by Jory Smith
Suddenly a loud explosion rang through the halls of his temple followed by an intense surge of power. Knowing that this was the source of the power he needed, Ares sent his projection into the realm searching for its origin.
She hated this place, stuck in this plane that resided between life and death for all time, she was lucky to have escaped. For her whole existence she had been imprisoned here. It was the Daimōn that found her wandering here and showed her the way to escape. They couldn’t give her a body, so they taught her how to take one for herself. The body she chose was amazing, one of its kind. She had to watch out for Zeus, or else he would know she wasn’t who she was pretending to be.
She remembered when they came to her. They wanted their freedom and she wanted hers. It was her idea that had brought them this close, yet they were getting restless, especially since those three came into the picture. She kept trying to ease their mind that there was nothing wrong. They are human, after all. And it would take a miracle for them to become gods. There was no way three of the seven originals would band together and ascend them; they don’t trust each other to put themselves in such a weakened position.
She heard a shifting sound coming from the shadows and turned towards the noise. “It’s about time. If you are to propose a time to meet, I would suggest you come on time.”
“I had to stop by Ares. I gave him new orders to kill the humans.”
Angered surged through the woman when she heard that.
“You did what?” The woman yelled at the shade. “He is supposed to do exactly what he is doing already. The more humans he kills, and the more humans he has under his control, the weaker Zeus will become. Zeus needs to be weakened in order for this to come about, and then you can take him for your purpose.
“I will take over Zeus’ domain and I will repeal Ares’ Hoard,” the woman continued. “Then the people will love me and I will become the Queen of the Gods. And with my power, I will free your masters. How complicated is that?”
“My masters don’t feel that way. They believe these humans will disrupt everything and I agree with them. That is why they need to be stopped,” The shade hissed.
The woman rushed the shade and grabbed it by its throat. She lifted the shade up and started to squeeze. The shade tried to stop her, but couldn’t. She was to powerful, more powerful than Ares.
“I am not some weakling you can control. You will either follow my plan or you will never be free. I will take care of the humans; they will die by my hands. You just make sure that Ares continues his conquest. We need Zeus weakened.”
Out of nowhere, an explosion rang through the area. The power that followed was immense as it passed through the woman. The woman threw the shade down and quickly departed the realm through a portal.
Chapter 10
The demi-gods sat silently against the cabin wall, cursing the compound. They were nursing their wounds from their latest attempt to complete their trial. Terry was lying down trying to relive pressure from his chest. He took one of the giant’s club center mass in his chest, nearly collapsing one of his lungs. Amadi stood up and turned to his companions.
“We have almost completed this compound. The only thing stopping us is those giants. We can do this,” He said trying to influence his men.
Amadi knew they were not going to get pass the giants with how they were fighting. They were not working as a team. Terry would go off and attack his giant firing his assault rifle while Nicolai would sneak up to the other giant. This gave the giants the opportunity to double team them. Two giants would hurry and knock Terry out and then go after Amadi who would be exhausted from throwing fire balls at one of the giant in the middle. Even though the two giants were badly injured, they easily took Amadi out of the fight. Even though Nicolai killed his giant he still had two to go against. They easily defeated him even though he was hard to find.
Over and over this would happen and this gave the giants—who worked as a team—the opportunity to pick them off one by one. Amadi was infuriated that they weren’t following his orders, but he would gladly let one of them take charge if they would work as a team.
“Each of us is trying to take down our own giant,” Amadi continued his speech. He then pointed towards the compound “They are working as a team and we are not. We don’t trust each other.”
“I killed my giant,” Nicolai said getting in Amadi’s face. “You need to stop worrying about me and worry about yourself. I always have to save either your hide or Terry’s.”
“Yes, you kill your giant,” Amadi sneered mockingly. “But that is only because we distract it for you.” Amadi said not stepping back. “We take the brunt force, while you have free reign. Tereus, tell him. He is too stupid to believe me.”
“Nicolai, he is right,” Terry said lying down. “We need to come up with something that will distract the other two, and after you kill yours we can start working the other two individually.” Terry lifted himself off the ground. “Amadi and I are taking the brunt of the force. I can’t take any more hits from that club.”
Terry started to pace scratching his chin, and then his eyes lit up. Hitting himself on the head he turned to his companions.
“Nicolai, how powerful can you make your power? Not your shotgun, but your power. Can you make it spread from one object to another?”
“Yeah, I’m sure I could do that if I save my energy. Why do you ask?”
“Tereus, what are you thinking about?” Amadi butted in.
“Well, I have this idea that will help us get past the giants,” Terry said showing his childish grin. He was about to continue but stopped.
Amadi turned to where Terry was looking and saw Athena, Jessica, Hermes, Zeus, and Aphrodite coming their way. Ever sense Zeus and Aphrodite returned from their errand, they weren’t the best of company. Zeus questioned them about their new weapons and was impressed. But then he started yelling at the demi-gods about how they were moving too slowly. Aphrodite had become as cold hearted as Athena. When she helped to develop their new powers, she did it without her usual flirting.
