The battle was hard fought and short lived. The elves attacked suddenly and without warning. Elrond lead his group in first driving and killing any orcs that lingered near Erestor. Lindir cut of the retreat ensuring that none of the foul beasts made it past him. The archers ensured the safety of their own and that none of the orcs made it into the safety of the trees.
All in all the battle probably lasted no more than twenty minutes.
Glorfindel who had grudgingly listened to Elrond had followed in the first assault. He managed to put himself right beside Erestor. He was determined that the younger elf would be safe promise or no.
Glorfindel slid of his horse reaching up to cut the bonds that held the dark haired elf suspended. His side flared with fire as Erestor fell limply into his arms. He grit his teeth managing to avoid dropping the unconscious elf. He settled the unconscious elf to the ground kneeling beside him.
"Erestor?" Glorfindel coaxed over the sounds of fighting. The rising of Erestor's chest let Glorfindel know that the counselor was still breathing but he wanted a more definitive sign of life. "Erestor?"
A dark shape loomed beside him, Glorfindel automatically went for his sword but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"How is he?" Elrond asked kneeling.
"This is your area of expertise not mine." Glorfindel muttered. "He breathes."
Elrond ignored the jibe his hands already searching the advisor's body. He was quick, thorough, and silent as he checked the abused body. It wasn't until he rolled Erestor onto his side that he let out a shocked expletive.
"What?" Glorfindel demanded. He did not see anything to cause such a reaction. Yes there was heavy bruising and several damaging cuts but nothing serious. Erestor was quite lucky in his opinion to have escaped any severe damage. Seeing Elrond's frown deepen Glorfindel began to get nervous. "What's wrong?"
"There is damage here to his spinal cord." Elrond murmured.
"How bad?" Lindir asked as he knelt across from them.
"They must have hit him with something." Elrond deduced. "I am not certain but I think there might be a fracture."
Glorfindel sucked in a breath. "Are you sure?"
"By the Valar I hope not." Elrond frowned. "But this is not the place nor the time to do a proper examination. We must head back to Imladris immediately."
Lindir nodded. "We will build a litter. That way, we hopefully will not jar him more than need be."
"I will-" Glorfindel started as he stood up only to stop as the world swam alarmingly around him.
Elrond grabbed the warrior around the waist helping him to sit back down. "You will do nothing. You have overtaxed yourself as it is."
Glorfindel tried to think of a witty comeback but his mind refused to help instead plunging him into darkness.
(LOTRLOTR)
To be fair Glorfindel remember very little of the trip home. He was pretty sure that it had more to do with Elrond than his injuries. He couldn't be positive but he thought he remembered his Lord forcing several drinks down his throat in his weakened state. He was really going to have to get Elrond back for that.
He did remember clearly waking up in the healing wing of Imladris.
Lindir sat beside his bed smiling at him. Glorfindel blinked several times making sure he wasn't hallucinating. No the minstrel was still there.
"Whark?" He croaked dryly. Glorfindel tried again. "Where home?"
Lindir nodded getting up from his seat to pour him a glass of water. "Yes. We arrived here early this morning. We pushed all night to get here."
"Erestor?"
"Elrond is with him right now." Lindir reached out a supporting arm behind Glorfindel's shoulders as he helped the eldar sit up. "Careful now. You don't want to rip all those stitches."
Glorfindel grimaced. The pain was still there but more manageable than it had been. He eagerly drank the cool water feeling it soothe his parched throat. He handed the cup back to Lindir. "Thank you."
"Your welcome. How do you feel?"
Glorfindel paused a moment to consider the question as he got his bearings. "Good." He pushed himself up further as he swung his legs to the side of the bed. "Now let's go find Elrond and Erestor."
"Oh no you don't." Lindir scolded trying to get Glorfindel back into the bed. "Elrond said you are to rest."
"And I will rest as soon as I find out about Erestor."
"Glorfindel-"
"Lindir the sooner you help me the quicker I will be back in bed. I will also have a less chance of tearing the stitches open but I will do this with or without your help." Glorfindel gave him a charming grin. "You might as well get over it and help me."
"Elrond is not going to be happy about this." Lindir sighed. "And I am telling him it's all your fault."
(LOTRLOTR)
"Elrond is not going to like this." Lindir muttered as they waited outside the room in which Elrond was working on Erestor. "He told me not to let you out of bed."
"He will not even notice." Glorfindel assured the minstrel as he tried to find a comfortable way to sit. These chairs were not helping the pain in his side. He was hoping they would not be waiting too much longer.
His prayers were answered as Elrond exited the healing room wearily. Lindir and Glorfindel leaned forward eagerly anxious to hear the news. The Lord of Imladris sank into a chair letting his head drop into his hands.
"Well?" Glorfindel demanded unable to keep his impatience in check.
"His back is broken. I have done everything I can for now. We have to wait and see."
Lindir gave a muted cry. "Will he walk?"
"Maybe." Elrond replied looking up at the minstrel. "There is a lot of tissue damage and swelling. Once everything starts to mend I will know more."
"How soon?" Glorfindel persisted. "How soon will we know for sure?"
"It could be within weeks or any where up to a year." Elrond replied letting his head fall into his hand.
"A year?"
"His mobility may be limited. A year to find out how badly."
"Has he woken yet?" Lindir asked tentatively.
"No. He should be out for another couple of hours." Elrond rubbed his face tiredly. He stopped his movements then looking up at Glorfindel a dark look in his eyes. "Just what do you think you are doing up and running around?"
Inwardly Glorfindel shrank at the succinct and controlled voice. He gave a tentative smile. "I wanted to see how Erestor was doing?"
Elrond's tone was even and deadly. "Glorfindel I just spent my entire morning patching the two of you up after riding all night. If you are not back in bed by the time I count to twenty I will make sure you will not leave that bed until the ending of the world."
(LOTRLOTR)
Awareness came slowly to Erestor. He stared at the white ceiling unsure of what he was even staring at. His body felt heavy as if it was made of rocks and his mind felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He took a deep breath shutting his eyes. An orc's face swam in his minds eye causing him to jerk. The abrupt motion caused white-hot agony to shoot up his back. He screamed.
"Erestor!"
Someone's hands grabbed him by the upper arms.
"Erestor, you're safe now." A soothing voice pacified. "Lie quiet now. You're safe."
Erestor opened his eyes to find Elrond leaning over him.
The Lord smiled. "It's good to have you back my friend."
Erestor nodded. He tried swallowing to ease the dry ache in his mouth. Elrond had already predicted the movement easing his head up to lean a cup against his mouth. The advisor drank greedily unable to get enough. Too soon the cup was empty and taken away. Elrond let him ease back into the pillows. The counselor looked about him almost curiously.
"Glorfindel?" Erestor croaked.
Elrond snorted. "He's feeling well enough to disobey my orders and wander the halls with Lindir."
Erestor smiled weakly at the news. "He hates being helpless."
Elrond returned the smile but it did not reach his eyes. "And you my friend?"
The advisor looked up puzzled at his Lord. "I'll live for now at least until you let me out of here to run."
Elrond locked eyes with him. "Erestor what do you remember when the orcs had you?"
"More than I would care too. Why is this so important? There is something you're not letting me know. I can tell."