Title: Victory and Loss
Author: Endaewen
Rating: G
Fandom: The Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All the characters and settings belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and the Tolkien Estates.
Prompt: #24. Mordor
Story Number: 15/100
Wordcount: 212
Character: Luthien Tinuviel
Summary: Written for the Arda100 LiveJournal community, the Doom'n'Gloom prompt set.
Note: Quotes (in 'bold') are from Of Beren and Luthien from The Silmarillion.

Despite the victory she had won, Luthien's heart was heavy with grief. In spite of the joy of being reunited with Beren, she grieved the loss of Finrod. Both ally and friend, he had been a great help to Beren, and it had cost him his life, as he had foreseen. Of the companions he had brought with him, none had survived, leaving Beren alone in the quest, as he had been when he started. He and Luthien had buried the bodies of each of them, cleansing the island of the horrors of Sauron as they went.

Now, with the burial of Finrod Felagund, their sad job was complete. Finally, Luthien broke their self-imposed silence. “We have sent him back to his master, and cleansed his stronghold. However, the victory is only temporary: until he is finally defeated for good, Sauron will create another such place of darkness and evil.”