1. Dark Appetites
I endure. Fated to survive, I stroke my bitter wounds, soothing them rhythmically. My damaged skin sloughs off, and then heals roughly over the many gashes; the scars remain, reminders of my agony. My belly, though long-empty, no longer weeps where it was pricked. I need no sight to grope my way around my hidden corridors, nor to scheme how to avenge my affliction. I nurse my appetite for vengeance as carefully as my injuries, savoring the foretaste of sweet meat. My eyes rebuild slowly. Till sight returns, I crouch in my dark retreat and bide my time. And hunger. *** Shelob was gone; and whether she lay long in her lair, nursing her malice and her misery, and in slow years of darkness healed herself from within, rebuilding her clustered eyes, until with hunger like death she spun once more her dreadful snares in the glens of the Mountains of Shadow, this tale does not tell. The Two Towers, LoTR Book 4, Ch 10, The Choices of Master Samwise
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.
