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Arketia festival and The HIve; Scrolls of Soterapan book one snippet
Topic Started: Thursday, 12. March 2015, 21:38 (255 Views)
Scrolls of Soterapan

They arrived in Argos a few minutes of walking later and sat down against a log. In front of them was a small forest green fire that smelled of fresh air pine needles. Gabriella squeezed his hand and smiled up at the multi-colored sky. Monica, the girl who ran the festival of Selene stepped forward out of the crowd again and rasied her hands, her flint knife in her hand and another horn filled with oil in the other. This time she wore a deep green Chiton with a Himation atop it, as every woman at the festival wore.
She stood before another alter, this one made of wood and rope. Atop the wooden platform stood a statue of a woman wielding a bow. There were different sacrifice’s this time too. One person had placed a pile of animal skins and another had put the skull of a large snake on the altar. Someone had draped around Artemis’s neck a string of pearls that glimmered in the light from the green fire.
Everyone stood as Monica began to speak in the language of magic, “Euchomai Eiposis Eu Phtha Nouthi Thie Semi Nouei Neithi Chrechreo Sininorps Mouch Oroou,”

Danny had heard his friends speak the language of magic a fair number of times even in just the last week, and he had felt power in their words, but no on the same level as he felt the magic in Monica’s voice. Gabriella had told him she was the most accomplished magician in soterapan in the last twenty years. Her voice flowed over him like liquid as the fires began to grow and he felt several presence’s watching them from above. He knew now that these were the gods turning their attention to them. The air around him became warmer and he felt a hand brush his shoulder.
Monica began to speak in Ancient greek now, and he could understand what she said, “To artemis, The queen of maidens, the goddess of the moon, whose brightness shines upon our world and lights up the dark, Who drives her chariot pulled by hinds and slays the beasts of night, We pray.”
Monica turned to the altar and rested upon it a smaller statue of wood and a piece of papyrus with etchings across its surface. She turned to them again and began to speak in ancient greek, slashing her flint knife across the metal wristband she wore on the arm holding the horn of oil. This horn was carved into the shape of a lions head. Light flared and she caught it in the hand holding the knife. She flexed her fingers and the flame grew even larger. It was a deep blue color that clashed with the green light from the fires around her. She poured the oil across the pire of wood and then threw the flames in her hand at the altar, which immediately caught fire. Danny smelled more fresh pine needles in the air and caught a scent of something else, something fragrant. Monica turned to her audience and said, “kneel my brothers and sisters, we must await our goddesses answer.”
She knelt down before the burning altar, and everyone followed her lead. Unlike Selene’s answer, Artemis responded very quickly. Almost as soon as everyone had hit their knees, the fires around them shot up into the sky, the green smoke swirling into the deep orange sky as the sun set behind Mount Olympus. Danny stood up as Gabriella nudged his shoulder.
Just like the last time, several people had begun to play their instruments. The lyre players plucked a merry tune and the flute players, or the Aulos players began to play a high, cheerful dancing song that blended flawlessly with the song the Lyre’s were singing.
Danny looked at Gabriella who walked back to their original seated position at their fire. The fire swirled into shapes of creatures roaring, looking as if they were roaring their challenges to the sky. He saw a fiery wolf running and stopping, howling at the moon, and a Lion roaring upwards, as if daring the gods to strike it down, for it feared nothing. Gabriella kissed his cheek and smiled as the warmth from the fire heated up her sandalled feet.
Alias Skelling, son of Thanatos sat down next to them and stared into the fire, not saying anything. He was often the most silent one of their group. Danny was a good judge of character and he knew that, just from looking at Alias’s face, that he’d lost people, and he’d never shown how much it hurt him. Perhaps he thought that sharing his pain made him weak. As he was examining Alias’s face, trying to place what made him so sullen and brooding Destiny asked Gabriella, “What’s this festival about?”
Gabriella, shrugged her shoulders and said, “I have no idea. This is my first Arkteia.”
Alias spoke up then, not taking his eyes away from the fire in front of him. His dark eyes gleamed as the sun finally disappeared and the dark green fire brightened to brighter green color, like leaves during the summer. “Arkteia is in honor of Artemis, as you’ve probably already guessed by the sacrifices and the statue. Arkteia is more of a competitive festival than Selene’s was. They hold footraces and such-like. Gabriella doesn’t know about it because it only happens every five years. She probably hardly remembers her first one. She was here though.”
