Steve McHugh - Born of Hatred

"They look very nice," I said, hoping that was the correct answer.

"Well, one of the bulbs was flickering. Persephone equated this to the end of the world. Apparently, flickering lights are some sort of sign of the apocalypse. Who knew?" Hades walked to a drinks cabinet at one side of the conservatory, and removed a bottle of coke. "Drink?"

"Why not," I said. "Thanks for the bottle on the jet."

"You're a terrible flyer. I saw no reason to burden everyone else with your lunacy."

I laughed as I accepted a bottle and took a seat on a leather arm-chair. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

Hades sat opposite me and took a drink. "You call, I answer. I owe you too much for it to be any other way. Besides you said the magic word. Lich. That gets my attention pretty goddamn quickly."

Before I could say anything the door opened, and Kasey and Tommy joined us. Kasey had a can of coke in one hand, and Tommy was eating an apple with the enthusiasm of a man who hadn't eaten in days rather than hours.

"How's your accommodation?" Hades asked.

"Awesome," Kasey said immediately. "My room is massive."

"I'm glad you approve." Hades turned back to me. "Now, let's discuss this lich you're concerned about."

Tommy glanced at his daughter. "Maybe you shouldn't be here for this."

"No," Kasey snapped. "I'm not a little girl, Dad. This monster is responsible for Mum being attacked. I need to know what it is."

"I'm not sure," Tommy said.

"Please, Daddy," Kasey pleaded.

"Tommy," I interrupted. "I'd never tell you what to do, but do you remember what we were doing at twelve?"

"Hunting deer," Tommy said. "You?"

"I was learning how to kill people," I said honestly. "If I remember correctly, on my twelfth birthday, Merlin had me doing sword practice in the morning, and herbs in the afternoon. I believe we had cake after."

"Well, I certainly don't want her hunting this thing," Tommy said. "But you're probably right, Kasey; you are old enough to know what's happening."

Kasey beamed as if a huge victory had been won, and then stopped the moment her dad glanced her way. "Nate told me that lich are monsters," Kasey said.

"They're more than that," Hades explained. "A lich is created when a sorcerer uses some very dark blood magic to twist himself. They murder people in a very specific way and absorb their victims' souls as they ebb away. Then, when they've finally taken enough, they kill themselves in as violent a way as possible.

"And there's one more thing they must do. As they die, they must focus on the one person they hate above all others. A lich is created through a combination of the magic, the sacrifices and the hate. They're known as those born of hatred. And once they've been created, they're capable of such evil as you can't imagine."

"What makes them so powerful?" Kasey asked.

"Each lich can make up to six ghouls. Each ghoul is created by the lich absorbing the spirit of the human, and then replacing it with some of his own life energy."

"That's why we smelt so many different scents," Tommy said.

Hades nodded. "Yes, the lich will contain the scents of all the souls it's absorbed, all merged together. But even worse, it means that you can't kill the lich until you've killed all of his ghouls. Otherwise a part of him still exists out there, and he can come back again and again."

"So, they're un-killable until then?" Kasey asked.

"A lich with six ghouls alive is stronger than your dad is, just as fast, and nearly impossible to hurt in any meaningful way. Magic and weapons will hurt him, but not for long. And once you've killed all of the ghouls, you need a necromancer to kill the lich for good, by removing whatever twisted visage is left of his soul and destroying it. Only then can he be killed."

"So to stop him, we have to destroy all of his ghouls, and then remove his soul before killing him?" Tommy asked, before turning to me. "I see why you don't talk about your past lich problem very often."

"It wasn't much fun," I agreed. "I'm here to ask for your help, Hades. Do you have a necromancer who could be spared?"

"I'll make a few calls and get someone to the UK as soon as possible. Are you certain it's a lich?"

"Yes," I said. "I saw him with my own eyes. His name is Peter Jarvis."

"The trick will be to find this lich before anyone else dies. If you really did kill one ghoul, you have a few days before he will fully recover from his weakened state. He won't risk losing another so soon after."

"Can't he just make more?" Kasey asked.

"Once a lich-created ghoul is dead, that's it. They've lost that portion of their life they placed inside the beast." Hades was about to say more but the doors opened once again and a woman joined us in the conservatory.

Stunning was the wrong word to describe Persephone. She was one of the most beautiful women I've ever laid eyes on, someone who could give Aphrodite a run for her money in the desirable stakes. Her long dark hair flowed freely over slender shoulders, and a diamond clip in the shape of a butterfly sat just above one ear, which was pierced several times. She wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans that appeared to have been created especially for her.

She kissed her husband on the cheek before beckoning me to stand and giving me a hug. "It's been far too long, Nathan," she said before releasing me and doing the same to Tommy. "And you must be Kasey," she said, and embraced her as if they'd known each other for years.

"Hi," Kasey managed weakly.

"Are you done here?" Persephone asked Hades.

"I need to talk to Nate, but you're welcome to continue with whatever plan you have, my love."

Persephone's smile increased her beauty tenfold. "Good, Nathan you can join us when you're finished. I'm going to take this lovely young lady and her father for a tour of our home.” And without another word, Tommy and Kasey were ushered out of the conservatory.

"It's been a long time since we had any kids around," Hades said absentmindedly. "I think Persephone misses it. The house is always full of people, but security, business and staff do not make for a substitute to the sounds of a child's laughter."

"Are you getting broody, old friend?" I asked with a laugh.

"Maybe. We have five children of our own and adopted six more. Our youngest is twenty-two now. Maybe it's time to extend our family once again." He shook himself, as if clearing the thoughts out of his head. "A discussion for another time. I assume you didn't come all this way to hear me lament."

"Can we go somewhere private?"

Hades stood and opened the door behind him, bathing us both in the freezing cold air of a Canadian winter. Fire glyphs spread across the back of my hands, warming my body, but I was still grateful for the thick hooded top I wore. Hades didn't even seem to notice the cold at all. He wore only a black shirt and trousers, but he might as well have been wearing a thick fur coat for all the cold outwardly affected him.

"You need to teach me that trick," I said as we walked down a path in his garden, moving past stone statues of mythological beasts — griffins, harpies and even a stone ogre sat amongst ornate and beautifully tended bushes, their colour a deep green, even for the time of year.

"You have an impressive gardener," I said.

"If you hire an earth elemental, your garden tends to stay how you want it." We stopped walking at a statue of Pegasus and Hades glanced up at the magnificent sculpture. "Have you ever seen Pegasus?"

I shook my head. "Before my time."

"Ah, he was a beautiful steed. Poseidon created him by feeding the blood of Medusa to a normal horse. Not sure when that was twisted to become he was born from Medusa's blood, but there you go. I remember the day that Bellerophon captured him. Zeus was furious that anyone would dare steal such a sacred creature."