Chapter five: Feeling blue
The healer was enjoying a quiet evening off, his sons were running the hospital and he did trust their skills. Elladan and Elrohir were good at this and they were so charming and calm they never had problems with even the most ornery of patients. Elrond had brought his wife this evening, they were strolling through the streets of the coastal city and enjoying the warm evening and the gentle breeze from the sea. It was a very calm day, no markets or anything and they just enjoyed being together. Celebrian had visited her mother and was enthusiastic about her mother's newest project. Galadriel was planning on opening a school for the daughters of the upper class, to teach them a few things about life which their mother's probably couldn't. Some of the high born ladies had no clue whatsoever about the realities of the world outside of their shielded little social circle.
Elrond had to snigger thinking about the results, if Galadriel had her way the young ellith would learn how to hunt, how to use weapons too, and probably return to their families as strong and independent females who no longer would bow to conformity. It could be interesting, to say the least! Celebrian was eagerly chatting away and they entered one of the main streets, many elves were busy with their everyday work and Celebrian let out a small peal of joy. "Beloved, look! That shop has got that new cloth!"
Elrond had to roll his eyes, ellith! Celebrian was very fond of fashion and she did make sure that she did look amazing all the time. Not that he objected to this, but sometimes his purse would become rather empty when she had one of her shopping sprees. The cloth was a new one, introduced to the court just a week earlier and already it was so sought after it was almost impossible to get your hands on a roll of it. It was a sort of silk produced by mixing several different types of fiber with spider silk and the silk of silk worms and the most amazing thing about it was the color. It had an intense and very beautiful deep blue color and Elrond had to admit that it was very lovely. The cloth did shimmer in the light and Celebrian was already in front of the shop, trying to lower the prize. The shopkeeper refused and Celebrian turned to Elrond, using her huge blue eyes for all they were worth. " Beloved? Please? It is the only roll left!"
Elrond moaned inwards, his purse already felt almost empty and he took a deep sigh and handed her the rest of his sourly earned money. She would look amazing in a gown sewn from that cloth, that was his comfort. She always got very affectionate when she had gotten something nice and new, he would benefit from that. If she managed to make a good gown from that cloth he was sure to get his reward, in bed. She paid and giggled with joy as she carried the cloth over her shoulder, he did feel how love made his heart swell when he looked at her. Here she had indeed regained her joy and her energy and returned to the person she had been before her attack. They returned to the house arm in arm and Celebrian made the cook make something special for them, just to celebrate the purchase. She wanted to hire the best seamstress she knew of and she had plans already, the gown would be decorated with silver ribbons and maybe some dark blue gems and it would be wonderful.
Elrond was very satisfied when he fell asleep that night and he knew that his sons had kept the hospital in perfect order while he had the evening off. He was almost looking forward to getting back to work the next day, it would most certainly be a quiet day.
The forests of Oromë were huge, and several tribes of avarin and silvan elves called them home. Here they lived the life they had gotten accustomed to back in middle earth and they rarely bothered with the outside world. They had their own culture and language and they were happy there. This very night was a special one, the night of the great hunt. One night each year the avarin and silvan tribes would gather and together they would chose some warriors who were to be tested before they were allowed to join the ranks of the adults. It was a sacred rite and those chosen would be regarded as the best of the best, it did take a lot of practice and it did also include quite a lot of responsibility. These youngsters were potential chiefs, capable of one day starting their own clan, moving away from the one they were born into and conquering new land.
This hunt was to be held in an area of ragged hills and deep grooves of trees, the terrain very difficult and challenging and each of the youngsters had been given a task specially designed for that individual. To achieve their goals they had to co-operate well, nobody would be able to finish their task alone, it was impossible. The very idea of the hunt was that they challenged themselves and showed that they could both lead and take advice, that they could work as an unit and use the ideas of others well. Twenty youngsters were ready and the chiefs of the clans and tribes had gathered, all clad in their best clothing and looking rather intimidating. This was serious business but if everybody managed to fulfill their task there would be a great feast and in some cases the young warriors would receive a new name, an adult one. Each one would step forth and receive their task from their own chief or leader and this task was only theirs, they had to use the others as helpers but the deed itself had to be their own.
The woodclan had many members and it was among the greatest of the clans, their leader Taurion stood proudly in front of his best hunters and warriors, his dark red hair shone in the light from the bonfires and he did look very content. Four of their young were to get tested this day and it was such a great joy. The clan was growing each year, here there were no dangers and the elves did reproduce like never before. The future did look bright. Taurion was surrounded by some of his sons, he was among the elves with the most offspring since he had been forced to be a breeding slave in Angband and most of his sons and daughters had joined his clan when they were reborn or entered Aman. With fifteen baseborn offspring he had indeed proved his fertility but now it was more than enough, he and his wife would not have more children since they had two of their own and had to take care of his rather huge flock of kids. The bonfires were roaring high and the youngsters were ready, their tasks were given and the shaman leading the ceremony raised his arms. "In the name of Oromë, in the honor of Oromë, go forth and fulfill thy task, Yavanna be with you all"
The young warriors cheered and ran off in a tight group, they had until sundown the next day to fulfil their tasks and Taurion smiled. Their tasks were difficult, and required that they were thinking outside of the box. He wondered who would make the most spectacular catch, he hoped it would be one of the young ones from his clan. He had high hopes indeed. The elves gathered there returned to their tents, nothing would happen now until the next evening and many were tired after a lot of celebrations and dancing and needed to rest. Taurion yawned and stretched, he made a grimace. There was a change in the wind, and the moon had disappeared behind some dense clouds. It would probably rain, he just hoped that wouldn't cause any problems for the youngsters out there. They were young and strong and filled with zeal, he just hoped they would be careful. They were woodelves, they knew of the dangers the wood contained and would of course stay clear of any really dangerous situations, at least he hoped they would.
