Twilight of the Gods (Universe in Flames Book 8)

by Christian Kallias

  Before Odin could finish, Chase was gone. He teleported from his position and reappeared right in front of Odin. The king of Asgard readied to clock Chase with a powerful jab when suddenly he saw the blade that had pierced Chase’s hand and which tip had stopped only an inch from Odin’s throat.

  Oryn was the second to react as she slammed the ground with her fist and unleashed a battle cry. A second later, a giant icicle rose from the floor a few yards behind Chase, followed by a squishing sound. The tip of the spiky icy formation was drenched in blood, and sparks flew before a figure de-cloaked, revealing a dead, impaled Fury.

  “Your majesty,” said Chase, removing the blade from his hand and instantly healing his wound. “Let’s discuss all of this later; right now let us do what we came to do and protect you.”

  Chase thought he saw something close to gratitude in Odin’s eyes before Odin nodded.

  “COMING HERE ALONE WAS FOOLISH,” declared Zeus. “And killing my son was downright idiotic.”

  “I don’t need anyone else to finally bring an end to your reign, old man,” answered Arakan. “Look around you, soon your world will be no more.”

  In his current state of blinding rage, Zeus hadn’t noticed the additional destruction that seemed to affect Olympus.

  “What have you done?”

  “A little something I’ve learned from the one you call Chase. Using Fury power in space can be, how should I say this— detrimental to planetary safety.”

  Zeus could feel it now. It was the pull of a black hole exerting too much gravity on Olympus Prime.

  “Plus, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to destroy your entire fleet with one fell swoop,” snorted Arakan.

  There was nothing that Zeus could do now about the black hole, it would rip Olympus Prime to shreds and kill most of the Olympians on its surface. But that pain was eclipsed by the utter rage and thirst for revenge rushing inside his blood. The man who had tortured and gruesomely killed the person Zeus had loved the most in this life was standing only a few feet away from him. And if it were the last thing he did, he would kill the Fury with his bare hands.

  “You really must be desperate to attempt this.”

  “Desperate?!” Arakan laughed hard. “Don’t be ridiculous. This war is about to end shortly, but unlike what you may think, it’s the Earth Alliance that will soon fall prey to the mighty Furies, and not the other way around. Granted, they have won a few battles and surprised me on more than one occasion. But in the grand scheme of things, they are just but a pesky nuisance that I’ll soon deal with.”

  “Chase won’t let your people win, and you won’t be there to see them fall and die as they should have ten thousand years ago.”

  The amount of guilt boiling inside Zeus, mixed with his vengeful rage, created a dangerous mix of emotions that could bring down his entire psyche. Zeus had the chance to destroy the Furies before, and he had spared them because he didn’t want to kill his own child and the last person that reminded him of Zalara and the love they shared. But it was only right at this moment that Zeus realized the weight of that decision, as well as its cataclysmic repercussions.

  “You’re wrong, old man. It is I who will rip your beating heart from your chest and finally get revenge for your indiscretion. You could have stopped the war. I was open to a ceasefire, but you had to take my wife’s purity and soil it with your Olympian filth! You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife!”

  “And what about killing one’s own wife? Is that any better?”

  “She was MINE!!!”

  “No, she wasn’t, and that’s why you killed her, you fucking cowardly excuse for a man!”

  The aura around Arakan exploded and tripled in size. His eyes filled with a bright crimson glow.

  “Enough!”

  “Yes,” boomed Zeus, as his voice echoed all around them. “Enough talk!”

  Arakan swiftly aimed an open palm and unleashed a large column of crimson energy toward Zeus, who answered in kind with a cascade of lightning bolts to counter the Fury’s attack. Upon the energy and lightning joining, a large explosion destroyed everything around them for miles, and the resulting shockwave threw them both flying backward.

  21

  The party exited the ship shortly after Keera landed on the surface of Tar’Lock’s world, a massive brown planet called Entomo. Scans from orbit couldn’t determine the total population; Keera’s onboard computer lacked the processing power and sensor array definition to do so. Keera had been the first to emerge, looking like a shadow in her black liquid metal super-suit. Ryonna, armed to the teeth, stepped out next, closely followed by Tar’Lock.

