David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation
T.C. Crawford
Copyright © 2021 T.C. Crawford
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9798700267168
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: Rae Merritt Design
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to everyone out there with a dream - don't give up on it, you never know what kind of adventure it could take you on!
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Epilogue
Books By This Author
Map of Hurea
Chapter I
David Bishop stood in awe, watching helplessly as the Defiant One rose from the Dark Abyss, stopping just over the Royal Palace. He could barely hear Orin yelling for him to run, but his feet wouldn’t move - he was paralyzed with fear.
The thunderous cheers and stomping of the demon army was deafening and filled David with a dread unlike anything he had ever experienced. What’s worse – he knew he was responsible for their awakening. Without his powers, none of this would have happened.
He had gone into the battle with the intention of stopping General Krauss from harnessing enough energy to perform the ritual and breaking open the rift between the world of the living and the Dark Abyss. Instead, he only brought the General the power he needed to bring his plans into fruition.
His gaze fixated on the green star-like light shining brightly above the Royal Palace. It was mesmerizing. He briefly wondered why he even tried resisting – what could he, an orphan from nowhere, possibly hope to achieve against such a powerful foe.
To his side, David could see that Erin was screaming something – her face distorted with her mouth open wide in an endless array of screams. He couldn’t hear what she was saying over the deafening roar of the demons, but he could see on her face that she was terrified and that her message was urgent. She kept pointing behind him and pulling on his sleeve, trying to get him to go with her, but he just couldn’t muster the strength to comply.
Suddenly, the green star seemed to zoom into focus – David could see him for the first time, as clear as if he were only feet away. The first thing he noticed was his eyes – they were empty and lifeless, devoid of everything that David was accustomed to seeing in a person. But he knew that the Defiant One was no person – he was a Mystic. The Mystic of Destruction…and he was hell bent on revenge.
Just as quickly, David realized those empty eyes were focused directly on him. His heart stopped and his breath failed him as the Defiant One rushed toward him with such insane speed that he had no time to react. He was inches from crashing into him and there was nothing he could do to stop it – it was over, he had failed.
“David! David, wake up!” came a distant, familiar voice.
David opened his eyes and was nearly blinded by the intensity of the light.
He was in his bed back in Ravenfell, and the morning sun was shining brightly through his window and onto his face. Erin was standing by his bed, franticly shaking him, trying to get him to wake.
“David!” she cried, shaking him fiercely again, “You’re having another nightmare, wake up!”
David slowly blinked away the dream, relieved to see he was safe in his bed until he remembered the harsh reality that his sense of security, too, was a farce – he wasn’t safe, no one was. The Defiant One had been released from the Dark Abyss, and it was all his fault. There was no one else to blame.
“I’m up, I’m up!” he said, waving his arm at Erin as she tried to shake him once more for good measure.
“It was the same dream again, wasn’t it?” she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
“Yeah…” David said, nodding, a distant look in his eyes as he recalled the events of the dream.
It was always the same dream. Every night since the Awakening, David had been plagued with nightmares – always the same, always taunting him for his failures, always reinforcing them with the realization that he was solely responsible for unleashing the greatest evil the world had ever known.
“It will be okay, David. We will find a way to defeat him, I just know it!” said Erin reassuringly.
She had been so supportive since they returned from the battle of Eldergate. She knew he blamed himself, but she also believed in the prophecies that said he would be the one to seal away the Defiant One and defeat the coming darkness. David suspected that the prophecies were wrong, given the circumstances they now found themselves in, but he appreciated Erin’s support, nonetheless.
“You keep saying that, but I can’t help but feel like it won’t be okay. Ever since the battle, I’ve lost my connection to the Orb. It just sits there, lifeless – much like how I feel.” said David, looking down at the image of the orb in his hand.
The orb softly glowed in the back of his hand, as if it were mocking him and his impotence.
“Don’t worry about it.” said Erin reassuringly, seeing the look on his face. “You are the warrior from prophecy, that much I am sure of! It never said you would be successful right away, only that you would be successful. Prophecy is not always as it seems, this much I have come to expect!” she said, smiling at her friend.
It had been nearly a week since the battle of Eldergate where David had faced General Octavian Krauss and inadvertently given him the surge of power necessary to unleash the Defiant One and his army of demons from the Dark Abyss. David couldn’t help but blame himself for the outcome of the battle, knowing that without his powers, the General may have never unleashed the Mystic of Destruction from his prison, and therefore, the world would not currently be facing the threat of extinction.
