Campfire Stories Halloween Competition!  

There were no other volunteers, even among the able-bodied men,. We understood how they felt as they wanted to make sure they were with their family if anything happened.
 
Our young men were away. They had gone to join the soldiers of Rome to fight against invaders and to invade. All that were left in the Village of Herak were older men, women and children.  
 
We had no choice, so the three of us prepared for the journey. I actually didn’t want to have Pandora with me, but she insisted on coming along, pouting and stamping her feet, so I had to give in.  We dressed up in short tunics, just above our knees; our legs were sheathed in breeches to our ankles. We were given a talisman or a lunula to hang on our necks, a crescent moon pendant filled with sulphur.
 
We were given a sword each, sheathed in a scabbard tied on the waist. It felt cumbersome, but I liked the freedom of the short tunic as compared to our ankle-length toga.
 
We then opened the northern door, breathed hard, whispered a prayer to Athena and ran with all our might towards the thick forest. The howling mass of gossamer spirits were milling around in the front yard, so we were lucky to reach the forest before they became aware that there were humans outside.
 
We ran. The wan ethereal light was enough to show us the small path that led to the north where we should meet Orcus. We trusted our instincts although we were mere girls hardly out of our teens then. We followed Ameria who was the faster one, her long legs pumping as she ran.  
 
I felt my stomach cramped up but tried to ignore it. Pandora, my lithe little sister who was almost elfin physically was faster than I was.  
 
The sounds of the spirits diminished as we ran further and further into the forest. The eerie greenish wan lights seemed to end, and the darkness of the forest engulfed us in earnest.  
 
We didn’t slack off our pace until we felt that we had run as far as we could. We came upon a glade and stopped. Not because we actually stopped, I actually slipped and fell face first on the ground, forcing Ameria and Pandora to stop. They ran back to me and pulled me up. I was gasping for breath, my stomach cramped and my knees could not hold me up.
 
We sat down together on a rock, holding one another. We were scared but it was too late to turn back. We had to look for Orcus, whoever he was. We looked around and what we saw was so wondrous, we stared mouth agape.
 
It was the most beautiful glade we have ever seen; flowers of all colours were everywhere, and strange insects flew everywhere. The bushes were lush and fruit trees bore all manner of fruits, most of which we have never seen before.
 
There was a blue pond with flowers floating on it that seemed to catch the twinkles of the setting sun.  
 
Suddenly a bright light flashed and we stood up immediately unsheathing our swords. We have never held swords before but we held it out as if we knew how.
 
To be continued…

While the bronze leaves were tumbled by wind
And I hurried by the place
Something ruffled the bumps on my skin
Shadows of fear fell on my face
For only a moment I was so certain
The old house was darkly haunted
But distance increased and lowered that curtain
I thought my imagination just felt what it wanted to
Then I heard of the old man who lived there
Seemingly always home and alone
If true it really doesn't seem fair
Unless he has ghastly sins to atone
Was there ever a significant other
Someone should be to blame
For the lack of a sister a brother
A family sharing his name
If it isn't the house that is haunted
It must be the heart of that man

Suddenly in front of us, a huge man materialized, he seemed to emanate white light around him. He had a helmet with wings on the side and body armour like a Roman soldier. He was very tall and muscled bound and yet he didn’t seem to be hostile.
He stared at us, as we did him.

“Who are you?” all of us seemed to ask at once, including the bright stranger.

“I am a watcher of this glen, the guardian of the forest. This is my domain. Pray tell me why you are trespassing into my home,” he asked, rather haughtily I might add.

Ameria stepped forward, holding her head high, she looked regal and for a moment I glimpsed the pride of a tribe from far north, for her mother was a fair headed beauty from that region. Her tribe was conquered and enslaved and one of the women felled my uncle’s heart and he wedded her. The result was fair Ameria who now stood tall against the giant-like man.

“We seek Orcus, for our village, Herak, is being attacked by the minions of Remus. We forgot the black beans. We need the power and wisdom of Orcus to conquer this evil and send them back to netherworld,” she stated, her hand gripping her sword.

The light behind the man seemed to turn red and yellow giving him a sinister frightening look. We gasped and took a step back, our swords poised for attack.

“Aggh! Sheath your puny sword, women! Is Herak without men that they should send women to seek the high priest of Romulus? The high priest is neither man nor spirit, for he has power beyond your understanding. The Grecians call him Hades, did you know that?” he asked. I didn’t really care for the scornful tone of his voice.

We gaped at him, not really taking in what he was talking about. He looked exasperated. He took off his winged helmet and a cascade of long golden hair fell to his shoulder. I saw Ameria flinch, and Pandora scuttled to my side. The man no longer looked human, but a supernatural being.

“Are you without sight, both within and without? Orcus is the god of the underworld, the punisher of broken oaths. And you are running headlong to him to save your village? Or are you seeking destruction?” he boomed.

We staggered with this information. Why were we seeking the god that punish broken oaths and why was he called the high priest of Romulus? Why was he called Hades?  We were fearful to say the least and very confused. Should we forge on or should we return to our village.

I decided that we should go on our journey, for returning would end in certain death for all of us.  We had to trust our grandmother’s judgment and carry through with our mission.

“We will go on…we will find Orcus and talk to him,” I said, as firmly as I could.

Ameria and Pandora nodded and we walked forward, across the glen to the other side, where the dark forest was.

The huge man sighed, and put on his helmet.

“I will go with you…” he said, and started walking alongside us.

I did not protest too much as we needed as much support as could garner along the way. We travelled through under the wan moonlight towards something we didn’t understand. We only had our determination…to send back the hordes to the netherworld.

To be continued...

