River of Stars

Chapter Sixteen

They kept running all that day. It took only an hour or two for Abis's side to start to ache.
He thought nothing of it until the pain became much, much sharper, and more centralized. Then the taught pulling in his side began to loosen, like whenever a thread in his sleeve unraveled, and suddenly he was able to pull it on and off much easier than before.
Unfortunately, like a tear in his sleeve, he did not note the change until even later. When he felt the dizziness and fever begin to flood his head like a dam broken in a storm.
     It was near midnight, and he could not see the fabric of his shirt well, and he certainly could not check his side inconspicuously with the constant movement of their group.
     So he kept going, ignoring the growing heat in his face or instability of his movement.
     The rest of the remaining fellowship did not.
     "Abis," Strider called, stopped far ahead of him. Abis stopped, stumbling slightly, but met his eyes. It was not until now he realized his vision was beginning to fog, turning fuzzy and dark at the edges.
     "Are you alright?" The ranger asked cautiously.
     The other two had stopped now and turned to him.
     Abis debated his response. Was he alright? He couldn't be. But then, what was wrong with him?
     Finally, he reached beneath his cloak and felt his side. It was sticky and warm. Not in the way that sweat was sticky. But the thick feeling of blood, with the metallic smell that crept from the now exposed fabric.
     He should have known better.
     That was his last thought before his body finally gave out. He spiraled to the ground, already blacked out before he hit the grass.

