Also by Ruben Stelliswolfe
Eternity's War
Eternity's War
Eternity's Deception
Eternity's Redemption
Eternity's Solace
Eternity's Nation (COMING SOON)
Boxsets
Eternity's War (Books 1-3)
Eternity's War (Books 1-3)
Ruben Stelliswolfe
Published by Ruben Stelliswolfe, 2016.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
ETERNITY'S WAR (BOOKS 1-3)
First edition. May 31, 2016.
Copyright © 2016 Ruben Stelliswolfe.
ISBN: 978-1519930248
Written by Ruben Stelliswolfe.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
BOOK ONE
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
BOOK TWO
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
Forty-six
Forty-seven
Forty-eight
Forty-nine
Fifty
Fifty-one
Fifty-two
Fifty-three
Fifty-four
Fifty-five
Fifty-six
Fifty-seven
Fifty-eight
Fifty-nine
Sixty
Sixty-one
Sixty-two
BOOK THREE
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
Forty-six
Forty-seven
Preview | Eternity's Solace
Two
Three
Also by Ruben Stelliswolfe
About the Author
BOOK ONE
ETERNITY'S WAR
One
The First Day
A soft tropical breeze brushed against Skye's face as he stared toward the city. After another long and restless day for the team, they were still no closer to completing their mission. One by one, the lights in the skyscrapers began to turn off, as they did every evening in the inner metropolis.
His shoulder-length hair gently swayed back and forth in the warm wind. As he stared absent-mindedly at the towering buildings in the distance, he tried to forget about the dangerous deadline that loomed—one that would change the fate of the country forever.
A small nation, but an economic powerhouse nonetheless, Athenia was created with limitless funding from the wealthiest neighbouring governments, and countless years of land reclamation. Slowly, the lights in Shangwu Qu, the nation's business district, faded into darkness. Skye couldn't help but feel it was a relevant metaphor for what he and his group were experiencing—much like the evening's light pollution, their chances of success were quickly diminishing.
He rose from the steel-grated balcony, the unspoken place of solitude and reflection. He took a last look at the skyline, which always reminded him of his home back in Xiaguo, then retreated inside the warehouse, descending the spiral staircase back to ground level. The others had retired for the evening, leaving an eerie silence in their base.
The only other person still awake was Ren, a middle-aged woman from Shizudera. She didn't even notice Skye walk back inside; her attention was fixed on the two large monitors mounted on the wall in front of her. She sat at her desk uncomfortably, typing commands into her glass keyboard screen.
“Anything?” Skye asked hopefully, noticing her bloodshot eyes. While he knew their friendship had been horribly strained as of recent, he still admired her tenacity. Unlike himself, she never once gave up, determined to see their mission through to the very end, and at any cost.
“Nothing,” she muttered back. Skye asked her the same question on an almost hourly basis lately, and she always offered the same curt response.
Skye was hardly surprised by the answer. It was not an easy task finding the most protected man in the country. He looked down at the glowing clock on his wrist communicator. “We're running out of time, Ren. We need to find him.”
Ren ignored him and continued typing, needing no reminder that time was running out. She tried to relax her shoulders, which had been tense since the countdown to the inauguration began four months earlier.
Skye took a step closer. “We're cutting it close. If we don't kill him by tomorrow, we may as well give up.”
Ren stopped typing and turned her attention to her comrade, shooting him an aggravated glance. “I know that. What do you think I'm trying to do?” She shook her head and resumed hacking her way into the government's internal
system. Highly encrypted, breaking into it was an immense challenge, even for someone as skilled as Ren. It didn't help that the system was sophisticated enough to constantly lock her out, sending her back to the beginning. So far she had retrieved very little information from the president's ever-changing itinerary, but wasn't willing to admit defeat until the man was dead.
Skye leaned against the wall and surveyed his metallic surroundings. Though bland and drab, not unlike an oversized prison cell, he had called it home for little over a year now. He tried to distract his mind from dwelling on what the newly elected president would do to the country once he came into power. A fierce and unscrupulous individual, he had to be taken out at all costs.
A beep interrupted the silence. Skye jumped as his wrist vibrated, startling his paranoid thoughts. He looked down at his comm and waved his hand over it, opening the new email and letting out a disappointed groan.
