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Major angst warnings! P
Chapter 5: And So Came the Battle Within P
Still very out of sorts from the violent current of his convulsive illness earlier that day, Ilrhenir was quite confused and more than a little irritable. And Haimen was catching the worst of his mood. P
"I won't go away with you!" Ilrhenir surprised himself with the vehemence of his own words. P
Haimen looked up sharply, as though his pale blue eyes could actually see to meet Ilrhenir's hostile gaze. All the while, the healer's hands deftly and gently caressed the flesh of Ilrhenir's abused hands, carefully guiding the thin tipped scissors to snip each tiny, black silk suture along his palms. "You must Ilrhenir. The enemy is upon us and we cannot hold out indefinitely. Grimbold has ordered the evacuation of the wounded to Helm's Deep and we Imust/I obey, lest we provide fodder for spoil when the forces of Saruman advance." Haimen stated this matter-of-factly in a soft but stern tone. p
Despite his verbal outbursts, Ilrhenir held very still while the young healer completed his work. Haimen had already removed all of the other sets of stitchings and the ones upon Ilrhenir's hands were the last to be tended. And as the deft snip and tug carried on, Ilrhenir contemplated some way to force his stay. "I will not go away with you.", he said again, but more quietly this time. P
"You must come away. And it must be soon. Even now we arrange for the tent to be taken down swiftly." Haimen admonished patiently while he washed Ilrhenir's palms, careful of the newly healed scars. P
"I will not!" Ilrhenir protested loudly yet again. Though despite his protests, Haimen could feel the tension in his charge's posture slowly ebb as Ilrhenir's limited strength gave way. P
Haimen eased the unwilling youth back into a recline on the cot, and felt his way up over Ilrhenir's shoulders to the lad's face, which Haimen then clasped gently in his large hands. "You will." The healer insisted quietly, his soft voice soaking into Ilrhenir. P
Ilrhenir surrendered, internally cursing his weakness as he peered up sleepily at Haimen who was preparing to rewrap the youth's mending fingers. P
"But I can't Haimen" Ilrhenir whispered hoarsely, hating the breaking of his voice that robbed him of his argument. And he was momentarily glad that Haimen was blind, lest he see the tears that brimmed perilously in the corners of his eyes. He would Inot/I weep like some desperate child. He would hold his frustration in check and convince Haimen like a man would, with the force of his words. P
But man or not, Ilrhenir was weary and he wondered despairingly how he could possibly carry on with such weighted limbs and so little strength, even if he Idid/I manage to convince Haimen to let him stay behind. INo matter/I, he thought. II must do it anyway./I So Ilrhenir mastered his tone after a moment, and in a calm, low voice said, "Haimen, you cannot take me away with the wounded. I have to stay." P
Haimen paused for a long while, seeming to bore straight through Ilrhenir with his sightless gaze. And then at length he sighed and spoke; kindly but with purpose. "Ilrhenir. Darkness has at times a call that is insatiable. And light has oft a call that's hard to hear." The acolyte settled Ilrhenir's hands gently back across his breast. "But you must listen for it all the same, and not throw yourself into your despair." P
Ilrhenir did not answer. Not only because he was sorely confused and embarrassed by Haimen's words, but also because he was suddenly becoming near overcome with the return of numerous fell memories. As though Haimen's mere words could open the floodgates staving off the memories of the images of Saruman's forces crawling like angry, caustic swarms over the Rohirrim in a great flood of hatred. The images come to him during his convulsion had returned, and they stole Ilrhenir's air, making him gasp great ragged breaths. Waves of premature grief and horror shuddered through him to the rhythm of the images of dying Rohirrim strumming through his consciousness. P
"Ilrhenir." Haimen called out to him, concerned by the sound of the youth's harsh breath and the sudden flavor of tense anxiety in the air. P
Haimen quickly felt for and took hold of the boy's face again and turned it to him stroking his thumbs firmly over Ilrhenir's cheeks. He could feel the chaotic misery rolling off the boy like a palpable heat and the young acolyte decided it was time to lend his own perspective to the morning's distressing circumstances. But the youth did not answer. "Ilrhenir!" Haimen called louder. P
Finally Ilrhenir jerked and blinked and seemed to focus upon Haimen's voice, and then on his touch. "Ye…yes, Haimen." Ilrhenir laid there tense and tight for several moments until he finally heaved one last deep breath and relaxed upon the cot. And an even greater weariness stole over him. "I'm sorry, I just seem to keep getting lost in my thoughts today." He shuddered slightly. P
