Rise from the Ashes (The Fated Book 1)

by Candy Crum

  Rise from the Ashes

  The Fated Series: Book One

  By: Candy Crum

  Acknowledgements

  I want to thank my absolutely amazing babies. They aren’t really babies anymore at eight and ten years old, but they will always and forever be just that to me. Every day I work hard to make this dream a reality. I want what every parent wants - to see their children more! They inspire me to write every day that I do, and I love them so much for sparking my creativity.

  This book is for them. I have never been able to write “children’s” books, and that is something I’ve always regretted. This project, however, was a lot of fun and satisfied my need to make something they could read. Every day my son asks if it’s ready. He asks if he can read one of my books. I am so excited that he loves to read and, more than that, I am so excited that he wants to read his mother’s work. That makes this momma feel incredibly special.

  Brandon, Matthew – this book (and the following books in the series) is for you, my Loves. I love you!

  Special thank you goes to Bonnie R. Paulson, because without your encouragement, thoughts, inspiration, and lessons, I never would have pushed to write this amazing adventure. Thank you!

  Other Books By Candy Crum

  The Eternal Series

  The Eternal Gift

  Eternally Forsaken

  The Eternal Echo

  Eternally Bound

  The Fated Series

  Rise from the Ashes

  Oracle – December 2016

  Stand Alone Novels

  Lean on Me

  .

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Prologue

  Thunder rolled overhead, the gentle rumbles vibrating the air around Olympus. The room stood completely silent, except for the fire blazing in the marble pit in the center. Even with the crackling flames and the grumbling sky, ifa single pin had been dropped, it would have been heard.

  Gods and goddesses alike sat quietly, staring blankly into the orange and gold light cast by the flames. Their minds wandered, worry marring their otherwise beautiful faces. As time had passed, so had man’s ability to communicate with the gods. Mankind had grown so much and any interference from the gods only made things worse.

  Humans were becoming ungrateful and expectant. They expected the gods to answer their calls, as they always had. They expected the gods to save them. What humans did not realize was that saving one meant that another had to die. Not everyone could be saved. As the gods turned their attention in one direction they turned their back on another life. One that may be in danger. When there were so many, how were they to choose? It had become apparent to Zeus that the world believed they had outgrown the gods. The humans seemed to forget all that the gods had given them, but still expected more.

  Over two thousand years in the past, at the height of the Greek empire, the world was still small, but humans were growing in numbers that had become overwhelming. The gods could hear their cries, their prayers, and their anger when they were not answered quickly enough. Soon, Zeus made it law that the gods would no longer meddle in mortal affairs until they regained some of their humanity. The gods would not help if the humans refused to help themselves.

  Unfortunately for the gods, mankind had become stubborn and self-sufficient. Their intelligence grew. As a result, they could build better homes and buildings, grow better crops, and learn more about the body to save more lives. It was a slow civilization by human standards, but by a god’s lifespan, humans rose quickly.

  As humans grew in both numbers and strength, they resented the gods for abandoning them. Their stubbornness did not allow them to understand why the gods had left them to fend for themselves. Soon, humans forgot about them altogether. Zeus’ plan had backfired. Once the gods had no need to use any of their abilities, they dwindled in strength. They became weaker, slower, and even more disconnected from the humans they had once protected.

  As their ability to speak to humans telepathically began to wane, they decided that it was time to make a decision. A plan needed to be put in place. There needed to be some way to salvage the bond between gods and man without defying their own laws.

  “We must think of something before we all wither away to nothing,” Athena said.

  “You are the strategist,” Aphrodite sneered. “What do you suggest that we do?”

  “You are almost useless here,” Athena snapped back in response. “Go seduce someone, or spend the next few centuries staring at that face of yours.”

  “Enough!” Zeus roared, thunder cracking hard overhead. “We have sat here in silence for long enough. This is causing great stress among all of us, but we cannot be divided. There must be something that we can do without giving in to the humans and their selfishness.”

  “There may be something that I can do,” Apollo said. All eyes turned to him, then. “As a younger god I traveled to Delphi to seek out an oracle. I wanted to know my future. She is long gone, but I know that she still has descendants in the area. My own power of foresight is quite unreliable at the moment. Without it, this is the only solution that I can think of.”

  “Very well,” Zeus said. “I will allow you passage. Leave Olympus and find what you can. Remain silent and unseen by all except this oracle, lest you be mobbed by demands.”

  Apollo stood from his seat, bowing before Zeus. He turned and exited the room as he prepared to leave Olympus and search out any potential oracles. Once outside the doors of the palace, he focused his power to change his massive size. The god soon became the size of a normal man, cloaked in plain clothing and able to pass through human towns without being noticed.

