Fallen Gods II

by Nick S. Thomas

  He shrugged. “That’s absurd.”

  “Is it? Because you never hesitated to be involved with all this. You have a calling to it.”

  “Just because I’m good at something, doesn’t mean I like doing it.”

  “But you do, don’t you?”

  He had to think long and hard, and he began to wonder if she was right. He wouldn’t admit it even if it were true. That would mean he enjoyed the fighting, and the killing, and that was an unsettling feeling.

  “You really think Vulcan would be with this friend of yours?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “But why there?”

  “Because I’m guessing you tried everywhere you could think of. The sorts of places you’d go?”

  “Yes, everywhere I can think of.”

  “But you never thought to go to Carter?”

  “No.”

  “Because he’s a human, and you still can’t see why one of you would be drawn to us? But I think some humans and Olympians are closer than you may think. Vulcan has dedicated his life to honing his skills with a hammer and anvil. Now he’s down here, he knows someone just like him, someone who lives and breathes weapons, and how to work on them. If it was me, it would have been the first place I looked.”

  “Mmm,” she said in surprise.

  “I never thought of it that way.”

  “People with like minded interests, they tend to flock together. When did you or Thanatos ever give him much time when you were up there, in Olympus?”

  “We…we didn’t. He was just the master smith.”

  “And that’s all he was to you?”

  “Things work a little differently there, you know.”

  “Do they? Really? Because the more I hear about it, the more it sounds similar to everything we have down here. You still fight and struggle for power. Try and intimidate, bully and show off. Tell me how it’s different.”

  “We’re not free to go and do as we please. We serve the Allfather.”

  “Yeah? Not anymore. We’ve had plenty of dictatorships down here, and they all end the same way. Revolution is inevitable. You might have to live down here with us mortals, but at least you’re free.”

  “Free, to do what?”

  “Whatever you want.”

  She looked stunned.

  “You’ve never really thought about it, have you?”

  “What?”

  “What you would do if you ever had the choice? Now you’ve got it, and you have absolutely no idea what to do with your life,” he smiled.

  “I…I…what do you do?”

  “You know what I do. I was doing it when you found me.”

  “Martial arts and fighting crime?”

  He laughed.

  “But is that not what you do?”

  “I mean, well, yeah. But when you put it like that, it sounds kind of funny.”

  “Is it?”

  “Sometimes,” he smiled.

  They drove on without another word. Each pondered on so many things, including such deep subjects, as what they wanted in life. Aaron surprised even himself. He’d started the conversation to prompt her, but now he had so many thoughts swirling around his head.

  “This is it,” he finally said. They pulled off into the carefully concealed entrance road to Carter’s cabin. Though to call it that was a joke, as it was so much more.

  “Shouldn’t you turn off the lights? They’ll see us coming,” she said as the headlamps lit up the woods ahead.

  “You kidding me? You try and sneak up on Carter, and that’s a sure-fire way to get buckshot between the eyes, or worse. Anyway, we won’t see shit under this tree cover if we kill the lights. What are you afraid of anyway?”

  She shrugged.

  “Don’t worry, Carter can handle himself. Besides, I thought we were looking for Vulcan, not a fight.”

  “If Vulcan has gone missing, then a very real threat exists.”

  “And you think it does?”

  “I don’t know. That’s what worries me.”

  She looked anxious, and that got Aaron’s pulse racing.

  What can she be so scared of now Hades has gone?

  As they drew up, they could see the light in the cabin was flickering, and the door was ajar. Aaron hit the brakes, and they slid to a halt. He instantly reached for his pistol.

  “This doesn’t look right,” said Theodosia.

  “No, no it doesn’t.”

  His hand reached down to the center of the dash as if expecting to find the radio, forgetting he wasn’t back in his cruiser. This is what the scenario felt like, as if he was at work. He was trying to call it in out of habit, but his hand grasped nothing but air.

  Who would I even call in? We’re on our own, just the two of us. In the middle of nowhere, and nobody knowing where we’ve gone or why.

  He sighed, realizing what a bad situation they could be in. Theo was tough, but they could only handle so much between them. For a moment he considered turning back, but Carter was a friend, and he wasn’t going to leave without knowing what had gone on.

  Aaron opened his door cautiously, holding his weapon low but at the ready as he looked around for some sign of movement. All was quiet. Uncomfortably so, and that made him suspicious. But then it was always like that out there, especially for one who lives in the city. Finally satisfied, he reached in and drew the blade and its scabbard from his bag. He threw it over his shoulder with the sling he’d attached to it, and advanced toward the cabin with his pistol low but at the ready. As much as he was concerned for his friend, he didn’t want to be mistaken for an intruder.

  “Carter! You in there!”

  There was no response.

  “Carter! It’s Miller, are you around?”

  Fear was setting in. He knew how capable the old veteran was, and how seriously he took the defense of his property. Something was wrong, and he knew it. As he looked to Theodosia, he could tell she knew it, too. Her sword was drawn, and she looked as anxious as he did. That worried him even more, that someone as strong and powerful as she was could feel fear in a moment like this. But then he’d seen the source of that fear, and he never wanted to see it again. He forced himself to keep going forward.

