Aug. 11, 2011 10:01 AM
My Story
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Lieutenant general Thyre stared down at the city of Ulmalia, with its white, marble wall, its democratic society and its free, sophisticated people. It was something Thyre despised. He planned to conquer this city, crumble its walls and buildings and raise it in his image. In his past, he had conquered a different city. That city once stood as tall and as proud as this one. As free as any other and as ordered as any other. But once the city had felt Thyre’s wrath, the stitching within the city loosened and snapped. The government become corrupt, communism was introduced, capital punishment was reinstated, vandalism and theft became common practices, schools were burnt down to ashes and all religious buildings and religion itself was disbanded and was lost to the large oceans. No voice stood up to the terror that was Thyre and all others were silenced. That city was once home to the world’s greatest scholars, artists and musicians. This city was ancient Αθήνα, known to folks such as you to me, the great city of Athens.
The general had tried to devise and utilise a cunning plan to conquer the marvellous city. The biggest problem with that were all the guards. Within the actual city there were guard patrols setup and watch towers in all four corners of the city. On top of that the area was surrounded on three sides by high rising mountains with the city nestled in a low-rise valley. On the bare side there settled a castle-sized guard residence that over looked the city, the large flat land behind it and on top of that, it was also the residence of the royal blood. This made Ulmalia really hard to conquer. All those who had died, died knowing the consequences. It was suicide.
10 years ago he developed a plan to get around all that. The plan was quite simple. Thyre sent ten men every month to the city, 4 soldiers, 3 blacksmiths and three more men of different skill every month but all that necessary. Each man also took supplies with them, whether it be food, cloth or metal. Each man was sent on a different day on that month and the workers were partially trained to fight. Over the ten years he had gathered around 1200 men for his invasion. They were all hidden among forgeries, houses, inns and even among the guards themselves. They only operated among each other, not with the common folk at all and they travelled through the city using underground tunnels, 2 years’ worth of work. Now, it was the generals turn and with that he disappeared down the hill side creeping into the city, past the gates, assisted by his undercover guards.
He had decided to begin his attack on the winter solstice when night struck the earliest and the Ulmalians went to sleep the earliest. He wanted to claim the king’s tower as so to claim the city. The guards within the city would not operate that day but the guard watch on top the hill would still be alert. That date was within a month giving Thyre plenty of time to organise his troops, distribute the weapons and to bring in another 10 people to his infantry. So far his black smiths had crafted 1000 quality swords, 200 shields, 500 spears and 300 bows and arrows. The soldiers had poisoned as many people as possible, making sure not to poison anyone to important with in the society. Various other men among Thyre’s infantry had drugged the people of the city, as so that they were completely drained of energy, only able to walk, eat, talk and breathe and all just barely. Slowly, time passed and the troops were ready for ambush and eventually it was time.
Thyre emerged from his inn, in his armour, with all his troops following behind him, emerging from buildings all over the city. They walked through the large gates and made their way up the hill to hopefully shed the royal blood. He was hoping the guards would not notice his troops in the pitch black darkness, for if they did, it would be another result of suicide. As he reached the hill top about to invade the castle, a bright light shown from below, from within the city, on Thyre’s troops. Alarms went off and 3000 men of the Ulmalian cavalry emerged from the castle. Something was wrong. Why had there been a guard in the city. Then it dawned upon him that it was treachery of his own men. That bright light was the product of Athens and there was nothing Thyre could do about it but fight. He and his men were outnumbered and disadvantaged. This was the result of a total waste of 10 years. He had to escape, for if he failed Athens would become free of his rein. He went for the nearest horseman and violently killed him. The general strapped himself in the stirrups of the horse and left his troops to die.
