Neither was the fighter the other once knew. The techniques were the same, but their skill at using them had been honed. The prospect of no hits in so many exchanges was a highly unusual one, and they both got the sense they would see a similar result from their next exchange. Their senses were heightened, accuracy perfected, and ability to adapt to their opponents’ actions far better than they ever could have imagined. Aaron couldn’t believe how far they had both come on, more progress than any of them had seen in years.
He was also impressed by how much they’d been able to achieve on their own. They came close to greatness without Aldred and the Brotherhood. He rested the dussack on his shoulder, a position that always looked lazy, like a baseball player strutting about with the bat resting there. It took the weight of the blade, affording the user a snappy cut action initiated by the wrist. It also looked casual and inviting to an opponent, though not to one as skilled as Luca. He launched a cut at him, but quickly rotated it in a circle to cut around the other side as Aaron cut down to parry the first. He rotated his blade at the last moment and whirled Luca’s blade around in a motion that would disarm many lesser swordsmen.
They had tried so many things and were still unable to land a single blow. They knew each other’s styles so well, and their newfound sense of timing and adaptability only served to make it even harder against one another.
“This is a fight, not a show. There must be a winner!” Aldred yelled.
“What do you say we finish this?” Luca asked.
Aaron nodded. Neither wanted to hurt one another, but they knew what was at stake, and neither was willing to take a fall, nor help the other be triumphant in any way. It would be a betrayal of everything they had worked for, and also would not go unnoticed by Aldred, who had been incredibly perceptive since the moment they met.
Aaron led the next pass and rushed forward with a bewildering number of cuts, but all as controlled as the last. He cut from all angles, and it was Luca’s turn to back away now. He traversed away, and Aaron followed him, but as Aaron transitioned between his eighth and ninth cut, Luca delivered a timed thrust down the center. It was the action Aaron had been provoking and waiting for. He narrowly parried the thrust and rushed onto it, moving in to take control of Luca’s arm. Luca responded by drawing back to keep his blade free, but Aaron rotated and cut up behind his blade. The edge cut into Luca’s arm.
Despite the wound, he managed to keep hold of the weapon, but Aaron didn’t back off. He had to finish this, one of them had to. He kept chasing Luca down as he tried to clear some distance, got hold of his weakened arm, and yanked him off his feet. He cried out in pain as the wrenching opened his wound further. Aaron dragged him to the ground, pinning him there, and placed the dussack blade against his neck. It was a stressful situation, and he’d exerted himself, yet was surprised to find he wasn’t even panting. His breathing was as calm as could be. Aldred had changed more in him than he had realized. He was fighting like a streamlined machine. He looked up to Aldred, as if to ask what to do.
“You fought well, both of you. We have a draw!”
Aaron could not believe it, but Wolfgang was smiling and pointing for him to look down. He followed his gaze to find Luca’s blade placed between them, the sharp tip just touching his pants at the groin.
“You sneaky son of a bitch,” he said with a smile. He backed away and hauled Luca to his feet. Aaron seemed to be surprised by the outcome.
“So you thought I would have you try to kill one another?” Aldred asked.
“Yes.”
“What good with that serve? Two trained and capable fighters, equal in skill, what would a death accomplish? You have been watching too many movies. I’d have thought a police officer would understand the difference between the real world and the fictional one.”
‘These days I’m not too sure. I’ve seen things far weirder than on the TV.”
* * *
Theo nodded in appreciation as Mikey came in to the room, his left arm in a sling. Rick was with him, along with several others from the club. Everyone looked curious, but also mentally exhausted as they gathered at the warehouse that had become Theo’s home. It wasn’t much for comfort, but she lived for her work. It was a depressing sight to see how many faces were missing. Some that had been lost in the war with Hades, others more recently. She’d give anything to have the sort of support she experienced during the battle to end Hades. Back then it always felt desperate, but now things were far worse. She looked at the clock to see they were several minutes past the official start time. There was still no sign of Thanatos, but that didn’t surprise her. She was losing all hope in him, and those she still believed in were far away. Aceso was sitting next to her, looking as grumpy as usual.
“This is it,” she said.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
The door swung open, and she looked up with excitement. A smile formed on her face. It was Carter. It was great of him to turn up, but she’d hoped for someone else. She banged on the table beside her several times to bring the room to silence and began her address.
“Thank you all for coming. I know this is not an easy time. For some of us, all we know is this struggle, but many of you have lives beyond all of this. As you know, this is a troubling time. Zhang has imposed himself on our friends. A situation I hope has been resolved. But the larger concern is the return of Hades. I’m here to tell you that the figure we fought and believed to be Hades, is in fact not Hades at all.”
“What? What are you talking about? I saw him. We fought him together,” Aceso insisted.
She nodded in agreement.
“We fought something that looked like Hades, but last night the doctor and I had an encounter with Aaron.”
“Okay?” Aceso sounded confused.
