by Debbie Behan
Lord
of the
Planets
Fire Divine
DEBBIE BEHAN
Copyright
Published 2013 by Butterfly Kiss Books
Copyright © 2013 by Debbie Behan
Book Cover Design by Anthony Puttee of Book Cover Cafe
All rights reserved.
These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or the publisher.
Lord of the Planets Series
Fire Divine
by
Debbie Behan
ISBN 978-0-9874013-4-2 (pbk)
ISBN 978-0-9874013-3-5 (ebk)
Also Available
by
Debbie Behan
Home Worlds
Lord of the Planets Series
Book One
Dedication
Dedicated to
My husband, Shaun.
Who never stopped believing in me and this story.
To you my sweet man, cheers, we did it!
And
To my beautiful family
Daughter Jody, husband Ross and grandchildren
Kai & Josh
Love you!
Table of Contents
Preface
Saturn
Up in the Universe
The Encounter
An Intriguing Offer
The Best of the Best
Girls! Girls! Girls!
Sagittarius
Riders United
A Home at Last
Calmer Waters
Under Attack
Presumed What
Ara Homeworld
Friends Forever
Safe in the Homeworld
Observatory Tower
A Friend in Need
Macro Riders Pevail
Fate has its Own Plan
Goodbye Delphinus Island
Mission Tragedy
Icy Home World
Friend or Foe
Snow Cabin
Time with a Friend
Pluto
All Hope is Gone
Help from a Friend
United we Stand
A Deal is a Deal
Kayden’s Farm
Dealings with Evil
Riders Sojourn
Judgement Day
Healing Dwarf Planet Pluto
Chance Meeting
Orion’s Surprise Visitor
Hunting in the Wild
Kidnapping Foiled
Secret Uncovered
Encounter with the King of Gods
Up in Arms
Friend or Foe
Merciful Me
Orion’s Belt (Clandestine)
Sneaky Men Friends
Time Forgotten
Orion’s Belt
Preface
Pluto has been relegated to Dwarf Planet status. This has divided the congress of the gods that rule over the planets. Imminent war has forced Zoren (archangel of the heavens) to promote Axon Stanton, his most loyal and trustworthy warrior, to Tsar, the supreme ruler over galactic celestial spheres.
To regain peace, Axon needs his own team of elite Riders and looks to Kayden Hunter for support. The Cloud Riders are deployed with a task to train the unruly group of super-humans Axon has enlisted. All is going to plan until one of the team members, who is proving a real handful, ends up a captive of the enemy. Axon’s fears are realised as he desperately fights to prevent the situation spiralling out of control.
Can his new team, known as Macro Riders, become powerful enough, fast enough and feared enough to save the universe from a god as powerful as Hades?
Saturn
Rhea, goddess and mother of the Titans, moved from the Roman style bath where her husband still lay. Servant girls dried and wrapped her in sheer lavender cloth, a robe of silk and lace that slipped delicately over her shoulders, tied neatly at her tiny waist with a bright purple sash.
‘Careful how you handle this, husband of mine.’ She sat to have her long brown locks of hair brushed and styled into a braided topknot.
The powerful god, Cronus, lifted his huge body suddenly from the water. The droplets sprayed from him as he shook his hairy body. His wife sat admiring her man’s naked form. Even after all these years, she longed for the strength of him to hold her in a lustful moment of togetherness. Today they had other commitments and no time for what was on her mind. She grinned with a twinkle in her eye only he understood. It made him smile back as the servants wrapped him in natural cottons, custom dress when holding council.
‘Tonight my sweet.’ He moved close to her and laid a gentle hand on her cheek.
‘Shoo!’ She gestured for the servants that had finished with her hair to leave. ‘Husband, what will our son do – what will you do?’ Her voice was quiet and shaken.
‘My son Hades has always been a planet ruler and if I have anything to do with it, he always will be. I cannot believe they have kicked Pluto out! A dwarf planet! Can you believe they are calling his kingdom a god-dammed dwarf planet? The shame of it,’ he huffed while vigorously drying his legs. ‘If Pluto is not reinstated I will go to war for him. My sons and I will take over the planet, Mercury. Hades will be the new ruler and the current ruler, Hermes, can rule Pluto or the defiant fool will pay for going against us and voting him out; he will end up with nothing.’
Rhea’s head shook. Her silky-woven hair shimmered in the candle light, the clean sheen of her skin glowed magically and for a moment it calmed him, giving him inner compassion as he watched his wife handle what lay ahead. It was the first time they’d had time to speak and even though it was a lot for her to take in, they no longer held truths from one another.
‘So all our friends voted for this change to Pluto?’ Rhea said.
He stood still and listed them for her. She had to know this was serious. He felt strongly. If she didn’t stand by him he would do this alone. ‘Hermes of Mercury, Uran of Uranus, Ares of Mars, Gaea of Earth and Aphrodite of Venus were all there.’
‘And voted against you and your sons?’ exclaimed Rhea.
‘Clearly a legal alliance was formed as they have half the planet rulers’ vote of approval.’ He bent to cup his wife’s chin. ‘My love, I have no choice, I will not lose my son to the ice world. If Pluto cannot stay with us then we will go to war, and we will take over Mercury.’
