By nightfall, Cierra was miles away from her home in the Greenwood Forest. She looked back and saw that the walls of trees were nothing more than mere specks in the distance. She sighed and kept moving. Even though she was disappointed in herself for leaving 'Uncle Raddy' the way she did. However, Cierra knew that she could never forgive herself if she stood by and did nothing while innocent people suffered. She made her way towards a cluster of large rocks and proceeded to unpack for the night. She gathered a few sticks and leaves and sat them on a patch of bare earth. Then, Cierra snapped her fingers and a fire instantly shot up from the pile. She smiled and thought to herself, Uncle Raddy would have a kitten if he saw me practicing with fire magic.
Cierra rested herself against one of the rocks and closed her eyes. Sounds of crackling and popping filled her ears. She shrugged it off as being from the fire; that was until the sounds became louder. Her eyes shot open and she instinctively reached for her sword. Before Cierra could unsheathe it, she felt the sharp tip of a blade against her throat.
"I don't think so, Lass." Said a man with a gruff voice, "Drop it!" Cierra did as she was told. Another man stepped beside her and kicked her sword away. Then, he grabbed a fist full of her hair and she cried out in pain as he pulled her to her feet. Cierra was forced to look at the man, who was still holding his sword to her throat. He was only a head taller than her and slightly overweight. His clothes were well worn and consisted of a dirty white shirt, covered with a brown vest, brown pants, and dark brown boots.
"She's an odd specimen, isn't she boss?" said the man gripping Cierra's hair.
"She's albino, you dumbass. They're rare indeed." The boss said, as he licked his lips. "She'll fetch a fine price with the right buyer." They both exchanged laughs and the man holding Cierra turn her sharply, so that they were face-to-face. She found that he was much thinner than his boss, but his attire was similar.
"Tell me, love," said the man gripping her hair, "what's you're name?"
Cierra's mouth worked faster than her brain as she blurted out, "Fuck you, pervert!" An angry look overtook the man as he let go of her hair and backhanded her across her face. The force of the blow knocked her down to the ground. She put her hand to her lip and when she removed it, her fingers were covered in blood. Angry, she turned to face the man. With one swift, fluid motion, she extended her arm, palm out, and sent the man sailing backwards. The man's boss just stood there with is mouth agape, until he finally spoke, "S-she's a witch!"
The boss ran at her with his sword held high. She had nowhere to go and no time to react, so she closed her eyes and waited for the blow, but it never came. All Cierra heard was a loud metallic clink. She opened her eyes and saw a much smaller man with thick, long dark hair standing just beside her, his sword blocking the boss's strike.
"You know," he spoke in a soft rough voice, "it isn't polite to be attacking women." With that, he kicked the boss in the stomach, sending him backwards on his behind.
"Boss!" The other man yelled, as he drew his sword and ran at the stranger with his sword held high. The stranger blocked the blow and instantly sent one of his own, slashing at the man's midsection. The man screamed in pain as he backed up and grabbed his stomach. When he removed it, there was a large gash across his stomach with blood seeping out. Cierra glanced to the left, just behind the stranger. She instantly sprang to her feet and reached her hand out towards the fire, a flame instantly shot to her hand as she yelled, "Watch out!" The stranger looked to her and ducked as she sent a fireball at the boss. It connected with his chest and caught his shirt on fire. The boss yelled and started running around. Then, he took off his shirt and ran off, leaving his associate behind.
The stranger approached the bleeding man, pointed his sword at him, and said, "This time, I will let you live. However, if I see or hear of you and your friend attacking defenseless women again, I will find you and I will end you." He nodded for the man to leave and the man turned and ran as fast as he could in the direction of his boss. The stranger sheathed his sword. Then, he knelt down and picked up Cierra's sword. "I believe this is yours." He said as he handed the sword back to her.
"Thank you, sir." She said as she took her sword back and sheathed it. "How can I ever repay you?"
The man smiled and stepped a little closer. Cierra noticed that not only was he smaller than those two men, but he was also smaller than her! He wore the oddest chain mail armor that she had ever seen underneath his thick black fur coat with short sleeves. The chain mail continued down his arms until it met with equally dark gauntlets. His hair was dark, thick, and wavy with two small braids on each side, and he had a small, dark beard. "There is no need to repay me. Any man in their right mind would've done the same thing." He noticed that she was staring at him. He cocked his head slightly to the side and said, "Is something wrong, young lady?"
Cierra instantly snapped out of her stupor and replied, "No, no! Of course not! It's just…well, I've never met anyone quite like you. Oh! I mean, besides my uncle. Oh, Gods! I didn't mean it like that! I meant -…Ugh!" She put hands over her face to hide her embarrassment. The man smiled and let out a short laugh, "And I haven't met anyone quite like you either, my lady." He nodded his head towards her, "I must assume that you haven't seen many dwarves around these parts?" She blushed even more. Cierra tried quickly, and horribly, to change the subject. "You uh you look hungry." She blurted out, "Uh, please, allow me to make you something?"