Since his release, the Defiant One had completely destroyed everything within the Northern Kingdom. The small, isolated settlements throughout the Outer Woods from Eldergate to West Post had all been abandoned at the end of the battle, with only a few stubborn-willed citizens staying behind while the rest fled to the safety of the city-kingdom of Ravenfell.
Those who chose to stay behind were slaughtered mercilessly by the Wolf Guard and the demon army, not a single life was spared.
King Eldergate and his loyal followers had fortunately made it out safely before the raids began and were now within the castle walls of Ravenfell, but the
y knew it was only a matter of time before the Defiant One and his demon army set his sights on Ravenfell, eager to squash the remaining resistance within its borders.
“Rex and the others are gathering in the meeting room. They told me to make sure you were up and ready.” Erin said gently to David as he struggled to get out of bed, “I know you’ve had a rough night. We’ve all struggled sleeping lately…but we need you, the world needs you.”
She gently lifted David’s chin and looked deep into his eyes. She could see the pain he kept hidden locked away as he feigned a smile. She kissed him gently on his lips, longing to take away his pain, but knowing only one thing ever would – defeating the Defiant One and fixing the mess that he felt solely responsible for.
Sensing that her work had been done, Erin started towards the door. “The meeting is starting soon, don’t be late!” she called back to David as she exited the room.
David flung himself back on his bed and sighed deeply before mustering the will to get up and face the day.
He made his way to his dresser where he found a small serving dish with a plate of warm eggs and biscuits that Erin had left for him when she arrived. He quickly inhaled them before getting dressed and heading for the meeting room.
When David arrived, Erin was already seated towards the middle of the long table listening to Rex and the others discuss the defenses of the valley.
Rex was the king of Ravenfell and had been a loyal friend to David and Erin since their flight from Eldergate during the General’s coup. He had defended them from the Royal Guards who had been sent to capture them in West Post and had played a vital role in helping the loyalists face the undead army and gain access to the capital city during the battle of Eldergate.
He now stood at the end of the long table bent over a map of the valley, deep in discussion with King Eldergate, Tyrius Vanderbolt, and General Ryan.
David made his way across the room towards Erin, sharing a brief intimate smile with her before taking the seat to her left. He felt her fingers intertwine with his own beneath the table and reveled in the comfort that it gave him.
“David, glad you could join us!” said King Eldergate in his deep booming voice.
He was an elderly king, tall and wide, but strong despite his old age. He had a thick, bushy white beard and equally white wavy hair that rested just below his wide shoulders. Despite having just lost his kingdom, he seemed in relatively good spirits.
Like Erin, he was a firm believer in the prophecies of old – prophecies that predicted the dark times that they now found themselves in – and whole heartedly believed that David would find a way to defeat the Defiant One and his armies and help restore peace back to the lands as the prophecy foretold.
David wished everyone would stop putting so much faith in the prophecy – he felt he had already let everyone down and didn’t know how he would ever live up to their expectations.
David nodded respectfully to the King and focused his attention on the discussion at hand.
“We must focus our efforts on the mountain pass to ensure the demons never make their way into the valley,” continued Rex. “That is our best chance of survival. If we allow them to break through the pass and into the valley, they will have more room to spread out and their numbers will quickly overwhelm our forces.”
“He’s right,” said General Ryan, looking over the maps spread out across the table. “Our best chance is to bottleneck their forces at the top of the mountain here. If we can do that, we may just have a chance at holding them back.” he said, pointing towards the entrance into the valley.
“But for how long?” asked King Eldergate, “We can’t hold them off forever!” he said, to which everyone nodded in agreement.
“No…we can’t” confirmed Tyrius, “That is why it is important for David to do whatever he can to prepare for the moment when he must face the Defiant One and defeat him, sending him back into the depths of the Dark Abyss once again. He is our only hope if we are ever to survive this conflict.” he said, causing everyone to turn and look at David.
David felt like a child under the gaze of so many powerful men. He knew what they expected from him, but he felt he could never live up to them. He had tried to, once, and had failed – now he couldn’t even access the powers of the orb. They were locked away, completely unresponsive to his call.
“I know what you expect of me,” said David, looking around the room, “but I don’t know how I can do it. I’m sorry…” he said, ashamed and averting his eyes from their gaze.
