This is the title of your first blog post
Age of Beasts
Sample Chapter:
It happened long ago,
a great race ended;
They thought themselves as Gods,
they ruled through science and technology,
they forgot the things of nature.
Now, they are the fallen race.
The beasts of the earth were risen up to their likeness;
Cities fell to ruin and became forgotten;
Technology crumbled.
The beast clans rose,
the race fell to serve,
a lesson in humility.
Chapter One
The sun’s light burst through holes in the building, practically forcing her eyes awake in the moldy, crumbly, ruins of what was once a building, in what was once a city.
“Ugh.” A small noise escaped the young woman’s mouth on awakening. Little pains, like pins, stabbed through her as she stretched her arms and legs. A yawn forced itself out of her.
Her legs were long and lean. She could run fast as a wild rabbit, almost as fast as her horse. Her arms were well built from eighteen years of good physical use. She was wiry and agile; she had to be agile, fast and quick witted. There was no choice – every scavenger, trader or seller, had to be fast and smart. Fortunately she was both.
It was starting to feel hot already. Sweat beads gathered on her forehead and dripped down her cheeks. Looking around, she examined the holes, created by years of decay. Some of those holes in this building were big enough to walk through and she did exit through one of them.
She walked outside, just grateful to still be alone. Her cart had an assortment of things jewelry, weaponry, knick-knacks, even some books; most everything found in the abandoned areas. She took them to the big cities to sell.
This was her life, a scavenger in a land of predators. Here, humans were the prey, the pets, the servants, and sometimes food. She’d picked the old building to stay in for this night, not really certain what it was or what it was made from. It was just a rotting structure; to her it looked like bits of the clay of the earth, faded in color and cracked from age.
She was Kyra Lynne.
Storm nuzzled Kyra’s yellow hair that curled just past her shoulders. She patted his soft coat. His stomach quivered and hers rumbled.
“Where is there any food around here?” Kyra asked aloud. Looking to Storm, she smiled. “Got any ideas?”
Storm whinnied and gave his head a shake. Kyra recalled what her dad had said about horses - they were already the most perfect creatures. When the other beasts had risen they’d had no need to.
As Kyra stroked Storm’s mane, she thought about her father. About five years ago, her parents disappeared. They were separated during a sandstorm. Kyra still missed them so much and dreamed of one day finding them.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kyra said to Storm, and patted his coat again. He whinnied, his head bobbing up and down in agreement.
After hooking up the cart, Kyra climbed up onto Storm’s back. He made another noise and started away. Storm’s head bobbed up and down as his powerful hooves hit the dirt, sending it into the air.
“Let’s go find some food.” Kyra could feel the movements of muscles under Storm’s skin, giving her a slight up and down bounce.
His steps resounded with dull thuds as they hit the ground. It would be a long ride to the forest, maybe till midday. Once there, they could find food and water; with that hope they trudged on.
Finally they approached the forest. The shade of the trees was a refreshing change from the heat of the sun.
Through the trees, the sun’s rays hit something reflective. Storm stopped and nibbled on some grass while Kyra investigated the area. Glancing at Storm, she thought at least he has something to eat. She turned and wandered around.
Pushing her way through the brush, Kyra’s arm raked across a thorn bush. It felt like a bee sting, and she jerked back.
At her side was a dagger in a brown sheath. With it, she cut through the bushes.
The old building was tall, as if it once had multiple levels of rooms. Now, the roof has collapsed in and the walls were loosely connected. Kyra walked up the broken steps; one collapsed under her and she nearly lost her footing, but she pushed forward.
Rubble was strewn about inside. Kyra looked about for anything she might scavenge to sell. Something was propped against the wall, covered in crumbled rock-like material. She freed the box; it was made of some kind of metal, and its lock was broken. Thinking this could be sellable.
It was difficult to open. Looking around, Kyra spotted a rock and used it to help open the box. Her first couple blows, she was afraid of damaging the box, but it wouldn’t give; on her third strike she hit much harder and with more force and finally, the door came open.
Inside was a picture; an old one of a man and a woman in strange clothes. Well, strange to Kyra anyway. The man wore a black and white outfit, the woman in a white dress. She looked at her own material, a grey dress made of cotton.
