Post by Prints le Some on Jun 10, 2008 5:30:29 GMT
The old couple watched as the horsemen came toward them. They could see the glint of sunlight on the swords that each man held. The old woman held onto her husbands arm so tightly he thought she would break it. The leading horseman stopped a short distance from them and he said “ What has happened here old man”.
The old man had no answer for him, he could not comprehend what he had seen.
It had begun soon after daybreak, a strange noise had been heard coming from a place at the edge of the village. The noise grew louder and the air seemed to shimmer. Slowly the shimmer changed to a large balloon of colours, like a rainbow only confined to this one area.
After a while the noise changed in pitch and a man appeared in the center of the rainbow. He was a man like the men in the village but he wore strange clothes and carried a metal tube that had a handle at one end. He pointed this tube at the villages who were grouped a little away from the edge of the area. The man walked slowly toward the villagers, pointing the tube toward them all the time. When he emerged from the coloured area another man appeared carrying a tube like the first. In all ten men appeared in this way, they stood in a line pointing their weapons, for it was now clear that was what the tubes were, at the villagers. One of the men stepped forward and spoke to the villagers. He spoke slowly, as if the language was unfamiliar to him. He said, “Please do not be afraid, we will not harm you. We are here to do something that is very important to us and if you let us do this thing we will be gone within a few hours.”
After he spoke to the villagers he spoke in a strange language into a little box strapped to his wrist and more people appeared in the center of the colours. These people did not carry weapons but boxes of different shapes and sizes. Finally something that looked like a wagon made entirely of metal but without horses, appeared and moved as if by magic out of the colours and then stopped.
Inside the wagon the villagers could see a man and lots of strange shaped metal and glass objects.
All the people who had appeared now grouped together then started to move away from the village, eventually forming a column, the armed men around the outside. The villagers followed at a safe distance. They came to the haunted valley, this was an area that the villagers kept away from. It was a deep slash in the earth that ran through most of the country then disappeared into the sea. It was so wide that it would take three days to walk from one side to the other. Noises could be heard from under the ground throughout it's length. Some people even said the ground moved here, making noises like the moaning of the those from the other side of death.
The villagers watched as the people from the colours moved to the edge of the valley. Then the wagon moved to the edge, so close it seemed it must fall into the valley. There was much talk among the people about the position of the wagon and twice it moved along the edge. All the time boxes were being opened and unloaded. Objects from the boxes were fixed together to form bigger objects. When everyone was happy with the wagons position something rose up from the inside of it and the thing eventually formed a large tube that was supported at one end, the other end pointed down into the valley. Most of the things the people had built were now connected together by what the villagers thought were dead black snakes, some as thick as a man's arm and all had been coiled like snakes before they were laid out onto the ground.
Noises could be heard and lights like stars flashed on and off in places all over the structures.
The villagers were now frightened and some moved away from the place, others moved forward to see what the gods, for that was what these people must be, were doing. The man who had spoken to them before came to them and said, “ Please, you must move away. There is danger here and we do not want you to be hurt.”
As the man spoke a bright blue light beam came from the end of the tube on the wagon, the beam was angled into the valley and must have struck the ground at the very bottom. The light beam crackled and the wagon itself was humming and was covered in a blanket of white light. The man who had been sitting in the wagon screamed and fell forward. Others around the wagon looked on but did nothing. The beam held for many minutes and smoke could be seen rising out of the valley.
Explosions like thunder could be heard , the white light that surrounded the wagon suddenly ran along one of the black snakes that was connected to a silvered coloured box standing as high as a man. Two people standing next to the box screamed and fell to the ground.
The spokesman ran across to the villagers who were still close, he shouted, “Please move away, please move back.” and he began pushing the villagers back.
Suddenly, with a flash like the sun the wagon exploded, some of the people around it could be seen burning in the few seconds before the edge of the valley collapsed and all the people and equipment fell into the valley. The man who was with the villagers cried out and ran forward, the villagers followed.
