"Reducto!"
A brilliant spell struck the massive boulder, shattering it into countless fragnts that scattered like deadly shrapnel across the mountainside.
Kael stood at the forefront, vigilantly watching the distant Stone Giants while loudly complaining, "Gandalf, your thod is completely useless!"
Instead of calming them, it had attracted the attention of all the Stone Giants.
"Things don't always go as planned, do they?" Gandalf shrugged with infuriating innocence.
"At least Bilbo and the others are safe now, aren't they?"
Kael rolled his eyes in exasperation. How could he still be in the mood to joke at a ti like this? Do sothing!
"Watch out!" Gandalf shouted a warning.
Several Stone Giants grabbed massive rocks and hurled them at Kael and Gandalf with trendous force. Those boulders were like teors falling from the sky, carrying enough impact to smash through mountains and crush them both into pulp.
Kael saw them coming imdiately. His face changed as he gripped his wand tightly, channeling his magic with full force.
"Protego Maxima!"
A powerful magical barrier instantly ford, creating a thick, luminous spherical shield that enveloped both wizards. Gandalf wasn't idle either. He grasped his staff with both hands and struck forcefully at the air, his power shattering the incoming boulders into countless pieces, which were then deflected by Kael's magical barrier.
The two successfully withstood this wave of projectiles, but this obviously piqued the Stone Giants' interest, and they picked up more rocks to throw.
Both n's expressions grew grave. Casting magic was extrely taxing, and they would eventually exhaust themselves, while the giants had an endless supply of ammunition.
"We can't fight them head-on," Gandalf shouted over the thunderstorm. "We need to find a way to confuse their vision, then find Thorin and the others and get out of here quickly!"
"I have a spell I can try," Kael called out loudly, "but I've never used it before—I don't know if it'll work."
"Don't hesitate, try it! I believe in you!" Gandalf forcefully shattered another flying boulder and urged him on.
Kael directly summoned The Book of Spells. He rembered there was a fog spell inside that could release mist to hide their forms and obscure enemy vision. He had an impression of this spell—he rembered Dumbledore using it when eting Newt Scamander in London, shrouding all of London in mist to cover their tracks.
Kael had only briefly studied this spell before, so now he could only learn and cast it on the spot from the spellbook.
"Nebulus!"
Fortunately, this spell wasn't overly complex. Kael succeeded on his first attempt, with thick fog pouring from his wand tip and spreading in spirals around them. In the blink of an eye, the entire High Pass was shrouded in dense mist, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of their face.
The Stone Giants tried to brush away the mist to find them, but the fog was endless and inexhaustible. They could only roar in frustration and randomly hurl the rocks in their hands.
"Well done, Kael!" Gandalf praised quietly.
Kael took out the Palantír, and guided by its sight, the two successfully passed through the mist and between the Stone Giants to reach Thorin's last known location.
They found themselves inside a cave, completely empty with no signs of recent departure. Seeing this scene, Gandalf struck the ground in front of him with his staff. The earth instantly collapsed, revealing a huge, dark slide leading into the mountain's depths.
"Oh no, this is a trap set by Goblins! Thorin and the others must have been captured!"
"Don't worry, Gandalf. Let's first use the Palantír to see their situation." Kael took out the crystal ball, and it displayed the scene he sought.
In the Palantír's vision, Thorin and the others were in an enormous underground cavern, surrounded by countless wooden bridges and ladders, and thousands upon thousands of densely packed Goblins.
Goblins were actually a type of Orc—small in stature with dark green skin, much smaller than humans. They usually lived in underground caves, mines, or mountain tunnels, preferred to be active in darkness, were skilled at digging and building underground passages, and made their living through theft, robbery, and trap-making. Unlike the strong and brutal Orcs, Goblins were more cunning and cowardly.
At this mont, the dwarves were surrounded by countless Goblins, had their weapons confiscated, and were being brought before the Goblin King.
Bilbo, on the other hand, had displayed the hobbit's natural stealth talent, sohow managing to avoid the attention of all the Goblins and successfully escape capture.
"Ha, it seems our burglar has been lucky enough to avoid disaster," Gandalf said with relief. "We need to pick up the pace, or these dwarves will beco Goblin food."
He used his staff to feel around and tap the surrounding stone walls, then struck one section forcefully. The wall cracked, revealing a cave passage.
"Let's go. We're heading to Goblin Town."
Just as Kael was about to put the crystal ball back in his pouch, he saw Bilbo being discovered by a Goblin, and the two fell together into a deep crevice beneath the cave during their struggle.
Falling from such a height, Bilbo was extrely lucky not to die. Aside from so scrapes, he had few injuries. The Goblin, however, died instantly from the fall.
Truly worthy of being the protagonist! Kael breathed a sigh of relief while marveling inwardly. If it had been an ordinary person, they would have died long ago, just like the Goblin that fell with him. But Bilbo just happened to survive through various miraculous coincidences.
Confirming that Bilbo was safe, Kael felt relieved as he stuffed the crystal ball back into his pouch and hurried to catch up with Gandalf.
He thought that if he rembered correctly, Bilbo was about to encounter his destined One Ring, officially beginning the prelude to the Dark Lord Sauron's downfall.
Kael had no intention of interfering with Bilbo's fate or trying to obtain the Ring first. Aside from hobbits like Bilbo with ridiculously high magic resistance, even Gandalf and Galadriel didn't dare easily touch the One Ring. He didn't think he would be an exception, able to resist the Ring's dark corruption. He might put on the One Ring only to beco its servant, or even beco sothing like the Nazgûl.
So he kept his distance from the One Ring, wanting nothing to do with it.
Gandalf and Kael finally arrived in the mountain's belly caves. This place looked like an underground world, with intricate passages and connected caves, like a vast and complex underground maze.
The caves were dim, and Thorin's party had been brought before the Goblin King. The Goblin King was different from other Goblins—he was enormously tall with a massive head, nearly three ters high, holding a ram-headed wooden staff.
Compared to other Goblins, the Goblin King was more cunning, evil, cruel, and also very intelligent. After capturing the dwarves, he interrogated them about their purpose for coming, and even suspected they were sent by the Elves after seeing stolen Elven items among the confiscated goods.
When he discovered Thorin's sword Orcrist, which had killed many Goblins, he angrily ordered his subordinates to kill them all.
(End of Chapter)
***
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