The Story of Jodas Strongpad
By Jack Canonico
In the calm land of Salkjis, the day that Erebus returned to his dark realm of Quiovoxen, a child was born to the Strongpad family of hobbits. The Strongpad family named him Jodas. Some prophesied that a hobbit born on the day that the dark god returned to his realm would eventually banish the evil to the abyss forever.
Jodas grew up like any other young hobbit of his time would: he spent most of his time talking with friends. Often, he would play in the stream by his house and loved the water. Mostly, he played and socialized with his friend Drifas Maquory.
On Jodas’ 32 birthday, which he shared with Drifas who was three years younger than him, they had a huge party to celebrate Jodas’ coming of age. That day, Erebus sent out his first wave of Eurynomusi (or corpse-eaters) to invade the other lands.
Later that day, Jodas and Drifas had a huge joint birthday-party and had a blast. All their friends and family were at the party. Everyone exchanged gifts then watched a prodigious firework display thanks to the pyromancer Moijr.
After dinner when the hobbits started winding down their party, they heard a loud horn sound and heard the screams of people running.
“Run,” they screamed, “run for your lives.” Suddenly, a great darkness fell and even though the sun wouldn’t set for another hour the sky was black. The first wave of the Eurynomusi (evil spirits) had arrived and at the lead of the squad was a giant Chimera that slaughtered countless hobbits. The only party attendees that lived to see another day were Jodas, Drifas, and their friends Fadsod, and Kilaj. They survived the raid by hiding in the photo booth (a relatively new invention) at the party.
After the evil spirits had left and the darkness had passed the surviving hobbits left the photo booth. The entire land of Salkjis was nearly destroyed and survivors were few and far between because half of Jodas’ town was at his party and more people from out of town attended the party as well. Littering the ground were skeletons who the Eurynomusi had overtaken as they attempted to flee.
“Where’s the flesh on the corpses?” asked Drifas?
“The Eurynomusi eat corpses like crows,” replied Jodas.
Then they were all silent realizing that they would never be able to give the attendees a proper burial because they had no way of identifying them. The one thought that was in all their minds was “what now”. They could try to join a force to attempt to stop Erebus or they could try to find a safe haven for themselves for them and the rest of the remaining hobbits while they waited for a group of people to stop the evil forces. They decided to debate what to do.
“I think that we should go and try to stop these forces,” said Jodas after the debate.
“I agree with Jodas,” added Drifas, “we should stand up and fight not cower in a corner and wait for the trouble to pass.”
The others agreed and they decided to make for the number one fighters against Erebus, the Sparti, who were so skilled in war that it is said they are born with armor on and spears in hand.
As soon as they were packed up and ready to go, they started on their journey to the land of Spartius. At the beginning of their journey, the scenery looked somewhat normal, but as they got closer to Spartius and Quiovoxen the land around the hobbits looked more and more like a barren wasteland.
“These Eurynomusi did more damage than we thought,” said Kilaj.
“Yes, I hope that the fortresses of Spartius still stand,” replied Fadsod.
The next wave of Eurynomusi were sent out when the hobbits were two days out of the capital of Spartius. This time, at the lead, was a giant manticore instead of a chimera. Ever since the first wave, the hobbits thirsted for a way to avenge their fallen brethren and fight the Eurynomusi.
As the Eurynomusi approached the hobbits bravely stood in the middle of the road. They carried no sword and held no other weapon besides their fists and minds. As soon as they were spotted, the manticore was sent forth to make play of them but the manticore had very little fun with the hobbits.
The manticore launched spikes from its tail at the hobbits and since he was not the most accurate manticore and used a few too many spikes, he littered the ground with them and ran out, not one hitting its mark.
“Pick the spikes up and use them against the manticore,” Jodas yelled to his companions.
So, they each picked up one of the countless spikes and used them like a stabbing weapon. These spikes became the first swords. They each took a few shots at the manticore but it was Drifas who landed the final blow. He stabbed the manticore from his weak underbelly and the beast collapsed, dead.
At the sight that the beast had fallen the Eurynomusi became extremely enraged. They all charged at the hobbits, but at that moment the noble men of Spartius were seen from behind the monsters. The monsters were then made quick work of by the Sparti.
Then in two days when the hobbits and the men arrived at the capitol they received a warm welcome from the people of Spartius. They had a huge feast with the king which was much better than the stale scraps the hobbits had gathered for their journey. But best of all, they were each given a legion of soldiers to bring into the land of Quiovoxen.