  “Carter, we’re coming in! Don’t shoot!”

  He looked around the scene one last time. When finally content they were alone, he pushed the door fully open and went in with his weapon raised.

  “Carter?”

  There was a crunch beneath his foot, and he looked down. He was walking over the shards of a light bulb. The place had been trashed.

  “What happened here?” Theodosia asked.

  Aaron shook his head. He could smell the acrid and sour smell of gunpowder in the air. They’d be a firefight, and he soon noticed the casings on the floor to prove it. He looked back and forth for any sign of trouble, and when he reached the kitchen he spotted a body on the floor. It was face down, but he recognized the worn old combat jacket immediately.

  “Carter!”

  He rushed to the body and turned him over. To his relief, the old veteran gasped for air, as if he’d just been woken. He reached up and punched Aaron firmly on the jaw. His knees buckled as he fell back. Carter scrambled to reach for a shotgun that was on the floor and backed up against a kitchen counter, racking a shell into the chamber.

  “Carter, Carter, it’s me!” Aaron yelled, keeping his weapon down.

  He spotted Theodosia stepping in to tower over him, not fearful of the firearm at all. Carter’s eyes were wide and glazed over. He was stunned and disorientated, but as he recognized Aaron, he lowered his weapon, much to his relief. Carter coughed and spluttered, trying to get back to his senses and remember what had gone on. He looked about the ruins of the cabin in surprise, as if having no idea of how it had happened.

  “Who did this?” Aaron asked.

  But Carter was already shaking his head. There was a trickle of blood seeping down his face and ear where he’d clearly taken a heavy blow.
<
br />   “I, I don’t…” he said, feeling for the blood on his face.

  He clearly didn’t even remember being hit. He looked around at his cabin in astonishment, and then reached for an empty shotgun shell by his feet.

  “What…” he began.

  But he stopped himself as he clearly began to get some memories back.

  “What happened here?” Theodosia asked as Aaron went to the windows, checking for any other signs of movement or of who had attacked him.

  “I…I don’t know who they were.”

  “All right, but it looks like you had one hell of a fight. Yet they left you here, alive?”

  “They weren’t after me, Aaron.”

  “Then what were they doing here?”

  “Vulcan, they came for Vulcan…” he said as memories came flooding back.

  Aaron looked to Theodosia in horror.

  “Then it is as we feared,” she said.

  “We don’t know anything. We don’t have any idea who could have done this,” replied Aaron.

  “Who attacked you? What did they look like?” Theo asked.

  “I didn’t see much. They were all in black. Their faces were covered, and they must have been wearing body armor.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I hit two of ‘em, and they didn’t go down.”

  “Or they’re Olympian.”

  “Would any Olympian hide their face?”

  She shook her head. “Why would they?”

  “Is this Hades’ doing? Is he back?”

  “I…I…”

  They all fell silent, but in that silence they heard the clatter of cans outside. Aaron knew what that meant. It was one of Carter’s tripwires, a simple early warning system.

  “Someone’s out there,” whispered Aaron.

  Carter grabbed the shotgun and pulled a box of shells from the counter above him. He poured half of them on the floor and rushed to load the weapon.

  “Why wait till now? They could have come and finished him anytime?” Theo asked.

  “Unless they were waiting for whoever came looking for him. Probably expected him to wake up sooner or later and call for help.”

  “Have you got any more firearms?”

  He pointed over to an open cabinet. She lifted out an old M14 and loaded it ready, as Carter got to his feet and crept to a broken window to peer out.

  “There, you see,” he whispered, pointing to a shadow moving in the open ground between them and the truck.

  “Freeze, stop right there!” Aaron shouted.

  But the response came in a burst of automatic gunfire. He jumped for cover as shots ripped through what remained of the glass.

  “What the hell did you expect?” Carter asked furiously.

  “Not everyone is out to kill you, you know?”

  “Right, but these assholes are!”

  The front door to the cabin was kicked open as one of their attackers rushed the doorway. All three of them opened fire, hitting the mysterious figure with what seemed like a dozen times until it went down in the doorway. All went quiet for a moment; then a shotgun blast nearby was followed by an impact at the back door in the kitchen area. Carter spun his shotgun around and fired. The shell struck a man square in the chest, and the blast knocked him back. He fell from the balcony and vanished from sight. Aaron spun around to check the one in the doorway to see if he was still a threat.

  “What the hell? Where’s he gone?”

  Carter peered around the counter to where their attacker had gone down. There was no sign of a body, not even blood.

  “I don’t like this at all,” he groaned and loaded two more shells. Theo was advancing to the open doorway without fear.

  “Easy now,” insisted Aaron.

  She reached the doorway, the long barrel of her rifle going though the opening first. She went to investigate, but before she’d reached the opening, a blade slashed down and cut the weapon in half. A figure appeared before her with a blade in hand and drove the pommel into her face. She staggered back.

  “Get out of the way!”

