THE KMC SHORT STORY CONTEST - #1 - Aug 2006 - Freewrite!

Thermopylae
August, 480 BC

DAY ONE

A cool summer breeze blew from the North. The sea rippled and shone brightly. The mountains lay a few metres to the South. Close to six-thousand men were stood, sat, and lain between the two. Men combing their hair, and preening themselves. Some were gently working out.
Among these men was Lagos. Lagos was of an average height, with average length hair and average looks. But he was a Spartan. A warrior. One of the three hundred men chosen specifically by the king, Leonidas, to help in the Isthmus Defence Plan. His job, along with the other three hundred Spartans, and five and a half thousand Greeks was to repel the Persians for as long as was possible. He was prepared to die. That was the reason he had been chosen, his affairs were all in order back in Sparta. When he died, his son would take up all of his responsibilities.
Now Lagos sat, a comb made of the bones of a fox in his right hand, a loincloth wrapped around his waist. He stared out into the Gulf of Malis and wondered how long he…how long they would survive. He had been trained for this day since the day he had been born. Such was the Spartan Agoge.
His armour and weapons lay against the rock, he had spent a good number of hours cleaning them. To his left, three men came riding on horseback. He briefly glanced at them, then returned his gaze to the water.
The three men, emissaries approached where King Leonidas had made his camp. Lagos was close enough to the king to hear the conversation between the men.
“King Xerxes extends the generous off of surrender to you and your men, King Leonidas.” It was the tallest of he tree that spoke, “He would like me to inform you that if you accept this offer, you shall be made the king of all Greece.”
Leonidas slowly stood to his feet, had the emissary not been on horseback he would have been just shorter than the king. He took a second to think about the Persian’s offer then spoke, “If you knew what is good in life, you would abstain from wishing for foreign things. For me it is better to die for Greece than to be monarch over my compatriots”
The Persian seemed slightly taken aback by the king’s response. Leonidas walked past the emissaries and into the centre of his encampment. The lead emissary trotted along and stopped in front of him.
“It would be wise to surrender your arms now. At least then you and your men will be spared. There is no need for bloodshed here.” The Persian spoke up so all those around could hear, “What say you? Will you and your men stand down, or shall we come through and kill each and every one of them?”
Leonidas looked amongst his men, he already knew his answer. He could see that each Spartan warrior would agree with him. The other Greeks were torn, they weren’t brought up the way of the Spartans, they weren’t here to die. They were here to help. Leonidas stared up into the Emissaries brown eyes. He spoke three words. Three words that would be echoed throughout history many times…

“Come take them”

DAY FIVE

Lagos now stood, he was preparing his armour for the fight he could feel was coming. All the Greeks could feel it. Xerxes had waited four days for the Greeks to retreat. Now, he would send his men into the pass, and it was up to Lagos, the Spartans, and the other five-thousand Greeks to keep them at bay for as long as possible. However, there were three times as many Persians as there were Greeks.
Leonidas had outlined the plan to his men in the previous days of waiting. A phalanx formation was to be used. Preventing the Persians from over-whelming them and preventing the Persians from passing. Lagos was to be in the front line of the fight. He checked his spear to make sure that it was still sharp, he did this mainly to reassure himself. All the Spartans weapons would be ready, they had been trained to always have them ready for battle.
The Greeks were singing their battle hymn quietly. The Spartans didn’t care much for the hymns and so Leonidas wouldn’t allow the other men to sing while in formation. Leonidas stood with two fellow Spartans looking at the pass. He saw the Persians preparing to enter.
“Men, form up!” He shouted.
Lagos heaved his shield up to his body and moved into position next to the two men who had just a moment ago stood with the King. He thought about how much fun the people in the rear ranks would miss, if all went according to plan. Leonidas stood in the fourth row, he wouldn’t get to fight, but he was in the perfect position to provide the cadence.
“Prepare arms!”
Lagos raised his shield, locking it in place with the two people on his sides. His spear through one of the grooves in the side. Two spears came over his head and rested above his shield. His heart beat faster, he had been born and bred for this. His eyes locked onto the army before him. His hands tightened on his means of attack and defence. His breathing slowed.
“Forward step...step…step…step” Came the beat of his King’s voice from behind him.
The rectangle of men moved forwards in perfect unison. They moved into the pass, blocking it off from any man. To their right lay the sea, to the left, the mountain. There was no way through them. But still, the Persians came…

