The Venetou Read online

  Though concentrating almost totally on his private battle, a part of Paragos could hear around him the screams of the woman and children as they were rounded up, he knew that the Trinovantes had been defeated by their cowardly enemy. This knowledge made his anger grow to even greater heights, and his determination to kill his opponent grew alongside his anger. He knew that the Carvetii warriors would not enter into his fight with Rhaider, for it was one between two headmen, to assist Rhaider would be an offence against every code of honour.

  “How can a coward such as you Rhaider, bear to mix with the warriors of the Carvetii? Ah but of course, there are not any honourable men amongst your people, for otherwise they would not have permitted your people to act against the commandments of your god.” Paragos taunted him as they slowly circled one another.

  Rhaider screamed in rage and moved towards Paragos, his axe raised high, as it fell Paragos dove to one side and quickly regained his feet, the axe swinging heavily through the spot that he had occupied a moment ago. Rhaider moved angrily towards him while raising his sharp axe again for another attempt on the life of his enemy, if it fell Paragos knew he would die, he had to act quickly. He lunged forward, the sharp point of the spear easily pushed into the rapidly moving body, the sharp obsidian blade cutting its way easily through to the heart of Rhaider, killing the headman of the Carvetii instantly. As his lifeless body slumped to the floor one of the Carvetii warriors, furious too at the insults heaped upon his people by Paragos, let fly his arrow, it flew through air with the softest of swishes and buried itself into the chest of Paragos. Paragos felt it enter his body, although he felt no pain, he turned towards his attacker and looked upon him with contempt.

  “As I said to the dead scum at my feet, none amongst the Carvetii knows anything about honour, the land of the ancestors will receive none of you.” Paragos fell to the ground, moments later a dozen arrows were piercing his body, he died a proud man, one who knew he would be joining his ancestors.

  **********

  It had not taken long for the Venetou to find where their prey had gone, and following the scent of the Trinovantes they too came to the walled city of the Carvetii. However, long before they reached it they heard the sounds of battle, heard the screams of the dying, the wounded, of the woman and children screaming in terror. They had never encountered war before, when the Venetou had a disagreement with another group there was a large amount of shouting together with an awful amount of bluff, finally one tribe would cede victory to the other tribe and leave the scene of battle to the victor.

  What they saw happening in front of the walls of the city was the warriors of the Carvetii murdering their neighbours, it appalled the Venetou who now looked upon the Carvetii as the lowest of all animals, lower even than the cowards who they come to their land.

  Finally the killing stopped, and when morning came the Venetou watched the Carvetii burning the bodies of their fallen neighbours, piled high upon a huge funeral fire set in the middle of the large meadow before the walls of the city. The Venetou were too scared of fire to ever contemplate making it, even so as the heat of the flames reached them they were drawn towards the edge of the meadow, towards the heat of the fire. It was only the fact that the hypnotic powers of nine Venetou allowed them to blend into the trees behind them that prevented their enemy from seeing and attacking them. The fire burnt long into the afternoon, the smell of the burning bodies reminding the Carvetii of the crime that they had committed, and one against the commandments of their own god. Thankfully the fire began to die down, all the bodies had been cremated now, as for the Venetou they were hiding amongst the trees of the nearby forest and awaiting the night so that they might feed.

  The Carvetii now began to walk towards their city gate, however, there were some amongst them who lagged behind as they looked at the beauty of the night sky, it was upon six of these that the Venetou fed. The males each had a victim to themselves, dragging their prey into the trees to feed upon them. The women and their children shared the other three victims, and they also dragged their prey within the darkness of the trees and away from any Carvetii who might look their way. The Venetou hid amongst the trees and undergrowth for some time, looking at the strange caves that their prey lived in, here they waited to see how things would pan out.

  The six men were soon missed by their families, however, remembering the tales brought to them by the Trinovantes, no warrior now dared to venture forth in search of the missing men, not during the night, fearing that the Venetou were behind the men’s disappearance. As for the families of the missing men, they too decided to wait until morning to search out their missing men. The next morning their bodies were found amongst the trees that grew around the grassy meadow before the entrance to the walled city, and those who saw them cried out in fear, for they had been murdered, and each of them had a hole through their eyes. This was just as the women of the Trinovantes had said happened to their people, while they worked for their new masters, they smiled now through their pain, for they saw their masters cringe in fear.

  “We are suffering punishment from the demons for killing the Trinovantes, we are marked with their blood and now we shall become the chosen prey, this is what your advice has done for us.” Rhyad, the son of Rhaider screamed at the elders, forgetting that his father had been in complete agreement with this advice.

  That night saw six warriors patrolling the walls of the city of Carvetii, six warriors who were found dead upon the walls when the early morning watch came to relieve them. The next night saw twenty four warriors patrolling the walls, and the early morning watch were relieved when they found them still alive the next morning, as were the citizens of the city when they awoke from a sleep troubled by nightmares.

