Worst Case Scenario [Seeking Recommendation Tickets]

They had only just fought a battle against a midnight Orc ambush last night.

The members of the Company had a deep, vivid memory of such howls.

"That is the howl of an Orc Warg."

"It seems the Orc pack is not far from here!"

Gandalf spoke in a deep voice, immediately extinguishing his pipe and putting it away.

"Go, back to the camp, quickly!"

Thorin Oakenshield's expression turned grim as he spoke at once.

"We must return to the camp immediately; our rations and horses are all there!"

"Even if we shake off the Orcs, we won't get far without food and horses."

Gandalf nodded and added immediately.

"Move!"

The others also knew the gravity of the situation.

Without further ado, the group immediately picked up their pace and rushed toward their temporary camp.

"Awoo."

"Awoo."

Howls, each clearer than the last, continued to drift over.

The faces of everyone in the Company were as heavy as water.

Having experienced the battle last night, they had already witnessed the terrifying brutality of the Orcs.

Now that they were returning, just listening to these howls, they knew the scale of this Orc raid would certainly not be small.

"Faster, faster."

Thorin Oakenshield urged them loudly.

Among everyone in the Company, even including Gandalf, no one knew better than Thorin Oakenshield just how terrifying a large-scale Orc force could be.

With so few people on their side, if they were to be completely surrounded by an Orc army...

He dared not imagine what kind of horrific consequences that would bring.

The clearer the Warg howls became, the closer the Orcs were to the group.

Comparing the clarity of the direction from which the wolf howls came, Thorin Oakenshield's expression grew increasingly somber.

He had a very bad premonition; he only hoped there was still time.

"Faster!"

Thorin Oakenshield took the lead, sprinting toward the temporary camp.

The distance from the Stone Troll lair to the temporary camp was not far.

In less than half an hour, the Company saw the rain tents they had set up in the temporary camp from afar.

Just as everyone felt a slight sense of relief, thankful that the Orcs hadn't found the camp yet, an Orc riding on the back of a tall Warg suddenly emerged from the most prominent tent.

As luck would have it, the Orc looked up and spotted them.

"Not good, get down!"

Thorin Oakenshield immediately crouched down and hissed.

However, the Dwarves at the back of the group, such as Bombur and Nori, were clearly a beat too slow.

Having discovered the trail of the Dwarves, the Orc immediately pointed in the direction of the Company members and began shouting wildly.

Following that, several Orcs mounted on Wargs immediately charged out from the tents.

Then, a low horn blast was sounded.

Warg howls began to ring out one after another all around the forest.

Listening carefully, one could perceive that these sounds were constantly closing in on them.

At this moment, the Orcs in the temporary camp also charged madly toward their position.

"The camp has been taken."

"We must have been discovered as well."

Gandalf, with his long legs, was the first to see the Orc Warg riders charging from afar. He shook his head hurriedly and turned to look at Thorin Oakenshield, whose expression was still caught in hesitation.

Gandalf said sternly, "Thorin, we must go!"

Thorin Oakenshield knew full well that they had been discovered by the Orcs, and he was even more aware of the perilous situation they were in.

Leaving like this meant completely abandoning their food supplies and horses.

The Expedition Team might be able to shake off the Orc pursuit.

But this journey to the Lonely Mountain would likely be impossible to continue.

This was the situation he had feared most.

He hadn't expected that even with everyone rushing back with all their might, they would still be a step too late.

"I am so unwilling to accept this!"

Thorin Oakenshield's expression was filled with resentment as he gritted his teeth and shouted: "Move!"

As the words fell, Thorin Oakenshield immediately turned around and sprinted toward the direction where the three Troll dens had been located.

The group had just traveled this path, making it arguably the safest route in the forest at the moment.

"Awoo."

"Awoo."

The terrifying howls of Gundabad Warg echoed from all directions.

Deep in the forest, the members of the Company were running for their lives.

However, it was clear that two legs could not outrun Gundabad Warg that traversed the forest as if it were flat ground.

Before long, the roars of more than twenty Warg riders charging out from the temporary camp sounded from behind the Company.

The first wave of Orc had caught up.

Thorin Oakenshield turned his head to look at the Orc Warg riders now within arm's reach and immediately came to a screeching halt.

Turning back to face the menacing Orc in the distance, he drew his short sword, pointed it at the incoming Orc riders, and roared: "Slaughter them!"

"Kill them!"

"Kill these filthy mongrels!"

"Avenge our fallen kin!"

"Kill these monsters!"

The dwarves immediately responded to Thorin Oakenshield's call, waving their weapons and shouting in a frenzy of righteous indignation.

Despite their cursing, the dwarves were not slow in their actions; a dozen of them immediately formed a defensive formation.

Bilbo, who was slightly flustered, along with Bofur and Bombur, who had been heavily injured during the siege of the three Troll, were all shielded in the center by the other dwarves.

Although the dwarves often teased and mocked Bilbo in daily life.

When it truly mattered, the dwarves were still very much worth trusting.

The members of the Company split into two groups to face the enemy.

Thorin Oakenshield led all the dwarves to meet the charge together.

Morgan, meanwhile, stood once again with Gandalf.

The two were powerful, their abilities complemented each other, and fighting side-by-side would maximize their combat effectiveness while keeping them safer.

"Boom, boom, boom."

The momentum of dozens of Warg charging together was incredibly fierce.

"The master has ordered, slaughter these dwarf mongrels!!"

As the distance closed, the tall, hideous Orc Warg rider in the lead finally roared.

"Slaughter the dwarf mongrels!"

"Slaughter the dwarf mongrels!"

The group of Orc following closely behind immediately grinned and shrieked, waving their weapons as they charged toward the Company.

"You sound quite excited; you'll be the first one today!"

Morgan drew his bow and nocked an arrow, his gaze coolly fixed on the tall, grinning Orc leader sitting atop a massive Warg, and muttered to himself before releasing his fingers.

"Swish."

An arrow immediately soared over the Expedition Team, whistling straight toward the incoming Orc.

The next second.

The tall, lead Orc, who had been hunched over on his Warg with a grin on his face, suddenly froze.

Immediately after, his entire body tilted to the side, and he tumbled straight off the wolf's back.

The lead Warg continued to sprint forward, though for some reason, it suddenly felt much lighter on its back.

The Warg, lacking high intelligence, could not discern the anomaly, but the Warg riders following closely behind their leader were clearly stunned to see their boss fall.

But then, the realization sparked even greater fury in the hearts of the Orc Warg riders.

They roared and charged toward the Company without the slightest loss in momentum.