~languages spoken other than elvish in~

Chapter 7: The Stranger and the Horse

Early the next morn, the elves of Mirkwood were busily tending to matters of everyday life. There was no trace that a feast that had carried on late into the evening had even taken place in the forest. Nor could one guess by looking at the elves cheerfully going about their tasks that they had slept only a couple of hours.

Mithrandir looked down upon the bustling elf kingdom from Thranduil’s study. Thranduil’s study was one of the few rooms built in such a way that was connected both with the interior cave palace and the exterior forest. In case of attack the study would be doubly sealed off, from the balcony that faced outside and from the interior entrances, rendering it practically impenetrable. The study had a second balcony which faced the interior of the grand palace hall, and Thranduil, on occasion would use either balcony to address large crowds gathered in or outside the palace.

“Thranduil, I would like Lotórie and Aníralendon to accompany me on an outing. I already checked with Laurenor and Istawen and they are pleased with the idea. Would you grant your permission?”

“Of course, Mithrandir, I see no reason why to discourage it. I know you would not lead them into a dangerous situation, some mischief maybe, but danger- no,” the wood-elf king responded.

“Then it is settled, I will go fetch Aní and Lotórie and be on our way. Do not expect us back until this evening, and can you please send for some provisions to be readied for us?”

“It is done,” Thranduil responded. The two walked out of Thranduil’s study and

headed to the outside of the palace. As the gates closed behind them, the two found Aní and Lotórie standing with the horses that would accompany them on the day’s excursion with Mithrandir, proper supplies in tow. “So sure were you two that I would give permission to your outing with Mithrandir?”

Thranduil’s grandchildren nodded happily. Aní helped Lotórie mount her horse and then led Mithrandir’s steed to him. “Of course Adar, we could think of no reason you would prohibit this little adventure of ours,” Aní responded. Once Mithrandir was mounted, Aní jumped on his horse.

Thranduil replied, cocking his eyebrow, “Adventure you say? My gut begins to warn me that you are all privy to some knowledge that I am not aware of!”

Lotórie and Aní glanced at each other, grinning widely, and then looked over to Mithrandir who simply raised an eyebrow, mimicking the king, “Do not worry Thranduil, there is no danger involved as you yourself have acknowledged.”

And with that said, Mithrandir’s steed turned around and trotted off over the bridge that crossed the river in front of the cavernous palace, towards the forest. The other two horses grunted and whinnied, gladly following suit. The two young elves turned to their grandfather and waved. Lotórie shouted back, “Please tell uncle Legolas that I will be back soon and not to worry. I have Aní and Mithrandir to protect me!”

Aní was surprised by Lotórie’s acknowledgement of him as a warrior that could protect her. He sat up straighter on his mount and attempted to look as dignified and warriorly as possible.

Mithrandir assured, “Your warrior skills will not be needed today young Aní, but your carefree youthfulness will be much in demand.”

The threesome rode out at a leisurely pace and not long after leaving the populated forest area, happened upon a clearing along side the path. At first the clearing appeared to be no wider than a horse’s length, but as the riders entered it expanded into a wide field, filled with yellow flowers and wild grass that reflected the sun’s light. In the middle stood a large beech tree that provided ample shade from the radiant sun.

“Let us set up under that tree”, the istari announced, but before Aní or Lotórie could object he added, “This old man needs some shade. You two can frolic as much as you like in the sunlight.” The two elves busied themselves setting out the food and drinks they had brought, and laid out a pillow for the wizard. As soon as everything was ready the trio sat down to their brunch of bread, honey and fruit.

***

“Do you hear that?” Aní asked.

Lotórie nodded in acknowledgement. The elves could hear what sounded like a horse approaching them, but yet unseen. Their ears were alert as the sound came closer, but the source of the sound remained hidden from view by the dense forest. Suddenly a horse emerged from behind the dense thicket of trees. Aní gasped, it was like no other horse he had seen.

It had a long lean neck and head, strong lean body, not bulky, built for speed. The coloring of the horse was just as marvelous. Its face and snout were the color of winter snow which faded into a tan brown at the ears and cheeks, the brown continuing down the neck, towards the chest of the horse and its fore legs. A few speckles of white decorated the neck and chest of the horse. The male horse’s back faded into the same snowy white color found on the face. Its stomach and hind quarters were of the same white coloring. This part of the horse was greatly littered with brown spots, giving the horse a look much like a spotted owl.

The horse bore none of the conventional riding gear of mortals, and it was obviously not an elven horse. The mane and the tale of the horse were short, unlike the long hair prevalent on elven bread horses. It was a curious creature, and turned its ears intently towards the picnickers. It came to a slow stop a couple of feet before them and shook its head vigorously. The horse paused to look at his audience and snorted through exposed teeth, pawing the ground with his hooves. He certainly was trying to communicate with them.

