This day was the farewell ceremony for Thorin Oakenshield and Fili, as well as Bard's grandson Brand and many other people who died in the battle. Turka recovered faster than the elves and dwarves expected. In just one night, he could get out of bed without any hindrance.
He sadly looked at the peaceful appearance of his old friend, knowing that their fate had ended. Maybe they would meet again many, many years later, but by then things would have changed.
Turka couldn't help but remember the first time they met.
At that time, Thorin Oakenshield, who was still a prince, walked in the morning light, riding a horned sheep, and walked from the battlefield in front of Gray Harbor, brave and proud.
Then he remembered their scenes in Mount Angmar, in Rivendell, in the capital of Dol Gu, at the foot of Moran Farm, in the Hobbit Hole, in Mirkwood, in the Lonely Mountain and other places.
Finally, all the pictures were frozen in front of our eyes. "May you find peace in the halls of Aulë and the Ancestors, my friend." Turka sighed.
Next to Thorin Oakenshield's coffin, Fili, Dwalin, Bifur and other dwarves who had faced the dragon's fire with Thorin during the Lonely Mountain Expedition were lined up on both sides. They used their lives to explain their feelings towards the dragon. The loyalty of a great king. They will continue to protect their king even after death.
In addition, there are many dead humans and elves.
After the Battle of Gray Harbor, the dwarves were fortunate enough to be buried in the tomb of the elves. Now, after many years, Thranduil of the Woodland Kingdom personally led the elven army and participated in the second Battle of the Lonely Mountain as an ally.
As the flank of the coalition forces, the elves suffered huge losses, and many immortal firstborn children used their lives to fulfill their vows. Therefore, after the war, the dwarves adopted the same standard of ceremony and buried the elves who died in the battle together in their tombs.
The Elf King, who had lost an arm and looked cold and lonely, attended the funeral. He stood in the corner, covering up his sadness and mutilated body with darkness. Legolas stood beside him.
Elves, dwarves, and humans all looked at this equally great Elf King with respect. But no one bothered him because they didn't want to cause him sadness.
Bard's great-grandson, Brand's son who died in the battle, also attended the funeral, accompanied by some human retainers.
There are also Celeborn of Lothlórien and the half-elf princess Arwen Udomir. Ah, yes, this time she did not escape, but bravely stood with the Silver King.
There were loud sounds of horns, and the mountains roared with grief, as if they were also mourning the passing of this legendary dwarf. Many dwarves from all over the place and the women and children who escaped from Iron Hills came one after another and gathered in the ancient palace hall to watch the last journey of this legendary dwarf.
In the spacious and tall dwarf hall, elves and humans all watched sadly and mourned quietly.
However, many cracked armors and curled axes were lying on the ground, and the coffins of the dead were all over the king's tomb, which shows the ferocity of the battle at that time.
Among them, the Orcrest sword was placed between Thorin's hands, and his eyes were closed. If you didn't know that he had passed away, it would be difficult for you to see everything he had encountered from the expression of the king under the mountain.
According to later songs, as long as an enemy approached, it would shine brightly in the dark, and the dwarves' fortress would never be attacked by surprise again.
Then the elves began to sing the sad song that had been whispered in the Gray Harbor, and grief appeared on everyone's face.
People remember their compatriots who died in the war in various ways.
Kíli, son of Thorin's sister Dis, succeeded Thorin's throne and became King Under the Mountain.
He wore a crown and steel armor, and the sword in his hand shouted: "The king is dead, lohe king!"
Countless dwarves, elves, and humans imitated Kili I, drawing out their swords and axes and shouting for remembrance and even revenge.
"The king is dead! His majesty will last forever!"
When this grand but sad farewell was over, in fact, they began to discuss the upcoming war.
"Past experience tells us that insisting blindly can only make the enemy stronger." Celeborn is a veteran who has experienced the cruel wars of the First Era. Although he didn't like the dwarves, he knew that if the elves stayed out of this war, then waiting for them would not be a happy ending.
