[Naria]

The slosh of footsteps walking through puddles and dripping water was all Narleah had heard through the grunting and squealing of her captors. Her turmoil began while she was walking past a mountain; six monsters grabbed her from behind. Narleah had no idea that she had marched herself right into Orc territory.

They pulled her along until they had reached the tunnel opening and pushed her through. Her eyes opened wide as to try and absorb any light that may be present. None....Narleah was in complete darkness. She heard more grunting as they pulled and pushed her further in. Suddenly there was a squeal from one of the Orcs that was in the front of her and the group stopped. Narleah heard a shuffling of feet moving away from her and then as quickly as they moved away, the footsteps returned...this time four out of the six had lit torches in hand. She thought that the light would help, but it didn't. In fact it was quite the opposite, the small flickering flames were casting eerie shadows on the tunnel walls and it didn't help her to see any further down or where they had come.

Narleah was getting more and more fearful for her life and it made her to want nothing more then to escape her nightmare. She had to find a way out, but how? Although she had thought of herself as a tougher female dwarf, she knew that she could not stand up to the towering stature of an Orc guard. Narleah remembered that her pack and weapons were taken from her at the start of the attack. She also remembered hearing what sounded like the Orcs dropping her pack on the ground inside the tunnel and she also heard the clanging of metal as it came to settle on the tunnel floor. Her only hope was that they had left her belongings just inside the opening. She knew that without her weapons she would have to use all of her strength and agility to escape.

The little dwarf made herself bottom heavy, almost to the point of dragging her feet. At once the Orcs that held her where beginning to have a hard time keeping things moving. They would get her going, then have to stop and re-adjust then move again. It was working, but not enough. She needed to think of something more drastic, something that the Orcs wouldn't be able to just pick her up and keep moving her to her death. Narleah let out a painful howl, that seemed to echo forever....it startled them! She let her legs go limp and found herself being dragged on her knees, however the back two Orcs didn't see this, while they were complaining to each other about the noise they walked straight into Narleah and the two buffoons that were holding her. Chaos immediately ensued and she found herself under a pile of scaly Orc bodies. There was no lack of shouting and whining from them, Narleah had to take this opportunity now for she knew that she would not get another chance to get out.

She stayed on the floor of the tunnel clambering and clawing her way through the dank, slimy corridor. In an odd way, she would be thankful to her captors for using torches. They had lit enough of the tunnel for her to notice that the group didn't make any turns and she knew that they hadn't gone far in with her. She pushed herself on, "Come on ye blustering fool! Go, go, go!" Narleah could feel her finger tips burn from trying to get a grip on the stone below the slime. Then she heard them! The angry beasts were running fast towards her, they weren't about to let there prize go that easily. 'Thud'! A rock hit the back of her head. Dizziness came over her, but Narleah had to keep pressing forward. More shouting came from behind and more stones were thrown at her, the Orcs were closing in.

Through blurry eyes Narleah saw a faint hue of daylight. She was almost there and she knew it. With her fingers grasping dryer ground, she half way stood up and ran towards her freedom. She ran through the door of the tunnel and into brighter light. "Run Narleah...keep running!" She kept shouting this to herself as she blindly tore through trees. She ran as far and as fast as her legs could take her, then her body could take no more. Narleah heard no more screeching from behind and felt safe enough to stop, only then did she allow herself to collapse. She had escaped, but not unscathed. Her night was going to be long and painful.