Tapestry of Worlds
Part One - The White Raven Awakens
Hadley Thorne
Wyrd Sisters Ink
Copyright © 2020 Hadley Thorne
All rights reserved
Edited by Gracie Ellison
Wyrd Sisters Ink
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.
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Cover design by: GetCovers.com
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Printed in the United States of America
Acknowledgements
For the men, women, cats, dogs, and horses who have touched my life, shaped my imagination, and fostered in me a deep love of the dark, mysterious, strange, and wonderous things outside of the scope of normal. However, a few of you deserve special mention:
My best friend, CC for making me laugh when I wanted to cry, for believing I could when I didn’t think so, and for being the best damn Ride or Die friend any girl could wish for. Also, special Shout Out for those Huge Hog Spotting skills.
My beloved father, thank you for teaching me how to find magic in nature by bestowing upon me a deep love and respect the wood and her creatures.
My mother for taking me to Mardi Gras, psychics, stopping cars on vacations so she could kidnap rocks, and for always turning the car around so we could gawk at big snakes crossing the road.
My sister, Tena, whose sharp wit, artistic temperament, and childlike view of the world helped develop my imagination, my interest in the occult, and my love of magic, myth, and folklore.
My brother-in-law Daniel Nalker for the emotional support, good natured teasing, and his believing in me during the writing of this book. I promise if a movie deal is ever made – you get a part.
My dear friend the elegant Mary Teed Hannold for dreaming Bloody Mary into being. One day we will have our Vampire Ball!
For my good friends Erin Rhodes, Laura Morgan, Lauren Smith, Misty Malik, and Valerie Whitton, thank you for Beta Reading during my first drafts. You amazing ladies kept me going during some tough times with your enthusiasm for my characters, insight, feedback, and encouragement.
To Laura Morgan, without whose insight and help with the artistic decisions and the map of the earth changes, I would have been lost. Thank you for seeing this project through to the end. I hope you know how much I appreciate your time and sacrifice for making my dream a reality.
My niece Claire Cresswell, who spent many hours editing and proof reading this book before it went to press, I love you in all your wyrdness, sweet girl. Thank you!
Last but not least, my editor, dear friend, and Shirley to my Laverne, Gracie Ellison, without your encouragement and assistance, this book would have never been published. Thank you for believing in us.
Earth Changes Map
Tapestry of Music
1. Eyes on Fire (Zeds Dead Remix) by Blue Foundation
2. My Name is Human by Highly Suspect
3. Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum
4. Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea by MISSIO
5. I Need a Doctor by Dr. Dre (feat. Eminem & Skylar Grey)
6. Too Close by Alex Clare
7. Ricochet by Lydia Ainsworth
8. Sober by Tool
9. Die Alone by A Pale Horse Named Death
10. Short Change Hero by the Heavy
11. Young and Beautiful by Lana del Rey
12. Come Undone by My Darkest Days
13. Black Honey by Thrice
14. Undertaker (Renholder Mix) by Puscifer
15. Medieval Warfare by Grimes
16. Standing in the Rain by Action Bronson, Mark Ronson, and Dave Auerback
17. Cat People by Shooter Jennings with Marilyn Manson
18. A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard
19. Tear You Apart by She Wants Revenge
20. The Humbling River by Puscifer
21. The Kiss by Trevor Jones
22. Freak by Lana del Rey
23. In My Mind by M86 & Susie Q
24. Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
25. The River by Dalton Domino
26. Big Bad Handsome Man by Imelda Marcos
27. Where Is My Mind by Storm Large
28. Killing Strangers by Marilyn Manson
29. Feel it Still by Portugal
30. The Hills by the Weekend
31. Breed by Snake River Conspiracy
32. I Don't Wanna Live Forever by ZAYN and Taylor Swift
33. Joke's On You by Charlotte Lawrence
34. Duality by Slipknot
35. Don't Let Me Down by the Chainsmokers
36. Beat the Devil's Tattoo by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
37. Search and Destroy by 30 Seconds to Mars
38. Juliet by Emilie Autumn
39. Death and Resurrection Show by the Killing Joke
For My Wyrd Sisters,
Be You of Blood, Choice, or Soul,
Forever Entwined Shall We Be
“And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow."
― Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight
Tapestry of Worlds
Part One - The White Raven Awakens
by Hadley Thorne
Prologue
Present Day
Old River City, Island of Mississippi, USA
The noonday sun was high in the sky as Erika Lily and her companion rode into what used to be known as the River City. She could smell the fresh salt air and feel the breeze on her face from what was now being called the Bay of Louisiana. It was a surreal feeling, being here, she thought. This was the first time she had ridden this far west and seen the geographic changes that happened in the last six months.
