Aragorn estimated they had only gone about twenty miles before nightfall. Legolas was worsening, and even the stubborn Elf had gone far enough to admit it.
"I am sorry, Aragorn. If I—"
"There is nothing to be sorry for, my friend. If you had not jumped in front of that horrible beast, I would most likely be dead by now. I do not have Elven healing on my side. Come, sit and rest while Gimli and I prepare some semblance of a shelter."
Legolas sighed and did as he was asked. That in itself bothered Aragorn. Normally Legolas would argue with anything even remotely sounding like an order.
The Elf slumped against the huge tree Aragorn and Gimli were going to make into a shelter tonight. Although the tree was foreign, he could feel a question in it. Legolas formed a picture of the beast that attacked them and the tree seemed to recoil. It immediately offered what comfort it could afterwards. Legolas smiled weakly, and heard Gimli clear his throat.
"The tree is concerned for me," he said, his voice raw. He had been dry heaving the whole way here; there was nothing left in his stomach to bring up. Not even melted snow could remain in him for long. The first few times, and after badgering Aragorn, he learned that he had been vomiting blood. He wouldn't admit it, but that scared him. He should be better by now.
Gimli snorted. "Well, I hope you realize now that Aragorn and I aren't mad."
Legolas turned in Gimli's general direction. "You as well?"
The Dwarf snorted again. "I wouldn't go tramping through Mirkwood with a point-eared princeling for no reason." Though the blood had finally cleared from the whites of the Elf's eyes, they still held a blind stare. It unnerved Gimli to see the seemingly indestructible Legolas in such a condition.
Legolas suddenly tensed, and he felt that if the tree could run, it would have.
"What? What is it?" Gimli asked, raising an ax, as Aragorn also came over.
"More of those creatures. I feel them…it is as if they are leeching the life from me…" Legolas trailed off and clutched his head in pain.
The Dwarf and Man stood defensively in front of Legolas.
Phalanth and Stellan walked through the forest, easily following the trail left by the three strangers. Every so often, two pairs of footprints would leave the trail and end in a small puddle of thick blood.
"Ah, it looks like our injured stranger is definitely aswyr poisoned," Stellan said.
Phalanth rumbled a few yards ahead of her. "They can't be making good time, then. We should be upon them soon. I can smell the sick one faintly."
Stellan's head suddenly shot up. "Aswyr, and close. Come!"
Neither Aragorn nor Gimli wanted to fight these evil creatures again. They could not protect Legolas and still be aware of their own safety. In fact, they could barely take care of themselves, which is how Legolas ended up injured in the first place. It was also growing steadily darker, and they had not had a chance to build a fire. The beasts seemed to be wary of the fire last time.
The leader of the pack circled warily, while the rest remained behind. It sniffed the air a few times and locked its eyes on Legolas, knowing he was sick. The creature snarled, and cast about, smelling the air again. It growled low in its throat, and charged, its pack not far behind.
Aragorn and Gimli braced themselves. This pack was much larger than the first one they faced. Aragorn chanced a look back at Legolas, and was startled to see the Elf completely folded in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest tightly, obviously in a great amount of pain.
Aragorn didn't have any time to help his friend, though, for the leader was almost upon them.
Before the monster could strike, however, someone leapt in front of it and flung it backwards with a large staff. A loud roar suddenly reverberated through the forest, followed by the yelps of injured and dying animals.
The leader was on its feet again, and attacked the person, but it sidestepped away from the three travelers, drawing the creature's attention. The beast ran at the person, but at the last possible moment, the staff was brought up, impaling the animal.
There was a tense moment when the strangers eyed each other. Aragorn kept his weapon ready, waiting for the woman (for he had finally gotten a good look at her) to make the first move.
She did, spreading her hands and lowering the staff to a less threatening level. Then she spoke.
"Nomoj ra aswyr nayo. Fawla qa naiin."
Aragorn shook his head, not understanding her. The woman moved closer, and made a motion toward Legolas. Aragorn and Gimli both stiffened defensively.
"Aragorn…I think…she means to help. This…tree is happy…that she is here…" Legolas said, his breathing ragged.
Aragorn narrowed his eyes, but stepped aside and made a gesture to the woman. She nodded, and reached under the voluminous cloak and pulled out a bag of sweet smelling herbs.
As she walked carefully past Aragorn, her hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the man's wrist tightly. Gimli tried to come forward and help, but the woman muttered something in her own tongue that froze Gimli in place.
Aragorn felt light headed and thought he was going to pass out when the woman released him.
"I'm sorry, that was the only way for me to acquire your language. I need to explain what I'm about to do to your poisoned friend."
Aragorn shook himself and looked up in surprise. "Acquire my language? Wait, what are you going to do Legolas?" he asked angrily, coming between her and his friend once more.
"The language explanation can wait. Where was he bitten? I need to reopen the wound, and it won't be pleasant."
Aragorn continued to glare at the woman. "The left side," Gimli offered.
She knelt down next to the injured Elf and smiled reassuringly. "May I?" and without waiting for an answer, lifted his shirt. She whistled upon seeing the wound. "This is ugly, stranger. You're slightly feverish as well. I need you to lie down in the most snow covered area you can find. The cold will help." She turned to Aragorn and Gimli. "I will need you two to hold him down. Like I said, I'll need to reopen the wound."
Everyone was silent for a moment, Aragorn not willing to trust this woman quite yet, but upon hearing Legolas's labored, raspy breathing, he consented. He and Gimli helped Legolas to an open snowy patch, took off his shirt and laid him down. Legolas sighed in apparent comfort.
The woman pulled a dagger, ignoring Aragorn's narrowed eyes. "Hold him," she said, and with no more warning than that sliced through the half healed aswyr bite. Legolas screamed once then lost consciousness.
Gimli wished he could do the same, for the foulest smelling pus oozed from the wound.
"This would have kept eating him from the inside, slowly killing him. I'm going to clean it thoroughly and then cauterize it so it won't get infected." She looked at Aragorn, almost as if she was asking permission, but she went back to her work without saying anything. The woman packed snow into the wound then let it drain. She did this three times before she seemed satisfied.
"Now, do not be afraid. Phalanth!"
The Dragon materialized out of the darkness, ignoring Gimli and Aragorn who recoiled in shock. Phalanth leaned over Legolas and almost gently blew a thin line of orange fire, sealing the wound.
DarkHorse says: The language Stellan used here is pretty much untranslatable. It's just a combination of random sounds and a little Japanese for flavor. What she actually says though is: "The aswyr are gone. I mean you no harm." Beware of lots exposition in the next chapter and not much action.
