God School

by Scott Kinkade

The Lost Gods decided to keep a low profile during all this. Even though there might have been some benefit in assisting mankind in this troubled time, they didn’t want to unduly influence them.

  Zero Grade also remained quiet, though for what reason no one knew. And hanging above the heads of the Academy faculty was the suspicion someone in that organization now controlled the Blood Key.

  Ev didn’t care about any of this. He was once again attending classes with Maya, and he was happy. Would that happiness last? He didn’t know, but he hoped so. And—though he would never tell anyone—it was possible he offered a prayer to an unknown god to make it so.

  TO BE CONTINUED.

  Afterword

  The idea for God School came to me while I was writing the Infini Calendar series a few years ago. I really wanted to do a story sort of like Harry Potter except with gods instead of wizards. As far as I can tell, no one has ever done this before, and I felt the strong desire to jump on it. However, I needed to finish up my steampunk series first, so I went ahead and wrote The Revolution Beyond Time, and God School sat on the back burner for a while.

  Flash forward to November 2013. I published The Revolution Beyond Time and was finally free to begin a new and very different series. Now God School could begin. But one cannot simply dive right into a story that relies so heavily on religion and mythology without doing some research. Despite taking place in a new universe, I decided the gods from our current one should still be around since established mythology is such a rich vein to tap. For this series, I need gods, and lots of them. I didn’t just want to go with the obvious choices like Thor and Hercules (though they may make an appearance at some point). I delved into the world’s mythology to find more obscure deities like Quandisa of Morocco, Dian Cecht of Ireland and the Japanese gods of death known as shinigami. For my story, I decided to make Shinigami a specific character.

  But I didn’t just stop with the gods themselves. I also incorporated their tools into the narrative. Being a fan of Celtic mythology, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to include the Tuatha Dé Danann and their four treasures. I couldn’t find any info on what powers—if any—these treasures possessed, so I just made some up for them. The Koothraparna, on the other hand, is a complete fabrication. It does not exist outside of this story. I just thought up a magical artifact that sounds like it comes from Indian mythology. This happens throughout the story mostly due to the need to create new gods that arose in the universe in which it takes place. Bethos is a prime example of this. I wanted a strong black character, but I also wanted him to be a little different.

  And by “different,” I mean “the complete opposite of Dumbledore.” Even though this novel is inspired by Harry Potter, it needs to have its own identity. So the tall, fatherly white guy becomes a black dwarf with a bit of an attitude. I must admit to a certain fondness for Peter Dinklage when I came up with the character. He’s just so badass on Game of Thrones.

  But perhaps the biggest character is the world of Narska itself. In the past I’ve striven to create iconic locations for my novels. The Infini Calendar series had the Tuileries electrical tower, Le Junkyard, Mt. Erfunden and the Carl Jung-inspired reality of Pleroma. For all the thought I put into them, though, they still existed within the framework of a largely familiar Earth. For God School, I decided to take things to the next level and create a new universe altogether. I challenged myself to see if I could do it, and I’ll let you be the judge of whether or not I succeeded.

  So I sat down and drew a very basic map of this planet I had in my head. On the left I placed the Americanized country of Morovia, followed by the Murnau Islands nearby to the east. Now, despite the fact those guys can be complete bastards, I want to stress that they are not a reflection of the German people, whom I have nothing but respect for. In fact, I (sort of) took the names of the country and its locales from my favorite German: Fritz Lang. I’m a big fan of his silent films—particularly Metropolis and Woman in the Moon—and, oddly enough, I chose to honor him by naming a country of dicks after the company that currently owns the rights to them: Murnau-Stiftung. Again, I have nothing but respect for Murnau-Stiftung and thoroughly enjoy their films. I’m just weird.

  After that, we have the Faust Kingdom and the Tru Republic (which I originally named the Tru Kingdom). But as you’ll see in the next book, it’s nothing like a kingdom, so I changed the name. I haven’t yet settled upon the exact natures of the Faust Kingdom or Jaysin’s homeland of Chrichton, but eventually we’ll go to these places, so please look forward to it.

  That just leaves Mt. Orleia. The Academy was originally going to be located somewhere on Morovia and it was going to be disguised somehow from the eyes of mortals. Ultimately, though, I decided I didn’t want it to belong to any one nation and put it out in the middle of the sea. I thought it would be interesting to insert a college into what amounts to a James Bond villain’s lair and give it all the amenities of a university. It is my goal to not only create an iconic location here, but to create iconic locations within it such as Holy Pizza. Look for more of the Academy’s residents—both good and bad—in the next volume.

  So there you have it: God School, the first in what I hope will be a very successful series. We’ve only just taken our first step into this world, and there is so much more to discover. But don’t think I’ve given up on the Infini Calendar series; I plan to return to it in the near future with another revolution.

  As always, thank you for your patronage.

  --July 2014

  First Look

  INCIDENT 27

  On an island, in the middle of a lake in northern area of the continent, sat Zero Grade House #4—Tru Replublic Branch, or House #4 for short. It was a magnificent mansion situated on a well-maintained property. A huge lane made of bricks extended out from the front of the mansion, and a fabulous fountain sat atop that road. On either side of the fountain were exquisitely-pruned hedges in the form of various gods. Ev didn’t recognize any of them, but Arcturus said they were the bosses of the organization. They called themselves the Flawless Few. They were rumored to be unimaginably powerful. Ev hoped he would never meet them.

