Chasing Fate(a hobbit fanfiction)

chapter two: employment

 My breathing slowed as I got further away from the small town of Esgaroth, or lake-town as it is known by most. I had been hired to escort a very important businessman to the place. Only to be discovered as the ranger Aglaeca. The man I was escorting refused to pay me and tried to kill me. I was almost captured by the soldiers but I managed to knock them all unconscious and escape. I was a few miles away from the town when I heard the galloping of horse hooves.

"Oh sweet mother of..." I needed a break. So I decided to sit and wait. I normally DO NOT use my shifting unless it is absolutely necessary. Sometimes the animal or whatever I decide to turn into can take control and it's nearly impossible to shift back. So I settle for an ambush. If they don't see me I let them move on. If I'm discovered I fight. I press myself against one of the many trees on the outskirts of Mirkwood forest. There are three possibilities. One: lake-town guards that decided to follow. Two: bounty hunters. Three: elves. It could be a traveler but it was unlikely. Not at this hour. The strangers draw closer. I draw a knife from my boot just in case of a fight. The noise stops just a few meters from my tree.

"Where'd she go?" a deep husky voice says. By the sound of things there are four horses, three riders.

"I don't know. Legends say she is a changeling. And a witch. She could probably disappear."

'Not quite moron.' Nobody calls me a witch. I hear a sword draw and I tense myself. Ready to defend if needed. The footsteps of the bounty hunter get closer. I grip the hilt of my knife tighter in my sweaty hand.

"Anything Albiet?" I peek around the tree. Sure enough, two men are atop horses while the last one is a few feet away. He turns and faces his fellow bounty hunters.

"Nothing." Then I make myself known. I jump on the back of the man and he spins around in circles yelling unintelligible things. The other two dismount and try to help their comrade. Leaping from my victims back, I place a kick to the side of another's head. The man screams before collapsing to the ground.

'One down, two to go.' I tell myself. One man swings a fist in my direction. I block his strike and punch him in the gut and push him over gasping for air. The third man was bigger and had muscles the size of a watermelon. He trapped me in a head lock and tried to choke me. I took a step to the side exposing the man's crotch. I smacked him as hard as I could before grabbing him in the eyes and pulling his head back. By now the man had let go and was swinging wildly aiming for nothing unparticular. His fist connected with my face sending me sprawling on the ground. I sat up and placed a hand on my face. It would bruise and there was a large cut coming across my cheek. I wiped away a bit of the blood and stood back up. Two of the men were back up and were finished recovering from the blows I gave them. They started advancing toward me. I sighed in frustration. One man aims a crossbow at me, while the other gets a rope ready preparing for me to surrender. Only, the word surrender doesn't exist in my vocabulary. I bend down and make it look like I'm dropping my dagger. But instead I pick up a fist sized rock and hurl it at the archer. The stone hits him right between the eyes and he falls to the ground face first. The bigger man sneers and runs at me. I give him a good kick in the gut but he doesn't pay much heed to it. He grabs me by the throat and lifts me up into the air. I struggle to breathe and panic starts to course through my body. Only I can't panic. That could make me shift.

"That reward on your head is mine!" he snarls. I hear footsteps behind me. I smile slightly at my captor and manage to choke out: