Witch Rising

By Benjamin Ford

To all around him, Matt appears to be a normal, well, semi-normal guy. He lives in a tiny apartment, goes to college, and perpetually spends most of his time in a local coffee shop. Despite this veil of normalcy, Matt has another identity, another name. That name, is Hades. Matt and his brothers have stood guard for millennia, protecting the human world from the demonic armies that threaten to engulf it. However, Matt must now stand alone against an enemy from the past that threatens those he holds dear. To protect his present, Matt must face his past and stand against the witch queen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329053724

Book preview

Witch Rising

Witch Rising

A Mythic Earth Novel

Benjamin Ford

Copyright © 2015, Benjamin Ford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-329-05372-4

Dedications

To my cousin Chris, who fostered my love for the fantasy genre

Special Thanks

To my family, for supporting my dream through the years.

To Alec, for putting a face on this fantasy

To my friends, for providing the inspiration for many of the characters and their stories that make up this tale

And thanks to you, the reader, without whom, none of this would be possible.

The Prophecy of Kings

Of kings, there are three

One, in darkness lies

Another in oceans deep

The last in his palace of the sky

They are the wall

They are the keep

If they should fall

The world shall weep

For in that day

An age will end

And man will pay

As the end begins

Chapter 1

You know, the world has changed a lot over the years. Once upon a time, civilization amounted to a dozen people huddled under a thatch hut around a fire to stay out of the cold and clawing dark.  Now it is a collage of glittering lights, high buildings, and cars honking while people shout out aimless road rage at one another in the street. Yep, a lot of things have changed, but some have remained the same. Everybody is still afraid of the dark.

She didn’t look like she belonged in the forest. From her glittering dress to her styled blonde hair and perfect make-up, she looked like she would be more at home at an exclusive night club where everybody was stepping out of Ferraris or limos. At least, she would have if the dress hadn’t been finely ripped in a dozen places from odd branches and thorns and the fact that she only had one shoe left as she stumbled along the uneven ground. Tears ran down her face, stained black by runny eyeliner.

Whimpering in unchecked fear, she fell headlong into the leaf covered forest floor. Unable to get to her feet, she clawed her way to the nearest towering tree. Pressing her back against the rough bark, she searched the shadows of the forest for her pursuer.  The woods were strangely silent. Neither the chirp of a cricket nor the hoot of an owl dissolved the oppressive quiet. After a few moments, she began to relax. That’s when the shadows decided to grab her.

Whoever you think you are fooling with that get-up, he isn’t here, I said, stepping out of the dark, hand extended in a silent call to the shadowy tendrils that now grasped the woman’s arms, legs, throat, and waist.  I guess I should mention that I have a few tiny tricks, like complete control over shadows and stuff like that. Explanation will be on its way in a moment, but I’m sort of in the middle of something.

Please…. She managed to choke out against her bindings. It sounded rather pathetic, but if you knew what she actually was underneath all of the finery, then you wouldn’t feel any sympathy. Your heart would be filled with nothing but horror and disgust.

Yeah, I don’t really have time for the give and take tonight. So, I’m gonna cut to the chase, I replied wearily, snapping my fingers. The woman’s piercing shriek sliced through the silence like a knife through warm butter as black fire enveloped her body, burning away her phony humanity. By the time the flames had died, any trace of the woman that had been there just moments ago had vanished. Gone was the glittering dress, the tear filled eyes, and gorgeous figure. All of that had been replaced by a grotesque parody of a human being.  Ashen, leathery skin stretched over sharp, jutting bones. Burning red orbs had replaced her eyes, and fangs grew from her perfect teeth. Once blonde hair fell in greasy, gray ropes from her greasy scalp forming a veil in front of her eyes. Her voice changed to an animal like wail that pierced the cold night. I could only sigh in utter boredom.

A succubus hanging out at a night club in a college town. How original, I said dully. Can you people come up with any new material?

You will burn in hell! she snarled painfully, straining against the shadow bonds that held her to the tree, hissing past her grisly fangs. I absently flicked my hand to thicken the bonds. You can never be too careful when dealing with demons.

