Do Not Disturb Sleeping Gods

By Doug Lewars

An aggressive and power-hungry witch has allied herself and her coven with the Dark Elves and together they seek to raise a God. But can they control it? The Guardians think not and request Janet and her team to assist another Guardian led team in stopping her. And if they fail? An unconstrained deity is capable of destroying all life on Earth – and possibly destroying the Mid-world as well.

"It’s our job to meld everyone into a team in order to defeat the witch.”
Kurt frowned, “Can we do that?”
“We really have no choice. There’s none of us that can go one-on-one with her. She’ll be backed by the power of her entire coven. We haven’t learned how to combine our magic so our only alternative is to work together. You need to figure out how to defeat her. Then you need to deploy us in such a way that we can execute your plan.”
“Suppose she’s just too tough? I mean suppose she has so much power that we just can’t compete - team or no team?”
“Then we’re dead.”
Kurt looked at her waiting for a follow-up that never came. Slowly the full realization of what she said sunk in. Either they worked as a team and found a way of defeating their opponent or their lives along with everyone else’s would be extinguished.

This is the third book in the Mid-world series. The first is Betwixt and Between in which we meet Jerry – who through accident – and Lynn – who through murder, find themselves between the world of the living and the final world to which humans eventually transition and about which nothing is known. They face more than a few dangers but find friends as well. The second book is Harsh Magic in a Frozen Land and the team is sent to the far north where the magic of the Winter Elves is at risk of falling into the hands of a truly dangerous individual.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Lewars
• Release date: Nov 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370684465

Doug Lewars

Although not quite over-the-hill, Doug is certainly approaching the summit. He lives in Etobicoke which is a polite way of saying West Toronto. When not exercising such creative talents as he may possess, Doug may be found gardening or out somewhere fishing. He comes with a large bald spot, a dark sense of humour, and a fondness for chocolate eclairs – or chocolate anything actually.

Book preview

Do Not Disturb Sleeping Gods

By

Doug Lewars

Published by Doug Lewars at Smashwords

Copyright: 2017 by Doug Lewars – All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental and is not intended by the author.

This book is dedicated to all those who keep going even when the task seems hopeless.

Chapter 1 – Power Struggle

Chapter 2 – Contact

Chapter 3 – A Clean Troll

Chapter 4 – Another Group Supporting Guardians

Chapter 5 – London, Greece and Death

Chapter 6 - Lesson

Chapter 7 - Alliance

Chapter 8 - Prediction

Chapter 9 - Assignment

Chapter 10 – Hide and Oops!

Chapter 11 – Financing A Trip

Chapter 12 – The Tip

Chapter 13 – The Request

Chapter 14 – Brenda Builds a Team

Chapter 15 – Next Steps

Chapter 16 - Hitting the Slopes

Chapter 17 – The Broach

Chapter 18 - Oops

Chapter 19 - Stopped

Chapter 20 - Atlantis

Chapter 21 - Stealing the Knife

Chapter 22 – Missing Baby

Chapter 23 – The Search

Chapter 24 – The Summoning of a Deity

Chapter 25 – The Dark Elves

Odds ‘n Ends

Chapter 1 – Power Struggle

Flair was attempting to clean up the blood stains. They were old and stubborn but a bit of soap and water should do the job she thought – well, that and a lot of elbow grease.

Glancing at her watch she figured she had roughly twenty minutes – half-an-hour at the outside before the rest would arrive. It wasn’t likely she would finish her job today. It would probably have to be left for next time but at least things would be a little cleaner than when she started. Certainly it would be better than if it was left to any of the others. They didn’t seem to care.

As a Dedicant witch, it was Flair’s job to clean up the work area before the rest of the coven arrived. Dedicants were the rookies of the witch business. It was a menial job but Flair didn’t mind. By nature she was a tidy person and she rather liked being in charge of the cave.

The cave was where they worked. It was a large cave in the side of a hill that had been used by witches for generations and the secret of its location passed to each new witch when she was invited to join. Over the years it had undergone considerable renovations; but, no matter how you looked at it, it was still a cave. A concrete floor had been installed sometime in the past. That improved things considerably. Wood paneling covered the bare cave walls so that the inside appeared much like a normal room save for the ceiling which was still bare stone - although it too had been treated with some chemical to control the dampness.

At the front was an altar. It was not the sort of altar you might see in a normal church. It was carved from granite and not entirely finished so that its rough surface appeared almost crude in a room with finished walls, shelves housing various books of spells, and some chemical apparatus - as if to say, this is not a group of dilatants, these are serious witches. These are not mere wiccans playing with nature and pretending to work magic. This coven is all business. The arts are black and the magic powerful. It was from this altar that Flair was attempting to remove the blood. It was old blood, the result of various small-animal sacrifices - chickens mostly, a few rabbits, the occasional cat and possibly a dog or two. Larger animals would have been better. A great deal of power could be drawn from bulls, bears and lions; but few of those animals would be content to stand still while their throats were cut; so controlling them in the cave was not practical.

The door - for the cave did have an old wooden door hidden behind vines that disguised the entrance - opened and Katerina, another Dedicant entered the room. The two girls alternated in preparing the cave for the meeting although Katerina was not as thorough as Flair and had little interest in cleaning up blood that likely had stained the altar for dozens if not hundreds of years. Behind Katerina, the door didn’t close properly. The frame was warped and had been for years. Much of the time it was slightly ajar. Frequently they gave up and left it open completely.

Hi, how’s it going? she asked as she draped her jacket over a convenient chair.

Not bad, replied Flair, Just trying to get some of these pesky blood stains cleaned up.

