Chapter 245: Escape and the Hobbits Return
Ding!
As Gollum tried to approach, Bilbo's short sword pressed against his throat.
"Back off, back off.
I warn you, don't come any closer."
Gollum retreated, muttering, "He has an Elven sword, but he's not an Elf.
He's not an Elf, so what is he, precious?"
"My name is Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit from the Shire."
"Oh!" Gollum exclaimed in surprise, "We like Orcs, bats, and fish, but we've never tried a Hobbit. Is the meat fat and juicy?"
Bilbo watched Gollum slowly approach, then immediately swung his sword wildly, scaring him back.
Gollum, wary of the precious sword in his hand, had no choice but to keep his distance.
"I don't want any trouble. Tell me how to get out, and I'll leave."
Gollum knew the safe route to leave, but his mental state was unstable, constantly talking to himself and shifting between good and evil.
Finally, the two decided to play a game of riddles.
If Bilbo won, Gollum would tell him how to get out; if he lost, he would be eaten by Gollum as food.
Neither of them thought they would lose, or rather, they wouldn't abide by the rules even if they did lose... Meanwhile, the Orc King was singing triumphantly, as his Orcs pushed over the bone crusher and meat grinder, preparing to toss the Dwarves in.
Seeing this, Aaron knew he couldn't wait any longer. He aimed at the Orc King, took a deep breath, and leaped down from above.
Boom!
A loud sound suddenly erupted from the throne, attracting everyone's attention.
When the dust settled, the Orc King lay on the floor, eyes rolling, while Aaron held a knife to his neck.
"Surprised? Unexpected?
I guess you might not have noticed the thief from the party was missing."
The Dwarves erupted in cheers, while the Orcs who had been beating them were at a loss.
"You're human?" the Orc King asked in astonishment, "What brings you to my Orc City?"
"To save some Dwarves." Aaron pressed the knife down by half an inch, saying threateningly, "You should know what I mean."
"Of course." The Orc King blinked slightly, "What are you all staring at? Release our esteemed Dwarf guests!"
The Orcs exchanged glances, but they dared not disobey the King's command, and reluctantly retreated like a tide.
The Dwarves immediately adjusted their stance, picked up their confiscated weapons, and confronted the surrounding Orcs.
Thorin drew orcrist and turned to look coldly at the Orc King.
He had not forgotten the previous humiliation, and now was the time to get his revenge.
"This sword..." The Orc King looked at the unsheathed orcrist, couldn't help but swallow, and his huge body trembled, "It's orcrist, which has slain thousands of Orcs."
"Good eye. You'll be the next."
"No, don't do it." Aaron immediately stopped Thorin, "If he dies, all of us will be buried with him."
"Right." The Orc King laughed as if he had grasped a lifeline, "That's right, you can't kill me. If you kill me, you won't be able to get out of Orc City."
Swish!
A flash of sword light. A chunk of flesh from the Orc King's chin was sliced off by Aaron. The red piece of meat fell to the ground, and the Orc King let out a scream of Pain!.
"You, how dare you?" The Orc King looked at Aaron in horror, "Don't you know how serious the consequences are if I die?"
"Aren't you still alive now?" Aaron said playfully, a harmless smile blooming on his face, but it sent a chill down the Orc King's spine.
Aaron's meaning was clear to him: as long as he wasn't dead, he could make the Orcs hesitate.
However, 'not dead' had a lot of room for interpretation. If he was lucky, he could be unharmed; if he wasn't, he could be half-dead.
"Understand?
As a prisoner, you need to have the awareness of a prisoner. Don't be so arrogant; it won't do you any good."
Thorin also reacted, looking at the Orc King with a sneer, "Losing an arm or a leg shouldn't matter much, right!"
"No, Thorin Oakenshield, you can't do that." The Orc Kingsaid in a panic.
"Indeed, you can't." Aaron poured cold water on Thorin's enthusiasm, "A crippled Orc King isn't even a king. Do you think a hostage like that would make them wary?"
Thorin glanced at the dense crowd of Orcs around him, then patted the Orc King's face with orcrist, "Consider yourself lucky."
The Orc King was both nervous and angry, but he dared not say anything extra, fearing he might lose more flesh.
"What do we do now?" Dwalin asked.
"Make him lead the way and show us out." Thorin said, "Kili, Fili, you two help Aaron guard him."
The two Dwarf brothers exchanged glances, then walked up to the Orc King with their swords.
The Orc King carefully stood up. Fili and Kili stood on either side, pressing their swords against his waist. If he made any move, they would stab him without hesitation.
