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 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 cracked through the sky striking the tree in front of her.
Benna jumped away, losing her footing in the mud as she tried to right her self. The roar 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. looking further, she could see her pack and hiking poles strewn in the grass near by.
She reached out for the pack, hissing as a burning pain raced through her forearm. Benna frowned, carefully rolling the sleeve expecting to find a nasty 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 tracing her finger along its surface.
She gave herself a once over, checking for any other injuries, much to her surprise finding none beside the strange mark "What the hell happened?"
She sighed pushing herself up, pulling the compass and map from the pack "First things first, Now where the hell am I?"
It had been hours since Benna had begun her attempt at orienting herself to no avail. The forest around her was not lining up with anything on her map. Gone were the steep hills and jagged rock that she had been on, seemingly replaced with a 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." Benna sighed, flopping onto the ground, watching the fading rays of sunlight through the trees. She frowned up at the sky "What's the point of saving me from falling off a mountain side only to have me die in an unending forest? Pretty mess up if you ask me!"
"Who's out there?" Benna bolted upright 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, but before she could get a word out a large man rounded the trees a few yards in front of her. Benna scrambled to her feet as he came into view stopping only a few steps in front of her.
"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 for a moment before raising a scarred eyebrow "Dwalin son of Fundin."
She stared at him, her eyes flicking between the multitude of tattoos and scars that littered the mans skin and the strange cloths he wore, fighting the urge to back away as her gaze finally landing on large knife at his hip.
The man snorted drawing her attention back "This is the part where you give your name lass."
"R..Right. Benna McCallium." She said, eyeing the knife warily before adding "...uh daughter of Frank."
"What are you doing out here on your own lass?"
Benna took a half step back, debating if she should trust him or take off running.
"Who says I'm alone?" She asked defensively.
Dwalin grunted "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 stood deliberating for a moment watching him began to disappear back into the forest. She shook her head grabbing her pack chasing after him "Wait Dwain!"
"It's Dwalin." He said, frowning as he turned back to look at her.
"Right, sorry Dwalin." She apologized, falling into step beside him.
A few moments later Dwalin came to a stop in a weedy clearing containing a single pony and a small sputtering fire.
"So... is this your camp?" She asked sitting down on a log near the fire, her eyes falling on two very sharp looking axes resting on a tree near by.
"Aye." He sat down opposite her, slowly stoking the fire back to life, his eyes watching her carefully "Now then, 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 uh...I slipped off the side of one of the overlooks I think..." She began retelling her near death slide from the pass. "So do you know where the nearest ranger station or outposting is?" She asked laying 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 closer. "This map is unlike anything I've seen. He said pulling a map of his own from the bag near the pony handing it to her "Here's a map of these lands."
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.
Slowly 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 terrible of an idea it had been to follow a stranger in the woods, especially a strangely dressed heavily armed stranger.
"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 pocket, pulling out her small utility knife. She quietly flicked it open, knowing it wouldn't enough if the man decided to bring his axes with him. The forest was quiet around her as she stood, her back pressed against a large tree.
Benna inhaled sharply as she heard someone moving through the trees, readying herself as she scanned the forest in the dim light. She stifled the urge to scream, instead of the looming figure of Dwalin, two hunched and twisted creatures emerged from the tree line. Their small beady eyes lit up as they saw her, mouths twisting into grotesque smiles as they drew mangled looking knives.
"What the actual hell!?" Benna screamed as one of them made a grab for her, knocking her to the ground. She scrambled back to her feet as it came for her again. With a yell she pushed the knife into its side, she pulled her knife free feeling a wave of nausea as the creature slumped to the ground with a strangled screech. Her heart pounded in her skull as she tried to will her hands to stop shaking, as the second creature lunged for her. Benna stumbled away, the creature managed to grab a fist full of her shirt as it tumbled forward, dragging her to the ground with it.
benna screamed as she flailed wildly for a moment before she finally managed to connect the small knife into the creature's skull. The dead weight of the thing pressed down on her, driving the air from her lungs. She groaned as she tried in vain to push the thing off her.
Benna stilled as she heard a strangled growl. She struggled under the creature trying to get a better look then wish she hadn't. With a snarl the thing's partner began dragging itself towards her leaving a trail of black ooze behind it. Benna turned her struggle to freeing the knife from the creature's skull.
"I hate this forest so much!" She cried as the creature neared.
There flash of movement and the thing no longer had a head on its shoulders, its body flopping lifelessly to the ground.
"What the…" Benna started staring at the headless body. 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 with a sickening squelch, 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 was just attacked by 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!"
His eyebrows knitting together. "Orcs are not an uncommon sight out here in the wilds."
"Well where I'm from those are definitely not a thing!" Benna almost screamed pointing at the bodies, feeling the hysterics rising inside her.
"Come on." Dwalin motioned for her to follow.
She looked at him warily for a moment
He sighed irritably "If I was going to murderer you do you not think I would have done so already?"
Benna 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?"
"Back to camp."
"And then what?" She pressed.
"Then in the morning we will set out for the shire."
Benna frowned "And what's in the shire?"
Dwalin stopped and looked down at her "A wizard and hopefully some answers for you."