Hunting Bolg

Bilbo Baggins, hidden in the shadows of the dungeon, was deeply troubled.

He had been thrilled when he first arrived in the Woodland Realm with the caravan from Wilderness Town.

After all, his experience in Rivendell had left him with a very favorable impression of the Elves, and he had expected another pleasant stay here.

But Thorin's actions had dashed those hopes outright.

The Silvan Elves who lived in Mirkwood were nowhere near as kind as those in Rivendell.

Thranduil was no kindly Lord Elrond, either. After his talks with Thorin Oakenshield broke down, the king ordered every member of the expedition arrested for injuring his subjects.

Our little Hobbit, however, had used his race's natural talents and that little magical trinket to evade both the Elves' attempts to arrest him and the extensive search that followed.

But that had done little to improve his situation.

He was trapped in the Woodland Realm.

That little magical trinket did allow him to vanish perfectly into the shadows.

But whenever he stepped into a brightly lit area, he still left faint, inconspicuous traces, which had put the Elves on alert several times.

The king here also seemed vaguely able to sense his presence.

That left many places off-limits to Bilbo, forcing him to wander through the dark.

Under those circumstances, he felt as though time had stopped flowing for him.

With no other choice, he had to keep wearing the ring and live right under the woodland Elves' noses, which was utterly exhausting.

Even that was nothing compared to his greatest problem: how to rescue the Dwarves.

To that end, Bilbo Baggins wandered all over the Woodland Realm, carefully searching for a chance to escape.

The main gate was out of the question. It seemed to be enchanted, allowing only those with the king's permission to enter and leave freely.

Bilbo Baggins had tried it, and he clearly had no such permission.

But before long, the Hobbit discovered another opportunity.

At regular intervals, the Woodland Realm would dump the oak barrels that had once held wine into the Forest River through an opening in the cellar.

As the king held feasts more and more frequently, the barrels were discarded increasingly often.

In just one week, Bilbo had already seen it happen three times.

Today, Galion, who oversaw the wine supply, had once again drunk too much with the captain guarding the dungeon. The two seemed to be very good friends.

Seizing that opportunity, Bilbo had obtained the dungeon keys early and prepared to free the Dwarves.

But the arrival of Allen and the dungeon guards interrupted his plan. Now he waited anxiously in the shadows for Allen to leave.

That glance Allen cast his way had terrified him in the shadows, making him think he had been discovered.

Fortunately, Allen did not stay long and soon left the dungeon without disrupting his plan.

Moreover, the arrival of Allen and the Elves under his command had attracted considerable interest among the Silvan Elves. In their eyes, the Noldor Elves were an even nobler race than the Sindar Elves, and they wanted to join the excitement.

That even included some of the Elves guarding the Woodland Realm's rear entrance.

This allowed Bilbo Baggins's plan to proceed even more smoothly.

Hidden inside the barrels, they drifted downstream without trouble until they reached the vicinity of Lake-town.

There they encountered Bard, who had long been responsible for retrieving the barrels, and with his help, they found lodgings in Lake-town.

It was not until the following day that our woodland king, Thranduil, learned of the Dwarves' escape.

How they had escaped was only uncovered by Tauriel's investigation several days later.

Galion and the guard captain, who had been drunk at the time, found themselves in serious trouble over it.

Though Thranduil was furious, he had taken at least some of Allen's words to heart.

Now that Thorin Oakenshield had escaped, he might as well let them make their own trouble.

Thranduil had plenty of time, after all. He could wait.

He would wait either for Thorin Oakenshield to be burned to death by the Fire-drake or for Thorin Oakenshield to actually drive the Fire-drake away.

In the end, therefore, Thranduil did not send his men to pursue the expedition's members.

Allen, who knew nothing of this, did not head straight to Lake-town to await Thorin Oakenshield and his companions after leaving the Woodland Realm.

He had no idea how much longer Bilbo Baggins would need to rescue Thorin Oakenshield's party. He simply believed that Bilbo would succeed.

Instead, he led his personal guards across the flat wilderness along the Running River's eastern bank, heading toward the Old Forest Road.

He intended to intercept and kill Bolg.

According to the film's plot, Bolg and his men had begun their pursuit the moment Thorin Oakenshield appeared on the Forest River, which meant the Half-orcs had prepared well in advance.

They had probably reached the Woodland Realm's rear entrance early and waited for their chance.

Now Allen was gambling that Bolg, that Half-orc scum, would take the plains along Mirkwood's eastern edge to intercept Thorin.

The route along the Running River's western bank ran closer to the forest and was difficult to travel. Anyone in a hurry would presumably choose the eastern route.

Allen did not want to see those creatures in Lake-town. Although their sole objective was to hunt down the Dwarves, they would inevitably cause great harm to the town's human inhabitants along the way.

Otherwise, what would they eat while traveling so lightly? Surely they could not live entirely on rabbits caught in the forest.

So Allen decided to take the initiative and kill Bolg and the Warg Riders he led on the road.

He took Hollimion south along the Running River's eastern bank while sending all his personal guards out to the east.

He ordered them to search the great plains of Rhovanion for any traces of Warg Riders.

Allen would never have done this with ordinary cavalry, because ordinary horses could not possibly escape pursuing Warg Riders.

But the Elves Horses of the Noldor Forest were different. Their speed rivaled that of Middle-earth's Mearas, and their fierce temperament meant they had no fear of Wargs.

Moreover, these Elves Horses had extremely strong defenses. A layer of barely discernible scales covered their skin, as tough as plate armor.

The Noldor Elves riding them were also highly skilled horsemen with extensive experience in mounted combat. Their mounted archery, in particular, was unrivaled on the Pendor Continent.

Having spent years fighting nomadic raiders along the forest's edges, they were more than capable of returning to Allen with word once they discovered the Half-orcs' trail.

Yet two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Allen and his personal guards had already searched hundreds of square kilometers along the river's eastern bank.

They traveled by day and lay low at night, taking very little rest. To avoid drawing the enemy's attention, they had not even lit a campfire.

But after two days, they had found no trace at all-not a Half-orc, not even a single Warg hair. Allen was growing restless.

He could not afford to waste too much time here. After two days without any news, he prepared to return.

He could have laid an ambush outside Lake-town, but he had no way to predict when Bolg would arrive.

If Bolg arrived while Allen was occupied elsewhere, that would leave him far too reactive. It was not a good option.

But the lack of any trail meant that something had changed, or that Allen had gambled on the wrong route. Either way, he needed to cut his losses in time.

So, on the morning of the third day, Allen set out on the return journey with his personal guards.

Unlike their outward journey, they took the Running River's western bank this time. Allen wanted to make one final attempt.

Sure enough, it proved a wise choice. Allen soon discovered the Warg Riders' tracks beside the river and followed their trail in pursuit.

Those cunning creatures had not traveled across the plains on the Running River's eastern bank as Allen had expected.

Instead, they had chosen to hide by day and travel by night, advancing through the dense forest toward their target.

As a result, they had completely missed Allen's party.

Judging from the tracks on the ground, Hollimion reported to Allen that the band of Warg Riders numbered close to a hundred.

Allen paid no mind to their numbers. He knew his personal guards could defeat them, or even wipe them out entirely.

He directed his men to pursue the Warg Riders and kill them.