I guess not, I sighed, stretching out my hand. Dark flame burst to life in my grip, fading away to reveal a double edged, silver sword. Not that this isn’t fun, but I really need to get going. I told the demon. She hissed and bucked, desperate to break free of my spell. I knelt in front of the struggling monster. She became perfectly still as her eyes focused on the razor edge of the sword resting just inches from her disfigured face.

I’m tired. I’m just a little on the cranky side, and I haven’t been able to sleep in an entire week. I finally get a weekend off, and you start taking people out on my turf! Do you people have any sense of boundaries? I asked irritably. My words came out a bit childish even to me, so it wasn’t a surprise when the succubus’s face twisted into a mask of confusion. I sighed and shook my head. Oh well, our time is up. I said, and plunged the sword through her throat. Her face twisted into a silent scream as the silver pierced her essence. The thing about demons, you could destroy their bodies fairly easily, but killing their core, that’s the tricky part. There are only so many ways to make sure the vile bastards stay gone. Silver is just the cheapest and most energy efficient way.

Another thing about demons is that their bodies don’t disappear when they die like on television. Killing one just leaves a whole bloody mess to clean up. Not the way I liked spending my night. As soon as she stopped twitching, I jerked the silver blade out of her ruined throat and threw it aside. Instead falling to the leaf covered earth, it disappeared in a quick puff of flame.  I stood casually, stretching a little and taking a look around. Almost like an afterthought, I threw a ball of black fire at the corpse. Before long, the body was wreathed in flame that would consume her and her alone. Wouldn’t do to burn down a forest just to deal with such a low class monster.

Well, that should about do it, I said lazily, wiping imaginary dust off of my hands. Sadly, I couldn’t leave yet. I had to make sure that the body was completely disposed of. Which, at the rate she was burning, wouldn’t take more than an hour or so. I could turn up the heat and be done with it faster, but there was the little thing about trying to keep it hidden. A twenty-foot high column of fire draws a little too much attention. So the slow roast was the best option. Then I heard the shouting.

I think it came from this way! an anonymous man shouted in the distance. Judging by the massive amount of leaf crunching, either he wasn’t alone, or he was bringing his herd of reindeer. Groaning in annoyance, I looked down at the burning body in disgust.

You just keep causing me trouble, I growled in anger. It was time to turn up the heat a little.

With a wave of my hand, I fanned the flames from a relative simmer to an all-consuming blaze with flames reaching high into the canopy of tree-tops above. A little showy, but hey, it would get the job done, and done quickly.

Over there! Is that fire!?  a voice shouted. I could only groan and turn to see a dozen little flashlight trails rushing my way. I glanced back at the rapidly deteriorating body at the center of the ebony blaze. There were hardly bones left, and those would disintegrate in just another moment. Now I just had to buy that extra moment. I looked up into the starry night sky.

This is the last time I cover your shift, brother, I promised in a whisper. Turning my attention back to my situation, I threw my hands out to the shadows of the trees, cast by the dim light of the sliver moon.  I could have generated some of my own, but that was just so tiring!

At my silent call, the shadows grew and stretched, peeling off of the ground and forming a cloudy wall between myself and the searching spots of light. Another flick of my hand sent force into the lights, shattering their fragile little bulbs. The effects were almost instant. A herd of crashing was followed by a cloud of curses as the lights suddenly vanished, just as their once apparently visible goal had. I forced back my rising laugh.

Suckers, I whispered, keeping my voice low. Satisfied that everything was under control as the body was finally reduced to nothing but a pile of ash, I swayed back into the darkness as my spells faded. The last sight I ever had of that forest was half a dozen teenagers in too expensive clothes searching for a friend that they would never see again. 

Chapter 2

After a few seconds, I fell out of my roof. Yes, out of my roof, or, more accurately, out of a shadow portal that I’d opened in the roof above my bed. So, instead of falling on a forest floor, I fell through a short stint of cold void and landed on my own bed. I’d had enough practice to land with a good bit of grace rather than belly flopping off of the bedpost. The portal closed as soon as I fell through, leaving me alone in the dark of my bedroom. For a moment, I lay there, still as I could possibly be to avoid reality. Then I looked at the clock, which read three in the morning.

