Chapter 10: Shadows

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the distant thicket, causing several bowmen to raise their arrows.

"Ah! Fire! Death! Murderers!" A figure riding on a sled pulled by a dozen rabbits burst out.

"Radagast!" Gandalf recognized the newcomer and quickly waved for everyone to lower their weapons.

"Radagast the Brown? He should be a high wizard like Gandalf, right?" 

Rynar thought to himself, as in this world of Middle-earth, there were neither Valar nor Maiar, and he couldn't quite grasp the status of this underwhelming brown-robed wizard from the original story.

"Everyone, don't be alarmed; this is Radagast the Brown," Gandalf introduced him.

"Radagast, what brings you here?" Gandalf asked curiously.

"I've been looking for you; the Greenwood is sick!" Radagast said in a hushed, mysterious tone.

"Hmm?" Gandalf looked at him, puzzled.

"Uh…" Just as Rynar knew would happen, the poor Radagast had forgotten what he was about to say.

Suddenly, Rynar's expression changed, and he quickly turned his head to survey the surroundings. Sure enough, Radagast opened his mouth and pulled out a stick insect from it…

"Ugh~" One of the knights who saw this immediately retched.

Even the thick-skinned dwarf twitched at the corner of his eye, while Bilbo turned pale, his face a mix of green and purple.

Rynar was relieved he didn't see that meal-ruining sight; otherwise, he would have lost his eyesight.

"Ha! It's a stick insect!" Radagast finally exclaimed joyfully.

"Ugh!" A few knights who had just managed to hold down their nausea couldn't take it anymore.

"Greenwood is sick; darkness shrouds the land, all growth has ceased, and the air is filled with a foul stench. The worst part is those webs."

"Webs? What webs?" Gandalf asked, confused.

"Spiders! Very large ones. I'm sure they are descendants of Ungoliant. I tracked them all the way from Dol Guldur!" Radagast said earnestly.

"Dol Guldur? The old fortress?" Gandalf exclaimed, surprised.

"It's been abandoned for ages!" Gandalf added.

"No! It hasn't! A necromancer has taken up residence there…" Radagast began to recall, his voice filled with fear.

"Hey! A puff of Old Toby tobacco might help calm you down," Gandalf offered him his pipe.

After Radagast took a deep drag, Gandalf asked, "Now can you confirm it's a necromancer?"

"…" Radagast didn't answer but instead pulled out a cloth pouch from his cloak.

"This is no weapon of the mortal realm!" he declared.

Gandalf grimaced as he opened the pouch, and his face suddenly changed.

"Awwoo!"

"What is that? Are there wolves in this forest?" Bilbo asked, curious.

"Damn it! Full alert! It's a warg!" Rynar's expression shifted.

"Clang!" Reynard drew his sword.

"Roar!" A muscular figure leapt from the shadows, clearly stronger than any warg Rynar had encountered before.

"Die!" Caslow raised his spear, ready to throw it, but the vigilant Battanian Archers were faster; an arrow instantly pierced the warg's eye.

"Damn it! A warg scout!" Gandalf's face changed dramatically.

"We're being hunted! The orc army is nearby!" Rynar exclaimed in panic.

"Ah!" One knight was knocked down by the warg, but luckily, a teammate nearby quickly severed the warg's head with a sword.

"Get out of the woods!" Rynar forced himself to calm down.

"My lord! Which way should we go?" Reynard asked, rushing to Rynar's side.

"Gandalf! Take us to Rivendell!" Rynar shouted.

"This way!" Gandalf quickly pointed.

"Why go to Rivendell? Do you think those damned elves will help us?" Thorin shouted angrily.

"My friend, if you want to be overwhelmed by the orc tide, be my guest! The line of Durin will end today! I will not lead the knights of Ragar to their doom!" Rynar replied coldly.

"If you think thirteen dwarves can fight against an orc army, suit yourselves! Knights! We ride!" Rynar urged, steering his horse forward.

Thorin should consider himself lucky; after all, in the original story, they lost their ponies, and now at least they had means of transportation.

Indeed, adhering to the principle of not taking unnecessary risks, Thorin ultimately decided to follow.

"Gandalf! You take them and leave! We'll hold the rear, or no one will get out!" Rynar shouted.

