"Have them move out. We must move silently." They began to move. Most were excited about the battle. Some, like Lieutenant Brock were unhappy at the thought of attacking the king. The men were all part of Voss' Undead Army. They had been preparing for the attack for one hundred years.
"Yes!!" Matthew Parker had just won the award for his pewee league team MVP. He was in soccer. After the game, his coach took his team to get ice cream at the Guam Premier Outlet. They split up into groups afterward and explored. Matt went with his friend Peter to Bestseller. They had found the book they had been waiting for."I can't believe they have a special edition Voss' Army," said Peter. "I couldn't even find this online." Matthew was sitting in a chair reading a copy.
"Looks cool," he said. "Voss was ready to attack," he read. "The men were all equipped and armored. Suddenly, the battle cry of an Emotussen Indian rang out through the valley. Voss halted. He jumped. His legs were stronger than when he was alive. He was above the tops of the trees. He could see two boys. They were wearing blue soccer uniforms."
"Funny," said Peter. "We're wearing blue soccer uniforms."
"Excuse me," said a store clerk. "We'll be closing in five minutes."
"Come on, let's go," said Matthew. They left the store. Coach Brock met them at the bus stop near by. They were tired. The game was the full 90 minutes. Matthew took a nap on the bus.
When he woke up, the bus was going down a sort of forest. It was dark. Everyone but Matt and Peter had been dropped off.
"Where are we?" said Matthew.
"I don't know," said peter.
"Ya coach said ta drop ya off here," said the driver.
"Let's go," said Peter.
They got off. The bus sped away at a high speed. Suddenly, they heard a piercing cry. They could see the figure of a man above the tree tops in the dark sky.
"This doesn't look like home..." Matt said.
Matt and Peter were lost. They began to walk. Neither of them knew where they were going, and neither of them cared. They just started moving. They could hear nothing. All they knew, was that they had to move.
After a while, Matt said, "What can we do now? What if no one finds us. What'll we do then?"
"I found you," said a gruff voice behind them.
"Uuhh. . . . . RUN!" yelled Peter. An Indian grabbed them from behind.
"I won't hurt you." he said. "I'm emptying the forest. We need to get away from Voss. Follow me."
They had no other choice and nothing to lose. They thaught they were dreaming. Voss? In the forest? Impossible, they thought.
"Let's go," said Matt. They followed the Indian. "I'm Matt and this is Peter," he said.
"I am Epominom Travintosolosus. You may call me Epo. I'm an Emotussen Indian. It is nice to meet you." They walked for about an hour in silence. "We are nearing the end of the forest. My tribe is just outside the borders. I am the son of Chief Copuningontulofortusepus. My people call him Chief Copun."
They heard a voice, "Who goes there?"
"It is I, Epo son of Copun."
"Epo? Who are these travellers with you?"
"They are Matt and Peter from the forest."
"They may enter."
"Let's go," said Epo. They went in.
The village was small and cozy. It was filled with about a dozen huts. "My people live in these huts, but we are very few. Each hut can hold about 20 people," Epo said. "I do not stay in a hut like them. I prefer a place like this."
They had walked a short distance away from the huts to a clearing in the forest surrounded tightly by trees. There was a mattress in the corner and a pillow made from feathers and animal skin. A table sat in the center of the clearing along with four chairs all carved from a fine wood neither Peter nor Matthew could identify. On the table, were a map, a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a dagger.
"Please wait here, I must go find my father." He left the clearing. Matt went to the table and sat down. He looked at the map. It listed places he'd never heard about, even from the Voss' Army book.
"This is strange, the pictures on the map are moving!" said Matt. Peter came to look at the map.
"No they aren't," Peter said. The map was motionless. Just then, Epo returned.
"My father would like to see you," he said. Peter got up and walked toward Epo. "Why aren't you coming?" asked Epo when Matt made no indication to move.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something," Matt said. He got up and they went out of the clearing. Epo took them to a hut slightly isolated from the rest. They went inside. The hut was bigger than Matt expected. Exactly 20 people were comfortably living in it. 20 Mattresses lay near the walls, a chest next to each one on the right hand side. Aside from those, the hut was relatively empty. Chief Copun sat on a bed stringing a bow.
"Hello," he said. "My son tells me you were in the forest at midnight last night. That was nearly an hour ago. What were you you doing out there?"
"We were lost. We are strangers in this place," replied Matt.
