"Calm down, Thorin."
Gandalf looked away from the dragonborn and turned to the irritable dwarf prince, and he frowned.
"No one complained that you let the beast Azog go. We all have a blood feud with him, but this is not a reason for us to lose our minds. Please act like a qualified crown prince, Thorin Oakenshield, don't let your mind always Covered by hatred! This is my advice and good words to you!"
The old wizard's voice was extremely loud, as if coming from the sky.
Dwalin jumped up and rushed to the prince, watching the wizard and his 'minions' warily.
Thorin was also stunned, the anger in his eyes suppressed.
"Mithrandil!"
Childan frowned and said softly.
Gandalf then restrained his majesty and returned to the appearance of an ordinary old man. He sighed and said to Thorin, who had a gloomy expression but had calmed down: "Son of Thrain, has no one warned you to act with caution? Do you want to be impulsive? In the not too long future, the fate of you and the Turin dwarves will undergo the most difficult and darkest test. Don't let stubbornness and hatred cloud your heart, because that will make you irrecoverable."
Listening to this terrible prophecy, Duwalin's expression changed, thinking that the wizard was cursing the prince and the dwarf.
He was furious and wanted to fight the wizard, but Thorin dissuaded him.
The calmed down dwarf prince was keenly aware of the strange feeling that came over him as the wizard revealed his fate.
"Then I'll accept it."
Thorin Oakenshield has a strange expression, with the perseverance and stubbornness of a lone hero.
The loyal Duvalin immediately nodded with emotion on his face.
Cirdan and the wizard sighed together.
"Then so be it!"
Gandalf's figure became rickety again, and a gray and defeated aura returned to him. "Fate will always fall on you, just as it was determined when it was woven, who can escape? Anyway, I can't."
The hall became silent, the talk of fate ended, and a heavy atmosphere weighed on everyone's hearts.
"But things in the world are always changing. Who can say that he will definitely control his destiny?"
Childan spoke up to break the heavy atmosphere in the conclave.
He looked at Gandalf.
The gray-robed wizard didn't speak, but the aura of gray and defeat on his body did dissipate a lot.
The two communicated with each other tacitly with their eyes, and then the master of Gray Harbor spoke.
"But today's topic is not an illusory fate, but a real war situation. We have been sending people to track the traces of the orcs to confirm that they have completely left our country before returning. Among them, we discovered The figure of the pale orc..."
Childan nodded to Galdo, who had been standing watching the show for a long time, indicating that he could start.
An elf knight in military uniform immediately stepped forward and said calmly but gracefully: "We were divided into groups of people, starting from the north and east, and drove away the defeated orcs together. But because the dwarves came from the north, There were not many Orcs fleeing to the north. Most of them fled the battlefield eastward, and then passed through the valley between the Dusk Hills and the Shire, or turned north and fled into the desolate and abandoned Annuminas, or continued Head east, into Dead Man's Causeway."
Here, Galdo paused, seeming to have a bad impression of the place he was talking about.
"That is Fornost."
He said.
"The capital of Arthedain, the last kingdom of Western humans in the north, was where the elves and humans fought against the evil forces of the time. It was filled with corpses and terrifying shadows."
Hearing this familiar place name, Chierdan, who had personally experienced the war, couldn't help but frown.
Dragon Byrne listened quietly, no one knew what he was thinking in his heart at the moment.
Of course, it's possible that he didn't understand most of it.
When Thorin and Dwalin heard these legendary ancient place names, they couldn't help but whisper to each other again.
Soon, they came to the same conclusion as the elves.
"Most of the orcs continued to flee north. They passed through the narrow plains and canyons between the Dusk Hills and Fornost, and entered the Eden Wasteland. The direction was exactly the largest stronghold of the evil forces in the north - the Witch of Ancient Angmar. Karndum of the kingdom.”
"How many are they?"
The dwarf prince's heart has been occupied by the shadow of the evil dragon for too long. The hatred of losing his homeland and his people makes him easily fall into paranoid anger, but when he is calm, Thorin Oakenshield is indeed a qualified commander. No one can ignore it.
Thorin, who had calmed down, immediately asked a question that everyone was concerned about.
The elf knight Galdo, who was responsible for tracking these orcs, immediately gave a number that everyone frowned upon.
This number is a bit beyond everyone's imagination.
"Too much."
Thorin's expression was very ugly. "I thought most of them were wiped out on the battlefield. When our cavalry attacked, most of them had fled."
He looked at Dwalin.
But Dwalin was also with Thorin at that time, and he was not worried about the subsequent war, so he shook his head gently.
But Gandalf's words explained this point very well.
"When the elves and dwarves' cavalry rushed in, the orcs had indeed been defeated, but there were too many of them. The cavalry could not wipe them out in one go. They just cut and defeated these guys, really giving the orcs a huge The ones who were killed were the dwarf guards."
Having said this, the wizard glanced at the dwarf prince again.
"But the dwarf guards soon fell into huge chaos, causing a large part of the orcs to successfully escape from the battlefield, and this is what we have to worry about."
He said.
