Chapter 24: The Halls of Thranduil

For the arrival of the Elves, Allen felt it was unexpected, yet within the realm of reason.

The Elves of the Woodland Realm would certainly come to take a look at the situation of their new neighbor; Allen just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

In fact, the moment Allen's party arrived in the vicinity of the Carrock, they were detected by the Elves in Mirkwood, but they did not care; in their lives, which were long to the point of being nearly infinite, such things were all too common.

It was not until Allen repelled the Orc King's attack that he caught the attention of these Elves; it was then that they realized these new neighbors might not be so simple.

The matter was reported to the Elven King, but it did not attract Thranduil's attention.

This Elven King had sensed the growth of dark forces and was constantly shrinking the territory of the Elven kingdom.

He was happy to see a Human neighbor like Allen who dared to resist the dark forces, but it was not enough to warrant his concern.

Because this was likely just a flash in the pan, and soon, this Human village might vanish at the hands of the vast numbers of Orcish; he simply issued an order to continue observing and did not bring up the matter again.

It was not until Allen and his group headed to the Misty Mountains and had a fight with Bolg that the situation changed.

Allen rescued two injured Silvan Elves during this expedition, which was detected by the Elves in the forest; after it was reported up, it finally piqued Thranduil's interest.

To show respect to Allen, he sent his son Legolas to invite Allen to his palace and, incidentally, to take back the injured Silvan Elves.

Upon hearing that Elves had come to visit him and invited him to be a guest at Thranduil's palace, Allen felt a moment of being at a loss.

He called over his main subordinates, briefly told them about the current situation, and told everyone to manage things according to their usual habits during this time.

Then there was the matter of the Dwarves; he had promised before that if the Elves recovered, he would arrange for the Dwarves to go home, and clearly, the time had come.

Although Allen was very reluctant, he still sent someone to call Fudin and the others, and said to them: "My dear Dwarf friends, I am very happy to inform you that the moment to go home has finally arrived. Although I am very reluctant, during this period of time, you have helped Wilderness Village a great deal, but there is always a time for parting when people gather; it is time to send you home."

Upon hearing this, Fudin shook his head and said: "We have already discussed it; my nephew Fulei will stay here, and Tier will also stay here to complete the work I have yet to finish, so this time, only I need to be sent back."

The reason the old Dwarf made such a move was because, through his understanding during this time, Fudin greatly admired Allen's character.

He felt that Allen would certainly be able to build a great Human city on this land.

Therefore, Fudin hoped to establish a friendship between the Dwarves of the Iron Hills and the Humans of Wilderness Village.

The Dwarves were currently in a troubled time, and having one more ally meant having one more source of strength; this matter was beneficial and harmless to the Dwarves.

But the specific details still required old Fudin to go back and discuss them with Dain II, for his King to make the decision; old Fudin could only offer his own suggestion.

Unless it was a situation of last resort, the Dwarves would absolutely not leave their own kin to be stationed in a Human town for a long time to serve other races.

Allen was very grateful for the decision Fudin had made and solemnly expressed his thanks to Fudin.

Afterwards, he took Fudin to the village entrance to welcome the Silvan Elves from Mirkwood.

There were ten Silvan Elves in total who came to Wilderness Village to invite Allen.

The Elves were worthy of being the favorites of Eru Iluvatar, and they lived up to the saying that all the beauty in the world was embodied in them.

Each of their faces was extremely handsome, with long hair draped over their shoulders and slender figures; even while carrying their own injured kin, they appeared very composed.

Especially the leader, Legolas, who had long, pale golden hair and black eyebrows; Allen could not use his limited vocabulary to describe the beauty of a male Elf.

One could only say that Legolas possessed a face even more handsome than the average Elf, and his whole body seemed to radiate a faint, hard-to-detect light.

It was just that his expression now was not very good; he seemed rather unhappy, especially when he saw Fudin following behind Allen, his expression became even uglier.

According to the information provided by his subordinates, Allen saw the leader, Legolas, from afar.

After the two met, Allen extended an invitation to Legolas: "Lord Legolas, welcome to my village. Why don't we go inside and talk? Let me fulfill some of my duties as a host."

Legolas looked at this exceptionally young Human leader before him, feeling slightly surprised in his heart, but he did not show it; he simply maintained his etiquette and responded coldly: "No need, perhaps another time. Please prepare as quickly as possible and come with us to my father's halls. Be glad, Human; not just any random person can receive an invitation from my father."

In fact, before coming, Legolas did not have any opinion about this Human, Allen.

On the contrary, upon hearing that Allen had saved his kin, he even had a tiny bit of goodwill.

But after arriving at Wilderness Village, he discovered that Allen's subordinates were wantonly felling the trees of Mirkwood without his father's consent.

In Legolas's view, this was an invasion of the Woodland Realm's territory, which made him very angry, only he was under his father's orders and it was not easy to lash out.

Now that he saw the Dwarf Fudin behind Allen, Legolas became even angrier.

As everyone knows, the feud between Elves and Dwarves can be traced back to the distant First Age; the first King of the Sindar, Thingol, did not die at the hands of Morgoth, but died at the hands of greedy Dwarves; this was a debt that could not be clearly settled.

Added to the fact that the former King under the Mountain, Thror, had stolen their family's Starlight Gem, it would be strange if Legolas could have a good expression under these circumstances.

Allen did not mind Legolas's attitude.

Legolas at this time, or rather Legolas around the time of the Battle of the Five Armies, was not yet mature in temperament; he was hot-tempered and childish.

In fact, he was already an adult and not young in years, but under the care of his father, Thranduil, he was not considered mature.

It was not until the eve of the War of the Ring that he finally showed some growth, but his temper was still not particularly good.

Allen looked at the sour-faced Legolas, smiled, and said: "Alright then, I am ready."

As he spoke, he signaled for Fudin, Alayen, and his nine personal guards behind him to prepare to set off.

Allen had originally wanted to bring Yamila along, but she was too busy and could not leave; it would be better to go another time if there was a chance.

As for Cress, Cress was off playing and couldn't be found again, and Allen didn't want to take her anyway.

When Legolas saw that the Dwarf Fudin was also going to follow, his anger flared up.

He frowned with his handsome brows and said to Allen: "My father did not invite any Dwarves to his halls."

Allen looked at old Fudin, then looked at Legolas, and said: "Lord Legolas, your father, the respected King of the Woodland Realm, King Thranduil, invited me, did he not? Since he did not specifically state otherwise, then the right to decide who to bring along to accompany me is, I think, mine, is it not?"

Upon hearing this, Legolas's handsome brows furrowed even tighter.

He did not say anything more, but turned around directly to lead the way in front, saying without looking back: "Then you had better hurry and keep up."

Wilderness Village was quite far from the area where the Woodland Elves lived.

Even with Elves leading the way, it took more than five days just to walk from Wilderness Village to the secret door before Allen.

If it were only Elves, they would not need so long, because Elves do not need to sleep and their running speed is also very fast.

But the Humans and Dwarves in the group needed to; fortunately, Allen and his people were not weaklings either, and their physical fitness was very good, so they did not fall too far behind.

After entering Mirkwood, Allen's first feeling was that it was dark and stifling.

Legend has it that there is a kind of magic in Mirkwood that can make those who enter it particularly drowsy, until they start having hallucinations.

But Allen did not have these feelings along the way; he speculated that the Elves had some special way to deal with this situation, but Allen never asked about such matters related to racial secrets.

The days spent traveling through the forest were extremely monotonous; the sun could not be seen, and there was no way to know the passage of time.

The surrounding environment seemed to remain the same, nothing but trees upon trees, without the slightest change; when it grew dark they would rest, and after dawn, everyone would bury their heads and hurry along the road.

Because Legolas had not shown a pleasant expression along the way, Allen also lost the desire to chat with him, and could only continue to follow the Woodland Elves forward in silence, as if the Elf Path beneath his feet would never come to an end.

However, good things also happened; those two injured Silvan Elves had actually begun to recover.

