[Mithadan]

Idril strode over to Mithadan and stood next to the man, examining him closely. He looked up at the Elf with a faint smile on his face.

"How are you feeling," asked Idril.

"Well enough under the circumstances," replied Mithadan. "Though I wish I could aid the Hobbits. Their disappearance worries me greatly."

"Your body will be healed soon enough," said the Elf. "But your hurts run deeper than the injury to your chest if I be not mistaken."

Mithadan was silent for a moment. He stared blankly at the horizon, then turned to Idril. "Yes," he responded. "When I stood frozen at the mercy of Pallando and he gloated over what he believed to be my impending death, he opened his mind to me. And therein I saw the depths of his evil; his hatred for Arda and all things that dwell therein, his lust for power and his love of violence uncontrolled and purposeless save for his own gratification. It was like a pit filled with the filth and foulness of the worst emotions that ages of bitterness could breed. But even as I stood there in fear and horror, I felt deep within myself some faint echo of his darkness that I even at unawares had hidden away locked behind closed doors. And just before he struck, he laughed at my surprise as if he knew these things were within me."

"He did know," said Idril gently. "For these things are within us all. We dwell in Arda Marred and all that was done and made that is good was tainted in ages long passed by the evil of Morgoth. And the Marring cannot be undone and affects us each and every one, whether it is locked deep within or struggled against each day. There is no shame in this. It is the nature of the world. All we can do is deny it from coming to the surface and spilling out onto those around us. For in this way only can the Marring be fought even though it never departs. Be at peace with yourself for the ills of all the world are not yours to cure, and you have done your part as best as you can."