His heart thudded as he hoisted the soldier up into the waiting arms of the others. Just as they took his weight, an orc caught up. Legolas turned, pressing his back against the tree, holding up his sword to block the blow. But the orc held a club and it slid down his blade, slamming into his already injured side.

The air left him as pain rippled through his body and he sunk to his knees. The orc cheered, raising the club above its head.

Legolas looked up and several arrows rained down, stopping the orc in its tracks.

"Legolas!" Thaladir crouched from the lowest branch; an arm stretched out.

With a grunt, Legolas jumped and scrambled up the bark. Once he was up, they ran across the tree branches. The orcs roared beneath them and the trees thundered their protest underfoot. Soon the branches began to shift and move as if to shake them from their boughs. 

Then, a warrior who carried one of the injured stumbled. Legolas reached out and caught him by the arm, pulling them both back onto the trembling branches. "Run!" 

The trees seemed to slap him as he ran. He held his sleeve to his nose, desperate to stop the bleeding. The footfalls of the enemy beneath them thudded faster than the elves could run carrying their wounded. 

Arrows shot up from below split through the leaves and the trees cried out, shaking all the more. Another folly and the soldier who ran before Legolas stopped suddenly. He turned, eyes wide, and looked at the prince, an arrow buried in his chest. The soldier in his arms fell from his grasp and a moment later, he followed, disappearing under the feet of the stampeding orcs. 

"No!" Legolas cried out, reaching as if he could grab them as he had before. The orcs cheered and fired again, forcing him to jump back as arrows flew past him. 

Every breath sent shards of pain up and down his side as he ran. He caught sight of two more warriors falling, but they could not go back. 

Hours passed before the thumping of the orc's feet began to fade. Legolas' chest heaved as his wounded body fought for breath. Dim and distant, the light began to brighten far above the tops of the trees.

"Captain," Thaladir said from behind him. Legolas slowed but did not stop. He led them down the trees to the ground before continuing. 

"Captain," Thaladir said again his voice shaking, "we must rest."

At that, Legolas turned and his blood ran cold. Thaladir's skin was pale and drawn. Dried blood splattered one side of his chest as well as his arm. Legolas ran back to him, taking his uninjured arm to support him. "Alright, we can rest for an hour."

Thaladir didn't answer, simply lowered himself to the ground and hung his head. Legolas let him be, after seeing his wounds weren't deep. Others needed more help than the captain did at that moment. 

They set up camp, risking small fires only after the sun had risen completely and only for as long as it would take them to clean and tend to the wounded.

It wasn't long before the prince made his way back to Thaladir who lay curled up at the base of a tree, clean bandages showing under tattered, bloodied clothes. Legolas' brow furrowed as he sat beside him. 

"Thaladir?"

The captain did not stir. He reached to touch the sleeping elf's forehead. Thaladir's skin burned and Legolas cursed. Poison. It hadn't been long enough for infection to set in. 

Gently, he slapped his cheek. "Thaladir." Nothing. "Captain, wake up." He slapped his cheek again and was this time rewarded with a low moan.

"That's it," Legolas breathed. 

Thaladir groaned again as Legolas continued to coax him out of the fever-induced sleep. He rubbed his eyes with his good arm. "What is it?"

Legolas sat back and shook his head. "I think your wounds may be poisoned." Thaladir's brow furrowed but he didn't respond, laying back again and closing his eyes. 

"Stay wake." 

Thaladir gave a nod and the prince retrieved what herbs he could find from his small pack. Steeping them over the dying fire, he scanned the forest around them. All lay still while the light of the sun burned, but that would not last long. They had to be on the move.

"Maethon," Legolas called. The other captain was sitting on the other side of the fire and looked up with bloodshot eyes.  "What are our numbers?"

The other warrior shook his head. "Too few, my prince. I have lost three of my ellyn thus far and two more are injured. Captain Thaladir's unit didn't serve much better."

Legolas looked back to where the other captain had not moved. He turned back to Maethon. "And Thaladir's second?"

"Haston is well as far as I am aware. He is looking after the others." 

Legolas nodded. "Good. Let him know he will need to take command of the unit. We need to head out in the next half hour." They were still days from the border and any hope of a patrol. They didn't have time to spare.

