Chapter 46: Escape from the goblin kingdom

[General POV]

-Dwarves-The dwarves were not having a good time. The horrible singing of the goblins was extremely annoying, especially for Balin, who had the most sensitive hearing and felt he was enduring the worst possible torture. "That is not a song, it's just screams that scrape the eardrum," he shouted as he covered his ears with his hands, trying to muffle the sound.

"I'd rather listen to Bombur's snoring a thousand times over these goblin chants!" added Bofur. Like Balin, he wasn't having a good time either, but he could still cope with the situation since his hearing wasn't as sensitive.

Ignoring the dwarves' complaints, the Goblin King slumped his obese body into his seat and made a gesture with his hand. The goblins, understanding their king's signal, quickly threw down all the weapons they had taken from the dwarves.

Looking at the weapons his goblins had thrown, the Goblin King, in a surprising act, managed to stand up unaided due to his astonishment. His previously indifferent face turned fierce, and he shouted loudly, his saliva splattering the goblins below him. "Who dares to intrude into my kingdom fully armed? Thieves? Spies? Or perhaps... Assassins?"

Staring down, the Goblin King couldn't identify the dwarves, as they were of the same height as the goblins and, with so many crowded together, the dwarves blended in. Seeing this, one of the goblins at the front stepped forward with a cheerful expression and said, "They're dwarves, Your Majesty; they fell into the trapdoor."

Hearing one of his goblins speak, the Goblin King wondered to himself, "Dwarves?" His expression quickly changed, and he ordered, "Search them. I want everything they have on them."

At their king's command, the goblins, with the skill of a thief, inspected the dwarves. One of them took a hidden bag from the dwarf Ori. Feeling its weight, the goblin smiled gleefully and dumped everything out. Immediately, an assortment of spoons, wine glasses, candle holders, and other items appeared.

Some goblins who saw this fell silent, unable to comprehend how such a small bag could hold so many things. Was this dwarf a wizard? Even the dwarves looked at Ori in surprise, as everything clearly belonged to the elves, but it was surprising that Ori had stored so many things in a small bag.

Feeling the stares of his companions, Ori felt a bit embarrassed and said, "I took them as souvenirs." Even the Goblin King was a bit puzzled and blinked several times before remembering what he wanted to ask. "Tell me, what brings you to my territory?"

Despite being unarmed and surrounded by goblins, the dwarves showed their proud demeanor and remained silent in response to the Goblin King's question. They weren't foolish enough to say they were headed to Erebor.

This attitude greatly annoyed the Goblin King, who, with a hint of irritation in his voice, looked around and shouted, "If you don't want to talk, we'll make you talk! Bring the bone breaker, bring the meat grinder!" Mockingly, he pointed at Ori. "We'll start with the youngest." He identified Ori as the youngest because he had the shortest beard. A beard was a clear indicator of a dwarf's age; the older they were, the longer their beard would be. It was also easy to identify royalty, as their beards were usually thicker and better groomed than those of common dwarves.

Seeing that the Goblin King was about to torture him, Thorin Oakenshield, who was hidden among the crowd, finally couldn't bear it any longer.

"Wait!" A sharp shout echoed through the surrounding caves. Tired of the situation, Thorin shouted, calmly pushed aside a goblin that was in his way, and emerged from the crowd with the elegance of a king. With his head held high, he faced the Goblin King.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here?" The Goblin King instantly recognized Thorin, and his eyes lit up with amusement. He couldn't resist making sarcastic comments to mock Thorin. "It turns out to be Thorin, son of Thráin, grandson of Thrór, the king under the mountain." With exaggerated movements, the Goblin King made a mocking bow. "Oh, I forgot, you no longer have the mountain, so you're no longer a king, which makes you a no-bo-dy"

These taunts hurt Thorin's pride, but as a king, he demonstrated his strength and, without any change in his expression, looked the Goblin King in the eye, unconsciously conveying that the taunts wouldn't affect him.

The Goblin King was not pleased with Thorin's lack of reaction, so a quick idea came to his mind, and he smiled mockingly. Raising a finger as if he remembered something, he said, "Suddenly, I remembered, someone offered a great reward for your head."

The Goblin King slowly straightened up and continued, "Perhaps you know who I'm talking about?" His question was met with Thorin's indifferent face, who believed the goblin was merely babbling, but the following words caused a change in his expression.

"You already know him, a pale old orc. What was his name? Oh yes! A..." The Goblin King didn't finish speaking, as a roaring Thorin responded, "Azog is dead! He died in our battle long ago!" Clearly, the Goblin King touched a sensitive nerve, as talking about Azog brought back memories of his grandfather's death and many of his people. For Thorin, speaking of that vile orc was taboo.

Pleased to have riled Thorin, the Goblin King continued, "So, you think he's dead?" Stroking his enormous, boil-covered jowl, the Goblin King looked up and gave orders to a small goblin in a bucket attached to a rope. "Send a message to the orc. Tell him we have the person he wants."

-Meanwhile-

A goblin was innocently inspecting the dwarves' weapons when, at one moment, he drew Thorin's sword. The sword vibrated with its own will, causing the goblin to scream, as he felt as if his spirit was being cut. With a quick motion, he threw the sword, which landed at the feet of the Goblin King.

The Goblin King felt his spirit being cut and instinctively looked down. Seeing the sword and feeling its vibration, he was so frightened that he took a step back and fell on his backside. Seeing their king fall, the goblins quickly ran to help him up, but before they could, the Goblin King pointed at the sword with trembling fingers, stuttering, "I recognize that sword! That sword! The Biter! The one that has cut thousands of goblin necks!"

Understanding that it was the dwarves' fault their king was so upset, the goblins began to beat them. Clearly, the dwarves wouldn't let themselves be beaten and started to fight back despite being bound.

"Kill them! Don't leave any alive! Cut off their heads!" roared the Goblin King. At his command, the goblins attacked with more ferocity. Thorin, who was bound, was quickly surrounded. The goblins, being the majority, overwhelmed him and managed to knock him to the ground. A goblin climbed on top of him, drew a bone dagger, and with a triumphant smile, prepared to stab Thorin.

"Shis!"

However, an arrow pierced through the crowd, the tip embedding in the goblin's head, causing his movements to halt abruptly. The dagger he held fell, and the goblins holding Thorin were stunned, wondering where the arrow came from. Their question was answered when they saw a human killing their comrades while advancing across the bridge.

-With Aldril-

Aldril had taken advantage of his mother's cloak, which hid him in the darkness. The goblins passing by him didn't notice. At first, he observed the scene, slightly different from what he saw in the movie, but when he realized Gandalf wasn't appearing, he decided to save Thorin, who was about to be killed. He was prepared for plot changes, so he wasn't too surprised that Gandalf didn't appear in time.

Drawing his elven bow, a gift from Glorfindel, he placed an arrow on the string, drew it back, predicted the goblins' movements in seconds, and fired the arrow forcefully. It traveled through the crowd until the tip lodged in the head of the goblin threatening Thorin.

With Thorin saved, he sheathed his bow and drew Anglachel and Anguriel. His movement caught the attention of nearby goblins, who noticed him due to his motion and with a roar of indignation, charged at him. However, to the goblins' horror, Aldril's swords vibrated, causing them to feel extreme terror, immobilizing them. Taking advantage of their paralysis, Aldril cut them down with a sword dance, each movement a work of art.

With his left hand, he executed a diagonal slash, effortlessly cutting through the goblins. With his right hand, he coordinated his attack and made a horizontal slash, decapitating five goblins. Elegant and swift movements resulted in most of the goblins dying and falling off the bridge. Aldril advanced with concentration toward the expedition team, unsure when Gandalf would appear, so he decided to help the dwarves until the old wizard showed up.

Quickly clearing his path, more than a dozen goblins fell under his blade. The remaining goblins retreated, terrified by how easily the human killed their comrades. The Goblin King, seeing this, was enraged and shouted, "Don't retreat! Kill him!" He wouldn't lie; this human induced a primal fear in him, but it was Aldril's sword Anguirel that caught his attention.

The gleam of that sword caused his entire body to tremble with fear. Noticing that Aldril was slowly approaching, he shouted in desperation, "Don't let him get closer! He has that woman's sword! Don't let him near!" The goblins that overwhelmed the dwarves gradually began to clear out, as they followed the Goblin King's orders and ran towards Aldril, leaving only a few to deal with the dwarves.

Aldril calmly observed the horde of goblins running toward him, waving their rusty swords with savage enthusiasm, a spectacle that seemed more desperate than threatening to the half-elf. With a fluid and precise movement, he lowered his left arm slightly while subtly stepping forward with his left foot, preparing his newly learned stance.

With grace, his right hand lifted the sword in a gesture that echoed the lethal elegance of the Twin Moonblade stance, a posture many Elden Ring players would recognize. Aldril used this deadly stance due to the number of enemies; each movement would be calculated not only for defense but to launch devastating counterattacks.

The stance granted him an explosiveness of supernatural speed and surgical precision in each strike. The goblins, blinded by their own ego of being the majority, barely had time to react before Aldril's sword, with a hum, cut through one after another, the goblins falling like flies.

The dimensions of the bridge weren't very large, so the goblins clustered together, allowing Aldril to kill more than four goblins in a single slash. Aldril's evolution was evident, as if it were the Aldril from a few months ago, the goblins would have easily overwhelmed him.

The Goblin King felt desperate. That damn human was killing his people as easily as that woman did. Amid his panicked screams, a blinding white light appeared, followed by a sudden magical explosion, causing all the goblins, including him, to be thrown into the void.

Aldril crossed his two swords in an X, enduring the magical wave that threw all the goblins into the abyss. The bridge and structure quickly emptied, and as the light dissipated, a tall figure with a pointed hat and gray robe, holding a staff in one hand and an elven sword in the other, appeared. Aldril identified the person and swiftly approached the group of dwarves, who were getting up, stunned by the magical explosion.

"You took your time, Gandalf," Aldril said cheerfully, happy that Gandalf had appeared, as their chances of survival increased considerably with the inclusion of the gray wizard.

Gandalf let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, nothing serious had happened to the members of the expedition. A few weeks ago, the dwarves had left with Aldril and Bilbo. Gandalf didn't accompany them immediately, as he still had things to discuss with Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman. Additionally, he was delayed further when he saw Aldril's horse followed by the expedition's other horses heading toward Caradhras. He quickly stopped them and deduced that the horse was trying to reach Erebor. Doing Aldril a favor, Gandalf contacted Radagast and asked him to take the horses to Erebor.

With a quick glance, Gandalf looked at everyone. Seeing that no one was seriously injured, he shouted, "This is not the time to talk. Grab your weapons, we need to get out of here!"

At Gandalf's shout, the dwarves, still dazed from the blows and the magical wave, slowly got up. The ropes binding their hands had been broken by the magical wave, so they quickly ran to where their weapons were.

They had to be quick, as the goblins around them descended from the bridges, extremely furious. Their Goblin King had been thrown into the void, and it was unknown if he was still alive, so they charged with all the fury their small bodies could muster.

The dwarves were quick. Bofur was the first to arrive and swiftly threw weapons to his companions. "Kili," he shouted as he tossed a sword. "Bombur," he threw a spiked mace.

"Gloin," taking the thrown axe, Gloin laughed heartily. "Hehe, come on, you bastards. I'll fulfill my promise and kill you all," he shouted at the goblins charging towards them. His combat effectiveness had increased because, unbound and with his weapon, the dwarves were enemies to be feared, especially with the fury they harbored from being beaten.

The goblins arrived quickly, and both sides plunged into a battle that became very intense in a short period. Gloin, with a smile on his face, began to count the goblins he killed. "Come on, you bastards," he shouted as he buried his axe in a goblin's head. With agility, he pulled it out and quickly struck a goblin on his left side. With another swift movement, he struck the neck of a goblin who had slipped to his right. "That's three! Come for more!"

"Bloom!"

Another magical wave shot out, throwing many goblins into the abyss. Gandalf, with his staff in one hand and an elven sword in the other, moved with the grace of a seasoned warrior who had faced countless battles.

"Slash! Slash! Slash!"

Near him was Aldril, who continued to move his swords with lethal elegance. With a powerful swing of his left sword, he sent more than five goblins flying, his enhanced attributes demonstrating how much he had improved.

Aldril and Gandalf, being the tallest, were the primary targets of the goblins, who considered them more dangerous than the dwarves due to Gandalf's magic and the human with the terrifying swords.

Thorin Oakenshield, who had just experienced the humiliation of the Goblin King and escaped his troubles, finally had the chance to vent his anger. With his elven sword in hand, he began cutting down goblins one by one. Beside him were his nephews, Kili and Fili, who covered their uncle's back. As brothers, they demonstrated admirable coordination. When Kili struck a goblin with a backhanded blow, his brother Fili finished it off with a slash, and they took turns whenever they had the opportunity.

Balin, being the oldest and most experienced, stabbed the goblins without making extravagant moves like the younger dwarves. He focused on delivering lethal blows and moving on to the next goblin.

Thanks to the combined skills of the dwarves, Aldril, and Gandalf, all the remaining goblins were quickly killed. The area was clear, but the problem was that they were in the heart of the goblin kingdom, and they could see countless goblins densely packed, running towards them from afar.

No matter how elite and powerful the expedition team was, they would never be able to withstand such a long and intense fight. They would easily be overwhelmed by the sheer number of goblins.

Moreover, the dwarves were extremely exhausted. It must be remembered that they had recently escaped from the stone giants and barely slept for a few minutes before being captured by the goblins.

"Gandalf, there are too many monsters here. I think we should leave!" said Aldril, knowing he could fight for a while longer but would eventually be overwhelmed by the numbers.

Nodding at Aldril's words, Thorin looked at Gandalf. "We need to leave. We can't kill all the goblins."

Agreeing with Aldril and Thorin, Gandalf turned around. "Follow me!" As they ran across the hanging bridges, Gandalf asked, "I haven't seen Bilbo. Where is he?"

"I haven't seen him. He might have managed to escape," Kili said between gasps.

"I saw that Bilbo managed to escape his capture. The goblins didn't see him because he was so small," added Balin, his breathing increasing. Right now, everyone was running, and talking while running could make you even more tired.

"Don't worry about Bilbo for now. More and more goblins are coming. It'll be hard for us to leave if we delay talking," said Thorin. His tone of voice showed his exhaustion, but as a proud king, he didn't show it.

"There! I see Thorin! Get him!" shouted a goblin, pointing at the group still running.

"Kill him!"

"Cut off his head!"

The goblins' roars echoed behind them. As the great Goblin King had said, Thorin's head had a high price. To the goblins, Thorin was a walking bag of gold; his head was coveted by all the goblins, who needed that gold for weapons and food. They hurried their pace.

Some didn't care about the reward. They were extremely angry that these bastards had thrown their king into the void, believing they had killed him.

"Kill them!"

"Avenge His Majesty!"

"Kill them!"

The group was running among the bridges when, at some point, one of them collapsed, causing Glóin and Aldril to fall. Both landed on the hanging bridge below, causing the rest of the team to panic. Gandalf, the calmest of all, shouted, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, we need to keep running. We'll follow you from below," Aldril shouted back as he started running alongside Glóin, who had a smile despite his exhaustion.

"Very well, follow us and don't get lost," Gandalf replied while running and guiding the dwarves. He knew the way out since he had once passed through the goblin kingdom, needing only a few gold coins for them to let him through.

As they followed Gandalf's group, Glóin, who was behind Aldril, said, breathless from fatigue, "Hey Aldril, let's make a bet. Whoever kills the most goblins wins all the other's coins."

At Glóin's words, Aldril was speechless, now understanding where Gimli's love for betting came from. Nodding, Aldril said, "Alright."

"In that case, let's count how many we've killed. I've got twelve," Glóin said, his competitive spirit awakening, which made him feel less tired.

"I've got thirty goblins."

"Damn it, are you sure you counted right?"

"Let's talk about that later, Glóin. We need to get out of here first." With that, Aldril picked up the pace, having sheathed one of his swords as it was more comfortable to run with just one. Seeing some goblins running towards them from the front, he prepared to kill them quickly.

****

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