This is an ongoing work, and as I get time to delve deeper into these disturbing events of just a few years ago I will reveal to you enwondered reader just what happens next!
Prelude to a Saga:
Long ages ago, before the Empire of Rome rose to mimic the far greater one that had come long before it and had passed away forever, before the cold ice came from the north to make men sleep deep in mountain caves and before the wonders of Atlantis were lost to men forever, there existed the twin Empires of Earth and Mars. The Empire of Earth was shattered in the catastrophe that led to the destruction of Atlantis, its lands taken by its former slaves, and Earth became the Realm of its former minions. The Empire of Mars lasted far longer but now was an Empire only in name, for it too had split, and although the Emperor was still the nominal head of the Empire, yet still did the real power rest in the hands of the Dukes of Mars.
Old indeed was the Empire of Mars, and though much knowledge had been lost since the Golden Age of the Twin Empires, still much remained which was far beyond the ken of the former minions of the Empire of Earth. This knowledge included the secret of near-immortality: with each generation living to 500 years or more only 20 generations have passed since the end of the last ice age on Earth! Other powers too are kept only on Mars, for they have faded away to nothing or something very near it, and now the powers of the one-time Lords of Earth are diluted a thousand-fold and their descendants display their meagre talents in Circus sideshows, performing parlour tricks and feats of magick.
The Lords of Mars hold the denizens of Earth in contempt and will use them only for slaves. Many Earthlings have been taken and brought to Mars to work there as slaves where they are all worked mercilessly by slave overlords in the huge Martian Plantations. Or almost all....
The Martian Saga
Chapter the first- A Strange Visit.
John Neerb, a former slave, trudged through the rain soaked marketplace. He was named Neerb for the plant he had farmed while he was a slave. A full head taller than most of the crowd, and with an old faded soldier's cloak dripping rainwater wrapped around his broad shoulders, Neerb had the gait of a gladiator- and so he was; the only gladiator to be freed by the Emperor himself! Few recognised the warrior who had led the slave rebellion which had smashed the Dukedom of Korl. Neerb had gathered a huge army of slaves and had defeated the forces of the cruel tyrant Duke Korl and had then been defeated narrowly in battle by the combined armies of the other Dukes of Mars. Neerb been sentenced to death in the Arena for leading the rebellion by none other than the Emperor himself and had been freed from the Arena by none other than the Emperor himself.
Neerb had been born on Earth, in a city called Blanch. He never knew his parents as they died when he was too young to remember and this indeed was how the Lords of Mars took their slaves: they were scooped from certain death at a very early age. The car crash which took the lives of Neerb's parents would have taken his life too had not Duke Korl's men intervened and saved the infant Earthling from certain death. A slave feels less resentment towards his master if he knows that that same master has saved his life. Neerb was taken to Mars and brought to one of the Duke's plantations where he was raised as a slave, and taught how to tend the fields of Neerb. Neerb is a flax-like plant which through the subtle arts of Mars, which are forgotten on Earth, it could be woven into a fabric more lustrous and smoother than silk or into a rope stronger than any steel. It was used to make the wondrous waterproof cloaks of the Great Lords of Mars, and to make the tents in which their armies slept, and to make the clothes of the slaves who were needed to tend the swaying fields of red Neerb, which was the backbone of the Martian economy.
It was a feudal Martian society into which Neerb was thrust. Many Lords treated their slaves as valued employees, but not the Duke of Korl who with his most trusted Barons heaped misery upon his slaves, raping their women, and hanging any who dared protest this barbaric treatment. Many cottages of the poorest folk upon the plantation were burned to the ground and their inhabitants slaughtered like sheep to provide entertainment for the Duke, his sons and his Barons. When Neerb's betrothed, Eerla, was raped and murdered by the Duke's eldest son, Neerb killed him in anger. When the Duke learned of his son's death, he gathered his sons and his Barons about him and set out to avenge himself on the slayer of his flesh and blood, chasing him far into the wild Ridge Mountains. But during the Hunt the hunters became the hunted, when Neerb discovered that he had a natural skill as a hunter, and he stalked the Duke and his party, killing any who strayed too far from the rest, and for the first time the Merciless Duke of Korl knew fear. Eventually the Duke and the remnants of his party fled from Neerb and having reached the safety of his great Citadel Hivas, the Duke of Korl never more ventured out until the victorious army of Neerb brought him out amidst the cheering throng and hacked off his hands and his feet and finally his head.
Seeing the threat that a whole province of freed slaves presented to the stability of the Empire, the other Lords of Mars raised their War Hosts and marched forth to battle under the Banners of the Emperor for the first time in thousands of years. The two armies met on the War Plains of Korl, and though well-led and highly motivated, the army of Neerb was no match for the trained professionals of the other Dukes. The army of Neerb was smashed and their shield walls broken, and they all would have been slaughtered on the spot had not the Emperor himself intervened and ordered them to be spared, and their grievances redressed for he had known of their sad plight under the tyranny of the Duke of Korl but had been powerless to do anything about it. The leaders of the rebellion however were taken and tried with high treason, and sentenced to death in the Arena.