An hour later, they headed out, one half carrying the other. Legolas pulled Thaladir's arm over his shoulder and hauled him to his feet. At that movement, the prince's vision blurred in and out of focus. His side still burned, though he had kept it clean. He blinked, clearing the haze from his eyes. There wasn't much he could do but to stay upright and lead them on. 

The hours passed, blurring into the night and then into the next day. They rested when they could but the screeching of spiders along the edges of their camps at night set those still awake enough to care on edge. 

Legolas' hands shook in exhaustion as he pulled Thaladir to his feet once more. Not a sound left the warrior's lips and his head lolled onto his chest. 

"Saes, stay with me, Gwador nin," Legolas whispered. He turned to the others. "Move out! We won't stop until we are within a day's walk from the nearest outpost."

Silence fell, apart from the occasional grunt of pain as they fell into step behind him. 

Hours later the setting sun seemed to burn through the branches, working its way around the leaves and into the prince's eyes. He squinted, his head and side throbbing in time with his rapid heartbeat. 

The presence of the others seemed to fade as he watched his feet, one in front of the other as if he were in a dream. The determination to stay upright and awake seemed to have sunk in so deep he could not bring himself to stop even as the sun faded and darkness crept in around them. But the forest was silent, small mercy, so they pushed on. 

But as the moon rose and the night deepened. Rustlings in the trees far off echoed in the windless forest and Legolas called for a halt. Immediately, they sat where they stood. Slowly, Legolas lowered Thaladir to the ground. Still, he did not respond and a sense of dread, like a stone, settled in the pit of his stomach. 

If they could not get help if he could not get the other captain's fever to lower, Legolas feared what it would do to his mind. He shook the thought away just as Thaladir's second appeared. 

"How is he?"

The prince shook his head. "I fear for him." 

Haston did not answer, kneeling beside his unresponsive captain. Legolas cursed himself. He should have listened and turned back when Thaladir said to. Now, they might not make it back, the magnitude of his failure suddenly sunk in. They were trapped in enemy territory. Most of them could hardly walk, they had already lost several and would not be able to return their bodies to their families.

Haston looked up and Legolas' heart sunk in his chest at the agony in the young Lieutenant's eyes. 

"Perhaps we should send someone ahead," Haston said, "They could bring help back."

But Legolas shook his head. "If we send one, we would need to at least send two. I fear an attack from spiders. We would not have the numbers to protect the wounded."

Legolas started to gather supplies to clean Thaladir's wounds but Haston stopped him. "Let me take care of him, please, captain." Legolas nodded and Haston added, "Forgive me, but you don't look well yourself."

It was true. Only the guilt of going so far south was keeping him upright at this point. Slowly, he nodded and handed the supplies over, keeping just enough to see to his own wound. 

After cleaning it and washing the blood from his nose, he saw that a watch was set up and settled down at the base of a tree next to Thaladir. He let out a long breath as he watched the rise and fall of the captain's chest through half-lidded eyes. His head felt heavy and his limps like soaked logs. He let the darkness take him.

*****

The next day dragged like the last, and the days after that much the same. Thaladir remained limp at Legolas' side as they made their way through the forest. Slowly, the leaves began to turn from brown to green as they left the sickly forest behind. 

Legolas' lungs heaved and he stumbled. The trees before him spun and he squeezed his eyes shut. Nausea stirred in his stomach but he swallowed it down. They had to keep moving. The air grew fresher but still, he could not breathe easily, the pain in his side rattling through him to the core. 

He slowed as his grip on Thaladir loosened. But as he tried to pull the unconscious elf back up onto his shoulders, his knees gave out, thudding hard onto the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut as the world spun then carefully lowered Thaladir to the ground. 

Looking back, several of the others had fallen as well. The constant march out of the darkness draining even those with minor injuries completely out of strength. Legolas turned back to Thaladir. Heat radiated off the unresponsive elf's pale skin. 

Legolas pulled the water skin from his belt and forced a little down the Thaladir's throat before closing it with trembling fingers. They couldn't go any further. They could only hope someone would find them before the spiders did. 

Pulling himself back to his unsteady feet. He began collecting dried sticks before settling down to start a fire. 

*****

Something touched his shoulder, pushing him, and Legolas bolted upright, drawing his knife, ready to defend himself.