‘Why Mercury? Hades knows nothing about the working of Mercury, or vice versa. Hermes will not surrender or swap. I don’t know about this, Cronus. What are the boys saying?’ Rhea’s tone was high.
Cronus didn’t like his wife upset but this entire new law was unacceptable and his sons agreed. ‘Zeus and Poseidon are with me. They believe as I do that Hades will find his feet. Mercury has similarities as it is the first port of call for the deceased. The departed are escorted by Mercury to the River Styx and shipped across to Hades’ Kingdom. Hades will now be on the front line and who better than Hades to advise the new ruler, Hermes of Pluto on the judgment of their fate before sending them to the underground?’ He had put a lot of thought into it and was positive he had covered all angles as a responsible god and that the planets would still run smoothly once the transition took place.
‘Yes, Hermes will need help.’ Her lips curled and he knew she was still worried.
Cronus turned to the mirror and studied the formal attire
. ‘He is a conductor of souls through his planet and Hades is aware he will need to assist Hermes for quite some time, but we feel this is the only choice we have. He too will find his feet in time as we all have. Even gods can change.’
The grin that spread across her face and a raised eyebrow, made him smile. ‘Well, I’d like to think I have changed a little.’
She stood. ‘You have, only slightly,’ she said, and poked his stomach. ‘I will trust you to share with me every detail this time. No secrets.’
He took her finger and kissed it sensually. ‘I will. I promised last time, no more cloak-and-dagger from me and I meant it.’
‘There is no talking you out of this course of action? You are up against Ares, God of War, and Zoren.’
‘Yes, wife of mine. Zoren’s army will be difficult to deal with if he dispatches them, but I hear the Cloud Riders are kept busy these days with the star worlds and it would be a stretch to have them handle the planets too. No, I can safely say we will deal with this in house, so to speak. Zoren’s team is not really equipped to handle us gods.’
A squeaky door stopped their conversation. ‘Sorry to interrupt. Your family has arrived. I tried to steer them to your chambers as requested, but they have gone straight to the Shangrili bar. Zeus instructed I get the hell out of there and let them be,’ their most faithful servant confided.
‘That will be all,’ Cronus said with a note of concern as the servant quickly bowed his way out of the room. ‘Sounds like our boys are in low spirits. We must go to them.’
He turned back to Rhea. ‘We have worked too hard over the years to repair the rift within our families and I will not allow this new law to separate our home world, which splits us up! No, this is not going to happen to us again!’ His words were strong yet low and deadly as he kept his well-known temper in check, his worry for the situation apparent. He put out his hand. ‘Come my sweet, and let us work through this as a family.’
With a lace cloth, Rhea wiped her tears, threw it aside, and took his outstretched hands. ‘Don’t let them spoil that which has taken us so long to mend husband of mine.’
He kissed the softness of her lips. ‘Never again.’
Up in the Universe
Axon took in a deep breath and entered the room. He had nothing to report and dreaded sitting through a meeting with nothing solid to give. With heavy steps he trudged through the door as the thump of a NAVpen beating loudly on the desk grabbed his attention. His boss, Zoren, seemed irritated that he was late, which made Axon’s hackles go up. He felt under attack already and slumped his shoulders as he sat. He didn’t want to have a run in with his boss today. His eyes averted to the seat on the other side of the table where Kayden sat. Axon’s eyebrows clamped together, insulted that Zoren had invited him too. Kayden was a mate, but really, what did he know about planets?
Axon cussed under his breath. What is the leader of the Cloud Riders doing here? He was in no mood to have the commander of the home worlds in the stars dictate to him. He was now the Supreme Ruler over gods, not anything like the prissy wizards and warlords Kayden battled. They had nothing in common. Axon grumbled silently, and glared at Kayden, humiliated, forced to discuss his business in front of him.
The NAVpen stilled, as Axon eyed Zoren. Had the powers of the archangel felt his discomfort? He hoped so as he needed these proceedings to hurry along. He had a meeting on Earth with Rory and his team and the morning had slipped away from him.
Frustrated that no one had spoken yet, Axon grabbed a moonjuice from the fridge, ambled back to his seat and had a gulp while he eyed the boss. Zoren, now that he arrived, seemed oblivious to anything else around him as he flipped through the information at lightning speed. The report he read was obviously detailed and lengthy. How Axon wished he were an archangel some days, to power read as Zoren did! He unconsciously ran his finger around the edge of the can, deep in thought. Then Zoren spoke. The angelic sound caused him to lift his head as he concentrated on the melodic tone that floated towards him.
When his boss wanted attention, he sure knew how to get it. Axon shook off the magical calm that radiated from the Angel.
‘Axon I want you to forget about our little problem with Mars for now. I have another mission more pressing.’ Zoren flicked his finger across the document to get to where he wanted to be, so fast his hand blurred. ‘Cronus, ruler of Saturn, and his wife Rhea have three sons; Poseidon, Hades and Zeus. The family secret I’m about to expose must never leave this room.’
