Tolkien Fan Fiction
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| 16 April, Afternoon |
Afternoon of 16 April The pungent scent of ripening meat calls to our ravenous hunger; we rush to the nearly-silent feasting-grounds. I claim a great carcass, snarling to warn my pack-mates away. The still-fresh body lifts its feeble foreleg to slash at me with its glittering long-claw, but I crush its throat till the gurgling stops. Mobs of night-feathered pests swoop down on my prize. I snap at one, yet drop the bony morsel in favour of the hairless and thin-skinned mound of warm flesh. I settle to devour my juicy meal. Tonight, glutted, we will howl our gratitude to the great pale-face above. Mournfully, I wander, seeking the beloved Rider who reared me from teat. He fell away when the enemy repulsed our charge; to my shame, I lost him in the battle-confusion. Now, catching his scent, I gallop to him.... A mangy wolf dares to defile my Rider? I lunge — its snarl turns to squeal, cut off as its neck snaps. Too late... my Rider breathes not. But I must defend him from the ravening of these wretched imitations of our noble kind! I howl my grief to the sky-vault. Then, slowly and reverently, I honour him by consuming his proud body. |