It had been a hell of a year and she for one could not wait for it to end. It all started in January with a global pandemic that last she heard was on its way to wiping out a large portion of the world’s population. Since then things had gotten downright catastrophic.
It all started when the Church of Apocalyptic Blessing began growing in popularity amongst the survivors. The church’s leader, Brother Timothy Hebert, placed a bounty on the heads of local and state elected officials, civil servants, and law enforcement. That was when things really started to get out of hand. The church’s followers, known now as the Brotherhood, began to incite rioting and looting to fuel the chaos. They soon were joined by those folks who just wanted to set the world on fire. But the real hellscape began when hurricane season came, and the grid went down.
The popular consensus was Mother Earth was tired of the cancer that was man and decided to recreate herself, but Erika knew better. She chewed on her lip nervously remembering the night it began with a frown. A lot had happened to her in a short time and it didn’t just change her. It changed everything.
The power grid crashed the same night three major tropical storms merged when they reached the Gulf of Mexico. The widow making storm formation was the Ragnarök of all storms. More powerful and intense than any who came before her. Known as Tempest, she proved to be more devastating than
her sister Laura, Aunt Katrina, and Great-Aunt Camille combined.
The hurricane's eye traveled straight up the Mississippi river with so much force that the mighty river flowed backward, and mandatory evacuations were made from the Gulf Coast to St. Louis, Missouri. Like a Death Metal Band, Tempest shook the geometric plates of the earth with such force she triggered the New Madrid Faultline causing even more substantial damage. Lakes, suburbs, and entire towns disappeared while mudslides and floods ravaged the country from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota.
In the violent surge of events that resulted, Tempest aided the Gulf of Mexico in its decade long struggle to reclaim the lowlands of Louisiana. But no one anticipated that she would drag parts of Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida back down into the depths with her. Overnight, Mississippi became an island cut off from the rest of the nation.
Migrating refugees claimed that the only thing left of Louisiana was water and marshland. The truth was no-one really knew. There were claims that a small chain of islands formed. It was being called the Acadian Keys and the largest island in the chain was what was left of New Orleans. Thousands of volunteers, national guardsmen, and law enforcement officers were caught deep inside Tempest's wake when the earth swallowed them up and sank back into the dark waters of the Gulf. The loss of life as unfathomable as the sea that had taken them. What was left of the National Guard and FEMA set up refugee camps at Cheneyville’s Memorial Stadium for survivors from the Gulf Coast and surrounding areas.
Yet nothing could have prepared them for the news of the rest of the country. Ham operators were getting reports that like the Gulf, the East coast had been hit by multiple hurricanes. The eastern seaboard had reportedly been brought 50 miles inland by multiple tsunamis and devastation was widespread. To the West major earthquakes devastated California and forest fires were raging out of control from Washington state to Texas. Recent reports stated California was now gone and parts of Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona underwater.
Erika glanced at her companion. She knew that the woman, an aerospace engineer, was convinced the devastation was caused by either a geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) or an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that took out the power grid prior to the storms. Still, Erika knew better.
Everything that had happened was all a part of a plan concerning something called the Ragnarök Gates. She did not know precisely what that meant but she knew enough to know it was a bad set of circumstances meant to tear down the veil between the worlds and usher in an age of darkness and chaos into the world of man. Now, whether the Operation was a success or not was debatable, but the truth was that the energy flows of Mother Earth had changed. People were dead and dying due to the chaos that resulted from this new flow. She knew folks who had been ordinary, law-abiding citizens a year ago changed like a caterpillar to a butterfly -only, instead of with wings, they had emerged with a hunger for violence, rape, murder, and worse.
Worse… Erika thought with a bitter smile, as though that was even possible. But she had seen firsthand the unmaking of mankind and knew without help, the world was going to lose any bit of humanity it had left.
She had been one of the lucky ones. When other people were trying to figure out what was going on – she was able to get her friends, dogs, and herself out of the city thanks to her boyfriend who had been a Special Forces Operator. Having been made cautious by the things he had seen overseas; he made sure she was ready for a worst-case scenario. In fact, despite a few minor setbacks and a great deal of luck, her group was off grid before everything went to shit.
Drawing back on her reins, she brought her horse, a big, blue roan gelding, to a halt. "I see two more up there," she pointed at two men on horseback dressed in medieval looking clothing. She had barely finished when the strawberry blonde had her rifle out, looking through the scope at the men. The two women had seen several outlooks watching them from vantage points along their route into the coastal city. They made the decision to leave most of their firepower hidden along the way but Tanna had her rifle and Erika knew they would be fine. The group they were seeking was made up of people who held themselves to a higher standard. People who lived by a code of honor and chivalry.
