Chapter 36. How to Save a Life.
Hi guys!! I'm so happy to be posting this chapter, I loved writing it but I definitely did cry a little when writing it... Kili and the emotional moments got to me! :')
Thank you for all the positive feedback you have given me over the previous chapters, it really does motivate me to try and make the next chapter as good as the last. I would really love it if every person that reads this chapter could just write a message in the comments about what you thought was good in the chapter and what I could do to improve it - it would really help me out, thank you!
Now... here's the chapter! I hope you like it! Please comment, vote and follow! :D
By the way the translations for the elvish words are at the end of the chapter :D Please enjoy!
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*Cassy's POV*
"Kili!" Fili yelled, shaking his brother's shoulders in a desperate attempt to keep in awake.
"Oin, there has to be something we can do?!" Bofur shouted as tears formed in the corner of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, lad. But that Kingsfoil was our last hope." Oin said lowering his head in defeat.
"Kingsfoil?" Tauriel asked. "Don't you mean Athelas?"
"Athelas?" Oin replied, frowning at the she-elf in confusion.
"It is the same as Kingsfoil, elves just call it Athelas instead." Legolas replied.
My eyes shot open upon hearing the word Athelas. I recognised it from somewhere. I jumped up from my place knelt beside Kili, reluctantly releasing his hand as I hurried over to my bag in the corner of the room. I rummaged through it in a desperate attempt to find what I was looking for whilst I ignored the stares and questions from the others in the room. I mentally begged that I still had the package that Caspian had given me all those years ago.
I didn't even bother looking up as Legolas and Tauriel left the house to chase down the orcs that escaped.
I sighed in relief when my fingers coiled around the small mahogany box. I pulled it out and using the key on the chain around my neck I unlocked my mother's old jewellery box. I knew it didn't contain my mother's jewellery, instead it contained some of my most precious belongings. I dug through it and laughed in relief when I pulled out Caspian's green pouch of Athelas.
"Oh Caspian, next time I see you I will buy you the largest alcoholic drink I can find!" I laughed happily as I jumped up holding the Athelas in my hand.
I knelt down beside Kili and wiped the sweat off his brow, as well as the blood around his mouth, my heart was practically pounding in my chest when he did not made an attempt to speak or even look at me. He was only groaning and pushing his eyes tightly shut, wriggling around in pain and seemed to have hardly any consciousness of his surroundings. I couldn't bare the thought of him dying especially like this. I've never been in love before and the thought of losing Kili after we had confessed our feelings for each other was even more painful to think about.
"Fili, I need you to boil some water and get clean bandages. Sigrid, please help Fili." I said as smiled thankfully at the two of them as they hurriedly set to work.
I shook my head to try and stop more tears from spilling from my eyes as I stroked Kili's hair, leaning to press a kiss on his forehead. "Stay with me, Kili." I begged him, my voice like a whisper and more desperate than what I aimed for. "Stay with me and I promise, we will have a rematch for our archery contest. Please."
I kept my lips pressed against his forehead and I began humming an almost inaudible prayer under my breath.
"We need to move him." I said, eyes urgently staring at Oin and Bofur. "I need to see his wound."
Fili approached us in a hurry when he heard my request, receiving an absentminded nod from Sigrid that she would bring the water, so he could help. Bain seemed to recover a bit faster than his little sister as he pulled her up to her feet and sat her on a chair, before he and Fili brought the toppled table to its original position and along with Oin, Bofur and myself we carried Kili and laid him upon the table.
With every groan or scream, there was a pool of blood coming out from the wound and also his mouth. Oin quickly turned him on his side so as not to choke, and began wiping the blood away from his mouth with a cloth to let him breathe again. As soon as his breathing came in ragged, swallow pants and not pure spits of blood, we turned him on his back and threw all the bandages away from the wound. I stared wide eyed at the blackened skin around the open wound.
"He really is reckless." I muttered sending Fili a sideways glance.
Sigrid carried over the newly boiled water and deposited the small pot down and I immediately crushed a few leaves of the Athelas with my fingers and then threw them into the hot water.
Rumor had it that Athelas was only used for its nice fragrance; nothing about healing. But indeed, as the weed was soaked into the hot water, it gave off a refreshing scent that filled the room and cleared and calmed the minds of all of us that was present.
Fili, Oin, Bofur, Bain and Sigrid all rushed to hold Kili down on the table as I pressed a handful of the weed directly upon Kili's wound. I grabbed his thigh to keep it still and not let the soaked leaves slip away from the wound, the gesture made his whole body twitch with violent spasms.
I watched Kili's chest heave in a rapid pace, his face covered in a thick layer of sweat mixed with blood, and I swore in that moment that if he died all orcs would pay, I would see to it. Orcs killed my mother, they killed my father and if they were the reason for Kili's death then orcs would have more of a reason to fear the title of 'the Archer Queen'. She promised herself that.