A NAVsky reader clunked on the desk as Kayden put down the report he held. Axon’s frame straightened.
‘When his sons Poseidon and Hades were born, he saw them as a threat to his position, so swallowed them and kept them bound inside of him. Rhea however was more cunning and when she gave birth to her third son Zeus, she hid him and substituted a rock wrapped in blankets for the child. Cronus never knew he had been deceived.
‘When Zeus grew up he fought his father and, winning, forced him to unbind his two brothers and together they led a revolt against their father for their terrible treatment. Subsequently Zeus claimed the title of God of the Sky and Ruler of Jupiter. He gave Poseidon the title God of the Seas and Ruler of Neptune. To Hades he gave the title God of the Underworld and Ruler of Pluto.
‘Zeus, being a merciful god, forgave his father and fought the Congress of the Heavens to allow him to keep his title as a god. He won and this enabled him to allow Cronus to continue his rule over the planet Saturn. Zeus, whom they favoured for his wise decisions, was later ordained and given the title of King of all Gods.
‘Cronus spent much time after Zeus spared him, repairing the relations between all his sons and they have lived in peace for many centuries as close allies and fierce protectors of their new family values. The whole family is up in arms that Pluto had its status as a planet repealed.’ The device he held chimed as an update came through and as he read it his eyebrows came together. Axon knew his friend well and that expression meant a big problem.
‘It has just been confirmed that it was the rulers of Mercury, Venus and Mars who joined forces with Earth, and it was them as a collective that signed the secret ballot, thus resulting in the expulsion of Pluto as a planet.’
He sat back in his chair. ‘We are on the cusp of a massive war amongst the gods.’
Axon leaned on his elbows his eyes fixed on Zoren. ‘So let me guess. Hades, still being the ruler of Pluto, is far from pleased that he has been downgraded to a dwarf planet and feels abandoned by his fellow planet rulers. And his family, to this day, that continue to rule Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter, have declared war on the other planets for the secret course of action that had Pluto removed.’
Zoren didn’t need to speak. The slight movement of agreement was enough.
‘I can’t believe we weren’t informed!’ Axon was stunned. ‘We should have known about this.’
‘I agree. Nevertheless, we were not consulted. This leaves me to assume that the ones proposing the ballot didn’t want it challenged. That or Cronus and his sons were so cocky they never believed the other rulers would oppose them.’
Zoren moved and body language made both men sit quietly. ‘Hades wants to be back with his family. The only other planet with the ability to direct the dead through its orbit and into the underworld, thus keeping Hades in a similar position, is Mercury.’
‘Therefore your belief is that Hades has set his sights on that planet.’ Axon sat back his arms folded.
Zoren’s pitch rose. ‘To cut a long story short, Hermes won’t swap Mercury with Hades, so war of the worlds is about to break out!’
‘So what now?’ Axon asked.
Zoren sat forward. The normal light-blue texture of his eyes flashed and deepened almost to black. ‘Hades mostly blames Earth’s ruler, the goddess Gaea, who motioned this change. He is threatening that once he finally takes over Mercury he plans to destroy all humanity on Earth for their evil part in his termination and send them all to the Underworld for ete
rnity.’
Axon sat back. His heart thumped loudly as his blood rushed around his body with the adrenaline boost the shocking news gave him. ‘What the hell have I taken on here, Zoren? What have you thrown me into this time? These are gods and warlords of the worst kind.’
Zoren threw the NAVpen down. The writing instrument flew across the boardroom table, causing Axon and Kayden to squirm in their seats.
‘The protocol for such a decision is that notification is passed on to all, thus allowing us the opportunity to vote. Now the gods and their arrogance have prevented us the chance of a reasonable outcome. And as for you Axon, it is too late to turn back. You are committed to me.’ Zoren’s angry tone silenced further comments as he stood.
‘You have the problem. The facts are that war will be the destruction of the universe and I will not stand for insubordinate behaviour from my men or the gods.’
He stood with palms down on the desk. His stance meant business.
‘Axon! I want this fixed now.’ His voice boomed through the room and echoed as he spoke and thumped his hands so hard on the desk, it cracked, and both men jumped out the way as the table shattered and fell into pieces on the floor. ‘And you are the toughest and most headstrong soldier I have ever known, Axon. I know you’ll do anything and everything to achieve a positive outcome. Now go out and find a team of peace-makers and get them operational and ready by the end of this month.’
Axon already felt the pressure of what he faced. His boss sounded frustrated with him and forgetting his own issues with it, he desperately looked for words to defuse the Zoren’s anger. He could see him turning a little transparent. He and Kayden knew him well and both stood a good chance of feeling a lot of pain any minute if things didn’t calm down. Archangels could be ruthless in getting those around them to commit. ‘I will be meeting with another group on Earth shortly. I have issues though. Their leader tells me there are three females.’
Zoren’s features softened slightly. Axon had used his pet hate, knowing this always amused the Angel who was always about love where the ladies were concerned. ‘Okay, so that’s what’s been dragging your chain. Look, I know you’ve never liked working with women, I get that, but in their defence, Kayden’s team could not be without Cassie.’