"How did you come to this part of the country then? I am no fool, I know these lands like I know the lines of my palm. What are you doing here?" Copun sounded powerful. His voice was very deep.
"We don't know," said Peter.
"You don't know? Well if you are lying I will kill you, but Epo believes you so will as well. You will join him and the hunters until I decide what to do with you. Epo, get them a bow and quiver of arrows as well as a dagger and proper clothes."
Epo took Matt and Peter out of the hut and to a ladder leaning on the side of another hut. Epo led them to the roof of the hut where there was a small room, reachable only by the ladder.
"These are for you," he said handing a pair of Indian pants to each boy. "Tomorrow, I'll bring you your weapons. Return to my clearing, I've arranged for two new mattresses to be placed there." They went back to the clearing Epo showed them. They found two new mattresses waiting for them near Epo's mattress. Matt went to lay down. He began slowly fall asleep.
"Good morning." Matt had just woken up. Peter was awake and eating some scrambled eggs by a cooking fire. "Would you like anything to eat?" asked Epo.
"Yes please," replied Matt. He was given a plate of scrambled eggs and a glass of fresh water. He went to sit over at the table. The bow, arrows, and dagger were removed to make room for him. He looked at the map. "Hey, the pictures moved." Sure enough, a mountain range had moved nearly an inch from where it was the other day, and a city moved as well.
"Map making is a valuable skill. Some lands move because they are on the backs of creatures, some are the creatures themselves," Epo was staring intently at the map. "A map maker must be able to make the map completely accurate, even if that means using a bit of magic." Peter came to the table to look at the map as well.
"Come," said Epo. "We have work to do."
"These are yours," said Epo, handing Matt and Peter their weapons. "We will hunt in the forest today. Follow me."
"What are we hunting?" asked Peter.
"We will be hunting the Dempo," replied Epo.
They walked into the forest. The Dempo? What was that. Matt wondered and didn't notice that the others had started chasing something. He followed. He realized that they were going faster than normal people. He couldn't keep up. Neither could Peter. They stopped to catch their breath.
"What happened?" asked Matt.
"They found the Dempo. It looked cool. Almost like an Ostrich, but it had longer legs, twice as tall as me. About eight feet tall. That was only the legs. It had a head the shape of a snake with fangs, and wings like an eagle's, but bigger," Peter replied.
The boys could hear the Dempo, it screamed as loud as a jet engine, roaring like a lion ready to pounce on it's prey. It was louder than expected. It ran past them. They followed it, hoping it wasn't as fierce as it sounded. Matt drew his dagger and threw it in the direction of the Dempo. It screamed, confirming a hit. Matt drew his bow and an arrow, running to the creature. It was small, like a baby. The Dempo looked helpless. Matt prepared to fire. It screamed in pain. The thought of killing a living creature was barbaric to Matthew. Thwang! the creature was dead. Epo shot it from a nearby tree.
The Indians were gathering around. They looked amazed. All staring at Matt. He looked confused.
"I'm surprised you stood so close to a wild Dempo. No one in my tribe has done that without dying of it's claws or wild fangs," Epo said.
Two Indians took the Dempo back to the tribe, leaving the others to finish the hunt. They moved deeper into the forest. Next time, Matt would kill one on his own. Peter was just as determined. They both had their bows ready. The group split up. Each person alone. They stayed close, but to close and the Dempo would know of them, a large group travelling through the forest. Peter screamed. He was near a Dempo, slightly ahead of the others, and fighting for his life. He was using his dagger, his bow dropped and forgotten. The hunters ran to him. The Dempo was dead.
"Wow," Epo said. "This is an amazing sight. A boy killed a Dempo at close quarters. You will be highly admired by the people of my tribe."
They walked home, carrying the Dempo. That night, they had a feast. Peter and Matt sat at a long table a little outside of the village. People came and praised Peter for killing the largest Dempo found for three years. Matt ate until he was full. Then, he ate some more. Dempo meat tasted surprisingly good.
"We are ready to attack, Lord." A band of savages had been waiting outside the Emotussen village for three days. They needed food, and would kill for Dempo meat.
"Have the troops move out," said a tall man armed with a sword, five daggers, a bow, a quiver of arrows, two hand axes, and a war hammer.
The group moved toward the party.