You clean the blood stains? questioned Katerina, I just leave them. Adelina doesn’t seem to care.

It was true. None of the other coven members worried about a few blood stains on the altar but they somehow bothered Flair. She thought it possible that she’d been born with some sort of tidiness gene. Had one visited, one would have found her apartment to be immaculate.

Adelina was the Grand Priestess of the coven. She led the rituals and commanded the greatest magic. It was her decision as to how that magic was to be used and her word was law. At age sixty-three she was also the oldest member. For forty-six years she had studied and practiced the arts, starting as a young girl of seventeen not many years after the First World War had left Europe in shambles. During her tenure she had married and lost two husbands - the first in World War two and the second as the result of a boating accident. She raised three sons - none of whom had the slightest knowledge of their mother’s talents nor any occult power of their own. All of them were married with families; and, while some of them had daughters, Adelina had determined that not one grandchild had the slightest magical ability. If this was a disappointment to the senior witch she kept it to herself.

You got much homework this weekend? asked Flair. At age sixteen she was still in high school – grade eleven to be exact. Although only two years older, Katerina had been accelerated in school so was in her first year of university at Athens.

Yes but not as much as we might have. One of the profs came down with a cold and cancelled his Friday lecture so we didn’t get any from him. Still I’ve got three papers to finish and hand in next week and I’ve got enough reading to do to last me for a month. It’s just brutal. How about you?

Flair smiled, Well it seemed like a lot before you described what you have to do. I’ve got a Geography essay for Monday and about twenty problems in math. We don’t have any specific Physics homework but I do have to write up the results of last week’s lab. I don’t think that will take long though.

Both girls lived in Athens and both lived apart from their parents. Katerina was in residence at the university and Flair shared an apartment with another girl. While she missed her parents sometimes, she did rather enjoy the freedom of living on her own. The high-schools near where her parents lived were adequate; but Flair’s parents were fairly wealthy and wanted their daughter to receive a superior education from a private school.

Being a two hour’s drive from the cave meant that attending meetings of the coven posed a challenge; but a future enhanced by magic was not something to be dismissed lightly - so they scheduled around the meetings as best they could.

I hear Andrea has been promoted to regional sales manager, said Katerina.

That’s excellent news! replied Flair

It was impressive too. This was a time when women seldom rose above the role of secretary in most corporations and it was a place where women were expected to be housewives and mothers under the rule of their husbands. A woman who aspired to be something better was looked on with more than a little suspicion.

It’s true that there were wives and mothers in the coven but they weren’t exclusively domestic. Each and every member had a career, so the coven represented a significant anomaly within the general structure of Greek society. This was not by accident. Magic equated to power and these women aspired to make use of, and control power whether it was part of the occult or within a corporate boardroom.

Flair carefully polished the crystal ball that they sometimes used for divination. It wasn’t one of the best methods for scrying; but, on those occasions when other methods failed - which they did sometimes - the crystal ball usually came through. Have you found a summer job yet? she asked.

No and it’s driving me nuts, replied Katerina. Then she grinned, It’s probably driving my parents nuts too. If I can’t earn some money they’re going to get stuck with my entire residence and tuition for next year.

Have you tried talking to any of the others? asked Flair. By others she was referring to the other women who made up the coven.

No but I’m hoping to have a word with Tanya after the meeting.

Flair nodded. That made sense. Tanya was an executive vice president in a fairly large shipping company and might be able to open some doors that would otherwise remain closed. Both girls knew there was work to be had but it was pretty low level and Katerina had reached the stage where she needed jobs that were at least partially aligned with her status as a university student. Waitressing was still fine for Flair.

With little more than a glance, Katerina lit three candles on one side of the altar.

Hey you’re really getting good at that! exclaimed Flair.

I’ve been practicing, laughed Katerina.

Flair was surprised Surely not in your dorm?

I can practice if Mary’s not around, replied Katerina.

Are you allowed to have candles in your dorm room? I thought they were pretty strict about that.

Katerina smiled, They don’t like candles but they don’t worry too much about incense sticks. Some of the students smoke, so matches are not strictly forbidden. I mean, it’s not encouraged - but there’s no actual ban. A lot of the kids have incense in the rooms. The occult is very big on campus at the moment.

The occult?! You mean they …

Don’t be silly. They’re just playing with it. If there’s a shred of magical ability on campus besides mine I haven’t seen it. No, they just like to pretend that they’re big bad sorcerers or something. It’s laughable really. I’d bet anything they’d freak out if they knew they had a real witch in their midst.

Do you think you could detect it if it was there – you know, magical ability in others? asked Flair.

Katerina shrugged, Probably not. I don’t know if it’s obvious or not. You can certainly feel it around here. I mean every time you walk into the cave it’s like there’re waves of power just seeping from the walls.

You’re right, agreed Flair, Except it seems to me like walking through a curtain when you first enter. You don’t feel anything outside and then suddenly, wham, there you are.

Can you do much practicing in your apartment? asked Katerina.

Flair frowned, No not really. Joyce is always around. I mean - like it’s not that she’s prying or anything. It’s just that we both go to the same school because our parents know one another and it was their idea that we team up in the apartment. I think what they really wanted was to keep the cost down by having us live together but they said that we could look out for one another. I guess that’s another way of saying that they don’t want us to have boyfriends stay for the night – not that we would do that anyway. At least I wouldn’t. I’m not sure about Joyce. She seems pretty attached to that guy she’s been seeing; but that’s the thing. Unless she’s out on a date I’m never really alone. We get up at the same time. We go to school at the same time and we come home at the same time so it’s hard to practice.

