One day had passed since Legolas' warning.
On this day, Qili, who was responsible for investigating the surrounding situation, suddenly ran back. He said loudly: "The residents of Changhu Town are noisy and are heading towards the Lonely Mountain under the leadership of a tall human being. It's Bud, the bargeman and Archer."
At this time, the gate has been sealed by a high wall made of square rocks. The wall is thick and high, stretching in front of the main gate. There are holes in it. They can observe (or shoot bows and arrows), but no one from outside can enter. Come.
The dwarves opened a small arched opening in the lower part of the wall for the river water to flow out. But near the entrance, they changed the narrow course of the river so that a wide pool stretched from the mountain wall to the source of the waterfall where the river emptied into the valley.
This greatly adds a natural barrier to the door's defense. From this point of view, the dwarves did an excellent job in fortification construction.
Therefore, the dwarves were not too worried after hearing Qili's words.
Thorin even sneered and said: "If those humans think they can take advantage of the situation, they are really wrong! Since we can take back our homeland from the dragon, we can also protect it!"
He stood on the high wall and delivered a speech about protecting his homeland and fighting bravely. Others raised their arms and shouted in encouragement, and it seemed that the fatigue of the day was relieved a lot.
Until the afternoon, another bad news came.
"Elves, forest elves are here too!"
Kili ran so hard that he was out of breath and kept shouting. Before he could reach the gate, the sound came from far away.
Thorin was furious.
"I knew that hypocritical woodland elf king couldn't be trusted!" He paced back and forth angrily, cursing Thranduil and his elven minions. "Okay, let them all come! I will make them all hate this! The battle is coming, my compatriots!"
He shouted to the other dwarves: "Don't let those pointy-eared elves and looting humans underestimate us. If they want to snatch our treasures, they can only step on our corpses!"
Although the dwarves continued to respond to Thorin's roar this time, everyone couldn't help but feel a bit of pessimism in their hearts.
First came the orcs (doubtful), then the humans, and now even the elves. There are only thirteen dwarves here, ah, and one hobbit, so it's impossible to defend them.
Balin said: "Thorin, listen to me. We cannot fight against so many people. Let's sit down and talk. Humans and elves are not our life-and-death enemies. Don't let things develop to an irreversible point."
"Humans just want to get some compensation, which is not difficult. There is so much gold in the mountains that they can pile up into mountains! And we did promise them." The old dwarf persuaded Thorin worriedly but wisely: "The Elf King also has his Satisfy his needs, and maybe we can use them to help us guard Lonely Mountain!"
But the stubborn Thorin wouldn't listen at all.
His eyes and his heart have been completely filled with expanded power and illusory gold and silver treasures. Maybe the ring is also affecting him, or maybe the dragon's curse really exists. Thorin made something that Bilbo thought was extremely Unwise move.
He first refused Bahrain's persuasion, and then he hid in the depths of the mountains in a menacing and mysterious manner, looking for something.
Not long after, a raven flew out of the gate and headed east.
Remember those ravens mentioned in the prophecy?
They used to live in Lonely Mountain for generations, and even Raven Ridge got its name from this. These ravens are very familiar with the dwarves and have been indebted to the king under the mountain.
So, when Thorin found them, he conveyed his request for help to them.
One of the ravens spoke. It is the head of the raven. It is very old and the feathers on its wings are about to fall off.
"I have heard the story of the king under the mountain and us from the previous ravens. At that time, the ravens and the dwarves were friendly and helped each other. We served the king, and the king fed us until the evil dragon came. And in the prophecy He also mentioned us, proving that the relationship between the raven and the dwarf is still inseparable. Now that the dragon is gone, I am willing to do what I can to continue the friendly relationship."
"Then, please send the best and fastest among you to the Iron Hills and tell my cousin, Dain II Ironfoot! Tell them that the dragon is gone! The dwarves have taken back their former home! But The evil thief has evil intentions and is trying to steal our ancestral property! Tell him to come as soon as possible!" Thorin revealed his plan.
The raven thought for a moment and agreed.
"I will not criticize whether your strategy is good or bad!" it said: "I know what will happen next. Fighting with elves and humans is not the right thing to do. And there are enemies from the west! But you only have Thirteen dwarves, ah, and a hobbit! I just hope you don't regret it, son of Thrain." After that, he slowly flew away.
Thorin was left alone in the empty hall, fascinated by the cold, yellow, and white mountains of gold, silver, and jewelry.
All this happened while Turka and Smaug were competing in the Great Race to Middle-earth, which was widely sung by posterity.
The gray robe wizard is far away in Minas Tirith, trapped in a huge conspiracy and danger, and there is no way to escape.
That night, the dwarves didn't sleep much. Everyone's heart is heavy, even if there are mountains of treasures piled underneath, these guys who used to brag and fantasize about how to spend these gold and silver jewelry all chose to shut up and toss and turn. He was secretly in a daze in the corner.
The next day, at dawn, Fili, who was standing guard, found a group of people approaching.
"They're coming!" he shouted, kicking off what later generations would call the "Battle of the Five Armies." "They must have secretly approached from the bank of the river during the night! But I didn't see the Elf King. His large army is still behind, and they are spies."
Thorin immediately jumped up and rushed to the wall.
Those people slowly entered the valley and climbed up.
Among them were fully armed humans from Changhu Town, as well as elven archers mixed in. Finally, the team's outpost climbed up the fallen rocks and emerged from the Raven Ridge lookout.
When they saw the large pool and the newly built high rock wall in front of them, they couldn't help but be surprised.
They stood there pointing, whispering, and soon ran off again, going back to report to the Elf King and humans.
Thorin now also felt the solemn atmosphere of the impending war, but he kept a straight face and still refused to compromise.
He kept urging the other dwarves to be busy, and continued to fill in the fortifications that might be needed, even temporarily stopping the search for the Arken gems.
