Twilight of the Gods (Universe in Flames Book 8)

by Christian Kallias

  Zeus roared and the surface of the planet trembled. He unleashed a powerful lightning attack that branched, then split apart and hit three of his attackers, sending them flying yards away.

  Chris and Argos teamed up to thin the remaining Fury horde one by one. They were very complimentary, with Chris’ ability to dodge and block almost anything thrown at him, while Argos went more on the offensive.

  After a few minutes, they had already dispatched more than a third of the enemy Furies, each moment making it easier for them to deal with fewer foes at once.

  The Furies regrouped and backed away from the fight without warning.

  “What the hell are they doing?” inquired Argos.

  “Maybe they’re reconsidering my offer,” said Chase.

  “Even so, we finish this. The more Furies die here today, the less we have to fight tomorrow.”

  Chase didn’t exactly see eye to eye with Argos, but his logic was sound nonetheless. If the Furies decided they wanted to flee though, Chase was perfectly fine letting them. Fear was also a powerful message. And if they survived to tell what had happened to their comrades in arms, it would still be a victory, and one that could instill fear in the heart of whomever heard the tale.

  WHEN ARES MATERIALIZED in the Hope’s ready room, Sarah was flashing orange, and lightning bolts sizzled all around her.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

  “I— I don’t know, please help me, Ares!”

  “When did it start?”

  “A while ago I had my first episode, but it came and went; I didn’t think anything of it at the time— I thought it was just a post-pregnancy side effect, but this time it’s different, I can’t seem to stop it!”

  “Alright, looks like your latent Fury powers are coming to the surface. You need to learn how to control them. Doesn’t look like we have much time.”

  “What? What does that mean?”

  “I don’t want to alarm you, but it seems to me that unless you get a grip on them fast, you could unleash them and destroy everything around you.”

  “A good thing you didn’t want to alarm me,” said Sarah with uncontrolled anger.

  “Well, looks like you’re in for a crash course in Fury powers. I’ll do my best to guide you through it. Try to close your eyes and focus on your powers. Visualize a sphere in your mind that represents the energy you feel inside your body.”

  “I’m warning you, I suck at meditating.”

  “You have to try, Sarah, now stop arguing and close your eyes.”

  Sarah closed her eyes and, as instructed, she tried to get a visual representation of the powers inside of her. She couldn’t get a sphere in her mind; instead, she saw a scary tapestry of lightning not following any patterns. It was plain chaos.

  “I can’t seem to see a sphere.”

  “Try to shape one with your thoughts then.”

  Sarah tried focusing on the task, but all she could think about was what would happen to the Hope and its crew if she lost control.

  “That’s not what I asked you to do,” exclaimed Ares.

  “Look, it’s not easy to focus in these conditions. We’re in the middle of a battle; there are lives at stake.”

  “You need to disconnect your thoughts from that; the fleet is doing well; right now you need to focus on you and you alone.”

  “Easier said than done; what if I take out the entire fleet?”

  “Look, I know this is scary, but you probably don’t have that kind of power. So just try and do as I say.”

  “I can’t shake the feeling that what’s building up inside of me is very powerful and could hurt or kill many people. You need to promise me that if we don’t manage to stop it, you’ll get me the hell out of here.”

  “Where to?”

  “Anywhere uninhabited. Away from here, far away.”

  “I’m not sure Chase would agree. Perhaps I should get you to him now.”

  “No! He and my son are fighting for their lives right now, they don’t need to be distracted.”

  “This seems serious—”

  “Ares, promise me you’ll just get me out of the ship and far away if it comes to that?”

  Ares thought it through for a long time.

  “Ares?” insisted Sarah, her voice trembling.

  “Alright, I’ll get you out of here when the time comes. Now please try and focus on shaping your energy in a manner that isn’t scary in your mind.”

  Ares could feel Sarah wasn’t doing well, and with each passing moment, she got farther and farther away from controlling whatever was happening inside her body.

  Chase, said Ares telepathically, Sarah is in trouble.

  But no one answered.

  ZEUS AND ORYN APPROACHED CHASE.

  “What are they doing?” asked Zeus.

  “I don’t know. They seem to just regroup out of the blue.”

  “That makes no logical nor strategical sense,” Oryn interjected. “They are more vulnerable that way. We could just circle them and end this in one fell swoop.”

  “Why don’t we?” grunted Argos. “Let’s not waste time with these losers; they’ve given us an easy way out, let’s take it.”

  “Something doesn’t smell right,” said Chase.

  “Look, usually I’m all about trusting your instincts,” replied Argos. “But this time, it seems more like an opportunity to me.”

  Chase didn’t like it. The remaining eight warriors had packed themselves for a reason. And perhaps encircling them was exactly what they wanted. Argos made a good point in the fact that Chase could probably deal with them all on his own, so where was the real threat? Unless they didn’t factor an unknown element. And that’s what was nagging at the forefront of Chase’s mind.

  “Look,” insisted Argos. “If you’re not gonna do something about it, I will. I can probably take them out if they stay grouped.”

  Argos flew in their direction.