The group cautiously moved forward, surrounded by Orcs. The Orc King, encircled by the Dwarves, had lost his former grandeur.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the ground beneath the Orc King's feet suddenly cracked open.
Before Fili and Kili could react, he plunged to the level below.
"Careless."
Aaron slapped his thigh in annoyance. They had considered front, back, left, right, and even above, but they had forgotten that these Orcs were also skilled at digging tunnels.
"Hahaha!" The Orc King burst into wild laughter, "Everyone, attack! Kill them, and cut off Oakenshield's head.
Leave that human to me; I want to torture him slowly to death."
"Holy crap!" Aaron cursed, "Still the Orc King? Can't you have a bit more magnanimity?"
"Don't worry about that." Dwalin knocked away an attacking Orc with a hammer, "Let's deal with the current situation first!"
The Dwarves fought valiantly, but facing the tide-like Orcs, they were quickly overwhelmed again.
Aaron's situation was slightly better. This was his first time seeing such a large-scale battle, and he couldn't cope.
But because of the Orc King's command, the pressure he faced was much less than that of the Dwarves.
Suddenly, a brilliant white light flared.
A powerful shockwave sent countless Orcs flying, and the Dwarves were also knocked to the ground by this force.
Gandalf slowly emerged from the darkness, holding his staff in his left hand and Glamdring in his right, appearing in everyone's sight.
He looked at the Dwarves, who were tightly surrounded and almost losing their will to fight, and said in a deep voice, "Pick up your weapons, fight."
"Fight."
Gandalf shouted loudly, and the Dwarves' morale instantly recovered. They yelled as they picked up their weapons, sweeping away the surrounding Orcs with an unstoppable momentum.
"He's holding Glamdring." The Orc King pointed at Gandalf, saying in horror, "Glamdring, blinding like the sun."
Aaron followed the sound and saw the Orc King. He had a mind to capture him again as a hostage, but the current situation was too chaotic, and the opponent was somewhat prepared. Even if he went all out and used Apparition, he wasn't very confident.
"Damn human." The Orc King roared and charged over, raising his scepter and smashing it down hard on Aaron's head.
"Who are you looking down on?"
Aaron twirled his knife and slashed towards the Orc King's scepter.
The blade collided with the scepter. The Orc King was knocked back several steps by the powerful force and fell off the wooden bridge.
Aaron's hands also trembled slightly. The knife in his hand was just an ordinary Elven weapon and couldn't withstand too much force.
"Follow me, quickly." Gandalf said.
Everyone immediately followed him, running towards a cave entrance.
They fought and fled through this complex underground lair. Dwalin swung a piece of wood left and right, Kili used a ladder to charge through, and Bombur used his weight to destroy bridges.
They used everything they could, literally carving out a bloody path.
Fleeing to a cliff, Gandalf raised his staff and knocked down an irregularly shaped boulder. The group pushed it forward, crushing a group of Orcs.
Behind them was a relentless tide of Orcs. They dared not stop for a moment, frantically fleeing forward.
Until they reached the center of a wooden bridge near the exit, the Orc King suddenly jumped up from below, blocking their path.
At the same time, more and more Orcs surrounded them from all directions.
"Do you think you can escape me?" The Orc King swung his scepter, knocking back Gandalf twice, "You're out of options, aren't you, Wizard?"
Aaron drew his bow and arrow, shooting an arrow into the Orc King's eye.
"Aow!" The Orc King covered his eye, looking at Aaron with hatred, "It's you again?"
Gandalf seized the opportunity to swing Glamdring, cutting a huge gash in the Orc King's stomach, slicing off a third of his body.
"Wizard." The Orc King knelt on the wooden bridge, "This move seems to work too."
Gandalf didn't waste words, and a sword slash across his throat.
The Orc King's neck was half-severed, and he collapsed on the wooden bridge, completely losing his life.
"This is called a villain dying from too much talking." Aaronsaid disdainfully. If the Orc King had been a little more serious, they wouldn't have been able to kill him so easily.
Crack!
The wooden bridge suddenly shook, and creaking sounds came from both ends simultaneously.
An ominous premonition arose in Aaron's heart. He looked down and gasped at the sight of a deep abyss.
"Heh heh! Next time you kill someone, pay attention to the occasion." Aaron patted Gandalf's shoulder, forced a smile uglier than crying, then tightly hugged a sturdy piece of wood, "Don't just stand there, grab on tight, we're going down a big slope."
The Dwarves were still somewhat confused, but Gandalfreacted, "Hold on tight!"
