Terra

Chapter 1

Day 1
"Come on, is that all you've got?" teased Terra as she sent her opponent flying.



         Groshak stumbled back to his feet, ready to slaughter the insolent warrior before him. He, Groshak the horrid was being played with by this girl. Standing at an intimidating 8'4, he was one of the biggest orc to come from the mountains, but he wasn't a match for this monster. Having his great axe broken had led this to a fist fight. Charging at the girl again, Groshak rammed into her at full force only to be brought to a halt. As another blow broke a couple more ribs, Groshak was again lifted off his feet as he stared into the eyes of his attacker.



"This probably wouldn't have happened if you would have just stayed up in the mountain like a good little orc. But you just had to pillage a few too many villages. At least I'll live comfortably for the next few weeks."



         With this, Terra made a quick twist of her wrist and put Groshak out of his misery. Taking a necklace from his neck for proof, Terra picked up the rest of her gear and headed out of the cave. Ducking down so as to not hit her head, Terra stood back to her full height of 10'6 as she made her way back to the village to get the rest of the reward. Brushing some of her brown hair out of her face, Terra started back to the village.



         This job had taken her far away in the middle of the mountains. It would usually take about eight to ten days to get back, but for Terra it would only take four. Pulling her pack off her back, Terra reached to the side to feel the weight of her coin pouch as she jiggled it in her palm. Having merchants pay this much up front made her excited to get back and claim the rest of her award. Being probably the strongest person in the kingdom made jobs like these child's play, but she always loved it when the opponent would fight back.



         Not paying attention, Terra felt her foot slide downwards as the Cliffside road that she was on gave way. Failing to regain her balance, Terra was sent tumbling down the steep hillside bumping and breaking everything in her path. After what seemed like forever, she came to stop at the bottom of the hill. Shaking the dizziness from her head, Terra didn't hear the tree snap to her right as it started to fall towards her. Without warning, Terra felt the wind get knocked out of her as the tree finally landed, pinning her underneath it.



         After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Terra started to try and push herself up in order to get the old tree off her back. Even with her great size and strength, the tree wouldn't budge an inch as the girl tried her hardest to move the obstacle. Finally giving up, Terra looked around her surroundings to see if anything could help her get out of this situation. Luckily for Terra, her pack had landed a few feet away from her. Unluckily though, the pack was a good three feet out of her reach. Deciding that there was no other option, Terra let out a cry for help, praying that someone would find her.






Day 3
         The days seemed to last forever as Terra heard the quite to common rumbling that was coming from her stomach. She started resented the fact that she chose not to eat before a fight as her stomach continued to complain. The hunger was somewhat manageable, but the thirst was overwhelming. With her waterskin and rations just feet away, the mental torture was unbearable. Terra never gave much thought of how she would die, but dying under a log would have come last in her list of ways to go.



         It was about midday when Terra heard the sound of her salvation. A group of men were walking through the woods dragging a deer carcass on a skid behind them. Seeing the group a little ways away, Terra let out a hoarse shout of help. The men turned towards her and started rushing over to see what was wrong.



         Looking at the three men, Terra guessed that they were in there early twenties a few years older that herself. Bending down to talk to her must have been the leader of the group. Wearing a light brown tunic with brown pants and leather boots, the man removed his cap releasing his messy black hair, he stared into her eyes.



"Are you alright?" he asked examining the condition that she was in.



"Yeah, I'm all right but I could use some help." replied Terra.



"We're quite a bit away from town, do you have an axe or something so that we can cut you out of this." asked the young man checking out his surroundings.



"Over there in my pack should be a hatchet that you could use. My sword is a little too big and wouldn't get the job done." said Terra pointing at her pack.



"How long have you been out here by yourself?" asked the man with concern in his eyes?



"Around three days." said Terra.



         Finally seeing the pack a few feet away, the three men crouched over it checking the contents inside. Terra waited patiently for the men to find her hatchet at the bottom of her pack, until she noticed the men making two stacks. One of her clothes, blanket, rations, and anything else common, while the other consisted of her hatchet, coin bag, lamp, rope, and other valuables.



"What are you guys doing?" asked Terra as they continued to sort through her stuff.



"Deciding what to take with us." replied the short fat one.



"What do you mean take with you? Get out of my stuff!" yelled Terra as the men continued.



"How about you try to make us bitch." snickered the other man.



         Terra couldn't understand why this was happening. At first she was elated to finally see people who could help her, but now she was pissed. Struggling fiercely now to escape, the leader of the trio chuckled.



"There is no way that you're going to move that tree. You may be part giant, but you are nowhere near strong enough. Besides, you didn't tell us that you were this rich."



         Holding up her coin pouch in his hand, the man eyed it greedily. Loading the rest of the stuff into their packs, the men started to leave. Finally quitting out of exhaustion, Terra tried to calm her breathing. After a few steps, the leader turned around and started walking towards her pack.



"What else do you want? You've already taken everything valuable." growled Terra, trying to keep her anger in check.



"You'll die in a couple of days anyway, but I don't want you using a stick to get some of the stuff over here."



         Reaching into the pile that was left behind, the man found all of the rations that he could find and put them into a new pile. He then proceeded to stomp them into the dirt as he was soon joined by his friends. After making sure that it was inedible, the man took lifted her waterskin and carried it to just out of arms reach.



"I'm not a real monster, so I'll let you have some water." said the leader with a smile.



         Grabbing his hunting knife, the leader started to puncture the skin as the contents fell to the ground. After it was completely destroyed, he tossed it aside and joined his friends. Seeing them finally walk away, Terra started to slam her fist into the ground. Tears started to fall from her faces as she continued. Terra was mad, confused, sad, afraid, but most of all she was alone.