PHOENIX

Chapter 1

“That book, hand it over.” Mrs Goodwill demanded.

“What? But I was just about to dis—.”

“Give it to me!” She exclaimed. Chloe jerked slightly at the sudden outburst. As she placed the book on the counter, she could’ve sworn the cartooned witch on the front cover of the book winked at her, she brushed it off and turned her gaze to her still shaken mother before running up the stairs.

Mrs Goodwill let out a deep breath and collapsed into the chair that sat by the side of the counter. She grazed her fingers above the book, the front cover had the drawing of seven cartoon characters, but her eyes were fixed on a heavily built armoured man that stood in the middle of the other characters. He held a golden staff on his right hand and a fire orb on the left, his eyes radiating a dazzling blue light. She hugged the book to her chest and wept in silence.

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“Christ!” Chloe yelled in frustration. She paced around her room with her head held down as if in deep thoughts, apart from the occasionally glares she gave to her mother’s photo resting on her desk. She didn’t understand, she knew her mother was obsessed with that bed time story, but she was older now, no one needed them anymore—not her – not her mother, so why did she get so angry? Chloe groaned and fell onto her bed, she sighed into her pillow, as her eyes fluttered close, the questions she had to ask her mother were her last thoughts before she drifted off to sleep.

Mrs Goodwill sat down on the chair of the library’s work table and placed the book on the desk, she let out a silent sigh as she switched on the desk lamp.

She opened the book to the first chapter—the story of the vampire—It had the picture of a cartoon vampire with long pointed fangs and a pale face, he had on a red cloak and he held a heart in one hand.

She smiled to herself as she began to read, memories of her long gone husband flowed through her head as she recalled his words, his melodious voice that seemed to always echo when he spoke. These were his words, she had only written them down when Chloe was born, each book had a significant story to tell, and all seven stories were connected to her husband and his people.

The book contained the story of the vampire, werewolf, fallen angel, demon, enchantress, the unknown elder and the hybrid wizard. They were not just stories, they were the beginning and the end of the underworld and maybe the end of Dimian—her husband—the one whom she still loved so dearly.

He had finished telling her the stories of the other supernaturals, their powers, their roles and their individual weaknesses, but he was never able to finish his. Emily, I am not human, he had said, on that cold chilly night.

She flipped the pages to the last story—the story of the great hybrid wizard—the story of Dimian. It was not just his story, he also told about the rise and fall of the Underworld, and so she had written it in that format.

A long, long and very long time ago, the underworld lived in deathly peace, no contacts with humans, and no contacts with heavenly beings. They were casted down to a place known as the underworld, this world was inhabited by supernatural beings with no identity or history, they were neither good nor bad…they knew no right and they knew no wrong. Oh no, not hell…this world was not the place for the eternally doomed or damned, it wasn’t hot or cold. In fact, the underworld was a beautiful place created for otherwise mythical creatures, I am one of those creatures—part vampire and part werewolf, an hybrid. My mother was a vampire any my dad, a werewolf.

We had no feelings whatsoever here, there was no dying and there was no living. In order for the supernaturals to live in harmony, a council was created for all breeds and Halflings. The Oracles were known as the council of elders, the most experienced and disciplined supernatuals were chosen from diverse breeds. Even as a hybrid, I mastered the art of sorcery and was quickly recognized as a wizard, I was then chosen to lead the council of elders as the great hybrid wizard. My name? Dimian. The supernaturals had no contacts with the outside world as it was forbidden, they had territories for witches and wizards, vampires, wolves, fallen angels, demons and even stray breeds. One of the elders was chosen from the stray breeds territory—he had powers no one could fathom, he emitted a very strange dark aura and so he was tagged “the unknown.” Zagaroth was his name.

Years later, the underworld began to experience its first downfall, there was an uprising. The supernaturals were constantly threatened by a rebel group in the underworld, the group consisted of various breeds, and the elders continued to fight them off …but they only grew stronger, as more people began to join them every day, they knew our strengths and weaknesses and so it became obvious that they were working from the inside, the rebels had a spy amidst the council of elders. As soon as we figured this out, Zagaroth vanished from our midst and never came back. Days after the unknown elder had disappeared, a flaming letter was sent to the sacred chamber of the council of elders, I casted a spell to put out the fire on the letter and read the message out loud, it read “prepare for war.” Immediately those words left my mouth, a thunderous roar erupted the land, as the rebel group rushed into the land with light torches, they wore black clothing and black masks and they continued to chant “the dark Lord” they killed anything in sight. That night, as we fought in the war, I saw Zagaroth emerge from the shadows, and as if on cue, each one of the council elders began to groan in pain…Zagaroth was casting a lethal curse that had been prohibited in all supernatural worlds. As he continued the unfamiliar incantations, he held his hands out for the final blow and he yelled “…asmatura!.” His voice thundered across the land, accompanied by lightning, the rebel armies fell to their knees as they chanted “All hail the dark Lord.” The unknown was the leader of the rebellious supernaturals.

First, the enchantress dropped dead, and then the fallen angel, the vampire, till all the elders lifeless bodies laid sprawled on the ground. I turned to meet a undeniably shocked Zagaroth, he had his eyes and mouth opened wide as he stared back at me in horror, I suppose I was also meant to be dead, along with the fellow elders.  Before he could regain himself, I banished myself from the underworld and I have been hiding amongst humans ever since. If the dark Lord is not stopped, the human world, as well as the underworld would be in grave danger. I must return to my world very soon…

Those were his last words to her before he hugged her shaking body. The last pages of the book were smeared with the tears of Mrs Goodwill, she closed the book and placed her head on it, as she cried herself to sleep.

That night, as Chloe snored loudly on her bed and as Mrs Goodwill slept soundly on the wooden table of the library. A glittering lady in all whites shimmered into the house in a bright blinding white light, accompanied by a loud thunder and a poof of dark smoke, as a man in all black clothing emerged from the dark smoke.

“Why do you have to be so dramatic? I told you to quit playing with the thunder!” The gleaming lady remarked in an attempt to whisper.

“I don’t play with thunder.” The man retorted, as he made sure to air quote the play with his fingers.

“Besides, why are you so shiny? It’s blinding, and for the gods sake, I cannot stand the light!” He exclaimed, moving away from her light.

“Well I can’t stand the darkness.” She snapped.

He sighed and she glared at him.

“How long do we have to keep watching these puny humans?” The man asked as he scrunched up his nose in distaste.

“We’re supposed to bring the human girl to the underworld as soon as possible, it’s an order from both sides, the light and darkness. No one wants to anger the heavens.” He smirked.

It was her turn to sigh, as she replied.

“Tomorrow is her last day on earth, we should give her till the night of her birthday. Hopefully, her mother would tell her everything before then.” The man laughed at this and it echoed through the house.

“You mean the human mother? You think so high of her, she probably thought writing the oracles into a story would make the little girl understand.” He smirked and they both disappeared in a burst of light and darkness.

Little did Chloe know, that her eighteenth birthday would mark her full initiation into the underworld.

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