The Tarnished in LOTR with Elden Ring

"Aren't these creatures a type of Orc? Why are they chasing us even faster after we killed their king!" Kili asked in despair while running out of breath.

Fili was equally out of breath as he ran, but he corrected: "I need to correct you. It wasn't we who killed their king, but Mr. Igon."

Kili rolled his eyes, though it might have been from exhaustion: "Why worry about such details at a time like this?"

Hearing his two nephews arguing, Thorin chopped down two Orcs charging at him with his Icerind Hatchet and said irritably: "Both of you shut up and save your strength!"

The Dwarves were all the same, showing fatigue on their faces, but even Bombur had no intention of stopping, squeezing out the last bit of strength from their bodies.

Because they knew that once they stopped, they would be torn apart by countless angry Goblins.

It was strange. Usually when they encountered Orcs, killing the captain or commander would make the rest automatically scatter.

How come this breed of Orcs went berserk after their king was killed?

But the Dwarves didn't dare stop to ask questions, instead seizing the time to flee.

Seeing more and more Goblins gathering on their path ahead, Igon immediately shouted loudly: "Cover your ears!"

The Dwarves immediately understood what Igon was about to do, having witnessed it before in the Old Forest.

They immediately stopped whatever they were doing, whether chopping or anything else, and pressed their hands tightly over their ears.

"ROAR!"

A soul-stirring dragon roar erupted from Igon's position. The Goblins within the killing range of the dragon communion incantation were all stunned into unconsciousness and fell into the abyss below.

Those Goblins that were particularly close had their organs and brains shattered by the vibrations.

"Keep running!"

Seeing a large gap appear in the Goblins' encirclement, Thorin immediately shouted.

Balin, the oldest, could barely hold on. He asked intermittently: "This, this running, isn't sustainable. We really need to rest a bit."

Thorin gritted his teeth and replied: "I know, but..."

Just then, a dazzling white light rose like the sun on a rock not far ahead of them.

With this brilliant light came an irresistible gale, as if the entire underground Goblin kingdom was filled with this blinding radiance and terrifying storm.

The Goblins pursuing them were all affected by this sudden phenomenon, either blinded by the bright light and knocked unconscious or swept away by the storm to fall into deep valleys.

Igon directly passed the Dwarves and came to Thorin at the front, using his own body to help shield the Dwarves from the storm.

But he soon discovered that the light and wind didn't seem to be directed at them.

The white light and gale came suddenly but left just as quickly, soon disappearing without a trace.

Clear footsteps slowly approached them through the darkness. They couldn't immediately see who it was, because the bright light and storm had extinguished all the torches in this underground kingdom.

Those figures approached closer, and Igon, using the dying embers of the torches, saw the dual-sword-wielding figure clearly and breathed a sigh of relief, showing a smile: "Haha, isn't this Tarnes' friend Gandalf?"

The Dwarves were overjoyed and happily shouted: "Oh, it's Gandalf! We're saved!"

"So can we rest now?"

"Though the environment here is somewhat awful, I don't mind sleeping here."

Bernahl's voice came from behind Gandalf: "And me, Igon. I brought Bilbo and Ori. Are you all alright?"

Igon nodded, then shook his head: "I'm fine, but these Dwarves are nearly exhausted. They must rest, or they'll collapse from fatigue."

Bernahl nodded, then frowned: "Wait, where are Tarnes and Millicent? Aren't they with you?"

Igon also showed a confused expression: "What are you talking about? We've been chased by these creatures since we fell in. We haven't seen Tarnes and Millicent at all."

Bernahl said with a strange expression: "But they also jumped down voluntarily to find you... We can't return the way we came, can we?"

Thorin caught his breath and recovered some strength before asking: "Gandalf, and Mr. Bernahl, how did you get here?"

Bilbo was tentatively poking the unconscious Goblins with his Elven short sword. Hearing Thorin's question, he poked his head out from behind Gandalf's gray robes and volunteered: "Oh, less than a minute after Mr. Tarnes and Miss Millicent left us, we encountered Gandalf coming through the entrance. I wanted to call Tarnes and them back, but somehow very noisy sounds came from inside the cave, drowning out our calls."

