Gods of War (War of the Gods Series) (26 page)

“But…” Amadi said but Zeus cut him off.

“I said silence,” Zeus said fiercely. “This is wrong. This place shouldn’t be like this. It looks like everything has been destroyed, but nothing here could ever be destroyed before.”

As they continued their hike Zeus began to worry. Something was not right.
We should have come upon the Token by now. Something is really wrong.
Looking towards the front of the patrol, he saw Nicolai stopped. Asking what was wrong, he replied. “I see something in front of us. It looks like it’s coming closer.”

“What do you mean ‘it’s coming closer’?” Zeus asked. “We are moving closer to the object?”

“No, it’s like it’s coming closer to us.” Nicolai growled. “It is coming closer when I wasn’t moving. What could it be?”

“It has to be Ares.” Amadi stated.

I hope it’s him
, Zeus thought.
I don’t want to deal with anything out of the normal here.

“Let’s keep going,” Zeus motioned.

Wanting to get to the token before Zeus, Ares and his companions left one day early. As soon as they arrived, he knew something was wrong. First the plane had changed since the last time he was here. Then the Token was gone. Usually the token was only a mile away where he enters, but after walking all day the Token was nowhere in sight.
What is wrong with this place? Where is the Token?
Pushing his party hard, they walked non-stop. Collapsing from the force march, Ares stopped for the night.
I may not have the surprise I wanted, but I will have the numbers.

The next day, Ares woke his companions early. Having to dump Dionysus out of his bedding, he forced him to take point. It wasn’t till midday when Ares spotted Dionysus stopped. Hopeful that he spotted the Token, Ares ran to him while the other gods tried to keep up. Ignoring the heaving breathing of his companions he asked Dionysus, “What did you see?”

“I didn’t see anything.” Dionysus growled. Not use to hardship, he was getting sick of what Ares was putting him through. “Are you even sure we are in the right place? This place doesn’t look like the plane you described to us.”

“This is the right place,” Ares said staring him down. Waiting till Dionysus looked away, he continued. “It looks different, but it has the same feeling. Something has to be manipulating the plane.”

“Who could it be?” Thantos asked. “You think Zeus is doing something here?”

“No, he is not powerful enough. Besides they are here too.” Coming from the back of the patrol, hades intruded in the discussion. “I can feel my son with them. I suggest we keep moving.”

“Good idea, Hades,” Ares said. “Would you like to take point?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Ares’ party continued in silence with Hades in the lead. Each god watched their sector, searching for any sign of the Token or Zeus’ group. But the only thing they saw was the desolate landscape. Noticing all of the gods were preoccupied, Terry began his escape attempt. He tried to use his godly strength to break through the chains, but every time he moved them they would clink against each other.
I need to make some noise so they don’t hear what I am doing
. An idea formed inside his head.

Moving up a head, he got as close to Ares as his chains would allow him. He couldn’t go too far away from Aphrodite who was holding the other end.

“So Ares, what happens when a god dies?” Terry asked. “Do you guys have your own special place in hell or do you end up as nothing? I want to know where Apollo is.”

Ares spun around and backhanded him causing blood to fly from Terry’s mouth. “Apollo was a good god. He was faithful. You would be dead now if it wasn’t for Aphrodite. You better thank her when you get the chance.” He turned to Aphrodite. “Isn’t that right dear?”

“That is right,” Aphrodite answered.

From the front of the patrol, Hade came running to Ares. When he arrived he reported that Zeus was just ahead. “He has Atlanta and the two demi-gods with him. We outnumber him two to one. What are your orders?”

Ordering his party to summon their weapons, they slowly made their way to Zeus and his group.

Sarkath watched from a distance as the two parties confronted each other. It took most of his energy and the energy of his brothers to change the plane.
Too bad they had to sacrifice themselves to do it
. The other shades wanted to go and capture Zeus as soon as they saw them, leaving Sarkath without his vengeance. That was something he couldn’t allow to happen. Sarkath accepted that he would die, but he would go with dignity knowing that his enemies perished before him.

I hope my manipulation hasn’t messed things up too much. Right now I just have to wait until the perfect opening and I can have all three of them. Knowing the consequences of manipulating this place could have, he didn’t care. He was going to have his revenge even if his masters had to pay.