  The Venetou had settled for eating one of the domesticated animals of the Carvetii that night, however, during the day the citizens felt safe and left the safety of the walled city, here they found their slaughtered cow. Now the citizens of the city thought that if the demons had eaten their cow, then it was a tribute worth paying. The people thought that they were now safe and so the women went about their normal work. Some of them picked herbs from their small gardens, others harvested the fruit and vegetables that they cultivated, or tended to the fields of wheat that were almost ready to be harvested. The warriors went out to hunt for game, for they all felt safe to go abroad during the hours of daylight, had not the Trinovantes women who were now their slaves told that the demons were of the night. It was now while the sun was at its highest point that the Venetou fell upon six of the citizens of the Carvetii and fed, happy to find that these people tasted as good as their former prey had done. The meat of the cow had satisfied their immediate hunger, however, nothing could replace the feeling they got when they fed upon the people`s life-force, for the Venetou were hooked upon it, much as a junky is on drugs.

  Fearful of this new demon, the Carvetii posted twenty four guards each night and only allowed people to wander abroad during the day if escorted by a score of warriors. However, the attacks continued as the unwary were first picked off and then the warriors were taken as they stood watching the women tend to their tasks instead of looking out for the demons.

  The Venetou preferred to hunt by night as during the day it took far more mental energy to hide away from their prey, their heads began to ache if the hunt took too long. There might even be times when their energy levels were so low that their prey might actually see them. During the night though, with the all enveloping cloak of darkness about them, they only had to use their hypnotic powers during the final act of stalking their prey.

  With these safeguards seen as not working the Carvetii finally decided to desert their city and they moved en-masse further inland, and into the land of the Catuvellauni. Once there, they warned the people of this land about the demons, begged to be allowed to join them and together fight this new great evil, however their overtures only saw history repeat itself.

  Over the next century more Venetou came to th
is new land, brought over by voyages of discovery made from towns on the other side of the continent. They had found the southern continent of the Venetou and astounded by what it contained, had brought back to their own lands the plants and animals which were meant to enrich their own lands, however, within these ships were many hitchhikers. In this way the numbers of the Venetou rocketed as they pursued and fed upon the Bora across the planet, laughter disappeared wherever the Venetou went, fear replaced it. Finally a darkness descended upon the planet, one that would never lift.

  **********

  With so many of the Bora, the Venetou could not see the need to exercise restraint, and the Venetou had gone on an orgy of killing. The once thriving Neolithic civilisation of the Bora slowly disintegrated back into a Palaeolithic one, and then into one of a few individuals cowering away in caves, living in fear of the dreadful demon. The last of the Bora fought valiantly, but finally they were all hunted into extinction by the vast numbers of the Venetou, who were also desperate to survive. Now with their main source of the energy giving life-force gone, the Venetou could only survive on the life-force of the lesser creatures of Retem if they supplemented their diet by also eating these creatures. However, they needed to eat so many of them to equal the richness of the life-force found within the Bora, and so they now decimated the numbers of even these creatures. The strength of the Venetou ebbed away as fast as their numbers, now there were only a few of them left alive.

  The large lake, set amid a grassy meadow was home to two of the remaining Venetou. One male and one female, they could remember the stories told by their elders, of how vast numbers of Bora had once thrived upon Retem, thrived that is before they came and fed upon them. However, they could not remember how their life-force tasted, how it made them feel so alive, for they had never fed on the Bora, they had long disappeared from Retem.

  Chapter Two

  The Survey Ship from Earth

  The year is 2246 and a small spacecraft, the Galileo, was flying in over the landscape of the planet, later to be named by the crew of this craft, Retem. The craft hovered high in the clear blue sky above a flat grass filled meadow, a few small animals fled for their burrows as the space craft prepared to land beside the large lake set to one side of the grassy meadow. The crew aboard the survey craft was made up of two teams. In the first team were eight scientists, there to begin the survey of the planet for the Morang Corporation, an almost living entity whose voracious appetite lay claim to anything and everything that it could lay its greedy hands on. The second team aboard the ship were the six people who crewed the spacecraft, but who were also there to ensure that the scientists did not come to any harm. The scientific team was made up of a medical doctor, two geologists, two botanists, two biologists and one archaeologist. They were here to assess the value of the planet and ascertain whether it would be safe to send a small colony here, or whether it would be necessary to cleanse the native wildlife and start again. There was nothing the Morang Corporation would not do to turn a buck, and killing every living thing on the planet was always an option.

  Captain Christian Kramer, a fifty year old veteran of space travel, was going through the final preparations before taking the starship down. He looked across at his much younger first mate and smiled. “Well Joe, what do your instruments tell you about this beautiful planet, is it safe to land?”

  First Mate Joseph Carter looked up and returned his captain`s smile. “They confirm what the probe told us Captain, that this planet has an abundance of wildlife, and fortunately for us there are no signs of whoever built the deserted city on the opposite shore of the lake. They must have moved away, and whatever the reason for their departure, they will not get in the way of our preliminary survey of the planet.”

  Just then John Palin walked on to the bridge, he was the senior biologist and was head of the scientific team. He was tall and wiry, he had a thin pointed nose, a pasty complexion, a problem that many space travellers had to endure, and a lack of manners.

