The Island of Nurk

A Story by Katy

I was in a library when I randomly selected a Renaissance book. On the cover, were boats coming into a city. From there, I got the idea for this story.

The Island of Nurk

One day after many days of travel by sea, an army came upon the island city of Nurk. Nurk was a small island (seven miles in diameter and full of plant growth) and underneath the island, was a major salt deposit.

"Land!" shouted Randy, who was a tall, bald man who had no wife or kids. He sailed to have something to do. He was shrouded in mystery.

All the men aboard felt sick as the ship approached land. They were going into uncharted territory. Their intention was to capture and kill the residents on it and then take over the island, with virtually no weapons. All that they had were two swords, two sheaths for the swords, and two shields for the swordsmen.

When Randy and Ernest docked the seaworthy boat to a tree with a rope connected to the ship about one hundred yards away from the city docking points, all the men aboard lumbered out of the ship with mixed emotions on their faces. It was going to be a bloodbath and they knew it.

After about twenty minutes of trekking through forest, the men reached the city. At once, the crew went into attack mode. They clenched their fists, picked up any sticks that would serve well as clubs, and their faces grew more savage and blood thirsty.

Ernest, being the general, led the crew into what seemed to be the downtown part of town.

"We're off!" shouted Ernest as he charged the city. The assemblage was close behind him. At the first person they saw, they killed, and stole all his goods.

As soon as all the men rushed into the city, Randy ran and hid in the bushes. He witnessed many demises. Randy was unharmed.

Ernest was at the front of the charge. He was one of the two who carried swords. He beheaded twenty men with no weapons and killed two people by slitting their throats with his sword. Ernest faced moderate injuries.

A soldier of no importance ran into a house attempting to kill everyone in the house. However, all the people in the house were prepared for an attack because they had heard fighting outside, so they gathered their knives and hid behind a bed. When the soldier went into the house, he was immediately stabbed in the eye and neck. He died almost instantly.

Over a period of three hours, a major massacre raged. It was pure luck that Ernest's side won. It was pure luck because almost everyone from Nurk was armed with some metal weapon. Yet, Ernest had trained his men well. He trained them to fight with their fists and to fight unfair. Both sides lost many men and women, but the side that lost the most was the city of Nurk. The Nurkish army consisted of 246 men and fifty-five civilians and Ernest's army consisted of 561 men. Of all the citizens of Nurk, only one survived and the chances of him surviving another day weren't good. Ernest's army lost 216 men. After killing virtually everyone from Nurk, Ernest's army looted every business. After they looted the businesses, everyone found a nice place to spend the night. The next morning, Ernest annouced, housing arrangements would be figured out. If you're alive next morning that is, thought Randy.

Around 9:30 p.m., Randy grabbed a very, very sharp knife that he had nabbed when he looted one of the many business and he headed toward Ernest's tent.

"Pleasure to see you, Randy," said Ernest.

"Same to you, Ernie," replied Randy.

"YOU KNOW I HATE THAT NAME!" shouted Ernest.

"Well, I hate travelling to kill people that didn't do anything to us. You're a monster because you do that. While all of you were on your killing rampage, I just hid in the bushes. I only kill people who deserve it. And I think you deserve it, Ernie," Randy answered calmly.

"I DON'T DESERVE TO DIE!" shouted Ernest, who now sounded like he was going into hysterics.

"YES, YOU DO!" shouted Randy. And with that, Randy quickly stabbed Ernest in the stomach. Ernest abruptly fell to the ground clutching his stomach. In a few minutes, he died. Randy ran as far away as the island city of Nurk would allow him.

The next morning, Randy felt terrible about himself. He felt like he couldn't live with himself for killing Ernest. Around 7:13 a.m., Randy died from hanging himself. He had left a note explaining why he had killed himself.

Several days after Randy and Ernest were discovered, two soldiers were having a conversation.

"I never knew about Randy. I thought he was a good man," one soldier said.

"I had a bad feeling about him. In fact, I was going to talk to Ernest, but I never got around to it," the other soldier said.