Rise from the Ashes (The Fated Book 1)

by Candy Crum

  “This is all so much,” Grace said. “You’re all children. Babies. You shouldn’t be stuck with any kind of burden like this.”

  “And we’re absolutely certain this is happening?” Joe asked.

  “Oh my God!” Alee shouted. “You are the one with the visions, and you are still asking if this is real? There is a frickin’ gryphon in the back yard!”

  “I’m sorry!” Joe shouted back. “This is just insane! If we were raised like her then this would all seem normal. I just keep hoping someone jumps out and screams that it was all a joke. I’m having a really hard time accepting this, okay? I’ve always had the visions, but that doesn’t mean that I thought they were part of some greater purpose. I just thought I could see things. That I was weird. There are other people like me out there, too, and I doubt they are destined for some master plan.”

  “Well, the good news is that you’re right. You’re definitely weird. Super weird,” Alee said. “But even though you’re a nerd, at least we’re right there with you. Just not as much uber-nerdness. We’re chicks with bows. That’s pretty cool, actually. On second thought, maybe you are alone.”

  “Gee,” Joe said. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

  “Any time, Brother,” Alee said, patting him on the back. “Let’s talk about this stuff later. I’m starving. I doubt Brittany has learned how to whittle some French toast out of a twig, so I’m sure she probably is, too.”

  “I’m starving,” Brittany said, a hopeful smile spreading across her face.

  “I’ll fix something to eat for all of you,” Grace said. She stood slowly, the weight of everything sitting on her shoulders.

  “I’ll help, Mom,” Alee said, standing with her mother.

  “No, honey. I need to think. So do all of you. Give me a few minutes in there alone. I need to process this. You have absolutely no idea how worried I am for all of you,” Grace said. “Go. Sit. You guys need to think of a good way to find those other kids. If they are your only hope, then you need to get them as soon as possible.”

  Κεφάλαιο XI

  THURSDAY MORNING

  Nashville

  Outside it was a rare beautiful day. The cloud cover had been consistent for weeks, some days shadowing the sun and others down pouring. It did nothing to fix Kylie’s depression, something she was in definite need of a solution for. She had been in so much pain. Pain in her eyes. In her head. In her stomach. Her entire body ached, but it was her heart that hurt the worst. For days she’d seen things that didn’t belong. More than that, she’d heard things that didn’t belong. Voices. Voices from everywhere. From people that didn’t exist. She’d heard so much tearless crying, that she couldn’t even think anymore. Still, it wasn’t even close to what she’d been going through over the past twenty-four hours.

  That pain had escalated. The torture that she was forced to endure magnified. Her father worried for her, unable to console his own daughter. Kylie wouldn’t speak about it, for fear that someone would lock her away as they’d done to her mother. Her mother heard voices and saw things, too. Eventually they were forced to put her in an asylum. It was at her own request, but even Kylie’s father felt that he had no other choice.

  “Please,” Kylie said. “Please just stop.”

  Kylie sat in her room, crying. She closed her eyes, trying hard not to see the woman standing before her.

  “Mi dispiace,” the strange woman said.

  The woman spoke Italian, but Kylie was able to understand her every word. In fact, it didn’t matter where they were from, or what language they spoke, she could understand them…

  As long as they were dead.

  She tried very hard to listen to others around her speak various languages, but she could understand nothing. The woman standing before her, however, and many more like her over the past few days, Kylie could understand without fail.

  “Mi dispiace,” the woman repeated.

  “I know you’re sorry!” Kylie said. “It doesn’t matter! This hurts me. Can’t you see that? Can’t all of you see that? Why do all of you keep coming to me?”

  “Sono stato attratto da te,” the woman said.

  “Drawn to me?” Kylie asked. “What does that mean? From Italy? Drawn all the way here, to me, from Italy?”

  The woman gave a sad smile, her translucent figure reflecting some of the sun shining in through Kylie’s window.

  “Mi dispiace,” she said once more.

  “No,” Kylie said, backing away. “No! Stop!”

  The woman crossed the room and grabbed hold of Kylie’s wrists. Kylie felt something sweeping across her, as she had many times since the day before. It was as if her own soul were opening up. Kylie’s mouth involuntarily opened as she gasped at the immense pain that cut through her. The woman’s spirit slowly evaporated into nothingness as she passed through Kylie’s body.

  Once it was finished, Kylie collapsed to the floor, the pain seizing her before almost immediately dissipating. She exhaled hard, having held her breath the entire time. She began to cry again, wondering if it would come to an end, or if it would continue. She felt lost with not being able to tell anyone. She felt afraid for the same reason. Was her mother truly crazy? Or was there something more to her that no one knew?

  Kylie decided that she needed to get out of the house. It was time to go to school, but she did not plan to do that. She grabbed her backpack, as she would any other day, and headed out the door. Though her father was already at work, she was weary of the nosy neighbors that would be certain to ask her father how she was doing if they didn’t see her leave. The last thing she wanted was her father asking questions about why she skipped school.

  She hopped on her bike and went in the same direction that would have been taken going to class. After a mile, she decided to cut down a different road than usual. Still unsure of where she was headed, but happy to feel free. Clouds dusted the sky, but the sun still shone between them. The light breeze blew against her skin, further calming her nerves and bringing a smile to her face.

  Kylie soon found herself at the state park. It wasn’t the first time that she’d skipped school to go there. After her mother was committed, Kylie did so often. She even had a way to sneak in past the front gate, so no one would know she was there.

  She got off her bike and wheeled it down into a large ditch, hiding it in an oversized culvert that ran under one of the entrance roadways. There was quite a bit of water because of all the rain and storms lately, but that didn’t bother her. She parked her bike and headed down the ditch to find a safe place to climb out and run through the trees without getting caught.

  The state park was beautiful. Tennessee was full of beautiful mountains, wildlife, and lakes. There was even a waterfall where she was going. The hike was rough for a while, as she’d traveled completely off path through wild brush, but it didn’t take her long to exit out onto a familiar trail. Due to the rain, the trails were muddy, which was good news for her because it meant less hikers to worry about.

  It took longer than normal to get to her favorite spot as she lost footing several times in the mud. The challenging hike only seemed to make it sweeter when she arrived. At the base of one of the larger waterfalls was a large pool of water. It fed Otter Creek that ran throughout the park and eventually into Little Harpeth River. The water was rushing, and it put Kylie at ease in a few short breaths. The smell of nature around her and the water in front of her invaded her senses. It was the peace she’d been looking for.

  After looking around for any hikers, she took off her muddy shoes and wet socks. She walked over to the edge and sat on the wet grass, allowing her feet to dangle over into the water. She sighed heavily, allowing the weight of the world to fade away. Every so often Kylie would look around her, making sure no one was wandering by. With the sun shining on her face and shoulders and her lower legs in the water, she wanted to lie back and drift off to sleep.

  As she sat there, staring into the falls, something tickled the bottom of on
e of her feet. She was fast to pull her legs from the water, unsure of what could have touched her. Leaning forward, Kylie repositioned herself on her hands and knees as she looked into the water. At first, she saw nothing aside from the ripples coming from the fall as well as her recent movement. Then, slowly, as her eyes began to focus on other things, she began to see her reflection was not her own.

  “Kylie.”

  The stranger’s image in the water spoke, the mouth moving, but the voice was somehow in her mind. Kylie began to back away from the water, but a translucent hand darted from the water and held her tight.

  “Please,” the soft feminine voice said. “Do not fear me. I mean no harm.”

  A beautiful woman began a slow ascent from the water. Only her head and shoulders visible.

  “Who are you?” Kylie asked. “What do you want? You didn’t pass through me when you grabbed me, like the others do. I’m not complaining, though, because it hurts so badly. Please don’t do that to me.”

