This paper was an old English assignment that I had to do when we were reading The Odyssey and we had to write a short story on it. It's not the best but hey I got it done in an hour and theirs probably all kinds of mistakes in it because this was due the next day lol. Well later.
Odysseus and his fallen Kingdom
Odysseus was on board his ship when he saw a red glow come from his land, Ithaca. The waves crashed against the ship as his men rowed harder and harder towards their homeland. The ship roared up on shore, and the men jumped out. All of them drew their weapons and ran out towards the city, but it seemed to be too late. Suddenly, something came at them from above. The winged demon swooped down, and it's rider threw a huge lance at Odysseus. He drew his sword and held it out in front of him. The lance struck the sword and it shattered. The dragon turned around and came towards Odysseus. He ducked as the rider retrieved his lance and flew high again. The heat from the dragon had burned part of Odysseus's beard.
"Archers!" he yelled out to his troops.
The men stood back as five archers stood beside each other and men with shields stood in between. The dragon turned around once more as the archers pulled back on the string and waited patiently for the call. The dragon came faster this time with its jaws spread wide open.
"Now!" Odysseus yelled.
The archers fired and the arrows pierced the dragons skin. The dragons scales were much harder than they thought. The dragon just kept coming. The men held their shields up to block the dragon. It poured rain of fire down upon them. The men fled back into the murky waters from which they came. Odysseus dived into the water. Fire laid on top of the water burning anyone who didn't hold his breath. He started sinking. Quickly he took off his heavy leather armor. The dragon made a few more passes overhead and then flew off into the darkness.
Odysseus and his men surfaced and went back towards shore.
"Look around. See if there is anything we can salvage. This place is destroyed and my kingdom is no more." He walks over and picks up a charred skull "Those riders destroyed our home." shouted Odysseus. He smashes the skull against the wall "…"and now they will pay. By morning we set out on a new journey. To find out who has done this and let their souls pay for this crime."
The next day Odysseus climbs up on top of a building and admires the sky. The sky was blue and clear with no cloud in sight. The bird calls were so beautiful. The sea winds felt good just as the air smelled nice and could make any man fall asleep in minutes. Odysseus looked down at his 'once' kingdom that now lay in rubble. He turned around to look at their ship that had been destroyed by dragon fire. This was just terrible. They had no food nor water and now no transportation to go anywhere. They had only the things they carried. Much was lost when they had to take their heavy clothes and armor off in fear of drowning.
Odysseus called his men and said "We shall travel to the east. That is where the kingdom of Afstania lies. It is only a few miles from here and. I can see it's towers. Once there, we can ask our allies for help and men. Then we will try to find out were these murderers stay. I will destroy them myself if I have to. Let us go!"
The men gathered their items and started to walk towards the east. They walked over the mountains and valleys following the dirt trail seemingly leading nowhere unless they looked at the towers. Their clothes by now had been reduced to rags that were weathered and torn. Their backs red from the sun rubbing against them had caused their to peel. By this time the guards by the entrance of the city could be seen. The guards look at Odysseus and his men and run to get help. More soldiers ran towards Odysseus and his men. A soldier comes up and hands Odysseus some water. He takes the jar and starts gulping the water. He drank too much and put too fast bottle and started coughing.
"Are you alright sir?" asks the guard.
Odysseus stands up and says, "Yes, now please help the rest of my soldiers as I talk with your king."
Odysseus enters the kingdom of Afstania. The people of the kingdom stopped what they were doing to examine Odysseus as he walks up the stairs to their kings room. King Alexander saw Odysseus he stood up in awe.
"Odysseus! My long time friend what has happened to you and your army?" asks Alexander.
"My home…My people…My family…have all been slaughtered. This is what's left of them. I ask for your help in this time of need. For my people cannot survive on our own." says Odysseus.
"Yes, anything thing you need. Your people are always welcome here. Let my servants serve you in any way they can." says Alexander.
A female servant comes and lays Odysseus down on a cotton bed and gives him water. She also hands him a pear that she pulled from her pouch.
"Eat this." she said "This fruit will heal your wounds."
"Who are you?" asked Odysseus.
"I am the goddess Athena. I've watched you and your men suffer before. This time I'm going to help."
"Why do you appear in the form of a servant?"
"Because I knew you were to come this way. I wanted you to."
"So, you're the one who destroyed Ithaca?"
