The Helix Hex (ATSSC)

The Tuatha De Danaan had reached Earth upon a generation ship that had been plying the stars for millennia searching for a new home. That ship lay buried now within the satellite that circled this world, still aware but now never to be awoken for another journey, only the touch of a pure bred Tuatha De Danaan could instuct the complex mind within the mighty ship and control its awesome power and they were now extinct. Or so it thought.




The Land of Danu (Eire). Past.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy above, broken and weak as it slowly descended into twilight. The whole forest was quiet as though holding it's breath, waiting to see the outcome of Ziz's desperate escape from the Erlking's minions.
Ziz loped through the forest with easy strides, his long black hair flowing back from his cherubic face. Tall and muscular he moved through the tangled under brush without effort, thorny branches seemed to sway out of his path, the twigs beneath his feet on the loamy forest floor bent instead of breaking.
Fenrir the giant wolf, malevolent red eye's blazing and fetid breath snorting out of a dark muzzle bristling with razor sharp fangs was in hot pusuit of Ziz, the scent fresher now than it had been. The Erlking's soldiers were further behind, used to the underground cavern's and tunnel's of their home they were struggling through the dense forest undergrowth which seemed intent on slowing these interlopers.


Somewhere in the US. Present.

Dr. David Carson reset the animation sequencer with some trepidation, the last test had been a dismal failure and he held very little hope for this one. His assistant Elizabeth Myers sat at the main console, her gaze glued to the numbers flickering across the screen, occasionally twisting at a lock of her golden hair. It had been Liz's idea to use DNA from a deceased individual instead of the DNA that they had been using from living subjects. So far they had been able to grow and reanimate two clones with living tissue. Unfortunately thats all that they had been, live human clones, nothing more. No personality, intelligence, motor skills, basically just living, nakedly aggresive and hostile animals. They had both been destroyed along with all the other failed experiments, mutants, piles of gooey tissue and aborted foetuses.
After much discussion and debate with other members of the research team, the project was in the process of being scrapped before anyone outside of their group became aware of their experiments. The concensus of the others had been that because the clones were of living human subjects they had no soul, it was already inhabiting the body of the donor. It was this soul they theorized that seperated us from the animals and animated within us what would otherwise just be natural instinct, it is what give's us intelligence, personality, reason, the ability to love and hate.
He and Liz had decided to try once more, this time using DNA from a deceased person as their clone subject. He had paid a man he knew from previous dealings who worked at the local morgue and purchased some tissue from a recently deceased male, of Irish lineage. All of their samples had been taken from subjects of Irish lineage with certain markers in their DNA profile in an attempt to prove a theory that the Irish were descended from a now extinct race of Homo Sapiens or at the very least a race apart from the rest of humanity. They had found a number of irregularitys in the double helix structure of a number of their subjects including Uracil in the DNA and not as a breakdown product of cytosine. Unfortunately they had been ordered to stop their research, not that that had stopped them from this one last attempt.
Now the time had come for the reanimation sequence after the clone had endured a month of forced, rapid growth into a late adolescent male.


The Land of Danu (Eire). Past.

Ziz had been a recent captive of the Erlking, the evil leader of a dwarven empire deep beneath the earth, whose tunnels and shafts crisscrossed two continents.
The last of the Tuatha De Danaan, Ziz was in possesion of the knowledge and the whereabouts of all his races greatest secrets, and more importantly their most destructive weapons. When they had been defeated by the invaders from across the sea, the Milesians, his people had been banished to the subterranean underworld, only to come into conflict once again with the Erlkings dwarven empire. Throughout both these recent conflicts they had refrained from using their greatest weapons, for fear of destroying not only their enemy's but possibly the entire world. Though this restraint had cost them dearly, namely near extinction, except for a few half breeds who had stayed hidden within the human population. There had never been any doubt that the weapons would not be used, it was their moral duty, it was their weakness and their strength.


Somewhere in the US. Present.