Haimen paused and released the youth's face, sure now of what he had only suspected before from Baelorn's account of the morning. "Ilrhenir, I must ask you a question." P
"Yes?" Ilrhenir marshaled his weary, confused mind and tried to compose himself, staring up at the blind healer who seemed to him suddenly very oddly young and old, all at once. He had to stay awake. If he fell asleep now, then he would surely wake later to find himself with the waines of wounded far upon the road. P
"Why do you insist upon staying behind?" Haimen's voice was firm and forward, as though he was demanding some hidden truth being concealed from him and Ilrhenir hardly recognized the tone of the usually congenial healer. P
"I…I do not understand." Ilrhenir squirmed in renewed irritation. He did not want to have this conversation again. P
"Do you not?" Haimen asked bluntly, there was no time to waste. P
Haimen knew suddenly there was no time now to guide the lad gently to an understanding. He had to speak plainly now before it was too late for him to do so. "Why are you so adamant to remain here? Why insist upon such a dangerous course when your road has already been so dark? Why not travel ahead of this storm of hatred to a haven within reach? It would be easier on you and well deserved. Many who are hail and strong will fall this day and yet you, despite your injuries seem convinced that you will number amongst the living and sound when the battle is done. Why?". P
"I…I'm not sure that I Iwill/I survive Haimen, but well, I need to find my…." P
"Your mother's coins?" Haimen interrupted, sounding almost irritated for the very first time that Ilrhenir could remember. "Baelorn has bespoke me of your tale, Ilrhenir. And I tell you now; your mother's coins are the shadow that blankets your truth. Tell me your truth, Ilrhenir." P
Ilrhenir could not fathom where the healer was going with this course of questions, or rather, perhaps he did and feared to follow. Either way he was uncomfortable with the sudden, odd change come over Haimen. P
Haimen considered Ilrhenir for a moment and then sighed in resignation. "Perhaps you truly cannot see it. Perhaps this once Ilrhenir, II/I will tell you your truth. This morning, you had a convulsion." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, so you have said." Ilrhenir was suddenly wishing Haimen would just either pack him away on a wagon of wounded men, or go away and let him summon himself forth as he was able, to join the soldiers. Anything to be done with this odd turn to their conversation. p
"It was more than that, as you well suspect, Ilrhenir. It was then, during your fit, that you saw what others have only just begun to witness the beginning of. Much has passed since then, whilst you have lain resting of your vision." Ilrhenir went to interrupt, and Haimen held up a hand to halt the denial. "A vision it was, deny it not. Much that you saw before is upon us now, beyond the eastern bridgehead. Though it has been mere hours since you first fell ill, already the Eorlingas have tasted of the pall of the battle that rings fresh in your own memory." P
"Haimen…" Ilrhenir whispered mournfully, at a loss to say anything more. P
After a moment passed, Ilrhenir found his voice again and turned his eyes from Haimen as though the young healer could meet his gaze. "Twas a fit, Haimen…no vision. Twas nothing more than the painful result of my poor head having been bashed in a bit much of late." Ilrhenir was not yet sure why Haimen's preposterous suggestion would disturb him so, but it did. I shook him harshly. "I am no seer." He whispered, "no mystic." P
Haimen sighed in sympathy. "For all that you would deny it, you already know the truth, Ilrhenir. A vision it was." P
Ilrhenir opened his mouth to object again, but Haimen turned a watery blue, impossibly focused gaze upon him that banished Ilrhenir's words, dismissing them like mere mist before the bright morning sun. "Perhaps it came too late to warn the Rohirrim, Ilrhenir. But Oracular vision does not always serve as a warning of what will come. Sometimes it comes if only to allow the recipient the opportunity to see… truly see. And that clarity can be the sole purpose of the vision. The illumination of a path that lay shrouded before." Haimen smiled gently, his youthful features poorly masking an old sorrow that Ilrhenir had no time to contemplate amidst the strange barrage of Haimen's words. P
Ilrhenir needed to flee the insane conversation. "You speak as though…as though I were someone who is…. As though I Ineeded/I to see! I do Inot/I deserve to see such things!" Ilrhenir stuttered through his protests turning too swiftly away from the healer for his much abused body. He whimpered at the sudden, sharp aches, wishing he could push away Haimen's oppressive presence. "I do not want this. I refuse it! " P