The next day came with rain, and not just a little rain. It was pouring down as if someone up there were emptying whole buckets out of the skies and everything was drenched. The rain was rather warm but getting wet is never pleasant and many got a bit concerned. The terrain was the sort which can become very treacherous during rainstorms with flashfloods and avalanches and the chieftains made a decision. They would go out there and call the hunt off, there were no reason why anybody should risk their lives, the hunt could be held later on. A few days or weeks were nothing for an elf. The most skilled and experienced warriors took off and the chiefs just hoped that nothing had happened to the young warriors. There had never been any accidents during the hunt and they had hoped that this would continue, now everybody had gotten nervous, normally at least one would have returned already with his task finished.
The youngsters had split into two groups, ten in each group and now one of the groups were seeking refuge underneath a cliff, there was a small cave there and the deluge had turned the ground soggy and slippery. Six of the ten had already fulfilled their tasks, and they held the proof tightly to their chests. The four who hadn't managed to find the object they were sent to retrieve were in despair, two were of the wood clan and two from a silvan clan who called themselves the lynx clan. They both had dark lines tattooed from the corners of their eyes and the tips of their ears had been tattooed black too. This clan was renowned for being very stealthy and good fighters and they were amazing in the trees. The two youngsters named Corch and Fileg sat there looking terribly miserable, not finishing would be such a huge shame and disappointment and they were sulking. Corch had to find a special sort of flower which only grew in the very top of extremely tall trees, he had a problem with a phobia against heights and so the challenge was well chosen by the chief.
Fileg was afraid of very large animals and had to get fur from the tail of a living stag. He sat there shivering slightly, there was no chance for him even finding a buck now, all animals had sought shelter. The two wood clan youngsters were Alphen and Crabandes, the only female among them, She was afraid of water and had to find a rare mussel which thrived on the bottom of the deep pools within the slow running rivers. Alphen was a terrible archer who couldn't hit a barn if he stood in the middle of it and so they had wanted him to shoot four of the very fast and tasty pheasants which lived in these woods. The birds were huge and tough and you had to be really good to be able to shoot four of them. You had to have someone move ahead of you, making the birds take flight at the right distance, or else you were chanceless. Right now he had managed to shoot one bird and that one bird had been ill and was inedible. He was not feeling very optimistic.
The rain was pouring down and they knew that time was running short, one of the six who had fulfilled their task sort of sighed. "We cannot stay here, we'll get nothing done"
The others stared at him and Medlindir shrugged. "Listen, we have all helped each other right, so let us help the last of us finish too. It is just rain, we will be careful. I bet there are birds trying to seek shelter in the groove of oaks we passed yesterday, and mussels in the river. And I am sure I saw a mallorn on the hill. We can do it, if we just cooperate"
The others stared at each other, shrugged. They were wet already, like drowned cats and they were friends, they didn't want anybody to return without having finished. They got up and Medlindir smiled. "Here is how we do it, we split into two groups yet again, one follows
Corch and Fileg and one Alphen and Crabandes, alright? That way we can finish this fast"
All nodded and they split up and left, hoping they could return to the camp soon. They were hungry and tired and longed for the warmth of the tents, dry clothes and perhaps even a bit of wine.
Corch did find the mallorn and it was enormous but he was sure he would find a specimen of the rare orchid on top of it, he just had to gather all his courage and climb the giant tree. The others followed him up and when they reached the upper third of the trunk they started using ropes. Corch were shivering with fear, he had never been this high of the ground before and he felt as if he would fall to his death any second but he did climb on, slowly and with moaning sounds. The rope was solid and well woven and would hold if he did fall but still the drop could kill you. He managed to get to the upper branches and slowly he crept out towards a branch which split in two, it was the ideal spot for that beautiful flower and indeed, one did grow right there, bright blue and it looked almost as if it was made from glass. Corch grasped it gently and placed the flower inside of his tunic, he refused to look down, he was hundreds of feet above the forest floor and refused to think of it.
He slowly made his way back down and was cheered by the others as his feet touched ground once more. He felt like falling to his knees kissing the dirt, he was shaking all over and completely drained of energy. The others hugged him and praised him, soon they could return to the camp, they just had to find a stag.
The animals had sought shelter, and before long they did find a herd of deer. It was standing in the end of a narrow valley underneath some low bushy trees and the animals were nervous. There was a stag there, a giant with antlers four times wider than his body, and he was the largest stag any of them had ever seen. The animal snorted, he had smelled the elves and walked forth, swinging his head in a display of sheer strength. He didn't fear elves, they did hunt but they never took more than they needed and he already knew that these young ones didn't want to kill anything. They didn't smell like predators on the prowl and they moved rather openly. The stag stared at them, one of the young elves did look very nervous, such an odd fawn he was, eyes flickering and hands shaking. He bowed his head and took a step forward. " Mighty one, please, allow me to cut a small tuft of hairs from thy tail"
The stag snorted, now these elves were odd indeed but he did understand. These were young fawns trying to prove their worth and why not. These elves couldn't harm him and he nodded his head. One day he might get felled by an elf but not until he had sired many fawns and ruled his territory for many summers. The elf walked forth and reached up with trembling hands, the stag was very tall and the white hairs of the tail wet but Fileg managed to cut some hair from it and hid them in his belt pocket. He bowed deeply. "I thank thee great one"
He felt so relieved, he had always had a strong fear of huge animals and some believed that he had been killed by a warg or some other great beast in his first life. He had been reborn as an elfling with no memories and perhaps that was for a reason. The stag snorted and trotted back to his does and the young elves took a deep sigh of relief. They could return now. They stood there discussing which route to take when a scent reached them, it made the does and the stag raise their heads and stomp and the young elves got nervous. It was the scent of wild boar and they could be very dangerous. The lack of sunlight and the pouring rain made it hard to determine from whence the scent came and they gathered in a tight group, trying to see if there were any boar nearby.
