Aragorn: 17 years old

"Try whistling for Tarish," Elrond said to Lagorion after he had tried himself.

"He only comes when Estel calls him," Lagorion said but then tried anyway.

They waited, but no horse came. The special noise that Aragorn made to call his horse was a unique whistle combination that only Tarish would come to.

Elrond woke Aragorn and then continued through Mirkwood, as Elrond believed it was morning. Elrond had to carry Aragorn as he was unable to stand. Although he was awake and every now and then he would say random things such as, "There's a light up above," or "Where am I again?" or "Am I falling?"

All Elrond and Lagorion wished to do was get out of the forest. They both could tell it was effecting Aragorn.

The night before, Aragorn had woken up in the middle of the night and looked to Elrond saying,

"Why do I see two of you?"

Elrond had to explain that the forest was poisonous to all races, but Elves. Another time Aragorn had asked why everything around him was pitch black, as if he had gone blind. The fever was also making the strange things happen to Aragorn as well. Elrond was surprised Aragorn hadn't started hallucinating yet.

Towards the end of the second day, Elrond and Lagorion spotted the entrance, or exit of Mirkwood.

"See up there, Estel?" Elrond said encouragingly, "We are almost out,"

Aragorn looked ahead, but saw no exit. Only more forest for miles and miles ahead. He didn't respond. Aragorn thought about Tarish and tried whistling for him. He couldn't due to just coughing on this tongue instead.

"Don't try, we will find him," Elrond whispered.

"Where are we again?" Aragorn asked as if he hadn't just heard what Elrond had said.

"In Mirkwood, Estel," Elrond said again for the hundredth time.

"What's that?"

"A forest, stay quiet. Just rest,"

"What?"

"Shhh..." Elrond whispered gently and closed Aragorn's eyes as he stopped for a moment.

Elrond made a hand motion to Lagorion and Lagorion ran ahead. Soon he was out of the woods and into the clearing of a valley outside of Mirkwood. He took a deep breath and took in the fresh air. Even for an Elf, Mirkwood was a stuffy forest.

A couple moments later, Aragorn and Elrond made their way through the break of the trees of Mirkwood. Aragorn also took a deep breath and breathed in the fresh, frigid air. He felt clean as he was free at the edge of Mirkwood. He started coughing again and then the ground started rumbling a little.

Elrond set Aragorn down and pushed Aragorn behind him, but still holding him upright so he wouldn't fall. Lagorion drew his sword at the ready. Aragorn was only seeing blurrily and wasn't sure how to process the ground rumbling. He assumed it was only his imagination.

"The ground is falling," Aragorn squeaked and held onto Elrond as he almost fell again.

Elrond held him up by putting one of Aragorn's arms around his shoulder. Aragorn just slumped over next to Elrond.

Then from around the corner of Mirkwood came a horse. As soon as the horse got closer, Elrond and Lagorion both knew who it was. It was Tarish.

Lagorion put down his sword and Elrond moved out of the way of Aragorn. He was still believing that what he was seeing was an illusion so he didn't think much of Tarish at first. It wasn't until the horse knocked him over that Aragorn knew he wasn't mental. Although, he hadn't much time to do anything because he passed out as his head hit the ground.

"Tarish!" Elrond shouted as he regretted letting go of Aragorn, "Whoa!"

Lagorion pulled the excited and stressed horse away as Elrond knelt next to Aragorn once again. He sighed and murmured,

"Why are humans so fragile?"

Lagorion whistled for his own horse and so did Elrond. Their horses came instantly running from the same direction, south. Tarish was neighing and going on his hind legs just trying to get to Aragorn, but the Elves would not let him yet, in fear that the horse would trample Aragorn out of joy and anticipation.

"We must get to Rivendell as soon as possible," Elrond explained to Lagorion and the horses.

Lagorion nodded and got onto his horse. Elrond lifted Aragorn onto Tarish and then got on behind him. Elrond commanded his own horse to follow close behind.

"We travel to Rivendell in the matter of hast," Elrond commanded and all three horses took off at top speed.

Elrond held onto Aragorn with one hand and Tarish with the other. Lagorion rode first, then Aragorn with Elrond, and lastly Elrond's horse bringing up the rear. They rode for several days until they reached the borders of Rivendell.

Elrond and Lagorion both feared for Aragorn. They both remembered how his mother, Gilraen died; of a broken heart because of Arathorn's death the night she had arrived in Rivendell long ago.

Both Elves feared Aragorn was also going through a sickness of heartbreak, not because of a death, but because of not seeing Elrond and the rest of Rivendell in almost a month. There were also other factors that contributed to his illness as well. Such as, fear and being in uncharted territory of the Woodland Realm.

The past couple days for Elrond had been extra hard seeing Aragorn the way he was. Everyday Elrond checked on Aragorn, his breathing had gone shallower and his heartbeat waning. The third day of riding, Elrond could barely hear Aragorn's chest pound at all.

The human hadn't woken up in the past two days and Elrond couldn't help himself but cry. There had only been three times in his whole life that he acually had cried.

Once when his wife died, second was just recently when he found Aragorn again in the Woodland Realm, and third was now.

As all three entered Rivendell, all Elrond and Lagorion hoped was for Aragorn to be okay. They figured if Aragorn's name meant 'hope', then they could show a little too.