The next moment, the wooden bridge broke, and the expedition team, people and bridge alike, plunged downwards.
As the broken bridge fell, it crashed back and forth against the cliffs on both sides. During this process, the wooden planks of the bridge surface split apart like tofu dregs, and the Dwarves screamed in panic.
When the broken bridge landed, it was utterly destroyed. The Dwarves were buried in the wooden wreckage, but fortunately, everyone was safe and sound.
Aaron released his hands, jumped off the broken bridge, and casually dusted himself off.
"A close call, but a safe landing."
Gandalf also climbed out, stumbling a few times before barely standing steady.
"Not too bad." Bofur said.
The Orc King's corpse suddenly fell, its immense weight making the broken bridge even more unbearable. The pressure on the Dwarves also increased significantly, causing them immense suffering.
"Nonsense, you must be joking!" Dwalin said angrily.
"This incident teaches us not to celebrate too early." Aaronlaughed.
The Dwarves had just climbed out, and before they could catch their breath, dense roars came from above.
Orcs were seen chasing down the cliff face, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"This is even possible?" Aaron said with wide eyes.
"They are too numerous; we are no match." Dwalin said.
"The only thing that can save us is daylight." Gandalf said urgently, "Run!"
Gandalf led Aaron and the Dwarves sprinting along a small path, finally seeing a light not far away.
These Orcs' strength would drastically decline in daylight, and they wouldn't operate during the day. As long as they passed through the cave entrance ahead, they would be safe.
After rushing out of the cave entrance, everyone didn't stop but continued to sprint forward. They only stopped after making sure they were far from the Orc lair.
"One, two, three... five, six, seven, eight... Bifur, Bofur, that's ten.
Fili, Kili, twelve, plus Bombur, thirteen." Gandalf counted the numbers, then noticed that Bilbo Baggins was missing.
"Where's Bilbo?" Gandalf asked anxiously, "Where's our Hobbit?"
"Curse the Halfling, now he's gone." Dwalin said disdainfully, "I thought he was with Dori."
"Don't blame me." Dori said, feeling wronged.
"Where did you last see him?"
"He took the opportunity to slip away when we were first captured." Nori said.
"And then?"
"Let me tell you what happened?" Thorin stepped forward and said, "Baggins bolted at the first opportunity. He's been thinking about a soft bed and a warm hearth since he left home."
"Uh..." Aaron awkwardly raised his right hand, "Things might not be as you think.
Bilbo indeed had thoughts of leaving the group, but that's only natural. I think..."
"Gaius." Gandalf interrupted Aaron, "Do you know where our Hobbit is?"
Aaron nodded slightly, "If nothing unexpected happened, he should be somewhere beneath our Orc City right now.
Also, I must correct you, he didn't just bolt at the first opportunity."
"Then what was it?" Thorin asked, "When we were captured, you still came to save us, but there was no sign of him at all."
"Uh... he wanted to save you, but he wasn't capable enough.
When I was first captured, I killed the three Orcs guarding me.
At that time, I planned to put Bilbo in a safe place first, but when I went back, I found him dueling an Orc and falling off a cliff with him.
But don't worry, I confirmed he wasn't injured.
The first thing he did after waking up wasn't to bolt, but to ask about your safety."
Gandalf took a deep breath, "We need to go find him."
"No need, I left him something that should keep him safe."
"I said, find him." Gandalf tapped the ground a few times with his staff, "Our company needs a Hobbit, understand?"
"I completely understand." Aaron nodded solemnly, "That's why I gave him the choice.
As long as Bilbo is willing, he can come back anytime."
Gandalf was silent for a few seconds, just about to say something, when Bilbo jumped out from behind a tree.
"I do miss my soft bed and warm hearth, but I don't want to leave the expedition yet."
"Bilbo Baggins." Gandalf walked forward with relief, "You are the happiest sight I've seen in my life."
Bilbo shrugged, took off the pack on his back, and handed the dark blue blanket to Aaron, "It's better for this thing to go back to its rightful owner."
Aaron raised an eyebrow after taking it, "How did you get out?"
Bilbo chuckled, silently slipping the golden ring into his pocket.
How did he get out? It felt like a dream.
He played riddles with Gollum, and after several rounds, neither side had a clear winner. So he asked Gollum to guess what he had hidden in his pocket.
Who knew he was so unstable? Without guessing, he lunged at Bilbo, forcing him to flee in a hurry.
During his escape, he accidentally put on the ring, gaining the ability to turn invisible. He then coincidentally ran into members of the expedition team who were fleeing from Orcs, and thus, somehow managed to escape.