Underground

Above the city of Denver, mysterious creatures reside. How did they get there? What are they? Only one man knows. He holds the dark, deep secret the world has never known until now

Lukin sauntered through the caverns in deep thought. The creatures in the caves glared at him but did not approach. The doorway lie ahead. He hadn't ventured out into the outer world in a couple hundred years.

 

As the last of the Tarins, he knew that he had a legacy to carry out. He would soon need more cavern dwellers. He stepped to the door cautiously. A sigh slid out his lips as he pushed on the door.

 

It swung open and sunlight flowed into his eyes. Lukin winced for only a second, then opened his eyes wide and entered the outside world that he once called home. The doorway was hidden in a mountain near to the city. Lukin stepped onto a sidewalk and looked about. The city had changed very much since he had last been here. He walked down the sidewalk and glanced at a passer-by. A gorgeous woman, probably in her 20's. She noticed him looking at her and met his eyes. Her eyebrows raised and a crooked smile crept into her lips as she walked by. Lukin turned his head back to continue to see her, then he turned back.

 

To his right was a Starbucks, a company which he'd never heard of. One by one, men and women stepped out of the small establishment. Some looking frantic, others perfectly calm. He turned back to face forward and continued to step down the long sidewalk.

 

When night came, he took a risk and stepped into the alleyway. Although he wasn't as mortal as humans were, he could still be killed with a bad enough injury to his head. A few creeping shadows stalked by, but he paid them no attention.

 

Tarins were formidable warriors and fright was not a popular trait. Lukin was trained mainly by his father, but his father was soon killed along with the rest of the Tarins in the massacre. The day no one would ever forget. As Lukin was the last of the Tarins, he knew he would always remember.

 

It had been a normal day, and Lukin had been training with his father most of the morning. His father had sent Lukin to his room to study when the breakout occured. In case a breach like this would ever occur, Lukin's grandfather had built a small, hidden room in the center of the city. When Lukin heard the screams, his heart skipped. He knew this day would come soon. It had been prophecied many years ago. Lukin ran as fast as he could to the door and threw it open. In the middle of the room were ten creatures of all different sizes. The Tarin men were trying to kill them and had succeeded with a few, but the massive ones were still left. Lukin grasped a broadsword and ran out to assist the Tarin warriors. Lukin's mother saw him running out to help and she cried out. One of the menacing creatures took a blow to Lukin's side when he turned his head. Luke turned back and stabbed the creature in the eye. The creature screamed and looked back at Lukin with an impending look in it's eye. Lukin, only 17, started to back away when his father rushed over and attacked the monster. There was no mercy when his father killed the beast. After the creature fell to the ground, Lukin's father looked back at him.

 

"Go!" he shouted, "Run as fast as you can to the hidden room." he pointed in the direction of the room, then turned to more of the monsters.

 

Lukin pivoted and ran for the room. He dodged more of the beasts as he rushed. When he dived into the room, he heard more screams and accidently smacked his head on one of the rock walls. That's all he could remember until he woke up and found himself in an almost deserted room. Only a few of the behemoths remained alive and many were lying on the ground, badly wounded. Lukin grasped his broadsword and stabbed a few in the heart to put them out of their misery. That's when he saw the largest one stalking him. Lukin turned about-face and faced the monsterous creature. It stared at him through it's deep, dark eyes. When Lukin looked into the abnormality's eyes, he had a dark feeling emerge from him. He had no longer wished to kill the monster, but had a strange urge to want to kill other things. Other people. His mind filled with hatred for the people that had lived here in the underground city. Although he wasn't sure why, Lukin could understand why the monsters would wish to kill them.

 

As he glanced around the room at the bodies that surrounded him, he felt a small pull to turn back to good and feel compassion, but this evil feeling was too exciting. It exhilirated him just to think of all the destruction he could do. All the lives he could change. Or destroy. He imagined raiding a city, but before he could finish the thought, he remembered that he may be the last human left. Lukin pondered that for a moment. What if he was the only one left?

 

For months he wandered the caves. He cleaned up the bodies, only feeling slight compassion when he noticed that he was carrying his family's bodies away. One day, when walking around, he realized an abnormal crack in one of the stone walls. He traced his fingers along the crack and looked at the wall curously. A bit of light seeped through the bottom of the door. Lukin tried to wedge his fingers in between the cracks, but to no avail. He turned around and continued through the caves in search of something thin enough to slip through the crack. Returning to the city depressed, he saw one of the longswords resting with the rest of the weapons in a corner.

 

Lukin grabbed the sword and ran back to the main cave. He found the crack after a few hours of searching and wedged the sword in the crack. When he pulled the door open, light flooded the area. Lukin was blinded by the light. He immediately closed his eyes and waited for them to quit burning.  As a Tarin, he was trained for that kind of thing, but his training was wearing off with this new agenda in his life. When his eyes somewhat adjusted to the bright light, he looked around. There were buildings and sidewalks laced with people. He wasn't the last one. Happiness flooded him and he rushed out to greet them, but he stopped himself. He realized that telling them of the caves wouldn't be the best idea. Lukin turned and walked back into the caves.

 

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems please

Reviews

[De Palma]

Well, as both a practical lifetime reader and six year seasoned writer, I'd say that this story is quite intriguing. Some areas need improvement, concerning the Tarins background and Lukin's characterization as well. But overall, this story seems to be as original as it can be, which is good. Readers will be glad to see a fresh fanatasy rather than an annoying repeated one.

When you first had Lukin see a Starbucks and people bustling about, then having the next paragraph change into night time, well, it just got me. I wish you had described his day better, or put more events into that day. But this is if I was the writer, and of course, I am not.

So, I am giving this story of yours a 4 out of 5. :D

Good luck and I hope to see more! :D

[WilliamScott]

This is quite a good read! I enjoy stories such as this that have a nice, original idea. Not only that, but it keeps me wondering what will happen next! Will you be continuing this story? If so, please let me know!