Reyn's first thought when he saw the red eye on the helmet of one of the orcs was a sarcastic little comment. I rather doubt a painted eye helps one's vision any. Certainly it did nothing for you. His second was more serious when he saw that Gilbereth and Ceros were deep in worried conversation over a similar object. As far as he could tell, this had belonged to one of the more important orcs. At least its armor was better quality than most of the others.
He sighed. This was getting stranger and stranger the farther they went into Greenwood. The spiders (his leg gave a slight twinge at the thought), the river, the troll, and these strange 'eyes' on orc-helmets. The shadow in Greenwood was growing.
His eyes scanned the trees around the clearing, looking for any sign of the remaining orcs. Their sudden disappearance worried him more than their appearance. As his eyes passed over Taurėwen, they softened, then grew worried as they took in her tired state. She sagged against a tree and he began to stride across the glade to her.
His leg had other ideas.
About halfway across, his left leg buckled and collapsed under him. He cursed, and tried to get back to his feet, but his injured leg wouldn't cooperate. It had had enough; after being bitten by a spider, he'd barely treated it, walked on it for some distance, swum a freezing river, fought orcs, and run from a troll.
By this time, he was surrounded by the others, who were obviously worried. He tried to wave them off, pleading fatigue. "I'm fine, truly. I just did a little too much today. I'm fine." No one seemed to be listening. They insisted on helping him to his feet, despite his protests. Taurewen seemed to have been startled into motion and she crossed to him.
"What happened?" she asked.
"It's nothing, I--it's nothing. Just tired, and, I suppose my leg hurts a little. One of the spiders bit it, but it's not too bad."
[ September 19, 2003: Message edited by: Tinuviel of Denton ]
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