Out of Mirkwood

Scribbles-on-Parchment

September 14, 2019

Chapter 10 – Poison

Elladan was having a perfectly good morning. He was enjoying how still and silent life was without his brothers around. He had just finished packing up the campsite when he heard a loud shout.

The ellon looked up, startled and a bit annoyed, to see Estel running through the trees and undergrowth toward him. If you could call it running. The dark-haired man seemed to trip over an unseen obstacle every other step, making it appear as though he were drunk.

And it wouldn't be the first time either, Elladan thought with a smirk.

"Elladan!" the human shouted again as he came crashing into the camp breathing heavily.

"We were attacked by spiders and then found an ellon," Estel panted, "But he has been poisoned and you need to help him or Elrohir said he shall die!"

All Elladan was able to understand in the rush of words that came tumbling out of the edan's mouth was the word die, but it was enough to startle him.

"What?!" he leaped to his feet, "Is Elrohir hurt? What happened?"

The ellon frantically felt for the mental link he had with his younger twin and found it whole and strong. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"No!" Estel was getting frustrated now. Was Elladan not listening to anything he was saying?

He tried again, this time slower, "Elrohir is fine but we found another ellon had been bitten by a giant spider."

Elladan whirled around to face the young human a deep frown creasing his face, "Where are they? We need to go to them."

Estel sighed inwardly, "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Elrohir is bringing him here right now. He sent me ahead to tell you."

It was at that moment that a certain, sweaty, brown-haired Noldo struggled into the clearing, holding a limp elf in his arms.

So much for a quiet morning, Elladan thought as he hurried over to help his twin.

Elrohir told his brother all that had taken place as the oldest brother looked down at the unconscious eldar. Besides the spider bite on his left forearm, a scratch on his neck, and a painful-looking lump on the back of his head the ellon was fine. What was worrying Elladan most was the spider poison flowing through the elfling's veins.

He had no experience with the spiders of Mirkwood or their venom and did not feel very confident he could make a cure. He prayed that it was just a simple poison meant only to knock the victim out and keep them from running, not the deadly serum Elrohir was making it out to be. However, he did not know.

"He is so young. I am curious to know who he is," Estel said handing Elladan his healing pouch, "Surely not a Noldo, for you do not have such golden hair or fair skin."

Elladan rummaged through his bag and remained silent. He had a sneaking suspicion about the young eldar but his main priority was to heal the ellon first, not debate his identity.

"Maybe he is one of the Galadhirim," Elrohir said studying the elfling's face, "I have heard tell that some of Galadriel's people had light hair like this."

Elladan tried to ignore his brothers' ramblings and focused on his patient. He frowned as he put a hand to the elf's brow and felt the fever raging beneath. This was not good.

Legolas was on fire; that was all he knew. It felt as if someone had set his very blood ablaze and it all started from his left arm. For some time now he had been wavering somewhere between painful consciousness and blissful darkness. His mind would not let him drift off and kept screaming at him that he was in danger and needed to flee, yet his limbs refused to cooperate and remained lifeless.

Occasionally muted voices would penetrate his hazy world of fire and agony, but Legolas could never make out what the voices were saying.

Get up, his mind demanded, get up and fight like the warrior you claim to be. Do not just lie and let them do what they will to you.

Legolas groaned and forced his eyes to flutter open. Almost instantly he snapped them shut again as sunlight blinded him. A second later a cool hand was placed on his fevered brow causing the young elf to flinch away from it.

"Mellon," a voice said, permeating his muddled mind, "You are sick. You were bitten by a spider. I am going to try and make you well but I need you to drink this for me."

Legolas relaxed slightly. The voice spoke in an accented elvish but was gentle and kind. It was not the malice-filled voice he had heard by the ellon who had knocked him out. He willed his eyes to open again.

"He's waking up!"

Estel's exclamation brought both of his older brothers rushing over to him. It had been an hour since Elrohir had arrived carrying the unconscious edar. In that time Elladan had been working furiously to find something that would counteract the poison and the fever it had brought.

Elladan knelt next to the ellon and put his hand to his brow, frowning as the elf flinched under his touch. The fever was still raging, but thankfully it had not gotten any worse.

"Mellon," he said gently, "You are sick. You were bitten by a spider. I am going to try and make you well, but I need you to drink this for me."

He watched as the eyelids fluttered open to reveal bright blue eyes that looked as if they were flecked with gold. The elf blinked; confusion was written all over his face.

"You are safe, penneth," Elladan said, trying to dispel any fears the young ellon might have, "Drink this for me. It will help you feel better."

The edan helped the elfling sit up before the older twin put a cup of steaming tea up to his parched lips. If he had got this right then the eldar would be fine in a couple of hours. Still looking dazed, the young elf drank without protest.

The Noldo smiled as the ellon swallowed the last of the tea. He would now sleep for an hour or two and hopefully wake when the fever broke; at least that was what he hoped.

Legolas was not sure what was happening, everything around him appeared to be a blur of colors, as his eyes refused to focus. The throbbing pain in his arm had spiked as he was propped up against someone. A cup was placed at his dry lips and he drank greedily, realizing how unbearably thirsty he was. The warm tea was horribly bitter however, Legolas did not care. His mouth was too parched.

With the cup drained the young prince leaned back against whoever was holding him up. He felt weak and extremely drowsy.

They drugged me, Legolas thought desperately as a great sense of weariness overcame him.

