Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1139 1121. Desire Struggle
The elves who were defending against the River Valley City were able to receive a lot of support from the humans behind them, so their losses began to decrease significantly.

Qilin and Fluffy Ball also helped them in time.

So the elves managed to maintain their footing among the black wave of orcs.

But in another direction, the situation was not optimistic for the dwarves who chose Lonely Mountain as their backing.

Although more than a dozen dwarves including Fili, Kili, Bombur and others were desperately shooting arrows from bows and crossbows on the temporary city gate built by Thorin and his men, how high could the shooting density of just a dozen people be?

The orcs' crudely made armor, barely hammered into shape, seemed fragile when faced with the true craftsmanship of the dwarves.

The dwarf's arrows easily penetrated the black iron armor and pierced into the orc's body.

But this is far from enough.

A dozen orcs fell down after a volley of fire from a dozen dwarves, but more orcs came rushing over.

"Form a formation! Regroup the team!"

Dane stepped back and roared, but even so he was still in the front of all the dwarves.

The heavily armored boar mount had been overturned by several orcs in the melee just now, and then stabbed to death.

Dane's first roar was obviously a call to his Ironfoot troops.

The second voice was shouting towards the temporary gate of Lonely Mountain: "Where is Thorin!? My brother! Why doesn't he fight with us?!"

Dane is also the most annoying among the dwarves, stubborn, bad-tempered, and rude.

But no one can deny his courage and the fact that he is a good soldier and a good leader.

At this moment, he was roaring with his hair and beard fluttering on the tragic battlefield, like a wounded tiger that would never admit defeat.

The dwarves in the Lonely Mountain heard Dayne's roar clearly, and their cheeks bulged from gritting their teeth.

"Open the city gate!"

"Let's go down and fight with them!"

"We live and die together!"

Ge Luoyin spoke first, and then everyone responded. More than a dozen pairs of short legs started to move and were about to walk towards the city gate.

But in the darkness deep in the lonely mountain, a sound was heard.

"Don't move."

All the dwarves who were excited just now cast incredulous glances in that direction.

Because that was Thorin's voice.

"No one is allowed to act rashly! Defending Lonely Mountain and the treasures here are our greatest responsibilities!"

Ignoring these loyal friends and subordinates who trusted him wholeheartedly, Thorin turned and walked away with a staggering gait.

These dwarves were gathered by Thorin and joined the expedition from their already stable and re-established stable lives.

Thorin took over leadership at a time when the dwarves of Lonely Mountain were in their most difficult times.

His grandfather was beheaded by Azog, and his father disappeared in the subsequent revenge. The dwarves of Lonely Mountain had already lost their homeland and property because of the evil dragon, and then they even lost a leader who could make decisions.

At this time, it was Thorin who led his people to persevere through the huge psychological gap and practical difficulties.

From a dwarf sitting on a mountain of gold, he faced reality and became a dwarf working hard to make a living.

The life of the dwarves in Lonely Mountain gradually stabilized. Although it was difficult, everyone knew it was not easy. So they built a hall in the name of Thorin, called Thorin's House, to commemorate his contribution.

So even though they knew they would have to adventure in the wilderness, work hard for a whole year, and finally face Smaug's dragonfire, the twelve dwarves were still willing to follow Thorin.

But now these twelve dwarves felt that they almost didn't recognize Thorin anymore.

Thorin sat down on the throne in a daze, wearing his grandfather's luxurious cloak and his grandfather's golden and iron crown on his head.

Behind his throne is a cliff. Looking down, he can see the entire treasure hall.

It was a dreamy and charming golden color. Under this golden light, even the dragon smell seemed not to be a problem.

Thorin felt a headache, but he couldn't help but indulge in the golden light.

He held his forehead with his hand. The warrior who once could fight for a whole day with a stuffy and heavy helmet as if nothing happened, now felt that his head was extremely heavy with only a crown on it.

"How long have I been sitting here?"

When the mumbling voice came out, even Thorin himself was startled.

The sound was too dull, too hoarse, and too unlike anything a human voice could produce.

Instead, it looks like Smaug!
Thinking of this, Thorin's body shuddered instinctively.

When the dragon was driven out of Lonely Mountain that day, Thorin used the dragon flame to curse at the dragon in an attempt to wear down its rationality.

The dragon's voice at that time left him with an unforgettable memory.

"Thorin!"

A voice and footsteps came from a distance, with a menacing momentum.

The Lonely Mountain Throne was built at the end of a towering stone bridge with no guardrails. The king on the throne could overlook his wealth and kingdom.

When others came to see the king, they had to walk across the open stone bridge to get before the king.

It was Dwalin.

