The Cult of Osiris: Book 2 in the Cedarstone Chronicles

by Sean Stone

  The smoke stopped coming out of the trunk and started to shift into the shape of a person. Not a very tall person. Although scared, James couldn’t deny his curiosity; he’d never seen a jinni before.

  “Ah,” The smoke said as it solidified into a human form. To James’ surprise, the jinni wasn’t blue or any other colour. He looked like an ordinary human. Albeit a young one, he didn’t look older than fifteen. The only difference was that he had no whites to his eyes, they were completely black, like pitch.

  “Welcome back,” Nick said, and although he sounded confident he didn’t approach the jinni.

  “Do you have any idea what I’m going to do to you?” the jinni asked Nick.

  “I’m not afraid of you, boy,” Nick said calmly enough. He glanced back toward the coffin.

  “My name is Aniketos and I am a few thousand years your senior, boy,” the jinni snarled back at him. James looked around for an escape but knew it was impossible. The circle was up now. Nobody could leave until the ritual was over.

  “You know, I’ve been trying to remember your name ever since I put you in that trunk. It was always on the tip of my tongue,” Nick mocked.

  “You dragged me halfway across the world in that trunk. Before I rip your head off your shoulders, why don’t you tell me what it was all for?” Aniketos asked. He folded his arms across his chest making himself look like a typical stroppy teenager.

  “Sure. So he could kill you,” Nick said and pointed at the coffin. Aniketos turned in time to see the Osiris sit up. James couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was actually standing in the presence of an ancient Egyptian myth.

  “Osiris,” Aniketos gasped. He forgot about Nick and walked over to the resuscitated ancient. Nick moved away to give them some space and James followed his lead. As soon as Aniketos reached the coffin Osiris’ arm flew out and caught him by the throat. Keeping a steady grip on the jinni, Osiris stood up and stepped out of the coffin. James hadn’t noticed it when he’d been lying down, but Osiris was freakishly tall; easily seven foot if not taller.

  “Jinni,” he said in a raspy voice.

  Aniketos suddenly turned to smoke and disappeared leaving Osiris with his arm extended but nothing in his hand. Then the smoke reappeared behind him and flew straight into his back throwing him face down on the grass. James looked at Nick who told him with a single look to stay still and not draw attention to himself. Two of the most powerful beings in the world were going to fight to the death and they had to make sure they didn’t get killed in the crossfire.

  “There’s really no need for us to fight. Just because our people were enemies back in the day doesn’t mean we have to pick up where they left off,” Aniketos said. He was back in human form but every time Osiris went for him he disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared somewhere else.

  “There is no them and us, Jinni. We were enemies then, we are enemies now,” Osiris said.

  “My name is Aniketos,” he spat at the jinni.

  “Your name is irrelevant.”

  “No, it’s Aniketos. I know, because that’s what people have called me for thousands of years,” he said wittily.

  “Soon the only thing they’ll call you is dead.” Osiris leapt through the air, and it looked almost like he was flying. He grabbed hold of Aniketos and smashed his head into the side of a tree. Bark chipped off in big chunks and Aniketos turned to smoke. He didn’t get far before he seemed to involuntarily solidify again, falling to one knee and holding his head as he did. Pain seemed to affect his ability. Osiris went for him again but Aniketos put out his hand and a jet of purple light shone from his palm straight at the ancient. The beam of light connected with Osiris’ chest and sent him flying back into a nearby tree. His green face lit up with pain as he raised his own arm, fighting against it. Osiris sent a plume of green light back at the jinni, deflecting his purple beam. Multi-coloured sparks flew out from the point of impact rather like a firework display, only a much more dangerous one. Both beings held their ground, both faces were contorted as they expended all their energy into forcing their power at one another. Osiris’ green light ray was driving Aniketos’ back, but it only got so far. Both beams of light were now the same length, both beings fighting with all their power against one another.