Before setting off, he and his wife had predicted that this would be the last battle for the elves of Middle-earth. This was their responsibility and a test they must accept. When everything is over, they will all return to the west, and the age of elves will come to an end.
King Qili I said: "I am not shirk, but the dwarves suffered huge losses in this battle, and the Turin dwarves are no longer able to launch another expedition."
At that time, Eonwe had returned from Utumno, and he told the coalition forces what he saw. It was a huge mountain stretching for thousands of miles. Its terrain was dangerous, except for a lonely wilderness with no grass growing and poisonous water everywhere. There is nothing on the land.
"There are countless evil minions lurking in that bottomless cave. Your current military strength alone cannot destroy that ancient hell." He said.
"Did Vera foresee all this?" Turka asked.
Eonwë said: "The great king went to the Gate of Night and inspected the fortresses there, but found no trace of Melkor's return to Iea."
The Gate of Night is an entrance to the Realm of Emptiness at the westernmost edge of Aman. After the War of Wrath, Morgoth was pushed out of the Gate of Night by the Valar and exiled to the Realm of Emptiness, where Eärendil will guard him forever. This gate, to prevent him from re-entering Arda through this gate.
This was almost the first time that Manwë's messengers had spoken about the actions of the Mighty Ones in the West, which made Celeborn and Kili I greatly uneasy. The legends about the war between the gods are mostly spread through the mouths of the first-born children, without even written words, but this does not prevent them from being afraid of that terrible name.
Turka frowned and said: "Then, if it is not the enemy of darkness, who is it? Who else can make the blue-robed wizards surrender, besides Morgoth?"
"I have no more information to provide." Eonwe said: "The order of the Great King is for me to bring the fallen white-robed wizard and blue-robed wizard back to Velma for trial, but regarding the Great Movement, the Great King The authors did not elaborate further."
Turka was even more hesitant. He sat for a long time, enduring his sorrow and anger in silence.
Seemingly aware of his anger, Eonwë said: "Isn't that land deeply blessed by the Valar? But all cause and effect begins with you, and it should end with you. The land of the West has never relaxed its grip on the enemy. Surveillance, that’s all I can say.”
Turkasan's frown tightened, and he sighed: "That's true." They stopped talking about it and began to debate what to do next.
Finally, the elves and dwarves agreed to lay a long line of defense on the narrow plain between the Lonely Mountain and the Iron Hills. To prevent the enemy from crossing the northern plains again without warning and entering the Rovanian Wilds.
And this line of defense, which would later be called "Nuyin-Elrodgon", faced the terrifying corridor paved with the corpses of countless dwarves. At the end of this terrifying corridor is one of Utumno's three huge gates that are dark and constantly emitting black smoke.
At that time, dwarf craftsmen built strong fortresses and outposts on this long defense line. The northernmost and largest outpost was garrisoned by Turka and Celeborn leading the cavalry of Elpera and the elves of Lothlórien.
This post, also known as the "Grey Stone Fortress" in the future, was a strong fortress that firmly guarded the road to the south of the steep and terrifying mountain range in the north. When the weather is clear, Turka can even see the three huge cave entrances of Utumno.
Elpera's cavalry patrolled the permanently frozen land all night long to prevent the enemy from making another sneak attack.
However, no one, including Turka, dared to go deep into the terrifying mountain range lying in the far north. At that time, even the light could not illuminate the three huge holes. They were like the mouths of three huge beasts, devouring all lives that dared to stray into them.
King Kili I led the remaining dwarves to garrison at the outpost further west. Gloin, and his son Gimli were also there.
Farther east, on a hill near the Iron Hills, were stationed the elves of the Woodland Kingdom. Their commander is Legolas.
In this way, elves, humans, and dwarves formed an irregular triangle, guarding the south path of the enemy's eerie hell fortress.
Turka and the others plan to wait for the end of the war in the south, and then gather all the people from the light camp in Central Continent to attack and destroy this hell that existed in ancient times.
