"I need to become better at killing Orcs." Rhavaniel announced.

"You have done an impressive job so far." Kili told her, "You are a great archer - as good as any Elf Guard already, from what I have seen."

"Thank you." Rhavaniel replied, "But I have every reason to be concerned. I am not afraid of death, but I am very afraid that what happened to Glennodad and Vehiron could happen to me."

Kili nodded in agreement, "We Dwarves are told that Orcs were formed from the corruption of men or elves. Now, you and I have seen the proof of it."

Rhavaniel shook her head sadly, "I heard those same stories but I never believed it. That man was turned into Orc? Yes, they are easily corrupted. We know the legend of the Rings of power. All men who wielded them were ruined to their very souls. But elves were able to control themselves, and used their Rings for good. By that logic, I thought my kind were beyond such diabolical corruptions."

Kili recollected all he knew of the legends, "We were told that Morgoth preferred elves over men to make Orcs. Such Orcs were harder to make but near immortal, just like elves. Those are the Uruk-Hai. You will never hear of a Dwarf formed to Orc, though. My kind cannot be corrupted, just as the Dwarf Rings of power did not corrupt their owners. My grandfather, King Thrain, was the last Dwarf to own one of the those Rings."

Rhavaniel was amazed. She had not put much thought into the fact that Kili was from a noble family. What was merely a story to her was deeply personal family history to him.

"Your Grandfather was not corrupted by its power?" she asked.

"No. The Ring made him even wealthier, along with the rest of Erebor. But my mother confided in me and Fili that the Longbeard Ring was the cause of constant jealousy from the other Dwarf tribes that had lost their Rings. It even caused strife and plotting within the Longbeard tribe. And, I must admit, there is such a thing as gold sickness that can take hold of Dwarves. It is especially unhealthy in a King - it will lead him to unwise decisions. My mother wanted us to know those signs." he chuckled, " As if we had to worry about being spoiled by wealth."

"If the Orcs who captured you did not plan to corrupt you into their kind, why did they not kill you?"

Kili thought for a moment. He would have liked to spare Rhavaniel every gruesome thing he knew about Orcs, but that would do her a disservice. She did need to be prepared for the worst.

"Orcs like torture. They have been known to take some unfortunate Dwarf alive when it suites them. We have all heard stories in Blue Mountain - Orcs take one of us and amuse themselves with him for days before killing and eating him. Or letting him go, broken and shamed, back to his home as a warning. But that is not what happened to me. The Orc wanted me to call out for you, and lead you into a trap."

Rhavaniel had not realized. "You would not do it... I should have known. Thank you."

Kili looked at her and spoke gravely, "I do not tell you this so that you will thank me. I want you to know how dangerous the world is, and that you should not always come to me if I call you. You need to know that in a moment of weakness, I did think of it."

Rhavaniel kissed him, "Thoughts are wild animals running in our heads. Do not apologize for each and every one of them. You are only responsible for the ones that you catch and ride."

Kili laughed at Rhavaniel's imagination. "Who would have thought I should end up paired with a philosopher? Fili may find that even more surprising than the fact that you are Elf."

After a moment, Kili became thoughtful and asked. "Do you still have your crescent arrowhead?"

"Yes." Rhavaniel said, pulling it out of the quiver. "I saw it in a history book I 'borrowed' from the master library. Why do they lock away the best books? Anyway, I made it to challenge myself, and it was not easy, I assure you. Elves do not use this ancient thing, though I am sure I could hunt with it if I had to."

Kili studied it, "You say this style is ancient?"

Rhavaniel nodded, "Yes, unused in a thousand years or more. It is a particularly cruel tip, supposed to have been favored by only the elite bodyguards of Fëanor, a great King of my people. Better body armor contributed to its obsolescence - I learned that in my warfare class. Leaf-shaped arrowheads were designed to breach the chinks in armor. These old crescents...they tear holes in unprotected flesh."

"I have never seen one of these before." Kili said, "If you saw an Orc that used this kind of arrowhead, what would you think?"

"I would surmise that such an Orc must be very old to be familiar with this arrowhead at all. Maybe he stole it from a warrior Elf of the Noldor tribe."

"Or he was once, himself, an Elf warrior."

"Sadly, that may be true."

"What else, if he was Noldor?"

"Well, the Noldor didn't like Dwarves." she said quietly.

"What Elf tribe does?"

"It was different with the Noldor...worse. If a Noldor did not like you, then he had to be the very best there was at disliking you. The Learned Ones were a vengeful, prideful people. I suppose they earned their pride, for they were the greatest in every Elvish craft - language, music, embroidery, metalwork..."

"Magic?"

Rhavaniel hesitated, "I don't know, but true Elvish smith work involves magic, so the best smiths would have to be powerful magicians. An ancient Noldor would have made his own arrowheads, for warfare was not just a means to an end for them. It was an art, and the instruments of war must carry the artist's signature. An Elf skilled enough to make any arrowhead that Aulë himself imagined, but chose this one, which cripples rather than kills - I would not consider such an Elf to be my kinsman for he would expect to use them only on creatures that had no armor."

"Like women and children?" Kili mused.

"I suppose."

"What kind of Orc might he be, this Elf who started out so cruel? So powerful?" Kili whispered.

"I shudder to think what he would look like. Taller than the tallest Elf I have ever seen, and twice as broad, for the Noldor were the largest among our tribes. But we are only speculating, are we not?"

"Yes. May I keep this?" Kili asked.

"Of course." Rhavaniel replied, no longer so proud of her craftsmanship once she thought about the history behind the design. She didn't want to keep it, and she wondered why Kili did. He seemed troubled. If he had a secret that was his alone, she knew he would share it with her. He wasn't sharing.

Rhavaniel decided to bring the discussion back to practical matters, for Dwarf minds happily focused on the practical, "Are there poisons that work on Orc or Warg that we could be making?"

Kili was pulled out of his dark and distant thoughts by the question, "I ...do not know. I never learned that, but not because I am young. Poisoning is not a Dwarf warrior's way. There is no honor in poison, not ever."

Rhavaniel rolled her eyes, "That is silly. If I can kill an Orc an easier way, then I certainly will, without a thought to how honorable it might be. Now I am being the practical one. I hope you appreciate the irony."

Kili laughed at her. "I suppose poison would work on an Orc, if it could kill Elf or Man. But who has tried to do so?"

Rhavaniel pondered the question, "Even the worst toxins in nature would only slow an Elf down, so it might not kill an Orc if it was originally elf-blooded - an Uruk-Hai, you called them? I fear we have too many unknowns to solve this problem. Oh, but what about things that don't hurt us, but might be offensive to corrupted creatures? What about miruvor, or Elf metal?"

"That might do it." Kili conceded, "But those are precious commodities and we have none, or none to spare. We cannot sacrifice your sword."

Rhavaniel continued to search for answers, "What about other object or elements of purity? Could arrowheads be made of sacred stone, so that even a minor wound could be fatal? What about honey, it is miraculous and immortal?" She happened to be eating some of the honey salvaged from the Dwarf house. She had poured it into smaller jars for carrying in their packs.

"How can you drink that straight?" Kili asked. "Are you flying on the hummingbird in your head?"

He tried to take the jar from her but she darted out of his reach with a giggle.

"Gandalf the Grey might know." Kili continued, "or at least rule out what poisons and curses wizards have tried and failed against Orcs."

"There is a wizard in your Company?" Rhavaniel asked with excitement.

"I have not had a chance to tell you about Mister Gandalf yet..."