- Lord, where is the queen? - One of the warriors was carelessly asked.
- Ellie!... - Thranduil yelled out and, having escaped from the healer's hands, rushed back. Istanen tried to intercept the unhappy man, he saw well that the king was not himself, but did not have time. After ordering the soldiers to stay in place, the advisor rushed after him.
Having climbed up to the pass, they saw Lorinor. Noldo wobbled, barely climbing the slope, clutching onions in burnt hands. His face and hair were also sensitively scorched, but his eyes seemed to be intact.
- Where were you going? - Lorinor wheezed, blocking Trandyll's way.
- I have to save my wife... - Barely holding on to his feet, he was still tearing forward, not realizing that Istanen held him firmly by the belt.
- Ellerian is gone! - Laurenaro, too, almost fell, but thought clearly - No more of our own Ellie, you know?! There is no one to save! The dragon ate her.
- I will kill this dragon! - Thranduil rushed harder, felt he was being held back, turned fiercely to the councilman. - Let go!
- I had already killed... - The brother-in-law's tired voice came to him," he said, "right in his eye. From your bow, by the way!
Lorinor handed out his weapon to Trandyll, then looked at his son-in-law with a new thought:
- And where is Legolas?
Instead of the king, Istannen answered him:
- The prince is fine, he is with our warriors.
- Then we must leave here immediately! - Now Lorinor turned to the counselor. - We were being chased by a group of orcs. It turns out that Gundabad is no longer empty. When we were passing by the fortress, the orcs noticed us and started chasing us. On mountain paths it was not possible to leave on horseback, we had to release horses with the instruction to try to return to Imladris. And we ourselves had to try to get lost in the mountains. We almost succeeded. Yesterday in the evening we found a cave and decided to sit in it until morning. But the cave was busy. Two dragons. The creatures smelled us and woke us up... The rest you saw... But the orcs are somewhere close! Seeing that the dragons were killed, they would resume the chase. Trandil, do you hear me?! Let's get out of here!
- So Ellie's gone? - Trandil couldn't believe it, though his wife's disfigured face was in front of his eyes.
- Yes, Ellerian had died. This can't be changed anymore. You have to pull yourself together. For the sake of your son, for the sake of those who are still alive. I don't know the roads here well, lead the squad! And hurry up!
Chapter 7. The last request is to fulfill...
Something clicked in the king's head. Silently twisting himself, clenching his teeth to the crunch, he moved down to the camp. After approaching the anxiously waiting squad, the Forest King ordered to immediately move to the southeast. But he was told the unpleasant news: when all the elves rushed after their lord on the pass, the camp was left unattended. And when they heard a dragon roar, the horses fled in fear.
- There was no time to look for and collect them now. Let's go on foot," Thranduil decided. He ordered us to drop all the extra cargo and gave some small orders. The healer quickly bandaged Lorinor, and a group of forest elves quickly moved back on the road. Istanen carried the rescued heir, securely wrapped the child in a cloak.
That day the elves managed to overcome not too much distance: all were exhausted by night battle, Lorinor, burned with dragon poison, could barely stand on his feet, and other wounded needed rest. Of Ellerian's companions, only two survived, both of whom were severely affected by the dragon flames. The elves quickly set up camp, the healer began bandaging, and others began to cook a meager dinner. Only Thranduil lay still on the grass, rushing a single eye into the dark sky (the second was safely hidden under the bandages). But soon the king led out of the numbness of the continuous crying baby and the heated argument of several elves. They could not decide what to feed the hungry baby. One of the soldiers advised to chew bread and meat, tie it in a handkerchief and give the child an improvised nipple. Lorinor strongly rejected the "orck" method, suggesting catching and milking a wild goat.
- We saw a small herd climbing the pass. I can lure the female Song of Power Song...
- Mountain goats don't have little goats now," said Noldo Istannen, "which means there is no milk.
Legolas continued to cry loudly. Thranduil suddenly rose, took out a small flask from his belt bag and something wrapped in a handkerchief. There were several lembrellas in the convolution.