He blinked rapidly, trying to keep his eyes open as a voice behind him said softly,

"Sleep. You will feel better when you wake."

As he finally let his eyes drift closed, Legolas managed to mumble, "Who are you?"

"I am Estel Elrondion. You are safe with us."

At the Elrondion, Legolas instantly thought back to all the things his adar had told him about Elrond and the elves of Imladris. This was not good. He let himself succumb to the sleeping drug, wondering how he had come to be found by the son of his adar's worst enemy.

Elladan was getting worried. It had been over an hour since the elfling's fever had broken and yet he still showed no sign of waking. It was obvious that the herbs had worked in stopping the fever or the spider poison was starting to wear off. Either way, he had expected the ellon to have woken up by now. Was there something else going on? Something he had missed?

"I thought you said that he was supposed to gain consciousness when his fever broke," Estel was kneeling over the golden-haired elf, checking on the eldar again.

"I said that he should wake when the fever broke, not that he would," Elladan was getting exasperated by his younger brother, "I have no doubt he will wake up soon enough; then you can pester him with questions and leave me in peace."

The older Noldo shook his head and walked back over to the human. The young man had not left the unconscious ellon's side, continually checking on him as if he thought the golden-haired eldar would die at any moment.

Elladan knelt beside his younger brother and checked the bandage he had wrapped gently over the spider bite. It thankfully showed no sign of infection or irritation. He sighed and leaned back on his heels.

"What is it?" Estel demanded.

"Nothing, I was simply sighing toron. Honestly, you are as bad as ada."

"Well if nothing is wrong then why is he not waking up?"

"Estel! Can't you let me have one moment without pestering me?" Elladan said frustratedly, "I do not know what is happening to him. There is nothing else going wrong that I can tell. He should be awake by now. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

The dark-haired Nodlo put his face in his hands. He had done everything right, yet the elfling was as still as ever. Elladan felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see his twin.

"What is it?" The ellon's heart sank at the worried look on Elrohir's face. What else could be wrong now?

"Yrch and they are making their way toward us with great speed," Beside him, Elladan could feel Estel stiffen, "They are no more than a three-hour ride away from us. Perhaps they are not tracking us and will continue on though I fear that this will not be the case."

Elladan got slowly to his feet. Could this day get any worse? If it could then he really would rather not know.

"Can we fight them off?" Estel reached for the sword at his side.

"No. There are too many for us to win any battle. We might get lucky if we did not have a sick elfling to look after as well."

He glanced at the pale eldar on the ground, "Is there no way for us to wake him?"

Elladan knew what his brother was implying.

"We are not going to turn tail and run like cowards, are we?"

Both twins looked sharply at the human.

"There is a difference between running like cowards and having the wisdom to know when there is no hope to win," the elder twin glared at the young human, "Help Elrohir with the horses; we leave as soon as possible."

"But what of him?"

"I will see if I can wake him toron, but if this cannot be done then we will have no other choice than to take him with us. I will not leave one of our own kin to the mercy of those foul beasts. They have shed enough elven blood in this forest as it is."

Elrond sat atop his white steed and looked out over the great sweeping plains of Rohan. A breeze blew through his dark hair trying to tug it free of the braids he had placed them in. He was ready to return to the peaceful valley of Imladris after his brief visit to Gondor. He had been summoned to a council meeting there and it had not gone well.

King Théodan had told of the gathering of darkness at his borders, particularly near Mirkwood. King Melcon of Gondor showed him the villages that had been burned and looted by the yrch that would occasionally cross his lands. And Mithrandir had said nothing. The old wizard had offered no words of wisdom or input. He had just sat there smoking his abominable pipe, filling the room with smoke.

The elven lord had stayed there for as little time as possible. The darkness and troubles were weighing heavily upon his heart and he still had several more days of travel until he reached his halls again. There his mind would be able to rest and focus on the problems at hand.

His sons had accompanied him on this trip, desperate to travel and for the adventures that they felt lay in wait for them. They had somehow been able to convince him to let them travel back by another route. Elrond had no idea why he had allowed them to do so as there were too many dangers they could encounter along the way; especially by Mirkwood. However, he had given them his blessing and would not worry about them any more than he could help it. After all, they were all three grown and could care for themselves. Yet his mind would not fully be at ease until he saw them whole and well again.

Elrond shook his head and was about to turn back to continue on when something caught his eye.

"Tamír," he said, turning to the Silvan elf who sat on the horse next to him, "When my sons said that they wanted to go a different way back to Imladris, which way did they say they were going to travel?"

The ellon looked confused.

"They wanted to go through Rohan and follow the river Anduin till they could go through the pass in the Misty Mountains. Why?"

Elrond nodded slowly, "That is what I thought too. Yet if this is the way they headed then why do I now see them riding towards us, or is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?"

Tamír looked out across the desolate, rolling hills. There, several leagues away were three horsemen riding towards them at a fast pace. The white horses could be none other than the faithful steeds of Elrond's sons.

He turned and looked at the elf lord, puzzled. "How did our paths cross with them? The river Anduin is nowhere near this place. What would have brought them so close to the Gap of Rohan?"

"I guess we will find out soon enough," Elrond said, "But if I know anything about my sons I know that trouble will not be far behind them."

Elvish Translations:

penneth – young one

adar - father

toron – brother (Noldorin)

ada – dad

yrch - orcs