by Jory Smith
Gods of War
War of the Gods Series
AUTHOR
JORY SMITH
PUBLISHED BY
SATYR PUBLISHING
© 2014 JORY SMITH
1ST EDITION
WWW.SATYRPUBLISHING.COM
Special Thanks
I would like to give a special thanks to all who helped me with this book; my sister Tristen who proofread my book, Ron who gave me the idea to put my stories on paper and of course to you readers.
I am grateful that you would spend your hard earn money on this book. I would like to know what you think. I hope I lived up to your expectations.
Now without further interruption here is what you have waited for.
Chapter 1
Exiting the portal, the Old Man stepped onto the colorless grass. The place didn’t change since his last visit, or from his first. The grassy trail spanned a few feet until it merged with a forest that loomed from the shadows. With no sound emitting from the forest, all he heard was his own breathing. As he walked along the grassy trail, he fought the urge pf complacency that emitted from this place. In a place like this, being complacent could kill him.
This place was full of danger. He made the mistake of being reckless the first time he visited this place. Being much younger and foolish back then, he had wandered off the premade trail, and almost died. The Old man was walking through the forest when from the shadows something grabbed him and pulled him in. Feeling claws over his body they started tearing the flesh from his body. With the darkness surrounding him, the Old Man fought back as much as he could. Until a bright light came causing the darkness to flee leaving him sprawled out on the grassy trail.
He didn’t know what was worse, being able to die here or the excessive sweating. He almost went crazy the first time he had to deal with it and it still agitated him, his kind never sweats. That is why he only came back here when he had to, this Plane of Existence.
Why did he want to meet here? He shouldn’t have even known about this plane. That is why I hid it here. The Old Man mused as he walked along the path. Receiving that message from his brother demanding they meet here. There was only one reason he would want to meet here.
He was too old to go through this again. His whole life he had been ruler and defended his crown from would be deposers. Then again he wasn’t really that old, being immortal. He just felt old with all that he had been through. With that experience he liked to assume he was wise, and he used that wisdom to bring peace among his people. The only problem was some of them did not want peace; all they wanted was power. And this time more of them wanted power than peace. This time was going to be different. He had prepared for this, saving his energy to fight them off and with some help; he was going to defeat them permanently. But even with all of this planning, it still was going to be close, especially since the Change.
Everyone agreed the Change had to happen. The humans were dying off because of his kind, so all of the Originals combined their powers to create the Token that prevented them from visiting earth. To keep it safe, the Old Man brought it here for safekeeping, since no one knew of this plane’s existence, or so he thought. The Change was a good thing, it had to be done.
The Old Man knew his brother never liked the idea of the Change, he made them compromise where the Token would have to renew each Convergence. For four cycles they had renewed the treaty. But each time it got harder and harder to renew. His brother had kept winning more allies to his position.
How his brother had gathered that many supporters was beyond him. His brother never was a politician; he preferred brute force over diplomacy. Someone had to be helping him, which was the only way his could have found out about this place, but who? I have to keep focus there are more dangerous creatures than him here.
“It took you long enough, Brother. What kept you? Spending too much time with your playthings?”
The deep voice came from a man standing by the Token. The Token was a statue in the shape of all of the Originals’ seals connected to each other, with a dim red glow emitting around the Token. Usually it would be glowing much brighter than it was.
The man was taller and more built than the last time the brothers met. He wore a black chainmail that overlapped an even blacker tunic. The hair on his head was shaved off and he still kept the scar that ran across his face.
I don’t know why he keeps that scar; perhaps to remind him of his nemesis, the Old man thought. None of that matters. I have to keep my mind on what’s important. My main concern has to be the Token. When the Old Man looked at it long enough, he could actually see the red glow getting duller. The treaty was about to expire.
“Considering you are not even supposed to be here, I think I am actually early,” the Old Man replied.
He was going to kill whoever showed his brother this plane. But who could have? No one else knew of it. The only people who knew about the plane were his father and mother. And they were long gone.
“Who gave you access to this plane?”
“You know, the treaty will not be renewed this time,” the other man said ignoring the question. “My armies are standing by, waiting for the chance to spill blood. Soon we will take our proper place.”
“They have done better without us. They have fulfilled their potential, and more.” The Old Man walked up to his brother and turned him around. Looking directly in his eyes he spoke. “I will fight you. I still have support and we won’t let this happen. You are not the only one with an army.”
“You call the meager force you have an army?” The brother said chuckling as he removed the Old Man’s hand from him. “The treaty will first have to expire for you to fight, and then fighting me will bring destruction on your beloved people. Either way, you lose.” the man turned back to stare at the Token. “Besides, they have never been without us. You have meddled in their affairs declaring yourself their god.”
“Some will make it, but you my dear brother, will not. That I swear. I killed our father and I will kill you.”
