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Himaran · 09-06-2004, 06:22 PM

After watching the Nazgul descend from the sky onto the plateau roughly a mile from his current positon, Dwali had expected the worst. Listening to shouts, snarls and the occasional sound of ringing-metal were not encouraging. For all he knew, the entire company had been caught further back, and was even now being exterminated. How could they not be, with the great beast and the dark one among them? There was no hope for them, and thus none for himself, but at least he was presently alive and undiscovered. The dwarf knew that he had to act quickly, or else risk being spotted. Stranded, with thousands of orcs between himself and his companions, even their possible survival would not aide him. And thus the old pessimism slowly returned, creeping up on his mind like a demonic apparation. Alone again... as usual.

But from his past experiences, Dwali had gained something invaluable: the ability to continue on when there is no hope. It had saved him from despair when his parents were slain, and had kept the dwarf from starving in the caverns of Cirith Ungol. Now, perhaps, this gift would be the key to his escape form Mordor. And so he started crawling.

***

Hours passed. The sounds conflict had long since receeded, and Dwali tried to banish images of Bror and Grash lying slain with the others; their bodies soon to be devoured raw by the savages who had killed them. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with them, and in the darkness the dwarf could not tell. All he could focus on was crawling slowly, keeping his head down and staying parallel to the endless line of torches on his left. Time passes slowly when you have no sense of it, and merely repeat a single exercise for a long period. Dwali's situation fit both of these criteria, and to him it seemed that days came and went when only an hour had actually gone by.

More importantly, the dwarf was tired. It had been a full day since he last rested at the small camp in the mountains, and he had been walking, marching or crawling ever since. Pushing exhaustion from his mind, Dwali continued on until his hands slipped and he tumbled into another ditch. Struggling over to the side, he pushed up against the side closest to the road and collapsed.

09-06-2004, 06:22 PM	#146
Himaran Ash of Orodruin Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Thangorodrim Posts: 777	After watching the Nazgul descend from the sky onto the plateau roughly a mile from his current positon, Dwali had expected the worst. Listening to shouts, snarls and the occasional sound of ringing-metal were not encouraging. For all he knew, the entire company had been caught further back, and was even now being exterminated. How could they not be, with the great beast and the dark one among them? There was no hope for them, and thus none for himself, but at least he was presently alive and undiscovered. The dwarf knew that he had to act quickly, or else risk being spotted. Stranded, with thousands of orcs between himself and his companions, even their possible survival would not aide him. And thus the old pessimism slowly returned, creeping up on his mind like a demonic apparation. Alone again... as usual. But from his past experiences, Dwali had gained something invaluable: the ability to continue on when there is no hope. It had saved him from despair when his parents were slain, and had kept the dwarf from starving in the caverns of Cirith Ungol. Now, perhaps, this gift would be the key to his escape form Mordor. And so he started crawling. *** Hours passed. The sounds conflict had long since receeded, and Dwali tried to banish images of Bror and Grash lying slain with the others; their bodies soon to be devoured raw by the savages who had killed them. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with them, and in the darkness the dwarf could not tell. All he could focus on was crawling slowly, keeping his head down and staying parallel to the endless line of torches on his left. Time passes slowly when you have no sense of it, and merely repeat a single exercise for a long period. Dwali's situation fit both of these criteria, and to him it seemed that days came and went when only an hour had actually gone by. More importantly, the dwarf was tired. It had been a full day since he last rested at the small camp in the mountains, and he had been walking, marching or crawling ever since. Pushing exhaustion from his mind, Dwali continued on until his hands slipped and he tumbled into another ditch. Struggling over to the side, he pushed up against the side closest to the road and collapsed.