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

Chapter 92 Even Wizards Have to Pay

Tanes and Thorin's group not only bought enough dry food and drinking water for the next three months in this human settlement, but also bought more than a dozen horses.

Fortunately, the horses the dwarves ride are all ponies, otherwise this settlement may not be able to meet the requirements of Thorin and others.

"We are not Rohan. If you, my distinguished guests, wish to purchase fine horses, I suggest you continue south. It will only take a month or so to reach Rohan."

This was the suggestion made by the horse dealer from the human settlement when he saw that Thorin wanted to buy so many horses at once.

As a businessman, observing people's words and expressions is the most basic requirement, so he could tell at a glance that the dwarf had an extraordinary origin.

The main thing is that there is a wizard and two knights in gorgeous armor following behind, which is a rare combination.

Thorin didn't say much, but just asked the horse dealer to prepare the horses they were going to use.

On the other side, Tanes and his companions also got the information they needed and returned to the agreed meeting place: a small forest not far from the human settlement village.

Because there are no hotels or taverns in this human settlement, it is better to say that there are very few outsiders living in this settlement.

Without such demand, there would naturally be no facilities like hotels. Tanes and his companions noticed this and chose the meeting place outside the village.

Thorin, Fili, Kili and Dwalin, the four of them pulled the purchased horses over together, and Balin took Ori, Dori and Nori to buy dry food and other things. When the two groups came back, Tanis and the others had been waiting for a long time.

Tanes spoke first, "Millicent and I have inquired in the village. We're not far from Rohan. Fangorn Forest is a short distance south. We didn't expect to stray so far from our original route after leaving the Goblin kingdom. I'm afraid it will take us longer than originally planned to reach Mirkwood."

Thorin's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded slightly: "Rohan? It's nothing. We still have plenty of time anyway."

Gandalf was silent for a moment, then stroked his long beard and said, "I'm afraid I must say goodbye for now before I go to Mirkwood."

The dwarves all looked surprised and started to make a noise, even Tanis and Bilbo were no exception.

Thorin raised his hand, motioning the dwarves to silence, and asked in a deep voice, "Can I hear your reasons, Gandalf?"

Gandalf made no attempt to conceal anything. "I cannot tell you everything, but I can give you a general idea. Do you remember Radagast?"

Thorin nodded. "The brown-robed wizard? Of course I remember him. I also remember what he gave you."

Gandalf smiled and said, "I'm leaving this time because of the thing he gave me. It's a very dangerous sword. And this sword came from Dol Guldur, which is said to be occupied by a necromancer. This place is relatively close to Fangorn Forest, which means Dol Guldur is not too far away. I'm taking this opportunity to go to Dol Guldur and see for myself what's going on."

Thorin said calmly: "Since this is a matter related to wizards, please be careful, Gandalf."

Tanis also asked with concern: "Are you going alone, Gandalf? Do you need help? Bernard can go over and help you."

Gandalf shook his head repeatedly and refused with a smile: "I have found helpers. You know one of them, Lord Elrond. There are also two other helpers, Lady Galadriel and Saruman the White. Before entering Dol Guldur, I will use magic to notify them and wait for their arrival before entering."

Tanis was relieved. With Gandalf's strength, those he could call helpers must be masters.

Then Tanis felt a tightness in his heart. What kind of enemy was Gandalf going to face? He actually found three masters to go with him.

If they fail to get rid of the necromancer this time, they will have to kill similar enemies when they meet them in the future. They must not be careless.

I don’t know if Tanes’s idea was too strong, but the ring in a hobbit’s pocket became completely indistinguishable from any other ordinary gold ring.

Gandalf looked at Tanis and sighed, "If it were me before, I would probably have gone to Dol Guldur alone. At most, if I ran into trouble, I would use a spell to notify Radagast and ask him to call for help. But since I met you, I've learned that when doing something risky, I should ask someone I know to go with me so that we can look out for each other."

So you have lived for so long and only now do you understand this truth?

Tanes complained in his heart.

At the border, any qualified soldier knows that having more friends in a battle means more than just more lives.

Having friends around can make an otherwise difficult battle incredibly easy.

Of course, it is also possible that the situation will get worse. After all, he has the impression that some enemies are the type that become stronger the more helpers they have.

"By the way, before you enter Mirkwood, I want you to go to Rosgobert first. That's where Radagast the Brown lives, in the forest between Carr's Rock and the Old Forest Road, close to the southern border of the Black Forest. And after entering Mirkwood, you must follow the path in the forest and never deviate from the road. Tanis, Thorin and the others are in your care." Gandalf reminded him worriedly before leaving.

He was mainly worried about dwarves like Thorin, but Gandalf was definitely very confident about Tanis.

Thorin nodded, and after Gandalf rode the horse he had bought away, he looked at the others and said, "Then let us set off too."

But just as he finished speaking, Gandalf hurried back and said, "Don't worry, there's one more thing. There's also a powerful shapeshifter named 'Beorn' living in Lothgobel. He has a good relationship with Radagast and can help you too. Of course, he doesn't have a very good impression of dwarves, so I hope it's you, Tanes, who will go and contact Beorn."

Thorin remained silent, did not say goodbye to Gandalf, and just watched.

Gandalf thought Thorin would say goodbye to him again, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Thorin then said, "I was actually waiting to hear if you remembered something else, because I just remembered this as well."

Gandalf asked curiously, "What is it?"

Thorin glanced at the full-grown stallion Gandalf was riding. "I was wondering when you would pay me for my horse. It cost me a fortune in silver," he said.

Gandalf's smile faded, and he turned and rode away with a cold face.

"The horses haven't been paid yet," someone among the dwarves called out, perhaps Gloin, perhaps Dwalin.