"No, but I know someone who might. Hermes, I call to you." she cried out.
Hermes flew down from the clouds and hovered above the bed where Odysseus lie.
"Yes? I'm quite busy you know. So many errands to run with so little time. Ah, but what is it that you want with me?"
Odysseus stands up on the bed and says to him "My home has been destroyed. I need to find out who it was and how to get there."
"Yes, I know of this. Well, I'm not even sure who it was but I have a great feeling of where they are. There is a desert where no gods power has been able to work not even the great Zeus himself. Are you planning on going there?"
"Yes, I will destroy this evil and shout out my victory so my voice will be heard across the corners of the world."
"I must warn you though. You cannot walk through the sand. It is just like quick sand. There has to be something that can go over it, but not even I know what can."
Hermes flies away amongst the clouds. Athena disappeared without a trace. Odysseus eats the pear that Athena gave him, and he started feeling healthy again already. He took the sack that she left full of the pears and tied it onto his belt. He stepped off the bed and walked on the wooden floor over to the dresser. He found some better clothes than the rags he wore and started to undress. He dropped his shirt and his pants into a basket beside him. Just then a servant came into the room with a jug of water. Odysseus turns around not knowing that he was standing naked with someone else in the room. The servant dropped the jug. It burst open and glass and water spilled all over the floor. The servant ran out of the room. Odysseus quickly put on his clothes to ensure that no one else would try to barge in on the situation. He grabs his sword and exits the room. It was morning now and Odysseus awakens his men.
"Alexander has given me more men and also a giant carriage pulled by 10 horses!" says Odysseus.
The men got up and took a look at the giant thing. The structure was made of many planks of wood assembled together. It also had an assembly of weapons and food and water inside. The men walked into the carriage. Space was limited making it very uncomfortable, and people crammed inside. Odysseus stepped on the front and sat down in a seat.
"Go on" he yelled, and the horses walked forward out of the town. They rode in the carriage from sunrise until almost the afternoon when they finally saw their destination. They continued forward, but the horses started walking at a slower pace until they almost came to a complete stop.
"What's going on? Someone go down their and see what's going on." says Odysseus.
A soldier gets off the back and starts to notice why the horses weren't moving. They were sinking in the sand and so was the soldier. Odysseus held onto the soldier and pulled him out of the quicksand. The only problem was that the whole carriage was sinking as well. A screeching sound echoed across the canyons. Three dragon riders appeared high in the sky they launched fire balls at the carriage and the men ran out. Odysseus stood his ground with his sword out in front of him. A fire ball came and destroyed half the carriage. The dragon came closer. When the dragon was close enough Odysseus jumped and knocked off the other dragon rider.
Odysseus's archers tried to attack the other dragons but they were either too fast or their scales deflected the arrows. Odysseus went after the second dragon and swooped down low enough to attack. The rider turns around and shoots a bolt out of a cross bow. It soars into the air and digs deep into Odysseus's left shoulder. He grinds his teeth together to bear the pain and continues on. He pulls the bolt out and holds it still bloody in the other hand. He catches up and sends the bolt into the dragon riders neck. The rider falls to the ground, rolls, and his dead corpse stops.
The third dragon was a huge black one that sat on top a mountain. It's rider wore black armor with a long lance just as the same rider that destroyed the village had. But Odysseus was wounded pretty bad on his shoulder. There wasn't anyway that he could win or was there? Odysseus remembered about the pears that Athena gave him. He pulled three pears out and ate them. The blood ran back into his wound on his shoulder and sealed up as a scab and then a scar. He felt refreshed . Now he was ready. He had no weapon and made the situation much harder.
"Black Dragon Rider. I challenge you. You have destroyed our home and I seek revenge against your soul. You will pay." yells Odysseus.
There was no reply. The rider commanded the dragon to attack, and he held the lance out and speeded forward. The two dragons came closer and closer together. Odysseus ducked and the lance went soaring over his head. Odysseus grabbed hold of the lance. Odysseus kept a tight grip on it. The dragon rider was thrown off his dragon, but continued to hold onto the lance. Odysseus urged his dragon to push on and it sent the lance into the rider chest through him and into a rock wall. The dragon rider hung there bleeding to death while his dragon, without a rider, landed in the quicksand and killed itself. Later, Odysseus rebuilt the kingdom of Ithaca and he was announced king again. He was the bravest warrior of them all.