Gods of War (War of the Gods Series) (8 page)

“What do you think about all of this, Athena?” Zeus said.

“It is strange,” Athena commented. “Your brother knows warfare, but he isn’t the most intelligent among us. To do something like this is beyond him. I wonder where he got the idea from,” Athena answered. She turned to Hermes. “What religion is he using anyways?”

“He is using the one called Islam. He is claiming to be some kind of prophet or god or whatever they believe in. He is there to lead them to world domination,” Hermes said not fully understanding the importance of what he was saying.

Zeus looked at Hermes with a sense of pity before turning to Athena. “Athena, you are wrong. Ares is not the stupidest among us. Hermes has taken that claim.”

Zeus then looked calmly back to Hermes and spoke to him like a child. “You know that as you receive prayers from the humans, you can get stronger, right Hermes?” Zeus waited for Hermes to nod yes. “Islam is one of the largest religions on earth. If Ares has directed their prayers to him, that is 1.3 billion humans praying to Ares. They are some of the most devout religious people on earth,”

Hermes eyes finally lit up as he understood the complication of the matter. Until now, he didn’t know understand the severity of Ares’ plan. “How did that come to his mind?”

“That is what we are trying to figure out Hermes,” Aphrodite said patting him on the cheek before turning back to Zeus. “Who is helping him with this battle plan? Could it be Hades?”

“I don’t think so,” Zeus said. “He is not going to do all this work to not be the king. If I know him, he has a plan that will hurt Ares. He wouldn’t want Ares to grow more powerful than him. Has there been anything else that is strange about Ares’ actions?”

“Well, it is strange that he is actually allowing his enemies the chance to surrender. Usually he just sets up one government and destroys all the rest.” Aphrodite mentioned.

“Ares is using more diplomacy than he has in the past,” Athena said. “Usually he just destroys a kingdom if they show any signs of resistance. His first wave has only met pockets of resistant in Africa. In Asia he has had some resistance, but one country has joined forces with him and now it’s just a matter of time before that whole area is going to fall.”

“There is some hope though,” Hermes said. “Even though the weapons the humans have are pitiful, they still can kill some of his forces, the ones who aren’t immortal. It just takes them a bit longer.”

Zeus sat listening to the other gods continued to deliver their information. When he realized they were done talking, he spoke up.

“We need to start concentrating on our plan. From what you have told me, Ares still doesn’t know what we are doing. If he did he wouldn’t be wasting his time slaughtering humans. First we need to get the demi-gods trained. At the same time we need to have the gods still loyal to me in stowed in a safe position. We can’t put any more gods in harm’s way. Ares is willing to kill any god who gets in his way. Being one of the original born from a Titan he has the power to do it. Finally we need to find out what happened with Artemis. I sent her to see if she could spy on what Ares was doing. I have not heard back from her.”

“Why is it bad that gods die?” Athena asked. “We can breed more when this pointless war has ended. I am sure Aphrodite would love to partake in that.”

“You don’t understand, Athena,” Zeus said annoyingly. “Our life force is holding a prison together that binds a force so horrible, it will destroy everything in its path, including earth. If earth goes, every plane that has been created to house us will be destroyed. Then we would have no place to hide and we will be slaughtered by the force that has already destroyed everything. This almost happened when the Titans died. You remember when we killed the Titans during the second Titan war. This time it would be more horrific.”

Athena nodded as she remembered those dreaded days.

A few seconds of silence passed and finally Zeus asked, “What do you think? Would the humans be able to perform their task?”

“I think they will,” Hermes said. “They just have to be trained. What do you think Aphrodite? Athena? You have been around them more than I.”

“Well, based from the time I have spent with Nicholaus, I know he can get the job done. He will have to learn to control his powers though. When I picked him up, the strength of his power was amazing. I had to concentrate in order to fight off his power that he uses to kill. I would say he is even more powerful than Hades.” Aphrodite shivered as she remembered the raw power emitting from Nicolai. “When I saw him kill that human, with little thought about life, it sent a shiver down my back.”

Zeus’ eyes lit up in amazement as soon as Aphrodite stated her opinion.
Now that was a shocking statement
Zeus thought,
Aphrodite actually afraid of a man
. “How about you Athena? What did you think of our dear general?”

“First of all, he is cocky. But I believe he can learn his powers the quickest. After observing me only once, he figured out how to talk telepathically. He saw me do it with my men when I went to gather him and his army. You better be careful when you use your lightning bolts. He may learn how to use them.”

“That is good news. As for my son he is a quick learner,” Zeus said. “He picked up his speed fast, but he will need training to control his powers. He seems to not be able to control his powers very well. But he is young. The only concern I have is his lack of experience. He may have the family rage inside him.” Zeus refilled his cup and continued. “The reasons I believe these three men are our only hope is that they think differently than us. Ares will be able to out maneuver whatever we throw at him, but he will have trouble figuring to outwit a human, especially demi-gods. He always had trouble with Heracles.

“So this is what you are going to do. Hermes you will work with Nicholaus. Athena you will work with Assaraeus. I will work with Tereus. I have placed them in Athena’s valley so we can use her training compound. I also sent servants to look after them while our healers will look over the woman. She strained herself when she unleashed all of her powers at once.”

Zeus then looked at Aphrodite, “I want you to do something special for me. I need you to find out what happened with Artemis. If possible go and find everything you can about Ares’ plan. Before you go Athena, there is something I wish to discuss in private.”

The rest of the gods got up and went to carry out their orders.

Zeus waited until they all left and then put up a protection barrier so no one could eavesdrop on them. “Athena you know of the prophecy that caused me to kill your mother right.”

