Valerie felt the contents of her stomach rise for the briefest moment before everything was normal again, save for her sudden change in position. She'd expected it to be more of a shock, more of a strange sensation than that, but it was over in an instant, the teleport complete. Immediately she had greater things to worry about, such as being vulnerable in the open with orcs treacherously nearby. Markus took care of the most pressing threat, and they were off, racing first to the hill and then up it.

At any moment she expected a shout of alarm to be raised and for arrows to start flying over their shoulders from orcs in pursuit, but they never came. What came instead was a burn in her legs from the uphill climb at high speed. By the time they reached the top Valerie was winded and sweating, and eager to get inside and into some cover. The old wooden structure would do well enough for that.

It didn't look to be someone's house, as far as Valerie could tell. There was no bed and no pit for a fire. It would get cold in the middle of winter. Perhaps it was some kind of storeroom. She studied the designs on the cupboards, wondering if any of the symbols would catch her eye, and spark some memory of her history lessons as a child. Sadly, they did not.

She almost overlooked the skeleton in the room, but noticed it quite clearly when it suddenly came crashing to the ground, apparently disturbed enough by their entry. The sound made Valerie jump, her hand darting to the hilt of her sword at her hip as she turned towards it. It was perhaps the first unfortunate thing to happen during their daring little break for it.

It was immediately followed by the second, however. A moment after the skeleton crashed, an arrow whistled through the open door, just barely missing Valerie, but still skimming her upper left arm, leaving a bloody cut in its wake. She yelped in pain, instinctively sidestepping to cover and pressing her hand to the wound. Somewhere outside, an orc's attention had been drawn by the noise, and it'd seen Valerie clearly enough to know she did not belong here. It bellowed a guttural call to someone unknown number of orcs nearby.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Valerie said, briefly examining the injury and preempting any concern from Markus. "We need to move." They would be overwhelmed quickly if they stayed, and though Valerie was still out of breath from the climb, she liked her chances of survival better if they fled than if they fought.