Scars Chapter 19- Nightmares
Disclaimer: This story is being written for enjoyment only. I do not own any of Tolkien's characters.
Author's Note: Thank you all for your continued kind words and support of this story. They mean so much to me. Well here is chapter 19 a little earlier than my usual posting schedule. I hope you enjoy it! Be warned that there is one very short scene, which might prove uncomfortable to those who are somewhat squeamish. My apologies, if this happens to be the case. :)
Dropping his knife momentarily toward the ground beneath him, Aragorn made to use his hands to pull loose the last remaining spindle shaped tubules. His complete attentions now focused upon the immediate task in front of him. So much so, that he did not hear a stirring within the surrounding vegetation until a growl sounded within his ear followed by the white hot heat of pain as it suddenly flared through him.
Caught completely off guard, Aragorn suffered immediate susceptibility to this unforeseen attack. With the weight of its violence approaching from the rear, the crouching Ranger was thrown off balance, propelled forcibly forward onto both his hands and knees. The soft marshy earth oozed beneath him absorbing his impact, but pain still flared across his back just beneath his ribcage while the air was knocked from his lungs. Gasping for breath, he frantically began groping along the ground beside him desperately seeking out the hunting knife that only seconds before he abandoned to its custody. He was granted but a brief respite as the weight on top of him suddenly shifted. A cry of tortured anguish escaped his stunned lips as a burning sensation spread across his injured torso with the withdrawal of his unseen source of torment.
As the bulk above him shifted suddenly once again attempting to gain further access with which to deliver yet another staggering blow, Aragorn bucked wildly beneath its weight. His left elbow then connected sharply with his predator as he freed himself at last from its further attempts to keep him pinioned. New agony washed afresh through him as a result, but he did not give in to it as his searching hands at last realized the carved handle of his blade. Gathering momentum, he swiftly pitched sideways knocking his attacker from a top of him. Scuffling with its hulking form, Aragorn gained the upper hand as his knife finally plunged downward to meet his attacker's flesh. The loathsome beast howled with its contact while Aragorn's blade slashed swiftly through its remaining midsection until the writhing creature was totally eviscerated. Black blood poured forth followed by his victim's severed entrails to sully his attacker's coarse garments and the marshy ground beneath them; its rank foulness even soddening Aragorn's own hands and the long sleeves of his outer tunic.
Heaving for breath, Aragorn pushed himself backwards onto his haunches as his stunned grey eyes turned to witness the last of this demon's life drain slowly from his now unmoving body. Still panting, Aragorn's legs finally gave way beneath him until he sank toward the dampened ground. Stunned , he looked on for several, long seconds at the dead figure now beside him while he struggled to regain his own composure. Puzzled, he bewilderedly acknowledged that it was unlike any being he had ever encountered before in battle. Its sinewy legs, now sprawled lifelessly upon the foreground, were as long as his own and not bowed in shape. Even in the waking strains of dawn, Aragorn could tell its flesh was dark, extremely dark, and that the shape of its now unseeing eyes were more slanted than that of any of its likely predecessors. But what disturbed the Ranger the most was the creature's very presence upon These Lands as the first pinking hues of the morning star began breaking into the surrounding vista about them. Orcs were notorious in their hatred of all natural sources of light, shunning the sun's crowning brilliance to lie in wait in their filth and vileness until at last darkness reigned supreme once again.
'What is this being?" Aragorn questioned shakily while his suffering body continued to revive itself.
Regaining his footing, he tried to stand up only to find himself hampered by the return once again of agonizing pain and then vertigo. His breath caught within his throat in reaction to it as his body lurched forward and his left hand made a grab toward his right side. Closing his eyes against its unexpected assault, the Ranger tried to steady his now wobbling legs. Making a play with his free hand, he stumbled onward until he gained the purchase of a nearby tree, and using the solidness of its bark, he righted himself at last while drawing the temporary protective barrier he had established just moments before away. His hand came back to him sticky and wet and to his growing dismay, crimson rivulets now flowed across its length to meet then mix with the inky blackness that still sullied his shaking palm.
