[Undómë]

Zagra clasped tight her sister’s hand. Ungolt’s telling of the happenings down in the camp had scared her. She whimpered a little, but at a shake of the head from her sister she stopped.

Mazhg was of two minds about the captured Orcs. On the one, she and her sister were safe.....why should they not strike out on their own, leaving those males and their problems to sort out themselves. Others of the women might be persuaded to travel along with them. Yes, that was a possibility.

But.....she looked to where Ungolt held the old sword. She wondered if Ungolt had ever used a weapon against another person. And as the woman had confessed, she really didn’t know how to use the weapon. Mazhg wondered, too, if any of the women could defend themselves if set upon. She put one arm around Zagra’s shoulders and drew her shivering sister close.

In the end, her considerations for her sister’s and her own safety won out. They would be safer in a group. And not just of women, but of men, she grudgingly conceded, whose stronger arms and skills with weapons could assure that safety.

‘Let’s make for that cave you found, Ungolt,’ she whispered, rising as quietly as she could from she crouched. She reached down a hand and pulled Zagra up alongside her. ‘I think we might be safer there for now.’ She cocked her head toward where the male Orcs had been captured. ‘Maybe when it gets real dark, we can sneak back and see if there’s anything we can do.’