The Road To Musslinn

By Luke Neely

Chapter 1

The Stray Soldier

The Golden sheet of sand stretches over the horizon , old cactuses and dead trees flood the vast plains, an orange texture fills the air to make a blood stain coloured sky. The soft howl of the wind rebounds off the hard rock ground, like a whisper of a ghost.

The rivers have soaked up, the trees have died, and nothing more lives, nothing more survives for thousands and thousands of miles.

Gambella…that is the name which they gave to this god forsaken land. Such an awful, isolated, perilous place, however, so magnificent, and mysterious.

Right in the depth of hell, right in the middle of no where, lies the most beautiful, amazing holiest place on Earth.

Where there is only happiness, good fortune, safety, no more heat, no dry deserts but grass and water. They call it Musslinn, Life's Sanctuary. It is where salvation waits, a doorway to heaven.

A place so beautiful just waiting to be found. Only old folk talk about it's existence, few men have claimed to have been there, few men still dare to seek it…Musslinn, it is going to be found, by me…

The arched wooden door creaked as it opened, standing on the other side was a man dressed in dark-red robes. He was waring a small helmet with a sparkling green emerald on the top of the centre stem. Golden chains hung off the back and travelled down the man's rough neck like long hair. The man had a gracious look, standing at the doorway in another man's presence.

The other man was a lot bigger, both muscle and fat. He had moderate length hair, it had already lost its colour. His eyes were a light blue, full of experience. He was too wearing a dark-red robe, which folded at his feet. The rims were made of white silk. A long gold necklace hung over his neck, holding a red crystal.

The man at the door removed the helmet from his head.

"My Lord, some locals have picked up a stray soldier in the bamboo field…he's feared to be a Sacrean" The man said quickly, holding his helmet at his padded chest.

Lord Chapplinn put his quill down and looked up at the man.

"Where is he?" He asked, his voice calm and slow.

"The guards have got him down at the town centre, he's in critical shape, he was found begging for water, a group of youngsters went down into the bamboo fields for the night, he was armed when they found him, he didn't try to harm them though, as I said, he's in quite a state, I presume his been out there for a couple of days, he hasn't said a word, still, he looks like a Sacrean" The man went on, his voice skipping and stuttering. This was something that he was known to do. He was always worked up on something.

"Godric…calm yourself" Lord Chapplinn said, holding up his hand. Godric forced himself to a stop, swallowing.

"Take me to him" .

Godric led Lord Chapplinn down the stone staircase, which worked its way downwards to the bottom of the tower. Every five or so meters you would pass an artistic glass window. All with different pictures on them, though all of them with water and trees in them. Lord Chapplinn was obsessed with that kind of flora. Who wouldn't be, after being away from it for twenty years. They allowed for the long thick beams of light to come through and shine on the brown stone walls.

This building, as dirty as it may seem to outlanders, was in fact the most luxurious well-cared-for building in Veronica Camp. It was Lord Chapplinn's castle.

Lord Chapplinn was the King of Veronica Camp. He was the most respected and powerful man in the city, maybe even the whole country.

He was in his late fifties, though if you saw him yourself, except for his appearance, you'd think he was only young. He was highly energetic. A natural in combat skills. He had fought in many battles in his time. He had led the Romans into the Battle of Silianne, and had led them well. It was after that battle, where he led his army to the coast lines of South West Italy to fight the Vikings, that he came back victorious and had won approval of the King of Rome himself.

Such an honour it was, however, he was not rewarded in such ways as he had hoped for. Instead he was sent to the most awful place on Earth.

Gambella was located down in the border line of Egypt. Where there was nothing but desert. For thousands and thousands of miles there was nothing but wasteland, not until you got closer to one of the only rivers left, The Green Row.

This river stretched right through the desert and would eventually reach the ocean, on each side. No one had ever found out how deep it really was. No one ever would, The Green Row was infested with what the Egyptians called Satin's Dogs, but by the Romans, they were called Melosaurs. They were giant sea lizards, which preyed off whatever came into the river, being either birds, dogs, even humans. Few people who had actually seen one had lived to describe them, because they were usually the ones who were in the water at the time, it was really hard to catch sight of them on land, as their attack patterns were so fast, one second you'd see someone quietly standing in the water, one more and they were gone, with nothing left but bits of their carcasses, which float back up after time.

They were about five meters in length, the big ones could even reach ten. Most people described them as giant legless crocodiles, or giant snakes. They were the serpents of the Green Row. One of the most aggressive, lethal carnivores of the sea.

This was not the only thing that the people of Veronica Camp had to watch out for though, there was another enemy species which roamed the lands of Gambella. A much larger and dangerous group.

