I reforged the glory of the magic ring in Middle-earth

Chapter 85 Crossing the Mountains
Valley, after the meeting.

Gandalf was left alone by Lady Galadriel.

The beautiful woman, full of intelligence and wisdom, gently asked Gandalf, "You are going with the dwarves who left early, right?"

Gandalf nodded slightly, "Yes."

Galadriel praised: "You are right. Helping Thorin Oakenshield is the right thing to do."

But then a look of sorrow crossed her beautiful face. "But I fear this expedition will unsettle powers we do not yet understand. The mystery of the Morgul blade Radagast gave you must be solved. And that army of trained Orc Wargs you spoke of... something moves in the shadows, eluding our sight and concealing itself. At least not yet."

Gandalf nodded seriously.

Galadriel added, "You must be careful."

"I will see to that, Lady Galadriel," said Gandalf, and he bade her farewell, and likewise prepared to leave Rivendell.

But Galadriel suddenly called out Gandalf's elven name: "Mithrandir, why did you choose that halfling and the lord of the golden tree?"

Gandalf paused in his retreating steps, then slowly turned around.

The bright and gentle moonlight shone on Gandalf's old face, but a confused look appeared on his face that had never appeared in front of Tanis and Bilbo. "I don't know."

"Saruman thought that only great power could control evil. But I saw otherwise. What I saw was that it was the small things, the everyday trivialities of ordinary people, that kept the darkness in check, the ordinary acts of kindness and love."

Gandalf laughed as he spoke, not knowing why. Then he asked himself wistfully, "Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps it's because I was afraid, and he gave me courage."

Galadriel came to Gandalf at some point, gently held his rough hands, and said gently, "Don't be afraid, Mithrandir. You are not alone."

Gandalf silently looked at the other with gratitude, and Galadriel continued in Elvish: "Ae boe i le eliathon, im tulithon. (When you need my help, I will come.)"

Gandalf's expression also relaxed. He bowed his head slightly to show his respect to Galadriel, then slowly took a step back, pulled his hands away, and was about to say goodbye to her.

But Galadriel continued, "Wait a moment, Mithrandir. You have only told me why you chose the halfling, but you have not yet told me why you also chose the lord of the golden tree."

Gandalf paused again, but this time a smile appeared on his face. "Because I did not choose him, Lady Galadriel, I cannot explain this to you."

"?" Lady Galadriel's face showed very obvious confusion.

Gandalf explained: "Because before I invited him, Tanis had already promised Thorin Oakenshield that he would help the dwarves retake the Lonely Mountain."

Galadriel suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. This is the fate of Thorin Oakenshield..."

Then Gandalf smiled and said, "Of course, if I must give an answer, it is this: Bilbo is the source of my courage to face the darkness, and Tanis is my confidence in facing the darkness. But please forgive me for not introducing him to you this time, Lady Galadriel."

Lady Galadriel smiled faintly and shook her head: "That's alright, I have enough time and patience to wait and meet your friend."

On the other side, Tanes and his group, led by Balin, Thorin and his group, went south along the edge of the Misty Mountains after leaving Rivendell.

According to Balin, who was familiar with the mountainous environment, they had to reach the Misty Mountains near Dunlodge. Only from there could they cross the Misty Mountains more safely and reach the east side of the Misty Mountains. Then they would follow the river north, pass the Golden Iris Swamp, and finally reach the Mirkwood.

"This is the most ideal route, and it is also the route that Gandalf and I have confirmed. Don't worry, we don't need to actually reach Dunland, that's too far." Balin said.

The dwarves nodded in agreement. None of them objected, and they all tacitly agreed not to mention crossing through the closer Mines of Moria.

After all, the [Dwarf Nemesis] deep in the mines has already engraved fear deeply into the hearts of the dwarves.

A week had passed since they left Rivendell, but Gandalf, who had been saying he would catch up with the group, had not yet appeared.

