The Search for the Stone of Power

By:  Casey, 8th grade

            Many centuries after the Queerions were driven off the earth, the humans were still recovering from the scarring they received from the time they spent as slaves. They were still in the process of rebuilding their villages and reconfiguring their armies, but the world was torn, large mutated animals roamed the land. Such as 10 foot tall lions, and 5 foot tall wolves. There were also savage barbarians and nomads who wandered the lands killing at random. There was total chaos… The people who had enough wealth, or enough followers set up forts or castles, to defend themselves from these threats, and people flocked around these lords and begged their protection. So feudalism was created.

***

In the large, walled city of Alkarhon, one of the last Christian cities in the world, the whole population (10,000) was gathering to go to church in one of the 10 chapels in town. To give a little background, the city of Alkarhon was somewhere close to present day Toronto Canada. It was a peaceful city but none the less, it had 20 foot thick stone walls, not to mention they were 50 feet high, why all this protection? I

l tell you, this town was almost destroyed many times by a massive saber tooth polar bear 15 feet high that roamed the area. But ever since the wall was built they were able to keep him away. The inhabitance consisted of about 1,000 soldiers, 50 ministers, 1,000 merchants, 1,200 teachers, 1,000 on city cleaning, 500 policemen, 1,000 missionaries, and 4,250 on construction (the wall is not finished.)

            The entire city was devoted to keeping the Christian faith alive after the great uprising of the religion Geoherbalism (the worship of plants and earth). The missionaries went out and tried to convert the nomads, and barbarians to become Christians, and to join their army. This was probably the most dangerous job in the city, because many times they had to travel tens of miles on horseback through dangerous wilderness. And there is always the chance that the nomads would not cooperate. Plus no soldiers accompany them on these journeys, and they go in small groups of about three.

            Well back to the story, in the city about at this time. An ordinary soldier named Chris was walking the perimeter of the wall, on an ordinary sentry duty. It was an ordinary day, with ordinary weather, in other words it was just, well, ordinary!

            “Sigh, why isn’t there ever any excitement, it’s always the same!” 

Suddenly, Chris spotted something in the horizon

            “What’s this? Could that be the great white bear that has been terrorizing the city? It hasn’t attacked here since two years before I was born!”

As the figure on the horizon grew larger, more soldiers noticed it, but it was still too far away to say for sure what it was. As everyone waited in silence the shape started to form. It seemed like a lone man followed by an army.

            “To battle stations!” yelled Julius, who was recently appointed lead guard after the previous one fell of the wall, “Man the ballista! Archers to marks! Close the gate! Someone, get a runner out there!” As soon as he yelled another order it was done immediately, the ballista crews ran out of their wall-top homes, the archers, who were leaning against the back wall, drinking mead, dropped everything (including their drinks) and ran to the front of the wall with their bows. And the gate started to slowly creak closed.

            Before he knew what was happening Chris was picked up onto a horse that started galloping towards the mysterious, shadow.

            “Wait!” yelled Chris, but it was too late, Chris was going to be the first to see what this shadow truly was.

***

            As Chris drew closer he noticed that the lead man was running, which was a strange thing for a general, or whatever leader he was to do, when Chris got even closer, he noticed the man seemed to be scared! The man was wearing a leather tunic, his hair was long and he wore nothing upon his head but a cloth strip around his forehead, he had a sword on his belt.

            “This is STRANGE!” said Chris

            “HEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!!!!” the man yelled as he ran closer, “oh god almighty! Help me on your horse! I’ve been running for days! I need to get away from these creations!! “

            “What? How could you been running for days, no human could have enough stamina! But what are you running from? Who are they? Are they-“

            “No, they aren’t human!”

            “Then what are they?!?”

