"Okay! This has given us a fright," said Gandalf: "I'm afraid it will be difficult for even the orcs who are chasing us to come down now."

"I think so too," Bombur muttered, "but it won't be difficult for them to throw stones at our heads." The dwarves and Bilbo did not feel happy, they just massaged their red, swollen and bruised legs and feet glumly.

"Nonsense! We will leave this area. We have to move fast! Look at the sky!"

The sun had already set behind the mountains. The shadows around them had gradually deepened.

However, because the trees on the distant hillside were relatively low, they could still see the sunset on the distant plain. They limped forward as quickly as possible, walking up a slope that sloped southward and was covered with pine trees.

At times, the diminutive dwarves had to push aside the dense fern leaves before they could move forward. At the same time, the forest became darker and darker - and eventually became unsettling.

The deathly silence.

That night, there was not even a slight breeze that could carry the wet salty water vapor into the woods, which made the Lonely Mountain Expedition team, which was already very low in morale, even more depressed.

"Should we continue walking?" Bilbo asked. It was already so dark that he could only see Thorin's beard swaying around him. The dead silence made the dwarf's heavy breathing become an annoying noise. "

My toes are bruised and injured, my legs are in pain, and my stomach is dangling like an empty bag..."

"Just a little more walking will help!" Gandalf comforted, although his words of comfort were not convincing to Bilbo.

But as soon as he saw the solid backs of the rest of his companions moving forward bravely, Bilbo could only make up his mind to follow him. The tragic experience of escaping alone in the underground tunnels in the past few days had already made this fun-loving hobbit fed up.

Lonely. Therefore, at this moment, he would rather break his legs than fall behind his companions.

After what seemed like an endless trek, they came to a clearing where no trees were growing. The moon had risen and was shining peacefully on the place. Although there was nothing special about them, they were all

I think there's something weird here.

At this time, they heard a howl from the distance. It was a shrill, piercing howl. There was a closer response on the right, and there was also a response not far away on the left. This was the howl of a wild wolf.

Yue, they are making friends!

There were no wolves near Mr. Baggins's burrow, but he recognized the sound, having often heard it described in legend; one of his relatives (from the Tooke side) was a well-traveled

The traveler once deliberately imitated this sound to scare him.

Hearing this sound in the forest was too exciting for Bilbo. Even the magic ring could do nothing to the wild wolves, especially the evil wolves that haunt this area. These evil wolves have a sense of smell better than that of orcs.

It's so sharp that you don't need to rely on vision at all, and you can still catch prey easily!

And this is not good news for the short-legged dwarves - after all, no matter what, their group of two-legged people will definitely not be able to outrun the four-legged wolves...

"What should we do, what should we do?" Bilbo shouted in panic: "I just escaped from the orcs, and I was caught by the wolf again!" He said, this later became a proverb, but we

Nowadays, the same confusing situation is mostly described as "one wave is not over, another wave is rising".

"Hurry up the tree!" Gandalf shouted. They immediately ran to the woods at the edge of the meadow, looking for pine trees with relatively low branches, or trees that were thinner and easier to climb.

You should have guessed that they found a place to hide with unprecedented speed, and immediately tried their best to climb up to the highest branch. If you see the dwarves from the side (of course, from a certain safe distance)

Sitting on a tree branch, with beards blowing in the wind, you might not be able to help laughing, because they look so much like old men wearing clumsy costumes playing child versions of Santa Claus.

Fili and Kili were hiding on a tall larch that looked like a Christmas tree; Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin and Gloin were hiding on a huge pine tree, which looked like a Christmas tree.

Neat branches like axles stretched out in all directions; Beaver, Bofur and Bombur were all huddled on a thin cedar tree, trying to find a place to stay among the sparse branches.

As for Gandalf, he was taller than everyone else, so he easily found a tall pine tree that no one else could climb, and overlooked the scene in front of him. He was well hidden, but when he peered down

, you can still see his eyes shining in the night - Bilbo guessed that maybe it was the light of wisdom unique to wizards, and maybe those magical magics were released from these lights full of profound knowledge.

!

As for Bilbo? He couldn't climb any tree at all, and could only run around in panic among the trees, like a poor hare hunted by hounds, looking for a hiding place.

"You left the Snitch behind again!" Thorin asked, lowering his head.

"I can't carry the Snitch everywhere every time, right?" Bombur said, "Forget it in the tunnel, but also climb a tree? Do you think I'm a porter?"

"If we don't think of a way, he will be eaten!" Thorin said. At this time, the howling of wolves around him was getting closer and closer. "Dori!" he shouted, because Dori

He was on the best tree to climb, and he was closest to the ground. "Move quickly and help Mr. Baggins!"

Although Dori likes to complain, she is actually a very kind person. However, even if Dori climbed to the lowest branch and hung upside down and stretched out his arm, poor Bilbo still couldn't grab his hand. Therefore, Dori

He risked his life by climbing down the tree and letting Bilbo climb up on his back.

At that moment, the wolves howled and rushed towards the clearing. Hundreds of pairs of eyes suddenly appeared and stared at them. Dori still held on to Bilbo tightly. He waited until the other party climbed up the tree, and then he was in a critical moment.

Jump up.

What a danger! A wild wolf bit his cloak the moment he climbed into the tree and almost tore him off. Soon after, wild wolves were everywhere howling and rushing toward the trees, their eyes glowing and their tongues glowing.

Hanging out hungrily too.

These wargs (the wild wolves in the wilderness are so called because they are used as mounts by orcs) cannot climb trees. Bilbo and his party are at least temporarily safe. Fortunately, the weather is quite warm at this time, and there is not much wind.

.The branches themselves are not suitable for sitting for a long time, but if you are in the cold wind surrounded by wild wolves, it is a really deadly place.

