It was the dead of night, Snaga was sleeping on and off. His circadian rhythm had become distorted since he'd been taken prisoner; sleep still didn't come naturally to him at night. He was still nocturnal by nature. He tried to keep the pattern that he was comfortable with and used to, sleeping during the day, but that was made difficult by the fact that someone came into his room twice a day to bring him food and water.

Tonight was one of those nights when he was drifting in and out between being asleep, half-asleep, and being awake... waiting and trying to fall back to sleep. He was sitting upright with his back to the wall when the door opened unexpectedly. He was startled to see the elf, Elaenar, standing in the doorway. To Snaga's horror he had a dagger drawn and he appeared to have blood splattered over his clothes...dark blood. Snaga thought that surely this was the execution he had been waiting for.

"Come with me." The elf growled. Snaga was frozen with fear, he didn't move. It did him no good because the elf simply grabbed him by his arm and yanked him up onto his feet. With a firm grip on his arm, Elaenar led him down the hall and down the stairs, keeping quiet and sticking to the shadows, leading Snaga through the fortress as though he meant to be clandestine about it. They surreptitiously krept out to the main courtyard; here and there a few persons gathered around midnight braziers, drinking, smoking and talking.

Elaenar hissed to his orc prisoner "Keep quiet. Don't say a word."

Snaga was led out of the fortress gates and escorted brusquely into the woods. He was trembling and terrified; this was the moment he had been waiting for (and dreading). All those days that Snaga had spent languishing in his prison-cell he knew that the elves were going to dispose of him eventually. Snaga realized this was his last chance to escape, although it was doubtful that he could do anything against the strength of a seasoned elf-soldier.

Thinking fast, he bit the hand that was gripping his wrist and tried in vain to struggle away. The elf cried out when Snaga sunk his teeth into his wrist, but he simply slapped the orc across the face (as if he were nothing more than a pest) and yanked him onward.

As they walked some distance deeper into the woods, Snaga started to become confused. Why was he being led so far into the forest? Why hadn't the elf slashed his throat already? Snaga wondered for a moment if he was being allowed to go free; perhaps he wasn't going to be killed tonight after all. What else could be the meaning of this? Why else would the elf have come in the dead of night, furtively sneaking him out of the fortress? Snaga began to grow hopeful that he was being released, possibly even against official orders. Wouldn't that explain the elf's strange behavior? Against his better judgement, Snaga imagined that he was about to be set free. With these optimistic thoughts in mind he became compliant; he relaxed against the firm grip on his arm and allowed himself to be hurried along.

At length they came into a clearing; what the orc saw made his heart stop. Snaga screamed loud into the cold, midnight air:

"No! No, please, no!" Snaga stumbled backwards and tried to run away, only to be grabbed from behind and held tightly by the strong elf who pinned one arm behind his back and gripped his hair with the other hand, saying:

"Shut up! Shut up, look at it!" He forced Snaga's head up, compelling him to look at the horrible sight.

Dangling from a tree, hanging by his feet upside-down was a dead orc. He had been viciously hacked away-at; his skin was hanging loosely from his mutilated corpse. Snaga started to hyperventilate; tears flowed out of his eyes and he braced himself for a hideous and terrible death. He started to beg for his life, before quickly realizing the absurdity of such a request and instead begged to be killed quickly.

"Shut up!" The elf hissed. "Listen to me! Listen closely! Two of our elves were taken captive by the orcs at Lug-Gülguh; they're being held prisoner there at this very moment. They've taken our friends hostage and ordered us to stand down or else they'll kill both prisoners. You know as well as I do that as soon as Lug-Gülguh is supplied with reinforcement your evil, vicious kin will slaughter those two prisoners. That's why I've brought you here, Snaga. I need you to go to Lug-Gülguh and rescue them. No elf can get through the courtyard and past the guards; I need you to infiltrate that tower and break them free. I'm ordering you to do this, Snaga, because you have no choice. If you don't do this for me, I'll tear you to pieces just like I've done to that orc there…"

The elf said, pointing to the dangling, mutilated corpse. Snaga whimpered and trembled, his eyes glued to the gruesome spectacle.

"Hear me well, Snaga, you have no choice but to do this. You can either refuse my demands, in which case I might as well string you up now. Would you like that, Snaga? Would you like that?" He threatened while Snaga whimpered. "Or you can betray us and give yourself over to your orc comrades. Do so if you dare. It won't do you any good; we'll kill every single orc when we take Barad Mendolin. If you try to take refuge at Lug-Gülgah, you're as good as dead. You won't be able to hide from us or escape when we descend on that fortress. Do you understand, Snaga? You'll die either way and I'll make sure of it. Do you understand me?"

Snaga didn't say anything; he just stood there, sniveling and whimpering, staring in horror at the mangled corpse and imagining how it must feel to be skinned alive.

"Say it!" Elaenar screamed, shaking him. "Speak! I want to hear you tell me that you understand me."

"I unders-stand…" Snaga quivered, his voice cracked.

"You understand what?" The elf hissed.

"I understand th-that I am to go into Lug-Gülgahand break free the pri-prisoners." He stuttered.

"Or else…?" Elaenar snarled.

"Or else you'll ha-hang me upside down and s-s-kin me alive."

"That's right, orc. The only way you'll get out of this alive is if you free our two fr-..."

But Snaga didn't hear the rest of what was said to him. His vision went dizzy and he fainted.

Chapter 16