Inside Davy's house, the observant Bilbo had also noticed that Thorin and Tarnes had left one after the other, and he wondered if it was related to what Gandalf had said that afternoon.
Millicent noticed that the hobbit seemed somewhat absent-minded, so she spoke gently: "Are you worried about Tarnes and his friend?"
Bilbo put down the bowl in his hands, the dwarves' cheerful laughter echoing in his ears.
He nodded honestly: "Yes, aren't you worried about them?"
Millicent replied in a relaxed tone: "Trust Tarnes. When it comes to friends, he cares more than anyone else."
Then she winked at Bilbo: "The only thing we might need to worry about is that Tarnes sometimes expresses himself very directly, which might embarrass the friends he cares about. This is one of his attractive qualities, but sometimes it's also a flaw."
Bilbo tilted his head in confusion at the last part and asked back: "Why is it also called a flaw?"
Bernahl, hearing their conversation, joined the topic and answered for Millicent: "This flaw is for Tarnes himself. Because he cares too much about his friends, even if it means putting himself in sadness or crisis afterward, Tarnes will help without hesitation, not knowing what refusal means."
Bilbo's eyebrows moved up and down, but he still didn't understand why.
Seeing the expression on Bilbo's face, Bernahl shrugged: "It seems you still don't understand, so let me give you an example. What if Tarnes' friend's request was for him to kill that friend?"
Bilbo said incredulously: "Why give such an example? How could anyone ask their good friend to kill them?"
Bernahl drank heartily and put down his wooden bowl, pursing his lips: "It's a long story... anyway, just know that Tarnes has indeed experienced something similar."
Bilbo frowned deeply. He didn't remember Tarnes telling him about such things.
Just as he was about to continue asking about Tarnes out of curiosity, sudden urgent footsteps came from the roof.
Bilbo's eyes followed the source of the sound, and for some reason, his heart began beating faster involuntarily.
Then came a heavy thudding sound at the door. The wooden door let out a dull groan before being pushed open by an urgent force.
The cold wind outside rushed in like a wild beast, wantonly sweeping away the smell of wine and warmth from inside.
Bilbo felt a chill, and along with the cold wind came Thorin's stern face.
The hobbit felt that what made him nervous and made his heart race was what Thorin was about to say.
Sure enough, he heard Thorin say concisely and powerfully: "Everyone, take up your weapons. A large pack of wargs is approaching here."
The liveliness in the room immediately disappeared. After a moment of silence, it became noisy again, but this time the dwarves were cursing at the approaching enemies.
"I'll make them know that dwarves are not to be trifled with, especially when they dare interrupt dwarves finally enjoying good wine!"
"I must bury my axe deep in those wargs' brainless wolf skulls to cool my anger."
Dwalin and Gloin, the two most hot-tempered dwarf warriors, were first to put down their wine bowls, cursing as they stood up and reached for the axes at their waists.
The other dwarves did the same, except Bombur was still trying to finish the remaining food in his bowl. Only after eating it all did he stand up from his overloaded chair, shaking his big belly.
Meanwhile, Millicent immediately stood up after Thorin finished speaking and asked: "Where is Tarnes?"
Thorin nodded slightly to the upright female swordsman: "Tarnes has gone ahead to the wasteland west of the village to intercept those wargs. He told me to stay and notify you all to prepare for battle."
Millicent quietly thanked Thorin and quickly walked outside.
Bernahl also stood up, his movements agile and decisive.
He grabbed his heavy knight's greatsword from the chair. The scabbard gleamed with a bluish light in the dim candlelight as he glanced at Igon.
Igon grinned, his laughter rough and hearty: "Don't worry, Bernahl. I'll find a high point in the village. I'll kill any wargs that manage to slip past your defenses."
At this moment, Kili also shouldered his quiver and came over carrying his longbow, saying respectfully to Igon: "Mr. Igon, I'll go with you."