  The woman shook her head.

  “I do not plan to,” the woman said. “Not immediately, I suppose I should say. I did not pass through because I am a much older spirit than the others. They are new. Recently dead. They do not understand how to resist your pull. Though I am over two thousand years old, I, too, will fall victim to your silent call, but not just yet.”

  As she spoke, Kylie noticed an accent. More than the accent itself, she noticed the proper way that she spoke, and the dignified way she held herself.

  “Who are you?” Kylie asked again.

  “I am Agatha,” she replied. “And I was an oracle, once upon a time.”

  “An oracle?” Kylie asked. “You were able to see the future?”

  Agatha nodded. “I can no longer see the future, as my power was connected to my humanity. For centuries now, I have been long gone. However, I can see you, and I can see that words I spoke long ago have come to be reality. The world is changing.”

  “The world is always changing,” Kylie said.

  “Indeed it is,” Agatha said. She paused for a moment, her eyes locked on Kylie’s. “You have questions. Unfortunately, we do not have time for me to answer many. I do not have the strength to resist you for long. You are much stronger than you can imagine.”

  “What is happening to me?” Kylie asked. “That’s a great place to start.”

  “That is a very complicated question, one that I do not have the time to answer. Not here. I will tell you, Kylie, that you are not mad, and neither was your mother.”

  “Not crazy? Then what am I? There are spirits, ghosts, whatever passing through me. It’s horrifying and the most painful thing I have ever felt.”

  “Right now Hades has no king. No queen. There is no one controlling what happens there. Not for sixteen years now, though the underworld had been stressed for years before as Hades, himself, grew weaker with every passing century.”

  Kylie’s eyes widened. “Hades?” she asked. “The Hades?”

  Agatha nodded. “We do not have time for me to explain past that. I can feel the pull toward you, even now. I must return soon. There are other things we must speak about. There are others like you out there.”

  “Others like me? That have the dead passing through them?” Kylie asked.

  She felt a sudden lift in her spirits as the thought crossed her that others were made like her. Strange like her. Damned like her.

  Damned.

  It was a strong word, but it was how to she saw herself since her terrible affliction had begun.

  “You are the only one with your particular gift. Whether you see it as such, or not, it is a gift. There are others out there, from all over the world, with abilities passed to them from the gods themselves. You must find them. There are twelve of you. You are one of the Fated, destined for greatness. Cronus has risen, and all of you must work together to save Olympus, as well as mankind.”

  “Who is Cronus?” Kylie asked.

  Agatha jerked forward in the water, her body further emerging in the shallower depths.

  “Our time has come to an end,” Agatha said. “I only have moments left. I’ve grown too weak to fight the pull that you possess. Listen to me now… Find the others. They are already beginning to find one another. Joe Sawyer, born the same day as you, but in southern Indiana. He is the one that can help more than anyone. He carries the power of Apollo, who was given the power of foresight by my own ancestor. He is the only one that I can give you a name for, and only because I have a connection to him through Apollo and my family. Find him. When you do, locate the others. Outside of Hades, I have no strength. I can be no help in the human world. Trust me. Trust yourself.”

  Agatha moved forward once again, the movement quick and uncontrolled. It was obvious to Kylie that Agatha was being pulled toward her. Kylie could feel her chest beginning to ache. She could feel herself opening up whatever portal lay within her. Kylie began trying to back away, but it was no use.

  “No!” Kylie said. “I have so many more questions!”

  “I’m so sorry,” Agatha said before laying her hands on Kylie’s shoulders.

  Before Kylie could prepare for it, the pain ripped through her. Agatha’s spirit began to shine as she held on to Kylie’s shoulders, the translucent being absorbing into Kylie’s body. It was quicker than the several from earlier that morning. Quicker than all the rest.

  Once Agatha had disappeared, the pain did as well. As always, Kylie panted hard, trying to gather the breaths that she’d been abstaining from during the intense pain.

