In Mirkwood- Chapter 3
Hey there! Next chapter like I promised, though our poor Leggy isn't out of the woods yet (no pun intended).
Disclaimer: see Chapter 1
Galion stepped through the trees cautiously, an arrow fitted to his bow. The stench of blood was strong, and here the trees were not as silent, instead whispering in distress. Galion gulped in trepidation.
Now the elves began to see splatters of blood on the forest floor, but the forest was too thick and too dark to see further into it. Galion stooped. "Yrch" he said softly. He traced another stain, bright red this time. "Elven blood" he murmured. He gasped in realisation. "Legolas' patrol."
Galion stood up. "Quickly, we need to find out what has happened." He turned and began to run through the trees, his jaw clenched. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Finally, he burst out through the trees into a small clearing, his patrol behind him. He gazed in horror at the carnage in front of him. Beside him, one of the other elves dropped to the ground, retching quietly. Galion didn't blame him. He wanted to be sick himself- it was only the reminder of his duty that kept him upright.
In front of them, the forest was wet with blood. Orc corpses littered the forest floor, but with them lay pale figures mingled with the black. Galion, mustering his courage, stepped forwards onto the battlefield. Or rather, the site of a massacre. He crouched next to one elf and gently rolled him over. The elf's eyes were wide open. His torso was covered in blood.
Galion sighed. He reached out and closed the elf's eyes, before standing up and turning to his patrol.
Most of the elves he had with him were standing there, transfixed in horror. A few were crouched on the ground, retching. Nothing could ever prepare someone for a sight like this.
"This was Legolas' patrol" said Galion, horror in his voice. It broke the silence and the elves in front of him blinked, as if waking from a nightmare. The ones on the floor clambered to their feet and watched Galion.
Galion avoided looking at the ground. "We need to find Prince Legolas. Spread out, check every elf, though I doubt…" He trailed off, looking around at the clearing, at the blood mingling with the mud and dirt. It had rained last night, the mud thick under their feet, grabbing at the bodies littering the ground.
The elves nodded and spread out around the clearing. As Galion moved around, he could hear the faint cries of grief as they came across someone who had been their friend. He shook his head. He had to find Legolas.
There! Galion spotted a flash of golden hair in amongst the black corpses. He ran over, passing an elf who was crouched on the ground next to a lifeless body. Galion glimpsed Legolas' lieutenant as he ran past. He was caked in blood and mud. The member of the patrol crouched next to the body reached out and closed his eyes. But Galion didn't see any of this. His eyes were fixed on Legolas.
He fell to his knees beside the body of his Prince. Legolas' face was white; he was lying in a pool of blood. His once vibrant hair was red and matted, his hands clamped over his torso and shoulder, as if he had tried to stop the bleeding before passing out. Orc corpses were littered around him and his knives were by his side, covered in black blood. Galion felt a wave of grief wash over him. He had known Legolas since the Prince had been born. How was he going to tell Thranduil?
Galion did not think it necessary, but nevertheless he pressed two fingers under Legolas' jaw, just in case. A gasp of surprise left his lips and he rocked backwards, narrowly avoiding falling in the blood under his feet.
A weak pulse beat under his fingers. It was thready and erratic, but it was there.
0-o-0-o-0
Galion looked up. "Help!" he called. "I need help over here!"
Within seconds five of the patrol were at his side, crouched in the mud. One of them reached out hesitantly towards Legolas. "The Prince" he murmured, smoothing back limp strands of hair from his face. "Is he…?"
"Aye, he is alive" said Galion. "But we must hurry. He will not last long."
The elves understood exactly what they had to do. Taking their cloaks they laid them on the ground and then together, very carefully, Galion and the five elves moved Legolas onto the cloaks, away from the cold mud.
"Quickly" said Galion. "I need athelas." He took a knife and cut away Legolas' tunic, discarding the soaked pieces of fabric. The wounds, jagged tears in his pale skin, were revealed. One elf, who was young by elven standards, turned away, his hand clamped over his mouth. He stayed like that for a few seconds before gaining control and turning back.
"I'm sorry" he murmured.
"Don't be" said Galion briskly as he gently examined the wounds. Legolas did not respond to any of his touches, which only served to worry Galion more. He looked up at the young elf.
"No-one ever gets used to this" he said softly. "But you have to keep it back. Right now your Prince needs your help."
The elf nodded. Though pale, his face was determined and he brought forth the little drawstring bag on his belt, producing the athelas from inside. He crushed it and the wholesome smell filled the air.
Galion looked at the other elves around him. Behind them the rest of the patrol were moving around, carefully lifting the bodies of their fallen comrades and moving them away from the orcs.
"Did anyone else survive?" he asked softly.
One of the elves crouched beside him shook his head, his eyes closed in grief. Galion sighed, turning back to Legolas. Taking the waterskin from his belt, he tried to clean the wounds of the worst of the mud and dirt.
He looked up. "We need to build a stretcher" he murmured. "Get Legolas back to the palace. And bring back the bodies of the fallen, and burn the orc corpses."
"We can see to that" said one of the elves, his voice tight with grief. "We will start on the stretcher first. It will be needed soon."
Galion gently grasped the young elf by the arm as he made to stand up. "Stay with me" he said softly. "I will need your help."