            “They were once like us, but they were changed into this by a bite of one of their number,” Chris looked back, and noticed that the creatures were limping, and some were even on their stomachs crawling “My race was devastated by their attack, at first only forty came and we thought that they were wounded so we sent some of our healers to treat their wounds, but then they leapt upon those poor souls, and started to eat their flesh as would a lion or a bear. But we did not see the danger, we thought them to be insane so we sent some of our soldiers up to restrain them, but by the time they came back they were covered in bite wounds. We finally had our archers shoot them so they dispatched them with chest shots. That night when we were all in our beds, the thought to be dead assailants rose and wandered into the city and killed a watchman. Then the killed healers and wounded soldiers joined their number. We fought valiantly but the wounded kept getting back up, and those who had a limb severed stilled tried to kill our soldiers. These creatures didn’t fight with weapons, no; they ate the flesh of the fallen!”

            “What happened,” said Chris “if they could not die how could you possibly defeat them!?!”

            “Halfway through the battle we discovered that if you destroy their brain they ceased, but by then it was too late. We gathered our remaining soldiers and rode opposite ways to find help. Before they reached the edge of the hoard they were torn apart, and I ran away.” the man said.

            “What kind of defenses did your city have? How could they get past your gate if it was closed?”

            “Our city is not on earth’s surface like many other cities, our city is concealed in a mountain, but our door was being repaired when ‘they’ came.”

            “Wait,” said Chris “I have been in school for the past 5 years and they never even mentioned a mountain city!”

            “*Sigh* I guess there’s no reason for keeping this secret anymore, the city was called Nîbes Cǐdeç, and it has never had any humans,”

            “Wait, what?

            “Don’t interrupt. I was the leader of my city, but I am no more.”

            “If you are not human, what are you?”

            The man took one end of the cloth strip and gave it a quick tug, and it fell to reveal a set of pointed ears. “I am an elf, and I---“

            HOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNKKKKKK! The town emergency horn sounded,

HOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNKKKKKKKK! It came a second time,

HOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKK! It sounded a third time.

            “Oh no!” said Chris “The gate is closed! There is only one other way to get into the city!” Chris quickly altered the horse’s course so now it was facing a tall, thick, tower. As they approached the tower, a thick-steel pair of double doors opened, and a man ran out.

            “Hurry! The army is getting closer!” as he stepped aside the horse went to a trot and passed through the door. They dismounted, and Chris noticed that the inside of the tower was very damp, the walls were six feet thick, and there was a  shabby wooden staircase along the wall stretching from the floor until it went out of sight onto the next floor.

            “Bogdan! Can you please show me the way to the underground path?”

            “Ok, follow me,” Bogdan said. He led them to a disturbed patch in the stone floor and dusted off the dirt, revealing a wooden trap door, as big as a horse. Bogdan grabbed a handle and started to lift up the door. His muscles rippled as he lifted the heavy slate door. Slowly the door rose and a foul smell wafted from the opening. The smell of death filled the room as the three stared down the incline of the floor.

“Are we really supposed to go down there?” the elf said, “I see only certain doom if we take that path.”

“Relax” said Bogdan, “what you smell is the smell of our enemies, none of our men, who were important, has ever died down there. The monsters are only released when a lever is pulled and that lever is in the basement.” He motioned to a ladder on the other side of the room.

“Ok I guess that’s fine…”

“Don’t worry! I’ve come this way tons of times! There is nothing to worry about” said Chris.

***

            Chris mounted the horse and motioned for the elf to do the same. “No, I will prefer to be on the floor if we encounter something hostile.” They continued on the incline for about thirty minutes until the floor finally evened out. All the lighted the hall was a small torch every twenty feet.  Chris saw that the walls were carved out of slate. Then as he was looking at the wall he passed by a long row of steel bars. As he looked in he saw large red eyes. Then suddenly, a creature leaped from the shadows and crashed into the bars. It had four legs and huge claws on each foot; its face was in the shape of a demented wolf and had 3 inch long teeth.

            They kept on walking through the tunnel when a sudden rush of air hit them.

            “The walls have more cracks here.” Said the elf.

            “Hey, I don’t believe I ever got your name.”

            “It’s Oberon it means ruler in my language.”

            “Wow! You were named for that job!

            “Well… not exactly. Once you become a ruler you get to pick your name from one of the twelve great names            that our great father bestowed upon us.”