Chapter 1 The Darkness of Myth

The Darkness of Myth
Chapter 1
The Wizard

A large bird with the wings of an eagle and the head of a chicken sits on a perch in a cave. The bird is a raptorchick; it watches and listens carefully, memorising everything the wizard says as he mixes a bubbling potion in his cauldron.

“Aah,” grumbled the wizard as he was about to add a large chilli pepper from the forest of fire. “I see you are watching carefully.” He showed the bird the pepper. “Do you know what this is for? It will add fiery heat to my potion… hot enough to turn rock into molten lava.”

He dropped it into the luminous, green, mixture. Flames roared up to the cave roof, singeing his long, hairy eyebrows. He picked up something red and slimy. “And this… this is the growling voice box of an ogre which will make the ground shake and, finally, a jug of snails to make the hot lava crawl across the land.”

He stirred it all in and looked up at his pet. “I’m going to take this potion to that idiotic brother of mine and, with it, I’ll make his toy soldiers and tanks come to life and give the useless imbecile a little job to do. He’ll like that.”

He became animated and loud. “Soon, Myth and Earth will be mine to command and everyone will cower under my power and you, my precious, big feathered friend, can gather all your kind and become the guardians of my new empire!”

The bird spread its wings and squawked loudly. The wizard clicked his fingers to summon his staff and broomstick; they responded quickly, flying across the cave from a dark corner. The staff found his outstretched hand and the broomstick came to rest on the floor at his feet like an eager puppy.

He dipped the staff into the fiery goo, it acted like a straw, sucking out the contents and finishing with a mighty gurgle. The staff did not grow in size at all; it just magically stored his evil mixture within its crooked shaft alongside all his other magical creations, making it one of the most powerful staffs in the land of Myth.

With an evil chuckle, he stepped onto the broomstick and it lifted from the dusty floor. He pointed his staff towards the waterfall that kept his cave entrance hidden from view and, without getting wet, he propelled forwards and out into the forest of darkness, a forest so dense that the sky could not be seen.

After many changes of direction, a square of light appeared ahead and, holding a perfect balance and at one with his transportation, he and broomstick soured high into a blue, cloudless sky until until the lands of Myth lay far below.

He flew over the city of Arros towards the mountains where his brother’s castle perched on the edge of a cliff where a lake glinted under sunlight far below. The broomstick skimmed past the turrets towards a field beyond where man dressed as a general stood in front of a ‘V’ formation of tanks. Next to him was a jeep with a rocket launcher attached to the back.

An army of full-size toy soldiers stood to attention awaiting his command, every one of them brought to life by his childish magic. Krackos landed his broomstick in front of them.

“Hey! You’re messing up my game!” squealed the general. “Invaders are about to attack my castle and you are in the way!”

“Calm down, my dear brother.” Krackos waved his wand and a sprinkling mist came out of its tip. It surrounded and silenced his sibling, leaving him staring into the distance like a statue.

Again, the broomstick lifted, and Krackos flew around him like the moon circling the earth. “I have a little job for you and your army, Odolf, a real job for a real army with real tanks and troops, would you like that?”

Very slowly, Odolf nodded his approval.

“I need a home for my evil spell on Earth. I want to teach a lesson to all the goodie-two-shoes creatures of Myth like Father Christmas, the Easter bunny, the Sandman and the tooth fairy.

“They have all gone soft over the last few centuries and it’s time to revert to evil. I am going to eradicate all the kindness and sickening pampering of huuu-mans, and you, my dear brother, are going to command that army.”

Odolf grinned like a child on Christmas morning as Krackos’s words filtered through his mind. Again he said nothing, but his second, frantic nod of approval portrayed nothing but glee and excitement.

“I have created a link to Earth using a train set belonging to two nasty children who I am using to my advantage. You will find a smoking volcano there, but it will take too long to naturally blow its top so I would like you and your rockets to help it on its way. Do you understand?”

Still smiling, Odolf silently nodded.

“Good!” bellowed Krackos. He raised his staff. “Now go there and wait until you are summoned!”
Odolf, his castle, his tanks and his army, all vanished in a cloud of smoke.

At three o’clock in the morning, in an attic in a farmhouse on Earth, a train set lay in darkness while everyone slept.

Inside a model building, a tiny pyramid erupted with a bright, red flash that lit up the entire room. It only lasted a second; then it went to sleep – waiting for its spell to be triggered.