Eyes and Ears by Zdenka

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Fanwork Notes

Written for the Silmarillion Writers' Guild Orctober prompt "Watched Place (Dry River): eyes" and the drabble_zone prompt "Money Isn't Everything".

200 words as counted by MS Word.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Two Orcs discuss the increased price on Beren's head.

Major Characters: Orcs

Major Relationships:

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet, General

Challenges: Orctober

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Mature Themes, Violence (Moderate)

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 207
Posted on 18 October 2024 Updated on 18 October 2024

This fanwork is complete.

Eyes and Ears

Read Eyes and Ears

Two Orcs crouch under the pines, in land conquered from the enemy. Traces of the Brighteyes remain here; they fear and hate it. Their Master has been claiming the land as His, little by little, with rotting twisted trees and plants full of thorns that burn if you touch them, with blowing dust that poisons the lungs. It’s more comfortable, but also more dangerous; the Master doesn’t care if his traps catch the Orcs. He has plenty more.

“Why’d you drag me out here?” the first Orc grumbles. A black squirrel fluffs its tail and scolds them from a branch overhead; they ignore it.

“I heard—” The second Orc looks around furtively for prying eyes. “I heard the reward for catching this Beren is even bigger now. A huge pile of gold for his head.”

“I heard he wiped out a patrol of twenty and hung them up by their guts.”

“He’s just one Man. He can’t be that bad. And think of it: fresh, hot meat every day!”

“You can’t eat meat if you’re dead.”

The squirrel bounds away through the trees to carry a warning. Beren is a friend to wild things; their eyes and ears are his.


Comments

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Some of the descriptions remind me of your fic about Emeldir and how she was fighting an earlier stage of that.

The orcs' point of view is very well done!

I like that the squirrel is black, like the Mirkwood squirrels later, but still one of those animals on Beren's side.