Hello Readers,
Here is another sample of my work in the 10% Club series of posts. In this sample you get a glimpse at Shades of Hades, a short comical fantasy about a the gods. I hope you have as much fun reading this one as I did writing it.
Shades of Hades by Allan Walsh
Hades slouched upon his grey throne picking his teeth with the pointy end of an icicle. Spirits of the dead moaned at his feet, their sorrowful melody reverberating around the stalagmites and stalactites. Decaying bodies dragged heavy chains along the frozen ground—chains that rattled and clanked, grated and scraped, over and over, making his ears ring and his head throb.
“Can’t you drag those chains quietly?” he yelled, “I’ve a splitting head ache and my chilblains are killing me.”
The dead paused for a moment staring at him blankly, then carried on being dead, moaning and doing what the dead do. They didn’t care, why would they… death has that effect on a person.
“Is there no respect for the Lord of the Underworld anymore?” he huffed, “I am a god you know.” They continued to ignore him. A cold blast blew his dark hair across his face. He pushed it out of his eyes and it flapped in the wind. Hades pulled his ragged cloak tighter, trying to stop the chill gnawing at his bones. “Damn you Poseidon, and you too Zeus. Damn you both! Why did I get the underworld? If I had known it was this grey… this dark… this bloody cold all the time I would never have agreed to it.” He scrunched his hand into a fist, knuckles glowing in the dim light, and stamped his good foot hard on the ground. “Why can’t I live on the surface?” he whined, ignoring the ghostly wisps drifting around him. His eyes grew wide, and a grin crept up on his face. “I could swap! Make the underworld home for those wretched humans, then I could live up there.” Hades rubbed at the back of his head and his nose wrinkled, a sour odour scratching at his nostrils. He sniffed at his underarm and recoiled, his nose wrinkling even more. “I’m sure I’ve bathed this decade,” he said, dropping his arm.
If you enjoyed this sample of my writing, please share it with your friends.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.