The bull elk stood only forty yards away. The snow was swirling thicker now as the sun began to set behind the thick gray clouds. Eleanor or Ellie for short, slowed her breathing as she drew her bow and silently took aim as the elk began to quarter away from her. He was magnificent to watch in the snow, his antlers spread wide looking as though they could reach the low hanging clouds. Ellie always felt a small amount of remorse at killing such a creature, but she only hunted to feed herself and she made sure her kills were quick and clean by hours of practice with her bow daily.

As she was preparing to release the arrow she had drawn, the elk let out a long bugle and she heard the eerie howl of a wolf answer. Ellie never hunted alone and on this hunting trip she had several people with her, but they were in other blinds hundreds of yards apart. The bull pawed the ground in front of her and then in a sudden lunge he burst through the trees on the edge of the clearing where she could no longer see. Slowly, she let the draw on her bow down and took the arrow she had nocked, placing it back in the quiver.

Knowing she would not get another opportunity before the sun set, she began packing her backpack making sure she didn't leave anything in the public blind. As she exited the little building she slung her bow across her shoulder and unclipped the .357 magnum revolver from its holster on her hip. Hunting in this region it was always best to have a backup weapon with some firepower as there were incredibly big predators around.

Shivering slightly, even though she had three layers of camouflage on, Ellie quickened her steps toward the rendezvous point where the others would be meeting. The group had packed in together and the camp they had set up was a few miles away so they had set up a closer meeting point. The longer she walked, the heavier the snow fell and the wind began to whip through the trees in earnest so that she couldn't hear her own footsteps in the snow. Bundling down into her coat and pulling up the scarf so that it added an extra layer over her beanie, she wasn't paying as close attention as she should have been.

So, when she stepped into the clearing the sight took her completely by surprise. A pack of ten wolves were ravaging some poor creature and the sight froze Ellie where she stood. For a moment all she could do was watch as she tried to regain her breath and then she quickly did the math, there were ten wolves and her revolver only held seven rounds. Even if she hit every one she aimed at and the others ran off she still didn't like her odds. Plus she didn't know where the other hunters were in relation to her location and she didn't want to risk hitting someone by accident.

The wolves hadn't yet noticed her and so she slowly began backing away, hoping they were too busy with their fresh kill to come after her. She was not so fortunate. A gray wolf on the edge of the pack noticed her first and he lowered his head at her baring his bloody fangs. Ellie put her hand on her pistol, ready to draw in a heartbeat, but continued to step back from the clearing, hoping he would lose interest. Again, her hopes were in vain. As he continued to growl and track her, others in the pack peeled off the carcass and began to focus on her.

She was trying to place her footing carefully so that she wouldn't trip, but once more her luck ran out. As she stepped back on her right heel, she caught the edge of an icy rock causing her ankle to twist despite her laced up hiking boots. The fall backwards to the ground seemed to take an age. It seemed she was able to watch in slow motion as the wolves lunged in to take advantage of her position. Just before her head slammed into the rocks beneath her knocking her unconscious she heard the wolves howl, although it sounded as if they were far away through a tunnel.

/

She came awake slowly, drifting through the fog in her head, hearing nothing but typical night noises. She was about to roll over in her sleeping bag when the distant howling of a wolf brought her crashing through the fog back to reality. In a fluid movement, she drew the revolver from her side and sat straight up aiming in front of herself. Immediately, she scanned the area for any sign of the wolves and saw that she was alone. The next thing she noticed was that the forest she was in was not the same one. For one thing, there was no snow and the trees were different. The lume from the moon gave just enough light for her to see shapes and shadows through the trees and she didn't recognize anything around her.

She lowered the pistol down to the ground beside her and began to unwrap her face and head so that she could see and hear better, not to mention she was beginning to sweat in the mild weather. Ellie gently eased herself up on to her knees checking for any pain as she moved. Thankfully only her head and back felt sore, but nothing seemed to be broken or sprained. Taking off her thick parka, scarf and beanie, she quickly stuffed the items into her backpack and slung it back over her shoulders. Still scanning the area for any sign of the pack, she picked up her bow to make sure it had survived the fall. Luckily it looked as good as new and all her arrows were accounted for. Reaching into her pants pocket, she took out her GPS and her compass to figure out where she was. She tried several times to no avail to turn on the GPS, but it was no use, either the battery was dead or she had destroyed it when she fell.