Previously, in Allen's village, the condition of these two had never improved, but now there were finally signs of a turn for the better; Allen was quite happy for these two Elves, as he did not wish for the people he had managed to save to die in the arms of their own kin—this was a tragedy, and Allen hoped for as few such tragedies as possible.

In the environment of the forest, Allen could no longer distinguish the passing of years, knowing only that he had been walking for a long time.

On this day, the surrounding environment finally changed.

They walked into a forest where the trees were sparse, and the sun appeared through the gaps in the trees; the sunlight shone on Allen's face from time to time, giving Allen a refreshing feeling.

Walking further ahead, a stone bridge appeared beneath Allen's feet, built over a rushing river; on the opposite side of the bridge were several arches formed by large trees, and behind the gates was the entrance to a palace.

On both sides of the palace were green hillsides, and the large trees on the slopes extended all the way to the riverbank, with thick roots stretching directly into the river.

After entering the palace, Allen and his subordinates looked at the interior of the palace frequently, like country bumpkins.

It was not that Allen had never seen places more magnificent than this, but this kind of woodland fantasy style had only ever been seen in movies; it was said that this palace was also the handiwork of Dwarves.

The palace also contained some elements of Magic—at least, Allen considered them to be Magic; for instance, the gate Allen had just entered closed by itself, and there were those silver-white lights that one could not tell why they lit up, but they shone very steadily, just like the electric lights of his past life.

For Allen, who had been using candles for two months, this brought a sense of inexplicable familiarity.

The group stopped in front of a corridor formed by the roots of large trees.

Legolas went in to report, and soon, Legolas appeared before Allen again, accompanied by some Elves.

"You may come with me to meet my father; your subordinates will be well treated by my kin, including this Dwarf from the Iron Hills."

Regarding the Dwarf, Allen had never worried; Thranduil would certainly not make things difficult for Lao Fuding. In the movie and the original work, even when Thorin refused his proposal, he merely locked them up and provided them with good food and drink.

This Sindar Elf was a wise king, though he was a bit of a recluse, constantly shrinking the territory of the Woodland Realm; Allen speculated that it was because he cherished the lives of his kin very much.

Although after Elves died, they would go to the Halls of Mandos in Valinor to be reincarnated.

But this branch of Elves in Mirkwood was different; whether it was the Silvan Elves who had lived here originally, or the Sindar Elves who had migrated later, they were unwilling to go to Valinor.

They liked living in Middle-earth, and whether it was their former leader Oropher or the current leader Thranduil, both respected the traditions here very much.

After meeting Thranduil, Allen felt ashamed once again for his lack of vocabulary, and could only say that this was a Sindar Elf who was on par with Legolas.

Yet, unlike Legolas, his demeanor was noble, his expression calm, and one could tell he was a majestic king.

He wore a crown woven from fresh flowers and sat on a carved wooden chair, a hint of a smile in his eyes as he watched Legolas lead Allen to his throne.

The king rose and walked down from his throne, and with a smile on his bright, beautiful face, he said: "Welcome, benefactor who saved my kin, to be a guest in my palace."

Allen nodded to Thranduil in greeting; he was a little nervous and subconsciously said a bit more.

"Respected Lord Thranduil, you need not be so formal. The history of mutual aid between our two races can even be traced back to the Battle of Unnumbered Tears in the First Age. The great King Thingol of the Elf race even adopted Túrin Turambar, the son of Hurin; although there was some unpleasantness later, it is still a story worth telling. There are also rumors that Beren of the Human race married the daughter of King Thingol, though it happened so long ago that it cannot be verified. Compared to the great deeds between our two races thousands of years ago, what is this small, insignificant act of mine?"

Allen's words left Thranduil a little surprised.

These deeds that happened thousands of years ago were not things that just any young Human could casually speak of; he even began to suspect that the young man before him was not Human.

However, Thranduil did not discover anything unusual about Allen, and could only look at the black-haired Allen and probe: "Are you a descendant of the House of Beor or the House of Hador?" (The stories Allen told were one from the House of Beor and one from the House of Hador; they were among the ancestors of the Humans of Middle-earth.)

