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Kael took out his pocket knife and carved conspicuous markers on the trees along the way, guiding Thorin and the others behind him.
Most of the time, he did not travel with the group.
After all, Kael was doing the work of a guide, not acting as a bodyguard for the dwarves; that was Gandalf's job.
One gets paid for the work one does.
For now, the journey had been relatively peaceful, but it was merely the calm before the storm.
The Orcss were still gathering their forces, waiting for the dwarves to venture deeper into the mountains.
The remaining journey was still long and distant; they had plenty of time.
Further ahead lay the Hidden Valley, also known as Rivendell, the gathering place of the High Elves.
The one who established this realm was Lord Elrond, a powerful and wise Half-elven.
The reason he was a Half-elven was that human blood flowed within his veins.
Kael had long heard of this and had tried to find it before; however, there seemed to be some sort of barrier power around Rivendell, shielding it from outside prying.
Clearly, the master here was not very welcoming to outsiders.
If he were to force his way in, it wouldn't be impossible, just rather impolite.
He didn't want his reputation with the Elven race to drop to "Hated."
In Middle-earth, reputation was very important, especially if one planned to establish their own territory.
However, Gandalf and Thorin clearly had a conflict regarding the direction of their next move.
Gandalf, who had a very friendly relationship with the Elves, wanted to go to Rivendell for help, but Thorin was very resistant to the idea.
The King Under the Mountain still remembered how the Elves had turned a blind eye to their suffering when they faced the dragon.
Although it wasn't the same group of Elves, this didn't stop Thorin from disliking every Elf equally.
To be fair, the hatred and conflict between Elves and Dwarves had been initiated by the Dwarves.
Gandalf was naturally aware of this, but it couldn't be mentioned; the Dwarves always sided with their kin regardless of the facts.
The two had an argument over it and parted ways on bad terms.
Once a Dwarf became stubborn, they wouldn't turn back even if they hit a brick wall.
"My patience has been exhausted by the Dwarves today!"
Gandalf caught up to Kael huffily and began to vent his frustrations.
In the expedition party, besides Thorin, the only person he could consult with was Kael.
After all, only these three could decide the direction of their journey.
"You've left the group just like that; aren't you afraid something will happen?"
As Kael spoke, he pulled out a handful of soybeans and fed them to his black horse.
"If I stay with Thorin any longer, I'm afraid I'll be the one having an 'incident' from anger first."
Gandalf grumbled to himself, looking like a stubborn old man, without a hint of a wizard's grace.
"There are traces of Trolls nearby; those fellows aren't easy for Dwarves to handle."
Kael reminded him.
Trolls—those were monsters created by Morgoth.
They were his crude mockery of the Ents (sapient tree-like beings).
They were massive in size, low in intelligence, and brutal in habit.
However, most Trolls had a fatal weakness: they could not be exposed to sunlight, or they would turn into stone.
Thus, some reasonably suspected that Morgoth had actually created them from stone.
Gandalf twitched his beard; he felt a bit of regret upon hearing this but couldn't bring himself to back down, having just stormed away from the group.
The two stared at each other for a good while.
"Do you need me to go back and check?"
Kael asked tentatively.
"That would be wonderful! It's really hard on you. Kael, inviting you to join was truly the best decision."
Gandalf poured on the compliments; the wizard also knew how to handle social graces. He pulled Kael up from the ground, fearing that if he were a step too late, the Dwarves would be skewered and roasted by Trolls.
Kael rolled his eyes and turned to walk back.
By now, the sky had already darkened.
Why did Kael still take this path knowing Trolls would appear? It was because in this region near the Misty Mountains, there was no place that could be called safe.
In the mountain forests, encountering creatures like Orcss and Trolls might have been uncommon decades ago, but now, it was perfectly normal.
This was also why there were so few signs of people along the way.
By the time Kael followed the firelight and found the Dwarves, he saw Thorin and the others tied together and being roasted over a fire.
Standing around them were three excited Trolls.
"Excuse me, is this some kind of special bonfire party?"
Kael asked, unable to suppress a chuckle.
It was a pity he didn't have a camera; otherwise, he would have had to take a photo as a souvenir.
Given the chance, shouldn't he start a "Dwarf BBQ" craze across Middle-earth?
If anyone asked in the future, he'd say he drew inspiration from this very moment.
"Kael! You've come at the right time!"
"Quick, save us! I feel like I'm already medium-rare."
"Where did the wizard go?"
"..."
The Dwarves began to shout and cry out excitedly, as if they had seen their savior.
"A human?"
"We can have an extra meal tonight!"
"He looks much more delicious than the Dwarves!"
The three Trolls stood up excitedly. Based on their years of experience eating people, Kael was definitely Grade-AAA ingredients. They roared and lunged toward his position.
"Watch out!"
Thorin shouted in concern.
Then he saw a Troll fly into the air and land heavily on the ground. This thing weighed several tons and could be compared to a rock of the same volume.
Before Thorin could even realize what was happening, he saw the remaining two Trolls collapse to the ground one after another, lifeless.
"It hurts—!"
The remaining one began to cry out in pain.
A large area of its rock-like, grayish-black chest had caved in.
That had been kicked in by Kael.
These Trolls had extremely tenacious vitality and amazing recovery powers. If they weren't killed in one hit, even a serious injury could heal in a single night.
This was why the Dwarves found it hard to deal with Trolls; they lacked heavy weapons, and ordinary blades were insufficient to handle such monsters.
"Quiet down."
Kael stepped forward and brought his foot down.
The Troll's head burst open like a watermelon.
The difference, however, was that this "melon" was an unripe one; the brain inside was not much larger than a walnut.
"Is this guy really human?"
Balin squeezed his eyes shut, wondering if his eyes had been scorched by the bonfire and he was hallucinating, unable to help but voice his doubt.
It wasn't as if they hadn't dealt with humans before.
While he didn't rule out that there were some heroic figures among them, most humans were quite frail.
"Quick, save me, Kael, I'm already medium-well!!"
Bofur shouted anxiously.
He could almost smell the aroma of his own meat.
Damn it, and truth be told, he was actually getting a bit hungry.
When Fili and Kili went to check the two fallen Trolls, they saw the arrows that had pierced through their eye sockets and realized how they had died.
The two of them had to exert a great deal of effort to pull the arrows out.
"You are much more reliable than Gandalf."
Thorin thanked him sincerely, his expression a bit sheepish.
After all, the matter of almost being roasted by Trolls would be quite damaging to a king's reputation if it got out.
"Don't say that; Gandalf was the one who sent me. You may have your conflicts, but Gandalf's resolve to reclaim the Lonely Mountain is as firm as yours."
Kael spoke up for Gandalf.
"Perhaps."
Thorin didn't say much more.
"So, was tonight's adventure exciting enough?"
Kael reached out and patted Bilbo, who still seemed a bit dazed.
"...It was indeed very exciting. I don't think I'll ever forget almost being eaten by Trolls for the rest of my life."
Bilbo nodded, his eyes stealing a glance at Thorin, feeling a bit guilty and ashamed.
If he hadn't been caught by the Trolls, the Dwarves wouldn't have been so easily put on the fire.
Bilbo really hadn't expected Thorin to drop his weapon for his sake.
This caused a shift in his mindset.
"There's something even more exciting."
The corners of Kael's mouth curled up.
Bilbo tilted his head in confusion.
...
Some time later, Bilbo crawled out of the Trolls' cave, smelling foul.
He wondered if Morgoth had mixed in a bit of dragon blood when creating Trolls, as they also had a habit of collecting treasure.
In the Trolls' cave, Bilbo and the others found not only a large amount of gold and treasure but also two swords forged by Elves of the First Age.
This was a considerable fortune for the expedition party.
It just wasn't the time to take them away yet.
The Dwarves gathered the treasure and found a place to bury it, thinking they would dig it up after this journey was over.
No one could dislike these shiny golden things, and the Dwarves were no exception.
Kael kept one of the Elven swords; he did indeed lack a suitable weapon.
Mainly, ordinary weapons couldn't withstand Kael's strength.
After a short rest, the group prepared to continue their journey.
However, a commotion then came from the forest. Before Thorin and the others could react, a rabbit sled burst out with a wizard standing on it.
It was Gandalf's friend, Radagast the Brown.