Then it happened and it happened so fast none had time to really react, there was a crashing sound coming from the bushes next to them and then something massive shot forth, at a tremendous speed. It was a huge boar, a male with tusks the size of short swords and it was angry. It had a huge gash over its shoulders and the small red eyes were filled with sheer rage, the pain of its injury made it mad, forced it to attack anything which moved,. The boar tore into the small group and the young elves didn't have time to get out of the way. It hit one of them and threw the unfortunate ellon into the air, then it turned around and attacked yet another elf, tossing that one too like a ragdoll. By now the stag had spotted the angry beast and he came running forth, tossing his head and letting out a bellowing sound of rage. The massive stag lowered his head and caught the boar with his antlers, pierced its side and threw the huge boar like a toy against a rock. The boar squealed and hit the rock with a sickening thud before it sank to the ground with its back broken.
The elves just gasped, it had happened so fast and now they saw that both the young Ellyn were wounded, the one named Golwan lay on the ground writhing with a long gash in his leg going from his knee to his groin and it was bleeding profusely. The other one, Drauchon was unconscious and he had a torn hand and huge gaping wound in his side from one of the tusks. He had hit his head against a rock as he fell and now they all realized that the normally harmless hunt had turned into something completely different. Lives were at stake, for the first time in the history of the hunt.
The other group had moved through the forest in silence until they reached the river. They had discovered a pond where they could see the mussels on the bottom and Crabandes had a hard time finding the courage to get in. She had almost drowned once as a kid and now being submerged almost made her panic. The solution was her diving with someone by her side and a rope being tied to her waist so she could be hauled up if something went wrong. She managed to get a couple of mussels up and that was enough, she had conquered her own fear and she was very proud of herself. Medlindir hugged her afterwards and praised her and now it was only Alphen left. He had to find some birds and shoot them and it proved to be hard. The rain made the birds perch close to the tree trunks where they were as good as invisible and for a couple of hours they didn't see anything moving at all. Then they came across a group of thick and tall pine trees and spotted a small flock of birds among the branches. This was Alphen's chance and he sent the others forth to get the birds airborne while he stood there with his bow ready.
The ground was very soggy there, and the trees stood in a slope which was pretty steep. The elves moved carefully and slowly they advanced forward, the birds did see them but didn't want to fly now, it was raining too hard and one of the other Ellyn, a tall dark haired one named Halphon grasped a rock to toss it at the branch were the birds were perched. He got too much momentum from his move and slipped and fell onto his butt in the mud, the others looked half amused and half annoyed but then things changed within the blink of an eye. The ground started moving and Medlindir gasped. A landslide, the entire hillside was slipping. The heavy rain had turned the soil into just thin mud and not even the roots of the trees could hold it together anymore. He yelled at the others. "Grasp onto something, try to get into the trees!"
Wood elves are agile, and they do react fast so all dropped whatever they were carrying and scurried up into the trees. Remarkably the trees still stood straight up even when they were heading downhill at an insane speed. There was a horrible thunderous sound of rocks and trees being tossed around like toys and the mud was so liquid it almost moved like thin concrete. Crabandes screamed and she was clinging onto the tree she was in with all her might, Garaf and Halphon sat in another tree, a smaller one, and it was toppling over slowly. The two elves tried to jump over onto another tree but failed, the tree hit the moving dirt with tremendous force and they were tossed into the landslide itself Halphon managed to cling onto a broken log but Garaf simply disappeared into the mud and everybody screamed. The landslide slowed down and stopped, it had hit the slope on the other side of the small valley and there was nowhere to go. Halphon was screaming still, in pain. His legs were trapped deep within the mud and it was pretty obvious that he had gotten seriously injured. Garaf was nowhere to be seen and Medlindir tried to determine where he could be. Medlindir had always been the leader type so he took command and got the others to search for Garaf as he tried to help Halphon. He was too stuck, the log he had held onto was pinning him in the mud and it was too heavy to move.
Cugwion waved his hand at Medlindir. "Here, I think it is Garaf"
They all ran through the thick mud and Cugwion dug into the mud like mad, a boot stuck out from the mud and they were using their bare hands to get rid of the gooey mass. It was Garaf, and he was laying with his head down into the mud and he wasn't breathing. His upper body had an odd angle and Medlindir didn't even need to touch him to know he was dead. His back had to have been snapped in several places and they all sort of collapsed. None of them had ever seen death before, it was incomprehensible to them. Medlindir managed to get a hold of himself. "Crabandes, take Alphen and go for help. We have got to get Halphon out of the mud before the tree crushes him. The mud settles, it will be like mortar soon."
The two just nodded and ran, terrified and shocked, they had to find help, they had to find help right away!
The warriors sent out to retrieve the youngsters soon met the first group of ten elves, they were heading back since they all had finished their task and everybody let out a sigh of relief. At least some of their young ones were safe. They told the ten to head straight for the camp and they ran off, trying to find the last half of the group. They hadn't come far before they were met by a very upset stag which acted in a most peculiar manner and as woodelves they all knew that they had to react to this. They followed the stag and soon the horrible truth was revealed. They got busy trying to stem the blood and build stretchers to carry the two wounded young Ellyn when two other young elves came crashing through the bushes, covered with mud and absolutely terrified. Before long there were elves running everywhere and the stag allowed a couple of the older more experienced elves to ride his does so they could get back to the camp fast. The situation was grim, very grim indeed.
