The
Hunt
The
sun was shining as young Aragorn crept through the woods near to Trollshaws-
the white deer had been sighted and the Elves were out hunting.
Aragorn
as usual had fallen behind the main hunting party but had not given up on his
chance of sighting a deer if not actually hunting one for the table. If nothing
else he could use the time in tracking the Elven party which had gone ahead. If
he could track them he could track anyone or thing.
There
was sound in the distance where he thought the Elf party should be, but it
didn’t sound like the sounds of celebration- more like the din of battle. He
drew his sword and crept through the undergrowth closer to the noise. The
clamour was closer, so he pushed aside a branch and saw the cause- the hunting
party had been ambushed by a party of Orcs, which out numbered them many to
one. He leapt into the battle, his sword sweeping left and right, clearing a
space for him to work in. He could see
Elrond holding off five orcs, his silvery blade flashing too quick to be
seen. Elladan and Elrohir were also
dealing with several of the foul breed, as were others of the party. All seemed
to be coping. He shrugged his shoulders- so much for his coming to the
rescue. A sword swept in from his right
side, he dodged to the left and parried it.
‘Human!
What are you doing with the stargazers?’ hissed the hideous creature.
‘These
are my people, and you are in my wood,’ he retorted slashing the creature
across the face. It feel back, clutching at the wound so he stepped forward and
finished it with a stab to the chest.
‘Well
done Aragorn, nicely parried.’ It was Elladan, yet
again taking any chance to jest with his adopted brother. Aragorn returned a grimace and turned and
stabbed yet another through the chest as it tried to creep up on him. He span to the right, jumping as an axe came
in at knee height, bringing the pummel of his sword down on the creature’s
skull before swinging the sword up and removing its head. The black gore spread everywhere causing him
to momentarily loose his footing. He slipped to his knees as a
ugly billhook flow through the space where his head should have been. He
slashed up, opening the beast’s stomach to throat, its entrails spilling onto
the forest floor.
‘Archers,
archers,’ shouted Olambë ‘Archers in the trees!’
Aragorn
spun to side as an black head arrow flew towards him,
grazing his chest in its flight. He saw
the archer just inside the tree line and began to fight his way towards it. The
archer seemed to be searching for someone, not just firing into the melee. He suddenly realised that the brute had his
eye on Elrond, and was drawing his bow to aim for the Elf Lord.
‘Elrond,
get down!’ he screamed as he launched himself forwards. He had no plan, just to stop the arrow from
reaching its mark. He barrelled into the
archer, knocking it aside as it let loose the arrow, punching its face to a
bloody pulp, ignoring the whining and pleading noises it made. Filthy creatures, not content with hunting
for food they killed for pleasure, despoiling and ruining all they touched.
The
orcs, realising that they were beaten, turned and ran, not in any sort of
orderly retreat but a complete riot.
Aragorn, still dealing with the archer, was unaware and knocked flat,
stunning himself on a tree root.
When
next he came to his senses all was quiet- the elf hunters had gone in pursuit
of fouler prey. He climbed to his feet,
fighting the dizziness that threaten to swamp him, and looked around the glade.
Several piles of orc bodies showed where the Elven hunters had stood their
ground. The breath suddenly caught in his throat.
Leaning
against a tree was Elrond, his eyes shut and a cruel black arrow piecing his
chest. Aragorn rushed towards his adopted father, crying out in despair.
‘Adar, nai adar,
speak to me.’
Elrond
opened his eyes and smiled at his human son.
‘It’s
all right Estel. It’s only through my shoulder, not serious. The others will be back soon and they can
help to release me.’
Aragorn
would not believe him until he had checked for himself. ‘It’s gone right
through! Shall I pull it out?’
‘No
ionn leave it. If you pull it out
more damage will be done. It must be pushed through, but not now, you have
nothing to dress the wound with. Telair has some dressing he will help when
they come back,’
Aragorn
nodded. As usual his father was right in matters of healing. He had panicked
but he had so much to learn. He offered the water skin that he carried to
Elrond, who gratefully drank. He could
see that Aragorn although only sixteen years old was becoming a resourceful
man, always ready to learn.
‘You
fought well, Estel, I saw you kill at least three of those creatures.’
