Bear School Astartes

”Quick, quick, quick! Faster! Time waits for no one!”

Sorlin was at the bow, using the sheathed Orcrist to clear the wreckage of ships blocking the waterway, or the floating corpses of beastmen and humans, to make way for the boat.

Lann was walking on the pathway beside the waterway.

His movements were swift, able to keep up with the speed of the dwarves rowing the boat even while walking.

Occasionally, a few beastmen would rush out from the alley by the town’s path, but they were quickly killed by Lann, as effortlessly as pulling a leaf off a blade of grass during a stroll.

Rong Buqiu danced lightly across the rooftops on the other side of the waterway, clearing out beastmen archers trying to take shooting positions from above.

”To the right.”

Lann guided the dwarves, directing the boat into the correct waterway. He leapt up in a half-crouch, vaulting over the heads of the dwarves, and across the entire waterway, landing on the right side to continue leading.

Lann chose the shortest route, and the dwarves’ boat went straight to the end of the waterway.

Ahead were the stone walls of Long Lake Town, with only an iron-barred underwater grille at the base like a water prison gate to block floating ice.

This certainly couldn’t let a boat through.

But the dwarves weren’t worried; after several collaborations, they had a reliable impression of Lann.

So at this moment, a group of bearded dwarves only stopped rowing and eagerly looked at the Demon Hunter.

The Demon Hunter indeed did not disappoint the dwarves.

He put his fingers to his mouth and let out a loud whistle.

Immediately, a responding shrill cry was heard from beyond the wall blocking the waterway.

”Hrrr-neigh!”

With a muffled ”boom,” sounding like masonry being struck by a battering ram.

The wall originally tightly sealed now had the adhesive between the bricks blown open, spraying dust outward.

”Back up! Back up!”

Sorlin was startled and quickly instructed the two small boats to back away.

Soon after, another hit from outside completely broke through the wall.

The bricks flew away, either whole or shattered, along with the water gate on the wall.

”Good job.”

The dwarves shouted their approval and jumped off the boat, began clearing the debris from the stone wall to let the small boats pass.

A qilin curiously peeked in through the gap. The dwarves standing amidst the rubble joyfully tried to reach its head, but the qilin was too tall for them to touch even if they jumped.

Realizing the qilin was teasing them by dipping and raising its head as if fishing, the dwarves simply laughed, got to work, and ignored it.

Sorlin, Balin, and Bilbo, though busy steering their boats to avoid drifting, didn’t join in clearing debris. They showed uncontainable joy at being one step closer to the Lonely Mountain.

For that is the journey’s end and objective.

Taking advantage of this moment, Lann watched the town behind, guarding against sudden beastman attacks, while speaking to Sorlin on the boat without turning his head.

”After leaving the town, head directly to Lonely Mountain without stopping. This group of beastmen comes with wargs, but they’re not too numerous; the qilin outside has already taken down a dozen.”

”But if they decide to keep pursuing you, it won’t be easy to deal with.”

Sorlin just stared intently at the lake beyond the wall breach and the towering snowy mountain beyond, nodding slightly.

And Balin, resembling a short Santa Claus, looked at Lann standing on the pathway.

”Speak plainly, Lann. We’ve come so close to the journey’s end, there’s no reason to hold back now.”

The Demon Hunter nodded silently before turning to face Sorlin, Balin, and the bewildered Bilbo on the boats.

”I just want to confirm again, Sorlin... you’ll follow Gandalf’s plan from Rivendell exactly, right?”

Sorlin reluctantly turned his attention from the wall breach ahead.

”Avoid waking the dragon, resist greed for gold, only take the Aken Gemstone, then gather an army to fight the dragon. Yes, I will do so. But I must reiterate, Lann... after all, it’s a dragon.”

”Created by Morgoth as an ancient war machine of evil, against such a thing we have only nine dwarves and one hobbit... I can’t say I have a complete plan and response.”

Sorlin stood up shakily from the boat, looking earnestly at Lann.

”But I still must do this. The revival of Durin Dwarves hinges on this prophesied adventure, I cannot lose this opportunity!”

”Even if it means Long Lake Town might be threatened by the dragon?”

”What doesn’t carry threats and risks in these times? Beastmen rampage, ogres have come down from the mountains to plunder the continent, a village could be devoured by wargs overnight!”

Facing Lann’s emotionless questioning, Sorlin was equally resolute.

