My entry for the spring/summer writing contest. Not done yet, but so far is my best work!
Prologue
The prophets were right. They had predicted that the world would end on the year 1000. They predicted that something would that would destroy civilization as we know it. People didn’t believe them, they didn’t prepare. The end was upon us, yet we did nothing. January 1st, 1000, everybody laughed at and ridiculed the prophets. What they didn’t know, was that in Japan, an insect had killed a man and another insect of the same type appeared. It went on like that, in Japan and China. The Europeans were oblivious to what was going on. Once western caravans stopped coming back from the east, they started getting suspicious. On the 3rd of April, the Y1k bugs, as they came to be known, destroyed their first Turkish village, bridging into Europe. The Italian army tried to combat the Y1k bugs. However, no man on Earth could kill those bugs. By the 1st of December the Y1k bugs had destroyed the rest of the known world. In an old, partially destroyed castle, there lay three people, one man, one woman, one girl. Their names are Mask, Zeto and Lunaris. Welcome to their story.
1. Mask
I hate it when I dream. They’re always bad. When I dream I see my family, my village, swarmed by the Y1k bugs. Strangling, and suffocating them all. In the dream I do exactly what I did in real life. I run. I was a coward. I didn’t even try to save them. I tried to kill myself in grief, but I couldn’t. That was the final dishonorable act of that man. That was my old self. I destroyed him. I dressed in all covering black garments and an old war mask, remodeled my personality. No one knew or could identify me. I had come out of the ashes to redeem that man. In order to do so, I gave myself the task of protecting two women. Them and I are seemingly the only survivors.
“Wake up, Sleepyhead!” a voice yelled at me. It was Lunaris, one of the two women I’d sworn to protect. As I woke up, I gazed at her through the mask. Lunaris was only 12 years old, too young to have a disaster like the Y1k bugs happen to her. With her blindingly bright blond hair and her shocking blue eyes, she would’ve done well in this man dominant world. If she didn’t attract the attention of a noble, she would make an excellent assassin, for reasons you will see later. She normally wears girl’s traveling clothes, but today she was wearing a ball gown for some reason. Then I noticed the smell. The dining hall where we had spent the night, because it was the only place with a solid roof still over it, smelled largely of eggs and meat, which we hadn’t eaten for some time now. “Don’t you remember Mask?” Lunaris questioned me hands on her hips. “It’s my birthday today! Now I’m 13!” Scratch what I said about her being 12. Zeto was grinning at us by the fire.
“While you were sleeping, Lunaris and I found some eggs and slaughtered a hog for breakfast.” Zeto said, tending the fire. Zeto is my other companion. She has hair as black as the darkest night and mysterious ocean blue eyes. She dresses like a peasant, though by her posture and speech, she is obviously a noble.
“Then Zeto and I went up to the Princess’s room and found this!” Lunaris added, spinning around, obviously enthusiastic.
“I see.” I said. “So we’re going to have a birthday feast today.”
“That’s right. And no traveling today Mask! We can take a break from traveling for one day can’t we?” Zeto replied, standing up from the fire. “By the way, we need some more firewood. Could you go get some Mask?”
“All right.” I said. As I walked by I rubbed Lunaris on the head. “A princess has to have a feast right?” I walked out into the courtyard. Even though I disagreed about the traveling, I guess we could stop for one day. Besides, we had traveled extra yesterday. But if it were any other day I would have to say that we keep traveling. The Y1K bugs had been honing in on us for a while now. As II walked out of the castle and towards the outlying woods, I thought about how all of this happened. How could a swarm of bugs destroy all of civilization? Nothing had come close to this level of destruction. Absorbed into my thoughts as I was, I didn’t hear the first growl. I was aware enough to hear the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth growls. I looked around for the source3 of the sound. I found it right away. All around me were yellow eyes staring at me hungrily. Wolves. Their teeth and claws were painted red from the blood of their last kill. I backed up towards the castle wall and drew my sheath. Did I tell you that I fight with a sheath? A sword is too honorable for someone of my caliber. I managed to block the first few attacks but as I was recovering, one of them leaped directly at my head and before I had time to react it had…
My entry for the spring/summer writing contest. Not done yet, but so far is my best work!
