by M K Drake
Dedicated to all of the brave who want nothing but peace in the world.
#StopTheHate
Kindle Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018AXVQ4M
Atticus and the Scrolls of the Pharaoh
Prologue
Time Infinite
“You defy the lord, and wish to bring the end of days upon them?” the voices echo in unison into the darkness and throughout the cosmos. Vengeance, the intended recipient of said words, steadies himself. The stars dot all of creation, twinkling; he cannot help but be fully aware of the universe around him. The black canvas of space is further beautified by painting-like Nebulae in the distance, while super explosions momentarily blot other parts in bright flashes of white before the darkness returns to claim everything again.
Vengeance pauses, taking in the forced quantum state of existence he finds himself in, of Time Infinite.
It is a moment where time is no longer linear, where one can look deep into the endless cosmology of space and see everything – the entire roadmap of existence rolled out in front of them – if they are able to properly comprehend it. Vengeance knows it takes mastery to filter the useful information, but he has other matters on his mind now.
He looks up to his accusers, sitting upon their horses of colour: white, red, black and pale. “They do not deserve existence, these humans and their demons. They breed hate and abuse the gifts given to them. They should be smitten down, brothers; I implore you to see reason. They cannot be allowed to continue.” Vengeance pulls his own horse to the side for a moment, as he hovers in the void of space, he calms it as it neighs, stroking its dark grey hair, flowing with the cosmic winds.
Conquest ushers his horse forward, bright white, almost blindingly so in the void of darkness bellowed out by the universe; a comet shoots past him for a moment which barely distracts him, but gives Vengeance the opportunity to see the face of his one-time leader. It is full of kindness, which cannot be hidden by the scorn and disappointment it tries to portray.
“Ride with me for a moment brother,” Conquest says, beckoning Vengeance towards him.
Vengeance accepts the invitation and commands his steed to move alongside Conquest, each step of the mighty horse sending tiny ripples of light into the fabric of the cosmos, disappearing behind the distant majestic galactic clouds.
The two horsemen ride on a carpet of light away from the others, the light fades away behind them, melting into the dark.
“The lord sees good in humanity brother as do the others, Zeus, Odin, Jupiter, the entire council of elders. We cannot interfere with them, but we can give them time,” speaks Conquest with affirmation.
Vengeance snorts, “They allow demons to run riot, they risk giving them tools to meddle with time, and now I see the scrolls are within their grasp. This could end existence itself, if that monster beholds them. They give evil the room to breed, and they themselves have dark hearts. The endless wars… I do not see humanity, I see a disregard for it. I see only a thirst for death and the cyclical journey to oblivion. We waste so much time on them, when we should be tending to other flocks around this blessed universe.”
Conquest sighs, “You do not see. Free will is their gift; it will lead them to the light. We have to trust in the design.”
They both hover over Andromeda, nonchalant of the presence of the vast and beautiful galaxy; Vengeance turns to face his brother. “You sound like Gabriel. The Angels do not understand, they are pets more than anything else. We, together – we can do this. It is our duty to instigate the Rapture, if not to save the lives of trillions, to save existence itself. I have no allegiance to humanity or demons. I am vexed. I do not want to allow them to continue to exist. Their realms cause too much friction. Fight with me to bring this to an end.”
“I cannot. I trust in father. The intricate design of everything. We must trust – our time will come at the end of days. I have seen it. You must trust me, trust the Majjai of the Earth Realm. They have potential to unite the hearts and minds of humanity. We must allow them their chance.”
“And at what cost? How much death should we allow? Their murderous endeavours as a species will outweigh our own at the Apocalypse! And this beast, this Kazmagus, he will be the trigger for it all. His soul is twisted – and all due to the Majjai you speak of.”
“His spawn can fix it.”
“Pah! The boy? He is insignificant. I will kill him first! He is an abomination!”
“You will not harm him. He is the paradox, the key. If you try, you will be bound to The Void, and your soul split between it and Hades. Do not test my kindness, brother. For you will find it is not limitless.”
