After half a year, Allen set foot on the Elves-path again. In the past, he had come here more in the spirit of visiting a neighbor. Now, he was on his way to a war.
He wore his Ancient Rune Plate Armor, with the Noldor Rune Bow on his back and a bag of Noldor Rune Arrows slung behind his waist. A Knight's Longsword hung at his left hip, while his Greatsword and Noldor Enchanted Shield were strapped to his horse.
With the help of various enhancements, the injury to his left arm had healed completely in just a week.
The Vitality Necklace had not been taken back, either. It still rested quietly around Allen's neck.
Following him were Hollimion, captain of his personal guard, and the twelve Twilight Knights under his command.
Their party of fourteen had crossed Mirkwood under the guidance of the Woodland Elves and was now very close to where the Elves-path met the Enchanted River.
As Allen traveled through the forest, he pondered a situation he had hoped never to face.
How he had wished that Thorin Oakenshield would keep his promise, avoid a clash with Thranduil, and pass smoothly through the Woodland Realm.
If that had happened, the company could have reached Lake-town quickly to replenish their supplies. By now, they would probably already have entered the Desolation of Smaug.
But the Silvan Elves guiding Allen and his companions had brought no good news.
Although the female Elf was very curious about the Noldor Elves behind Allen, her expression remained grim as she described the Dwarves' rudeness and insolence.
Apparently, after reaching the Woodland Realm, the Dwarves had actually knocked out the Elf sent to escort them and tried to slip away right under their hosts' noses.
The sheer stupidity of it left Allen speechless. He could scarcely believe Thorin Oakenshield would do such a thing.
Then he remembered that they had apparently stolen weapons and armor in Lake-town. Comparing the two incidents, Allen supposed it was not so out of character after all.
Worst of all, they had failed to sneak through. Legolas had led a band of Elves along their trail and personally hauled them back before Thranduil.
The other Dwarves had been thrown straight into the king's dungeons, and Dwalin, who had knocked out the Elf, had suffered a little physical punishment as well.
Thorin Oakenshield had been brought before Thranduil's throne.
Those two had a particular talent for hitting each other's sore spots whenever they argued. They had barely exchanged a few words before locking horns.
Thranduil had shown no leniency. He told Thorin Oakenshield that if he refused to yield, he had all the time in the world to wait-even a hundred or two hundred years.
Yes, the immortal Elves could wait, but Allen could not. He knew Azog's forces might already be on the march.
There was some good news, however. The female Elf had mentioned only the Dwarves, not their master Burglar, Bilbo Baggins.
That was welcome news indeed. Allen did not believe the Elves would fail to recognize a Hobbit and lock him up as a Dwarf.
More likely, the Hobbit had relied on his racial abilities and the Ring to escape right under the Elves' noses.
If that was the case, Allen would not have to worry about securing the freedom of Thorin Oakenshield and his companions.
Bilbo Baggins would rescue them soon enough-provided the Elves really did know what a Hobbit was.
Thanks to Allen's intervention, Thorin Oakenshield had plenty of time left. August had only just begun, leaving a little under three months until Durin's Day, which fell between October 19 and October 23.
Allen knew the Dwarves would not remain imprisoned for long. He had complete confidence in the Hobbit who could vanish into thin air.
Still, Allen continued to consider how he might rescue Thorin Oakenshield.
Before long, Allen gave up. No matter how much he thought about it, he had no good solution. At most, he could try talking Thranduil around. Beyond that, he would have to wait and see.
And so Allen's party boarded the Elves' boats and arrived at Thranduil's Hall, horses and all.
Thranduil and Legolas welcomed Allen, receiving their frequently visiting human neighbor in the banquet hall.
To the Elves, Allen's visits, which came barely once a year, were indeed frequent.
Allen saw no trace of anger on Thranduil's face. The Elven king truly possessed admirable composure.
Instead, the king of the Woodland Realm looked at the Noldor Elves behind Allen with mild surprise.
Most of the Twilight Knights accompanying Allen had rich golden hair, while the remaining few had jet-black hair.
Among the Elves of Arda, only the Noldor in Middle-earth possessed those two hair colors. The others were the Vanyar living in Aman.
In fact, originally only the Vanyar had golden hair. Golden hair among the Noldor came from their chieftain's Vanyarin wife.
The golden hair of Legolas and Thranduil was closer to a pale gold tinged with silver, nowhere near as rich as that of Hollimion and his companions.
That hair color suggested the Elves behind Allen were very likely Noldor of relatively pure lineage.
Thranduil had little affection for most Noldor Elves.
He considered the Noldor Elves excessively proud, and that pride had brought far too many disasters upon the Elves.
Those included the kinslaying he had lived through and the destruction of Doriath.
Now these proud fellows were serving a human. Thranduil could not help reassessing his neighbor.
What puzzled Thranduil, however, was that these Noldor Elves seemed somehow different from those he had met before. Something felt strange.
Soon, though, Thranduil stopped dwelling on that question, for another discovery caught his attention.
It was the Emerald Rune Plate Armor Hollimion wore. He sensed magical fluctuations from it unlike any he had encountered before.
Four or five years ago, he might not have sensed them at all. For some unknown reason, however, his sensitivity had grown considerably in recent years.
