A Short Story.

It was well past the middle of the night when Tevin finally made it to the small town of Gavinport. It was here that he would meet his end, he was sure of it. So far he had tried to many times to count to end his sad pitiful life, but to no avail. They said there was a man in this town who could end it for him, so he just need to find him, and hope he could do the impossible. The man went by the name of Nic, or so his informant told him. He was some sort of Magician who worked with the forbidden arts, and could steal your soul with just a look. Tevin doubted it, but was hopeful that he could be some help.

Since it was so late, Tevin decided to find a pub or an inn, where he could sit and wait for the coming dawn, and then find this Nic. He picked the rowdiest inn he could find, and ordered a pint of ale from the serving maid. He then went and sat at a table in the back corner and waited for his drink. He scanned the room, hoping to see if he could start up a fight, and maybe end his life that way. But he knew even if he could start a fight, and what ever the outcome, he would be fine. So he decided to just sit and wait for the dawn.

The serving maid brought him his ale, he gave her a copper, then began to drink. In about an hour or so, he was thoroughly drunk, and was soon on the table tops singing with some other men who were happy to have someone join in they're song. Tevin didn't remember much after that, all he knows is he later woke up in a room with the serving maid, and they were both naked. Tevin wished he could have remembered her name, or anything for that matter. He glanced around the room, which was very typical, wash basin on a table, a chair by the empty hearth, and a cracked mirror on the wall. He saw that sun was a well above the horizon though, and decided he should find Nic. He quickly and quietly grabbed his clothes, put them on, then exited the room with out disturbing the girl.

Once out of the inn, Tevin made his way through the main street, stopping to look at street signs, and see if he could maybe see a shop set up for this magician. After a while he got frustrated, and began to ask around, people were either appalled at his question, or would tell him that no one in Gavinport was named Nic. Tevin became frustrated, but he wouldn't give up. Surely there was someone who knew this Nic and was willing to talk. He decided to see if he could find the less savory part of town, of course the problem with small towns, is they usually don't have one. After circling around the town three times, Tevin decided the town didn't have a dark underbelly, and he should just move on.

Continuing on the North Dravon Road, Tevin decided that he would head to the snowy mountains and try to freeze himself, or maybe throw him self off a cliff. Though he doubted there would be a cliff high, or temperatures low enough to kill him, but he could hope. Though he hadn't traveled far when a tall dark man approached him covered in animal hides. He was large, and bulky, and his gut protruded over his raccoon skin belt.

"I heard you were looking for the man known as Nic." He said in a slow thick accent that i couldn't place, or hardly understand.


"Yes, but he doesn't seem to be in the Town."

"He lives in a small hut out side of town, I shall take you to him, for this is what he wishes."

"Thank you, I'm Tevin by the way."

"I know."

The man just turned and began walking through the forest, expecting Tevin to follow. After a seconds Hesitation, Tevin began to walk into the woods following the small trail that the man had created through the underbrush. They hiked for about fifteen minutes, and Tevin noticed how he didn't hear or see any signs of wild life the whole time. This, he thought, may indeed be the man I need. They arrived at the tiny hut, which was made of rotting wood and the thatch roof was about to cave in, Tevin's expectations for the man dropped a little, but he still was a little hopeful. The man held open the door for Tevin to enter, but did not go in him self. Tevin glanced back at the trail for a second deciding if he should just leave, then shrugged to himself, and entered the dilapidated hut.

Once inside, he scarcely could believe he was in the small hut in the woods. The walls were made of the finest stone he had ever seen, that glistened in the light of a chandelier suspended on a chain that seemed to go on forever. There were a few windows that looked outside, but they were to high for him to see out of. But judging by the lack of tree tops, and the smell of salt in the air, he surmised they were near the ocean. Tevin's eyes roamed the room, taking it all in, when he was startled from his musing by a deep low voice that almost sounded like thunder.

"So, I understand you were seeking for me Tevin of Gilforth." It boomed off the walls and echoed through the expansive room.

Tevin turned to a Dais he hadn't noticed at the end of the room, a very pale man sat on a throne made of bones. He stood up, and Tevin could see that he wore a tight Grey shirt that was buttoned up all the way to his chin. His Leggings were a little looser then the shirt, but still considered tight. They were also made of the same Grey material. He had white hair, that stood up like soft fur, and adorned with some sort of feather. His chin was long, his nose pointed and his eyes sunk in, looking at him gave one the impression of looking at a decaying corpse.

"Yes, Nic. I here you have a skill some would call, other worldly, and i have use for such a skill."

"Ah, but my powers are not for the weak of heart, it always comes with a price."

"If it's money you seek, I have gold."

"Do I look like I need Gold!?" Nic's voiced boomed, and Tevin quickly grasped his head trying to cover his ears to the noise.

"What is it you need then?" Tevin asked meekly.

"We will discuss that when the time comes. Now! what is it you need?"

Tevin licked his lips to work moisture back into mouth before he spoke.

"I need you to kill me."

Nic seemed surprised by this request, but only for a split second, then he regained his composure.

"I see, I will do this for you, no charge is needed." He said with a wicked Grin.

Tevin assumed that his life would have been the price if he had asked for something else, so he was glad he wasn't just a traveler looking for something else, and got more then he bargained for.

"When ever you are ready." Tevin said, preparing him self for his glorious fate.

Nic came off his dais, hand raised to Tevin's forehead, quickly making his way across the room. Nic reached Tevin, then placed his hand on Tevin's forehead and wordlessly glared into his eyes. After a few seconds, Tevin could feel as if Nic was reaching into his soul, and running his hand down it, looking for a place to hold onto when he ripped it out. Tevin prepared for it, was even looking forward to his end and torment. He began to breath heavily as if he was about to fall in a deep sleep, and he knew he would leave this world any second. A small smile came to his face. At last, he would be done with this life, and the curse that had been placed upon him by the Elder Gods would be lifted, and he could go home. He looked back into Nic's eyes, a sudden flash of terror came to his eyes, then everything went black.

When Tevin awoke, Nic lay on the floor in a pool of his own blood, he was dead. he sighed, and then slowly walked out of the hut. Once outside, he noticed the man who had guided him here was also dead. Tevin looked to the sky as if pleading to the heavens, but he would never plead with the Elder Gods, he would find his own way back. Tevin worked his way back to the North Dravon Road, and decided he would head North, maybe he would be able to freeze himself in the mountains, and just maybe, he would be able to end this sad and pitiful life.



That's all for now, I will put a more fleshed out version up later. (also keep in mind, this would only be the first chapter of the story.)

Newst Cast 4087

To start off, i will tell you where the idea for this first book came from.

Me and a few good friends from high school started a Role Playing Message board back in high school. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is where we all take on characters, and interacted with one another as if we were that character, in story form. This was a good way to work on our writing skills, and we had fun doing it. We called the RP (role play for short) Newscast, our characters were all members of a newscast crew, and we were each given a topic we would report on, as the story grew, are characters had several adventures, and we recruited new members. Newscast still continues on to this day, 4 years later, and even has a web comic based on it. Found here.
That should be enough back story to where the idea came from, the book will explain the rest as the story progresses.

Anyway, this is the Prologue, and chapter 1 to the book. It isn't properly named as of yet, for now, I just call it "Newscast 4087". When I started this book it didn't have a prologue, I just started with chapter one, but after getting to chapter 4, i decided the book needed a little back history to help get it rolling, and give some of the unfamiliar people to newscast an idea of what it was. But here is the first draft of the prologue, and the 3rd draft of chapter 1. (oh, and when ever you see "*******" it is because i haven't thought of a name yet.)

Prologue

Tom pulled into his driveway after a long night at work. exhausted, he just wanted to watch his favorite news program and read the morning paper, (to stay current on today's events), then go to bed. He grabbed the paper as he headed in the door, went to the kitchen to make him self a quick snack before his show started. He unfolded the paper and slapped it down on the counter as he grabbed bread and cheese. As he made his sandwich he scanned over the paper, looking for any stories he would want to read later. When he got to the back page there was a small heading that read "Newscast: At it again" he stopped what he was doing and began to read the article.

'Newscast has once again outdone it's self. Last night eye witnesses reported seeing bright lights flash in the sky, and numerous "monsters" fighting at the alleged crew. one witness was quoted saying "I saw Sports Reporter Lone Wolf fighting with a Katana in hand against a giant Tigerman."
While another said "Tay Mation [Newscast's Traffic Reporter] was fighting some woman with a missile launcher, and she just blocked the missiles with her hand!" While others reported on seeing nothing. In this reporters opinion Newscast must be stopped! They are clearly Vandals, using hallucinations to fool people into seeing theses abominations, just so they can destroy the city. They must be stopped at all costs, before someone really gets hurt.'

Tom folded the newspaper with a snicker. Very few people saw it that way. Everyone knew that with out the crew, the city would have died back when Hashid tried to kill everyone. He could still clearly remember that feeling when Hashid had tried to steal his life force. From that point on he watched Newscast everyday, and took all they reported as real. One thing did kinda seem odd, and it pecked at Tom's brain as he tried to figure it out. Not being able to think of it, he just finished his snack, then went into the TV room to watch his favorite news program, Newscast.

Tom sat in his comfortable chair, reclined with his drink and sandwich in hand, then turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels, looking for the channel six logo, when he finally saw it, he stopped and began to eat. After a few minutes when the show didn't come on, he looked at his watch to see if maybe he was early. He wasn't. He quickly flipped a few of the channels to make sure it wasn't on them, as well to see if they were on the right time schedule. After seeing everything was in order, he went back to channel six, and was greeted by Newscast. He smiled, and began to bite into his sandwich again, after a second he stopped , puzzled by who was on the screen. He was clearly a new intern, but he was dressed all in black, and he appeared to be taking a moment of silence. Clearly someone important died, and Tom wondered who. Hopefully they would announce it again after the silence. When the intern looked back up, his eyes were full of tears as he began to speak.

"If you are just tuning in, the Newscast crew defended us against ******* last night, and most gave their lives. Again, Newscast crew members, Rev, Moero, Tay, Lone, and Sparky died last night in an epic struggle for life. Anchor Terd Burgler and Ayame are seriously hurt, but look to be in the clear. You can pay your respects to these heroes at the Newscast Studio, located just North of town."

Tom turned off the TV and sat in silence for a long time. Not knowing what to think, or do. Finally he got up, got back in his car, and drove to the studio to pay his respects.

Chapter 1: Introductions.

To start at the beginning would be an entirely ludicrous place to start, for this story began over an eternity ago, and it would have much too much to tell in the matter of a book, although most of it would be "who won at scrabble?", and "where is the cat?" or talk very similar to that, but that is not the point. The point is that a story, even one with a plot of no consequence, would still be entirely too long. So I will start by telling you the important facts you need to know, and fill you in on a need to know basis. First, and most importantly, our hero is dead, and has been that way for some time. Of course he does prefer his dead state compared to his obliterated state, which he had recently escaped from a few years prior; but that is a tale for later. As I was saying, the important facts: Our hero is dead, he is one of the greatest technological minds in this universe (or any universe for that matter), and is currently being chased by a quadrant class fighter ship owned by one of the nastiest races in the galaxy, the Qued'rats. And what made this race so nasty? Well for one, they hated the fact that they were called the Qued'rats, when they resembled nothing close to a rat, two, they believe they were always right, and would often kill just to keep it that way, and third, well we will get to that in a minute.
The reason our hero was being chased across the galaxy right now, was he had some how entered into the impenetrable headquarters of the Qued'rats, undetected, rescued a prisoner, and escaped undetected. I know what you are thinking, "if he was undetected, how is it then that they came to be chasing him across the galaxy?" A simple matter really. A tracking device had been placed around the prisoner's ankle. Let us go now to our hero, Tay Frederick Mation, in the middle of the chase.
Tay, a tall average looking man with brown hair, and a variety of technological devices hanging from his belt, wrist, and even around his head, pulled back on the throttle and the small craft dodged a beam from a laser canon, quickly veering to the left he nearly avoided a torpedo aimed for the left engine of the ship.

"I've rerouted some power from environmental controls, and given it to the shields." The escaped prisoner said.

"Is that wise?" Tay asked

"There is enough air for one person to breath."

"But there are two of us!"

"Yeah, but you don't need to breathe, remember..."

"Oh... right. Good going Rev."

Rev of course was the escaped prisoner the Qued'rats were chasing after. A man who was of average height with average features, and with average silver hair. The only thing note worthy on him was that he always wore a Celtic cross, and a trench coat. There appeared to be no reason for a whole race to be chasing him across the galaxy like Chant’ren space gold. Of course, Rev did have the ability to use magic, and had used said magic on the Qued'rat space station, which unknown to him at the time, was a serious crime on Quedras (the Qued'rats home planet), or anything owned by the Qued'rats. A crime so serious in fact, that the entire race would chase you down like Chant’ren space gold, just to kill you. So it was that the large ship chased the small craft piloted by Tay across the galaxy.

"Alright, so I think it is time now for some answers." Rev demanded of Tay.

"Now? We’re in the middle of a dog fight!"

"Right, and I would like those answers before we die... I mean, before I die."

"Fine, what do you want to know?" Tay asked.

"Alright, first, how did you save me? One minute I was in my cell, the next on board this ship."

"That’s easy. The time shifting watch."

"That was still around? I thought it was destroyed when you were obliterated?"

"Oh it was; I had to go back in time and borrow it from my self." Tay said proudly of his ingenuity.

"How did you manage that? I thought you said time travel was very difficult and required a very rare crystal. One you said you would never be able to get again."

"And I wouldn't have been able to, but it turns out when Mr. Black went to the future back in 2000 he went to this time, so I went and borrowed my time traveling pin from him."

"Well I'm glad you just "borrowed" those things, I wouldn't want you messing with the time line." Rev said with a little sigh of relief. "What about this shuttle, why don't you have the Experimental ship? Last I saw you; you said you were heading to Earth to get it."

"Oh, well when I got to Earth, I found out the Newscast studio had been turned into a museum. I couldn't even get near the ship. Even though I told them it was mine! They wouldn't believe me. Tay was killed in the final fight against ********."