"Tis not the way of things Ilrhenir." Haimen said softly, laying a hand upon Ilrhenir's shoulder. He shook his head gently and patted the shoulder. "You cannot refuse your visions, though I doubt not that you will continue to wish the gift gone ere you learn to accept it as part of yourself." P
"Gift?" Ilrhenir choked burying his head in his arms. "No gift is this!" P
Haimen wished that he could assure Ilrhenir that his ability was not to be as harsh or burdensome as it had shown itself to be today, but he had no such guarantees. All the healer could do was hope to help Ilrhenir find his path in the short time he had to do so. "Would you know what I see for you, Ilrhenir?" P
There was a long pause and then Ilrhenir nodded, not looking back at the healer. P
Haimen smiled wearily, "I am not as blind as I might appear, Ilrhenir. There are times when I see more clearly than the sharpest, most keen marksman amongst the Eord. Such clarity of….ivision/I is your lot as well I think. But as I said, you must learn to heed the sun amid the dark storm. To seek it, even when all seems without hope. And your visions can help see that path of light, no matter how hidden. P
Ilrhenir turned to him then, a look of such incredibility on his face that Haimen would have laughed had he been able to see it. "This Icurse/I of vision, showed me no light!" Haimen might easier have convinced Ilrhenir that he was actually a billygoat disguised as a Breelander. "I saw no light Haimen, just death! Death gone mad." He whispered. P
"I know well what you saw. But perhaps it will help if you knew what I saw. Mayhap that knowledge will give you hope." P
Ilrhenir lay there looking up at the young Rohirric healer not knowing what to expect. And then Haimen gently laid a hand flat upon Ilrhenir's breast and closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. It was long ere he spoke and Ilrhenir held very still beneath the healers touch. When he spoke at last, gone was the healers normally soft tenor. It was replaced with a breathy monotone, almost making Haimen's voice sound oddly flat as he spoke. "I see blended, the aspect of tree and of horse, one giving of its shelter and strength, the other of its spirit and grace . I see flashes of a proud man who stands like a solemn pillar, unnoticed by many who walk within the safety of the edifice but integral in its support all the same. I see many things for you,
Ilrhenir. Many of which are whorls of color I have not the time to interpret. But your future is not to fall on this field." Haimen inhaled a shuddering breath and smiled suddenly, opening his eyes and taking away his hand. P
"I do not understand." Ilrhenir said. Haimen's words were so cryptic and brief that Ilrhenir hardly knew what to think. P
"Nor do I." said Haimen, he smiled wryly and shrugged. "Even when clarity is the destination, the road of insight does not always lead to it." He laughed good-naturedly, suddenly seeming his former, easy self. "And have no doubt, even when it does, clarity can be quite confusing at times, Ilrhenir." P
Ilrhenir thought on all that Haimen had said. "Well that was useless!" He announced hotly. P
And then he blushed as Haimen chuckled. "What will I do then, Haimen? What am I to do with this this Ithing/I I have?" He sighed and pushed up on his elbow ignoring the harsh stitch of pain in his ribs. "What am I to do at all? " The last question broached more than the subject at hand to encompass far more than what Ilrhenir thought Haimen would or could answer. But he meant it all the same. What would he do, today, tomorrow, once he found Strider? It all seemed far too confusing and grim to contemplate. Perhaps that is why he wanted to throw himself into what he Idid/I know was yet to come. A desire to escape from the worries of an unsure tomorrow. To find release from care in the timeless fervor he had found battle to be. To not leave behind what bonds he had forged in his brief time for the lonely road to Gondor? P
Haimen smiled again easily and leaned forward, tilting his head thoughtfully. "I will not gainsay you again if you can tell me honestly, what does your heart say?" P
Ilrhenir thought on this for a long, long moment before answering. He tried to hear some inner indication less fallible that his own conscious mind. He looked inward and tried to go deeper, past the whirling thoughts and images, past confusing need to stay with the Eorlings. And in the center of it all, in the still where heart and thought met was a tall broad man that seemed more friend than anyone he had known his whole childhood. Baelorn. And suddenly Ilrhenir seemed more comfortable. "I must stay." he said calmly. It was all Ilrhenir said, and he meant it. P
Haimen sighed, realizing he was back where he started. "Is that the darkness within you speaking out of despair or does your heart carry a kernel of hope born of what you know?" P
Again Ilrhenir considered quietly for several moments. "Neither, I think, Haimen. I simply cannot see tomorrow in my mind?" P
It was not all that Ilrhenir meant to say, nor nearly what Haimen had expected to hear. P
"What I mean is that I cannot seem to make an image of tomorrow in my mind, or perhaps it is my heart that is so willingly blind." Ilrhenir blushed at the reference to blindness, hoping he had not offended Haimen. But Haimen seemed not to notice, so he continued. "I cannot seem to summon an image of tomorrow in my mind knowing that I did not stay and fight by Baelorn and so he was lost whilst I ran to safety. As you say, so many will fall in this battle and if that was truly a vision that I had today, well, then I am a coward, for I lack the courage to inspect it close for fear of seeing Baelorn amongst the fallen. But, if I refuse to see him dead on the morrow, in foresight or even in my imagination, and I strive to fight at his side, then perhaps tomorrow will come in a way that my heart can bear to look upon, and I will be able to think on my days yet to come after the battle is over. And you said you saw me have a longer life than bespeaks me dying here. Is that because I went to safety, or is it in spite of having stayed in danger? " Ilrhenir looked up suddenly, a little shocked to have finally put words to the odd ideas. P
Haimen actually chuckled. "You are a strange one to be sure, Ilrhenir, but I think I understand your strangeness, for it is my own. What matters now is that you believe you must be here. And I think Ithat/I is your truth, my friend. And though my mind insists upon taking you away to safety with the other wounded in our care, I will allow you your will." p
"It is a relief to hear you say so, Haimen. Though I must admit, as much as I wish to stay, as much as I feel I must, I am afraid. I think that I am a coward after all." Ilrhenir blushed. P
"To be sure Ilrhenir, a coward you are not. Fear does not make one cowardly. Fear is a forge that tempers a man's nature. Greater courage has the man who fears greatly and yet conquers it than the fool who fears nothing. P
Ilrhenir paused and was surprised to find that Haimen's assessment of courage made no small amount of sense. And he smiled. "What you are telling me is not to fear being afraid?" He smiled mischievously. P
"Perhaps I think more to the point, a healthy fear is indicative of a preserving amount of common sense, not cowardice." Haimen chuckled. P
Haimen Helped Ilrhenir sit up and get clothed and soon the young healer was calling to his masters that the tent was nearly evacuated. P
"Haimen….. will I see you again soon?" Ilrhenir asked soberly, watching the last of the men who had lain within be carried out of the tent. P
"Mayhap you will. You Ilrhenir, will go to the Eorlingas to fight in this battle. And with you goes what prayers I have. I will trust my own Isight/I and hold to my hope that against all odds, I will see you again, alive." Haimen paused, sobering a bit. "We will meet again Ilrhenir, if only for a short while." Haimen then turned to go pack a bag of travel foods and simples for Ilrhenir. P
When he returned shortly, Ilrhenir was getting on his boots. "Haimen, did you see Strider, my father? Was he…What did he…" P
"Nay Ilrhenir," Haimen interrupted. " I did not see this Strider…not exactly. As I said, the vision was brief and I saw many things swiftly flow by, some of which it is best not to speak of for fear of setting things awry. I saw shadows come and go for you Ilrhenir, as with any life. For rare is he that knows of the day and not the night. But I did get a sense that you at least met him." P
An odd smile briefly lit Ilrhenir's features as he sat there upon the cot. Haimen turned a small pack over to him and went about more last minute duties. Ilrhenir stayed there a moment longer, pondering the strange sense of freedom suddenly blooming within him. P
Ilrhenir had not the time to ponder very long for suddenly the sounds of battle reached them clearly, and the voices of the master healers beckoned those still in preparation to make haste. So Ilrhenir clasped his cloak, and then concentrated on ignoring the numerous aches as he stood. Tried to stifle his sudden realization of how weary and unprepared he was. IWhat was I thinking! It might be a short day indeed, despite Haimen's fair prediction. /I. Ilrhenir was ready to leave, and so were the healers for as he stood there marshaling his strength, the tent's wall hooks were being taken town about him in preparation of dropping the massive healer's tent. P
Haimen came to him again, moving more slowly now that there were no familiar paths of cots to guide his navigation. P
"Here Haimen, I am over here." Ilrhenir called, his voice sounding hollow in the empty tent. P
