The northern expedition that took place from the end of August to the beginning of October in the year 2931 of the Third Era was destined to be a major event that will be remembered throughout the ages.
But any big event is made up of every tiny detail.
Some of the little things that happened on the expedition are unknown.
As he got closer to the evil fortress in the north, the fire in Dragon Byrne's heart grew stronger.
Along the way, he always rode Nahar, leaving the large coalition forces far away. He flew for dozens of miles alone, looking towards the north eagerly and restlessly.
It wasn't until Fenner and Gandalf caught up with him that he calmed down again.
But even so, he soon returned to his old ways, quickly abandoned the large army and ran away far away.
This worried Gandalf. Because he knew that this was a sacred oath testing his mind.
This test will not end until he fulfills his sworn destiny.
Finna also noticed this.
But like Gandalf, there was nothing she could do about it.
Only the black-haired dragonborn had to face this matter alone, and no one else could help him.
This is the power of oaths in the world of Middle-earth. It is not a joke you say casually. Here, oaths have magic power that you cannot imagine.
Fortunately, in the next few days, Dragon Byrne seemed to be aware of changes in himself, and he began to consciously control his emotions.
He no longer rode Nahal straight to the north.
Instead, he was patiently wandering in front of the coalition forces, not too fast, but not too slow.
At night, the holy light on Nahar's body was like a bright light, guiding the direction of the coalition forces.
At this time, Fenner will always hum a beautiful melody. That was almost the most gratifying and encouraging thing for dwarves and humans during that period of time.
But even so, the black-haired dragonborn always seemed to have a fire in his eyes, making anyone or anything that dared to get close tremble with fear.
This symptom reached its peak when the Allied forces finally reached the mountains of Angmar.
It was a fortress built on a mountainside.
A rugged mountain road connects to the plain below.
There are steep rock walls on both sides, with two towering towers on the left and right clamping the winding mountain road. Like two demon dogs from hell, guarding the path of the underworld.
In addition, the entire city wall of Karndum is made of black rocks, which is thick and solid. There are arrow towers and riprap towers on both sides.
The city gate is made of black iron, like a big mouth leading to hell, gloomy and emitting black gas.
The city walls and gates are all covered with very evil magic, and anyone who dares to touch or attack them will suffer terrible backlash.
This is Karndum, the largest and most eerie Orc stronghold in the north. Almost all the elves and dwarves who saw this fortress couldn't help but have this thought in their hearts.
Perhaps this is our last expedition.
The halls of Mandos/Mahal call to me.
The rangers of the Dúnedain were also shocked by the terrifying fortress in front of them. Halbarad couldn't help but said to Arathorn: "The next fate is not under our control. Lord Arathorn, I hope your decision Still wise and far-sighted. For my heart trembled when I saw that terrible fortress.”
Arathorn was also shocked by the sight before him. He whispered: "Halbarad, I do not regret this decision. But as you said, when we stand in front of this terrible dark fortress, Our destiny is not up to us. So, I want to give you another task now! Please bring my son and wife to Rivendell, so that even if I die in battle, I can still feel at ease. "
But Halbarad shook his head.
He said.
"I said before that I am just worried about our fate, but it does not mean that I am afraid of facing it. Leave this matter to others. I have already left you once, and now I prefer to use my sword and my life here. Protect you, my lord."
The attitude is very determined.
Helpless, Arathorn could only send another warrior back to their place of residence, and brought his wife Gilraen and son, who would become Aragorn in the future, to Rivendell and gave them to his friend Elrond to raise.
And this also ensures that the kingship of the human kingdom of Gondor will continue in the future.
"Warriors, our end is in sight. Prepare your armor and swords, check your crossbows and arrows, and come with me to face our destiny."
Seeing his enemy right in front of him, Dragon Byrne could no longer hold back. The power of his oath was driving him, and the flames in his golden vertical pupils were almost coming out.
He turned around and said loudly: "Those who retreat should be despised!"
Including Thorin, the expressions of everyone in the coalition changed.
Everyone began to sort out the loose team.
I saw elves standing behind with guns and swords and bows and arrows in hand, their banners clear.
The dwarves stood in front of the formation, holding shields and spears in hand, motionless as a mountain.
The Horn Sheep Riders line up on the left.
The ranks of the Dúnedain gathered on the right.
Gandalf and Thorin and Arathorn were at his side, advising him.
Everyone is preparing to meet their fate.
When the coalition forces' formations were reorganized, the coalition's horns sounded one after another.
First came the three thick roars of the dwarves, followed by the three melodious and surging sounds of the elf horns.
At that time, because the kingship of the Dúnedain had not yet been asserted, the human horns did not sound for this battle. If not, the orcs in Karndumri would have been even more frightened that day.
But even so, when the loud horns of the dwarves and elves sounded in the north, the ice and snow on the top of the Angmar Mountains also knew that the power of light had once again arrived in the north.
With anger and hatred, they vowed to overthrow the rule of the orcs in the north.
This made the orcs in Karndum Fortress extremely frightened.
Under the curses and whips of the pale orc Azog, the cunning and cruel half-orc leader, they all swarmed up the tall city wall of Karndum with fear in their hearts.
"The pointy-eared stinky elves and dwarf scum cannot break through our defenses, and Karndum will be their burial place!"
Azog kept kicking and beating its dwarf kin, and angry roars resounded in this ancient and evil fortress.
The pale orc was very frightened and angry.
Although it has been somewhat anticipated that such a day will come.
But the elves and dwarves still came too quickly.
At least thousands of Orcs' defeated troops failed to return to Karn'dum, which greatly weakened the number of troops guarding Karn'dum, the largest and most lofty Orc stronghold in the north.
Nowadays, Azog only has more than 13,000 mixed troops of orcs, wild beasts and trolls in his hands. Their morale is low, they are frightened, and they are not useful at all.
If it weren't for the protection of Karndum, the largest and most lofty fortress in the north, and if the coalition forces hadn't just attacked, these timid and cowardly fellow tribesmen would have dispersed in droves.
ah.
Yes, Azog has made up his mind to defend the rugged but solid fortress of Karndum.
In its opinion, the coalition's number of people was never enough to capture Karndum.
Maybe the towers on the steep rock walls on both sides of the rugged mountain road can swallow up a large number of their lives. When it leads the army to counterattack again, the coalition of Pointy Ears and the dwarf scum will be completely crushed by it.
In addition, he has a final trump card.
But it's not time to reveal it yet.
But I have to say that at that time, the orcs in Azog and Karndumri looked down upon the Dragonborn. None of them knew what an angry dragonborn could do.
In this regard, even Gandalf, Thorin, and Arathorn from the light camp were far wrong in their predictions.
"Ocrianum, we need a better plan!"
The wizard didn't seem to expect Azog and the orcs to react so quickly. Looking at the sinister fortress built on the mountainside, Gandalf said anxiously to Dragon Byrne, who had begun to put on his helmet.
"This place is extremely dangerous. If you attack rashly, you will fall into the enemy's trap!"
"I know this place has become a prison, ours or theirs!"
Dragon Byrne took the warhammer and shield from the elf attendant, and said angrily under his helmet: "I will break all the shackles of this world and let the pure fire of light burn everything!"
With that, Dragonborn roared, and one man and one horse rushed out like flying. No one from the coalition forces could stop them.
The light of Valinor that burst out from Nahal's body was the most sacred light in Middle-earth since the First Era.
It was like a ball of holy light that illuminated all things. Stepping on the light of Yaryn, it rushed up the rugged mountain road of Mount Angmar like lightning.
At that time, the orcs on the towers on both sides had not even reacted.
"kill him!"
Azog's angry screams echoed far away among the mountains. The ice and snow on the top of Mount Angmar in the north even shook because of it. It can be seen how fearful this insidious orc was at that time.
But the speed of Dragon Byrne and Nahal was so amazing, almost like lightning. The rumble of horse hooves was still in the sky, but they had already jumped onto the cliff on the left.
Facing the howling cold wind of Mount Angmar, Gladios the Breaker in the Dragonborn's hand hit the iron door of the tower on the left with a heavy hammer.
Click.
There was a loud noise that could be heard by both sides of the entire Karndum Fortress.
