The path from the Woodland Kingdom to the Lonely Mountain is much simpler.

The Jungle River flows directly below the kingdom, and with its water, the party will soon be able to reach the Long Lake, which leads to the Lonely Mountain.

The whole journey by water is not only safe, but also fast.

This route is familiar to the elves, the woodland kingdom is not a closed country, they will produce fine wine and cloth, and exchange goods with the outside world through the river, not only in the town of Long Lake, but even down the Jungle River to the Anduin River, down the river, the farthest trading range can reach Gondor.

Therefore, there are still quite a lot of ships in the woodland kingdom.

More than 100 people, divided into four boats, are small merchant ships, with sails to sail with the help of the wind, and of course, there are also places on both sides to lay down the oars for rowing when the wind is not enough.

These ships are naturally not as powerful as the sea ships of the Pirates of the Caribbean world, but the ships made by the elves are more beautiful, and they have one characteristic -

Unless destroyed, elven-made ships will never capsize.

Well, actually, not to mention the ship, even if it is a barrel made by the elves, as long as it is still intact, it will not turn over.

Townsend and the dwarves were all on the same ship, along with the elven prince Legolas and several red-haired wood elves, and the other elves were all on the other three ships.

Legolas, of course, didn't want to huddle with the dwarves, but there was no way, on the one hand, because someone had to be by Townsen's side to receive and convey the news, and on the other hand, the dwarves didn't know how to control the elven ships at all, so they could pick up the oars and sell their strength.

Fortunately, it was all down the river, and there was no need to control more complicated sails, and only a few elves on the ship were enough.

"I see the lonely mountain!" Sarin shouted excitedly.

Out of the great dense forest, a flat river ahead, I was able to penetrate a great distance and see the lonely mountain peak standing at the end of the earth.

Shalin tugged at the side of the ship, trying to get her head above the side of the ship so that she could get a better view of the mountain, after all, the elven ship was not friendly to her height.

"I've seen her countless times in my dreams, and she's even more majestic than I ever imagined! Thorin! Come and see! ”

Thorin ignored him, and since he came out of the woodland kingdom, he had been keeping a straight face, always on the guard of the elves, and even if he saw the dwarven home for a long time, he did not distract him.

"Traveler, we've been ordered to escort you to the Lonely Mountain, but it doesn't include helping you deal with that dragon." Legolas didn't bother to pay attention to Thorin at all, just walked up to Town's side and said, "When we arrive at the Lonely Mountain, we will wait for you at the foot of the Lonely Mountain for two days, and when the time comes, whether you succeed or not, we will go back." ”

"War is coming, and the Woodland Kingdom needs our strength."

"Of course." Tang Sen was not surprised by the attitude of the elves, as he had guessed before, borrowing soldiers was just borrowing soldiers, and it was impossible for him to command these elves.

If it were a group of dwarves, Townsend would still be able to operate it, and the elves, their arrogance, would never have turned their allegiance to him because of Mithril or anything else, disobeying the orders of the elven king.

"It's a simple matter to deal with the dragon, and I don't plan to borrow the power of the elves." Tang Sen said, "However, you don't have to rush back, believe me, the army of the Woodland Kingdom will soon be heading towards the Lonely Mountain." ”

"Simple matter" The corners of Legolas's mouth twitched, he simply couldn't believe what the traveler said, in fact, he already thought that it was not wise for the Elven King to send himself to escort the other party, it didn't make any sense except to waste his troops.

And, with these filthy dwarves!

He lost interest in continuing the conversation, turned his head to leave, when he was suddenly stunned, and then quickly removed the bow from his back, and drew it in a flowing manner.

Thorin, who had been on guard, was startled and almost drew his weapon, but Legolas was extremely fast, and the arrow grazed the side of the ship and shot straight into the distance.

"Oak!"

Legolas did not look at the results of this arrow, but quickly looked around: "There are quite a few of them!" ”

Tang Sen hurriedly looked around, only to see that on both sides of the river, in the extreme distance, there were dense black dots moving towards this side.

"We're above the river, and these Orcs aren't too much of a threat." Townsend Road.

"Not really, but it's not a good sign." Legolas frowned and said, "The fact that the Orc has appeared in this position means that their army is already very close. ”

"They're coming faster and more than we thought."

"Five days." He said in a deep voice, "In five days at most, they will be able to trek to the bottom of the lonely mountain!" ”

"How long will it take us to get to Lonely Mountain?" Townsend asked.

