46: Search and Rescue

Elladan rubbed his shoulder where the sword had sliced him, trying to ease the ache caused by the cold weather. It was a minor annoyance as he stood there watching the last set of racers reach the mile mark. He smiled as they came, one-by-one, pointing to the left.

"The trail is much easier from here on out," he said to them. "You’re doing great." The racers gave him weary smiles as they sauntered off. One... two... three... he mentally counted them off as they came. Six... seven... he looked for the eighth racer, sure that the person would be coming soon, but a minute went by and then three. He frowned at nothing in particular and reached for the walkie-talkie attached to his belt. He dialed it to a particular frequency, then spoke in it even as he kept his eyes on the trail.

"Ron, this is Dan."

"Go ahead, Dan."

"Only seven racers have come through. I’m going to backtrack on the trail."

"Hang on," came the command and there was a crackle of static for a moment and then it cleared. "Dan. It’s Alex. He never returned and none of the other racers saw anything out of the ordinary."

"Okay. I’m heading up the trail. Contact Loren and Ryan and my brother."

"We’re on our way."

Dan clipped the walkie-talkie back onto his belt and set off, lightly running on top of the snow, climbing the hill in a manner that would’ve stunned any of the Mortals had they witnessed it. Pain lanced through his shoulder as he reached out for a tree limb to steady himself as he climbed but he ignored it, concentrating on finding Alex, wondering what could’ve happened to the Mortal.

****

Glorfindel was standing in a field laughing as he watched a group of students attempt to climb over a wall of empty beer kegs in the winter obstacle course he and the other Elves had set up. It was one of the races they had devised and he had had much fun coming up with one zany obstacle after another. The Mortals were taking it in good stride and there was as much laughter among them as there were groans, so he assumed they were enjoying themselves. Walking away he decided to check to see how the ice shelter building contest was going. Besides these two contests, as well as the snowshoe and dog-sled races, there were races in cross-country skiing and ice skating, as well as an ice and snow sculpture contest and a chili cook-off all going on at the same time. The chili cook-off had been Elrohir’s idea, figuring that it would be a good way to feed everyone after all the races were done. He was supervising that, while also putting together one of his famous hot chocolate recipes with the help of Serindë.

He was making his way past the pond where the ice skating race was taking place when his walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"Loren, this is Ron."

"Go ahead, Ron." Glorfindel said.

"We have a problem," he heard Ron say. "One of our racers has gone missing. Dan’s backtracking the trail. He wants you, Ryan and Roy to help with the search."

"Who’s missing?" Glorfindel asked, his heart lurching. If any of the children were injured in these races it would be a terrible blow to people’s morale and he would never forgive himself, considering the races had been his idea in the first place.

"Alex," came the terse reply.

Glorfindel felt the blood drain from his face. Alex! Valar! Derek would never forgive them if anything happened to his gwador and he wasn’t there to help save him. "I’m on my way. I’ll find Ryan. You contact Roy."

"Will do," came the reply.

Glorfindel changed the frequency and pressed ‘send’ as he ran across the field to where he knew Amroth was overseeing the ice sculpture contest. "Gil, this is Loren."

"Go ahead, Loren," he heard Gil say. Gil was supervising the dog-sled race from the lodge.

"Is Derek with you?"

"No. He was in the third run. He should be at the resort by now. Why?"

"Alex was in the snowshoe race but he never completed the course. We’re doing a search for him now. Contact whoever’s at the resort and have them bring Derek here ASAP."

"That would be Conan."

"Good. Have Conan bring him to the lodge and keep him there. I’ll contact you as soon as I know anything."

He returned the walkie-talkie to his belt and slowed to a quick walk so as not to alert the students that anything was wrong. Amroth was standing with Nimrodel, the two of them admiring the various sculptures that were being created.

"Ryan!" he called out and Amroth turned, the smile on his face melting as he took in Glorfindel’s expression.

"What’s wrong?" he asked.

"It’s Alex," Glorfindel answered, speaking so that the nearby Mortals could not have heard. "He was in the snowshoe race and never completed the course. Dan’s looking for him now. Roy should be on his way as well."

