Chapter 41: Orc Town

The Misty Mountains are the longest mountain range on the continent of Middle-earth, stretching over 800 kilometers from south to north.

It was a mountain range forcibly pulled up from the earth by Morgoth using his own power during the ancient times.

It is said that this was a mad act performed by Morgoth to protect his subordinates from the pursuit of Orome, the hunter among the Valar.

To its north, it borders the Grey Mountains, Mount Gundabad, and the Angmar Mountains.

To the south, it reaches the Fords of Rohan, where Saruman's Isengard is located.

The two main passes that can cross the mountain range are the High Pass and Redhorn Pass.

And now, the members of the Expedition are walking on the path of the High Pass.

In fact, the High Pass has both a high and a low path; the lower one is relatively wider and easier to walk. At the end of the Second Age, during the Last Alliance, armies passed through here.

The higher path is very precipitous, and large groups of people generally cannot pass through it.

However, in recent years, Orcish activity has been very frequent, making the lower path extremely dangerous.

Therefore, the members of the Expedition, following Gandalf's suggestion, set foot on the higher path of the High Pass.

Yes, due to Allen's influence, the White Council did not hold a meeting in Rivendell.

Thus, this Grey Wizard was also able to set foot on the Misty Mountains together with the Dwarves.

At this time, the horses in the party could no longer follow them, so everyone divided the supplies they carried and drove the horses back.

Bilbo Baggins was a bit worried about them, but according to Gandalf, they would return to Rivendell smoothly and live there.

At this moment, Allen was more worried about the safety of the members of the Expedition.

Because the tunnels of Orc Town had already been dug to this point, and the moment of destiny would also be born at this time; he did not know whether he should stop it.

Allen was somewhat anxious and could only keep his head down, performing reconnaissance work at the front of the party.

But without horses, Allen could not stray too far from the party, and the efficiency of his reconnaissance was very low.

Fortunately, the party trekked through the mountains for more than a week without encountering any accidents or enemies.

The weather had also been good, which made Allen's mood gradually improve, and he gave up the idea of interfering with anything.

Although the road was relatively difficult to walk, everyone's mood was quite good, and they chatted along the way.

After all, everyone had rested well in Rivendell, and their physical strength and spirits had fully recovered.

But all of this was ruined today; in the torrential rain, even though everyone was wearing ponchos, the icy rain still soaked through their clothes.

The mountain path also became slippery and difficult to walk under the influence of the rain, and from time to time, gravel accompanied by mud would rush down from the hillside above, not knowing whose head it might land on.

Allen keenly sensed that something was wrong and requested to slow down the pace of the entire party; Thorin Oakenshield looked at the terrible weather and agreed.

Even with the reduced speed, the journey was full of dangers.

The others were fine; the Dwarves had steady footing, and the two large people had rich experience in wilderness survival.

Only Bilbo Baggins, with a small sword hanging at his waist, was particularly uncomfortable.

This Hobbit had lived in the area of Hobbiton his whole life and had never walked such a precipitous road.

And the current predicament made this Hobbit, who had never traveled far, feel exceptionally arduous.

He had encountered life-threatening dangers several times in a short period, and the members of the Expedition had helped him to varying degrees.

Otherwise, his little life would have long since been lost in these dangerous mountains.

And our leader, the sharp-tongued Thorin Oakenshield, was extremely dissatisfied with the Hobbit, inwardly believing that Bilbo Baggins was dragging the whole party down.

Even after saving Bilbo's life, he did not forget to say a few heart-stabbing words.

The dangerous environment and the heart-stabbing words caused the thoughts in Bilbo Baggins's heart to constantly change.

Allen could see that this Hobbit's longing for Rivendell was growing deeper and deeper.

However, an even unluckier thing happened: a boulder that looked bigger than Allen flew toward him as he walked at the very front of the party.

The boulder was not deliberately attacking Allen, but it smashed fiercely in front of him.

The booming sound instantly entered Allen's ears, and the splashing fragments even scratched his sweat-covered cheeks.

Death had never been so close to Allen; in that instant, Allen stopped in his tracks, and after being stunned for a few seconds, Allen turned back and shouted for everyone to retreat.

The party fell into chaos for a moment, but soon, under the command of Thorin Oakenshield, Gandalf, and Allen, they ran back the way they came, moving away from the site of the Stone-giant's struggle.

Even so, deafening sounds would come from behind from time to time, forcing everyone's pace to become increasingly hurried.

Soon, everyone arrived at the back of a mountain peak, and the rumbling sounds kept echoing on the other side of the mountain.

Everyone was panting with ashen faces, no longer having the desire to speak.

The heavy rain in the sky had not stopped, but the rumbling sound finally subsided after lasting for an hour.

