Chapter 221 Dwarves and Elves
Half an hour later, a hidden cave in the northwest of the Black Forest Mountains.
Bilbo and thirteen dwarves built a bonfire in the cave and baked their clothes.
Beside them lay a fat goat, the prey that the tall and handsome elf had caught for them.
Facing the plump goat meat, all the dwarves could not resist the temptation of delicious food. After baking the clothes, they quickly approached the prey and cut the sheepskin and mutton with the weapons in their hands.
Their actions may seem chaotic, but in fact they have a clear division of labor and orderly cooperation.
Three dwarves held sharp daggers to cut off the sheep's skin and cut the plump lamb into moderately sized pieces of meat. The three men holding axes next to them were responsible for sharpening the picked branches, and the other three dwarves skewered the meat pieces. Shaped into skewers, the meat was then handed over to the three fattest dwarves in the team for roasting on the bonfire.
"Crack, crack, crack—"
Big drops of fat dripped from the meat, crackling in the campfire.
The aroma of food filled the small cave, attracting the attention of Bilbo and the twelve dwarves.
All the dwarves were swallowing hard, waiting for the grilled meat skewers to fall into their mouths.
Only Thorin Oakenshield, the descendant of the Dwarf King with black hair and black beard and a heroic face, sat on the stone. He looked at the moths at the entrance of the cave that did not dare to fly in, and then looked at the man who was leaning against the stone wall, polishing the dagger in his hand. Beautiful elf.
After a long silence, Thorin asked softly: "Why do you want to save us?"
Legolas said without looking up, "I need you to take me out of the Black Forest."
"Shall we take you away?" Thorin raised his brows and said in surprise, "You are an elf from the Woodland Kingdom, right? This is your territory. You need me, an outsider, to take you away on your own territory. Are you sure you have not been Does spider venom burn out your brain?”
"..."
Legolas stopped polishing, looked at Thorin and said calmly: "Believe me, dwarf, I hate you as much as you hate me. I will never act with you unless necessary!"
Thorin couldn't help but sneered: "Then why are you sitting in front of me now?"
Legolas glanced at him, continued to polish the dagger, and said lightly: "I am an elf expelled from the Woodland Kingdom. I have been wandering in this dark forest for a long time. I have lost my direction due to the erosion of the dark power. I feel that I need someone to guide me, and... my goal for this trip is the same as yours."
"..."
Thorin frowned when he heard this: "You also want to go to Gushan, why?"
Legolas didn't answer, but Thorin vaguely guessed something.
"Is there something you want in the treasure of Lonely Mountain?"
"..."
Legolas glanced at him, but still didn't speak.
"It seems I guessed it right!" Thorin said with a chuckle, "Well, for the sake of saving our lives, I can allow you to join us and share the treasure of Erebor with us... "
"There's no need to share!" Legolas suddenly spoke, looking at Thorin and said calmly, "I only want what I want."
"Sure enough, I guessed it right!" Thorin laughed and said in a proud tone, "Don't worry, I, the son of Thrain II, the legal successor to the throne of the King of Durin Dwarves and the King Under the Mountain, Thorin... Oakenshield is a king who is generous and keeps his promises, which is different from your elf king who has no credibility and no glory at all..."
Before he finished speaking, Legolas suddenly reached out his hand, grabbed Thorin's collar, and looked at him with a stern look.
"Watch your words, dwarf!"
"Wow——"
The dwarves beside the campfire suddenly stood up, gripped the weapons around them, and looked at the two people with frowns.
Thorin stretched out his arm to stop his dwarf companion who got up in anger, then turned to look at Legolas, looked into his eyes and said calmly: "It seems that this great Elf King is still good to his people. , but I have seen how he treats his friends. After Smaug appeared, we once looked for him, hungry and homeless, seeking help from this so-called ally, but what did he do?"
"He abandoned us and watched the people of Gushan suffer, but he turned around and left, leaving us to fall into hell!"
Thorin's tone became more and more agitated, and finally he yelled angrily at Legolas.
"What do you know!" Legolas roared back with the same anger, and then sneered, "Don't you know, the root cause of all this is your greedy grandfather. Back then, my father... Elf King Se Randhir gave you the starlight white diamond left by his deceased wife and entrusted you to make it into a necklace. However, when the necklace was delivered, your grandfather temporarily broke the contract, went against his promise, and made an extremely high price that we could not afford."
"It is precisely because of this that the Lonely Mountain Dwarves and the Woodland Elves broke up..."
