Chapter 1
"But……It cannot be possible!" A shocked voice echoed
in the healing halls of Lorien.
"I am afraid that is not so," Another, more saddened voice replied,
"there is very little chance of him ever making a full recovery."
The candlelight flickered, briefly revealing their fallen kin. He was in terrible
shape, only able to draw slow, shallow breaths, his face as pale as the cold
moon outside. Only half-aware of his surroundings, he remained entangled in
an ethereal haze between life and death. Somewhere in the darkness he could
hear distant voices – though he knew not what they said.
Nienna Linolay looked down at the fallen elf, feeling a pang of pity in her
heart. He had no idea how badly he had been injured, she mused, inwardly noting
(and not without some pride) how the bleeding had begun to slow due to her ministrations.
'So, this is the great March Warden of Lorien,' she thought to herself
as she dressed his wounds, 'how remarkable it is that you yet live.'
"Remarkable……" She murmured, gently brushing a lock
of his golden hair from his forehead.
Behind her, her companion raised his head. "Did you say something?"
He peered over his shoulder, lost halfway between filling the bottles before
him and his desire to get some much needed rest.
Nienna turned her head slightly towards him. "No, Nolo, I said nothing."
Her long-time friend merely shrugged, wondering if the late hour had gotten
to him, recalling how early it had been when he had first been summoned to help
with the healing. He shuddered, so many deaths in such short a time, how easily
one could grow numb, how quickly the vacant eyes of his kindred had ceased to
chill his soul. He allowed his eyes one last pass over his friend and her patient.
'How lucky it is, that she was here for you,' he thought, idly wondering
who this soldier was, and if there was a family waiting for him, 'lucky
indeed, to have such a skilled healer attending you.' He sighed inwardly,
and turned back to his work.
It was Nienna who broke the thickening silence first. "So……"
the air remained still, she bit her lip a moment before continuing, "You
truly think he will be……" She paused, grasping for the right
words.
"Paralyzed?" Nolo ventured, the word sounding awkward and alien
on his tongue; he did not like the feel of it. "Truly, I know not. Though
I fear any recovery he makes will be slight at best." His words hung heavily
in the stillness, as mournful as a lament.
Nienna could not help but sigh, "Such a shame, isn't it?"
At this moment, Haldir, the guardian of Lorien, began to emerge from his haze.
At first, there was nothing, a void of sensation lasting all of five seconds
- and then the pain. It ripped and tore through his body as suddenly as an electric
shock, a strangled cry escaping his lips. It was like nothing he had ever felt,
nor had he ever fathomed something so fierce. It blinded him with brilliant
red light, driving all thoughts from his mind other than the desperate desire
to end it – to end everything.
Nienna was by his side in an instant, applying every remedy she knew to stop
the pain she knew he must have been experiencing, for his voice sounded as if
his very soul were being ripped from his body. Nolo could only stand behind
her, taking great care not to get in her way as she rushed about the room frantically.
She seemed to be moving randomly, though he knew there was nothing but methodical,
rational thoughts shooting through her mind as quick as a beam of light.
"It's alright, it's alright," she soothed, administering
several different liquids into the elf's mouth, trying desperately to
keep her hands from shaking; never before had she had a patient suffer so, and
it frightened her. Slowly, the pain began to subside; and his body relaxed,
giving rise to a blessed nothingness that would last for several days. Nienna
bent over her patient with an air of protectiveness 'I cannot let that
happen again' she vowed. He would not last another bout and she would
have to be there for him through this stage of his recovery. She scanned his
features constantly for any indications of another seizure, never lifting her
gaze, and did not even notice as Nolo slipped out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Since this is my first post, I'm still having a bit of trouble figuring
out the formatting, please forgive any difficulties you may have while reading
it. If you have any tips……let me know!