Arrows rained down towards the mighty Greeks. The Phalanx held, the arrows bouncing carelessly off of the armies shields. The Persians charged, armed with short spears and swords. They were cut down before they could even get close enough to attack. The Greek’s long spears cutting down all who challenged them.
The Spartan’s remained calm, their calmness reaching out, like a wave of water, among their fellow Greeks. They held strong, not breaking formation. Bodies amassing in front of them. The Persians that followed, heaving the bodies out of the way, or in some instances stampeding over them.
Still the arrows came, the man next to Lagos commented, “So much the better, we shall fight in the shade,” upon looking up and seeing the sun blotted out behind the mass of arrows.
More came and more fell. Blood soaking the Spartan’s spears, the Greek’s spirit raised, and war cries surrounded Lagos. His eyes burning with the fury of a Spartan, he fought for his city, for his country, for his king, for his family, he fought for himself.
Still they came, the smell of the dead reached up into Lagos’ nostrils. He held back his initial instinct to throw up, gritting his teeth instead. Lagos had lost count of the number of men he had slain, he imagined that over ten-thousand had faced them thus far. Now they came, accompanied by men carrying whips. They would punish those who retreated. The Persians were pushed forwards, into death.
The sun now began to set, falling behind the oncoming army, blinding the Greeks. It mattered not. They didn’t need their eyes to fight. The Persians had sent at least double their initial wave, and they too lay dead before them, some afloat in the water, disappearing from thought and battle. The water ran red with blood, men lay draped into the shore, some hung from the mountain, clinging on with lingering hope. The Persians had lost this day, and now they retreated. They would be back, in larger numbers, and once more they would be repelled. But now. Now it was time for the men to celebrate, they had brought their country another day. Another day to construct a mighty impenetrable wall blocking off the Peloponnese from the rest of Greece.

DAY SEVEN

The sixth day had come and gone, much the same as the fifth. Lagos had been moved back to the sixth rank, along with the others who had occupied the first rank on the previous day. He now sat on a rock, staring across to where Persia lay, and where the sun now rose. The wind had changed direction, crows now sat atop the mountain top. The Greeks knew this to be a sign from the Gods, death was to reign this day.

Atop a mountain pass, cutting through the mountain of Thermopylae, a thousand Greeks sat. They had been sent up to this desolate spot by Leonidas, to defend it, incase Persians found it. The pass cut through the mountain, from behind the Greek encampment, through to behind the Persians. Were it to be found, it would mean certain defeat for the Greeks, they would be out-flanked. Persians would surround them, bringing down wrath for the damage caused the previous days.

An empty farm lay down towards the Persian end of the pass. It’s owner, Ephialtes , now being escorted by two Persian guards to King Xerxes, the leader of the Persian army. He begged with the king, asking that he and his family be spared. In return, he would give the king a chance to win, to finally break through the Greek’s defense. The king listened with great interest, sending his finest men, his “Immortals” up into the pass with the farmer.

The two armies met atop the mountain pass, the thousand Greeks retreating at the sight of the Persian’s finest. They had not expected to face anyone. The Persians cut down any man who stood in their way, but not pursue the Phocians. They were weak, they were cowards, they were of no interest. The Phocians fled higher up the mountain, dragging along the farmer. He would pay for his betrayal, but not here. The Spartans punishment would be far worse. They stood, out of breath, scared, down at the immortals, as they stormed down the other side of the pass. Their thoughts went out to the Spartans, and other Greeks down below, then they fled down behind the immortals, and away to Greece.

The men down at the encampment had taken up position again, and were defending against another, smaller wave of men. The first person to see the new threat was but a child. He was no older than fifteen. He stood at the back of the Phalanx and happened to glance back at the camp. He saw the men charging towards them and screamed out in shock, the men looked like death. The back three rows of the Phalanx turned, bringing down their spears a fraction too late as the immortals crashed into them.
Blood now split from the Greeks, as the two armies met. Bodies fell, as swords, spears and shields met. The young man was one of the first to fall, he had panicked, dropping his spear at the sight of the new foe.
Leonidas glanced backwards at the death that now began to surround them. He had prepared for such an eventuality.

“Spartans and Thebans to me!” He bellowed, the Spartans were chosen to fight to the death. The Thebans were forced to stay to remind Thebes that her loyalties remained with Sparta. “The rest of you! Get the hell out of here!”

Those who were free to go ran, they slipped through the fighting as men fell. Some were slain as they ran back past the immortals. Some broke far enough away to escape. The immortals knew their fight was with the Spartans, and only killed those who got too close to them to be a threat.
The Thespians stood their ground, forming a circle around Leonidas with the rest of the Spartans and Thebans. Their chief-commander, Demophilus, now stood beside Leonidas.

“Go you fool! You owe Sparta no debt.” Leonidas shouted, stabbing his spear down into the neck of one of the immortals.

“Never.” Demophilus replied, “You’ll never hold them alone. You need our help.” To that there was no argument. Any Greeks what made it back to Sparta would tell of the Thespians’ loyalty and honour, making them allies for life. The Spartans had to give up their life in battle, the Thespians were mere civilians, who opted to help with whatever they could.

Lagos moved backwards, standing in front of his king. His spear lay at his feet, cut in two. His short blade now yanked out of its sheath and in hand. He brought it down against his attackers spears, blocking them with his heavy shield, now covered in the blood of both Greeks and Persians. They were moving towards the centre of the pass, the narrowest part. There would be no escape now, only death.

