Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1088 1070. Town in Fire
The rest all fell into place.

In other words, after Thorin expressed his willingness to share the treasure of Lonely Mountain, no one in Long Lake Town had any objections.

The townspeople already feel that their lives are too hard. Now that they have reached the bottom, then the next step is to go up, right?
What could be worse than life as it is now?
So the mayor said "welcome" to the dwarves and expressed his attitude.

Next, the townspeople almost forgot all the dangers and urgency, such as dragons, orcs, in the promise of sharing the treasure of Lonely Mountain.

An atmosphere of joy and happiness filled the square. The townspeople who were summoned applauded, cheered, and loudly praised the King under the Mountain and the mayor.

In this joyous atmosphere, Bud felt like he was in another world and out of place.

But the celebratory atmosphere came to an abrupt end when a bright light suddenly exploded in the sky.

At that time, Bilbo pushed aside the big man who was blocking his vision and looked up at the sky, thinking that it was Gandalf who came.

Because every time the old wizard set off fireworks during festivals in the Shire, it was basically the same.

But then he remembered that there was another "wizard" here besides Gandalf, and it was also a dull day without any festival.

This is not right!

Behind the dazzling white light in the night was a low and wide-ranging horn sound.

The sound of the horn was gloomy and heavy, and the eyes of the people in the square turned to the guards at the same time.

There is a high observation post in front of the mayor's residence. Although most of the guards are good-for-nothings, they still have some basic common sense.

The people were now looking at the guard at the observation post, and they thought it was he who had made the noise.

The long period of peaceful life made it difficult for people to even tell whether the sound of the horn was coming from far away or near.

But the guards above looked down with the same bewildered look.

He also opened his hands to indicate that he really did nothing.

But the next moment, a black arrow that blended into the night pierced through the air and pierced the neck of the guard who was lazy and did not wear a helmet or neck guard!

With a slight "puff" sound, the arrow shaft was stuck in the guard's neck, and blood flowed out from the wound on his neck and his mouth.

Small, sharp and hard objects like arrowheads can penetrate the flesh without any hindrance, and the noise they make is often very slight.

But in front of all the townspeople, the guard standing at the observation post almost immediately went limp, his upper body tilted downwards, and he fell to the ground!

The guard was hit headfirst from an observation post more than five meters high, and his head was shattered when he fell to the square.

The whole audience was silent for a moment and then “Ah!!!”

Screams suddenly broke out!
The happy future in my mind is as fragile as soap bubbles in a basin in the face of the cruel reality at this moment.

The townspeople were suddenly in an uproar, and the mayor standing on the steps also looked panicked.

"Guard! Guard!"

He turned his head around, not knowing what he was looking for, but he kept shouting loudly and tremblingly.

"Defend! Defend! Protect me!"

The [Axis Seal] that Lan En cast on the mayor did have some effect after all.

The mayor's order caused the few dozen guards to put on full armor instead of their usual equipment for maintaining law and order.

To maintain law and order, you only need to scare people with a spear and carry a stick or a sword.

But now, more than a dozen guards were holding shields.

When they realized the danger was coming and the enemy had bows and arrows, those who were holding shields immediately put up their shields under the instinctive sense of crisis. They hurriedly and loudly fastened the helmet straps and neck guards.

And with their limited military skills, they blocked the few narrow entrances to the square.

It's not that they are very responsible, but after the panic, anyone who is not a fool should understand the importance of guarding the pass.

At the corner of the trail outside the square, the red light and heat of the flame gushed out.

Several townspeople jumped out with flames coming out of their bodies, and rolled on the ground to put out the flames.

The flames were quickly shaken off as the townspeople rolled around and took off their clothes, but the orcs followed behind the townspeople.

The hideous and ugly orcs looked even darker and more cruel under the light of the fire behind them.

Their crude and strange weapons stabbed into the backs of the fleeing townspeople before they reached the entrance to the square where the guards were guarding with their shields.

They squinted their eyes in enjoyment and grinned grimly at the guards ahead of them who were trembling in fear at the cruel scene they had never seen before.

"Hold on! Hold on! Damn it!"

The mayor shouted tremblingly, and his body involuntarily ran towards the official residence behind him.

"Dwarves! Thorin, King Under the Mountain! Stand your ground against the orcs! If you can't survive today, forget about the treasure in the Lonely Mountain!"

"Guards! Fight bravely! Defend our homeland! Remember! I will die with you!"

After saying that, the mayor's fat body just happened to enter the gate of the official residence, and his assistant Alfred also squeezed in through the gap.

Finally, the greasy-haired man with uneven shoulders also shouted indignantly before the head even entered the door.