Without even turning his head, Gandalf threw a bulging purse behind him, which was easily caught by Thorin.

He weighed it a few times and took the purse back with satisfaction.

A few months later, Tanes, Thorin and the others finally returned to their original destination from the deviated route and arrived in Rossgobel.

In the past few months, apart from occasionally encountering a few waves of human bandits, they have not encountered any Orcs, which makes them a little uncomfortable.

Before entering Rivendell, they were harassed by Orcs every day, which was very annoying.

But since leaving Rivendell, those Orcs who had been sticking to him like a dog-skin plaster seemed to have disappeared. Although Thorin felt a little strange, it was a good thing that there were no Orcs thinking about him during the expedition.

Bilbo also felt that there was nothing wrong with it. The only thing that made him feel sorry was that he could not celebrate the New Year in Hobbiton and have a delicious meal.

The weather is not that cold now because it is spring.

Tanes was thinking about whether everything was safe in the territory after being away for so long, how the golden tree was growing, and whether Stonewell City could no longer accommodate it.

However, the arrival of Ross Gobert means that the expedition is already halfway through, which is at least exciting and happy news.

"Well, Thorin, should we listen to Gandalf and greet the Brown Wizard?" Balin asked as he rode on his pony.

Thorin shook his head. "Forget it. You've all seen that brown-robed wizard. He seems a little off-kilter. I want to reach the edge of Mirkwood today, rest for a night, and then go straight inside and through the forest the next morning."

Balin nodded in agreement. "Well, Mirkwood has those pointy-eared elves we all hate. The faster we move through the forest, the less likely we are to encounter them, and our purpose for traveling to the Lonely Mountain won't be discovered."

Thorin nodded and began to call on the others to move on and not stop in Rossgobel.

But neither Fili, Kili, nor Bofur had any intention of moving forward.

Thorin asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Fili was the first to raise his hand and pointed in front of him: "It seems that the brown-robed wizard came here by himself?"

Thorin frowned directly: "Then why don't we speed up and get rid of them?"

Kili added, "He was accompanied by a bear as big as a small hill... and it ran much faster than our ponies."

Dwalin nervously grasped his axe. "Isn't that the brown-robed wizard bringing this bear to destroy us?"

Thorin whispered, "Keep calm, Dwalin. The rest of you, draw your weapons and see what this brown wizard is going to do."

As he spoke, he did not forget to glance at Tanes.

Because Tanis had communicated with Radagast before with Gandalf, Thorin hoped that Tanis could go out with him to meet the other party.

In fact, without Thorin's suggestion, Tanes was also ready to communicate with Radagast.

He listened to the discussions among the dwarves along the way and concluded that none of the dwarves, including Thorin, knew the specific situation of Mirkwood.

This made Tanis feel a little tricky. Although Gandalf told them not to deviate from the road, they first had to find the right road.

So when Thorin said he didn't want to see Radagast, Tanes was actually against it.

But before he could question Thorin's next plan, Radagast the Brown arrived, bringing with him a giant bear.

This giant bear seems to be a bit bigger than the Rune Bear. Hiss, it seems like I can summon some more Rune Bears and roam them in the woods within the Golden Tree territory.

Thus, if any ignorant orcs still thought they could hide in the woods, they would be in for a surprise when they went in.

Just as Tanes was thinking this, Radagast came not far away, still sitting on a sled (or sled) pulled by a jackrabbit.

The giant bear that came with him also stood up in the surprised eyes of Tanes and others, and then shrank in size and its fur decreased, turning into a strong middle-aged human male over two meters tall with his upper body exposed.

Could he be the shapeshifter Gandalf was talking about? So that's what he meant by shapeshifting.

Tanes's expression was wonderful, even enthusiastic.

If this was a spell he had never seen before, Tanes would still like to learn it.

Xiong Xiang prayed that he could, but Tanes said that he really couldn't completely transform himself into a real giant bear.

Before the Radagasts reached Thorin and his companions, a voice came over: "Hey! Hey! Friends of Gandalf!"

Tanes rode forward on Torret, then dismounted, and Radagast stopped right in front of him.

The man who transformed from a bear into a human followed behind Radagast. The pressure brought by Tanes made him take a few steps back cautiously even though he had not yet completely gotten rid of his animal nature from the transformation.

Radagast noticed the man's actions and greeted him with a smile: "Don't be afraid, Beorn. He is Tanes, a friend of Gandalf."

Tanes nodded gently, then asked, "Was your transformation just now some kind of witchcraft?"

Beorn looked at Tanes in confusion. He didn't think the other party was rude, but he understood why he asked this question.

Beorn replied, "That is my innate ability, not witchcraft."

Tanes nodded slightly disappointedly: "Is that so."

It seems that he can't transform into a giant bear. He originally wanted to turn into that kind of giant bear and scare some of his old friends in the border area.

After all, everyone had been taught a lesson by Rune Bear before, and if he turned into a giant bear, he would definitely see interesting expressions on their faces.

Beorn looked at Tanes with some confusion as he suddenly showed a disappointed expression, but his attention was soon drawn to the dwarves and he began to stare at them.

He had never seen so many dwarves standing in front of him alive.

Tanis immediately remembered that Gandalf had reminded him that Beorn was not very friendly to the dwarves, so he stood aside to block Beorn's view.

"Radagast, do you know anything about Mirkwood?" Tanes asked, also intending to divert Beorn's attention.

Radagast smiled and said, "Of course. Gandalf told me that if I see you passing by with a group of dwarves, I must come over to greet you and tell you about Mirkwood. Come with me. My cabin is a bit far from here, but Beorn's home is nearby, so I asked him to come with us. We will spend the day at Beorn's home. He and I have prepared a lot of local specialties."

(End of this chapter)