  “Joe Sawyer,” she said to herself as she tried to slow her breathing.

  Kylie looked around. No one had drifted by, for which she was grateful. She stood, doing her best to wipe the dirt and mud from her pants. She didn’t bother with her socks, hastily shoving them in her pocket before she slid on her wet and muddy shoes.

  At that moment, she was unsure of how she felt. Scared at how her life had changed so much over the past few days. Relieved there may have been answers somewhere in the world. Was Agatha a figment of her mind? Or was she real? Was all of it real?

  Her mother crossed her mind. The poor woman that had been institutionalized because she believed that she was crazy. It broke Kylie’s heart. Suddenly, the name Joe Sawyer meant more to her than anything in the world.

  If I look for him and I find him… then I’m not insane. If I’m not, then maybe my mother isn’t either. Oh my God. I can save my mother. Please… Please be real, Joe.

  MOUNT OLYMPUS

  Greece

  Bright blue skies opened above the once feared and worshipped Mount Olympus. Cronus stood in an inferior human size staring up at its beauty. He hated it. He loathed it. He wanted to burn it all the way down to the low ground he stood upon at that very moment. The anger he felt was only magnified by the fact that two of the witches he entrusted, Ariyah and Chelsea, had failed. Not once had they done so, but twice. He heard their calls from inside the volcano, their prayers and belief in him giving him at least some strength. In return, he had sent the Hydra, as well as the chimera for their use in obtaining the Fated ones. He entrusted the task to them, hoping they would be able to succeed and serve him once he was free. Instructions were even given on how they may gain the beasts’ trust enough to give them orders. Still, they proved useless.

  Even with their obvious naïveté, he had no choice but to keep them around. They were descended from witches he’d once trusted and knew to be incredibly powerful. With magic returning along with him, they were sure to grow in power, and fast. Given how the gods had chosen to fight, using their own descendants as pawns, he needed to do something similar. Without the witches, he had no way of finding the twelve.

  Soon after appearing in Greece in a fiery lightning storm, he’d found some clothing and walked through Delphi. He looked at every young man and woman he met, wondering if any of them may be one of the twelve he’d heard so much about. He hadn’t even been aware of a prophecy until the witches had called to him
. He learned more once he’d been freed of his bonds. The spirits spoke, and witches could speak to them. He’d used that to his advantage in learning how the world had changed, but discovered the plot from the gods in the process. Every young face that he saw, he couldn’t help but think that he or she could be one of the ones destined to take him down for good. The witches assured him he would not be able to see a Fated child at all until the cloaking spell had been removed, but that didn’t stop his curiosity from growing and certainly did nothing to stem his anger.

  Cronus looked down at himself, no more than six and a half feet tall. Puny for a titan. Appearing as no more than a pathetic human male. One would assume it would take power to shrink down in size when his natural form was so colossal, but they would be wrong. It took power for a god, or titan to carry around a body so large and feared. All people wish to curl up in bed, tiny and helpless when they weaken from illness. A god, or titan was much the same in that way. The only way to regain strength was to live in human form and allow the body to rest and recover.

  A dark smile spread across Cronus’ face as he stared into the sky at the peak of Olympus. As video footage spread around the world showing the great Cronus escaping from Vesuvius, the Greeks began shouting his name to anyone that would listen. Warning them. Begging them to believe. The Greeks may have stopped praying to the gods thousands of years in the past, but it did not mean they had all forgotten them, or that they had all stopped believing. There were still some that remembered the old ways, even in a new time.

  Cronus could feel his strength returning, though it was slow, as part of the world remembered his name, and other parts learned it. He could feel the tingle in his body, the power growing as those weaker humans that feared for their own lives, or those with dark souls cried out to him to spare them. He could hear his potential army crying out for their lives. The world was full in the new time. Many people. Many personalities. Many fears. He could feel the darkness that had grown in the world and his smile grew as he stared into the sky.