  “Fortunately, they never visit these minor branches. They always send their lackeys in their place,” Arcturus said.

  Ev stared at the obscenely-huge building before him—it had to have at least a hundred rooms—and wondered how this could be considered a “minor” branch. “Are you sure they’re not here today?”

  “Positive. They’d never set foot in such a—let’s say ‘quaint’—place. It’s beneath them.”

  “Then where do they live?”

  “I don’t know. Belial was more open to me than he was to Maya, but even he wouldn’t tell me. All I know is, the Flawless Few’s home puts this one to shame in every way.”

  Ev tried to imagine such a place. Perhaps these gods of gods lived in a fantastical realm he couldn’t even imagine. Like maybe an infinitely large house in a dimension outside time and space. Wouldn’t that be something to see?

  He put those thoughts aside for the moment. There were more pressing matters to think about as they approached the front door. “Strange. I don’t see any security cameras.”

  “CCTV is for mortals,” Arcturus said. “Gods have no need of such things. There’s a whole team of deities in here who specialize in surveillance. They spend all day astral-projecting around the property. They know we’re here. Count on it.”

  The door opened. Cautiously, Ev followed Arcturus inside. For about the hundredth time, he considered the possibility the other man was luring him into a trap. Nevertheless, for the sake of his dream, he went anyway.

  They found themselves in the biggest, most lavish living room Ev had ever seen. His entire house could have fit inside it. There was a beautiful marble floor, as well as marble pillars spaced evenly throughout the almost cavernous room. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling. And this place wasn’t good enough for the bosses of Zero Grade?

  Before Ev knew i
t, they were surrounded by well-dressed thugs. Suits; ties; dark sunglasses. They certainly had the look of intimidation down.

  Ev whispered to Arcturus, “Who are these guys?”

  “Zero Grade foot soldiers. They handle all the grunt work. Think of them as pretend gods.”

  “Arcturus Reich!” Coming down the stairs ahead was what Ev figured to be the alpha suit. Tall; broad shoulders; expensive-looking hair cut. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked innocently.

  “I mean,” the alpha suit said, pointing at Ev, “why have you brought an outsider here?”

  Arcturus motioned nonchalantly to Ev. “Oh, him? He’s just a friend.”

  The alpha suit responded, “I can sense his god-energy from here. And it’s been developing for a while now. He’s not one of us, so that can only mean you brought a servant of Bethos here.”

  Arcturus threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Looks like they got us, Ev. I guess these guys are just too clever.”

  “Looks like,” Ev said. He wasn’t sure where Arcturus’ confidence was coming from. From what he could see, they had just walked into a trap. They were seriously outnumbered.

  “So I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here with a dog of the Academy?”

  “Turning in my resignation,” was the response.

  The alpha suit stared at him while pondering the situation. “Does that mean you’re surrendering to us?”

  “Hardly,” Arcturus said. “And I won’t accept your surrender, either. We’re here to raise some hell.”

  Letting out a bitter laugh, the alpha suit said, “Your arrogance is astonishing. Do you really think the two of you can overcome all of us? And even if you were to win, the Flawless Few will bring down the wrath of Heaven upon you.”

  Now it was Arcturus’ turn to laugh. “Come on, you don’t really believe that myth, do you? That the Flawless Few control Heaven itself?”

  “What’s Heaven?” Ev asked.

  “I’ll explain later. For now, though, let’s bust some heads.”

  The suits moved in. One of them dove in and let fly with a right hook. He was surprisingly fast, and Ev had just enough time to raise his arms to block. The impact sent him reeling backwards into another suit who put him in a headlock. The enemies began working him over pretty good. It seemed no area of his body was off-limits to them, and they struck wherever they could, though his stomach and face seemed to be favored targets.

  Arcturus didn’t seem to be faring much better. They had dog-piled on him and were beating the crap out of him.

  After a few more minutes, the alpha suit said to the two of them, “Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?”

  Ev did something even he himself had not been expecting. He snickered. “Is that all you got?”

  The alpha suit was taken aback. “What?”

  In truth, these guys weren’t that strong. The Academy’s training program had obviously been far more beneficial than whatever methods these chumps used.

  From beneath the dog pile, Arcturus laughed. “Looks like we had the same idea, Ev. I thought I’d let these guys have their fun and take their measure. I have to say—the ruler’s pretty small!”

  With a roar, he flung the suits off him.

  “Guess that’s my cue,” Ev said. He grabbed the arm of the guy who had him in the headlock and ripped it away. He then punched him in the face. He spun around and delivered a kick to another enemy, sending him flying across the room and onto his ass. A third adversary tried to punch him, but he took hold of his wrist and threw him into a pillar. It collapsed on top of him with a satisfying crash.

