Chapter 13
"Legolas? Where? I cannot see them!"
"There, behind us! Can you not see that dark thing that looks like a dead branch but is much too dark to be wood? That is a leg…"
Estel looked into the direction that Legolas indicated. There was indeed a dark … thing in one of the trees, much darker than the surrounding wood. As he looked, he saw more, and once he had located the spiders he saw their bodies and eyes, too. As anticipated, they were large, and there were many of them.
Legolas spoke quietly, his voice low and urgent. "Estel, this does not look good. I think we ran into a trap. Whether it was deliberate or not, I do not know, but the wargs have driven us into the middle of a spider colony. I cannot see all of them, but I can hear them. There are many of them, too many of us. We must get away from here, as quickly as we can. They will try to encircle us; we must not let this happen. We must make it to the river; they do not like the water and will not follow us across. When I start shooting, drop to the ground and run. Keep to the right; you will hit the river eventually. Cross it and wait for me on the other side. I will not be far behind, but I need to give you a head start – you are slower than me and slower than these creatures. You must run."
Estel looked horrified. "Legolas! I cannot possibly leave you to fight these spiders alone!"
Suddenly Legolas' tone changed, and he became very much the cold prince he was reputed to be. "No further discussion. You will run, and I will make time for you. Wait for me on the other side of the river."
During this exchange, the spiders had moved closer. Legolas drew an arrow and shot. There was a high squealing noise and a spider drooped from the tree. Estel stared at it with terrified fascination – the long multiple-jointed legs, large hairy body and small head with red eyes – it was the most offensive creature Estel had ever seen, even worse than the wargs.
Legolas nudged him. "Go!"
"No, I cannot leave you alone here." There was determination in Estel's voice.
Estel dropped down to the ground and set his own bow. Another spider fell dead out of the trees. Legolas glared at him. "Estel! Go!"
Legolas, too, jumped to the ground. He looked extremely annoyed but concentrated on shooting spiders. Estel did the same. Soon several more of the creatures lay on the forest floor, but Estel also saw that during the time they had shot, more of the spiders had approached and had virtually surrounded him. The problem, he realised, were not so much the large spiders, but the smaller ones. There seemed to be dozens of them, they were fast and coming at them from all sides, particularly above. They could not all be shot.
"Estel, watch out! Behind you!"
Estel turned to see two medium sized spiders right behind him, ready to climb up his legs and sting. He quickly dispatched them but in this time more spiders had advanced.
"Legolas! On your arm!" One of the smaller creatures had dropped from one of the trees onto Legolas' bare left arm. As it was midsummer, the young elf only wore an open necked, sleeveless tunic that left his arms and neck exposed. The moment the spider landed, Legolas had become aware of it, but had been to preoccupied sending off another shot. That moment of inattention was enough, the spider stung. Legolas' head flicked around and instantly he brushed the spider from his arm. But it was too late.
Legolas grabbed Estel's hand. "Come, we cannot win this fight. We must fight our way out of here and run!"
Estel nodded. He had realised the same. The situation had become decidedly unpleasant.
Now mindful of what Legolas had said earlier, Estel turned right. The spiders were now too close to use arrows, and besides, there were hardly any arrows left in his quiver. So he used his sword to slash at as many of the creatures as he could, feeling Legolas doing the same besides him. Working in tandem, they managed to break through the crowd of spiders. Then they ran, but they felt, rather than heard, the spiders in pursuit.
And it was at this point that Legolas realised that Legolas had been right. He was slowing Legolas down, and he was slower than the spiders. So he redoubled is efforts, although his lungs and sides ached. 'I cannot do this for much longer', he thought. They were crashing through the trees, with no regard to noise now, the spiders still in pursuit. At the precise moment when Estel thought that he could not possibly carry on, he saw that they had reached the bank of the river. His momentum carried him forward and with a loud splash the young man crashed into the water. He felt Legolas slipping down beside him, slightly more gracefully.
Estel began to swim across the river. It was narrow, but deep with a strong current. He was glad that he was a good swimmer. He reached the middle of the river, passed the worst of the currents and was ready to ascend on the other side, when he realised that Legolas had not followed him.
Legolas' left arm had slowly seized to function, as a consequence of the spider bite. So the young elf found himself in the position of having to carry all his weapons in his right hand and to try to swim across the fast flowing river only using one arm. He drifted quickly downriver and hoped that Estel would notice. He was too busy trying to stay afloat to even think about calling for help. The currents were swirling deep and fast around him, once he had lost control, he found it increasingly difficult to even keep his head up.