Aní stood up slowly and spoke soothingly to the horse. The horse’s ears turned towards the source of the sounds and twitched. He stepped towards the male figure cautiously, eyeing him carefully. Aní made sure he did not stare the horse in the face, and tried to maintain his shoulder towards the horse. He wanted to gain its trust. The horse extended his right hoof forward and stretched out his neck towards Aní. The horse’s nostrils flared as he tried to catch the strange creature’s scent. Meanwhile, Aní was inching closer to the horse stopping if there was any twitch he could sense in the horse’s sensitive muscles. The horse lowered its head and whinnied lightly. Aní slowly turned his body towards the horse until he was directly facing the imposing creature. Aní’s gaze was turned down.

“If you will grant me permission,” Aní soothingly spoke, “I would like to meet you directly.” The horse neighed again softly, and Aní brought his eyes up slowly to meet the horse’s gaze.” Elf and horse looked into each others eyes, contemplating one another. Aní spoke other words in Sindarin with the horse, intermingled with phrases in Quenya. The horse approached Aní and nudged the elf slightly in the chest. Aní slowly reached up to the horse’s neck and began patting it. He slowly let his hands wander up to the horse’s cheeks and ultimately was able to place his hand gently on the horse’s forehead.

The horse nudged Aní’s hand as if trying to get the elf to pet him. Aní obliged, “Ah, so you like this don’t you.” The horse blew air in Aní’s face causing the elf to laugh. “So you are playful too?”

The horse looked over curiously towards Mithrandir and Lotórie. Aní motioned them to come forward and not surprisingly the horse headed to Mithrandir and rubbed his nose on the wizards shoulder. Mithrandir chuckled, “This steed knows a friend when he sees one.”

Lotórie approached the stallion and rubbed its neck. The horse grunted appreciatively. “Who do you think he belongs to,” she asked.

“I do not know, but I sense that this creature is trying to communicate something with us,” the wizard answered.

The horse neighed louder this time and turned his head towards the patch of woods he had materialized from. He slowly walked towards the wall of trees and turned again to look at his new found friends. He tossed his head and stomped the ground. Mithrandir followed the horse, motioning for Aní and Lotórie to remain behind. The horse turned back and proceeded into the forest with Mithrandir following closely behind.

There besides an old tree Mithrandir looked upon what appeared to be a young woman. She was sitting on the ground leaning her body against the tree. Her shirt was the bright color of a morning sky and upon it were painted eagles and strange creatures that were warg-like in appearance, but it was stained dark red. She wore dark faded pants, and had a large woolen blanket the color of the night sky wrapped loosely around her. The young woman was clutching her shoulder with one arm and grasping a small blade in the other. Her hair was messily gathered at the nape of her neck.

The obviously weakened and injured stranger had not noticed Mithrandir. The wizard was slowly backing away when he bumped into two bodies that had mysteriously appeared behind him. Lotórie let out a yelp upon seeing the woman that had been blocked from her sight of vision by Gandalf’s back. The sound startled the young stranger and she looked in terror towards the unknown people.

Lotórie cried softly to Mithrandir, “She’s hurt-- look she bleeds!”

The elfling’s voice seemed to frighten the young stranger further, causing her to try to stand up. Aní noticed that this movement caused her great pain, “Please don’t move. Let us help you.”

The woman nudged her way to a standing position against the tree and held her blade out as menacingly as possible towards the group with what seemed to be her only useable hand and arm.

The young woman cried out hoarsely as Aní tried to approach her, ~Qochata, qochata-- .~

Aní turned confused towards Mithrandir, “What is she saying. She seems very afraid of me?”

Suddenly the woman took her blade to her own neck and attempted to slice her jugular, but Aní was quicker. He caught her hand as she had begun to slice at her skin. Blood trickled from the area she had managed to cut, but the injury was minor. The young woman looked at Aní with obvious surprise. The speed of his movement rendered her motionless. The grip of her hand weakend and the blade fell from her hand. Aní swiftly caught the blade and tossed it aside.

The injured stranger looked in horror towards the young elf and murmured the same words, ~Qochata, qochata.~ Her energy spent, she collapsed into Aní’s arms, and let silent tears flow from her eyes. But her eyes remained fierce despite the water that welled in them.

Mithrandir appeared quietly and placed his hand on the young stranger’s forehead and laid an incantation of heavy sleep upon her. The young woman struggled against the sleep but was soon overwhelmed by her tired soul’s need for it. Mithrandir motioned for Aní to follow him back with the young woman to where they had been eating. Lotórie and the horse followed suit.

“This horse must be her companion,” Lotórie announced.

“You are probably right,” Mithrandir responded. “And he led us to her. I think he realizes that he need not fear us, but I worry about this other young one. She was evidently terrified of us.”

