In the territory of the Rohan Kingdom, the terrain here is mainly a plain area with grasslands and strange rocks, which is very suitable for cavalry galloping, and it is also the main grazing area of the herdsmen of Rohan, of course, in peacetime, in addition to grazing cattle, horses and sheep and other livestock, the herdsmen also grow a small amount of grain.

It was still a frontier area, and it did not reach the pasture-rich and beautiful rivers of the Rohan Kingdom, indicating that it seemed to be uninhabited for thousands of miles, and there were no gathering places.

If in the past, few other forces other than the Rohan Kingdom dared to come here to spread wild, after all, the border cavalry of Rohan would still often patrol this area in normal times, and if those evil beings or other forces, whether they were orcs or others, as long as they did not want to face a group of terrible knights coming and going like the wind on the grassland, they would subconsciously stay away from the territory of these Rohans.

But today, there is a large group of strong orc armies estimated to be at least a hundred people marching brazenly in broad daylight, these strong orcs, all of them wearing steel helmets and iron armor, holding hideous iron blades or steel hard bows, are lining up in several sparse formations, and they seem to be running fast and fast as if they are tireless! And on the backs of two of the strong orcs, it seems that there are still two small hobbit prisoners strapped to them?!

Now they have all begun to penetrate deep into the borders of Rohan, but they have not encountered the Rohan cavalry who patrolled the borders in the past, and they don't know what kind of situation the current Rohan Kingdom is?

Suddenly, one of the leading orcs who was leading the team to run suddenly stopped, and at the same time clenched his fists and signaled to his subordinates behind him, ordering them to stop behind him and start to guard the surroundings.

Its nose was twitching on its face with a white handprint, as if it had smelled something unusual around it......

"You're too slow, my master can't wait!"

Then, a group of orcs, who were half a head shorter than the orcs, came out from behind a pile of rubble, and the leader of the half-orcs, whose neck was decorated with animal fangs, roared impatiently at the leader of the strong orcs.

"He's coming from the charr now!"

Orcs may have face blindness and can only distinguish between elves and humans, but not between human populations! Therefore, they all refer to those who are shorter than the tall humans as dwarves, regardless of whether they are real dwarves or hobbits from the Shire.

It's like humans can't tell the difference between Modo orcs, Misty Mountains orcs, goblins and gondaba orcs. Although they can all be collectively referred to as orcs, they are not really the same species.

"Humph! I don't remember doing anything for you orc maggots! ”

The leader of the strong orcs looked at these orcs who were blocking his way with disdain, and then sneered and snorted.

Obviously, the master of this strong orc is not the same person as the master of this group of half-orcs, and they are not under the jurisdiction of the Demon Lord Sauron!

From this, it can be seen that Saruman seems to be on guard against the demon lord Sauron, and he obviously knows the hard truth of power in the barrel of the gun, so the command of the strong orcs is held by him with magic in his own hands, and these strong orcs only listen to him Saruman alone.

"Whew....."

Hearing that this strong orc, this kind of bastard who had just been crossbred out, dared to speak to himself like this, the half-orc leader was immediately annoyed!

Then, as its face became more and more hideous, it also let out a whimper of anger in its throat, and slightly clenched the curved bone blade in its hand, and there was a tendency to pounce on it without saying a word.

"Lord Saruman will get his captive, and we will sacrifice it ourselves!"

After once again looking up and down these half-orc debris who were not as tall as themselves and whose bodies were not as strong as themselves, the strong orc sneered and looked away, it didn't think that the other party had the courage to fight with him.

They are strong orcs, loyal only to the most powerful white-robed wizard, Saruman!

And not the one in the mouths of these orc mounds, what a Raush son Sauron master! Therefore, it will never hand over the captives that it and others have managed to capture with great difficulty to these orc fools!

"Quack......

After two provocative roars of unknown significance, the orc weighed in his heart, and after comparing the physique and number of people on both sides, he still didn't dare to attack this strong orc without authorization.

In its opinion, now these strong orc mongrels are large in number and size, and Li Qiye is even bigger, if they really fight, it will definitely be the orcs on their side who will suffer? Therefore, it can only admit it temporarily.

"Merry ......"

"Merry? Wake up! ”

At this time, when the orcs stopped for a short repair, Pippin, who was tied to the back of a strong orc, finally had time to care about the situation of his partner on the other side, Melly.

He saw that now Merry was moaning weakly on the back of the strong orc, and blood was still flowing from his forehead, and he seemed to be in a bad state?

"My friend he's sick and he needs some water! Please, give him a little water......"

