[Mithadan]

Elladan had stayed behind as the others filed out of the cave. Treading carefully about the bodies of the trolls and the rocks which had fallen from the ceiling and walls, he entered the rear doorway and passed into a dark room. A horrid smell assaulted him immediately and he grimaced at the half-seen things lying upon the floor. The light of his lamp revealed piles of bones and partially cooked meat, shattered crockery and rags. But in the far corner were propped two sheathed swords and a long knife. These he took and carried from the trolls' cave.

Catching up to his companions, he silently showed the weapons to Elrohir, who examined them quickly. "Elven make," he said simply. Elladan nodded. Neither commented upon the blood stains on the sheaths or the likely source of the weapons. They continued down the foothills of the mountains and made camp in a copse of trees half-hidden in a fold in the land.