Aragorn
nodded, ‘There’s another one over there, it was the
one that shot you. I couldn’t get to it soon enough.’
‘Estel,
you cannot be responsible for everyone. You warned me, and diverted the arrow
enough to not cause a fatal wound. You
did well, don’t berate yourself.’
‘I’m sorry father. ‘
‘Why
don’t you light a fire and put some water on to heat? The others will
appreciate a hot drink when they’ve finished, and there will be other wounds
that need cleaning.’
Aragorn
nodded. He knew what his father was doing- keep him busy and he’ll stop
fretting.
‘I’ll
collect wood, the water skin is here.’
Elrond
nodded. Aragorn ran off in search of suitable wood. Elrond couldn’t help but
smile, everything was always in such a hurry when Estel was around. He wanted
things to happen and he wanted them to happen now, he rushed from thing to thing, never giving any his full
attention. He signed, his fosterling was only young,
young in human years and even younger in Elven terms.
Suddenly
Aragorn burst back into the clearing, gasping for breath
‘The
orcs have doubled back around! They’re heading back here and there’s
at least twenty of them! I can’t fight that many!’
‘Calm
yourself Estel. What is the panic?’
Aragorn
took a deep breath, knowing that he was making no sense.
‘About
half a mile from here the path branches. Most of the orcs went one way, and the
hunters have followed them. But some were hiding until they’d gone past, they’re on their way back here. We’ve got to hide,
there’s too many for the two of us to fight. What am I talking about? You can’t
fight! You’ve got an arrow stuck in you!’
Aragorn
looked around but no longer in terror. His mind had become deadly calm and
everything was in sharp contrast.
‘Do
you think you could climb that tree, father?’
‘Yes,
I think I could. But why, they will track us to the tree and then burn it with
us in it.’
‘Not
us, you. I’ll help you up, then I can confuse the
trail and lead them off. The others will
have realised what has happened and be on their way back by now. You stay up the tree until you’re sure it’s
them. I’ll lead them away and double
back after a while, by which time the others will be back and we can all deal
with them. I hope.’
Elrond
nodded. The plan was good, but could Estel outrun a pack of hunting orcs?
‘I
can do it father,’ Aragorn said, knowing what his father was thinking.
Elrond
nodded, ‘Help me up then. The quicker I can get up the tree the sooner you can
get away.’
The
Elf managed to climb into the tree with Aragorn’s help. He was a lot weaker
than he’d thought. Soon he was perched high up above the clearing. Aragorn had
found his sword and a knife which he returned to him.
‘No
matter what happens stay in the tree. I get the
feeling that the orcs are out to get you for some reason,.’
cautioned Aragorn as he departed.
Elrond
could just see through the branches as Aragorn stirred up the clearing floor
before disappearing into the forest. Now he would just have to wait. He shifted
his body in an attempt to ease the pain from the arrow, but froze as a band of
orcs ran into the clearing.
‘I
tell you Meskrut, I saw that Elf get stuck by an arrow before we ran off, stuck
good. If we can find it we can take it back to the master. He said we could play with it when he’d finished with it. If it’s
not dead.’
‘You
might have seen if get stuck, but it ain’t here now is it, Gokkert?’
‘Na, where’s it gone? Can’t have got far.
Look here’s its blood against the tree.’
‘Looky here. There was something left behind. I reckon it’s that human that
hang out with them. I bet it’s
taken the elf.’
‘But where? If we don’t take it back. He’ll have us
as warg grub. I don’t want to get eaten by them things ever.’
Their
conversation was broken when another band entered the clearing dragging with
them Aragorn.
‘This
ran into us when we came round the back way. Trying to run away we thinks it was.’
‘Let
me look at it,’ said Gokkert, ‘Yeah, this is the one I saw with the elves. Where have you put him, human?’
Aragorn
pulled himself free of the restraining hands.
‘Where
have I put what?’
This
earned him a cuff from Gokkert, ‘Don’t be so bleeding clever. Where’s the
elf? I know he got stuck. So he couldn’t
have run away. Where is he?’
Aragorn
wiped his lip. The cuff had split his lip which was now bleeding.
‘I
don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m a hunter. I was out hunting and heard
the fighting so I ran away.’