"Easy, hir nin," the voice was soft and Legolas' shoulders slumped as he blinked a soldier into focus. Panting, he looked around. Soldiers were everywhere and healers tended to those laying across the ground of their makeshift campsite.

Beside him, two healers moved Thaladir onto a stretcher and Legolas' hand fell from the captain's shoulder. His breath hitched at the loss of contact but he forced himself to remain still.

"They will care for him, hir nin," the voice beside him said. Legolas turned to him. "Come, let us care for you so we can get out of this part of the forest."

Legolas didn't answer but simply took the soldier's hand and he pulled him to his feet. He swayed, but the soldier held him steady until the world returned upright and his legs gained back their strength.

Tents were quickly being set up and the soldier led him into one of them, lowering him onto a small makeshift pallet.

A healer entered a moment later and began tending to his side.

The captain stood across from where Legolas sat. "What happened?"

Legolas drew in a breath, his voice came out calm, impartial. "We tracked Gollum nearly to Dul Gul Dur but he seems to have escaped the orcs and we lost his trail. The orcs must have backtracked to try to find him and found us instead. There were too many. We were already wounded from a spider attack. We lost several. The mission failed."

The soldier nodded before standing. He gave a small bow. "Get some rest, my prince. I and my unit will take over from here."

Legolas' only response was a quiet hiss as the healer plunged a needle into his skin and began to sew him back together.

It was hours before they would let him see Thaladir. Legolas tried to sleep but it evaded him, though his body felt heavy and his eyes burned for it. 

Finally, a young healer called for him and he stood and went in search of the captain. When she led him to the tent, he hesitated, bracing himself before lifting back the flap. 

"My prince," one of the healers said, but Legolas waived it off. His eyes fell on the still form on the cot. Thaladir lay on his back, eyes closed, with a blanket pulled up to his waist. Bandages wrap around his torso, covering him the rest of the way. His arm lay in a sling against his chest.

A whispered curse came from the prince's lips. The healers milled about, cleaning up the rest of their things. A bloodied blanket caught his eye but a healer stepped in and swiped it off the floor before his eyes could dwell too long. 

There were no chairs so Legolas lowered himself to sit on the ground. His side stung, making his breath catch in his throat. He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. 

A moment later, the pain lessened and he opened his eyes. Reaching out, he grasped Thaladir's hand gently. The injured elf's hand was cold to the touch and Legolas did not want to think about how much blood he must have lost for his body to be so deprived of warmth. 

Slowly, Legolas turned to the one remaining healer in the tent. "How is he?"

"He will recover, in time, my prince. So long as there are no major relapses. We were able to get his fever down and gave him something to fight the poison. There is nothing left now but to wait for him to wake."

Legolas nodded. It was not the first time he had heard an answer like that. He nodded and the healer left the room, the tent flap closing behind him. 

Legolas turned back to Thaladir and waited. Soon his eyes grew too heavy and he found himself nodding off. With a wince, he lowered himself to the ground and fell asleep. 

He woke to the sound of coughing and sat up with a hiss of pain. Thaladir coughed again and Legolas gently lifted the captain's head and raised a water skin to his lips. When he finished, Thaladir's brow furrowed. 

"Wake up, captain," Legolas said. "This is hardly the time to be sleeping." Slowly, Thaladir's eyes blinked open, only for him to squeeze them shut again. "That's it."

Another blink and Thaladir forced his eyes open. Legolas smiled as the captain drew in a deeper breath. "How do you feel?"

Thaladir hesitated a moment before answering. "Like I've been shot and stabbed."

Legolas snorted but didn't respond. Thaladir's eyes drifted closed once more and guilt found its way up the prince's chest. Tears of exhaustion and guilt melded with relief, but he would not let them fall. "Go Henno nin," he whispered, leaning his head against the cot's rail. But Thaladir did not answer. 

A/N: I realized with this one that I'm simply not going to be happy with it, and that's okay, I guess lol There's only an Epilogue left but it isn't written so it might be a hot second before I can get that up. 

On a completely different note! I have a completed Six of Crows fanfic in my drafts that I might upload if any of yall are in that fandom. It's the first fanfic I've written that's not Lotr aside from the Dukes of Hazzard ff I wrote when I was like 15 *cringes* 

Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter regardless of it not being my best work. Thank you so much for reading!

-Sierra