Chapter 7: Stay
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Elrond´s party had set off again and soon reached the Mitheithel; they continued along the river, eventually watching out for the old stronghold.
The orcs were busily moving about in the courtyard, fastening their gear onto their warg´s saddles and preparing to leave. Two of them had gotten Aragorn out of the caves and were now tying a thick rope to his bound hands.
"Make sure the rope doesn´t come off", the orc´s leader ordered, "even if the filth is of no use to us anymore, we don´t want to lose it." The orcs nodded obediently, sniggering in anticipation. By the time they were done, all the other orcs had assembled and started to mount the wargs. The leader held up his hand: "We´ll ride through the night", he announced, "that way-" He did not get to finish his sentence, but was suddenly propelled forward by the impact of an arrow now protuding out of his neck. He stumbled and fell flat on his face, not moving anymore. The orcs looked at him in surprise and confusion, but soon more arrows came flying, and only now did they realize that they were under attack.
--
When Elrond, the twins and the three members of the guard had observed that the orcs indeed had not set up any watches, they had split up and surrounded the building. Due to its state of decay it had proved no problem to climb the outer walls. It seemed that the elves had come just in time, as the orcs obviously intended to leave.
Elrond groaned inwardly at the sight of the wargs, as they would have to be killed as well, which meant more targets in even less time.
The elf´s throat constricted when he discovered Aragorn´s lifeless form, and he strained his ears to understand what the orcs next to him were saying: "...we don´t want to lose it."
Elrond gasped, the sentence reverberating through his mind: It? Did that mean Aragorn was dead, if the orc was referring to his body like that?"
The elf lord swallowed hard. He could not let himself dissolve into despair right now. They had to strike before the orcs left, otherwise some of them might escape.
He looked over to Aragorn once more, then forced himself to concentrate. He had soon made out that the orc whom he had heard speaking was the group´s leader. Elrond watched the orc stepping up to the warg in front, unaware of the elf who now held his longbow and was aiming at him.
The elves had agreed that as soon as Elrond would strike, the others would follow, as they could not risk to communicate and be detected.
Elrond waited until the orc´s leader had the attention of the entire group and started to speak, then he released his arrow. He did not wait to see how the orcs reacted; there were probably fourty of them, and they could not afford to waste precious time.
The elves had soon put down several wargs and nearly half the orcs, who had meanwhile started to try and defend themselves; Elrond tried not to think of his son, who was lying amongst the havoc, hopefully still alive. But if that was the case, would the orcs not have tried to use him as a means of negotiation or extortion by now? Several of them had instead fled back inside the building, and the others had tried to find shelter behind their wargs. This had not proven to be such a good idea, as the animals were maddened by the arrows and smell of blood; some of them had started to rip the dead orcs apart, others were snapping after those still moving around. Thus, the orcs´ defense was a weak one, and it did not take the elves long to bring them down, as well as the remaining wargs.
Elrond hurried to get down to the courtyard, which he reached at the same time as Elladan.
"Have you seen him?", his son asked at once. Elrond nodded: "I would appreciate your help", was all he said, not wanting to think of what they might discover, and turned to Elrohir, who had joined them by now: "Pray take the others and search the building for those orcs who have sought shelter in there. Leave non alive."
Elrohir did not let show his astonishment at those words; Elrond seemed to have hardened considerably, and without any further comment, hurried towards where he assumed Aragorn to be, Elladan at his heels.
--
Elrond had been right; they found Aragorn underneath a dead orc, which they shoved aside impatiently. Elrond knelt down beside his son, who lay on his side, and closed his eyes for a second, dreading what was to come, but eventually reaching out to feel for the human´s pulse. Aragorn´s skin was cold to his touch. Elrond felt tears well up behind his eyes, as his fingers searched in vain; it took him a while to recognize that the soft flutter he did feel was indeed Aragorn´s pulse, if far too weak. The elf, who suddenly felt shaky, spoke a silent prayer and opened his eyes: it pained him to behold how pallid his son looked, how his entire body was covered in blood and dirt, telling of what he had been through recently.