Lagos brought his sword down, it clashed with another sword, he brought his foot up, kicking his opponent, then stabbing him while he was distracted. His shield now lay on the ground as his spare hand grabbed at the long wooden shaft of a spear. He threw himself forwards off it and threw his blade into his attacker’s eye. Leaving the blade in he turned and threw his fist at another immortal’s face, leaping on top of him and digging his fingers into his attacker’s eyes. His hand dropped to the immortal’s belt and grabbing his sword. He rolled to his left, avoiding another spear. His left hand reached out and grabbed the ankle of another Persian, he pulled and thrust the sword forwards into the Persian’s ribs. He pulled the bloody blade out and retrieved this soldier’s blade too. He stood up, towering over many of his opponents as he brought his twin blades down. He moved backwards, the voices around him fading into the blur of battle. Adrenaline flowed quickly through his veins. A spear caught his side as he thrust forwards again, one hand let go of it’s blade and fell to the wound. The still spun the blade around, warding off any potential attackers.
He glanced around and saw his king lying dead on the ground, slowly he made his way backwards. Along with the other Spartans, he was protecting his king. The Persians were retreating, Lagos grinned wildly, shouting madly at them. Then he realized they were retreating so they wouldn’t get hit. He stared at the Persian archers ahead of him, his second sword now hitting the floor. It was over…

His mind went back to his wife and two children back in Sparta. His eldest son would now care for his wife and brother, they would be fighting to protect Sparta when the time came, but until then they would live with the honour he had brought them this day.

He stared upwards as the bows were thrown forwards. The arrows flew towards them, once more blotting out the sun, he just watched them coming towards him...the battle was over…

The Encounter

They had heard the stories of radio transmissions from fellow soldiers that were sent into the forest by the UIDF. The reports that the headquarters had received were said to contain violent content. The unusual thing about the encounters was that one of the soldiers always managed to survive the expedition, just one, but the survivors were the ones that suffered the worst deaths, for they did survive, but later died in the mental institutions. Word had it that the men died under extremely odd circumstances. Within the first week of them arriving back at the UIDF, they were sent to the institution, for they had filed reports that they had been experiencing excessive headaches. After two weeks, they were reported to have started mumbling to themselves. In the third week they were reported to be dead.

The huge trees made a canopy over their heads, thus leaving them with no vision
what so ever. To accommodate for this, the soldiers were equipped with night vision goggles.
Despite all their equipment, the soldiers were still uncomfortable about the situation.
The soldiers themselves had not heard about the experiences of previous exploration parties, and the
UIDF would not let the information out, for they knew, the soldiers would abandon the missions.

It was a strange planet, but someone had to do the exploration. It was the third planet that the UIDF were currently trying to explore. The planet had the right atmosphere, size, weather and climate for humans to live. The UIDF was heavily funded by the international government, half the taxpayers money went to the foundation. The earth was on its way out, natural fossil fuels had almost been erased from the planet and the atmosphere was toxic. The few people that still lived on earth lived in special domes that could have their atmosphere and temperature regulated. They were mostly civilians that were stationed there because the government was slack about transporting them to planet J18, the planet currently under exploration by the UIDF. The human race was under a disruptive, as well as a destructive technological era.

Meanwhile, the group was advancing towards their objective.

"Yeah, he was quite a weird guy wasn’t he?"

"You know, I’ve known him for a couple of years, and not once has he cracked, I mean, we were so direct with him yet he never took offense to it."

It was the common talk of the soldiers, it was the only thing that kept them on their feet. Talking and talking, doing exactly as their female counterparts were said do in excess.

"Hey, Jakem, you mind if we sit? You been marching us around for over 8 hours, lend us some of your pity would ya?

"I cant get far with you buggers can I?" replied Jakem (The soldier in charge.)

"Yeah, we'll have a short break, and I emphasize on the word short." he continued.

Jakem was much of a molded character in the sense that he had been the same for many years. He had come from a distrustful family yet he managed to always keep a positive vibe in his presence, he had been that way ever since he was a child. His faults were never seen as a threat but rather a challenge to himself. He, as a child had insight far beyond his peers, yet he kept humility that always stayed with him. At his tender age, he was aware of many of the fallacies of society, he knew how to read people yet never intentionally ran over them, in a figurative sense. As he entered his teens, he had already established who he was, not caught up in the emotional struggles many teenagers were said to have. He was different but was positive about his eccentricity, possessing great confidence in his abilities but too aware of his limitations. As he grew out of his youth, he did not fail to keep his nature to that of a child. The one thing about him was that he was always honest, honest to the bone.

Meanwhile, the group was interrupted.

Just before they could sit, soldier Ryan noticed something.

“Guys, there is something behind us!”

“Shut the hell up, will you! We have to think what we have to do.” said one of the soldiers.

“No, guys, seriously, there is something there!”

As the platoon looked back, their goggles were tracking some movement about 100 yards off. Every now and then their sensors would pick up the movement. The object was moving at an incredible pace. It seemed to be darting left and right as it neared them, disappearing from their detection for a second and then appearing again. The situation ran into its third minute, while the object was getting closer to the group. Their goggles were tracking it at ten yards when suddenly it disappeared from their detection. All was silent as the team aimed aimlessly, looking for the creature. With guns fixed, the group scanned the area over and over. By the tenth minute one of the men spoke.

“Hey, guys, I think we are alright”

Just as the man lowered his gun, he noticed his fellow soldiers looking at him quite awkwardly.