“Who is it from? Nikolai?” Ren asked as she brushed her silver hair out of her eyes.
Skye glanced at her and raised an eyebrow, not bothering to respond. She knew as well as he did who it was from.
Despite her tired mood, a smirk crept across her face. “Does he want to meet up with you?”
“Of course he does,” he moaned. The weekly meetings with Nikolai had become tedious at best. “I don't have time for this. I'll tell him I'm not going.”
“You should go,” she urged. “It might do you some good to get outside and clear your thoughts. Plus it's very distracting when you just stand there and watch the screen over my shoulder.”
He knew she was right. The last thing he wanted was to hinder Ren's efforts in any way, but until she was able to tell him the location of the president, he could only stand idly by and wait.
Skye stroked his beard. “Fine, I'll go. Maybe this time he'll have some useful information to share.”
“I doubt that.”
Nikolai was wealthy and resourceful, but relying on him to kill the president for them was not an option. Nikolai hated Athenia's new leader more than anyone, and wouldn't think twice about having him executed, but no risks could be taken when the stakes were so high.
Skye let out a loud yawn. “I should get some rest. If you find anything, wake me.”
“Shall do.”
He headed for his quarters. Every day that passed was one day closer to anarchy for the Athenians. Skye had witnessed it firsthand last year, and was determined to not let it happen again. Killing the president, it seemed, was the only road to peace for the small nation.
Two
The Second Day
Skye stared across the promenade, carefully watching Nikolai sitting casually outside the cafe. It was another busy day in Shangwu, the citizens going about their daily business. Most of them, men and women both, wore black suits made of the finest materials. They walked with haste and spoke loudly into their headsets.
It was a standard sight for the business district of the city-state, but it fascinated Skye to no end, despite living here for so long now, to see such drab colours amid the beauty and vibrancy of the remainder of the island. It confounded him to think that they sauntered down the busy promenade completely oblivious to one of the world's most dangerous men sitting among them.
Skye's green shirt and faded jeans contrasted to the shaven faces and tailored suits surrounding him, but the Athenians took no notice—they were far too invested in discussing how to trade their stocks and currencies at optimal prices. Skye stood still, listening to the different languages around him. He had lived in Athenia for four years now, having spent most of his life in his native Xiaguo.
The signs of trouble for the young nation were obvious: graffiti on the walls and pools of dried blood in the streets. Pieces of its violent history that hadn't yet been erased from the country's records. The citizens either chose to ignore it, as they had been taught to, or they were blindly unaware of it. Harmony was a deeply instilled cultural trait for the country, but Skye knew that even the grandest of virtues sometimes stood no chance against emotional corruption.
Skye glared at Nikolai. Aged in his early forties, Nikolai sat peacefully, yet powerfully, his posture perfect, his gaze lost in the large newspaper in his hands. Skye wondered if perhaps Nikolai had not yet sensed his presence. It could be the perfect opportunity to kill him and finally put a stop to the chaos before more innocent lives were lost. A public execution was not ideal, and against all he stood for, but there were few, if any, chances for him to slay his adversary. His list of enemies seemed to be growing, but Nikolai and the newly elected president were both at the top of it.
Outside the cafe, Nikolai slowly turned his head to see Skye standing on the opposite side the street. He smiled broadly and held his hand up, politely beckoning Skye to come and join him.
Skye let go of his sword's hilt and sighed deeply to himself. He felt foolish that, for a moment, he thought he stood a chance at killing him.
Almost involuntarily, he crossed the street, keeping his gaze fixed on Nikolai's warming smile. He took one step after the other, dodging the sea of corporate personnel, not in any hurry to engage in yet another pointless conversation. He arrived at the table shaded under the large parasol.
Nikolai stood up gentlemanly and opened his arms wide, offering his former friend a hug. Skye sat down quickly, not interested in sharing any affection with the man. Almost an entire head taller than Skye, Nikolai had a large, muscular chest, with his dark hair slicked back neatly. Nikolai would be a formidable opponent even without the unrivalled skills he possessed.
The towering man sat back down, still smiling fondly, his face hidden behind large sunglasses. “It's wonderful to see you again.”
