Festering Darkness

Bleeding Darkness

__Captain Thaladir's Point of View__

The winds blew, pushing the leaves away from the canopy of the night sky. I breathed it in, ignoring the slight must from the darker part of the forest. The moon shone in through the branches and I couldn't help but smile as it hit my face. The nights here had been peaceful. No spiders had been spotted out die of other than the occasional loner here and there and those were mostly too old to cause much harm.

I kept watching, allowing my unit to rest through the night. We were stationed in a western outpost, something we were far from use too. The rest from the constant battle was a relief, to say the least. All of us had been injured too badly and too often lately to think otherwise.

I ran my thumb the blade of my knife, the shrill cry attesting to its sharpness. Then I froze. Something moved beneath me. Leaves rustled, but the wind had died. I gripped the hilt of my knife. I had been in the field too long to assume it was anything other than an enemy.

I peered over the edge of the deck, scanning the ground below. Despite the moonlight, I couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. My brow furrowed when I heard the leaves move again and I moved to the other side of the deck, looking over once more.

A figure moved towards the structure, cloaked and hooded. But despite the dress, he didn't seem to care if he was seen as his feet dragged through the undergrowth. I pulled an arrow from my quiver, resting it on my finger though I didn't draw it.

"Show yourself," I demanded, raising the weapon so they could see it. The figure raised his hands.

"Captain Thaladir!" they exclaimed. I lowered my bow. I recognized the voice, though I couldn't quite place it.

"Who are you?" I asked again and the figure lowered his hood. I recognized him immediately. He had filled in on my unit not long ago.

"Dolenel of Prince Legolas' unit," his voice cracked as he spoke. An uneasy feeling came over me. "Please, we've been attacked. Most of them are injured, the prince included. We are in desperate need of aid."

I lowered the weapon completely, placing the arrow back in my quiver. I hurried over the rope later, letting it down for him. Within minutes he was up and I gave him a hand over the edge. He immediately sat his shoulders slumping as he hung his head.

"Are you injured?" I asked immediately, my eyes roaming his body in search of new blood. But he shook his head, his breath coming in gasps.

"Come inside," I told him, helping him to his feet. "Then you can tell me what happened."

He nodded but didn't comment. I lead the way in and he helped himself to the tea over the fire while I woke one of the others to take watch.

I came and sat opposite him, gut twisting at the endless possibilities of what had happened. "Tell me what happened, Dolenel," I said, my voice caught in the trained steady tone.

Dolenel looked up, his eyes dark with exhaustion. "We were sent out to destroy a nest. Captain Legolas split us up with the intentions of us being back up should anything go wrong. At first, everything was going according to plan. There were no adult spiders and the eggs, from what I could tell, were still young. Then--"

"What, soldier. Spit it out."

"I don't know, captain," he said shaking his head. "One minute everything was fine, and the next the whole next was swarming with spiders. We only barely got them out, but the poisonings are not good. Few were even consciousness when I left. We've already lost at least one, maybe more by now. Please, you have to help us."

"What of the prince?" I asked. "How did he fair when you left?"

"He was lucid, but suffering from a high dosage of poison like the rest of them. He ordered me to come to find you."