Book Creator | Lancelot - Adventures of Odysseus

Odysseus' voyage

By Georgia K

Chapter 1- The Island

Months ago Hermes told me this would be a challenge; I now realise how right he was.

For many, many moons, we waged war with the harsh sea, fighting against the torrent surf as we looked out for a substance of food. Rumbling stomachs mingled with the crashing waves before us. Our crates of nourishments slowly decreased until there was nothing left. Nothing. One evening I caught sight of the cold dark water below and decided that we needed to find an island rapidly.

After changing our course and sailing for two days, we distinguished a sandy beach surrounded by a black blanket of swirling sea and stormy sky. It seemed only a second ago that the beach was lonesome, yet now we saw impenetrable forests looming over us and windy trees wrapped roughly in ancient bark.

We scoured the tree tops for a source of life- a source of food. When one of my men called us over, we followed his distant gaze and spotted mountain summit. Like a freshly forged blade, its mountain top looked menacingly at the the surrounding beaches, almost touching the inky blue sky.

We jumped of the ship; it seemed that darkness fell suddenly like a curtain. The sand felt gritty and uneasy beneath our wearing shoes. Sharp rocks pierced our feet like broken glass bottles. Our clothing was gnarled and on the ships hull as we jumped down. A smell of charred meat wafted towards us; I looked at my men as they looked longingly down the path. I could almost hear their thoughts; it was obvious. After months of sailing in frigid conditions, with little to no food, I knew that the only chance of survival was to explore and hope. The quiet screamed at me as I saw the first of the trees. Like witches fingers indicating me to come forward...

Chapter 2- Entering the unknown

After stumbling around helplessly lost for hours, I spied an old bridge. Hanging over the edge of the unknown darkness, the rotten wood was slowly falling of. We knew that this was the crossing. The only crossing. As the first dozen of my men walked safely across, I sighed of relief. Me and another few hurried across, but as we made it onto the solid, frigid, icy ground, my stomach was gripped with anxiety. Shouts echoed behind me. As I turned, my throat went dry like sand paper and my tongue thick. My instincts screamed at me to retreat back- that nothing good would come out of this perilous journey. I ignored that voice I my head...

We arrived at the mouth of the forest at sun-down; we didn't have long before we all got sick of exhaustion and hunger.

With no time to mourn our fallen comrades, we trudged along the impaired ancient thicket- which was silent and secretive; in this forest nothing stirred.

As we approached a small clearing and shared what little food we left, I noticed charred rocks scattered around and smoking. We carried on.. Like barbed wire, vicious vines blocked our path; we had scratches all over our faces from smoking, overhanging branches above us. The silence was eerie and lonesome: we were surrounded by a wall of secrecy.

At last we arrived at the mountains- a hostile jagged peak carved by the magic of nature. Immediately we started to scale the ghostly pyramid and uncover the secrets and lies within the hard, white rock.
Someone would talk or sigh every couple of minutes but when
they stopped, the silence came surging back, wrapping around me and the crew making us feel isolated from the rest of the world. We then came to rest on a ledge. I was drenched in sweat. When I hauled myself up, I saw my men huddling around something their faces dangerously white, their lips blue.

Bones. Smoking human bones. Burning our lungs like the fumes of brimstone.

The Final Fight

The beast was here.

Hidden by a thick, tangled bunch of vines, was the mouth of a low, secretive cave. My crew had thinned out- there was only about 20 of us left. I had a hunch that the number would be smaller by the time we arrived back at the boat. If we arrived.

Entering the cave with our weapons brandished, we cautiously looked around and saw a pair of gloomy, scarlet eyes emerging from the darkness.
When the creature was in full view, we saw its razor-sharp claws dragging along ground. We were silent. No one dared to make a sound. After minutes of waiting, I realised that it couldn't see. That's how we were going to beat it.

We charged. First we needed to injure the beast then we could outsmart it. As the battle raged on, the bloodthirsty creature swung her barbed, gargantuan into the dense walls- which glistened