[Child of the 7th Age]

Sprinting down to the ice to take his place beside the other fighters, Luindal had only a moment to dwell upon the strange scene that had taken place between Alahseey and Hilde. The tiny shreads of rope on the axe blade seemingly confirmed Hilde's accusation. Yet Luindal wondered if this was the whole story: perhaps something more was going on than first seemed apparent . Something niggled uncomfortably at the back of his mind, but he had no specific objections to offer, only a vague feeling of discomfort.

For the next few hours, he had little time to think about either of the women. His own hands were full: making sure that his wounded were conveyed to a place of safety, darting in and out to reinforce the small groups that were battling the Corsairs, and going hand to hand in combat with individual Corsairs. Throughout the entire afternoon, Luindal made a point to notice where the Corsair sea captain was fighting. Despite his growing dislike of the man, he could not help but admire an opponent who so craftily used every means at his disposal. The holes in the ice, like the rocks in front of the door of the cavern, had clearly not gotten there by accident.

Several times, Luindal attempted to force the Corsair captain to come out and directly engage him. But the man was maddeningly allusive, and seemed to enjoy playing a cat and mouse game. Luindal could have sworn that the fellow was enjoying poking fun at his earnestness. If he hadn't known otherwise, Luindal would have said that the Corsair leader almost seemed to know him, his likes and dislikes and what strategy he would be most likely to adopt. They seemed to be acting out an old, familiar dance, a fact that infuriated Luindal even more.

Luindal's desire to strike a personal blow at Marreth had at least two motivations. First, without their leader, the Corsairs would be much less effective and might decide to leave the Bay; at the very least, the group should dissolve in warring factions. Yet, there was another element as well: a personal sense that this fellow had played him for an innocent, that he'd had enough of this upstart and would like to strike a blow that would push the smirk off Marreth's face, and avenge the suffererings of his own men.

Luindal had decided to give chase to the Captain with the intent of engaging him one-on-one when the white bear came stumbling through the lines, his long tongue lolling from his great maw and his chest heaving with exertion, "Luindal, we've many wounded. And the men are tired. We can not go on like this. Call a retreat. Our job is to seize the Stones, not to engage in bloody combat down to the death of the final man. I do not think the Corsairs will follow, for they are close to exhaustion themselves. There is a way off the beach under the shelter of those scrub evergreens that will give us cover to get away."

For an instant, Luindal opened his mouth to object: he wanted to chase after his wily opponent and teach him a lesson, not go running off to his ship. Then he thought twice and shook his head, "You are right. These Corsairs make us forget why we are here." Luindal raised the horn to his mouth and sounded the three long notes to regroup and retreat. He watched as men and Elves pulled back from the fray and slowly made their way down towards the southern portion of the shore. He started trotting in that direction beside his friend Rôg and glanced back once over his shoulder. He could have sworn that Marreth was laughing at him....