Seeing that Melly was still half-open and moaning there, Pippin finally couldn't take it anymore, so he quickly pleaded with one of the strong orcs who seemed to be drinking water.

"Oh? Sick isn't it? ”

At this moment, the leader of the strong orcs, who had already negotiated with the group of orcs in front, finally came over, and when he heard Pipin's words, he smiled and pointed at Melly in Piping's mouth and shouted:

"Come on! Give him some medicine, little! ”

Then, another strong orc came over with a water bag, grabbed the head of the hobbit Merry with one hand and broke the other party's mouth, and directly stood upside down with the water bag, and poured the 'water' inside into Merry's mouth vigorously.

"Look! He looks a lot better now, doesn't he?! ”

At this time, Pippin was surprised to find that the things in the other party's water bag were actually not water at all, let alone medicine! It's some tissue fluid that has been precipitated after a long time, and the yellow and red blood is bloody?!

And what he didn't know was that these liquids were from ordinary animals? Or is it a human creature?

"Haha!"

"Hahaha!"

When the bloodied hobbit finally began to cough loudly and seemed much better than before, the large group of orcs laughed loudly with their leader.

"Stop! Let him go! ”

Pippin was in a hurry, if this liquid was poured into this obviously not a good thing, even if there was nothing wrong with Merry, it would become a big problem, right?

"Hahaha! How? Can't drink it?! ”

After filling a small half-sack of blood, the orc barely stopped, leaving the hobbit Merry to cough and moan under his breath.

"Stop! Please don't touch him again! ”

Pippin now finally understands that the two of them are captives of these cruel orcs, and these strong orcs are already remarkable if they didn't eat them on the spot, and they really can't be too demanding.

"Would you like to have a drink too? Otherwise, just keep your mouth shut! ”

After pointing a warning at the mouthy hobbit with his fingers of gloves made of unknown leather, the leader of the orcs turned angrily and continued to the front of the group.

The two hobbits ran comfortably on their backs for three days and three nights, and they were not satisfied? If it hadn't been for their master, Saruman, who had told them to live, he would have eaten them both and gone back with their heads!

"What's going on? Did you smell something?! ”

Before he was at the front of the group, the leader asked a strong orc with a particularly well-developed nose.

At this point, this shows the brilliance of the white-robed wizard Saruman's biological transformation project: while he used magic to transform ordinary strong orcs, he did not forget to specially transform a small group of strong orcs with particularly sensitive noses, so that they could act as humanoid self-propelled radars or scouts in his army?

"It's human!"

This strong orc with huge nostrils has just smelled the scent of a human......

It's clear that now it seems that humans have spotted them and are getting closer without stopping? Because, from the air, it smelled the strange smell of the other party's sweat mixed together.

"Maybe it's the same group from before, they're coming up......"

"Let's go! Burn the wind!! ”

The leader of the orcs let out an exasperated cry, then waved his men to start running again.

Although, it didn't know if it was Rohan's cavalry catching up, or the small group of powerful humans, dwarves, and elves that had been ambushed by them in the woods? But either way, you can't go wrong with picking up your march, getting out of here early, and escaping back to their old nest, Isengard!

……

Ranger Aragorn was lying on a rock and listening, rangers like them who had been roaming the wild for many years had more or less practiced some skills in tracking prey and searching for enemies.

Especially he, Aragorn, an old ranger who has lived for more than eighty years, has already practiced his ability to listen to sound and distinguish position!

He had just heard the dull footsteps of the orcs from the slight vibration of the earth from the rock formations! The other party has already moved again, and is it still picking up speed?

It seems that the other party is likely to have discovered the three people who have been following them all along?

"Hurry up!"

Then Aragorn rose from the rock and urged Legolas and the Golden Bolt behind him.

Now that the strong orcs have begun to speed up, the three of them must also speed up at the same time, otherwise, every time they delay for a while, the two hobbits of Merry and Pippin will be in more danger!

"Hurry up, Golden Bolt!"

The elven prince Leglas, who had a bow and arrows on his back and remembered to be handsome even when he ran, stood on a rock, and after saying to the dwarf Jin Li behind him without blushing or panting, he jumped and quickly caught up with the ranger Aragorn who was leading the way in front.

This kind of thing is too easy for the elves who have long been full of agility! And he even had time to enjoy that elven delicacy while he was on his way, the elf biscuit Lambas?

Therefore, Legolas is still full of physical strength, except for a little mental exhaustion after not being able to sleep for a long time, he does not have much discomfort! If this was not a plain, but in the middle of a dense forest, maybe he could have sped up a little faster?

"Whew! Call! ”

Panting for breath, Jin Li held his long-handled battle axe with both hands, so tired that his eyes were almost white......

"I ran for three days and three nights......"

"Didn't eat...... I didn't rest...... There is no trace of it except stones and stones! ”

After a little evening out and habitually complaining, Jin Li sighed, gritted his teeth, took his short steps again, and began to bury his head in the road, hurrying to catch up with the two guys with long legs in front.

He was now at least a few dozen yards behind, and if he didn't catch up quickly, he would probably be completely left behind and left behind.

“……”

Under the pursuit of the three of them, after a little while, they came to the small canyon where the strong orcs and half-orcs would meet before.

Then, Aragorn, who was adept at tracking, soon found something belonging to the two hobbits in the footprints on the ground: a pin of a flattened elven cloak?

"The Rorian pin will never fall for no reason......"

Looking at the elven leaf-shaped pin in his hand that had been trampled on and had been deformed, Aragon knew that they were not far from the enemy now, and looking at the freshness of these footprints, at most, it was only half a day's distance?

And, more importantly, the three of them are not chasing the wrong direction now, the gang has taken away two hobbit strong orcs, and they are in front of them!

"Maybe they're still alive?"

Legolas leaned over and glanced at the pin, and guessed out loud.

Since pins and hobbits only appeared here, and not before, it really means that those orcs should not have killed Pippin and Merry, otherwise their belongings or clothing would have been scattered everywhere!

"These footprints are still fresh, they should be less than a day away, let's go faster......"

Now that he had caught the other party's tail, Aragorn didn't want to waste any more time, so he just stood up and continued to hurry.

Now, all three of them were tired, but he also knew that the orcs must be more tired than they were! After all, they could still find time to eat two bites of Lambas, this kind of magical dry food that contained the vigorous vitality of Amen Continent, and those strong orcs did not have this kind of treatment.

"Ahh Wait for me ......"

When Aragorn began to run again, on a small hill behind him, a round thing rolled down, and it was actually ...... Dwarven Golden Bolt?

"Hurry up! Golden Bolt! We're about to catch up with them! ”

“……”

"We dwarves aren't good at long walks!"

"We dwarves are natural sprinters...... Of course, it doesn't have to be compared to you guys with long legs! ”

Jin Li has always complained about the long-distance attack, and the disadvantage is too big for him!

"I see them...... Northwest direction, they should be planning to go to Esinger? ”

After running up a high hill, Legolas soon saw a very conspicuous cloud of dust on the north-west edge of the sky, which floated in mid-air for a long time!

Obviously, it must have been the dust that the orcs had trampled on during their massive and rapid march in the heat, and now, after three days of sleepless pursuit, they had finally seen each other for the first time.

————

"Hey! I say, old Gandalf! ”

"What are we doing here? This forest looks eerie, damp, wet, and dirty, and I don't like it here! ”

After beating the fire demon hard at the peak of the Misty Mountains and having Tiebs the bear teach him how to be a qualified pet with his fists, Anne forcibly sealed it and stuffed it into her own personal dimensional space.

Compared to his own bear being able to follow him all the time, the new flame demon is much more aggrieved......

If Anne hadn't summoned it out, it might have slept in the dimensional space forever, and it wouldn't have been able to come out or stretch its muscles or something.

"There's no interest in this forest! Die of boredom! ”

Originally, after cleaning up the fire demon and saving the half-beaten Gandalf, Anne planned to teleport back to continue playing her war game. However, when she saw that Gandalf had summoned some playful giant eagles, she sensed that the big birds that could fly with people were a little curious, and she followed them again with a dead face.

Anne herself actually has bigger, fiercer, and more beautiful fire eagles, but not in this world. However, she was still a little curious about the giant eagle that Gandalf had summoned, and she certainly wouldn't let it go when she felt that she could barely sit back and try.

In the time that followed, they went to the Golden Forest, got a lot of fun and super delicious things, and then came to this Fagon Forest under the watchful eyes of the beautiful elf aunt.

"Anne ......"

"Well, I don't really like it here, but we'll have to try it and see if we can convince the old herders here......"

Gandalf, who still looked a little embarrassed on his face, was now wearing a white robe, which was given to him by the beautiful elf aunt who was in the Golden Forest before, and was given to him by the queen called Galadriel!

Now, he was walking slowly under the shade of a huge tree that was damp and dark, and could hardly see the sunlight, and at the same time, he was chatting with the little girl behind him who had to follow him around.

When he learned from the elves of Lotherin that Fredo's expedition had been broken up by the orcs, Gandalf was sad at first, and the Fellowship of the Ring that he led was only half the way.