"Let’s go," Amroth said. Nimrodel gave her husband a quick hug and then the two ellyn headed to where the snowshoe race had been held.

****

"Dan!"

"Here!" Elladan stood up from his crouch as he heard his brother calling to him. "Tread carefully," he admonished. "There are signs of an avalanche."

It was an unnecessary caution, for Roy’s feet barely touched the ground. Behind him came Glorfindel and Amroth.

"Did you find him?" Elrohir asked.

"Look," his twin said, pointing down into what appeared to be a gully, now steeped in shadow so it was difficult even for the Elves to see what lay below them, for it was late afternoon and the sun would be setting within an hour or so. "Part of the hill’s slid away. My guess is that he was walking too close to the edge and somehow slipped. He’s down there somewhere, according to the trees."

"Amroth, you’d better go back to the lodge and alert Marty," Glorfindel said, naming the resort’s owner. "Have him contact the med-evac team in Bettles. We may have to fly him out if he’s badly injured."

"I’ll bring back rope and a stretcher," Amroth said with a nod and headed back down the trail even as Elrohir was inching his way down the slope of the hill, clinging to one tree or another, careful not to set off another avalanche. Elladan and Glorfindel stood tensely by, barely breathing. At last, the ellon reached the floor of the gully and then Elladan started down while Glorfindel schooled himself to patience, waiting for the ellon to reach his brother before following. He saw Elladan stop and gasp as if in pain.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, tensing.

"Shoulder," came the reply and then Elladan started moving again. A minute later he reached the bottom and Glorfindel started down.

"Here," he heard Elrohir call softly as he inched his way down. "Let’s get this snow off him."

"What’s his condition?" Glorfindel called out, though not too loudly.

"He’s breathing and he’s pretty banged up," Elladan answered. "It’s a miracle he’s not dead and we can’t detect any broken bones."

"Thank the Valar!" Glorfindel reached the bottom and made his way to where the Twins were hunched over Alex, still half-covered in snow. The sons of Elrond were running their hands over the Mortal’s body, checking for injuries. "What about spinal injury or internal bleeding?" he asked as he knelt at Alex’s head, gently brushing the young Man’s hair.

"He’s lucky," Elrohir answered after a minute. "There’s no sign of internal injuries and his spinal cord is intact. He’s going to be a mass of bruises for awhile, though. Let’s see if we can rouse him." He leaned over, gently tapping Alex on the cheek and calling his name with voice and mind. Slowly, the Mortal responded, groaning slightly as he came to consciousness, blinking up at them, but not really seeing them yet.

"That’s it, Alex," Elrohir said gently. "Open your eyes."

Alex finally managed to keep his eyes open. He stared up at them blankly, giving no sign of recognition. He began struggling to sit up and three pairs of hands held him down.

"No, Alex. Stay still," Glorfindel ordered, but Alex refused to listen, fighting them.

"...Race... finish... race... gotta finish....can’t quit....shut up, Junior..."

"He’s raving," Elladan commented as they tried to sooth Alex’s struggles, which were becoming more and more frantic.

"Let him up," Glorfindel ordered, releasing his own hold on the Mortal and the Twins complied, helping Alex to sit up. They watched with concern as the Mortal attempted to extricate himself from the snow. Remarkably, the snowshoes were still intact. He managed to get to his knees, all the while mumbling about finishing the race and apparently speaking to someone named Junior. At a nod from Glorfindel, the Twins helped Alex to his feet, steadying him.

"... Race... finish....I’m getting up, okay?... Screw you, Junior...."

"All right, Alex," Glorfindel said, taking the Mortal’s head in his hands, forcing him to make eye contact. "You can finish the race, I promise." He looked around, trying to gauge where they were in relation to where the trail was. Elladan pointed to the left.

"If we follow this cut here, it’ll put us back on the trail," he said.

Glorfindel nodded. "Go ahead of us and remove any obstacles. Roy and I will stay with Alex."

"Amroth will be coming with rope and a stretcher," Elrohir pointed out. "Should we not wait for him?"