“Aaron is on the other side of the world. Whatever it was that came to the doctor’s home, it was not Aaron Miller.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because it was not human. We fought. I stabbed it with my own blade, and its blood was like nothing I’ve ever seen. It was as strong as a god, and a strong one at that. That’s why we didn’t think anything of it when we fought. But this has felt odd to me since it all began. It didn’t fight like Hades, and it didn’t want to end our lives. I think whatever it was pretended to be Hades is now taking the form of Aaron. The power, the fighting style, and the mannerisms, everything about it.”
“What are you saying?” Mikey asked.
“That we’re dealing with something that can take different forms,” replied Aceso.
“A shape shifter?” Rick asked.
Many of them looked around to each other in disbelief, as if it was too much to accept, and the room erupted into noisy conversations. Theo banged on the table again, much more violently this time.
“Please, hear me out. This is not some trick or joke. It is the truth.”
“If you believe in shape shifters, how do we know you aren’t one? The one you supposedly fought last night?”
Aceso looked at her with accusing eyes as if Rick had a point.
“Because I have been with her all night.”
Grace stood up in her defense.
“Thank you, Doctor,” replied Theo, and she was then able to go on in relative peace.
“I know this is a lot for you all to take in. But let me tell you this. Beings that can change their form, even those that outwardly appear human, do exist. I know they exist, because I have seen one. Not just the one last night but hundreds of years ago. They’re the rarest of creatures, but they do exist.”
“And you think there’s one in the city masquerading as Hades? I thought they used their skills to blend in, why would you want to look like Hades?” Carter asked.
“Because he’s powerful.” Aceso was beginning to put the pieces together.
“That’s right,” continued Theo, “Hades is the only enemy we fear. The only enemy we would want to make a deal with, and live in fear of.”
“Th
is is crazy. We deal with Hades, and now we have a replacement?” Rick asked.
“You’ve got to admit, this sounds a little crazy,” added Carter.
“As crazy as random armed men turning up at your bunker, and taking you and Vulcan down with no effort at all? Taking all the weapons Vulcan had made, kidnapping him, too? These are not the actions of Hades looking for the crown of Zeus. This is something different.”
“All right, say this is legit…”
“Did you not hear me, Rick? Last night we were attacked by a being as powerful as a god, but looked exactly like Aaron Miller,” snapped Theo.
“Maybe it was dark, and maybe you were mistaken.” Mikey was clinging on to the hope of a more reasonable explanation that they could make sense of.
“I was this close,” she said, holding her hand in front of her face, “In the doctor’s home. This thing that looked like Aaron had gone there looking for something, and it’s only lucky I called by when I did.”
“And you’re sure it can’t be Aaron?”
“Even if he were back in the city, Rick, this being had superhuman strength, and he could not have survived the two blades we thrust into his body. This thing was different. Powerful, and evil in a way that…”
“That what?” Carter asked.
“Reminded me of Hades.”
Once again, the room erupted, but the doctor rushed to the center of the room. She smashed her hand down multiple times, even louder than Theo had, until they were forced to listen.
“By god you will listen to Theo, and you’ll listen to me. I have devoted my life to understanding the facts, the things that can be explained. What I saw last night cannot be explained, not by anything on Earth we have ever known. That was not Aaron!”
“And it was not Hades either.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because Hades does not have that kind of ability, few do, Carter.”
“Okay, say all this is as it seems, as crazy as it is, what do you want from all of us?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Theo asked them, “Whoever this is, they want to hurt us, and take from us, and yet they don’t want us to know who they really are. They’re dangerous to us all.”
“Okay? So what do you want?”
“I want to hunt this thing down, and I want answers before we kill it.”
“Kill it?”
“It came into our homes, Mikey. To Thanatos’ bar and the doctor’s home. Whatever this thing wants, we are not safe. This is a threat to us all. We find it, and we kill it.”
“And you don’t think there is any other way?”
“Have you learned nothing from your brush with Zhang? These people will not simply go away. They will push you, and take from you everything you have until there’s nothing left, or you make them realize it isn’t worth their lives to keep on trying.”
“And you’re with her on this, Doc?” Rick asked Grace.
“I wish I had more answers. I wish I could tell you who or what this is. Now we have some theories, I can go looking and maybe find something. I mean, we have records on the gods, maybe we have records on whatever this is.”
“That’s not a yes or no.”
She took a deep breath and gave a straight answer.
“Whatever that thing was, it must die,” she said sternly.
The room was silenced, but Theo patted her on the back, knowing she had their support.
Chapter 13
“I’m never going to be as good as they are, am I?” Ava asked, as she watched Luca and Aaron training a complex, fast and fluid exercise with dussacks. She was standing beside Aldred, who didn’t respond initially. For a moment she thought he was ignoring her, as he continued to watch and study the same interaction. She sighed as she felt she was slipping behind. She’d been training as hard as the others. At least she thought so. Was she being ignored? She focused on a nagging feeling that she was just a hanger-on. She was there because Aaron was, but Aldred finally spoke up.