Everyone had to continue with heavy steps, setting foot on the mountain path again.

Although the road had been damaged somewhat by the Stone-giants' struggle, it was still passable if one was careful.

It just took a lot of time, and everyone appeared even more exhausted.

Thorin Oakenshield asked Allen to find a place suitable for rest; Allen nodded and set off.

Not long after, Allen finally discovered a cave in a slightly hidden place; it was very spacious inside, and also very dry, making it very suitable for everyone to camp here.

Allen did not know if this was the cave from the movie; whether it was or not, he did not care anymore.

What he knew was that the current state of the members of the Expedition was very poor; if they did not rest, their exhausted bodies and strained spirits might cost them their lives.

And Thorin Oakenshield, upon receiving the news, asked if the cave was safe.

Allen frowned and said, "There is not a single safe cave in the Misty Mountains; you had better keep one eye open when you sleep."

Thorin Oakenshield smiled after hearing this and did not say much more.

Due to Allen's previous suggestion, Thorin Oakenshield had stayed in Rivendell for a long time.

Because Lord Elrond did not show opposition to the expedition matters and had helped the Dwarves a lot.

This caused Thorin Oakenshield's attitude toward the Elves of Rivendell to change, and it also made him inwardly grateful for the efforts made by Allen and Gandalf.

Therefore, after walking out of Rivendell, Thorin Oakenshield implicitly expressed his gratitude to Allen, and Allen felt it and responded.

This greatly eased the relationship between the two, and also made the conversations between Allen and Thorin Oakenshield no longer as reserved as before.

The group was extremely exhausted; upon hearing there was a place to rest, they quickened their pace one after another, and before long, led by Allen, they arrived at the camping spot.

Everyone built a fire, and after simply eating something, they began to rest; truly too many things had happened this day.

At this time, Bofur was keeping watch, Bilbo was planning an escape, and Allen leaned close to Gandalf, not daring to sleep.

He was somewhat worried that this cave also connected to Orc Town; Allen even believed that all the caves near the High Pass led to that Orcish den.

Sure enough, while the group was resting, the Orcish attack came as expected.

Although they had a warning from Bilbo who was preparing to run away, the group was still caught red-handed by the Orcish in the sudden panic, but Gandalf and Allen were not discovered.

Gandalf used Magic upon an earlier warning from Allen, and this Magic made Gandalf and the Allen who was leaning close to him become unnoticeable.

After waiting for the commotion to subside, the two jumped into Orc Town before the stone crack closed.

It was damp and gloomy here, with only a few torches bringing a tiny bit of light to the place; placed within it, Allen could only barely see the path under his feet clearly.

The one who ruled this place was Allen's old nemesis, the Orc King.

His subordinates often used this method to capture passing caravans.

Therefore, the Expedition party was not deliberately ambushed, but had encountered an Orcish trap.

A large number of Orcish ran along the wooden drawbridge toward the depths of the cave.

They wanted to go see who was so lucky today to have captured prey.

After all, it had been a long time since any travelers had come by the High Pass.

Allen hid in the darkness; he did not have the talent of a Hobbit to slip away silently among a crowd, so he needed to hide well.

Once all the Orcish had left this place, Allen drew his Longsword and followed along the path the Orcish had taken.

Gandalf?

After Allen jumped down, he could no longer see this old man; it was possible that this Wizard's Magic had affected Allen's vision, or perhaps he had his own plans.

In any case, it was not yet Allen's turn to worry about his safety; after tidying up a little, Allen followed along the path the Orcish had gone.

Walking along the path, Allen had just turned a corner when he saw a bit of blue light fall into the depths of the darkness; that was Bilbo Baggins and his Sting.

Allen knew that the gears of fate were rolling, and that Ring which stirred Middle-earth would also find its new master at this moment.

It was just that what this Ring did not expect was that running from the hands of a shut-in to another strong-willed, laid-back fellow was not a good thing.

Actually, on the way, Allen had always thought about whether he should tell Gandalf about the Ring early; this matter had tangled in Allen's heart for a long time.

But in the end, Allen still decided not to say it.

Allen had many concerns; in fact, at this time, Sauron's power had already recovered quite a bit.

His shadow had already shrouded Middle-earth once again a long time ago.

Think about it, in ten years, Sauron would lay his cards on the table in Mordor to tell everyone he was back, and furthermore, he would keep suppressing Gondor after that.

One could imagine how formidable his power was at this time.

Another of Allen's concerns was the White Wizard Saruman.

If Gandalf knew the whereabouts of the One Ring at this time, he would inevitably summon the members of the White Council to discuss how to dispose of it.

Then this One Ring would have a very high probability of falling into the hands of the White Council leader, Saruman; this result was something Allen could not accept no matter what.

