   [ Breathe e'Zine - Volume 1, Issue 1 - November 2, 1996 ]

   Breathe, breathe in the air
   Don't be afraid to care
   Leave but don't leave me
   Look around and choose your own ground
   For long you live and high you fly
   And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
   And all you touch and all you see
   Is all your life will ever be

   Run, run rabbit run
   Dig that hole, forget the sun,
   And when at last the work is done
   Don't sit down it's time to dig another one
   For long you live and high you fly
   But only if you ride the tide
   And balanced on the biggest wave
   You race toward an early grave.

   "Breathe" by Roger Waters and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd

   -----

   + Introduction by Belial - [October 31, 1996]

   Q: How many pagans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?  

   .. here's where I answer and put how it takes a whole coven and they set
   up an alter and sacrifice human children to the devil and they use magick,
   and then they do this, and then we all get a good laugh at someone else's
   religion.

   Samhain humor!

   I'm not pagan.  In fact, I don't follow /any/ religion.  My parents are
   Catholic, so that's what I grew up around, but I'm far from Catholic.  Who
   knows, maybe I'll found my own religion some day.  Anyway, someone at my
   job was mocking, behind their back, of course, another person whom I work
   with because he was taking today (Samhain/Halloween) off as a religious
   holiday.  I don't see her saying much when she gets the day off for
   Christmas.  Samhain is the pagan equivalent of the Christian Christmas. 
   Then this woman went on to say:

   "I hope they don't subject their children to this."

   I wonder if that woman knows a /thing/ about being pagan.  Like I said,
   I'm not pagan, but I happen to know a little about the religion because of
   someone who used to call my BBS when it was up.  I spent a lot of time
   talking to her about the different aspects of the religion-- we talked
   mostly about Wicca-- and I found that it is a /very/ impressive religion.
   I just think that it's ignorant to mock another religion that you know 
   absolutely nothing about.  

   -----

   I'm looking for 'zines!  If you have any, electronic or paper, please send
   them to me!  My email address is below, but if they're paper, please send
   them to me at:
        
        Breathe e'Zine
        c/o Marc Newman
        215 Broadway
        Keyport, NJ 07735

   I'll return postage (with a cool sticker) to anyone who sends me a 'zine
   through the mail.

   -- Belial [marc@netlabs.net]

   -----

   + Capture of the Month - by Belial

   From cook.ken@mcleod.net Tue Oct 22 13:12:18 1996
   Date: Sat, 19 Oct 1996 11:12:34 -0500
   From: Brad Cook <cook.ken@mcleod.net>
   Newsgroups: alt.fan.dragonlance
   Subject: Visit my homepage

   Hey go to my home page and put a link to my homepage I can almost
   guarentee that it will be one of the best on the net cause i am going to
   pour all my time into it and pack as many pictures and as much info into
   it and please email me i like that and tell me where you found my page
   thanks the address is http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4169/home.htm
   THANX

   -----

   I'm sure that it'll be one of the best, too!

   -----

   + "Fallout" by Belial
        
        In the beginning, the sky was alight with a dull green, moldy,
   emphemeral glow.  Surreal and quiet, the people of the world just stood on
   their porches, their lawns, wherever they were, just looking at the still
   sky, motionless.  Then came a bright surge of pure, white, blinding light.
   The people bowed their heads, slammed their eyes shut, ran indoors, all
   trying to escape the light.  Screams rent the stillness, shattering it,
   sending it gasping, like it was just coming up for air, after holding its
   breath under water.  Then, once again, there was silence.
        
        The war was over.

   -----

   + "The Winter Queen" by Belial

   Chapter 1:

        The storm continued to rage, covering the forest in a thick,
   impenetrable sea of white.  The snow fell thick and heavy, making travel
   nearly impossible.  And almost as if trying to escape the bitter cold, the
   sun remained well hidden behind massive banks of clouds.  Direction was
   pointless.  All trails led to a slow, cold death.

        "Do you know where we are?" Elwyn cried over the wind to Bran,
   cupping his gloved hands together and blowing in them, trying to keep them
   from going numb.

        Bran sighed and looked over.  "Does it matter?  We're going to die.
   We won't last the night if we don't find the Winter Queen soon.  She's our
   only hope-- our people's only hope."  