Then Bilbo glanced at Gandalf quietly before continuing: "Then Gandalf said he knew a shortcut and went deeper into the cave where we were resting. There really was a narrow passage there. After we went in, we immediately saw you being chased by these Goblins."

Gandalf then picked up the conversation, looking helplessly at Igon: "Yes, we also saw you kill the Goblin King with three arrows, then enrage all the Goblins in the underground kingdom. So I could only continue leading Bernahl and the others on a detour to get ahead of you. Fortunately, you attracted enough attention that we didn't encounter any guards on our shortcut."

Igon shrugged: "I didn't know that fat blob would stand still and let me shoot it. It even sang to mock me. I felt I'd be doing its voice a disservice if I missed."

Gandalf decided to ignore this topic and said: "So where are Tarnes and his Miss Millicent? None of you saw them?"

The Dwarves who had collapsed on the ground all shook their heads, making Gandalf frown.

Bernahl sighed: "How about this. Gandalf, you take Bilbo and these Dwarves toward the exit you mentioned. Igon and I will stay behind and search back along their escape route."

At this moment, Tarnes' voice came from nearby: "No, no need... I'm right here, and so is Millicent."

Everyone looked around but couldn't see Tarnes and Millicent.

Bilbo scratched his head: "Did Mr. Tarnes use some magic to become invisible?"

At this moment, a pile of unconscious Goblins not far from Thorin and the others stirred a few times, then Tarnes jumped out, not forgetting to lend a hand to help Millicent jump out of that pile of Goblins as well.

Tarnes breathed several mouthfuls of relatively fresh air, reducing the Goblin stench around his nostrils before complaining to Gandalf: "We were following the secret passages these Goblins left below, ready to meet up with Thorin and the others, but then you cast a spell that blew masses of Goblins down below, nearly burying Millicent and me alive."

Gandalf chuckled: "As long as you're fine, let's keep moving. On my way here, I heard from Bilbo and Ori. I didn't expect you'd encounter stone giants. Those are creatures even I find intimidating."

Thorin looked at his kinsmen, who were so exhausted they'd collapsed on the ground, preferring to lie with unconscious Goblins rather than get up, and pleaded: "Tarnes, Gandalf, could we rest a little? Fili and Kili are really too tired. They haven't had proper rest since this morning..."

"Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have something I must say..." Bilbo's voice came, making everyone look at him.

The Hobbit was drawing the Elven short sword from his waist again, but this time the blade was emanating a bright blue glow.

Bilbo blinked and looked at Gandalf, whose expression was gradually becoming serious: "This sword is glowing. I remember you told me, Gandalf, that when it glows it means..."

"It means Orcs are approaching nearby," Gandalf said seriously. At this moment, from the slanted rock walls above them came the light of countless torches and shadows swaying in the firelight.

Bernahl whistled and drew his knight's greatsword from his back: "Looks like we have new guests."

Gandalf immediately said: "Don't be rash, Mr. Bernahl. That's at least ten thousand Orcs. Their king died at our hands. It's a fight to the death."

Bernahl said calmly: "Just a fight to the death. It's not like we haven't faced such enemies before."

The Dwarves tried to struggle up from the ground, but after the intense exercise followed by that brief respite, not only had they failed to rest properly, but these Dwarves couldn't even stand up.

Including Fili and Kili.

After discovering their bodies wouldn't obey them, the Dwarf brothers immediately tried to use the incantation Bestial Vitality.

Unfortunately, their remaining stamina couldn't support the consumption of casting the incantation, so Bestial Vitality failed to activate.

At this moment, Bilbo heard sparse sounds coming from the deep valley below their feet. He carefully leaned over to look down, and his face went white: "Uh, everyone, there are those Goblins down there too. I think we need to do something."

Hearing this, Thorin immediately leaned over to look, then quickly pulled back.

Bilbo was right. The deep valley below also had torchlight. Tarnes and Millicent must have taken this passage to quickly approach them.

"Tarnes." Thorin looked at Tarnes, knowing he had miraculous magic that could quickly restore people's stamina.

