Stories in this collection:
Mengran and Hans
Three and Three
Mengran and Hansby magenta
magentanovels@gmail.com
Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome.
-----
By the year 2799, humanity had made spectacular advances in all facets
of life. Life had become standardized throughout the world, and
everyone spoke English.
That all changed in the year 2800, when an Influenza epidemic wiped out
most of the world's population, and the Earth's population plummeted to
around 20,000 people. After two centuries, in the year 3000, there were
only two population centers left on earth.
First, there were around 100,000 people left in the most remote parts of
Northern Scandinavia closest to the North pole. The Influenza
epidemic had started out in China and moved Westward,
annihilating entire populations along its path. Due
to the extreme remoteness of Northern Scandinavia, 10,000 people
survived the epidemic. From the years 2800 to 3000, things changed
dramatically in this region. By the year 3000, the 100,000 people of
this region were nomadic horsemen. Given the scarcity of food and
resources in this region,
the only people that had survived over these 200 years were the ones
who were the most savage and ruthless. In addition, only the smallest
people and horses had survived during this time, as they needed
less food. In terms of appearance, the people in this region now
looked like small Vikings. On average they were around 5' 0' to 5' 2"
tall, and weighed between 100 to 110 pounds. They all had a very fair
complexion, with blue or green eyes, and blond or light brown hair.
The only other part of the Earth that was still populated was an
extremely remote and mountainous part of Northeast China. Given the
influenza epidemic had started West of this region and moved Westward,
and that this region was extremely remote to begin with, the people of
this area had also been spared annihilation. When the epidemic had
started in 2800, this area's population had been 10,000. Over the
next 200 years, the population had increased steadily, so that by the year 3000
this region had around 100,000 people. Generally speaking, this
region had always had an excellent and consistent supply of food.
Over the past 1000 years, the mountainous nature of the region
had selected for very tall and robust people. By the year 3000, the people
in this region were between 7' 0" and 7' 2" tall, and weighed
between 300 and 330 pounds. They were not fat, they were just big-boned.
In terms of appearance, the people here were completely Asian in
appearance. They had almond eyes, strait black hair, high cheekbones,
and yellowish skin.
Over the years, the nomads had developed
strict rules of conduct for survival. One of the rules was that it
was forbidden to travel Eastward towards the 'land of the rising sun',
given that was where the Influenza epidemic had come from. Another
rule was that their society was ruled by the 'leader'. The leader
always worked his way up through the ranks by bravery and skill in
battle. He demanded and received complete obedience.
The nomads also followed a very strict code of honor. When a nomad made
a promise, he always kept his word. In addition, collective survival
meant much more than survival of the individual.
The leader of the nomads in Northern Scandinavia was called Hans. He
was 28 years old. Every morning, as the sun rose over the horizon
from the East, he would look eastward and wonder about the mysterious
lands that lay ahead. Looking back at the past decade, Hans recalled
that it had gotten progressively colder. The past year had been the
coldest yet, as far as he could recall. The entire livelihood of the
nomads revolved around their horses. During the past decade, and
particularly the last year, as the supply of resources available to their horses
dropped, Hans realized that something had to be done, or they
would not survive for much longer. He called for a
meeting with the 'council of elders' and addressed them : "There are
no longer enough resources available for everyone's survival here. Our only
option is for a group of us to leave and go
towards the land of the rising sun. It is impossible for us to
venture in any other direction simply because we are either surrounded
by water, mountains that our horses can't climb, or terrain that is
not suitable for our horses. I realize that we will be breaking one
of our sacred laws, but those
laws were made for our survival." Hans said that the males between
the ages of 20 and 29 would be ones with the highest chances of
surviving an expedition towards the land of the rising sun.
After some debate, the council of elders voiced their
approval of Hans' proposal.
In July of the year 3000, all the male nomads who were between 20 and
29 years of age set out Eastwards on horseback towards the land of the
rising sun. There were roughly 7500 of them. They took their
supplies in carts. Among their supplies were, swords, maces, lances,
bows and arrows, armor, tents, food, and extra clothing. Given that
both the nomads and their horses were lightweight and had tremendous
stamina, they could travel remarkably long distances in a given day. At
the beginning of their journey, tensions were very high, as fear of
the unknown existed. By October, the nomads were much more at ease,
as almost all of them were still alive. During this period, they had
not encountered any deadly diseases, and they had not come across any
humans. By now, they were in the open plains of Central Asia, which
proved to be ideal for their horses, as their horses now had access to
more resources than before. During November and December, the nomads
pushed further and further eastwards into the heart of Asia without
encountering any people.