"I, Alfred, swear to stay with the townspeople until death! Until death!" As the door of the mansion closed, Alfred's face changed.

The mayor walked towards a candlestick in the official residence, raised his hand and pulled it down, and a secret door opened with the sound of a mechanism snapping.

The road in the secret door goes all the way down, revealing the water and the boat that had long been docked at the secret dock.

This boat is much larger than the fishing boats used by the townspeople on a daily basis, and is filled with gold, silver and jewelry.

Not only gold coins, but also exquisite wine glasses and jars made of gold and silver, artworks with elf art style patterns, gold bars, gold statues, etc.
Under the light of the burning Changhu Town, the gold, silver and treasures on this ship were even more dazzling and brighter than the fire itself!
"Oh, I want to stay and protect this town so badly, so badly. But I can't, Alfred, it's a shame."

The mayor said this as he walked towards the ship without stopping.

Alfred followed closely beside him, and responded as usual.

"Yeah, that's a shame. But it's not your fault. This town is doomed and there's nothing anyone can do to save it."

"Yes, you are right." The mayor nodded, as if he made this decision with difficulty after Alfred's persuasion.

"The town is doomed. All we can do is protect the gold. We must not let these precious treasures fall into the hands of the dirty orcs! This is our top priority! Quick! Load the ship!"

After getting on the boat, people on board could see the panicked actions of people in the square above and hear their helpless cries through the gaps in the floor.

Bard didn't care about his disagreement with the dwarves at this time. He encouraged the townspeople to take up weapons from the armory, or forced them to take up weapons in a panic to protect themselves.

The dwarves also began to help the guards at the pass to fight against the orcs who wanted to rush into the square.

"Oh, I really want to save more people, but look at them, they have no mercy and courage"

The mayor lamented in a pretentious manner.

"That's right! You are absolutely right!" Alfred also grabbed an oar and started rowing. "They are too humble to understand your good intentions. In my opinion, they are worthless, not even worth a gold coin!"

"But our boat is too slow, sir! We are overloaded, we must throw something overboard!"

Alfred rowed with great difficulty, and the mayor looked around.

"Yes, Alfred, we are too heavy."

Before the uneven-shouldered sycophant could react, a hand pushed him from behind, and he fell into the cold lake with a splash.

The mayor didn't even look at him, but grabbed his oar himself and began to row hard.

And in the square, no one actually cares about the mayor and his lackeys anymore.

Balin quickly put on his armor and picked up his weapon, then stepped forward and pulled Thorin, who had just knocked down an orc with Ocrest.

"No entanglement, Thorin!"

"What did you say? It's so confusing, I couldn't hear you clearly!"

Thorin shouted, not daring to turn his head. Anyone who dared to distract attention on the battlefield would be risking his life.

Balin could only continue to stay close to him and shout.

"I say we can't continue to entangle! Thorin! Remember what Lan told us? His plan is not over yet! We can complete it!"

Thorin's shoulder-length hair was stained with the blood of the orcs and became wet. He scratched his head roughly and took this opportunity to recall.

Yes, Lan En had told them about the current situation.

He said that the orcs were mainly here to capture the dwarves, and if they could leave the town in front of the orcs, then the orcs would definitely not continue to linger in the town and enjoy the killing.

Because the importance of this dwarf expedition is completely incomparable to that of Long Lake Town.

The current chaotic situation and the approaching Turin Day deadline require them to set off as soon as possible.

As long as they leave, the town will be fine, and they will be able to make it in time for the secret door of Lonely Mountain to open.

Not far away, several orcs who were rushing towards the square from the direction of Bard's house suddenly fell forward as if they were punched in the back of the head.

Then the boomerang spun in the air and returned to the hand of the fluffy ball who jumped up to catch it.

"Keep going! I'll cover you, meow!"

Bofur and Oin supported Kili, whose leg was more seriously injured, and the three children of Bard followed behind. Fili carried a large bundle of crude weapons that Bard had taken out at the time, and stood guard with the flannel ball in front and behind.

Bard, who was holding a long sword and fighting alongside the guards, heard a familiar cry and turned around to see that it was his little daughter.

Although she was safe with the flannel ball in front and Fili behind, she couldn't help crying because of the fear she experienced along the way and the tragic state of the townspeople's bodies.

No one could blame her; the situation was too devastating for a little girl, or even an adult.

"Get out of the way! Make way!"

Bud shouted, and the guards blocking the entrance to the square moved aside skillfully.

Although I don’t know why, there has been a steady stream of townspeople running towards the square. I really don’t know how they managed to survive such a dire situation.

But the guards were already experienced in letting the townspeople enter the defense line. Bud's shout was actually just a mixture of anxiety and relief.

(End of this chapter)