10+page+story

Ettohl brought himself to the other side of the basement, surrounded by walls of light brown illuminated by oil lamps. He approached the empty rectangular window and gazed out to the landscape. It was snowing very softly, and peaceful in the nighttime, but disruptions of the flicker of the rifle fire changed the mood. He was 9 years old, and the age's naivety caused a twinkle in his eyes. There was a battle ahead. Gunshots were heard, and a mortar blast exploded out in the middle of the snow-consumed field. Tall ruined buildings made of concrete were submerged in this snow ocean, with it's white was illuminating the black, bombed out structures standing upon it. And so was the scene of the besieged plateau city of Belamir.

More gunshots were heard. About 400 yards away, the armies prepared an offensive. The soldiers to Ettohl's right wore blue shakos on their heads, with dark blue coats and a dark red 'x' across their chests. They had well-functioning muskets. These troops were from the Country of Annion. Opposite were the Khoretts, and like the Annions were adorned with shakos, only black, as were their coats also. Cannon and mortar fire began in random waves. The field was placed with scattered explosions and the continuous rising smoke of the rifles.

The Annions began charging for the Khorretts. Bodies were flung upon the mortar explosions, and the Khoretts shot from a fine line of trenches and barricades. Cannon fire from the Annions attempted to provide the infantry units with a fearful and distracted enemy. Walls fell off the buildings in large speedy chunks. More chaos and cannon fire trickled the area, and all around it.

Paul addressed Ettohl from the distance. "Ettohl, we've run out of food." Paul walked over, and Ettohl approached more slowly. "Us 3 are too busy helping these wounded. We are in need of a restock. Its a 40 minute travel, there and back. It must be you." Ettohl closed his eyes under the news, and gave himself a disappointed and frightened sigh. This was hopefully the last time he had to do this. He never ran into any trouble before, and he had done it 6 times in the past, so he anticipated that he wouldn't get caught.

By the time he started to get ready, the battle in the distance had ended, and the Annions had retreated, and the same dead silence returned to the streets. He put on his heavy clothes and went outside into the snowy night. He traversed through the city buildings, taking the abandoned trenches in the middle of the street as usual. Coming upon a special hole in the building he took a route through,and exited the trench and crossed the rest of the street. He slipped through another ruined building, which didn't have much cover, as there were many holes in the sides and countless numbers of collapsed rooms. He reached the corner of the structure, and took a survey of the street in front of him. Seeing no one, he crossed left to the side of another building, temporarily in full view in the middle of the street, which had formed a solid snow surface, 12 feet deep.

Clinging to the wall, Ettohl took a few paces, and went into a store entrance. He knew the rooms, and walked through the storage room into the alleyway, and entered into yet another building. This was an apartment, and he traveled down the long, narrow, dark hall into one of the last rooms on the left, numbered 368. Coming into the apartment, Ettohl went upstairs and went to the familiar balcony on the second floor, which was level with the snow ground. He recognized it; the courtyard. It was large and flat, and had a fountain of ice placed in the middle of it. Still dead silent, empty, and cold, he began walking and sticking to the sides of the building and avoiding the middle ground.

He stopped in horror. "Gunshots." he said to himself. Artillery began roaring in the distance. Ettohl quickened his pace, and gradually started to run, his heart pounding outside of his chest. He was panting out of nervousness, not out of the cold. A loud thud in the distance.

It was clunky. He heard it's steam hissing like a geyser. He ran at his full speed.

Across from him at the other end of the courtyard a giant pod like machine with tentacle legs burst through the building, sending chunks of brick flying through the air. A cannon shot from the opposite side. It missed the machine, which fired back it's own cannons, which were unsheathed by a metal covering. The eruptions caused Ettohl to fall over, almost helpless. From the opposite side of the machine more cannons fired from atop the courtyard buildings, and Annion soldiers began running from the streets and shooting their rifles, taking cover amongst the snow piles. Just then another machine approached alongside its companion, and out of the rubble of the entrance more Khorett soldiers came sprinting along.

Ettohl clenched his head, and picked himself up. He sprinted across the plain. Annion tanks approached and fired at the great machines. Soldiers were arriving at the hundreds. Muskets screamed and the machines were hit by a number of cannon blasts. An Annion tank rode closer to the machine and fired its cannon. With great effort the machine clunkily lifted its leg up and sent it down. The tank was absolutely crushed.

Etthol was panicked. He managed to get himself into a building and began running through it. Bullets hit the walls around him and he blindly sprinted into the next room. For the next 5 minutes, Ettohl ran through the buildings with no thought. He was behind Annion lines now, but the battle's chaos still consumed the area around him.

There it was, he thought. The hill. He climbed up it, slowly, viewing the battle down below. Finally. He entered the civilian base through the front door, which stood at the center of the building, which was very bland, and had no windows. Orange light seeped through the cracks of the door, and contrasted to dark blue snowiness of the night.

He opened the door without a knock. He recognized the faces. "I've come here for food. My companions need another stock."

They looked at Ettohl with sorrow. "Your building has been destroyed. A cannon barrage collapsed it."

Ettohl looked out. The building was decimated. "Oh no." Stunned, he paced over into the center of the room and sat down at one of the wooden tables. They laid a bowl of soup for him, not saying a word. He stared into his food.

They thought they'd allow him to have his time. Ettohl felt incredibly lonely, the only thing that was his own was destroyed, not to mention his last blood relative.

Some of the men gathered to a corner of the tavern-like hall, each of them conversing something mysterious and important in the dim red glow of the room. Ettohl occasionally looked at them after a sip of his soup.

One of the men kept his eyes on him. He had a gray hood over his face, but Ettohl could still make out his piercing green eyes all the way across the room. The eyes had a shine to Ettohl as if they were only a few feet away.

With a group grunt of agreement and with a few nodding heads, the man with the green eyes came up to Ettohl. He had a commanding and dignified tone. "We've decided that it would be best that you come with our expedition team. This city is too dangerous for you to live here." And with those words the man left him there, with a moment of time to think.

He went to sleep that night in one of the bedrooms not being used. The refuge center was pretty empty, as most of the workers were killed in the field. Waking up the next morning Ettohl found himself talking with head of the operations. "The man you talked to last night is named Periffa. He's traveling from Belamir to Ellia, near the river valley. It's much more safe there. There is a family that will take you in and be caring for you. The area is not dangerous."

Ettohl looked surprised and distraught. "Don't worry, it's much better than being here. The Khoretts have been rumored to be in launch for a major offensive. Getting out of here before that happens is crucial for you."

"Then what about you?" interrupted Ettohl. Famur wrinkled his eyes with a hopeless smile. "I have to take care of the wounded that will be coming in. Think of how many there will be! Someone has to do it."

Ettohl in his childishness could not hold back his urging thoughts. "You're going to die here if you stay." Famur knew this but hid it under his persisting smile and reassurances.

"Come now, when it's over with, one army will leave. It's a make or break for the Khorett army. It's not the safest thing but I will not die, I promise you." The speech went on too long for Ettohl to deem it believable. Without giving him a chance to reply, Famur said "You leave with Periffa in 2 hours. Get some breakfast and pack cleverly."

Ettohl ate his breakfast and met with the group. They were joined by two others, Barisec, a tall, burly black man, and Kirev, an ex-soldier of the Khorett army. The four stepped out of the building and into the morning sunlight. "It will take one day to get to the sewer. We take a boat after that with a multiple day journey through the sewers." said Periffa, a trying look upon his face.

Ettohl was scared once more. He never once thought it would be a good idea to travel through Belamir for a whole day, let alone 2 hours. The three men had rifles, but the boy went unarmed. Periffa broke the short silence. "I know a trench that will take us there quick. It's mostly abandoned. After that we take several cuts through the buildings."

They started off a path through the snow and descended down the side of the hill. "We keep to the buildings for now." Periffa said, his gray hood still hung over his head. The buildings of Belamir were blackened, often hollow structures, several stories high. The snow could be seen through the windows, as many buildings had a side that was blown off. The four got to the bottom and began stumbling through the ruins, keeping steady their concealment. This continued for several hours. To Ettohl's surprise, no person came into sight.