     Abis woke into a blurry consciousness. It had felt like only a moment since he had fallen, but he was certainly being carried. To where, he did not know.
"Are you alright?" A soft voice asked from above him.
     He tried to focus his vision. Legolas sat in front of him, holding him gently by his shoulder. His support was probably the only thing keeping Abis upright.
     "He's awake!" The much gruffer voice of Gimli shouted, to, Abis assume, Strider.
     His old friend was at his side in an instant, pushing Legolas out of the way, much to Legolas's obvious disapproval.
     "What were you thinking," he demanded instantly. It was not a question, and Abis was not given time to respond. "You're stitches came undone. It must have been at least two hours ago. You've been bleeding freely and running for two hours. No wonder you fainted."
     In Abis's defense, he had never been stabbed before.
     Abis waited a moment to respond, not sure if he was done being scolded. After he decided Strider was, in fact, done, Abis pushed him back and moved to stand up. To the immediate protest of the rest of the company, of course.
     "We have to keep moving," he insisted, leaning against one of the large outcroppings of stone that he had been previously leaned against. "The longer we stay here, the farther the little ones get."
     Abis's hand jumped to his side, fussing with the hem of his shirt until he managed to get it above where the wound— previously stitched —had been freshly bandaged.
     "If you keep traveling like this, we could lose you to. I will not trade your life for theirs. No one life is worth another," Strider insisted.
     "One for two sounds like a fair enough trade."
     "Not if it's you, Abis."
     "Then you are letting your own selfishness and pride get in the way! I will not stop now, too many have died for this pointless adventure!"
     "No one is going to die," Gimli shouted over both of them. Abis and Strider both turned to him, startled. "Ay, that's right. I'd say you two are as bad as elves, but at least Legolas here has enough sense to keep him head in the general vicinity of his shoulders."
     Legolas made a face at that, not sure if that was meant to be a compliment or insult.
     It must not have been long since Abis had last been conscious, but it had certainly still been dark when he had awoken.
     Now, a low light spread steadily across the wide grassy fields.
"A red sun rises," Legolas murmured. "Blood has been spilled this night."
     "Oh, for- Not this again," Gimli grumbled.
Abis furrowed his brow at the convoluted message. Whether it was the fever, his own stupidity, or the actual wording, Abis could not say.
Before he could ask, a thundering storm of footfalls tore across the grasslands.
Strider shot forward, pulling Abis up and behind a large outcropping of stones. Legolas and Gimli followed close behind them.
A mass of horses rose past them, their riders armored from the bottom of their boots to the crown of their heads.
Strider seemed to realize who the riders were. He shared a quick glance with Legolas, then darted from their hasty hiding place and called to them.
"Riders of Rohan!"
     The riders turned quickly, redirecting whatever ride they were on to face Aragorn.
     "What news from the Mark?
     Legolas jumped up to stand beside Strider, supporting Abis with a gentle hand wrapped around his waist. Gimli came to Strider's other side.
     The riders swarmed around them. Trapping the four within a circle of horses and spears.
     Hands were raised in caution, and one rider pushed through the rest.
     "What business do an elf, two men, and a dwarf have in the Riddermark?" He asked. "Speak quickly!"
     Gimli, ever bold and proud, was the first to step forward.
     "Give me your name, horse-master, and I shall give you mine," he huffed.
     Abis pushed slightly away from Legolas, looking to Strider for direction. The ranger rolled his eyes with a quiet sigh at the dwarf's approach. With a sharp nod of his head, he directed Abis to Gimli's other side, and Strider put his hand on Gimli's shoulder in warning. Prepared to pull him back if the interaction were to dive south.
     The rider, that is the one who seemed to be in charge, dropped from his horse and loomed over the dwarf in just two sure strides.
     "I would cut off your head, Dwarf," the rider sneered, "if it stood but a little higher from the ground."
     Abis quickly reached for his shield, but was not faster than Legolas behind him.
     He jumped at the sound of the drawing bowstring near his ear as the elf prepared his bow. Abis had never seen Legolas defend any of them so fiercely outside battle, much less Gimli.
     "You would die before your stroke fell," Legolas growled.
     He was quickly surrounded, the circle growing even tighter for all spears to point nearly to Legolas's face. Still, he did not waver.
     Abis put his hand upon the archers own, pushing his arrow down to face the ground rather than the riders face.
     Legolas's face relaxed slightly as his eyes met Abis's own. Still such a beautiful, striking blue.
     They held gazes for three and a half heartbeats. Abis counted each one. As loud as the rest of the world had been a moment before, he swore now it was the only thing he could hear.
     Then he pulled away. Abis turned his eyes back to the riders in front of them, and made his hands stay at his side.
     Strider stepped in front of them, moving as much as any of them dare within the tight circle of pointed metal.
     "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn," he said flatly. Abis was still always shocked by his control of temper. "This is Gimli, son of Gloin, Abisi, son of Herran, and Legolas of the Woodland Realm."
     Abis winced at the mention of his fathers name, and the use of his full one. He had stopped using the full Abisi many years ago. Too long, and always unnecessary. The extra 'I' added nothing, meant nothing, yet bothered him beyond measure.
     "We are friends of Rohan and of Theoden, your king."
     The riders posture melted slightly, his head tilting down and shoulders falling.
     "Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe." He raised his hands, and Abis prepared for some kind of attack. Instead, the rider took the helmet from his head, and looked to Strider with sad, dark eyes. "Not even his own kin."
     "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king, and claimed lordship over these lands."
     Strider looked back at them. Concern the most clear Abis had seen on his face since they left the river where Boromir had died.
     "My company are those loyal to Rohan," the rider assured them. "And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked. And everywhere, his spies slip past our nets."
     He looked past Aragorn to Legolas. Though Abis did not understand the targeting of the elf, he itched to defend him.
     "We are no spies," Abis insisted, leveling a dark glare at the rider. Any sympathy for him dimming immediately.
     "We track a party of Urak-hai westward across the plain," Strider explained calmly. "They have taken two of our friends captive."
     "The Uraks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night," the rider countered.
     Gimli piped up then, inserting himself back into the conversation.
     "There we're two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?"
     "They would be small," Strider continued. "Only children to your eyes."
     The rider hesitated, eyes flickering between Strider and the ground.
     "We left none alive," he said solemnly and finally. "We piled the carcasses and burned them."
     They all looked to see the rising column of thick, gray smoke.
     Abis felt his heart drop, and his will go with it. He looked to Strider for anything, defiance, disbelief, stubborn resilience. But even the face of his stoic old friend bore nothing but grief.
     "Dead?" Gimli echoed.
     The rider looked to him, nodding. Abis understood the guilt that fell over all of them. The riders, realizing their mistake. And what may now be the final four living members of the fellowship, realizing they had failed.
     "I am sorry," the rider offered softly. The words felt so meaningless, but what else could he offer? If nothing else, Abis preferred it to an explanation. A lie.
     Anything Abis himself would say twisted and caught in his throat. He felt like the gnawing guilt and grief tugged at his insides like barbed wire tangled up with his insides and pulling them to shredded little pieces.
     It was a feeling he knew, but one he had hoped to never feel again.
     After a moment of heavy silence, the rider whistled and turned back to his men.
     "Hasufel! Arod!" At his call several horses came forward. "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters."
     He offered the horses to the company. Legolas took the first quickly, running his hands over its soft gray nose. And Abis found his hand straying unconsciously to his friends back as he too ran a hand over the horses face, brushing the hair from in front of its eyes.
     After just a moment of hesitation, the rider nodded to them, and turned away.
"Farewell," he said.
He remounted his horse and pulled his helmet back on. Before he left, he stopped one last time.
"Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands. We ride north!"
The last he called back to the other riders.
     The riders were gone just as quickly as they had come. It suddenly struck Abis that they knew not one of their names.
     The fellowship all looked at each other, now just as alone as before, save the two horses.
     Finally a smile spread across Abis's face, a new hope warming his chest.
     "Let's go get our hobbits."

Authors note: First off, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while but you know what it's almost end of year testing so you're just gonna have to get over it. Yeah I did not proof read this either, might later but it's like... 2000 words so that's a big maybe. Also throwback to that time I wore a sweatshirt for a few hours outside in the summer and blacked out ;)
Anyways, make sure that if you like this stuff you like the chapters! It's always motivating to see someone really enjoyed your work! Have a lovely night... or day... I guess...