Groaning, I raised myself to a sitting position, placing my boot clad feet on the floor of my apartment. I slowly got to my feet and shuffled to the light switch. Flipping on the lights for my bedroom and the short hallway, I walked across the hall into the small bathroom with a shower and toilet crammed on one side, and a dingy sink and mirror mounted to the wall. I put the stopper in the sink and filled it with icy water.

I splashed some of the cold liquid on my face, trying to wake myself up. Feeling slightly rejuvenated, I looked into the mirror above the sink where a haggard and familiar face met my eyes.

Damn you look bad, I said to my reflection. Honestly, it wasn’t one of my good days. My curly dark hair was a mess and had grown out far too long to be contained. A few odd curls stock out in odd directions to give me the always desirable mad scientist look. The haggard look on my face didn’t help matters. My skin was bleached pale, and my eyes were dulled by exhaustion. Twin green orbs circled by dark crescents that even creeped out their owner. My mouth was set in a grimace, and to top it off, there were still a few dark spots of blood on my throat, just above the silver crucifix I wore in the open collar of my black sweater.

I went to grab some tissue, but saw that I had forgotten to replace the roll. Groaning, I walked back to my bedroom to grab a roll from under my bed.  I bent down to retrieve the tissue when I felt a cool gust of air from the door. Normally, I would have thought of it as a draft from an open window, but I never opened my windows. So it could only mean one thing.

About time you showed your face, I said, grabbing a roll of tissue and standing back up, feeling sort of awkward holding a roll of toilet tissue in front of the man in my door. In many ways, he and I shared an unmistakable resemblance. He was slightly taller than I, but we shared a similar build and facial structure. He put a little more care into his appearance than I did. He had changed his hair to a sandy blonde and kept it well trimmed, and his eyes were sky blue rather than green. He’d never changed the color of those, but right now those eyes sparked with the light of anger.

Could you have made less of a mess of things, brother? he asked, just as a thunder clap boomed from outside. I rolled my eyes and shoved my way past him to get to the bathroom.

Hello! Thank you! Thanks for covering for me again! Any of those sentences would have been acceptable. What you just said does not fall into that category, I replied, running some warm water to wet the tissue.

I’m afraid that I don’t agree with your assessment, my brother replied, adjusting his tan trench coat. You deserved it.

In what universe, little brother? I asked, gently wiping away the tiny spots of black blood. I was more than happy to wipe away the stuff. It helped me feel less soiled.

In my universe, where my subjects do as I say, he replied evenly. That made me freeze. In deliberate movements, I turned off the sink, dropped the tissue into the trash can, and stood up straight to face my brother.

I have never been, and never will be, your subject, Zeus, I growled, clenching my fists at my sides in rage. In response to my emotions, the apartment grew dark and biting cold, despite the heaters and lighting. Zeus, yes that Zeus, yawned.

Whatever you say, oh eldest one, he replied with a sarcastic bow. Okay, to sum up, power over darkness and shadows, oldest brother of Zeus, who just happens to be linked with thunder. My most popular name in history would be Hades, but I let my friends call me Matt. My brother is not counted among them.

Damn right, I grunted, repressing my anger and allowing the atmosphere of the apartment to return to normal. Sighing deeply, I moved out of the bathroom and walked down the hallway to the living room. I don’t have time for your idiocy tonight.

We need to discuss your recent lack of intelligence, Zeus retorted, following me into the small living room. You made a mess.

So you keep telling me, I groaned, plopping down on the old leather couch in front of the mounted flat screen. Zeus twitched a little. Too bad little bro, you aren’t the king of everybody. What exactly did I do?

Really, you don’t know? What about the three dead teenagers? What do you call that? Zeus asked angrily, moving to stand in front of me. I groaned.

A tragedy that could have been avoided if you had done a little homework, I replied evenly. Zeus’s eyebrow crossed in a dark v as another peal of thunder split the sky. Showoff.