" David, quickly, look at the way he is taking in his surrounding's ".
" Hang on Liz, somethings wrong, the gas jets and the high voltage lines aren't operative, it's not right ".
" Forget that for god's sake, he's not slavering like some animal, he's looking around, calculating, investigating, we've done it ".
David Carson looked up from his console towards the large one way mirror which covered the whole of the wall directly in front of him. In the corner of the room sat a young adolescent male, naked, perhaps about eighteen years old, tall and muscular with long dark shoulder length hair. Sharp blue eye's peered curiously from beneath gentle inquisitive brows. David Carson shivered involuntarily, those eye's seemed to see right through the one way glass and were regarding him, as he might regard a specimen on a petrie dish beneath a microscope.
" I dont like it Liz, somethings not right " he said softly, as if he could be overheard.
" Don't be silly, this is what we've spent the last two years trying to achieve ".
" Well we can argue about it later, what we need to do now is get him out of here before the others find out what we've done, any suggestions ".
" We could use my grandfathers shack, its a couple of hours from here up in the mountains, it's secluded enough ".
" All right then, lets do it. Gas him quickly, the jets seem to be back on line ".


[edit on 19/3/07 by mojo4sale]

The Land of Danu (Eire). Past.

Ziz came to a clearing in the forest, at one end of which was a cave set into a small rocky abutment, moving no less casually than he had during his flight from the Erlking, he made his way slowly within. Once within the cave a faint light showed through the gloom ahead, occasionally Ziz would have to lower himself to his belly and crawl through small openings to continue towards the light. Behind him he could hear Fenrir snuffling and growling and pawing at the dirt, the openings too small to admit his massive torso.
At last he came to a large cavern which spread as far as he could see, water dripped incessantly from the ceiling making the floor of the cavern slick and glistening from the moisture. Here now for the time being he was safe, and he found a dark corner to rest, closing his eye's to dream of the prophecy amid the sounds of the trickling water and the steady beating of his heart. The final sound to reach his ears before exhaustion claimed him was the thunderous roar of Fenrir and the following deafening explosion as the cave entrance collapsed and sealed him within.


Somewhere in the US. Present.

" Look at him David he's harmless, take off the shackles, were getting nowhere like this " Liz stood defiantly in the middle of the living room floor, hands on hips.
God she was beautiful thought David, and bloody stubborn. He had held a torch for her for many years now but never had the strength or courage to tell her. And Liz for all her beauty and charm hardly ever seemed to date, she was way to engrossed in her work and scared the men off that she did date with her amazing intelligence.
" Okay, you win " he said.
As soon as he released the shackles from the clones arms and legs he began vigourously rubbing them, getting the blood circulating. David walked backwards to the other side of the room, never taking his eye's off the subject, his hand on the butt of the Glock in his coat pocket, the overpoweringly sweet body odour of the boy seemed to follow him across the room.
Liz gingerly approached the boy, they had dressed him in a pair of faded denim jeans and a black sweat shirt with a hood while he had been unconcious.
" It's okay, we wont hurt you " she said to the boy as she approached, hands outstretched.
" I know " said the clone.
Liz stopped short, David whipped the gun out from his pocket, they both looked at each other, momentarily stunned.


Beneath the Earth. Present.

The Erlking sat upon a throne of bones, at his feet lay Fenrir the wolf, all about the mighty cavern creatures of all shapes and descriptions cavorted madly, eating, fighting, fornicating.
" Fenrir, the cursed Tuath is alive, i know not how, find him and kill him and bring me his head, do not fail me again or Gleiphir shall hold you for eternity ".
Fenrir looked up at the grotesque figure of the Erlking seated above him on the throne, a low growl eminated from his throat but nothing more, the Erlking was his master through sorcery for now, as he had the power of the invisible chain Gleiphir.
" Before you kill the blasted Tuath i must know the whereabouts of The Lia Fail, the spear of Lug, the sword of Nuadu, and the cauldron of Dagda. Only then can we return to the surface and enslave the miserable humans. Go." He spat the last word defiantly into Fenrirs upturned face.

Fenrir rose to his feet and growled, the hackles upon his enormous back raised threatingly, he looked about the room and howled before moving slowly up a passage that sloped gently towards the surface. The creatures of the Erlkings empire moved out of his way, even the most ferocious and vicious lowered their eye's before the glare of Fenrir. Fenrir looked back momentarily and stared directly at a beast with the head of a hare, ears like a man, a long sinuous body with the forepaws of a badger and the rear legs of a bear. This was Rompo, who fell quickly in behind Fenrir as they ascended towards the surface.