Vengeance turns away from his brother, “Unlike father’s.”
“This order comes from him,” Conquest turns and raises his right hand into the air, signalling War, Famine and Death to return to his side, “It pains my heart, this act you force me to do. You affect us to become four, when we should be five. I pray you see the light and one day return to us and ride at our side.”
The four horses standing opposite Vengeance and his own steed begin to neigh loudly into the darkness of space, they stomp their feet loudly, sensing the act to come.
“End it quickly,” hisses Death, his Scythe by his side, his body drenched in a deathly hooded robe.
Conquest steps forward, “You are banished from the heavens, forever bound to the realm of Earth, but not as its destroyer. You are its student. Be gone from us!”
Vengeance roars into the night “Never! You cannot control what I do, where I go! My soul is mine!” and with that he sends a massive blast of energy towards the other horsemen from his hands, scattering them, “I am infinite. My strength, my vision. It is true!” he unsheathes a massive sword, and with it attempts to strike the Horsemen.
War intervenes, his bright red horse rushes into the path of the blade and its master, blocking it with his own sword, “Give this madness up, you cannot win against us all.”
“I do it for all of you, you do not see!”
“No!” shouts Conquest, “It is you who does not see!” He strikes Vengeance with such force that he flings his brother into the distance, smashing into a remote asteroid. The giant rock shatters, sending debris shooting through the vacuum of space.
One piece smashes against Death, who stands unaffected; he merely brushes away the debris and stares down towards Vengeance. “Enough!” he raises his Scythe, and with it, commands silence from all, including Vengeance, “Go peacefully. Or I myself will bind your soul, painfully, to every single level of hell. Heed the rule: no harm must befall the boy from your hands. Take no side in the coming war. Or we will find you,” Death lowers his Scythe.
Vengeance looks towards them with disdain, and raises his hood to cover his head. He hisses towards his brothers, hatred swelling within, but knows he is no match for the four of them combined. “You will see, I am right! I will force your intervention for the end of days!” he roars.
Conquest raises his arm again, and with it a portal forms behind Vengeance, a swirling light shoots out, grabbing the banished Horseman and his steed, pulling them in, erasing him from Time Infinite, and towards the Realm of Earth.
# # #
The silence is cold and lonely. Famine steps towards Conquest, curious of what he overheard, “It is true, you have seen the end?”
Conquest turns and smiles, “One end of many, my brother. But only one ends well. We must hope our lost family chooses wisely.”
The Four Horsemen turn away from the fading portal and ride away, fading into the darkness to wait and watch.
Chapter 1
The Bleeding of the Burrows
“Are y
ou sure he was seen here Atticus?” asks a very concerned Ju Long as he rummages through a bush on the opposite roadside of their target.
“He might still be here. Elric says the watcher report is accurate. Shadow Wolf has come home,” Atticus replies, adjusting his jacket as they both hide from view. He checks that the way is clear before taking any action to begin their investigation. He knows the day is soon to end on this early spring evening. Buds are yet to appear on the bushes that would have perhaps aided in their concealment, so he is conscious of their conspicuous predicament. Two teenagers sneaking around at dusk is not easily explained to any kind of authority, be it magical or not.
The streetlights begin to flicker on, buzzing into life. One of them further down shows signs of its life ending, flashing on and off randomly, desperately trying to ignite its fluorescent bulb in a stable manner. The road is eerily silent, apart from a few birds settling down to rest for the night, chirping and jostling for space in the trees around them.
Atticus closes his eyes to try to sense any other presence around them, then looks to Ju Long, “I think it is time; it’s quiet now, we should head inside.”
“You remember what I taught you. The phasing?”
“Yes, to be invisible to this plane of existence, I need to move out of phase with this time”
“Yes, but don’t overdo it, or you’ll trap yourself in the ground like last time!” ribs Ju Long. “Are you sure you do not want me to drive this?”
Atticus knows he has to learn this ability almost more than any other; however, it doesn’t seem as natural to him as the others and has been the most difficult for him to grasp. He has learnt how to heal and create energy shields from Joyce, has learnt some of the elemental control from Safaya, increased his strength with the help of Khan, and even managed to create some ice cubes by harnessing the power of ice that Olof has so dutifully mastered. But this, this phasing for invisibility, has proven to be much more difficult to grasp. This one feels alien, not natural at all. Atticus has wondered many times to ask Ju Long more about his past, but he always dodges it with a trademark quip. Atticus doesn’t even believe that Elric knows the true origins of Ju Long. In time he hopes that Ju Long will trust them all enough to tell of his history.
Atticus closes his eyes and tries to concentrate. Clenches his fists as tight as he can. He takes a deep breath and exhales softly, trying to think about stepping slightly out of time. Slowly he thinks to himself, concentrating ever more, focusing on his breathing until he finally senses a tingle wavering over his skin. He opens his eyes as things begin to blur ever so slightly. ‘I’m doing it!’ he thinks to himself. The sensation is odd. Almost as if he is watching everything through a lightly opaque curved glass.
Turning to Ju Long, who he beckons to follow suit. “How is that?”
“Not bad, but let’s hope you can hold it until we get inside the house.”
Atticus watches as Ju Long effortlessly phases himself into invisibility. He disappears for a moment but quickly returns to view as he syncs to Atticus’s own existential plane.
They tread very carefully. Atticus is fully aware of how dangerous Shadow Wolf is; despite Joyce’s best efforts, the scars on his back still have not healed fully from their last encounter at the Battle of Aria last winter. He relives that time for a moment, remembering the loss, his inability to save his mother, Sophia. This haunts him daily, he can still feel the moment her life force ebbed away into nothingness. Her death at the hands of the demon king Razakel drives him forward, determined to find a way to end this threat to humanity. He is grateful for his companions, the other members of the Majjai Six, and for his mentors, Elric Griffin, Professor Sprocking, Professor Morgan and of course Mage Callan who has taught him much of his fighting skills. Without these, he knows he would be very much dead.
Then there is Marcellus, the close family friend who turned out to be Atticus’s own protector. It’s not long before his thoughts fall upon his father, Joseph, who feels even more pain than Atticus does over the death of Sophia. It’s changed Joseph immensely. Atticus hopes he can one day help his dad through all of this, but so much work has to be done to protect everyone else. Razakel will never stop until he is either destroyed or victorious. Atticus knows he must not allow this to happen. He has embraced his title of The Chosen One more than ever, and is willing to push himself beyond all capability to protect life, to protect love.
Atticus and Joyce have barely spoken since his mother’s funeral. He knows he had to end their relationship, not only to keep her safer than before, but also so that he can concentrate on increasing his powers and his strength, but it’s been a difficult fifteen months. Maybe one day, when the war is won he can win her heart again. In the meantime, he knowingly fills the void with more knowledge of this new Majjai world. He has soaked in the history books, spell casting chants, and spent much time in the Tomb of Kazmagus library back at Wysardian Manor. He himself is surprised at how much knowledge he is able to soak in like a sponge.
Before his mind can wander further, they reach the door of the Burrow’s house.
It’s a very unassuming home. The door is painted blue, but it certainly needs a retouch of sorts as Atticus notices the cracking in its surface. The curtains are all drawn shut but the lights are off. This strikes our duo as odd considering the low light at this time of day.
Atticus’s arm brushes against the chequered red, maroon, and orange brickwork. As it does so he feels his arm pass through the wall, as they are still phased out of visibility. The sensation continues to startle him; it’s as if, just for a moment, his movement is slowed by a thick liquid like matter, goop for want of a better term.
“We need to phase into the house,” whispers Ju Long, “It’s better if we do this quickly.”
