I am free. I am dead.
I knew the moment the entire world of darkness shrieked in pain in surprise that my end had come. It no longer mattered that we outnumbered and outfought the pale-skinned bastards called Men. It no longer mattered that we were about to destroy the nations that opposed the Eye. Something had gone terribly wrong elsewhere, and now the Great Eye had fallen.
I am free. I am dead.
All around me, my fellow Orcs screamed and ran without direction, their weapons abandoned. I tried to call them back to the fight, for it was better to die with a weapon in hand than to lie on the ground like a drunken whore, fearing the end. Soon I found myself alone, with a horde of Men before me.
I am free. I am dead.
As I prepared for my inevitable death, and I began to shout my war cry, "For the Eye!" thought occurred to me. If the Eye was destroyed, for whom did I fight? Who did I serve? I was no longer a slave to the Eye!
I am free. I am dead.
Suddenly, I understood why the other Orcs fled. They did not have the will to fight, for their willingness had been instigated by the cruelty of the Eye.
Why then should I fight? I asked myself. I should flee with the others!
But as I turned to run, I saw Mount Doom. It had fully erupted, spewing fire and ash as far as my Orc eyes could see. I stopped dead still, mesmerized by the horrible image. No creature in Mordor would survive the eruption, to be sure.
Mordor. That had been my home for fifteen years. Would no one defend it?
I turned back to the surging horde of Men. They hated me, I knew. They would stop at nothing to see me die. I hated them for that, as I had for all my life.
When I charged to death, I did not offer my charge to the Eye. I had a new master. Myself.
I am free. I am dead.