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  FLASH FICTION ADDICTION

  A Fantasy Anthology

  Edited By

  Adam Bennett and Sam M. Phillips

  All characters, locations, events, and science depicted in WITCHES VS WIZARDS are fictional. Any resemblance to real life locations, events, or any person living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

  The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

  First Published November 2018

  Cover Art by Adam Bennett and Sam M. Phillips

  WITCHES VS WIZARDS Logo by Adam Bennett

  Zombie Pirate Publishing Logo by Zoe Maxwell

  For Faye

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  The Confluence - Pat Woods

  The House of the Magus - Derek Paterson

  Queen Bee - Sam M. Phillips

  The Desires of Demons - David M. Donachie

  The Apprentice - Adam Bennett

  Ravenspire Nights - Vince Carpini

  Cœur du Dieu Mécanique - Lannah Marshall

  A Breath of Fresh Air - Jean Frost

  The Harbinger of Ferro - Brian MacGowan

  A Spot of Bother - L.T. Waterson

  Lost Love - Diana Grove

  Amat Victoria - Blake Jessop

  The Witch Next Door - Amanda R. Woomer

  Broken Wings - Cara Fox

  Pumpkin Oaksgourd’s Game of Hide and Seek - T.D. McIntosh

  Blightborn - Nicholas Catron

  A Test Amongst the Shadows - Todd Sullivan

  Vengeance Reborn - K.A. Masters

  Author Biographies

  Acknowledgements

  FOREWORD

  Work, chores, and miscellaneous annoyances; sometimes regular life just isn’t enough for us. We seek adventure, wonder, and a release from our materialistic burdens, so we escape into the world of literature. Some of the most immersive books are set in completely fictional universes, where our imagination can run riot, unbound by the restrictions of reality. Who hasn’t enjoyed the thrills of escaping into a fantasy world on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Here be dragons, goblins, and elves, as well as mythical weapons, strange realms, and, of course, magic.

  Fantasy has been a part of literature since its inception, with elements of the genre present in folklore and mythology for thousands of years. Trickster spirits, frightening monsters, jealous gods, and benevolent heroes are all old concepts, stretching back to the beginning of human imagination. They perhaps even have a seed in reality, reflecting something true either in the laws of the universe or human nature.

  These tales have been integral to people’s lives, providing guidance in a confusing and chaotic world, explaining phenomena through the agency of gods and spirits, and setting standards of behaviour and morality. From these stories came modern fantasy. Using many of the same ideas and characters to populate make believe worlds, it has a similar aim to the old stories; to entertain and inform through immersive metaphors and allegories.

  The earliest modern fantasy stories evolved directly from folklore and fairy tales around the time of the industrial revolution, often adapted so the messages remained relevant, but still utilising the old archetypes. In the wake of the scientific revolution and in the face of modern industry, people needed an escape more than ever. Fantasy stories allowed a space for this, as well as a connection to deeper, subconscious roots of the psyche which were being devalued in an increasingly material world. With the invention of the steam printing press, and a more literate populace, the 19th century saw the birth of the fantasy novel.

  Perhaps the first was Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald. Published in London in 1858, this novel is set in one of the first recognisable fantasy universes, Fairy Land, populated by fairies, tree spirits, knights, and giants. MacDonald’s influence is large; he mentored one of the other early greats in the genre, Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), and has been cited by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as a major literary influence.

  The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55) by J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-56) by C.S. Lewis were instrumental in the establishment of what we now know as epic fantasy, with fully immersive universes with their own laws of nature, locations, plants, animals, and mythical races of beings. We have them to thank for the popularisation of the genre which has led to the many fantasy books, as well as films and games, which are now available.

  In these books a key component is the use of magic by wizards and witches. Tolkien’s Middle Earth has the wizard Gandalf, while Lewis’ Narnia has The White Witch. Both are integral characters in their respective stories, whose magical powers are important plot devices, and their exploits make for fascinating and exciting reading.

  Humans have always been interested in magic, and this is proven in ancient monuments around the world which use geometry, astronomy, and symbolism to display a longing to understand and manipulate the hidden laws of nature. From ancient Egyptian priests and Celtic druids, through the beliefs of the Middle Ages in Europe, and on to more modern phenomena like voodoo, magic has always had a place in the intellectual and spiritual life of people.

  This interest has not diminished in the scientific age; it has simply gone underground and found new life in the realm of fiction. Here magic can be taken for granted as a normal part of life, as it was for many people around the world in previous times, and still remain so for some even now.

  In many ways, fantasy is about stretching the limits of what is possible, and magic allows us to push these boundaries even further. Many contemporary fantasy writers lean heavily on magic for the settings and plot devices of their books. J.K. Rowling created Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series to much commercial and critical success. Other fantasy series such as Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time have further proven the winning formula of magic in fantasy settings.