“Alias, how long have you been here?” Silas asked. He, like Danny, wanted to know more about their mysterious teammate.
Alias still hadn’t taken his eyes away from the fire in front of him, “Since I was six years old. I lived with a foster family in Veteran’s city until I was 8 then lived with the rest of the demi-gods in my house.”
Danny couldn’t believe he’d been there since he was that young. Danny had the sneaking suspicion that Alias’s story was far from just beginning in Soterapan.
“so you’ve been to every festival we have? I had no idea you’d been here so long. I don’t even know how old you are.” Destiny said, the last sentence came off more as astonished than curious.
“Yes, I’ve seen them all. I’m 23 years old.” He replied shortly. He seemed uncomfortable with people knowing things about him, Like he wanted to be unknown and unseen by people. Danny hardly ever saw him unless he came to breakfast with them, or had a lesson nearby, but he’d never had a real occasion to have a conversation with the man.
“None of the rest of us have been here so long, did you work with another team besides ours?” Destiny asked.
Destiny may seem all superficial on the surface, and in some cases, she was the most superficial person Danny had ever met, but underneath her love for pretty things, having the next new thing, and being on top of the days fashion, the loved to learn about people. She always wanted to be a therapist or a social worker when she graduated college.
“Yes, I did.” Alias replied shortly, sitting back and looking down at the ground.
“Where are they?” Danny asked, feeling like he was getting closer to learning a bit more about his teammate. Gabriella nudged him hard in the ribs and whispered, “Don’t Danny.”
Alias looked at her and sighed, then said, “It’s fine Gabby. They should know, they’re a part of our team now. The rest of you know, why shouldn’t they?”
He sat forward and made eye contact with Danny and his friends. “They all left me for the other side.”
“Like, they died, or the enemy side?” Silas asked.
“The enemy side. They didn’t believe that the gods deserved their rule, so they began to worship other gods that could treat them with more respect. They left to fight for them. I have no idea whether they’re all still alive or not. But I think they are, no monster could get the better of them, especially if they did what they said they were going to do.” Alias said, sadness creeping into his voice now.
“What was their initial plan.” Silas asked him, his voice low.
“To overthrow the Olympian gods with an army of demi-gods and monsters. Last I heard, the army had increased to four hundred strong.”

“Really? Why haven’t you done anything to stop them?” Destiny asked angrily.
“Because The godly council doesn’t see it as a large enough threat. They don’t think that any army of demi-gods could defeat the Olympians.” Alias said in a growling voice.
Destiny seemed taken aback by his tone, and Danny knew she must have felt bad for being angry about what he’d said.
Alias sighed, “I’m sorry, I don’t like talking about what happened with my friends ok. I feel bad enough about it as it is, even though it happened five years ago.”
Danny felt sad for him. Sad that he’d lost his closest friends. Angry that the gods had made it so it happened. He opened his mouth to try to comfort him, but Alias cut him off sharply,
“Danny, I don’t want to hear, ‘I’m sorry,’ or ‘It’s going to be alright.’ I heard that enough after they left. If it’s all the same to you guys, I’d rather we dropped this subject right now, and not speak of it again. You know a bit more of my story now, and that’s all I’ve shared with anyone. So drop it.”
Danny nodded silently and stood up, fighting the urge to pat Alias on the shoulder supportively. He wouldn’t be very receptive to that. Gabriella took his hand and said, “Let’s dance, let’s have some fun. This is a festival, not a funeral procession.” She grabbed Danny’s hand and dragged him away from the fire. Silas and Destiny got up and headed in the opposite direction to get some drinks. Kevin got up and silently walked away into the darkness. Danny never knew what was going on inside that guys head. He was even more quiet than Alias was, and he seemed to be content with being silent all the time. Gabriella dragged him in front of the musicians, who were just starting to play a plucky tune that spoke of adventure. A bunch of other people were standing in a circle, their wrists touching. Gabriella touched her wrist to his, and his linked his wrist with the girl next to him. The girl next to him was smiling, her dark red hair blowing slightly in the night breeze. She smiled at him as his wrist touched hers. He must have looked utterly confused, because she laughed. She said with a bright voice, “It’s called Geronos. Just link your wrist with the people next to you and move in a circle. We have everyone we need now. So we can get started.” Danny nodded and didn’t say anything. The girl turned to the guy next to her and whispered something in his ear. He whispered something back and the girl looked at danny with more curiosity. Gabriella nudged danny in the gut for the umpteenth time that day and started to move. She swung her hips as she moved in the circle. The dance seemed simple enough.