"Can you climb back up?" Glorfindel asked. "This hill will block a signal from the walkie-talkies. See if you can contact Amroth and let him know what’s going on. Then follow us. I have a feeling Alex will need all three of us before the end."

Elrohir nodded and swiftly headed back up the hill. All the while, Alex was standing there, swaying, seeing nothing, mumbling to himself, trying to move out of Glorfindel’s hold. Elladan came loping back. "The path is clear and the trail is only about a few hundred feet from here."

"Good. Take his other arm and let’s go. Yes, Alex, we’ll finish the race. That’s it... left foot, right foot. You’re doing just fine."

It was a nightmare. Glorfindel watched with grim despair as Alex struggled through the snow, determined to finish a race that had long ended. His pace was slow and awkward and the Elf knew the Mortal was in a great deal of pain. A part of him admired the young Man for his grit and determination; another part, a much larger part, wanted to bodily pick Alex up and haul him back to the lodge, but he knew that he couldn’t. For some reason, Alex needed to finish this race. He wondered who ‘Junior’ was.

He glanced back to see Elrohir approaching. "It’s getting on toward sunset. At this rate, Alex is not going to be able to see where he’s going before he reaches the finish line."

"I’ll go ahead and arrange for torches to light the way," Elrohir said and he loped off ahead of them, quickly disappearing from view.

"You’re doing great, Alex," Elladan said encouragingly. "Keep it up. You’re almost home."

Alex only nodded and kept going, his expression set. He pushed their hands away, determined to walk on his own. Twice he stumbled and only the quick reflexes of the Elves prevented him from falling on his face. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, freezing almost at once so that he was constantly rubbing his eyes to see.

And all the while, he kept up a litany to himself: "Finish… race… finish… Go to hell, Junior… Finish…."

It was heart-wrenching to watch. Slowly, ever so slowly they made their way along the trail. At one point, Elladan had to steer Alex in the right direction, for the trail curved and Alex was simply moving in a straight line. The sky darkened towards twilight and when Glorfindel happened to look up from watching Alex struggling along, he saw in the distance pinpoints of flame where tiki torches had been set up on either side of the trail leading to the finish line. He grabbed Alex’s arm and pointed.

"Look, Alex! See the torches? You’re almost home. You’re doing great."

Alex merely nodded as he plodded along. Then, Glorfindel noticed a rather remarkable thing: on either side of the trail were lined up the other students cheering Alex on, clapping and whistling as Alex passed them and at the other end, waiting for them was Derek and four others whom Glorfindel recognized and assumed were Alex’s teammates for the snowshoe race. Vorondur stood beside them along with Amroth and all the other Elves.

"You’re almost there, Alex," Elladan said to him encouragingly. "You’re going to make it."

And he did, stumbling at the last minute right into Nathan’s arms, while everyone else cheered.

"Let’s get these shoes off him," Glorfindel commanded as he knelt in the snow to remove one of the snowshoes, "and let’s get some blankets for him."

Alex, meanwhile, was weeping, holding onto Nathan while Carla, Shafali and Leanne knelt around them, awkwardly patting him. "I’m s-s-sorry, I’m sorry," he kept repeating.

"Why are you sorry?" Nathan asked. "You made it."

Alex shook his head. "I didn’t win," he almost wailed and began weeping even harder. Nathan looked around helplessly, not sure how to respond, but Derek saved him the trouble by motioning for Nathan to relinquish his hold on Alex so now he was half-lying in Derek’s arms.

"No, gwador," Derek said, gently rocking him. "You won the most important race of all. You didn’t give up. We’re all very proud of you."

"E-even Junior?" Alex asked and Derek gave Glorfindel an enquiring look but the Elf-lord merely shrugged.

"Yes, even Junior," Derek finally said, and that seemed to be all the reassurance Alex needed, for his tears subsided and he allowed himself to be wrapped in several blankets.

"We’re going to take you to the lodge, Alex," Glorfindel said, readjusting the blankets so they covered him. "I want Dan and Roy to check you over and then we’ll see about getting you back to the college."

Alex merely nodded and allowed Amroth to lift him up and carry him while everyone else followed.