The most experienced professional warrior in the Lonely Mountain expedition, he has served in the Lonely Mountain army since before the dragon attacked. He is Thorin's most loyal friend and subordinate, and can even reprimand Thorin's two nephews in the expedition as an elder, and no one thinks there is anything wrong.

He could fight for Thorin, and he had done so many times.

Since he began his journey, he has always been short and to the point, doing more than talking, and carrying out Thorin's orders without compromise.

But today, everyone felt that if he couldn't explain it clearly to Thorin, then no one could.

"When did we abandon our own people?"

Dwalin, the tough dwarf, curled his lips downward, looking so sad and angry that he was about to cry, and the veins on his bald head were bulging.

"Dain's Ironfoots are bleeding and dying! Even the elves are fighting bloody battles down there!"

"War. Yes! There's a war going on outside."

But Thorin seemed not to notice the expressions of his loyal friends and subordinates. He just stared blankly at the hazy golden light reflected from under the throne.

"There are caves all over this mountain. As long as we carry the gold deeper, we will be safe!"

"Right, that is it!"

Thorin stood up suddenly.

He was wearing a luxurious fur cloak, and standing next to Dwalin, who was wearing the simple traveling outfit that he never changed, they looked like people from two different worlds.

Dwalin's eyes were filled with disappointment, sadness, and disbelief.

"Are you listening to me? Dane and the others are dying!"

"Let's just die!" Thorin waved his hand. "How can there be no casualties in a war? There are plenty of people, but they are worthless! But what about the gold here? The gold here is worth our last drop of blood!"

Dwalin, who always showed a tough guy attitude, had sobs at the corners of his mouth due to sadness, and the tears in his eyes could hardly be suppressed.

He closed his eyes. "You now wear the crown and sit on the throne. But Thorin, you are smaller than ever before!"

"Don't say that!" Thorin yelled out of control, "I am the king! You say that as if I were still the insignificant Thorin Oakenshield."

After Dwalin left, Thorin felt a splitting headache and had no idea when he was left alone.

He stumbled and fell, not knowing how he ended up in the treasure hall.

Countless gold, silver and gems were piled up as high as a mountain.

He, a dwarf, stood in the pile of gold coins, his stumbling steps making a rustling sound.

Obviously, he is the owner of these riches, but Thorin feels that he is so insignificant in front of these mountains of gold and silver.

His face was pale, and he felt as if there were ten thousand voices whispering to him in his head.

Those were all sounds he was once familiar with, but now in this magnificent treasure hall sparkling with misty golden light, these sounds seemed to have been alienated by the treasures.

It became blurry and distant, as if whispering and mocking him.

'People are dying out there, Thorin!'

'Human life is not worth gold!'

"Is gold more important than you and your family's honor?"

"Gandalf, that gold has been occupied by a dragon, it will corrupt people's hearts! And we all know that there is dragon disease in Thorin Oakenshield's family blood!"

'But I believe in him, a noble soul will overcome greed.'

Dwalin's voice, Lann's voice, Gandalf talking to Elrond
These voices seemed to penetrate into Thorin's brain, causing him to kneel down in agony.

Kneeling on this mountain of gold and sea of ​​silver.

And not only these sounds, but also the sounds of fierce fighting, the screams of the Ironfoot dwarves before their death, and the sound of steel clashing, all seemed to come to Thorin's mind from far away outside Elbor.

This originally unstable mountain of gold and silver began to slide due to Thorin's walking and kneeling.

The gold coins slid down with a clatter, and the dragon stench buried deep inside emanated from the gaps between the coins.

The towering Jinshan Mountain collapsed, the hill slid down, and the other side rose up due to accumulation.
It’s like there’s actually a living creature beneath this boundless sea of ​​gold and silver.

A huge and evil creature is slowly moving its long tail and wings!

It's like. It's like there's a dragon underneath!

Thorin stretched out his hand, trying to keep in his mind the roars of the passing away, the whimpers of the dwarves before they died. It seemed that as long as he kept these, the dwarves would not die.

But he didn't dare to stretch his hand too far, as if he was afraid of waking up the "evil dragon" under the pile of gold coins.

Confusion, fear, struggle. Thorin almost wanted to tear his brain apart.

'Thorin, I'm worried'

This is the voice of Bahrain, their voice before they embarked on the journey of national restoration.

'You know, your grandfather, your father, they were both stricken with the dragon disease. Perhaps we shouldn't go back to Elbor.'

More and more gold coins fell, and it seemed that the gold coins on the top of the gold mountain were about to fall down, as if they were going to completely drown Thorin who was kneeling on it.

"But I'm not... my grandfather."

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(End of this chapter)