When Estel turned, he noticed Legolas' predicament, he plunged himself back into the river, and quickly caught up with the floating elf. He caught the prince around the waist and pulled him up against himself, and then managed to get both of them to the opposite bank. The river shores were steep and muddy, and with much effort, Estel managed to manoeuvre Legolas and himself to the top.
Legolas was exhausted from his near drowning, and for a while he sat leaning against Estel, trying to regain his breath. The young man felt incredibly guilty. This was all his fault, if he had listened and had done as Legolas told him, they would have been able to get out of this in much better shape. He held Legolas close, and buried his chin in the other's hair. What if Legolas had drowned? Estel could not have lived with himself. He closed his arms even tighter around the elf. They did not speak for a while, both simply trying to recover from events of the last few hours. The sun had set and it was almost dark.
Finally, Legolas stirred, and turned. "Thank you for saving my life, Estel. But we do need to talk. In a battle situation, you must obey an order by your commander. I know I am not your commander, but I am much more experienced with spiders than you are, I have battled with them for all my life. You could have killed both of us … do you realise that?
Estel looked down at his hands. He had realised that, but too late, only after the event.
Still not meeting Legolas' eyes, he nodded. "Yes, I do", he whispered. "I am so sorry, Legolas. I just wanted … I did not want to leave you behind."
"I know. But I had reasons for sending you ahead … and even if you did not understand them at the time, you should have done what I asked."
Estel would still not meet Legolas' eyes. He had made a big and costly mistake, and he knew it. Legolas looked at him, and suddenly felt pity. Estel was still so young! He hoped that the young human had learned a valuable lesson today.
"Estel? Look at me." He gently tilted Estel's chin up so that they looked at each other.
"It's over now and we both survived. We need to get shelter. This part of the woods is safer, but I do not want to take any chances." The elf sighed. "All of us make mistakes at times. I still care for you, do not worry." He leant forward and kissed Estel gently.
"Come, we need to move. The caves I mentioned earlier are not far from here. "
Whilst they walked, Estel noticed that Legolas did not use his left arm at all. It just hung there, useless. "Legolas? Will the spider poison wear off… or will your arm remain like this…? Does it hurt?" There was such worry in the young man's voice that Legolas could not help but smile, even though it was now too dark for Estel to see the expression.
"It will heal."
The last vestiges of daylight had passed, and it became increasingly difficult to move through the forest. Although it was a starlit night, under the thick foliage little of the silvery starlight penetrated. Legolas' eyesight was better than Estel's so he did not struggle quite so much, but the young human stumbled and tripped so often that Legolas finally took his hand.
"Just trust me and follow. I will lead you. We have almost arrived."
And, true to his word, within mere moments Estel saw that they had reached what appeared to be a large clearing with a dark shadow looming behind. This must be the rock wall with the caves in it.
Estel followed the pull of Legolas hand. After a little while, Legolas stopped, right in front of what Estel assumed was the cave entrance. "There should be some kindling and firestones stored here – these caves are used for shelter by my people and should always be left ready for use."
Legolas was rummaging in the dark. "Here they are."
"I cannot light this with one hand, Estel. Please …"
Within a few moments, the elf held a burning branch as a torch. It allowed Estel to see his surroundings for the first time. Not having Legolas' elven sight, he had only guessed rather than seen that they were indeed in a cave. Now, with the fire lit, he could see that the cave they stood in was narrow, but led further into the mountain.
"Come, we will go to the back and rest for the night."
Legolas took the lead and Estel followed him through the narrow, tunnel-like entrance into a much larger cave. It was evidently still occasionally used by travellers, there were several bedsteads made from branches and covered with furs, and there were some clay jars on a shelf that looked as if they contained food. There was even a small trickle of clear water down a wall. A stone basin, unmistakably of elven make, collected the water before it was allowed to drain away through a side opening.
In the middle of the room was a stone-fenced fireplace with kindling ready for use. Within a few moments, a small fire was burning. Estel thought that somehow the entire place looked and felt … benevolent. He understood now what Legolas had meant when he said that goodness lingered here.
For a moment, neither elf nor man spoke. After all the excitement of the last few hours, they just stood still and looked at each other. They were absolutely filthy. Their river crossing followed by scrambling up a muddy bank and then stumbling through a dark forest had left both of them covered in dried mud. Both of them had also many small scratches and scrapes on their hands, arms, and faces. Estel thought that he had never seen Legolas' hair this dishevelled before, the braiding had largely become undone, and loose strands hung untidily into the young elf's face. Estel thought that most likely he did not look any better, probably worse.
