Chapter 20

The rest of the day was uneventful. The fellowship rested and talked a lot. Every now and then Aragorn took care of Legolas' wound and was more than relieved to see that the prince's condition slowly improving. Legolas had actually slept all day and had woken up in between. Although the fever slowly decreased and the elf claimed stiffly and firmly that he was not in too much pain, the human regularly supplied him with pain-relieving and antipyretic herbs. Aragorn firstly knew how proud the prince was and that he would never admit if he needed anything to relieve the pain, and secondly, the ranger didn't want his friend's condition to deteriorate again. It was slowly getting dark again and the fellowship was sitting together by the fire.

Legolas lay next to Aragorn and slept, which is why the companions talked a little quieter. They were laughing at something that Merry was telling them when there was a small cry next to the ranger. Immediately he was on high alert and turned to his friend. Fear spread through him when he noticed that the prince was sweating and trembling violently. Sam, who looked right next to Legolas, also looked worried.

"What about him?", Gimli asked, who was sitting on the other side of the fire. Aragorn put a hand on his friend's shoulder, hoping to calm him down, but it did the opposite. Legolas winced violently and a painful whimper escaped him. Aragorn grew more concerned. What was with his friend? In addition, the elf was not allowed to move too much, otherwise, he would run the risk of the wound opening again.

"No, please! Let him go! Let me go!", came it from the Prince quietly. Aragorn could no longer watch it. He gently shook the handsome archer's shoulder.

"Legolas. Hey, wake up. It's all right," he tried to calm his friend gently, but Legolas didn't respond.

"I am sorry!" The elf's voice sounded desperate and painful. The man's heart ached. Seeing the beautiful warrior like that was terrible for him. His shaking grew stronger.

"Legolas!" The prince was sweating profusely and his whole body was trembling. "Please, let them go!" Everything in the ranger contracted. He sensed what Legolas was dreaming of. And he knew he had to get his friend out of there very quickly. Because whatever the elf saw, it was terrible. The prince's breathing quickened and Aragorn panicked that the archer might collapse.

"LEGOLAS!", he shouted again and at that moment two blue eyes opened. The man was horrified. They were full of fear, panic, and sadness. The elf was trembling all over and his breath was quick and shallow.

"Estel ..." His voice was panicked and he barely managed to sit up. The ranger was worried and helped him, trying to be as calm as possible. "Everything is fine. You are safe. Nobody will hurt you." To his surprise, his voice was firm and calm. Legolas breathed shakily and looked at his friend with his big blue eyes.

"I saw them ...", he whispered and Aragorn had to swallow. He had seen his brothers. "Breathe very calmly," the healer instructed the prince, without going into the statement beforehand. With the best will in the world, he would not have known what to say. Slowly the beautiful elf's breath slowed again and he seemed to calm down. Aragorn's hand was still on his friend's shoulder and he hoped to support Legolas a little bit.

"What happened?", Pippin suddenly asked quietly and the elf turned to the hobbit. "I don't think you want to hear that, my dear friend." Aragorn turned back to his friend.

"Legolas, maybe you'll be better off talking about it." Legolas sighed painfully before he began to tell quietly ...