I closed my eyes and began muttering an ancient elven healing spell that my mother had taught me many years ago. My aunt Nanallia had taught me about elven healing considering I was part elf and lived in Rivendell for a while. My hand was pressed forcefully against Kili's wound as I held the herbs against it, I could feel a strange pulsation flowing through me and it felt as though it was flowing through my hands and into Kili's wound but I just carried on mumbling the spell.
I continued to press the Athelas over the wound until Kili ceased tossing and writhing and instead seemed to be calmer. I suddenly opened my eyes and noted the several faces etched with concern that were looking at me before everyone's gazes turned to Kili. I knew that I shared their worried expressions. Whatever I could do, I had done. And despite the fact that Kili had stopped writhing, he still had not opened his eyes. The grip he had on my hand also relaxed and as soon as his hand slumped on the table, I reached to check his pulse.
"What is going on?" Fili asked worriedly after a few torturingly long moments of silence. He still had Kili's other arm tangled with his own to keep him still, even if it wasn't necessary anymore. "Is he alright? Will he be fine?"
I sighed in relief when I could feel the pulse, although it was not as strong as I would like it to be but he was still alive and that was something. "I hope so." I replied in a whisper.
"What do you mean?" He asked with a slight frown.
"I mean that I have done everything I can. It's up to him now to fight through it." I said with a hopeful sigh.
I accepted the cloth that Bain handed me and I soaked it in the pot of water before I held it against Kili's leg.
"Here, lass. Let me." I looked at Oin and nodded, moving to the side to let him take over.
My hand moved to my own wound on my torso and I hissed in pain. I had totally forgotten about my own wound. I picked up a cloth and dipped it in the Athelas water that Oin was now using to treat Kili's wound before I placed it against my stomach, restraining myself from shrieking in pain.
After I had bandaged my wound I glanced over at Tilda who was still sitting in the chair that Bain had sat her in. I slowly walked over to her and crouched down in front of her.
"Tilda? Are you okay?" I asked worry creeping up my spine upon seeing the bruise covering the side of her face and the tears that ran down her cheeks.
She nodded shakily before she threw herself at me in a tight hug. I stiffened in shock but instinctively hugged her back. I was not used to caring for children and definitely not crying children. I looked over at Sigrid who just looked at us curiously.
I pulled Tilda off of me carefully and held her face in my hands, just like my mother used to do when I was little...
-----*Flashback*-----
I sat on the ground clutching my arm to my chest as salty tears fell down my cheeks.
"Cassandra, what happened, iell nìn?" My mother asked as she ran over to me, her curly black hair falling from her braid.
"I fell from the tree. My arm - it hurts, mother." I sobbed.
"Pen-neth, you should know better than to be climbing trees." She said holding my face in her pale hands.
"But Caspian is allowed to climb trees. Why can't I?" I asked. "I am just as good as him."
"Oh Cassandra. My beautiful Cassandra. You do not need to prove yourself to anyone, definitely not Caspian, your father nor I. I know that you will grow up to be a wise, radiant, skilful archer. You already are. You do not need put yourself in harm's way to prove that." She said her emerald eyes shining down at me as she kissed the bruise on my cheek before she placed a kiss on my arm. "Now, let's get your arm looked at. You won't be able to practice your archery with an injured arm, and we wouldn't want that would we, my dear?"
I shook my head and before she could react I wrapped my uninjured arm around her neck and hugged her tightly. "As long as I grow up to be anything like you, I'll be proud." I said before I kissed my mother's cheek and smiled at the happy tears that formed in her eyes, making them glisten even brighter.
"I love you Cassandra. Never, ever, forget that." She said.
"I won't. I promise."
-----*End of Flashback*-----
...I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes at the memory but I smiled at Tilda nonetheless before I placed a gentle kiss on her bruised cheek. "The pain won't last long. The bruise will be gone in a few days, don't worry." I said as I wiped the tears from her eyes with my thumb. She nodded and smiled. "You remind me of her." She said causing me to frown.
"Remind you of who?" I asked.
"My mother." She said hugging me again before she stood up and walked over to Sigrid. I sat there in a state of shock. But I was torn out of it when someone appeared beside me.
Bofur smiled down at me and offered me a hand to lift me up which I accepted gratefully. "Thanks." I said with a smile.
"It's okay." He said. "When do you think he'll wake up?" He asked.
"I don't know. The Athelas has removed the poison from his system and is currently disinfecting the wound. It should begin to actually heal the wound in a few hours and hopefully he'll wake up soon." I replied looking over at Kili's sleeping form.
"You did well. I'm sorry I lost the Kingsfoil." He said lowering his head in guilt.
"Oi!" I said punching his shoulder. "You don't need to be sorry. I would've been surprised if you hadn't dropped it during the fight, I know I would have."
"Thanks, lass." He said. I just smiled at him before I helped him in moving the bodies of the dead orcs out of the house.
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ELVISH TRANSLATIONS FROM FLASHBLACK:
iell nìn .... My daughter
pen-neth .... little one
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