The Sacreans were part of the Egyptian Civilization. Their leader was Barloss Varamakka. He was considered one of the most immoral men of Africa. He was a man of no mercy. He would send his armies into islands of the Mediterranean Sea and completely wipe them out, killing every living soul there. The Sacreans considered their homeland to be the north African Regions, which consisted of Gambella.

Chapplinn feared the day when the Sacreans would discover his presence in Gambella. If they ever did find out it would be the end of Veronica Camp.

The more Chapplinn thought about this, he started to feel more like Godric, who was still muttering nervously to himself. If it was true and he was a Sacrean, then it would mean a lot of things. Quite frankly, Chapplinn didn't want to think of them. He preferred to hope that it was just a misunderstanding and that this man was just a native of the desert or something. The chances did seem remote though, how often did you come across people who weren't from Veronica just wondering around the desert.

Godric opened the door which led to the outside of the castle. All of a sudden Chapplinn felt the sudden blast of heat spill over his face. His eyes squinted as they crossed the dirt yard and moved towards the big stone gate. The castle was located in the northern regions of the city but it was shut off by a large fortified wall. The walls made a square perimeter of about one square kilometre. Inside the castle grounds was also a church, which was for the most highly regarded residents of Veronica. It was also the home of Generio Tukkesattie, the most respected priest of Veronica, and a very close friend to Chapplinn.

Their were also a couple of nice stone houses with exotic plants growing around them. This was where the other members of the castle lived.

The last building was a small restaurant, which served either fish, duck, or berries. There was not a lot of variety in the food of Veronica. Most people decided to take care of their own food and go out into the river to fish. There were a lot of fish in the Green Row. No one was thick enough to go anymore than fifty miles of the docks, because that was where the Melosaurs started to breed. They were rarely seen close to the docks because there wasn't as many animals coming in. The Melosaur knew that they were better off hunting for animals than humans because the humans were always on boats, and were sometimes armed. The animals were defenceless, and hadn't quite figured out that the river was a dangerous place. They would catch a lot more animals out in the wilderness than in the harbour. Though, when people did choose to travel downstream, there was a big chance that they would never be seen again.

Godric and Chapplinn stopped at the metal gate and looked up to one of the guards standing on the right turret. There was a turret on each side of the gate. The guard nodded at Lord Chapplinn after inspecting him from his turret. The gates opened, making a rhythmic sound.

Through the gates was the city of Veronica. After your first few seconds of standing there, you would get the whole idea of the city. Everywhere was people, dressed in all kinds of ways, all heavily tanned. The whole city was like a giant super market. All along the alley ways and paths were mats and rugs with antiques or foods on them.

Everyone ran their own business, you had to if you wanted to survive. It was a cruel world.

Everyone was competing against each other to get the better lifestyle, everyone was prepared to ruin someone else's life just to better their's. No one thought about each other, they only cared about themselves. Lord Chapplinn had said so many times before, Gambella was a horrible place…but it was home, and even this place could make an acceptation.

Godric and Chapplinn finally reached the town centre. This building was where everyone in this area of the city would meet every fortnight. There were five main town centres in Veronica, these were Nessa, Urbino, Sousse, Modica, and Lecco. This meant that there were five different sections of the city, none of them looked any different and the people were all the same. It was just to keep the city more controlled.

Veronica was about twenty-five square kilometres in size. It wasn't really a big city but with all the buildings and people it seemed huge. Immediately where the buildings stopped, there would be bamboo, and nothing but bamboo for miles and miles. These bamboo fields were what isolated Veronica from the rest of the world, apart from the vast desert plains. Gambella was a strange place, it was like another planet. After living in Veronica it would seem as though it was the only place on Earth. The people of Gambella had not seen grass in over a two decades, the people who were born there had never seen it at all. The only place where trees could be found was toward the East side of the country, where there was a thick dangerous jungle which had never been properly explored. Somewhere in that jungle was a river, a second river which led to somewhere no one ever dreamed of reaching. That was Musslinn (according to legend).

There was a large crowd of people at the Sousse Town Centre. People were pushing and barging to get a better look at whatever was there. There were guards who wore helmets, a lot less decorated than Godric's, and they were holding long rusty swords.

"Back off, there's nothing to see here!" Guards would yell out repetitively.

Godric and Chapplinn drew closer to the crowd and then they were noticed.

"Everyone make way for the king!" One of the guards yelled out. No one seemed to take much notice though. Godric fell back to let Chapplinn step in front of him as they moved into the crowd. They realised that they would just have to push through.

Godric had always preferred to take the wagon, but most of the time Chapplinn would insist on walking, unless he had to get to the other side of the city.