Elrond was sweating like mad, he was working on a toddler who had managed to cut his foot on a shard of broken pottery and the mother was hysterical. The kid wasn't that much of a problem, he was rather stoic and was sucking his thumb, staring with huge eyes at the healer who tried to sew up the gaping gash without getting the mothers hair caught in his sutures. She was more or less hanging over him trying to make sure that her little one wasn't in pain. The healer wished that he could have tossed the mother out, sometimes when he was dealing with kids they acted way more controlled without the parents present. This kid was calm as a cucumber but not all were that nice. Elladan and Elrohir was tending to a young ellon who had been kicked by a horse and Elrond just hoped that they managed to fix it, he had gotten hit square in the groin and Elrond feared that one of the young males testicles had been smashed. He could manage with just one, but if it was dead it had to be removed and that was a tricky operation.
He finished suturing the gash and smiled, wiping sweat from his brow. The job was a simple one but the mother's constant stream of words sort of ticked him off. He needed concentration to be able to make pretty stitches which wouldn't leave a scar and that was close to impossible with that nervous female trying to soothe her toddler and reprimanding him for being too rough at the same time. Too rough, he scoffed, she ought to have seen him at work after the Dagorlad. He had amputated legs and arms off wounded elves with only a shaving knife borrowed from some adan and a small saw made to cut twigs. Now that had been rough, with screams and blood and gore.
He watched the mother leave with the kid on her arm and he let out a sigh of relief. This ought to be alright now, the elfling would heal very well, such little ones always did. He washed his hands and felt a bit hungry, he was sauntering towards the small kitchen they had there when he heard a carriage driving into the yard. There was shouting and calls and he just knew that there would be no snacking now, he groaned and rolled his eyes and ran off. It was at least five adult elves out there, two ellith and three Ellyn and they appeared to be two different families using the same carriage. All were richly clad and he was sure he had seen at least one of the ellith at some important ball held by the high king. These were upper class elves and their clothes and jewelry and the carriage itself told of great wealth but also style. The patients were two young ellith, not yet come of age but close and both were unconscious and having spasms all over.
Elrond took a deep breath, he felt his guts churn, this was serious, oh Eru it was very serious. The two ellith were foaming at the mouth and both looked flushed and sweaty. The Ellyn saw him and one of them rushed forth. "Please, our daughters, they need help, now!"
Elrond swore and shouted orders to the servants and his assistants came rushing too, alerted by the whinnying horses and the shouts. They carried the two convulsing females into the hospital and placed them on beds, Elrond was afraid they would swallow their tongue and suffocate since they were seizing that hard. He had never seen anything like it. He stared at the assembled elves, the parents of both girls and one ellon who had to be a fiancée or something like that. He took a deep breath, steadied himself. "What happened? Where do you come from?"
The mother of one of the ellith spoke up, she was a very beautiful noldo with dark brown hair and soft hazel eyes and Elrond knew that he had met her before, but he couldn't just place her right now. She was sobbing. "We are from Tirion, I work for his majesty designing his robes and the gowns of the queen. We are on a holiday right now, visiting the coast and my daughter Lalaith and Serabess here have been friends since they were toddlers and were on the beach when they both started acting oddly"
Elrond moaned inwards, on the beach! There were so many things they could have come into contact with there. "Did they eat anything, touch something odd? "
The elleth shook her head. "No, they were just dancing in the sand when they sort of got dizzy and then nauseous. At first we thought they had over exerted themselves and needed water but it didn't help and then Lalaith lost consciousness and then Serabess too. We drove here as fast as the horses could go really."
Elrond checked their feet, no sores or wounds. Their hands were clean, nothing in their mouths. Both were very pretty and wore tightly laced dresses in the fashionable new blue fabric and it did look stunning on them, he had to admit that. They were still convulsing and he was afraid they would harm their ligaments and joints if this continued. He got busy, got the parents to undress the girls even if that was a hard job with the spasms and then he got his assistants busy too. They mixed a concoction which relaxed muscles and he also made them add some herbs which neutralized most toxins. These two had been poisoned, no doubt about that but how.
"Have they been out on their own lately? Could they have eaten something bad?"
The young ellon shook his head. "No, I am Serabess fiancée and I have spent every hour with them, we did visit a sea side restaurant yesterday but the food was excellent and it has an excellent reputation. It was the Red lobster"
Elrond nodded, he had eaten at that restaurant too and there were never any problems there. Darn, this was something odd. The seizures stopped but both females were still unconscious and it had just stilled the symptoms, not the cause behind them. What could this be? Two healthy young ellith sick at the same time? Like that? It was unheard of!
"Nobody could have slipped them something? Something toxic?"
Lalaith's mother shrugged. "Why would anyone do that? We have no enemies"
The father of Serabess took a step forth. "My family are responsible for the gardens of prince Finarfin, it is not a job anybody envies us for that one is rather demanding and why attack two innocent young females when I am out in public every day trying to buy new flowers and exotic plants?"
Elrond sighed, yes why indeed. The ellith were stable at the moment but for how long? He had to get to the bottom of this. It was important! He told the parents and the fiancée to leave the room and he did examine the two very thoroughly, but they seemed to be completely normal, except from the fact that they were trapped within a continuous row of seizures. It was horrible not to be able to do anything and he clenched his jaw together so hard he got a headache. Where was the cause? He knew that humans are prone to meningitis but elves don't get that sort of diseases and he was very sure that this was some sort of poison.
Elladan and Elrohir joined him after a while, they would have to keep the wounded ellon there for a few days just to check his progress and they got just as stunned as their father when they saw the two females. Elrond told his assistants to keep giving the two medicine every hour, both of his apprentices had the day off since they had been working rather hard lately and now he missed them. They were rather skilled already and he felt in his guts that he would need many clever minds present to solve this. He finally managed to get some food and a little wine and he was going through his library of medicinal journals when he heard another carriage drive into the yard. He stared into nothing, what was this?
He ran out and his sons joined him, it was several ellith crammed into the carriage, all very ill, some convulsing and others just puking but it was obvious that they too were heading towards unconsciousness. It was ten in all and some Ellyn were trying to get them out of the carriage, completely terrified. Elrond couldn't believe it, twelve sick ellith? He shouted at the driver. "Where do you come from?"