“The only thing stopping you from being as good as they are is your mind.”
“What? How does that make any sense?”
“Do you think you cannot be as good a fighter because you are a woman?”
“No. Aaron taught me, and he said the sword is the equalizer for everyone. That skill overcame size and strength.”
“It is good advice, but do you really believe it?”
She was about to respond when she stopped and held her tongue, as she began to question herself.
“You say it, but you do not believe it. You are a skilled fighter, and more than capable with a sword. But you doubt yourself at every turn. You fear you’re not as good as those around you. You fear you never will be, and that they will judge you for it.”
She didn’t reply, but clearly she knew it deep down, even if she’d never admit it.
“What is it you’re really concerned about? What do you really fear?”
“That I’m not as good as I pretend. That I wear the gear and I use the weapons, but that I’ll just never be a real fighter.”
“Yet you have fought in real combats, and won.”
“Yes, but I was not alone.”
“And that makes your victory any lesser?”
“I don’t know, does it?”
He smiled.
“You have enough self-doubt to fill a lifetime.”
“Is that not normal?”
“Yes, and no. It is normal to fear that we’re not good enough for the task ahead of us, but not to let it be so crippling that we do not improve.”
“Tell me, please, how can I move past it? How can I not feel this way?”
He took a deep breath, readying himself to give it to her straight, even more so than before.
“Do you believe you are in the right place?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then no, you will not. If you cannot believe in yourself, you will never realize your potential.”
“Potential? You think I can be like them?”
“I know you are, already. Just as I told Miller, his weakness is as yours in this regard, not a failing of technique. It takes years of training to develop the skills you both have, but what both of you are missing can be overcome in the mind. Aaron thinks and plans too much, but you. You worry too much.”
“And if I stop worrying, I can be that good?” She gestured toward the other two.
“At least as good.”
She smiled, thinking he was joking, but he remained straight-faced and continued.
“Some people were born to use a blade, a gun. Born to fight in the most incredible ways. Everyone can be better than they are, but not everyone was born to be great. If you had not been, you would not still be here. We don’t let anyone stay who’s not capable of the finest level.”
“So I’m not just here because of him?”
“Is that why you came, as his companion?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“You came here because you knew what he was looking for, and you wanted it, too.”
She was speechless but thought about it more. It was starting to make sense.
“Miller came here because he didn’t want to lose again. For himself, and for his friends, and so did you.”
“You really think I can do it, that I can be a great fighter?”
“I know you are. You have developed the speed, reactions, and tactical awareness in the fight that we consider of the utmost importance. All you need do is to believe in yourself. Let all the doubt drift away. It will serve you no good. Doubt gets a fighter killed. If you aren’t good enough to win and survive, you won’t live long enough to worry about it. Leave the worrying until you are dead.”
She laughed, but she could tell from his straight face that he was serious.
“You really believe this? You really believe I can be great?”
“Aaron trusts you to have his back, why do you think that is?”
“I guess I never really thought about it
.”
“He believes in you. It’s time for you to believe in yourself.”
* * *
Theo crouched down at the edge of a rooftop and was handed a pair of stabilized binoculars. She was looking down at the entrance to a relatively new office block on an expensive tech park. The building bore the name ‘Universal Dynamics.’ People were coming and going, and it all looked quite harmless as she passed the binoculars back to Carter.
“You say this is where you traced Aaron, or whoever it was?” He squinted, looking for anything unusual.
“Yes, he was trailing blood. He took a car, but I checked traffic cameras with friends of Miller. That’s the car right there.” She pointed to an expensive Mercedes saloon. It was gleaming in the sunshine.
“Recently cleaned, could mean something, could be nothing,” he replied.
“And the company?”
“Universal Dynamics? Sounds like a front. I’ve looked around, but there isn’t much to say. Whatever they’re doing is probably illegal, or government related, or both.”
“We need to know more about them. We have to find out who is doing this to us. Someone wants to do us harm or take what we have, and we need to know who and why.”
“I can post a few guys in the area. Stay real low key, and gather some information.”
“Yes, do that.”
“And if we find whoever this is? Then what?”
“End them, before they end us.”
“Roger that,” he replied with a smile, “Leave this to me. If there’s anything to discover here, I’ll work it out.”
“All right, but be careful. Don’t forget what happened to Vulcan. We need to be smart about this. Don’t do anything without reporting to me first.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” The old veteran tipped his hat.
She stayed low and moved away until she was out of sight. She reached Grace and Aceso who’d been waiting for her.
“Is this it, is he in there?” Grace asked.
“Maybe, we don’t know. In the meantime, we have some preparations to do.”
“What do you have in mind?” Aceso asked.
“When we find out whoever this is, and if they are in there, I want to hit them with everything we’ve got.”
Fallen Gods II Page 17