But when he knew that Frodo and Sam had crossed the Anduin River alone, intending to continue to Mordor, and that Aragorn and the others seemed to be chasing the orcs who had captured the hobbits, Gandalf thought that he could not wait all day without working, so he planned to try his luck here in the Fagon Forest.

He wanted to see if he could convince the powerful herdsmen to rebel against Isengard's Saruman. If the big guys had joined, maybe it would have been easier to defeat Saruman then, right?

"The Shepherd?"

Anne the Tree Man can understand it, but Anne really hasn't seen the Tree Shepherd or something......

Then, feeling a little funny, she began to quickly look up and look around, trying to see the clues of the so-called tree herders from the bodies of the big trees around her.

"Where are they now? Could it be the big trees around us? ”

Anne herself can see that these big trees around her must have grown for thousands of years!

Their canopy is so high and dense that the sun can't shine down! Over time, the woods could not grow except for their tall, strong, thick and large trunks, and the rotten leaves, and the green moss that loved the shade and humidity, so that the surroundings looked bare, except for the gray-brown trunks.

It's just that Anne didn't find those so-called treemen, although the trees she saw, they all have strong vitality, but they are still a little bit short of the kind of treemen that old Gandalf said can move and have ancient wisdom?

A shepherd or something, it shouldn't look like this, right?

In Anne's own imagination, could it be that the tree shepherds of this world are the kind of weirdos with a few heads, green hair, and then bark-like skin? Perhaps, they can still jump between the trees? Just like a big monkey?

"No, these are just ordinary trees, not tree people......"

"The Treants, also known as the Treants, are one of our oldest and most mysterious races in Middle-earth! They are said to have been born around the same time as the dwarves, but they traveled across the continents before the dwarves. ”

Gandalf, who is Maia, begins to recall the past, and some things, due to the long age, he himself is a little too clear.

"They...... It was born after Viraya Vanna asked Manvi, the king of the gods. ”

"To protect the ancient trees of Middle-earth! Although they have not been seen by mortals for many years, I believe that there must be a lot of survival here, in this ancient Fagong forest! ”

Using his wand as a crutch, Gandalf staggered along as he turned his head around searching.

"However, when they sleep, they are generally similar to ordinary trees, so we need to be patient and careful......

"But there's good news, because I know that there are at least a hundred shepherds living here in the Fagon Forest, so the chances of finding them are actually quite good?"

Gandalf didn't know exactly how to summon the Treants, so he didn't have a good idea other than to slowly search for it and slowly walk through the Fagon Forest.

"Slowly?! Gandalf, are you crazy?! ”

"Look at how hot the trees are here! How do you find it? Do you still want to find them one by one?! ”

Listening to the meaning of the old Gandalf's words, and knowing that he was actually trying to find a needle in a haystack in this huge Fagon forest, tree by tree, Anne immediately exploded.

She wouldn't do such a stupid thing with this old man!

This Fagon forest is full of ancient trees, and an ancient forest of this size has at least hundreds of thousands or even millions of large trees, right?

If you really look for it one by one like him, when will you find it?!

"Uh......"

"Actually, that's what I just thought...... Otherwise, Anne, do you have any good ideas? ”

With a sigh, Gandalf leaned his wand and turned his head to look at the little girl with an unhappy expression written on her face.

Gandalf himself is actually a little embarrassed by his own stupid method of finding a needle in a haystack, it seems that this method is really stupid! But other than that, he couldn't have done better.

Those shepherds were not very good-tempered, and it would easily backfire if he casually made a loud noise to wake them up, after all, he wanted to come and entrap the other party to help him fight.

At most, he can only try his luck in places that are suitable for trees to grow, and the land is moist and more watery? Since the tree people have a tree character, Gandalf thinks that they will also like the kind of place where trees can grow, the land is fertile, and there is plenty of water, right?

Otherwise, what else can be done? If the tree people didn't move, closed their eyes and didn't make a sound, he really couldn't easily recognize them.

"Humph! I'm not going to look for them like you're stupid! ”

Complaining is complaining, but when Anne herself squinted and looked at the towering trees around her that seemed to be all equally vigorous, she didn't really have much to do.

In her sight, these ancient trees grew strangely one by one, and they all looked like sleeping tree people? Or is it not like that?

"Hey, Gandalf...... You just said that those tree men, their work, is to protect this ancient Fagon forest? ”

Eyes rolled, and after her bear had a bad idea, Anne quickly knew how to get the tree people to pop out on their own.

"This ...... It seems like this, have you thought of any good way? ”

Of course, the shepherd is to protect the trees, so do you have to ask about such a simple thing?