  Though it took longer than normal for him to reach his destination, he still did so in good time. His powers of teleportation, though a bit rusty, were still intact. The gods could feel weakness where there had previously been only strength. Apollo could no longer call on his power of prophecy and he was by no means the only Olympian unable to utilize a skill. If something wasn’t done they would wither away into nothingness, though such a thing would take hundreds of years.

  Apollo made his way through the streets of Delphi as he searched for the descendant of a very specific woman. An oracle. Long before then he’d questioned his future and wanted to know what was in store for him. He’d come to Delphi when he’d heard of a young priestess with the power to look into the future. When he had arrived, there had been a large creature called Python attacking the village. Apollo killed the beast, bringing both safety as well as new faith in the gods to the people. Those same villagers built a temple in his honor. In return for his service, the oracle not only saw Apollo, but shared her power with him. In a god that kind of power grew, which gave him great abilities. In those recent years, however, he was having trouble calling on it at all.

  “I have been expecting you, Apollo,” a middle-aged woman said, greeting him at the door to her small cottage. She was a short woman with medium colored hair, bright eyes, and a beautiful smile. Her skin was smooth, though her age still showed in the maturity of her features.

  Apollo smiled at th
e woman. He was polite, but he was upset that he had to be there at all. He, a god, didn’t want to beg for help from those that he should have been helping.

  “Do you know the cause for my visit?” he asked.

  The woman nodded. “I do. You would not seek me out otherwise.” She paused, studying his face. He was cloaked, his golden hair covered to mask his identity. “I am Agatha,” she said.

  Agatha gave a deep bow as she introduced herself. Apollo lowered his head in return to show his own respect for her. She stepped to the side and gestured for him to come inside.

  “I do hope that we can find a solution for our problem,” Apollo said.

  Agatha walked past him to the fire crackling in the hearth. She had a large pot with something cooking over the flames. Fetching something to stir with, she brought a little to her nose, sniffing her recipe. She nodded before picking up a bowl from a nearby table and filling it halfway.

  “Come,” she said, moving the pot out of the way and sitting in front of the flames.

  Apollo did as he was asked, sitting on the floor directly in front of her. She placed the bowl between them on the cold stone floor.

  “As I said… I have been expecting you. You came to me in a dream. The gods are losing their power. You came to me with hopes that I would have an answer,” she said.

  He nodded. “That is precisely the reason for my descent from Olympus. Because of Zeus’ law, we have long been forbidden to interact with the humans. We have been unable to help as we once did.”

  Agatha smiled. “Ah, but not all aid truly helps.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked.

  “If you give food to them you have not taught them how to grow, harvest, and prepare for themselves. Humans are intelligent creatures. We learn with every breath we take. We also forget how far we have come. Unfortunately for you, if you pull a drowning child from a river the farmer in the next village will hear and ask why you did not give him rain for his crops, though you allowed them such a bountiful harvest the year before that they were able to eat like kings. The mother down the road will ask why you did not save her child from fever, even though you gave them good fortune enough to seek medicine and food. You cannot save them all, but they will expect you to.”

  Apollo thought her words over for a moment. “By your words I gather that you believe Zeus made the right decision.”

  She nodded. “It was a hard lesson to learn, but yes. I do. Offerings to the gods were less, and less. Correct?”

  Apollo nodded.

  “That is because we expected you to do things for us with nothing in return. Vengeance of the gods, Zeus in particular, was always harsh, but even that wasn’t enough of a worry to stop the selfishness. It will be our downfall. The world will fall, and it will be our vanity and pride that do it. Quite the coincidence that the ones we turned our backs on are also the ones whose fate we will share.”

  Apollo’s brows furrowed. “What have you seen?”

  “Your powers are waning. I know you are aware of this. You have felt it. You do not use them, therefore there is no reason to have them. Prayers and worship are declining every day and Olympus’ distance from the world continues to weaken it. This will be a fatal mistake if the gods do not make the right choice,” she said.

  “Riddles. Tell me what the right choice is,” Apollo demanded.

  “I cannot tell you what the right choice is, Apollo. You are the god of wisdom. I will give you the choices and lay them before you, and you may choose the path that you see most fitting,” she said.

  “Very well,” Apollo said.

  “We spoke earlier of Zeus’ decision to abandon humankind in order to teach us a lesson in respect. I said that I believed he was in the right. Unfortunately, humans do not learn lessons easily. It has been over a hundred years. The humans are forgetting about the gods. We know they exist, but we refuse to ask for help. As a result, you feel no need to help, nor should you. Not only are you bound by a law set by Zeus, but you are unable to even hear our prayers any longer. It isn’t because you’ve lost the ability to hear them, though that will one day come. It is because we no longer pray to you. I have, as you may, or may not have heard. The vast majority, however, is another story.”

  “You are saying that we should lift the law? A few moments ago you stated that you agreed with that very thing. I am unsure if Zeus would give in so easily,” Apollo said. “I cannot be certain, but I believe the humans may have learned some of their stubbornness from Zeus himself.”

