[Regin Hardhammer]

Returning to the main deck, Marreth had again found himself swept up in the fighting. On all sides, he could see signs of how hard the struggle had been. There were bodies of Elves, Lossoth, and Corsairs tossed about: he could not even fight without having to step over or push aside the corpses of intruders or those of his own crew. Many of the combattants from both sides continued to battle on despite their grievous wounds.

Marreth himself had a cut across his upper arm. He had ripped off a strip of cloth from his shirt and had one of his comrades bind it tightly about his forearm to try and staunch the bleeding. The makeshift bandage had slowed the flow of blood, but not before he had lost a considerable amount. His head felt as if it was swimming, but he fought hard to keep his wits and willed his body to fight on. Still, things did not seem to be turning out the way he had intended. Despite the large number of intruders the Corsairs had killed or wounded, the odds seemed to be tipping slowly in favor of the Elves, a fact that Marreth hated to admit.

Nor was the loss of blood the only reason the Corsair's mind kept wandering. Marreth found himself thinking about the precious Stone he had hidden in the garbage hold and wondering if it was still all right. He should stay and rally his men to a counterattack, yet he couldn't seem to get the image of the Palantir out of his head. Then the thought struck him. The Stone was an artifact of great power. He had read in the old scrolls that it could be used to communicate over long distances. But perhaps the thing had other hidden powers....perhaps even powers similar to those of the great Ring from the last war. Perhaps these were powers that the Elves kept to themselves so no one else would even suspect the hidden secret of the Stones. No wonder Luindal was so doggedly anxious to get it back! For all he knew, that dratted Elf leader had called upon the other Stone to launch a counterattack against his ship, and that was why they were losing.

Suddenly, the whole thing made perfect sense to Marreth. He must go down and have a look at the Palantir again. If it was a great and mysterious weapon, then he might be able to find a way to unleash its power. He would be able to sweep the intruders from the deck of his ship and turn his attack on the Spirit. Quickly he slipped away from the battle and retreated to the small ladder that led down into the hold, intent on getting back to the Stone as quickly as he could.