The Demon's Spirit elixir.
It is widely known as the greatest act of witchcraft known to the living and undead. Crafted in the mid thirteen-hundreds by the sorceress Ursula of the Cauldron--named after her great prowess at potion magic--to protect her family during the Black Death plague.
Hundreds of millions of people died to Nature's wrath as a result of disobedient witches practicing necromancy. The dark art went against Nature as it broke the fundamental law that everything that lives must die. But Ursula found it unfair that she and her family should suffer the same fate as those that went against Nature. Therefore, she created a potion that would resurrect the dead. Privy to Nature's threat of the resurrected returning as monsters, Ursula took every precaution to protect her family upon their return to life. Using plants with magical properties like acacia for strength and speed, thistle for healing, amaranth for immortality and her own blood for life, she created the Demon's Spirit elixir.
Ursula had her entire family consume the elixir, should the disease infect them. Sure enough, the plague eventually resulted in the death of her family just days apart. Her beloved Ulysses. Her oldest son Aster. Her charming Ulric. Her sweet and honest Emil. And her beautiful daughter Isabella.
But they came back.
Her entire family came back to her.
Her brew was a success.
However, Ursula would soon find out that Nature's threat was not an empty one. Not long after their resurrection, her family tried to devour her alive. Their once fair skin an icy pale. Their once brilliant eyes, stone white. They became the monsters Nature promised they'd become.
She used magic to trap her family in their home. As one of the four elemental witches, she tracked down and called upon the assistance of the remaining three. In confidence, she told her elemental sisters about her misdeeds and pleaded for their help. But the other elemental witches refused to help Ursula and instead used their powerful magic to create weaknesses for the undead; gold, silver and copper. The three elements would burn the undead to the touch, easily piercing their flesh and weakening them.
And a stab to the skull will surely see them die.
In a blind rage, Ursula released her family from their home and they ravaged the land, tearing apart and devouring every human they came across. The elemental witches warned the people of the land that Ursula's family had become the immortal result of Nature's curse on necromancy and that gold, silver or copper could restrain and kill them. But Ursula's act only furthered the strain in human-witch relationships and their warnings fell on deaf ears. The people rioted and rebelled against the witches, even going as far as burning them alive in public executions. Not only did the people rebel, Nature was also unhappy with witches, taking away their extended life span and granting them a weakness--rosemary.
Days passed and more of the dead began to ravage the land. But these people weren't kin to Ursula.
They were former victims of her family. Bitten and risen again. As if her family were infecting their victims with traces of the Demon's Spirit with each bite.
Ursula and the people of the land would soon find out that seemed to be the case. The elemental witches forged daggers from gold, silver and copper for the people to use as protection against the dead--later becoming known as dead walkers.
With this advantage, the humans fought the undead and their ashes painted the land and sky. Once all of the dead walkers in the land were thought to be taken care of, Ursula caught wind that they were coming for her family next. She gathered her family and they fled the land and went into hiding for several years . . .
* * *
(Sienna Falls, Montana, early 1800s)
Ulysses was impressed.
Not only did his wife make him and his children immortal, kept them safe while they were in hiding for half a century and foretell a disturbing prophecy about his near future, she also found them a home. A permanent one.
The Morrison Manor.
The carpet and walls were still blood-stained from the former owners, Thomas and Lillian Morrison and their six children when Ulysses and his family settled in. The Morrisons were a wealthy family, living a life fit for a king.
A king or a god amongst men.
It was unbecoming for the first undead man in the world to be living in filth and seclusion. Unbecoming for the first undead family.
The Primitive Family, as they have become known to be called.
They had adopted the Morrison name and the lifestyle they so deserved.
When his daughter, Isabella, brought Benjamin to their manor in nineteen forty-seven, Ulysses was livid. He almost killed the boy on instinct.
Restrain yourself he heard his wife's voice in his head, giving him a warning glance as they stood at the top of their manor's staircase landing.
But it's the boy! Ulysses thought. I can't risk letting him get away.
You can and you will! Ursula replied telepathically. Your daughter is infatuated with the boy and has been for months. Think about what killing him would do to her.
You're being foolish, Ursula! I have to act now!
You will not! Ursula's voice thundered in his head. And soon he found himself unable to move.
"Mother? Father?" came Isabella's voice from the bottom of the staircase landing, Benjamin Crawford standing nervously at her side. "Did you hear me?"
"We heard you, sweetheart," Ursula said warmly. Are you ready to behave, Ulysses?
With great displeasure, he surrendered to his wife's demands.
"Of course, Isabella. And welcome . . . Benjamin, was it?"
When Benjamin ran away just forty-eight hours later, Ulysses was furious.
"You foolish woman!" he yelled at Ursula in their bedroom as he threw a lamp at the wall. "The boy escaped! We had him and now he's gone."
"Ulysses!" Ursula bellowed, her irises glowing bright emerald. An indication of her indignation. "I would not have allowed you to harm the boy while our daughter possessed feelings for him. That is simply out of the question."
"There are plenty of boys in the world and she has an eternity to find her suitor--"
"But she's fond of Benjamin Crawford. I couldn't allow you to harm him for our daughter's sake!"
Ulysses screamed at the walls as he paced back and forth.
"I-I'm going to have to find him," he said. "Going to have to track him down. Isabella doesn't have to know it was me."
"Ulysses, stop!"
"No, you stop!" he said to her face. "This is your fault! The boy would have been dead!"
"You don't have to kill the boy," Ursula said softly. "I'll help you. I'll use magic to gather an army to find him . . . and kill him if need be. At least grant your daughter the serenity of knowing it wasn't her own father that took away her first love. Stay here, Ulysses. Stay here with your family."
Ulysses turned to stare into the deep blue eyes of his beautiful wife.
"I suppose you owe me that much, love."
* * *
Ulysses Morrison wasn't sure what compelled him to relive some of the frailer moments of his past as he and his army were making their twelve-hour drive to Oregon. Perhaps it was the need to revisit the earlier chapters of the first book in his life story before coming to an end that night.
Tonight is the night!
Ulysses and his followers wasted no time; once Tarik's ring presented itself, he got a witch to perform a tracking spell and they were on their way to Sancova.
Ulysses would finally come face-to-face with the boy that eluded him for over sixty years.
He would finally kill Benjamin Crawford.
---
To be continued in Chapter 90...
(The final confrontation approaches...)