"No! This cannot be happening!" He groaned as his blurring vision scanned the periphery for the scattered tubules, which only short minutes before, he held within his grasp. "Please, no! Do not allow this happen!" He pleaded anxiously as his mind raced towards those who were waiting for him. "No!" He repeated yet again as the weight of his hardship bore heavily down upon now unsteady shoulders. "There is too much at stake. I cannot fail them," he gasped.
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Elladan looked on in grief, as Legolas' once struggling body gradually stilled beneath his touch. Perhaps he should be grateful that at last the Silvan Elf had been granted respite from the violent tremors that had earlier racked his once powerful frame, but now the fair-haired archer lay so deathly still. So still in fact, that the startled Elf drew his hand toward his friend's pale face. Elladan was rewarded as weak traces of exhalation still brushed against his palm. Even the rapid movement beneath his friend's closed eyelids had slowed to just an occasional flicker.
Legolas was dying, he admitted to himself at last, and with him went most likely any hope for Elrohir's recovery as well.
Elladan's throat constricted painfully as he dropped his mournful gaze towards the ground beneath him. Tears welled within his bright eyes once again. The rising sun's light was awakening the land about them, but its glowing resplendence provided little warmth or comfort to those that it now touched. But it did offer a promise still unknown to the Elf as his swimming eyes stared mindlessly downward toward the terrain beneath him. A tear fell from his face to wet its soil. The mossy green lushness gladly soaked up this minute offering of moisture as well as the returning rays of the heavenly body above it. All, except one particular patch which now appeared deadened and brown. How unusual it seemed when life thrived all around it, and dropping to his knees, Elladan's searching touch at last realized that this now stagnant patch was damper than the rest of the area surrounding it puzzling him even more.
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Legolas tried to breathe but his efforts were stifled as a heavy weight pressed down upon his chest. Struggling, he attempted to push his arms upward to remove its unseen force, but his efforts proved useless as if he were paralyzed. He could not move a muscle, let alone flinch beneath its pressure. Strangely, his whole body felt heavy and not his own at all. Trying to turn his head, frantically he realized he was trapped.
"What is happening?" He breathed as his eyes struggled sideways to take in the scene surrounding him.
He was in a Wood but everything about him seemed unnatural…surreal…What should have been burgeoning forth with life seemed dull and deadened. There was nothing tranquil about this place…nothing green or alive.
Gasping for breath, the Silvan Elf attempted to free himself once again from its suffocating constraint, but the more he struggled, the faster its claim closed in about him.
He lay panting, though his body offered forth little if any resistance. He felt strangely disembodied, except for his throat which was parched and constricted, and cut off from any further attempts at speech.
'What is happening?' His mind questioned numbly as nothing about him looked familiar until a form appeared upon the darkened horizon. It moved towards him, though its face remained obscured. As it closed in upon him, Legolas was relieved to see that it was his dear friend, Aragorn.
"Estel," he croaked as the Human neared.
Aragorn's reassuring grey eyes smiled back at Legolas with warmth as he looked out from beneath the hood covering his darkened head. But as he made to speak, something drew his attentions away. A sudden, unexpected swirl of activity blinded the supine Elf from acknowledging its source. Legolas struggled once again as if suddenly in fear for his friend's safety, unexplained dread filling his being. But then the cloaked figure turned towards him once more as if to calm his fears. As Legolas peered beneath the encompassing shroud yet again, his heart seized within his chest realizing the veiled figure was no longer that of his friend. A grotesque demon instead stared menacingly back at him pleased by the Elf's current indisposition.
"What?" The Elf sputtered as his leaden legs desperately struggled to push against the ground beneath him to gain footing. "What is happening?" he questioned yet again as his frantic blue eyes searched for his long time friend, but as his gaze dropped a sob caught in his throat. For the heinous being which now embodied Aragorn's previous stance, held his friend's limp form within his clutches. The once robust Human, no longer in his prime, was now but a broken child hanging lifelessly within its feral grasp.
"NO!" The Elf clamored as he struggled with all that he had within him, to come to Aragorn's aid. "No!" He shouted once again. "I shall not allow you to harm him!"
