Shadows of Olympus (Universe in Flames Book 6)

by Christian Kallias

  Miseo had to clean things up quickly here and find a way to escape with Kvasir one way or another. His own life could depend on it.

  He approached the cockpit of the Alliance starfighter and saw the unconscious human inside. He tore the canopy of Daniel’s StarFury as if it was tin foil. He ripped the belt securing the pilot effortlessly and grabbed him by the skull. He walked towards Chris, holding Daniel in front of him.

  “Please don’t hurt him, I beg you!” asked Chris, his eyes filling with tears.

  “You should have thought of this before you defied me. At least before you die I can teach you one lesson. Who knows, maybe it will be of use to you in your next incarnation: don’t bite more than you can chew, boy!”

  Miseo had only a few seconds before Oryn’s ship arrived. A few minutes at best before she came down here herself to finish what she had started in the throne room on Erevos.

  Miseo started applying pressure to Daniel’s cranium when he saw Chris close his tear-filled eyes.

  Oh, hell no!

  “Open your eyes! Watch what you have done!”

  But Chris kept his eyes closed. Miseo reached with his mind and forced the boy’s eyelids to snap open and directed his eyeballs towards Daniel’s head about to be crushed.

  “That’s better. Time to say goodbye to your friend here. I’m afraid his time has come.”

  * * *

  When Kvasir came around, his head and back were throbbing with intense pain. The slightest movement sent a series of pain waves traveling throughout his body. Everything around him looked destroyed, and he could see even more damage down the long hall that led to the landing bay.

  He crawled back towards the nearest console and turned on the video feeds. Most of the holo-cameras had been damaged or destroyed but one was still working, albeit with much interference, making the holo-video blink and jitter. A Fury was walking towards a starfighter that had crash-landed inside the bay. The man, who had probably attacked him from behind, decided Kvasir, was talking to someone.

  Kvasir logged into the communication hub of the base and looked for the signal. He had programmed the base to record any signal, so he wouldn’t miss any, even when sleeping. He had rarely received any signals in this part of space, thanks in part to the eternity canon.

  Short-range sensors showed a couple of massive Fury starships on their way to the base. The signal was emanating from these. Kvasir ran his encryption-breaking algorithm and heard the conversation between a female Fury and the one in the base.

  His blood froze. Things were looking bleak and the ship that had helped him earlier was no longer in orbit. He needed to do something. While he had hated being a prisoner in this place for so many thousands of years, it was better than being tortured, killed, or worse, by Furies.

  How the hell are there any Furies left? Someone must have put an Olympian inside the Athero Portal.

  “This is bad,” he said to himself.

  His mind raced. What could he do? And then it hit him. He had finished working on reversing the effects of the eternity weapon just a few weeks ago. His hope was to unfreeze one of the Star Alliance’s smaller ships and ask them to rescue him from this prison in exchange for unfreezing the rest of the fleet. But his first attempt liquefied the ship, killing everyone on board.

  Kvasir had finished working on the necessary modifications to his functions, to avoid another tragedy. Kvasir was a scientist, and he considered nothing worse than taking the lives of innocent bystanders. That’s why he had been reticent to try the reverse of the weapon a second time, even if hundreds of simulations had shown he had fixed the initial issues with his design.

  Desperate times called for desperate measures, so he loaded the latest version of the firmware into the eternity canon and brought the software online. His finger stopped an inch away from the fire button. It stood there for a few seconds, shaking, while beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Kvasir closed his eyes and swallowed hard before letting his finger fall onto the button.

  C H A P T E R

  XIX

  Cedric heard metallic noises in the hallway. His heart was still beating strongly. He was in shock from Gaia 2 nearly crushing his windpipe a few minutes earlier.

  Still, he felt compelled to take a look. He approached the doorway and peered cautiously into the corridor.

  Four battle droids where engaged in a terrible battle. Three against one. Gaia’s three droids were battling the one controlled by Gaia 2.

