding of the herd, they would do their utmost to help Allen, and even the white horse's son would join in this endeavor.

Looking at the foal with its soft, shiny coat that was currently sizing him up, Allen laughed and said to the people beside him, "What a sturdy and spirited colt; I shall name it Gray Shadow."

The foal noticed that Allen was looking at it and understood the words from Allen's mouth; perhaps dissatisfied with the name Gray Shadow, the foal turned its raised head to the side, looking as if it did not wish to be gawked at, and only Cress could approach and pet it.

Allen did not mind this; he already possessed an Elf Horse as a partner that was on par with it, and it would be good if the foal could become Cress's mount in the future.

After all, that steed called "Sapphire" was already fifteen years old this year; for an ordinary horse, it would soon enter its old age, and it was time for it to retire.

Moreover, Mearas are difficult to tame; since this little gray horse had already accepted Cress, it would be extremely difficult for anyone else to ride it.

However, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future; horses born from the union of Mearas and other breeds remain very spirited, and their lifespan and intelligence are not inferior to their parents. This powerful genetic inheritance is far superior to Allen's Elf Horses and Jatu Warbeasts.

Yet, precisely because they understand human nature, those who are not accepted simply cannot master them; just like the Felarof belonging to Eorl, the first King of Rohan, its descendants, while strong and beautiful, only serve the kings and direct heirs of the Rohan royal family.

Regarding this, Allen had no particularly good solution; if someone wanted to obtain the service of a Mearas, Allen would tell them to rely on their own ability to conquer them.

After reaching an agreement with the white horse king, Allen handed the matters here over to Cress and Grim; they were the professionals when it came to getting along with animals. Allen trusted that they would handle this matter properly and lead the horses to a more distant camp that could shelter them from the wind, while the supplies needed by the herd would be transported from Heidelberg, where Allen had left sufficient provisions.

As for Allen, he rode his Elf Horse and led the Twilight Knights toward Heidelberg, from where they would follow the edge of Mirkwood to reach the palace of Thranduil.

After all, the trees in Mirkwood are extremely dense, and even in such snowy weather, there are some evergreen trees that can shelter the land in the forest and the small animals living there.

Thorin, meanwhile, would stay here for a few more days, waiting for the condition of the wounded to initially stabilize, before leading them back to Wilderness Town together, and would convey Allen's whereabouts to the Noldor Elf Lindir, who was waiting there, so that the Elven Cavalry could wait a little longer.

This godforsaken heavy snow had been falling intermittently for half a day and an entire night, and the snow at the bottom, after piling up, was even enough to support the running of the Elf Horses.

But even so, riding his energetic Elf Horse, Allen traveled day and night for nearly two days before reaching the edge of Mirkwood, and after a blizzard, his squad lost their way, which caused them to bypass Heidelberg and arrive near the Mirkwood Mountains on the morning of this day.

However, this did not matter; after all, with Allen's ability, they would not lack supplies. If they missed it, they missed it; they would just continue heading north along Mirkwood.

Although it was much easier to walk in the forest than in the Wilderness covered with thick snow due to the shelter of the trees, the extremely dim environment and the constant dripping of water made Allen feel a trace of irritation; his undergarments were already completely soaked.

Sometimes, some bold little animals would hide behind trees, watching Allen's party running through the forest, especially some birds, which would make "chirp," "chirp," "chirp" sounds on the branches; if time were not so pressing, Allen would have been happy to taste the flavor of roasted bird meat.

But very soon, some sounds coming from afar were detected by Allen; if his body had not been strengthened three times, he might not have been able to detect this extremely slight movement at all.

And just as Allen waved for his subordinates to be on guard, a team of Woodland Elves emerged one after another from the dense forest; their number was about twenty or so, and they held no weapons in their hands, which indicated that they did not have the slightest bit of malice.

It also indicated that these Elves did not mind Allen's small squad entering their territory without any notification.

And leading them was Legolas, the son of Thranduil.

It could be seen that this handsome Sindar Elf was very happy at this moment; he came to Allen's side with a face full of smiles and said, "I am very happy to see you healthy and unharmed here, my friend."

And at the same time as seeing Legolas, Allen dismounted from his horse, and upon hearing the greeting, he also replied with a smile: "Friend, I am also very happy to be able to see you at this time; time always passes, but Elves seem to remain eternally unchanged."

Ten years had passed, and even Allen, who had drunk the Elixir of Life, had lost the callowness of when he first arrived on his face, becoming more mature and steady, but Legolas's handsomeness seemed the same as when they first met that day; even in the dark forest, he could make one's eyes light up.

Regarding Allen's teasing, which sounded like a compliment, Legolas did not care much; he wanted to know more about how Allen's battle with the Easterlings had gone, after all, more than half a year ago, he had seen with his own eyes the request for reinforcements that Allen had sent.

At that time, his father, Thranduil, had extinguished Legolas's idea of wanting to support Allen, even if it meant going alone, and the two had had a small conflict over this.

Compared to his father, Legolas, this young Elf, was more driven and more reckless; of course, his temper was also more impatient, and his attitude toward friendship was more pure.

Additionally, Legolas was also curious at this moment why Allen had come to Mirkwood in such heavy snowy weather.

For this reason, as the two walked side by side, Legolas asked Allen if his battle with the Easterlings had gone smoothly and if he needed his help.

Facing such a question, Allen told his friend with a cheerful face that the Easterlings in the eastern part of Mirkwood had been severely damaged by him, the Dwarves of Erebor, and the Elven troops from Eriador, and if nothing unexpected happened, the figures of these barbarians would not be seen by next spring.

Subsequently, under Legolas's somewhat surprised gaze, Allen recounted the purpose of his coming to Mirkwood; Legolas did not express anything about this, but instead fell into deep thought.

