The Hope of a Dwarf

1 - Ulf

In a world far from ours, hundreds of years ago, a place existed that was full of magic. Not the ordinary kind that occurs each day, but a wild and untameable magic that lodged itself in the hearts of all who lived in that place. Middle Earth, a strange and fantastic world so different from ours. And in that world, there was a girl. And her name was Ulf.

***

I hefted my dagger by my shoulder, took aim, and threw. The small weapon bounced off the surface of the elm tree I'd been aiming at. I sighed and walked over to retrieve it. As I leant over to pick it up, I narrowed my dark hazel eyes, cocked my head to the side. A noise? A voice bouncing through the trees that surrounded me? I carefully grabbed the dagger and spun back to the dirt path. Seldom few took the hunter's path, which, in fact, was little more than a well-treaded trail of mud. Elm was a town of men who relied more on the money they made cutting down trees to buy food, rather than hunting for it themselves - it was a town named for its trade in timber.

My short, stocky build and dark blonde hair, which trailed past my ears and down my jaw, marked me out as a dwarf. I could never remember why I was a dwarf living in a town of men, and, though I still had relics from this old, forgotten life, they brought no recollection of my family of past. I couldn't remember my name, so I called myself Ulf, and as Ulf, I was but a simple, stocky girl with a longing for adventure. But, try as I might, I could really never bring myself to leave the old farrier, Durzo, who had taken me under his wing and given me a home.

He had taught me to care for the horses that his profession lived on, and had made me two plain daggers, a short sword, which hung at my hip in a simple leather sheath, and a bow. This hung unstrung around my broad shoulder, and a quiver of messily fletched arrows beside it. These were for hunting, which I had attempted (and failed) at teaching myself, and for self defence. Elm, like all towns of men, was full of thieves and cut purses. Durzo had given me simple clothes - cotton was expensive. I wore a dark greyish-green, loose shirt, a pair of brown pants and grey, woollen fingerless gloves. The only good clothes I had were my boots - tough leather, lined with wolf fur and capped in iron. They'd been a coming of age gift when I turned what we had agreed was fourteen almost a year ago, back when Durzo was still alive.

I gripped the knife tightly as my thoughts fled to Durzo and his crooked smile. Death took so easily, leaving nothing but memories.

My only memories were of Durzo.

I was jerked violently back into real life by a murmur of voices, and froze. My panicked brain flew through options as to who these people, if they were, in fact people, were. Hunters, of course, or tradesmen I leapt off the road and crashed awkwardly through a bush. I scrambled up and peered through the mess of leaves. My eyebrows shot to the top of my head.

Two dwarves stood on the path.

The first had long, unruly dark hair and dark eyes. I couldn't tell what colour they were as, though I hadn't noticed it, the night had come and the sky was a deep blue. He wore a long coat and was quite tall. I frowned. He didn't have a beard, just stubble, which made me wonder whether he was a dwarf at all. He held a short bow in his gloved hand.

"Did you hear that?" The other dwarf shook his head, but pulled a short knife out of... Well, where he pulled it from I couldn't tell. He had lighter hair and a small beard and long moustache. From what I could tell, he had light eyes too.

"It was probably just an animal, Kili."

The dark haired dwarf shook his head.

"It was too big."

The other one sighed.

"Well it was a deer then. Happy? Now, come on. We've got to go. The quest hasn't even bloody started yet, and you're already wanting to kill things." Kili, the taller dwarf, scowled and slung his bow over his shoulder. A smile squirmed its way onto my face. A quest?

"I don't want to kill things, Fili. I just don't want to get hurt." The first dwarf muttered, his voice carried to me by the wind.

The other dwarf, Fili, nodded.

"C'mon."

Kili turned away from the side of the road and began to walk after his friend. I forced myself to count to one hundred before I crept from the bushes. I stood up, took a deep breath, and followed the dwarves.