Mortiswood: Kaelia Awakening (Mortiswood Tales) Read online

  Mortiswood: Kaelia Awakening Copyright Gina Dickerson 2013

  Kindle Edition published worldwide 2013.

  The right of Gina Dickerson to be identified as the Author of the work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved in all media. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, photocopying, the Internet or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. It may not be given away or re-sold to other people.

  *

  All illustrations & maps Copyright Gina Dickerson 2013

  Cover images:

  Woman by Zdenka Darula

  Wolf by fotografie4u

  Both Shutterstock

  All other images by Gina Dickerson

  Cover art and design by Gina Dickerson

  All characters and events featured in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to any person, organisation/company, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  For everyone who sees a little magic in the ordinary.

  Contents

  Maps

  Glossary and Meanings

  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

  Mortiswood Blog

  A Note From The Author

  About The Author

  Also By The Author

  Maps

  * * *

  Glossary & Meanings

  Creatures & Beings

  Blikja - To shine.

  Draegarni - A shadow demon from the Corpse Shore located in Niflheim. It can be used as a form of possession over a human. When a Draegarni is sent into a human, whoever controls the Draegarni can control the possessed human for short bursts of time.

  Draegarnae - Plural of Draegarni.

  Draugr - A pale-blue skinned, immensely tall, undead creature. Possesses magical abilities, super strength, reeks of decay, and can change its shape at will into that of a rotten, flayed horse, a fearsome cat, or take on a humanlike appearance.

  Draugar - Old Norse plural of Draugr.

  Drauguri Sea - A viscid, sapphire sea in the Draugar realm. Used to fill the lungs of spirits to enable transition into a Draugr.

  Dybbuk - A demon spirit of unrest with the ability to possess a human, keeping the human spirit trapped to the physical body. A Dybbuk controls the human entirely - the mind, movement etc. until it is torn from the human.

  Dybbuks - Plural of Dybbuk.

  Eyaer - To see.

  Gargonite - A living stone creature.

  Gjoll - River that flows closest to Hel’s realm.

  Gjallarbru Bridge - A golden bridge leading to Hel’s realm, stretching over the river Gjoll.

  Hel - Goddess daughter of the Norse god Loki. Ruler of the dead. Resides in Niflheim.

  Isandr - Great warlock who possessed the ability to shape-shift into a stag. Exists as a fiery stag spirit to guide in times of trouble. Summoned by using Rosealrium oil in a spell.

  Marrock - The one Kaelia must find to release her full power.

  Necromancer - Has power over the recently dead, able to bring them back to life. Possesses magic. Can see the dead and communicate with them.

  Rosealrium Bush - A flowering shrub. Strong magical properties, extremely difficult to cultivate. Will only bloom for those truly working for good.

  Rosealrium Oil - Derived from the crushed petals of a Rosealrium bloom.

  Scrying - The magical art of searching for someone who is lost.

  Seior - Means magic.

  Sifar - Sorceresses who can bend the elements to their will. Possess power over anything that is natural. For example - anything grown from the ground, made/formed from natural sources, water, the air, wind, rain, clouds etc.

  Solvo - To release.

  The Chosen One - The one The Salloki have been waiting centuries for.

  The Dark One - Also wanted by The Salloki for strength and magical ability.

  The Salloki - Secret sect who are well concealed from the human world.

  Vallesm - Ancient wolf breed. Larger than normal wolves with extreme strength, agility, and speed. Elusive creatures.

  Vanadis - A goddess who resides in Asgard. She is a Vanir deity. Half of the souls lost in battle go to her field, Folkvangr.

  Vanagandr - The giant wolf child of Loki.

  Places

  Asgard - One of the nine worlds in Norse mythology. Home to the gods and goddesses of the Aesir. On a plane above Midgard, linked by an ethereal bridge/pathway. Lots of halls for the gods and goddesses. Also the afterlife home to spirits who died an honourable death.

  Broadstairs - A coastal town located in Thanet, Kent.

  Isle of Stone - An island with a meagre population. One church and graveyard.

  Minster-in-Thanet - Located in Thanet, Kent.

  Margate - A seaside town located in Thanet, Kent.

  Midgard - The world - the earth - where humans live. Another of one of the nine worlds in Norse mythology.

  Mortiswood - Magical woods overlooking the sea. Home to magical buildings and creatures.

  Mortiswood Academy - An academy dedicated to training anyone who possesses any kind of magical ability or power, as long as they are good. Accepts students of all ages. Located within Mortiswood.

  Niflheim - One of the nine worlds in Norse mythology. Home to the goddess Hel and the afterlife for anyone who did not die a brave/heroic/honourable death. Land of ice, mist, and cold.

  Northdown Park - A park in Margate.

  Some of the creatures, characters, and places within this book are loosely based on myth - primarily ancient Norse. Other places exist only in the imagination of the author. However, Margate, Northdown Park, Minster-in-Thanet, Broadstairs - all within Thanet - DO exist and are located in Kent, within the United Kingdom. There are no known Draugar, Dybbuks or Draegarnae present in Thanet ...at the moment, although there may well be Vallesm.

  * * *

  Prologue

  Nineteen Years Ago ~ Isle of Stone

  Tails of night’s black cloak shrouded the weather ravaged island, reassuring lights from the mainland glimmered pinprick eyes from another world. Wind screamed furiously over the cliff top, carrying with it the taste of the sea. A lone man ascended a darkened incline biting into the side of the land, leading to an unlit church. Although the hill was grassy, stones nestled beneath making the track perilous. He stumbled, losing a foothold in the darkness, and stones scattered under the leather soles of his shoes, then rolled down the hill and over the edge of the cliff before plummeting to wave battered rocks. He smoothed his jacket and nervously touched his collar. There was another way up to his church but it took three times as long and he didn’t want to hang around outside for any longer than was necessary. Not tonight.

  The priest’s eyes flitted from shadow to shadow, glancing nervously behind as he reached the small church and followed the path to one side. A chill licked the nape of his neck and he shivered, pulling up the lapels of his jacket. The clip-clop of his shoes against th
e stone path leading to his house behind the church resonated in the eerie stillness.

  The uneven path wove around headstones, most aged and worn smooth by the harsh sea wind. A protruding flagstone met with his toe and he stifled anger, fleetingly cross with the caretaker Gunnarr for not having replaced the bulb in the ornate lamppost by the rear of the church. Breath caught in the priest’s chest as a tall, shadowy figure loomed across the path. Although the moon was hidden and the lamppost no longer offered its comforting beam, eyes glowed with reflected light deep within the stranger’s murky face.

  The priest licked his lips, the faint tang of salty seawater lingered upon them, a leftover present from night’s breath. Fear prickled his skin. Locals never ventured into the churchyard at this hour of the night and the last boat of visitors had departed early evening.

  ‘Can I help you?’ A tremble crept into the priest’s voice.

  When there was no response, the priest stepped to one side to allow the figure to pass. Pointed teeth shone menacingly as the figure cackled, matching the priest’s side step. The priest stepped in the opposite direction but the figure mirrored the movements perfectly. Panic jabbed the priest into action and he dipped his head, attempting to speed past the intruder. He cried out as long fingers coiled around his arm, rooting him to the spot, making him acutely aware of the other’s height. No human could ever be as tall. Panic returned and shook the priest.

  ‘What do you want?’ he screamed. ‘What are you?’

  ‘Child,’ a clipped voice hissed. Blue-tinged lips curled upwards, exposing jagged teeth. ‘I want the child. I know she was born today.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ The priest struggled, hoping he would be forgiven for the necessary lie needed to protect the baby. A violent scream ripped from his soul as the intruder’s face pushed close to his own, its foul, rotten breath choking him. He had read of such creatures but had always doubted their existence. Until this very night.

  ‘You are lying.’ A long finger, tipped with a pointed nail, pierced the skin of the priest’s chest through his clothes. Fiery eyes lit up gleefully, savouring the infliction of pain. ‘I have waited decades to find out if this child is The One. Tell me where it is or you will die!’ The bony hand released the priest, allowing him to crash to the ground.

  Pain seared through the priest’s chest, clasping his beating heart. The cold flagstones bit through his clothing into his bones. Breathing became difficult and the priest was unable to move. He managed a strangulated gargle as the figure swooped upon him, pinning him to the ground. Terror carried his eyes to the face above him. In return, fire-red eyes burned back and a cavernous mouth opened, emitting a terrifying screech so ear-splitting it made the priest’s ears bleed. Rancid breath steamed against the priest’s face, spittle sizzled on his flaming cheeks, burning with the power of acid.

  ‘You can’t be,’ the priest whispered. ‘It’s not possible. You’re a—’

  The priest’s words were stolen as the figure grew crushingly heavier and larger. His ribs cracked under the weight and spots of white-hot pain punctured his vision. The figure screeched again before shrinking, growing smaller and darker.

  ‘Hey!’ a voice shouted from the darkness. ‘Leave him alone!’ A solidly built young man raced towards the priest, the small box he was carrying fell from his grasp and a light bulb tumbled from it, shattering on the stone path. ‘Father Peter!’

  Father Peter struggled for breath while the hideous, toothed being transformed into an earless black cat with ribbons of rotten, putrid flesh dangling from its torso. The cat scratched its front paws across the priest’s gasping mouth, leaving behind a beaded trail of blood. The gruesome feline pounced from the priest and slunk between the gravestones, dissipating into a plume of violet smoke, which instead of floating upwards, corkscrewed into the ground and disappeared.

  * * *

  One

  Eight Years Ago ~ Northdown Park, Margate, Kent

  Heat rippled the air where trees hid the road from the park, making it seem as if the tree trunks jiggled. Childish laughter lifted in the summer breeze, dancing up to the cloudless, cerulean sky. The young girl and boy had the play area to themselves; each of their fathers were across the other side of the park watching a local football match. The girl’s copper hair streamed behind her as she kicked her legs out, forcing the swing higher.