Under the guidance of the Woodland Elves, the team moved through the forest at a very fast speed, and finally, before dark, they arrived at Thranduil's palace on horseback.

Thranduil was very welcoming of Allen's arrival, even bringing out the little remaining stock of fine wine to entertain his guests; upon hearing that Allen had won the war, the King of the Woodland Realm did not stint on his praise, lavishly commending Allen's godlike military command.

After all, without the harassment of the Easterlings, the trade of the Woodland Realm should be able to barely recover somewhat; at the very least, the strong Wine from Dorwinion could once again appear at the King's banquet.

But in the subsequent conversation, Thranduil learned of Allen's intention, and this King of the Woodland Realm fell silent, and the originally lively banquet became cold and quiet at this moment.

"Evil forces are always like this; after being defeated, they always hide in dark corners unknown to anyone, rotting, breeding, and then coming back again and again; it has always been this way. Allen, I am sorry, I cannot agree to your request; I cannot allow my people to travel thousands of miles away to accompany you to the southern battlefield."

Regarding this reply, Allen understood; not to mention Thranduil's personality, the Silvan Elves of the Woodland Realm had once suffered heavy losses in the south; in the Last Alliance, the Battle of Dagorlad, the Silvan Elves paid the price of one king plus two-thirds of their casualties, and from that time on, the Elves in Mirkwood were no longer willing to pay attention to worldly affairs outside the forest.

But Allen was not willing to give up just like that, because this was a very rare opportunity; the evil forces entrenched in the north had been suppressed to an extremely small scale at this time, and only the Balrog of Moria was pinning down the Elves of Lothlorien.

And the other northern forces did not have many worries behind them; it was the right time to send troops to the south.

The more power Allen could gather in the north, the greater the blow to Sauron would be; Allen felt that in the coming decades, it was unlikely there would be such an opportunity again.

But before Allen could even state the reasons he had racked his brain over for a night, a crisp voice rang out.

"Father, I want to go."

It was Legolas who spoke; this young Elf was already full of weariness from constantly patrolling, patrolling, and patrolling in Mirkwood year after year; he often wanted to go out and take a look, to see those places where great events had occurred.

But as his father, Thranduil, always told him that the outside world was very dangerous and that Mirkwood was the place they were worth protecting, and time and again, he blocked Legolas's plans to go out.

At this moment, Legolas once again put forward his request to go.

Thranduil, who had been calm, now looked back at his son in disbelief, and although Legolas avoided his father's gaze, his head did not lower, which indicated that he would not submit to this.

Thranduil's state of mind was slightly chaotic; the relationship between the father and son had actually been very tense recently, especially since he had rejected Legolas's request to go to the battlefield.

But even so, his son had never defied his orders, let alone spoken out in opposition after he had made a decision, and it was in front of an outsider at that.

The very tactful Allen, seeing that the atmosphere at the scene was a bit off, decisively stood up to take his leave; the family affairs between these two Elves were absolutely not something he could participate in, and it seemed he was the fuse that had ignited this conflict.

Regardless of the current emotions, Thranduil maintained the etiquette that an Elven King should possess, extremely gracefully instructing his subordinates to arrange guest rooms for Allen and the others, and after the guests left, the remaining time belonged to the father and son.

Regarding what might happen next between this pair of Elven father and son, Allen did not want to speculate, but according to his understanding, Thranduil's temperament was extremely steady, and most of the time he would not reveal expressions he could not control, but that look of disbelief just now had been completely seen by Allen.

"Is Little Leaf going to be scolded until he cries?"

Before falling asleep, Allen worried a little about his friend, but he also knew that Thranduil's love for his son was very deep, even exceeding the jeweled Necklace left behind by his late wife; at most, this would just be confinement for a period of time, and there would likely be no other punishments.

In any case, Allen decided to leave here early tomorrow morning; although he had a tiny bit of responsibility for causing this conflict between father and son, he, as an outsider, absolutely could not interfere in such family affairs; the more he interfered, the messier it would get, and it would also cause Thranduil's dissatisfaction; leaving as soon as possible was the only correct choice.

With such thoughts, Allen fell into a deep sleep; in his dream, he seemed to dream of another outcome: in that one, he had not come to Middle-earth, Thorin Oakenshield was lying on the ice, covered in blood but smiling calmly as he said something to Bilbo Baggins, while the Hobbit's face was full of sorrow.

On the other side, a beautiful Elf was holding a Blacklocks Dwarf and crying bitterly; the sound of that crying was so miserable that it could break the heart of anyone who heard it.

Chapter 128: Legolas!

Inside the ruins, an Elf father and son were also saying something; Allen could not remember most of the content, only one sentence—"Your mother always loved you deeply, loved you more than anyone, more than life itself"—remained deeply etched in his memory when he awoke, and then the day dawned.

By the time Allen had prepared everything and went to bid farewell to the father and son of Thranduil, Legolas was already waiting for Allen in full military attire; not only him, but two hundred elite Elves clad in silver armor would accompany their Prince south to Gondor.

These silver-armored Elves were Thranduil's personal guards and were a rare Cavalry unit of the Woodland Realm.

Watching all this, Allen immediately knew what had happened; it was obvious that Legolas had relied on his father's love for him to win this standoff, and had even obtained a sizable escort.

"Allen, you and I have known each other for many years and hit it off immediately; in the days to come, I entrust my son to your care. Now, I wish you both a safe journey."

Thranduil said these parting words to Allen with a smile, but the look he gave Legolas afterward was filled with deep reluctance to part.

"Rest assured, I will. Farewell, Your Majesty."

"Mm, farewell."