Jessica moved to Terry’s side, as she always did. She never really left his side when they were together. When they were not, Athena was usually training her. Amadi was impressed with the progress Jessica was showing. I swear she has had some military training before. With Athena’s training, Jessica’s powers had been growing fast. It was like they would train and Jessica would hit a block. The next day that block would be gone and her training continued. There is something wrong with that woman, Amadi thought.
Staying back, the gods talked amongst them before Zeus spoke up.
“It seems that you three need to be reminded what you are fighting for,” Zeus started staring all three of them down. “It has been almost a month and you still have not finished the training. Let me show you what’s happening while you three have been goofing off.”
Zeus extended his hand and the space in front of them turned solid and transformed into a clear screen where they saw a projection. What projected was the earth, or what used to be the earth. The landmasses were all torn apart. The whole continent of Africa had broken off and in the process of turning sideways. Russia was separated from the continents of Europe and Asia. The projection then spanned towards the Americas, showing both California and Hawaii gone. Canada was also detached from the rest of the continent and South America was in the process of breaking off. Everyone watched silently until Zeus broke the silence.
“As you can see, two weeks here has been months on earth.”
“Why are you not doing anything?” Jessica shouted. She was clenching Terry’s hand tightly. Terry started to wince from the pain.
“I am doing something.” Zeus spanned the projection until it showed Florida and the neighboring islands. They weren’t being plagued by Ares’ Gods, only his monsters.
“I can only do so much,” Zeus said looking at Jessica. “It is Ares and the rest of the Gods who are doing this. They are creating their own t
erritories here on earth.”
“What about the people?” Jessica said still questioning Zeus. “How are the people doing?”
“That is a good question, dear.”
Zeus zoomed in really fast and now they were on a street view in Washington D.C. All around, people were being put into chains. Monsters were killing humans for sport. There was a crater where the White House used to sit.
Zeus showed what was happening in every major city. Killings, raping, and torture took place everywhere. Lava flowed down streets that were filled with people trying to reach safety. One man managed to climb up one of the buildings, but was knocked down by one of the Minotaur’s who greedily watched the man die. In another area, the gods were having their own run of the bulls, but without real bulls. Instead they were using Minotaurs who would charge down the humans.
“Enough of this,” Nicolai spoke up.
That surprised Amadi. Here I thought it would be the woman who would get sick of the scenery.
“Why aren’t you down there protecting them?” Nicolai finished.
Zeus studied Nicolai before answering, “Assaraeus, do you want to answer this?”
Still looking at the projection, Amadi spoke up. “If we were to send our full strength against Ares now, we would be destroyed. Not only does Ares have a larger army than us, but he is exploiting the rule that Zeus has in place that he won’t kill any gods. If we were to send our army in, we would cause more death to the humans just from collateral damage. We are actually saving more lives by waiting to fight.”
Amadi turned his attention to Nicolai. “Why do you think any war now days always ends up in guerilla warfare? It’s because the defending force has the best advantage. This is how we will have to fight, because we don’t have enough men or power to face Ares head on. The weapons that Hephaestus is developing for my men and for our human allies will help.”
“Okay, so if guerilla warfare is for defensive attacks, how do we do an offensive attack?” Nicolai asked.
“We do it the same way,” Terry said. “Exactly what Amadi’s rebel group did against his government. You conduct coordinated pin pricks. You wear your enemy out. You always attack. You attack and move, then attack again. And when your enemy is weak you go in for the kill,”
“That is going to take forever. Can’t we just kill Ares and be done with it?” Nicolai asked.
“Killing Ares will only put the gods in their place,” Zeus replied. “The monsters Ares has unleased, along with the humans he has put into power will not give up easily. He is creating his own government on earth and setting kings loyal to him in charge. He has also brought back some of the greatest generals to ever live. They won’t go away willingly. This war is going to last a long time.
“After us gods defeated the Titans, it took thousands of years for the world to heal,” Zeus continued. “We have to fight this war in a smarter way. Because if we don’t every human will die.”
Zeus let the projection of earth disappear. “I think we are done for the day. Tomorrow you will pass this test.”
Zeus and the other gods said their goodbyes and left. Terry and Jessica walked off to be on their own, and Nicolai walked over to the cabin to rest. That left Amadi to his own thoughts.
Why am I not happy? Amadi thought. He started to jog around the compound to clear his head. This is what I wanted. I have always wanted the chance to prove his skills as a warrior. As Amadi kept walking the projection he just witnessed kept tugging at him. Ares and his ilk are not killing for honor. They are killing for sport. Was this how my enemies thought of me?
Amadi continued his jog picking up speed. This is exactly what I was looking for, the war of all ages. To come against someone just like Ares.
Now in full sprint, Amadi was quickly running laps around the compound. I need to learn his strategy. Something is not right here. Why would he turn over his campaigns to humans? Amadi stopped running as it hit him. He is expecting us. He has forced our hand to land into Florida. If we land anywhere else, his gods will attack us. He will have his monsters waiting for us if we land in Zeus’ safe zone. Amadi started chuckling. I am impressed. This is exactly what I’m looking for. Ares is certainly living up to his reputation, and more. By using the gods as a quick reaction force, Ares has forced their hand without them even knowing it.