"Get out of here! All Battanian Archers, listen up! Follow them out and protect their safety!" Rynar commanded before turning his horse around.

"Knights of the Order of Dawn, we will charge onto the plains!" Rynar called to the knights as they charged toward the plains.

The orc army was indeed drawn away, completely oblivious to the small group's escape.

…

"No!" Thorin lamented on horseback.

"We have to go back and save them!" At this moment, Thorin had not yet been affected by the curse of the Lonely Mountain; he remained the dwarf who was fiercely loyal to his friends.

"Come back! They paid a heavy price for us to escape! We cannot betray them!" Gandalf stopped his foolish behavior.

"We should seek out the elves!" one of the Battanian Archers suggested.

"We're close to Rivendell now; there should be elven cavalry and rangers on alert around here!" another Battanian Archers analyzed.

"Indeed~ We should seek the help of King Elrond!" Gandalf's gaze pierced the distance.

…

"Form up! Line up!" Rynar halted his warhorse to allow it to rest for a moment.

"Get down; I'll leave the command to you!" Rynar said to Reynard.

"Yes! My lord!" Reynard accepted the task with worry.

"Don't worry; Caslow will support us at any time!" Rynar patted his shoulder, looking relaxed.

Leaving the sight of the others meant that Rynar's strongest forces could unleash their full potential. 

The dragon knights were an unbeatable existence against the warg cavalry pursuing the dwarves.

"You don't know, right? Caslow is a dragon knight, with a dragon!" Rynar asked, looking at Reynard, who appeared bewildered.

"Uh… no one told me…" After saying that, Reynard gave a deep look at Caslow. 

What a surprise, this handsome lad had a dragon in his pocket! No wonder Lord Rynar was so unbothered; he even dismissed the others.

"Awwoo!"

"Roar!"

The chaotic warg cavalry appeared in the line of sight of Rynar and the others, numbering around two to three hundred.

"Damn! Is that all?" Rynar nearly spat out.

"Ah, hehehehe." Reynard, who had been tense, now forced a chuckle.

"This…" Caslow covered his face.

The warg cavalry, who had scared everyone half to death and fled in panic, turned out to be so few. Rynar, Reynard, and Caslow all covered their faces… 

What an embarrassment! How could they say that a knightly order scared off over three hundred warg cavalry, and even prepared to bring a dragon into battle… 

Rynar glanced around and saw no one else; good! Otherwise, they would have to consider silencing them.

"Charge!" Rynar, embodying the spirit of the mountain king, shouted dramatically as he brandished his spear and spurred his horse.

"Knights! Charge!" Reynard, blushing, ordered the knights to launch their charge.

The warhorses marched in perfect unison, and from above, under Reynard's command, a hundred apprentice knights executed a high-difficulty wall formation charge.

"Ride like a wall!" Reynard shouted!

"Boom!" The next moment, this wall of steel crashed heavily into the orc ranks.

…

"Congratulations, host! You have successfully activated the main quest:The Lonely Mountain Expedition! Unlocking the sign-in feature: You can sign in once a day to receive various random rewards!" Just as the battle ended, a panel of light popped up before Rynar.

"Damn it! I thought your useless ring was broken! Turns out I've just now touched the main line…" 

The more Rynar thought about it, the more upset he became.

He had thought this system was just for achieving rewards, believing he had figured out how to use it; who knew someone would tell him he hadn't even opened the real page…

"Sign in!" Rynar signed in for the first time with a dark expression.

"Sign-in successful. Congratulations, host! You have obtained 90 Battanian Archers."

"Wow? Can I understand that you're stocking up troops for me for the upcoming War of the Ring?" Rynar thought this system was quite adorable.

In the upcoming Battle of the Five Armies, excluding other players' interference (Rynar chuckled like a pig), the orc coalition only had thirty thousand, while the dwarves had five hundred, the elves three thousand, and a few hundred humans. 

Rynar was practically the last straw on the camel's back, more like a sugar cane now.

With the daily rewards from the Shire's warhorses, Rynar could fully equip these 90 Battanian Archers and use them as heavy cavalry. 

Looking at it this way, with two hundred fully armed mobile forces, plus a holy knight and a dragon knight, they could easily overpower the orcs.