Previously I've been releasing 'The Shee Chronicles' bit by bit, but today I've got another surprise. Back when I was in year 10 (about 8 years ago now) I started writing a Creatures story. The story was to be called 'The Great Grendel Rebellion', and took place in the Creatures 2 world.
Unfortunately this meant there was no back story, and for anyone reading it who didn't know much about Creatures it could get very confusing. So instead I took the story back to its roots and wrote 'Creatures 1: As life began'. This still wasn't enough to bring the story to where I wanted, and I wrote 'Creatures 2: The restoration of Albia' to bridge the gap between the two stories.
Finally I was able to make a start on 'The Great Grendel Rebellion', the story I initially intended to write. While I was working on that I began to formulate the beginnings of an even bigger back-story, one that involved the Shee and how the Norns, Grendels and Ettins came to be. I made a start on that story too, as it had many ideas that overlapped with 'The Great Grendel Rebellion'. This story was called 'The Shee Chronicles' and was a 'beginnings' story.
8 years on and 'The Great Grendel Rebellion' has yet to be finished (despite being over 60 pages long!).
Reading these stories over the weekend I've come to the conclusion that although they will never be good enough to be published, they are still darn entertaining and I think the community will get a kick out of them. So instead of writing a novel, I've now decided to finish them off as fan-fiction pieces (heck, I didn't even know what fan-fic was back in yr10), which will make writing them SOOOO much easier as I won't need to explain everything as if the reader has never played the game.
So, with that history out of the way the only things I have left to say are:
- These stories are 8 years old. It is hardly my best writing (although still not half bad).
- Some parts may be a little confusing as I was trying to explain the world to readers that had never played the game whilst trying to remain true to the game.
- I found the world a little small to contain my story and expanded parts of the world to suit my purposes. It's a bit of a mish-mash.
- I was 16 when I wrote these...there is a lot of blood.
- A few nights ago I started writing 'The Great Grendel Rebellion' again and added 512 words to it. It's not much but it's more than I've done for the past 6 years.
- Enjoy the first entry of 'Creatures 1: As life began'.
PROLGUE
Ah, the
warmth that flowed through my veins, through my entire body. I could
feel the power begin to flow through me, the power that had lain
dormant for over three hundred years. The power of millennia; the
power of those that had come before me was inside me and growing all
the time. The Queen was back and alive, in fact she was more powerful
than ever.
The reign
of terror and order through chaos that had been started by my
predecessors was about to begin again. I would fight in their name
and the name of my species. I was a born leader; I knew this already
although I was yet to come out of my shell. I was to lead my species
to conquer our land.
Once again
I felt the Queen’s mind reach out, her mind merging with mine for
one brief and beautiful moment before subsiding again. Once again the
pictures of the past flew through my head, the story of the last of
our days passing through me again; teaching me of what had happened
and how I would succeed where other’s had failed…
I was in
a strong and capable body, so much different from my real body. I
knew I was tall and strong even though I couldn’t see much of
myself. I could feel my muscles rippling with the thrill of an
oncoming battle. Around me I could hear the running and thumping of
the feet of my brethren, running blindly towards their dooms.
I
stopped for a few seconds to take in the battle around me. Dead
bodies lay all around, their throats cut by my brethren’s sharp,
dagger-like claws. Here and there, there lay the bodies of some of my
fallen comrades, their bones blown apart by devastating explosives.
After the battle there would be the carrion birds that would usually
come and peck at their corpses, taking the eyes first for they were
the easiest meat to get at. Then they would go after the cut wounds,
tearing at the flesh until they had had their fill. For a split
second I almost pitied the poor souls who would still be breathing
when the birds came.
But this
time would be different from the other battles; I had already seen
what would happen.
The
bodies of those still alive around me kept pushing me and I was
forced to continue running again.
I felt
the adrenaline rush through me as I thought of the oncoming fights.
Even though my part of the brain knew it wouldn’t come, the body I
had inhabited didn’t. And the truth was I could hardly remember who
I truly was, I was too caught up in the thrill of it all.
Soon, my
body promised itself, soon we will taste the blood of our enemies!