He had come to deliver a warning to Gandalf.
Just as Radagast was telling Gandalf about his observations and suspicions, a wolf's howl echoed through the forest.
The Dwarves knew as soon as they heard it that it wasn't from an ordinary wolf pack, but from the Orcss' lackeys, the Wargs.
Those fellows had caught up after all.
Even though Thorin and the others were mentally prepared, they couldn't help but feel a bit flustered when faced with this situation.
"Watch out!"
Thorin shouted.
Two Wargs had already lunged out of the bushes, pouncing toward the Dwarves.
Yet in the next second, a "whoosh" was heard.
The Wargs' forward momentum stalled, and their nearly three-meter-long bodies collapsed to the ground, twitching.
The arrows shot by Kael had pierced straight through their skulls.
"Oh no, the horses have all bolted in fright!"
Ori shouted in panic.
Wargs were natural enemies of horses; just hearing their howls could throw even well-trained warhorses into a panic.
"Let me lead them away."
Radagast volunteered.
His rabbits were no ordinary rabbits; they were Rhosgobel Rabbits.
A game of wolf-and-rabbit chase soon began.
Gandalf took this opportunity to lead the Dwarves to Rivendell.
This both temporarily avoided the pursuit of the Warg scouts and achieved what he had intended to do all along.
The Dwarves needed an Elf to decipher the hidden messages on the map of the Lonely Mountain.
Nowadays in Middle-earth, only the Lord of Rivendell still possessed such an ability.
Thorin clearly realized this as well, but he was in no position to raise any objections now.
Thus, led by Gandalf, the expedition party arrived at Rivendell and saw the elven realm that looked like something out of a fairy tale.
"I heard the master of Rivendell has a daughter."
Kael whispered into Gandalf's ear.
"Cough, cough, that princess does not live in Rivendell."
Gandalf whispered a reminder, fearing Kael might do something impolite; he didn't want to be blacklisted by Elrond.
"Alright then."
Kael curled his lip, feeling a bit disappointed.
He was quite curious about that Evenstar Princess.
As a descendant of Eärendil and Arwen, Arwen has the right to choose whether to be human or elf.
This was a right granted by the Valar, which also signified the uniqueness of Elrond's lineage.
Crossing the long, narrow stone bridge, they reached the entrance of Rivendell. After waiting for a moment, they happened to encounter Lord Elrond and his Elven cavalry returning from clearing out the Warg scouts.
Seeing the fully armed Elven cavalry, Thorin and the others clearly had a stress response, standing back-to-back in a defensive posture.
Kael sat on a nearby step, watching the commotion.
Seeing his old friend, Elrond and Gandalf were both very happy.
Elrond held no prejudice or hostility toward Thorin and the Dwarves; on the contrary, he treated them with courtesy, welcoming them as guests.
His gentle and polite manner left Thorin with nothing to find fault with.
"And who is this?"
Elrond focused his gaze on Kael.
At first glance, he confirmed that this human was no ordinary person, and his gaze unconsciously became solemn.
Elrond possessed the power of foresight, but he could see no future for Kael; there was an indescribable great power obscuring everything about him.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lord Elrond. I am Kael, a ranger from the Misty Mountains."
Kael greeted him politely, his attitude significantly more enthusiastic than when he first met Gandalf.
Gandalf could best sense the difference; his expression stiffened as he thought to himself, 'This is bad.'
'This guy really is after the "princess" after all!'
"Rivendell welcomes your arrival."
Hearing this, Elrond slowly returned an Elven salute.
He couldn't discern Kael's true identity, but since he said he was a ranger, he would treat him as such.
Regardless, as he was with Gandalf, he was a guest to be treated well.
As a wizard, in some mysterious way, Gandalf also represented the will of the Valar.
Born in the First Age, Elrond had not only the blood of Elves and Men but also a bit of Maiar blood; he had even seen the Valar in person and spoken with them.
And from Kael, he could also feel that aura of immortality and eternity.
Elrond was certain that even if this person was not a "god," he definitely had inextricable links to them.
This was an old tradition of the Valar; they liked to take human form and walk upon the earth.
Of course, there were those with unique tastes who would create "limited edition" versions of themselves.
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