Just turn her into a toad, laughed Katerina.

Flair joined in her friend’s laughter, If I could do that I wouldn’t be a Dedicant. I’d be Grand Priestess.

Katerina turned serious for a moment, Do you think Adelina will remain Grand Priestess very long.

Flair immediately looked around because among witches it was possible that the walls really did have ears. She lowered her voice, Irina doesn’t seem to like it very much.

She was referring to the fact that one of the three priestesses who were subordinate only to the Grand Priestess had become dissatisfied with the unwillingness of Adelina to entertain some measure of risk in their activities.

I know, whispered Katerina, She was really pissed off that Adelina wouldn’t let her examine the Brown Book.

That’s what they called it – the Brown Book. It was the most important possession that the coven owned. It was a book of magic that dated so far into history that none of them had the least idea as to when it had first been written. Certainly it had been rewritten many times from vellum to parchment to modern paper. It was called the Brown Book because it was exactly that, a book with a plain brown cover. There was no title, no author, nothing that would give away the contents inside. It was the possession of the Grand Priestess and warded with spells so that even if another witch were to attempt to examine the contents she would see nothing but blank paper. The book was magic.

There were also the Green Books. They were warded but available to everyone with the status of ‘witch’ on up. Neither the dedicants nor the neophytes had access to the Green Books but the dedicants were too busy with other things to care much and it provided the neophytes with something to look forward to when they achieved the title of ‘witch’.

The Green Books were the logs and history of the coven. They dated back over three hundred years and they contained descriptions of coven activities be they magical or mundane. They also listed transactions with other covens or with the various denizens of the mid-world.

Magic users had access to the mid-world. They didn’t always like to use it because crossing from the first world to the mid-world for a live individual was both difficult and exhausting; but looking into the mid-world was much easier. Had they been so inclined - and had they known of their existence - coven members could have made the trip to Canada – specifically Toronto – and looked in on Jerry, Lynn and the others. However, even had they known of Jerry’s existence, it is not likely they’d have been much interested. They had their own lives to live and their own spells to weave.

Do you think she’ll do anything about it? whispered Flair.

Maybe, whispered back Katerina.

Although dedicants, they both had sufficient experience in the ways of the coven to know that if Adelina remained obstinate - and there was every indication that she intended to do so - then Irina’s only options were to accept her continued role as a subordinate or to challenge Adelina for the role of Grand Priestess. If that were to happen then either Adelina or Irina would probably be killed in a dual of magic. The girls’ eyes shone in anticipation of witnessing actual combat.

Suppose Irina won, said Flair, What do you think she’d do – you know, with the coven?

Katerina considered. I know she’s not happy with what we’re doing so she’d want to change it. I mean like we work on the same spells every meeting. We’re not getting anywhere. Well, like, I suppose we’re getting somewhere but it’s so slow. We do stuff like maybe influence a single vote by some member of parliament. I mean, what’s the point? It’s not like we even affect legislation or anything like that. We’re just experimenting. Adelina says that someday it may be important. Well frankly I’d rather do something right now, not someday.

Flair nodded, Yeah, I know what you’re saying. Still I think that magic like that has got some of the witches and priestesses job promotions occasionally. I mean it does sort of make sense.

Katerina laughed, Well fine. Make me the CEO of Olympic Air and maybe I’ll be impressed but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Flair joined in the laughter, Why stop there? Why not use magic to make yourself Prime Minister?

The door opened and the two girls immediately fell silent. Jean Artouska entered the room. She was a middle-aged witch with mouse-brown hair that was streaked with grey and worn in a severe bun. She generally wore brown business suits and sensible black shoes that Katerina suggested would have been better in an old-folks home. She was a competent enough witch, but would never rise to the level of priestess, and seemed to have no aspirations to do so. She was employed as the manager of Accounts Receivable in a medium sized office and, with a will of iron, commanded a staff of six. Needless to say, there was never any tardiness or sloppiness on the part of her staff. While not particularly outgoing, she extended polite courtesy to everyone and, although severe in her appearance, seemed more withdrawn than hostile in her manner. Both eyebrows and eyelashes had faded over the years and her complexion was of a pasty nature that suggested she spent too much time pouring over ledgers and far too little time outdoors. Nodding to the girls, she selected a chair, sat, extracted the business section of a newspaper from her shoulder bag and commenced reading.

Although it was Flair’s turn to prepare the room and lay out the magical implements that would be used in the ceremony, Katerina chose to assist so as not to have to sit without anything to do and risk the possibility that Jean might choose to enter into a conversation with her. Conversations with Jean tended to be more like interrogations than polite chat and were best avoided.

Over the next several minutes the rest arrived. There were twenty in all. This was not a magical number. The number of members rose and fell as new talent was added and as age took its toll. When all were assembled Adelina began the ceremony.

Unlike religious ceremonies, Adelina saw no need to don formal vestments. She wore a dark blue skirt and white blouse that she had no doubt worn in the office earlier in the day. On her blouse was pinned a small gold broach made in the Gemini symbol and set with rubies. At age sixty-three, she was the oldest in the group but it was not age or even experience that had provided for her the title of Grand Priestess. It was talent. She, of all the witches, commanded the greatest amount of power - although some thought that Irina might have almost as much if not more.

When she was ready to begin she faced the altar and began to meditate, carefully drawing power into her body. While she did that, the four priestesses began their inspection of the pentagram that had been painted onto the floor. Not the slightest break could be permitted; for if the circle was broken, dangerous powers could enter and kill them all.

The priestesses did not take this responsibility lightly. Paint chipped or faded over time. Because the floor was concrete, dampness might take its toll. Of course, every year the circle and pentagram was repainted but even so, the inspection always took place; and, on occasion, tiny flaws had been found and small quantities of paint quickly applied to seal them. The priestesses were senior not only in the coven, but in the world of business and commerce. They were used to giving orders and receiving respect; nonetheless, they had no qualms about getting down on their hands and knees and inspecting their section of the circle. In fact, one of the women who felt her eyesight might not be as good as in former times, made use of a magnifying glass.

When all was in readiness, the four priestesses stood in a line behind the Grand Priestess and the remaining members formed a semi-circle that arced from one end of the line to the other. No-one stood closer than three inches from the outer circle. In addition, no-one wore a scarf or anything loose that might suddenly give way, fall, and cover it. In fact, there was some concern that, should a single hair fall, it might be sufficient to cut the circle and place all their lives at risk. Although long hair was not forbidden, it was not encouraged either. Flair had long hair but wore it in braids or a ponytail during working sessions.

Adeline stepped up to the altar and picked up a small cup of oil. Turning she stepped up to each of her priestesses and, dipping her finger into the oil, anointed them on the forehead. When that was complete, she walked around to each of the other member and anointed them as well. Lastly she placed a little of the oil on her own forehead.

Blessings of the Goddess, she said.

Let the power of the Goddess enter into us, intoned the rest.

Turning once more to the altar she replaced the oil and picked up an atheme - a black-handled knife with a double edged blade that was nine inches long. On the handle were carved runes of power but only Adelina fully understood them. It had been honed to razor sharpness and forged from the finest German steel.

Part the veil between worlds, she said and brought the knife down in a cutting motion from the top of her head to about waist height. What she had done was form a passage between the first world and the mid-world that better facilitated the flow of power between the two. While power existed in both worlds, mid-world power was easier to access so they made use of it whenever possible.

Once again she turned to the altar. Although it was somewhat incongruous, at one end was a tape recorder. Having no electricity in the cave, a series of batteries fed power through a transformer to an inverter that in turn, powered the device. Over time, witches had discovered that certain frequency sounds tended to induce mental states that were conducive to channelling power so they made use of it. In the past, chanting had served that purpose; but there was little merit in doing more work than they had to; so, they had adapted the theory into a series of tapes that provided the necessary sounds.

The next step was for the assembled witches to reach into themselves and draw up as much power as possible that would be woven in to cone - a magical assemblage of power that could be directed by the Grand Priestess into whatever endeavour seemed appropriate to her. Recently, that involved coercing a homeless vagrant into robbing various homes. He was a fairly malleable target seeing as his thinking capacity had been sadly impaired by a combination of drugs and alcohol; and Adeleni was using him primarily for experimental purposes. If she could use magic to possess and control him, she thought she might be able to refine and improve the process so as to control less conspicuous individuals who might be put to use doing any number of illegal activities that, in turn, might benefit the coven. No-one in the group objected to the lack of morality in such a plan. Irina objected strongly that it was taking too much time, required too much power, and produced too few benefits to be worthwhile. Adelina’s counter argument was that magical research takes times and that it is necessary to start small and build on firm foundations.

Before they could begin the concentration that would funnel power to the cone Irena said Stop!

Everyone understood what that meant and tension rose in the room. Adelina, who had been facing the altar turned slowly to confront Irina.

Yes Irina? she responded coolly.

Before that gaze Irina might have backed down, might have claimed that she wasn’t ready for the meditation and needed a bit more time to prepare, might even have claimed the need of a nature call; but instead she uttered the ritual of challenge. By the power of the moon and the sun and the stars, by the darkness that dwells in the abyss, by the ebb and flow of life through the cosmos, I hereby challenge you for power of the Goddess.

The ‘power of the Goddess’ was a polite way of stating that she wanted the job of Grand Priestess. Challenges of this sort were rare. Normally when a Grand Priestess was ready to step down, she chose one of the priestesses, trained her and transitioned the role of Grand Priestess to her understudy when she felt the time was right. Having been challenged, Adelina had two choices. She could step aside and grant the power to Irina or she could fight. Although challenges were rare, for an incumbent to meekly step aside was unheard of.

Adelina squared her shoulders, You understand the results of a failed challenge?

Irena replied, I do.

Then let us begin, said Adelina and without the slightest hesitation she launched a fireball at Irina that might have incinerated a slower witch on the spot. So fast was the attack that the others didn’t have time to entirely get out of the way and were left with singed hair and smoldering clothing. Irina, however was just as fast and deflected the blow before it even came close. Still Adelina followed with a shower of high velocity crystal slivers that literally materialized out of nowhere, and when Irina deflected the attack, vanished again.

The rest of the coven, still smarting from the heat and almost skewered by the crystals, headed for the floor in the hope that whatever came next, might, with any luck, go over their heads. What actually came next was a chill – a major chill. Adelina sucked as much energy as she could out of the room in an attempt to freeze Irina and she was clearly not concerned if the rest of the coven froze in the process. Fortunately the warmth that Irina was forced to create to sustain herself bled off somewhat so that the others survived - but it wasn’t particularly comfortable. Adelina was a remarkably competent witch and when she withdrew energy, the temperature headed in the general direction of absolute zero. Of course she wasn’t so powerful that she could actually reach zero. She could and did get it down to sixty-three Kelvin so that nitrogen started to freeze in those corners of the cave that weren’t close enough to receive the benefit if Irina’s warming.

Irina recognized the trap. By drawing energy from the room Adelina was forcing Irina to surrender energy herself merely to survive. Adelina was collecting the heat energy in a ball and containing it with magical lines of force. What she planned to do with it wasn’t clear but for Irina to survive she’d have to counter Adelina’s move in a hurry.

It was evident that Adelina had predicted Irina’s challenge and had prepared for it accordingly. The moment Irina had issued her challenge, Adelina had gone into action and she had taken a page from the world of judo. First she had directed her attack outward. Blocking those initial attacks had forced Irina to expend some energy and then Adelina turned it around, seizing the energy being expended and amplifying it. Irina needed to do better and she did. Still emitting heat to survive, she altered the physical location of the gap to the mid-world that Adelina had opened earlier so that it encompassed the ball of energy. It was sort of like having someone move to another room by standing still and shifting the doorway past them - but it had the effect of instantly breaking the spell and causing the ball of energy to dissipate harmlessly, or at least as harmlessly as a very intense ball of heat can dissipate in an instant. In the mid-world there was a fairly impressive explosion; but, if a few entities on that side of reality found themselves suddenly reduced to ashes, no-one in the cave much cared.

For a second Adelina was caught off guard and that was the opportunity it took for Irina to open a deep chasm in the floor of the cave directly below Adelina. One does not become a Grand Priestess or even a Priestess without acquiring the ability to levitate along the way so Adelina did not fall - but levitation requires a certain sense of balance and that too needed a fraction of attention that Irina exploited. Great blasts of wind seemed to materialize from the cave walls at random. Had the rest of the coven not taken to the floor they’d have been blown like leaves and smashed against the walls. As it was, they did find themselves sliding about and could only hope they didn’t cross the boundary of the pentagram and make a bad situation even worse.

While Flair and Katerina had been secretly hoping for a little action and had thought a power struggle might be interesting, they had never realized that when witches engage in battle just about anything can happen. They were terrified and hoped only to hang on until it was over. A great buffet of wind that was powerful even at floor level hit Flair and pushed her across the floor so that she bumped into Katerina and the two girls clung to each other for dear life.

Adelina countered the wind by filling it with tiny ice pellets so that Irina was in danger from the same gusts she had created but Irina created a pencil thin wall that rotated about her that caused the gusts to veer around. This was of little benefit to the rest who found themselves pelted with some of the ice. Those things were sharp, they hurt and they cut deep.

If Irina could open up the floor, Adelina figured she could do the same thing with the ceiling and did. Great chunks of rock fell towards Irina but she blocked them so that they hovered in the air and then disappeared leaving the cave with a much higher ceiling.

All were under water. One second rocks were vanishing and the next the cave was filled with water. Only Irina had an air pocket about her. Caught by surprise and with no time to take a breath the witches were drowning but in the next second Adelina transformed the water into its constituent parts of hydrogen and oxygen and ignited them. Everyone in the cave would have been cooked in the blast had not Irina funnelled it into the mid-world. For the rest of the coven it was a close call.

Flair clung to Katerina and checked herself. She should have been dripping but was perfectly dry. There had been an intense burst of light but before she could feel anything it was gone. She hardly knew if she was alive or not but she was concluding rather quickly that if things were left to sort themselves out - whoever survived - it was unlikely to be either Katerina or herself.

Having run through the gamut of earth, air, fire and water in their attacks the two principles backed off to consider their next move. It appeared that both were remarkably evenly matched and each knew what that meant as did the bystanders. It meant that if conventional magical attacks were ineffective they’d have to resort to the unconventional and that meant making use of some of the artefacts of quantum. This was dangerous business indeed.

Abruptly Irina was both in front of, and behind Adelina at the same time. The one behind held a knife while the one in front threw a fire ball. The knife passed harmlessly through Adelina and the fireball vanished about half way to its destination only to appear behind Irina but instead of burning her it expanded into a circle of fire and then disappeared.

The walls of the cave shimmered and then became higher and higher and the ceiling rushed upwards. A low frequency sound became louder and the vibration was making the cells of the onlookers vibrate painfully. Several of them screamed and their screams added to the sound causing their bodies to writhe about on the floor as if they were subject to epileptic seizures. Both of the combatants had vanished although various bits and pieces of them materialized in apparently random locations only to vanish once more. Flair had a violent nose bleed and blood gushed onto her shirt and jeans. Since she’d been holding onto Katerina, poor Katerina was well covered as well. She clamped a hand over her nose to stop the bleeding just as she saw Katerina’s left arm grow impossibly long. Katerina screamed as the bone seemed to turn to jelly and the arm flopped about like a fish pulled from a lake.

Somehow the candles on the altar were still burning but the cave had become pitch black. Nothing but the points of candle-light could be seen. Then, like a flash bulb going off there was a blaze of light that left the onlookers blinded. Flair looked into Katerina’s face and saw only an empty skull looking back at her. She screamed and let go and the head dropped from the girl’s shoulders - but Katerina grabbed it before it could roll away and restored it to its proper place. Then it was a head and no longer a skull and Katerina was breathing heavily.

Flair felt as if she had gained a hundred pounds so heavy did she become. First she was kneeling and then she was stretched out and then it felt as if a giant weight was trying to push her through the floor. Surely she thought, my chest can’t stand this. I will be crushed any second but before that could happen, the cave was restored to its normal dimensions and both Adelina and Irina were facing one another again.

Flair glanced around. Both she and Katerina were covered in blood. Flair’s nose had mercifully stopped bleeding but their clothes were ruined. A number of the other witches were groaning where they lay and a couple of them weren’t moving at all which suggested that they were unconscious or worse.