By the start of 3001, it had gotten very cold, but it was nothing
compared to how cold it had gotten back in Northern Scandinavia. It
proved to be the coldest winter of the past 100 years. During the
first three months of 3001, the nomads pushed further and further East
until they reached the remote region of Northeast China where people
also lived. During the first 3 months of 3001, the nomads lost 2500
people due to the very cold weather. However this was nothing
compared to the catastrophe back home. By the end of March, the
entire nomad population of Northern Scandinavia was wiped out due to
the extreme cold, with lead to the death of all the horses, followed
by the starvation of the nomads in Scandinavia. So by now, the only
populated place on Earth happened to be remote Northeast China,
with its 100,000 inhabitants, and the 5000 nomads that had just
arrived at their doorstep.
On April first of 3001, Hans and his followers came face to face with
other humans for the first time in nine months. It was also the first
time in 200 years that two different human populations had come into
contact. The people of this remote region were sedentary, and lived
in small communities. They had never experienced warfare, as they
were peace-loving, gentle and kind by nature. In short they were the
complete opposite of the nomads. In their initial encounter, both
sides were completely surprised. Neither group had seen another human
population in their lifetime. Furthermore, each group noted their
differences in appearance. As the two groups continued to study
each-other with curiosity and caution, Hans suddenly ordered the
nomads to turn around and follow him.
Once they were about a mile away, he ordered the nomads to stop and
addressed them : "My followers : after nine months of traveling
towards the land of the rising sun, we have finally encountered
another human population. As you are aware, this past winter was the
coldest in memory, and I am certain that our relatives back home have
all died due to starvation. Furthermore, the resources in this land
are much more plentiful. Thus there is no reason to turn back, or go
any further. At this point, we can establish a new settlement in this
region and start new lives. The women of this region will help us
achieve that objective. I hereby order you to invade this human
settlement. Anyone who does not look like a female between the ages
of 20 and 29 is to be killed. The males are of no use to us. With regards to the
females, the ones older than 30 are too old for bringing healthy
children into this world, and those younger than 20 will just be an
extra mouth to feed, and thus a burden."
Hans gave the order for the attack, and the nomads charged on
horseback. They used their bows and arrows, maces, swords and lances
to massacre their victims. To the residents of this remote region of
Northeast China, it must have seemed like armageddon. By the end of
the first day 5000 people had been killed or lay wounded. This
carnage continued for the next 20 days, until there were only about
5000 female left unharmed, and all looked more or less to be between
the ages of 20 and 29. Everyone else had either been killed, or lay
wounded. The streets of the town were filled with blood, and the
smell and stench of death filled the air. Next the wounded were
either crucified or impaled, and they suffered a slow and painful
death over the course of the next 10 days.
By May first, the only residents of the town that had been spared
were the 5000 females who appeared to be between the ages of 20 and
29. Hans ordered his men out of the town, and told the 5000 women
that they had the next 30 days to bury their dead. Given the sheer
number of bodies, the women only had enough time to bury everyone in
mass graves. On June first, Hans ordered his troops to round up the
5000 surviving women and bring them to the outskirts of their
settlements. He informed the women that from now on they were going
to be slaves. He also informed them that one of them was going to be
selected by a lottery to be sacrificed. The women were all gathered
in an open field. Hans informed the women that he was going to shoot
an arrow with a dull tip into the air towards the women. Whoever it
landed closest to would be sacrificed. Hans shot the arrow into the
air and it landed closest to a 24 year old. One of the nomads went
towards her, and ordered her to follow him, and she was taken to Hans.
Hans looked at his intended victim and asked her her name and age.
She replied that her name was Mengran, and that she was 24 years old.
Hans informed her that his name was Hans and that he was the leader of
the nomads. He also told her that she was going to be sacrificed on
July first, in an arena that his men were going to build during the
next 30 days. She had the option of fighting for her life or putting
up no resistance. He recommended the latter, as it would make her
death quicker and much more painless. Mengran replied that she would
like to fight for her life. Hans accepted her response, and informed
her that she could bring anything she wanted with her to the arena.
He also told her that she didn't have to worry about being killed
during the next month, as a nomad never went back on his word, and
that the others followed his orders to the letter unconditionally.
For some unknown reason, Mengran knew in her gut that she could trust
him.
Given that there were now roughly 5000 male nomads and 5000 women
left, each of the nomads picked one of the woman as his slave. Hans
decided that for the moment he did not need to pick a woman as a
slave, since as the leader of the tribe, he could have his pick of
anyone he wanted down the road. The nomads took the woman to their
tents that were pitched on the outskirts of the community. Mengran
was assigned her own tent and horse, and she was told that she could
go back to her home and bring back anything she wanted. She was also
told that she could also ask the nomads themselves for any weapons or
supplies. That afternoon, Mengran took the horse and went back to her
community that was now a ghost town. She gathered what she needed and
placed it in a large trunk, placed the trunk on the horse, and made
her may back to her assigned tent.