Somewhere in the US. Present.

" I am Ziz, of the Tuatha De Danaan, i thought i was the last of my kind and died with that thought heavy on my mind, but now i find myself here in the distant future ", said Ziz, looking for all the world like an adolescent skater boy and not the last of a magical race of beings that had once inhabited Ireland thousands of years before and who had travelled to Earth for millenia before that.
David and Liz sat opposite Ziz on a small ragged couch, transfixed, all their fear and anxiety had dissipated the moment Ziz had started to recount his amazing story.
Of his Tuatha De Danaan's arrival on Earth, their battle's with the Firbolg and the Fomorians, their defeat and banishment to the Underworld by the Milesians and their near extermination by the Erlking and his minions.
Ziz recounted his own desperate escape from the dungeons beneath the earth as the Erlking tried to coax the location of the Tuatha's great weapons from him and their source of magical power. His last word's had described his escape from Fenrir into the caves, where he had slept and eventually died.
Or so he thought, but his liason with a human girl while imprisoned must have conceived a child, who had escaped with some other humans during the commotion of his own getaway, and for it to be a pure Tuatha De Danaan, then she must also have been of his race and was merely hiding out amongst the human population. These things he only surmised for he was as much astounded by his own presence here as both David and Liz were. Some part of their reanimation process must have awoken an otherwise unknown key within the DNA of one of his descendants, the one whose tissue it was that they had obtained.
" But how are you able to speak too, and understand us " asked Liz.
" We are telepathic and also able to absorb enormous amounts of knowledge, while you thought me unconcious i was busy learning as much about you and your time that i could ".
David was tempted then to remove his gun and use it, how dangerous to the human race would it be to allow this man to live.
" It would do you no good David, i could paralyse you before the thought of using your weapon could reach your brain, but fear not, i wish you and your people no harm, i want only to get to our escape vessel, from there i can reach our great ship and leave here. Aboard our ship is the DNA profiles of all my people and their neural imprints, with this i can travel on and find us all another home".
" Sorry Ziz, but i dont think i could have shot you anyway, it was just the momentary thought of the danger you could pose to my race ".
" Yes, as it was with your people when we first arrived here, and then later with the demons that live below the earth, you will never know peace and for that reason i will leave with the hope of finding another home for the Tuatha ".
" How can we help you ", asked Liz, before David could answer.
" I must return to the land of Danu, the place called Ireland, to the mound of Tara. Beneath this mound is the real Lia Fail with which i can call a ship to take me to our great mother ship hidden in a crater upon your moon".



[edit on 19/3/07 by mojo4sale]

Near the Mound of Tara in Ireland. Present.

Fenrir and the beast called Rompo approached the mound cautiously, it was late and no humans were about, even so they trod carefully for the humans had a power that even they were not aware of that could destroy them if unleashed. Fenrir sniffed the air and bared his fangs, he could smell the Tuath who had escaped him once before close by. He bid the Rompo circle around to the left and then he continued to creep slowly forward, three shadows ahead stood silently before a large upright pillar of stone.

" This is not the place " said Ziz as they stood before the Lia Fail.
" According to this pamphlet this is the ' Stone of Destiny ' or the ' Lia Fail ' " David answered.
" I tell you this is not the place, this is the marker we placed above it but it has been moved, here follow me, it is further this way, north of that mound over there ".
" Ahh okay, well that mound is called ' the Mound of the Hostages '.

Fenrir crouched lower as three shapes moved of towards another mound, the scent was strong now and his skin rippled in anticipation.

" Ahh here, i can feel it calling to me, not much further ", Ziz said excitedly " Liz, David you must stay here it would be dangerous for you to get too close ".
Ziz hurriedly started to undress, throwing his clothes to a concerned looking David.
" What are you doing ", David asked perplexed while Liz just stared unashamedly at Ziz's naked form.
" I must approach unencumbered and free of material trappings " he replied, before moving of into the night.

David and Liz stood where they were, an eerie silence seemed to envelop the night as a weakling moon shone abstractly down. Ziz was now no more than a shadowy outline as he came to a halt before a smallish mound and started to sing in a gentle lilting dialect unlike any either of them had ever heard before. A slight breeze seemed to spring up and Ziz's gentle song fluctuated on the air at the same time as a greenish glow began to flow around him.