”As for the residents of Long Lake Town, they had already agreed to take on such risks before. I confronted Bard in front of the crowd, I promised them I would share the treasure of Lonely Mountain, and they completely agreed!”

”Do you think they didn’t understand the risks of agreeing? No one knows better than those living in this area, Lann.”

”But they also know: as long as the treasure of Lonely Mountain reappears in the world, the gold I share with them is enough to rebuild Long Lake Town ten times over! It could even rebuild River Valley City!”

”The threat of Smaug has always loomed around the Lonely Mountain, hoping it would sleep for decades so we can pretend it doesn’t exist? Do you really believe that?”

”As long as the threat of that dragon exists, then the Lonely Mountain Region will never have the chance to return to prosperity! Any other thoughts are just foolish self-deception!”

”Bang bang,” two sounds, as Balin in the front of the boat in the rear tapped the paddle on the stern where Sorlin was, telling him to stop talking.

Sorlin respected Balin, so he pursed his lips and sat down. The Old Dwarf himself then stood up on the shaky boat.

”Human hearts are prone to change, Lann.”

The Old Dwarf started the conversation succinctly.

”My bones are old; I once saw the prosperity of the area around Lonely Mountain at the time. Back then, relying on the funds from Lonely Mountain and the technology of the dwarves, the prosperity of this region was like heaven and earth compared to now.”

”Look at this town, Lann. Full of the rotten smell of fish oil and the damp, gloomy mildew on the canvas. This town was not always like this.”

”People living here have long been fed up with curling on a giant rock in the lake. There used to be a prosperous civilization circle here!”

”Why is Bard supported by the town’s people? Because he represents progress and change! Now the townspeople are just desperate for change! Everyone is tired of living a muddled life in a poor backwater!”

”You should have seen the situation when Bard confronted Sorlin face to face at the time, almost all the townspeople thought...”

Balin seriously looked at Lann.

”The hardest, most unacceptable days are the poor days.”

”That’s because they haven’t seen real cruelty, or cruelty is too far away from them.”

Lann calmly spoke as a house behind him lost its load-bearing structure due to the flames, ’Crunching’, it collapsed.

Triggering a wave of ashes still carrying embers.

”They mistakenly believe that those poor yet peaceful days are negligible, so they desperately want to escape. But after tonight, perhaps their thoughts might change.”

Balin shook his head indifferently, ”People’s thoughts can change at any time, but our determination to reclaim our homeland will not change, Lann.”

”Now that the situation has reached this stage, isn’t it justifiable that we want to take back our homeland? We promised Long Lake Town and any person possibly affected by our actions compensations, a huge compensation that they fully accept.”

”If we wake Smaug, then we will certainly die at the forefront. And if they are still alive by then, the treasures in Lonely Mountain are theirs for the taking as we promised.”

”Sorlin, say something.”

Balin shouted forward, and the dwarf prince responded by standing up and nodding to Lann.

”By the name of the King Under the Mountain, if we die, Lonely Mountain cannot be reclaimed. Then the wealth in Lonely Mountain rightfully belongs to the survivors, enough to build the most prosperous cities in the world.”

Lann remained silent, while the surrounding wooden buildings crackled in flames, accompanied by the sound of ’creaking’ collapse.

The dwarves who had cleared the waterway stood silently on both sides, watching Sorlin and Lann closely.

Both of their words were reasonable, the dwarves were not unreasonable people. They felt remorse for those impacted by their actions.

But in terms of position, they must steadfastly hold the determination to reclaim their homeland.

After all, they were descendants of the Durin Dwarves.

And the atmosphere fell silent until another voice appeared.

”Um...”

Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit sitting behind Balin.

He peeked out, tentatively raising his hand and cautiously peering around at everyone present.

Like a timid rabbit.

But if he were truly timid, he wouldn’t have spoken at this moment.

Let alone say these words...

”I also guarantee in my name! Sorlin Oak Shield’s promise is never false; he has always been true to his words.”

Among those present were nine dwarves, but perhaps because they were also dwarves, it was difficult to express themselves to Lann and gain trust.

The final result was a Hobbit stepped forward to testify for Sorlin with his own honor.

Suddenly, Sorlin and the dwarves turned their gaze, focusing on the short and weak Hobbit, causing Bilbo to chuckle awkwardly and squirm with a bit of discomfort.

While Sorlin pursed his lips, he looked deeply at Bilbo and said nothing more, just nodded heavily and sat back down.