Killing Beauty

Dismounting, she looked inside the wagon for any indication that Lady Galadriel herself might have been in it. She didn't know the elven queen except by reputation, and in truth only knew the marchwarden because he had threatened to beat her with his bow if he ever caught her poaching deer again in his forest. That memory led to a terrible thought. If someone of importance was out here in the middle of nowhere, then it was very possible that Haldir the Arrogant, Haldir the Impossible, Haldir of Lothlorien was among the elven bodies. What would Lothlorien be without him?

Going from body to body, she found three elves alive, including one she recognized from her last encounter with the marchwarden. Helping them as best she could, she managed to get them into the shade of the wagon, where she offered them water from the skin hanging from her belt.

"It's all I've got," she said and looked around to see if she missed anyone.

"Did you find Haldir?" one of the elves asked her.

She looked back at him, a terrifying thought coming to mind, and said, "He's not here."

"He tried to follow them," the elf said and pointed. "He's over there."

Ashva got up and followed the tracks made by fifty horses to a spot where at least seven Os were lying around Haldir, who was bloody faced and had two arrows in him. She didn't really know him, but it sored her heart to think he would not be in the forest anymore. Kneeling beside him, she was thankful the Os had opted to ride on rather than plunder his body. Kneeling over, she touched his face. He was warm, not cooling. Placing her palm over his mouth and nose, she felt his breath. He was alive.

But he had two Os arrows in him, arrows designed to pull apart and leave the head behind if anyone tried to pull them out. And they were dipped in a poison guaranteed to kill man or elf.

"Oh shit!" she hissed. Rising up, she yelled back at the elves by the wagon, "Come here! I need your help! He's alive!"

The elves helped each other up and hurried as best as they could to her side. One of them bore a striking resemblance to Haldir, and he seemed to be the most upset.

"Who are you?" she asked anxiously and pulled one of her longer knives out of its scabbard on her hip.

"Rumil," he answered tragically and tried to take Haldir's head in his lap. "he's my brother."

"All right," she said, not knowing if she could really do what needed doing, "I've got to push the arrow through him and take off the head before I can pull it out. If I leave it in, it will kill him. I have no doubt. " Then she lowered her voice and said, "I've seen it work."