Thranduil suspected that the runes shimmering with faint green light on the armor were the key to those magical fluctuations.
The Elven king then examined all his guests carefully, Allen included.
He discovered that every one of them had runes on their equipment that he had never seen before.
Allen in particular wore an item around his neck that emitted exceptionally powerful magical fluctuations.
This surprised him even more and stirred his curiosity about these runes capable of producing magical energy.
After all, apart from their chieftain, none of the Sindar Elves had been to Valinor or learned its exceptional forging techniques.
In that respect, the craftsmanship of the Noldor Elves was indeed superior.
The king, however, did not ask about it.
Allen could feel Thranduil's gaze, but there was nothing he could do at present.
If he could obtain the crafting methods in the future, he would exchange knowledge on the subject with the Woodland king.
For now, however, Allen had another matter he wished to discuss with the Woodland King.
During the banquet, Allen soon came to the point.
"Your Majesty, why do you insist on keeping Thorin Oakenshield and his companions imprisoned? It gains you nothing."
Rather than answering Allen's question directly, Thranduil asked, "How do you think I should treat them?"
Allen answered without hesitation. "I believe you should release them. Only by letting them go will you have a chance to recover your family jewels. Keeping them imprisoned leaves everything at a dead end. But if you release them, the possibilities are endless. You have all the time in the world. Why not give it a try?"
Thranduil did not reject Allen's request outright. He considered it. He had imprisoned Thorin Oakenshield only in the hope that the stubborn Dwarves Prince would bow his head and accept his terms.
So far, Thranduil had held the Dwarves for only a little over a week.
Even though they had harmed an Elf of the Woodland Realm, Thranduil had not mistreated these Dwarves.
Instead, they received good food and wine every day. Apart from their restricted freedom, Thorin and his companions might as well have been guests.
Thranduil knew there was some truth in Allen's words.
But a mere week was nowhere near long enough, in Thranduil's view. He believed this approach could make Thorin Oakenshield yield.
Thus, the Elven king politely declined Allen's request. As compensation, however, Allen would be allowed to visit the Dwarves whenever he wished.
At the banquet, Allen thanked Thranduil for his generosity. After all, a king's dungeon was not somewhere one could simply enter and leave at will.
Allen had expected this outcome. Neither Thorin Oakenshield nor Thranduil was easy to deal with. Persuading either of them through words alone was truly difficult.
Even being able to check on the Dwarves was important to Allen. At the very least, he could find out whether Bilbo Baggins had been captured.
After the banquet, a guard escorted Allen to the dungeon. Under the Elf's guidance, he met each Dwarf in turn and offered a few reassuring words to put them at ease.
Several times, Allen passed the entrance to Thorin Oakenshield's cell without stopping, visiting the others first. Only after seeing every prisoner and finding no sign of the Hobbit did his anxiety ease.
At last, Allen approached Thorin Oakenshield's cell and spoke with an expressionless face.
"Grandson of Thrór, Son of Thráin, leader of Durin's Folk, future King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield. I never imagined this was how you would keep your promise to me."
Inside the cell, Thorin Oakenshield looked at his human friend, reluctant to meet Allen's eyes.
The Dwarves Prince knew perfectly well what Allen meant. He had handled this terribly, doing the exact opposite of what Allen had asked.
He looked somewhat haggard, but there was no despair on his face. He stood there proudly, as though he were not a prisoner at all, but genuinely a guest.
For Bilbo Baggins had indeed escaped capture by the Elves. He had met Thorin some time ago and promised that he would find a way to get the Dwarves out.
That had given Thorin Oakenshield tremendous confidence.
But this ugly incident had led to much tighter security, as the Woodland Elves knew one member of the party had escaped.
At that moment, the company's master Burglar, Bilbo Baggins, was wandering throughout the Woodland Realm, studying his surroundings and looking for an opportunity.
Perhaps he was hiding in some shadow even now, watching Allen speak with Thorin.
Allen was actually rather disheartened. He had clearly done everything he could, putting so much effort into dealing with both the Elves and the Dwarves.
Yet he had still failed to spare the Dwarves their imprisonment.
Allen did not continue complaining, however. He merely asked the Elf beside him politely, "Could you let me speak with my friend in private?"
The Elven guard looked at Allen and thought, He is the king's guest. I ought to be courteous.
Besides, he had heard that a dozen or so Noldor Elves had arrived, and he wanted to join the others and take a look at them. He therefore nodded and left.
Only then did Thorin Oakenshield finally look at Allen from inside his cell.
Holding his emotions in check, he said evenly, "Allen, I did fail to keep our agreement. If you came only to mock me, then you have succeeded. You may leave now."
Allen glanced around, then crouched down and looked at the Dwarves Prince before him.
He whispered, "I know Bilbo wasn't captured, and I believe he will come to rescue you."
Ignoring Thorin Oakenshield's astonished expression, Allen glanced toward a patch of shadow and continued, "I'll wait for you in Lake-town. Take care of yourself. If I haven't arrived, you'd better wait a few days. I have some matters to deal with."
Without waiting for Thorin Oakenshield to question him, Allen left the dungeon.
Before you continue