"At least 10,000 orcs have fled back to their home base in the north. This is a powerful force. The terrain of Karndum determines that the orcs can sweep south from the north at any time and destroy those in front of them. civilized country, just as they destroyed the Kingdom of Cardolan, Rhudaur and Arthedain. Or they can completely hold on to the former fortress of Carn Dum and threaten the huge northern border. Yes, this does not mean It is not difficult to deduce, because Azog, the strategic master, has the vision to see this. Moreover, there is a senior’s deeds in front of him to guide him. "
The wizard was worried, his eyes were full of anxiety, and the wrinkles on his face contained worries about the future of Middle-earth.
"In addition, the sky in the Misty Mountains is occupied by shadows for an increasingly long time. I am worried that if this threat cannot be eliminated in time, a larger and more dangerous black tide will be triggered in the future."
He revealed the real theme of tonight's secret meeting.
"So I hope that the dwarves can work with the elves to catch Azog off guard before the beast Azog has a firm foothold in Karndum, and eliminate the orc force in the north invisible!"
Hearing the wizard's trump card, Thorin Oakenshield blurted out.
"This is impossible."
He frowned, a hint of dissatisfaction flashing in his eyes.
"Our losses are not small. The bodies and minds of many dwarves have been eroded by the shadow of Turin's nemesis. These dwarves will no longer be able to go to the battlefield in the future. They can only look after horned sheep and do some farm work. In addition, those who have already gone to the ancestral hall, We have lost at least a quarter of our combat effectiveness! This is even worse for the Turin dwarves who have had their homes taken away and are displaced!"
Thorin Oakenshield looked coldly at the wizards and elves present. The king's cunning and cold-bloodedness were perfectly combined at this moment.
"Everyone's destiny in Middle-earth needs to be fought for by themselves! Wizard, the dwarves are worthy of the price you paid. We helped the elves repel the enemy, but the blood of the dwarves will not be shed forever. Please forgive me for rejecting this offer. A proposal!”
"Thorin."
"No, I said it, the dwarves refuse to send troops again to pay for your so-called "plan"! This is crazy, an expedition? Is this your reward for the Durin dwarves who saved the Northern Elves? Let more dwarves die? Wizard, your heart is unimaginably evil! "
The rejection of the dwarves was sudden but appropriate, even a little arrogant.
But there is no way, this is the dwarf.
Maybe they are brave, perseverant, and informal, but it has to be said that foresight has never been the nature and advantage of this race.
What the world sees more is their stubborn, arrogant and arrogant side.
No, seeing the dwarf prince and his cousins start a new round of nest-explosion, Cirdan and Gandalf couldn't help but have a headache again.
"So, what can I do?"
A voice interrupted the noisy meeting.
It's Dragon Byrne.
He stood up, his tall body even blocking a small shadow.
The golden vertical pupils were so shining in the dim elf hall, like two gems.
"If a person dies like a hero, then he/she should be honored!
If our life is a gift from heroes, then we should pick up the unfinished business of heroes and keep it from being extinguished!
This is a tribute to the heroes and a test of our own beliefs.
Now, I will follow my heart and make a sacred vow.
As long as I don't cut off the head of the pale orc for one day, my revenge will not stop for one day!
Because this is the last thing I can do for Eliven and all the northern elves who died today. "
No one knew why Dragon Byrne, who had been silent since last night's battle, suddenly spoke such a long sentence, a sentence with a mess of grammatical vocabulary.
But when he said that oath with a calm expression and firm eyes, everyone understood the meaning behind it.
Because this is a cry from the soul, a confession of the human heart, witnessed by Valar and Ilúvatar, it has inexplicable magic.
"Ocrianum!"
Cirdan's expression was extremely shocked, because he knew that in Arda, once a sacred oath was made, it would be recognized by fate.
In other words, once the oath is made, it will entangle you forever. It will become a shackles that bind you, oppress you, and drive you until you complete the destiny contained in this oath.
Among them, the most famous one is the oath made by Feanor and his seven sons to regain the Silmarillion.
Gandalf was also extremely shocked.
Because when the black-haired dragonborn blurted out the extremely famous "oath" in the future, the wizard immediately felt an extremely sacred and dazzling aura.
He thought that some Valar had cast His holy gaze.
Bear witness to the Dragonborn's oath.
Therefore, the gray-robed wizard lowered his white-haired head deeply to show respect.
Elf Galdo was even more unbearable. The moment the black-haired dragonborn swore his oath, he knelt down on one knee.
This is the behavior of a hero.
he thinks.
I shall follow.
Thorin Oakenshield opened his mouth wide, as if he couldn't believe that a "terrible" oath was witnessed and remembered in front of him.
A strong impulse caused him to blurt out.
"No, Azog's head is mine, and I will not allow you to chop off his head before me! Ah, I mean, we will avenge the dwarves ourselves!"
Perhaps moved by the holy light brought by this sacred oath, the dwarf prince was a little embarrassed and a little ashamed of his cowardice.
Because he never dared to make such a firm oath, even for revenge.
So, under the witness of elves and wizards, Thorin Oakenshield lowered his proud head for the first time.
He said.
"I will fight for you, Oath Keeper!"
The dwarf prince sincerely put one hand on his chest and made a decision that surprised even Dwalin: "The dwarves will send troops just to keep the hero's cause alive."