Allen saw the hint of surprise in Thranduil's eyes and said: "Looking at my hair color, you can tell I am not a descendant of the House of Hador. My family has many scrolls recording history, from thousands of years ago to recent times. I am obsessed with them, but ironically, the scrolls do not contain the origin of our own clan."

Thranduil felt somewhat relieved and said jokingly: "I did not expect that a young wise man was standing before me. Forgive my rudeness, please come with me."

Allen hurriedly said: "In front of the wise King Thranduil, how would I dare to call myself a wise man? You can just call me Allen."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Thranduil's mouth smiled slightly, but it disappeared very quickly.

Afterward, the group arrived at the king's banquet hall, and Allen, Thranduil, and Legolas sat down at a separate dining table.

The Elves began to serve delicious food and mellow Wine one after another, and Thranduil expressed his welcome to Allen again, announcing that the banquet had begun.

Thranduil took a sip of the Wine in his cup and said seemingly casually: "Then, young wise man, I wonder if your family records the grievances between our race and the Dwarves?"

Allen stopped eating, pondered in his heart, and slowly opened his mouth to say: "There are indeed some tragic stories that should not have happened recorded in my family's scrolls, such as King Thingol dying at the hands of Dwarves because of the Nauglamir inlaid with the Silmaril; this was a tragic event."

Speaking to this point, Allen paused, looked at Thranduil, and continued: "And for another example, a matter that occurred recently: the former King Under the Mountain, Thror, under the control of sickness and a Ring of Power, stole the treasure of your family, the Starlight Gem; this was also a matter that should not have happened."

Having said this, Allen paused, then added:

"This cannot help but remind me of a saying from a wise man of our race. That is, Humans often want to learn lessons from past events, but often the lesson they learn is that Humans never learn lessons. I think this sentence can also be used to summarize the two stories I just mentioned."

Thranduil's expression became serious, and he stared at Allen: "Those are not stories, Allen. Since you know all these things, why do you still dare to bring a Dwarf to my palace?"

At this moment, not only Thranduil, but even Legolas stared at Allen, waiting for Allen's answer.

Allen looked at the two Sindar Elves staring at him, slowly rose, stood straight, and said slowly: "Respected Lord Thranduil, I think that between Dwarves and Elves, there is not only hatred, but also great friendship; the same is true for Humans and Dwarves. We have fought side by side against the great enemy, have we not? In the dark tunnels of the Misty Mountains, I saved them from the hands of the dark minions when they were on the verge of death. Then I think I have the responsibility to send them safely back to their own home, especially since they have helped us a lot during this time. I hope that you, in your wisdom and benevolence, can forgive this slight offense of mine."

In fact, Thranduil did not mind Allen bringing a Dwarf into his hall; having been a king for thousands of years, he still had that much magnanimity. He just wanted to see how the young man before him would answer this question.

Allen's answer satisfied him; having lived for countless years, he could fully tell that the young man before him was indeed sincere in wanting to send that Dwarf named Fudin back to the Iron Hills.

Thranduil smiled slightly, a smile so faint it was barely perceptible; he felt that he had met a very interesting young Human today.

In his long life, he had seen countless Humans, among whom there was no lack of excellent kings, but the young man before him gave him a feeling that, compared to those wise kings whose names would live forever, Allen would not be any worse than they were back then.

"I certainly would not mind this slight offense; in fact, I would like to invite you to be a guest here, but I think you must be eager to send that Dwarf named Fudin back to his homeland."

Thranduil turned his head and said to Legolas: "I want you to act as a guide, and after you take Allen and the others to the Iron Hills, you may return."

Legolas nodded and agreed; through this conversation, his perception of Allen had also undergone some changes, as some of the events in Allen's words were not even known in detail by him.

Upon hearing this, Allen nodded to thank Thranduil; he knew that he should have gained the friendship of the Woodland Elves.

The banquet ended with both host and guests enjoying themselves.

And after resting in Thranduil's palace for a day, Allen set off for the Iron Hills once again.