The ellon was pale and sweaty and the horses gasping for air, he had almost killed them. "Further up the coast, a village by the north of the bay. It is a holiday reprieve for families from both Tirion and Valmar."
Elrond stared with huge eyes at the ellon, the same village? Oh no, there had to be some connection there! These were also rich young ellith but a couple were mature females who probably had kids of their own and at least four of the sick ellith were vanyar. Whatever it was, it struck regardless of age and ethnic group. He and his sons worked like mad getting more medicine made and into the sick ellith and he was getting very scared now. These females had to have something in common but what?
Then a rider arrived with an unconscious ellon in front of him in the saddle, it was a nobleman from the court of Olwê and he was convulsing like the ellith and was in a bad state and Elrond just knew it, this was the harbinger of a disaster. Lalaith had stopped breathing twice and he had to send for more helpers since the hospital never were meant to handle this many sick elves. Elladan and Elrohir were working very hard too and throughout the day the yard filled with horses, carriages and all sorts of vehicles. A father came with a young boy and a slightly older ellith in a wheelbarrel! Parents were terrified or getting sick themselves and it struck without thinking of age nor gender. But Elrond did notice one thing, the sick were from wealthy families, some were commoners but not poor. There was nobody from the working class families, yet! The healer mixed medicine and worked desperately, the little ones were more sick than the older ones and late that night a boy of just twelve died, there was nothing Elrond could do, his breath stopped and they couldn't get it going again. Elrond feared that this would be the first death of many.
When the sun rose again he had filled the entire hospital and his apprentices and assistants had joined them again, elves were unconscious, puking, convulsing. There were no beds so they had placed many on the floors and others lay in the hallways. Some of the relatives had been sent out to buy more sheets, medicine and other equipment and Elrond received a messenger from the king telling that the same thing happened in almost every city now and it was getting worse by the hour. In Tirion three courtiers had died and in Valmar the death toll was rising at a horrible speed. What in the name of Eru was going on? Elrond knew that there had to be a common cause of this, what in the world of Eru could it be?
Then a new carriage arrived at the hospital and a group of riders surrounded it, all avarin warriors and Elrond first thought that the problem had spread even to the wood elves. The riders were all of the wood clan and he had to rub his eyes, most of them had a striking similarity to each other and they did remind him a lot of a certain noldorin toddler. Almost the same hair, face shape…Then an ellon got out of the wagon and Elrond just glared. He was tall and proud with handsome features and striking dark red hair and Elrond had seen that exact color just once before. He tried to count the younger elves there and it had to be at least half a dozen of them who couldn't be any other's than this male's offspring.
The elf bowed his head and Elrond stared yet again, he just couldn't get over the likeness and the ellon sort of sighed and looked down. "Yes, you are not being fooled by your own eyes my lord, they are all mine. The result of being a breeding slave for Morgoth"
Elrond was still trying to get over the initial shock. " Uh, I…you shouldn't happen to be…ah, well, Rûsa…"
The ellon sent him a rather stiff smile. "Yes, I am Rûsa's sire, whence you have finished staring could we get down to business please? I have some wounded young elves in the carriage, we had a horrible set of accidents during the annual coming of age hunt"
Elrond groaned, oh no, more patients! And already he could see that the elves gathered there were staring at the avari warriors with huge eyes. The upper class elves were not used to seeing such people and the warriors probably shocked many with their shirtless torsos, covered with tattoos and paint and the feathers in their braids and he did see a couple with pierced noses, ears and even one with a pierced nipple. They did look barbaric and the group of relatives sort of retreated, afraid of these wild looking persons. The tall ellon bowed his head again. " I am Taurion,, we have come here because our healers are unable to do anything with these injuries, and our shamans can heal a soul, not a body."
Elrond tried to smile. "As you can see we have a crisis of our own here right now but I will do whatever I can. What injuries are they and how many?"
Taurion gesticulated towards the warriors and two of his sons got off their horses and opened the carriage door. Two stretchers were placed inside. "There are two patients, one other got injured too but our healers could fix it. One ellon died on the spot and the last one here got stuck in the mud, his legs got severely damaged and our healers are way out of their league should they try to do anything. You on the other hand are renowned for having been on Middle earth and having seen battle and gore first hand"
Elrond nodded. "That I have, I have been a war time healer several times, who told you about me?"
Taurion made his sons carry the two wounded Ellyn out of the carriage very carefully. "Maedhros, we do have contact since we have Rûsa together."
Elrond could remember Maedhros as she had been after her capture and rescue, scarred and terrifying and yet a person he had grown to love a lot. He did see why she had recommended him, she had always claimed to be proud of his choices and the ellon he had become. Elrond shouted to Elladan. "Clear one of the small operating rooms, we need it now!"
Elladan ran to follow his order and Taurion stared at the huge gathering of elves with narrow eyes. "What in the name of Orome is happening here?"
Elrond shrugged, he felt terribly stressed right now. "Oh I wish I knew, elves are dropping everywhere or so it seems and they all have the same symptoms"
Taurion looked nervous. "Any deaths?"
Elrond opened the door so the stretchers could be carried inside. He saw that the two young Ellyn were in a very bad state. " We have had three deaths so far, here that is. Two elflings and a young elleth."
Taurion did look even more nervous and Elrond did understand, he was worried about Maedhros and Rûsa. They placed the two wounded Ellyn on a bench each and removed the blankets covering them and Elrond had to turn away for a short moment. One of them had a horrible gash in his leg and the other one had two legs which could only be described as pulp. There couldn't be a bone left unbroken. He realized why these elves had sought his help, the ordinary healers had no experience with traumatic injuries like this. No experience whatsoever.