But what drew his attention most was the spider bite on Legolas' arms. The wound had come up in a large, fluid-filled blister. It looked painful.
"Legolas, does your arm hurt? Or can you not feel anything?"
Legolas sighed. "Unfortunately, spider bites only paralyse, they do not numb. Yes, it hurts. This bite is probably the worst I have had so far, it needs cleaning and then puncturing. After that, it will feel much better. In the morning, my arm should be back to normal."
Estel hugged Legolas gently, mindful of the injured arm. " I am so sorry Legolas. It is all my fault…"
Legolas gently laid a finger on Estel's mouth. "Shh, do not start this again. It is over now." He ran his right hand through Estel's hair, and stopped when his fingers got stuck in the tangles.
"You are a mess."
"Do you think you look any better?"
They both laughed, and all tension dissolved. Estel started stripping his clothes of, they were still damp from the river crossing. When he was done, he stepped into the light of the fire, and saw Legolas staring at him. Suddenly uncomfortable, he said: "What is it, Legolas? You have seen me unclothed before …"
"You are beautiful, dirt and all."
"I have never considered myself to be attractive. But I am glad you think so."
He went to the water basin in the back and began to wash himself as best as possible. He even stuck his head into the basin to wash his hair, and then scrubbed himself, using his already torn tunic as a washcloth. He also noticed that the stitches in his shoulder pulled a bit, but they did not seem to have come open, so he ignored the discomfort.
When he felt more or less clean, he turned to Legolas. Much to his surprise, he found that the elf had not undressed yet, but then realised that Legolas had trouble opening the lacing of his clothing with one hand. His attempts had pulled the strings on his leggings tight, instead of releasing them. Estel quickly went over to help him. He gently helped Legolas out of his clothing, and then simply took his hand and led him to the water basin.
He began cleaning his friend, head to toe. Legolas said nothing, but closed his eyes in obvious enjoyment. Estel took extra care with the injured arm, and could not resist the temptation to let his hands linger in other places as well. Somewhat to his surprise, Legolas did not react to his caresses. The elf briefly opened his eyes. "Estel … I very much enjoy what you are doing but I think my arm just hurts too much… I am sorry…"
Estel kissed Legolas very gently. "Don't worry, I am being selfish. I should see to your arm." He turned and searched for his knife. Fortunately they still had their weapons, even if their pack had been lost. He retrieved his knife, washed it and held it into the fire. When the knife glowed red, Estel took it out of the fire and let it cool. "It should be clean now. Legolas, will you be alright?"
The elf nodded. Both knew that this would not be pleasant. Legolas sat down and braced himself with his uninjured arm. Estel knelt in front of him, gently holding the hurt arm in his left hand. Then, with a decisive gesture, he punctured the blistered spider bite. Immediately, greenish fluid began to drain way. Legolas blanched, and hissed. For a moment, Estel thought the elf would faint and perhaps that would have been merciful. But Legolas regained his composure, although his right hand clenched into a tight fist.
"Estel? You need to make sure all the infection drains away. Otherwise we will have to do this again." The prince's voice sounded strained. "You need to open this further and then press." Estel nodded, he knew what to do, Elrond had taught him quite some time ago what to do about infected wounds. Except that he had never had to do this to someone he cared for.
"I will need to cut again. Are you ready?"
Legolas nodded, but Estel noticed how pale he was.
Without further hesitation, Estel opened the wound further with two criss-crossing cuts, and pressed. Legolas could not suppress a moan. But fortunately, Estel did not have to keep up this involuntary torture for long, soon he saw that the signs of infection had drained away and clear, light-red elven blood began to flow. After a while, he gently cleaned the entire area. "This is the best I can do. We have no bandages left. What this really needs is some athelas but I have not got this either. We will have to wait until we return to Lasgalen. If your healers have not got any, my father will have some."
Legolas simply nodded. He felt too drained to respond. Estel very gently pulled the elf up. "You need to rest. I do not think any evil will befall us here" They made it to one of the fur-covered bedsteads. Legolas lay down with a sigh.
Estel quickly stacked up the fire so that it would not entirely extinguish throughout the night. Then he joined Legolas and slipped between the covers next to him. Both went to sleep immediately.
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