Lord of the Rings: Warriors

"What? A Dragonhawk Knight?! Where is he? I'll personally go and invite him in!" 

Thorin Oakenshield jumped to his feet in excitement upon hearing the report from his nephews, Kíli and Fíli. His reaction was almost on par with when he first laid eyes on the Arkenstone.

"Uncle, he's waiting on the walls of Erebor. He said he has an urgent matter that requires your help," Kíli quickly explained.

"I'll go meet him at once!" Thorin dashed out in a hurry, leaving his two nephews standing there, still slightly dumbfounded by his reaction.

To be fair, Thorin's excitement was justified. Back when he first formed the Company of Thorin Oakenshield for the Lonely Mountain expedition, take a look at the ragtag bunch he had under his command—stubborn and loyal, sure, but utterly lacking in strength. 

If he had even one Dragonhawk Knight at his side back then, Smaug might not have been heavily wounded, but at the very least, they could have kept him occupied long enough for Rynar's army to arrive in support. 

Perhaps then, Lake-town wouldn't have been destroyed.

"Your Highness, greetings!" Ardal saluted respectfully upon seeing Thorin, who now wore a crown atop his head.

"Welcome, brother! I thought the Dragonhawk Knights of the Dwarves had long faded into history! To see one again is truly…" 

Thorin was overwhelmed with emotion, his eyes glistening with tears. 

The lack of high-tier warriors had always been a dire issue for the Dwarves. 

To put things into perspective, Rynar's Riverguard alone could probably stand against the entire Dwarven race. 

There were barely any Fourth-tier fighters left among the Dwarves, let alone Sixth-tier peak combatants.

One couldn't help but marvel at Thorin's incredible luck—first encountering Bard the Dragonslayer, then gaining Rynar and his knightly order as allies. 

Otherwise, let's be real—relying on old Gandalf, a mere Third-tier melee mage, to reclaim Erebor? That would've been a joke.

"Your Highness, please—come quickly! The rest of my brothers need your help…" Ardal urged anxiously.

"The others?" Thorin frowned.

"There are fourteen of us Dragonhawk Knights in total… But we accidentally intruded into the airspace of a place called the Zaltarion Empire… 

Their Dragon Knights forced us down and captured the others. They're demanding an explanation from you…" Ardal, despite his usual rough and bold demeanor, suddenly looked rather sheepish.

"Zaltarion… Riverguard… Dragon Knights? That must be Caslow… Wait, you flew over their city?!" Thorin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Well… Technically, we didn't fly over that city. We just… skimmed over another one…" Ardal replied awkwardly.

"Oh, by Durin's beard! My gods! You mean to tell me you trespassed into both the Aquavia Kingdom and the Zaltarion Empire airspace?! 

Thank all the heavens the archers in Riverguard didn't turn you all into pincushions!" Thorin groaned, rubbing his face in exasperation.

"Do you not understand that you can't just casually fly over other nations' cities?!" Thorin was utterly at a loss for words. These thick-headed Dwarves were really testing his patience.

"Forget it, Thorin. Let's go see King Rynar and King of Aquavia. Not all Dwarves have your sense for diplomacy. It's understandable that they didn't consider these things," Balin stepped forward to mediate.

"Sigh… Looks like I have no choice…" Thorin finally relented. He had already suffered the consequences of standing alone against the world. 

The Dwarves, having already strained their relations with the Elves, could not afford to lose their human allies as well.

"King Rynar, greetings. It is a pleasure to see you again. May you be in good health," Thorin addressed Rynar at the gates of Riverguard.

"Welcome, King Under the Mountain, Thorin. It is an honor to have you visit our city," Rynar greeted him with a smile as he stepped forward.

"Your Highness, I wish to discuss the matter of these Dragonhawk Knights and any reparations needed for their transgression," Thorin spoke humbly.

"Although we have signed an alliance, this was still your mistake. Flying wyverns so brazenly over another nation's airspace—Your Highness, do you think that is appropriate?" 

Rynar's smile faded as he got straight to the point. He had nearly lost his composure when he first heard the deafening cries of those dragons.

"I apologize, King Rynar. The Dwarves will do their best to compensate you," Thorin sighed heavily, his tone full of genuine regret.

"Is there anything you require? If it is within our means, we shall make amends," Thorin added sincerely.

"Your Highness… the equipment…" Dylan suddenly whispered into Rynar's ear using magic.

Rynar's eyes widened. No way! No way in hell! This is perfect timing!

He had been stressing over the delay in equipping his troops, worried that the soldiers wouldn't have enough time to get used to their new gear. 

But lo and behold, the Dwarves had just delivered the solution to his doorstep!

"Ahem. Well, Thorin, as it happens, I have around 500 soldiers who are still lacking proper equipment…" Rynar said with a strange expression.

"Not a problem! Full sets of Dwarven steel armor! As long as you're not asking me to outfit 500 knights, I'll handle the rest!" 

Thorin declared, thumping his chest with pride. Outfitting 500 heavily armored infantry was nothing for the Dwarves—except for knights, whose full armor sets required expensive barding for their horses.

"Knights?" 

Rynar immediately understood his concern. Outfitting a single knight meant providing a lance, sword, full plate armor, shield, and—most expensive of all—the warhorse's armor. 

The sheer cost of equipping 500 knights was enough to make even Dwarves sweat.

"20 knights, 30 cavalry, and the rest are infantry," Rynar stated flatly.

"That's manageable! No problem! You'll get the finest steel!" Thorin's beard twitched with excitement.

"Does this satisfy your demands for compensation, King Rynar?" 

Thorin asked, somewhat embarrassed. For the Dwarves, iron and steel were abundant; they could arm an entire battalion just by clearing out some of their stockpiles.

"Of course, I forgive them. You may take them back. However, I suggest you educate them properly—no city's airspace is free to traverse.

If there had been anti-dragon ballistae here, they would have been shot down already," Rynar warned sternly before signaling his men to release the captured Dwarves.

"You are right! They will remember this lesson!" Thorin nodded solemnly. As a Dwarf, he knew very well just how lethal anti-dragon weaponry could be—especially against dragonkin.

"Oh, and Thorin—you might want to check in on Loshanier City across the river… They're in bad shape. 

They're still trying to gather their scattered citizens. Your men nearly scared the entire population into fleeing," Rynar added casually.

"…" Thorin went completely silent. He could already picture the panic-stricken masses fleeing Loshanier in terror.

 And there was no way this incident hadn't caused some damage. Even a goblin wouldn't believe that.

"Thank you for informing me. We'll head there immediately…" Thorin muttered, looking absolutely heartbroken.

"Sigh… Poor King Under the Mountain, forced to clean up after his reckless subordinates," Rynar mused.

"Well, what do you expect? With how Dwarves think, this kind of incident is pretty much inevitable," Dylan sighed, shaking his head.

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