Fiesty grabbed her med kit and staff and scrambled out her door. Hurrying to keep up with her nephew, Fiesty noticed they were headed for the bridge to Riverlands. Fiesty called to Copper, “How‘d it happen?
Copper turned and realized he was leaving his aunt behind, so he slowed and joined her in a fast walk. Huffing he told the story of a Drow that they had flushed not far from the bridge and how he and the boys had given chase. They had him backed up against a rock shelf and were trying to contain him.
Suddenly Tobo was there in front of the Drow with his sword drawn. “Surrender” he cried in a booming voice, “and we will be merciful”. The drow’s face twisted into a hideous smile. “I don’t play with children, I kill them.”
He brought up his own sword and shrewdly looked around. Tobo was standing between the archers and himself. He began to fight Tobo while sliding nearer to the side bushes. They fought and the Drow parried, faking his skill level. Finally Tobo used his strength in an overhand slash that should have felled even a large Drow, but the Drow had been waiting for this and lunged beneath the blow and stabbed Tobo in the thigh. Tobo fell onto the grass holding his leg. A second later the Drow slid off into some underbrush as the boys stared in horror at Tobo. Copper had used one of his shirts to staunch the bleeding and told young Andwise to hold it there while he ran for Fiesty.
Finally coming on the scene, Fiesty saw poor Andwise Took shirtless and crying as he held his own shirt on the wound. Copper’s shirt was a blood covered mass on the ground. She fair threw herself down by he injured boy and began shouting orders. “Get me some water and some rags, and sumthin to pillow his head!” The boys raced to obey.
Fiesty examined the wound and saw it was deep and had punctured the femoral artery. There had been massive bleeding. She peeled back his eyes and guessed he was very short on time. She cleaned and bandaged the wound as quickly as she could and began chanting her song to the earth spirit. But she knew as she touched the boy that his spirit was disappearing. She held on until nothing of Tobo was left. She sat motionless for a while and her sense of the world around her kicked in. She looked around at the scouts standing still and fearful. “He be gone.” She realized the shock this would give her Shire and the Riverlands. “We is gonna take him home now, I will speak to his parents.” Copper nodded at this and said he would come along also.
The rest came in a blur. Cooper refortified the bridge and had several boys carry Tobo home to Folco and Myrtle Sackville. Fiesty told them what had happened and saw Folco’s gaze of anguish. Myrtle, ever full of spite, began screaming at her and Copper. “You ain’t fit to be our leader Miss Lord-it-all Fiesty and you Mister Copper, you let me boy die! I am gonna see you hang.” Fiesty tried to smooth the level of rancor but they gave up after a while. Fiesty told the young Hobbits to bring the people of the Shire together at noon so she could tell them of the loss. Copper walked off to see to his scouts with sadness in his eyes.
Heavy of heart, Fiesty trudged home to write up the messages she needed to send to River Lands leaders, and to consider what she would say to the Hobbits of the Shire.
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