“Do not worry, my boy.” said Orin. He had just walked into the room and had quietly come up behind David, placing his hands on his shoulders in an encouraging way.
“We will find a way to get your powers back. In the meantime, stay positive. Your attitude has more to do with your powers than you might think! Come now, let the kings and generals worry about the defenses. We have our own matters to attend to!” he said, pulling David away from the table.
David got up and said his goodbyes to Erin and the others before following Orin out of the meeting room and down the hall. They made their way down the central stairway and to the second floor Library where Orin sat down at a desk that was piled high with several ancient tomes.
“We’re wasting our time here, Orin. We’ve looked through almost every book in the Library already.” said David, tired of spending day after day pouring over old textbooks that were getting them nowhere.
“Patience, David. You will find that it will only take but one book with one answer to change the course of this war. It is not our responsibility to question when the answer will come, but only to look for it, so that when it does come, our eyes and our minds are open and ready for what it has to tell us!” said Orin in his usual mentoring way.
David respected the old mage, after all, he had proved to be invaluable when it came to helping David unlock his powers the first time, but his incessant desire to look for answers in texts that were nearly as old as he was left David’s head spinning and his eyes heavy.
“Can’t we try looking for answers somewhere else for a day or two and give my eyes a break?” asked David, already feeling his eyelids start to close as he opened the first book Orin handed him titled Hurea: A Brief History.
“No! There is nowhere else that holds the knowledge of the ages, well…nowhere except my mind…” said Orin, chuckling. “But, alas, my mind fails me at the moment – so we must look to the books for our answers of what has passed, so we will know what is to come!”
David let out a sigh and admitted defeat, knowing he would never win this argument – Orin was as stubborn as an ox. Once he had his mind set on something, nothing was going to change it.
David walked over to the corner of the library and plopped down against the wall, resting the open book on his knees, and allowing the light from the outer windows to illuminate the pages.
He began to read a section about the start of the Mystic Wars:
The time had come when the Mystics of Creation could see that they could not sway their brother but would have to take up arms against him in order to stop him from carrying out his plan of destruction and to save the race of Man from extinction.
In the days leading up to the first battles, the Mystics began their campaign of recruiting the various races of the world in their effort to amass an army large enough to defeat the growing darkness of their brother’s creation.
Two Mystics traveled East to the Land of the Immortals where they aimed to convince the Elves of old to come to the aid of Man, while another two traveled to the mines of the Draconian Mountains, just South of Draco’s Pass, to meet with the Dwarves in their emerald halls to enlist their aid in the coming battles.
The final two Mystics of Creation, the eldest brother and sister, stayed with the children of Men, assisting them with their preparations, forging them magical weapons and armor that would protect them in the coming days against the evil of their brother – knowing he would be pouring his heart and
soul into his army of demons, giving them weapons of unimaginable horror.
David paused for a moment while he rubbed his eyes, trying to fight away his drowsiness. As interesting as the history of Hurea was, he had been pouring over similar texts for days on end in a futile effort to find the key to defeating the Defiant One and his armies.
He looked over to see Orin pouring over a book of his own, seemingly lost in the pages within. He swore that old man could read from dusk to dawn without a break! He shook his head and renewed his focus back on his book before picking up where he had left off:
With the might of the six Mystics of Creation, along with the combined forces of Men, Elves, and Dwarves, the Mystics felt they were at last prepared to face off against their brother and his army.
When the attack finally came, they discovered they had been woefully unprepared.
Their brother had amassed such a force, that he outnumbered them a hundred to one. He had convinced some of the race of Man to betray their own and pledge themselves to him for the promise of power beyond their imagination – creating an order of dark mages. They possessed terrible black magic and fought alongside his ferocious demons, providing them magical protection and artillery that were cutting down the forces of men by the hundreds.
His army was led by terrible wolf-like beasts with the intelligence of men but the savage strength and ferocity of an animal, striking fear into the hearts of everyone they encountered.
Their armies were outnumbered and out matched, but together they fought bravely on while the Mystics waged war above the battlefield, clashing time and time again in an endless array of power.
Finally, when all seemed lost and their forces were waning thin, the eldest Mystic did the unthinkable – severely wounded, he gathered what was left of his lifeforce and released it in a powerful spell that enveloped the Mystic of Destruction in an all-encompassing shroud of light.
The spell entangled him and imploded, causing a massive explosion and a blinding light that could be seen for miles and miles.
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