“From what I remember, you had help defeating our dear old father. This time you won’t have any.” the brother turned to the old man and dismissed him. “You may leave now. I did this as a courtesy for the ones who don’t want to see us fight, but they agreed they will back me if it does come to war.”
I have to get started, the Old Man thought as he opened a portal. Time is not on my side.
Chapter 2
The morning sun shone brightly through the curtain’s cracks causing Terry to wake up. He reached over to his left and only felt empty space. Groggily he opened his eyes and found an empty spot. Looking around he saw the women that shared his bed standing in front of a mirror getting dressed.
“Hey, what are you doing up so early?” Terry asked the red-headed woman as he laid in bed stretching.
Jessica was the best girlfriend Terry ever had. She was smart, beautiful, and working for a respectable law firm. She really did look amazing in that skirt, especially being topless, with her locket hanging between her breasts. She never let that necklace leave her body. Her real parents left her that trinket when she was put into the system. Luckily she was adopted by a great family, or she may not have turned out so great herself.
“I have to get to work early. Being a junior lawyer is no picnic. Especially since our paralegal is out pregnant and I am doing her work as well,” she stated as she finished getting dressed.
“I know,” the Terry replied. “We should go away sometime, just you and I. It will be my treat.”
“I can’t. You remember Frank, my boss. He believes this case won’t settle and it’s going to be a messy one. I told you this.” She looked around
to make sure she had everything. “Well, I am out of here. Hope you have a great day, with whatever it is you’re going to be doing.”
That sounded colder than usual. I hope I have not been getting on her bad side, Terry thought still lying in bed. I really can’t afford to screw this up with her.
Rolling out of bed, Terry went to look for something to do. The problem was nothing kept his attention for too long. Every day was long for Terry, especially since nothing motivated him. Ever since Terry won money in the lottery, he lost interest in everything except Jessica.
Even before the lottery, he didn’t have much interest in anything. He worked at a temp agency so he could pay his bills. He could put up with that place because every day was different. No matter what he did, Terry would score top marks. Because everything came so easy to him, Terry would then lose interest because of no challenge. He didn’t even serve half of his contract in the military before he started going crazy. He was grateful the military gave him a choice to leave when he became a multimillionaire overnight.
To fight his boredom, Terry packed a bag and traveled the world. He mastered multiple martial arts, cooking classes, and even several trade skills. Nothing kept his attention long enough to be able to do it for the rest of his life. Even girls he had dated before didn’t last long with him, Jessica was the only exception. She was the first woman he had been with that he actually loved. But when everything in life is so easy, life becomes dull. Money didn’t help reduce the boredom either.
I guess I should go out for a run, Terry thought looking in the mirror. Maybe I can come up with something interesting to do.
Putting on some running shorts, Terry was about to grab his shoes when he heard his phone ring. Looking at the caller ID, he noticed it was an unknown number. Hesitantly Terry answered the phone, finding out that it was Jake—his best friend—calling from Afghanistan.
“Hey Jake, how are you doing? I met a new girl and she is great. Your wife will love her,”
“That is good to hear man. Things are the same as usual over here. Too much politics and not enough action, the new rules of engagement are worthless. We practically have to video tape them firing at us before we can even fire back. I still can’t believe you stayed in North Carolina. Especially since you complained non-stop every day about being in the Marines.”
After a few minutes more of catching up, Jake brought something personal up to Terry.
“I was wondering if you can do a favor for me. I think my wife is cheating on me. I am wondering if you can follow her around. I just got off the phone with her and she said she won’t be home at all today. Said she would be running errands. Something just didn’t sound right.”
“Yeah, I will do it,” said Terry. He was looking outside of the window and noticed an old man looking right at him. After blinking, the old man was gone. “One quick question. You remember that old man we saw in Iraq. Do you remember what he looks like? You know the one that was out of place?”
“Yeah, I do,” Jake replied. “The guy who looked like he was an American, right outside of Baghdad? Old man, white hair, white beard, body looked like it belongs on a twenty year old. Why do you ask?”
“Every now and then I will be walking around and I swear I see him looking at me. Just barely out of the window I saw him again. Maybe I am going crazy.”
“We all are. And thanks for doing this. I hope you have a good day. I really hope you don’t see anything,” Jake added. “Maybe I am just going crazy thinking about this stuff and being here.”
“At least it’s keeping you alive. That’s all that matters now. Remember, don’t be a hero. Besides I bet she isn’t doing anything bad. She is probably just setting up a surprise party for you.”
“Well why hasn’t she brought it to you, unless you’re not telling me anything?”
“I don’t know what’s going on. You know she hates me. She thinks I am a bad influence or something.”
“Well I wonder why when…”
“Hey that wasn’t my fault. Besides, we were young and dumb. And if that incident hadn’t happened, you would have never have met her,” Terry said defensively. “If I remember correctly those squids deserved it.”
