Darkness Rising

By John K Michaels

In the depths of time, an ancient organization has silently protected humanity from the shadows. From the legendary Knights of Camelot to the enigmatic Knights Templar, they have endured across centuries, ensuring mankind’s safety. Presently known as The Darkness Organisation, they sacrifice their existence in the darkness so that humanity can thrive in the light.

Their solemn duty lies in shielding mankind from the unimaginable creatures of lore: dragons, werewolves, and vampires—mythical beings that periodically slip through a rift in space, bridging the gap between our world and theirs. These incursions have given birth to the legends that have echoed through time.

At the heart of the turmoil, their leader, Michael, grapples with unrequited love, consumed by a pain that clouds his judgment. The world teeters on the edge, besieged by relentless incursions. The otherworldly realm sets its sights on Earth, seeking its bountiful resources to sustain the myriad beings that dwell within.

Amidst rampant disease, unchecked werewolf and vampire rampages, and the fiery destruction wrought by dragons, Michael faces an overwhelming predicament. With a dwindling team by his side, he joins forces with the UK government, desperately seeking a solution to save them all.

Michael and his dedicated team must unearth a path to triumph, for failure will mark the end of humanity. As darkness rises and hope dwindles, they stand as the last line of defence against annihilation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035819461

John K Michaels

John K Michaels is a well-known criminal investigative lawyer and consulting prosecutor who has specialised in many areas over the years. He travels up and down the country as part of his work and has a wide range of experience to draw upon. His past writing has been within the non-fiction area, primarily for training investigators across the United Kingdom. This is his first published work of fiction but will not be his last. John currently lives in Reading, Berkshire with his family.

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About the Author

John K Michaels is a well-known criminal investigative lawyer and consulting prosecutor who has specialised in many areas over the years. He travels up and down the country as part of his work and has a wide range of experience to draw upon. His past writing has been within the non-fiction area, primarily for training investigators across the United Kingdom.

This is his first published work of fiction but will not be his last. John currently lives in Reading, Berkshire with his family. 

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who know the struggles I have had to go through; to those who stood by me through the darkest of days, and to my one true love who encouraged me to write this book.

We all must walk in darkness for a time before seeing the light.

Copyright Information ©

John K Michaels 2023

The right of John K Michaels to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035819454 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035819461 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my friends and family who have supported and assisted giving advice and feedback on the book, and to my publishers at Austin Macauley for taking a chance and for their encouragement and assistance. 

Chapter 1

The creature’s muzzle lifted to the sky as its nostrils flared in the darkness, its nose picking up a million different scents in the cold dark night. It stood on its hind legs, six feet tall and covered in wiry hair, its muscles bunching below its skin. Long ears lifted to listen to any sounds in the distance and its yellow eyes pierced through the dark.

Hot, fetid breath could be seen as it exhaled from its mouth, its teeth glistening in the moonlight. It knew it would have to wait that little bit longer for its prey. He had been told by one of the old ones, vicious and not like his kind at all, one that even his elders were afraid of them and if they were afraid then he was doubly afraid. It had been a long week skulking around the old part of the town, hiding, and keeping out of sight, trying to stay dry—which was difficult enough in this strange land. It could smell the salt air coming in from the sea…

What did they call this town? He thought. Oh yes, Penzance. Strange name, he thought, but these humans had strange ideas. He only saw them as prey, but he was cautious enough to know that they could be dangerous as well. His elders had given him much instruction on this—his kind were known through the ages as a myth and it would not do to be seen and found to be real, otherwise the humans would hunt them down.

He had settled down on his haunches waiting for the right scent to drift his way, he was nothing if not patient. His thoughts drifted off again to the prey that he had been instructed to kill this evening. It was unusual for a specific target to have been given, but they were now taking orders from these others from the other side, his homeland that he had never seen and only heard about, having been born on this world.

His tribe moved around considerably, never staying too long in any one place, constantly moving through the nights, always keeping to the shadows, and only feeding when they must—on mainly cattle or sheep. In that way it could be blamed on local wild animals and as they never stayed in any one place too long. There was never any connection to the old myths. The tribe of the Lycas, or as humans called them, Lycanthropes, or werewolves, were just myths to these humans, it thought. If only they knew the old tales were true. It sighed in its own way, dreaming and imagining its own kills.

It stopped and lifted its nostrils again, sniffing the air and picking up on the scent it had been shown before. Its ears twitched as it heard the muffle of slightly tapping running shoes in the distance. It would not be much longer it thought, savouring a kind of happiness that ran through its body like an electrical surge. This was anticipation, it thought to itself.

***

Sarah was gently pacing herself as she ran through the streets, each step a gentle bounce aided by her running shoes. She had been running the same circuit for the last month; each time shadowed some way back by her husband and girls in the car. She knew this was dangerous, but she had volunteered in any event. Andrew, her husband didn’t like it, but he realised they stood the best chance of luring out whatever was hunting them.

Andrew had first realised some time ago that something was in the area and felt that they were being observed. He was aware of this because of certain skills that he had acquired over the years and had been taught how to hone these skills by the organisation. He had worked for the organisation for several years ever since meeting Michael, who was the current leader of the Darkness Organisation.

The Darkness Organisation was part of our history, although not many knew it. They were there centuries ago, standing in the darkness between man and the dark beings who threatened them. They were called many names through the years—Knights’ Templars were just one name that they had held. The Darkness Organisation was a relatively new name, but they had to move with the times, changing their name every few decades just to throw off suspicion. Only a few knew about them and even then, didn’t really understand what they were about or what they did.

There were always twenty-five key members of the organisation spread around the world. Andrew was one of the key members and Sarah was relatively new to the organisation. She was not ranked as one of the key members yet, but she had been brought in solely because of Andrew and her had married. She had learned quite a lot in the six years they had been together, her training had been seamless with defence and counterattack moves, now honed to perfection.