About to move to take his revenge, a sharp pain pierced his body as a voice entered his head. “SARKATH
, YOU HAVE FAILED US FOR THE LAST TIME.YOU THINK YOU CAN HIDE FROM US? YOUR BODY IS OURS!
”

The pain increased until he couldn’t bare it, and as quickly as it came it stopped. Looking down he saw his body as another shade stood over it. Looking towards the direction he was moving the brightest fire he’s ever seen came into his view. Before the silence of death overtook him, he saw the body of his master hungrily waiting for his soul.

Watching Zeus and Ares talking, Nicolai stood there watching everyone. He had been in situations like this before, and could tell when things were about turn for the worse. This one was reeking of the signs that it was going to turn into a massacre. First was Ares’ men, Thantos and Dionysus were itching for a fight. He watched as they gripped their weapons tightly, watching for the sign to attack. Nicolai looked to his right and saw Amadi staring down Ares. On his face was a quizzical look.

He was about to turn his attention to Ares, but saw something off in the distance. Looking at it closely he could tell it was nothing natural. There was only one thing that was that black. He pushed his thoughts to Amadi. “Amadi, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can.” Not taking his eyes off Ares, Amadi eyed the god that was supposed to be his father. “Looks like we are in trouble. You did notice the shade right?” Amadi replied.

“Yes, I just saw him. Can you link to Terry? I can’t seem to get ahold of him. We need to prevent what is about to happen.”

“Let me try.” A few seconds passed. “Nicolai, Terry is on and he can hear what you have to say now.”

“Here is what’s going on. I see that shade we fought in the compound to your left,” Nicolai informed. “We figured out that Zeus is not planning to sacrifice himself to save you. He’s planning on using your life force to save himself.”

“I know,” Terry responded. “I haven’t come up with an idea to stop it though. I have been busy.”

“I have a plan in place,” Nicolai assured him. “That shade may make things a little bit complicated, but here is what I’ve come up with...”

After hearing Nicolai’s plan, Amadi nodded to acknowledge that he understood his part. Terry wanted him to kill Athena, but he wouldn’t. With both Nicolai’s and Amadi’s pressure, Terry accepted to have Athena knocked out instead. It would be easy in this plane since she was just as vulnerable as he was now.

It’s not like he didn’t love her, he just didn’t love her the way she wanted. His love was for someone else. And if he read the signals right, that other person loved him back. Athena would be his wife though, but it would only be for political reasons. He had grown to respect her with the highest regards; after all, she was somewhat like him.

Terry received confirmation from Amadi and Nicolai to complete their part of the plan. He was angry Amadi didn’t want Athena dead, in his opinion, they all needed to die. They all played a part in his torture and they would all pay. Most of all, Zeus would.

He will scream so hard for what he did to me
, he thought.
Then Ares will be next. They will all pay.

Pivoting his body slightly, Terry was getting ready to run at Ares when it was time. Anxiously he waited for the perfect moment when Ares’ full attention was going to be on Zeus. The two brothers kept on yelling back and forth. Ares had his battle-axe in hand getting ready to strike Zeus. His whole body was ready to strike Zeus, but something seemed to be holding him back. Instead, Ares kept on yelling at Zeus, demanding his surrender. Zeus of course, kept demanding Ares’ surrender. On and on it went until Terry couldn’t take it any longer. Noticing that Ares’ weight was all on his back leg, Terry decided now was the time. Without word from Nicolai, Terry sprung the attack.

Rushing towards Ares’ back leg, Amadi shot the chain that connected Terry to Aphrodite, leaving Terry free to Ares in the back of the knee carrying his whole weight. Ares tried to defend himself, but he was too late. Terry being faster and stronger caused Ares to flip up in the air and was slammed down hard from one of Terry’s punches. Hearing a shotgun blast, Terry looked up and saw Zeus laying down on the ground holding the knee Nicolai shot. Athena tried to attack Nicolai, but was held back when Amadi grabbed hold of her hair and punched her in the temple. Donning his bracer from Ares’ belt, Terry summoned his weapons to him.

Aphrodite grabbed his shoulders and before she could say anything he turned around and smacked her across the face with his rifle knocking her out cold. Hearing the screams of Thantos for his father, Terry turned his attention to the god that tortured him. To save Thantos’, Hades ran up to Thantos and clobbered him over the head with his weapon, a vicious two pronged fork. Aiming his weapon at Hades, Terry was about to fire before Nicolai stepped in front of his rifle.