“Soldier, run!” screamed Jakem

Before the soldier got out his final word, the creature landed on the man’s back, snapping his spine and crushing him to the cold, wet soil. The beast stood up on its hind legs, it must have been roughly 14 foot tall. It gave a series of deep roars. The soldiers, too afraid to pull out their guns, watched their friend get hauled up by the beast. The creature grabbed the broken man by the torso and began shaking him uncontrollably. With the man held in the one hand, beast lowered its other hand towards the man’s head. After a few seconds or so, the creature began emitting a bright blue light out of the center of it’s palm, entrancing those that were witnessing the situation. As its hand touched the man’s head, he began screaming, a scream of unimaginable pain. Soon the whole man’s body began to glow, as if his life was being sucked out of him.
The beast dropped the man’s body, looked at the soldiers and suddenly disappeared from their detection, as if it had literally vanished.

“Shit, keep your guard up soldiers, I don’t think it is done with us!” Jakem shouted.

With soldiers on guard, Jakem scanned the treetops as he walked out the group.

“Cover my back, the creature will only go for us if one of us is by ourselves!” Jakem added.

As he was walking forward, all was silent, the only thing that broke the silence were the few twigs that occasionally snapped as he stepped. They watched him as he slowly moved away, silently stepping across the soft ground. Jakem was scanning the treetops as he was maneuvering further and further away from the team. Every now and then, he would pick up movement, but only for a second or so. The creature was moving at an incredible pace, speeding across the treetops, so elegantly, as if it were a feather.

With 14 soldiers covering him, he still felt uneasy. Jakem stood still, listening for any sign of the brute, and then silence. “Tic, tic, tic” went the drops of water as they dripped off the leaves of the ferns. There was a strange feeling in the air, a feeling of death. Jakem stood still. Just as the dilemma neared its third minute, Jakem heard a strange disturbance in the air.

“Fire!”

As the word came out of his mouth, there was a colossal racket of bullets as they zipped above his head. Screaming, ripping through the air and tearing the flesh of the beast, the bullets had no pity. The creature made a thudding sound as it hit the ground. It lay there, in pieces, dead as death itself. Ripped of its life, the bullets had penetrated its entire body.

They had no time for lamentation .As soon as it had begun, the team left their dead friend behind and continued on their mission, his entrails leaking from his torso.

They trekked across the forest, it must have been roughly 5 hours since they had stopped. The group was tired, as tired as can be. They finally hit an open piece of land in the dense forest. There was a huge lake, it must have been at least ten miles across, as far as Jakem could tell. It was magnificent, the night had just begun and the stars had rightfully taken their place in the unexplored sky. The sky was magnificent, very different to earths, the stars here were plentiful. There was enough light from the stars alone to guide them. It was beautiful as the light reflected off the lake and onto the land.
It was clear and tranquil, simple and majestic. The water had a luminosity that could only be experienced by being there at that very moment. The group forgot about all they had witnessed, and stood, entranced by the magnificent beauty of this planet, planet J18.

They decided to stay there for the night, it was the only place that they could experience the peace. After making a fire, the group headed for sleep.

Later, they were awoken by a vibrating sound that ran through the walls of their heads. They screamed. Covering their ears with their hands, the sound went straight into their brain. No matter how hard they pushed their hands against their ears, the screeching sound found its way through. The sound had a ghostly echo to it, which just added to the fear that they were experiencing. The sound had such a ring to it that is distorted their vision. When the soldiers looked up, they saw yet another strange creature, much different in appearance to the other beasts they had encountered. The creatures darted for the fire, attacking it screaming and throwing objects at it. There approach to it was as if it were a demon. They had fear, hatred and anger in their strange eyes. After a few failed attempts, they ran out, into the darkness of the forest. After about ten minutes of so, most of the screaming had been consumed by the forest . They carefully lifted their hands off their heads and sat up. Jakem held his hands on either side of his head, he could feel his veins pulsing. His hands were hot and sweaty from the tension, he was breathing deeply as he got up. They waited a couple of minutes, and then there was silence. There were still faint echoes of the screams, slowly getting quieter and fainter, as the creatures moved deep into the forest.

“Shit!” one of the soldiers exclaimed.

“If I just had my gun, then………” he added.

“Then what? You wouldn't have done shit!” Jakem interjected.

“And another thing, stop the macho act! That was the last thought on any of our minds.” Jakem continued.

With the group, once again in uneasiness, the mood was violent. Jakem, aware of the situation, attempted to be fair-minded.

Later, the next morning, they were awoken to a beautiful array of colors, much of a picturesque view. There were two marvelous suns in the sky, just peering over the forest. The suns were dimmer than the earths, but together, they displayed a beautiful color. The suns had an unusual yellow glow but after a while the glow changed to a deep blue that instantly shot across the land, beaming onto every object in its path. It gave a tint to the few clouds that were floating above them. It was a marvelous display of color. It took the soldiers out of their fatalistic mind state. The beauty was faultless.