Inside a smaller box was a ring with a multi-diamond center. Cool. She figured it should be worth a lot; perhaps one of the royal families would buy it. Everything went back into the box, and Kyra grunted as she lifted it and stumbled out of the building. It was heavier than she’d thought.
With a struggle, and another grunt, she got it into the cart. Her heart was pumping as she staggered back and drew her hand across her forehead. Storm made an irritated noise and shook his head.
Kyra’s shoulders shrugged. “It’ll help us survive.”
Storm spun around and grabbed a branch, then tossed it to Kyra. Red apples clung to the branch.
“Thanks, Storm.”
Apple juice blew back into her face. Kyra’s stomach rumbled its thanks.
A lovely bed of flowers grew around one side of the structure. Pretty smell, light red in color. Kyra wished she could sell them; the problem was keeping them alive.
Twigs crunched under heavy feet; the sound caught her attention. Storm’s too. They both froze and looked about. Kyra scrambled back on top of Storm, and they started off again, tensely alert.
The noise of something forcing itself against the brush was like an alarm. A strangled sounding hiss, like a creature raking a thorn bush.
“Come on, buddy,” Kyra bent down to Storm’s ear and whispered. Storm nodded his head in response and marched forward.
Kyra worried about what might be out there; savage beasts, savage humans, or worse - Scorpiders. It was far easier to hide in the green of the forest than in the desolation of that desert they’d been in. However, her nerves still ricocheted under her skin, as she wondered if what they’d heard was a threat or just another traveler.
She and Storm left the cart behind to make an escape easier if necessary. Should things be okay, they could come back for it later.
As they entered a clearing, Storm abruptly stopped, rose up, made a loud shriek and swung his hooves. At this cue, Kyra scrambled off and darted into the thicket.
Four cloaked creatures came at Storm with a net, and Kyra knew what they were – Rodentia. Their long black robes were stained with dirt, and their whip-like tails thrashing about.
Kyra wanted to help Storm, but a fifth jumped in front of her. He gnashed his teeth and hissed. The arm of his cloak was torn, and stained by a splattering of blood. He must’ve been the one scratched by the thorn bush.
His tail whipped around at her, his claws raised into the air. Kyra avoided the tail; she grabbed a fallen tree limb and swung at him. His tail caught her ankle and yanked her down.
Her attacker’s face was covered in grey fur, with whiskers dotting his nose like freckles on a human. As he came at her Kyra, swung the limb at him again, it dodged the blow, tripping over its tail and falling in the process.
Kyra grabbed for the knife at her side. Her enemy had the branch in his own hand now, having snatched it from her. His laughter rang out, loud and nasty. The Rodentia pulled himself up to his full height, that of a full-sized man. Its laugh was a throaty, repetitive noise. Its mouth opened wide, and its head moved up and down.
She slashed at it with her weapon. Let’s see if it finds my dagger as funny.
The creature’s tail loosened, and Kyra made a move, rolling to what she didn’t know was the top of a hill. The earth crumbled under her and she plunged down, quickly gaining momentum.
Then Kyra hit bottom. She quickly rose, covered with dirt and weeds. Ugh.
The Rodentia would be coming for her, and Kyra knew she’d better run. At some point she’d dropped her dagger, but there was no time to search for it. She fled.
Hissing noises echoed, along with the sound of displaced dirt and tearing of weeds. The Rodentia were coming down the hill. Kyra’s heart pounded as she raced through the forest, hoping to outrun the creatures.
A pond was up ahead; she caught a glimmer of sun off the water and made a dash for it. Leafy vines whipped across her arms and legs as though trying to slow her down. Leaping into the air,
Kyra dove into the water, hoping to lose her scent and get away.
Her arms flailed anxiously as she beat against the waves making her way to the other side. Kyra thought about Storm and hoped she could escape and help him.
It felt like a bee sting pinching into her neck as she pulled herself onto the shore.
“Ack!” What’s back there?
Kyra was starting to get groggy as she pulled something from her neck. She saw it as her vision slowly blurred; a poison tip, one of the Rodentia’s weapons; they spit them through little reeds to render their prey unconscious – unless they were coated to kill. Wide-eyed, Kyra stared at the dart until everything went black.