        Frustrated, Elwyn turned to Bran.  "We've been searching for the
   Winter Queen for over a week in this cursed forest!  We haven't even found
   a trace of her or where she could be.  We don't even know if she's real or
   just a myth!  I don't want to die, Bran.  How will dying in this forest
   help our people?

        "We'll find her," was all Bran said.

        Anger knotted in Elwyn's stomach.  They /must/ find the queen, and
   they must find her soon.  Too many lives depended on it.  It wasn't just
   the forest covered with the snows, it was the whole land for miles.  Whole
   villages where buried under the snow.  People were dying.  People were 
   starving.  The harvest has been destroyed by the bitter cold.  This can't
   continue, he thought to himself, making a silent vow to find the Winter
   Queen and put an end to the cold... the dying.  If he didn't die first in
   this forest.  
                                                   
        "How can you be so sure?" Elwyn asked, looking sharply at Bran.     

        "I just know," Bran said, his only explanation.

        "I hope you're right," Elwyn said and turned away, sinking back into
   the pleasant warmth of his anger, continuing to search for some clue as to
   where they could find the Winter Queen.

        The forest remained silent, offering no help.

        The silence sat heavy on the forest, until, finally, darkness slowly,
   wearily, descended upon the forest, spilling long, dark shadows across the
   smooth white surface.  High up in the night sky, the silvery moon blinked
   down at the stormy Elwyn and the determined Bran, silently wishing them
   luck.

        After a while, Elwyn brought his horse to a halt.  "I'm sorry, Bran,
   I just can't go any further."

        "We cannot stop, Elwyn!  We must keep going," Bran cried.

        "I can't!" Elwyn screamed.

        "You must!"

        Elwyn clenched his eyes shut and brought his fist to his forehead.
   "I can't take this anymore!" he said, a single tear falling from his eye,
   only to turn into ice and fall into the snow.

        "We have to continue.  There are too many people-- too many lives
   depending on us," Bran said softly, laying his hand on Elwyn's shoulder. 

        "I know, Bran," Elwyn said, sadly.  "I know."

   -----

        Deep within the forest, the Winter Queen stood sadly looking into the
   Pool of Denwyr, watching as Bran and Elwyn searched through her forest, 
   looking for her.  She felt their pain, their hunger, their fear.  A ripple
   spread across the pool, and silently the queen stared at it until it faded
   away, leaving the pool still once again. 

        The tear of anguish.

        Gently, the Winter Queen dipped her finger into the pool and cast a
   spell over the weary Bran and Elwyn.  "Come to me," she whispered in a
   sweet, musical voice.  

   -----

        "What's going on?" Bran cried frantically, trying to get his horse
   under control, as the forest began to change around them.

        "The forest," Elwyn paused. "It's changing!" 

        All around them, the forest began to dissolve, swirling into nothing.
   All life was gone.  It was almost as if they were trapped within a grey
   void.  There were no longer trees, there was no sound, no snow, no cold.
   The world around them disappeared, and they were left hanging, suspended,
   within the grey vortex.  Then, just as fast as it was gone, the forest was
   back-- only it was different.  

        They were in a large clearing.  The snow only littered the earth in
   the clearing in a thin layer.  In the center of the clearing, a woman was
   standing with her back to them, looking down into a small pool of water.

        The storm didn't penetrate the clearing, although Bran could see the
   snow and wind whipping against the trees outside of the clearing.

        Elwyn and Bran quickly dismounted their horses and stood staring at
   the woman, not wanting to move an inch, less they disturb her.  

        "She's beautiful," Bran murmured.

        She was covered with a cloak of white fur that reached almost to the
   ground, showing just the bottoms of her feet, which were covered in soft,
   white leather hunting boots.  Her hair cascaded down her back in gentle
   waves, white as newborn snow.  She was a thing of beauty-- something right
   from a fairy-tale.  Bran closed his eyes and opened them again, expecting
   her to disappear.  This had to be a dream, he thought to himself... and I
   don't ever want to wake up.

        The silence was a real, living entity.  Elwyn and Bran stood still,
   hardly daring to breathe.

        "Who are you?" Elwyn whispered.

        Silence.

        "My name is Eirlys," the woman said, slowly turning to face Elwyn.
   "The Winter Queen."

   [EOF]