Just before he turned away from the lake, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Jakem turned back and casually focused on the little area. There were slight bubbles coming out of it. The object slowly moved into the mud on the bank of the dam. The bubbles were nearing the group, and then stopped. It was about twenty meters away from them. There was a long pause, suddenly the mud rose and a strange object spawned from its muddy lair. Jakem then made out what it looked like. By now it was ten meters away, and not slowing down. It had a fury, mammal like body but underneath it was moving on snail like legs. Jakem could not make out any sign of its head. It looked as if it was floating across the mud. Suddenly, Jakem’s instincts suddenly kicked in and he started to run. The freakish creature was not stopping its pursuit on him. He had run about ten meters and it was right on his tail. While Jakem was running it crawled up his leg.
Jakem tripped and fell hard onto the clay. His heart was beating at an incredible pace as he saw it crawling up his leg. Just then and there, he felt a sharp pain in his leg where the creature situated. It felt as if someone had struck a thick needle into his leg. He screamed with pain as he tried to pull it off, but it had clamped on with an incredible force. Jakem, rolling around, drew his attention to his handgun. He grabbed it and turned to his leg. He placed it on the back of the creature and started to fire. It squealed as the bullet was ripping through its fur and flesh. It was a violent situation, violence was plentiful in this place. The creature finally accepted its mortality and too suffered death to the ferocity of the bullets. Jakem pulled and tugged against the creature but his efforts were unanswered. Finally with the help of Ryan, they managed to get the creature off. There was a gaping wound on his left calf muscle. It was a vile creature, as were all the creatures on this planet. It had a long needle like sucker emerging from its underbelly. The wound on Jakem’s leg was bleeding uncontrollably, the creature must have had some toxin in its body. After five minutes or so, the bleeding stopped and a bandage was applied to the wound. His leg was num, eventually helping him for he knew he would not be able to walk with the pain. Jakem stood, but without ease. As he stepped, he had an expected limp. As the group walked near the shore of the lake, they were fearfully anticipating the return to the forest. The soldiers were deprived of their happiness as well as being run down by the environment.

The sun was bright, almost too bright. It was heading for mid-day and the group was due to enter the blighted forest. When they got to the wall of the forest, fears once again spawned from their minds. They stood, knowing that they were destined to encounter yet another creature. Eventually the group mustered up enough courage to attempt their inevitable task. Once they had moved just over twenty meters into the forest, they again pulled on their night vision goggles. The light was not allowed in the forest, here darkness ruled, and forever would until the forest itself seized to exist. The forest was silent, almost too silent, as if the creatures were aware of their presence and too aware of the soldier’s ability to kill. There was uneasiness in the air, just as it was when their friend had been killed, uneasiness in all senses of the word, for nothing happened, hours passed and nothing happened.

As the group was waking, Jakem felt weak to his bones, as if he had been poisoned. He collapsed to the ground. His jaw made a loud crack as his head hit the ground, his mind in a blur. He felt as if his vision was being manipulated, everything he saw was saturated, out of place. He could make out the faint outlines of his fellow soldiers, all was misplaced, nothing seemed to be right, then all of a sudden, darkness. Jakem was conscious but all he witnessed was darkness. The soldiers around him had disappeared, nothing there but the absence of all. He could feel his heart beating, but his body felt weightless, as if it were floating lifelessly. Then out of the ether, something spawned. An object, too far for Jakem to make out what it was, but it was an object, waiting there.

Suddenly his body got pulled towards it with an unimaginable force, his body felt feeble as it was ripped forward. It felt as if he was getting pulled by an aircraft but there was just silence. As he was dragged, the object was nearing him, waiting for him. Every second it got nearer, all Jakem saw was the object, as if something was in control of his mind, manipulating him in everyway.

There it was.

From all that he had feared it to be, it was quite to the contrary. It was a lifeless object, it was a floating orb, resembling liquid to some degree. He and the orb stood, in an unidentified, never ending spacious realm.

And in the most unforeseeable manner, the orb began to glow, a glow of intensity, a glow that blinded him. The brightness was incalculable. At those moments, the darkness ceased to exist, the light took over and with every second grew brighter and brighter. The experience was unfathomable, an unanswerable experience that could not be explained by any human.

He blinked.

Jakem found himself back in the forest, staring at the ground, beads of were sweat dripping off his face. There was a foul smell in the air, a smell of burning flesh.

Jakem looked up and saw every single one of his companion's corpses, smoldering and rotting into the cold, wet soil.

The end

The First Ones...