The Arena was where the criminals of Mars met their fate. The Coliseum in Rome was a mere shadow of the glory of the Emperor's Arena. Situated in Buij, the Capital city of Mars, the Arena seated over two hundred thousand spectators of contests to the death that featured animals long extinct on Earth. Sabre-tooth cats and Great Bears the size of elephants prowled the floor of the Arena among the bodies of the slain and brought justice and entertainment to the Arena. Spectators cheered and jeered as thieves and murderers screamed as they were chased to their doom while at other times trained gladiators would fight to the death, or knights would joust for honour and glory. Chief among the spectacles of the Arena was the 'To-Van' or Ritual of Death for Treason. When such rituals were performed the largest animal of the Arena was roused and kept hungry: the Meldaar. The Meldaar was a large meat eating dinosaur not unlike the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, and when it spied it's prey, it would never stop or rest or even seek other easier prey until it had brought down what it hunted. Traitors who were fed to the Meldaar were armed with shield and sword in order to prolong the amusement, but most merely tossed the weapons aside and ran in panic until slain from behind by the inhumanly fast Meldaar. Those few who kept their weapons and faced the Meldaar soon discovered that the skin of a dinosaur is not easily pierced, even by a blade made from Buijan steel.
It was into this Arena that Neerb was forced. Armed with a sword and a shield, he awaited his fate like a warrior should: sword unsheathed and shield at the ready, his cold steel-grey eyes gazing impassively over the rim of his shield, waiting for the great doors to open and the beast called Meldaar to be unleashed like an avenging angel. The Emperor himself was in attendance, along with his family. His youngest daughter played on the parapet in front of the royal box and as the Meldaar entered the arena she fell and as she hit the sandy floor of the Arena below she screamed and the Meldaar did not look at Neerb but instead gazed upon the Emperor's five year old daughter. With a snarl that showed it's five inch teeth, each as sharp as razors, it advanced on the hapless child, only to roar in anger as Neerb slashed at it's delicate ankle tendons with his sword. It turned and roared it's defiance at Neerb before once more turning to it's chosen prey. Neerb once again slashed at it's tendons, this time cutting a narrow furrow in the skin of the beast from which blood like black ichor spilled. Again the beast turned, and this time took a few steps towards Neerb to chase him away from the chosen prey of the Meldaar. When it turned it's attention back to the screaming child Neerb struck again, and cut through the beast's tendon! The wounded beast went into a frenzy of anger and Neerb was swept aside by the Meldaar and almost crushed underneath it.
By now the Emperor's bodyguard had reached the Arena floor and pulled both Neerb and the Princess to safety. The crowd roared with approval when they heard that The Princess Flaiya (for such was her name) was safe and sound, and wept with sorrow when they learned of the death of the brave soul they had seen save her. Under the floor of the Arena the Emperor had embraced his daughter and shaken the hand of the man who had saved her as over their heads the Emperor's bodyguard finished of the beast called Meldaar. The Emperor told Neerb that it was better if he 'died' in the Arena that night, for then none of the Lords of Mars would suspect the Emperor of interference in 'their' affairs. The Emperor said that since the Lords of Mars had gathered under his banners to defeat the rebellion the Emperor's power had grown but as yet he dared not defy his Dukes openly. He did however get them to agree to the appointment of the dead Duke's brother as the new Duke of Korl.
The new Duke been exiled from Korl by his brother for attempting to interfere with his mistreatment of his slaves, and he realised that had there been a strong central authority, then his brother would never had permitted to carry out his atrocities for so long; the new Duke supported the Emperor's cause. The Emperor's parting gift to Neerb had been long life. "I can't give you the full span of years that we have, Earthling, but yet shall you live longer than any other from your benighted planet."
All this had happened years before, and since then Neerb had experienced many adventures, won kingdoms and lost them, and had even returned to the Arena to fight for the love of a Lady. Older and wiser too was he after his adventures and now he cast a quizzical eye over the message he had received. It was not very often that he received a message crystal- they were difficult to make and had to be 'tuned' to the recipient. There were two ways to get a message crystal- make one yourself, or buy one from the bazaar. To make one from scratch was a task only for the skillful, and to buy one was expensive. Neerb crushed his between his hands; had it not been properly 'tuned' to him it would have been impossible to break, though for the intended recipient it was easier than cracking an egg. From the crystal came a little puff of glittering dust, and then a small figure appeared within it and grew to about a foot high. It was the Emperor!
'Greeting to you, Neerb' intoned the figure. 'The Empire has need of your talents. It has not passed our notice that you have certain skills which you make available for hire, and now it is the Empire which will be your paymaster! Be at the Traitor's Gate at midnight!' With that, the figure disappeared.
Wow! What happens next? I have to see now!
Let me skip straight to chapter three!
Lord, I feel the call of chapter four!
I feel compelled to share my thoughts and feelings: Maomuire@hotmail.com