The group returned to their picnic site and Mithrandir reached in his robes, removing a bag that contained healing herbs. “Lotórie, place the Athelas in the boiling water and let it sit a moment. Aní make sure you uncover her wound,” Mithrandir commanded. Lotórie did as told and Aní cut the material around the wounded shoulder with the stranger’s blade he had recovered.

Mithrandir continued with his instructions, “Now pour some cool water into the pot. Yes that’s good. Aní take the hot water and pour it over the wound.” Aní followed the wizard’s directions and gently poured the hot water over the stranger’s shoulder. Steam rose from the water’s contact with the wound.

He continued, “Lotórie, take some of the leaves and massage them with your hands until they turn into a thick pulp. Now make sure you fill the wound with them. Good, and spread some more pulp around the wound. Aní cover up the wound with this clean cloth.”

Aní caught the cloth that Mithrandir tossed to him. “Press the cloth tightly against the skin. We want the cloth to adhere well to the drying Athelas.” Aní pressed the material for a couple of moments before Mithrandir nodded his head to release the cloth. He approached the young woman who was laid delicately on the ground, and checked the cloth. “The cloth has sealed over the wound with the Athelas. This bandage should hold until we return to your grandfather’s healers.”

The elves and Istari packed their belongings and readied their horses. The spotted horse watched them patiently as he stood near his sleeping companion. “I will carry the stranger with me,” declared Aní. Mithrandir nodded his head in silent approval and helped Aní carefully settle the sleeping stranger in front of him on his horse.

Mithrandir then looked to the riderless horse, “You will not bear her burden on this short journey, but make haste and follow us, for we need to get her to help quickly.”

The horse whinnied in apprehension and lined up behind the wizard’s horse. Mithrandir looked around to make sure nothing was forgotten, and announced, “Let us be off then.”

The horses galloped off in the direction of Thranduil’s palace which was a short ride away. The sleeping stranger was not disturbed by the elven horse’s run as its strides were as effortless and soft as whispers. Aní noticed that the spotted horse was a indeed a marvelous steed, stretching its long limbs elegantly, and keeping easy pace with the other horses. *A day full of strangeness,* Aní thought to himself.

The group reached the gates of Thranduil’s palace and unmounted, handing over the horses to waiting elves. Mithrandir spoke quietly to the spotted stallion and introduced him to an elf that took the horse along with the others to the stables.

Rainiel came running to them from her chambers, sensing that something was amiss. She looked at her son and saw that he was holding a figure. “What has happened? Who is this?”

“We found her in the forest mother, along with what we presume is her steed. She is injured and is in need of the healers.”

“Very well then,” Rainiel replied, “let us go there at once.” She glanced questioningly at Mithrandir and back at the stranger held in her son’s arms.

“Do not worry Rainiel, neither your son nor Lotórie were in any danger. And this young maiden in your son’s arms, I fear needs help before we dare find out more of her story.” Mithrandir’s voice was calm, and did not betray concern other than for the stranger’s health.

Rainiel led her son inside the palace towards the healer’s station. Upon entering, one of the healers took the stranger from Ani’s arms and placed her on a readied bed. The healer delicately uncovered the wound and poured warm water, clearing away the herbs in order to better look at the wound.

“Whatever wounded this woman was not an arrow. The weapon seems to have been driven on through her body, exiting through her back. I have not seen such a wound in all my ages of healing,” the elf exclaimed.

Another healer assisted in removing the stranger’s top. A third healer held the woman’s torso erect to aid in the healer’s unobstructed inspection of the wound. A gasp escaped the lips of the head healer, “The wound on her back is worse, the hole appears larger. Bring me the long needle.” A long needle, of a foot in length was brought to the head healer. She took the end and placed it in the entrance of the wound. Delicately she worked the needle through the wound until it came out the other end. “There has been a hole cut cleanly through her shoulder, but it has missed any vital arteries. Bone has been pierced but it is a clean hole. We can heal this.”

The needle was removed and healing water stewed in herbs was used to thoroughly clean the wound. A strange paste was concocted and strategically used to fill the area where the bone had been pierced. Another paste was added in the area that came in contact with torn muscle tissue. Finally the exterior of the wounds were sealed with a pungently sweet smelling black paste. The healers wrapped the wounded area with clean cotton-like material. The stranger was laid softly back into bed. The healer placed her hands over the covered wound and began softly chanting words of healing. A glow emanated from her hands that warmed the wound with healing powers. She continued in this state for the remainder of the day.

Aní had not left the room. He felt vested in the recovery of the stranger. Rainiel returned to the healing quarters in the evening. “Aní, it is time to go. You can return tomorrow. You need your rest. It has been a heavy day.”

Aní stood up next to his mother and kissed her check, “I will do as you ask, although I feel wrong leaving her here.”

“Do not worry, the healers will look after her.”

“I know Naneth , I know. Let us go home and ready for bed. I look forward to a deep sleep tonight.”