Stories and Poems

This edition I celebrate a year as head of Stories and Poems section. While a little lighter than the others I’ve edited for the past year, this edition is of the usual high quality. Be sure to check out the sixth instalment of Jamster’s Runescape saga, Courage in which the forces of darkness further reveal both themselves and their dark designs. Rizzo presents us with three more Haiku poems packed with natural imagery. Next, Buffalo (the artist formerly known as ZacharyB) delivers us the fourth, and penultimate, episode of the thrilling story, Pitawakia. Finally, Cookthechef rounds off the selection with the naïve poem, Little Seed – take care with this fragile poem and it will bear you the fruit of your own imagination.

Enjoy

SlashingUK

Courage - By: Jamster

“Come, there is much to do. I trust you all remember the ritual?” The pyromancer asked, approaching his brothers. Lagast looked up for a split second, then returned to communing with his element, the earth, beneath him, stroking and manipulating it with his strong hands. After several minutes of apprehensive silence from the group, he spoke.

“The energies that pervade this place will be ample, Mordecai, do not worry yourself.”

“There too, is the problem of the other Gods. Akran, Tarfel, you say the guards of the Southern gate were inspired by something? Our chaos can only shroud the sight of the Gods for so long; we must create a more permanent solution.”

“Simply, brother,” Tarfel rose, the wind buffeting at his clouded robes, “We complete the ritual. But, let the innocent spill blood. It will release the spirit, too, of course…”

“…The Gods would cast out the perpetrator,” Mordecai interrupted, his voice full of excitement, “and the releasing of the spirit would release the energy too!” His eyes met his brothers’, a wicked, twisted smile forming across his face.

“Let us move, quickly. I wish to have this over before sunrise.” United by their evil, they rose and began to move through the ruined streets of Falador.

The army stood, motionless, as the four approached. While his brothers brought the serpent girl out from the ranks, Mordecai placed his hands out in front of him and whispered softly, feeling the heat envelop his hands as flames washed over them. The flames dispersed, leaving a golden ornate dagger in his grasp. He looked up, and his eyes met hers. They were dead, eerily soulless orbs reflecting his gaze like pools of water. Gesturing to himself, he gave one simple command - “Kill.” Without a word, the serpent girl rose up, and walked towards her master. Shaking, she brought the dagger up to his neck.

The hand holding the dagger hesitated; this felt wrong. “You are mine now, serpent. Forget. Do not resist.” Mordecai’s voice echoed around her empty mind, as cold and bitter as the wind. “Forget your God, serpent. It cannot save you now! Grant me my redemption! Redemption, serpent!” With lightning speed, Juna felt her body lash out. The dagger ripped through the Mordecai's vessel’s flesh, making the body convulse violently as the blade tore through the neck; it shook wildly, spasms shaking across the body. Juna watched through her glassy eyes, terror grasping at her infected mind. She, Juna – the protector of the balance, the keeper of the peace, whose only prey for four thousand years had been the dwellers of the cave –had shed the human’s blood. The parasite inside her had driven her to do it, the parasite that tore apart her mind as she had the poor boy’s throat, she could not have stopped it. Could she?

“Return to your position, serpent girl,” hissed Tarfel, shattering Juna’s concentration. Juna watched helplessly through her glassy eyes as her legs began, unbidden, to move back towards the army of darkness. Every one of them, she realised as she moved, was just like her. She was not special. She was purely another heart in need of rescue, another unlucky soul trapped by evil’s power; there was no need to break free, it would only invoke the parasite’s anger …again. She did not want the pain; she did not want the flames; if submission brought her relief, then she would submit.

Tarfel and his brothers approached the boy’s convulsing body, and placed themselves around it. He waved his hands, directing the wind to hold the body still; then, slowly, they began to chant their evil, undying ritual. The body’s movements became wilder and wilder as the chanting swelled, the three magicians’ hands rose in unison. Their last three words brought the body upright, its eyes opened for a split second, glowing an evil, fiery red beneath the drained child’s face. Then, as the three stopped their chanting, Moredcai’s, through his dying vessel shouted one, single, terrifying word.

And then the darkness exploded from his limbs, flowing through the ruined streets of Falador, wrapping itself around the dark magicians; the army; the horrified, powerless Juna, before spreading further and further, gushing through the ruined gates, enveloping everything in its path in an eerie, silent blackness. Juna felt the cold, numbness through the parasite’s control; she could not see more than two feet in front of her through her glazed eyes. Everything was wrong, and she was helpless to stop it; she was helpless to stop the chaos, whose fingers had already begun to grasp and tear at the delicate fabric of Gielinor.

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Rizzo's Haikus 2 - By: Rizzo

As he walks with her
In the small cozy forest
Two lives in union

Blue sea flows smoothly
Green hills across horizon
Together nature

Light splashes beauty
Reflections show true wonder
Nature at her best

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Pitawakia Part Four - By: Buffalo

Rick landed hard on the ground, and he felt something snap under his foot. He knelt down and felt the floor below him, and picked up something that had a very rough texture. He turned his flashlight on and dropped it.

It was a bone.

"Lily? Lily?" Rick screamed out through the cave.

"Daddy, is that you?" A voice weakly responded. Rick felt a wave of happiness when he heard her voice.

"Lily, where are you?"

"I don't know, it's dark, and I feel these things crawling over me."

"Okay, Lily," Rick replied, "Just keep on calling my name, and I'll find you." Rick felt the ground to see what he was standing on, and he realized it wasn't dirt. It was a massive pile of bones.

"How long have you been down here, Lily?"

"I don't know, I just remember waking up in here." Rick heard a loud Snap! and Lily shrieking.

"Are you alright, Lily?" Rick screamed in shock.

"It's dark, daddy," Lily said faintly, "it's getting hard to ...stay..." then it went silent. Rick was still digging through the mounds of bones, but no luck. Rick called out her name, and he heard a faint groan. Rick tuned his ears to where he heard it, and started to dig. A few feet in, he felt a hand under the mound of junk. Rick pulled up what felt like the body of a little girl. He pointed his flashlight at her.

"Lily!" He screamed.

"You found her, Rick?" Cathy cried down the hole.

"Ya!"

"Is there a way out?"

Rick looked around the dark cave, and found what looked like an opening on the other side. He trudged over to the cave, with Lily on his shoulders. She seemed to be unconscious. Rick pushed his way through the last bit of bones, and was in the cave.

Rick placed Lily on the ground. She was breathing very slowly. I have to be careful with her, Rick thought. He picked her up again, and looked down the other side of the dark tunnel. There was another opening. He turned on his flashlight and walked along the damp and slippery floor.

Was there even a way down the mountain through the tunnel? Rick grabbed his walkie-talkie, and tried to contact Cathy and Sarah with it. It was scratchy, but a "Are you okay, Rick?" came through the speaker.

"Yes, Lily's here with me, but she's unconscious."

"Is she alright?" Cathy asked.

"She should be fine," Rick replied, "do you know anything about a way out?"

"I think I do," Sarah said, "are you in some sort of tunnel system?"

"Yes."

"The tunnels should go right down through the mountain. It's pretty lengthy, but it's your only way out."

"Are you sure?" Rick asked.

"Trust me," she replied. Then the walkie-talkie went dead.

Rick took Sarah's advice, and started to go through the caves. His energy was getting weaker as he went, and Lily seemed to be getting heavier. She was still breathing at a slow rate, but still, any rate of breathing is alive. All he had to hope for was that he could make it out of Pitawakia before Lily...Rick couldn't bear to think about it.

The tunnels never seemed to end. When you think about it, that makes sense. What tunnel system goes all the way down a mountain, Rick thought. Pitawakia is an odd place though, so it really does make sense.

Rick finally found a tunnel with a shed of light at the end. Could this finally be the end?

Rick peered into the room, which was barely illuminated by the light. To the left of the cave, there was something that looked like a big pile of fur. Was it a bear? Rick couldn't tell. Whatever it was, how was he going to be able to get past it without waking it up?

Rick ran back to the last cave, and put on the walkie-talkie. "Cathy, are you there," he said into the receiver.

"Rick, are you alright down there?" Cathy asked.

"We're almost out, but we have one problem."

"What?"

"There's a bear in the last cave."

"Rick, you chicken. Just run past it," she replied.

Was she out of her mind? "You know the stories, the animals are either more peaceful, or more aggressive."

"You're gonna have to, Rick, or else you're stuck under there."

She had a point... Rick took a glance at Lily, still with her eyes closed. Was she in a coma? Rick tried to pass the thought from his mind. He glared into the cave, the bear was still sound asleep. Rick decided to go for it.

He started to hug the back wall of the cave, always focusing on the bear, and Lily. He tried to silence his feet so they made only the slightest tap. The bear stayed motionless, and Rick had to resist making any noise while his back was on the slimy wall.

Around halfway through, Rick heard a breath of air pass his ear. Rick looked to his left and saw Lily's head shaking and her eyes opening.. She looked dazed and confused. "Daddy?" she whispered. Across the room Rick heard a loud growl. In horror, he looked across the cave, the bear had opened his eyes, and they were piercing right through Rick's.

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Little Seed - By: Cookthechef

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