Early in the morning Lúthian found Elaenar sitting alone in the mess hall. His arms were folded on the table and he was staring into nowhere; his eyes were bleary.
"Where were you?" Lúthiann said in a tone like a mother scolding her child. Elaenar didn't reply, he just grunted without looking up.
"You never came to bed last night...Elaenar? Talk to me! Everyone has been worried about you!"
"Why were they worried about me?" Elaenar asked, his tone was acidic and biting, he turned his eyes to look at Lúthian, which allowed Lúthian to observe just how red and blood-shot those eyes truly were. Lúthian felt a chill run down his spine; the way his own friend was glaring at him made his blood run cold. Those angry, exhausted eyes looked up at him and glared menacingly.
"They should have been worried about Aeründal and Faenar. Afterall, it's not me who's going to be beheaded...or mutilated...or burned alive or however the orcs choose to kill our friends."
"Elaenar! Will you stop this conceited pretending, as if you were the only who cares about them?" Lúthian returned. "We are all devastated, Elaenar. We are all heartbroken. Do you really suppose that you're the only one who's suffering? Do you truly think that we don't feel the same anguish and pain as you?"
"You're all heart-broken and devastated, you say. But who's actually doing anything to help them? What good is our anguish to Aeründal and Faenar?"
"Listen to me, Elaenar, I'm trying very hard to be gracious with you right now because I know that you're suffering, but you need to stop this and rise above your own selfish-"
"I have a plan." Elaenar abruptly interrupted him. His voice was urgent. Lúthian looked stunned and confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I need to speak to you, alone." He said, looking around the room suspiciously.
"What's going on?" Lúthian said, skeptical and confused.
"Come with me." Elaenar replied brusquely and rose up from the table.
Elaenar led a bewildered Lúthian to an obscure storage room where no-one was likely to happen upon them. He locked the door behind them and looked his friend dead in the eye with a kind of urgency that was so intense it scared Lúthian.
"Listen, I have a plan. I know how we are going to rescue Aeründal and Faenar."
"No, Elaenar! Don't you dare go in there and try to rescue them! You'll be killed! You know it's already been tried. If Findor and Ruillian couldn't do it then neither can you." Lúthian railed, grabbing Elaenar by his arms and shaking him.
"I know you want to save them, Elaenar, I know you do. But don't you dare go in there, you'll only be captured along with the other two! Do you understand?"
"Listen!" Elaenar cried. "Listen to me! I'm not going into Barad Mendolin. And I'm not trying to recruit you to go with me either. But we cannot wait until the siege to try to save them. You know we can't do that; what's the point of finding Aeründal and Faenar slaughtered in their prison cells? Tell me truthfully, Lúthian, do you honestly believe in your heart that we stand a chance of saving them when we siege the fortress? Do you?"
"Elaenar," Lúthian faltered. "I don't understand. What are you trying to tell me?"
"I have a plan. You remember the orc prisoner don't you? I'm going to send him into Barad Mendolin to break Aeründal and Faenar free."
"Elaenar!" Lúthian shouted, completely aghast. "Have you lost your mind? This is madness!"
"No, it isn't! It's desperate, I know. But it's not as mad as you may think. What choice do we have? Please Lúthian, here me out. There's no other way."
"Why would we send the orc prisoner to save our friends?" He shouted, baffled. "What confidence could you possibly have that this little fiend will do anything that we tell him to do?"
"I do have confidence, Lúthian." Elaenar asserted, practically pleading with his friend.
"You may find it difficult to conceive but I do believe that I can make the orc prisoner do this."
"And what makes you believe that?" Lúthian snorted.
"Because he's terrified of me." Elaenar seethed with his teeth clenched; a wild and dangerous look was in his eyes.
"He'll do anything that I tell him to do. He has no choice but to do exactly what I command and he knows it. I've threatened him with death and torture. I told him that if he refuses to save our friends then I'll kill him."
"You're being delusional, Elaenar." Lúthian countered, growing impatient. "That foul little beast isn't going to save anyone. As soon as you release him into Barad Mendolin he'll turn on you. The moment he's in the safety of his fellow orcs he'll sound the alarm and your plan will be ruined."
"No, he won't, Lúthian. You're wrong. He knows that we are going to siege the fortress in a matter of days. He knows that if he remains inside those walls when we take Barad Mendolin he'll be slaughtered along with the rest of the other orcs. Don't you see Lúthian? His hands are tied, he has no choice."
Lúthian shook his head and sighed. "Elaenar... I don't know about this."
But despite his outward skepticism, Elaenar could see the gears turning in his friend's mind. Behind those worried eyes he could tell that Lúthian was mulling over the idea and slowly coming to the same conclusion as Elaenar: this may be possible.
"Please Lúthian, I beg you. Don't you see? This is the only chance we have of seeing Aeründal and Faenar alive ever again."
Lúthian looked away and gulped. He paused for a long time before answering: "Once you send the orc into the fortress how do you expect him to get our friends out?"
"There's an escape tunnel at Barad Mendolin. Thrandar showed it to me. It's right outside of the tower where Aeründal and Faenar are being held. The orcs don't know of it. If Aeründal and Faenar can get past the prison guards, they'll only have to make it to the escape tunnel and they'll be free. Are you with me, Lúthian? Will you help me?" Elaenar asked breathlessly.
Lúthian stared down at the ground before answering. "It may work…" He whispered.
"So you agree? You think it's possible?"
"Yes, perhaps…" He trailed off. "It's desperate, just like you said. But it may work. There's a chance this may work...I don't see what we have to lose even if your plan fails."
Elaenar was relieved beyond words.
"But there's one thing," Lúthian added.
"What's that?" Elaenar asked, nervous.
"I don't think we should tell Captain Thrandar about this."
Elaenar nodded solemnly in agreement. "We are going to have to do this alone, aren't we?"
"Yes. Yes, I think we will have to. Have you told anyone else about this?" Lúthian asked.
"No, no one. Only you."
"Good." Lúthian murmured.
There was a long pause as the two elves took a moment to absorb the severity of the consequences of this mission they were about to undertake. It was not lost on either of them that the stakes in this game were treacherously high. As honorable and long-time veteran soldiers neither of them had ever done anything this subversive in their many years as soldiers (not even Elaenar who, despite being uppity at times, would never dare go behind his Captain's back).
At length Elaenar broke the silence. "I don't want them to die, Lúthian. We can't let that happen." Elaenar's initial fervor had died down and as his zeal melted away he stood before his friend broken and desperate. Tears ran down his cheeks, a few tears began to form in Lúthian's own eyes as well.
"I know, Elaenar." He said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Neither do I; which is why I'm going to help you with this. When do you plan on rescuing them?"
"Tonight." Elaenar said firmly. "There's no time to wait. We need to go tonight."
Lúthian nodded solemnly in agreement.
"Very well then, but please, get some sleep. You'll need it."
Elaenar nodded. He hadn't slept at all last night. He would go to bed now and try to sleep through the entire day. When he woke up he would be ready to go on the greatest mission of his life.
