The defeat of the three spies was never in doubt. The uruk-hai Norgry only wondered whether they would give up or fight to the death. They had lasted longer than he'd expected, but after the man's leg had caught the arrow, the dwarf had soon followed. Maybe he was distracted by the wounding of his comrade. These mortals tended to stick together. Worry about each other. That usually ended badly for them. 

Orcs and uruk-hai were not bothered with such worries. Survival and little else mattered to this rabble. Norgry nearly laughed when the elf attempted to defend all three of them when he alone was left standing. It wasn't long before the fool realized his efforts were in vain and held up his hands in defeat. Norgry was a bit disappointed, for it would have been a pleasurable kill. But now that Uglúk had given orders to keep the three creatures alive if they surrendered, Norgry hoped to savor their deaths at his own pace. Especially that disgusting elf—he would enjoy killing him.

The uruk leader had halted the march to stick his nose into what was supposed to be under Norgry's control. When the battle raging on the far side of the eastern hill caught his attention, a strange gleam had grown in Uglúk's eyes. Norgry didn't know what Uglúk was up to, changing their orders from 'kill all but the halflings' to this talk of keeping prisoners, but he was not of a mind to argue with the hulking uruk. So he had overseen the battle as it played out in the pale predawn and made sure Uglúk's new command was obeyed.

Norgry sent five of the group ogling their catch to approach the three as they stood in defeat, their weapons at their feet. The man panted and leaned on his good leg. The dwarf's leg bled, but he seemed not to notice. The elf stared at them all with steely eyes. "Step back from your weapons!" shouted one of his soldiers.

The dwarf grumbled. "This is madness. Better to battle until they have slain us!" The dwarf was smarter than he looked, to Norgry's surprise.

"Aye, Gimli, it would be better for us," the elf answered quietly. "But we can help no one if we are dead." The dwarf gave him no reply but stepped back stiffly from his weapon, as the others did when the orc repeated his command more forcefully.

A small goblin that had climbed the hill to watch the spectacle grabbed at the gleaming sword the man had cast down, but after a moment, he cried out and threw the weapon away as if it burned him. With a snarl, he glared at the man then back at his fellow soldiers. "Elvish make that one must be! It burns like fire!"

At that moment, another small orc cried out. From the North, both of them, Norgry remembered. "Ai! This one too!" He flung the bow into the field, and the elf's eyes followed its path through the brightening sky.

Norgry laughed. "You northern lads must have rat dung for brains! Of course it's elvish, bûb-bag! It belongs to an elf. Now stop this nonsense and bind them!"

"Norgry, this axe ain't elvish. It's strong. Can I keep it?"

Norgry narrowed his eyes at the rat. Always he was asking for the go ahead for what he meant to do anyway. If he didn't get permission, he'd find another way to get what he wanted. Norgry hefted the dwarvish axe and swung it about, causing many to step back, uncertain they weren't about to be cut down. "It's strong, but heavier than I like my weapons. Keep it if you want." With a shrug, he thrust it back to the orc. "But you best search them for other weapons if you don't want your throat cut of a sudden. And take their packs. Might have something of use. Now hurry up!"

An orc quickly retrieved their belongings. The man held onto his pack, his hand rummaging inside as if trying to salvage something from it. The orc tried to wrench it from him, then suddenly the man surrendered it, hands empty, yielding the pack and all its contents. Norgry narrowed his eyes at the strange behavior, but he didn't have time to figure out the man's actions.

As all five got to work binding their captives, the rest of the orcs sat about, taking the chance to rest from their march. "You lazy pack of dogs! Get ready to move on. We got no time to waste!" Norgry made his way through the milling rabble to report to Uglúk on their catch.

He hadn't gotten a dozen steps when he heard Fagrod calling out to him. "Norgry! If we're gonna kill them, why don't we just do it and be done with it? As you said, we got no time to waste."

Norgry growled. Though only an orc, Fagrod was one of the smarter ones. Sometimes that was more trouble than aid to him. At least he was of Isengard, and there was no need to question his loyalties. "Are you trying to decide what my orders should be?"

"No! It's just that what we're to do with them decides even how we bind them."

"What we're to do with them, that's for Uglúk to decide. Now unless you want him to find out what's happened from the chatter and claver instead of my report, you won't harry me with questions. And right now, I'm of a mind that I like to look at our prisoners and know that they will die. So I say keep them for a bit. Which means, bind them so they'll keep!"

"Well, Norgry, there's, eh, one more thing I was thinking..."

"What now!"

"It's just that, after all this, I was thinking we earned a bit of sport for ourselves. Plus, the lads are starting to grumble, especially that whining Mordor lot. If we gave them all some toys to play with, it might keep 'em quiet and marching longer in the end. 'Sides, we've trekked for days on end through this empty place, and do you expect Saruman to thank you for it? There ain't no reward waiting for us at Isengard, and if there was, Uglúk would take it straight away. So why not take some when we can?

Norgry's eyes narrowed. So this was his point, finally. "So we take a bit of sport, eh?"

"I was thinking so. You should get the elf yourself. He'll last, no matter what you do to him. You could have fun with that one for a while yet. I don't know what Uglúk's got planned for them, but I'm thinking he don't care what we do with them, long as we leave the killing to him."

Norgry let himself smile at the thought of the elf as his own prisoner, but he wasn't as sure as Fagrod of Uglúk's disregard for the captives. He remembered the shine in the uruk's eyes. Perhaps his thoughts had been similar to Fagrod's. And he might not be of a mind to share.

"The man won't last long, I figure," Fagrod continued, "with the way he's bleeding, but that doesn't mean he can't provide some distraction for a few of this lot. And the dwarf, who knows? I've never had a dwarf to play with. Might be interesting to find out how long he lasts." He stopped there, waiting for Norgry's decision.

"Hmph. Always thinking, you are, Fagrod. Knew there was some reason I had you around. You're right about no rewards from no one. Only thing is, we have to be careful about Uglúk." Norgry looked pointedly at Fagrod. "We might have to do a bit more sharing than we'd like. That's all right, though. We'll take what falls in our hands. Don't mention it to nobody till I tell Uglúk, see what's on his mind for them. And I'm not asking for an extra break for this, so there's no time for it now. At the next break in our march, we'll have ourselves some games. When the time comes, I will take the elf. And you can have the dwarf if you're so interested. You decide who gets the man. But make sure enough of them get a piece of him. This is supposed to shut them up, after all. I don't wanna hear no grumbling after this. Make sure they know that!"

"Will do!" Fagrod went off with a toothy grin.

Norgry continued on to Uglúk when Fagrod's original question regarding the binding of the prisoners sunk in. With a curse, he returned to where the prisoners were now trussed and sitting silently on the ground, hands bound in their laps and connected to each other with a length of thick rope. Norgry was mildly irked he neither saw nor smelled fear in them yet. There would be time for that, though, and he smiled at the thought. He lost the smile when he realized he needed yet again to teach this rabble common sense. "Machlhug! What'd you use to bind the prisoners?"

The Mordor orc frowned. "Rope. What'd you expect me to use?"

Norgry narrowed his eyes at the insolence and took a step towards him. "On all of them?"

"Yeh, all of them, tied up good and tight."

Norgry whacked the orc on the side of the head. "Haven't you ever had an elf prisoner afore? If you did, you didn't keep him long. You can't keep Elves with simple rope, bûb-bag! They're not as weak as Men! Here! Put these on him," he ordered, detaching a pair of iron cuffs from his belt.

Machlhug glared but turned to the elf, who watched Norgry intently. The uruk repressed a shiver at the glance. He hated when they did that! He swung his fist good and hard into the elf's face. That made him feel much better, though the elf had managed to see it coming somehow and dodged it, so he barely caught the side of his head. There was a red spot growing on his cheekbone, though, and that was enough for Norgry right now. Soon enough, he'd make it so those eyes would never look at him again.

Norgry shook himself. No time for those thoughts now. Business first. He watched as Machlhug carefully undid the ropes binding the elf, while two other orcs held their blades at his neck. Finally, Machlhug clamped the iron shackles forcefully onto the wrists of the elf, who gave no resistance. This one was waiting for death, Norgry supposed, and had no fight left in him. That would prove disappointing, not to mention boring. Maybe he just knew when he was outnumbered. Elves weren't stupid. Norgry knew that and had the scars to prove it. Machlhug shook the cuffs, assuring that they held.

"Now that's how you bind an elf! Remember that! When we're ready to march, get them moving and place two on guard ahead and behind them, then one on each side. We keep marching!"

As he stepped away, Norgry noticed the shiver Machlhug failed to suppress when the elf glowered at him. Machlhug kicked at the elf, who quickly ducked. The orc tried again, aiming this time for the dirt in front of him. The elf was too fast, though, and rather than spraying the elf's face, Machlhug had to be satisfied with an elf in dusty clothes. Norgry chuckled as Machlhug growled in frustration. "I can't wait to watch you die," the Mordor orc hissed, turning quickly, likely to avoid the sting of another glare, and commanded the orcs next to him to keep watch. "When I give the call, you get them on their feet."

Norgry added as he turned to leave, "Remember, no killing just yet! You lot hear that? They stay alive." Norgry smiled as he added, "At least for now."