[Soredamor]

Grûglach was beginning to feel the pressure of command more than he ever had before. It had never been difficult for him to lead any rabble of Goblins, and during the War, before Sauron, his supposed Master, had died, he had led orcs from Mordor on one occasion. But never had he had to face the possibility – no, the probability! – of defeat. He would not admit it, but he was scared, afraid out of his wits that he might lose his life. His well-being was the only thing on his mind as his eyes scanned the line of Gondorian soldiers who stood, seemingly unwavering, though the fortress had been under orc control for as long as most there could remember. Maybe it had not been such a good idea after all to join the forces at Gundabad, nor to act so boldly. Grûglach certainly would have done better on his own.

Around him, the orc ranks were tense and restless, growling and screeching among themselves, nervously. Most of the orcs that surrounded him were those who were of Mordor, sent to hold the fortress of Gundabad by the Eye to bring his torment farther West. Though the Misty Mountains was the home of this fortress, Grûglach felt no allegiance to those sent from Mordor. Mordor and Sauron were no more, and he intended to never see an end such as the one the Dark Land behind the Ephel Duath saw. The Goblin captain glanced around him once more. How many of his Goblins would be left after this charge?

Somehow, their gut instincts led the orcs to the charge, with no orders given or regarded, and threw themselves into attack with a great roar. They were able to ignore their own mortality as they met sword and spear, and focused rather on their enemy’s mortality. These Men, though they stood tall and proud in their shining armour and high helms, bled and died just as Goblins and orcs did, and the holders of Gundabad desired greatly to see this. It was not in the conscious mind of the orcs that they saw so many of their kind fall even before they reached the Gondorian lines, and so they took no notice of the failing orc forces until they too were dead. Grûglach, however, was aware of where this battle was going, and was beginning to feel the dread of just how inevitable the end was.

What had carried him this far was a boldness that he would face the possibility of failure and easily over come it. But now that he saw what failure was, so vividly in the prowess and fitting pride of these Men, he knew that he never really had known success as a commander. Now he did not curse the Eye for his foolish concern with rings and magic, but wished for Sauron’s will to return to Middle-Earth so that he may bow down and call him Master. How foolish he had been to believe that the Dark Lord was overbearing in his command over the Goblins of the Misty Mountains, so many miles away from him in Mordor. Sauron had almost crushed the world of Men, particularly these of Gondor, who were horrible in their valor. It had been Grûglach’s place to serve the Eye, but he had not. But now, not only was the Dark Lord’s will gone, but the remnants of his forces were fading away. Gundabad was a remaining strength for the orcs, and now it was ready to fall. But Grûglach was not ready.

He cursed the foolishness of his own kind, knowing that they had failed their Master terribly, and had today worse than ever. Grûglach felt ashamed, and angry. The disgust that had always been there for the orcs under his command, particularly those who did not come from the Misty Mountains, rose up in him greater than it ever had. Gundabad would fall because those who had held it had failed, and nothing Grûglach or his forces could do would stop the end from coming. It seemed the Goblins felt the same way as their captain did, or it was simply in the franticness of the losing battle they fought that drove them on, but they began to draw the blood of both orcs and Men, regardless. There was no doubt that the orcs would succumb to slaughter, whether by the sword of a man or of a Goblin. It was time for those responsible for the fall of Gundabad, who disregarded Grûglach’s power and fought without the fervor that should have been present in this battle for their lives and the dominion of the orc, to die. Though it was time too for Grûglach, he would take many he despised with him. And so amid the death and blood, orc, Goblin, and Men corpses intermingled regardless of who brought them their death, and Grûglach, Goblin Captain and servant of Sauron, met his end.