My name is Markus Aurelius, I am the patriarch of the vampire line. I ruled Rome in the first century A.D., and thought to have died of old age, but in my last travels back to Rome, I encountered a band of gypsies, they cursed at me calling me all sorts of vile names in there native tongue. In my anger, I had my men slaughter them all, but with one old hags dieing breath she cursed me, she said I would not make it out of the forest alive, I laughed, but said nothing. Seven day's later we came to the end of our journey through the dense forest, only to be attacked by hundreds of feral bats, I was bitten by hundreds of them, in my mind I thought of the old hag who had cursed me to never leave the woods alive, and she was correct, the bats drained me of my blood, and then as if acting on some strange command, regurgitated the blood back into my mouth. All I could do was convulse and choke on my own blood, I knew I was dieing but some strange sensation came upon me, it felt like I was starting melt inside, like my organs were filled with fire, I convulsed so long I was out on the snowy ground, writhing in the snow, getting frost bitten, and then as suddenly as it started it stopped. I lay there for hours, my men were driven deep into the forest by the bats, my guess was none were alive, my only chance for hope would be the scouts would come back in a few hours, if I could survive that long. I drifted in and out of consciousness, until I finally I could see myself lying on the ground, the light gone from my eyes, my skin so pale, and the thousands of bite marks all along my arms and neck. Then I saw the spirit of the hag, and she spoke in words of her native tongue, but I could understand them, she said" I curse you for eternity, forever with blood-lust unquenchable, you will not die, only until the ending of the world." It scared me to suddenly see myself awake on the ground, I no longer felt the cold, nor the pain of my wounds, in fact I had no wound anymore, I quickly gathered my armor and ran off on horse back to the scouts ahead. I heard the galloping of the horse as if elephants were stampeding the ground, the air whistling by sounded as if thunder where in my ears, and my vision was unlike anything before, I saw the scouts coming back, but I knew they could not see me yet, as I was still along side the valley and mountains, and they were up on the mountain ridge at-least 6 kilometers away. Instantly when we met, an emptiness came over me, and I needed to fill the emptiness, I felt as my teeth grew canines, and my brow ridged, in my minds eye I knew what I looked like, some horrid demon from Hattie's. My men were terrified at the very site of me, they tried to flee, but I leaped from horseback onto both of them, easily the could have taken me together, but my strength was brilliant, I over powered them, I had one named Antonio by his neck like a vise grip, and I was drinking the blood of the other, who's name escapes me. After the bloody onslaught, I was disgusted with myself, I tried to up-heave the blood, but my body was welcoming it with warm embrace.

I made my way back to the main camp were the army was at, but something in me needed rest, as I had been traveling all night. I went to my tent, and I ordered no disturbance. I slept all day, I had awoken the moment the sun had gone down, and I knew only one creature who drinks blood and sleeps during the day, I was a vampire. It seems my eyes can adjust to the darkness, it was as clear as day, every curve and every layer, I could see all in great detail. My general asked me when the offensive would begin, I said to him" Octavius, gather your troops and meet me at the cliffs end, let Corthineas take the bulk of the army to the valley".

"Sire, the men escorting you, where have they gone?" asked Octavius
"You needn't worry Octavius, I have sent a search party to see if they are alive." replied Markus
"Alive, what happened to you sire, why would they not be alive?" questioned Octavius
"I said you need not worry, go with your troops and stay where I have instructed." said Markus

"Sire!!" called the man known as Antonio.
I turned around in astonishment at the sight of him, he was pale and his eyes glowed an eerie blue, just like mine. I answered" How can this be, I killed you last night?"
He answered" I am dead sire, I cannot feel a pulse, nor do I see my breath in the mist of this cold."
"Nor do I, I have not paid it any mind, and the other guard?" I asked
"He stayed dead sire, apparently I was strong enough to overcome what you did to me." he said wrath venomously.
" I do not like your tone of voice Antonio, nor do I care for your thoughts of ways to kill me." I exclaimed
He was in shock at my mentioning of his thoughts, I had discovered this gift when I was sleeping during the day, all the thoughts of the men were like a flood of rain. I had also discovered that upon awakening, I had a terrible hunger, only until now had I been suppressing with great discomfort. I told Antonio what he was, and that he was the second of the creations, at first he did not like it, but by the first couple of nights it was like second nature to him.

We hunted together, and to make sure no others turned we would decapitate them, and burn there bodies. The war soon started against the barbarian Germanics, and it would make for a perfect opportunity for Antonio and I to feed upon the dieing. Upon the field thousands of barbarian Guamanians lay dieing or mortally wounded, To my surprise I read the thoughts of their general, who went by the name Freigen. In his dieing thoughts I read and saw the victories and the presence he had among his people, this man was a true warrior, and had war in his nature, he could be of use to me. I saw the horror in his face as my face changed and my teeth grew, I bit his neck, and heard the sickening crunch of the breaking of the skin and veins, i drained him, and all my will was bent on him turning that night. For a few minutes I sat there watching him twitch, then he began trembling and convulsing, I knew his body was dieing, I could practically feel it, then he sat up and stared at me with those eerie blue eyes. For an instant he wanted to fling himself on me and kill me, but the moment past and he submitted his will to me.

For the next 2 hundred years Rome conquered, first Europe, and then the island of Britannia, I was no longer Emperor, and I was glad to be rid of the position, my son took the throne but was usurped by the senate. In the two hundred years that followed, I and my two fellow companion vampires had made others, I made an immortal wife for myself, who's name is Pandora, an Indian woman of great beauty, and we birthed an Immortal son, who I named Markus Aurelius the III. Antonio had taken two brides, both of Spaniard decent, just like him, and Freigen, who renamed himself Kolester made his own wife from when he was mortal, and birthed 5 sons and one daughter, who is to be married to my son. Together we make the first of the Immortals, we are the three Elders of the Vampire race, each of us with our own coven, I am the strongest and eldest, rule Europe, Antonio who left for The new world now rules a coven in America, and Kolester, who went to the south, now rules a coven in the Arabia's.Many vampires exist now, I alone rule ove 6 thousand in Europe, Kolester 4300 or so, and Antonio rules over 12,000. In the year 1645 I left Rome to go to my new home in England, there I fought off invasions from the Scottish, and from the British, I fended off invading slayers who wanted to destroy me, and my kind.

