Eternity Rising

Misha Heath is the creator of a phenomenally popular series of novels set in another world. These peculiar, often surreal stories that capture the imagination mix outlandish sci-fi with fantasy and draw the reader into a universe that's quite different to our own. The only problem is, they're not fiction. Not quite. Despite a hundred warnings, Misha continues to write, right up until the moment her fantasy universe bleeds into this one, throwing the entire human population into a scenario of alien invasion that terrifies the world. The human race is unprepared and, as Misha's son Sandy points out, gives up so easily we ought to be ashamed of ourselves. Had Misha's books been less popular, the coincidence of her main villains conquering the Earth might have been missed in the chaos. However her books are well known, and the words "gross treason on a planetary scale" are bandied about by everyone from the government to the children in Sandy's school. The real trouble is, Misha and her whole family, her husband Rick and her children, Sandy and Joan, are not ordinary people. They are Bachirim, soldiers and saints in service to the King, born to fight on the front lines of the war between the Kingdom that wants the human race to reach their full, glorious potential, and the Kingdom that revels in its destruction. That's her real job, her real mission. Not, as Rick points out, "writing some dreadful sub-star-trek rubbish." Demons are a horrible race. They get in to a person through evil thoughts, then, once inside, they slowly spread, like an infection, and the person's mind becomes more and more shaped by its demonic guest. They don't do the full head-turning possession thing these days, too many psychiatrists and drugs and interested satellite television channels. But the demons, the Mazikim as they're properly called, are still advancing their kingdom. Then Misha's creation breaks through to the real world and the Mazikim find a whole army of huge, genetically superior creatures who are so easy to possess they don't even fight. True, there's no fun in corrupting them, no fun slowly ruining their lives, but it's too good an opportunity to miss. The human race is no longer master of the earth, and the terror and confusion are delicious. One of the Mazik captains decides to take a closer look at the woman who had enough power to create a whole universe, and discovers that, godlike power she might have, but Misha is no god of her creation. In fact, the very idea of that responsibility frightens her. Yes, Misha knew her world was "real" because she was only writing the things she saw and experienced when she was there, but she was pretty sure she'd made it impossible for her two worlds to touch. As the battle for Misha's universe deepens, the question is raised; which is most dangerous? The seven thousand year old demonic kingdom, or one woman's imagination?