Looking down to the bottom of the valley they could see what remained of the people and the wagon. Everything seemed to be burning. As they watched, a section of the valley floor lifted up and they could see fire underneath, a deep red fire as if it was hell itself they were looking into. Great clouds of gas and flame shot up high into the air, a crack opened across the whole width of the valley. Massive rocks were pushed up out of the ground. The remains of the people and the wagon plunged deep into the crack. From the crack, on the side that ran off toward the sea, the floor of the valley began to rise, it move up the height of ten men then stopped, after a few seconds of silence the valley floor dropped down again, not stopping when it reached it's original position but carrying on downwards. Finally it stopped. It had dropped so far down the villagers could not clearly see the bottom.
Then the man did a strange thing, he sat down. After a while the villagers came and sat with him, they waited, not knowing why, they just sat around the man in silence. After about a hour a noise began, a noise like no other ever heard before, it was so loud it hurt the ears. In the distance a great cloud came into view. The cloud was white and reached high into the sky. The noise got louder and the villagers then could see, far in the distance, something moving very fast up the valley. It came on, the roar getting louder, it rushed and tumbled up the valley and did not stop until it had got to the place where the crack had appeared in the valley floor. Then it slowed and finally stopped. The villagers looked with disbelief, it was water, it must be the sea come in from the coast, five days walk away, down the valley.
The villagers stood, looking in amazement. The surviving man who had come from the colours did not, he jumped for joy. The villagers felt this was wrong, he had seen at least fifty of his comrades die and he was cheering. He was shouting in a language no one else could understand.
Then he turned to the villagers and said in their language, ”It worked, we did it, we have saved millions of people. Six thousand years from now nothing will happen, we released the pressure. It worked.” The villager looked at him as if he were mad, “you don't understand,” he cried, “ because of what we have done half a continent will not slide into the sea.” still they stared at him.
Then he sank to his knees.
The villagers carried him back to where the shimmering rainbow still stood hung in the air. They gently laid him on the ground, gave him water and left him there. They moved back till they were inside their village but still able to watch the man. After a while he stood up, waved to the villagers then walked into the colours and disappeared. Some moments later the colours also disappeared. Later the Kings soldiers came to investigate. The villagers could only tell what they saw. The soldiers returned to the King with stories of Gods, flames and flood. Sacrifices were made to appease the Gods.
The new sea was given a name fitting for a gift from on high, the King claimed it as his and collected a high tax from the people who gathered fish from it.
The old man had no answer for him, he could not comprehend what he had seen.
It had begun soon after daybreak, a strange noise had been heard coming from a place at the edge of the village. The noise grew louder and the air seemed to shimmer. Slowly the shimmer changed to a large balloon of colours, like a rainbow only confined to this one area.
After a while the noise changed in pitch and a man appeared in the center of the rainbow. He was a man like the men in the village but he wore strange clothes and carried a metal tube that had a handle at one end. He pointed this tube at the villages who were grouped a little away from the edge of the area. The man walked slowly toward the villagers, pointing the tube toward them all the time. When he emerged from the coloured area another man appeared carrying a tube like the first. In all ten men appeared in this way, they stood in a line pointing their weapons, for it was now clear that was what the tubes were, at the villagers. One of the men stepped forward and spoke to the villagers. He spoke slowly, as if the language was unfamiliar to him. He said, “Please do not be afraid, we will not harm you. We are here to do something that is very important to us and if you let us do this thing we will be gone within a few hours.”
After he spoke to the villagers he spoke in a strange language into a little box strapped to his wrist and more people appeared in the center of the colours. These people did not carry weapons but boxes of different shapes and sizes. Finally something that looked like a wagon made entirely of metal but without horses, appeared and moved as if by magic out of the colours and then stopped.
Inside the wagon the villagers could see a man and lots of strange shaped metal and glass objects.
All the people who had appeared now grouped together then started to move away from the village, eventually forming a column, the armed men around the outside. The villagers followed at a safe distance. They came to the haunted valley, this was an area that the villagers kept away from. It was a deep slash in the earth that ran through most of the country then disappeared into the sea. It was so wide that it would take three days to walk from one side to the other. Noises could be heard from under the ground throughout it's length. Some people even said the ground moved here, making noises like the moaning of the those from the other side of death.