“Don’t do it Terry,” Nicolai yelled, aiming his shotgun at Terry. “If you shoot, I will shoot.”

“He was in on the torture. His son tortured me for seven days. Their lives are mine!”

“You can kill us if you want, young man,” Hades said pushing Nicolai aside. “But if you do, remember the consequences. If we die, something far worse will be unleashed on earth. And you don’t want that to happen.”

Terry turned his weapon to the side and shot into the horizon screaming to let out the anger that had built up. After his weapon stopped firing from being over heated, he looked around and noticed Dionysus was gone. “Where is Dionysus?” Terry yelled, looking around.

“He left when the trouble began. He has never been brave,” Hades answered. “Don’t worry I sent Helios after him.”

Terry lowered his head, removing the god’s out of his sight so his anger would die.
Now is not the time to lose control Terry
he thought to himself. Everyone watched the young demi-god tried to regain his composure or occupied with something else, none of them noticed what happened next.

A black blur ran past all of the gods, and knocked them down. Looking up Terry saw another shade. It looked quite similar to the one they had killed in the compound, yet he saw some slight differences. This one was a bit shorter but broader, it looked more like a female and she was holding Zeus up by his throat. Then it started to speak in their hissing voice.

“My masters would like to thank you humans for giving them the key to their freedom. You have wounded Zeus for us. For that you shall live today.”

With a flick of her wrist, a black hole formed underneath the shade and Zeus, and just as quickly they dropped into the hole. Hades tried to run for his brother but missed them as the hole closed after them.

“What have you done?” Ares screamed. He recovered just in time to watch his brother disappear with the shade. He tried to stand up but couldn’t because of his knee. “You have allowed the Daimōn to grab Zeus. When they break him, their kind will be free.”

“There is something we can do, brother,” Hades said to Ares. “We have three powerful demi-gods that can be raised. Then they can go and rescue Zeus.”

“Why would we put our tails on the line for Zeus?” Amadi asked.

Ares looked at him and laughed. “You don’t understand, do you? The shades are not the Daimōn. The Daimōn are far worse and if they get loose, the whole galaxy will be destroyed.”

With Atlanta and Artemis helping him up, Ares turned toward Hades. “Grab Poseidon and I will grab Demeter. We will meet on Olympus. There we will ascend these three to god-hood. Brother, I hope you know what you are doing. These three will be far more powerful than us Originals.”

“I know, brother. But it’s good to see that you are back to normal. What happened to you?”

“I am not entirely sure. All I remember is that I was in my domain planning a war. Everything after that is foggy.”

“Try to remember.”

Ares turned to Aphrodite who was lying down unconscious. “All I remember was a spirit coming to me, slowly corrupting me over the years. Then one day the shade came offering its allegiance. I can still feel that spirit inside her, I can feel it sucking me back in.”

“How can Aphrodite do that?” Athena asked

“That is not Aphrodite. I don’t know what that is, but that is not our sister,” Ares replied.

“Thantos, Athena, take Aphrodite to Olympus and put her in a cell,” Hades commanded. “When our new kings have gained their power, you will hand her over to them.”

Picking up Aphrodite’s limp body, Thantos followed Hades with Athena keeping an eye on Aphrodite.

Ares turned to the three demigods. “I hope you are ready for this. Let’s go and make you gods.”

The room the ceremony was being held in was packed full of gods to witness this rare event. Pillars made of crystal went up as far as the eye could see and on top of each pillar; sat a star that shined. Every attending god wore white robes that reflected the light. The whole room had a glow that brought a sense of life to everyone. At the head of the throne room stood three thrones; waiting for their new owners.

Demeter, Poseidon, Ares and Hades stood next to each other dressed in their formal wear. Demeter wore an elegant gown made of leaves, Poseidon wore a robe of water, Ares wore chainmail made of pure gold and Hades wore a robe made of the blackest silk. In front of them; stood Athena, Thantos, and Hermes. Each carrying a satin red pillow that held a shard made from a diamond. In front of each shard knelt one of the demi-gods; Terry in front of Hermes, Nicolai in front of Thantos and Amadi in front of Athena. The demi-gods wore a white robe and a crown on their heads.