"If you keep walking by water, two days." Legolas replied, "But, provided there are no accidents on the way, our enemies this time are not just Orc. ”

"The day of Durin is two days away." Thorin finally let his attention go from the elf, looked at Townsend and said, "If we miss this day, then we will probably have to dig through the main entrance of Erebo and enter." ”

"That's knocking on Smaug's door." Tang Sen shook his head: "We can't lure Smaug out, we must enter the interior of the Lonely Mountain, which is Smaug's lair, but it also restricts its movements, and only in a specific place within the Lonely Mountain can my plan succeed." ”

"So far, you don't want to tell us how exactly you plan to deal with that evil dragon?" Thorin asked dissatisfied.

"You'll find out soon."

The four ships lowered their oars and sped up, often spotting Orcs and other dark creatures scattered on either side, and the docks along the river were completely devoid of people.

"I'm afraid that all the people in the vicinity have taken refuge in Changhu Town." Legolas looked into the distance and said with some concern, "Only Long Lake Town is a safe place for the time being. ”

Townsend remembered the original town, which was located in the middle of the Long Lake, and could only be accessed by boat, and it was difficult to invade as long as the gates were closed without the Orc's army preparing ships.

Of course, this is only a temporary situation, if all the areas of Gushan fall, then Changhu will become a natural cage, and the humans in Changhu Town are just turtles in the urn.

"Their goal is us." Tang Sen spoke: "I think that the person in command of this army, even if he is sluggish, should know our whereabouts. ”

"Don't worry, there's no way they can catch up with our ship." Legolas said:

"The most dangerous place is under the lonely mountain, there must be a large number of enemies waiting for us there, as long as we are dragged back, then what will greet us is to be drowned in the sea of enemies."

"Anyway, the comfortable journey is over." Tang Sen said: "Cheer up, I have a hunch that even on the ship, it will not be so stable." ”

In the evening of the next day, the long lake finally appeared in front of everyone's eyes, this vast lake in the sunset, like a dim mirror, the ancient well without waves, a dead silence.

No fishermen would dare to come out to fish before the war, in fact, on the shores of Long Lake, there were already many Orc camps, and even trolls looming in the jungle, all of them from the Misty Mountains, the vanguard of the dark army.

The atmosphere of the fleet was very stagnant, and even the dwarves did not have the heart to go toe-to-toe with the elves, they did not have the long life span of the elves, in fact, the worst battle that the dwarves present had ever experienced was the battle against the Pale Orc on the battlefield of Meria, and Sauron, the great enemy who had swept almost all of Middle-earth in the last era, only stayed in the legends of the dwarves.

It was only at this moment that they really realized why Gandalf was talking about Sauron's discoloration, the enemies he and the dwarves had encountered in the past were not of the same grade at all, and in a day and a night, on both sides of the Jungle River, the figure of the Orc almost never disappeared, and that's it, it was only the advance army.

The dwarves couldn't imagine how large the real army was, and then in despair realized that this was not all of Sauron's army, but only a temporary gathering of rangers, most of whom were not armoured, and Sauron's main force had always been in Mordor.

That great enemy is not something that a single race can fight against at all, let alone a single iron hill, even if all the dwarves in the entire Middle-earth continent appear on the battlefield, I am afraid it will be difficult to match.

Only when humans, elves, and dwarves unite can they have the strength to defend themselves against each other.

"Towngson, we can win, right?" Even the always lively Sarin was rarely confused: "As you said, there is always a way for travelers. ”

"I've already told you how to do it."

"Tame Smaug?" Shalin patted his forehead: "Although I believe you, but well, I can't trust you." ”

She said dejectedly, "How could you do such a thing, you can't buy a dragon with Mithril, right?" ”

Without waiting for Tang Sen to answer, she lay directly on the deck with her head back, and said to herself: "Forget it, I don't need to use my brain, anyway, I am only responsible for protecting your safety, at most it is just a death, I can see the lonely mountain and see Erebo before I die, I am also content." ”

She muttered, squinting her eyes suddenly.

"I think I see something flying in the sky?"

"That's not right! Fly over! ”

A chilling voice came from high in the sky, and all the elves felt a thrill at the same time, and the voice was like ten thousand desperate women screaming at the same time, making people rise from the tail vertebrae, and the cold air rushed to the heavenly spirit cover.

"Dragon! It's a dragon! ”

Someone shouted in horror, "Dragon attack!" ”

Townsend looked up and saw three huge creatures with hideous faces and wings and scales attacking the fleet with a shrill roar.

"It's not a dragon."

"Sauron's minions, the mounts of the Ringwraith, I knew they wouldn't be absent."

He shouted, "Meet the enemy! ”

Smaug is on his way! Hair in the evening!

(End of chapter)