That brings me to the Slayers, who at the time had nearly been around for 3 hundred years in 1645, they caught me unawares on a journey to see Kolester in Egypt, I was nearly in Jerusalem when their leader Holtz caught me and my caravan camped in the desert, at the break of dawn they attacked, knowing that me and some of my men could not stand and fight for long. Holtz's men came upon us like a swarm of angry wasps, they caught us from the north with arrows, and instantly lost 30 of my men, but the vampire in me and my personal guard snapped to attention, with only moments before the sun would burn us to dust. With all of my preternatural strength I came down upon the first soldiers, I moved so fast I was a blur, the soldiers could only try to anticipate my moves, but anticipation hardly works when your adversary cannot be seen.Neck after neck I snapped, I unsheathed my sword and disemboweled and dismembered every soldier in my sight, my vampire warriors took cue from me and used their strength and speed to there advantage, quickly dispatching the enemy with ease, Holtz, a veteran warrior in his own right was killing off my human guard, I leaped at him from across the fighting field, and fought him, it was no match, with all his knowledge in war, it did him no good against my power. I toyed with him at first, letting him think his amulets slowed me down, and we matched skill against skill, after I let him win that match he swung the sword at me hoping to cut off my head, I dodged the swing, and gripped him by his neck, lifted him in the air and told him," I am going to bite you, and watch, with hopeful eye's that you turn into the thing you hate most."

I watched him go through the changes, as the others did, and in less than a few minutes he was a vampire. During that day he awoke and killed himself in the sun, suicide was more appealing to him than eternal life. To me it did not matter, I would have had to kill him sooner or later, those of his army that were still alive fled back to Rome, where the order of Slayers began. When we arrived in Egypt, our welcome was that like when I was emperor, grand and themed, the streets of the city were cluttered with rose pedals from Spain, they sacrificed virgins and had a great feast in our honor, Cairo would be a safe haven for me and my kind throughout the centuries. I would stay with Kolester for 3 months, and during my stay there it was absolute paradise, the people willing to be your next meal, and to be clothed in the finest of garments, absolute heaven. I journeyed back to England, and met with a overlord in Ireland about some rebellions in a village outside Galloway, after some time dealing with the locals, and quelling some upheavals, I rested for a century, and when i awoke it was 1756 and my affairs were in disarray.

"I have been asleep for a hundred and eleven years, and you tell me that Galloway and half of Scotland now have been taken back by the humans." I screamed.
"Sire, we could not hold them without your presence, when the humans found out you were sleeping they rebelled against us, we dispatched men to the hot spot areas, but to no avail, they were just to many, and they attacked during the day." said Marius the lord of my manner.
"So you could not send for more troops, and quell the uprising?" I asked rather pissed off.
"Sire, more troops came, but we cannot swell our numbers, too many vampires now aren't doing what they're told, they rebel against our authority, an kill and lay claim to the position of overlord.." exclaimed Marius.
"Than the problem isn't with the humans, it's with the ignorant vampires that have been created by lesser immortals."

I would have to cleanse Europe of nearly two thirds of the vampire line, it would take me 14 years tracking down all the rebellious vampires, and in that time I had been called a traitor to my own kind, many of the overlords wanted to send me into exile, but at first sight of my power, they trembled like cowards at my feet, and embraced me once more. My son and his wife were expecting there first child in the late 1700's, I was to be a grandfather, I planned to give the crown to my son, and let him rule as Elder of Europe, of course the next most powerful would be Antonio, but he would swallow his pride and let my son rule as Eldest vampire. The ceremony came and went, my son Markus would rule until 1877, when the Britain's made another war on us, they came with there canons and guns, we were ill equipped for the onslaught, my son was burned to death in the manor. It was a grave year for me, I ordered the others to sleep or hide until I resurface, the old ways were dieing out, and the new order of things were coming in, an age of guns and machines, I slept through both world wars, and through the wars in the east.

When I awoke in the year 2006 I found that much had changed, there were things that I had not even imagined could be true, humans had discovered a way of traveling without horses, and with great machines that could fly in the sky. Much of my old world was in history books, and I was known as a butcher, a ruthless emperor known only for war mongering, but that life was when I was human, my life as an Immortal would not be in any history book, nor mentioned in any book. I met with Antonio and Kolester, and I told him of the old women from when I was Journeying from Bavaria to thr front lines of Germany, and told them how the hag had put a curse on me, saying I would live forever and always be bloodthirsty, and how throughout my existence I had always been waring with someone.

They could do nothing to console me, but I knew each of them knew I would have not picked this life for anyone, not even my worst enemy. Antonio informed me of an uprising in Japan, and in Europe, the vampire community was falling apart, and once again needed my guidance, and my sword. When I arrived in London, all the vampires who were loyal to me came, and we slaughtered the mad ones, the ones with no self control, once the mere sight of me would have been enough to scare then in submission, now they challenge me openly, fools they are. Twenty vampires surrounded me while another 20 were dealing with Antonio and Kolester, they thought that with there combined strength they could fell me, I moved twice as fast and hit them so hard there skull shattered to pieces. Three vampires leaped on me and tried to drain me, but to no avail, I grabbed one by the throat and slammed him through a concrete wall, shattering his bones, the other two I cut down with my sword.