The iron gate of the tower on the cliff on the left was shattered by the dragonborn's terrifying power, and then one man and one horse majestically entered this sinister stronghold guarded by more than 200 orcs.
Then there were all kinds of screams. No one knew exactly what happened inside at that time. Even the most evil orcs didn't want to recall it.
But according to the rumors from the elves and dwarves who survived later, as the dragonborn entered in anger, the tower burst into flames, and the dragon's flame swept away the evil in the room!
Boom.
Under the excited eyes of the coalition forces and the horrified eyes of the orcs, the tower on the left collapsed. One man and one horse broke through the thick flames and smoke, and reappeared in front of the world.
The morale of the coalition forces reached its peak in an instant.
The dwarf horn cavalry led by Thorin took the lead in charging.
He shouted passionately: "For the silver king, for the mainland of Middle-earth!"
The guards of the Turin dwarves immediately shouted loudly, picked up their spears, followed their king, and began to charge!
The rangers of Arathorn and the Dúnedain were moved by the shouts of high morale. Under the leadership of Arathorn and Halbarad, they also rushed up the mountain road of Carn Dum.
Following at the end were the northern elves led by Fenner. They marched in uniform steps and used the most ferocious firepower to support the dwarves and Dúnedain in front!
"Great Lord of the Breath of Arda, please protect your subjects under the starlight and let her arrows hit the mark!"
While running, Fenna pulled away Galadlans in her hand and shot an orc in the eye with an arrow a thousand meters away. At that time, the orc was about to draw its crossbow and shoot at the dragonborn below the city. .
Scenes like this kept happening in the elven phalanx.
The result was that the orcs of Karndum were suppressed by a mere 1,000 elves for a time and were unable to hold their heads up.
However, after all, they had the advantage of large numbers of people and terrain. Soon, the orcs' counterattack arrived in time with Azog's angry roar.
Among them, what made Dragon Byrne's heart skip a beat was the sight of a crossbow used for city defense on the city wall of Karndum, with its thick and long bowstring stretched out.
Boom.
After a gritty mechanical sound, a sharp iron arrow almost as thick as a thigh was shot out from the city wall.
In addition, under the orders of Azog and his evil men, jet-black arrows like rain poured down on him one after another.
Dragon Byrne's golden vertical pupils were almost narrowed into slits.
He put up the giant square shield on his left hand to protect his weak hand side.
When.
Thick and long iron arrows and the short black arrows of the orcs on the city wall fell on his shield like a rain of rain.
The result was that although Dragon Byrne resisted this wave of attacks, the power of the bed crossbow still made Nahar take a small step back.
This made the holy Nahal extremely angry. It hissed and stood up, eager to jump on the wall of that filthy and evil fortress and slaughter all these hateful, depraved and corrupt creatures.
But Dragon Byrne saw that as Thorin and Arathorn rushed up the rugged mountain road in front of Karndum, the tower on the right was frantically pouring vicious arrows at them.
Dwarves, humans, and even elves continued to fall under the arrows.
Although Fenna and the others were also extremely accurate, their efficiency was far less than that of the orcs protected by towers.
As a result, Dragon Byrne became even more angry. He crossed his legs, and Nahal immediately understood what he meant. As soon as the golden horse's hooves fell, a huge white light lit up, causing all the arrows to fly away.
Then he jumped over the mountain stream of more than 100 feet and came to the cliff on the right.
That holy and majestic figure was imprinted into the hearts of almost all elves, dwarves, humans and even orcs who participated in this battle, becoming an immortal mark in their hearts.
Even Azog was so stimulated by Nahar's dazzling light of Valinor that he stepped back again and again, and an unprecedented panic surged into his heart.
For a moment, it even thought about abandoning the Orc army and its master, and hid deep in a place where the Holy Spirit could no longer be found.
However, in the end, the darkness in the evil half-orc's heart forced it to suppress its fear of the light and drink loudly.
"Let the Black Knights move out! We have no way out!"
So, with the sound of grinding teeth, the ghastly big iron door of Karndum was opened with a crack.
Nine knights without shadows or breath of life rushed out of the crack, carrying endless darkness and cold wind, and rushed towards the dragonborn on the cliff on the right.