  Cedric wished he could help, but if three battle droids couldn’t bring her down, what chance did he have? Then he saw the markings on the door next to where they were fighting. Engraved on the copper plate was “Magnetic Resonance Imagery.” An idea formed in his mind.

  * * *

  Miseo looked at Chris with a large grin. He was about to teach the boy a lesson; his last one, in fact. Miseo had to admit that the boy was a formidable enemy for his age. If he had inverted his tactics and fired the massive energy fireball after the man he was about to kill had fired his missiles, it might even have worked.

  That’s why he wouldn’t take any chances. Once this insect was crushed, he would deal with the half-breed boy. He couldn’t let him live another day so he could return for a rematch. Like most Furies, Miseo liked the idea of a challenge. But he had a dreadful feeling that his position amongst the Furies was about to take a turn for the worse, so the fewer enemies intent on killing him the better.

  The human awoke and flailed his arms and legs. Miseo used kinetic energy to paralyze him.

  “Chris! Please help me,” said Daniel.

  Chris’ eyes were filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Daniel, I can’t move. I used too much power.” Chris was unable to look away.

  “Good,” said Miseo, “you’re conscious. This will be even more fun. Daniel, is it?”

  “What is it to you, coward?” answered Daniel defiantly.

  “Nothing really. I’ll have forgotten your name by the time your head is but a bloody pulp inside my hand.”

  “Then shut the fuck up and get it over with!”

  “Any last words to your friend over there? Don’t worry, he’s next.”

  “Keep fighting till the end, Chris. And don’t blame yourself. This is not your fault! You hear me?”

  “Oh, but it is,” interrupted Miseo. “It’s entirely his fault. Now that you’ve said your goodbyes, I’m afraid it’s time for you to die.”

  Miseo started applying progressive pressure to Daniel’s cranium. Daniel screamed so loud from the pain that it resonated all around them. Little by little Miseo broke Daniel’s skull bones. Blood flowed from where Miseo applied pressure.

  “Almost there. One more inch of pressure and your head will explode like a pumpkin, which will be the last thing the boy will ever see—”

  But Miseo never finished his sentence. He was catapulted by an invisible force and crashed a few yards away from Chris’ concrete prison. With the kinetic hold gone, Chris extricated himself from the wall.

  Miseo’s head was ringing.

  If that’s Oryn, there will be hell to pay!

  He rose back to his feet and that’s when he saw them.

  * * *

  The launching bay was filled with golden light for a brief instant as Ares teleported Chase inside. Chase saw Daniel being nearly killed by Miseo. He reacted instantly and teleported behind him and catapulted the Fury away with a powerful knee strike.

  His son was against a wall, not far from where he had sent Miseo crashing. He bore many wounds and was paralyzed by a strong kinetic bond. Chase countered the bond with a single thought and Chris climbed out of the wall and back to his feet. His eyes were filled with tears, and Chase felt rage build up within his soul.

  Yet, he had control over his emotions and would defer their release for just a moment, while Miseo finally met the ending he deserved. Nobody could hurt Chris and live to tell the tale.

  Chase turned to Ares. “Get Kvasir while I heal Chris and Daniel. Then teleport
them all back to the Hope. His mother will want to know about Chris. I can feel her worry even at this distance.”

  Chase sent Sarah a telepathic message. Our son is fine. I’m sending him back to you shortly.

  Thank you, Chase. Perhaps he should help you defeat Miseo. There is strength in numbers.

  Chris’ energy is pretty much depleted. I can deal with Miseo on my own. Where are you now?

  The fleet arrived. My god, Chase, these Olympian ships are magnificent! We’re on our way back to you now.

  Alright, see you soon.

  Chase walked towards Daniel’s collapsed body. Blood flowed from many open wounds and broken skull bones. He had lost consciousness. Chase put his hand on his forehead and started healing him.

  “Not so fast!” shouted Miseo, already flying towards Chase with murder in his eyes.

  Without even bothering to look at his incoming foe, Chase used his free hand to fire an ultra-fast fireball that exploded in Miseo’s face, sending him tumbling back where he came from.

  “I’ll be with you in a minute. Pray to whatever gods you believe in. Your time is up, Miseo.” Chase’s tone was calm and serene.

  Daniel’s wounds were healed. Chris ran to him and fell on his knees. He looked at his father, wiping his tears.

  “Thank you, son. I’m sure you did everything you could. I’ll take over now.”

  Chris’ eyes widened.

  “Something wrong, Chris?”

  “No, but I . . . I thought you’d be mad at me. I almost got Daniel killed. If you had arrived a second later, he would have been dead.”

  “What matters is I arrived on time. And I know you did all you could. Holding your own against Miseo is no small feat. I’m very proud of you, son. Once we’re back home we’ll train some more and soon you’ll be an even better warrior than me.”

  Chris’ face lit up.

  Daniel blinked slowly a few times. He turned his gaze to Chris and then Chase. “Never . . . gets . . . old. Thank god Chris is alive.”

  Chase chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” said Daniel, his voice still weak.

  “Chris was expressing the same concerns about you just now.”

  Three fireballs approached their position fast. Chris jumped out and extended his hand in front of him to counter the attacks. But Chase was faster. With a single thought he stopped the fireballs in midair. Another nudge sent them back towards a bloody-faced Miseo. All three fireballs exploded and engulfed Miseo in flames.

  Ares came running with someone Chase deduced was the Asgardian, Kvasir.

  “Take them back on board the Hope and come get me afterwards. I’ll only be a minute.”

  “I might take longer than that,” answered Ares. “While my powers are back, I still need a few minutes between teleporting sessions.”

  “That’s alright, Ares. Worse comes to worst I’ll try teleporting myself by homing in on my son’s life energy. The Hope should be near enough by now. Once you’re back make sure to brief Athena about what we’ve discussed. I want one of these Fury ships disabled and not destroyed. We need to learn more about their tech.”

  “Very well, Chase. I’d tell you to be careful but I think there’s no need.”

  Chase nodded, placed his hand on his son’s head affectionately and then hugged him, healing most of his wounds at the same time.

  “I’ll see you soon, son.”

  “Be careful, Dad.”

  Daniel and Chris touched Ares and they teleported away. A second later Miseo unleashed an animalistic roar. The area around him filled with his large crimson aura.

  “I’ve been waiting for this moment since we last fought,” said Miseo, blood spilling from his mouth as he spoke.

  “That might be the only thing we have in common, as I’ve also been looking forward to this. You should have run while you had the chance. You’ve hurt my son and almost killed someone I consider my brother. I’m not letting you live so you can hurt more of the people I love.”

  “Then let’s get this over with,” spat Miseo.

  Miseo fired a multitude of fireballs towards Chase, who simply teleported out of the way, letting Miseo waste whatever energy he had left. His energy pool was still strong at seventy percent or so, but that would never be enough. And Chase had learned from his own defeat by that Fury. He would not make the same mistake of wasting precious energy that Miseo could use to replenish his own.

  Fool me once . . . .

  Chase teleported behind Miseo and sent him flying with a powerful strike of his elbow. Miseo crashed onto the concrete floor face first, the skin of one cheek ripped away as he skidded forward.

  When he got up, Chase could feel his opponent’s hatred but also fear. The skin on his face had partly been burnt too and his cheekbone was exposed.

  “That must hurt,” said Chase with a grin.

  “I’ll kill you!”

  “I’d love to see you try. But let me ask you, what are you waiting for exactly?”

  Miseo lost control and let his rage consume his soul.

  So much for Miseo’s lecture on controlling one’s emotions during their last fight. But Miseo was truly afraid now, and people tend not to think clearly when they’re afraid.

  “You reek of fear, Miseo, and you’re right to. Somewhere inside that head of yours, you already know what awaits you.”

  Miseo screamed, dark-crimson lightning sizzling all around his ever-growing aura. He pushed himself to the maximum and Chase could feel it.

  Chase cracked his neck bones and smiled.

  Miseo raised both hands to the ceiling and a dark and purple fireball expanded for yards above his hands. It looked more like a black hole than an energy-based attack. It grew in size with every second.

  I can’t believe he’s making the same mistake I made when I fought him.

  After twenty seconds the black-hole fireball was ready. It was nowhere near as big as the one that General Arkoolis had fired at the city on Droxia, but the destructive energy contained in it could vaporize this planetoid and perhaps anything orbiting it in the process.

  “If this explodes,” said Chase calmly, “we’ll both die.”

  “Oh no, Laiyos, there’s only one Fury dying today.”

  “You’re right about that, even if you’re wrong about which Fury it will be.”

  “Enough! Die!” screamed Miseo as he launched his attack towards Chase.

  Chase turned Ultra Fury with a single thought, his inner energy exploding in the form of a bright orange aura that looked like a star going supernova. His purple irises turned into two brightly burning suns as his hair shot upwards, dancing in the light of infinite power.

  Large chunks of concrete were ripped from all around him and started rotating around Chase like planets in the gravity pull of a star.

  With absolute calm Chase extended one hand forward, palm slightly open, just before the massive attack arrived.

  The attack stopped instantly. Chase didn’t even flinch. Miseo’s eyes grew wide. Chase started syphoning every ounce of power in Miseo’s impressive attack. In less than ten seconds the black-hole sphere shrank from gigantic to nothingness.

  “That’s . . . not . . . possible,” mumbled Miseo, letting himself fall to his knees.

  “Oh, but it is.”

  Chase looked at the dark energy emanating from his blocking forearm. He had no intention of keeping that hateful energy inside his own body.

  “Are you familiar with the expression ‘return to sender,’ Miseo?”

  Chase pointed his index finger towards Miseo and unleashed a continuous beam of black energy that traversed Miseo’s armor, shattering it in the process, and went all the way through the Fury’s left shoulder. Miseo’s expression froze in fear and shock at the amount of pain pulsating through his body.

  After the first ray of black energy dissipated, Miseo held his burnt shoulder, his other arm trembling. Chase could tell from the look in his enemy’s eyes that he knew his end was near.

 
Miseo struggled but remained on his feet, still holding his shoulder.

  Chase took a step forward and pointed towards another part of Miseo’s body with his finger and unleashed another ray of pure black energy. This one passed through Miseo’s right thigh causing him to scream in pain.

  “Who . . . ?” Miseo had trouble finding the energy to even speak. “Who the fuck are you?”

  The intensity and flare in Chase’s eye tripled. “I’m death incarnate as far as you’re concerned, and I’m going to kill every last one of you.”

  Chase fired another black discharge of energy, and another, and another still.

  He had reduced this once formidable enemy to nothing more than a broken body, waiting to be taken out of his misery. But Chase was in no hurry. Now that he had absorbed Miseo’s destructive power, he could take his time sending it back to him, one deadly blow at a time.

  * * *

  On board the Star Alliance destroyer Victory, Admiral Spiros Zenakis felt as though he was waking up from a hundred days of slumber.

  What just happened?

  “Report!” he said loudly.

  But most of his crew were also disoriented and it took them a little longer to get their bearings.

  “Scanning,” said his first officer finally. “I . . . I don’t understand these readings.”

  “Can you put what’s going on outside on screen? And watch out for that cannon that was trapping our fleet earlier.”

  The first officer turned on the main holo-screen. Rays of yellow light were hitting other ships that were encased in that strange-looking resin material and, upon impact, the resin melted and the ships’ engines came back on line. It was happening all around them.

  “Were we trapped by this weapon before? I remember we were hit. Why are we being freed?”

  “A better question yet,” said the first officer. “When are we? The computer is reporting a time discrepancy.”