  The other disciples were arriving now, drawn in by the light display which was filling the entire woods. James wouldn’t have been surprised if people in the centre of town could see it. As the sparks hit the grass small fires sprang up where they landed. Soon the grass was filled with green and purple fires, burning away at it and leaving only blackened mud. The purple light from Aniketos started to push at Osiris’ making his shrink back toward him again. Sweat beaded down Osiris’ face as he struggled against it and Aniketos smiled cockily.

  “So much for the power of kings, eh?” Aniketos said as Osiris’ green light was reduced to no more than a few inches.

  Osiris suddenly screamed in frustration. The sound filled the whole woods. Aniketos lost his smile as Osiris’ green light quickly swallowed his purple one up. The green light hit Aniketos in the chest with full force and as Aniketos opened his mouth to cry out he exploded in an array of black smoke. The light disappeared and the only light remaining was that from the coloured flames around the grass and the fire that Nick had lit at the start of the night. The smoky remains of Aniketos drifted outward, dispersing in the wind and then stopped. They hung, suspended in the air for a moment and then suddenly they flew at Nick’s dagger. The smoke swirled around the dagger several times over and then all at once it flew into it. The dagger shone brightly, illuminating the entire area. James had to shield his eyes until the smoke was all consumed and the dagger stopped glowing. Suddenly Nick screamed, either in agony or exhilaration, James could not tell. His blue eyes turned completely black as Aniketos’ had been, even the whites clouded up with a smoky blackness, then they returned to normal.

  Osiris turned and fixed Nick with a contemplative stare. The plan had been that they would kill each other, but the ancient had survived. Nick had the power of the jinni now so he could attempt to kill Osiris, but after seeing how it worked out for Aniketos, James thought Nick would hold back this time.

  “Who are you and what was all this in aid of?” Osiris asked. His tone was demanding and harsh.

  “My name is Nickolas Blackwood and this was because I needed to kill that jinni,” Nick said. He took a step closer to Osiris. None of the other disciples moved.

  “And you needed to absorb its power for what purpose?” Osiris asked.

  Nick considered the question. It was clear that Osiris was trying to decide what to do with Nick and Nick needed to be careful if he wanted to avoid a fight like the one they’d all just witnessed. “To kill Set,”

  Osiris flinched at the name. “Set?”

  “Your brother, I believe?”

  “He is no brother of mine. Tell me where to find him and I shall kill him, thus saving you the bother,” Osiris said.

  “Well, I’m not certain of his exact location…” Osiris shot forward and grabbed Nick by the collar, pulling him close so Osiris’ lips were at Nick’s ear.

  “Tell me where he is,” Osiris hissed. Nick whispered something in Osiris’ ear but James couldn’t catch what he said, even with his enhanced werewolf hearing. Osiris let go of Nick and turned. He stopped still and looked around curiously. “You’ve cast a circle. Clever.” He tore the rope that was binding Clara to the altar and pulled her away from it with ease. Her unconscious body flopped ungracefully to the ground. Then he pulled the dagger from the altar’s tops and tossed it unceremoniously aside. There was a difference in the air as the circle dropped and then Osiris marched off into the trees.

  Nick held out his hand before him and James watched as it turned to smoke before solidifying again. “A half success at least,” he said and smiled.

  “What now?” Kristen asked. “The ancient survived.”

  “We’ll have to wait for another opportunity to claim
his power.”

  “And if we don’t get one?” Lucian asked.

  “I may be able to deal with Kayla with what I’ve got, but I’d rather not risk it,” Nick said. His eyes fell on the unconscious Clara lying own the scorched grass.

  “Is she…?” Jamal asked.

  “Not yet,” Nick said. “Are your feelings for her as strong as you said they were earlier tonight?”

  Jamal nodded. His face was darkened with worry.

  “Then take her. And save her,” Nick said. James was surprised that Nick was going to let Clara live after she’d tried to kill him. And all for Jamal’s feelings.