Flair took a deep breath. No longer did she think that a battle of witches would be something interesting. It was a major struggle that unleashed powers of which Flair could barely conceive and doubted she could survive much longer. She started crawling without any thought save to find some measure of safety and, since the altar wasn’t far in front of her she tried to get behind it. Neither Adelina nor Irina took any notice of her or anyone else for that matter. They were both breathing heavily and clearly tired but equally determined to destroy the other. They had used both conventional and unconventional spells and neither had been successful. As they caught their breath they were wondering what it would take to win.

Abruptly Irina expanded the portal and hauled an asken into the room almost on top of Adelina but before it could grab more than a tiny bit of her life force she had created something that looked like a tennis racket and slammed it into the creature causing it to fly in Irina’s direction. Not particularly caring where it drew the life force from, the asken swept anything it could from the cave. Those witches who were still conscious collapsed; and, almost behind the altar, Flair felt what seemed like an icy hand, reach through her body and leave her so exhausted she could barely move. Still she did move as much from sheer terror as anything. But even as she gained the comparative safety of the altar, the asken made a second pass through the cave and Flair felt consciousness slip away. Fortunately she was already on her hands and knees so she didn’t have far to fall.

Whether it was after one minute or ten Flair couldn’t say but her eyes opened as consciousness came back to her with a rush. Something cracked and there was a loud scream. A flash of heat compounded by a horrible sulphur smell caused her to choke and cough and then it too was gone. Flair had reached her limit. She didn’t much care who won, only that the battle stop. Had she been asked prior to the match who she favoured she might have suggested that Adelina was somewhat better as a leader - only because she had so much experience - but that was no longer relevant. Somehow she found the strength to pull herself up so that she was leaning on the altar and looking into the cave. In front of her Adelina stood glaring at Irina who returned the stare. Around the edges of the cave were the coven members, some injured, some not moving at all, and a few who had weathered the storm by using some of their own magic to protect themselves from the worst of the energies.

Flair’s glance fell on the athame and without thought she picked it up. There, in front of her was Adelina’s back. Drawing strength from who knows where, she climbed onto the altar. At no time did she think that she could kill or injure Adelina. She was certain that the Grand Priestess would sense the peril and blast her out of existence; but, although she would probably be killed, she knew she was certain to die if the fight continued.

It was a hiatus in the battle and Adelina and Irina were recharging themselves with magical energy. It’s possible that Irina saw what Flair was doing. After all, she was facing the girl and could hardly have missed it. On the other hand, she and the Grand Priestess were so focused on one another that Irina might have been entirely oblivious as to what Flair was planning. Whatever the case, Irina refrained from renewing her attack as did Adelina although it was questionable as to whether either could have engaged in even the slightest of magical acts at that moment.

Flair tried to hurl herself from the top of the altar onto Adelina - but so exhausted was she from what had been done to her that it was more like a fall than a lunge. Still, the knife plunged down and buried itself in Adelina’s back and the two fell to the floor with Flair on top. A rush of adrenaline provided Flair with the strength to haul the knife free and drive it down again, this time into Adelina’s neck. The spinal cord was severed and Adelina ceased moving as an ever expanding circle of red appeared on her back. She took one large surprised breath and then died.

So, the coven has chosen, said Irina.

Huh? said Flair looking up stupidly. She was covered in blood from head to toe – hers, Adelina’s and possibly others as well. She felt as if she’d been run over by a steamroller and here Irina was suggesting that somehow the coven had made some sort of choice.

It’s the way it is, said Irina to her, When Grand Priestess and Priestess are evenly matched, neither can secure an absolute victory; so, at some point in the fight, a member of the coven chooses to end it one way or the other. If it hadn’t been you it would have been one of the others.

Flair wasn’t sure about that. Looking around at the various witches who were struggling to sit or stand she had considerable doubts that anyone else would, or could, have ended it - but she kept that thought to herself. There was so much blood everywhere that the cave looked like the scene of a mass murder. Even the priestesses who were highly competent in the use of magic had sustained some bumps and bruises. Flair noted that Irina was shaking. Clearly the fight had taken a lot out of her - but it had taken a lot out of everyone.

The priestesses started moving about the circle, tending the wounded with healing magic as best they could. There were numerous broken arms, legs, ribs and even a couple of collar bones. They could not actually be healed but they could be set so that conventional medicine could take over. The injured would have to be taken to a number of doctors and hospitals. Too many questions would be asked if they all arrived at the same hospital looking like they’d been part of a war.

Gradually those who had lost consciousness were starting to wake up. Fortunately it appeared that no-one other than Adelina had been killed. Disposing of that body would be a little difficult but hardly impossible. They weren’t far from the ocean and a number of witches had boats docked nearby. There were sharks in the water. By the time the body washed up on shore - if, in fact, it ever did - it would be hard to distinguish the bite marks from the knife wounds. This was a death that would be attributed to a boating accident of some sort.

Jean Artouska walked up to Flair and handed her a mop and a bucket. Clean up the mess, she ordered.

Flair bit back a hot retort. It wasn’t her mess to begin with and she was as sore and tired as anyone but she was a dedicant and, by default, was responsible for all the menial work. With aching arms and rubbery legs she started cleaning up the blood.

About an hour later the worst of it was cleaned from the floor and walls of the cave. All of the injured had been treated and wounds healed - or at least stabilized so that the witches could be taken to doctors; or, in a couple of cases, the emergency ward at the nearest hospital. Levitation spells had been worked so that they could be moved down the mountain and to the vehicles that had been parked in various locations within walking distance. It wouldn’t have been wise to have too many cars parked in close proximity to one another where they were likely to be noticed. Some of the witches parked as much as two miles away and then walked from there.