  In this anthology you’ll find eighteen fantasy tales using the old archetypes of witches and wizards but exploring them in new and interesting ways. With heroic quests, magical battles, curses, enchantments, and fantasy creatures, these stories are a fresh take on swords and sorcery by authors from all around the world.

  Read on to discover the magic that is WITCHES VS WIZARDS…

  Sam M. Phillips and Adam Bennett

  Co-Founders

  Zombie Pirate Publishing

  Zombiepiratepublishing.com

  The Confluence

  Pat Woods

  Cathis turned her face away from the wind, which was coming from two directions at once. She could feel it simultaneously pushing and pulling at her with grasping hands, and she was grateful her cloak was weighed down with river stones. These slowed her movements, but Cathis wasn’t in a hurry. The Confluence was at least an hour away, and she couldn’t afford to hurry her preparations.

  She began the invocation of protection, weaving her hands in intricate patterns while the tattoos that covered her arms from shoulders to fingertips began to glow with blue light. The colour became brighter as her spell re
ached its conclusion, then suddenly vanished as if the ink itself had been pulled out of her skin.

  Now the blue light formed the outer edge of a large sphere that surrounded her. So long as her spell held, nothing could penetrate it. Cathis felt the wind die at once, though she could still sense it beyond the haven of her spell. It pushed at the blue sphere with a force that right now was merely insistent, but which would soon grow a thousandfold.

  At a certain point, her magic might not be able to hold it back. Cathis hoped that by then it wouldn’t matter.

  She took the six river stones from her cloak, arranging them in an evenly spaced line in front of her. Her choice of river stones had been deliberate, and now she spoke words of power over them.

  “Elements of Life, Elements of Fate,

  One to Bind and One to Break,

  Like draws Like into the Snare,

  Unlike Binds the Power there.”

  As she had grown into her magic, Cathis had gained control over the four elements: stone, water, air, and fire. Each had the strength to hold the others in check, as any child knew. Air, water, stone—all could kill a fire. Air and water could destroy stone in time, and enough fire could boil water and consume the air around it.

  A mage, however, knew that the elements could be combined and enhanced. A single magic stone, ensorcelled correctly, could stop a flood or quench a forest fire. Cathis had prepared well, and was now ready to attempt the greatest test of all.

  The Confluence.

  The east coast of Viriyar faced the vast expanses of the Gelt Ocean, which the unlearned claimed lacked both a bottom and a further shore. Cathis knew this to be nonsense, but the lands on the other side were too far away for any ship to cross without magical assistance. Far out to sea, where the water was warm and the winds inconstant, typhoons formed and swept inland during the summer months. Such was the force of their gales and torrential rains that the coastlands were but sparsely populated, and the few settlements there took refuge behind the coastal hills.

  Typhoons were rightly feared, for they could uproot trees and tear buildings from their foundations. In their wake followed floods and landslides as the water they carried drenched the land. Only the bravest or the most foolhardy would venture out when a typhoon was at its height, and most families huddled in their cellars, shutting their ears against the screaming winds and praying to whatever gods they worshipped that the water did not find its way in.

  At times, two great storms might form in different parts of the ocean and come together. Usually, this led to them forcing each other off in new directions, or even tearing one another apart in a fierce battle witnessed only by sea and sky. A larger typhoon could even absorb a smaller one, though this did not increase its fury, only the amount of rain it dumped as it passed.

  During the Confluence, however, two storms of immense power made landfall at the same time, and their unleashed might rent the very land itself, tearing new gorges in the coastland cliffs and sending mountains toppling into ruin.

  Mages could sense when a typhoon was on its way. Communities paid good money for an early warning, and more if the mage would agree to turn it aside or dissipate its rage. No mage in their right mind would stand before the Confluence, though.

  No mage until Cathis.

  But she had prepared well. Typhoons were born of the air, but water was in their souls, as it was in the river stones that lay before her. Like draws Like: the river stones would call to the water within the Confluence. As an additional snare, she had carved into each stone the Dorvic rune for ‘air,’ imbuing each sigil with her power. Each one had taken her a full day to create, and after their making Cathis had been able to do little more than rest a further three days.

  The stones she had created would take in the power of the two typhoons as they came together, and more, they would hold it. Yet they were also stone—the Unlike, the ‘one to break.’ Infused with her magic, they would render the Confluence quiescent, trapped inside them until Cathis needed to bring it forth. With this one ritual, she would create the most powerful artefacts Viriyar had ever known.