  The view consisted of dune-looking mounds of dry mud with very little vegetation and no evidence of animal life. That was until they started moving in concert; then the ground felt as if it was alive, with more crawling bugs than either Keera and Ryonna had ever seen. It was in fact nearly impossible not to crush one variety or another just by taking steps. The wave of light from their movement and the reflective carapaces was a sight to behold though, strangely reminding Keera of the seashore of her home world at dusk. But then she realized that a layer of bugs must have been covering their entire planet, or at the very least, this area where they had landed.

  “Ewwww,” exclaimed Keera from under the helmet. “I don’t like bugs!” she added.

  Ryonna cleared her throat, a gentle reminder of Tar’Lock’s presence.

  Tar’Lock clicked furiously.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it,” apologized Keera. “I mean little bugs, I like big talking bugs.”

  “I don’t think you’re making it any better,” added Ryonna.

  “Oh shoot— How do you not step on them, though?” asked Keera, taking three unsuccessful steps that all resulted in crunchy sounds that proved deadly for some of the fauna.

  “Stop killing them! Don’t think about their presence, they’ll get out of the way. If you over-think every step, that confuses them and they can’t feel your intent.”

  “They’re confused? Sorry— I’m trying,” said Keera with more squashing sounds as she took another step.

  “No, you’re not! Empty your mind of any walking thoughts, and just step naturally; don’t look at the ground.”

  Keera’s head turned to Ryonna.

  “Don’t look at me, it’s my first time here too. Do as he says.”

  Keera took a deep breath, tried to empty her mind of the action of walking, but also her aversion to bugs, and walked forward. Surprisingly, she didn’t hear any more yucky bug-squashing sounds. Ryonna didn’t wait to follow in her footsteps. Bugs dodged every one of their steps naturally as if their brains were connected to those of the visitors of their world.

  “That’s better,” muttered Tar’Lock with a series of clicks in a lower pitch register than usual.

  “Where to?” asked Keera.

  Tar’Lock moved with his near light-speed pace and was next to Keera in a fraction of a second. Ryonna was amazed that even with his super-speed, the bugs still moved out of the way.

  “Over there,” he said, pointing toward a cavern entrance. “My people are mostly underground dwellers; we won’t find many of them outside at this ungodly hou—”

  But then Tar’Lock stopped. “Oh no!”

  “What is it?”

  “I— I’ve killed one!” said Tar’Lock, his follow-up click delivery sounding like a sad melody.

  “Ah! You see, it’s not only me,” said Keera.

  “It must have been an old one.”

  “Well, there’s a billion gazillion where it came from, no offense.”

  “You don’t understand, that’s bad luck to step on an elder.”

  ALL HELL BROKE loose around Odin’s throne. Chase had reached with his mind and found no less than two-dozen cloaking devices. He overloaded them, and when he did, three Furies were already flying toward Odin. Thor, who had moved toward his father after Chase’s earlier save, swung his arm, and as he did, his hammer, Mjölnir, ma
terialized just in time to crush the head of the Fury next to him. The Fury was sent flying backward in a wild spin, spraying blood all around his path.

  Chris unleashed a shockwave toward the feet of the second Fury, successfully making him lose balance. Oryn finished the job, raising another icy spike under the stumbling Fury, impaling him in the stomach. The third Fury on its way toward Odin had extended claws on his armor and Argos used telekinesis to stop him from piercing Odin’s throat.

  His assailant was not able to move another muscle, and Odin grabbed the Fury by the cranium. His hand briefly flashed green, and the Fury’s head exploded.

  “I like his style,” said Argos.

  Chase wasn’t in a joking mood and turned to Oryn before the next wave of Furies would be in range.

  “What the hell is this? I thought you said the Strike Force only had five members?”

  “This is not standard operating procedure for them. Arakan must have given them special orders.”

