[Child of the 7th Age]

Lindir was not unhappy to see his brooch sacrificed as part of their agreement. Crafted by the Diviner in an age long ago, the silver brooch had become a grim reminder of how the woman he had loved had been transformed by the passage of time and the bitterness of war. Handing the jewelled piece over to the sailor, the Elf had felt something akin to relief, as if he was shedding a burden of guilt and sadness that had weighed heavily on his heart for countless years. He could only hope that his sweet Elliel would find in Mandos the peace that had eluded her during her life in Middle-earth.

He now felt he had a duty to perform. Somehow it was appropriate that Elliel's brooch help secure a funeral ship that would lay to rest the bones of all those who had died in battle. Maybe that tiny goodness would ease the pain of memory that she must surely feel after arriving in the Halls of Mandos and understanding what she had become. It was not only the bones of the Elves that were in Lindir's thoughts. How many in this age still remembered that the first Orcs had once been Elves, poor creatures dragged or enticed into the fortress of Lord Melko where they had been changed beyond recognition? He remembered his close friend Valindel who, distraught over the seemingly endless wars and the death of his wife, had wandered off one night towards Angband and had never been seen again. How often he had wondered what had become of him. Perhaps he had been mercifully killed and his fëa had flown on to find peace in Mandos. But often, in hard and lonely reflection, Lindir asked himself if his friend had suffered a much worse fate, one that could not be discussed even in the company of Elves.

With a flash of insight that tore at Lindir's heart, he realized that the fate of these Orcs and that of his beloved Elliel was perhaps not so terribly different. Joined by death and a common funeral byre, perhaps they would arrive in Mandos together and spend endless years ruminating on what had gone wrong. For the remainder of the day, Lindir joined in with the others to bring the bones down from the cavern. He ignored the pain that shot up his leg and, with a grim determination that was quite different from his earlier behavior, helped to load the baskets with the remains of Elves and Orcs, sending them down to the ledge and then to the shore, where they could be taken and loaded onto the ship. As the sun dipped down into the Sea, the Elves cranked down the last basket of bones and placed it gently onto the vessel. Their work, their real purpose for coming here, at long last was complete.