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Tortured fingers looted through the thick dirt and dust, their master blind to their operation. On the right hand the index finger had located an object, it alerted the other hand to its position and immediately both hands worked in unison to unearth the artefact.
Soon the object was free from the earth’s prison. The body which had discovered it edged slightly forward, where very dim rays of light sprung from the tunnels otherwise dark sides.
Eyes squinted and fingertips worked to remove the last remaining dirt from the object, it was soon exposed, and gave a faint shine in one of the shards of light, a coin.
A violent scurry was heard not far behind, a grim voice muttered to itself.
There was little time as the creature in pursuit continued to follow, its head swung around from left to right, searching the whole area. Pointed ears were just visible on a very dim silhouette portrayed against one of the tunnel’s walls. The shadow leapt forward, before taking a break, breathing heavily and cursing.
The man not far ahead now, was still squinting to read the etched words that were apparent on both sides. His blackened hands were feeling the engravings that appeared to elude his vision.
The shadow now revealed more features about its owner as it turned evermore viciously with spite around a weak bend in the tunnel. Its eyes bulged on its face in an unusual fashion. It had a long snout that had a peculiar twist at the end, giving the creature an odd expression at every swing of its head. Its body appeared to be very thin, yet buckled, with the bumps from a ridged spine making their mark on the creature’s skin. Its arms appeared even ganglier than the torso and the hands were tatty, with odd extra flaps of skin over the knuckles.
Suddenly the creature froze and began to twitch with not only excitement but also with relief. It had spied the perpetrator.
The man heard a soft snorting behind him as the creature’s muzzle let out a gentle laugh in mockery. His body twisted forwards, desperate to escape from the creature. He tugged on roots that were just ahead of him, his body surged forward, as he did so his old, worn clothes snagged on a protruding rock from one of the tunnel’s sides. Relentless the body continued to try and escape both the creature and the darkness.
Both eyes still fixed on the man, the soft snorting was still and the creature again began to jump around in excitement.
Blood stained hands and shattered fingernails were the first to feel the night’s cold air as they reached the exit of the tunnel, the man hauled himself free of the darkness’s grasp and crawled into a cold night. Snow had fallen onto to the ground and a bitter wind was causing the long grass nearby to tremble with its might.
Then the creature sprung from the tunnel, it shook its ugly head free of dirt.
The full horror of the creature was revealed against the gleaming snow. With an inquisitive hand it scooped some snow off of the ground revealing lime green shoots, previously hidden by the white blanket. It placed the snow into its gaping jaws, which firmly shut, locking the slush in its mouth. Disgusted with the taste it spat, the now water, from its mouth.
The man was still clambering through the snow covered undergrowth. The slightly rusted coin still tightly held in one of his palms.
An angry curse was relieved by the creature and it threw itself forward, it pounced upon the man’s back. No taller than three feet, it had the agility to avoid any punches thrown in defence by the man. It sunk bitten nails into his flesh, blood spewed and a cry was let out.
The coin rolled free from his grasp into the snow, the perfect silver colouring tainted by dark maroon blood. One word was clearly visible now:
‘Aequitas’
Soon the object was free from the earth’s prison. The body which had discovered it edged slightly forward, where very dim rays of light sprung from the tunnels otherwise dark sides.
Eyes squinted and fingertips worked to remove the last remaining dirt from the object, it was soon exposed, and gave a faint shine in one of the shards of light, a coin.
A violent scurry was heard not far behind, a grim voice muttered to itself.
There was little time as the creature in pursuit continued to follow, its head swung around from left to right, searching the whole area. Pointed ears were just visible on a very dim silhouette portrayed against one of the tunnel’s walls. The shadow leapt forward, before taking a break, breathing heavily and cursing.
The man not far ahead now, was still squinting to read the etched words that were apparent on both sides. His blackened hands were feeling the engravings that appeared to elude his vision.
The shadow now revealed more features about its owner as it turned evermore viciously with spite around a weak bend in the tunnel. Its eyes bulged on its face in an unusual fashion. It had a long snout that had a peculiar twist at the end, giving the creature an odd expression at every swing of its head. Its body appeared to be very thin, yet buckled, with the bumps from a ridged spine making their mark on the creature’s skin. Its arms appeared even ganglier than the torso and the hands were tatty, with odd extra flaps of skin over the knuckles.
Suddenly the creature froze and began to twitch with not only excitement but also with relief. It had spied the perpetrator.
