by A. J. Roe
“If everything goes to plan, I guess we won’t… no news is good news, right?”
“Not that I’m not feeling optimistic,” Sanjay said, “but in the worst-case scenario, what happens then?”
“If what Thyos said was all true, then we can probably expect things to go south pretty fast. Disease, famine, war, basically the apocalypse.” Rick slapped his friend on the shoulder and laughed nervously, “But don’t worry I’m about ninety-percent sure she was full of shit.”
The academic offered an apprehensive smile in return. He finished pouring the new cups of tea and passed one over to his friend.
“Thank you.”
“That’s no problem. I’m just glad we have the chance to do this again.”
“Me too.” Rick nodded and looked his friend in the eyes. “Seriously though, thank you for everything. The past couple of years have been hard, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“My pleasure. But next time you get involved in something like this, please, leave me out of it. In fact, don’t even tell me! I’ve been pulling my hair out for weeks now.”
“You have a deal.” Rick held out his hand, Sanjay pumped it up and down with enthusiasm.
That afternoon Rick limped up to the school gates, a good half hour early. The bruises and cuts on his face (with the exception of a shining black eye and a crooked, swollen nose) had mostly faded, ensuring his appearance probably wasn’t going to give any of the kids nightmares. He leaned up against the red brick wall, watching as the pupils filtered out of the blue doors and across the playground one by one.
The moment he picked out Ellie’s flowing blonde hair was one of the happiest in his life but his jubilation was soon cut short. The wide smile that virtually lived on her face was all but absent. Rick would have done anything to take back the pain and sorrow he’d caused his daughter.
Ellie glanced up from the floor as she walked side by side with a dark-haired girl with glasses he didn’t recognise. She did a double take as her eyes passed over his face. The little girl dropped her backpack on the floor and sprinted full pelt towards him, completely ignoring the teacher on the gate trying to stop her from leaving without being signed out.
By the time she had reached her father they were both in tears. As he finally swept Ellie up in his arms the world around them seemed to disappear. Rick took a deep breath, savouring her scent and the softness of her hair on his face. At that moment, he made an oath to himself. I will never let her down like this again.
“I can’t believe you’re back,” Ellie said, fighting to get the words out between sobs.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Rick laughed through his own tears and tightened his embrace. “I’m so sorry I missed your birthday. I was in trouble but it wasn’t my fault. I promise.”
“I don’t care,” Ellie pulled back and smiled, looking up at his face, as if to make sure it was really him and not just her imagination playing cruel tricks on her. The warmth returned to her face. “I only care that you’re back.”
After everything he had done wrong, Rick knew he didn’t deserve her love. Now he’d been given a second chance to earn it and he was going to make damn sure he did just that.
As father and daughter walked home hand in hand, Rick pondered the future, uncertain of what lay ahead. All that mattered now was making the most of what time he and Ellie had together.
It had been exactly fifteen days since Rick left Thyos for dead with less than four minutes remaining and life seemed to be carrying on as usual. He glanced up at the leaves of the trees fading from yellow into brown, dying so that they could be replaced by new life come spring, and wondered if they had done anything other than postpone the inevitable.
As Ellie lay sleeping in the spare bedroom he’d cleared out for her, Rick stood by the window in the living room watching the long rays of an orange sun fade away over the horizon. He drank in the beauty of the scene and tried not to think about the questions that still swirled in his head. Were there other relics out there? Could Thyos still be alive somewhere, just waiting to be rediscovered? Rick put his fears aside and enjoyed the moment as the last remaining flecks of sunlight disappeared over the rooftops to the west. How much damage could she possibly do in four minutes anyway?
About the book
Prior to writing “Absolution”, I had spent some time reading about religion. In particular, the similarities between the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu cultures among the ethnic minority groups of Vietnam (where I lived during the writing of the novel and currently reside).
One afternoon, I was sitting in a hairdresser just outside of Hanoi, waiting for my daughter and idly flicking through articles on my phone when I got thinking about how awesome the concept is of having Creator, Preserver and Destroyer Gods (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva in Hinduism). The idea came to me that the idea of resetting our species every now and again, (or having some kind of overlord to keep us in check) made quite a lot of sense. I wondered how the concept applied to other religions and peoples and found striking similarities in a number of other cultures. This led me to wonder how much of this stemmed from the same source material and what that source material could be.
I knew of similar patterns surrounding mythical weapons from my previous research on world martial arts (I have written a number of non-fiction books on the subject). It has long been a subject of debate as to whether legends surrounding certain weapons, characters and situations have developed independently or have been migratory. The similarities between “true” folk tales such as Kusanagi-No-Tsurugi, Excalibur, Tyrfing and other “divine” weapons served as the basis for the relic.
A few years ago, I spent some time in Japan, which inspired me both in terms of settings and the warrior culture, particularly the interaction of extreme modernity and ancient history side by side.
I also visited Nepal, finding the stunning beauty and sheer scale of the Himalayas offered me an epic setting for the climax of the book. Mount Kailash itself is a real place considered to be the abode of “The Destroyer” Lord Shiva and remains to this day unclimbed by modern man. Numerous theories surround the sacred mountain, such as that it is man-made and contains great halls and machines of the Gods. This partially inspired the use of the mountain as the location of Thyos’s “body”.
Other settings used in the story, such as the Mongolian/Trans-Siberian express, are those which I have an interest in and desire to visit. A large amount of time during the Covid-19 pandemic period was spent wistfully researching and reading about these locations, waiting for a chance to travel.
In terms of Rick, being a father and husband has given me good insight into what might drive him. Personally, I have always been able to see a clear line between my family’s welfare and the desire to follow certain dreams, however for Rick I simply pushed this line further and asked myself what life may be like in such cases.
Furthermore, several advanced readers of “Absolution” have commented that Rick was somewhat misogynistic, foul-mouthed and disagreeable, all of which I (hope) have stemmed from his creation as a character rather than being my own views and opinions.
As an independent author, every review and word of praise counts for so much. If you have enjoyed “Absolution”, I humbly request that you please leave a review on Amazon, Google, Goodreads, Apple books, or other places—this small act makes a HUGE difference!
Finally, I am always happy to discuss my work or hear comments from readers and welcome you to contact me via my website or social media.
For more information about any of my work or to sign up for exclusive deals, free advance reader copies of books or updates, please visit:
www.AJRoe.com(Fiction)
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Acknowledgments
For her ongoing support in designing the cover and artwork for the book I would like to thank my wife Ha. For the numerous proofreads, edits and assistance in flushing out my ideas, I would like to thank Ann Roe, who tirelessly proofreads and tidies up almost every word I write. I would also like to thank the fantastic authors, Grant. J. Riley and Matthew A. Clarke for their kind reads of drafts, suggestions and words of praise.
Copyright © 2021 A. J. Roe
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Printing, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9995966-8-2
Copyright © 2021 A. J. Roe
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Printing, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9995966-8-2