"It's the calm before the offensive." Periffa said. Nothing could be heard in the city. This was shocking, even to Ettohl. By the early afternoon they had reached the trench. Like the many other trenches, this one was 8 feet deep, and ran vertically through the center of the streets for many miles. Periffa took point, and the others followed behind, Ettohl securely between Barisec and Kirev.

Night was spent in a small office room underground with a fire in the middle. After awakening, the group arrived at the trench again. Periffa informed the rest. "This stretch goes through a field." Ettohl gazed out onto the white plain.

The field opened up before them. Suddenly the landscape came into perspective. There were small ridges holding sections of the city, rolling hills covered in snow, and the distant other half of the city awaiting across the scenery. There was not a soul in sight. "We need to travel fast, I fear for our lives. The attack could come anytime soon." The group rushed through the long trench, taking no break as they went. "Let's go!" he yelled.

Two hours of jogging in the cold left Ettohl exhausted. They had reached cover though. "The sewer is 2 miles away. Our guide will take us on from there. The entrance to the sewers inside a large business building, and had a wide stairway going to the ladder opening.

Noontime passed, and they reached the bottom level after some minutes of descending ladders. Ettohl could smell the stench as he climbed down. It was pitiful, but the men reassured him that he would get used to it. Standing right there was the captain, next to a few oil lamps located on a desk and his boat, which stood docked behind him. He had yellow, slightly bucked teeth, some stubble growing around his mouth, dark hair, and bright, curious eyes, looking at the visitors.

His desk held some items, including a pocket watch, some writing paper, a pen with ink, and a revolver. The sewer ceiling was a half-circle, made of concrete, and below there were two small, unmarked walkways with the canal in between them. It was a large space, about 40 feet in diameter. The boat was 11 yards long, made of iron, and was rusted in several places. Located on the front left of the boat was the steam chimney, tall and red, sitting upon the control deck.

"You finally got here! Any longer and you might have gotten caught in the middle of the attack." the boatman said.

"Nice to see you, Alfoar." responded Periffa.

"The ride will take over 4 days. Let's go now." Hardly any word was spoken between this short conversation and the starting of the boat. The crew were too exhausted to be in the mood for talking. The tunnel was dark, except for the existence of lamps that sat upon the boat. The glare of the fire made the scene seem peaceful. The spotlight was missing, presumably gone from violence long ago.

Ettohl sat on the bench on the stern, bent over, placing his chin on the palms of his two hands. Muffled gunfire began to sound from above, and then those of cannons and explosions. The boy looked up at the ceiling in wonder, listening very closely to the warfare. The sounds continued on and on, and soon Ettohl fell asleep.

He awoke peacefully, having his first full sleep in two weeks. "What time is it?" he asked.

Kirev responded nicely "A little after midnight." Ettohl was surprised at his response, he had hardly heard him talk before. Kirev was a tall man, with a lean face. He had a long nose, a pointed chin, and dark brown eyes that were slightly close together. He had short black hair, with a beautiful volume that caused him slight curls that stuck close to his skull. "It looked like you slept good today." he added.

Barisec sensed something wrong. He walked forward, his muscular chest puffed out from under his wife-beater. "There is something I hear in the distance. I don't like this."

"There is movement." said Periffa, who was staring off into the dark ahead, perched on the tip of the bow.

"HRRRRRRRRRRRR" A low growl came from the blackness.

"Get you're rifles out!" Alfoar yelled.

A giant creature emerged from the depths. It was a 17 yard tall humanoid with slimy turquoise skin and giant, muscular appendages, which pressed and squeezed to the tunnel walls, too big to fully fit. It had tight, strained facial features, like someone continuously pulled the skin of his face from the back of his head, making it look stretch. Its mouth was large and held a high number of triangular, razor-sharp teeth, that perfectly fit together when grinning. It had bulging eyes and a nose-less face, and moved like a gorilla.

Almost immediately after the group had seen it, it began charging. It's appendiges barely fit the small walkways when it began to take speed. The noise of the running monster was deafening.

"BMM BMM BMM BMM" The monster moved with massive and malicious speed.