I was
one of the first to reach the great gates. I slammed into them like a
steamroller. The pathetic wooded gates broke under my enormous weight
and fell beneath my feet and those of the beasts that followed me.
I rushed
into the open courtyard, looking for my first victims. There was no
one in sight. The others pushed forward, ignoring the obvious fact
that something was wrong. The blood was pumping too strongly in their
veins for them to care.
I
sniffed at the air, trying to sense where all of our enemies had
fled. I couldn’t smell any of them and this confused and angered
me. How dare they run when we had gone to all of the trouble of
hunting them this far? We had destroyed everything they held dear and
now we were after the final city they still held. It was meant to be
a beautiful battle full of glory and honour. The final valiant stand
where destinies would be decided.
It was
not to be.
Somewhere
ahead of me I heard a great cry rise above the winds of war. I chased
the voices, drawn by their triumphant echo.
I dashed
into a large and open area, many times wider than the courtyard. So
large in fact I couldn’t see the opposite wall. It was then that I
first felt the unease that something big was to happen. Something
that I couldn’t predict and I couldn’t stop. If these creatures
could build something this great then how had we managed to get the
advantage of them? Surprise maybe? It was hard to believe.
Many
faces were raised to the skies and a great cry of victory was in the
air. I looked up with the masses of faces to see what the fuss was
about. Hundreds of metres in the air I could see spaceships. Our
enemies were leaving? Yes! Our enemies were leaving! We had won!
Another
great cry went up and my vision began to blur.
Suddenly
I was no longer in the great city but traveling across the
countryside. I felt the Queen’s mind pull at mine again and I fell
into this new story.
It was
the same mind I had been in before. The battle had finished several
days ago and now a few of my most trusted friends and I were leaving
the city to move onto the next part of our mission.
Before
his spirit had been taken and locked away our leader had entrusted
upon us the destruction of our enemies great city. Now that we had
taken the city as our own we were free to rescue our leader.
The rest
of my people were staying at the city to protect it from the few
renegades we suspected were still out there and still hoping to
overthrow us. Just in case we had made a tactical error and they were
planning a counter assault while we were in the city.
A group
of seven had left the city to resurrect our fallen leader. When he
became incarnate we would once again be whole and able to serve him.
We were
just out of site of the city, having left it several hundred
kilometres behind us.
The
other six in our group were talking loudly of our victory several
days ago. They were thrilled we hardly had to fight to secure our
triumph. They were cowards.
I on the
other hand had not managed to throw off my cloud of worry. I still
believed there was still something to come. There was no way our
enemies would give up with hardly a fight. If there had been a fight
and hundreds had been killed I would have been happier, at least then
I would know we had won. With the way things had turned out I
couldn’t truly believe we had won because there had been no fight
to speak of.
I felt
it before I saw it. I don’t know how I knew it was there but I knew
it was there all the same. I turned around, my mind working in slow
motion. I looked up at the sky and saw it, the giant ball of light
streaking across the sky. It was moving at an impossible pace, going
from one side of the sky to the other in less than a minute.
It
whizzed over our heads and after a few seconds I heard the roaring it
made. By the time I heard it, it was gone. It disappeared beyond the
horizon line and I knew where it was headed.
I saw
the light the missile made as it hit the city where most of my people
were sleeping. Several seconds later I heard the explosion it made.
Just then I felt the Queen’s mind link with mine again and through
her I heard the howls of horror and death as hundreds of my people
were blown apart. It torn into my head and I could almost feel myself
fall to one knee.
The body
I inhabited didn’t flinch a muscle. It knew what had happened. It
knew the war was now truly over. But the creature who’s mind I
shared was a proud creature. Even though he knew it was all over he
would never admit defeat.
Rushing
over the hills and mountains I could see the tremors running through
the earth followed closely by the debris that the explosion caused.
Still my
body stayed perfectly still. He knew there was no escape this time.
The chaos let lose by our enemies rushed forward and in the last
second before it hit me, I felt my eyes close in final defeat.
My mind
jerked backwards. I was once again in the real world. I had never
managed to discover whether if I died in the dream world whether it
would kill or at least affect me in the real world. I had never
managed to stay in the spirit world long enough to die. I had always
been pulled out just before death claimed me.
