Into the Fire Part I: Requiem of Souls (Universe in Flames Book 9)

by Christian Kallias

  His entire bridge crew rose and saluted him.

  Chase saluted back. “At ease, everyone; back to your posts.”

  He went to sit down in his captain’s chair.

  “I’m surprised Argos and Chris didn’t come with you,” said Sarah.

  “Argos didn’t take our defeat very well, and well, Chris, being the empathic son and nephew that he is, preferred to stay with his uncle for moral support, even though his injuries were way worse than Argos’.”

  “That must have been one hell of a fight; I wish I had been there with you.”

  Chase reflected on that for a moment.

  “Believe me you don’t. This Spectre thing is more powerful than anything I could ever have imagined. Arakan may have perished today, but I’m certain that only made things worse. And it wasn’t a fight, really, it was a massacre; one we’re lucky to have survived, except for Oryn. It’s a small miracle that no one else died.”

  “Technically, Aphroditis and Ares too; wouldn’t you think so?”

  Chase hated the fact that he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to his mentor; as for Aphroditis, as long as she was in suspended animation, Chase thought there was still a chance to bring her back. It was a real possibility that Ares’ spirit could be consumed after seeing the toll the machine took on Aphroditis.

  Menelas was still sifting through hundreds of star systems on the console.

  Feeling his sadness, Sarah kissed Chase on the lips and passed her hand through his hair. He tried smiling as best he could. But his confidence had been shaken to the core.

  “Thank you,” he whispered to her. “Hopefully, we’ll soon finish this war.”

  Chase’s voice lacked its usual conviction.

  “We will; soon we’ll have the means to do exactly that, thanks to your successful mission to Erevos.”

  Chase didn’t like to call it successful. They had lost Oryn to that Spectre, not to mention that he had royally kicked all of their asses in a way Chase hadn’t expected nor thought possible. They were lucky to be alive, and it was ironic; all this time he had worried about fighting Arakan, when, in fact, there was an even deadlier enemy hiding behind him, waiting to rise. And now, they needed to deal with an undead, overpowered version of Arakan on steroids that feed on souls. The thought both flash-froze Chase’s blood and scared him to death.

  Chase knew what this meant. They would need to train, and train hard, like never before, in fact. Right now, even their combined powers weren’t going to cut it against Spectre Arakan. And, if push came to shove, then they would deal with him at the same time as they dealt with the rest of the Furies, by destroying Erevos once and for all.

  “That’s it!” exclaimed Menelas. “I’ve found the planet and the system where I hid the soul ships.”

  “Let’s have a look,” said Chase, rising from the captain’s chair and approaching Menelas’ station.

  As he looked at the 3D holo-projection of the system and instantly recognized it, a surprising cascade of shivers traveled up and down Chase’s spine.

  “Son of a bitch,” said Chase.

  “What is it, Chase?” inquired Sarah.

  Chase closed his eyes for a second and shook his head from side to side with a big smile on his face.

  “The soul ships were under our noses all along, on Earth. Inside the Earth’s core to be precise.”

  To be concluded…

  (Universe in Flames Book 10 - Into the Fire (Part II) will conclude the Fury arc).

  AFTERWORD

  Publishing books is an extraordinary but difficult challenge. If you reached this point, I guess you liked my work. Please help me support the book by leaving a review and/or a rating on Amazon. You’ll also be helping new readers find books they want to read. For further information about the Universe in Flames saga, please refer to my website, you can also follow me on my Twitter account or look me up on my Facebook page. I would also encourage you to subscribe to my newsletter to get notified about new publications, be informed about sales and additional content available only through my website as well as some premium free content (like early access to the online Heroic Fantasy series I’ve started writing: The Kyrian Chronicles).

  Please note that I will gladly offer my books for free to anyone in exchange for an honest review (including signed Paperbacks). If you are interested, please Contact me here.

  I’m always looking for new beta & ARC readers. If you’re interested, contact me on christian@kallias.com (please use Beta/ARC reader request for the subject of your email).

  Thank you for reading and supporting me.

  ALSO BY CHRISTIAN KALLIAS

  New readers, the Trilogy below is the new recommended entry point to the series:

  Universe in Flames - First Trilogy (UiF books 1 to 3)

  Universe in Flames - Second Trilogy (UiF books 4-6)

  Universe in Flames book 1: Earth Last Sanctuary (Free)

  Universe in Flames novella 1.5: Ryonna’s Wrath (Free)

  Universe in Flames book 2: Fury to the Stars

  Universe in Flames book 3: Destination Oblivion

  Universe in Flames book 4: The Beginning of the End

  Universe in Flames book 5: Rise of the Ultra Fury

  Universe in Flames book 6: Shadows of Olympus

  Universe in Flames book 7: Armageddon Unleashed

  Universe in Flames book 8: Twilight of the Gods

  Universe in Flames book 9: Into the Fire Part I (Release Date October 17, 2017) (this book)

  Rewind 717

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  CAPTAIN’S LOG

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Christian Kallias is a Best Selling Science Fiction author. He writes Science Fiction Space Opera with a Mythology twist and Fantasy influences.

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  www.christiankallias.com

  christian@kallias.com

  A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

  First, I’d like to thank all my readers and fans who contacted me after reading the last “About the Author” essay. I enjoyed your feedback, and you all made it pretty clear you wanted me to finish the Universe in Flames series before I started any new series. So that’s what I’m doing.

  I was hoping for a faster release of Book 9, but life tends to get in the way of plans. As I had mentioned earlier, 2017 was a year of major changes in my life, and these changes have continued during the last three months. Shortly after the release of Book 8, I pushed myself too hard and nearly burnt out as a result. I ended up in the hospital with a chest issue that scared the crap out of me - I can tell you that! So, this summer didn’t go as I had planned. But, I made some changes to try and get myself into a position where I wouldn’t feel this way again. One burnout earlier in my life was enough, and even though it was a definitive turning point and the reason why I switched from IT to becoming a full-time writer, I don’t like when I feel overwhelmed to the point of being physically sick.

  I started making necessary changes in my life, which included sleeping at regular hours (most of the time I was going to sleep when the sun was rising). I’m eating more sensibly and exercising, though that last one still requires a lot of work on my part! I’ve started taking long walks and intend to keep all these new resolutions going and improve on all of them as time passes.

  In the last About the Author, I mentioned that I wanted to start writing the prequel series, which would focus around Menelas and Athena and the first Fury War. It would also be centered around the older races (Olympians, Asgardians, and more) with Earth mostly absent from that story line. Since I’m determined to finish the Universe in Flame
s Fury arc before any new series, I’ve had conflicting thoughts as to whether I’d indeed start with the prequel or the sequel series. While back in June I was dead set on starting with the prequel, now I feel more inclined to start with the sequel series first. So perhaps you can help me make that decision? Let me know which series you’d like to see after Book 10 is released.

  Into the Fire, Part I, hints, or at least I’d like to think it does, at what could be coming next in the Universe in Flames saga. More of that will be revealed in Book 10, as this part of the story comes to a close. I also said I wanted to treat Books 9 & 10 as one big book, which would be released, ideally, 4 to 6 weeks apart. I still intend to achieve that, targeting 4 weeks, though I have an indie writing convention coming up in Vegas, and I’m sure that will take me away from my writing time, at least for the duration of the convention.

  The reasons I’m letting you know my intentions are to be held accountable, though with the health scare I had earlier this summer, I also want to avoid making promises I can’t keep. I will, however, do my best to release Into the Fire, Part II as fast as I possibly can!

  Don’t hesitate to contact me by any means you prefer, be it via social media or email. I have truly been enjoying hearing back from you, and it warms my heart every time you tell me how much you’ve liked my books. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for having stuck with me through this amazing journey.

  In other news, I have also completed a short story that should be released this November in Steve Beaulieu’s Collateral Damage Anthology. For that particular story, I’ve revisited my other universe, Rewind, and have written a prequel short story to the events of Rewind 717. By the way, if you haven’t read Cole Seeker’s adventures in Rewind 717, I encourage you to do so. I know it’s different from the Universe in Flames series, in both subject and style (first person, present tense), but I had loads of fun dusting off Cole and putting him in harm’s way. And, I think you’ll enjoy that too.

  I’ll let you know via my newsletter when the Anthology is released so you can check it out if you’d like.

  While I didn’t have the time to advance on creating as many new illustrations to flesh out the Universe in Flames series as I wanted to, I still created some, and I was busy creating covers for other authors, too. There are four books out (or on pre-order) on Amazon with my cover artwork. These books include:

  The Long March by Richard Fox

  Pew Pew! The Quest for more Pew (Anthology #2) by M.D. Cooper

  Pew Pew! Bite my Shiny Metal Pew (Anthology #3) by M.D. Cooper

  The Expanding Universe #3 Anthology by Craig Martelle

  And I’m almost done with the cover of #4 of Craig’s Expanding Universe Anthology.

  I’ll also have a story featured in Craig Martelle’s Expanding Universe #3, as well as one of the upcoming Pew Pew! Anthologies. I’ve had a lot of fun doing the artwork, and I’m looking forward to creating a few more for other authors in the future.

  Below are a couple of examples of the sort of artwork I’d like to create to flesh out the Universe in Flames saga.

  Let me know if you like these, as I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a patreon site sometime in 2018 on which I’d add exclusive content like these graphics and other content (i.e., short stories, Earth Alliance Captain’s logs, character bios, and much more). Have you heard of patreon? Is it something you’d be interested in signing up for? Your feedback, as always, would help me make a decision in these matters, so don’t be shy. Let me know if the idea of accessing exclusive content via patreon, hence supporting my writing career, is something that you’d like to do.

  Additional items you’d receive from a patreon subscription: access to my books as I write them (on a weekly basis at least), signed copies of my book, the ability to name some of the elements of my future books (characters, ships, planets, etc.) and more. And, don’t hesitate to tell me what else you’d like to see.

  Those of you who write me back on the matter (please mention patreon in your email, either in the text or the subject line) will receive a special gift.

  Another thing I very much enjoy is writing novellas, novelettes, and short stories to flesh out some of my secondary characters. I’m sure most of you have read Ryonna’s Wrath by now, which occurs between Books 1 & 2 in the series time line. If you haven’t, I encourage you to do so by downloading it here (it’s free on Amazon, though that might not always be the case, as I intend to revisit the story line and add more to the book in the future). There’s also Damocles Fall, the novelette following Spiros and his time on Damocles-3 as the Obsidian Empire start their systemic annihilation of the Star Alliance. Up until now, you could only get this book through registering to my spam-free mailing list, but I decided to include it in this book for everyone to read. It’s a fun romp, and while writing the Spiros part of this new book, I thought it would make sense to include Damocles Fall here. So, keep turning the pages if you haven’t read it yet. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you enjoyed it and if you’d like to see me do more of these types of side stories.

  I’ve already started writing the first scene of Book 10 since I don’t want to make you wait too long for the last Universe in Flames book dealing with the Fury arc. I haven’t yet decided how I should name the next series. Don’t hesitate to provide your feedback if you have ideas for a name.

  Publishing books is an extraordinary but difficult challenge. One of the things I appreciate from my readers is the time and effort it takes to write and post reviews. As an author, I know your time is every bit as valuable as mine, so I would like to thank everyone who has ever taken the time to post a review for one of my books. Please help support my books by leaving a review and or posting a rating on Amazon or another book retailer. And, if you leave one for any of my books in the future, I would be ever so grateful. It is also humbling when I hear that my readers have recommended my books to their family and friends.

  I’d like to take a minute and acknowledge the incredible work of my Production Editor, Paula Lavattiata Lopez, who over the last few months has taken on more and more responsibilities beyond editing duties. She has become someone I not only rely on, but one I can’t imagine working without. Up until not long ago, writing books had felt like a solitary endeavor, and I, at times, felt lonely in that process. Since Paula came on board, this is no longer the case, and I want to thank her a million times for not only the amazing work she does every day, but also for her encouragement and support. If it wasn’t for her, I doubt this book would have been released in October.

  I’d also like to thank the Alpha Team and ARC readers for their time and generosity toward helping make my books as best as they can be. Last, but not least, I’d like to thank you so much for taking this journey with me and for being the best readers an author could dream of. I cannot express enough how much it means to me to have such amazing supporters.

  Until next time, and May the Gods of Olympus shine upon you all!

  Christian Kallias

  DAMOCLES FALL

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

  christian@kallias.com

  www.christiankallias.com

  www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

  www.twitter.com/kalliasx

  Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

  Paula Lavattiata Lopez

  Editors

  Philip Newey

  Paula Lavattiata Lopez

  Proofreaders

  Paula Lavattiata Lopez

  Miliana Chipaila (Thank you so much Millie!)

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2017 / Version 1.01

  Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

  Christian Kallias

/>   christian@kallias.com

  www.christiankallias.com

  www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

  www.twitter.com/kalliasx

  1

  “Commander! A fleet of seven unidentified ships is jumping out of hyperspace. They’re heading toward us at full sub-light burn. Their power signatures are massive,” said Lieutenant Commander Michalis Maniatis.

  Station Commander Theodoros Leonidis took a step forward, his face stoic; his gaze as cold as ice.

  “Do we have a visual on the fleet yet?”

  “Yes, Commander, they’ve just entered visual range.”

  “On screen.”

  The large holo-screen in the command center of the Damocles-3 R&D research station came to life and displayed the ships no one on board had ever seen before.

  “ETA?” asked Leonidis, rubbing his dark-gray beard.

  “Less than fifteen minutes, Commander.”

  From the top of his six foot six frame, the commander looked at the ships inside the streamed holo-vid and tried to remember where he might have seen them before. Something about the ships was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “Hail them.”

  A few moments passed.