by Mario Routi
59
Turgoth came into the house and saw Rebecca’s bloodstained tunic. “Are you okay?” he asked in a panic.
“I think I’m fine,” she replied.
“What, in the name of Zeus, happened here?”
“Larisa ambushed me. Leylah was right about her. She was actually Claudia reincarnated. She stabbed me but I healed fast for some reason - certainly a lot faster than she expected. The final outcome is on our bedroom floor.”
***
Rebecca and Turgoth went together to the headquarters to meet with Leiko and Felicia. Bull was there too and so were Doctor Afterland, Nemesis, General Hunter and Julia Feredini.
Rebecca explained to them what had happened with Larisa - who she was and what she had told her - and also everything that Leylah had relayed about her latest vision and her encounter with General Varta.
“Because Zeus put you inside the Sacred Flame, it seems that you can heal much faster, even without it,” Doctor Afterland explained after hearing the whole story. “It now constantly burns inside you. You are nearly as immortal as a demigod, Princess. You probably can’t be killed, unless the enemy chops off your head or something equally drastic.”
“No one has ever been fully immersed in the Flame before,” Leiko added, “and not even the Gods knew what would happen as a result of Zeus’s reaction. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rapid healing is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can do now.”
“I would actually like to see what you’re capable of later if you don’t mind, Princess Rebecca?” Doctor Afterland said, hardly able to contain his giddiness at being presented an opportunity to make new discoveries.
“I don’t mind at all. I’m relieved that you, Doctor Afterland, and the Flame managed to remain unscathed,” Rebecca said.
“If it wasn’t for the defense that you all put up in that hellish domain - especially you, Rebecca, with the Titan Slayer - none of us would have made it out alive. My job was simply to carry the Flame and we all know that the Flame inside a lantern within the Gates of Tartarus is an enticement for the Titans. It’s because of how well each one of you did that the Flame and I came out safe and sound. It has been centuries since I last had to fight anyone and I doubt I would have been of any use in that skirmish, other than as the Keeper of the Flame. Thus I leave the fighting to you youngsters and simply guide you when I can.”
“Well I’m glad that everyone did make it out alive,” Turgoth said. “Although we mustn’t forget, there were casualties.”
“And we will honor them all,” General Hunter said. “It will sober everyone up after this harsh time and give them a chance to release their bottled-up emotions.”
“Princess, something concerned me during the fight with the Demonic army,” Nemesis spoke up for the first time. “I think it might be time to rethink the fortress’s defenses.”
“What do you mean?”
“I, and then Leylah, had to immediately retreat once the shield was down. It’s obvious that the destruction of that shield was our Achilles heel during that fight. We had never anticipated that it would fail us, so we only made the wall impenetrable.”
“Yes, it was indeed troubling to see how fast the Demons were able to breach our defenses,” General Hunter agreed. “But since the Demonic army can fly, there’s not much that we can do to defend against that.”
“My special weapon!” Turgoth said. “Having a mounted version of it on the walls could be a viable option.”
“True,” Leiko said. “Let’s talk about it with the Gods. I hope they won’t decide that this weapon is dishonorable.”
“Our enemy doesn’t care about honor,” Felicia said. “We’ve become so used to a controlled Lomani that we have forgotten that those rules were set up to make fighting fair between Utopia and Beast. Now we are all one and on the same side and our enemy is true Evil. We fight against Demons.”
Leiko nodded gravely. “I agree that some things must change if we are to be prepared for another Lomani. I had thought that having the War Games more often to test warriors’ skills would be enough, but I see now it was only enough to keep them fit.”
“So, what exactly is the situation now?” asked General Hunter.
“The Sartani have brought the Sceptomorphs to Earth,” Julia stepped forward to speak. “As you all know, they are invisible to the eyes of humans. Only we can see them. They have not fed yet, but the Sartani will try to create widespread fear and panic among the people soon so that the Sceptomorphs can start feeding. We need to destroy them all before that happens.”
“Also,” Leiko added, “according to the Gods, the reason why so few Titans were released into the Elysian Fields is that they have kept a good part of the Flame behind and will now try to reproduce it. This means that the Titans might be released in the future and could appear in the Elysian Fields at any moment.”
“And that’s not all,” General Hunter said. “In the next Lomani we won’t just be facing Demons. The Persian Immortals will be with them. This is now confirmed. They are ready and the attack could happen anytime. The intel is that they will attack all our kingdoms at once so that we won’t be able to bring in reinforcements from the Sharkans, the Cyclopes, the Porth or even the Centaurs.”
“That’s where they are wrong,” Turgoth said. “Gather absolutely everyone in Utopia. We begin expanding today.”
“But what about the Orizons who will be on Earth, locating and exterminating the Sceptomorphs?” asked Bull.
“Leave the spaceships on Earth,” Felicia suggested. “Once the attack begins here, we will call them back immediately. Expand the Highlow Cosmodrome and bring it closer.”
“Agreed,” Rebecca said. “The only small detail we’re overlooking is what we’ll do if an attack breaks out in the Elysian Fields.”
“If a War of the Gods breaks out, we can’t really do anything there, as we can’t harm the Titans. We need to protect Utopia. The Gods will fight their own war and Lord Life is there, along with Field Marshal Foster, to help them as much as they can,” Leiko said. “They are also gathering all of the greatest warriors and heroes that have ever existed, including Theseus, Alexander the Great, King Leonidas of Sparta, Perseus, Odysseus, Achilles and so many others.”
