"How long until we stop?" Bilbo asked for the fifth time. "Don't you think it is a stupid idea to carry on in these conditions?"
Samara sighed. They had been travelling through a massive rainstorm for one and a half hour now. Everyone was soaking wet and could hardly see the path they were taking.
"He is right uncle!" Kili shouted towards the front of the line. "This is madness!"
"Mister Gandalf?" Dori asked. "Can't you use magic to make it stop raining?"
"There is only one person in Middle Earth that can make the rain stop Dori and it isn't me." Gandalf growled.
"Than who is it?" Dori asked.
"The Avatar." Gandalf said.
Thorin huffed. "There hasn't been an Avatar since Khan died."
"Not a fully realized one no, but there have been plenty who were destined to be."
"What happened to them?" Bilbo asked.
Samara shot him a quick glance.
"Nobody knows for sure…" Gandalf said. "But my guess is that a lot of them decided to create their own destiny."
Dori looked confused until Fili made a gesture with his finger sliding over his throat.
"Indeed, although not very subtly put." "Many did not want to become the next Avatar out of fear and made an end to their lives."
"That's horrible." Bilbo said.
"Yes but it gets even darker." Gandalf said. "There are rumours that there have been children that were killed by their own family after showing sings of element bending."
Samara swallowed as her stomach made a flip.
"Stop!" Thorin shouted.
"Finally!" Kili shouted back.
"We will take shelter in this cave, Kili will take first watch."
"What the fuck!"
Samara could see a small smile upon Oakenshields face.
"That will teach you to talk back at him." Fili said as he patted his brother on the shoulder.
Everyone gathered their belongings and made sure the ponies and horses had a dry spot to stand. Samara and Bilbo sat down and made themselves comfortable.
"Try to sleep." Samara said. "I'll make sure nothing happens."
"But Kili has first watch, you should sleep too." Bilbo said.
"Can't trust dwarves." Samara said. "He'll be asleep in ten minutes."
It took five minutes for Kili to fall asleep. Samara took his place at the entrance of the cave and tried to ignore the snoring the young dwarf produced. There were whispers inside the cave and when Samara looked to find the source, she crossed eyes with Thorin, Balin and Gandalf. They were sitting around the map. Samara turned her gaze back outside, though there was hardly something to see through the rain. Still something didn't feel right, as if she was being watched by something she could not see. After two hours, Fili and Dwalin took over the watch. Samara walked back to Bilbo and was happy to see the hobbit was in a deep sleep. She lay down next to him and closed her eyes.
The house was ablaze. Huge flames danced through the dark sky as it consumed everything. People came running out of their own homes.
"What happened?" One woman asked frightened as she grabbed a young girl by the shoulders.
"I…I don't know."
The girl turned back towards the flames, the orange reflected in her green eyes.
"Wake up!"
Samara's green eyes shot open and looked towards a face hovering above her. It was one of the dwarves…what was his name again?
"You were having a nightmare." He whispered. "Almost woke up the entire company."
"Sorry." "I thought Dwalin and Fili were on watch?"
"That was four hours ago." The dwarf said. "It's my turn now…mine and my brother Bifur."
Ah Bofur, that was it.
"Thanks." Samara said.
"Better stay awake, I am surprised Thorin let us sleep for so long." Bofur said. "The rain stopped an hour ago."
Samara looked around and saw that most of the company was awake. Only Kili, Ori and Bilbo were still sleeping. Most of them were already packing their stuff.
"Pppsst Bilbo…hey wake up." She said nudging the hobbit.
"No…no leave me alone…" Bilbo muttered.
After a few more pokes he finally woke up. It took him some time to realize he was not in Bag End anymore.
"Let's go!" Thorin said.
Everyone was relieved to see the sun shine through the trees and spirits were lifted. Samara took two apples from her bag and gave one to Bilbo.
"So are you two together?" Bofur asked.
Bilbo's face became red. "No, of course not…" He stuttered.
Samara laughed. "We are just good friends, that is all."
"She saved me from drowning several years ago." Bilbo said.
While Bofur and Bilbo started to talk, Samara kept looking around. She still had a feeling someone was watching.
"Stop!" Thorin said.
Immediately the ponies and horses came to a halt.
"What is it Thorin?" Dwalin asked.
"Orc tracks." "They're fresh."
A shiver ran through Samara's spine.
"We will take another route." Gandalf said. "Go west and get out of the forest, through the rock fields and towards the Misty Mountains."
Thorin wanted to complain but suddenly they heard noises approaching them.
"Orcs." Dwalin said. "Let's take them."
