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My Sword Trembles - Book Three - 'My Sword' Series  by Agape4Gondor

Chapter Forty-Eight – Of Eagles and Eyries

When Faramir awoke, the world was already well lit. He looked about him, but there was no sign of Strider. The little boy bit his lip, wondering where the captain had gone to, but noted the fire was newly stoked, so he willed himself to stop worrying and began to dress. Strider’s horse snorted her good morrow. Gingerly, Faramir walked to his little pony. The beast seemed quite happy to see him and not the least bit skittish. Faramir patted her on the nose and whispered how much he loved her. Noting that both horses were eating some oats, he left them and walked to the cave entrance, and looked out upon the paltry path that wound its way up the mountain. To his chagrin, there was no sign of the Ranger. He cocked his head for a moment; he was sure he had heard something not quite right, but shrugged it off to badgers or rabbits. The thought caused him a small laugh. ‘I suppose I am growing older, if badgers no longer frighten me.’ Unfortunately, he did have to relieve himself, and the physical need that was so coupled with the memory, made it difficult for the boy to decide what to do.

There it was again! A small sound, one of hurt. He drew in a quick breath and hoped it was not Strider. Dropping softly to the ground, he peeked his head out from the cave’s mouth and looked further down. No sign of anything. He heard it again, but slightly to the right of him. Crawling on all fours, he left the cave and moved towards the sound. After a few moments, he heard it again and realized he was traveling in the right direction, though he surely hoped this was not a trap. Caution stopped him for a moment, but the sound came again, reminding him of some hurt animal. It did not sound like Strider.

At last, the sound stopped him; he was right upon whatever it was. He looked both ways and, hidden in the scrub, was an eagle. ‘But surely this cannot be an eagle,’ the boy thought, confused. ‘Such a small creature. A baby. Nay, an eaglet. But surely not just hatched?’ He watched, mesmerized, as the little creature tried to free itself from the bushes. At last, Faramir realized that the thing would not be able to work itself free. He crawled towards it, speaking softly, and was rewarded with a sharp glance and a lessening of the raptor’s thrashing.

“Hush, little one. I have you. Just let me get your wing untangled. Ouch!” A thorn bit into his finger, but he did not let that stop his rescue efforts. The bird quieted even further. ‘It cannot know I am helping it?’ he thought in surprise. But the eaglet had definitely quieted, staring at Faramir and watching as his hands worked to free the wing.

When the thorny twig broke, the wing sprang free and the bird hopped away. “Oh little one, is it damaged?” Faramir followed the bird out of the brambles and watched in consternation as the poor thing tried desperately to fly. Obviously, something was wrong with its wing. ‘Or,’ the lad thought, ‘it is too young and does not yet know how to fly.’ But no, the way the creature held its wing, it definitely looked wounded.

For a second time Faramir spoke softly and moved forward, and once again, the bird quieted. Kneeling down in front of it, Faramir brought his left hand before him as slowly as possible. The bird stared and cocked its head, but did not try to move away. Faramir, heartened by this show of trust, put out his hand. The bird lightly hopped onto his forearm. A soft, delighted chuckle escaped the boy, but the bird did not flinch nor retreat.

“Hmm. I wonder what I should do with you? I cannot leave the cave, for if Strider returns and I am not within, he will be greatly distressed.” He held his legs together, “And I must… I will take you back to the cave with me and we will wait together for Strider.”

He was disheartened when he realized that Strider was still not within the cave when he returned. A small shiver ran down his back, but he fought the fear that caused it, tried to put the eaglet down – and ran into a complication. The bird did not seem to want to let go and the talons, though small, were still sharp. They dug into his arm. “Oh little one,” Faramir cried out in pain, “it hurts.” The bird jumped down, hopped a half pace away, and looked at him. Faramir swore quizzically, but he did not care – the bird was off his arm and Faramir could take care of his necessity.

Returning to the cave, Faramir found the bird perched on the ledge where he himself had spent the night. ‘Does it know my scent?’ he wondered. “I am hungry and it is morning. You must be hungry too. What do I feed you, little one?” He pondered the question for a moment, then remembered a baby hawk Théodred had found a long time ago. “Meat. You eat meat, but I have none. Oh! I have some dried meat.” He ran for Strider’s pack, found the meal, and brought it back to the ledge. He chewed on a piece a few times, then offered it to the bird.

To his chagrin, the bird did not take the meat. The boy sighed. Another thought – he put the meat back into his mouth, chewed a few times more, then bent over and offered the meat with his lips. The bird lunged forward and grabbed the meat, downing it in a heartbeat’s time.

Faramir sat back in surprise. “Well, I suppose this is how you mean to eat.” Going through the same process again, Faramir was relieved to see the bird eating happily. “I do not know how to give you water… “ He looked about and found a rock that had a slight indentation in its side. The boy wiped it with his hand, then poured a few drops of water into it. The bird refused it, lunging for Faramir’s lips. The lad giggled. “All right. I will give you some more meat, but you really should drink something. Perhaps you need milk?”

“Nay,” Faramir almost jumped in alarm, then smiled self-consciously at Strider. “Eagles do not drink; they get all the fluids they need from the kill. Where did you find it?”

Taking a quick breath to slow his heart, the boy smiled. “In a bush nearby. When I woke, I heard it; it sounded as if injured.”

“Orcs and men use the same ploy, Faramir.” Strider’s voice seemed a little sharp to Faramir’s ear.