  “Captain, have you decided if this Garden of Eden is safe yet, if so are you going to land this tub and let us get down to what the Morang Corporation are paying us to do for them?”

  Kramer smiled at Palin, and bit back the sharp retort that sprang into his mind, instead he dismissed the scientist`s rude manner that had been with him from the moment that he had first boarded the space craft.

  “I have just finished asking Mr Carter whether it is safe to land down there Professor.” Kramer replied pleasantly. “Mr Carter, please repeat your report to Professor Palin, tell him whether it is heaven, or hell down there?” Palin turned to the first mate who as usual smiled back amiably.

  “Hopefully Captain, neither, as both places are inhabited by the dead.” Carter replied with a quiet laugh. “However as far as our instruments can tell it appears to be safe, of course we can only be sure after we have landed and checked the place out.” Carter looked at Palin and smiled while he awaited the scientist`s angry complaint to his carefully chosen words, which was not long in coming.

  “My god, all you people are interested in is red tape, you are nothing more than space bureaucrats. Look Captain, we can not wait for you to tell us the obvious, that this planet is safe, and in any case my scientific team is more able to supply the answer to that question, than your crew, they would not know a poisonous spider from a rose tree.” Palin complained and moved within inches of Kramer`s face to try to bully the captain into agreeing with him.

  “As long as we do not eat the food of the planet, or drink the water before we have tested both for toxins etcetera, we will be safe. The probe they sent earlier tested the air for germs and viruses, and it only found the normal variety, nothing that is of any danger to twenty third century human beings.”

  Kramer sighed and looking across at Carter gave him a look that showed his mild disapproval at his words and of his obvious mischievous side. However, seeing some smidgen of sense in the scientist`s words he decided to agree with Palin, he and Carter could do a quick search of the nearby area while the scientists did their preliminary work. With a plan of action ready for any unforeseen dangers awaiting the scientific team he took the starship down, they landed some three hundred feet away from the large lake, his team were soon making ready to take their first steps on to the planet. Kramer and Carter took the two vehicles that were part of the surveying equipment, did a cursory search of the surrounding area, and found nothing to worry them, so the scientists were now free to roam the planet as they saw fit. However, Kramer did appoint a member of the crew to each of the survey parties to act as their security guard.

  **********

  A single male Venetou together with his mate were terrified when they saw the survey ship landing noisily beside the lake, they saw it as a gigantic bird, one who could easily replace it as the creature who was top of their food chain. This fear quickly disappeared as they continued to watch from the safety of a small group of trees that grew near to the landing site. An opening appeared in the side of the strange beast and then three of the crew of the Galileo walked down a set of steps. The male Venetou looked to his female quizzically at the sight of the large prey.

  “Talia.” The male called across to his mate. “The three creatures, they are the Bora, I recognise them from my grandfathers tales about them. So the large beast, it is nothing but a mysteriously large flying den of the Bora, frightening as it is, it had brought us a supply of food. We should thank Selene our god for sending such bounty to feed her followers.”

  “Good, for I hunger to try the rich food of the Bora, Sarai, they say it is like nothing else in the world.” Talia replied, for their last meal of the burrowing rodents had been very unsatisfying.

  They did not realise that their life was about to radically change, they only thought that the good times had returned to their world.

  Sarai and Talia were taller than the Venetou of the southern continent, it was because the preceding generations had long been living upon the richer life
-force of the Bora, rather than the meagre amounts provided by the small animals of the southern continent. The average male was now six feet in height with his mate slightly shorter.

  **********

  The two biologists walked across to the lake with one of the crew, Chief Engineer Mayers, who was there to ensure their safety, he was armed with a Phaser pistol to protect them should anything carnivorous head their way. The biologists immediately began to gather samples of the animal life they found in the cold but crystal clear waters of the lake. With them was Doctor Garner who took a large sample of the water, he then returned to the Galileo to see if it was safe to drink.

  The two botanists were the next to leave the safety of the Galileo, also with a member of the crew in tow, this time it was Second Class Engineer Milano to act as their security guard. They moved across to the beginning of the woodland some four hundred metres away and began to collect samples taken from the trees and plants growing there.

  The two geologists wanted to take the small hovercraft, one of the two vehicles that were carried aboard the Galileo, for a short trip to a ravine some two kilometres away. Before they had landed Carter had made some sensor scans in this area, they had indicated some interesting minerals might be hidden along its length. Kramer agreed to their request, although he did have crewman Jubal accompany them on the trip.

  The last member of the scientific team, archaeologist Mary Taylor, a young woman from Australia, wanted to look round the buildings of the small walled city built on the other side of the lake, Kramer had his first mate and Aaila Madani, the only woman member of his crew, take her there in the slightly larger tracked vehicle. The city was but one of the many such deserted towns and cities found by the drone, it had been sent to the planet in advance of the survey vessel to ensure that no obvious dangers awaited the survey vessel. The scientists knew from these deserted cities that some dramatic event had happened on this beautiful planet, and part of their mission was to find out just what that dramatic event was, and if there was still a danger lurking on the planet, only when the planet was deemed safe would the miners and colonists be allowed to settle here.