Orngoth heard
the shuffling and smelled a foul odor emitting from the alcove. He heard a
goblin scream harshly as some terrible fate must have befallen it, but he could
not see as it was beyond his line of sight. The other goblinoids made their way
into the opening and disappeared around the corner, too.
Several more
screams followed. Something bad was happening, but he did not know what. He did
know one thing, and that was that he had to get free of his manacles.
He strained
once more against the chains that bound his arms and hands. Again a few of the
metal links weakened and began to buckle further. Another tug from his mighty
arms bent the links once more. His muscles continued expanding and contracting
in succession against the metal, his veins becoming more pronounced beneath the
flesh of his arms. The metal groaned with protest under his might as the links
twisted and reshaped themselves to conform to the half-ogre’s will, eventually
giving in to his remarkable strength with several loud pops. He was suddenly
free of his bonds and retrieved his massive club.
It took Orngoth
quite some time to squeeze his large frame through the alcove, but he managed,
leaving the top layers of his flesh behind on the stone. The screams had died
down, but the sickening odor remained. He saw them as he entered in the
flickering torchlight.
Ghouls!
The undead
creatures were so focused on their newest feast that Orngoth’s entrance had
gone completely unnoticed.
He fought back
the disgusting aroma and did not succumb to its accompanying nausea as he
smashed the first undead creature into mush with a mighty downward swing of his
club. The three remaining anathemas moved quickly toward him. Orngoth’s fierce
blue eyes had already run red with rage, revolted and angered by the sight of
this purest of evils. Orngoth allowed the bloodlust to overtake him, not even
trying to resist.
His huge club
came up over his head and he timed the next blow perfectly, almost knocking the
ram-horned helm from atop his own head as he swung his club with ferocity borne
of rage unbound and connected. The blow was so powerful that he simply crushed
the ghoul beneath the impact, spraying bone and gore everywhere.
As he started
to pull his club from the remains, he was struck simultaneously by the two
remaining ghouls. Biting and clawing at his already scarred and fairly tough
hide, the ghouls pressed their assault. Orngoth howled in pain as the anger
surged within him.
Small pieces
of his flesh were torn open by the fiends, but Orngoth didn’t even take notice
now as his bloodlust peaked, driving him to acts of heroic proportions.
He reached out
and pulled the first of the two off by its neck and propelled it through the
air to land hard against the stone wall. It hit with a dreadful thud. He
watched as it attempted to slowly right itself, swaying considerably as it did.
Orngoth
grabbed the second one by its arm, nearly tearing it from its socket in the
process, and threw it in the same direction as the first, with similar results.
He roared fiercely, consumed by his fury, ignoring sense and sensibilities,
wanting only to destroy his foe!
The two undead
charged him once more. He slid on the slick surface as he took a step, but
regained his footing and dropped into a lower, wider stance.
They closed
the distance as Orngoth gripped the base of his weapon with both hands and
swung hard. The timing of his spectacular swing connected with one ghoul
solidly, crushing its ribs and liquefying them straight away. Then there was a
loud crash that immediately followed the first.
His swing had continued its momentum, crushing the second creature’s
skull, hitting it with so much force, that it partially removed the head from
the body.
Nothing else
moved as Orngoth stood victorious over the immobile creatures, blood-stained
and angry. He roared in victory before remaining still for a time, allowing the
bloodlust to fade.
Eventually,
exhaustion set in. He fell to one knee before squeezing out of the tiny opening
once more and slumping to his rear on the hard stone. Breathing more slowly
now, he contemplated what to do next, until sleep claimed him.