Prologue
The prophets were right. They had predicted that the world would end on the year 1000. They predicted that something would that would destroy civilization as we know it. People didn’t believe them, they didn’t prepare. The end was upon us, yet we did nothing. January 1st, 1000, everybody laughed at and ridiculed the prophets. What they didn’t know, was that in Japan, an insect had killed a man and another insect of the same type appeared. It went on like that, in Japan and China. The Europeans were oblivious to what was going on. Once western caravans stopped coming back from the east, they started getting suspicious. On the 3rd of April, the Y1k bugs, as they came to be known, destroyed their first Turkish village, bridging into Europe. The Italian army tried to combat the Y1k bugs. However, no man on Earth could kill those bugs. By the 1st of December the Y1k bugs had destroyed the rest of the known world. In an old, partially destroyed castle, there lay three people, one man, one woman, one girl. Their names are Mask, Zeto and Lunaris. Welcome to their story.
1. Mask
I hate it when I dream. They’re always bad. When I dream I see my family, my village, swarmed by the Y1k bugs. Strangling, and suffocating them all. In the dream I do exactly what I did in real life. I run. I was a coward. I didn’t even try to save them. I tried to kill myself in grief, but I couldn’t. That was the final dishonorable act of that man. That was my old self. I destroyed him. I dressed in all covering black garments and an old war mask, remodeled my personality. No one knew or could identify me. I had come out of the ashes to redeem that man. In order to do so, I gave myself the task of protecting two women. Them and I are seemingly the only survivors.
“Wake up, Sleepyhead!” a voice yelled at me. It was Lunaris, one of the two women I’d sworn to protect. As I woke up, I gazed at her through the mask. Lunaris was only 12 years old, too young to have a disaster like the Y1k bugs happen to her. With her blindingly bright blond hair and her shocking blue eyes, she would’ve done well in this man dominant world. If she didn’t attract the attention of a noble, she would make an excellent assassin, for reasons you will see later. She normally wears girl’s traveling clothes, but today she was wearing a ball gown for some reason. Then I noticed the smell. The dining hall where we had spent the night, because it was the only place with a solid roof still over it, smelled largely of eggs and meat, which we hadn’t eaten for some time now. “Don’t you remember Mask?” Lunaris questioned me hands on her hips. “It’s my birthday today! Now I’m 13!” Scratch what I said about her being 12. Zeto was grinning at us by the fire.
“While you were sleeping, Lunaris and I found some eggs and slaughtered a hog for breakfast.” Zeto said, tending the fire. Zeto is my other companion. She has hair as black as the darkest night and mysterious ocean blue eyes. She dresses like a peasant, though by her posture and speech, she is obviously a noble.
“Then Zeto and I went up to the Princess’s room and found this!” Lunaris added, spinning around, obviously enthusiastic.
“I see.” I said. “So we’re going to have a birthday feast today.”
“That’s right. And no traveling today Mask! We can take a break from traveling for one day can’t we?” Zeto replied, standing up from the fire. “By the way, we need some more firewood. Could you go get some Mask?”
“All right.” I said. As I walked by I rubbed Lunaris on the head. “A princess has to have a feast right?” I walked out into the courtyard. Even though I disagreed about the traveling, I guess we could stop for one day. Besides, we had traveled extra yesterday. But if it were any other day I would have to say that we keep traveling. The Y1K bugs had been honing in on us for a while now. As II walked out of the castle and towards the outlying woods, I thought about how all of this happened. How could a swarm of bugs destroy all of civilization? Nothing had come close to this level of destruction. Absorbed into my thoughts as I was, I didn’t hear the first growl. I was aware enough to hear the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth growls. I looked around for the source3 of the sound. I found it right away. All around me were yellow eyes staring at me hungrily. Wolves. Their teeth and claws were painted red from the blood of their last kill. I backed up towards the castle wall and drew my sheath. Did I tell you that I fight with a sheath? A sword is too honorable for someone of my caliber. I managed to block the first few attacks but as I was recovering, one of them leaped directly at my head and before I had time to react it had…