Burzgrat's yellow eye opened a slit. His three hours of nightly sleep were precious to him, but tonight he could not reach solitude. He silently stood up from and picked his way through the other resting orc bodies, sprawled out around the smoldering remains of the camp fire and then sat alone on the hill looking up at the round silver moon. He gritted his teeth and his stomach grumbled with hunger. He picked up and gnawed hopelessly on some of the old bread discarded by the others. This night they had all feasted on man. But for some reason, Burzgrat could not. He had been repulsed by it. But not by its scent, or by its flavor. Something within him made him feel sick as he saw his brothers chew on the bloody carcasses, and he could not join them. He swallowed a mouthful of the dry loaf and held his head in his hands, as the world spun around him.
Why was he here? What was his purpose? To slaughter? To wreak havoc and mayhem wherever he trod? To strike fear into the hearts of men? If this was the only reason he had been brought to live on this Middle Earth…then why did it feel so wrong? Something inside him, (Burzgrat did not know it was his heart) told him that what he did was bad… The shrieks of dying children were like music to his brothers' ears…but agony to his own. He had killed a man, his wife and son yesterday, and now he couldn't remember why.
For the glory of Lord Sauron, a voice in his head said, a sacrifice. But these words did not comfort him, or take the doubt from his mind. He looked around him. Behind him were the smoking remains of a village, once bustling and lively. Now a graveyard with none left alive. Before him were the rolling plains of the beautiful land of Rohan. Why did Sauron want to destroy this land?
It is plentiful, and lovely, He thought. It would make a good addition to his kingdom once he ruled. Why have us destroy it? The answer came to his mind,
Because he can…because we will. And Burzgrat knew it was true. Though he may have felt differently, his brother orcs were fiercely devoted to their lord, and would carry out his will mindlessly…No matter what the cost.