Haimen smiled and picked a faster pace as Ilrhenir's voice gave him a target. He arrived and stopped before Ilrhenir. "For your travels Ilrhenir, another pack." His smile turned slightly sad. "The quarter master would not miss one extra considering how few we are now compared to how many were when we arrived. I packed blankets and extra clothing in the first one I gave you. In Ithis/I one is food, and tin-ware, a tinderbox, a wine-skin and such simples as you will need to continue to get stronger. So should it be long ere we meet again, within there are several individual paper packets, each filled with herbs. They are to be mixed with water or wine and drank, one each morning and one each night, every day. They are the same said herbals that I have been giving you already." P
Ilrhenir made a face recalling the bitter, distasteful herbal drinks barely made imbibable by large infusions of honey into the drinks. "Err…… Thank you Haimen. I shall be sure to drink them every day." Ilrhenir said flatly. P
Haimen laughed loudly. "Oh, Ilrhenir I shall miss you! But I shall try to meet up with you again at Healm's Deep. At any rate, I suspect you will forget somehow to drink your hated herbals, but you must promise me to try." P
Ilrhenir sighed resignedly. "I promise to try Haimen, when and if I can, I will drink them." P
The two of them stood there facing each other and Ilrhenir regarded Haimen intently, making a memory of the kindly Healer just in case he did indeed survive the day. Ilrhenir would never want to forget Haimen's gentle kindness and wisdom, so reminiscent of Jenna's. "I will miss you as well Haimen." His voice was quiet and suddenly thick as he tried to say goodbye. P
Haimen reached suddenly out and pulled Ilrhenir into a friendly embrace, which Ilrhenir returned, ignoring his complaining injuries. It was comforting, the first of it's kind that he had known since before his mother's passing. Ilrhenir had forgotten how much he missed it. But it was also a sound and grounding goodbye. The embrace naturally fell away after a long moment and Ilrhenir cleared his throat, smiling. "Haimen, be safe…. Please." P
"Aye, I will, my friend. And you as well. Stay by Baelorn's side and make it through this day. The whole camp whispers that you have a survivor's luck and perhaps it will rub off on him." Haimen chuckled and they clasped arms in the way that Ilrhenir had seen men of comradeship do before and with that, Haimen turned and felt for Ilrhenir's cot, folding it up quickly and departing. Ilrhenir was left standing there alone, wondering if he were making the right choice. Now that he had won the right to stay by Baelorn, he wondered if it were a mistake to have done so. P
But Ilrhenir buried his misgivings and walked out of the tent with as confident a stride as he could muster as the outer tent poles were being collapsed. He headed for the line of warriors along the east bank, surprised by the changes in the garrison encampment since that morning. P
The sun told of just past midday and Ilrhenir could hear clearly the enemy making hard battle just the other side of the Ford. He looked about the camp, which was broken down neatly to make all its salvageable components mobile. The tents were down and loaded, all the supplies taken up into storage and loaded as well. Only the barest necessities were still out. There were still cooks serving meals but even they had gathered all but the most necessary wares aboard their mess wagons. P
In the distance, beyond the East bridgehead and the line of waiting cavalry, Ilrhenir could see the moody, bleak sky hovering threateningly over the black blanket of Saruman's forces over the countryside. Ilrhenir shivered involuntarily at the image as it blended and flickered between the reality of the gloomy midday and the hellish scenes from his vision. P
Ilrhenir slowly walked on, ignoring his great weariness and eventually saw Baelorn mounted on Naisi in the crowd of cavalry guarding the verge of the east bank. To Ilrhenir's eyes the Rohirric warrior himself seemed terribly weary, but still Baelorn seemed to burn with the same proud defiance of all the other riders, poised waiting with his brethren to descend across the ford upon a single command. P
Ilrhenir approached the line of cavalry and suddenly felt unsure, wondering how Baelorn would view his arrival. He could hear the sounds of war just on the west side of the fords and he could see Baelorn studying the far shore watching the progress of the battle. He froze there a moment and then called out. P
"Baelorn!" P
A chiseled, blond bearded face turned suddenly, looking for the hailing voice and Ilrhenir almost quavered as Baelorn's gaze found him and turned dangerously cold. But instead, Ilrhenir tucked his chin high and met the Rohirrim's grim countenance. Words passed quickly between Baelorn and two others in the line of cavalrymen, and it seemed that Baelorn was taken with anger, though his two comrades seemed to find something very amusing. P