  She was blocking Carter’s line of sight. She heard him but refused the command, stood her ground, and drew her blade.

  “Move!” Carter yelled again.

  A glimmer of movement beside them caused both to turn sharply as two attackers came in through the back door. Aaron got two shots off at the first, but Carter couldn’t get his long gun about in time. The other masked attacker grabbed the muzzle and ripped it from his hands, drove the stock into his face, knocking him out cold once more.

  Aaron was empty in no time. The one he’d shot had been knocked back for a moment, but Carter’s attacker was soon on him. He didn’t have time to draw his sword, so took hold of the man, using his weight to spin his elbow into his shoulder blade, and wrestled him down to the ground. In the fray the man was thrown toward the kitchen unit and slammed head first into the edge, collapsing lifelessly beside Carter.

  Aaron’s hand reached for his sword and drew it out. The other one was coming through the doorway once again. He cut as he drew, just managing to beat the blade aside. He whirled the sword up over his head and brought down a powerful cut to his opponent’s lead arm, but he closed in, locking his arm with his offhand and blade together.

  For a moment he got a look at the blade. It was not bronze in color like their Olympian blades, but black, and inset with inscriptions in a language he didn’t recognize that seemed to glimmer like moonlight on water. It was like nothing he’d ever seen before, even since meeting the gods.

  “Who the hell are you? What do you want from us?”

  There was no response. He wrestled back and forth, but his opponent was far stronger than he was. So he kicked to the shin, causing the knee to buckle slightly. The sword lowered for just a moment, so he slashed up, catching him on the face. They flew back and landed hard. But a second later there was a crashing sound from behind, and he turned just in time to see Theodosia flying back toward him. He caught her before she fell and helped her back to her feet.

  “You okay?” He lifted his sword back up to rejoin the fight, but to his amazement there was no sign of their attackers, not even the one who was down beside Carter, “What the fuck?”

  He heard the sound of an off-road bike firing up. He sheathed his sword and snapped up Carter’s shotgun as he ran for the front door. A dirt bike tore off into the night with no lights on. He shouldered the weapon and got off a shot, but as he racked another shell, they were gone. He looked back and forth for any more sign of them, but he could hear several of the bikes racing away in to the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief as Theodosia stepped up beside him.

  “Who the hell were those guys, Theo?”

  “No idea, but I guess we’re gonna find out pretty soon.”

  “They left live bait, and then didn’t try and finish us off? Why?”

  “I guess they weren’t expecting this much of a fight.”

  “You reckon they thought one of us would come here alone?”

  “I didn’t know Vulcan was here. Do you come around here much?”

  “I did last week, sure.”

  “And if Carter was to call anyone, it would be you?”

  “Yeah.” It was dawning on him now, “They expected me to come solo?”

  Theo nodded.

  “But why would they want to kill me?”

  “You sure that’s what they were trying to do?”

  “They got the drop on us. I guess they could have ended us when we arrived. You think they wanted us alive, but why? What the hell do we know?”

  Carter coughed as he woke up. He groaned as though awaking from the very worst of hangovers, and he looked even worse.

  “Maybe they thought you were someone else,” he groaned.

  “Like who?”

  “Someone who was worth taking,” he laughed, but coughed violently as he spat out blood.

  “Why else would they be here?” Aaron racked his brain for answers, but the same th
ought came in to Theo’s mind as they both said it.

  “The swords.”

  A look of concern came over the old soldier as a surge of adrenaline spurred him on. He was on his feet in no time and rushed to his bedroom door. It was open, and a trap door between him and the bed was open.

  “No, no, no, no, no, no,” he muttered as he rushed down the steps, still shaky on his feet. The two others stepped to the edge to peer down into his armory. The heavy-duty lock had been ripped from the floor, the concrete base with it. They could see racks of firearms still in place, but there was a look of horror on Carter’s face, as if he’d lost something so important to him, like a child.

  “They’ve gone, all of them. The blades.”

  “That’s most of what we used in the fight against Hades,” declared Aaron, “I guess we won’t be needing them anymore,” he said in hope.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” snapped Theodosia.

  “What?”

  “Who would know to come here? To know exactly where to look, and handle this kind of operation?”

  Aaron nodded. “You’re right. This was no amateur job.”

  “They took all the blades, none of the guns. Not one,” gasped Carter.

  “Because they knew what they were coming for,” said Theo.

  “What does this mean?”

  “It means someone knows about those blades, and just where to look.”

  “Like who?” Carter asked.

  “The Black Vipers?”

  “Those punks?” Carter spat.

  “No, someone much more capable.”

  “What are we looking at here, Theo?”

  “I don’t know, Aaron, but whatever it is, this is probably just the beginning.”

  “Why?”

  “Because no one goes to this much trouble for anything short of a huge score, Carter,” replied Aaron.

  “Supporters of Hades?” Carter asked.

  “Maybe, but I didn’t recognize them.”

  “But they were trained, fearless, and those blades?”

  She had nothing to say, but that just made Aaron angry.

  “Hey, if you know something about this, tell us! We have a right to know!”