Skye rolled his eyes. “It's been a week. Are you going to tell me what we're debating this time?”
“Is this not one of the most incredible things you've ever seen?” Nikolai gestured to their surroundings. “I refer not to the country's natural beauty, which has been all but destroyed by the ever-modernising society and towering infrastructure, but rather to the fact that its citizens go about their daily business, with absolutely no regard for their true yearning.” Their regular meetings usually began with a philosophical rant from Nikolai, and the topic of corporate slavery was almost always on the agenda.
Skye frowned with disapproval. “Obviously they have no idea.” He had thought the same thing himself on many occasions, but did not want to give any indication that their reflections were on par. He detested their weekly meetings, yet at the same time felt validated by their regular thought-provoking discourse. His conflicting feelings left him confused, and he hoped Nikolai couldn't sense that a small part of him actually enjoyed being there. “And I wouldn't exactly call a man-made island a 'natural beauty'.”
“This place never ceases to amaze me,” Nikolai continued, ignoring the comment. “I've seen such exquisite beauty all around the world, but never have I seen a nation that represents such a vast juxtaposition between the eastern and western worlds, as well as the upper and lower classes. I daresay Athenia deserves a category of its own when it comes to interpreting and discerning its social values.”
Skye couldn't help but smirk as he fondly remembered the long and meaningful discussions they used to have in their early days of friendship. The two had met in Athenia, instantly becoming the best of friends. They would sit and talk for hours at the university bar, pondering and debating the future of the world. Only a year ago, living a life free from oppression with his dearest friend and conversing about such things would have been a dream come true. But in this moment, he resisted the urge to slice the man's head off. It was a painful reminder that people, despite being so resilient, can change at any time in their lives. Impermanence is something that all humans are susceptible to.
Nikolai opened the newspaper to a page in the economics section and pointed to an article. “The yuan is almost trading at an all-year high.”
“Or maybe your federal dollar is just getting weaker.”
“The price of war,” Nikolai chuckled. “Nevertheless, I'm intrigued to see how much stronger the yuan can get.”
“Maybe you should discuss that with the new president instead of wasting time sitting here all morning.”
Nikolai took a sip from his coffee. “Perhaps. Would you care for a beverage?”
Skye pondered the offer for a brief moment before nodding once. “Sure.”
“Ah, very good. Excuse me, Ying!” Nikolai called out.
A young woman emerged from inside, smiling politely. “Yes, doctor?”
“A coconut milk latte for my old friend here, please.”
She acknowledged with a slight nod, then walked back inside.
Skye eyed the newspaper with intrigue. “How much did that cost you?”
“Quite a bit. But you know me—while I may openly embrace and comply with modernity, I'm nostalgic at heart. I found a store in Xindian Qu that prints them upon request.”
He reached for the holster sitting firmly on Skye's waist. His face filled with glee as he removed the weapon. To an onlooker it appeared to be a handle with no blade attached.
Nikolai held it up curiously, admiring its beauty and light weight. “Where did you manage to find this? It's quite beautiful, well crafted.” The logo on the side indicated that it belonged to the East Yue Union military. While Nikolai had never before seen a weapon such as this, he knew exactly what it was, and was impressed by the level of ingenuity involved in its creation.
“It was a gift,” Skye said.
“Did Charlie send it to you?”
“No. Ren ordered it.”
Nikolai scoffed. “You needn't lie to me. I'm all too familiar with the law on imports, and I can see no way of this making its way into the country.” A smile crept across his face. “Well, at least not legitimately. How much did this cost Ren?”
Skye returned the smile. “A lot.”
Nikolai laughed softly. “Well, you're wise for choosing to arm yourselves at long last. We lead dangerous lives. It's also good to see that she's investing my money in ways to kill me. Nevertheless, I'll have to send Archibald a stern letter asking him to review the procedures when it comes to imports. I can't have people with military weapons roaming the streets of my home now, can I?”
Skye raised an eyebrow at the thought of Nikolai negotiating with the new president. The leader had a dark past with both of them, and the duo had been searching for him for the past year. Despite being enemies, they unanimously agreed on one thing, and one thing only: kill Archibald Denning on sight.
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