They were halfway asleep when it happened. They could hear screaming and the sound of battle. Matthew heard it first. He immediately woke Peter. The feast was over and everyone was sleeping, other than the guards, who were alert and firing arrows at something in the woods.
"Did you hear that?" asked Matt.
"What?" asked Peter.
"The screaming in the woods," replied Matt.
Then, a group ran into the party site, attacking anyone they could reach. The others woke up, and ran for their weapons.The attackers fired at the warriors, and most fell injured or dead. Some Indians ran to help the injured, while the warriors grabbed their weapons and attacked, some using slings, others bows.
"We need to get our weapons," Peter said.
Matt had kept his weapons close during the night, he thought he might need them the next day for hunting and wanted to make sure he knew where they were. He grabbed them from under his mattress and ran to find Epo. The Indian was nowhere to be seen. The attackers were moving in further towards the village, the surviving Indians had retreated to the forest.
"Hey kid," yelled a deep voice. It was calling Matt. He turned towards it and saw Chief Copun, holding a giant bow, even by Longbow standards.
"Follow me," he said.
Matt followed Copun to a clearing he recognized as Epo's living space.
"You are in charge of the villagers. Take this map and take them to the Contonosis Cave. I will meet you there," Copun said. "Your friend will be safe alongside my warriors. Do not worry about him."
Matt wasn't worried. He knew Peter would survive. Peter always got a sudden rush of energy when in danger, and could somehow do anything with that energy. Matt ran to the forest and saw a group of survivors.
"The village emptied to this spot. We are all here," said the village wise man.
Matt fixed his weapons and said, "Follow me."
They walked for what seemed ages. Uneventful hours went by before they reached the cave. It was right on the mountain in the outskirts of the forest and looked small. There was only a small hole to crawl through. The inside was different. The cave was at least 100 meters high. That was only the chamber they were in. They had a lot to explore.
The villager's started to settle. They made fires, makeshift leaf beds, and for some, shelters. Matt started to explore. The cave was pretty straight. One cavern lead to the next, that to another, and so on. The caverns were pretty empty. One had a water hole. The last huge cavern had a giant rock in the center. It was 50 meters wide, 20 high. He climbed it. Or at least, he tried to. It was huge. Nevermind, he thought. He went back to the entrance cavern and slept.
The next day, they woke, and while he Indians prepared to return home, Matt went back to the cavern withe the huge rock. He managed to climb it and found a hole on the top of it. "It is said to go down to hell itself."
Matt jumped. "Hello, I didn't expect you to be here." An Indian boy around Matt's age was standing next to him. "Are you ready to go?"
"I was sent to call you," said the boy.
"OK. I'm coming." As he stood to climb down, the rock shook. Matt fell onto it's surface. The rock shook with a force that would fell an elephant. Matt couldn't help but slide. Before he knew it, he was falling down the hole.
It didn't actually lead to Hell. Matt landed on soft soil. He could see an exit, just big enough to crawl through.
After exiting the hole, Matt looked around. He was near the edges of the forest, also near a small village. He was standing on a path leading to the village. Further down the path, past the village, was a castle. It was huge. Bigger than any building Matt ever saw. "Ahh, Winter castle."
Matt jumped. He thought he was alone. Someone was behind him. " Are you going to the village?" the person asked. Matt guessed she was a girl. He turned around.
"I don't know," he said.
"Well, you should come. It's almost time for the carnival."
"What's the carnival?" asked Matt.
"In the village Roscur, we hold a carnival once every year. People from all over come. It's village wide. There's stands on the streets, a lot of stuff to do." The carnival sounded like something to see.
"Ya, I guess I am headed to the village."
"Alright, come on. My name's Nari. I live in the village." They walked down the path in silence.
When they came to the village Roscur, everyone there was rushing around. Traffic was really bad. "Is it always like this?" asked Matt.
"Only around carnival time. But it'll get more crowded the closer we come to the carnival."
It gets worse, Matt thought. This is already so crowded. People were on the streets setting up stalls and attractions, buying materials for the attractions, working for carnival money, or else just passing through.
"I live there," said Nari, pointing to a tall house in the middle of the village. "You can come visit if you like."
"Sure," Matt said. He had nothing else to do with his time, not knowing how to return to the Indians or wanting to go on a muddy climb up the hole he came out of. As they walked to the house, Matt noticed that it was actually a store. Nari must live above it, he thought.
And so Matt walked into the house.
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