It took nearly 3 years to wipe out all of the vampire in Europe and Asia, but now the population was just me Antonio, Kolester, and Marius. Antonio had always been a very good leader, the Americas had there problems, but Antonio could handle them, it was no wonder why I chose him to be the reigning Elder while I slept through the ages. My gift to him would be to drink from my veins, so that only he would have the power close to my own....

Epilogue...
It has been 600 years since I have last seen Markus, he buried himself in Budapest, but all trace of him has been wiped clean, some thought they saw him in New London, and others thought they saw him in Japan, but where ever he is, I'm sure he is drinking deeply

Okay, the judges have all given me their answers. Here's how the system works...

The five judges each got to pick their top five favorites. Their #1 got 5 points, while their #5 got 1 point. I will not reveal these listed pickings for the sake of not wounding anyone's pride. 😉

Once the five judges pooled their results, I divided the points by five. The winners were, you can assume, voted for more than once by a judge. Their ranking in the judges' scores also mattered greatly, as I will mention after I reveal the winners.

THE TOP FIVE WRITERS OF THE FIRST KMC SHORT STORY CONTEST

1. DUSTY - Flashy Storytelling
Commentary: I felt that Dusty captured the feeling of noir perfectly, down to grammar, word choice, and sentence structure. The plot starts off, leaving me thinking 'Where is this going?' and ending with my astonished applause. Dusty places a well-deserved first with his tale of Red's revenge.

2. FEANOR - Two Men and a Baby Diaper
Commentary: I must say, I enjoyed Fea's style immensely. Lots of big words, ooo, ahhh. Hehe. I'm a big fan of imagery and descriptive writing, which Fea did quite well, and the humor gave me quite a few chuckles. Well-structured and a great read, congrats on the Silver Medal, Fea!

3. DIAMONDS - I Pray, Never Forget
Commentary: Diamonds can't go wrong with a Harry Potter fanfic! Digi felt that it would have been better without the familiar characters, while Syren thought it was better because of the familiar characters. Wooo impasse. The use of verses was an intriguing addition as well. Good work!

4. THE THINKER - The Encounter
Commentary: I felt that what this story had going for it was the descriptiveness and the atmosphere. I couldn't connect with Jakem, but provided Thinker only had so much space to write in, I'm sure he would have been further developed. In any case, I don't want to visit J18. Ever.

5. THE PHANTOM - False Love
Commentary: Last but certainly not least, we have a tale of demons, comradery, deception, and...well, killing leeches. It was an entertaining read and, from reading it, I'm sure TP was dying from not being able to write more. Congrats on fifth place!

===

Well, that's the August 2006 First Ever KMC Writing Contest. If you didn't rank in the top five, just know that I enjoyed reading each of your stories immensely. The purpose of the contest was not to see who was best, but to see how many people I could get interested and what they would write. It succeeded marvelously. 😊

I DO have an honorable mention, though.

SpikeSpiegel - Thermopylae, four out of five judges voted for you. Just didn't have enough points to beat these five, though! Sixth place to you, my friend.

===

Now, announcement!

Seeing as it took FOREVER for us five judges to make up our minds, I will make the contests bimonthly. The next contest will begin October 1st, 2006. As a hint at the next topic, think bullet time.

===

Now, discussion! This thread will remain stickied until October, for the purpose of everyone commenting on the stories and so on, but first and foremost to congratulate the winners!

See you in October.

OOoh! We get to comment!

Well, kudos to everyone! I didn't read everyones story, but I read 4 of the 5 winners so 😛. Anyways, you all did well, and if you didn't, that sucks.

Bullet time....I won't be entering. 😬

Tsk tsk, already two writers bowing out. 😛

Maybe next one will be one I can do.

Bullet time? O_O

Congrats to the two people I actually know, Phantom and Diamonds for placing in the top five.

I'll try to do the Oct. one if i manage my time wisely

You know, moving in slow motion, running on walls. tongue_ss

*flips off a wall*

😄

*Falls backwards*

I practically have a story for the *AHEM* bullet time...

I'm currently running a free-word RPG based on the so said subject 😛

AWESOME!!!! 😱 i've never placed second before. actually, i've never placed ever, now that i think about it. thanks everyone. thank you! 😄

can someone explain to me what "bullet time" is?

W00t - Honerable mention, the best kind of mention.

I too shall have to bow out of the next one seeing as I start Uni next month, but I will be back for the one after that.

Although.....bullet time -maybe I could find a way around it

Creative Writing -> short story competition -> Creative Writing.....I think I might be able to work something out 😛

And also

Originally posted by Captain REX

Welcome to the guidelines for the First Annual KMC Short Story Contest!

Originally posted by Captain REX
You know, moving in slow motion, running on walls. tongue_ss

Yeah I so knew that.

(i am so screwed O_O)

Congrats everyone clapping

I enjoyed all of the entries, but obviously the main points for me were to do with grammar and punctuation so please make sure you proof read your work before submission, it definitely helps.

Originally posted by Fëanor

can someone explain to me what "bullet time" is?

As Rex said -

Originally posted by Captain REX
You know, moving in slow motion, running on walls. tongue_ss

- and is it a reference to the style of The Matrix?

AWESOME!

Good job all!