Tanis wanted to suggest waiting for Gandalf, but Thorin seemed a little impatient.

Thorin said that if the wizard wanted to catch up with them, it would be very easy. Since Gandalf had not appeared for so long, it meant that he was delayed by something else, so it would be better for them to continue their journey.

After hearing what Thorin said, Tanes felt that it was correct, so he nodded in agreement.

So they walked again along the edge of the Misty Mountains, heading south.

Although the weather was cold, fortunately there were no attacks from Orcs.

Tanes thought that perhaps after entering Rivendell, the Orcs could no longer track them.

After all, the elves of Rivendell are very martial and will often patrol around the territory of Rivendell and hunt down any Orcs that intrude.

Bilbo followed them all the way, and just as Elrond had said, the Hobbit quickly adapted to the harsh environment of the wild.

At least Bilbo could lie down on the gravel and fall asleep quickly, instead of sneaking out to Tanis and complaining quietly why he didn't bring a soft bed for him to rest himself.

At noon, the sun is shining brightly, and the golden light is like sprinkled gold powder, dotted on the misty mountains.

"Come to think of it, haven't we passed through many mountain passes? Why can't we just go straight in and cross the Misty Mountains?" Bilbo was sitting on the Toret. Seeing that they passed another pass that could lead into the Misty Mountains but didn't enter, he couldn't help but ask loudly out of curiosity.

The reason why Bilbo sat on the Torret was that his physical strength was indeed not yet able to match that of the dwarves in a short period of time.

So Tanes summoned Torret and let Bilbo sit on him to rest when he was tired.

Balin heard Bilbo's question and said loudly, "Of course it's because they can't enter, Master Baggins. There are many roads that can cross the Misty Mountains, and the same goes for the passes that cross the mountains. But, Master Baggins, you must know that most of the roads are misleading. Otherwise, why are these mountains called the 'Misty Mountains' instead of the 'Dense Mountains'?"

Bilbo looked thoughtful, and Balin continued to explain, "Most of the passes are either dead ends or detours, and are haunted by evil creatures. They are full of danger and terror. Even the road I'm familiar with, I can't guarantee it's completely safe. Who knows when dangerous creatures might take over there? We'd better pray that the winter is cold enough, so that those terrible creatures won't want to appear on the mountain roads."

Bilbo shuddered at Balin's words. But Tanes asked with interest, "Balin, do you know what those dangerous creatures look like?"

Balin replied in a humorous tone, "Of course I don't know, Mr. Tanes. If I knew what those dangerous creatures looked like, perhaps you would see me in the Misty Mountains instead of Bag End."

As the most knowledgeable member of the expedition, Ou Rui, after hearing their conversation, said, "I do know a little, but I only heard and read it from my fellow tribesmen or in books."

This statement piqued the interest of the other dwarves, and Kili, curiously, urged, "Then tell me, Ori!"

Ori nodded. "Most of the dangerous creatures are the orcs and trolls that haunt the Misty Mountains."

Dwalin had been listening intently to what Ori was saying, but when he heard it was Orcs and Trolls, he lost interest. "Oh, if it were just Orcs and Trolls, my axe would make their heads explode."

Orei said, "Dwalin, I only said most of it, not all of it. In fact, I once heard a fellow dwarf in the tavern say that he saw an eagle bigger than an elephant in the Misty Mountains."

"Oh, this..." Dwalin was silent.

Ou Rui continued, "Of course, this isn't the scariest thing. He saw something even more terrifying. Even though I made him drink three glasses of beer in a row, his legs were still shaking and he couldn't calm down."

Bofur said unconsciously, "You weren't cheated out of your beer, were you? What kind of monster did you encounter that even ale couldn't calm the dwarf's fear?"

Bifur muttered something in Dwarven, and the other dwarves immediately retorted.

"Impossible, Bifur, that creature has been sleeping deep in the Mines of Moria."

"Oin is right. That thing can't have come outside, otherwise the dwarf that Ori mentioned wouldn't have recognized it."