  Similarly, Arcturus was now cleaning house. After dispatching several suits, he evidently saw what Ev had just done and decided he could do better. He grabbed the closest enemy and slammed him into a pillar with far more force than Ev had just done. The explosion of marble reverberated throughout the massive room.

  The alpha suit angrily pushed aside his subordinates and stepped in to face Ev himself. He took hold of Ev’s throat and began to throttle him. He was considerably stronger than the others, but Ev managed to pry his hands loose. He then launched an uppercut into the bastard’s jaw. The enemy’s head careened backwards and he staggered a bit.

  However, the alpha suit quickly recovered. He brought his hands together and sent the resulting oversized fist down onto Ev’s head. Ev side-stepped the attack and punched him in the throat. Pained sounds escaped the man’s mouth and he stared at Ev with shock. Clearly he wasn’t used to being manhandled like this.

  The shock was quickly overtaken by rage. He lunged at Ev with wild abandon—

  —and a sharp blade took off his head. The resulting geyser of blood covered Ev’s upper body. Arcturus stood there holding slim swords such as Ev had never seen before.

  “Shit!” Ev said.

  “Don’t act so shocked,” Arcturus responded. “I know you’ve seen carnage before.”

  “Yeah, but it’s so unexpected. You were using your fists a minute ago.”

  He shrugged. “I saw the leader attacking you and decided to speed things up.” He motioned to a collection of body parts swimming in blood on the floor.”

  Ev looked away. It was true he had seen blood and death before, but this was too much. “Did you really have to butcher them like that?”

  “You yourself agreed this world would be a much better place without them. We were going to erase them anyway, remember? My katanas just made it easier.”

  Ev had to admit he had a point. “I guess you’re right. Still, it’s not an easy thing to look at.”

  Arcturus smiled sweetly. “You wouldn’t be Ev Bannen if you could shrug off such violence. I’m sorry. I’ll try to tone it down in the future.”

  “Just how much more trouble are you planning to get us into?”

  From the top of the stairs, a voice answered, “None. You’ve done quite enough damage.”

  He looked to be a relatively young man, perhaps the same age as Arcturus (though with gods looks were almost always deceiving). He wore a heavy coat the same color as the sea. He had navy blue hair, and his head had many piercings. Ears; lips; nose; eye brows. They were all filled with metal bolts and studs.

  “Who are you?” Ev said.

  “Poseidon,” Arcturus said.

  “That is correct. I am Poseidon, god of the sea. Don’t mistake me for the underlings you just dispatched in such atrocious fashion.”

  “Where is the energy crystal?” Ev said to him.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, nor do I care,” Poseidon said. “You two are going to die here in penance for your actions.”

  Arcturus leapt at him with his blades. But before he could reach him, Poseidon extended his arm. From the sleeves of his coat a tremendous torrent of water burst forth, knocking him back. Poseidon then extended his other arm, and even more water shot out.

  Arcturus got to his feet. “This guy’s on a whole other level. We can’t simply attack him head on.”

  “Well, we have to do something,” Ev said.

  Arcturus looked around tensely. “Maybe we should retreat.”

  “But we need the energy crystal,” Ev reminded him.

  “Forget it. We’re at a disadvantage here.”

  Sighing, Ev said, “Fine. Let’s go.”

  They ran to the entrance. However, the doors abruptly slammed in their faces. When it wouldn’t open for them, they tried using force. Shockingly, the doors didn’t budge! “This entire house is my domain,” Poseidon said. “Only I can release you, and I assure you—I won’t.”

  Water began pouring down the walls from the ceiling. Only a little at first, the torrent quickly grew in size. Soon the water was at Ev’s knees.

  OK, retreat was out of the question. That meant they had to fight. Using his god-speed, Ev dashed behind Poseidon. He moved to attack his back, but the sea god turned around and blasted him with the water coming out of his sleeves. Ev was hurle
d backwards onto the stairs and hit his head. The last thing he remembered was Arcturus calling out his name.

  Catch all the action in Incident 27, coming early next year.

  Also by Scott Kinkade

  The Game Called Revolution (Infini Calendar #1)

  The French Revolution was never like this. Join Jeanne de Fleur and the knights of the Ordre as they sail the skies in their airship, the Minuit Solaire, battling to save France from a conspiracy that threatens all of Europe.

  Published February 25, 2012

  Science Fiction/Steampunk

  Amazon US: http://tinyurl.com/lkzq6sr

  Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/pf9k6kj

  Amazon Canada: http://tinyurl.com/oae8ejp

  Secrets of the New World (Infini Calendar #2)

  The adventure continues, this time in post-revolutionary Washington. Austrian spitfire Farahilde Johanna journeys to America and gets caught up in an otherworldly invasion. Can she save the day without igniting a war in the process?

  Published February 28, 2013

  Science Fiction/Steampunk

  Amazon US: http://tinyurl.com/pwcx5hn

  Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/oydesmc

  Amazon Canada: http://tinyurl.com/pkkxdt7

  The Revolution Beyond Time (Infini Calendar #3)

  A new journey begins a century after the previous books. Nelly Flowers accompanies her parents to Wichita to compete in the Oklahoma Land Run. But when old enemies once again threaten the world, she’ll have to find the courage to fight back.