Chapter 9 - Waking
It was the wind beating against the tent that finally roused Legolas from his long slumber. The canvas thrashed about, fighting the gusts, dirt and sand beating against it. The ropes and poles holding it in place strained against the pressure placed upon them. But it was the snapping of the thick material in such an unrhythmic way that eventually caught Legolas’ attention.
Waking up hadn’t been the most pleasurable experience. His thigh ached fiercely and the pain radiated down his leg, the throbbing at the wound site seemed to shake his entire body. His head as well was pounding and felt as though it weighed as much as an oliphaunt. His right arm was tingling as though he had slept on it for too long and that sensation also seemed to spread down his arm and into his fingers.
Worst of all, he woke to find himself bound tightly to a post. He was restrained by an odd type of rope around his wrists and elbows and third rope twisted securely about his neck. And, he was blindfolded. Stinging abrasions, where the rope had bit into his skin, marred his neck and a war raged between his heavy, spinning head and his battered flesh. His natural reflex to the pain in his neck was to pull away, the sudden motion causing his ailing head to pound and dizziness to ensue, which in turn resulted in the drop of his head and pull of the rope on his neck again. It was a brutal cycle and Legolas was forced to hold his leaden head as steady as possible.
As he became more coherent, memories began to flood his psyche. Legolas tried to piece together the fractured information. He understood that his situation was dire, that he had joined the others who had vanished from Ithilien. Legolas also knew that escape was not likely, he recalled some of what had happened last time he attempted to elude his captors. What the elf didn’t know was where he was, where he was going and for what purpose.
It was quiet, with the exception of the wind beating against the tent. Legolas had not spoken with anyone since waking. He could, occasionally, hear someone walking around outside the tent but had yet to see or speak with anyone.
He had worked on loosening his arms from the post, but had to give up once the binding started to cut into his wrists and arms and no progress had been made. He was unable to cause even a budge in the tight rope.
Moments ago he had started feeling nauseated. His head felt like it was spinning in circles, he had begun to shake and had broken into a cold sweat. His breathing had picked up and he tried, to no avail to slow it down. Taking large, deep breaths and slowly exhaling. He thought himself to be panicking, it was a sensation that he had never experienced before, but he remembered seeing men at Helm’s Deep, Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate suffer from similar symptoms as the battle drew near.
He was pulled from his memories by the sound of someone entering the tent. It was a man, Legolas could tell by the heaviness of the footsteps and the length of the breaths he took. He listened as the man walked around him. Legolas tilted his head as he listened, following the sound of the man’s steps and breathing. The man came to stand in front of him and there was a slight shuffling noise that Legolas interpreted as the man crouching down.
"Welcome back," the man’s voice sounded questioning, as though he wasn’t sure that Legolas was awake.
Legolas didn’t respond, he sucked in his breath and tried once again to slow his breathing rate down.
"I know you are able to speak. I have heard so."
Legolas continued to sit in silence, studying the tone in the man’s voice. He sounded curious and unsure, but there was also authority and self confidence in there as well.
"Fine, do not speak but you may find yourself craving the company eventually. My name is Medero and I am your host. I will try to make your journey as comfortable as possible considering the circumstances."
"And what are the circumstances?" Legolas had to ask, he had to know what was going on.
"Ah, so you do have a tongue," Medero smiled. "We travel South that is all I will tell you. How are you feeling?"
Legolas let out a small grunt at this, "How long have I been asleep?"
"It really makes no difference."
Legolas’ stomach dropped and he began to feel more nauseated. He had been under this mans control for Valar knew how long and he could only remember obscure bits and pieces. His head started to feel heavy again and he felt it sway as he fought to keep it upright.
"You should begin to feel the effects of the sedative wearing off and you will probably be quite uncomfortable for the day. We will not move out until night fall, I will send Kael in to aid you and look at that leg wound" Medero rose to his feet and made for the tent opening.
"What happened to my leg?" Legolas inquired. He could not remember sustaining an injury and if this man would provide answers then he felt no shame in asking.
"One of my men got overly ambitious, my apologies, you were not supposed to be injured." Medero paused for a moment and Legolas searched his memory for anything familiar. "I will get Kael. He will help."
Medero stepped out of the tent and Legolas was alone once again. The wind had died down somewhat and he was able to better hear the goings on outside of the tent. He could hear the quiet mumble of men talking to each other but couldn’t make out what they were saying. He heard a horse neigh off in the distance. It was what he couldn’t hear that began to scare him, he couldn’t hear the trees. He couldn’t hear birds. He couldn’t hear anything of nature at all. He felt lost and alone.
His head began to spin faster and his breathing increased again. He could hear and feel his heart thumping inside his chest. He had started shaking more violently and felt beads of sweat breaking out on his arms, neck and back. What was happening?
Relax, breath, relax.
The tent flap flew open again and Legolas heard another man enter. This man was lighter than Medero and moved more quickly and Legolas figured that this must be the man Kael, whom Medero had referred to. He didn’t waste anytime surveying the captive elf, he immediately knelt down on the ground and put a water skin to the Legolas’ mouth.
The water felt wonderful in the elf Prince’s mouth and he greedily drank in as much as he could before the skin was pulled away once again.
"I am going to give you an herb, it will not hurt you or make you sleep, it will just ease the nausea and trembling." the man’s voice was higher pitched than Medero’s and it was almost soothing to Legolas’ ears.
"What is happening to me?" Legolas’ voice was shaking and didn’t sound like his own.
"You have had large amounts of a sedative administered to you for many days and you have become accustomed to it, your body now desires it. I will help you fight the yearning and you should be well in perhaps a day." as he explained this he placed some crushed leaves into Legolas’ mouth.
The leaves had a metallic flavor to them and seemed, almost, to melt in his mouth.
Kael then cut the rope bound around Legolas’ neck, allowing his head to fall forward, his chin coming to rest on his chest and the healer brushed his long, golden hair aside and placed a cool cloth on the back of his neck.
"Sleep if you must, it will probably make this easier for the both of us. I will sit with you until we depart tonight and continue to administer aid. Hopefully you will be feeling more yourself soon."
Legolas marveled at this mans kindness and help, it didn’t make any sense to him. "Why are you helping me?"
Kael had now turned his focus to Legolas’ leg and had begun to spread a salve around the healing wound. "You must be in good health when we reach our destination, otherwise Medero will not get the highest payment possible for you."
So that was it. Medero was a slave runner and his current customer had an interest in elves.
"Where are the others? Are they well?" Legolas was still having difficulty raising his head to address the healer so he tilted his head slightly, awaiting the answer.
"The other elves? They are all fine, do not worry yourself over them. You have enough to occupy your mind at the moment."
Legolas was relieved when the man confirmed that the other elves were nearby. He hoped there were still just the four of them and no others had been taken in his absence.
Unable to fight against the tug of sleep any longer, Legolas slowly started to drift off to sleep. The shaking had begun to subside and the nausea was near gone. He needed to rest for now. When he woke and was feeling more himself he would begin to figure out a way to get himself and the others out of this mess.