The Queen’s
mind had left mine. I was once again alone.
I thought of all I had
encountered in my visions. The one I had just had and the ones before
it. I knew my destiny. I was to lead my people to power over the
Norns. I was to rule Albia in the name of our Queen and those that
had given their lives to get us this far.
I began to
push my way out of my egg, into my world…
CHAPTER
#1 (?)
The first
feeling I had was warmth. It was brilliant warmth. Go to the warmth,
my brain said, go to the warmth. But there was a hard surface between
the heat and myself. I tried to push the surface away, but it was so
hard. I pushed with all my strength. Unless you can remember the
moment you were born (and lets face it you probably can’t) you have
no idea how impossible it is to resist the temptation to get to the
warmth, and what happened next is beyond description. As I pushed at
the egg surface I heard a small ‘Crack’.
Yes, I
thought, It’s breaking. ‘Crack’ it went again. And then CCRACKK
and I was out. The only way to explain what happened next is to say
it’s like being born. There is no other way to describe it. The
sounds and smells were overwhelming! I instantly learned that the
blob on my face (my nose) was for smelling and my flaps on the side
of my head (ears) were for hearing. Oh it’s impossible to describe
what it was like on a piece of paper! And then I discovered a new
muscle, that in my overcome of smell and sound I had overlooked. I
moved this muscle and opened my eyes. Once again it felt like I was
being born. This new sense was 2,3, even 4 times more powerful than
smell or hearing. I looked around myself. There was nothing moving,
not all that interesting. Then, sudden movement. I looked at the hand
that was shaking in front of my face. It was similar to my own hand
but pinkish in colour and there wasn’t any fur on it. As I watched
it, It slowed down to a stop. Then I heard a voice that was more in
my head than in my ears.
[Hand] was all it was said.
“Ond”,
I tried the word. It didn’t sound quite right.
[Hand]
the hand repeated.
“Handa”,
I said.
[Hand]
I listened
more intensely this time. “Hand” I said. Yes, I thought. That
sounded right. The Hand disappeared for a few seconds while I looked
around myself in awe. The Hand reappeared carrying a lump of
something yellow. I stared at the lump. Then the echoing voice in my
head called out [Food].
“Fofo”
I said.
[Food].
“Thood”.
[Food].
“Food”.
The hand
reached down to my nose and gave me scratch. As soon as the fingers
touched my nose I knew I would do just about anything to get another
scratch. Oh, the pleasure, it was wonderful. I let out a high pitched
giggle. I surprised myself!
Then I
looked at the lump I now knew as ‘food’. I picked it up and
looked at it again, then I dropped it. It made a ‘THUD’ sound as
it hit the ground. Well, I thought, that didn’t do much. It didn’t
even bounce. I picked it up again and held it to my ear. It didn’t
make a sound. I smelled it. It had a great smell. I put it in my
mouth. The taste was so powerful, not as good as a tickle but still
nice. I immediately wanted more. I looked around for more ‘food’.
My eyes rested on a round object near a thing that was giving off
heat. I crawled over to the round thing. As I got closer to the
object I heard the hand say [Toy].
“Toto”,
I tried to repeat.
[Toy].
“Toyo".
[Toy].
“Toy”,
I said as I reached the ‘Toy’. The hand reached down to my nose
and gave me a tickle. I was more prepared for it this time but I
still couldn’t stop myself from giggling out loud. I picked up the
toy and tried to take a bite out of it, but it flew from my hands and
bounced on the ground. It made a satisfying “Boing” sound.
Immediately I felt happier and more confident. I walked over to the
round toy and threw it again. Once again it made a boing sound. I
gave a small laugh. The Hand reached down and gave me a tickle. I
continued to bounce the toy for a few more minutes while the Hand
went away to do something. A few minutes later the Hand came back
carrying some more food. This food was long with a point at the end,
it also smelled slightly different. I took a bite out of it. It
tasted different but still good. By now the Hand had delivered
several more ‘food’ at my feet. I quickly gobbled them up. Then I
felt a new feeling. This feeling told me to relax my muscles and lay
down, so I did. Almost immediately I began to doze off. With my mind
wandering over my last few minute of life, I fell asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment