The King’s Option

Mirkwood, also known as the Black Forest, is the largest forest in the north and home to the Silvan elves. As the children of the God of Creation, although many elves are known for their pride, most are kind-hearted and absolutely hostile to the dark forces.

Half a month after the tragedy at Lake-town, following a brief discussion, King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm decided to temporarily shelter the survivors from Lake-town. He allowed them to reside within his kingdom's borders and provided them with the necessary materials to survive. 

Of course, this was not free, although the Silvan elves did not ask for compensation. As the temporary leader of the refugees, Wayne insisted on providing payment. The funds came from the wealth of the former mayor of Lake-town, who had once preyed upon the common folk and amassed great riches.

This corpulent man was not so fortunate during the orc raid. Along with some of his officials, he was among the first to fall under the orc blades, never getting the chance to flee. As a result, the treasure he had hoarded became ownerless. After it was retrieved from the ruins, Wayne chose not to keep it for himself. Instead, he used it to fund the rebuilding efforts for the Lake-town refugees. This gesture earned him the gratitude of all the survivors.

That afternoon, while Wayne was discussing plans for rebuilding Lake-town with a few of the surviving leaders, the Woodland Elf Prince Legolas approached. 

The elven prince bowed respectfully to Wayne and said, "Wayne, my father invites you to a meeting this evening. The Grey Wizard, Gandalf, plans to depart for Dol Guldur tomorrow. Tonight's meeting will be crucial for discussions about Smaug."

Wayne nodded, returned the gesture, and agreed to attend the evening meeting. 

Since his heroic rescue of the Lake-town prisoners, Wayne had earned the admiration of the Silvan elves. As a kingdom that had fought the orcs for thousands of years, the Woodland Realm held deep hatred for the orcs. Moreover, strength is respected everywhere, and Wayne welcomed the elves' goodwill.

After Legolas left, Wayne turned his attention to the men around him—Bard the Bowman, Captain Adar, the merchant William Sr., and the secretary Wingert. 

These four men were now the most capable and respected among the Lake-town survivors. The orc attack had claimed the lives of nearly half the town's people. The remaining survivors were mostly the elderly, women, and children, as those who had fought had already perished in battle. 

Even Bard, though a key figure, had lost much—his wife had died protecting their children, and now only he and his surviving children remained.

"Wayne, I wonder if you have given our proposal any thought?" Adar, once the captain of the Lake-town guard and now the leader of the refugee militia, asked anxiously. "After much deliberation, we would like to elect you as our king to lead us in rebuilding our homeland."

Wayne sighed inwardly, his expression remaining calm. After exchanging glances with the four men, he spoke carefully. "I'm sorry, but I need more time to think this through. Soon, I'll be joining the hunt for Smaug, the dragon. I will give you my answer after that task is complete."

Disappointment spread across the faces of the men, especially Bard. After a few moments of struggle, Bard sighed and said, "Wayne, if you're going to hunt Smaug, I have some information that might be useful."

Wayne nodded slightly, having already guessed the information Bard wanted to share. To be honest, he was truly hesitant about accepting the offer to become the king of Lake-town.

Currently, Lake-town's population was only around 500 people. While this wasn't a large force, it still held some value. The main drawback was that the portal to Middle-earth was in the Shire, and Wayne could not stay here long enough to properly govern this settlement.

Additionally, Lake-town was too far from the Shire. Traveling back and forth would take at least two or three months, which left him in a difficult position—torn between the opportunity and the impracticality of ruling a kingdom so far from his main base of operations.

Sure enough, as Bard recounted the story, it became clear that his ancestor, the King of Dale, had once shot off a piece of Smaug's dragon scale with a black arrow. 

Although Wayne had known about this from his prior knowledge, he still expressed his gratitude. Bard's willingness to share this crucial information without hesitation, after being saved by Wayne, showed that Bard was a man of honor and worthy of trust.

Unfortunately, the remaining black arrow, which had been kept in Bard's old home, had been lost during the destruction of Lake-town. Recovering it would likely take considerable effort.

After finishing the conversation with Bard and the others, Wayne was led into the palace of the Woodland Realm by one of the Silvan elves.

The architectural style of the Woodland Realm was quite different from the elegant and artistic buildings of Rivendell. The Silvan elves favored more practical yet gorgeous designs. 

Since the Mirkwood had been invaded by dark forces thousands of years ago, the forest, once known as the Greenwood the Great, had become the corrupted Black Forest it was today. 

Not only were giant spiders, orcs, and twisted creatures thriving here, but the environment itself had been deeply altered by dark forces. 

The once vast territories of the Silvan elves had been reduced to a small corner of the forest.

This wasn't due to any weakness in the Woodland Realm's military. Despite the elves' impressive combat skills, the sheer speed at which orcs reproduced compared to elves was staggering. 

While the elves of Middle-earth were immortal, their low birth rate made it difficult to recover from the losses of long-term war. Even though one elf might be able to kill ten orcs, the ongoing war of attrition was simply unsustainable for them.

Upon entering the palace, Wayne saw that several others were already gathered. King Thranduil, as handsome as a work of art, sat on the throne in a beautiful light green robe. His son, Prince Legolas, stood at his side, equally striking in appearance.

Prince Thorin and the elder dwarf Balin were seated on the right side of the hall, while Gandalf, the grey-robed wizard, sat opposite them, smoking his pipe and wearing a solemn expression.

After Wayne entered the room, everyone nodded slightly in acknowledgment. Once he was seated, Gandalf, the only neutral party among them, stood up, cleared his throat lightly, and said:

"Everyone, since we are all present, let's begin discussing our strategy to deal with Smaug."

Seeing no objections, Gandalf stroked his beard and continued:

"As we previously discussed, our initial approach against Smaug will be the stealth strategy."

"Hobbit Bilbo will sneak into the halls of Erebor, locate the Arkenstone among the treasures, and ensure its safety."

"If the dragon awakens during this, it will be hunted by Wayne, and they will engage in battle within the Lonely Mountain."

At this point, Gandalf paused slightly before continuing:

"If the hunt succeeds, then our campaign against the dragon Smaug will be victorious."

"However, if Wayne is unfortunately unable to slay the dragon, we must be prepared for Smaug's retaliation."

"According to the intelligence we have gathered, the orc clans in the Grey Mountains appear to have received some sort of order and are secretly mobilizing."

"Prince Thorin has already written to inform the Dwarf Kingdom in the Iron Hills, and we are expecting reinforcements from the dwarves shortly."

"His Majesty Thranduil has also agreed to send troops to help us deal with the orcs."

"We must work together to prevent the alliance between Smaug and the orcs of the Grey Mountains. Allowing these two forces to join would spell disaster for us all."

"The best-case scenario is to focus on eliminating one of these two threats before they can join forces."

"No matter the outcome, Prince Thorin has agreed to return His Majesty Thranduil's necklace and is willing to offer a portion of the treasure from Erebor as compensation for this alliance and the battle ahead."