Taurion was a bit pale. "The one with the gash is Golwan, and the one with the crushed legs is Halphon, they are good Ellyn, please say you can do something?"
Elrond stared at the deep wound in Golwan's leg. "What did this?"
Taurion made a grimace. "A boar, angry and probably a bit mad too. The other ellon it hurt got a concussion, an injured hand and a deep wound but the healers back home could deal with it. They could not do anything about this though."
He removed a piece of bandage and Elrond had to blink. The very bone of the thigh was visible and it seemed as if the tusk had split it down the middle, as if it had been done with a sharp knife. He had never seen an injury like that before, it was bizarre. The tissue damage could be stitched up together again but something like that? Oh Eru, how was he to fix this? He took a deep breath and called Elrohir to him. "Listen, from now on I am busy with these two alright? You and your brother and my apprentices have to deal with anyone arriving with the disease, just give them the medicine we have made and pray nobody else dies. We cannot do anything until we figure out what the cause is."
Elrohir nodded and Elrond went over to Halphon. The legs were just horrible to look at, almost folded in places like an accordion and he touched the toes. One foot was cold, the other warm still and he closed his eyes for a second. "Taurion, this one will lose a leg, that is for sure. I may be able to save the other one but it will take a lot of time."
Taurion just nodded and Elrond realized that he probably was one used to horrors. Breeding slave in Angband, well, that was horror in itself. He made a grimace and started cleaning Golwan's wound thoroughly with wine and some herbal mix. He then examined the odd split bone again. Taurion stayed in there but the others had left the room and Elrond could see through the window that the noldor and vanyar present still had problems acting naturally around these wood elves. He made a gesture towards one of the assistants present. "I need a drill, and the smallest screws you can find, preferably mithril"
The assistant frowned. "Mithril screws? Who has got that?"
Elrond felt how he sort of fell into a state of complete peace, he was doing what he did best, nothing else mattered. "The jeweler down the road, got there now and get at least a dozen. And boil the drill while you are at it, find the thinnest drill bit we have"
The elf made a squeak and left with his robes flying and Elrond already knew how he was to fix Golwan. He had lost a lot of blood and the gash was bad but nothing was missing and that was a blessing. He could be stitched up together but not until the bone was brought back together again. If he was closed up before the bone was stabilized it would snap or even become infested and then the ellon would die for sure.
Halphon on the other hand was a more severe case and Elrond didn't like his breathing. "Did he stay trapped for a long time?"
Taurion nodded. "Yes, for half a day. We had to dig like mad to get him free"
Elrond sighed, crush syndrome. Toxic remnants of dead muscle were flooding the ellons system and it could cause blood cloths, embolisms and kidney failure. He was a mess and if he had been human he would have been dead like a dodo long ago. He got a cloth and some strong liquor and started washing the legs, they did look grotesque and were black and blue. Taurion did seem unaffected and Elrond sort of felt a spark of admiration. Few would remain that calm facing something like that. He tried to keep talking as he worked, that always made him think better.
"So, you met Maedhros in Angband?"
Taurion sort of scoffed and his eyes got dark. "Met or rather, was tossed into her cell and forced to do…well, you understand. Rûsa was the last elfling they managed to make me sire though, I killed myself shortly afterwards. My wife did take me back after my rebirth so now we have a huge family, I guess that sort of makes you tough"
Elrond had to nod, more than ten offspring had to be quite a challenge indeed and his wife one patient elleth. "Do you have any contact with Rûsa and Maedhros these days?"
Taurion helped Elrond move Halphon a little, the wood elves were much less squeamish than the noldor and Elrond was glad the ellon was so calm. It did calm him down in return and helped him focus. "Yes, every now and then."
Elrond checked the backside of the legs, it was just as bad and he groaned. It was indeed horrible. "How is Rûsa doing these days then? It has been a while since I saw him?"
Taurion made a grimace. "Well, a few weeks ago some deranged vanyar fools tried to kidnap him, they thought that Maedhros was unfit to be a mom since she is single and that the lad would be ruined by being raised by such a …dubious…character"
Elrond almost dropped the bowl of liquid he was holding. "What?! Are they nuts? What happened?"
Taurion shrugged. "According to what I have been told Rûsa was out with his teacher Rumil when they tried to grab him, and Rumil went nuts and started throwing books at them. It was quite a spectacle. And then some royal guards arrived and took the vanyar away. I bet they would have regretted it though, Rûsa is no ordinary toddler."
Elrond shivered, he remembered that scarred tortured being that had been Maedhros baseborn son, hateful black eyes and a wild attitude, yes, they would have been shocked indeed. A soul born into slavery, broken and yet untamed, and then reborn as a mere child, he would have revealed his true nature rather fast. A good thing then that it had been prevented.
The assistant returned with the drill and screws and now a very tedious and delicate work followed, Elrond washed his hands carefully and then he slowly got the bone back into one piece again, a screw at a time. It did take two hours, then he sewed the wound back up, left a drain in it and washed it with even more alcohol and then they carried Golwon out into a room for recovery and observation.
Halphon was so much worse, Elrond didn't quite know what to do but he did grasp the leg with circulation and pulled it until it was straight again. The other legs was simply dead, no blood flow and massive nerve damage too. Elrond proved once again that he was among the best, it took him just three minutes to remove the dead leg a bit below the groin. This elf would need a false leg for the rest of his days. Then he injected a lot of fluids and strangely enough he did drain some blood from the wounded elf. He had lost some blood already but Elrond did see that the color of this blood was wrong, it was too dark. So he replaced some of it with saline solution and hoped that the elf wouldn't get an embolism.
The other leg had to be fixed somehow, the bones were reduced to confetti in there, and it was like a stocking made from flesh with broken twigs inside of it. If the situation had been different Elrond would have inserted a thin metal rod into the very bones to strengthen them but it was impossible now. He could just pretend to be an artist shaping a statue and he wrapped the leg in layers of plaster, forming the bones where he could feel them and forcing them into shape again. If luck was on their side they would grow back together again and the ellon would be able to at least carry some weight on the leg. If not, he didn't want to think of it, elves with both legs amputated usually faded rather fast. Their souls couldn't cope with it.
When he was finished he found a glass jar full of leeches and placed them all on the lower part of the leg to force circulation to recover and then they could just pray. He realized that it was dark outside, the moon was up and the avarin elves had built a bonfire and were sitting around it, singing softly. The other elves there had gotten the hayloft and the small janitors apartment to sleep in and they were still suspicious to the avari. None tried to speak to the wood elves and Elrond sighed. He felt dead tired and Elladan came walking to them, he did look like a sleep walker of some sorts. Elrond tried to suppress a yawn. "How is the situation?"
Elladan made a grimace. "Bad, we have one hundred and six patients here now, all with the same symptoms more or less and more are coming. None have died tonight but it has been a close call a few times."
Taurion stared at the groups of vanyar and noldorin relatives, they stood in small groups, praying for their sick kin and most were clearly crying. The wood elf chief pressed his lips together. "This reminds me of the sort of thing Morgoth would do, just to cause grief and sorrow"
Elrond nodded. "Yes, but he is gone, and this has to be something which affects some, not all. There has to be something they all have in common, we have just not found it yet."
The sun was slowly rising and with it a new wave of patients arrived, some were already dead when they arrived and others close to dying and Elrond was sweating like mad, trying to find the cause. He was asking everybody all sorts of questions, trying to determine if they had been in contact with the same people, if they had been to the same place. They hadn't, that was the truth. Some had been to the same towns or cities but others hadn't and they hadn't eaten the same or anything. It was a true mystery. Taurion remained with the two young elves and Elrond feared that the work he had done would be in vain. They were nowhere near safe yet. New carriages arrived every hour and the hospital was more than full, they borrowed some rooms from the neighbor as well.
More deaths occurred and the sound of laments and crying filled the air. Seeing parents grieve their child was heartbreaking, here nobody ever expected to lose a beloved one and some parents became patients too, completely crushed by the shock. By now the entire village had gathered there to help and Elrond did see that some elves he did know had ended up among the patients too, but none of them were very ill, just nauseous and dizzy. Every little detail could tell him something and he tried to force his mind to understand this. Then the two ellith who came first got better, it went slowly but they were on the way to recovery and he did take a deep breath of relief.
It could be conquered, it had to be some sort of toxin and when it left the body it would remove the symptoms. But what toxin were they speaking of here?
The two young ellith soon recovered and were allowed to go to one of the inns of the village to rest and Elrond felt a glimpse of hope. He was busy trying to mix more medicine when Lalaith returned, yet again convulsing and just as bad as last time. Her mother was in despair and Elrond just knew it, this was it. They had to find the reason why she had relapsed thus, she had been almost completely normal when she left the hospital. Her mother got her out of her dress and Elrond managed to get more of the medicine into her. The sight of the spasms was terrifying and some had already injured their muscles and ligaments because of them. Some local females were walking around collecting used sheets and soiled clothes and washed them in a washroom placed by the stable.
One of them came walking by at this moment, she carried a lot of clothes gathered from the patients, most were soiled pretty badly since a seizing person often loses control of their bowels or bladder and some also were covered in puke. Elrond was watching the elleth out of the corner of his eye, the heap of clothes was almost entirely blue since so many fancied that expensive new cloth. Then she suddenly collapsed, her eyes rolled up and she started convulsing violently, just out of the blue and he had a new patient to take care of. One worse than any of the others, the spasms were extreme.
He got her onto a bed and Elladan helped getting her out of her gown and then Elrond just stared at her, her arms were slightly blue? It was of course because of all the wet cloth she had handled, the fabric did leave blue stains when it got wet. Elrond froze, it couldn't be…It was impossible…
He let out a yell and stared at the room with huge eyes, what had every patient in common? They had been active in some way, or out in the sun, getting warm, getting sweaty. Ellith had been dancing or doing chores, Ellyn had worked, or ridden. Elflings had been playing. And what else? Every one had been wearing at least one garment made from that fancy new blue fabric and Elrond let out a sort of groan. Elladan grasped onto him, utter panic in his eyes. "Ada?! Are you getting ill?"
Elrond gasped for air. "No, I have solved it, I have bloody solved it. It is the blue fabric, it is toxic!"
Elladan just stared. "What?!"
Elrond gestured towards the huge group of ill elves. "See? Everybody have been wearing something made from it, all have been getting sweaty and then the fabric sort of loses some color, it is the dye!"
Elladan wetted his lips. "The ones making it have refused to tell anyone how it is made, to make more money?"
Elrond sneered. "Who? And most importantly, where?!"
Elladan swallowed hard. "Ah, it is a cloth maker living near Alqualonde, he is very famous and very rich too. Nobody have been able to get the secret out of him"
Elrond closed his eyes, forced himself to think. "Right, listen carefully. Remove all clothes made from that fabric and burn it, but stay away from the smoke do you hear? And find some fast riders and send them to every city, and one must ride to the kings and tell of this. The blue fabric is lethal, nobody is to wear it and every roll and every garment has to be burned, now!"
Elladan frowned. "Okay? And so?"
Elrond turned on his heel. " I am to visit a certain cloth maker, and force him to tell how that fabric is dyed"
Elladan scoffed. "Good luck, not even Morgoth could make him reveal that secret!"
