The Battle For Blogland Chapter 1: The Calm Before the Storm [AKA: The Surprise]

Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVHd7dpesPA
Loading the Weapon by Disturbed

1

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

It was a seemingly normal day in Blogland when it happened, though the day gave no hint of anything unusual. It looked the same as it always did; peaceful, sunny and warm. Birds chirped quietly as we, the regulars of the place, went about our usual business; talking, laughing and tackling. Mostly the tackling in my case. The splashes of lake water mixed perfectly into the rest of the noises around the area and simply made Blogland seem all the better. It was so peaceful and what happened still seems impossible. We hadn’t a care in the world at that point. Blogland seemed to be the safest place to be. Ever. There was nothing irregular about the day. But it still happened. Everything did, and when everything happened, everything changed. Not just the place. Us too. That was what scared me most.

Back then, that was when we were all deluded, deluded in the thought that we were safe. Deceived through and through. Not even Blogland was safe. Not anymore. That day was the day our lives changed forever, as unwilling to us to let it alter as the invasion was sudden.

We heard the footsteps first. The unnatural amount of heaviness carried in the sounds that came drifting from the mountains made everyone halt abruptly. The talking died, the tackling ceased and the laughter faded, replaced by a sudden tense straining of trying to hear with a hint of unease.

They came from the mountains, they came from the lake, from the forest, from the volcano. The Hollow Men came pouring in from every place in sight. Those of us still in the lake staggered out quickly while the rest rose from their seats in unison. All eight of us automatically sunk into stances of wariness and weapons were drawn as magic was summoned hurriedly.

Water slid off the papery skin of the Hollow Men of which had risen from the lake and dripped back into the mass below. Snow covered those of which had tracked the mountains and left a faint trail of melting white scattered across the still grass. Twigs and leaves were caught on ones from the forest and wobbled off the Hollow Men as they slouched their way closer. They began their slow walk towards us in squads of tens and fifteens, closing in on us. Weapons were raised higher at this point and the magic was intensified substantially. And still the Hollow Men slouched their way over, drawing nearer and near, the number of our enemies that had suddenly appeared soon numbering over a thousand. None of us knew how the Hollow Men had made their way to Blogland, or why they were there, or how they had made their appearance so sudden, but the unfortunate truth was, there was nothing we could do about it anyway. Not at that stage. Partially because we knew that we had to get on with it, partially because we couldn’t quite believe it, but every single one of us acted completely calmly, though panic was clawing its way through all of them. It was probably nothing like that, actually. In fact I definitely recall some screaming, some murmuring to say the least, but I don’t remember much from that day. Everything that is still in my head from back then is either hazy or now useless. It’s all I have to go off, however, so it’s what I’ll keep doing. Besides, I can’t spend my entire time here doing nothing but elaborating on how little I remember.

Sparky Braginski stood a long way back from the lake holding her Makhaira tightly from beside the tree-house, her hair and clothes settling down from her sudden leap to her feet moments before. Flame Phoenix held two billowing balls of fire in his hands next to Sparky, leaning forwards slightly in what I thought was a gesture of protection towards his recently wedded wife. Eve had tensed her hands to show her nails; sharp, pointy and dangerous, and had begun snarling to expose her teeth (which were just as sharp, if not shaper) to the enemy who did not seem to care. Lynxia Lost and Lavender Hope both stood a fair way back from the lake, bow and arrows held at the ready, pulled back tight and already in a position to fire at Hollow Men. I myself stood next to Eve, both daggers clutched tightly in my gloved hands while a dark look and drenched hair spilled across my face. Later on I found that I seemed to be mimicking Flame and was slightly in front of Eve. Star Inkbright had her hands splayed towards the ground with large formations of ink swirling around them while a fierce glare hardened on her face. What she did was noble and saved us all…As I said, though, that happened later on. Nixion Strange stood next to Lynxia, his machete held so tight in his hand that was now going white while a death stare fixed itself on his face, deadly and…deadly. This was the real Nixion; he had already allowed his darker nature consume him and change him. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Nix definitely made a public display of it on the battlefield.

I surveyed the impossibly huge army of Hollow Men with a steely glare as they finally drew to a halt some twenty metres away from us, all becoming immobile and watching.

There were four of us backed up a bit; Nixion, Lynxia, Hope and Ink, while myself, Flame, Sparky and Eve were ahead, far away from the lake by this point, but closer to the Hollow Men than the others were. I’m not sure if it was fear or repulsion that drove Star from the lake as the Hollow Men broke the surface, but I saw a blur that was her charging away from the mass of water the instant they rose before I saw the Hollow Men myself.

The silence that followed was eerie. Still. It seemed delicate, one that had suddenly been forced upon all those who could appreciate its magnitude. I was sure that if there were walls of Blogland, they would surely be waning with the strain of attempting to contain the silence that seemed to be expanding everywhere, fragile and frightening.

The lake was still. The leaves and grass had stopped swaying in the wind that had now died. There was no breeze. Every single thing, living or dead, natural or built, invaders or defenders, were completely and absolutely still, completely silent, observing all the while…

And then the Hollow Men moved.