“Okay,” Felicia said, “let’s not waste another moment and let us begin preparations. We need to expand Utopia and start gathering every soul in the Land of the White Sun as close to us as possible. We must also construct more of Turgoth’s weapon. Julia, the Sceptomorph mission starts right now. Good luck and keep in touch.”
“Lady Felicia and Lord Leiko - I would also like for you to move into the fortress immediately,” Rebecca said. “We can’t run the risk of something happening to you. We should bring Pegasus here as well.”
After a while, the Council ended and they all left to their different destinations, each one thinking of the difficult times that awaited them in the near future. It was the first time in the history of the universe that things had ever seemed this dangerous for all worlds.
60
In the hospital
Leylah looked down at the bed, thinking about what Varta had said. The room was completely silent and she could hear her own thoughts now. The fight had been rough and she was amazed that she had come out of it alive.
“You know, it doesn’t do to dwell too much on what happens in the heat of battle,” a familiar voice broke through her thoughts. “You did what you had to do and you actually did extremely well.”
She turned to see Nemesis standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and a kind smile on her face. Leylah had no idea how long she might have been standing there.
“Thank you,” Leylah said, knowing that she would be going over everything that had happened in her head a thousand times.
Nemesis looked down at Alexander and said nothing.
“Yes, and I came to see how you two were doing. You should have been there, you know, young Princess. Your parents would have wanted you to be.”
“I needed to stay here.”
“They know that and they understand. We all do.” Nemesis came into the room and stood beside her. “So, did Doctor Afterland give you a medical exam? You were stabbed with one of those weird blades too.”
“He said that there wasn’t anything peculiar that he could find. He treated me with the Flame and said that my adrenaline is unusually high but he thinks it’s because of everything I’ve just been through.”
“You have been through a lot - he’s right - but you need to prepare yourself for much more, dear,” Nemesis said, her face serious.
Leylah turned towards her with a questioning look on her face.
“General Varta was just one of the Titans’ many devious creations,” the Amazon explained. “There is no doubt that the next Lomani will be even worse. That is what we were discussing in the War Council. They won’t leave you alone, Princess. You are the Oracle, remember? And they now know this. Anyway, just be extra careful, okay? I’ll leave you two alone for the time being.”
The silence returned to the room as Nemesis left. All Leylah could hear was Alexander’s steady breathing, which she found comforting. She leant forward and rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and her worries melted away, allowing her to drift off into a deep, exhausted sleep.
“Leylah?” Alexander awoke a few moments later with a start.
She lifted her head and a big, beautiful smile of pure joy spread across her face. “Hey Alex!”
“What happened?” he asked.
She opened her mouth to speak and found herself bursting into tears instead. Alexander put his arms around her and held her tight.
“Hush, it’s okay,” he whispered. “You can tell me what happened later.”
“You were turned into a diamond statue, Alex,” she gasped through the sobs. “I thought I had lost you.”
“It’s okay. We’re okay. Did anything happen to you?”
“I was stabbed and General Varta tried to take control of my body.”
He stroked her hair soothingly. “Listen, it’s over now, Leylah. We’ve made it through.”
For several minutes she continued to weep into his shirt and he remained silent, gently holding her. Eventually her sobbing died down and she lifted her head to look at him.
“Alexander?”
“Yes?”
“I have something to tell you.” Her voice wobbled.
He waited patiently for her to go on.
“I... I love you!” she said and pressed her lips softly against his. She then stood up and ran from the room without looking back.
Acknowledgements
Ah, the author’s favourite time - when he gets to thank the lovely people without whom he wouldn’t be able to bring his stories to life.
First of all I would once again like to thank my Publisher in the UK, Mr Paul Andrews, and everybody at Oak Tree Press.
As always, my Editor, Mr Andrew Crofts, for his invaluable and precious help. If you ever got to see the first draft of my manuscript you’d understand how great his contribution is.
Special thanks to my friend, Publicist and Consultant, Mr Tony Mulliken, as well as Miss Fiona Marsh, Miss Becky Short and the whole team at Midas in London.
My family for their continuous support and love.
Mr Ilias Livanis, Mr Vasilis Vasilikos, Mr Robin Waterfield, Mr Charles Ostroumoff and Mr Leonidas Haritides for standing by me all these years.
Ms Stephanie Karamanolis for correcting my texts.
The Damonza artistic team for their beautiful work.
The Cardinals of the Brotherhood of the Cyanic Pope for their friendship.
Last but not least, thank you all my dear readers - it’s you that I write for.
Mario Routi
London, September 2014
The Author
Mario is a cool, mysterious and slightly sloppy guy. He sneaked to the third planet from the sun more or less forty+ years ago, taking advantage of a tender moment between his lovely parents, using them as his Portal.
As a child, he wrestled and boxed every day with his dear brother, but without really hurting each other. During his youth years, he worked hard to persuade friends and teachers that he was just a normal guy who was indeed from this world, and not some dangerous alien.
Submitting to the demands of contemporary society, he was forced to study several stuff, here and there, in order to penetrate the business world, escaping a few years later to become an author.
Having written a few dozen articles, a script or two and a couple of best selling novels, he created his own world, one which lives inside his skull, where he continually tries to persuade his characters that he is not a god but just their creator, so they should see him more like a father, just as his beloved Earth children do. He is proud of his characters, viewing them as individual, autonomous creatures, not bound or guided.
He currently flows between the Earth and the Land of the White Sun, wandering in the deepest places of both worlds, bringing his readers back tales of the adventures of his heroes.
Meanwhile in reality, his biggest problem is forgetting where he has parked his car, (or his spaceship), while his greatest worry is reserved for how his favourite soccer team will fare.
www.mariorouti.com
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