Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  She ran forward, her sword at the ready for any who charged. Carter was fighting his own demons, nearly overtaken. She had to get to him. Ares had reached far outside of his usual means. From the grounds below, she could see them, rising and taking over the bodies of the humans who tried to flee. Evil spirits, wendigos! Victims turned into predators, switching from running to attacking, and quickly losing their lives against stronger beings. She spotted a group running up behind him, and no one was there to cover him. Reaching forward with her free hand, she pushed her power at them. Their bodies caved in, eyes bursting from the pressure.

  Carter turned to see Asa running for him, the distraction causing him to miss the ogre running at him. The behemoth speared Carter, the impact strong enough to cause blood to fall from his lips.

  “No!” Asa yelled. She wouldn’t make it in time. The ogre reared back, hands high above its head; it was going to crush him. Asa kept running, and just before she used her magic again she saw the bear, three times the size of any she’d seen before. Brown fur crashed into the ogre, claws ripping into its chest. The sound of growls blended with the curdling call of death.

  “Dee,” Asa breathed as she reached them. The bear nodded and took off running. “Thank you!” she called after him before turninh to Carter.

  “You’re back.” He took her offered hand to help him stand. “Damn, that thing really got me.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, are you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Ares, he is here.” He turned and pointed to the Bean. “There. Just beneath. There isn’t much time.”

  “The doors are open. How?”

  “I don’t know. We’re just trying to hold them off.”

  “Okay, we need to go.” She looked to where she last saw Inda; Sunny was there tied up and blindfolded. Others had joined Inda in keeping the enemy at bay. “There!” Asa directed Carter with her hand, and they ran back to Inda. As they ran, they saw Madelyn, dancing a magical tango of death and she worked like a chameleon blending into the scene and reappearing just long enough to deliver her death blow. It was the way of the faeries. Each of them confusion, delusion, mind games. The opponent would launch in one direction only to be cut down from another. Madelyn smiled as she ripped the head from a goblin and tossed it over her shoulder before vanishing again.

  “What is this?” Carter looked at the tied up old man.

  “It’s her.” Inda nodded toward Sunny.

  “Aphrodite? Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why? What?”

  “Sunny was close to me, the only person I’d ever been close to. Ares took him away from me. This is punishment. More punishment for my denying him!” Asa screamed.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” The skies cried as the doors to Oikos opened farther, giving visage to more of the heavenly world that waited behind is barrier. “We don’t have much time. We need to get this over with.”

  “You still haven’t told us what you plan to do.” Inda turned her attention to Asa.

  “I know, I just need you all to trust me.” She looked to the skies. We need a dragon, someone to carry her. She refused to refer to Sunny as the man he once was anymore. It would only make things worse. What she had to do was hard enough.

  Inda called to the sky for a dragon by the name of Maiko. When he landed, Asa approached and whispered into his ear. Maiko grabbed Aphrodite and took off into the sky.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Carter, trust me please. We need to go to him.”

  “Ares?”

  “Yes.” She turned to Inda. “Give us some cover, huh?” Inda nodded and lifted back into the air, and was joined by seven other birds. Asa took off running with Carter right behind her.

  When they arrived, Ares was there cloaked in his greed. His minions were securing a perimeter while his child, a woman, wielded the magic to open the gates to Oikos. There was resistance on the inside; the Lehela and the other witches tied to Oikos, fought to keep the gates closed.

  “Ares!” Asa called out, and he turned to her with a grim expression. The body he’d chosen was eerily close to his own, the one she remembered—red hair similar to the tones of flames, and a body built like a machine. The God of War narrowed his gaze on the girl in front of him, recognition evident in his eyes, but he acted as if he had no idea who she was. When he turned his back on her, she called his name again. However, this time when he turned to her, there was no denying who she was. Her mask dropped, and the world around her blurred as he took on the sight of his former obsession, Calypso.

  “You.”

  “Don’t you dare act surprised to see me, Ares.”

  “I thought it was you, but I could never be sure.”

  “Well, here I am. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

  “No. Actually, I wanted you to die, but it seems you have found another escape of my sentencing for you. Nevertheless …” Waving his hand, he ordered the beasts at his command to attack.

  “Cover your ears,” she told Carter, and he did. Asa spread her shoulders, lifting her chest as she filled her lungs and began to sing. The siren’s song. Through her lyrical tones, she redirected them all. Instead of fighting her, they turned on each other. The bloodbath was over in minutes.

  “Damn you!” Ares yelled. “It’s time I took ending your life into my own hands!”

  He launched at Asa sword in hand. Always ready, Asa fought back, her own sword true. The two danced around; Asa landed a hit to Ares’ arm and felt joy. How long it had been that she wanted to hurt him as he did her. He quickly retaliated, swinging his sword and dragging the blade against her thigh. She fell to the ground, blood spilling from the wound.

  Ares stood over her, ready to deliver the final blow.

  “No!” Carter screamed and bum rushed the god, knocking him to the ground. The two wrestled and Ares tried to regain his fallen sword. Madelyn appeared, grabbing the weapon, then vanished again to appear by Asa’s side. Pulling out a vial from her pocket, she dripped green fluid on the injury on Asa’s leg. Before the faerie could disappear again, the wound had stopped bleeding, a dark line raised where the cut once was.

  Ares pushed Carter off him. “Enough!” As Carter dashed to Asa, lifting her from the ground, the god laughed. “What is it about you, woman? How do you do it?” He stared at the woman he once knew, wild hair and sex radiating from her even in the midst of war. “First me and now,” he shook his head, “my son! How? How do you make us weak to you, how do you bend us in such a way? No other, not one other woman, besides my love, has ever affected me in the way that you do. Now, after all these years, you still stand in my way!”

  “Son?” Carter looked between the two and then focused on Asa. “What does he mean son?”

  “Oh, you do not know?” Ares straightened, taking pleasure in the pain he was about to cause. “I guess it really is no surprise that your mother didn’t tell you. Your people, they are supposed to hate my kind, and yet she … well, she loved me. Every bit of me!”

  “Shut up!” Carter yelled. “Asa, is this true?”

  “Yes.”

  “What? You knew, and you didn’t tell me? What the hell is this?” Carter let her go and stumbled away.

  “I swear, I just found out. Carter, please,” she pleaded.

  “Yeah, right. What else are you keeping from me? How many more secrets can you possibly have? How could you not tell me?”

  “Carter, I—” The sound of flesh ripping, veins bursting, and blood spewing interrupted what she was about to say. Asa stared on in disbelief at the sight of him falling to his knees, and the spear standing from his back. “Carter!” she yelled out, agony and heartbreak in her voice. “No.” She fell to her knees by him.

  “Well, that was satisfying.” Rising, Ares grinned, another weapon in his hand aimed at his next target: Asa.

  “How could you? He was your son.”

  “Son? H
ardly. He was proof, he was an experiment, all that I needed for evidence that I could one day have this!” He pointed to the sky, Oikos becoming more open to them. “I will sit on the throne as king!”

  “I keep asking myself how you could care so little for me. Now I see it, truly. You care for no one but yourself!” She stood to her feet. “This is it! No more!”

  “Do you intend to stop me?” He laughed. “I highly doubt that.”

  Asa moved to pick up her weapon but was grabbed. Demons held her arms and gagged her. Ares lifted the spear, looking her in the eyes as he lined it up, and throwing it with perfect aim, he launched the missile for Asa’s heart. He smiled, happily awaiting the inevitable, the final death of the only one to ever evade him. However, he missed his target. Before the spear reached Asa, a body was dropped in front of her—Aphrodite, housed inside of an old man. The sharpened tip pierced the chest and she fell to the ground. Withered eyes locked onto Ares as her spirit departed from the body, broken. She would not return.

  Ares froze for a moment; his heart stopped, knowing the consequences for his actions. “No!” he yelled. “Aphrodite?” He ran over and fell to the side of his love. “Come back to me, please.” The old man’s body hung from his arms, lifeless and quickly decaying. “You will pay for this!” He stood from the body, turning on Asa. He charged the woman, full speed, but just before he reached her, the ground beneath his feet parted, creating a fissure that spread throughout the city. Around them demons, vampires, fae, everyone of the battlefield struggled not to be eaten by the earth. In the distance, buildings—the signature towers of Chicago’s skyline—fell, lacking the support of the earth to hold them up.

  Madelyn appeared by Carter, lifting him from the ground just before he too was taken by the opening. With the help of two other faeries, his limp body was pulled to safety. She made eye contact with Asa, tears flooding her vision as they vanished again, taking Carter with them.

  “Asa?” Inda screamed her name, attempting to be heard over the sound of chaos around them, but Asa did not answer. She walked forward, choosing her steps carefully as she watched Ares pull himself from the fall. “What are you doing?”

  “Finishing this!” Asa ran forward, leaping across the opening and landing on firm legs on the other side. “You want me? Come get me!” she yelled at the fallen god.

  “You have no idea what you’ve done!” he spat as he as he stood back up. “I will make you suffer for this!”

  “More than you already have? I doubt that!”

  Ares charged, and Asa dodged him skillfully. His human body limited him and worked in her favor. Again, he charged and she moved away from him, but he was the one to catch her off guard; as she moved he lunged forward, landing next to his weapons. He emerged from the ground, whip in hand—a long leather rope tipped with sharp blades. He pulled back and snapped the whip at her, slicing her arm open. She screamed, holding her arm as she stumbled back from him, trying to get outside of the reaches of his weapon.

  “You think you could fool me? All this time, you think I didn’t know exactly who you were? I watched you slide into hiding, into your sad existence of a life. No friends, no family, no loved ones. At first, I thought I ought to stop you, force you back into my services, but the life you chose was much worse than what I could have done to you.” He swung the whip again, missing her only by a hair.

  “And that makes you so proud, huh? You’re so pleased with yourself? You stole my life from me!”

  “You belonged to me!” he bellowed. “What made you think you had the right to deny me? What made you believe that you could ever turn me away without consequence?”

  “I belong to no one!” Asa yelled, and pushed her waning magic in a burst toward the god, which accomplished not much more than to cause him to stumble.

  “Is that all you got, Calypso? After all this time, I would have thought you’d be so much more. I was ready for a fight!” The sound of the whip cracking, ripping flesh, was echoed by Asa’s scream.

  Blood rushed down her back. She turned, attempting to run, but was hit right between the shoulder blades. She needed more time. She could take more, as much pain as she had suffered, she would take every bit it took.

  “Asa, no!” Inda took flight, aiming for the god before she could be warned to stay back. She snapped her wings forward send a stream of flames at the man who laughed as they engulfed his body, burning the human shell. As the phoenix reared back, building up for another affront, he pulled the whip, which was now aflame, back and snapped it toward her. Legs entangled, she was pulled to the ground, and he body slammed right against the edge, inches from falling to the core of the Earth. The weight of his body crushed her, the flames of her wings melted flesh from his face and arms as he hovered above her.

  “Such a pretty specimen, bird of fire. Oh, how I would have loved to have you as a pet!” Ares laughed as Inda struggled to free herself; the blade-tipped whip only cut deeper into her flesh the more she struggled.

  “Get off me, asshole!” she grunted.

  “Oh, well that is no way for you to speak to me, a god!” He reached behind him and pulled a blade from his pocket. “I need to teach all of you a lesson! One by one!” Hand placed over her mouth to muffle her scream, he dragged the tip of the blade across her throat, holding his hand over her mouth as the blood forced its way up her throat, through her lips, and between his fingers.

  “You son of a bitch!” Asa screamed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I’m not the one with the problem here, Calypso. The sooner you see that, the better.” He stood, wiping his hand on his pants to clean it of the blood. “All of you, all of you need to show some respect! I am a god! I am the god!”

  “Is that what this is, your attempt to take over? Were you ever going to bring back the others?”

  “Oh, yes, some, those weaker than me. I’m no fool!” Ares wanted power, to live on the top, to call the shots. No other gods more powerful than he had yet to return and he aimed to keep it that way.

  Asa laughed. “You’re pathetic. It’s too bad you went through all of this, only to fail.”

  “It’s time.” Lehela finally appeared next to Asa.

  “Are you sure there isn’t another way?” She held her arm to her side.

  “Unfortunately, no, there isn’t. This needs to end. It must end here and now.” Lehela smiled. “You must hurry. I cannot survive here for long.”

  “What the hell is this? Witch!” Ares charged Lehela, blade in hand.

  The strength of the witch, centuries old, was stronger than he remembered. Lehela held out her hand, pushing a wall of energy out and slamming it into his body. He fell on his back. She twisted her wrist, calling the magic to morph into restraints that held him locked in place.

  “Asa, do it, now.” She smiled, sad yet ready to be free.

  Broken hearted, spirit heavy, Asa allowed the monster she’d hated for so long to reappear. The powerful body of a lion, three times the size of her frame appeared, and from her throat came a guttural roar. Her snake-headed tail hissed and snapped at anyone who tried to approach as Lehela walked up to the sphinx. The woman, aging with each moment spent on the Earth’s surface, smiled, and closed her eyes. Her youthful face turned, aged into that of an older woman, as she accepted her fate and the sphinx devoured her, taking in all the magic she possessed.

  Above, the sky burst into flames as Oikos burned and crumbled from within. The light of the other realm faded and the doors slammed shut. The sphinx retreated; Calypso retrieved her mask and Asa stood, somber in front of Ares. She held out her hand, and thanks to her newly acquired magic the harpe flew to her.

  It was her design, Lehela’s. A contingency plan. When Ares came to her for punishment for Calypso, Lehela asked him for a promise: he would never harm she who truly possessed his heart. It would mean a curse on his soul, one he could not come back from. It would petrify him, locking him in his own eternal hell. Already the body he had possessed had begun to re
ject him, as the restraints held in place. Rigor mortis set as the life drained. Ares was still there, locked inside of the vessel, unable to leave and find another. Though the body would not move, she could see him inside fighting to be free.

  “Thank you,” she said, speaking to the woman who had just sacrificed herself. She walked over to the trapped god and leaned into Ares, knowing full well that he could still hear her. “You stole my life from me, sentenced me to hell. I’m only too happy to return the favor.” She waved the sword in front of his face. “This, this is my gift for you, your tortured soul, trapped inside forever. Should give you plenty of time to really think about all the shit you’ve done, including murdering your precious Aphrodite!” She lifted the sword into the air and slammed it down through the chest of the god. Tears flooded her eyes as she held the sword in place, allowing it to absorb the soul of the god forever.

  The cleanup was ongoing. The war had outed them all. The world knew now that the creatures they were warned of as children, the monsters who lingered in the dark, were all real. Asa couldn’t give a damn who knew. She only cared about Carter. She’d taken up in his apartment. Waiting.

  Inda, the bird of fire, rose from her ashes renewed the next morning. She found her way to his apartment, wrapped in a mylar blanket stolen from a police car. When Asa opened the door, she pulled the woman into her arms, happy to see that she was okay.

  “Hey, you know the rule about us fire birds! We never stay down for too long.” She laughed and headed straight for Carter’s closet. Outside of going out for new clothing and food, Inda stayed by Asa’s side.

  Though Jax and Dee took charge of the efforts outside, cleaning up the mess made, no one had heard from Madelyn. After she and her friends took Carter she went ghost. While they waited, Inda asked Asa every question her mind could formulate, and Asa answered them all honestly, no longer concerned with hiding or keeping secrets. Days passed and Inda ran out of questions, and the two sat in silence.

  “Do you think he is okay?” Asa asked as Inda poured her another glass of wine.