“I am sorry. I really thought of that, but it sounded pitiful.”

“I do not wish to belabor the fact, but so would a wily Orc or an evil man.”

Faramir hung his head in shame. “I am sorry.”

“As long as you learn this lesson, you need not feel sorrow. You have done a good thing; it appears injured.”

“It is. Its wing is hurt; I hope it is not broken.”

“Let me look at it,” the Ranger started forward and the eaglet began to flail its one good wing, hopping up and down. “Ah. I see it prefers you. Take the injured wing and hold it out a bit, then feel along the bone at the top. If it is broken, you will feel it.”

Faramir nodded and moved towards the bird. It immediately stopped its thrashing and jumped up onto Faramir’s arm. “Ouch!”

“If we cannot find its home, we will make a leather gauntlet for your arm. That will prevent tearing. I think you will need some care for that arm even now.”

The boy nodded. “It does hurt, but it will not let me leave it.”

“I see. You have fed it?”

“Yes. I am sorry; I used some of the dried meat in your pack.”

“Once you have fed one of these, they will not leave you until food is no longer produced. Now tell me, how does the wing feel?”

“It is not broken.”

“Good – then we do not need to splint it, just treat it gently till we find its nest.”

“Where would that be?”

“Very near – This one is still young, perhaps only sixty or seventy days old. See the markings on its wings? The white there shows it is still young. Let us try to find its nest.”

Faramir’s stomach growled.

“So you have fed the bird but not yourself. Well, let me make a fire.” The Ranger moved quickly and a fire was soon ready to heat their water. “I have met with one of Indis’ captains; the traitor has been found and captured. We are relatively safe, at the moment.”

After a quick breaking of their fast, the two tended to their horses. Hooves were cleaned and tails were brushed. Water was placed in a shallow crevice in the rock wall. “Now,” Aragorn stood back in approval, “we find this bird’s home and return it.”

Faramir nodded and stepped forward. The bird yelped and hopped onto Faramir’s arm. The boy too yelped, but stood steady. He walked forward, following Strider from the cave.

The Ranger looked about him, then pointed to the top of the cliff. “There!” Excitement rang in his voice. “Do you see that huge bundle of twigs and such? That is the bird’s nest. We must climb up and put your find in it. Hopefully, your scent will not scare away its Naneth and Adar.” He looked about. “This will be a difficult climb, Faramir. Have you climbed rock before?”

“I have. Many times with Boromir,” he swallowed convulsively. “And Théodred too on the way from Edoras. I will watch my feet and hands. You need not worry about me.”

The Ranger stood back, his brow furrowed. “You will be carrying a bird, Faramir. How will you climb with a bird on your arm?”

“Oh! I… I suppose it will be difficult.”

Aragorn laughed. “It will. I will have you go first. There is a path that leads quite a bit of the way; after that, we will have to scale rock. This is porous though and should afford hand and footholds.”

It took an hour to reach the end of the path. There, in the dust, lay a beautiful, full-grown Golden Eagle with an arrow through its throat. Faramir cried out in horror. The fledgling yelped and took off into the air. “Come back,” he cried, but the eagle was gone.

“Well, this explains why the bird was in the bush. Probably disturbed from the nest when its parent was killed. Look closely, Faramir. The talons of this one look like the scars on your shoulder.” Faramir drew back his shirt and Aragorn examined the scars. “They are the same.” The Ranger sat back in wonder. “This is the bird that saved you on the Anduin.”

Faramir began to sob. “I had hoped to find it and thank it.”

“You have thanked it by freeing its little one. This looks like the Naneth; it is quite large. I wonder where the Adar is?” They watched the skies above them, but no sound was heard, nor eagle seen. “Since our little friend has fled, I suggest we return to the cave, Faramir.”

The boy nodded, disheartened. “I thought it liked me.”

“Wild animals rarely bond to humans, Faramir. The bird stayed because you fed it.”

The boy’s head hung low. “I suppose so,” he whispered.

They walked quietly back to the cave. As they approached it, Aragorn stopped. “Faramir. We now begin your training. From this day onward, you are truly my squire. We will move from this cave and set up camp about a mile west of here. You will learn how to set up a camp, how to fish and hunt, how to protect yourself from mishaps, and how to serve your knight.”

Faramir’s eyes glistened with excitement. “Yes, my lord. I am ready.” Just then, the call of an eagle rang out. As Faramir looked up, his eaglet landed on the boy’s outstretched arm.

“I suppose you will have to name it.”

Faramir stood in shock. Finally catching his breath, he asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“We will not know for sometime. Even then, it will only be a guess.”

“Oh! Well then, I will name it Mithril.”

Aragorn laughed. “It is a Golden Eagle, Faramir. Mayhap another name would be more appropriate.”

“I did not know there were different kinds of eagles.”

“There are – though I doubt we will see many near here; the territory had been claimed by this one’s parents. The nest is at least eight years old, by the size of it.”

“Malthen.”

“Very good! Now, let us make a gauntlet for you and we can be on our way.”

~*~

A/N – 1) I might be going a ‘bit’ too far with Faramir and his ability to gentle animals, as described by Belegorn in RotK, but I don’t think so. 2) Gauntlet - Leathers of choice are brushed calfskin and goat leathers. These are more talon-proof than deer or elk leather yet retaining the extreme comfort. http://www.northwoodsfalconry.com/index.cgi?cat=%2FGauntlets&rm=listitems; 3) Malthen is Sindarin for golden.

 





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