A stair fell steep from the castle crag,
Its base abutting a quiet cove
Whose quay held craft both strong and swift.
Straight down the stair the Quendi came
Then checked in fear.
-- Annatar's ambassador softly smiled, --
-- 'What brings such nightbirds here?' --

The castle-crowned crag lay quiet, cold
With neither light nor lamp. But a mass of men
Twoscore in sum were placed to bar their path.
'The lord would not like to hear of your haste,'
'To borrow wings and fly.'
-- 'Why, what a reaction!' --
-- 'You'd simply die!' --

The ambassador eyed them with sinister smile.
'But need he know?' he suavely suggested.
'We can mend the matter to our own advantage.'
'Consider, Cordil! My Potentate will pay you
'What you truly deserve:'
-- 'Not trifles like he --
-- 'Whom you would no more serve.' --

But savage and sudden Cordil cried out
A wild cry of war last heard long ago
When Fithurin's fighters, defiant, despairing,
Sallied in strength from besieged Amon-Gil
And charged to their doom:
-- seeking others' escape --
-- and they, the tomb. --

The elves above from the steps of the stairs
Drew aim in the dark with Elvish eyes
And let fly a flock of feathered fangs.
And Cordil came forth, defiant, determined
And slashed his sword
-- with leaping lunge --
-- at that Mordain lord. --

But he stepped aside, and with mighty mace
Swiftly swung to cripple or kill.
Eluding, evading, they danced a dance
As light as lovers, as deadly as death.
But with lightning speed
-- the sword did the kissing, --
-- And Cordil the deed. --

That servant of Sauron slid from his sword
Lifeless and limp to the sand by the shore.
Then Fèhaglin found him, her spear stained with blood:
The elves were alone but for Death and the the dead.
So they swiftly embarked
-- the ambassador's boat --
-- and were lost in the dark. --