Chapplinn put his arms forward and slowly made his way through the sea of people until finally he got to an opening.

Underneath the shades of the town centre was a group of guards, they were all surrounding a topless man. He was on his knees and had a metal cuff around his neck, which was attached to a chain held by one of the guards.

Everyone cleared as Lord Chapplinn reached them. The constant yelling had stopped and now everyone was looking towards their king.

Chapplinn stood in front of the man. He was well built, and fairly tall, with a couple of battle scars on his chest and back. Just by looking at him once you could easily assume that he was a soldier.

He had thick overgrown brown hair, his fringe was covering his eyes.

Chapplinn examined him carefully, and then something else caught his attention. On his left shoulder was a symbol. It had been engraved into his skin with what looked like a burnt knife. Chapplinn had never seen that symbol before, but it was definitely African. It was a vertical oval, with a smaller one in the middle, and a half on each side. It confused Chapplinn, and it certainly did make him comfortable. It simply meant that there was someone else out in Gambella, not of Veronica Camp, most probably the Sacreans.

Chapplinn stared at the symbol for a long moment, and then looked at the man, who was still looking down, taking deep breaths.

"Soldier! Arise!" Chapplinn declared out aloud. The man didn't react but was pulled up by the guards and was forced to face Chapplinn. One of the guards held his head in place, holding his hair out of his face.

"Do you have a name?" Chapplinn asked. The man just stared, his eyes half closed.

"What is your name?" Chapplinn tried again. There was still no response. One of the other guards grabbed the man by the head and shook it violently.

"You will answer the King!". After a moments pause Chapplinn tried another approach.

"You don't see things like that everyday…where did you get it" He said, gesturing towards the symbol on the man's arm. There was still no answer.

"How long have you been out there?" Chapplinn asked.

The man still looked weary eyed at Chapplinn and then he finally spoke.

"Where am I?" He asked. His voice was scratchy and worn out.

"If I was to tell you that, I would be forbidden to let you go" Chapplinn said calmly.

"I wasn't expecting you to let me go anyway" He said. Chapplinn chuckled quietly.

"How right you were, but I was thinking that we could maybe come to some conclusion…you see, a lot of my people are alarmed by your presence, it's not everyday that we get an outlander wondering around our bamboo fields. If you were to help us figure out who you are, then I assure you, your death will be quick and painless…but if you don't cooperate, then we will find an alternative" Chapplinn explained evilly.

As much as the man wasn't showing it, it was impossible to not feel scared from Chapplinn's threats, but everyone else knew that Lord Chapplinn was not a man of violence, he actually had no intention of killing him. It was true that he was not going to ever leave Veronica alive, he would just be locked up though, but Chapplinn had faith in himself. He was good with people. He could instantly tell about people, and would always find a way to get to them.

The Man looked at Lord Chapplinn,

"What do you want to know?" The man asked casually. Chapplinn shrugged.

"Well we could start with your name" Chapplinn said.

"It doesn't matter what my name is…what do you really want to know" The man asked.

Chapplinn's mouth dropped. He stood back, unprepared for what the man just asked him.

"…Where are you from?" He asked. The man looked around.

"Africa, actually I was born in Italy" The man said.

"You're a warrior aren't you, which army is it?" Chapplinn asked.

"I'm not a warrior, I'm a slave, well I was a slave…now I'm a prisoner, and who are you?" The man asked. Chapplinn suddenly lost his patients.

"No One cares who I am, are you a Sacrean?" Chapplinn asked.

Just from hearing the words, the crowd of people became uneasy. A small grin spread across the man's face.

"Shh!…" He hissed, and he pointed into the bamboo. Chapplinn spun around, his eyes fully open. Everyone else went silent and they all stared out into the bamboo fields. The only sound was the wind, and the distant birds.

The man moved his hands through the air.

"They're out there…they're watching us…" He whispered menacingly. Every word made Chapplinn more scared. He scanned the edge of the bamboo fields. He watched the light disappear in the green. The man was still whispering to himself. Chapplinn's eyes were still scanning the bamboo fields, and then he turned back to the man.

"Shut up!" He yelled. The man stopped.

Chapplinn looked at the guard holding the chain which went around the man's neck.

"Lock him up…do not give him any food or water, he can wait until tomorrow" Chapplinn said angrily, and then he looked into the man's dark brown eyes.

"I'll speak to you tomorrow, and you better answer properly, or I swear we will kill you, you got it?" Chapplinn said, staring the man in the eye. The man stared back, keeping his face serious and determined, but relaxed.

"Take him away!" Chapplinn declared, and with the wave of his hand, the man was taken away from the town centre and down the long dirt road, between thick rows of stone houses, toward the prison.