"Impossible!" Thorin looked shocked when he heard this and couldn't help but retorted, "It's obviously you who refused to pay the fee."
Legolas let go of his hand and said sarcastically: "Do you think it's possible?"
"..." Thorin fell silent, and then whispered after a long time, "But even so, the Elf King will not let so many people of my kingdom under the mountain die innocently just because of a necklace. The only ones who are guilty are... just King under the mountain, they are innocent..."
"Your people are innocent, aren't the people of the Woodland Kingdom innocent?"
Legolas sneered and said: "The Elf King had warned your grandfather a long time ago and told him what greed would lead to, but he was indifferent. What attracted the evil dragon Smaug was the ravine full of greed in your grandfather's chest. , If you don’t have to use the lives of your dwarves to fill it, do you still have to use the lives of the elves to fill it?”
"you!"
Thorin's eyes widened and he raised his fist angrily, ready to fight.
But in the end, he lowered his arms and sat slumped on the stone.
Based on his understanding of his grandfather, he had to admit that his grandfather Thraine I, who was later devoured by greed, could indeed do such a thing.
As Thorin and Legolas both fell silent, the atmosphere in the cave suddenly became strange.
Bilbo's eyes wandered between the silent Thorin and Legolas. He hesitated for a long time, but still couldn't say anything.
At this moment, the fat dwarf who was making kebabs hit his companion next to him with his arm and swallowed.
"Be careful, your kebab is about to burn!"
"oh oh!"
The fat dwarf came back to his senses, quickly put away the kebabs, sprinkled them with the salt and pepper he brought with him, and then distributed the kebabs exuding the rich aroma of meat to Bilbo and the dwarves who had been waiting for a long time.
Amid the aroma of food, the atmosphere in the cave became lively again.
Only Legolas and Thorin were affected by the quarrel just now and couldn't seem to show any interest.
…
That afternoon, after everyone had eaten and drank enough, they set off again on their journey to Gushan.
Although Legolas lost his sense of direction, he still remembered the map of the Black Forest and the Woodland Kingdom, so he suggested that they go north, bypassing the Woodland Kingdom and go directly to Lake Town at the mouth of the Mirk River.
Walking on the magically protected elf path, the atmosphere once again became strange and silent.
Thorin walked at the front, but he always turned his head from time to time and looked at Legolas at the end of the team.
Bilbo also stayed at the end of the line, curiously asking Legolas questions related to elves.
As the well-deserved protagonist of The Hobbit, Legolas had a natural affection for Bilbo, so he patiently answered his questions and satisfied the curiosity of this natural adventurer among the Hobbits.
Suddenly, Thorin appeared next to the two of them: "Bilbo, can you let me have a word with him?"
"Uh...of course, you can chat."
Bilbo grinned, then walked quickly forward, leaving them space to chat alone.
Legolas glanced down at Thorin and said calmly: "Tell me, what do you want to do?"
Thorin suddenly said calmly: "Are you the Elf Prince of the Woodland Kingdom?"
Legolas was slightly startled, then frowned involuntarily.
Thorin looked up at his expression and said calmly: "Don't be surprised, I am a dwarf, and I am most sensitive to rare weapons and armors, whether it is your armor that can repel animals, or this strange-looking magic bow. , are not something ordinary elves can possess, and coupled with your complicated expression when you mentioned Elf King Thranduil, I can naturally guess your identity."
"I'm very curious about what you did to get kicked out of the Woodland Kingdom by your own father."
Legolas said calmly: "This has nothing to do with you."
Thorin twitched the corner of his mouth and said calmly: "I don't know what it feels like to be driven away by my father, but I know very well the feeling of being driven out of my home. It is a terrible feeling that I never want to experience again in my life. So I will keep my promise and help you get what you want..."
Legolas looked at him in surprise, as if he didn't expect Thorin to say such a thing.
Is it because of the butterfly effect of his time traveling that this guy's personality has changed slightly?
Just as Legolas was thinking this, he suddenly noticed a malicious sense of peeping in the forest.
Without any hesitation, Legolas immediately picked up the compound bow, stretched the bowstring, and shot the ice arrow condensed in the blue light into the forest.
"call out--"
The ice arrow exuding a cold white air sank into the forest, causing those who peeped to let out a scream.
The familiar voice caused Bilbo, Thorin and others to change their expressions. They all took out their weapons and looked around warily.
"It's the orcs!" Thorin said solemnly, "They finally caught up!"