"You sure this is where your friends will be?" Tanna asked, her voice a hoarse whisper as she asked Erika, her steady aqua-blue gaze never leaving the scope.
"If they aren’t, someone will know where they are," Erika assured the woman, patting the big gelding's neck as he danced nervously. "How is your throat," she asked hearing the strain in Tanna’s voice. The woman had been brutally assaulted by her ex-husband and her vocal cords had yet to fully recover.
Ignoring her question, Tanna put the rifle back in her saddle scabbard before reining the black and white appaloosa mare over, "Our codeword is penguin. You hear me say it, Erika, no questions, we open up a can of gone and go."
Erika nodded, shaking her head at her friend with a small smile. Taking her sunglasses off, she lowered the hat to keep the sun out of her eyes and clicked her tongue to urge the gelding forward. Slow paced the two women weaved the horses in and out of the maze of abandoned vehicles left on the overgrown interstate moving towards the off-ramp. Their destination, the sprawling acreage that made up the River City Military Park now being called the Shire of New Hope.
As the horses approached the visitors center at the military park, they could not help but notice four gunmen, two on either side of the road leading into the park. Three of the men had deer rifles and one had an AR-15 but Erika was not concerned and did her best to soothe Tanna’s nerves. “Relax, Tanna,” she whispered to her friend, but Erika was nervous herself when she did not recognize any familiar faces.
Taking a deep breath, she called out to the men, "Hi guys, I was hoping you could help me. I am looking for my little sister Becca and her husband, Benjamin Wright. I was told they might be here. They were part of the group before the changes.”
The men exchanged looks but remained quiet. Uncomfortably, Erika noticed that the man with the AR-15 still had her in his sights. "Ummm… Z. I mean, Benjamin was a Veteran US Army Pilot. He was with Special Operations Command out of Birmingham. Like I said, my sister, Becca, is his wife. They used to hang out with Millie Storm…" She pushed the hat back from her eyes and added nervously, "Beautiful girl - she was a belly dancer with the Chimneyville group."
Feeling his rider’s discomfort, the blue roan danced nervously, "Indigo, settle down," she said patting his neck her voice a soothing whisper, "good boy." Erika watched Tanna out of the corner of her eye noting the woman had not taken her eyes off the man with the AR-15. After what seemed like forever, one of the men began to approach her, his abrupt pace caused the nervous horse to rear. "Whoa boy," she soothed, patting the big horse on the shoulder. What the men could not see was her hand was ready to grab the knife she had tucked in her boot at the first sign of trouble. She knew the group had a reputation for being friendly, but these days taking a chance on others' goodness would get you killed, and Erika was not about to risk Tanna’s life or her own by being too trusting. She was about to say penguin when an elderly female voice cut through the silence with an air of authority, "Vlad, stand down. It's ok."
Turning to look in the direction the voice came, Erika was pleased to see an elderly, plump woman wearing a long linen tunic and apron dress come out of the welcome center. The older woman took a good look at her and Tanna and waved them inside. Pointing to Erika, she said, “I remember this one,” to the men now standing around and cradling their weapons. “She used to be Ransom's lady." At that, there was some mumbling and grumbling as the men gave Erika another look. At the mention of Ransom’s name and her being his in the past tense caused Erika to force a smile. She gave the older woman a nod before dismounting, avoiding Tanna's questioning gaze. With a sigh, she tied the gelding to a post and extended her hand with a smile, "Erika Lily," she introduced herself, shaking the woman's hand. She motioned towards Tanna with a nod of he
r head as the strawberry blonde tied up her horse and checked her rifle, “and this is Mrs. Tanna Lee."
The plumb woman gave them both a once over before introducing herself, "My mundane name is Anna Gates, but around here, everyone knows me as Mistress Brenna." She looked at Tanna and added, "Mrs. Lee, you won’t need that rifle around here."
Tanna just smiled and patted the gun’s strap saying nothing. Taking a closer look at, Mistress Brenna caught sight of the rope burns on the woman’s fragile neck and said with a chuff, "Alright then, women can't be too careful in these times." Turning her attention to a young man that Erika had not seen previously she ordered, "Slwyth, go see if you can find the blacksmith down at the forge. He knows the lady and I am sure can escort her to her friends." The boy came out from the doorway from behind where the large woman stood and looked shyly at the two newcomers before running ran off to jump on the back of a harnessed donkey. As the donkey trotted off, harness bells jingling, Erika wondered who the blacksmith was.
Mistress Brenna motioned, "Come on in. You ladies look like you could do with a cool drink of water after your ride."
Erika and Tanna nodded as they exchanged a look of appreciation. Things were much better here than they had anticipated. It was obvious these people were thriving in a world most people were barely surviving. Gratefully the girls took the tin cups of water that they were offered and greedily drank the cool water down.
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