Her feet beat to the music in her earphones on a low setting and was there in the background, to help her keep to a seamless rhythm with her steps. She felt that tonight just may be the night that they brought out whatever it was in the area, but that was not the first time she had thought this way. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and her running shorts were tight but flexible, as was her top, that had started to stick to her back with the sweat and exertion of her running, but her general build, whilst looking small, was, in fact, quite athletically honed.

Sarah thought back to the route that she had been taking and believed that any attack may come from up ahead. She had just turned into Alexandra Road away from the sea front and would soon have to turn right onto Alverton Road, which would take her right past Penlee Park, and it was there that she was expecting any attack. She thought that may be a perfect spot for an ambush solely because that’s where she would have planned an attack had it been her doing the hunting.

Her pace never changed, and she concentrated on her breathing as her feet hit the pavement one after the other and the houses passed her by. She was unaware how far away her husband was, but they had already agreed that they could not get too close, they both knew that whatever hunted them would probably be able to tell if they were together, both of their scents would be similar, but it was best not to take any chances.

She turned right and knew that Penlee Park was just ahead. Any minute now, she thought, but nothing happened. She continued to run and then suddenly, she sensed a slight movement to her right. Sensing this movement, she dove hard, rolling before coming up onto her feet.

She stepped backwards as sharp claws reached out to grab her and she sprung up onto the side of the brick wall, twisting as she went with her left leg following through and striking onto the creature’s muzzle. She felt the impact of her foot against the creature’s jaw as she came down, pirouetting into a fighting stance.

Her hand went to her waist, and she clutched a short metal cylinder that had been hidden in her waistband. She clicked the mechanism on the cylinder and a one and a half metre fighting staff suddenly appeared in her hand. On either end were two bands of a different metal. One was iron and one was silver—a speciality for the organisation as they never knew what they would be up against, so they took every precaution. The Bo Staff was one such weapon, with which they always made sure they were proficient.

The creature turned with fury on its face, it had not expected resistance, it had thought this was going to be easy prey. The creature circled around watching for an opening and looking at the stick held in the girl’s hand. He had never seen anything like it before, but he wasn’t afraid—he was Lycas. He sprang forward and Sarah moved in and with the staff, struck the creature in the chest. The movement caught the creature off guard and as a result it was thrown overhead by the staff and the small girl.

It crashed into the pavement, knocking its wind out and it felt pain on its chest where the staff had hit. It jumped up immediately and circled again and knew now that it was going to be a much harder meal than it was used to. It looked at the girl with blazing yellow eyes, anger welling up, as it realised that those others had sent him on a fool’s mission. He watched, pacing around the girl, waiting for his advantage.

Then all at once it came—an opening, and he took it. Going in for the kill, its jaws opening and going for the girl’s throat, but this was a feint and Sarah had timed it just right. She twisted the Bo staff slightly and a thin blade shot out of the end with a slight movement. It went through the bottom of the jaw and through into the brain in one swift movement. Blood pooled out and the creature made a gurgling sound from its mouth, the look in its eyes had gone from shock to surprise in seconds. Sarah pulled the blade out as the creature collapsed to the floor.

Blood was now pooling around the creature and unlike the old wives’ tales, there was no change to a man—it stayed in the same form. Sarah wiped the blood off the blade, depressing it back into the staff and at the same time collapsing it back to its usual small concealable size. It was only then, that she realised that blood had spattered over her top and was staining the shirt. Damn, what am I supposed to do about the body now? She thought.

She saw the bushes a small way away and half dragged the corpse into them. There was not a lot she could do at the minute about the blood, but at least the body was out of sight and in the dark, not many would see that the ground had blood on. Andrew would just have to arrange for it to be cleaned up, she thought to herself; and he can also buy me a new shirt as well, she smiled. She took the shirt off, rolling it up and was now stood in just a sports bra and her shorts, but it was better than scaring everyone she might bump into with a blood-stained shirt on.

She headed out of the entrance to the park and was grateful to see a familiar car driving down the road towards her. The car stopped and she opened the passenger door and stood looking at her husband.

‘You didn’t meet us at the arranged time, so I thought we should backtrack you in case you were in trouble,’ Andrew stated, as she climbed into the car. He looked at her warmly, in just her sports bra.

She noticed him looking. ‘Later, Tiger!’ she said, with a smile on her face. She took a glimpse in the back seat where their two daughters were strapped into child seats, asleep. ‘And what could you have done if I was in trouble?’ She looked at Andrew. ‘You have these in the back seat or were you going to just leave them alone?’

Andrew looked at her and knew she was right, so he kept silent. No point in arguing, he thought. ‘Okay, what happened?’ He finally said.

‘Werewolf,’ Sarah said in an offhand way. ‘Its body is in the bush over there and there’s blood all over the ground in front of the bush.’

Andrew took out his phone and dialled a quick number. ‘Andrew White here. We require a cleaner to Penlee Park, north side on Alverton Road. In the bushes there is a body and immediately in front of the bushes, there is blood on the ground. The body needs to be burned—minimal contact and treat as hazardous.’ He ended the call and turned to Sarah. ‘So, are you okay?’

‘Yes, I’m fine, let’s go home,’ she said, settling down into the seat and reaching for the seat belt. ‘Are you going to notify Michael?’

Andrew looked at the road ahead. ‘No, not yet, he’s had a bad time recently. We can take up the slack at the minute and besides, we don’t know whether there are any more around as they usually travel as a pack, so let’s just stay on alert for now and see what happens.’

Sarah sighed as she sat there, looking forward to getting home and taking a shower.

‘I always thought they changed back into human form when they died?’ Sarah said looking at her husband.

‘Michael