Tarnes nodded, golden light spreading from his hands as the Erdtree's Blessing affected everyone.

The Dwarves immediately felt their exhausted bodies fill with energy and vitality, their physical fatigue rapidly disappearing bit by bit.

Gandalf nodded at this moment: "I know where another exit is. Follow me."

The Dwarves began moving, following behind Gandalf.

Bilbo looked at Tarnes, who wasn't in a hurry to leave, and quickly called: "We need to leave quickly, Tarnes!"

Tarnes reluctantly withdrew his gaze and said to Bilbo: "I know."

Millicent asked curiously: "What were you thinking about just now, Tarnes?"

Tarnes looked at the spirit extractor in his hand. This deep blue glintstone, as large as his forearm, was now brimming with the radiance of souls, pulsing like a heartbeat as if it had come alive.

He sighed: "I was regretting this glintstone Teacher Sellen made for me. When Gandalf's spell eliminated all those Goblins, their souls were all collected into it. But there were still many I couldn't collect because its capacity was already full."

Then Tarnes put away the spirit extractor and gestured for Millicent to keep up.

It looked like when he returned, he should ask Teacher Sellen to help improve the spirit extractor or make several more as backups.

Teacher Sellen probably never imagined such a situation when she originally made it.

Tarnes thought to himself while looking at the Goblins around them that had been dealt with by Gandalf's spell.

The spell Gandalf had cast made Tarnes' inner alarms go off for a moment, with various incantations, spells, and rare weapons prepared for facing strong enemies.

Only after Tarnes realized the spell wasn't directed at him did he lower his guard.

This old man usually kept a low profile, but he actually mastered such powerful spells... But why did he keep running? Couldn't he just cast that same spell again to deal with these pursuing Goblins?

Was it a magical power consumption issue? Because it consumed too much magical power, Gandalf could only cast it once?

He could clearly win. Why run?

Tarnes pondered with some confusion.

Then he suddenly felt the suspension bridge under his feet shaking, followed by Bilbo's scream.

"Bilbo! Tarnes! Miss Millicent!" The Dwarves' worried voices also reached Tarnes' ears.

Only then did Tarnes discover that the space below the bridge had somehow filled with those pale-skinned Goblins, who were desperately using their weapons to hack at the ropes and wooden stakes securing the bridge.

Even if they would trample their own companions to death or push them off, they had to bring down this bridge.

This was why the bridge suddenly became unsteady. Bilbo had just slipped and fallen down into those Goblins.

However, Bilbo held an Elven short sword in one hand and a brass short sword in the other. His wild swinging prevented the Goblins from harming him, but this situation couldn't last long.

The Hobbit was already being pushed toward the edge of the abyss, pitch black and bottomless below.

Without thinking, Tarnes jumped down after him. His greatsword swept horizontally, cutting all the Goblins pressing toward Bilbo in half at the waist, scattering black blood and entrails everywhere.

Millicent followed close behind, her Cleanrot Knight's sword flashing with cold light as she sliced the Goblins charging from another direction into pieces.

Just as the two jumped down voluntarily, the bridge they had been on also collapsed, its debris crushing several Goblins before plummeting into the abyss.

The Dwarves were unharmed. They had already run to another rock platform in advance.

Bilbo had fallen behind precisely because he saw Tarnes wasn't leaving immediately and delayed by asking him questions, causing him to miss keeping up with the Dwarves.

Moreover, given the Dwarves' agility, the bridge's swaying couldn't make them fall, but Bilbo was just an ordinary Hobbit.

Tarnes and Millicent coordinated perfectly, clearing the surrounding Goblins in an extremely short time before shouting up to Gandalf and the others: "Keep running, don't worry about us! We'll find our own way up!"

Gandalf's voice came from above: "No need to come up! The exit is below. Run toward the direction with sunlight and wind; we'll meet up down there!"

Tarnes shouted loudly: "Good!"

Then he patted Bilbo's back, comforting the Hobbit who was frightened by falling from the bridge: "Alright, Bilbo, don't be nervous. Next, I'll show you what a real adventure is like."