Danny was just starting to get the steps down when a loud scream pierced the air. Everyone stopped and the music ceased as every soul around them looked around, searching for the source of the scream. Finally someone shouted, “Over here! Poutanas Yie! We got company!” Danny followed the sound of the voice, his hand already pressing down on his trident wristband. His armor flowed over him and he slung his trident into his hands. Gabriella was right next to him, her golden breastplate flashing as she ran past the fires. Silas called to Danny from above, and he looked up in time to see silas shooting above him, his Shimmering golden breastplate and his lightning bolt in his hands. The lightning bolt light up the ground below him, illuminating a face, lying on her back in the grass, with a manticore spine lodged in her chest. She wasn’t moving. The crowd was all geared up for war with their unseen attackers. They weren’t that far from the main part of the city, and if the attackers were here, they must have known where everyone would be. Gabriella pushed through the crowd, Danny following after her. Warren shoved his way through the crowd to them, and he was followed shortly by Carmine, Heather, and Angel. Alias appeared out of the shadows next to them. Literally came from the shadow of another person. He growled deep in his throat and said, “It must be the Hive.”
Danny didn’t see the point in talking. Everyone was just standing around. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd. The people all around them began to shift into formation, a phalanx formation that he’d practiced a few times over the past week. He grinned at everyone and motioned for the rest of his team to join him. Silas landed next to him , his shield covering his side. He whispered to Danny, “Let’s just go look for them.” Danny nodded, “They’re in the forest. So a phalanx isn’t going to do much good. Let’s hunt the bastards.” He said, with a smile that surprised him. Gabriella looked at the grin on his face and said, “Oh, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we hunt the attackers down, whatever they are. A phalanx isn’t going to accomplish shit against hiding enemies.”
“Good, then we’re on the same page.” She said, turning her shield so it covered her body and taking a few steady steps forward into the blackness. A spine thudded into the shield and stuck there. Destiny called her armor, and a breastplate covered by a deep purple robe appeared over her. She pulled her sword out of its scabbard and summoned a shield that stood in front of her. Danny looked around at the rest of their team and said, “Let’s go hunt some monsters.”

The rest of the people around them seemed to realize a phalanx wouldn’t help them. As Danny and his team broke away from the others, he saw other teams do the same thing. They charged across the wheat fields towards the forest. Spines started to shoot out from between the trees like silent volleys of arrows. Nobody got hit, they were all covering themselves with their shields. Danny and his team linked shields and marched quickly across the field, heads bowed to deflect any spines that may be thrown at them. As they broke the cover of the trees, they split to hide behind the trees and listen for sounds. Danny heard slight, padding footsteps off to his right and charged after them, realizing they were going away from him. He threw his trident in the direction of the noise and heard a long wail pierce the air. As the sound died down he looked to his right and caught a glimpse of a another manticore heading his direction, wicked sharp teeth bared in a growl he couldn’t hear over the sounds of battle echoing through the trees around him. He rolled underneath the shadow and stabbed upward with his trident and felt it make contact. He felt the weight atop the trident tip to the right and withdrew it and slung it back over his shoulder. It was too long for close combat. There wasn’t enough room for it to be used successfully. He drew his sword and looked behind him to see Gabriella had disappeared. He saw her shadow running through the trees to his right and headed in the opposite direction. She’d be alright.
He sensed a dozen more in these woods, and knew they would kill off a few of his friends unless they got someplace safer. Danny looked at the trees around him and thought, “If a tree falls in the woods, will any monsters hear it?”
He grinned and ran through the woods, searching for a clearing. The forest suddenly became silent. He froze. He took shelter behind a tree to his right. He closed his eyes and tried to feel around for anything unusual.
Something slammed into the trunk of the tree he was hiding behind and he opened his eyes to see a spine embedded deep into its trunk, inches from his nose.