  “It’s Ragnarok!” shouted Odin. “The Furies are destroying our ships and trying to kill me. You’ve brought this upon our world!”

  “You’re not serious!” complained Argos. “We just saved your ass, twice!”

  The intensity of Odin’s look toward Argos told Chase everything he needed to know about the Asgard King’s current frame of mind. But right now they needed to make sure neither Odin nor Thor perished. Though, this was not how Chase pictured negotiating Kvasir’s pardon would go.

  “Father! Yes, the Furies are at our doorstep, yes they’re trying to kill us, but Chase and his friends are here to help.”

  “Now is not the time to defy me; let’s table this for later,” shouted Odin as the palm of his hand flashed green again, and a Fury not far from Chris exploded from within, covering Chris with blood from head to toe.

  “That is, if we don’t end up in Valhalla!” added Odin.

  Chris made a disgusted face at the amount of enemy blood currently coursing down his body.

  “Sorry about that, kid,” conceded Odin. “Wear the blood of thy enemy proudly!”

  “The hell with that,” answered Chris.

  He intensified his aura into a bright flash of light green energy that burned and incinerated every drop of blood on him.

  “That will work too,” said Odin with a hearty chuckle. “Behind you, kid.”

  Chris turned as the Furies were nearly upon him. The distraction caused him to lose just enough time resulting in him being in a bad position to counter their attacks. But just before they were about to smash their fists into his face, a wall of ice rose from the floor and crushed their hands against it. The wall cracked but held. Chris pushed both his hands forward and unleashed another shockwave. It fragmented the icy wall into hundreds of sharp icicles, half of them penetrating the two Fury warriors wherever their skin was exposed.

  Chris didn’t hear Odin as he landed next to him, the entire floor trembling upon impact. Odin then thrust both his flashing hands forward with all his might and the defeated Furies exploded. This time, their innards and blood propelled away from Odin and Chris.

  “They were kinda dead already, and that’s a little overkill,” argued Chris. “But thanks!” he added with a wink.

  “I like you, you remind me of myself when I was your age!”

  Looks like your son might hold the key to asking the king of Asgard for any favors, said Argos telepathically to Chase.

  Perhaps, but first we need to survive this. Something doesn’t smell right.

  If there’s one thing I’ve learned is to trust your instincts, if you say something is awry, then I’m worried.

  But before they had time to take a deep breath, another wave of Fury warriors threw themselves toward Chase and his friends.

  ARAKAN WAS GETTING BACK on his feet when a dozen Olympian guards rushed toward him, weapons drawn. They unleashed a veritable barrage of laser fire toward the Supreme Commander. Arakan’s strong armor deflected most of the shots, and the few that hit unprotected parts of his skin felt like barely more than mosquito bites.

  Arakan’s aura flashed so brightly that it blinded everyone for just a fraction of a second. Red expanding bubble-shaped shockwaves hit the incoming party of guards, freezing them in place. Arakan then unleashed an angry battle cry, and with a swift, circular slash of his hand, he incinerated every single one of the guards in a torrent of flames and boiling lava.

  “Insects! How do you dare defy the Fury God?”

  “You are no god!” retorted Zeus, before landing a strong jab across Arakan’s face.

  Zeus’ power punch sent Arakan skidding on the paved ground for hundreds of yards. A single small drop of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

  “I am everyone’s god! I will rule every living being that survives my Ascension. Those who refuse to bow before me will all be destroyed!”

  “You are mad, but then again I had little doubt in my mind about that even before today.”

  “Silence!!!”

  The word echoed around them.

  Zeus taunted Arakan with a gesture of his hand inviting him to make the first move. If madness was what was in Arakan’s look before that taunt, then what followed was indescribable.

  Without hesitating, and looking like a wounded bull out for blood, Arakan launched himself toward Zeus. Zeus smiled as his eyes flashed deep blue.

  A few yards before reaching Zeus, two Titan-sized statues landed beside Arakan. The impact from their landing and momentum of their jump propelled Arakan in the air, and two giant opened palms clapped together with Arakan in the middle.

  But Zeus’ joy was short-lived. Both massive hands retracted as Arakan extended his arms. Two large columns of crimson energy shot from Arakan’s palm and reduced the Titan statues to dust and stones.

  “Do you really think you’re going to bring me down with such parlor tricks?” retorted Arakan, still hovering in the air.

  His aura grew even more, and now he looked like a bloody moon shining in the darkened cloudy sky.

  Arakan flew toward Zeus like a meteor entering the atmosphere. Leaving a long red trail in its path.

  “I’m only getting started,” screamed Zeus.

  Zeus aimed both his hands toward the incoming Fury ball of red fire that was Arakan and two continuous lightning beams impacted with his foe. It stopped Arakan’s descent and muted most of his aura. Arakan couldn’t move as thousands upon thousands of volts ran through him. The pain forced him to clench his teeth and close one of his eyes.

  “How do you like that parlor trick, then?” said Zeus defiantly.

  Electric bolts shot in between Arakan’s bloodshot eyes and ran down upon his clenched teeth.

  “Still— going— k— kill you,” babbled Arakan in anguish.

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  DANIEL’S STARFURY, THE FLEETS’ only Mark II, shot into space from the launch tube as another jump point formed nearby. The jump point vortex opened in the middle of the Mjölnir, severing Thor’s majestic Asgardian ship in two. The emerging Fury ship pushed both halves as it passed and impacted into a second Asgardian destroyer at full speed. The impact triggered an explosion that took out both ships and incinerated what was left of the Mjölnir’s debris.

  “Holy shit, this is not going well!” exclaimed Daniel.

  “Alpha Leader,” inquired Sarah. “You have dozens of bogies on a ballistic approach vector.”

  “Roger that, Captain. Alpha Squadron will engage immediately.”

  “Negative, Daniel.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know for sure. But I think they have no intention of engaging smaller fighters. Their trajectory brings them straight to the Hope; I think they’re kamikaze ships. Our scans can penetrate. My gut feeling tells me they’re as explosively charged in quadrinium as that massive super-destroyer that took out the entire Asgardian fleet in orbit earlier on.”

  “If that’s true, what do you want me to do?”

  “Sacrifice
your squadron’s complement of drones to detonate as many as you can.”

  “Should we try and shoot them down with lasers and missiles instead?”

  “At their velocity, you’ll need to be at distances I’m not comfortable for you to be. You could get vaporized once they blow up. Deploy your drones and use them as mines.”

  “Captain, if you’re correct about their payloads, if only a few reach you—”

  “We’ll know better once you have taken out the first one. If necessary, we can change tactics.”

  “At their current velocity that won’t give us much time to do so.”

  “Then perhaps you should stop talking?”

  Daniel bit his lip. Of course arguing would not provide them with more time.

  “Roger that, Captain.”

  Daniel opened a channel to his squadron.

  “Alpha Squadron, you’re receiving new targeting orders. I’ve painted twenty plus starfighters en route for what we believe is a kamikaze run to the Hope. The fucking Furies have already destroyed enough ships today, do not let them reach our ship! No matter the cost.”

  “Roger that, Alpha Leader,” answered Alpha 2, Daniel’s second in command.

  The rest of the squadron clicked their comms to acknowledge the order.

  Daniel micro-jumped his StarFury in front of the path of the incoming ships. They were flying faster than he expected, beyond afterburner speeds in fact. Most of their power was channeled into their engines. Daniel deployed two of his drones and hit the afterburners to get the hell out of the blast radius. He programmed the drone to autopilot and to intercept the incoming bogies.

  Daniel was completely out of range when his drones impacted with the incoming enemies. The resulting explosion lit up the dark void of space briefly. Daniel’s instruments went haywire for a few seconds but his sensors recorded and quantified the explosion. A simple Fury starfighter should not make that big of a boom. Sarah had been right, they were kamikaze quadrinium-flying bombs.