A moment later Baelorn broke from his company and wheeled Naisi about, riding back to meet Ilrhenir. When he reined in his mount just before trampling the youth beneath Naisi's massive hooves, Baelorn looked down upon Ilrhenir and his eyes shown with furry. "The waines of wounded men ride out as we speak! Is there aught reason that you are wavering here before me, boy, rather than being yonder with the retreat?" Baelorn demanded. P
Ilrhenir mastered the urge to flinch at Baelorn's harshness. Instead he notched his chin even higher yet, quelled the fear within himself and met Baelorn's gaze with a surprisingly steady stare of his own. "You have my sword sir, and a man never leaves behind his blade." Ilrhenir cleared his throat and stayed posed like a bleak statue, his sable hair blowing chaotically in the unseasonably warm and foul wind coming across the Westfold from Isen. P
Baelorn again took in the sight of the hopeless but irrefutable youth standing before him. Ilrhenir looked as equally likely to either take on Saruman all by himself and maybe win by shear grit or blow over with the next well placed huff of wind, and Baelorn softened, sagging visibly in his saddle. "Aye lad, I have your blade." Baelorn grinned wryly and reached behind to his saddlebags to unfasten Ilrhenir's sword. He handed it down to Ilrhenir noticing the youth's shaking hands. "Ilrhenir, be honest with me, you are not well enough to stay." P
Despite his hands. Ilrhenir's resolve never quavered and his eyes never left Baelorn's face. "I do very well, Baelorn. Haimen himself let me stay." P
Baelorn just sighed, suspecting that Haimen had no more luck controlling the lad than he did. But Haimen's approval or not, it was obvious to Baelorn that Ilrhenir was not fit to be on the field of battle. "Ilrhenir, see yonder those men that find their meals and bedrolls ere they are needed on the field? Join them and I shall call you when the time comes." P
"But Baelorn…" P
"Nay! I will hear no argument on this. When you are needed upon the field, be assured that you will be called. Ere the night comes, no man here will not have tasted battle, but a wise soldier seeks what fortifying comforts he can, whilst he may. I have no time for arguing this as a father might to a child, Ilrhenir. So if a soldier you are, then act like one and follow orders." With that, Baelorn turned Naisi sharply and returned to the ranks of his company. P
Ilrhenir bit back his sharp reply and reigned in his hurt and slowly wandered off to one of the gathering fires in which food was being passed out to the Eorlingas not readying themselves for immediate battle. A familiar grumble in the pit of his stomach reminded Ilrhenir that his Ivision/I that morn had indeed caused him to miss breakfast and he flopped down gratefully on his cloak and accepted a large steaming bowl from the scruffy Rohirrim keeping a large iron stewpot. P
The cook, a man named Owain, smiled grimly and told Ilrhenir that whoever had been feeding the lad had not been doing so from Owain's firepot, avowing that Ilrhenir would Inot/I have been so small of bone had that been the case. Ilrhenir managed a small, shy smile, which only caused the cook to chuckle and insist the boy eat a second bowl of stew when he was done with the first. P
Ilrhenir was eyed by several of the men who, to his surprise, all seemed amiable. And to his greater surprise yet, they all seemed at least acquainted with who he was. He had expected distrust and suspicion from the Eord, considering the law of their King, which Baelorn had explained. But for some reason, these soldiers were not so. In fact, after a while Ilrhenir realized that if at first he had felt ill at ease with them, it was because he was himself reclusive by nature. And ere long, Ilrhenir was pulled somewhat out of his insular tendencies by the comfort of the quiet gathering round the cookfire. P
He noticed that the men by the fire all seemed to share the same quiet sense of weight that he did. None of them spoke loudly or seemed overly prone to force conversation, but there was an oddly tranquil companionship that comforted him. Amongst these men there was no need to speak if it suited them not to. Each man there had his own hopes and fears for the day's outcome and each took comfort in the presence of his fellows with quiet dignity. P
Ilrhenir had pause to ponder again how much he seemed in tune with this solemn way, if this was indeed the way of soldiers. Or perhaps this was the way of men who were all about to die and he had spent so much time in a state of peril since leaving his home in Bree that he had grown accustomed to and comfortable with the quiet expectation of death. Either way, surrounded by the solace of men of like mood and lying with a full stomach upon the ground, warmed by the nearness of a large cooking fire, Ilrhenir fell into a very deep sleep, unaware when Owain laid a blanket over the youth. P
And through the day and the many battles Ilrhenir continued to sleep until late afternoon. P B