The elf nodded, pushing his hair back from his face. He took out his own waterskin and began to clean the rest of the wounds, timidly at first, as if he was scared of hurting the Prince. When he realised that Legolas could not feel anything he began to really clean away the mud and dirt, though his hands were still gentle.
Galion took the athelas and began to pack it into the wounds, hoping to slow down infection. Legolas was white from shock and blood loss, and they could not risk him losing more blood, so Galion unwrapped his sterile needle and thread and began to sew up the wounds. He did it swiftly, for he knew it was only temporary for the journey home. Besides, he was beginning to panic slightly, though on the outside he stayed calm. Legolas was deathly pale and he hadn't moved at all. If it weren't for the weak pulse and the sluggish flow of blood from his wounds, Galion wasn't sure he would be able to tell he was alive.
He finished the wounds that he could reach and swiftly moved around to the other side of Legolas. The young elf shifted to Legolas' head, pulling the dirty blond hair from his face. Galion worked swiftly until all of the wounds on his front were stitched together. He frowned.
"Is that all?" he murmured. His gaze fell on the cloaks underneath Legolas. Gently reaching one hand underneath Legolas' back, his frown deepened. He pulled his hand away. It was covered in red blood.
Galion sucked in a sharp breath. "Quickly, we need to look at his back." Together he and the young elf rolled Legolas over, the young elf supporting him so his other wounds did not press on the ground. Galion groaned. A long gash ran down Legolas' back, slowly dripping blood. It was covered in mud.
"Pass me the waterskin" he said quickly, taking it from the elf's hand as he supported Legolas with the other. Galion uncorked the skin and poured it over Legolas' back, using an edge of his tunic to wipe away as much of the mud as possible. Crushing the last of the athelas he packed it into the length of the wound, before stitching it shut. It was the best he could do.
Galion moved back slightly, helping the young elf to lower Legolas back onto the cloaks. "Roll him onto his side" he said. "It will be the best way to keep pressure off of his wounds."
The young elf nodded and together they laid Legolas as best as they could on the cloaks spread over the mud. Galion took two rolls of bandages out of his pack. Passing one to the other elf, they swiftly bandaged the wounds.
"Will he be alright?" the young elf asked, his face pale as he looked at his Prince.
Galion sighed. "Honestly, I don't know" he murmured, feeling under Legolas' chin again for a pulse. It was there, but still very weak and thready. Galion had to concentrate to see Legolas breathing at all. "If we manage to get back to the stronghold quickly, he may make it, but…" He left the other option hanging in the air. It didn't need saying.
The young elf nodded determinedly. "I will go see what help I can offer the others" he said, rising slowly to his feet. He made his way across the clearing, where another elf was struggling to lift one of the bodies.
Galion, seated beside Legolas with one hand on his chest, looked around the forest with empty eyes. His patrol had worked quickly- most of the elves had been moved away from the carnage and were lying together at the edge of the clearing. A few worked there with scraps of fabric and any spare water to clean the blood from their faces. The rest of the elves were either piling the bodies of the orcs or tying together branches to make simple stretchers. One of them was being finished off. It was better made than the others, the branches tied tighter together, for it was to transport the injured, not the dead.
Soon, Galion watched as two elves brought it over, laying it on the ground next to Legolas. Stout branches had been tightly tied together with scraps of fabric and spare bowstrings, with thinner ones woven in between. One of the elves produced a blanket from his pack and spread it over the branches, doubling it up to try and make it as comfortable as possible.
Galion called over the rest of his patrol and they gathered around the stretcher and Legolas' limp form. Kneeling behind Legolas' head, Galion looked up.
"Grab the edges of the cloaks he is under" he said. "We need to be as gentle as possible."
Elves moved to stand around Legolas and knelt down, each grabbing an edge of the cloaks. "On three" said Galion. "One, two, three!"
They lifted together and swiftly laid Legolas down on the stretcher. Galion shifted him slightly, making sure that as little pressure as possible was being put on Legolas' wounds. He took off his own cloak and carefully laid it over the pale form lying on the stretcher. His chest seemed to ache at the sight of Legolas, looking so vulnerable and young, his eyes tightly shut. He gently touched Legolas' forehead; it was icy cold, so he tucked his cloak around the elf as much as he could.
Only a few elves wore cloaks- some of them having simply not worn them in the first place, and some of them having used them already for fabric, or for the stretchers. But the ones that still had them took them off. They laid them reverently over Legolas. Galion smiled up at them.
"Hannon le" he said softly. He looked around at them from where he knelt. "I need to leave now" he said. "I need two of you to come with me. The rest of you…" he sighed, bowing his head briefly. "You know what to do. Make sure you are safe. As soon as I get back to the stronghold I will send out another patrol to come and meet you." The surrounding patrol nodded and two elves detached from the group to pick up the stretcher bearing Legolas. Galion rose and positioned himself next to the stretcher, feeling again for a pulse.
"May the grace of the Valar be with you" he said to the patrol.
One of the elves stepped forwards. "And with you" he said softly. "Tell the King that all of our blessings go with the Prince." Unshed tears glittered in his eyes and Galion nodded.
"I will tell him" he promised. The two elves bearing the stretcher turned, and they began their journey back to the stronghold.
To Be Continued...
Mwahaha! Next chapter will come tomorrow.