The man heard a soft snorting behind him as the creature’s muzzle let out a gentle laugh in mockery. His body twisted forwards, desperate to escape from the creature. He tugged on roots that were just ahead of him, his body surged forward, as he did so his old, worn clothes snagged on a protruding rock from one of the tunnel’s sides. Relentless the body continued to try and escape both the creature and the darkness.
Both eyes still fixed on the man, the soft snorting was still and the creature again began to jump around in excitement.
Blood stained hands and shattered fingernails were the first to feel the night’s cold air as they reached the exit of the tunnel, the man hauled himself free of the darkness’s grasp and crawled into a cold night. Snow had fallen onto to the ground and a bitter wind was causing the long grass nearby to tremble with its might.
Then the creature sprung from the tunnel, it shook its ugly head free of dirt.
The full horror of the creature was revealed against the gleaming snow. With an inquisitive hand it scooped some snow off of the ground revealing lime green shoots, previously hidden by the white blanket. It placed the snow into its gaping jaws, which firmly shut, locking the slush in its mouth. Disgusted with the taste it spat, the now water, from its mouth.
The man was still clambering through the snow covered undergrowth. The slightly rusted coin still tightly held in one of his palms.
An angry curse was relieved by the creature and it threw itself forward, it pounced upon the man’s back. No taller than three feet, it had the agility to avoid any punches thrown in defence by the man. It sunk bitten nails into his flesh, blood spewed and a cry was let out.
The coin rolled free from his grasp into the snow, the perfect silver colouring tainted by dark maroon blood. One word was clearly visible now:
‘Aequitas’
Thanks for the feedback. :-)
I'm glad BG had revealed what 'Aequitas' meant, otherwise I would have been left wondering. Otherwise it's a top story - shows you can do something intelligent, and still have a creature that's all claws and death...
Goddamn, this comp's getting tougher and tougher with every entry I read.
Excellent descriptions.
Excellent descriptions.
Silent Thunder wrote:
> Also just out of interest do you know much Latin?
I know some.
It's quite useful at times actually. Perhaps surprisingly so, with the current climate for learning such things as "dead" languages.
> Also just out of interest do you know much Latin?
I know some.
It's quite useful at times actually. Perhaps surprisingly so, with the current climate for learning such things as "dead" languages.
I'm taking Latin for GCSE and have been learning it sicne year 7, although what I know isn't that strong ...
I am nothing compared to the might of a Dictionary ;o)
I am nothing compared to the might of a Dictionary ;o)
Silent Thunder wrote:
> Also just out of interest do you know much Latin?
Nothing more than a Latin dictionary :)
> Also just out of interest do you know much Latin?
Nothing more than a Latin dictionary :)
It's actually a section of an on going piece I'm currently writing so, yeah it doesn't really have much relevance on its own. Thanks for the comments though. :-)
Also just out of interest do you know much Latin?
Also just out of interest do you know much Latin?
"Aequitas" - Latin for "fairness, justice". Not sure of the relevance, but yeah, nicely expressed. It captured the tension of the dark cave and the pursuit pretty well.
Tortured fingers looted through the thick dirt and dust, their master blind to their operation. On the right hand the index finger had located an object, it alerted the other hand to its position and immediately both hands worked in unison to unearth the artefact.
Soon the object was free from the earth’s prison. The body which had discovered it edged slightly forward, where very dim rays of light sprung from the tunnels otherwise dark sides.
Eyes squinted and fingertips worked to remove the last remaining dirt from the object, it was soon exposed, and gave a faint shine in one of the shards of light, a coin.
A violent scurry was heard not far behind, a grim voice muttered to itself.
There was little time as the creature in pursuit continued to follow, its head swung around from left to right, searching the whole area. Pointed ears were just visible on a very dim silhouette portrayed against one of the tunnel’s walls. The shadow leapt forward, before taking a break, breathing heavily and cursing.
The man not far ahead now, was still squinting to read the etched words that were apparent on both sides. His blackened hands were feeling the engravings that appeared to elude his vision.
The shadow now revealed more features about its owner as it turned evermore viciously with spite around a weak bend in the tunnel. Its eyes bulged on its face in an unusual fashion. It had a long snout that had a peculiar twist at the end, giving the creature an odd expression at every swing of its head. Its body appeared to be very thin, yet buckled, with the bumps from a ridged spine making their mark on the creature’s skin. Its arms appeared even ganglier than the torso and the hands were tatty, with odd extra flaps of skin over the knuckles.
Suddenly the creature froze and began to twitch with not only excitement but also with relief. It had spied the perpetrator.