“That is true,” Jake said, his voice smiling. “Well my time is about up. Hope your living the life.”
After saying goodbye, Terry changed his clothes again and hopped in his car.
At least I am out of the house today, he thought. Perhaps I can find out what I want to do with my life. That will please Jessica, especially if it gets me out of this rut.
General Amadi Oleke, four star general of the People’s Republic of Congo. If it wasn’t one warlord fighting to take over the country it was another. Now it was his turn, but just long enough that he could milk the country of its money and retire in paradise.
Too bad I will have to stop my war then, he thought
The only downside of winning: you run out of people to fight. He hoped these government soldiers will put up a better fight this time. Seriously, how could this group have taken over? Amadi asked himself. They are some of the lousiest fighters I have ever come against.
“General Amadi, we have rooted the government soldiers out. They are running for the hills. We have taken many prisoners,” the staff sergeant reported.
General Amadi studied the staff sergeant as he stood there. He remembered him from his time when he fought for the government. The staff sergeant and a number of other men defecated with the general.
“That is great news, Staff Sergeant. When did you forget to salute?”
“Sorry Sir, No excuse, Sir. I just got too excited.”
“That is fine. I think you forgot one thing Staff Sergeant.” Amadi said picking up his pipe. “We have no prisoners.”
“Yes, Sir. I will pass along the orders,”
The staff sergeant gave a salute and ran to issue the new directive.
We don’t need prisoners, General Amadi thought. They are too weak to…
An explosion erupted near his tent, throwing the general to the ground. Amadi’s ears started to ring as he got up to see what had happened. What the hell was that?
Looking to see where the explosion came from, he noticed half the tent’s wall was missing. Damn, the government brought reinforcements. The only people who could attack him this far off were the Americans.
This is what I get wishing for a tougher battle, the general continued his thoughts as he picked himself up. Americans and their damn drones, if they want a fight I will give it to them. Amadi ran outside to see what was going on. When he exited his tent, he saw everyone running around. Some of his men were running into the forest. I guess it’s time to be a leader and organize this mess.
The general began his search for his Sgt. Major to help organize the men. Not finding him, he was starting to get angry. It’s hard to find good officers anymore.
Amadi started looking around and his eyes fell on a white man standing in the middle of his camp. Many thoughts started to run through his mind. Who was that? What was he doing out here. Where were the sentries? Just because they were under attack, doesn’t mean they allow anyone to walk in like the camp is open to the public. Amadi pulled up his pistol to shoot the man, but he disappeared into thin air.
Must have been my imagination, he thought to himself. Has to be, because I cannot go crazy right now.
Noticing a solider that was taking control and directing other soldiers to get the supplies and other men to safety. It turned out to be the staff sergeant who had reported to him just moments ago. Now there is an officer.
“Sgt. Major, get the men organized and pull back. We have to get out of this kill zone. Get the men spread out into encampments no more than a platoon in size. Then have the battalion commanders send a runner to these coordinates for further orders. We are going to get our revenge on the government soldiers and then we will turn our might on the Americans.”
“Sir, I am just a staff sergeant,” the man replied.
> “Seeing how you are the only one who is actually doing something productive, you just have been promoted. If you see the old Sgt. Major, put one of these in his head and grab your new insignia from his body,” the general said as he handed over his personal fire arm.
The Russian prison was even worse than the reputation it had. Known as the Gulag, Siberian Camp 17 was where the Russians sent their most deadly criminals. None of that mattered to Nicolai. Even sitting in general population with his enemies no one dared to bother him. Who would with his reputation? Nicolai Altukhov, the man who has killed more people than cancer.
No one exactly knew exactly how many deaths were from his hand, no one except Nicolai that is. He remembers them all. From his first death at eight years old to the one he currently sat in prison for. The only problem was he chose the wrong victim, a deputy’s daughter. He didn’t have a choice. She had seen him and would have told the authorities. And he would have never been able to get to the deputy. Then his vengeance would never have been completed. It still wasn’t completed, but soon it would be. The deputy’s daughter was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and he couldn’t pass up his prize.
Nicolai wasn’t like any killer. He lived for the kill, he revealed in it. They say that meth gives you the best high. But for Nicolai, killing was his meth. He knew there was something wrong with him. Everyone could sense the aura that surrounded him. Rumor had it that death followed wherever he went. Everyone knew he was no good…everyone except her. She was the one who believed in him. It was because of her that brought him to the deputy that night.
“Nicolai Altukhov, it is time,” the prison guard shouted. “It’s time for your sentencing.”
As Nicolai stood up, the other prisoners got out of the way. No one wanted to be near him. Even the Russian enforcers knew to stay away from. They had learned the hard way that he was not to be messed with.