‘Ran away alright you did. But not until you’d killed four of our
lads. Now where have you put the elf?’
Aragorn
gave him a blank look, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Meskrut
stepped forwards and hit him in the stomach, causing him to double over winded,
as he double over it grabbed him by the hair and slapped him across the face,
splitting his lip further.
‘Give
him a bit of a slapping lads. Maybe it will help him
to remember. Not too much though you don’t want him to die on you.’
The
orcs closed in around Aragorn, kicking and punching. Elrond realised that if he didn’t intervene
there was a likely hood that the orcs would beat Aragorn to death just for
fun. He tentatively began to climb from
his perch.
‘Tampa,
dina esta,’ Aragorn shouted
‘What’s
that he’s saying? That sound like elf-talk to me. I told you he was with
them. Where is it boy,
and well let you go without hurting you any more.’
‘Nurta, umuma dela.’
‘What, what’s that? Tell me now or I’ll hurt you proper.’
screamed Meskrut.
‘Mereth en draugrim.’ spat Aragorn.
‘Lift
him up boys, lets give him a tickle with me old tickler, maybe he’ll learn some
manners then and talk proper.’
Aragorn
could sense that Elrond was beginning to climb from his perch.
‘No, stay there, they’ll kill you, please
stay there,’ Aragorn called harshly in Sindarin.
Elrond
stopped, the boy was getting a beating, but he could hear the others making
their way back through the forest.
‘Hold
on my son, help is coming,’ he whispered, ‘Hold on.’
By
now the orcs had Aragorn flat against a tree with his face pressed cruelly into
the bark. Gokkert tore the clothing from his back and Meskrut shook out a long
evil-looking whip. Two orcs held Aragorn’s arms outstretched, exposing the
tender flesh of his back.
‘Last
chance before I tickle you boy. Now where is it?’
Not
giving the young human a chance to reply he flicked the whip forward, hardly
seeming to touch the bare skin of Aragorn’s back but a bloody welt appeared as
he arched his back in pain.
‘Talking
yet? No? Never mind, you will in a bit.’
Meskrut
then began to flog the bare flesh with a slow and painful regularity, leaving
welt after welt. Soon Aragorn’s back was streaming with blood, but still he
kept his silence.
‘This
is boring,’ said one of the orcs holding his arms. ‘Can’t we try something else?.’
‘Yeah
let’s try something else. Where’s that new stuff the master made up, that stuff
that makes them do what ever you ask?’
‘That’s
an idea, I’d forgotten about that, who’s got it?’
A
small orc came forward and offered a black skinned bag to Meskrut, who took it
grinning.
‘Right
let’s have his mouth open, he’ll play our games better after a dose of
this.’
Even
in his beaten and stunned state Aragorn was not going to let them pour the
potion into him without a fight.
‘Hold
still you worm, hold him I said! How can I get it into him if you don’t hold
him still?’
Still
Aragorn struggled.
‘Damn
this,’ said Meskrut and slapped him hard across his face, momentarily stunning
him. Then pinching his nose, forcing him to open his mouth, he poured the foul
smelling concoction in.
‘Hold
his mouth shut now. Don’t let him spit it out. Take your medicine like a good
boy now.’
Meskrut
struck him in the stomach causing him to gasp for air and in doing so swallow
the brew. He double over in pain as it seared its way down his throat. The orcs
dropped him to the ground where he lay writhing in torture.
‘Leave
it a minute lads, then he’ll have remembered his
manners. Where the hell did he come from?’
Meskrut
had seen out of the corner of his eye Elrond step from behind the tree that he
had just climbed down. He had pulled his
cloak around his body so that the arrow could not be seen and now stood ready
sword in hand. He wouldn’t let the boy suffer any more, he had suffered enough.
All
the orcs froze, the tall Elf had appeared as if by magic from nowhere. They
gibbered in alarm.
‘Don’t
just stand there, it’s by itself! Kill it, kill it now!’ shrieked Gokkert. That was the last thing it ever said as an
elven arrow flew from the trees, piercing it through the eye.
The
orcs now in blind terror tried to run away, but the Elf hunters would not be
done out of their prey. Within a short
moment they all laid slain. Telair went from creature to creature to ensure
that all were dead.
