Gràinne approached Nilidh and his company and learned that the Ar Muin village had been raided again by the Gond, as it had many years ago when the Gond took Gràinne from the Ar Muin.  This time, however, the Gond wielded bronze weapons, and easily overcame the Ar Muin.  Nilidh and his company had come to Eregon to ask the elves to forge weapons for them so they could rescue their kidnapped kinsmen.  Gràinne sought an audience with Celembrimbor, who agreed to forge bronze weapons for the Ar Muin and to forge weapons of truesilver for Gràinne and Nilidh.  The Gwaith-i-Mirdain, the guild of smiths, forged a mithril prosthetic hand and mithril-tipped arrows for Nilidh, and Irimë forged a mithril glaive for Gràinne, which she dubbed “Mahtarocco,” the horse cleaver.

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Gràinne, Irimë and the Ar Muin company set out to return to the new Ar Muin encampment with the weapons.  During their journey along the Gwathlò, they noticed that their food was gradually disappearing before they could eat it.  Eventually, two of the bronze weapons forged by Celembrimbor disappeared.  They suspected that Fèagol and Fobbin, the Stoor thieves they had encountered previously, had followed them and taken their belongings.  Irimë used her magic to find the burglars hidden in the riverbank mud, and maimed Fobbin’s hands so he would never steal again.

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Upon reaching the Ar Muin settlement, they found that men and children had been taken, and that many men, including Eivhir, died defending the settlement, leaving his wife Caoimhe to run the settlement.  Gràinne and Irimë returned to the Gond settlement the following morning and confronted their leader.  When he refused to reveal the location of the kidnapped Ar Muin, Gràinne slew a circle of swordsmen and Irimë slew Artagan the slingmaster.  Gond called for his champion, Odhran the spearmaster, and Gràinne killed him as Nilidh and the other Ar Muin stormed the village and rescued the children.  They noticed, however that one was missing, Dolidh, daughter of Ceana.  Gràinne dragged the cowering chieftain from his hut, and he confessed that he had delivered the missing child to “the master,” an úvano, or monster, of the dark forest at the western foot of the Misty Mountains.  Gràinne drove her glaive through the chieftain’s heart and confiscated the Gond’s bronze weapons save for two, for the survivors to defend themselves.  With that, they returned the kidnapped Ar Muin to their village, and set out to find the missing child . . .