Gandalf's Routine [Seeking Recommendation Tickets]

"Kill!"

The dwarves brandished their short swords, hand axes, and warhammers, lunging fiercely at the remaining Orcs.

Seemingly aware that Morgan was watching over them, the dwarves fought with even greater courage and fearlessness.

Under Morgan's influence.

Kili, who had been constantly aiming for the closest and easiest targets, began to emulate Morgan.

He shifted his focus to his fellow members of the Company.

However, the skill required to avoid harming his companions while accurately shooting or severely wounding the Orcs and Gundabad Warg entangled with the dwarves was immense.

It demanded not only sufficient accuracy from the archer but also a steady hand to shoot from various tricky angles.

Otherwise, it would be murder rather than rescue.

Of course, Kili only loosed his arrows when he was certain; he wouldn't fire blindly.

He wasn't stupid.

Under the desperate counterattack led by Thorin Oakenshield, the remaining Orcs and Gundabad Warg soon suffered heavy casualties.

The few remaining Orcs finally felt the sting of fear.

The immediate fear of death looming right before them overcame the fear of the threats issued by their superiors.

The Orcs began to turn and flee.

Seemingly influenced by the fleeing Orcs, the Gundabad Warg, which had been fearless until now, also began to retreat.

Morgan snatched two arrows and drew his bow, firing instantly.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

Two whistling sounds tore through the air in quick succession.

The next second.

An escaping Orc took an arrow to the back of the head and collapsed heavily to the ground.

The other arrow struck the rump of a rapidly fleeing Gundabad Warg.

The Gundabad Warg was moving too fast, and the hit only made it bolt even quicker; it let out a miserable howl and vanished into the distance in an instant.

After Kili brought down the slowest Orc with a single arrow.

Thorin Oakenshield, ignoring the Orcs and Gundabad Warg that had escaped, shouted, "Move!"

Terrifying howls echoed from the distance.

Orc reinforcements could catch up at any moment.

The skirmish had lasted less than ten minutes—brief and intense.

Every member knew the danger of the situation; too exhausted to rest and too hurried to bandage their wounds.

The group followed, sprinting deep into the forest.

"Faster, move faster!"

Thorin Oakenshield, running at the front, constantly urged the dwarves behind him.

When the group sprinted near the cave of the three Troll, two slightly distinct paths appeared in the forest.

Thorin Oakenshield didn't hesitate, heading straight for the path on the right, which seemed to lead further away from the Orcs behind them.

"Wait!"

Gandalf suddenly spoke. Thorin Oakenshield stopped in his tracks immediately and turned to look at him.

Although he knew Gandalf disagreed with him on certain matters, he was not an unreasonable man, especially not in such a critical moment.

The eyes of the other members also focused on Gandalf.

In the distance, the terrifying howls of the Gundabad Warg were still incessant and clearly audible.

"No time to explain, go this way!"

Knowing everyone was waiting for him, Gandalf scanned both paths carefully before pointing to the left, the opposite of the path Thorin Oakenshield had chosen.

After speaking, Gandalf looked at Thorin Oakenshield, and the rest of the group turned their gaze toward Thorin as well.

"I'll follow your lead, move!"

Thorin Oakenshield's reaction was decisive; seeing Gandalf look at him, he nodded immediately.

As long as it didn't involve the dwarves' principles and bottom lines regarding the Elves.

Thorin Oakenshield possessed the rarest quality for a great Dwarf King.

That was the ability to listen to the opinions of his subordinates or others, as long as they were correct.

Thorin Oakenshield also gave sufficient trust to important companions like the wizard Gandalf.

Even in this critical situation.

Although he knew better that a wizard possessed many strange abilities.

Gandalf speaking now might be for this very reason.

"Go."

Seeing Thorin Oakenshield nod.

Gandalf immediately led the way into the forest on the left, walking briskly.

The group followed closely behind Gandalf, running rapidly through the forest.

"Awooo."

Behind them, the terrifying howls continued, like lingering spirits.

However, compared to before, the howls seemed to be a little further away.

This brought a slight sense of calm to the members of the Company.

Half an hour later.

The members of the Company, still running, saw a light appear in the distance.

It turned out they were about to exit the forest.

The howls of the Wargs behind them grew distant, and the end of the forest was ahead. It seemed they were about to escape the Orc pursuit.

However, Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield said nothing, only continuing to stride forward.

The other Dwarves wanted to say something witty.

But this was a critical moment in their escape from the Orcs.

Seeing the serious expressions on everyone's faces.

The Dwarves who wanted to speak could only swallow their witty remarks.

The Company continued to advance through the forest.

More than ten minutes later.

The Company burst out of the vast forest.

Outside were rolling, bare hills.

As if for safety.

After exiting the forest, Gandalf did not immediately lead them away from the woods but continued to advance along the forest's edge.

The advantage of this was that if a large number of Orcs pursued them.

The group could retreat into the forest in time to escape.

The outcome of being surrounded by Orcs in the open wilderness was vastly different from being surrounded in a dense forest.

In the latter case, if the Company could not defeat them, they would still have a chance to escape.

But in the former case, it would be extremely dangerous.

The Company continued to advance along the forest's edge.

Before long, the group saw a large, expansive Stone Forest in the distance.

Finally, a hint of joy appeared on Gandalf's usually impassive face, which was noticed by Morgan, walking beside him.

The joy flashed and vanished, and Gandalf, with his usual expression, continued to lead the group towards the Stone Forest.

Although Thorin Oakenshield was somewhat puzzled that Gandalf had said nothing all this way.

Out of trust in Gandalf, he did not ask further questions.

The group proceeded in the direction of the Stone Forest.

Just then.

A troop of Orc Warg riders suddenly emerged from the hills behind them.

Seeing the Dwarves they had been desperately searching for appear in front of them from afar.

The Orcs immediately became excited and let out wild cries.

The moment the Orcs appeared, their figures were quickly spotted by the Dwarf Ori, who was fond of looking around.

"Orcs, over there!"

Dwarf Ori shouted urgently.

The entire Company was immediately alerted and looked in Ori's direction.

A large, dark, and dense mass of fully armed Orc Warg riders had already begun to charge towards them.

The number of Orc cavalry before them reached at least one or two hundred, far beyond what the previous twenty or thirty Warg riders could compare to.

Moreover, the group was currently situated on a barren, hilly mountain path.

Such exposed terrain was absolutely like flat ground to the Gundabad Warg.

The expressions of the group, who had only just begun to relax, changed drastically at once.

Gandalf roared decisively, "Faster!"

"Keep up!"

"Everyone, keep up!"

Gandalf bellowed as he accelerated, charging toward the Stone Forest.

Thorin Oakenshield was puzzled as to why Gandalf did not choose the closer forest for cover, but instead the more distant, vast Stone Forest.

However, time was incredibly pressing at this moment.

Spurred by Gandalf's shout, the members of the Company immediately followed him, accelerating into a mad dash toward the Stone Forest.

Thorin Oakenshield knew that asking questions now would only waste precious time needed for their escape.

Thus, he did not ask, immediately following behind Gandalf as he sprinted toward the Stone Forest.