It was necessary to be careful. Although the moon provided only a limited amount of light, they had to make use of it because any other form of lighting might be noticed by someone living nearby and questions asked. Witches were unpopular in many societies and Greece was not an exception. In a cosmopolitan center like Athens they would be tolerated. In a remote area like Kyra, old superstitions ran deep and the villagers were highly suspicious of anything that was occult in nature. These witches were more powerful than most; but even the most powerful user of magic can be felled by a bullet.

Cold water, soap, a bit of bleach and a little magic had gone a long way towards improving Flair’s wardrobe. She looked clean but felt dirty. What she wanted most of all, as she drove towards Athens, was a long hot shower before falling into bed. Her roommate was bound to ask questions but Flair figured that she would be put off with a story about an all-night drinking session with a number of boys she had met in a bar. Joyce might be somewhat scandalized by Flair’s behaviour; but that was better than having her think that Flair had murdered someone.

In the cave, all the others had long since departed. Only Irina and her three priestesses Marylyn, Jennifer and Tanya remained. The three knelt in front of Irina.

By the power of the dark do you accept me, Irina Ariontz as Grand Priestess of this coven? she asked.

I do, came the chorus.

Then it is my will to lead and direct the force of this coven.

It was a short but nonetheless effective ceremony that saw Irina promoted to Grand Priestess. In addition, it was likely to be a long reign. Having seen what she could do, none of the priestesses were inclined to offer a challenge - nor was it likely that they ever would. At thirty-eight Irina was the youngest Grand Priestess ever to take control.

Turning she approached the shelf on which sat the Brown Book. A look that was somewhere between hunger and lust passed over her face as she reached for it. In the moment when her fingers made contact with the book there was a flash of light that completely surrounded Irina and then faded. The book itself had acknowledged her as Grand Priestess. With the book clutched protectively against her side, Irina and the others departed to return to their normal lives.

A week passed before Irina was able to turn her attention to the book itself. It was a hectic week of business and board meetings, of reports and deals in the making. Irina was good at her job but it could be demanding on her time. She chose not to rush things. One should be in a proper frame of mind before dealing with serious magic. Impatience had brought about the death of many otherwise competent magic workers. So it was on a Saturday after lunch with all her chores complete and out of the way that Irina sat back and opened the book as if starting a new novel. At first she found herself looking at gibberish but that was to be expected. Even as she looked the characters seemed to swirl and form themselves into meaning as the book accommodated itself to its new master. She found herself looking at the first page.

‘To you who follow me and have achieved the level of mastery to know and understand, proceed with some caution for this is the history of the coven and in its pages resides magic both dark and dangerous. Power is given to those who can wield it. Power is denied the weak. Temper yourself as the white hot sword is cooled in the blood of a young maiden. Seek and record the mysteries of the time and always reach for the power that resides in the universe. This is the book of the coven and these are its spells.’

Interwoven with what amounted to coven meeting minutes, diary entries, experiments both successful and otherwise, and general ruminations on the part of the Grand Priestess of the time, were spells. Some were trivial. Some were complex. Many were developed at a time when the society was largely agrarian and therefore obsolete. Irina approved of having good olives in her grocery store but had little interest in spells to facilitate their cultivation. There were some spells of sufficient complexity that Irina couldn’t understand their purpose and these she set aside for a future review. Then she came across an entry that piqued her interest. It was a discourse on gods and it appeared to suggest that there were a number of god-like entities that had fallen asleep in the period between the fading of the last universe and the beginning of this one. It wasn’t clear to Irina whether or not these were true gods although the author seemed to think they were. Having been brought up as a good Roman Catholic, Irina found herself subject to the image presented to children of a long-haired man with a long beard wearing white robes and holding a staff from which lightning bolts emanated. The ones described in the brown book seemed more like demons than gods; but, they certainly controlled a great deal of power and, more to the point, they could be controlled. Somehow during those achingly boring Sundays in Sunday school, no-one had ever suggested that a deity might be controlled by a human. In fact, it was generally stated as being the other way around; however, in this case the author was clearly implying that these entities were very powerful and their power could be directed by a sufficiently astute practitioner. That was interesting and Irina read deeper. It soon became clear that whether these things could be classified as gods or demons was irrelevant. They were powerful and they could be used to perform magic on a level that was well beyond anything of which the coven was currently capable. That in itself was sufficient to warrant making the attempt to summon one but which one? Irina was ambitious, not stupid. She realized that waking a powerful entity was an easy way to wind up dead or worse.

Coven members were generally not as concerned with death as members of society in general because having looked into, and having travelled to the mid-world they understood the process by which humans die and make their way through the mid-world to the third world. While nothing was known about the latter, it was clear that there was something that followed physical death. That went a long way towards diminishing the fear. On the other hand, the witches had no desire to give up all that they possessed and seek the third world. Life in the first world with forays to the mid-world was sufficiently rewarding to hold their interest.

Irina studied the text. If there had been any attempt in the past to actually resurrect a god then it hadn’t been documented. What was written were explicit instructions on how to do so. They were, of course, accompanied by any number of warnings about the dangers of making such an attempt but the instructions were there nonetheless. Irina was intrigued. Surely there had been witches as ambitious as she. Some of them must have made the attempt. The fact that there was no indication of such attempts being made suggested that all who tried had died along with their respective covens. Only the Brown Book survived but it was pretty much indestructible and appeared to have something that might be described as a life of its own. Still, if anyone had attempted the magic, why had they not at least provided some indication as to what they were doing? Plenty of experiments were listed. Not all of them had been successes. Some of the descriptions were completed by the new Grand Priestess following the death of the former in the experiment; but there were no attempts to resurrect a god. Why was that?

