365

apr.14.22

He heard a scream that made his blood run cold; it was the scream of a person in pain. The mere sound of it hurt his heart.

He'd taken off in a run, leaving his horse and his company behind. His fellow elf warriors called his name as he ran; he didn't stop or turn back.

Through the trees, on the riverbank sand, was a body, crumbled and bleeding from its leg. Slowly, he approached it.

The wound was caused by a goblin arrow, made of gnarled bone and coal metals; the girl had pulled it out and had thrown it at her feet. The elf saw her wet brown hair clinging to her head, and bright blue eyes, watching him. Rounded ears poked between strands of her river-soaked hair. Her breathing was rapid.

Her hand relaxed then; a worn dagger with a wooden handle rested in the sand beside her.

"You going to stare at me, pointy-ears? Or you gonna help me?" the girl asked then, breaking the elf from his thoughts.

"You're bleeding," he said then.

The girl chuckled. "Observant, are you." She attempted sitting up, her jaw clenched to hold back a scream.

The elf held her then, helping her upright. "Caused by a goblins arrow," he continued. "There are no goblins here." The elf untied a cloth piece tied to his quiver and set his bow down, and began tying the cloth above the girl's leg wound.

"Upstream," she said then, watching him carefully. "They ambushed me; I was crossing a fallen tree. I haven't the best balance at the best of times, but still – I slipped, fell into the water after they got me. My clumsiness alone probably saved me." She exhaled as she watched the elf tie a snug knot. "If this wound doesn't kill me first."

"It will not." He met her eyes. "Come with me; my people have herbs and remedies. They can treat your leg."

She watched the elf carefully; she couldn't get distracted by his beauty. Elves were known for being attractive, and this one was indeed, but there was something about him that invited her. His eyes, blue and intense, caring and hopeful. "At what cost? Elves are tricky, I've heard. They like to answer with yes and no."

"Rumors passed by dwarves and goblins," he assured. "But you are neither. You know not of my kin, as I know nothing of you."

She chuckled. "See? That's probably what they mean, by your speaking in tongues."

The elf rose his eyebrows in amusement. "You're bleeding near Orc territory from a goblin wound, and you're amused by how an elf speaks?"

"That's the small-mindedness of a human for you," she commented. "If you can save me, and my leg, I owe a great debt of honor to you."

"Stay alive, and we'll call it even."

The elf helped the girl up, and with his body supporting her, they limped back to the elf's abandoned company.