[Envinyatar]

‘Now wasn’t that an interesting scene?’ asked Geldion as he and Ondomirë walked back to their companies. Lord Elrond had welcomed the Dwarves and thanked them for their assistance and then gone on to greet Celeborn.

‘He’s a diplomat, that’s for certain,’ Ondomirë returned, casting an eye toward where his bowmen had gathered, their horses picketed nearby. ‘Smart of him to make alliances, don’t you think?’ He paused and turned back to look at the gathering of Dwarves. ‘I wonder how many of them will take up his offer to fight alongside us?’

His eyes narrowed and a look of critical appreciation crossed his features. ‘Those Dwarves are doughty fellows to my thinking. I would rather have them fighting alongside me that to have one of those rather nasty axe blades planted in my back.’

Geldion laughed as a sudden thought occurred to him. It erupted into a full fledged guffaw, quickly squelched as Ondomirë raised a brow at him. ‘Just thinking,’ Geldion chuckled. He eyed his tall companion from head to foot. ‘With your height, the blade’s as likely to cleave your hind end as anything! He stifled another laugh at his friend’s expense.

Ondomirë gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head slowly. ‘Let’s hope for a quick battle. We need to get you back to civilization before your humor sinks any lower.’

At the word, ‘lower’, Geldion broke out in another paroxysm of laughter.

‘By the One! He’s gone stark raving mad!’ explained Ondomirë to two of Geldion’s men as he turned the hysterical captain about and shoved him into their arms.

He left his friend in the capable hands of his troops and walked on to where his own men were now camped. He looked back once, only to see three pairs of eyes now glued to his posterior, their attendant lips twitching in amusement. He turned from them quickly another exasperated sigh escaping him. And walked on as fast, and in as rigid a military manner, as he could.