Elrond bent low over Aragorn to listen to his breathing; it was shallow and somewhat laboured.
Elladan knelt on the other side of his brother, being too shocked to speak. Elrond´s face mirrored his eldest son´s expression. It took the elf lord a moment to regain his composure, then he sent Elladan to get his pack; in his present state, Aragorn would not survive the ride back to Imladris. Elrond gently took Aragorn´s cold hand in his right hand and laid the left one on his son´s forehead, concentrating. He feared that the human was beyond reach, trying to escape his captors and the pain they had inflicted on him. He was running a high fever as well, but nevertheless the elf had to let him know that he would be safe, that he was not alone anymore.
--
Aragorn approached the presences; it took him incredibly long to get there, as the distance seemed to change constantly. Sometimes he seemed quite near, and then again he could barely see them at all. But he was determined to get there, although he could not remember why. All he knew was that it was safe in the void and the presences would be able to guide him further.
He strained to get there, he desperately wanted to reach them, when there was a change again. This time though, it did not feel like being interrupted; there merely was an additional presence, one he could not see. It felt like someone was caressing him, easing his fear, but it was far away and quite abstract. He was afraid to turn back, as he knew it would mean more pain, more coldness and despair, yet the feeling of being comforted increased. Unsure what to do, Aragorn stayed put.
--
Elrond´s gaze was firmly locked onto Aragorn when Elladan returned with his father´s bag; the younger elf knew what his father was doing, so he started to unpack. It took a while until Elrond broke his concentration; his eyes were sorrowful when he looked at Elladan. He did not say anything, though, but started to see to Aragorn´s body.
Elrohir joined his family as soon as he and the other elves had chased down the remaining orcs. It had not been a simple task, as the elves indeed did not know their way around the building, but the orcs, bereft of a leader, had acted literally headless, and in addition to that, they apparently did not know how to avoid making too much noise. The elves had had no difficulty at all to hear them, wherever they had tried to hide.
After Elrond had assessed Aragorn´s numerous injuries, he looked up at his twins: "Aragorn´s mind is far away in order to avoid the pain", he said gravely. "I fear that we might lose him if I am unable to reach out to him, which I have tried before. I think he might know that I am here now, but I have to maintain the connection, otherwise he will drift away. The fever will make it even harder to get through to him, so I must ask you two to see to his wounds."
Without further consideration, the twins nodded. They were willing to do anything if only their brother would live.
Elrond nodded as well: "The wound on his arm needs stitching; his back, however..." He stopped, as his voice failed to form the words. He had immediately known that those injuries had been caused by a whip, and the nauseating sight made his heart clench.
Elladan, who had seen the wounds, cleared his throat: "We will disinfect it and dress it well", he assured his father, "as well as the wrists and the temple."
His father gave him an appreciative look:"I think the left wrist is broken", the elf lord continued when his voice was steady again, "and some of his ribs might be fractured. It looks like he has been heavily bound, as the marks of thick chains are clearly visible all over his body. Apart from that, he is dehydrated and far too cold to the touch, that means you will have to try and warm him. Prepare a tea against the fever, it will help against the cold as well."
"Do not worry, father", Elladan said, "we will bring him through this."
Elrond subdued a sigh, not being so sure about that, then he moved nearer to Aragorn´s head and started to concentrate again.
The other three elves had meanwhile begun to remove the various corpses that were lying around Aragorn and build a fire right next to him. Elrohir had made sure that none of them had been injured before he had joined his father and twin; it was rather untypical for his father not to have thought of that himself, which meant that Estel was in serious danger indeed.
--
The void seemed to stretch endlessly. Aragorn no longer cared where to go; he lingered in the dark and was only dimly aware that the presences had come nearer again. He could feel their beckoning, but the new presence was still there as well, and it seemed to become stronger, gently coaxing him away from the others. He could not have followed it, as he drifted through the dark without being able to determine a direction, but now he did not only feel it but heard it as well: a gentle voice that pleaded for him to listen, to stay...
TBC
Author´s note: Okay, that is not too evil a cliffhanger...so, look forward to the next chapter!