The firelight in the hearth danced, and the sound of sword against scabbard echoed in Davy's house.
Bilbo watched the busy dwarves, somewhat at a loss, and asked Gandalf beside him: "Gandalf, what should I do?"
Gandalf was still thinking about why orcs and wargs would come here when Bilbo's words interrupted his thoughts.
The wizard looked at Bilbo, saw the fear and panic hidden in his eyes, and showed a reassuring smile: "You stay in Davy's house and protect Davy and his family."
At this moment, Bofur walked over and volunteered to Gandalf: "Let me and my cousins protect Bilbo and the farmer's family. Bilbo has never fought, and those evil orcs won't care about that."
Bifur and Bombur followed behind Bofur. The dwarves' initiative slightly surprised Gandalf.
He looked up and met Thorin's gaze.
Thorin nodded faintly to Gandalf, then withdrew his gaze and left Davy's house with Fili.
Only then did Gandalf realize that Bofur, Bifur, and Bombur had been specifically arranged by Thorin to protect Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit.
After most of the dwarves had left, Davy dared to approach Gandalf and ask what had happened.
The space inside wasn't large, and the dwarves had almost filled his house, so he and his family had been eating in their bedroom.
Thorin's loud words had been largely drowned out by the dwarves' noise, so Davy wasn't clear what he had said.
From Davy's perspective, he only knew that one dwarf had shouted, and then all the other dwarves suddenly stood up with murderous intent, carrying their weapons outside, which frightened him somewhat.
Gandalf looked at the farmer and said seriously: "Hide your wife and children, then quickly take me to the village chief's house. Orcs are attacking."
"Orcs? Hiss, follow me quickly. No wait, let me prepare first." Davy was obviously startled but quickly reacted, immediately nodding and heading toward the inner room.
After warning his family to hide, when he came out, he was holding a hoe and nodded to Gandalf.
Gandalf looked at Davy with some surprise: "You don't seem surprised or afraid?"
Davy said as they walked: "Because this isn't the first time our village has encountered orcs. These creatures have been appearing since early this year. Though we paid some price the first time to drive the orcs away, afterward whenever orcs came, they never gained any advantage. Honestly, orcs are easier to deal with than the wargs they ride—their bodies are very fragile, even untrained adult villagers can easily defeat them. But the trouble is the wargs—those fast-running wargs with very sharp teeth are the real threat."
Gandalf glanced back at Bilbo and the others left to protect him, giving them a reassuring look before following Davy's pace.
After hearing Davy's words, he frowned: "You're saying the village has been attacked by orcs before? When was the first attack?"
Davy replied without hesitation: "It was in March, or maybe a bit later. The village hunters who went out hunting first discovered the orcs when they noticed wargs different from normal wolf packs. They escaped back to the village at the cost of two lives, which made the village alert and prevented the orcs from succeeding in a sneak attack."
Gandalf asked again: "How many times have the orcs attacked since then?"
This time Davy thought for a moment: "I'm not too clear about that. Every summer I go to that farmhouse in the deep valley. But before I left, the village had suffered two more orc attacks."
Gandalf clicked his tongue.
Because he remembered Tarnes mentioning when he met Thorin, it was also when he saw those dwarves being attacked by orcs.
After the Battle of Moria, when the orcs' leader—the pale orc Azog—disappeared, orcs gradually vanished from human sight.
For so many years, orcs would never actively travel so far to attack dwarves, nor would they dare actively attack human settlements.
Something must have changed among the orcs.
Gandalf narrowed his eyes. Combined with the earlier incident of Thorin being bounty-hunted with Black Speech, a low-probability guess formed in his mind.
"We're here, Gandalf. This is the village chief's house."
Davy's voice brought Gandalf back from his thoughts. The wizard looked up and saw a hunter in leather armor looking nervous outside the village chief's house.
The village chief was a strong middle-aged man with unkempt golden hair. His weathered cheeks were flushed purple-red from drink, and he still smelled of alcohol.
