Chapter 6

The sun was high up in the sky, and the surrounding forest was quiet, except for the heavy panting of the two fierce-looking creatures lying under a makeshift roof of branches and leaves. Lying face to face, they observed each other, and it was as if they were both looking into a mirror. Each pair of eyes was focussed on a sweaty and blood-caked visage with a drowsy, somewhat stupefied expression.

Minutes passed. Then the huge one on top blinked and moved cautiously, taking some of his weight off the other. Very gently he began to lick the face of his companion, who simply closed his eyes and gave himself to the soothing effect of the warm and wet organ that caressed him.

When Lurtz finally stood up and looked around him, he felt awkward. Uglúk squinted against the sudden sunlight hitting his face, and for the first time in hours he thought of his injury. A fresh blackish smear on the dark, broken skin hinted at some more bleeding, but it was nothing serious. The blood on the leather strips was old and dry. He loosened the bandages a bit and considered taking them off altogether.

"You stay here."

Uglúk did not like to be patronized. He was grateful that Lurtz had made it sound like an order. It was an order, he thought. Cocking his head, he looked up, hoping to find that flicker of warmth in the other's eyes.

It was gone.

Uglúk nodded and proceeded to tend to his leg. Lurtz busied himself fetching some water from a nearby brook. After he had filled a leather pouch, he sat down and scooped up water in both hands, drinking in greedy gulps. He felt the cold liquid trickle into his stomach. It did not do much to seal the hollowness which announced hunger. It would be good to have a fire. In the daylight, it did not matter as long as they kept it small, and the boar's meat would be much better now somewhat cooked than raw and cold.

Uglúk accepted the offered water without a word. Lurtz had obviously retreated to being his usual self-sufficient, solitary self, but he continued to help his wounded companion in a matter-of-fact manner. To his own surprise, Uglúk felt somewhat hurt without knowing why. Confused by the unfamiliar emotion, he was pushed into silence as well.

Lurtz succeeded in getting a fire going, using the efficient little fire-sticks Saruman had taught them to use. The few dry leaves burned up quickly, but they lasted long enough to dry some smaller branches and eventually the bigger logs. For a couple of minutes, only thick white smoke rose until the fire started to give off some warmth. Both Uruk-hai kept watching it, hungrily waiting for the slabs of meat to become tender.

Uglúk caught himself staring at the other Uruk's massive thighs. The small movements of muscles under taut skin whenever Lurtz shifted his weight intrigued him. And Uglúk could not stop himself from thinking of the attractive organ between these thighs, remembering how hot and throbbing with lust it had felt, fervently brushing against his body, eager to penetrate flesh. Would it ever happen... to his flesh? He doubted it.

He looked away before Lurtz noticed the stare. To distract himself, Uglúk began to fiddle with the leather straps on his thigh. He took them off and gently rubbed the tissue around the wound. The scab seemed to hold, and the pain was something he had effortlessly ignored anyway. Was it less than before? Probably. He could not have told if he had wanted to. More confident now, he flexed the muscle.

Black blood poured out, not gushing, but certainly emerging with a certain pressure. Frustrated, Uglúk clamped one hand over the reopened wound, while the other reached out for the leather strips. Using one hand and his mouth, Uglúk refastened the bandages. Of course none of this had gone unnoticed.

"Having fun over there, playing with yourself?" Lurtz asked, his head cocked and an inquisitive look on his face – a look very short of a smirk.

At least in Uglúk's opinion.

"Leave me alone!" he snapped.

"I will," Lurtz growled back at him. "After we have eaten, I will return to the camp and send some of the others to get the meat."

"Want me to guard it in the meantime?" Uglúk commented surly.

"That's up to you. Maybe you should prolong the hunting trip though."

Uglúk did not understand.

"Good idea," he muttered. "I'll make an excellent bait for Elves."

"No doubt you would. But that's not what I had in mind."

With this nerve-wracking, cat-like grin of his, Lurtz got up and walked over to Uglúk, kneeling down beside the other Uruk-hai. He pulled a small flask out of his belt, uncorked it, and held it under the other's nose. Nostrils twitched in disgust. Uglúk averted his face with a snarl.

"You wanna kill me with that?"

"No. You can handle that without me, from what I've seen."

Uglúk breathed out sharply, but held his tongue.

"What is it?"

"Sharkû's stuff. It's supposed to give strength. Make you heal faster."

Uglúk vigorously shook his head.

"You would not touch it yourself!"

"I would not touch it if my life depended on it," Lurtz grumbled.

The dark, intelligent face of the injured Uruk became thoughtful. When he looked into his leader's eyes, he saw what he had expected to see. The darkness and the hatred that seemed to ooze out of the first-born Uruk-hai, at times pervading his whole being, had returned.

Uglúk understood it was smarter not to discuss Saruman with Lurtz. With a shrug, he took the flask with the vicious smelling brew from him and took a large sip. For good measure, he poured some into his hand and spread it over the wound. The alcohol burned like hell, but the ensuing coldness felt good. Then the leg went numb, but not uncomfortably so.

"Seems to work."

"Good for you."

Leaving the evil smelling draught with Uglúk, Lurtz turned to check the meat in the fire. He felt restless and looked forward to the mind-clearing exercise of running back to their camp. Impatiently he tossed the food around in the fire. Sparks billowed up, followed by more white smoke. Over the fire, their eyes met again.

"You said something about 'prolonging the hunting trip'...," Uglúk said reluctantly.

"Stay away from the camp for a couple of days, give yourself time to heal. Take as much of the meat as you like. You know where we are going. Catch up later."

"What will you tell the others?"

Lurtz gave a derisive snarl, but real anger was already beginning to fester in him.

"To mind their own business, for one thing. Tell them you went scouting, and an Elf's arrow got you. Whatever!"

Uglúk fell silent, still not quite sure why he felt so wretched. Lurtz was absolutely right. It was all the leader of the Uruk-hai could do to save his comrade's face.