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Gortek used his short sword to hack through the weeds and plants obscuring their path. The vicious, fat-bodied flies buzzed all around him, occasionally landing on his head. Shaking his head to keep the insects away Gortek went on hacking.
It seemed Rhûn was not the land of beauty and peril that most tales would have you believe, he thought. The glorious mountains with their waterfalls were simply a pretty casing, which held inside a country covered by the green and humid hell that was the jungle. He was beginning to suspect that the whole 'death by darkness' part mentioned in the stories was just an account of those who died of the heat or got lost in the jungle. He seriously doubted that anything could live here and still have the necessary energy left to deal out death, let alone by darkness when this place was likely to be at it's most dangerous.
His theory was shattered, however, when during a short break they were taking Dwalin was attacked by a snake. None of the party were quick enough to catch the creature, so they all hurried to it's victim.
While most of the others were busy inspecting their leader's wound, Gortek turned back to one of the lads, Durin, that had been left behind by the sudden rush of Dwalin. He turned just in time to see the young dwarf fail to grab the map that was being borne away by wind.
Gortek couldn't stop a curse in Khuzdul from escaping through his lips. The map could well be their line of life in this hostile land. As fast as his short legs would carry him he raced after it.
Caught up in the furry of the chase, he failed to notice the end of the tree line and the looming edge of the plateau in front of him. Before he knew it, he was tumbling through nothingness with the thought that it hadn't been the brightest of ideas to go running blindly like that in unexplored territory racing through his head. Desperately he struck out with his hands, and his heart skipped a beat out of sheer joy when the fingers of one of his huge paws closed around a small ledge jutting out from the cliff side.
It wasn't enough, however. With his heavy bag filled with provisions adding to his weight, even his strength wasn't enough to get himself up. There was only one option, though a bitter one at that.
Gortek sighed and let his bag fall. He could hear it thump against the rocky cliff side as the wind threw it around like a vicious child. Then, straining all his strength, he began to pull himself up.
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