Obviously, the village chief had drunk quite a bit that evening. When he saw the hunter and Davy, his face showed some impatience.
But when he saw Gandalf, he seemed much more sober, burping and asking: "What wind brings a wizard to my place tonight?"
"Village chief, we need to mobilize the village guard quickly. The armored knight who came to the village today told me that there's a large group of orc warg scouts coming," the hunter said anxiously.
Gandalf looked at him with slight surprise and also spoke directly: "Yes, our friend discovered them and is intercepting those wargs outside the village. In the name of Gandalf the Grey, I request that you mobilize the village guard to protect the village while supporting my friends. They are a group of dwarves from the Blue Mountains, plus two armored humans and a female swordsman with a metal prosthetic hand."
Hearing these words, the village chief was like having a bucket of cold water poured over his head, instantly dispelling all intoxication.
His expression changed abruptly, his face freezing with no trace of impatience remaining.
The village chief straightened his back and took a deep breath. The cold air entered his lungs, and feeling the chill circulating in his lungs, he shivered.
He fumbled in his waist pocket several times before pulling out a set of keys and handing them to the hunter: "The bell tower key is with me. Take it to the bell tower and ring the hanging bell to make the villagers hide. I'll go find those guard fellows, they should all be together at this hour."
Gandalf's brow furrowed as he looked at the village chief's unsteady gait and lingering smell of alcohol. He took a deep breath and said to Davy: "You need to support your village chief and call the guard."
After saying this, the wizard was about to leave hurriedly.
Davy quickly nodded, then was startled, watching Gandalf leave and asking: "Where are you going?"
Gandalf disappeared rapidly down the village path, leaving behind without looking back: "To help Tarnes and Thorin first, of course!"
Outside the village, under silver moonlight, a pack of wargs broke through the quiet night, moving through shadows where moonlight couldn't reach.
Their eyes flickered with ghostly green light, muscles tense, four limbs treading on the ink-black forest floor and grassland.
These evil creatures drew closer to the village. If this were an ordinary wolf pack, the pack leader might have been unable to resist letting out a low, powerful howl.
However, these were wargs—intelligent creatures with their own language.
Tree branches swayed gently in the wind, and the ground covered with fallen leaves became cover for the wargs' movement. Even while running close to the ground, they carefully avoided protruding stones and dead branches, afraid of making the slightest sound.
However, a sharp whistling sound suddenly appeared. An arrow pierced through the night with perfect accuracy, striking the foremost warg running close to the ground.
The arrow penetrated precisely through the fur on its forehead, embedding deep into its brain.
Its four paws struggled weakly in the air a few times before its body was carried forward by momentum, crashing into a raised mound of earth with a dull sound.
"Awoo—?! Awo—! (An elf?! There's actually an elf in the village?)"
A short, sharp howl came from one warg's mouth, with other wargs responding.
"Awo! (Continue the assault!)"
That warg howled again, and surrounding wargs responded.
They no longer concealed their tracks, letting their paw steps echo through the dense forest, stirring layers of trembling leaves.
But another arrow pierced the night, nailing its head firmly into the skull of the foremost warg.
Blood and brain matter bloomed into a cruel flower in the night. This warg let out a short, shrill howl, its body stiffening suddenly before sliding several meters.
For the wargs, the archer's accuracy had far exceeded their expectations.
In the village center, Igon stood atop the bell tower with its heavy hanging bell.
He squinted, and under Kili's awed gaze, his powerful hand silently drew the third arrow from his quiver.
The wrinkles on Igon's face appeared deeper in his focused expression, his mouth corners slightly downturned.
Nock, draw, full draw, release.
As simple as drinking water or eating, a dull impact sounded as the arrow struck precisely into the third warg's spine, blood instantly staining its bronze-green fur.
The warg's body twisted in pain, its falling form shaking the dust. Its roar stopped abruptly, leaving only weak whimpers.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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