Alexo

Chapter 8: The Birth Of The Games

Alexo was marching across the vast, empty land of Greece.

Miles and miles of empty land.

Green grass, dark dirt, a scattering of trees every so often, and hills to climb.

Alexo cracked his neck while he stepped forward more and more. The bottoms of his feet were covered in dried blood, struggling to stay together after hundreds of miles of walking barefoot across the rocks and dry ground. A few hours of making his way across the empty land void of life.

He climbed one more hill, looking out when he saw a small village sitting.

But the village wasn't peaceful. There were no people thriving or going about their lives.

An army was charging towards the buildings, a much smaller one standing in a line with weapons visibly shaking.

The charging army was covered in very elaborate armor that covered most of their bodies.

While the defending army was wearing dirty robes with shields made of wood.

Alexo squeezed his hands, sprinting as quickly as he could towards the battle.

"I don't think we'll be able to survive!" One of the defenders shouted, visibly shaking while wearing a wooden helmet and wielding a very old spear with a rusted metal tip.

"Stand strong! We will fight together!" Another shouted.
The army continued to charge forward as the villagers were fighting back tears. Death charging forward towards them. The charging army had blank faces, cold and expressionless. The villagers were full of nothing but panic.

A beam of white light came flying in from the mountains, a massive explosion engulfing the army in a bright flash that was blinding the villagers.

They all shouted as the blast expanded out quickly, as if a wave of light racing towards the small village.

The villagers dropped their weapons, standing as frozen still as rocks.

The wall quickly faded in an instant, showing smoke and charred skeletons covered in melted metal that was fused to their bones. A hellish display of twisted death and art mixed together while the villagers kept staring.

One of them suddenly vomited, the sight and smell impossible to block out of their mind.

"The...the Gods saved us." One of the villagers spoke.

"I...I can't believe it." Another said.

They all turned towards the mountain, able to see a figure standing at the peak.

The villagers gasped, falling to their knees in an instant, the thudding filling the air as their knees nearly broke from how hard they dropped.

They all began to bow, stretching their arms out to pray to the figure at the top of the mountain.

Alexo stood tall, sighing as he could see what the people were doing. He seemed to be thinking, wanting to figure out a way to help them more.
So he began to walk down the mountain, marching ever slowly and carefully down towards the villagers.

The villagers gathered their wood and returned to their homes. Yet a single man was making his way towards the horrific graveyard. The pile of burned and melted flesh and bone fused with metal.

The smell was horrendous, so he covered his face while moving closer.

"What is your name?" A voice asked.

The man jumped and looked back at Alexo, who was walking towards him.

"I...my name is...Ajax." He said.