"Kill him!" Alfoar grabbed his Tommy gun and fired at the monster.

"RAWWWWWWWRRRR" The monster twitched in pain and fell in partially beneath the canal waters. It suddenly bolted from this pointed, it's shoulder landing on the bow. The boat was tugged back extremely fast, causing it to almost tip over. Ettohl grabbed onto the side of the boat with all of his might. The monster returned onto the walkway.

Alfoar handed Ettohl his revolver. "Use it to keep you from dying!" he yelled. All five began shooting at the monster, which stood right in front of them. It tilted it's body to the side, trying to dodge the bullets as best as it could. His giant hand came swooping down on starboard. "WOOOOSHHHHHH". it threw all five to the ground, dropping their guns in the chaos. They struggled to grab their weapons as fast as they could. Just as they did, the monster in all its greatness was hung over the boat, belittling the boat from above.

"FIRE!" yelled Periffa. Alfoar shot wildly with his tommy gun, damaging the monster the most out of the five. He fired crazily, his knees bent and aiming highly upward in the dim glow of the boat lamps. The monster brought its huge hand down, picked Alfoar up, and slammed his body into the wall, crushing him instantly. It then began mindlessly swinging down, trying to hit anyone upon the surface.

The group dodged and ducked, squirming around the boat in absolute chaos. Between all the swings of the giant arms, Ettohl picked up the tommy gun and took aim at the monster. He placed his foot upon the side of the boat and began firing with all his speed. The creature twitched and spun, wrenching in pain. This gave the group time enough to get back upon their feet.

It was bleeding all over. In one last desperate attempt, it swung its arm down vertically, punching the ship. The impact shook the group to their core, causing them to fall down in desperation. Ettohl fired from this fallen position, further pushing back the monster.

Before they knew it, the beast swung again. It came down with a gigantic "SWOOSH". Kirev was hit and killed, his body flying limp to the left of the boat.

Periffa was more distressed than he had ever been. "Kill him! Aim for the eyes!" Periffa brought the rifle sights into his eyes aiming carefully at the beast towering before him. He shot, blinding its right eye, causing it to whip back in pain, holding his hand on his eye socket.

The four rapidly emptied and loaded their clips, not missing one chance to shoot at the thing. Flashes of light reflected off of the group, the guns shooting without a second to rest. It's other eye was shot, causing it to grip its whole face. It charged past the boat attempting to run away.

Periffa shot at his leg, severely injuring the monster's calf. It tripped and fell into the sewer water with a loud splash. Ettohl got up to the stern, and emptied his drum clip of on the subdued monster. The bullets hit up and around his spine, and the monster let out a terrifying roar. It slowly stumbled down, slipping into the water, its body too weak to support itself. It let out one last grunt, and died.

The survivors gave a long silence after that. They observed the damage around them, the men giving sighs whenever glancing at the body of Kirev. It was mildly bruised at the face, good enough for an open casket. His body was facing upward, and his arms and legs were bent in posture.

Alfoar's body was too gruesome it was unrecognizable. His bones were all broken, and his limbs were tangled and bent. Luckily it wasn't in direct light.

The crew started the boat once more. They hadn't said anything significant to each other after the incident. They were too tired and somber. Barisec took control, guiding it steadily and easily. The sounds of gunfire above were still present. They had a silent journey for the rest of the day.

The next morning there was still the sound of explosions. They got quieter and quieter as they day went on. The scene was once again peaceful, the dim lights illuminating the wide tunnel. The crew took turns driving, sleeping, or taking point. The next day the sounds were still prevalent. "We will have one day left." said Barisec, who was driving the boat with the wheel, with Ettohl looking up in curiosity. The explosions and gunfire almost disappeared by the morning.

The time finally came. The small port was seen. Ettohl looked at the ladder. A glare dimly came from up above. It was the first sunlight he had seen in days. The crew ascended it, slowly climbing towards the light.

They came onto a snow flat piece of ground, with some pine trees around, and small houses scattered about. They could see the city from a distance. Belamir was destroyed completely. The ground had been burned black by the explosions of cannons. The buildings were almost completely flattened, and black smoke rose in the air.