Benna put a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, frowning as she spotted the dark clouds starting to form on the horizon. She sighed looking back at the map and compass spread out on the rock in front of her. The closest outposting was still miles away and the clouds looked to be moving in faster than she had thought.

"Best get a move on then." Benna mumbled pushing herself up off the stump, strapping her pack back into place. She was only two days into her hike through the Appalachian mountains and losing a day or two to a storm could ruin the week long trip. She quickened her pace feeling a drop of rain hit her cheek, zipping her jacket as the wind began to pick up. The rain began to fall harder and harder, making it difficult to climb up the steep path. Soon she began to lose sight of the path through the sheets of rain, cautiously testing out her footing with each step. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the tree in front of her. Benna jumped away, losing her footing in the mud. The crack of thunder drowned out her screams as she slid off the side of the cliff, down into the rocky ravine below.

...

The first thing Benna felt was the ear splitting headache that pounded in her skull. Slowly she opened her eyes, groaning as she sat up. The forest around her was bright and sunny, with no signs of the storm that had thrown her from the pass. Her pack and hiking poles lay in the grass a few feet from where she was sitting. She reached out for the pack, hissing as a burning pain emanated from her forearm. Benna frowned as she pushed up her sleeve expecting a cut- instead finding a strange marking just below her wrist. It was only a few inches long, its smooth reddish-pink color reminding her more of a birthmark than scrape "Weird color for a bruise" She thought. Benna quickly looked herself over for further injuries, much to her surprise finding none beside the strange mark "What the hell happened...". "First things first," She sighed pushing herself up, pulling the compass and map from the pack "Now where the hell am I?"

It had been hours since Benna had begun her attempt at orienting herself, the forest around her was not lining up with anything on her map. Gone were the rolling hills that she had been on, replaced with a seemingly never ending flat forest. She growled folding the map back up, shoving it back into the pack before looking down at her watch, the Dials reading out 10:30pm. She looked at the now waning light of the forest, back at her watch, then up at the sky one last time. "So much for being shockproof." She sighed.

Benna wandered for another hour before finally giving up, flopping onto the ground staring up at fading rays of sunlight through the trees. "What's the point of saving me from falling off a mountain side only to have me die in an unending forest?" She asked the sky sarcastically "Pretty mess up if you ask me!"

"Who's out there!" Benna jumped as a booming voice rang out "Show yourself or I will come and drag you out!". She opened her mouth to try to think of a response. Before she could get a word out a large man rounded the trees a few yards in front of her, Benna jumping to her feet as he came into view. "Who are you?" The man asked folding his arms over his broad chest.

Benna frowned up at him. "Well who the hell are you?" She shot back, folding her arms over her chest as well "You can't just spring out from the trees at people demanding their name!"

The man looked her over before raising a scarred eyebrow "Dwalin son of Fundin,". She stared at him for a moment, finally noticing the weird clothes he wore as well as the large knife at his hip. "This is the part where you give your name lass." The man snorted.

"Right. Benna McCallium," She said, eyeing the knife warily before adding "...um daughter of Frank."

"What are you doing out here on your own lass?"

Benna frowned slightly, debating if she should trust him or take off running. "Who says I'm alone?" She asked defensively.

Dwalin snorted "Alright then go run back to your companions since you don't need my help." He turned away from her and began walking back through the trees.

Benna sat for a moment before making up her mind, grabbing her pack as she chased after him "Wait Dwain!"

"It's Dwalin." He said, frowning as he turned back to look at her.

"Right, sorry Dwalin." Benna apologized, falling in line beside him. A few moments later they reached a small clearing. Dwalin walked over to the fire and stoked it back to life. "So is this your camp?" She asked sitting down on a log near the fire, her eyes falling on a small pile of very sharp looking broad axes.

"Aye." Dwalin grunted retrieving a bag from a pony tied nearby. "Now then," He started as he took a seat on the opposite side of the fire "Why don't you tell me how you came to be wanderin' around this forest by yourself."