Atticus nods, and follows Ju Long through the blue front door. His pace slows as he meets the matter of the wood. He can even smell the paintwork as he passes through, and a distinct odour of mould in the crevices. Not pleasant at all. Atticus is thankful it is over quickly.
Inside things are dark and silent. But the stench is unbearable. Something is not well in this place, Atticus can sense it, “This does not look good Ju Long.”
Ju Long covers his nose, “It doesn’t smell good either!”
“We should return to normal, it would help our investigation. It doesn’t seem like anyone is home.”
Ju Long agrees, he hands Atticus a pair of gloves as he puts on a pair of his own, “We do this the old fashioned way, no prints or evidence that we were here.”
Atticus dons the gloves, “We still need some light, though.”
Ju Long agrees and reaches for a light switch. As the entrance hall beams into life, the first thing that startles our pair is the wallpaper. A ghastly cream and red fabric throwback to the 70’s. From what Atticus remembers of Bradley’s parents, it is not totally out of contrast with their dress sense.
Atticus succumbs and holds his own nose, “Plus now we really need to find the source of that smell!” It’s all he can do to stop himself retching. The odour is not pleasant, almost like an unclean slaughterhouse. They walk slowly through the house, opening one door, painted a not-so-garish cream coloured gloss. “This must be the living room.” Atticus is distracted slightly as the smell of what could only be described as rotting flesh gets ever stronger. He can hear the buzz of some flies shooting around the room, and begins to dread what they are about to find.
Ju Long reaches for the switch and flicks it to the on position. He turns away as soon as the room is lit. “Well, that vision is not going to go away easily!”
Atticus almost vomits onto the floor. “Oh Bradley, what have you done!?” Atticus can barely look. There, right in front of him are the half-eaten corpses of Bradley’s parents. Most of their limbs are missing, and the tell-tale claw marks of Shadow Wolf, Bradley’s demonic transformation, are all apparent on their remaining torsos.
Before they can take in much more, Ju Long taps Atticus on the should
er.
“What is it?”
Ju Long points to the far wall, “If the light is on, why is that shadow still there?”
Atticus spins around to check the shadow. He looks desperately to locate a possible source, whipping his head left to right. Then slowly, he turns back to Ju Long. “He’s here.”
Before either can react, Shadow Wolf shoots out from the dark patch on the wall and flings both Atticus and Ju Long to the ground.
Atticus gets up first, “Stop Bradley!” he shouts as Shadow Wolf makes for the door. Atticus uses his telekinetic ability to slam the door shut. The beast crashes through it anyway, escaping.
The two heroes give chase; but Shadow Wolf is well on his way down the street.
Ju Long holds his arm out to stop Atticus before they exit the house. “Wait,” he says quietly, “this is a trap.”
Atticus stops, and tries to look at what Ju Long is staring at. “How do you know?”
“I can hear them.” Ju Long touches Atticus’s shoulder, “We don’t have time for your invisibility, we will use mine.” In an instant both Atticus and Ju Long are hidden from view. They exit the house as the sky begins to get ever darker.
Atticus is still trying to spot the threat before they both take to the air, but it is not until they float silently upwards that he sees it. A massive cage of some sort, and some men dressed in military attire.
“General Crawford!” shouts one of the men, “Over there, near the tree!”
The military men are clothed in camouflage clothing, more suited to jungle warfare than an urban street, all apart from one. Atticus guesses that must be General Crawford, his suspicions are confirmed instantly as the man speaks.
“Bring out the weaponry! The Taser pistols! Now!” shouts General Crawford as he adjusts his black trench coat, barking orders to his men. “Surround the animal!”
Shadow Wolf has fully morphed into his normal form, he stands tall and menacing, with his claws outstretched, ready to send a blow towards this new enemy. One of the soldiers fires a blast of what appears to be electricity towards Shadow Wolf, who moves to the side, dodging the attack. The blast sizzles the hair on his wolf-like snout, but does no damage. Another soldier creeps up from behind and fires a shot straight into the beast’s back. Shadow Wolf roars in pain.