By then, the War of the Ring would definitely be brought forward, and the good faction would not only have to deal with Sauron, but also with Saruman, who had already fallen into the power and possessed the Ring.

Then the world would enter the era of the Two Towers competing for supremacy; this was simply nightmare mode.

Allen dared not imagine what kind of disaster his people would suffer by then.

Allen had also thought about whether Gandalf would head straight to Mount Doom after learning of the One Ring's whereabouts, but subsequently, Allen dismissed this thought.

In the original trajectory, after Gandalf confirmed the whereabouts of the One Ring, he still requested Frodo to take the Ring to Rivendell, where he sought the opinion of Lord Elrond.

So at this time, if Gandalf knew, he would indeed change his route, but it was more likely he would head to Lothlorien and then organize a meeting to discuss how to handle it.

At this time, Saruman had already sunk into the power but had not yet been exposed; he had many opportunities, and they were all above board.

After thinking it over, Allen felt it was better for him not to do anything; he still needed to find more opportunities to develop his own strength to bring a glimmer of new possibility to the War of the Ring.

As for whether to keep it for his own use, Allen scoffed at the idea.

Not to mention whether Allen could control the power within the Ring.

He did not have the desireless temperament of Bilbo Baggins.

Therefore, at this moment, seeing that glimmer of blue light, he did not hesitate and headed straight forward.

Until he saw a bright, spacious cave crawling with Orcish everywhere.

There were at least a thousand of them, dense and packed.

And a massive Orc was leading a few small Orcs in singing heavy metal music, with the captured Dwarves before his eyes.

Allen crawled on his body, slowly approaching the concert scene.

When he walked close, Allen saw Gandalf, who was hiding in a corner, not knowing what he was preparing.

Gandalf also noticed Allen; he held his index finger to his lips, signaling Allen to keep quiet.

Allen knew what would happen next and consciously squinted his eyes.

He knew the moment to slip away was almost here.

Very quickly, Gandalf released the Magic he had prepared for a long time.

A burst of strong light accompanied by a gale attacked the surrounding Orcish.

This burst of strong light directly blinded all the Orcish, and the gale almost blew out the nearby firelight.

Subsequently, Gandalf's loud and majestic voice echoed in the cave.

"Take up your weapons, fight, quickly."

Encouraged by this voice, the Dwarves, who recovered faster, grabbed their weapons one after another.

Accompanied by Gandalf's shout, "Follow me quickly."

Everyone followed one after another behind Gandalf and began to run.

Very quickly, the cave became a chaotic mess; the Dwarfs ran along the narrow path while fighting against the Orcish that were surrounding them.

These Orcish seemed endless; they brandished the Curved Blades and wooden clubs in their hands, intercepting everyone like madmen.

In just over ten minutes, over a hundred Orcish corpses lay on the path the Dwarfs had traveled.

Allen followed at the very back of the group, running quickly while killing the scum that blocked his way.

As the group kept running, Orcish holding bows and arrows soon appeared in various parts of the cave.

Arrows whizzed over the heads of the Dwarfs, and the group was suddenly plunged into danger.

Facing this situation, Allen decisively put away the Longsword in his hand and took out the Noldor Rune Bow.

He arrived at the center of the group and, under the cover of the other Dwarfs, shot and killed those Orcish Archer.

After all, he did not know that fancy bow-fighting style of Legolas, where one could slaughter everyone in all directions just by holding a bow.

Under Allen's precise attacks, these Orcish Archer suffered heavy casualties, and no more arrows flew toward the group.

Taking this opportunity, everyone increased their speed again to keep up with Gandalf's pace.

Just as everyone stepped onto a wooden bridge, the wooden bridge deck suddenly fractured, and the Orc King appeared right before everyone's eyes.

He brandished the scepter in his hand and attacked Gandalf; his powerful strength forced this Grey Wizard back.

At this moment, behind the group were swarms of Orcish, and before them was the Orc King, who blocked the path all by himself.

Allen did not want to wait for this big guy to say anything; he raised the Rune Bow in his hand and shot an arrow toward his head, pinning him to the bridge deck.

It could be considered avenging the soldiers who had sacrificed themselves over the years.

But Allen had forgotten that the wooden bridge beneath everyone's feet could not withstand the ravages of the Orc King's corpse at all.

It snapped while swaying, and caught off guard, he fell into the deep pit along with all his companions.

Fortunately, there were many Dwarfs cushioning Allen from beneath, so he was not injured at this moment.

Unfortunately, Allen, who had been knocked dizzy, had only just reacted.

The Orc King's massive corpse then heavily crushed down onto everyone, causing secondary injuries to them all.

Even though Allen had sensed the danger before this and struggled to roll over,

his left arm was still pinned, and waves of piercing pain assaulted Allen's brain.