  ‘Chicken!’ The words tore from her mouth, taunting the boy. Her mass of hair danced with the illusion of flames as she whipped faster and faster through the air.

  The boy’s lopsided smile creased his youthful face. ‘I’m letting you have a head start because it’s your birthday!’

  ‘I can do anything you can. You don’t need to give me a head start.’ The girl suddenly propelled herself from the swing mid-flight and landed on all fours on the rubberised ground, full of eleven-year-old confidence. ‘Beat you at the monkey bars!’ She raced towards the red painted, metal bars.

  The boy slowed his swing before jumping from it and charging after her. ‘I bet I can reach the middle before you!’

  The girl, already hanging from the second bar, grabbed the third, pushing herself harder. The bars were slippery underneath her hands, worn smooth from years of play. The boy sprung from the ground and grabbed the third bar at the opposite end.

  ‘Cheater!’ The girl’s translucent green eyes narrowed in a scowl.

  ‘Just making it fair!’

  The children’s cheeks reddened, their breath expelling in puffs as they swung from bar to bar, each desperate to be the first to reach the middle. The girl stretched out a hand for the middle bar at the exact time the boy did. They both laughed, the boy grabbing the girl’s hand in his. Splutters of orange-red light sparked between their palms, fizzing into the air and dissolving. The boy’s eyes widened with the contact and a bloody tear slithered from his left eye before both eyeballs rolled back in his head, exposing the whites.

  ‘Stop messing around!’ The girl laughed nervously, suspecting the boy was playing a trick with something he had bought from the joke shop.

  The boy’s grip on her hand released and he crashed onto the grass, eyes closed, body twitching. Shock paled the girl’s face, deepening the redness of the freckles spattering her nose and cheeks. She dropped lightly to the ground and tentatively prodded the boy’s leg.

  ‘Bay, wake up!’ Her Peridot eyes diluted with tears, which pooled until over-full and cascaded over her cheeks, plopping wet splodges onto Bay’s t-shirt.

  ‘Kaelia, what happened?’ A concerned voice behind her made the girl jump. ‘What did you do?’

  Kaelia raised her tear streaked face upwards, bottom lip trembling uncontrollably. ‘I didn’t do anything, Dad. There’s something wrong with Bay!’

  Kaelia’s father bent his long legs and crouched next to her, forcing her to look at him. ‘Tell me exactly what happened.’

  ‘We were playing and Bay had a joke light thing and then his eyes went all funny and he fell!’ Kaelia’s sobbing increased to a wail. ‘Do something, Dad! Bay’s my best friend in the whole wide world!’

  ‘I can’t,’ Kaelia’s father replied. ‘But you can.’ Gently, he guided her hands onto Bay’s still twitching chest. ‘Do what you did to make the light appear.’

  ‘But I told you, I didn’t do anything!’ Kaelia wrenched her hands free. ‘It was Bay’s trick not mine.’

  Kaelia’s father sadly shook his head. ‘No, it wasn’t a trick. It was you.’

  Confusion etched Kaelia’s smooth forehead but this time she didn’t remove her hands when her father laid them back on Bay’s chest. Her father’s face wore a look; one Kaelia knew meant he was serious. It didn’t make any sense. None of it did.

  Her father’s voice was low as he asked, ‘What were you thinking about when the light came?’

  Kaelia thought hard. ‘About how much fun I have with Bay and even though sometimes he's annoying because he’s always trying to beat me, I want to be his friend for
ever.’ She gasped, snapping her hands back as splutters of orange-red light sparked between her palms and Bay’s t-shirt. ‘What’s happening to me?’

  ‘Put your hands back and keep thinking the same thing,’ her father instructed.

  ‘I’m scared!’ Kaelia clasped her hands to her own chest. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘I know you don’t, sweetheart.’ Kaelia’s father peered around them anxiously. ‘I don’t have time to explain now, do it quickly before they find out.’

  ‘Who?’ Kaelia’s hands were back on Bay’s chest without her even realising.

  ‘Them. Your mum and I have done our best to keep you from them but we always knew a time could come when power may present itself to you.’ Her father’s eyes were sad. ‘They have been waiting lifetimes for you, Kaelia, they want you and will stop at nothing to have you. You must hurry and heal Bay before they realise you have the power!’

  Kaelia closed her eyes and thought of how much Bay meant to her. Her eyes pinged open in disbelief as a steady glow of orange-red light whirled around her hands. ‘Dad, am I really doing this?’

  ‘You have magic, Kaelia. I’d always hoped it wouldn’t be you but now we know it is.’ Her father rose to his feet, surveying the space around them. Cheers carried on the warm breeze from the far side of the park where the football game was still in full play. ‘But you must never let anyone know about the magic. If you do, they will find you.’