Benna rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well I slipped off the side of one of the overlooks I think..." She began before telling the man everything that had happened the last day. "So do you know where the nearest ranger station or outposting is?" Benna asked pulling out her map for him to see.

Dwalin walked over and studied the map for a moment before giving her a strange look "Lass I've never heard of the Appalachian Mountains. The nearest mountains are the Misty mountains and that's hundreds of miles from here." He took the map from her hands and studied it once more. "This map is unlike anything I've seen, here's a map of these lands." He said pulling a map of his own from the bag near the pony handing it to her. Benna frowned as she took the map from him; it was an old fashion hand drawn map with names that she did not recognize dotting the markings.

"What is this like a joke?" She asked, her eyebrows knitted together. A light switched on in Benna's mind as she looked at the map, then to the pile of axes, then at the man in front of her. She suddenly realized how bad of an idea it was to follow strangers in the woods, especially strangely dressed heavily armed strangers. "Wait, are you like one of those crazy backwoods people?... Oh god is this like a deliverance situation? I am not sticking around to get murdered!" Before Dwalin could reply she jumped off the log snagging her bag as she ran off into the woods, not daring to look back as he shouted after her.

The light was almost gone from the tree line as she looked around for some place to hide, hoping she had put enough distance between them. She reached into her pack and pulled out her small utility knife knowing it wouldn't enough if the man decided to bring his axes with him. The forest was quiet as she stood, her back pressed against a large tree, heart thumping in her ears. She inhaled sharply as she heard the sound of someone moving through the trees, readying herself as she scanned the forest in the dim light. Benna gasped, instead of the looming figure of Dwalin, two hunched and twisted figures emerged from the tree line. Their small beady eyes lit up as they saw her, mouths twisted into grotesque smiles. They laughed drawing mangled looking knives as they approached her.

"What the actual hell!?" Benna screamed as one of them made a grab for her, knocking her to the ground. She jumped back to her feet as it came for her again. With a yell she pushed the knife into its side, scrambling away as it snarled at her from the ground. Suddenly she was pulled to the ground again as the second creature grabbed her by the shirt. She flailed wildly for a moment in shock before she brought the small knife into the creature's skull. The dead weight of the thing pressed down on her drove the air from her lungs, she groaned as she tried to push the thing off her. Benna heard a strangled growl and looked up to see the thing's partner dragging itself towards her. She turned her struggle to freeing the knife from the creature's skull.

"I hate this forest so much!" She cried as the creature neared. Then suddenly there was a flash of movement and the thing no longer had a head on its shoulders. "What the…" Benna started staring at the headless thing on the ground. Suddenly the weight pressing down on her was gone, and a tattooed hand came in front of her.

"That's some nice work you did there lassie!" Came Dwalin's booming voice as he hauled her to her feet. He bent down and pulled her knife free of the things skull, wiping it on the grass before handing it back to her.

Benna stared at the two bodies on the ground, then at Dwalin. "Wha…. what what are those things?" She gasped out trying to get air back in her lungs.

"Well orcs of course." He said almost too casually. "You alright there? You look a bit peaky." He added looking down at her.

"No I most certainly am not ok!" She yelled "I just murdered some hell spawn that jumped out of the woods at me and watched you decapitate another and you're just sitting here like it's just a normal day for you!"

"Orcs are not an uncommon sight out here in the wilds." He said, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Well where I'm from those are not a thing!" Benna almost screamed pointing at the bodies, feeling the hysterics rising inside her.

"Come on." Dwalin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him warily for a moment and he sighed "If I was going to murderer I would have done it when you were trapped under there."

She deliberated for a moment "I suppose so. But I've got my eye on you!"

"Oh I'm sure ya do." He replied with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Where are we going?" Benna asked as he led her away.

"Back to camp."

"And then what?" She pressed.

"Then in the morning we will set out for the shire."

Benna frowned "What's in the shire?"

Dwalin stopped and looked down at her with a sigh "A wizard and hopefully some answers for you."