Elladan
and Elrohir ran to their father who was using the support of a tree to stay
upright.
‘Father,
are you all right? We realised that you and Estel were missing and came
straight back. You’re hurt.’
He
could see the blood seeping through the cloth of the Elven cape.
‘See
to Estel- he’s over there,’ gestured Elrond as he sunk to his knees. ‘He was
trying to protect me.’
Elladan
ran to the pile of orc bodies and with help from Telair pulled them away to
reveal the body of Aragorn curled into a foetal ball around the agony in his
stomach. They gently lifted him up and away from the foul beings who had done this to him, and carried him to where Elrohir
was dressing his fathers shoulder.
‘Some
sort of Mordor brew,’ said Elrond through his son’s ministrations. ‘You need to
make him vomit it up. Get some
horseradish and make a tea quickly, that should work.’
Quickly
a fire was lit and the bitter tea was made. Elrond, taking Aragorn’s head on
his lap, poured some into his mouth and massaged his throat to make him
swallow. The effect was nearly instantaneous. Elrond held Aragorn’s heaving
shoulders until his stomach was empty. He then fed the lad a soothing tea of
slippery bark to ease the tormented lining of his stomach, spooning it gently
though his son’s cut lips. With help he
rolled him onto his stomach and spread a soothing balm over the bleeding welts,
and cocooned him in a soft Elven blanket to sleep. Then he sat to watch over
him, it was the least that he could do, considering what he had been willing to
do for him.
The
Elves soon had a comfortable camp set up and a loin of deer roasting over the
fire.
Elladan
came to his father with a plate of the roast meat and a hunk of bread to soak
the gravy.
‘How
is he?’
‘Asleep.
That’s what he needs, sleep.’
‘So
do you Father, that’s a nasty wound you’ve got. You’ll be no help to him if he
needs you when you’re sick yourself.
Rest, I’ll watch him and wake you if you’re needed.’
Elrond
nodded, he was weary. He looked at
his older son, ‘He kept crying out, telling me to stay hidden. He was willing
to die there.’
‘Yes
Father, he was willing, but he hasn’t. Now sleep.’
He
draw a blanket around his father’s shoulders and
pushed him down onto the forest loam. Within minutes of the older Elf’s head
touching the rolled pack his breath became even and his eyes glazed over in
sleep.
Elladan
nodded, good he was asleep. Elrohir came
over to his twin brother, sitting crossed legged between the sleeping two.
‘Both asleep, well done.’
They then sat to keep the night watch over the two injured pair.
As
the first rays of the sun broke through the trees Elrond stirred, groaned and
pushed the blanket away.
‘Quel
amrun,
‘Quel amrun yourself, I’m getting too old
for this camping out.’
‘How
are you feeling, apart from grumpy?’
‘Well,
my shoulder is healing well. Has Estel
stirred yet?’
A
noise from the cocooned figure draw their attention to Estel, he was trying
without much success to unwind the blanket that Elrond had enveloped him in.
‘Easy,
tithen muindor easy,’ said Elrohir as
he eased the tangled blanket from around him.
‘Father?
Where’s Father?’ cried Aragorn.
‘I’m
here son. How do you feel?’
‘Father,’
Aragorn pushed himself upright, wincing with the pain of his tormented back and
stomach. ‘I wouldn’t have told them where you were hiding, I wouldn’t!’
‘I
know you wouldn’t, but I won’t let you suffer on my behalf. You’ll have enough to endure without me
adding to your burden.’ He took the young man’s body in his arms and gently
cradled him.
‘I
don’t understand you
‘You’ll
learn about them soon enough, my son. Soon enough, but your brothers and I will
be there and will help you to be strong to bear them.’
Aragorn
lay in his Father’s arms, his back was a burning sheet and he ached everywhere
but…he was at peace.
Sindarin Translation
‘Adar, nai adar...’ -
Father, no Father
‘ionn’
-
son
‘
‘Nurta,
umuma dela.’ -
Hide, don't worry
‘Mereth
en draugrim.’ - Feast of wolves
‘Quel amrun, Ada.’ - Good morning, Dad
‘tithen muindor’ - little brother