So, Gandalf didn't quite understand what the little girl was trying to do, but when he saw the other party's cunning expression, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.

This little witch must be planning some boundless ghost idea again!

"Aha! Of course I have a good idea! ”

After speaking, little Anne directly grabbed a big red fireball in her hand, and then looked at the surrounding trees with a strange smile and said:

"If I burn this forest now, those tree people will definitely come out, right?"

With a strange grin, Anne let the fireball in her hand grow larger, and it seemed that she really had the urge to burn down this small piece of Fagon Forest nearby?

"Don't !!"

Without even thinking about it, Gandalf quickly took two steps back and stretched out his hand to the little girl to admonish.

"Anne...... We're here to ask the Treants for help, not to make enemies...... Please, please don't do this kind of thing that makes the treants angry......"

Gandalf also knew a little bit about the temperament of those old shepherds.

After all, after all these years in Middle-earth, he had seen a lot of treants, and the treants in this Fagon forest were familiar with himself?

If this little girl, she really used the method of burning trees here to draw them out, then Gandalf believed that what he wanted to do would be nothing to talk about! The angry Tree People are going to attack them both in a frenzy until they drive the arsonists out of the Fagon Forest?

"But, I think it's a good idea!"

Frowning at her lovely brow, Anne was a little undecided.

On one side is the old Gandalf man who begs him not to set fire, and on the other side is Tiebs the bear, who is still secretly encouraging him to burn the forest and scare the tree people out to play, and she feels very embarrassed by this......

Is this going to be burned? Or do you want to keep burning......

"Big deal, when we bring out their kind of tree people, we quickly put out the fire, and then deny that it was actually someone else's doing?"

Doesn't that look good?

As long as you don't admit it to death, forgive those tree people who can't do anything about themselves, right?

Anyway, Anne herself would not have gone from tree to tree as the old Gandalf man said, and it would be stupid to do that! In comparison, it is more reliable to burn the forest directly to lure them out to fight the fire.

As long as they don't be seen on the spot, she believes that the wooden pimple heads of those tree people definitely don't have so many curves, do they dare not believe it?!

"Well, that'...... Uh......"

When Gandalf suddenly wanted to say something, he suddenly stopped talking.

Then, embarrassedly, he looked up at the sky above him, and then looked down at the little girl who was about to burn the forest to draw out the tree man and then deny it, and sighed deeply.

"Little Witch...... I heard what you just said......"

Suddenly, an old, slow voice sounded behind Anne.

When little Anne turned around in surprise, she found that the tree, which she had seen before, had opened its huge eyes and pulled its two legs-like roots out of the damp earth crowded with green moss.

This, is it really a tree man? It's amazing that she didn't even find out about the other party just now.

"Extinguish that evil flame magic in your hand now...... And get out of our forests as soon as possible...... Otherwise...... I'm going to stumble on your ......."

After glancing at the embarrassed white-robed wizard Gandalf in the distance, Treebeard stared at the one below him again, clutching a fireball in his hand that disgusted it.

The tree whiskers had already felt that the energy intensity in the fireball in the opponent's hand was very strong, which made it feel very uncomfortable, and it felt that their Fagon Forest was threatened......

Once this dangerous spell explodes in the Fagon Forest, it is possible to easily burn a large area of the ancient forest if it is not good!

So, this is something that their shepherds will never tolerate, absolutely not!

"Wow! How dare you threaten me? You step on it and try it! ”

After glancing up at the tall and big treeman, Anne retorted angrily that what she hated most was that others were big enough to threaten her.

"You might as well step on it and try it! When the time comes, if I don't burn down this entire forest, then I won't be called Annie! ”

After making the fireball in her hand bigger and brighter, Anne stared coldly at the big tree man who dared to threaten her, if they had the guts to do so.

Don't think it's great if it's big, it's just like the world of Azeroth, isn't it? Don't their wood bumps of brain know that their fire magic is specialized in restraining plants?

Now it's the other way around, and you dare to threaten to squash yourself? Lend it a hundred guts and give it a try!

"Wait!"

After seeing the tendency of one big and one small, one person and one tree to start working without saying a word, Gandalf was anxious.

"Annie, and the beard, don't be impulsive, this is actually a misunderstanding, it is really a misunderstanding! Shushu, please trust me! ”

Then he hurried over, and put his hands between them, trying to calm down the little girl Anne, who was playing with the fire, and the shepherd tree, who was angry at the sight of the fire.

He Gandalf came here today, and came to this Fagon Forest, really to come to discuss important matters with the tree people, and definitely not to make enemies of the tree people!