  “Wait!” shouted Chase.

  Argos stopped in mid-air, and waived the rest to come join him. “Come on guys, let’s finish this and go back to our ship.”

  “Alright,” Chase conceded. “But please, everyone stay on your toes. I have a bad feeling about this.”

  The group approached the Furies who simply stood there and looked at the incoming team made of Fury hybrids and Olympians. Soon Chase, Argos, Chris, Zeus and Oryn were encircling the Fury group.

  “Have you reconsidered my proposal to leave here with your lives?” asked Chase.

  Not that again, objected Argos telepathically.

  Not now, Argos.

  One enemy Fury broke the silence.

  “We’d rather see you all burn. Now!” he screamed as he pressed something on a wrist device. A high-pitched sound resonated inside everyone’s head and Chase and his friends had to cover their ears to try and lower the pain. Chris was already on the ground, and Oryn seemed similarly affected.

  Even with both his hands covering his ears, Chase felt he was losing balance and took action. He broke both his eardrums plunging his index fingers into his ears and regained the full control over the rest of his senses.

  But it was too late. The distraction had allowed the Furies to disperse and they were the ones circling around Chase and the others now. Chase tried firing a fireball at the nearest Fury when he realized he couldn’t move a muscle. He could barely even move his eyes. In his field of view he saw a red force field had been erected all around them.

  They had an ace in the hole, just like he had feared. And now they were trapped and at the Furies’ mercy. Chase saw the Fury in his line of sight speak, but he couldn’t hear anything. Chase closed his eyes and healed his broken eardrums.

  “It’s time for you cowards and traitors to die.”

  “Why…aren’t we…dead yet?” said Argos, with great difficulty.

  That was a good question, and as far as Chase could tell, the device was powered by every enemy Fury. They didn’t seem able
to keep the force field up and attack them at the same time. But then, what plans did they have to get rid of them?

  Chris, who was on his back when the force field was active, tried to speak, but Chase could feel how painful it was for his son just to utter syllables.

  “Sh— ship…s—sky…fall—ing.”

  Chase tried to expand his consciousness to get a better picture. But the more he pushed his consciousness to the side, the more he felt excruciating pressure against his temples. When the pain was too unbearable he tried projecting his consciousness upward and was surprised he managed to do so with minimal pain.

  That’s when he felt what Chris was talking about. A Fury super-destroyer had pierced through the Droxian atmosphere and was hurtling toward their position. That’s how they intended to take them out. And Chase had no doubt that they would succeed unless they found a way to release themselves from the force field currently trapping them in place.

  Chase tried to reach for the devices in each of the Furies but the pain feedback was too strong. He couldn’t reach the devices nor keep enough focus to try and even locate them. But then he got an idea.

  Zeus! Can you summon and hit the Furies with lightning? asked Chase.

  I’m just as affected from whatever this is as you are.

  Try focusing on the sky. I’ve felt less resistance above us than around us. So perhaps getting the lightning to hit you, to act like a charging rod. Then unleash that power on the sides, trying to fry their equipment that way.

  Worth a try.

  Dark clouds covered the sky and a large thunderbolt hit Zeus. A few seconds later, eight bolts of electricity shot from him and hurled toward the Fury fighters. The bolts rebounded against the force field and were randomly scattered back toward them.

  Chase felt an intense current travel through him as he got hit, and so did Argos and Oryn, who both got thrown to the ground as a result; smaller lightning bolts sizzling around their paralyzed bodies for a few seconds as they moaned from the pain.

  “Don’t try— this…again,” said Argos between clenched teeth.

  Oryn didn’t even try to speak.

  I second that; this was not a good idea.

  Chase estimated that they had barely more than thirty seconds before the super-destroyer incinerated them all. Chase focused his mental energy toward the sky and hoped Ares would hear his call.

  SARAH FELL ON THE FLOOR, and when her knees impacted with the ground, a small shockwave was unleashed inside the ready room. It fried a lot of electronics, obliterated the conference table and dented the walls.

  “I can’t— I can’t control it, Ares!”

  “I can see that.”

  “Ge— get— me out of here.”

  “Sarah, try harder.”

  “Can’t— just get me the hell out of here.”

  Bright orange light was now escaping her mouth and eyes. The sight scared Ares, and he had seen a lot of things in his life. But if Sarah died, Chase would never forgive him. That’s when he heard him in his thoughts.

  Ares, help us. We’re trapped…need to find a way to blow up the Furies that have us paralyzed. Shoot at them from space or something, but do it fast or we’ll all die.

  That’s when it hit Ares. Perhaps what was happening to Sarah wasn’t a coincidence.

  He approached her, and three orange lightning bolts shot through him. Being made of energy, it didn’t hurt him. If he had a body though, from the scorched marks they created on the wall behind him, he guessed it would have been another story.

  “I’m getting you out of here. When I tell you to, stop fighting your powers, and focus on unleashing it around you. Don’t hold back, just let it out.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “Trust me, Chase and Chris’s lives might depend on it.”

  That seemed to get her attention. She nodded as more bolts kept firing all around her.

