My screams tear through the air. The goblin-like creature is laughing at me, advancing slowly with that sword of his. All of a sudden he lunges at me, and I narrowly dodge his swinging sword. I keep screaming, hoping that someone who's halfway decent with a weapon will hear and come to my aid. I'm not about to fool myself into thinking I'm protected by a can of mace and a pocket knife. Though considering I'm pretty deep in the woods, the chances of anyone hearing me are extremely low. I don't even know where I am.

A hoarse cry sounds to my left, and something launches into the clearing, surprising both me and the goblin. My scream cuts off suddenly when I see a man wielding a deadly looking axe. The goblin creature screeches, swinging its blade in desperation now. I watch wide-eyed as the man parries the goblin's blows, before thrusting his axe into the goblin's chest with a grunt. Even though it's my enemy, I gasp as I hear the goblin's gurgle, before the man tears his axe out of his chest. The goblin collapses on the ground and the man finishes him off. He straightens, then turns to me.

In the low firelight, I make out a short but strong body. His clothes are strange, consisting of something that looks like chain mail, a long coat lined with fur, and heavy boots. He has long hair that he wears loose, with something that looks like silver woven in somewhere. He looks dangerous, and though he killed the goblin thing for me, I tense, bringing up my pathetic pocket knife and mace.

"Thank you for killing that thing for me. I appreciate it greatly." I let my wariness seep into my voice and eyes. The stranger nods his head, before rumbling out, "No doubt he would have bothered me tonight, but chose to bother you instead. It was your screams that lead me here."

He steps forward suddenly, and I raise my knife and mace. He halts, seeing the glint of my blade and the expression on my face. "I will not harm you. Lower your knife." Despite the situation, a bitter laugh escapes my mouth. "I won't. I don't know who you are, and you have not lowered that axe of yours. You could kill me before I take a breath."

The stranger studies my face, seemingly studying my words. "Very well. If I put my axe by the fire, will you do the same with your knife?" I hesitate, then agree when I see him lower his axe, and then put his hands in the air. I step forward cautiously, doing the same. I straighten and notice the stranger studying me.

"You should not be traveling alone tonight. It is dangerous, even so close to the Shire." I blink, not sure I heard him correctly. "What is your name lass? And where are you from?" The short man peers at my face, and I realize that I'm taller than him by a few inches, though he quite obviously has a lot more muscle than I do.

"If I answer your questions will you answer mine?" I don't want to reveal more to this stranger than I have to. "Aye. But answer mine first." I huff. "Very well then. My name is Aspen Brooks, and I'm from America. Is there anything else you wish to know?" His face remains blank, and his eyes are frustratingly unreadable. Normally, I'm excellent at reading people, but this man if a mystery to me.

"Where is America?" The word sounds strange in his mouth. "I have not heard of it." I purse my lips, unsure of the answer myself. I don't remember ever hearing about goblin creatures in America, not even in local cryptid tales. "We're in it right?" "No," he says, as he shakes his head.

"Well then where are we?" The man stares at me for a minute, and it's as if he's staring into my soul. "I said we were near the Shire. Do you not know where that is?" I shake my head, and he grunts.

He then asks, "Your manner of speech is strange. Does everyone from your place talk like you?" "For the most part yes. I'm from the south, so my accent's a little different, and some of my words are different." The man nods again, mulling over my words. He is silent for so long I wonder if he's going to say anything at all.

"You had questions that you wished to ask me?" He finally breaks the silence. I nod, looking into his eyes. "Yes. Why did you rescue me tonight? Where are you from? Do you know of any nearby towns?" The stranger blinks, and allows the stone of his face to fall for a second, revealing a slight amusement at my questions. Then it is back, as if it never fell at all.

"I will answer your questions, but you must come back to my camp. It is not safe for a lone female to be wandering in the woods. You will not be harmed, I assure you."

Should I trust him? He hasn't given me a reason to distrust him. I know that he is still armed, even though he no longer carries his axe. He doesn't look like the kind of person to just carry one weapon. But he has a point. Alone out here, I am vulnerable. With him, at least I would have some measure of protection. However, he is male, and I'm female. If he wanted to, I think as I look at his strong arms, he could easily overpower me. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to know what could happen after that. His voice breaks my thoughts. "I promise I will not harm you." I look at him and make my decision.

"I will come with you, but as soon as we reach your camp, you will put your axe out of reach, and you will remain at least three paces from me at all times. I may not look like much, but I can defend myself if necessary." I hope that the man doesn't realize this is a half lie.

He doesn't look happy with my conditions, but nods curtly. "Come, we must go then." He retrieves his axe, and I get my pocket knife and mace, putting them in my bag and making sure I have everything while he looks around at the trees. "My camp does not lie far from here." He grabs a burning branch from my fire and proceeds to scatter the rest with his boot. Instantly the camp is plunged into darkness, save for the branch he holds.

"This way." He gestures with his axe, and I follow close behind him, not willing to get lost in the dark trees. We continue on in silence, and as far as I can tell he leads me west and slightly north. After about five minutes, I'm hopelessly turned around, and I know I wouldn't be able to find my way back to my camp if I tried. I'm about to ask him how much further away we are, but suddenly we reach his camp in a wide clearing in the woods.

I look around, noting the amount of space we have. The man's camp is in the dead center of the clearing, and looks unoccupied, which is good. We don't enter immediately, listening for any intruders. Hearing none, we make our way over to the low fire and the man tosses the branch he has been carrying on it. He adds more logs to the fire as I set my bag down opposite from his stuff. When he's finally satisfied with the now cheerfully burning fire, he sits down with an audible sigh. I look pointedly at the axe at his side and he scowls, setting the axe further away.

"Are you hungry?" His question catches me off guard. "Yes." I reply, just now realizing that my stomach has been empty for the entire day. He pulls something out of his pack and tosses it over the fire to me. I catch it and see that it's dried meat, along with some kind of flat bread. As I begin to tear off pieces of the food, he says, "I will answer your questions now. I am Thorin, of Ered Luin in the Blue Mountains. When I heard your screams…"

I know that he keeps talking, because I can hear his voice rumbling in my ear. My brain works furiously, trying to put together the pieces. The Shire, Ered Luin, Thorin. I know those names. That goblin creature, the clean air, the lack of people. I've been truly alone since I woke up this morning in the woods, not even stumbling across a walking path. I know where I am.

"Thorin," I breathe. I glance up sharply at him, and notice he's trailed off, watching me instead. "You are Thorin Oakenshield?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Aye. You know of me, Aspen Brookes?" I swallow, as my brain finally accepts that I'm not on Earth anymore, even as my heart screams in denial.

"Yes. I know of you. And I know of your quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug."