Chapter 6
The Wound
'Aiii!' Elrohir screamed and clutched his fists. His eyes were shut tight. 'Valar! Wait! Stop!' Estel immediately dropped his leg. 'No! No! Pick it up!' Estel grabbed his foot and rested it on his knee. A flash of lightening showed the tears mingling with the rain on Elrohir's face.
'We've got to get out of the rain!' yelled Elladan as thunder roared over them. Arwen leapt up.
'Follow me!' she cried. 'We'll go to my camp!' Estel looked at Elladan.
'How are we going to carry him?' he asked. Elrohir leaned back on his elbows.
'Get my other foot out.' he said. Estel quickly pulled out the rest of Elrohir's right leg. 'If you help me up and I lean on you then we can follow Arwen.' lightening streaked across the sky and lit up all the jagged rocks around them.
When Elrohir was standing and leaning on both Elladan and Estel, they slowly made their way around the south corner. The wind suddenly bashed against them and plastered their clothes against their fronts. Estel was forced to squint as the wind and rain hit his face like icy needles. Arwen slowly trudge ahead of them and turned to the left. They slowly followed. Elrohir would cry out at one point or another when he accidentally put weight on his foot. Everyone would halt and wait for him to tell them to move on.
Estel leaned into the wind and pulled Elrohir along with him. Lightening was their only source of light save for Arwen's aura. He felt his legs strain as he pushed with them. Sweat would bead on his neck with every single step. It was like trying to walk against a wall.
Finally, after almost every ounce of energy was drained from Estel's body, the trees broke the wind and they stumbled. Elrohir stifled a cry.
'Lie him down.' said Arwen. With the relief of the wind being gone Estel didn't notice that a type of shelter also kept out the rain. Lightening lit up the grove of trees that were sheltering the rain out almost completely.
The two of them gently laid Elrohir down while Arwen placed a soft bundle under his head. The elf bit his lip as his head came gently down on the pillow.
'Valar! My leg hurts!' he moaned. Elladan rested himself right next to his face and grasped his twin's hand.
'Oh, Elrohir!' he wept silently. 'Why did you have to go? Why couldn't I have gone to check for foes?'
'Don't blame yourself, Elladan. You can't. Plus we have more important things to think about; like how we can help him.' he looked to Arwen. She was bringing several bags down from where her horse was tied.
'We have to help him as much as we can.' she said. 'Then one of us will have to take him to father.' Estel nodded and watched as she began to dump items out. There were several phials with ointments and medications. They chinked and rolled to his feet. 'Find the one that is dark green.' she said. Estel hit his knees and fingered through them. He eventually found something that was runny and had an olive texture.
'This?' he asked. Arwen nodded and hastily took it.
'Empty the other bag and lay out what's in there.' she ordered as she mixed some of the green liquid with a flask of water. She capped the lid and shook it. Estel began to empty the satchel. He laid out two knives, one meant for cooking and another longer one, several more phials, many strips of cloth and a capped container that rattled.
Arwen gently tilted up Elrohir's head and began to ease the fluid into his mouth. After several gulps he spat one out and opened his eyes wide. His face changed into a expression of shock and anger.
'Arwen! What do you think you're doing?'
'Calm yourself Elrohir!' she said. 'You have to drink all of this if you want your leg to feel better.' Elrohir swallowed and stared at her.
'But it tastes awful!' he complained. She ignored him and crawled back to Estel.
'I need you to help me with this.' she said to him. Estel looked at her.
'I don't know what to do though.' he replied fearfully.
'You'll do fine! We have to get this done before a fever hits. Hand me a long strip of cloth.' Estel quickly obeyed and watched as she tied it tightly around his leg just above the knee. 'I need you to clog the opening when I pull the branch out.' she said. Elrohir's head immediately perked up.
'What? Are you crazy?'
'We have to get it out to be able to help you.' she said to him and Elladan. 'You'll die from the wound before I let you die from sickness.' Their gaze was locked and it took all the strength in Arwen's mind to break it. 'Ready?' she asked Estel. Estel gave a quick and nervous nod.
Arwen's fingers slowly coiled around the branch and tightened. She licked her lips and stared. Elrohir had his eyes shut tight and Estel had several pieces of cloth ready in his hands.
With a sick gush the branch was pulled. Elrohir wailed and Elladan gasped. Estel stared for a moment while blood literally poured from the wound. He then brought the cloth to it and felt the blood begin to soak it. Soon he had to replace them with new ones that soaked just as quickly. Arwen reached over Elrohir's torso and uncapped a phial. She rubbed the cream on her hands and ordered Estel to remove the cloth. She then grasped the leg around the wound and began to mutter:
'Putta agar, qualla a'tengwesta ar'alu.*' Estel felt his hair stand on end and the breeze warmed. Arwen removed her hand and the bleeding had stopped. He stared at her. She looked at him.
'Can you wrap it in cloth?' she asked.
'Sure.' he said as he hopped to the other side and began wrapping a piece of cloth around the bloody gap. Arwen returned to his head and began to feed him the olive remedy.
'What are we going to do now?' asked Elladan as Arwen dripped the last of the drink into Elrohir's mouth. He swallowed and swished saliva around in his mouth to get rid of the taste.
'A fever will hit any time now.' she said. 'Father can treat that, but I do not know what he can do about his leg. It hasn't touched the bone but has ripped the muscle from the joint of the knee so it would be useless unless he can heal it. He would suffer a great amount of pain as well. He... may not survive.' Elladan stroked his brother's forehead. It wasn't growing warm yet but felt wet thanks to the rain.
'I will take him.' he said. 'We trust each other more then anyone else and can get there fastest. I always feel Rivendell in my heart so we can find it easily.' Arwen nodded.
'You're right. He will ride best with you there.' Estel finished and stared at the two.
'What if he grows ill? It's at least a two-day ride to Rivendell.'
'If he gets a fever then give him more of this with lots of water.' she said, showing him the olive liquid. 'Not too much though, or he won't be able to control his reactions to Father's treatments.' Elladan nodded and shoved the phial into his tunic pocket. 'Take my horse. She it ready now. Take all the water as well. We'll journey home while you ride.'
'I will send horses.' he said. 'You take most of the food: for Estel. He'll need it.' Estel looked at the bedrolls.
'We'll take those too.' he said. 'You'll ride faster without them.' Elladan nodded and eyed them both.
'Be sure not to journey too far west. There is a marsh there that you do not want to journey into.' Arwen and Estel nodded once. 'Be careful, and stay together. Father will need to concentrate on Elrohir.'
After they had gotten Elrohir on the horse and the medicines were packed in a single satchel, Elladan mounted and rode off out of the tree. Estel watched lightening light the figure up as it galloped over the hills. He sighed. Elrohir's life was in Elladan's hands and they would have to journey through the storm.
He and Arwen were alone in the wilderness.
.
.
*Stop the blood, fade to grass and water.= This is a VERY rough translation and is likely incorrect.
The Wound
'Aiii!' Elrohir screamed and clutched his fists. His eyes were shut tight. 'Valar! Wait! Stop!' Estel immediately dropped his leg. 'No! No! Pick it up!' Estel grabbed his foot and rested it on his knee. A flash of lightening showed the tears mingling with the rain on Elrohir's face.
'We've got to get out of the rain!' yelled Elladan as thunder roared over them. Arwen leapt up.
'Follow me!' she cried. 'We'll go to my camp!' Estel looked at Elladan.
'How are we going to carry him?' he asked. Elrohir leaned back on his elbows.
'Get my other foot out.' he said. Estel quickly pulled out the rest of Elrohir's right leg. 'If you help me up and I lean on you then we can follow Arwen.' lightening streaked across the sky and lit up all the jagged rocks around them.
When Elrohir was standing and leaning on both Elladan and Estel, they slowly made their way around the south corner. The wind suddenly bashed against them and plastered their clothes against their fronts. Estel was forced to squint as the wind and rain hit his face like icy needles. Arwen slowly trudge ahead of them and turned to the left. They slowly followed. Elrohir would cry out at one point or another when he accidentally put weight on his foot. Everyone would halt and wait for him to tell them to move on.
Estel leaned into the wind and pulled Elrohir along with him. Lightening was their only source of light save for Arwen's aura. He felt his legs strain as he pushed with them. Sweat would bead on his neck with every single step. It was like trying to walk against a wall.
Finally, after almost every ounce of energy was drained from Estel's body, the trees broke the wind and they stumbled. Elrohir stifled a cry.
'Lie him down.' said Arwen. With the relief of the wind being gone Estel didn't notice that a type of shelter also kept out the rain. Lightening lit up the grove of trees that were sheltering the rain out almost completely.
The two of them gently laid Elrohir down while Arwen placed a soft bundle under his head. The elf bit his lip as his head came gently down on the pillow.
'Valar! My leg hurts!' he moaned. Elladan rested himself right next to his face and grasped his twin's hand.
'Oh, Elrohir!' he wept silently. 'Why did you have to go? Why couldn't I have gone to check for foes?'
'Don't blame yourself, Elladan. You can't. Plus we have more important things to think about; like how we can help him.' he looked to Arwen. She was bringing several bags down from where her horse was tied.
'We have to help him as much as we can.' she said. 'Then one of us will have to take him to father.' Estel nodded and watched as she began to dump items out. There were several phials with ointments and medications. They chinked and rolled to his feet. 'Find the one that is dark green.' she said. Estel hit his knees and fingered through them. He eventually found something that was runny and had an olive texture.
'This?' he asked. Arwen nodded and hastily took it.
'Empty the other bag and lay out what's in there.' she ordered as she mixed some of the green liquid with a flask of water. She capped the lid and shook it. Estel began to empty the satchel. He laid out two knives, one meant for cooking and another longer one, several more phials, many strips of cloth and a capped container that rattled.
Arwen gently tilted up Elrohir's head and began to ease the fluid into his mouth. After several gulps he spat one out and opened his eyes wide. His face changed into a expression of shock and anger.
'Arwen! What do you think you're doing?'
'Calm yourself Elrohir!' she said. 'You have to drink all of this if you want your leg to feel better.' Elrohir swallowed and stared at her.
'But it tastes awful!' he complained. She ignored him and crawled back to Estel.
'I need you to help me with this.' she said to him. Estel looked at her.
'I don't know what to do though.' he replied fearfully.
'You'll do fine! We have to get this done before a fever hits. Hand me a long strip of cloth.' Estel quickly obeyed and watched as she tied it tightly around his leg just above the knee. 'I need you to clog the opening when I pull the branch out.' she said. Elrohir's head immediately perked up.
'What? Are you crazy?'
'We have to get it out to be able to help you.' she said to him and Elladan. 'You'll die from the wound before I let you die from sickness.' Their gaze was locked and it took all the strength in Arwen's mind to break it. 'Ready?' she asked Estel. Estel gave a quick and nervous nod.
Arwen's fingers slowly coiled around the branch and tightened. She licked her lips and stared. Elrohir had his eyes shut tight and Estel had several pieces of cloth ready in his hands.
With a sick gush the branch was pulled. Elrohir wailed and Elladan gasped. Estel stared for a moment while blood literally poured from the wound. He then brought the cloth to it and felt the blood begin to soak it. Soon he had to replace them with new ones that soaked just as quickly. Arwen reached over Elrohir's torso and uncapped a phial. She rubbed the cream on her hands and ordered Estel to remove the cloth. She then grasped the leg around the wound and began to mutter:
'Putta agar, qualla a'tengwesta ar'alu.*' Estel felt his hair stand on end and the breeze warmed. Arwen removed her hand and the bleeding had stopped. He stared at her. She looked at him.
'Can you wrap it in cloth?' she asked.
'Sure.' he said as he hopped to the other side and began wrapping a piece of cloth around the bloody gap. Arwen returned to his head and began to feed him the olive remedy.
'What are we going to do now?' asked Elladan as Arwen dripped the last of the drink into Elrohir's mouth. He swallowed and swished saliva around in his mouth to get rid of the taste.
'A fever will hit any time now.' she said. 'Father can treat that, but I do not know what he can do about his leg. It hasn't touched the bone but has ripped the muscle from the joint of the knee so it would be useless unless he can heal it. He would suffer a great amount of pain as well. He... may not survive.' Elladan stroked his brother's forehead. It wasn't growing warm yet but felt wet thanks to the rain.
'I will take him.' he said. 'We trust each other more then anyone else and can get there fastest. I always feel Rivendell in my heart so we can find it easily.' Arwen nodded.
'You're right. He will ride best with you there.' Estel finished and stared at the two.
'What if he grows ill? It's at least a two-day ride to Rivendell.'
'If he gets a fever then give him more of this with lots of water.' she said, showing him the olive liquid. 'Not too much though, or he won't be able to control his reactions to Father's treatments.' Elladan nodded and shoved the phial into his tunic pocket. 'Take my horse. She it ready now. Take all the water as well. We'll journey home while you ride.'
'I will send horses.' he said. 'You take most of the food: for Estel. He'll need it.' Estel looked at the bedrolls.
'We'll take those too.' he said. 'You'll ride faster without them.' Elladan nodded and eyed them both.
'Be sure not to journey too far west. There is a marsh there that you do not want to journey into.' Arwen and Estel nodded once. 'Be careful, and stay together. Father will need to concentrate on Elrohir.'
After they had gotten Elrohir on the horse and the medicines were packed in a single satchel, Elladan mounted and rode off out of the tree. Estel watched lightening light the figure up as it galloped over the hills. He sighed. Elrohir's life was in Elladan's hands and they would have to journey through the storm.
He and Arwen were alone in the wilderness.
.
.
*Stop the blood, fade to grass and water.= This is a VERY rough translation and is likely incorrect.