Amadi felt good that he figured out Ares’ battle plan. Forcing Zeus to section off a piece of earth marked their only option. Zeus wouldn’t let them attack the gods. Zeus would have them deploy where the gods can’t reach them. All Ares had to do was send in his army to wipe them out. Where did Zeus get his information from? Amadi tried to figure that out. It had to be when they were both gone. Wherever they went, they sure did come back fast as soon as Terry made their weapons. Watching Terry explain what he did amused Amadi enormously.
They accepted it eventually, especially since it cut our training time in half. But the gods had been distant since then. The gods were watching the demi-gods, watching for something Amadi could not yet figure out.
Perhaps Nicholaus can help me figure out what they are watching for. He is a smart man, Amadi thought. He started heading towards the cabin Nicolai entered.
Nicolai entered the cabin, happy to get away from everyone. He was getting mad because of their incompetence. Nicolai sat down, began massaging his temple and tried to go through his breathing exercises. He needed to fight off the anger building inside him before the urge to kill overcame him. By then it would be too late for his breathing exercises. Only one person could settle him down when he got the urge, Celeste. Celeste always had some sort of soothing effect on him.
This time was different though. He wasn’t getting mad at the incompetence affecting him, he was getting mad at his and the gods incompetence to protect the humans. Celeste would expect him to help and he couldn’t. He knew he should be down there doing something; instead he was up here screwing around.
I sure have changed, he thought. I had a big chip on my shoulder, but of course, Celeste removed that chip and made me a better man. Celeste, I miss you a lot. Nicolai laid down and started to reminisce.
It was a typical cold day in Russia, with a steady snowfall that would soon turn into a blizzard. Nicolai sat waiting for his target at the bus stop across the street. The plan was to have his target leave the government building and stab him in the middle of the lunch crowd. There he would die when the poisoned blade worked its magic. He was so concentrated on his target that he never noticed the figure coming from behind him. He was just sitting there when suddenly a woman tripped over his feet. With her nose buried in a book,—not noticing his feet— she tripped over them. Nicolai was about to yell at her, asking what her problem was, but when his eyes met hers he was left speechless.
They both tried apologizing at the same time, talking over each other and then laughed when they realized what they were doing. Nicolai invited her to sit down and they both started talking. As they talked Nicolai was sucked into her charm and fell madly in love. She was perfect for him. Apparently she thought the same because she was the one who asked for his number. She was late to meet her father, but she still wanted to talk with him more. When he gave it to her his target approached them. It was her father.
For the first time in his life, Nicolai had one of those moral dilemmas he had always heard about. As Nicolai got to know Celeste more, he knew he couldn’t kill her father. It would devastate her. The problem was he had screwed off the wrong people and if Nicolai wasn’t going to kill him, his employers would hire someone else.
For a year he held off other hit men for Celeste’s sake—either by killing them or warning them off. The price on her father’s head had grown so large not even he could protect him.
Then came the day she died. Nicolai was going to tell them what had been happening but he was too late. The hit men were already there. Nicolai tried to stop them when they ambushed her father, they killed Celeste by accident.
When Nicolai realized what happened
, he ran straight to Celeste letting the killers get away. She laid in his arms dying. Before her spirit passed on, she made him promise to quit his lifestyle and to actually do some good in the world. She knew what he did for a living, but still loved him. She believed he was a better person and wanted him to prove it to her.
Nicolai tried to do as Celeste asked, but it was so hard. Within a year, the urge to kill overcame him. Instead of going back to his old profession, however, he decided to get revenge. Nicolai worked his way up the chain. He found out who the two hit men were and made them give up their handler. In turn their handler gave up the person who set up the contract. Finally Nicolai hit the highest levels in the Russian mob. They gave up the deputy that initiated the contract to have Celeste’s father killed.
The door to their cabin opened and Amadi walked in. He saw Nicolai lying down with tears coming from his eyes. “Are you crying Nicholaus?”
Nicolai got up and wiped his eyes. “No, I am fine. Why do you keep calling me that? That’s not my name.”
“That’s your name. Just like mine is Assaraeus. Besides it fits you more than your mortal name.” Staring at both of them, Amadi’s face seemed to light up. “Is that what has you and Tereus not trusting me? Because I am not calling you by your mortal name?”
“No, it’s because you are acting more and more like them,” Nicolai replied. “Don’t you see there is something wrong with them? Especially when Terry had Hephaestus create our weapons, they look at us like we were going to betray them. I read the stories about them when I was locked up. They have always treated humans like trash. Even Zeus. In fact, he is the worse one out of them all.” Nicolai started shaking his head with disappointment. “Trust me; you don’t want to get too close. It will only give Athena an easier way to stick a dagger in your back.”
“If you believe that, then why are you here?” Amadi retorted. “No one is forcing you to be here.”