Manticores don’t miss stationary targets. They were playing with them. Danny stood up and sprinted between the dark trees and heard rustling sounds dogging his footsteps. They thought they had him. The air under the tree’s was stifling, and when the air cleared, he knew he’d found his destination. He turned, put away his sword, and drew his trident. He slung his shield over his arm again and held it up to protect his front and slid his trident over the top to give him an edge. He drew back his trident, ready to throw it at any attackers, and waited. It seemed like hours to him, but was probably only seconds. One of the monsters broke through the tree line and charged at him. He threw his trident as he’d practiced and it missed. The manticore had dodged it. They were just as fast as his friends had said. He’d driven it off course now, and as he turned, he brought his trident back to his hand. The Manticore prowled around him, growling a deep sound that sounded more curious than angry Danny faked a jab at it and backed off. An image flashed in his head of him standing in a cage with a lion, holding a chair and yelling, “Back Simba! Back!” He smiled despite the situation. He charged the Manticore and faked again, anticipating it back off and it did. He followed through, and swept upwards with the trident, knocking the beast into the air and stamping on its head, crushing it.
Another two manticores charged out of the woods behind him and he stomped the earth, making it quake violently, knocking one off balance. He took advantage of its momentary weakness and slashed its throat with the points of his trident and spun low as he sensed the other creature sneaking up on him from behind. He spun and slashed his shield, smashing its sharp edge into the softness of its face. The creature dropped, wounded. Danny grabbed it by the neck and twisted violently, snapping its neck. The snap was like a twig breaking in complete silence. He surveyed his surroundings and almost missed seeing another one lunging at him in the darkness. He didn’t get his shield up in time and it crashed into him, biting his arm. The pain was terrible. As the creature withdrew its fangs, he felt his blood begin to drip down his arm. He fell on his back and tried to scramble away, but the beast bared its fangs and lunged at his throat.
That’s it, I’m dead. He thought. He kept his eyes open and watched its limbs tense briefly and its body lunge. Danny brought his shield up but no pain came, no loud noise from his shield. He lowered the shield and saw the Manticore lying dead on its side, and arrow in its head. Danny pushed himself up, his hand squelching in the blood-soaked dirt. He stood up straight and saw Heather standing on the edge of the woods. Warren came up behind her, and Alias seemed to materialize out of the shadows. Gabriella came running up from his left and hugged him. She kissed him quickly and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m fine, what the fuck is happening? I thought we were safe here.” He said the last part with a note of panic in his voice.
“Trust me, Danny, we’re all just as confused as you are. They shouldn’t have been able to get past the boundaries.” Heather said, her voice betraying a slight hint of her own worry.
“It’s the Hive.” Alias said quietly. He leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. He wore a black breastplate with a silver skull inlayed upon it and what looked like six bone ribs across his lower abdomen. He held a long bone scythe in his right hand and had a long dagger of silver hanging from his belt. He looked up at them, and Danny noticed what looked like a long scar down the right side of his neck. Destiny lit up flames in her hands that illuminated the clearing. Alias’s dark eyes glittered as he continued, “I know what the hive does, I emptied it myself. The only way that many monsters could have gotten to us, is if they came from the hive.”
“I’ve heard people talk about the Hive before, but what is it?” Silas asked. He looked at Gabriella, but she shook her head,
“Alias knows more about it than I do. I’ve heard legends, but never actually seen it.”
He looked to Alias, who nodded at Gabriella respectfully.
He said in a deadly calm voice, “The Hive was a breeding ground for monsters. It started to become a threat around the time I arrived in Soterapan. My team and I fought it when we were 18 and we won.
Dragons, Cyclops, Manticores, Amphisbaena, empousai, Gorgons, you name it, was bred there and mounted attacks on us.
We cleared it out, sure, but we’ve been seeing signs of it resurging. I expect my old friends are behind it. If we don’t act soon to destroy the Hive for good, then it will be the end of us.”
Alias grimaced as the silence following his words lengthened. He shook his head and said, “We’ll mention it to the council on a later date. For now let’s go to the city and hope that we killed off every fucker who attacked us. If not, you can bet there will be many more in the city.”
He began to walk through the trees and lead them out of the forest. Luckily, they were near the edge of it. Danny and his friends left the shadow of the trees. He looked up at the starry sky and sighed. This was his life now.
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