On the other hand, Aratu and the others stayed in Edoras for three days. During the past three days, the coalition forces took care of the wounded and replenished their troops as much as possible, while also waiting for news from the Gushan front.
Although the wizard has always said that the Silver King has his destiny, Aratu's love for his father still prevents him from completely settling down. And at that time, news about Turka Aracano's injury also spread among the crowd.
After all, the arrival of the big eagle was seen by many people.
Therefore, Alatu could only spend more energy to appease the turbulent coalition forces.
Until Gandalf began to urge the eldest son of the Silver King, thinking that they could no longer waste time here and must attack the enemy quickly before they made any more moves.
"Sauron has learned of his failure." The wise wizard said in the king's council: "We must rush to Minas Tirith and remove him from the throne of chancellor before he gathers more minions. Kick it up and down."
At that time, Aragorn, King Théoden, Orofinwë, Treebeard, Findin II, Éomer and the Ellinvorn and other coalition leaders attended the meeting.
King Théoden had not fully recovered, so he gave the right to speak to Éomer. So, Éomer said: "Our spies found that the enemy's army in Mordor has withdrawn, and the road to the south has been isolated. The people of Gondor have become more irritable and vigilant towards their old allies, unwilling to Let our messengers pass."
When he said this, Éomer looked at Aragorn.
The descendants of Isildur were silent for a while, and then said: "From my heart, I am not willing to go to war with Gondor. They were just bewitched by Sauron and made the wrong choice. They didn't know What we did was actually the devil’s scheme, we must not fall into the enemy’s trap.”
"But we don't have more time to wait for the truth to come out!" Fintin II said: "And, I doubt that if we do nothing, how will they know that what they did is actually wrong?"
Then, Treebeard, Olofenwe and Éomer also expressed their concerns. Among them, Turka's injury was also an unavoidable point.
Among them, the Ellingworn people are only willing to obey the orders of the Silver King. Although the new Ellingworn general respects the prince Aratu, he also made it clear that if there is no definite news about the Crescent King, they will We will not continue to send troops.
This made Aratu angry and even more difficult to make a choice.
Gandalf listened to the generals until they had finished speaking, then he stood up and said: "Aragorn and the dwarves are right to worry, but I believe that this is just a test for us. We must move on, This is correct!" At that time, his figure surged, and the tall shadow enveloped all the generals. His voice was majestic and loud, and his black eyes were shining with light.
"The enemy just wants us to fall into internal strife and collapse in chaos! Therefore, no one can stop. We must embrace the belief that we must win and move forward bravely, so that we can find the final light in this dark age! This is All wise men should know my advice!”
"And we must create opportunities for Frodo." He whispered to Aratu, a pair of majestic eyes staring at the generals, seeming to torture their hearts, and seem to be warning Aratu, "If we Attack Minas Tirith and his enemies will be forced to look away from his lair."
So, Alatu sat quietly in his seat for a long time, and finally, he spoke.
"I've made up my mind!"
He stood up and looked around, majestic and undeniable. All the generals were stunned and stood up to wait.
"In two days, the entire army will set off!"
The young Alatu looked at the generals, and his golden vertical pupils, which were the same as his father's, lit up with a dazzling light, "No one can retreat anymore, this is a military order!"
"Your order!"
All the generals bowed their heads and answered loudly.
After the meeting related to the decisive battle, Gandalf approached Aragorn who was worried. "I will leave first and head to the southern coast." He said: "There is a person there who can make the humans of Gondor turn against each other and return to the light."
"Aragorn, you need to raise the flag of the King of Gondor and walk in front of the coalition forces with great fanfare! The glory of Anduriel and the identity of the descendants of Isildur will prevent some Gondor humans from being killed. You should bear this in mind."
Then, he rode on a divine horse named Shadowfax and rushed out of the Rohirrim capital. This was a gift from King Théoden to thank the wizard for saving his life. It was the best horse in Rohan.