For the rest of the month of june, Mengran lived in her tent among the
nomads. Now she had a chance to observe the nomads and the remaining
members of her own community side by side. She noted that the male
nomads were all between 5' 0" and 5' 2" tall, and weighed between 100
to 110 pounds. She also saw that they were all very fair skinned, and
that they had blue or green eyes, and blond or light brown hair. She
noticed that they all also had long hair, and plenty of facial hair in
the forms of beards and mustaches. She also noted that their facial
features were very chiseled, and that savagery and ruthlessness was
also evident in their eyes. She compared their appearance to that of
the surviving women of her own community, who were all between 7' 0"
and 7' 2" inches tall, weighed between 300 to 320 pounds due to being
big-boned, and who also had almond eyes, long strait black hair, high
cheekbones, and yellowish skin. She also noted the soft facial
features of the surviving women of her own community, and the kindness
and gentleness that was evident in their eyes. In short, she noted
that the two groups were complete opposites in every sense of the
word.
During the course of the month she also studied the appearance of Hans
and compared it to her own. She had noted that Hans was around 5' 0"
inches tall, and weighed around 100 pounds. She had also noticed his
blue eyes, blonde hair and mustache. She also noted that his facial
features were amongst the most chiseled and masculine of his people,
and that he was probably one of the most ruthless and savage members
of his people, if not the most savage and ruthless one of all. With
regards to her own appearance, she obviously knew that she was 7' 2"
tall and weighed 330 pounds. She also knew that compared to the women
of her own community, her hair was very long coming down to her lower
back, and that her eyes were almond shaped but still on the larger
side, and that her cheekbones were also among the highest, and her
facial features among the softest and most feminine, and the look in
her eyes among the kindest and most gentle. She had always been very
confident of her looks and knew that she was among the best looking
women of her community. She also knew that her figure was voluptuous,
like that of the rest of the women of her community, with her large
breasts, wide hips, round buttocks and thick legs. She had also
learned that Hans was 28, being very close to her own age of 24.
Beginning in early June, the nomads started construction on the arena
where Mengran would be fighting Hans for her life. As the days went
by, the structure slowly started to take form. By the time it was
completed, it had enough seating for 10,000 spectators. The area
where the fight would take place was in the form of a square that was
70 feet long on each side. This area was to be surrounded by a 20
foot high chain-linked fence, to prevent anyone's escape. The arena
was to also have a wooden floor. At night, when the sun would set,
the area would be illuminated by torches of fire. During the month of
June, Mengran tried to prepare as best as she could for her encounter
with Hans. She tried to eat as best as she could, and she got all the
supplies that she needed from her home and the nomads. In the week
prior her fight, a strange sense of calm came over her. She had
reasoned that she had prepared as best as she had could, and now it
was all up to fate. The only thing that slightly bothered her was
that in the two days prior to the fight, she couldn't urinate or have
a bowel movement, as her excitement level rose.
The night prior to the fight, Mengran placed all the supplies that she
had gathered in the trunk. She had a good night's sleep, and when the
sun finally rose over the horizon, she got up , got dressed, and
awaited the inevitable. She had decided to wear a white cotton long
sleeve shirt, long white cotton pants, and white cotton underwear.
Finally one of Hans' men came and asked Mengran to follow him to the
arena. Another one of Hans' men took Mengran's trunk and followed
them. When they approached the arena, the seats had already been
filled with the nomads and the women from Mengran's community. Each
woman had been seated next to the nomad that had picked her as his
slave. Mengran followed the nomad into the arena, with the other
nomad carrying her trunk in tow. Mengran was instructed to wait in
the Eastern corner of the arena. The other nomad placed Mengran's
trunk next to her, and the two nomads exited the arena.
Next Hans came towards the arena on his horse, followed by a nomad who
was carrying his weapons in a trunk. Amongst his weapons were his bow
and arrow,
mace, sword, and lance. Hans was dressed in light-blue silk clothing that
covered his body. On top of that, we was wearing his light
chain-linked armor. As Hans dismounted his horse and entered the
arena, there was a roar from the nomads in the crowd. Hans occupied
the Western corner of the arena. The nomad that had been carrying his
trunk placed it next to him on the ground and exited the arena.
The door to the arena was locked shut. A trumpet sounded, signalling
the beginning of the fight.
Hans made eye contact with Mengran, and walked to the center of the
arena unarmed. Mengran did the same, and once she was there, Hans
extended out his arm for a handshake. Mengran extended out her arm
and shook Hans' hand. Hans noticed that Mengran wasn't as nervous as
he thought she should have been, but he didn't give it much thought.