  Agatha smiled. “I believe you may be right about that. Still… without using your abilities, they will grow weaker and weaker. Humans will grow stronger because of our defiance. They will stop believing in you altogether. When, I cannot be certain, but it will happen. There will soon not be a chance to redeem yourself, and eventually your power will slip away permanently. This will be a fatal mistake.”

  “How so?” Apollo asked.

  “Cronus will return,” Agatha replied. “He will rise from a deadly mountain and decimate everything in his path.”

  Apollo’s eyes widened. “No. Impossible. He is locked away in Tartarus.”

  “He will return, and when he does, he will not only take Olympus, but he will enslave humanity. Without the gods, there is no power in the world strong enough to stop him. He will have everything.”

  “Then the right path is to reconnect with the humans!” Apollo said. He was wild with worry. He did not want to lose his own life to Cronus, let alone doom an entire world to that fate.

  “I cannot say yes, or no, even though I am certain you know my opinion. The gods are ultimately the ones that must make that decision. All I can give you are the choices that you have laid before you,” she said.

  “Yes,” Apollo replied. “You said that before. What will happen?”

  “Cronus passed on his fierce arrogance to Zeus. Zeus will fight against this. He will not want to back down. Not to man. If he makes the decision that you and I both believe he will make, then you are all doomed, as are we.”

  Apollo paused as he stared down into the bowl on the stone floor.

  “There must be a way. There has to be another way. We cannot go against Zeus, but we cannot allow this prophecy to come true, either.”

  “If Zeus agrees to reconnect with humanity, your power will be restored as you use your abilities more often. When Cronus rises, all of you will be strong enough to stop him. As it stands right now, even though all of you still maintain most of your strength, it would quickly dissipate in a fight with the titan.”

  “You mean to say that if we traveled to Tartarus that we would not have the strength to kill him now instead of waiting for later?” Apollo asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. All of you would die, and the prophecy would be fulfilled hundreds of years before its time.”

  “If Zeus chooses to stand firm in his earlier choice, what can we do?” Apollo asked.

  Agatha took Apollo’s hand and turned it over. She took a small pin and pricked the end of his finger, squeezing a few droplets of blood into the bowl before them. She tossed the bowl and its contents into the fire, the flames rising as fumes drifted around the oracle. She closed her eyes. Apollo sat as patient as possible, watching the movements of her eyes through closed lids. Minutes passed as he sat waiting for her to come back around. Her eyes opened at last, and she spoke.

  “There is hope, but only one. The future was unclear to me. I had hoped that your blood would offer more strength. Unfortunately, things may be worse than I feared. The only hope that the gods have are their children, and their children after them.”

  “Our children are gods, too,” Apollo said. “They cannot rise against Zeus, or Cronus, as we cannot. Their powers fade as well.”

  Agatha shook her head. “No. Apollo, god of wisdom and light. What children can Zeus not interfere with, because of his own laws?”

  Apollo’s eyes widened. “Them? Our half-human children? How can they defeat a titan when the gods themselves
cannot?”

  “If Zeus fails, centuries from now you will all have a terrible choice to make. I cannot tell you what that is because I could not see it. All that I can say is that the choice you make will either save the world, and Olympus as well, or it will completely doom all of the gods and humankind alike. Everything will be destroyed. Your children are the answer. Follow their lives. Always keep track of them. Never lose them. They will be our salvation,” Agatha said.

  “Thank you,” Apollo said. “Is there anything else that you can offer?”

  “No,” she replied. “Now go. I hope for you and the others that Zeus hears the wisdom in your words. I pray that he makes the right decision.”

  Apollo bowed his head once again before leaving the small home. He took his time walking out of town, making sure to get to the edge before disappearing into nothingness. As he arrived back on Olympus, the cloudy veil obscuring his divine form cleared, revealing Apollo in his full glory. A full-sized god, he was nearly two stories in height. As he neared the doors of the palace, he prepared himself. He had no idea what to expect.

  The doors opened and all were right where he’d left them, though that came as no surprise to Apollo. He approached the fire in the middle of the great chamber and all eyes were on him.

  “Did you learn anything helpful?” Zeus asked.

  “I did,” Apollo replied. He took a deep breath, hoping for the best. “Our best hope for survival, for strength, is reconnecting with humanity.”

  Zeus laughed. “Of course it is! Of course a mortal would tell you this. She wants what they all want: the gods at their disposal.”

  “Not all humans are so selfish,” Aphrodite said. “Some can be quite kind.”

  “I agree,” Apollo said. “I believe this mortal was nothing but truthful.”

  “What else did she say?” Zeus asked.

  “Cronus will rise,” Apollo said.

  Everyone in the room gasped, except Zeus. The gods and goddesses locked in frantic discussions among one another with the fear of such a thing occurring.