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Heavy footed and lacking his usual grace, Aragorn's feet retraced their previous path as he struggled to make his way back toward the Rangers' encampment. At least the light of day offered him some assistance, but the Human's body and mind remained guarded lest he should meet up with another assailant. The camp should not be much farther his hazy mind reasoned as the protesting pull from his side reawakened to remind him once again of the injury he sustained. Briefly he glanced down towards it and noted the length of cloth, he wrapped around his middle to staunch his bleeding, had soaked through and was now sullying the tunic above it. But he paid it no further heed, as his unsteady steps increased in their urgency. For he could not afford the time needed to stop and rebind it. It would have to wait until later. After he had prepared the poultices and steeped a brew for his brother and friend. He could hold out till then.
Rounding a stance of trees, Aragorn senses were immediately alerted to the oncoming approach of another, and he reached toward the hilt of his sword. He would not allow himself to be caught off guard again after being so careless earlier. He did not relish the thought of having to face off with any further foes when Elrohir and Legolas lay so close to death, but he'd fight off a whole army if necessary if they stood in the way of reuniting with those he loved.
As the elusive figure approached, Aragorn recognized that he had his own weapon drawn as well alerted to the possibility of an unwelcome stranger. While in his other hand, he awkwardly carried a sloshing bucket filled with water.
"Halfdan," The Ranger breathed with relief.
"Strider," The younger Ranger returned in welcome until his eyes caught sight of his Chieftain's bedraggled form, his focus immediately zeroing in upon the Man's pale face then downwards towards the growing crimson stain fanning outward from the Dunadan's slim waist. "You are injured!…" His companion murmured in alarm.
"It is nothing…" Aragorn finished in a rush before he inquired about the health of the others he had left behind. "Do they…." He started.
"Yes, they are alive… at least when I last left them they were. The one from Rivendell sent me out to gather more water from the stream," Halfdan finished anxiously as his gaze still held fast to the unsteady form of his commander.
"We must hurry then," Aragorn answered as he made to quit the grounds surrounding them.
Halfdan, however, caught the elder Ranger's arm as he began to stumble forward quickly depositing the cumbersome bucket he carried toward the ground.
"You can go no further," The younger Dunedan asserted as he felt the Man shiver within his steadying embrace. "Your wound still bleeds…You are in danger yourself."
"I must," Aragorn argued as another shiver shook his tall, slim frame. "I will tend to myself once I see to the others. Now release me, Halfdan! Time is of the essence!"
Hesitantly, the younger Ranger obeyed as he made to back away, but not before he reached about his own neck to unclasp his cloak. "Here, take this," He insisted and not brooking any chance at confrontation from the stubborn Human before him, he struggled to wrap his taller companion within the warmth of its folds like a mother tending to an unruly child impatient to step out into the winter's first snow. "At least it shall keep you warmer," he acknowledged woodenly, while finishing up his task before stepping away to allow the other Man access.
"Thank you," Aragorn stammered before taking off once again to be followed closely upon the heels by his worried companion.
Cresting a small rise, Aragorn stared down at the familiar encampment below him. Looking upward at that precise second, Elladan rushed forward to greet his descending brother, his grey eyes shining with welcome relief at the sight of both Aragorn and the Ranger accompanying him.
"Estel," he breathed as he met up with the Human at last forgetting any continued need for protocol. "The water from the well, it must have been tainted!"
TBC
Author's Closing Notes: Well if you've reached this point, then thank you for reading chapter 19. I hope you enjoyed it.
This was a 'nightmare' to post here. I still haven't figured out how I actually get these things posted since I've had to switch to a new word processing program. It took me over an hour to do so. Ack!
I don't think I'll be able to post the next chapter as quickly as this one. The week ahead of me/us is filled with many holiday obligations. In fact I don't think I'll have a chance to draw breath let alone think about writing, for at least 10 days. But then again, my muses usually are at their best when I'm under pressure and have other obligations calling for my attentions. We'll see!
Oh yes, Lol, grumpy on your rampaging turkey comment! It made me laugh. I was worried, however, that the intruder, stalking Aragorn, might turn out to be a rampaging reindeer with my current posting schedule. :)
SB, if you are still reading this, I couldn't help but smile as thoughts of stucked Vikings returned to me. Yes, at times even I can be gory. This part was for you. :)
Though I didn't come right out and say it, I think most of you guessed as to whom Aragorn's assailant was. According to my sources, they came into being in the Third Age around 2475, so I guess their presence in this story isn't too farfetched. Well I hope it isn't. Well until next time, Sue a.k.a. Quickbeam1 :)