The compass seemed to be working just fine, but since she didn't know where she was exactly she couldn't possibly find the camp. Ellie knew that the camp had been south of her previous location, but that information was useless in her current situation. A chorus of howls from the northwest helped her make her decision on which way to go. "Okay," she said to herself, "to the southeast it is." Checking her equipment one more time and with her pistol in one hand and the compass in the other she verified her direction once more. Picking out a tree in the distance that lined up exactly with the southeast direction she wanted to go, she started hiking as quietly as she could.

Ellie had been hiking for a few hours according to her watch and she still did not recognize any of her surroundings. She knew from survival stories that they always recommend the person stay in one place, but the howls of the wolves felt as though they were chasing her. It was another hour into her hike that she began to see the flickering light of a fire through the trees. Blowing out a breath of relief, she sped up even though she was exhausted. At this point, she was happy to find anyone out here especially wolves and strange shrieking she had begun to hear.

As she approached the camp she could hear someone telling what sounded like a story about someone named Thorin fighting something called orcs. It sounded quite fanciful and she found herself trying to listen closely as she came nearer. She thought it odd when the storyteller referenced himself saying, "there is one I could follow. There is one I could call king."

Another voice asked, "And the pale orc? What happened to him?" A deep voice replied, " He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." There the story seemed to stop and Ellie felt that she had waited long enough. She had better announce herself before they spotted her and became suspicious of her lurking on their borders. Calling out to announce herself she stepped slowly from the shadows of the trees, "Hello in camp."

The speed with which she was then grabbed and thrown to the ground knocked the breath out of her and before she could protest, she was disarmed and lying face up surrounded by men all with weapons pointed at her.

"Wait! Please! I mean no harm. I was separated from my hunting party and lost my way. I only need directions and I'll be on my way," she said quickly bringing her hands up in supplication. She was completely terrified of the situation she was in and was wondering if she shouldn't have taken her chances with the wolves when the man with the deep voice spoke, "What are you doing out here and how did you become separated from your group?" The sword he held to her throat made her swallow hard and take a deep breath, "We were hunting in different locations and when I walked to our meeting point I stumbled upon a pack of wolves. When I tried to back away they turned on me and I twisted my ankle on a rock, falling and hitting my head. I was unconscious for a while and when I woke up I was lost." He looked at her as if he was considering whether to believe her story or not when another man, this one considerably taller and older than the others stepped up, "Thorin! Can you not tell the poor girl is terrified? She means us no harm, I am sure of it."

With these words, the men around her lowered their weapons and she let out a sigh of relief, "I swear I mean you no harm. I only want to return to my camp." The old man smiled down at her kindly, "Of course my dear and we shall help you if we are able. Now where is your camp located?" Still a little in shock, she shook her head then winced at the sharp reminder of her injury, "I'm not sure. When I was knocked unconscious it was snowing, but I haven't seen any signs of snow since I woke. If you tell me where we are maybe I can figure out how far I am."

She could tell that she had said something wrong by the way the group was looking at each other, but the old man just smiled and held out his hand to help her off the ground. "We are near the Great East Road just outside the Shire," he told her as she dusted herself off. She stopped and frowned up at him, "Where? I've never heard of either of those places." The party began looking at her suspiciously once more and some of her fright returned. The old man cleared his throat to get everyone's attention again, "Perhaps we should begin with introductions instead. I am Gandalf the Grey, the dwarf who was standing over you is Thorin," Gandalf motioned to the man who stood just a few paces away scowling at her and then continued to point as he named off the rest. "That is Fili and Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Ori, Dori, Nori, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin and our hobbit Bilbo Baggins."

Although they were the strangest names she had ever heard, she nodded politely, "It's nice to meet you. I am Eleanor although most call me Ellie and again I am sorry for intruding." Gandalf spoke again, "Quite alright my dear as I am sure you did not mean to become lost. Let's sit by the fire and you can tell us where you are from. Maybe we can sort this all out." Ellie let herself be lead to the fire and sat down beside Gandalf as the rest of the men arranged themselves across from her.