Bilbo looked curiously at the dwarves who had suddenly become noisy and asked, "What did Bifur say to make you so excited all of a sudden?"

Bofur kindly explained, "He was talking about a terrifying entity in the Mines of Moria. Now, let's not talk about that anymore. Ori, go on. What is it?"

Ori said calmly, "It was a giant, a rock giant. He was traveling through the Misty Mountains when he encountered a thunderstorm and the ground began to shake. He thought it was an earthquake, but he found himself hidden by a shadow. It was two huge humanoid figures made of rock, hurling rocks at each other that were larger than houses."

When Ori said the word "giant", everyone including Tanes, whether it was Bernal, Millicent or Egon, looked at Ori with sharp eyes.

The looks from the four of them made Ou Rui shudder, and he asked, "Excuse me, do you have any questions for me?"

The four of them exchanged glances, and then Tanes said, "We're quite interested in the giants you mentioned. Ori, could you explain it to us in detail?"

An apologetic look appeared on Ori's face, and he politely replied, "I'm sorry, Mr. Tanes, I've just told you everything I know. The dwarf who told me about the rock giants didn't know any more details. He said he fainted after seeing the rock giants, and when he woke up it was sunny, and the giants had disappeared without a trace. If he hadn't seen the huge rocks fallen on the ground when he left the valley, he would have thought he was having a nightmare."

In other words, thunderstorms are one of the conditions for the appearance of rock giants?

Tanes nodded thoughtfully, "I see. Thank you, Ori."

Bernal came to Tanes and asked with a chuckle, "What do you think, Tanes? Do you think they are the same species as the giant skeletons in the border area?"

Millicent came over and shook her head at Bernal's words. "I don't think so, Mr. Bernal."

Tanis pondered for a moment and agreed with Millicent. "I don't think it's possible either. Since they're talking about rock giants, it must be related to rock. Giants in the borderlands are generally related to fire, but we must be vigilant. Giants are far more dangerous than dragons."

After hearing this, Aegon said, "I have never shot an arrow from my dragon-hunting bow at a giant. If I encounter one, I would really like to see it happen."

Bernard smiled. "I'd love to see the might of a giant, too. Unfortunately, I've only gotten a glimpse of its power from the fire giant in the snowy mountains. So, Tanes, how about a duel?"

Tanes' expression froze, and he said helplessly, "Why do you want to have another strange competition with me? Why don't you imagine what we would do if we really encountered the rock giant that Ori mentioned..."

Bilbo sat on Torret's back and listened silently to Tanis and the other four discussing how to deal with the giants. His face was very interesting.

He felt that if such a huge creature really existed, one should just run away when encountering it instead of thinking about how to defeat it.

Seeing how seriously Tanes and the other three were discussing, Ori said a little embarrassedly, "Mr. Tanes, this is just what I heard. It doesn't represent the truth. Perhaps the dwarf was just exaggerating after getting drunk."

Time flies, and two more days have passed quietly.

Under the guidance of Balin, the group entered a rugged path hidden among the rocks.

They walked along a ridge road and then came to another path - which was almost on the edge of the cliff and began to cross the Misty Mountains.

Unfortunately, they also encountered a thunderstorm.

Bilbo, wearing wet clothes, wiped the rain off his face, held the rock wall with his left hand, and used a thick branch in his right hand as a crutch, and walked forward carefully.

The road was too narrow and the rain made the rocks a little slippery.

If you are not careful enough, you will slip and fall.

"You said we have encountered a thunderstorm. Will we encounter the legendary rock giant?" Bilbo lowered his head, carefully stepped over a protruding rock, and said loudly with a smile in his eyes.

But no one answered him, only the rumbling sound of thunder echoed in this dangerous cliff path.

Then Dwalin's terrified voice came: "Watch out!!"

Bilbo looked up and saw a huge rock falling from the sky not far away.

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(End of this chapter)