"Fool!" Gandalf scolded. "We are in a huge disadvantage."
He turned his horse around and galloped towards another path. The others followed quickly. Soon they left the forest behind and open fields filled with rocks stretched out in front of them. The ponies and horses had a difficult time navigating around the sharp stone. Samara looked around and gasped. All around them Orcs appeared, apparently hiding between the rocks for prey.
"Go on!" Gandalf shouted. "We are almost at the secret passage!"
"I knew you were misleading us towards there!" Thorin said.
"Do you have any better idea?"
Samara saw how the Orcs gained on them. They were never going to make to where ever Gandalf wanted them to go.
"Hold on tight Bilbo!" Samara said as she gave him the reigns.
"What are you doing?" The hobbit asked in full panic.
Samara jumped off the horse and landed hard. She whistled as loud as she could and immediately all Orc eyes were on her. She started to run into the other direction and most of the orcs followed her.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck , oh fuck…" She muttered as she jumped around, avoiding the sharp rocks.
"Nothing like a good chase hey boys!" One of the orcs shouted.
Samara tried to ignore the shouts and look around to see where she was going. A large mountain doomed up and she realized the path she was currently on was a dead stop.
"There's no where to hide lassy!"
Laughter filled the air. Samara increased her speed, lungs already burning. Her road was blocked by a huge rock.
"Shit…" She whispered.
Bending was out of the question, if any Orc would see it, she was doomed. Her survival depended on her anonimity. She jumped and grabbed the edge of the rock with her fingers. Just as she wanted to hoist herself up, a hand grabbed her by the anckle and pulled. And in that second, she realized there was no other option.
As she spun around, a stream of air blasted the orcs a few meters away. The orcs didn't understand what had happened and Samara didn't waiste a second. She used airbending to jump over the rock and ran further. The mountain came closer.
"The Avatar!" A horrible voice shouted. "Get her!"
Panic came in big waves as the orcs gained on her, the foul creatures now determined to capture her. Suddenly an orc came from the side and knocked her over. She screamed in pain as a sharp rock cut into her side.
"You're mine Avatar!" The orc snarled.
It held a sword in the air and Samara screamed in fear and held her hands up in the air. A piece of earth shot up and impaled the orc. It went limp. Samara stood up and regained her speed, but in the meantime other orcs were closing in. She bended boulders right and left, not even looking if they hit target. Occasionaly she would create an airstream to keep the orcs somewhat at distance, but she was not a master bender. Her movements not controlled. By the time she was reached the mountain, the orcs were trying to grab her, filthy nails running over her skin before being thrown back by either earth or air. She was too exhausted to bend her way up the mountain.
Samara was certain this would be her end, but at least she had managed to lure them away from the company. Tears ran over her cheeks as she desperately searched for a last resort. It came in the shape of a cave. Stumbling of exhaustion she made a last run for it. The cave was dark and cold and her steps echoed. Soon the noises of the orcs filled the cave. Samara fell over and pain shot through her side.
"Give up woman." An orc said.
"You can't run forever." Another added.
"The necromancer will be pleased when we deliver you…"
Strong hands grabbed Samara by both anckles and she screamed and kicked.
"Got you!"
"Fuck off!"
A flash of bright orange and the orc yelled in pain. Burned flesh filled the air. Samara scrambled away, turned around and saw more orcs coming for her. The sound of a horn came through the yells. By pure instinct Samara brought her arms against each other and a wall of earth seperated her from the orcs. A raging pain ran through her left leg. An orc had grabbed her foot and pulled just when she bended the earth and now her leg was stuck underneath the boulders.
She screamed in pain as she tried to pull it loose.
"Okay…okay think Samara think…" She stammered to herself.
She made some movements with her arms but it was no use. She had no energy left. Hot tears spilled over her face. She brought a shaking hand to her side and saw that it was covered in blood. She had to get free to find help fast.
With a yell she tried to pull free once again. There was a sickening crack and her foot came loose. Samara screamed once more. Her entire leg was on fire. She scooted a few meters away from the wall and laid down on her back.
This was it…this was how she would die. Alone, in a dark cave with zero chance of someone finding her in time. As she lay there she thought she could hear that horn again on the other side of the wall. And shouting, lots of shouting. Then it went silent. She didn't know how long she lay there motionless but it became more and more difficult to keep her eyes open. They were almost closed when a flicker of light appeared in her view. It became bigger and bigger and she could hear voices. A wave of renewed panic shot through her, giving her the adrenaline to get up and turn around. Had the orcs found another way to her?