  “Close your eyes and focus on your energy. Let it explode the moment I ask you to open your eyes.”

  Ares put his hand on her shoulder and they teleported away from the Hope and onto the surface of the planet.

  What Ares saw overloaded his mind. A Fury destroyer was a handful of seconds away from impacting on their heads, and they had teleported only a few yards away from a red energy bubble. It was semi-opaque, but Ares saw Chase, Argos, Oryn, Chris and Zeus trapped. Inside. They had no time to lose.

  “Sarah, unleash everything you have, NOW!” screamed Ares as loud as he could to make sure she heard him over the chaos of what was happening.

  Sarah opened her eyes and unleashed the biggest and most powerful roar Ares had ever heard. Her eyes lit up like two miniature blazing suns, and the biggest orange aura Ares had ever seen grew around her at exponential rate. The entire planet shook and orange light bled through her entire body. A pulse of lightning energy exploded on all sides, followed by shockwaves so powerful, it destroyed everything in its path; it unearthed trees and roots from the ground and obliterated a nearby mountain.

  When the wave hit the red force field, it blinked rapidly and Ares saw successive, near synchronized explosions affect on each and every one of the Fury warriors.

  The force field around their friends dropped and the paralyzing force that once held the group hostage was gone.

  10

  Chase didn’t lose any time once he was released from the force field. He joined both his hands, pushed his Ultra Fury aura to the maximum, aimed at the sky above and fired the largest beam of energy he could muster toward the fast-approaching ship. They had no time to lose if they wanted to survive this.

  The large column of orange energy hit the ship full-on, but most of it was absorbed and deflected by its powerful shields. It slowed its descent considerably, but the destroyer kept hurtling toward the group.

  “I could use a little help,” moaned Chase between gritted teeth.

  Argos was still on the ground, holding his burnt side where he got hit by Zeus’ involuntary rebounded attack, and Oryn was also struggling to get back up as well. Chris jumped back to his feet the fastest, ran near Chase and added his firepower to his father’s in the form of a smaller, but still powerful, green column of energy, which slowed down the Fury destroyer a little more, but still not enough to put them out of danger.

  “How come their shields are holding?” asked Chris through gritted teeth.

  “They must have diverted every drop of power into them.”

  “What just happened? Who saved us?”

  Chase looked around and saw Sarah not too far from them. She was engulfed in an orange aura and was staring at her hands.

  “I guess your mother did, with the help of Ares.”

  Chris seemed surprised and looked toward Sarah as well. “We have a problem.”

  “I know, we can’t seem to destroy that incoming ship.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. Whatever mom did brought the force field down, but look, many Furies are getting back up. We can’t keep this up, protect mom and defeat them at the same time.”

  Chase considered letting Chris hold the ship while he quickly dispatched the remaining Furies before they regained their senses. But it didn’t seem like Chris could hold the incoming ship on his own. So he tried contacting the others telepathically.

  Argos, Oryn, Zeus, we need your help. Someone has to protect Sarah and we could use additional firepower to get rid of that ship.

  “If Zeus hadn’t fried me, I could be helping right now,” said Argos, blood spilling out of his mouth as he talked.

  Zeus held his head in his hands. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, are you two alright?”

  “I’ll live,” said Oryn, “but that was a lot of electricity. I still feel all tingly inside.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it,” moaned Argos who rolled to his side, trying to get back up whilst coughing up more blood on the dusty ground.

  WHEN ORYN WAS BACK on her feet, she looked toward Chase and Chris, then looked at Sarah. Five Furies were getting b
ack up and getting their bearings near where she stood. Sarah didn’t seem to understand what had happened. Neither did Oryn in fact. All she knew is that she had heard an inhuman roar, and quickly after, the force field had dropped.

  “Can she fight?” asked Oryn.

  “I don’t think she has any hold on her powers,” said Chase.

  “Then I’ll protect her.”

  “No!” said Zeus. “I’ll take care of her, go help Chase.”

  Oryn nodded and walked next to Chase with a limp. She created two large, icy blue fireballs in each hand, joined them, merging the attacks, and fired a third column of energy toward the ship.

  Nearby, Argos stumbled back to the ground. He was exhausted; Oryn could feel his will to get back up, but he simply had run out of juice.

  The super-destroyer kept gaining on them, even with Oryn’s beam added to the mix.

  “It’s not working. What are we doing now? What if you teleport us all out of here?” she screamed.

  “No! Keep at it; we can’t let that ship impact the planet.”

  That’s when Oryn saw another half a dozen Furies fly toward them from a distance.

  “Don’t want to be rude, but we have more incoming, and we can’t keep this up any longer.”

  SARAH DIDN’T BELIEVE her eyes. She never expected she could unleash such destructive powers. She had never wanted these powers, but she did feel good when it was released from her body and sent all around her. Right now she felt much better, with little to no tension within her anymore. She wished she still had some power left when three Fury warriors positioned themselves around her. She was disoriented and didn’t really know what to do.

  “Ares!” she cried.

  He answered telepathically. Not much I can do in this form, Sarah. We can bail though.