"I see, well why didn't you go steal it once you had the watch?"

"I had to come after you!" Tay said a little exasperated.

"You know, you could have just froze time, stolen the ship, then come and saved me."

"I suppose I could have... but you know the obvious choice has never been my strong suit."

"That’s for sure.... why do you think we are being chased now!" Rev flung his arms in the air, to indicate the large ship taking up the whole view window.
Tay may have been one of the most gifted minds in the universe, but it should be made clear as to how dense he was at seeing the obvious. He could grasp such concepts as the Einstein-Rosen Bridge with out so much as a second thought. But when it came to something as simple as a prisoner wearing a tracking device, well, it just wouldn’t occur to Tay.

"Sorry! I thought the anklet was a new fashion trend!"

"Well it doesn't matter now, it's not like we can do anything about it- wait, you don't still have the time shifting watch?"

"Yeah." Tay indicated his wrist with the elaborate watch.

Rev smacked his head then shook it gently with the air about him as if he was calling Tay a moron, which he was. Tay didn't pick up on it though.

"Tay, we could use the watch to get away. I'll just jettison this anklet out the air lock, and we will be able to lose them." Rev explained to Tay.

"Right."

Tay pressed the small button on his watch and everything seemed to stop; which of course, it had. Tay looked out the window and saw the Qued’rat ship shrink in the distance, its lasers in mid-fire. Rev quickly got rid of the anklet, and sighed at finally being able to escape the nasty race.

"To earth, let's get your ship back." Rev said as he clapped Tay on the back.

"Right!"

Tay quickly set a course for earth, and the two were on there way.
Back on the Qued'rat ship, captain Leros watched his view screen which showed him the tiny little ship. He watched as the tiny shuttle swerved and dashed out of the way of the majority of the fire. That pesky ship simply had to go. Captain Leros was a large lump of a Qued’rat, and probably the ugliest one to ever graze the existence of this universe. Most Qued’rats were usually quite a pleasant race to look at, If nothing else. They were usually tall, slender, and handsome... in there own right. Nothing exceptional about them, but nothing you would shudder to look at. This of course was not the case for Leros, Leros was short, due to the fact that he was missing his grepal bones from his legs, (similar to Humans shin bones.) missing an arm, leaving him with only 3, and had a face that was barley recognizable as a face. There was only one way to tell the difference from when he was upset or when he was happy, and that was, that you just simply knew Leros was never happy. This was the third reason why the Qued'rats were the nastiest race in the universe.
Now all Qued'rats hated and feared magic, but none hated and feared it more then captain Leros. Back when his race had been allowed to practice the use of magic, Leros had been a very small boy. He was constantly tormented by his brother's foul magic tricks, not being strong enough in magic himself to counter them; he remembered when he was turned into a lizard for the day, or turned into a brezbog for a week, or worst of all, turned into the toilet for the month. Leros still couldn't get the taste of feces from his mouth; which is why he always wore a scowl. Leros also happened to have seen the great cataclysm that had made magic forbidden on their home planet. That cataclysm had destroyed his entire family and loved ones; it even destroyed his annoying lousy brother. (One good thing about it he would love to admit to anyone he got close too, of course, Leros didn't get close to anyone, so it didn't matter.) The Cataclysm should have killed him too, but instead it left him a scarred and bitter man. It was Leros's goal to eventually destroy magic through out the universe. This was his only happy thought in his life, and how it brought him such joy.
Now as Leros's ship began to overtake the tiny shuttle, he could feel his goal begin to come to fruition. This would be a good start, after this kill he would begin his conquest. Nothing could stop him, or stand in his way. Of course, it was precisely at this moment that the little shuttle suddenly and thoroughly vanished. Leros's brow twitched in frustration.

"Where did they go?" he slurred, as he usually did when he became frustrated, or talked for that matter.

"According to our system, sir...uh... they are still... right there..." he said nervously.

"That little shuttle couldn't have a cloacking device." His slur becoming almost hard to understand.

As he scanned the last place he had seen the shuttle on the view screen he saw some light catch on something small. His Brow twitched again, afraid to except what he was sure would make his life all the more harder.

"ZOOM IN!" Leros yelled.

The display monitor quickly began to zoom in on a small device floating in the vacuum of space. As Leros had expected, it was the tracking anklet. His brow began to twitch uncontrolably as he got out of his seat, and walked over to the ensign who had delivered the bad news that the ship was no longer there. The ensign tried to escape, but Leros grabbed his shirt and, well let's just say the ensign had to spend the next week in the medical bay. Leros also vowed that day that he would not give up the search for the one called Rev. He would find him and destroy him, and then he would destroy all magic in the universe.



Thats the Prologue and chapter 1, hope you enjoyed it, I am open to suggestions on how to make it better though. :) (and they better be real suggestions, not just stuff like "i hated it." "do it over". Thanks)