How dare you… he began, but I decided I’d had enough for one night. Before my brother could say another word, I had jumped up from my seat and had him by his throat and shoved against the wall! The apartment was pitch black and frost had formed along the walls and furniture. The faint sound of shattering street light bulbs from outside carried through the too-thin walls of the building.  For the first time, a tiny trace of fear flashed across my brother’s face.

How dare I? How dare I? You narcissistic bastard, I snarled. Get it through your skull. You aren’t my king! You are my whiny little brother who came begging me to do his job for him. So if you actually give a crap about any of those people, then you should get out there and do your job! I shouted, showing my rage for just a minute. Without waiting for my brother to respond, I sent him crashing through the living room window! I waited a few seconds to make sure he wasn’t coming back and then went to the window. I looked down the five story drop. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t see a body on the street below.

Humph, good riddance, I grunted, tapping the edge of the broken window. The glass began flying back to its original position, sealing cracks and piecing itself back together. It was a relatively simple spell, one of the simple perks of being me. I looked up at the mounted wall clock I kept above the couch.

Well, you managed to waste another hour of my time, I sighed. I decided that everything would just have to wait until morning and stretched my tired muscles. I dragged myself back to my bedroom and jumped into my bed. The apartment’s temperature and lighting had almost returned to normal, so it was almost comfortable. Leave it to my brother to ruin what little sleep I could still get before class at nine. Thank God I was just auditing. After going to a dozen universities over the centuries, I had enough degrees to rotate if I ever needed them. I’d been a lawyer, a botanist, a historian, a waiter, a cab driver, architect, and a funeral director to name a few of my more recent professions. Immortality can get a little boring if you don’t mix it up a little every now and then. Plus it is hard to keep the same job the whole time without making people suspicious. An eternally youthful funeral director is just a little ironic anyway.

I lay in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling, pushing away the thoughts of the past weekend I’d spent tracing the demon that my lazy brother was supposed to have taken care of, especially the lifeless faces of her three victims. I squeezed my eyes shut and built up a wall against the intruding horrors. After ages of practice, I’d learned how to build a barrier of happy memories between myself and whatever was hounding me at the time. As the years passed though, I had to reach further and further through the muck of darkness to find the little bright memories to build up my defense. Still, brick by brick, memory by memory, they were enough to block out the terrible, hollow faces of the murdered teens. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep, not even bothering to set an alarm for the morning. My nightmares were more than enough to make sure I woke up in time.

Chapter 3

The sky was black, but not due to any growing night. Above my head circled massive hordes of crows large enough to blot out the light of the setting sun! The racket of their caws drove the villagers insane, sending them screaming and running for cover as the crows dove down to bite at any exposed flesh! The thatched roofs of several of the tiny houses were barely holing up against the constant barrage of ravenous birds. I was running down the dusty streets, beating off the birds, looking for someone.

A scream split the air! I turned, and there she was, hunched over in the square, a murder of crows flying in blurring circles around her. I ran for her, sprinting through the thickening clouds of frenzied birds. Just as I was about to reach her, she screamed again, this time louder and even more painfully than before! The birds froze, literally froze in midair. I was frozen in place, unable to move. It was like the world had just stopped moving. The woman’s eyes were closed, her face suddenly relaxed despite the attack. Her rough dress was ripped in a dozen places, and her hair was whipped around from the birds. A bloody cut across her arm glowed crimson in the dim light. I remembered this. I remembered what came next. I wanted to look away. I strained against the invisible bonds, but there would be no mercy. There never was.

Her eyes snapped open, blazing a sinister red. Her mouth opened in a hysterically insane laugh as the birds unfroze and swarmed me in a black tornado of beaks and feathers. Through it all, I could see those eyes, and that laugh echoed in my ears even as the birds ripped me apart.

I shot up in my bed, gasping for breath, feeling the icy sweat run down my back and chest. I closed my eyes and fought back the nausea and fear, pressing the memories back into the darkest, tiniest corner of my mind. For a few moments, all I could do was sit there, catching my breath, but, finally, I could open my eyes and see something other than twin fiery orbs staring back at me. I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand. It was seven in the morning.

