Chapter 99: Alohomora

"This should be the place." Gandalf looked at the stone platform and said with certainty. Kael nodded, lowered his broomstick, and landed gracefully on the stone platform. As soon as the two touched down, Kael also untied the ropes and lifted the Levitation spells from the dwarves. The dwarves' beards and hair were disheveled, blown by the wind into various wild hairstyles that would have been comical under different circumstances. The disheveled Thorin looked rather displeased and swore that he would rather walk the hard way in the future than ever ride Kael's flying broomstick again. Although Bilbo was somewhat bedraggled, his face was full of excitement and thrill. True to his Took family blood for adventure, it had now been fully awakened by the experience. "When the thrush knocks, stand by the grey stone, as the sun sets, the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole." Thorin took out the Lonely Mountain map and began searching for corresponding landmarks according to Elrond's translated information. "The grey stone should be referring to this one." Thorin immediately spotted a huge grey rock in front of the mountain wall, his eyes lighting up as he quickly walked to the ancient stone. "Standing by the rock, I should be able to see the back door, but where is the door? And where is the keyhole?" Thorin stood by the rock as indicated on the map, but after carefully searching the surrounding stone walls, he found no signs of any door or keyhole. The other dwarves also searched continuously, running their hands along the stone surface and trying to find any trace of a clue. Finding nothing, Thorin grew increasingly agitated and even began to suspect whether Elrond had deliberately misled them. "Calm down, Thorin," Gandalf said in a measured tone. "The closer we get to the final moment, the more we need to stay calm!" "Don't overlook the details. The map says the last light of the setting sun will shine upon the keyhole, so we just need to wait. After all, it's still quite early before sunset." Hearing Gandalf's words, Thorin calmed down slightly, but his expression remained unpleasant. "Then I'll wait, but if nothing is found in the end, I swear I'll make the elves of Rivendell pay for his lies!" Gandalf frowned and spoke up for Elrond. "Elrond's credibility is beyond question. He has no need to lie about this matter. Thorin, you can't suspect him because of prejudice." "Hmph, I hope so." Thorin replied coldly with disdain. Gandalf shook his head, walked to Kael's side, sighed, and said quietly, "The closer we get to the Lonely Mountain, the more agitated Thorin becomes. I'm afraid we need to prepare for the worst!" "The hereditary madness in the Durin royal bloodline is uncontrollable. Once it erupts, it will not only destroy him but also endanger others!" Gandalf's tone was somewhat heavy, his expression full of worry. Kael wasn't as concerned as Gandalf. He shook his head and offered comfort. "When the time comes, there will always be a solution. Gandalf, you don't need to worry too much." "I hope so." Gandalf sighed deeply. Seeing Gandalf still worried, Kael changed the subject. "However, if we want to find the back door of the Lonely Mountain, I do have a method that might not require waiting until sunset." Hearing Kael's words, Gandalf was somewhat surprised. "Do you have some magic that can find hidden doors?" Kael shook his head and took out the palantír, the seeing-stone gleaming in the afternoon light. "The palantír can not only see distant scenes but also see things from the past. Perhaps it can be used to find the location of the Lonely Mountain's back door." Kael didn't deliberately lower his voice, so the others also heard his words and immediately looked over with interest. Thorin walked over directly, staring intensely at the crystal stone in Kael's hand. "Kael, quickly use it to look!" If he didn't know this belonged to Kael, Thorin looked like he wanted to snatch it and use it himself. Kael frowned and gave Thorin a cold glance. Could the influence of dragon sickness be this great? The current Thorin seemed like a completely different person from before, becoming agitated overall. While not yet insane, he had little composure left. Gandalf was somewhat worried and reminded him carefully, "The dragon is now in the mountain. When using the palantír, be careful not to look at it, or it will easily detect you, and then alerting the dragon would be troublesome." Kael knew the seriousness of the matter and would naturally avoid the dragon's location when looking. How far back in time the palantír could see depended on the user's mental will. With Kael's current strength, viewing events from the ancient First or Second Age, or even the Years of the Trees, was completely unrealistic. But viewing events from a few hundred years ago was not a problem. The palantír quickly displayed a scene. A sturdy dwarf wearing an ornate iron crown appeared at the location where Kael and the others now stood. He walked to the grey stone and waited for the sunset's afterglow and rising moonlight to converge, finally gathering at a point on the stone wall. The iron-crowned dwarf came to the stone wall, inserted a golden key into the small hole at the light point, gently turned it, and a stone door immediately appeared on the stone wall. The stone door opened, and the iron-crowned dwarf walked inside. "That's my grandfather!" Thorin looked at the dwarf shown in the crystal ball, his expression somewhat excited and complex. Then he immediately found the location of the hidden door and the position of the keyhole based on the scene displayed in the palantír. "Where is the keyhole? The position is clearly here, so why is there no keyhole?" Thorin kept searching and feeling around the keyhole's position, but there was only bare stone wall with no holes for inserting a key. Gandalf stepped forward and gently tapped the stone wall with his staff, explaining to the anxious Thorin and others. "I think the keyhole must be hidden and needs specific time and specific conditions to appear. For example, when the last light of sunset and moonlight meet at one point on Durin's Day, the keyhole will appear." "So we still need to wait until sunset?" Everyone understood the situation now. Although Thorin was anxious, hearing Gandalf's explanation, he could only wait for sunset to arrive. Kael was somewhat interested in the hidden keyhole. Although dwarves couldn't use magic, they could endow their crafted items with extraordinary properties through superb forging skill and ancient craftsmanship. He wanted to see if his magic could work on it. "Let me try," Kael said with curiosity. Since the keyhole's position was already determined, Kael raised his wand, aimed at the keyhole's location, and chanted clearly, "Alohomora!" A spell shot into the keyhole's position. The next second, a faint sound of gears turning was heard, and the mountain trembled slightly beneath their feet. Under the surprised expressions of the dwarves, a rectangular stone door appeared on the stone wall and then opened automatically with a grinding sound. "Well, it seems we don't need to wait until sunset," Kael said with a satisfied smile. Obviously, the dwarf craftsmen who built the hidden door had considered various situations and set specific times, specific conditions, and the need for a key to successfully open the door. But they completely didn't anticipate that Kael's magic wouldn't follow rules at all, directly bypassing these requirements to open the door through pure magical force. [Chapter Complete] *** Want more? Check out my Patreon for: ✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories ✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics ✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl ???? Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter! Thanks for reading and supporting the story! Want more? Check out my other stories!