Luinhen's Tale

by Dinledhwen


Part 2

Instantly Aragorn grew alarmed by a now very pale Luinhen’s loosing consciousness and he quickly knelt down on one knee so he could feel on the elf’s neck if life still remained within his battered body or had gone on to the Hall of Mandos. Fortunately it remained but it wasn’t as strong as the Ranger would’ve like so he got back up to his feet just as Legolas joined him after he had finished an unsuccessful search for other survivors amongst the fallen away from the wall.

“I see you have been more successful then I,” the Mirkwood Prince observed with a note of hope in his voice while Aragorn led him and the two Rohirrim who were now carrying the litter over to the stairs that went up to the Rear Gate.

“Yes but my success may not last for long if we don’t hurry on to the Hornburg and to the King’s Hall where the women have set up a place of healing,” Aragorn replied.

Now as it turned out Luinhen was still alive by the time they reached the hall and soon he and the litter were being gently set down onto one of the King’s tables that were now being used for the treatment of the wounded. After that Aragorn and Legolas began to quickly remove the damaged cuirass by first lifting up the Lorien elf just far enough so it could be slipped off over his head. However the hauberk proved to be more difficult since the very fine gold mail tunic was long and also needed to come off the same way as the cuirass. So when they eventually did get it off of Luinhen after a struggle that was rougher then both had wanted they then feared that they their attempts to help may have done more harm then good.

At this point Luinhen’s dove gray cloth tunic was visible although by now most of its front was thoroughly soaked with the elf’s blood. Now Aragorn didn’t want to risk moving him anymore in trying to take it off so Legolas slipped out one of his white knives and began to cut it apart so they could simply pull it out from under him. Once that was done Luinhen’s wound was now clearly visible as an ugly red gash that started up by his left shoulder before continuing on down diagonally across his chest until it ended at his waist. And to make matters worse the elf’s breast bone and the lower ribs on his right side had also been cut completely through during the same blow so in some places the cut edges were now exposed as were his internal organs while blood continued to seep out.

Meanwhile the Lady Éowyn and another younger woman had hurried over with a medicinal herb infused water, cloths, and bandages so they could lend a hand. But when the woman saw Luinhen’s injury she quickly had to look away while she placed her hand over her mouth for she felt sicken by what she saw. So Éowyn sent her to fetch more clean clothes before she said to Aragorn in an awed filled whisper “How can he still be alive?”

“Only Eru knows. But he won’t be for long if we can’t get this cut back together so the bleeding will stop,” Aragorn replied while he rinsed off his hands with some of the water as did Legolas and Éowyn. Fortunately the bones realigned themselves perfectly without too much assistance from Aragorn so in no time he was holding the cut closed with his hands on top of some squares of folded cloth while Legolas held Luinhen up off the table far enough so that Éowyn and the younger woman who had now composed herself could wrap cloth strips just snug enough around the elf’s chest to hold the cut closed and the squares against it. After that Legolas gently lay Luinhen back down whose face was nearly white.

“It has been a blessing that he has remained unconscious all this time,” Legolas said softly. “Otherwise I shudder to think of the pain he would have felt if not.”

“I was thinking the very same thing,” Aragorn said while he rinsed off his hands. Then he turned to Éowyn. “We need a place where he can recover.”

“He will have my bed,” King Théoden said firmly while he walked up to them. “That is the very least I can do to start to show my appreciation for what he and his people have done in order to help mine fend off Saruman’s army.”

So Luinhen was carried to the King’s chamber by the same two Rohirrim with everyone else involved with him followed along behind. Once there the remainder of his clothes was removed and his body cleansed in private by Legolas since it was thought to be more fitting that way as he was the elf’s northern kin. Then everyone re-entered the room and with King Théoden’s help Legolas laid him with care in the bed before drawing up the covering

“Now what do we do?” asked Théoden while he studied Luinhen’s white face.

“We wait,” Aragorn said with a tired sigh. “Elves normally heal much faster then men. But Luinhen which is the name he called himself when I first found him has lost so much blood that he could now be too weak to do this and thus succumb to death later on. Hopefully our efforts to save him now came in time to prevent this from happening.”

After that it was agreed upon by all there that a watch was to be set up by the elf’s bedside. “I will sit with him,” Legolas said firmly to Aragorn. “You need to rest as does the King for both of you must be ready for whatever lies ahead.”