Your story is incredible! I also like how you describe Legolas, too. Though it is quite bloody, but still I like it xD I hope to read more of this series of yours!!

Sincerely yours,
Black Sophia

another excellent tale.

she sure does know how to bait her brother, doesn't she?
you write that very well.
all of it is excellent, i just esp. like that part.

yeah!
thanks for the great readings.
now to see what else you have written...
mk

A powerful ending to Chapter 9 - and I felt very strongly for Ugluk. It is interesting how important the bonds of family are to Ugluk - we see how powerful an effect his dead brother had on him, how obsessed he is with his sister, and now how his life revolves around finding a "cure" for his son. Thing is, how will seeing his son turned into a "true" Orc help anything? I really do think his contempt for other Orcs is as strong as his loathing for Elves and humans, though throwbacks are the worst insult to him of all. Because he is so hate-oriented he can only find joy in torture and in dominance, in the suffering of others - yet all such joy is hollow, leaving him only more angry and frustrated than before. And because he is intelligent his suffering is far greater than it would be otherwise, because I think he understands the circles he is trapped in on some level...I think poor Ugluk, under everything, is your most unhappy character...

Ah. I think you need to work on how you phrase this part: "When she was with the orc, even though he hurt her she felt almost comfortable." What with the blood and impalement and cutting and branding, it doesn't...quite...work. But I understand what you are saying. As Master Shakespeare would put it, there is "a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Uglukh and her." They really are just like brother and sister. [evil laugh]

Well I know I'm thrilled! I get to tell you my theory on Elven aging. Now I'm sure that since you've written this chapter everyone has come to you with their own theories, and they've probably even come to you with this same theory. But! [self-importantly] I have an actual equation I use, and it's good for Elves up to the equivalent age of 20. First of all, according to Tolkien, Elves reach their majority - ie. adulthood - at the age of 50. (My source is a great essay on Elves and Sex by Tyellas, which can be found on her Ansereg website, along with her great essay "The Unnatural History of Tolkien's Orcs." She got the age 50 from Tolkien's essay "Laws and Customs of the Eldar," published in the book Morgoth's Ring, which I have not yet read.) So I've put the Elven age of 50 at about the human age of 20. This gives us a ration of 2.5:1. What I do is, for a young Elf growing up, baby to child to adolescent to young adult, just times whatever you think its human age would be by 2.5. The Elf version of 5 would be twelve and a half, of 16 would be forty, 18 would be forty-five, etc. This only works up to age fifty - ie. when the Elf is a fully-grown adult. After that, it is anyone's guess, but personally I believe at this point they are basically ageless. Or maybe it's like that saying "You're as old as you feel" and there are Elves out there with sagging boobs and crow's feet. Who knows?

[gasps] Oh that's different and exciting. The idea that, without the influence of a Dark Lord, Orc children would simply stop being born...Personally, I just don't want to believe it because I am too fond of Orcs. But also, from certain details in the Hobbit, the Orcs depicted there and in LOTR have yet to come into their full power - I like the part where Tolkien says, "It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions have always delighted them..." (I suppose, though, that the two ideas are not incompatible. If Orcs may have throwback children, what is to stop their children from having Orkish throwbacks...?)

I had kind of hoped, after the previous chapter, that we would get a chance to back-track and see Atavus and Terlon on their way to Rivendell - to see them travelling, the actual Orc attack, Terlon's death, and Atavus' capture and delivery to Ugluk. Blind or not, I don't imagine she went easily.

Oh dear, poor Atavus. And yipe, yet another grisly level of torture. She's basically crucified on that wall, isn't she? Seems a bit much, but then again, Ugluk always has been one for overkill. No water torture or subtlety for him.

"But it was becoming apparent that his feeling of dread concerned the other woman that he called daughter." Ah yes. I had thought of Arwen before in connection with Atavus, but knew that Arwen would have been in Lothlorien during the time that Atavus was at Rivendell and so it is understandable the two would not have met. It will be striking, though, to see the meeting of two such very different 'sisters.'

As usual, my question is answered in the very next chapter: so the last is first, huh? It works...

Hey Melissa... I have a little question... Hum, Ugluk isn't that orc that kidnappes Frodo in the third book? Or wich it was... I have a problem there, mi cousin needed the books for the University and he asked me for them... And I still wating him to give me them back... So I can't go and start reading in search of the stupid orc...
Eh... You love Ugluk and Atavus fights, not? They are always having verbal fights lefting apart the torture to the little sister, it will be their own and original family tradition... It's a pity their mother isn't there to see the new family's tradition... What do you think she would say to her eldest son? It's etrange to think that because she was an orc, so she was like her son, maybe not to much...
But I can't believe he did that... He left them go... Well, I do understand it, but is a dificult to believe he have a hearth under that mask of the Bad Guy. And that all he did on his miserable live was to follow the system! Getting on other idea... How the hell is him going to survive? O.o He said it was the other only exit! And all is going down, he will be a sticker after that! O maybe you decided this time he had died definitely... It's said the 3th is the one but this is his the third (1º Dol Guldur -Atavus, Aragorn, Legolas, twins. 2º Misty Mountains -Atavus, Aragorn, Legolas. 3ºMinas Morgul -Atavus and then Aragorn & Legolas...) I'll start reading Their Past Will Haunt Her now to get answers...
But I have to say that it was very cute that Atavus found her lost nephew and that stuff with Ugluk, and the new friend Veri ^^ I didn't expected that from you :P I'm leaving! Se'ya later!

