Kinderling 51

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress..

For the next few days we sat in the cave watching the Elf.  We took turns sneaking out looking for food and medicine ingredients.  The lake was full of fish and I was easily able to snatch a few for us to eat. 

Mama made a second batch of the vile tar we were spreading on the Elf when we started running low.

The first few days, there was little to no improvement.  Mama kept measuring the diamond shape on the Elf's stomach to see if it got smaller.  It didn't.  According to Mama, that it wasn't getting bigger was a good sign. 

On the third or forth day, it's hard to keep track of time while in a cave, doing nothing but tending to a never-changing, yet sleeping, Elf.

"The ends of my fingers are tingling."  The Elf rasped out.

Mama pushed her back down on the bed and wiped the goop out of the way.  This time, the diamond was bigger than before.

"Looks like you are out of the woods."  Mama told her, "The tingling is from the feeling coming back after such a long time."

"How much will come back?"  The Elf asked.  She seemed so hopeless and small, it shocked me.  This  was the same Elf  that practically sneered in the face of certain death when we found her in the Gorf dungeon cell.  

"Not much unless we can get you back to your people."  Mama said.  You might think it cold, but Mama always believed in giving it to people straight.  "The Star Sailor has a way of regenerating this kind of damage if we can get  you to him in time.  Only problem is, we can't travel that fast while carrying you."

Mama was right, sure we could go fast when it was just Mama an I.  We could probably go fast enough if the Elf weren't injured and sick.  That was the problem.  I can only fly so fast while also trying to keep from further damaging a wounded Elf.

"It is hopeless then, I would rather die than live like this."  The Elf was losing hope.

"Why?  Wouldn't it be better to live?"  I said, hoping to snap her out of it.  It didn't work.

"Elves live for a very long time small one.  Why would I want to sentence myself to being an object of pity for a thousand years or more?"

"Pish,"  Mama scoffed.  "Keep your self-pity to yourself.  Does The Star Sailor still mope around sorrow point and commune with the quarter-moon?"

I blinked.  Not even sure what Mama had just said.  The words had a much larger effect on the Elf though.  

"You do not speak of the Sailor that way!" She snapped, then more confused.  "How do you even know of such things?  Elven sorrow is not for the amusement of... of... outsiders."

"Can it Elfie, nobody's dying on my watch. We'll just have to figure out a way."  Mama said.

"Anyone else would be dead for talking to me that way."  The Elf said, but it was said with resignation, as if the Elf didn't believe Mama, rather that the danger I expected.  Elves have a reputation for murdering people who disrespect them.  Well, murder from our point of view, if not theirs.

Mama started going through our packs looking for some way to do the seemingly impossible.  "Tandy, can you think of some way we can make a harness?  Maybe with our tree-camping gear?"

I really couldn't.  Our tree camping hammocks were light weight material.  They were fine for Kinderlings, but even as light-bodied as Elves are, they weighed a lot more than we did.

"Even if you did find a way, the youngling would be in peril if you took her to Sorrow's Point."  The Elf unhelpfully pointed out.  I was starting to get real tired of her negative attitude.

"Oh and I suppose it's fine to put Mama's life in peril, but mine would be too much?"  I spat at her.

The Elf actually laughed.  "The Mystic can go where she will.  No Elf would dare raise a hand to her.  The King of All himself has named her friend."

"Can't say as I recall meeting any Elven Kings."  Mama said distractedly as she kept sifting through our belongings hoping inspiration would strike.

"Then you should have paying more attention to the future, Mystic."  The Elf said, "He is the very one who named you so."

"That was Junior who gave me that dumb name...  Wait... Are you telling me that Junior became King?"  Mama said surprised.  

The Elf almost choked.  "You talk of the King of All with so much disrespect?"  That one had some anger in it.

"He was just Junior when I met him."  Mama said, I could tell she was getting a bit tired of the attitude. "Of the four I ran into, Junior was obviously the lowest.  How am I supposed to know he somehow became King?   The others ordered him around and made him do all the scut work.  I felt sorry for the lad.  They were so worried about the one with the arrow, they didn't even notice that he had a stab wound until I pointed it out."

"It would have killed him too.  The wound was much worse than he let on.  The knife that made that wound was an assassin's blade that was cursed against our people."  The Elf added.  "The tiny shard you pulled out of his wound while you were tending it would have worked it's way into his heart.  Thankfully you recognized the danger in time.  You saved both of them."