She began to study the process by which the god might be raised and it soon became clear why there had been no previous attempts. A number of artifacts were required for the ceremony and – according to the book - two of the most important were under the control of the dwarves and the dark elves respectively. Irina thought there was a remote possibility that she might somehow steal something from the dwarves - but from the elves? – never!

Closing the book she looked about and discovered that night had fallen. It had been only a few minutes after twelve in the afternoon when she’d opened it, but such had been her concentration that she’d never noticed the time. She was exhausted not only from reading but because understanding magic required magic and for several hours she had been expending a good deal of power.

What has she learned? She’d learned that there was a level of magic of which she had not previously been aware. But she had also learned that trying to access it came with untold dangers both to herself and to others. It was clear that no-one had attempted to awaken a god. She knew that the magic required a number of powerful items that were, at least for the moment, beyond her reach - and she knew that the powers that might be unleashed were at least several orders of magnitude beyond that which she currently controlled.

After making and eating a quick supper, she settled down in her easy chair to consider her alternatives. If she announced the coven’s objective was to raise a god, they would go along with her - of that she was certain. If they hadn’t intended to follow her they would have disbanded after she took power. Still, throwing away their lives along with that of her own on an impossible task would be a waste and Irina abhorred waste. Obviously Adelina must have known about the gods and the possibility of resurrecting one and she had apparently never even considered the possibility. Irina felt that Adelina had been overly cautious and slow to proceed; but she respected her predecessor’s power. Among the entries of the various Grand Priestesses over the ages, Adelina’s had been included and there wasn’t one reference to the gods. That in itself was reason to pause. She stretched and glanced at her watch. It was midnight, the so-called witching hour but for Irina it was high time she was in bed. Shutting off the lights in the living room she walked into her bedroom, changed into her night clothes and climbed into bed.

She lived alone. There was no man in her life as she had no use for one. Her interest – insofar as she had any at all - might be directed towards women; but such desires were muted. Certainly there was no-one in her office with whom she might choose to form a relationship. They were competitors and everyone knew it. Among the witches there were none who interested her. She amended that thought. The girl, Flair - she might be someone with whom she could become close. Still, that was more an idle speculation than any form of a plan. Closing her eyes and turning onto her side she drifted into dreams.

The next week went by in a blur of meetings, deals forming and breaking apart, of executives running around like chickens with their heads cut off and Irina had no time for the Brown Book or anything else related to magic. Coven meetings were not held on a regular basis so that wasn’t a problem. When the weekend finally rolled around Irina was exhausted and had no interest in anything other than sleeping. It was not until Sunday morning that she was sufficiently refreshed to resume her studies. Once more she examined the section describing the gods and their various powers. With a week for the information to settle, she came at the subject from a far more rational perspective. There were things she could do and things she couldn’t. Waking a god and then controlling it was beyond her capabilities. Therefore, however much she would have liked to obtain such massive power, she knew she had to abandon any such initiative.

She was about to move to another section when her eye fell upon a small passage related to the god Vich. Somehow she had overlooked that god; but having noticed the entry, she proceeded to read it carefully. Vich was an old god, much older than the rest although they all seemed to be immortal so his age seemed to represent a contradiction. Still, he had been possibly the earliest god to be known and understood. He was an Earth deity meaning that he resided underground and seldom appeared above the surface. Having far less power than most, he was largely disregarded - but it was this very lack of power than intrigued Irina. Was it possible that this was a god she could control? It wouldn’t be easy. A god of limited power is a god nonetheless and could not readily be controlled by a mere mortal - or even a powerful magic user such as Irina. Although not as powerful as some, controlling Vich was probably still beyond her grasp; but what, she wondered, might be the result if she had assistance? She was not thinking of her coven. Their assistance was a given. Instead she was thinking of the various creatures who inhabited the mid-world.

Dwarves were the obvious candidates. Vich was a god of the earth and Dwarves were earth dwellers, but she knew that dwarves tended to be a conservative lot and would not be interested in raising a god - even one that might provide them with invaluable assistance in their subterranean affairs. If not the dwarves then the elves were the only candidates. Although they preferred to live in woodlands and open places, many had been forced to seek refuge underground as humans encroached more and more into their territories. Certainly it was known they didn’t like the existing state of affairs and might be open to a change. Elf and human alliances were rare but not entirely unknown. Over the years a number of such alliances had been documented in the Brown Book. Some had been successful and others less so. Still, if Irina was to raise a god, and if the dwarves could be ruled out as allies, then the elves were the only residents of the mid-world who were both strong enough and numerous enough to help. After all, the goblins were too stupid and the Nac-Belaskans too dangerous to approach. It would therefore have to be the elves - but Irina knew she needed to present an unassailable case to them. From them she wanted one of their artifacts that was listed in the spell; and, in addition, she needed their control of magic. Irina was a witch and a powerful one but she could not approach the subtlety of elven magic; however, with the power of the coven and the control of the elves, success might just be possible. Still she knew that she needed to provide evidence of her commitment and Irina knew exactly what that evidence needed to be. Part of the spell involved a sacrifice – a human sacrifice – a human sacrifice of a magical child. Irina needed to find and obtain such a child.

She picked up her phone and dialled each of her three priestesses. The conversation was brief – merely the date and time of the next coven meeting was passed on. There was no word as to the agenda. There was no small-talk. It was the job of each priestess to call three witches. The witches in turn were responsible for calling the Neophytes and the Dedicants. In such a manner was word passed on and