The Hobbit | The Lost Bender {Book 1}

3 | A peculiar request

{Myrna POV}

Concentration is the secret of strength. It can uncover powers inside of you that you can draw from deep down within your soul and bring it to the surface with a single flick of the wrist.
The forest around me made me feel alive, my bare toes wiggled in the loose sand that covered the ground under me. 

I inhaled deeply, the fresh air of nature filling my lungs. I became one with the ambiance around me, calm yet alert, taking in every sound and movement of the creatures on the earth and in the air. 

I held my breath, letting my muscles move with the vibrating of the earth, tensing up as I heard a sound behind me. I had sharp reflexes and must act quickly to get rid of the possible danger that came from the most weak spot of a human body, the back, where one can not see it coming.

With a swift movement, I spun around, thrusting my hands forward, followed by a cloud of gravel and rocks. Dust blinded my sight and I could barely make up a figure, knelt in the sand, coughing loudly. I immediately recognized who it was. 

"Oh my! Rigmor! Are you alright?"
I crouched down next to her, patting her back to help her get eventual grains of sand out of her lungs. She looked up at me, loose strands of her blonde braid falling in front of her dirt covered face. 

"You know, if you don't like hedgehogs, you can just stay it instead of trying to kill it." 

Just now, my gaze averted to her lap, where a little hedgehog was curled up into a ball, obviously scared. "Who's this little guy?" I asked, trying to touch the little spiky animal. 

Rigmor swatted my hand back and I retreated, a frown on my face.
"Don't touch him! He will only get more scared! You should give him time."
I stared at the small creature while it uncurled itself, two black eyes shimmering in the light of the sun that filtered through the treetops.

"Hello cutie." I whispered, letting him sniff at my index finger. We laughed as a small, quick tongue started to lap at it.
"He likes you."

I hummed. "What's his name?"
"Sebastian. Radagast just saved his life, I found him almost dead next to the river while on my morning stroll." 

I watched as he crawled onto Rigmors arm up to her shoulder and laid down in the crook of her neck. "His paws tickle as he walks."
"I bet his little pins don't." Rigmor chuckled and stood up. 

"Do you think we could keep him? If Sebastian wants to stay, of course." I hoisted myself up, took the little mammal from her shoulder and cradled it in both my hands. 

"If we ask Radagast nicely, we could maybe-"
"Girls, tea time!"
Our heads shot up towards the house, a smiling wizard standing in the door frame. 
"Coming!" 

We walked towards the small hut. Rigmor kicked off her boots, since her feet weren't bare like mine. In order to bend, I needed to have no such thing as footwear around my feet, and Rigmor didn't have that little problem. 
Well, that wasn't entirely true. I didn't need my feet, but I preferred to use them. 

We sat down on the burlap that served as a couch, a tankard of tea in our hands. The smell of fresh herbs and food filled the cottage, which existed out of one room and a tiny attic where we slept. It wasn't much, but enough to live in. 

Sebastian had found a place in between us and was snoring a bit.
"Ladies, I need to ask you two something."
Radagast sat down in front of us, scratching through his dirty beard.
"Ask away."

"This afternoon, we were going to harvest blueberries, right?" We nodded in agreement. Our annual harvest would be big enough to partially feed us and the animals for an entire winter. It would be our only source of vitamins, and we had a little... Device to freeze them meanwhile.