Stories and Poems

In this bumper issue I have the pleasure of presenting a sci-fi story, a fantasy story, a runescape story and a contemporary mystery, as well as two poems, and introducing two new Sal's Realm Newspaper Authors.

The next installment of the wonderfully imagined world of "Waves" by Scary Pudding twists and turns its way through more intrigue. New contributor Boomx021 delivers the opening part of a fresh, medieval fantasy story in "Forever Kingdom." Keep your teleport runes handy as Merch Gwyar explores a frightening "What if..." concept in "Big Game." ZacharyB's mystery-thriller, "Pitawakia" builds the suspense in approaching its thrilling climax. The first of our two poems is by first time Newspaper poet Zellychan with "A Smile's Worth" and takes us on a personal emotional journey. Finally, the endlessly creative Cresenne brings us emotionally engaging philosophical musings with "Through Another Light."

If you like what you read here please return a small comment to the Newspaper team. Without your feedback we will only ever present the stories and poems that I like; and I certainly like all of this issue's offerings. Enjoy!

SlashingUK

Waves - By: Scary Pudding

Chapter 8

Ryan looked down thoughtfully at the turbulent ocean below him from his seat in a government aircraft. I'm too young to stop a criminal empire! He thought. Colonel Wheelwright had explained the situation. According to him, The Union had intercepted the footage from the cruiser before it could reach government hands. Wheelwright believed that, because it was the only documented footage of a monster wave, it could possibly contain evidence that could lead to the crippling of The Union, who he suspected was responsible for the waves.

"It's a long shot, but we'll have to take it," he had said.

Ryan didn't know why he was so scared, all they had to do was go to Jacob's house and hand over the video. He felt a tap on his shoulder and was startled out of his thoughts.

"We're here," Jacob said.

Ryan noticed that they had landed on top of a building just a few blocks away from Jacob's house. He kept trying to reassure himself that everything would be back to normal soon, but no matter how hard he tried the sense of foreboding lingered. He was lost in thought all the way to the Hartman's house and bumped into their large gate. Jacob was going through the security procedures which Ryan had gone through just a few days earlier. It seemed like years ago to him.

Nothing was said as they walked up the driveway. Colonel Wheelwright appeared lost in thought too. Most likely thinking of the new promotion he'll get, Ryan thought with a slight grin on his face. Jacob opened his front door and everyone stepped inside. No lights were on and it was eerily silent. Jacob yelled for his parents and no one answered. The three of them stepped forward and the door slammed shut behind them. Ryan whirled around and found himself staring into the face of The Boss.

Chapter 9

"That was easier than I thought it would be," The Boss said with a sinister grin, "Man I am lucky! I got the son of some respected scientists, the son of a rich guy, and a military officer." He laughed. "I can't think of enough ways to spend your ransom money." He laughed again and spat on the floor. "Come with me."

They followed him down the hall into Jacob's room.

"My men have been impatient to do this," The Boss said. "Any later and they would have just shot each other." He chuckled at the thought, "All right boys, go ahead." One man threw up a small, metallic looking object, and the other man shot it. Ryan didn't see anything come out of what he recognized to be a gun, just a flash from one end, a loud bang, and the object exploded. Jacob's mouth was hanging open. He closed it and swore.

"That was my hard drive they blew up!" He whispered.

The Boss heard him, "You bet it was," he said, "now watch this."

The men threw up five more metallic objects and each of them exploded. Jacob was shaking with anger. "What's your problem?" He shouted.

"That was evidence," he said "The Union doesn't like evidence. Oh, and about the ransom thing, I was joking. I'm really gonna kill you."

Colonel Wheelwright's face went white. "You cannot do this! Expect a full investigation to be launched and you to be apprehended! This is one of your crimes the government will not tolerate!"

"Oh, I expect an investigation." The Boss laughed. "I just don't expect to get caught."

Colonel Wheelwright walked up to The Boss and stood almost toe-to-toe with him. "You are scum. And you will die," he spat. "And I'd be happy to be the one that kills you."

The Boss, obviously not used to this kind of defiance, took two steps back, pulled a gun out of his pocket, and shot Colonel Wheelwright in the chest.

"If any of you two feel like putting on any displays, I'll shoot you." He turned to his men. "Bring the body with us; it will be joining these two in the ocean."

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Forever Kingdom - By: Boomx021

The rays of sun lit the sleepy town of Farina to its morning chores. Velius, the old town blacksmith came from the forest, carrying a sack of lumber in a bag slung onto his back. Velius was the only reason Farina was known by the King and his men for it was he that made the blade of the King and his guard. "A fine blade!" said the King being able to chop a log with one strike of it. "What the citizens say of you is true!" He swung it around a little bit more, remarking that it was as light as a feather.

"Water-tempered steel," said Velius, observing the King practice with the blade. "Placed on the furnace seven times, dipped into water eight, of Claymore design. It's size will act as a weight balance. The edges of the crossguard are sharpened, making the blade not the only sharp part of the sword. A thin layer of ruby lies inside the blade to make it feel as though it's - as you say - as light as a feather."

"A sword fit for a king indeed," said the King, sheathing it inside his scabbard. "Guards, the Blacksmith's pay."

"Oh no," said Velius, protesting to be given the gold as a guard handed it to him in a bag as large as a cannonball. "The money goes to the people of Farina, not to myself."

The King looked at Velius with interest. "Why do you not wish for the gold? There is enough in that bag to last you a lifetime!"

"There is enough in there to supply the village with ten years worth of food. I don't want it."

"As your King, I give it to you-"

"As King, your job is to protect the populace of your Kingdom, not just one man."

The King drew his new sword, just inches from the neck of Velius. Velius neither withdrew nor showed fear. "I now wield this sword blacksmith! Don't you dare speak to your King like that, or I may well kill you right here!"

"Will you?" said Velius, returning to his open workshop. Blades and pieces of metal were hung all over the workshop and a large anvil stood merely a few feet from the open furnace, where pieces of metal lay half inside the furnace, the other outside the furnace. Two tables in the workshop were filled with Velius' tools. Velius grabbed a hammer from his table, and a blade from the furnace. "So tell me," he said, hammering the blade. "If you kill me, who is going to save you from the people of Farina? Even your guard won't be able to live through our few numbers. They train themselves, almost every day, I supply them with weaponry, and they supply me with metal. There's another furnace across the village where they turn the ore from our iron mine into metal."

"To assault the King is treason," said the King, his blade still pointed at Velius, "to even talk of assaulting the King is-"

"Apologies," cut in Velius, putting the blade back into the furnace. "But to assault the King who killed the blacksmith of Farina would be the most reasonable thing we have ever done. I advise you and your men to leave. Leave the gold, I shall give it to the people of Farina, keep the gold, your guards won't get their blades.

The King left without question, leaving behind the gold...

A month later, he returned, expecting the blades of all his thirty guards; he took them without question or even a word, leaving behind an equal amount of gold.

A week later, Velius was now in his workshop, tending to his blades was his daily chore. Whilst watering a blade, he heard a faint rushing of feet, seeming to come closer to his workshop.

Velius put the blade into the furnace and turned to the direction of the sound, only to find a small boy, no more than the age of ten, running up toward him. The boy wore silken clothes of violet and blue, a black cloak hung around him, trailing the ground as his face lit up his strangely dark brown eyes.

"Young Constantinus, able to escape your father’s court?" said Velius, remembering the boy from one of the King’s visits to his workshop. Velius stepped out to meet Constantinus, looking around if anyone was following him. He kneeled down on the ground, looking at the buoyant face of the boy. "How did you get all the way from the castle, to my little workshop in the middle of Arleta?"

"That would be of my doing," said a man, riding a horse to meet the two.

Velius looked up, a soldier (from what it seemed), clad in gleaming iron armour and riding a horse, greeted him.

"Antonius, always able to answer any question, and make a child stray away from his own family," remarked Velius.

"Not the first time," answered Antonius, getting off his horse. "And since when did you disagree with this?"

"Never said I did," said Velius, returning to the blade. Constantinus eyed the furnace, anvil and tools. As Velius inspected the blade he noticed Constantinus watching him. Velius, using a pair of tongs, quenched the blade in a trough of water, then held it close to his face to examine the edge. Constantinus’ gaze never left Velius.

"Think this is good enough?" Velius asked the boy, showing him the scorching blade.

Constantinus nodded in agreement, staring at the blade in awe.

"Not quite," said Velius, as Constantinus’ gaze switched from the blade to Velius. "The blade is not the only part of the sword lad. Therefore the blade is not the only part that needs to be tempered. You don’t need the hilt to be in the fire, but you need it to be warm as well."

"Listen to `im Constantinus," said Antonius, leaning on a table. "He’ll be able to teach you to talk."

"He doesn’t know how to talk?"

"Aye, we don’t know why though. Boy only opens his mouth when he eats."

"Well then," said Velius, returning the blade into the furnace. "We’ll have to remedy that then. Come back tomorrow Constantinus, I’ll get some words out o’ your tongue."

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Big Game - By: Merch Gwyar

Derin and Taz fought back to back, the God Wars creatures falling in heaps around them. So practiced were they at joint combat, that an onlooker might be forgiven for thinking that they were a single, multi-limbed and deadly entity. Their parries, swipes and thrusts appeared choreographed. They practically danced through slaughter and across corpses.

Outside the door, their friend, Celie, had already wiped her sword clean of blood and was engaging in a little high alchemy. Should a rare mistake prove fatal inside the arena, then she was prepared, with forty kills to her name and several prayer potions in her bag. She could bless a gravestone for an hour and take the place of the absent fighter with sharp skills of her own. She glanced up into the cavern before her, "What?"

"I said you have blood on your face." TJ stepped beside her and wiped her cheek with his hand. He was hardly unstained himself, having just completed his own forty kills. Unaccountably, Celie blushed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I was just saying," Mark spoke into the channel, which connected him with a dozen or more friends. "if you look at the strands of DNA in your body and compare it with a two-line Celtic knot-work, they look the same."

"So?" Kelsall was bored. It was obvious in every response he made.

Davey was still interested, though slightly exasperated about the way the conversation was going, The sound of his fletching scratched through, as a backdrop to everything else.
"Fair enough, but what does the Celtic knot-work mean to you?"

"It's the interweaving of us and nature. The first thread is us and the second is nature. Or spirit and body, I haven't decided."

"I'm going fishing." Kelsall muttered, desperate to change the subject.

"Ah-ha!" Davey pounced upon the explanation as if he'd been expecting it all along. "But, with respect, that's... you can read anything in anything. There are people who look at the laminin molecule and see a cross. I bet you'd be the first to tell them to stop looking at stylised versions and to see..."

"Sharks or salmon?" Kelsall interjected pointedly. "I can't decide."

"Sharks." Celie spoke into the channel for the first time since she and the others had gone to God Wars. "We're going to need to buy them off you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pauly counted out his money. He had enough. He donned his achievement armour and set off in the direction of Zaff. Varrock was busy today, the bustle and industry all around him rendering it difficult to follow the conversation going on in his chat channel. He'd caught enough of it to know that Mark and Davey were being too intellectual for a Sunday afternoon, so figured it was safe enough to tune out mentally until something interesting was said.

He turned the corner and nearly collided with a young adventurer clad head to toe in iron. "Oops! Sorry!"

"Sorry." As Pauly made to side-step him, the newcomer lifted his visor, revealing an anxious face beneath. He seemed so close to tears. "I'm lost. I can't find Lumbridge."

"Ok, not to worry, I can..." But Pauly never finished his sentence. A whole confusion of things happened all at once, which those listening in would spend the rest of their days trying to understand. The explosion sounded loud over the channel, as did the screams and, worse, the abrupt silences. There was distant panic and, closer, an ominous crackle. Shock reverberated across their locations, covering half of Gielinor.

"Where's it coming from?" Davey demanded. "What's happening?"

"Is everyone alright?" Taz called, though she was hardly safe herself.

Against that cacophony of terror came another sound which froze all who heard it. It gushed out in a tortured exhalation of agony, so close to the microphone. More like a trapped animal, it barely sounded human. They all found themselves recoiling from imagining what was happening to cause it, because it sounded like Pauly.

"Pauly, sweetie..." Celie tried to keep the fear from her own voice. "What's happening? Where are you?"

"He was going to get his battlestaves." Kelsall, whispering, volunteered the information.

"Are you in Varrock, lovely? Pauly, are you in Varrock?" There was no response, but for strangled whimpering.

There was a rustling, then Mark piped up, "I've got the runes, I'm coming, Pauly. I'm coming."

"Careful, Mark! Stop!" Derin commanded, taking the lead as he and Taz always did. "Whatever has hurt Pauly might get you too! Hold on, me and Taz are in Lletya, we're grabbing Skull Sceptres."

"I've got Varrock runes!"

"Do... not... teleport.. to... Varrock!"

They heard a sigh which seemed to ricochet across the worlds, then the whimpering stopped. All they could hear was that horrific backwash of scared people and indecipherable bangs, crashes and roars. Celie fought to remain calm, "Pauly, are you there, gorgeous? Speak to us?"

Mark called out, "I'm in Barbarian Village." They could hear shouts in the background there too. "There are a lot of people fleeing in this direction." They heard him call out to someone, to ask what was happening. The response was lost in the general pandemonium heard all about, but they heard Mark's sharp intake of breath. 'Really?" He gasped, as his ear-piece vibrated to a nearly unanimous demand for him to relay the information. "Guys, you're never going to believe this... oh crap... Pauly..." He was running, they heard his breath quicken.

"Mark! Stop! Wait for me and Taz."

"And me and TJ, we're coming!"

"What's happening?"
Mark practically shouted the reply, his bark a mixture of disbelief, worry and determination, "The KBD just turned up in Varrock Town Centre."

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Pitawakia Part Three - By: ZacharyB

After twisting and turning through path after path, Rick had finally found an upwards slope. There was a sign next to it which gave information about the hike the campers would be taking. This must have been it. Lily was somewhere up here hopefully.

"Lily . . . " Rick started to call out, "Lily . . . " Night had begun to fall and he'd never be able to find her in the dark. How could he just leave Lily out here for another night by herself? Wandering around the woods looking in the middle of the night didn't seem like a good idea either. Was Lily's life worth more than his?

After arguing with himself, he decided that he'd just sleep until the sun rose. Looking with Cathy would be better than looking by himself. He had no where to sleep, so he put his back against a tree and tried to go into an uncomfortable, shallow sleep. His dreams were full of his daughter's smiling face. If only it could all be real.

Rick felt a sudden thud on his head. He ripped open his eyes to see a squirrel scurrying on the ground next to him. He was probably the cutest squirrel you could ever see. It reminded Rick of Lily when she was little, the adorable eyes, and that curious look on her face.

The squirrel looked at him, noticing that this giant was awake. Rick looked down at it and smiled, which confused the squirrel even more. It held out a tiny acorn, offering it to Rick. Rick had a look of amazment on his face. This must be what he meant when he heard about the creatures being more friendly here. He took it and popped it in his mouth and started to chew on it. It had a sort of crunchy feel to it, but didn't taste like anything at all.

Rick forced himself off of the ground, and tried to decide what to do next. His options were to wait for Cathy, or go. After thinking long and hard about what to do next, he decided to go find Lily. Rick turned to the left, and headed down the path, until he heard the small crack of a twig behind him.

Rick turned around to see Cathy walking up the trail with a little girl by her side. At first he thought it was Lily, but soon realized that she had black hair, instead of Lily's blonde, and not as round of a face. "Who's this?" Rick asked, as Cathy and the girl ran up to catch up to him.

"I just found her wandering on the trail," Cathy replied, "she's lost and confused. I think the camp lost her too on the hike."

"What should we do with her?"

"Just keep her along with us I guess," Cathy said, "hopefully she has a family that we can return her to after we find Lily." All throughout the conversation, the girl was trying to avoid their eyes. The two parents got the message that she didn't want to talk, so they walked down the trail, and started to discuss where Lily would be.

"How far do you think she's gotten?" Cathy asked.

"We had always taught her to stay put if she got lost," Rick said, "she shouldn't be too far from the trail."

"What if . . . something got her?" Cathy asked. Rick didn't reply. "I guess we're just gonna have to walk along the trail, and hope we find her then," Cathy said.

And that's what they did. Rick, Cathy, and the little girl wandered straight across the trail for hours. There was little conversation, and there was a constant buzzing of bugs in the air.

"I knew Lily," the girl said, as she spoke for the first time.

"You did?" Rick asked.
"Yes, we went on the hike together. We both got lost."

Cathy looked at her in shock, "why didn't you tell us before?"

"I was too scared," she replied.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

The girl shook her head, "I don't really remember the hike at all, it's all a blur. I just remember finding Cathy." After a small silence, she said, "my name is Sarah, by the way." This got no real response though.

After an hour or so, they reached the top of the mountain. Maybe she was hiding on top. "Look around," Rick said bluntly. The top of the mountain was around 500 feet across, which means there was plenty of room for her to be. The landscape was perfectly flat though, where could she be hiding?

Rick headed east, across the top of the mountain. He looked anywhere she could be, under bushes, or near trees. She was no where to be found.

"Look out, Rick!" Cathy screamed. Rick froze on the spot, and looked in front of him. He was inches away from a large hole in the ground. What was this doing on the top of a mountain? A sharp thought went through Rick's mind. Had Lily fallen in?

"Cathy, give me a stick or something." Cathy searched for a stick on the ground, but could only find a thick, small branch. She handed it to Rick, and he dropped it in the hole. He heard a loud thud, and realized that the hole wasn't very deep.

"I think I hear something," Sarah said. Rick put his ear to the hole, and thought he could hear a faint voice. He listened more carefully, and heard someone calling.

"Is someone up there? Please help me."

"That's Lily down there," Rick screamed. Without hesitating, he prepared to jump in the hole.

"Don't go down there, Rick," Cathy said. He stopped at the last possible second, "You might die down there."

"And Lily is dying down there right now," Rick screamed back. Sarah started to search through her pockets, which caught the attention of Rick and Cathy.

"Here, take these," she said. Sarah gave Rick a flashlight, and two walkie-talkies. Rick took the flashlight and one walkie-talkie, and Cathy took the other.

"I'll be all right," he said thoughtfully.

A tear went down Cathy's face, "I'll find a way to get you back out once you go down. Please be careful." Rick smiled.

He put his face down in the hole, "Can you hear me, Lily?"

"...Daddy?" the voice said in shock.

"I'm coming down. You'll be ok!" Lily didn't respond, but he assumed that she was in too much shock to say anything. He took one last look at Cathy and Sarah, and took out his flashlight. He gathered the last of his courage, and jumped down into the hole.

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A Smile's Worth - By: Zellychan

So crushingly bleak
And too tired to speak
I wallowed in despair.

I wished to be dead
But you found me instead
That night you stole my heart.

'Twas nothing concrete
But a gesture so sweet
Which took my breath away.

You gave me a smile
And I cried all the while
Lost in your arms that night.

And when the day came
There was nothing the same
As my memories of before.

---End

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Through Another Light - By: Cresenne

Once, I had a dream – a passion: a hope …
a need to create, to express my thoughts –
but now, the armies of the oppressor
have come, and naught remains but a soulless heap.
Once…Once I lived; I only exist now…
And as I lay here, slowly fading,
I wonder…

How many times have scholars been killed,
during the turbulent rise of human
civilization? Killed for that seed of wisdom
that only they possessed. Will we ever learn?

For by the victors history is written:
by those with control of the wealth,
the power, the spirits of the vanquished,
who have not the means to resist.

How many stories remain untold,
about the sufferings of common people?
Suppressed by the hands of untried leaders,
hidden in the folds of corrupt governments.

New orders destroying precious lore –
hiding the truth, not wanting us to know
for knowledge is power – dangerous power
that lingers in the fists of misguided men.

Hatred brewing beneath the surface,
eternal flames forever burning
a need for vengeance, to forget forgiveness;
Decent men become savage beasts.
All consuming rage consumes all beauty –
devours our dreams, our works of art;
so many relics from ages past
obliterated from Earth forever.

Hundreds of wars fought over power
always in the name of some saintly reason
justified in the eyes of the people
these saintly massacres of damned men.

Mounds of the learned, buried alive,
crimson tears eroding societies;
all fades into distant memory,
forever forgotten; forever unmourned.

Will we ever learn from the mistakes we made?
Will the cycle of destruction ever end?
Will we ever learn?
Will we even care?

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