"I didn't recognize any particular danger other than that he had an open stab wound that he wasn't able to get to stop bleeding.  I simply saw something sticking in the wound while I was cleaning it and yanked it out with some tweezers before I stitched him up.  For the other one, I just pulled the arrow out and managed to slow the iron poisoning long enough for us to get her back to the Star Sailor.  The other's said he could help.  It wasn't till later that I learned the effect that cold iron has on your people.  I just treated it like any other poison."  Mama said,  "I wish the Star Sailor would have shared his secret.  It would have been handy about now."

"The King of All kept that little piece you pulled from his wound and showed it to his Father who recognized it.  In a way, that tiny piece of cursed iron was what made him King of All."  

At Mama's confused look, the Elf continued.

"The Elven trackers you ran into in the forest weren't part of the Human's war, although you were probably lead to believe that they were.  They were hunting a fugitive assassin from the Forever War."

"What's the Forever war?"  I asked.

"It's a war between different groups of Elves."  Mama answered, "They don't like talking about it, but not all of the Elves are as united as they let on.  There are a couple different factions actually.  Usually it's quiet, but every once in a while it goes hot for a year or two."

The Elf seemed surprised that Mama knew about the forever war.

"That they used one of the cursed daggers on a member of the royal line was enough to ignite a particularly violent point in the war.  The High King declared war, and sent out his army, only the enemy had other ideas.  Instead of meeting an army, they met only assassins that sneaked into camp and assonated three of the King's four sons, leaving the one you called Junior as the only heir.  When they came for the one you called Junior, the High King inadvertently got in the way, and was killed.  The next day, the new heir was crowned High King.  He was able to out-maneuver both enemies from inside his own government and the separatist traitors.  He was then able to bring together the different factions and took the title of King of All."

"Good for him!"  Mama said sounding as if she approved.  "I knew he had some strength in him."

"If Mama could go anywhere she wished, could she take the monster-go-stick and bring back this sailor guy in time?"  I asked, not knowing if that were even possible.

Both the Elf and Mama got thoughtful looks on their faces.  "That might work,"  The Elf said, and sighed as she pulled a necklace from her neck and handed it back to Mama.   "Take this with you, the Star Sailor will recognize it and come quickly.  If you are able to find him, his ship will be able to return you here in moments."

"I'll be able to go faster on my own go-stick.  Yes the monster is faster, but I have never been able to control it well enough to use it's speed."

Mama put action to words and was soon ready to leave.  The whole time she bombarded me with every bit of knowledge she could think of that might help me care for the Elf.  She gave me what was left of the medicine we had made for the Elf along with instructions for making more.  It would be my job to keep the Elf alive until she returned with help.

I wish I found the "You are resourceful Tandy, you'll figure it out." that Mama said to be comforting, but all I could do is remember how badly I failed when Mama tried to take me on as an apprentice.  

The next two days were some of  the hardest days of my life.  Almost as soon as Mama left the Elf started to get worse.  That evening, a mountain storm raged in from the North, bringing with it sleet and hail.  I thought it was too early in the year for storms, but I had to remind myself that I lived down in the protected valley.  We were much higher up than that, and not particularly protected by the local geography.   With the storm raging, and the medicine supply quickly getting used up, I ended up having to hunt for food and medicine ingredients between squalls, and cook batch after batch of medicine.  The stuff I cooked up didn't seem to work as well as what Mama made, so I decided the only thing I could do was to really slather it on and hope for the best.  

By the second day, the Elf's eyes had rolled up into her head and she started shivering uncontrollably. She no longer responded to me.  I was alone.  Even the Elf's sneering condescension would have been preferable.  The diamond of healthy skin on her belly had once again started to shrink and was turning darker.  I tried everything, even resorting to rubbing random things, mushrooms, lichens, and such, on her skin to see if it would help.  Nothing did.

I started to really start thinking about all the ingredients I had seen Mama use over the years, and what she said they were good for.  

"Think Tandy.  What does willow bark do?"  I chided myself.  "FEVER!  It helps with FEVER!"

I dashed out into the storm to where I had seen a willow tree growing not far away and quickly made a willow bark tea.  As soon as it was cool enough, I practically forced the Elf to drink it.   It helped a little, I think.  After that, I gained a little confidence and my next batch of black goopy medicine was actually black and goopy rather than brown and thin.  I have no idea what I did different, but after that it was all black goop and willow tea, all the time.  The shivering came and went, but wasn't anywhere near as bad.  The lighter patch of skin was still slowly greying, but not as fast I think.