Gandalf had called them dwarves and while many of them were short, a few such as Thorin and Dwalin were just a few inches shorter than herself. Short or not, they certainly were a fierce and intimidating looking group and Ellie had a hard time keeping her eyes from wandering over them all. She tried to focus on Gandalf instead, "We are still in Wyoming aren't we?" Maybe at that moment she should have realized something was not right, but then again why would she ever suspect she wasn't in her own world anymore. Gandalf looked at her a moment before responding, "Wyoming? I've never heard of this place. Where in Middle Earth is it located?" Ellie smiled a confused smile, "Middle Earth? What are you talking about?" At this question, even Gandalf looked at her surprised not to mention the dwarves sat up a little more straight. Ellie looked around at them all, "What? What did I say?" The dwarf she thought was called Bofur spoke up, "Where is it that you think you are, lass?"

Ellie stared back at him, but before she could answer the one called Thorin growled as he stepped up on her other side, "Gandalf just what is going on?" Ellie looked back and forth between Thorin and Gandalf wondering what they meant. "I am not sure Thorin, but it is quite clear that this poor girl is more lost than she realizes," Gandalf said. Ellie felt the fear creep up her spine. More lost than she realized? "What do you mean 'more lost than I realize?' Just where on earth am I?" she demanded, eyes darting back and forth between Gandalf and Thorin. They just looked at her, neither saying a word. Ellie squeezed her eyes shut as she felt pressure begin to build in her head. None of this was making any sense to her. The people were dressed strange, spoke in funny accents and were talking about places that didn't exist. She put her head in her hands and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. The pressure was quickly becoming unbearable and she didn't realize she whimpered until she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Gandalf ask, "Are you alright my dear?" Ellie went to shake her head, but when she did she felt herself begin to lose consciousness. She felt herself falling forward towards the fire, but couldn't do anything and then she felt strong hands wrap around her right as she slipped into the black nothingness.

/

Thorin didn't know what to think of the strange woman he was no cradling in his arms. He had barely kept her from tumbling head first into the fire just moments ago. He gently laid her down on the grass behind him and motioned for Oin to come and examine her. In her narrative of what had happened to her she had mentioned hitting her head on a rock and Thorin worried that it might have caused serious damage. That was the last thing he needed to deal with right now, an injured woman who didn't have a clue where she was.

He stepped back as Oin knelt down next to the woman and went to grab her pack that they had tossed aside when they disarmed her. She was dressed in the same strange pattern clothes that matched the pattern on the pack and the bow that was attached to the pack was the oddest one he had ever seen. It had pulleys at each end and the string fed through three different times unlike the bow that Kili carried that was a simple wooden bow with the string tied to each end.

He heard Oin begin to explain to Gandalf what he found, "She seems to be alright except for this lump on the back of her head. Must be where she struck the rock she spoke about. We should try to wake her as soon as possible. She may have a concussion and she shouldn't sleep for a while just in case."

Gandalf nodded and when they couldn't wake her, he muttered something as he waved his hand over her face. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she inhaled a deep breath, "What happened?" Gandalf helped her to sit up, "We think you may have a concussion and we need you to try and stay awake." Ellie nodded gently, "Alright. I'm sorry to be so much trouble."

Oin patted her hand as he and Gandalf helped her to stand up all the way, "Not at all, not at all."

Ellie smiled around at the group, "I really appreciate your help. I don't know how I'll be able to thank you." The dwarves all mumbled something polite, waving off her thanks. Then Ellie saw Thorin with her pack and began walking toward him, "Thank you, but I'll take those." As he handed her her things she noticed her pistol was missing. "Have you seen my pistol?" she asked as she shouldered the pack. Thorin raised a dark brow at her, "Pistol?"

Ellie nodded, "Yes, I was carrying... " she trailed off as she spotted it on the ground a few feet away. She walked over and scooped it off the ground checking it for any damage, "I always carry my pistol when I'm hunting for protection against predators such as bears and wolves." She explained this to Thorin as she was checking the pistol and didn't see the confusion on his face. Holstering it she began walking back towards the campfire. Besides feeling confused, she still felt bad for imposing on them especially being injured. She hoped her own group was looking for her so that she could not be such a burden. She'd always disliked being the center of attention and ever since she had set foot in this camp she had been nothing but that. Even now they all watched her as she settled her things in an empty space against the cliff wall and lowered herself to rest against her pack.

It seemed to her that Thorin was the leader of the group as he announced, "Alright everyone get to sleep. We will start early in the morning." The group dispersed to their own areas around the fire and began to settle down. Thorin remained walking the edge of the camp while Gandalf came to sit next to her once more. As he sat down he said, "Now my dear since you must stay awake, how about you and I talk for a while?"