Atte. Ely

and a brother's hate comes to an end.

literally? he doesnt really seem to hate her that much, now. but i think its a good way to end off. its like really ending off his hate, and giving the story a nice round conclusion.

then again, it wont be as fun when he reappears, will it? and oh i want him to reappear! (okay this is SO WEIRD. for all the past stories i've been yelling whenever he reappears. now i WANT him back?? boy, twin, you're good.)

and you're making me feel sorry for him again!! (once again, YOU'RE GOOD.) ><

this chapter was like a family reunion. father sister/aunt son. so touching! *wails* see how much ugluk cares for van. see how much van cares for ugluk, in a sense. see how "close" atavus and ugluk are. and how they almost like each other.

AHH SOO SWEET! *sob* i need more tissues! this chapter was absolutely heartwrenching. i loved it. ^^ haha. it was both sweet and wonderfully angsty, cuz we dunno what on earth happens to ugluk (i mean, how many times have we thought he was dead, and he turns up again? many.), and we know that even if he DOES get out alive, the chances that they will have a "happily ever after" ending are so slim, they hardly even EXIST.

I LIKE I LIKE I LIKE. =D

a great way to end off the story, twin dear. looking forward for more of your wonderful work. ^^ (and one's waiting already! haha.) byee!

HAHA. THIS CHAPTER I DO LIKE.

veri, you have finally done your job. i can now fade away into the background.

*disappears*

haha OF COURSE NOT. how could i ever abandon my twin?

-

you know when i read the vision, i completely forgot that it was a vision of the future. i thought it was happening there and then. i was SO SHOCKED OKAY. i am desperate to kill him, but i wouldnt wish atavus to die so i could kill him.

but ANYWAY.

GO VERI! *cher*

haha. im so proud of her. i cant believe she actually managed to run all the way up to ugluk and pull HIS OWN SWORD from his side, and then use it to stab him. like... WHOA. pro! ^^ (like me HAHA. XP)

"She heard the sob rip from the boy’s throat. He was devastated. He knew Manveri had done what was necessary to save them but the orc was still his father. He had said he hated him, but he hadn’t. And it felt wrong that he didn’t."

wah van is so... accepting. and innocent. and so confused. poor van. :(

haha im sort of happy i only read this AFTER i got the alert for the next chapter... i dont think i could have waited for the next chapter. ^^ (yes you have a very impatient twin. >

haha YES AT LAST. reviewing am i! (yoda talk! ahh!)

ahaha you stay away from my pippin, twin dear. *runs* *with pippin, of course*

here! you can have the ice cream!

-

haha did you get the salt-in-the-wound-helps-in-heal idea from me? ^^ (i bet legolas hates me for that.)

oh dear atavus you've gone too far, this time. >< *shakes head* my gosh ugluk has totally lost it. atavus has really pushed him over the edge this time.

oh brave van. foolish van. VAN YOU'RE GONNA GET INTO TROUBLE FOR THIS. but i think adding this was good.
a)shows that van has a mind of his own.
b)even though he appears to be ashamed of it, he still knows and recognises ugluk as his father.
c)shows how much he loves atavus, that he would say such things to ugluk.
d)shows the innocence of a child, so torn at seeing somebody else close to him get hurt. and the way he believes that he CAN protect atavus from getting hurt, by offering himself instead.
e)yet it shows that he's growing up, because he says he doesnt care if he dies. and also shows that he's been affected by the world he lives in, because he already can use the word hate, and with such passion.
f)provides oppurunity for more trouble! oops i didnt say that. it must have been... my evil twin! wait a minute. YOU'RE my evil twin! ohoho i knew it. XP

haha. okay. i like the last part, have i said? X)) next chapter!

aw..Ugluk helped them:') how sweet..in a twisted sort of way. don't care that it was sappy, it was very good:D
awsome story, glad to see it ended happy:D

awe ugluk redeemed himself in the end. that was cute. this story was great and i cant wait until the others come out. hurry up, please. Great job!

yes, total sappy ending but it's okay. sometimes, with all that torture, you need a sap. anyway, sad this is over, happy new story to come! you're such a great writer and i can't wait for you're next idea. i know it'll be JUST as great as the others.