  Cathis reached into her cloak drew out her wand, a carved length of wood a foot in length she had made herself in a week of intense magical labour. There was still much to do. Next, she must use her wand to write the words of the ritual she had devised into the earth itself. Before she did so, she cast forth her magical awareness. Her sphere of protection was holding, but the pressure on it was increasing. She scried beyond the blue radiance, assessing the wind strength and measuring the approach of the Confluence.

  As she did so, she felt the presence of another mage. To her attuned senses, the aura of other magic users was like the bright flicker of a candle flame in a dark room. A mage might conceal it with an effort, but this one was not doing so. Indeed, her fellow practitioner wasn’t trying to hide, and had created a protective spell a few hundred yards away.

  Cathis’ eyes narrowed. The other mage must have sensed her, yet had done nothing. What did that mean?

  There was only one reason for a mage to be here: the same as her own, to bind the power of the Confluence. Thus, they were rivals.

  Why, then, had this other mage not attacked her at once, taking advantage of her distraction to strike a fatal blow?

  That one question, that one sliver of doubt, was the only thing that prevented Cathis from summoning her power and attacking the other mage. She paused, and in that pause, decided to find out more.

  She did not, however, neglect her own protection. The tattoos on her forearms glowed anew as she reinforced her shield to protect her from hostile spells, as well as the winds, which now were strong enough to lay the coastal grasses flat and would have knocked her off balance if not for her sphere. When her defences were in place, she quested again for the other mage.

  Tel. She knew him as soon as she brushed his protective spell. The recognition brought with it waves of memory that left her clenching her fists.

  He was the last person she would have wanted to show up on this wind-scoured cliff, with the Confluence fast approaching. Yet now that she knew he was here, here, she had no choice but to deal with him.

  Mages could speak to each other thought-to-thought, and since Cathis could not leave her sphere, she opened her mind and prepared to do so. Connecting with Tel, even after so long, was easy, like slipping on an old cloak or a worn-in pair of boots.

  Tel responded at once, as if he had been waiting for her—which, Cathis reflected, he probably had.

  —Cathis.

  In her mind, his thoughts spoke with his voice. He spoke her name carefully, as if he were holding back his emotions. What emotions these were, Cathis did not know.

  —What are you doing here, Tel?

  She had not doubt of her own feelings; she was angry, and she filled the words of her thought with venom.

  —I would have thought that was obvious.

  He now sounded infuriatingly calm. Cathis hissed out a breath.

  —Leave now, Tel. I won’t let you spoil this for me.

  —That’s not why—

  She didn’t wait for him to finish.

  —You would challenge me for the power of the Confluence?

  —No, Cathis. If you’ll just let me explain—

  Cathis ground her teeth as she broke their connection. As ever, Tel was trying to sound reasonable, but as ever, he was missing the point. They would both have to use the full extent of their magic to bind the Confluence, yet there was every chance that their rituals would interfere with each other, likely with disastrous results. They would both need to keep half an eye on what the other was doing, when their full concentration should have been focused on the work at hand. This was no time for the kind of magical contests they’d entered into when they were younger, back when things had been otherwise between them.

  More memories, treacherous memories, unfurled within her. Cathis shut them away viciously behind her mental doors. She had to get rid of Tel.

  �
��Just leave this place and stay away from me.

  Tel did not reply at once. Cathis hoped he’d take her warning to heart and go. At last, his thoughts came to her.

  —Can we talk this out face to face?

  Cathis growled in frustration. She was already behind with her preparations and time was running out. Why did he always have to make things difficult? She snapped a reply.

  —I can’t leave this spot. Say what you want to say and go.

  —I’m coming to you.

  Cathis swore out loud.

  ***

  Tel’s blue sphere advanced slowly across the wind-battered headland. Cathis completed as many of her preparations as she could, holding back on anything that would require her to expend her magic or her concentration. She would have full need of both to deal with Tel. Though part of her refused to believe he would attack her, the other part was screaming that this was exactly what he intended.

  After all, they had not ended well.

  If such was his plan, however, Tel was using his power recklessly. Only his magic enabled him to fight his way through the wind, and a hundred yards or so from her, the gusts became too strong. Cathis hoped that would be the end of it, but Tel somehow reshaped his protective sphere, forming a wedge like an arrowhead. This made him more aerodynamic, and he pierced the winds all the way to her side.

  Cathis was impressed despite herself—she’d never have thought of that. Tel had obviously learned some new tricks since they’d last seen each other. She resolved to be on her guard.

  Their spell spheres were now less than a foot apart. Cathis felt the familiar touch of Tel’s magic. It would have been simple for the two of them to merge their magic; they had done so many times in the past. Cathis felt an urge to do so, then a flash of anger at the impulse.