This clearing in the forest was obviously a gathering place for wild wolves, and more and more wolves were gathering here. They left guards under the trees where Dori and Bilbo were hiding, and then sniffed around.

They stood until they found all the trees where people were hiding. They also sent guards to guard these trees, and hundreds of other wolves sat down in a circle in the middle of the grass.

In the center of the circle was a huge gray wolf, which talked to them in the terrible language of wargs. Gandalf could understand it, but although Bilbo couldn't understand it, he felt that every word they said was very interesting.

Horrible. Every once in a while, the group of wargs in a circle would echo what the leader said in unison, and the horrifying roar made the hobbit almost fall under the tree.

Even if Bilbo doesn't understand, let me tell you what Gandalf heard! Wargs and orcs don't usually venture far from the mountains unless they are driven out and forced to find a new home or prepare to

Go to war (I am happy to report that this has not happened for a long time).

In those days, they would sometimes launch raids to seize food or capture slaves who worked for them; then, they usually asked wargs to help and share the results with them. It seemed that there was a large-scale raid tonight.

The warg came here to meet with the orcs, but the other party was late.

There is no doubt that this was caused by the killing of the orc leader and the commotion caused by Bilbo, the dwarves and wizards. The orcs may still be thinking of ways to hunt these guys down.

Even though there are many dangers in this land, brave humans from the south have recently traveled here, felled trees, and built homes in the valleys or in the woods along the river banks. They were many, well-armed and brave, and they could fight in groups during the day or in groups.

During the operation, even the wargs did not dare to attack easily; however, this time they planned to attack several villages near the mountain with the assistance of the orcs. If their plan succeeded, in addition to

There may be no survivors nearby except the slaves chosen by the orcs.

This sounds horrifying, not only because the fate of these brave woodmen and their wives and children is at stake, but also because Gandalf and his friends are now also facing a great crisis. The wargs discovered that these people appeared in front of them

The gathering place was quite angry and troubled.

They believe that these people are allies of the woodcutter, who have come to spy on them, and will later inform the humans in the valley of their attack plans. In this way, the orcs and wolves who originally slaughtered unarmed humans in the dark will

The plan will become an arduous and bloody battle.

Therefore, the wargs did not intend to let these guys leave here alive to inform the news, at least not before dawn; they also believed that before that, the orc soldiers would come to meet up, and these orcs could climb trees, or

Cut down the trees and kill the enemies in one fell swoop.

You should know now why Gandalf became more and more frightened the more he heard it!

Although he was a wizard, he would still react like this when he was trapped in this situation. At the same time, he secretly made up his mind that even if he was trapped in a tree and couldn't do much, he could definitely make these guys

Get your wish.

He collected a large number of pinecones from the tree where he was, lit them with blue flames, and threw the scorching fireballs to where the wargs gathered. The first shot hit a wolf, which was hit in the back.

Suddenly, its fluffy hair burned immediately, and it began to run around in pain, howling continuously.

Fireballs were thrown one by one, some with blue flames, some with red flames, and some with green flames. They exploded on the ground, emitting sparks and smoke of various colors. A special one

The big pine cone hit the warg leader in the nose, causing it to jump ten feet high. When it landed, it vented its anger by attacking other wolves.

The dwarves and Bilbo cheered loudly. The anger of the wolves looked so terrifying that the whole forest was in commotion.

Wild wolves have been afraid of fire since ancient times, but this kind of fire is the most terrifying and treacherous enemy among them. As long as a little spark touches their hair, unless they roll around immediately to extinguish the flame, they will be engulfed by the flame immediately.

.

Soon, the entire grassland was filled with wolves rolling around, trying to extinguish the sparks on their backs. Other wolves on fire howled and ran away, but more compatriots were involved in the flames. In the end, they

They were all chased away by their companions and ran down the hillside wailing in search of water.

.....

As for the other side of the Misty Mountains, there was another group of mountain residents who were alarmed by the loud noise made by the dwarves fighting with the wild wolves.

Different from the lumberjacks Gandalf mentioned earlier, the identity of this group of forest residents is much more special - they are a group of soaring giant eagles that can dominate the sky!!

"What's going on in the forest today?" said the King of Giant Eagles. He was sitting in the moonlight, overlooking the ground on a lone rock in the east corner of the mountain range. "I heard the sound of wolves! Are the orcs causing trouble in the forest again?

?”

It swooped close to the clouds, and the guards on the left and right immediately took off, following closely behind. They soared in the air, overlooking only a small gathering of wargs on the ground; however, the eagles have excellent eyesight and can see

A little thing from far away.

The Eagle King in the Misty Mountains has eyes that can look directly at the sun, and can even clearly see the hare running a mile away in the moonlight. Therefore, it can clearly see the people hiding in the trees, and can also clearly see the wolves below.

The sight of running and howling in the flames; in addition, it also saw the moonlight shining on the helmets and spears of the orcs, as these evil creatures marched into the forest in formation.

Eagles are not gentle birds, some are very cowardly and cruel, but the ancient eagle tribe in the northern mountains is the king of birds. They are proud, strong, and kind-hearted. They do not like orcs, nor are they afraid of them.

When they are distracted by these creatures (which is rare, as they do not eat these creatures), they will pounce on them, causing them to flee screaming back into their caves to stop their evil work. Orcs are afraid of males.

Eagles hate them too, but they can't get into their steep and inaccessible nests or drive them away from the mountains.

Tonight, the Eagle King was very curious and wanted to know what was going on underneath, so he summoned many giant eagles to join the procession, and together they flew away from the mountains, slowly spiraling down, gliding closer to where the orcs and wargs gathered.

The arrival of the giant eagles may be good news for the dwarves who are in trouble.
Chapter completed!