[Meneltarmacil]

Thoronmir looked around at the prisoners, then caught a glimpse of a familiar face.

"Awyrgan!" he said. "I'm glad to see that you're still alive."

"I'm lucky to be alive, with what I've seen these barbarians do to their prisoners, Thoronmir," said a slightly younger Ranger. "You look the same as ever."

"I remember this place when it was first built," Thoronmir said, looking around at the room he was in. "This was the town hall for the settlement that we protected from the hillmen when they were still our enemies. What happened here?"

"They came upon us from the north," Awyrgan replied. "You should have seen them. There were a thousand at least, and they quickly overwhelmed our defenses. Some of us fled to the hills, others were captured or killed."

Thoronmir knew the pattern all too well. Most servants of Sauron or Saruman followed the same strategy. "Did you get a good look at their leader?" he asked. "We have reason to believe that he is more dangerous than it would seem."

"No," the other Ranger said. "I've never heard his name, and I don't think anybody but his top lieutenants know who he is."