  “Do you have the power to cure me?” James asked. That’s what all this had been about for him. Nick had only claimed half the power he needed so he was prepared for disappointment.

  “We’ll find out on the next full moon when we try. You have proved your loyalty, James. We got off to a bad start when we first met, but you’ve grown on me.” Truth be told Nick had grown on him too. “So, on the next full moon I’ll try to cure you of lycanthropy, and after that, I’m going to make you immortal.”

  “Really?” James said in disbelief. Nick was going to grant him his greatest gift; eternal life. James still wasn't sure how he felt about the prospect of living forever, but he certainly wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  “Really,” Nick smiled.

  *

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Clara woke up with a horrible pain in her arm. Looking about she saw that she was in the SIT offices, laying on the couch in William’s office. She looked down but there was no wound there. She stood up and looked around the office. The last thing she remembered was trying to shoot James. She missed, and then… Nothing. She pulled herself to her feet and the room spun around her. She pulled open the door and saw Jamal standing in the main office.

  “What happened?” she asked, as she walked out to meet him. “Why are we here?”

  “I got you away from the ritual just in time. We stopped Nick from getting all the power he wanted, but he still got some. I brought you here because I can’t teleport into the lab and I needed to get you to safety quickly so I could stop you from dying. You came close, but with a lot of magic, I managed to keep you alive.”

  “Thank you,” Clara said offering him a smile. “So what now?” Nick was still out there with all his disciples and now he had, even more, power.

  “Our problems have doubled. Nick woke up an ancient, a pissed off one as well.”

  “What? So what does he want? What can we do?” Clara shot her questions frantically. They had enough to deal it without adding more to the pot. Could Osiris be persuaded to help them?

  The door crashed open making them both jump and Bradley stormed in. His face was the colour of blood and his brow was furrowed angrily. “A hostile takeover of a public castle. A house burnt to the ground. God knows what going on in the woods. Do you have any idea how much attention you’ve drawn to us?” he shouted.

  Clara said nothing. She just stared at him wondering if he would be acting the same way if he knew what they’d been through.

  “We did everything we could to stop it,” Jamal argued, but there was no power in his voice. The events of the night had taken their toll on him too.

  “You said you would handle things.”

  “And we will.”

  “No. You won’t. You’re finished. We’re all finished.” Bradley laughed and for a second, he resembled a lunatic. “I got the phone call half an hour ago. MI5 are coming to assess the situation,” he said and then he stormed out again.

  Clara slumped down in a chair. She didn’t care if MI5 were coming. She didn’t care if the whole army were coming. Let them. Maybe they’d be able to do something to Nick because she sure couldn’t. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to keep trying.

  *

  The morning after the night before—the night that caused so much pain in the town of Cedarstone—it was quiet. Everybody seemed to be resting. There was no trouble to be found anywhere. The vampires slept in their darkened rooms. The werewolves were getting on with their lives, oblivious to the events of the previous night, and still unaware of their murdered alpha. The sorcerers were rising from sleep, completely in the dark about their new predator. The special investigations team were recovering from the events of the previous night, those not sleeping were silently mourning. The Thirteen were enjoying their half victory before they thought about making it a full one. And in the south end of town, not far from the site of Nickolas Blackwood’s ritual, accompanied by her loyal druids, Kayla walked into Cedarstone.

  If you enjoyed this book, then I’d love it if you could spare a few minutes to leave a review. You don’t have to write anything fancy, just something honest. I’m an independent author and rely on reviews to sell books.

  The next book in the series will be called The Ancients.

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  Also by Sean Stone:

  The Cedarstone Chronicles

  Cursed

  The Ancients – Will be released in July 2016

  Short Story Collections

  Horrors from Cedarstone

  Horrors from Cedarstone II

  Horrors from Cedarstone III

  Keep up-to-date by visiting seanstonewriter.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23