After a great week’s stay in the king’s palace, the hobbits and their legions of men set out for Quiovoxoen. After a weeks’ time, they arrived at the abyss that was on the western edge of Quiovoxen which had the awful smell of rotting flesh wafting through the air. On the other edge of the abyss was the entire army of Erebus and this time he was leading his forces.
The beginning of the next day when the morning was still crisp yells of “Charge!” could be heard from either side of the abyss. Both forces were attempting to take the one and only bridge across the abyss. After three hours of fighting, the hobbits and men had taken the now bloody bridge.
It was around that time that Erebus recklessly challenged the leader of his enemy to come forth and duel him. He believed that he would easily win and send his enemies into chaos, but what Erebus didn’t realize is that the leader was the one foretold of in the prophecies.
Jodas, the leader of the men, came forth and accepted Erebus’ challenge and in the middle of the bridge the duel began.
First Erebus charged at Jodas with the strength of a bull, no weapon in hand hoping to push his enemy off the bridge, but the opposite happened. Jodas sidestepped and Erebus couldn’t turn around, and he fell into the abyss.
What occurred afterwards was just astonishing. All of the Eurynomus floated into the air at once, and they then exploded like fireworks.
Afterwards, the hobbits had a colossal celebration and partied for days then after another week in Spartius they finally headed home.
“Oh, I miss home so much,” Drifas said.
“Ditto,” replied Jodas, “I can’t wait to get back even though it is mostly a wasteland.”
To the surprise of all the hobbits, the land of Salkjis was just as it was the day of the party.
“When the Eurynomusi exploded all of their actions must have been undone,” hypothesized Kilaj.
So, all of the party attendees were still alive and the hobbits rejoiced and celebrated some more.
It is said that in memory of the hobbits the men of Spartius tried to replicate the hobbits’ weapons and made swords.
Goddess of the Moon
By Carla
Artemis was a beautiful goddess with shining silver hair, pale skin, and blue sparkling lips. She wore a pale blue, sparkly, flowing, mermaid dress. She was the goddess of hunting, and the natural environment.
Her brother, Apollo, was the god of the sun. She never forgot that the night was dreary and dark. There was no sun that produced at least enough light to find your way around. The night was a white page covered in black ink.
However, Artemis always worked hard during the day. Never stopping till her work was done. Apollo saw how hard she worked and decided he wanted to give her a reward, so he went to Zeus to ask him what he could give her.
Apollo rushed t
o Mt. Olympus where he found Zeus.
“Zeus, I want to reward Artemis for all of her hard work, but what should I give her?”
Zeus ate another grape as he listened, “In a cave on Mount Blanc is a sacred gift so powerful it could be used to destroy the world.” Zeus replied, “this gift is very important and hard to get to. You and your sister must be very careful and she must be ready to protect it with her life.”
Apollo shifted nervously. He knew it was worth it and they had to try to get it but he was not sure what dangers they would face.
Zeus went on, “The gift is a white disc. Sometimes it’s a crescent and sometimes it’s a whole disc.”
After Zeus’s speech about the magical disc, Apollo looked for Artemis. He found her in the forest hunting for deer.
“Artemis,” Apollo called.
“Yes?” Artemis answered, “What brings you to the forest, my dear brother?”
Apollo explained the gift and where to get it. While Artemis joyfully listened. They decided to go that night with a torch to see where they were going. That night when the sun had long left the sky, the two gods made their way to Mont Blanc. They searched for the cave for three hours, and finally Artemis found the cave after crashing through what seemed like a forest of bushes. They quietly ran through the entrance only to be showered with stalactites.
“It’s a booby trap,” yelled Apollo as they dashed farther into the cave.
“I think we’re safe,” gasped Artemis, “Or not,” she corrected herself as a giant boulder rolled down towards the siblings. “RUN!” yelled Apollo. After a few minutes of running they finally escaped the bolder and entered a small room.
“Wow.” exclaimed Artemis as they admired gold filled room.
“Let’s get what we came for and get OUT.” Apollo and Artemis started searching for the disc and easily found it. They were soon on their way out of the cave. Little did they know they were not the only ones looking for the disc. Hades was also looking for disc and he had overheard Apollo and Zeus’s discussion. He had hoped that he could get to the disc first but now he saw it in Artemis’ hands and was furious. Hades was determined to get the disc and would stop at nothing to get it.
That night Artemis and Apollo were getting ready to go to bed.
“Do you think someone is really going to try to steal the disc?” asked Artemis.
“I doubt it,” answered Apollo, “but we should be careful just in case.”