We walked briskly through the forest with me in the lead, followed by Pandora my sister, Ameria and the fiery guardian. We walked in single file as the underbrush was thick.  
 
Pandora was getting tired and clung to my arm. I encouraged her as much as I could as I wanted to reach Orcus before sun up. I was having a strange sense of being watched, but upon glancing at the guardian and Ameria, I was reassured that it was my imagination as they didn’t seem to notice anything.  
 
We came upon a break from the closeness of the forests, several hours later. It looked like a wide track of land, without anything growing on it. The land, which seemed like a wide road leading from somewhere to another, was dry soil, well-travelled by vehicles of sorts. There were shallow marks of horse hooves on the dry hard ground. We stood there looking at it for a while, and thought how easy it was to follow the road.
 
As I step on it, something seemed to move underneath the soil. I recoiled instantly, and stumbled. Pandora fell on the ground near me and Ameria  clutched the guardian’s arm in fright. The soil seemed to move and undulate, and all of us, gasped stepping back, cringing against one another inn fear. Even the guardian looked fazed.  
 
The soil burst upwards and a dark creature, which looked like a bat burst out. its eyes were blazing red and its mouth was filled with fangs that seemed to look like needles. It hovered for a while and then step on the ground, it stared at us for a while, and then growled at us.
 
“You are trespassing…who are you…?”
 
I was getting tired of all the things that were blocking us.  I was terrified but I was not about to let the ugly monster stop us from getting to Orcus. We needed to get to him to save our village. We needed to get to him by sunrise and it was far past midnight.
 
“We are looking for Orcus! Get out of our way…!” I said, glaring at the ugly monster, advancing as menacingly as I could towards it.
 
It recoiled with shock. Perhaps nobody had ever spoken to it like that before.  Pandora held my arms, pulling me back, as I unsheathed  my sword.
 
“Grace, no…!”
 
The beast glared at us.
 
“Looking for Orcus? All of you? Even you?” it asked, glaring at the guardian.
The guardian shrugged.
 
The beasts sighed…and slowly it turned misty and then sparkled brilliantly. We gasped, as it turned into a beautiful woman, with long black hair cascading over her shoulder.
 
I sighed. Will we ever get to Orcus…I thought.  
 
The woman smiled at me, as if she could read my thoughts.  
 
“My name is Desire, the Enchanter …I will take you to Orcus. I will demand a prize, but time for that later,” she laughed, her laughter like brittle glass breaking the almost-morning air.
 
To be continued…

She stood there staring at us and then with a flick of her finger, the whole scene changed. The road was a sparkling silver stream that seemed to end into an opening that glittered like gold. From inside the cave flickered tongues of fire seeming to lick the opening like a hungry monster.

Desire stood there and bowed.

“Behold Orcus domain!”

“You lie!” Ameria snarled, “We were told that he lived a day walk to the north. It is not a day yet!”

Desire laughed her brittle laughter.

“Orcus is a god. He can be anywhere he wants to. As long as the ground is there, Hades too lives. Underneath the sod…” she said.

We looked at one another, puzzled, angry, frustrated and not trusting the dark woman, with fiery beauty.

The Guardian didn’t seem to react much, and I was glad and respected him for that. Three shivering women sufficed.

Even though we didn’t trust the woman Desire, we followed her as she led us towards the burning cave. We didn’t know what to expect, but we naively believed that we were strong enough to encounter the high priest of Romulus…Orcus, also a god, the punisher of broken oath.

We had expected the cave to be extremely hot, with the fire flickering on its sides. However, it was not as hot as we thought. In fact it was just comfortably warm.
We stood there looking around us curiously.

“What did you bring home this time, Desire?” a gentle voice sounded before us and we stared at a tall figure in a white robe. He was middle aged, very good looking and wore a smile on his handsome face.

“Strays, My Lord,” Desire laughed, caressing Pandora’s shoulder. I pulled my sister away from her, glaring at her at the same time.

“You are Orcus?” I asked as boldly as I could.

He laughed gently.

“Yes, child I am Orcus. Why do you seek me?” he asked.

I told him about our village and how the minions of Remus had descended on it. I told him that we forgot the ceremony of the black beans, as told by our grandmother.
He looked at us contemplatively, his hand caressing his clean shaven chin.

“ I don’t understand, what is so important about the beans? They are hardly worth sending ghosts and monsters for,” Pandora opined, looking at Orcus and then at me.

Orcus stared at her. He no longer looked friendly. His eyes seemed to burn with a strange fire. He pointed at the door.

“That is what the black beans are for,” he said.

We looked towards the door and gasped for we saw that it was a road again and not a silver stream. We saw beans falling on the road and instantly turned into caped men on black horses.

“They are my soldiers, my legions. What is given against Remus, becomes mine, to use them as I see fit. Your village has forgotten, and thus they are paying for it, for they did not contribute and thus I have no nocturnal soldiers to send and defeat the minions before they reach the portal to the offending village,” he said.

“Can you help us?”

“We can but with a price,” he said.

“Price? What is your price? We must save our village from the marauding ghosts and spectres at once.  We don’t know if they have already started to attack or destroyed our
village!” I yelled.

“Ahhh…so you agree!” he laughed, a long harsh laughter that grated in our ears. He began to change then, filling us with terror. We cringed together in utmost horror at what transpired before us.

To be continued…..

Fixed upon days fading light your mind engulfed by fear
Trembling uncontrollably as darkness draws in nearer
Your shadowed room a dim lit tomb a lair of demise
For on this night a witches flight evokes the undeads cries
Rising from their shallow graves the corpses of the dead
The children that this night enslaved now leave their earth filled beds
Lost souls in pain search for life again for death they can't conceive
So hold yours dearer as they draw nearer on this Hallows Eve