The villagers watched as the people from the colours moved to the edge of the valley. Then the wagon moved to the edge, so close it seemed it must fall into the valley. There was much talk among the people about the position of the wagon and twice it moved along the edge. All the time boxes were being opened and unloaded. Objects from the boxes were fixed together to form bigger objects. When everyone was happy with the wagons position something rose up from the inside of it and the thing eventually formed a large tube that was supported at one end, the other end pointed down into the valley. Most of the things the people had built were now connected together by what the villagers thought were dead black snakes, some as thick as a man's arm and all had been coiled like snakes before they were laid out onto the ground.
Noises could be heard and lights like stars flashed on and off in places all over the structures.
The villagers were now frightened and some moved away from the place, others moved forward to see what the gods, for that was what these people must be, were doing. The man who had spoken to them before came to them and said, “ Please, you must move away. There is danger here and we do not want you to be hurt.”
As the man spoke a bright blue light beam came from the end of the tube on the wagon, the beam was angled into the valley and must have struck the ground at the very bottom. The light beam crackled and the wagon itself was humming and was covered in a blanket of white light. The man who had been sitting in the wagon screamed and fell forward. Others around the wagon looked on but did nothing. The beam held for many minutes and smoke could be seen rising out of the valley.
Explosions like thunder could be heard , the white light that surrounded the wagon suddenly ran along one of the black snakes that was connected to a silvered coloured box standing as high as a man. Two people standing next to the box screamed and fell to the ground.
The spokesman ran across to the villagers who were still close, he shouted, “Please move away, please move back.” and he began pushing the villagers back.
Suddenly, with a flash like the sun the wagon exploded, some of the people around it could be seen burning in the few seconds before the edge of the valley collapsed and all the people and equipment fell into the valley. The man who was with the villagers cried out and ran forward, the villagers followed.
Looking down to the bottom of the valley they could see what remained of the people and the wagon. Everything seemed to be burning. As they watched, a section of the valley floor lifted up and they could see fire underneath, a deep red fire as if it was hell itself they were looking into. Great clouds of gas and flame shot up high into the air, a crack opened across the whole width of the valley. Massive rocks were pushed up out of the ground. The remains of the people and the wagon plunged deep into the crack. From the crack, on the side that ran off toward the sea, the floor of the valley began to rise, it move up the height of ten men then stopped, after a few seconds of silence the valley floor dropped down again, not stopping when it reached it's original position but carrying on downwards. Finally it stopped. It had dropped so far down the villagers could not clearly see the bottom.
Then the man did a strange thing, he sat down. After a while the villagers came and sat with him, they waited, not knowing why, they just sat around the man in silence. After about a hour a noise began, a noise like no other ever heard before, it was so loud it hurt the ears. In the distance a great cloud came into view. The cloud was white and reached high into the sky. The noise got louder and the villagers then could see, far in the distance, something moving very fast up the valley. It came on, the roar getting louder, it rushed and tumbled up the valley and did not stop until it had got to the place where the crack had appeared in the valley floor. Then it slowed and finally stopped. The villagers looked with disbelief, it was water, it must be the sea come in from the coast, five days walk away, down the valley.
The villagers stood, looking in amazement. The surviving man who had come from the colours did not, he jumped for joy. The villagers felt this was wrong, he had seen at least fifty of his comrades die and he was cheering. He was shouting in a language no one else could understand.
Then he turned to the villagers and said in their language, ”It worked, we did it, we have saved millions of people. Six thousand years from now nothing will happen, we released the pressure. It worked.” The villager looked at him as if he were mad, “you don't understand,” he cried, “ because of what we have done half a continent will not slide into the sea.” still they stared at him.
Then he sank to his knees.
The villagers carried him back to where the shimmering rainbow still stood hung in the air. They gently laid him on the ground, gave him water and left him there. They moved back till they were inside their village but still able to watch the man. After a while he stood up, waved to the villagers then walked into the colours and disappeared. Some moments later the colours also disappeared. Later the Kings soldiers came to investigate. The villagers could only tell what they saw. The soldiers returned to the King with stories of Gods, flames and flood. Sacrifices were made to appease the Gods.
The new sea was given a name fitting for a gift from on high, the King claimed it as his and collected a high tax from the people who gathered fish from it.