Having lived among the nomads for 30 days and observed them, she had
gotten the feeling that they were not as deadly once they were off
their horses, and in an enclosed space in a one on one combat
situation. That had helped her come up with a collective game plan for
her battle, and to pick out he contents of her trunk accordingly. She
had had a month to think things through.
When Mengran had walked into the arena, she had
noticed that in the Northern corner of the fighting area, two 10 foot
high wooden poles had been planted into the ground 20 feet from
each other, and that two long pieces of rope hanged from the top of the
poles. She asked Hans what their purpose was, and Hans replied that
given that she was going to be a sacrifice, after she had been killed,
her body was to be cut in half and hung from the ropes so that the
vultures could feed on her carcass. Mengran had also noticed a full
length mirror in the Southern corner of the arena, and she also asked
about its purpose. Hans replied that it was for him to enjoy seeing
his own reflection holding her severed head after she had been
defeated and killed. Hans told Mengran that he would try and kill her
as swiftly as possible, to minimize her suffering.
Having answered Mengran's questions and shaken her hand, Hans informed
her that it was time to start fighting and they went to their
respective corners. Hans decided to start the battle with his sword.
It was medium and light-weight and razor sharp. Hans started to go
through a warm-up routine with it. Mengran had meanwhile reached
into the chest and produced two large sheilds, holding one tightly in
each of her hands. After around five minutes Hans confidently
approached Mengran.
Hans attacked swiftly and with determination, aiming for her neck and
swinging his sword around in a 360 degree circle, determined to
decapitate her instantly. However, given that mengran was 26 inches
taller than hans, she had a considerable reach advantage, and she
easily blocked him with her right shield. Hans backed up, and charged
at her once again, this time bringing his sword around in the opposite
direction. Mengran successfully blocked him again this time with her
left shield. This cycle repeated itself another four times, until
Hans decided it was time for another strategy. After resting for
about five minutes, Hans approached mengran once again with his sword,
this time aiming and thrusting the sword directly at her abdomen
with the goal of disemboweling her. But once again, mengran's reach
advantage proved decisive and she blocked his thrust with one of her
shields. Hans backed up and charged once again, but mengran
successfully blocked him once more. Hans spent the next 10 minutes
attacking savagely and mercilessly, trying to either decapitate or
disembowel her, but it all proved to be futile. Finally, Hans decided
that he needed another strategy. He returned to his corner, put down
his sword, and started to contemplate his next move.
After about five minutes, Hans picked up his mace and attacked. Once
again, Hans attacked swiftly and with determination. Swiftness had
always been one of his advantages in battle. Hans had reasoned
Mengran had survived their last encounter because of the shields, so
the shields had to be destroyed. Hans obviously knew that a mace
would deliver a stronger impact than a sword. This time his strategy
was simple. He would hit the sheilds until they were destroyed, or
until mengran dropped them from the force of the impact. Hans spent
the next 10 minutes relentlessly attacking. The sheilds were however
made of very thick wood, and the impact from Hans' blows simply wasn't
strong enough. Hans' predominant strong point in battle had always
been speed, and not brute strength. Also, Mengran never dropped
either of the shields as hans had hoped that she might. After another
five minutes with no results, realizing the futility of his
strategy, Hans went back to his corner, dropped his mace to
contemplate his next move.
By now, Hans had been completely surprised at the level of Mengran's
first display of strength, with her carrying two of their largest
shields. He himself had always carried one
shield, which was of medium size, and he had found it somewhat heavy.
And here was mengran carrying two of their largest shields, without the
slightest show of fatigue or exhaustion. But he brushed it off,
believing in the concept of male superiority.
Given the level of determination and speed with which Hans had
attacked mengran with, he was now beginning to experience fatigue in
his right arm. His remaining two weapons were now a lance and a bow
and arrow. He spent the next 10 minutes messaging his right arm, and
then approached Mengran with the bow and arrow. He started shooting
the arrows at Mengran. Mengran however, had picked two shields that
were 30 inches in diameter each. When placed side by side they
literally formed a 5 foot wall of defense.
Hans fired a volley of arrows at mengran, but with the surface area
provided by her two large shields, Mengran blocked all the arrows
successfully. After resting, with his only remaining weapon being a
lance, Hans picked up that weapon and approached her. Once again,
Mengran's height and reach advantage, and the surface area of her
shields saved her life. Mengran successfully blocked each of Hans'
thrusts with the lance. Finally, Hans threw the lance towards Mengran
with all his strength as a last effort. The lance hit the shield as
expected, and this time stayed stuck in the shield. Out of weapons,
and more importantly frustrated, Hans returned to his own corner to
contemplate his next move.