Elrond sighs.

<Perhaps it is.  I have looked long for it, but if it is there, I have not yet found it.>

She has at least three ideas for how to do this depending on how much feedback he can get from the Song, and she is not a doctor, Elrond -

No, that train of thought is pointless except as it informs how to make a successful removal attempt.

<I can think of a few ways, and once I've identified it I should be able to get it out of him.>

<Excellent.  If it is there, absolutely we should get it out... Preferably without injuring him further, though any injury would be better than leaving it in him to work its evil.  As far as I can tell, the anatomy of Hobbits is essentially the same as Men's.  Or, at least, the Men of Middle-Earth.>

<I am aware of the broad strokes of that anatomy, and not inclined to find out whether I am a special case.>

<As far as the removal goes...  I intend to utilize a spatial displacement to remove the object, followed by Light-healing once it's gone, since frankly teleporting it is a better idea than me trying to conduct a surgery.>  She's seen enough medical dramas to know she absolutely doesn't know.  <I've actually done a spatial displacement before.>

Elrond nods, much relieved.

<Teleporting would be much safer than trying to navigate it out through his shoulder, especially if it might be different in any way than the shoulders you might be more familiar with.  Once it is gone, I expect my own healing songs would heal him well - I have long experience in treating the Enemy's wounds - though I would not be opposed if you want to help there.>

<And of course, be careful with the fragment.  It might vanish once out in the air, but if it does not, the covered bowl on the table should be safe to keep it in.>

She nods.  <I will be glad to leave the actual healing to the professional, to be honest; I know that I do not know all that I would like to know to consider myself capable of treating complex wounds.  If it would help if I provided power behind your work, though ->

She holds out a hand, a fingertip, bearing the smallest spark of proper Light.

<That, I can likely do.>

<If the plan's settled - we should inform Sam.>

Elrond nods and smiles.  <I think I will have enough power; if not, then Mithrandir or any number of Elves can assist.  But my thanks to you for your offer.>

He pauses.  <If you do not see any such fragment of a dagger, though... tell me through an illusion, and then your Light healing would be needed as mine is already proving insufficient.>

<And I can explain to Sam, unless you would rather we convince him to reluctantly come out here?>

<If you wouldn't mind, yes, please do tell him.>

<...To be very clear: The method I have in mind for removing this particular possibly-immaterial curse, should it not be bound to the physical fragment of dagger, is not Light magic, nor Life magic - both of those principles easier to heal with than others are.  It's fighting necromancy -> An association with two principles, here, one of them a strange composite - <with necromancy.>

Elrond frowns gravely.  <If that does prove the case, please let us talk more first.  I would first wish more assurance that it is not Evil - and probably the advice of Mithrandir as well.  But let us hope you do find a shard to remove and anything more proves unnecessary.>

<I cannot speak to Eru Illuvatar's opinion on this matter, and it's his world we're in, but I know that as far as the magic of my homeworld is concerned that the moral of a tool is in the using.  But... Yes, let us hope, indeed.>

She pulls her psychic shield back around herself, and drops the bigger one, before returning to Frodo.

Elrond would be very hesitant in speaking to Eru Illuvatar's opinion either, which is why he would want to ask Mithrandir... but he would rather not have that conversation except perhaps about questions of theory, in a well-lit study.

Sam looks up, confused but hopeful, as they return.

Elrond folds his hands and says, "I am sorry we had to leave, but Alicia does not speak any language I speak, and she does not wish to open her mind to osanwe so close to..." (he hesitates to name it, but it would not do to be vague) "the One Ring.

"She guesses - as Gandalf guessed yesterday - there is still a fragment of the dagger in Frodo's shoulder, and that is what is causing this.  Further, she thinks she can find and remove it, by what you might call magic; and then I will be able to heal him with my own arts.

"I know very little of her methods, but I will be closely watching, and Gandalf has confidence in her."

Sam doesn't know what "osanwe" is, and his mind boggles at the thought of this strange person (who looks sort of like one of the Big Folk except she's littler?) speaking some language that even Elrond himself doesn't speak and knowing some magics that Elrond and Gandalf don't know!

But it wouldn't do to start demanding they explain all of everything to him right now, with Master Frodo still lying deathly sick.

He nods.  "Whatever you think best, Master Elrond.  And - thank you."

Elrond opens the lid of the covered bowl he mentioned to Alicia.

Then, he holds Frodo's hand and starts humming, a song of watching.

And then, he nods to Alicia.

Alicia has many ways of finding the knife-piece.  One, by looking for suspicious differentiations of mass/density/material.  One, by finding a suspicious void of biology.  And one, by tracing the darkness itself back to a source volume.

She spins all her options into being, and should they find an object, she is quite ready to teleport it into the covered bowl provided, after having set up extra warding - not that she doesn't trust Elrond's safety procedures, but it would be better to not let a lingering darkness irradiate things.

The darkness is doing a good job not being traceable.  There's not really anything that stands out as especially dense in the material world, either.

But - for all Frodo's fragility of life right now, there still is solid life in his body.  He is breathing, and his heart is beating, slowly but steadily.  Even the dagger-wound in his shoulder has scarred over, and the flesh under it is healing... more slowly than it would in other circumstances, but healing.

Except at this one point - a small triangle, if she's looking precisely, a little above his heart.  Right along the line between the healing dagger-wound and his heart.

Her breath hisses between her teeth as she processes that - but she's pretty sure she's found it.

She feeds the volume into spell cache, controls for Frodo's breathing, and - teleports.

A tiny firm pointed bit of something dark clinks into the bowl.

Elrond catches his breath.  He can feel something - something inside Frodo momentarily, not unlike the alarm he felt on the wards a few hours ago.

And then he instantly makes sure the bowl is covered, and surrounds it with a shield.

When he turns his attention back to Frodo a moment later, he thinks the hobbit might be already more firmly in the material world. He smiles and breathes out in relief.

Alicia nods to Elrond; it's his turn, now.

(It's not that she doesn't also have ideas, but she certainly would prefer the trained healer doing the decursing, here.)

Elrond sings again:  a soft song of life and light, of plants growing in desolate ground, of stars shining through the shadows, of flowers unfurling their petals to drink in the light of day...

It's a soft song; the images do not appear before them.  But Alicia can maybe see the magic stirring from the world around them as Elrond calls it into Frodo.

The Shadow left in Frodo doesn't vanish all at once.  But it subsides; it retreats; Frodo looks more alive.

After some time, Elrond looks up with a smile of triumph.

"Things are going very well," he says to Sam.  "That did remove the source of the darkness.  Now, I expect Frodo will awaken by tomorrow, healthy."

He gives Alicia an approving nod, stands - he can spare a moment now - and gestures at the door questioningly.

She nods, and follows him out.  <...I imagine that you have questions.  Not limited to but probably including 'how the fuck did she even do that'.>

(The expletive doesn't come through the language-independent osanwe except as [expletive], or else he would have even more questions.) 

<Yes, many of them...  But I would prefer to return to Frodo soon, so - is there anything else you remember from your book that happens soon?  We were looking for the Ringwraiths; do you know what happened to them?>

<No, unfortunately.  Not that you're not already planning to do, I think.  I only know what's supposed to happen to the Ringwraiths, if I haven't thrown everything off by merely existing, and not where.>