Hades was close by listening to their conversation. He decided that he sneak up to them early in the morning, two hours before the sun would come out.
Early in the morning, Hades snuck up the tree where Artemis and Apollo were sleeping. He could almost touch the disc when Artemis pulled the disc out of the way. Hades slipped and slid back down the tree.
“Zeus was right,” said Artemis as Apollo got up, “Someone was going to try to steal the disc from me, but I’m sure he didn’t think it would be his own brother!”
“We should probably get moving before Hades tries to get back up here,” Apollo remarked as he grabbed a rope he had brought, “We can swing from tree to tree if we’re careful.”
“Good idea,” said Artemis while she wrapped one end of the rope to a small branch, “I’ll go first.” She attached the disc to her dress, took a few steps back, and took a running leap. She swung across the gap between the trees and landed on a nice, sturdy branch. She tied her end of rope to another branch as Apollo untied his end and swung across.
Soon the siblings had lost Hades and slid down the trees. “We need to be very careful we don’t meet anymore gods or anyone else.”
Later that day Hera was out in the woods when she overheard Artemis and Apollo talking about the silver disc. It was rumored to have powers strong enough to change the world forever. When Hera looked through the bushes, she realized they weren’t just talking about the disc, they had the disc. Hera was furious. There was only one person who knew where disc was, Zeus, and he told them. She had begged him to tell her where the disc was and yet he told two other gods instead of his own wife. She knew it was best not to tell Zeus of what she found and try to steal it herself.
Later that day Apollo and Artemis climbed a tree to go to sleep for the night.
“Do you think Hades is coming after the disc again tonight,” started Artemis, “I hope no one else saw us and is coming after it too.”
“We’ll be fine as long as we sleep in the highest and hard to reach places,” Apollo said, “Tomorrow we’ll cross the ocean and start to look for a place to keep it safe.” The gods were soon fast asleep.
Hours later Hera and Hades were making their way to the tree in which the siblings were sleeping. As soon as Hades saw Hera, he pulled her away from the tree.
“What are you doing here,” he asked Hera.
“Getting the disc, duh.” She replied.
Hades had an idea. He explained to Hera what happened last night and how the two gods had escaped. Then he explained his new idea.
Hades and Hera quietly built their trap on the tree. Hades would distract the gods while Hera would swing on a rope to the tree they were in and knock Artemis and Apollo out of the tree. Artemis and Apollo would not be hurt because of a trap Hera and Hades had built to catch them. Apollo and Artemis would be flung into the trap and caught in a net high in the tree until they gave up the disk.
However, Artemis and Apollo had secretly made traps of their own earlier that day. The place where Hera would arrive on the tree also had a rope trap.
When Hera and Hades set their plan in motion, and it appeared to be working. Just when Hera was about to swing to Artemis and Apollo’s tree, Hades was caught in a trap! Hera continued the plan, she swung across to Artemis and Apollo’s tree but just as she pushed Artemis and Apollo into the net trap, Hera was also trapped in the rope trap.
Soon, all four gods were hanging in webs of rope amongst the trees.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” said Hera.
“In the meantime we all need to get out of these traps,” replied Artemis.
“I guess so,” replied Hera
Then Artemis had an idea. She started swinging in her net until she could grab her knife and cut off a thick branch on the nearest tree. Once she had the branch broken off and in her hands, she began sharpening the broken branch with her knife.
Soon, she had a nice sharp wood knife. She tossed the sharp wood knife that she’d just made to Apollo.
“Start cutting rope,” she said as she cut a strand of rope on her net.
“Do we get one?” asked Hades.
“Probably not,” answered Apollo as he fell through the net.
“I’ve got another idea,” said Artemis as she fell through her net, “How about you two stay here and wait until someone else comes along and unties you. That will give us a head start.”
Artemis and Apollo started walking towards the ocean.
Soon Artemis and Apollo were walking by the sea on the snow white silky sands, but they weren’t the only gods on the beach.
Suddenly, something struck Apollo on the back of his knee. He fell to the ground with a bone jarring thud. Artemis turned around, clutching the silver disc in her hands. She saw three gods: Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Hades knocked her to the ground and grabbed for the silver disk. In the same moment, Apollo grabbed his leg and yanked it out from under him, toppling him over. Poseidon and Hera were also trying to grab the disc. Artemis wouldn’t be able to keep the disc away from them much longer so she hurdled the disc into the sky. To her surprise the disc grew bigger and bigger in the sky until it became the moon.
From that day on, Artemis became the goddess of the moon.