A black horse canters over the burnt wood of destroying homes from a small village on the outskirts of Rohan. Bodies lay in twisted heaps as their blood spooled out underneath them, the ground hungrily eating away. A thick metallic smoke hung deadly within the once clear air. The rider, aged no more than five and twenty; young for a dwarf, was clad in a black hooded cloak. Clearly oversized as it hung loosely from her shoulders. A soft and distance cry could be heard as she neared a smaller wooden hatch with burnt hay on the roof.

Dismounting, the rider dressed in black placed a ginger hand onto her horse's nozzle before continuing in her cautious walk towards the burnt building. Placing a careful hand on the broken wood of the door, she pushed with no outcome. After several more tries, she finally stepped back and thrusts her foot onto the door; smashing open.

The rider's eyes scanned the ransacked room for the origin of the crying. Her eyes landed on a small set of dirtied feet hiding behind a burnt drape. Cautiously moving close, she places a hand onto the drape to slowly push it aside. What she found was not what she expected.

A smallish girl, possibly no younger than herself, lying curled up with her knees to her chest. Quiet sobs escaped her chapped lips as she spotted the rider. Instantly fearing the worst - is that the rider was here to finish her- the young girl jumped to her feet and grabbed the closest thing to her. The large plank of wood that now hung in her hand was launched at the riders head. Quickly blocking the wood with her gloved hand, she pulled the wood toward her. Causing the young girl to be sent into her chest, the rider caught the girls arm to keep her steady, only to instantly pull away. Seeing her hand now coated in a fresh layer of blood the riders eyes travel to the young girl's arm.

" You are hurt, let me help." The rider asked as she pointed to the large gash in her arm that feels from her shoulder to just above her wrist.

" Why should I trust you? For all, I know you want me dead as well!" The young girl hissed and the rider just laughed.

" Because I am the only chance you have at surviving." The rider smirked before continuing, " And also, if I wanted you dead we would not be having this conversation."

" Trust is earned." The girl spoke quietly to the rider who dropped the plank to her side.

" Then let me earn your trust." The rider said as she turned and walked out the burnt house and towards her horse. The young girl quickly followed.

" Sit down and let me tend to your wound, then you can decide if you trust me or not." The rider said as she pulled a small satchel from her houses saddle. The girl follows the instructions and carefully sat down on a pile of hay. The rider knelt down just in front of her and pulled out a cloth, soaking it in some form of a liquid which had a slight purple colour to it.

" Why are you doing this?" The young girl asked curiosity taking control over her words.

" Because, not much time ago, I was in your position. Yet unlike you, I had no saviour. I had to take care of myself." The rider answered with sadness edged into every word.

" I'm sorry." The girl whispered feeling bad about her question.

" It was not your fault." She proclaimed to calm her nerves. "It was Azog, whose hand it was that slay my family before my very eyes." She hissed out like venom.

" And it was he who caused this." The girl said as she looked around her once cheerful village, that now stood to ruins and stank of death.

" I know, I have been tracking him for a while in hopes of revenge. But I am no match for him." The rider reached her hand up to just under her left eye, to point out the freshly wounded skin shaped like a wavy line. "He marked me, saying that one day he will not only cause another but my death as well." She finished.

" Then let me help. Let us seek out our revenge together." The girl said with a determined tinted in her green eyes as she tucked her red hair behind her ear with her free hand.

" I cannot promise that you will be safe if you choose to journey with me. The wild is dangerous, it is kill or be killed." The rider said as she finished up bandaging her arm up. The rider stood to her feet and walked towards the horse, the young girl hot on her heels.

" I do not ask for your protection. Only your help." She said straightening her back. The rider tied the bag back onto the horse before turning to the girl.

" What is your name?" The rider asked as the girl stood straighter.

" Bella." She spoke proudly. The rider shook her head.

" That name is weak if you are to be fear you will need a stronger name." The rider said as she quickly mounted her black horse and looked down to the small girl. " Join me, and you will be known as Senka, meaning shadows." The girl nodded as the rider held out a hand for her to take.

" Very well, I give up my old life. My name no longer is Bella, but Senka."She said as the rider in black pulled her onto the horse behind her. Senka wrapped her arms around the waist of the rider tightly, so she would not slip from the saddle.

" What is your name?" Senka asked before the rider moved her horse.

" My name is Akara. My real name you will learn in time." She said and with that pushed her horse into an instant gallop out of Senka's old life. No longer was she the sweet charming girl called Bella that was an ideal wife for any lucky man. She was now starting a new life under the name of Senka, a life where it is kill.

Or be killed.