The man smiled and nodded. They both sat down and Cierra, quickly, began removing items from her bag. She grabbed a piece of bread and spread some butter over it. Then, she grabbed some cheese and tomatoes and draped them over the bread. She put the other half of the bread on top of it and handed it to the man. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't bring meat. Unfortunately, my uncle is a vegetarian." The man smiled and graciously took the sandwich from her. Then she made a sandwich of her own and they both ate in silence. The man glanced over at her, "So, I take it your uncle taught you how to use magic?"
She swallowed and replied, "Yes, sir, he did. Although, he isn't really my uncle. It's just…well, he's like an uncle to me."
The man looked at her bags and asked, "Was he cruel to you?"
Cierra snapped her head quickly and looked at him with wide eyes, "Of course not!" She exclaimed, "Why would you say that?!"
He nodded towards her bags, "Well, it looks as though you are running away from home."
"I'm not running away!" She lied, "I'm just uh exploring."
"In other words, you are running away?" He said with a lopsided grin.
"What! No! I'm meeting someone."
"First you're just 'exploring'. Now, you're meeting someone? Which is it?"
"Er…both."
"Both?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"What's it to you?" she said, still flustered, "And besides, what were you doing out here?"
"Saving your skin." He chuckled when he saw her face grow angry. Once he stopped, his tone became more serious, "If you must know, I am meeting with a few of my kin. That is all I can say on the matter." Cierra mouthed an 'Oh' and took another bite of her sandwich. "So," the man said in an almost mocking tone, "Who are you going to meet?"
Cierra thought of something quickly, "A boy."
"Oh, do tell."
She continued to lie, "We fell in love. He said if I truly loved him, then we would meet near some town on a lake or something. I forgot the name."
The man's look became serious as he asked, "Lake Town?"
"Oh, yes! Thank you. I believe that's what it was called."
"You mustn't go there." He said in a very serious tone.
"And why not?" She asked.
"Because," he began, "a dragon has lived deep within the mountain near the town for nearly sixty years. It could awaken at any moment."
"A dragon?!" She said in amazement, "I've read stories of dragons. How do you know it's even still alive after all this time?"
"I don't. You may have read fairytales about how knights rescue princesses from dragons. However, this is no fairytale. I suggest you seriously consider whether or not this 'boy' is worth your life." They both exchanged looks, his being more serious. Then he turned away and ate the last of his sandwich. When she was finished, he moved away from her and said, "We should get some rest."
"You're staying?" she asked, "You don't have to if you don't want to."
"Nonsense," he said, "I will stay and keep watch for a while, just in case those idiots decide to return."
She looked at him in amazement, "T-thank you, sir."
"No need to thank me. Just get some rest. The morning has a way of sneaking up on you."
She nodded and pulled out her blankets. She noticed that the man did the same. She made her 'bed' and pulled the blanket over her. "Goodnight." She said.
"Goodnight" he replied.
The man was right, it seemed as if only a few hours had passed before the sun began to rise over the horizon. She groggily opened her eyes and groaned. Her eyes shot open when the smell of food being cooked filled her nostrils. She shot up and looked around, until she saw her hero from last night cooking eggs and some other thing that she had never seen before. "What is that?" She asked as she pointed at the long, thin strips of meat in the pan.
He looked at her in surprise until he remembered that she had never eaten meat before. "This," he pointed to the strips, "is bacon. Pig meat." He put some eggs and bacon on a plate and handed it to her, along with a fork. She took them both and watched as he ate his own breakfast. She picked up a strip of bacon and stared at it. Then, she looked to the man, who put a strip to his mouth and bit down on it. She looked back to the meat in her hand and did the same. "Wow!" She exclaimed, "This is amazing! My uncle would kill me for this!"
The man, smiled at her and they continued to eat. When they were finished, she helped him clean up. Then, they both packed up their things. He walked over to his pony that Cierra hadn't noticed was there, most likely due to the events that took place the night before, and tied his bags to the saddle. She walked over to him and said, "Please forgive me, I forgot to give you my name. I'm Cierra. I don't think you told me your name either." She extended her hand and he extended his and they shook hands. After mounting his pony, he turned to her and said, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Cierra. I am Thorin. Thorin Oakenshield." With that, he nodded and knocked his feet twice into the side of the pony, urging it into a sprint. Thorin, she thought as he rode out of sight, I have a feeling that we will meet again, someday.
Sorry this took so long to get out. Life got in the way. Now that I have graduated again, job hunting and story writing will take up most of my time. I hope you've enjoyed what I've posted so far. :)