He planned to use the underground tunnels to escape from behind the city, a backup tactic he discussed with his men. In a mere, short 10 minutes, he reached the tunnel and abandoned his horse and leapt in. He was sprinting, hoping to get out before the guards raided the city. On a bend in the tunnel he noticed a dim glow getting brighter. He stopped suddenly, with his heart beating rapidly, and watched the light develop into a hazy silhouette and then into a sharp shadow. It was a guard. They had somehow managed to find their way into the tunnels. This was another act of treason. Thyre jumped out at the guard and hoped to catch him by surprise. He had his sword raised to aim a powerful blow but the guard was ready. They fought valiantly parrying each other’s blows and lunging at each other in the short cramped space. They both shed each other’s blood and eventually Thyre struck a blow and lifted the opponent’s helmet off. It was his colonel, Schau, being only a rank below him. He was shocked to see what he did and then realised why Schau was ready for his attack in the tunnel and the city. He was enraged and so knocked his opponent down and ran his blade, through his head. He felt no pity for the traitor but the injuries caused by Schau would be ones he would never forget.
In a week, he had managed to get back to Athens where the city was just as he left it. Destroyed and disordered. He had lost all his men to Ulmalia. His faced had deformed due to his fight with the colonel and from having nothing to eat or drink for the past week. No one recognised him. No one retaliated, no one ran away. To the people he was just a traveller who had stopped in the land of thieves. He tried to regain his position. He told people of who he was, threatening them. Most replies were claiming that. Thyre had died in his assault against Ulmalia. Over months he had tried to get someone to believe him and so the citizens had the name of ‘preacher’ dubbed on him. He began to adjust to the hard life lived in Athens and slowly realised that this was not the way humans live among themselves. He knew that this was his fault and knew that he had to change this somehow. Life here was so rough that 20 people died brawling, 10 died of starvation and 40 died of disease, and this was all within a month. Thyre needed to reconquer Athens and then rebuild it as it was 30 years ago. There was only one place where he could get that kind of help. Ulmalia.
He stole a horse from the stables and began the 2 day journey it normally took to get to Ulmalia. Upon reaching the city he rode to the palace at top, in front of the grand doors that marked the entrance. He was about to approach the door when he was completely surrounded by the Ulmalians. He recognised some of the armour as the one his troops had used in the raid and wondered whether they were part of his former army. One of the guards stepped forward and asked what business Thyre had here. Clearly, none of these people had recognised him either. He reminded the guard of who he was and what he did and that spared an eruption. Everyone took a step forward, in a battle stance, and raised their weapons being held back by the guard who seemed to be of highest rank among the others. That same guard then struck Thyre’s head with the flat of his blade, knocking him out. He was taken to a small, empty prison and locked in a small cell.
He came to a few hours later and was being questioned by someone wearing rich, leather clothing and who was surrounded by guards. When he spoke he struck the air with a familiar voice. The voice that screamed 30 years ago for the freedom of his city. The king of Athens but now the king of Ulmalia. Thyre dropped to his knees in shock. He had thought he had starved all the royalty but the man in front of him still lived. For the first time he felt scared he was at the mercy of the king of perhaps the most powerful city in the world. A king who was angry, who sought revenge for his family, his people and his city. He was surprised how calm the king was. He begged for forgiveness and admitted to his remorse of ever conquering Athens. He described the situation in Athens and offered the throne back to the king. With a moment’s pause he waited for the king’s verdict which was a simple reply. No. He then ordered that Thyre be sent to the guillotine, where he would spend the last seconds of his life. Thyre compelled knowing that he deserved this and that a lot worse could have been done. But what the king didn’t know was that that this decision would be something he would regret in a few years. He didn’t know that he had just inevitably shortened his very own life span.
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10 years later…
Athens had re-emerged as a superpower due to the work of 1 man. A man who stood up to the rights of people. A man from Athens. He conquered a large area which is now known as Greece. Ulmalia was the only city that rebelled against the new rein and paid the price. The walls of the city were finally crumbled along with the death of the royalty. Ulmalia was renamed as Halkida. In Greek mythology a story developed. The legend of Thyre. A half man- half beast creature who released a relentless fury on whomever passed by him and his corrupted city…Pretty long. Might want to get comfortable. May sound weird as it was an english assesment and had to incorporate fantasy. Reviews and offers accepted
Enjoy!Not a role model character... For once its from the aspect of the villian
All credit to me