A BROTHER’S FEUD

• Callum Gale, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

A BROTHER’S FEUD

Day 1: Thousands of men are moving towards Port Lincoln to war against Zeus, after he incinerated Persues Jackson, son of the sea God Poseidon. Zeus says it is pay back for holding him in the Golden Net.

Day 8: Most of the army is at Port Lincoln. While we await the last of the stragglers the commanders have whipped up a gruelling regime to keep us busy, here is what we had to do. We had to 1/- awaken at sunup, 2/- stand to for inspection of uniform and equipment 3/- breakfast 4/- weapon drills till midmorning 5/- march first three miles then marching up to five miles 6/- lunch 7/- formation manoeuvres 8/- weapon drill 9/-dinner 10/- picket duty.

Day 18: The last of the stragglers have finally arrived. The commanders have told us to have two days break, which allowed us to get well and truly drunk and then have a day of recovery before the ships arrive.

Day 20: The ships have finally arrived and we have begun to board. At first it had been slow but we have picked up speed as we have perfected our rhythm of regiment after regiment. If the weather prevails we will have the whole army aboard within days.

Day 27: Our luck has changed drastically, we have boarded half the army but the other half has to wait as an unexpected cold snap had come over the harbour making the armies camp a breeding ground of death and frostbite.

Day 34: A change of weather has brought the rest of us aboard and the commanders have let us have the rest of the day off.

Day 41: Many men are seasick; I can even hear them right now. Fortunately I did a lot of sailing in my younger years. I have made an ally, a sailor by the name of Sven Olafson.

Day 52: The lookout has spotted land just after sunup. The news travels like wild fire across the fleet and soon many people are on the deck, straining their eyes. Then all together they shout “Land Ho!”

Day 55: We have made land fall! This time we got the whole army across in three days. Throughout the whole sea journey the weather was calm and quiet. The sailors say it has been the quickest journey they have ever experienced.

Day 62: We have been marching for days now and have witnessed our very first action against the accursed Zephyrs. It seems Zeus has made an alliance with their ruler Ragnak. We took many casualties but were in the end victorious with a brilliant flanking manoeuvre. We took the most casualties when two large chimeras rushed our rear and commander Tyrun lost his life.

Day 69: Commander Tyrun’s burial mound has been closed but the emotional wounds shall take much longer to heal. After the battle I made sure all my friends had kept their lives, but sadly Greddon the blacksmith hadn’t made it.

Day 76: We slowed down a little while moving through the cliffs of Azunai, a treacherous snaking path that wound its way for a couple of stretches of our entire army. We have picked up speed as the cliffs have given way to wild stretches of open plains.

Day 83. It is amazing how quickly a battle can occur. Just after lunchtime, arrows rained down upon the front line killing many. But by the time the second volley came we were ready and the arrows bounced harmlessly off of our shields. Then the ground shook as the enemy’s infantry charged down at us, then with an answering roar we leapt to meet them. The sound of the onset drowned out any other noises as the rush of adrenalin pumped through my veins. I split skulls and hacked away at limbs. Then suddenly lightning rained down on us like arrows and chimeras where everywhere. Suddenly we were retreating to the cliffs but there was no escape.

All was lost,
Zeus had won!