Chapter 19

"What have I done?" Elaenar whispered to himself. He paced back and forth nervously. "This is mad''; he thought to himself. He was so nervous he was shaking. He couldn't remember ever being this scared in his entire life...and he was six hundred and thirty-seven years old. In his heart and his gut, he knew this couldn't possibly work. The little orc slave would betray them; he expected at any moment now to see the bodies of one of his friends hoisted on the ramparts. He imagined that they would decapitate and mutilate one of their two prisoners to mock the elves' rescue efforts, and to warn the elves not to try anything else. He wondered which one they would pick: Aeründal or Feanar?

The thought made Elaenar sick. It was too much; he had to sit down. With his back against a tree, he buried his head in his hands. Elaenar feared that if his plan failed and the worst came true, he would be blamed for their deaths. Even if no-one held him accountable, he would still blame himself. Elaenar was taken out of his thoughts when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Lúthian who stared down at him, his brow knit with concern.

"This is mad." He said to his friend.

Lúthian sighed, "Elaenar," He said shaking his head.

"They'll be killed!" He interrupted. "What if, (his voice cracked) what if I've made a terrible mistake? Do you suppose we could have negotiated for them?"

Lúthian shook his head and sighed.

"No, Elaenar, we couldn't have negotiated. There's nothing that we have that they want. Feanar and Aeründal weren't taken for bargaining chips. They were taken to buy the orcs time. All they want is to hold us off so that they can wait for reinforcement."

Elaenar nodded.

"Tell me honestly, Lúthian, is this mad? Have we made a mistake?"

Lúthian sighed and looked toward the orc-held stronghold. He bit his lip and paused before answering.

"What choice do we have, Elaenar? No, I don't believe that you've made a mistake. What else were we supposed to do?"

"It's foolhardy, isn't it, Lúthian?"

"Perhaps." His friend replied. "But it's our only hope."

"Our only hope." Elaenar repeated bitterly.

"Our only hope is vested in that little demon that can't be trusted to do anything unless under duress." He thought to himself.

They sat on the ground waiting for what seemed like hours. It was nothing short of agony. Elaenar felt sick to his stomach; he wanted to lean over and vomit. When Lúthian wasn't looking he snuck out of his pocket some white tablets that he'd brought with him to calm his nerves and swallowed them. In his mind he started to draft a letter to Faenar and Aeründal's families, to apologize personally for their deaths and beg for their forgiveness. Irrational self-hatred and guilt flowed through him like a burning sensation that coursed through his veins. It brought tears to his eyes. In his anguish he began to fantasize that if his friends didn't come home tonight, he would either kill himself or devote the rest of his life to killing as many orcs as he could take with him to the grave.

He prayed; he prayed fervently but faithlessly. In his heart he didn't believe that his prayers were heard, much less answered. His raging cynicism was enough to make him want to curse God.

He was so distracted in his own personal hell that he didn't notice the figure coming toward them in the dark until Lúthian whispered "look!"

Sure enough, it was their prisoner fleeing across the clear; not headed obediently towards the elves like he was supposed to, but instead trying to make an escape.

"Fucking little imp!" Elaenar cursed him under his breath (low enough for Lúthian not to hear his foul mouth) and he got up from where he sat and made haste to catch the little wretch before he could get away.

Elaenar ran like a leopard closing in on its prey; he tackled him and dragged him out of the clear with one hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming. He pressed him against a tree, holding him by his shoulders.

"Where are they?! Did you do it? Did you free them?" Elaenar said, shaking him by his arms.

"I did what you told me to do, I swear!"

"Where are they, then? Did they escape? Are they alive?" The rabid elf spoke with such zeal that it seemed like he was ready to tear Snaga apart, on the spot, if the orc's answer wasn't in the affirmative.

Snaga was so petrified that his voice caught in his throat and he found himself unable to give an answer, but fortunately for him Lúthian spoke up, saving him.

"Elaenar, look!"

Two figures were running toward them in the darkness, darting through bramble like it was air and scrambling over half sunk rocks embedded in the earth with a swiftness that only elves possess (elves on the run for their lives no less). Lúthian motioned for the escapees to find them where the trees met the clear.

Elaenar was so stunned he could barely breathe. He couldn't believe it; was this a dream? When they at last came near it was more than his heart could take to look upon the faces of two people who he thought he would never see again. He ran and embraced Aeründal (trying to be mindful of his shoulder but holding on to him tight) panting "oh my God, Aeründal, you're alive!"

Faenar was close behind him and Lúthian clasped him like a brother snatched from the edge of death. Elaenar thought he might have a nervous break. Although this was the most wonderful moment of his life, Elaenar felt that he couldn't think, could hardly breathe, and truthfully he just wanted to crumble to the ground and weep. Fortunately, Lúthian had more of his wits about him than Elaenar did.

"Come!" He said to their party. "We have to get out of here."

Elaenar snapped back to reality and remembered the orc, who was looking behind himself at the woods and then back at the elves, calculating whether or not he should make a break for it and run. But just as he was about to flee Elaenar grabbed him by his wrist and seethed: "don't even think about it."

On their flight back to their stronghold Elaenar thought this must surely be too good to be true and that they would be hunted down and slaughtered before they could make it back to safety.

At last they returned to the stronghold; their absence had not gone unnoticed. Captain Thrandar and Captain Barothir stood in the center of the courtyard. Elaenar saw for himself the change of look on his Captain's face; he appeared at first irate when he saw Elaenar but then in awe when he saw Faenar and Aeründal behind him.

Captain Thrandar embraced each of them as if they were his own sons, even touching their faces, and owing to the fact that he was a head taller than them, he even looked like their father. In all his years that Elaenar had known Thrandar, he had never seen his Captain show almost any emotion. But now, as he stood there trembling, Thrandar's demeanor betrayed him even though his voice remained firm and stoic:

"Lúthian, please escort Aeründal to the infirmary." He ordered. Then, leaning toward his subordinate Findor, who stood beside him, he whispered: "Run up to Illian and inform him immediately that our comrades have been returned to us."

He was answered with a chorus of "yes, captain" and then all parties hurried off to do as they'd been asked; and it was just Captain Barothir and Thrandar staring at Elaenar whose grasp was still firm on the detainee who stood, cowering, one pace's length behind him.

Captain Thrandar stared at Elaenar, this outrageous soldier of his, and then at the orc, completely baffled but trying not to show it on his face. Elaenar stared back at him unapologetically.

His commander flatly ordered: "Return this prisoner to his cell immediately."

Elaenar nodded but he didn't answer. He was about to walk away when his Captain grabbed him firmly by his arm and said:

"You may retire for the evening. I'll be speaking with you tomorrow. Report to me in the war room first thing tomorrow morning."

Elaenar was too exhausted and irritable to give a respectful reply. He walked away without a word, taking his prisoner with him.

Note from the author: Thank you for reading this chapter in my short work of fiction. If you like this story please feel free to leave a review. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Hope you stay tuned for more