Fenrir moved another foot closer, the scent of the Tuath was now nearly overpowering his senses, bloody red rage filled his vision as he leapt, a strange sound wafted to his ears mid leap, a strange familiar song. He brushed the thought aside in the split second before his slavering jaws found their mark upon the neck of his intended victim, there was no thought of discovering the whereabouts of the things the Erlking wished, he was made for killing, and so it is what he did. In one powerful bite he felt the cartledge and bone give way before his powerful grasp, sweet red blood flowed thickly into his mouth, the Tuath did not even have time to cry out in pain, merely gurgle incoherently as his life slipped away. Further away Fenrir heard a scream but he had no time to see from where it came, with the lust now upon him he tore at the broken body beneath his massive paws, rended the skin from the bones and raised his fearsome snout and howled in triumph.

The song stopped abruptly and the green fog lifted for just a moment, just long enough for Ziz to see the massive, familiar shape of an old foe standing above the bloodied corpse of David Carson. Then he was transported away, the last sound he heard was Liz screaming his name but he couldnt move, bound as he was in dimensional transition.

Rompo held the struggling woman between his powerful arms and waggled his tongue leeringly in her face. Fenrir looked down at the mangled corpse beneath him and smelt the scent of the Tuath on the clothes in the humans arms, the other human scent was lost amidst the strong odour of the Tuath. His howl of triumph became one of unabated rage and fury, both the Rompo and the woman cowered before him in terror as his malevolant face swung towards them both.


The End........(maybe).









I've taken lots of liberty's with mythical creatures, places and legends, these links are for those who might be interested in my background research for this story.

Tuatha De Danaan

Fenrir

Erlking

Rompo

Ziz

The Mound of Tara

The Lia Fail, the spear of Lug, the sword of Nuadu, and the cauldron of Dagda

Mojo, you're getting better every day. Great story-line.
I especially liked the way you de-clothed him, for effect and purpose.
( I thought he was a goner.)

More to come?

Thanks siege, i think that'll be all i'll do with that story for this contest, but i will be adding to it, flesh it out a bit more and extend it for my own benefit.
I have a few idea's on how to get the hero, love interest and foe's facing off again. If your interested when ive written some more i'll post it for you.

Cheers mojo.

Thanks for 'setting the bar', m4s.

My pleasure masqua and thanks for your kind words and encouragement, as always.

Nice Work. M4S kickin' it fantasy style.

I think it's a pretty darn hard thing to take a very small chunk of what is obviously an EPIC story and present it on its own. You did a great job of alluding to the depth of all your characters, without getting bogged down in long tangents...no small task.

Instead you used lines like:

There had never been any doubt that the weapons would not be used, it was their moral duty, it was their weakness and their strength.

That line is PACKED with information. Immediately, the reader knows a TON about Ziz and his entire race.

Rock on.

Thanks Essedarius, hope youve got something coming for this contest.

That was incredible, I enjoyed it alot. Is there more?

Thanks antar, i'm working on fleshing it out a bit more, i'd like to explore Ziz's past a bit more and then flash forward to the future and have him facing off against Fenrir and the Erlking once more to try and rescue Liz, and there's a surprise twist in store. Thats the way i see it at the moment. If enough people are interested i'll post it up when i'm done. Thanks for your interest.

Super imagery on Fenrir.....

I don't read fantasy much but this was interesting.....

as always, good luck in the contest.

Thank you sdp333, much appreciated.
Theres some bloody good story's in this contest.

It's been awhile since I've read a bit of fantasy. (In fact, I added a bit of my own — Hugh Jackman as Ziz!!) **snaps back to reality** Great read!

Thanks maria, and since were fantasizing here i'm going to have to go for Kirsten Dunst as Liz. mmmmmmmmmm.

mojo out.

Wow, Mojo - excellent build: I especially liked the way Ziz explored the geography on her quest.

Nice work...

Cheers Outrageo, i'm sure you've noticed the quality of story's these contests provide, it's quite daunting mixing it with some of the talented people here, but hell fun!!

And your first submission's a beauty, i'm glad you joined in. Be seeing you around.

mojo