28. Life from stone
Prompt: Mordor: "Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Write a story or poem or create artwork where your character battles and overcomes their darkest hour.
Traitor! Cradle-killer! Words, inseparable from fists and feet, bruise; his name – Out-caste! – is spittle.
Even among traitor-exiles, he's unfit for human bonds!
Whether fit or not, he spills his slave's claim to live, desperate.
Unexpectedly, he's spared.
Yet why? Afterward, hiding beyond the walls, his master thrusts the braid-bond at him, and Jhanar wants to weep – or die.
What's left, if deserters refuse him? Only insensibility...
Their savior comes, bearing needfuls, sees the braid-lock. Bird-like words erupt! Eventually: "I've explained: Ailos understands now." Then, unbearably frank:
"We must sometimes be Men. Pray your bonds and ours, brother! Farewell."
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