Three hours. Not bad, I conceded, swinging my legs out of the bed and standing to stretch my sleep-stiffened body. I dropped down to the floor and began pumping pushups. Fifty repetitions later, I flipped to my back and began doing crunches. My morning routine was just a little island of order in an eternal sea of chaos.  Pushups, crunches, chin-ups, the three mile jog to the college, all of it just helped me keep a tiny spark of sanity.

After finishing up the crunches and chin-ups, I grabbed a quick, cold shower and brushed my teeth. I decided to put off shaving away the weekend stubble I’d grown for another day. I could live with it for a bit. On came some dark sweat pants and a long sleeved, black sweater. The winter chill couldn’t make me sick, but that didn’t mean I liked being cold!

Now that I was clean and dressed, I went to my kitchen to put some breakfast in my empty stomach. It wasn’t anything special, a sausage biscuit and a cup of orange juice, but it was good enough to get me to lunch at least. I finished my measly meal and grabbed my keys from their spot on the peg by the door. I went out through the door to see my elderly neighbor, Mrs. Collins, heading out as well.

Morning Mrs. Collins, I greeted with a smile, locking my door behind me.

A good morning to you Matt. How was your camping trip? she asked, smiling at the greeting. Mrs. Collins was a sweet old woman that had lived in the building long before I had gotten there. She was always up and out early in the morning to go down to Mike’s Café, a local coffee shop just two blocks down from the apartment building for her morning brew. She’d also been the first and only person to welcome me to the building a couple of years ago. She’d given me one of her famous pecan pies, and if they weren’t famous, they should have been.  She also helped in providing anyone who came by apartment my alibi for my sometimes long absences.  The latest excuse being a weekend out camping in the mountains

You know, it wasn’t quite as fun as last time, I replied cheerfully, walking down the stairs beside the older, not really, woman. I guess nothing is ever the same the second time around.

That’s why you’ve got to change something she replied strongly. Maybe if you invited some your friends, or maybe met a girl,

Ugh, you’re starting to sound dangerously like my mother Mrs. Collins, I groaned sarcastically, slowing my strides to match hers. She never had visits from her family, so I sort of felt obligated to keep her company when I could. It was also a little refreshing to have somebody treat me like I was a kid sometimes. Needless to say, it had been a while.

Well somebody has to! If you don’t get out there yourself then somebody needs to put the boot in you behind, she harrumphed. You can’t stay a hermit your whole life Matt.

It has gotten me this far, I replied. I decided it was past time to change the subject. Did you like the book?

Yes, she said. I didn’t think you kids liked reading classics,

The day that nobody reads Charles Dickens is the day that literature has completely rolled over and died, I replied with a little laugh. What she didn’t know about the book was that it was one of the first copies of David Copperfield ever printed. I’d been a fan for a long time.

The two of us reached the bottom of the stairs. I held the door open for Mrs. Collins to get outside as we exited the building. This was where we had to part ways because the college was in the opposite direction of the coffee shop.

Until next time Mrs. Collins, I said with another smile.

Until next time Matt, and remember what I said about finding a girl! she said, poking a wrinkled finger into my chest to emphasize her point.

I will. Good day Mrs. Collins, I replied, turning away from the thin little woman and beginning my run through the streets of the small city of Springdale. It was about eight a.m., and it took me about twenty-five minutes for me to get to the college on average, so I had plenty of time before my history class began to get there.

Running has never been my favorite activity. No matter how good of shape I was in, I never got that good, pure feeling that people always talked about getting after running. Still, it helped me stay healthy. Being immortal, I couldn’t die from any mortal disease or bad health, but old habits die hard. Besides, my job involved fighting demons, so being in shape was a good idea if not mandatory. Anyway, the run gave me the time to make my mental schedule for the day.

Okay, I muttered to myself. Most people in the city drove to work, so there was nobody around to give me any weird looks for talking to myself. Go to class, check in with Cassie, go to Mike’s to pick up coffee beans, feed Cerberus…. I muttered. The list went on and on, ending with catching American Dad on the TV.  By the time I’d sorted everything