The man heard a soft snorting behind him as the creature’s muzzle let out a gentle laugh in mockery. His body twisted forwards, desperate to escape from the creature. He tugged on roots that were just ahead of him, his body surged forward, as he did so his old, worn clothes snagged on a protruding rock from one of the tunnel’s sides. Relentless the body continued to try and escape both the creature and the darkness.
Both eyes still fixed on the man, the soft snorting was still and the creature again began to jump around in excitement.
Blood stained hands and shattered fingernails were the first to feel the night’s cold air as they reached the exit of the tunnel, the man hauled himself free of the darkness’s grasp and crawled into a cold night. Snow had fallen onto to the ground and a bitter wind was causing the long grass nearby to tremble with its might.
Then the creature sprung from the tunnel, it shook its ugly head free of dirt.
The full horror of the creature was revealed against the gleaming snow. With an inquisitive hand it scooped some snow off of the ground revealing lime green shoots, previously hidden by the white blanket. It placed the snow into its gaping jaws, which firmly shut, locking the slush in its mouth. Disgusted with the taste it spat, the now water, from its mouth.
The man was still clambering through the snow covered undergrowth. The slightly rusted coin still tightly held in one of his palms.
An angry curse was relieved by the creature and it threw itself forward, it pounced upon the man’s back. No taller than three feet, it had the agility to avoid any punches thrown in defence by the man. It sunk bitten nails into his flesh, blood spewed and a cry was let out.
The coin rolled free from his grasp into the snow, the perfect silver colouring tainted by dark maroon blood. One word was clearly visible now:
‘Aequitas’
Soon the object was free from the earth’s prison. The body which had discovered it edged slightly forward, where very dim rays of light sprung from the tunnels otherwise dark sides.
Eyes squinted and fingertips worked to remove the last remaining dirt from the object, it was soon exposed, and gave a faint shine in one of the shards of light, a coin.
A violent scurry was heard not far behind, a grim voice muttered to itself.
There was little time as the creature in pursuit continued to follow, its head swung around from left to right, searching the whole area. Pointed ears were just visible on a very dim silhouette portrayed against one of the tunnel’s walls. The shadow leapt forward, before taking a break, breathing heavily and cursing.
The man not far ahead now, was still squinting to read the etched words that were apparent on both sides. His blackened hands were feeling the engravings that appeared to elude his vision.
The shadow now revealed more features about its owner as it turned evermore viciously with spite around a weak bend in the tunnel. Its eyes bulged on its face in an unusual fashion. It had a long snout that had a peculiar twist at the end, giving the creature an odd expression at every swing of its head. Its body appeared to be very thin, yet buckled, with the bumps from a ridged spine making their mark on the creature’s skin. Its arms appeared even ganglier than the torso and the hands were tatty, with odd extra flaps of skin over the knuckles.
Suddenly the creature froze and began to twitch with not only excitement but also with relief. It had spied the perpetrator.
The man heard a soft snorting behind him as the creature’s muzzle let out a gentle laugh in mockery. His body twisted forwards, desperate to escape from the creature. He tugged on roots that were just ahead of him, his body surged forward, as he did so his old, worn clothes snagged on a protruding rock from one of the tunnel’s sides. Relentless the body continued to try and escape both the creature and the darkness.
Both eyes still fixed on the man, the soft snorting was still and the creature again began to jump around in excitement.
Blood stained hands and shattered fingernails were the first to feel the night’s cold air as they reached the exit of the tunnel, the man hauled himself free of the darkness’s grasp and crawled into a cold night. Snow had fallen onto to the ground and a bitter wind was causing the long grass nearby to tremble with its might.
Then the creature sprung from the tunnel, it shook its ugly head free of dirt.
The full horror of the creature was revealed against the gleaming snow. With an inquisitive hand it scooped some snow off of the ground revealing lime green shoots, previously hidden by the white blanket. It placed the snow into its gaping jaws, which firmly shut, locking the slush in its mouth. Disgusted with the taste it spat, the now water, from its mouth.
The man was still clambering through the snow covered undergrowth. The slightly rusted coin still tightly held in one of his palms.
An angry curse was relieved by the creature and it threw itself forward, it pounced upon the man’s back. No taller than three feet, it had the agility to avoid any punches thrown in defence by the man. It sunk bitten nails into his flesh, blood spewed and a cry was let out.
The coin rolled free from his grasp into the snow, the perfect silver colouring tainted by dark maroon blood. One word was clearly visible now:
‘Aequitas’