Elrond sort of smiled, a very ominous looking smile. "Oh no? But I have some reinforcements and I think they will make him reconsider. Saddle my horse, I will be gone for a day"
He ran to the room where Taurion sat guarding the two sick Ellyn and he was eagerly agreeing on letting Elrond borrow the warriors who had followed him and before long Elrond left the hospital followed by a group of ten armed avarin warriors. They rode hard and before the night fell they reached the mansion of the cloth maker. He got the shock of a lifetime being confronted by a whole horde of angry avarin elves and a very impressive noldorin healer, at first he refused to tell Elrond how he did get that wonderful blue color into the fabric but then he had to give in.
One of Taurion's sons simply grasped him by the braid, bent him backwards and threatened to slit his throat if he didn't spill it there and then. The sight of these barbarians almost made the ellon shit himself and he did show Elrond the huge barrels used to dye the fabric. The mixture in them were made by mixing some sorts of ground up minerals with a chemical which brought forth color and then they added a distilled dye made from a very pretty flower which did grow in only a very small area on a rather remote island. It was renowned for its beauty and only he had discovered that you could extract the color by drying the flowers and then dissolving them in a thin acid solution.
Elrond stared at the dried flowers, and he knew he had found the source. Darn ignorant aman elves, so used to everything being harmless they feared naught. He had seen that flower before, quite often. He had been blinded by the fact that his patients had been elves, but back in middle earth he had seen whole herds of animals die because of this infernal plant. Cattle was vulnerable in special for they tend to pull the food free instead of cutting it free with their teeth like a horse or sheep, and they often pulled free the lethal part of the plant, the root!
The flowers in themselves was harmless, so was the rest of the plant and it was only the root which could be a threat to anyone. Some of the dried plants did have the root intact and Elrond felt bile rising in his throat. Greed, it was all about greed. If this ellon had made his workers remove the roots nobody would have gotten hurt at all. He stared at the cloth maker with fury blazing in his eyes. "Do you know what we used to call this flower back in middle earth?"
He shrugged. "No? Should I care? It is a flower?"
Elrond felt the sudden need to let Taurion's sons do a pre mortem autopsy of the ellon, such ignorance ought to be illegal. "We called it –Cow strangler- and everybody knew the root was lethal. Hundreds are dead or dying, all because you are so eager to earn money you haven't bothered cleaning the flowers well. All the cloth you have made has to be burned, and the mixture you have here destroyed. "
The ellon just gaped. "But…."
Elrond growled. "No but, unless you want your but in jail that is. You are responsible for this calamity, the kings will probably demand that you are to pay a huge fine and compensate the families of the dead elves too. You are bankrupt as of now buddy!"
The ellon passed out and one of Taurion's sons grinned. "Could we dunk him in the barrels, please? Just to make a statement?"
Elrond had to grin. "No, it would be a fitting punishment but we are after all elves, not orcs. He would never regain his normal color again, and besides, I don't want to see another convulsing elf again, ever!"
They rode back to Tirion in a hurry and Elrond knew that the toxin from the plant roots affect the central nervous system, that explained every symptom and the ones wearing only a tiny piece of cloth hadn't been as affected as the ones wearing full gowns. He saw that now and felt that he was a moron for not having thought of it before. The rich could afford whole garments, the poor only a belt or a bodice and they didn't get so sick.
When he got back to the hospital elves were leaving, most were recovering and everywhere cloth was burned. Elrond even managed to make Celebrian burn her roll but she wept doing it and he promised that he would get her a new one, one made from just the flower, not the root.
It took two weeks before the last patient could leave the hospital and by then the lovely blue color was nowhere to be seen anymore. Such a lethal fashion would never be allowed again and the kings had banned the use of that flower for any use. The island where it grew became a place where nobody was allowed to go and the cloth maker was feeling extremely blue afterwards. He lost everything including his reputation and had to get a job as a simple weaver after that. He should have made sure that the dye was harmless before he started using it. He was lucky the kings didn't ask for his head, the final number of deaths was almost two hundred and Namo had gotten very upset, he hadn't had such a rush of elves into his halls for centuries and it brought forth some disturbing memories to say the least.
Taurion and his elves stayed here for a month, Elrond got to know the chief rather well and he soon knew he had found a real friend there. Taurion promised Elrond to show him a lot of herbs and plants only the avarin elves knew of and Elrond couldn't wait to visit the huge forests. The two wounded Ellyn recovered slowly, Golwan made a full recovery and he just had some scars to show for the incident. Halphon on the other hand became a cripple, Elrond had sort of anticipated that. He was unable to walk even with a prosthetic leg and had to use a sort of wheel chair to get around. The leg he had kept was completely stiff and couldn't be used and Elrond had half expected him to fade but strangely enough he didn't. He sort of accepted it and became a very skilled craftsman, famous for his carvings. He was very good at carving in bone and antlers and Elrond received a wonderful carved forest scene made from one elk antler and it was as wide as the wall of his bedroom.
The whole incident did teach Elrond something precious though, he would never again trust that these valinorean elves knew what was good for them or not and from now on he would check and double check that they hadn't come into contact with something harmful. Too many had died just because of ignorance and he made sure that every weaver and cloth maker and seamstress learned that some plants or herbs can make lovely dye indeed but also make the wearer die. It was a lesson nobody was allowed to forget.
This story is linked to Rogercat's Au stories as the previous chapters.
The incident with the cloth is inspired by a real thing which happened in the United States years ago, young women got very ill and nobody could find the cause until one observant person did see that they all wore the same expensive designer jeans. It soon became known that the sick girls all wore jeans from the same shop and the jeans had arrived just days earlier by truck. The truck had also transported a pesticide and some had leaked from the barrels and into the cardboard boxes with the jeans so when worn the pesticide would pass through the skin into the body.
The blue flower isn't real but the effect of it is inspired by a very toxic plant widely feared by cattle farmers here in Norway, the root is lethal and I know of farmers who have lost whole herds because of it. It is known as water hemlock in English speaking countries and it is extremely toxic and there is no known antidote. It belongs to the Cicuta family and there are several sub species.