Athena nodded. “Yes I do. She was supposed to produce a daughter who would then be followed by a son who will overthrow you like you did your father. But instead you ate her. What you didn’t know was she was already pregnant. While she was inside you, she gave birth to me and I was freed when Hephaestus opened up your head. Why after all these years do you bring this up? You know it’s hard for me to hear this.”

“The reason I brought this up is that the woman that Tereus brought is your sister. She is not one of my daughters. That only leaves one thing…”

“That my mother is still out there,” Athena said with a sense of hope in her voice. “If this is the case, we have to question this woman. If she can lead me back to my mother…,”

Zeus cut Athena off, “Yes that would be a great thing. Your mother was the one that I loved most out of all of my wives and consorts. The problem is we still have the prophecy to consider. I need you to get close to this woman. If she is the one to fulfill the prophecy, and Metis is still alive, you know what we have to do. Once the prophecy has been diminished, maybe your mother will come back to us.”

“I will do what you have asked. Don’t worry; if she is supposed to be the one that destroys you I will stop her. This I swear,” Athena stood up and hugged Zeus and exited the room.

Zeus sat studying Athena as she walked out.

When will it ever end? That human saying is correct. ‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown.’ With a daughter of Metis showing up, the whole game has changed. I need to go and see the Graeae. Maybe they can bring some clarity to this new piece on the board
.

Terry stood looking over Jessica as she laid asleep on the bed. The cabin they were in was full of beds and dressers. It looked more like a barracks room than anything else. The healers were sitting around a table, playing dice when he first walked in.

The healers were strange looking creatures. He was shocked when he first saw them. They were pale as white, and had a snakes head. They had four upper limbs and four lower limbs. Their skin was leathery and they had fangs coming out of their mouths.

What am I going to tell her?
They were abruptly uprooted from their lives in an atrocious way. Even prepared, Terry was troubled with what he saw. Not even war had prepared him for the heinous acts Demeter committed. Terry was afraid for Jessica.
Hopefully she won’t remember all that happened.

Terry held her hand as she slept peacefully.
At least she can’t claim I’m crazy
. He wished there was a better way to have proved to her that he wasn’t crazy than having a half-crazed god trying to kill them. But of all that had happened to them, the biggest shocker for Terry was learning that Jessica was a demi-god.

“Don’t worry, she will be fine,” Zeus’ voice said behind him. “We are going to start your training so this won’t happen again.”

“What’s wrong with her? If she is a demi-god, why hasn’t she recovered?” Terry asked concerned.

“She has just exhausted her body. Don’t forget, you are still human. Your bodies need to rest.”

Zeus stepped closer and put his hand on Terry’s shoulder. “Come with me. The healers will look after her,”

As Zeus and Terry started to walk out, Zeus turned his head to see one of his servants removed some hair from her head. Now he will just have to find time to get away.

Zeus and Terry exited the cabin; Terry saw another cabin to his right. On his left he saw a pavilion that housed a table and a fountain that had water pouring out. In front of him Nicolai and Amadi stood near a boulder, breathing harder than normal.

“Strength training, huh?” bellowed Zeus from afar. “I would be amazed if any of you could move that boulder. Heracles himself put that boulder there. Did it to piss off Hera, and boy, she was pissed. He put it on her favorite flower.”

As Zeus spoke, Terry could see a pain in his eyes, but it quickly passed away. “Well Tereus, your companions can’t move it. Why don’t you give it a try?”

Terry moved to the boulder and began pushing. The boulder was massive and towered over Terry. At first it wouldn’t budge, but as he started to put more effort into lifting the boulder, his muscles started to work together. A new found energy had awoken in him and gave Terry the added strength he needed.

As he kept trying to lift the boulder, he dug deeper into the earth until his hands dug into the boulder. The boulder suddenly felt as light as a feather and he lifted it over his head with ease. Everyone but Zeus stood there with their mouths hanging open. Zeus stood there with a grin on his face.

“Ha, I knew you could do it,” Zeus patted his back, causing the boulder to almost fall from Terry’s grasp. “Now, let’s see how far you can throw it. Go ahead, give it a toss,”

Terry first looked up, wondering how he was going to throw it. The boulder was light, but just too big and awkward to toss like a baseball. Instead Terry got into position for a shot put throw. He took a couple of steps and tossed it as far as he could. Everyone watched as the boulder disappeared into the sky.

“I would hate to be at the end of that thing,” Nicolai muttered under his breath.

Amadi spoke up and asked, “How could he have such strength and we can’t? What is up with that?”

“That is a good question. Hermes, do you want to take it?” Zeus said, deflecting Amadi’s question.

Hermes stood up from a chair he had conjured and glided over to them. As he was moving he reached down picking up a few blades of grass. “In my hands I have five blades of grass. As you can see, they are all different. One is taller than the other. One is fatter. One is wider, and one has been damaged,” He let the grasses blow from his hand. “Just like the blades of grass, not one of you is the same. You each have your own talents. It is the same with us gods too.”

“We each have the same base powers of extra strength, speed, and other simple powers like that. But as you have noticed, some gods have more strength or speed than others. Other gods can see the future. While some can create lightning bolts out of thin air,” Hermes said motioning to Zeus. “Others can only make a fireball,” Hermes pointed to himself, then pointing to Athena he finished, “although some can’t even do that.”

Hermes flew upward and disappeared for a few minutes before flying back down again. “Some gods can magically appear wherever they want. I can’t do that. That is why I had these sandals made up so I can travel as well as any of the other gods. Since Athena can’t create a fireball, she had her spear, sword and buckler made to do her fighting. For reasons unknown, Zeus has even allowed her to use some of his lightning bolts he creates for her. She is the only one besides Zeus who can handle them. I tried and they nearly burnt my hands off.”

He flew over to Nicolai, studying him up and down. “Then you have some gods who can kill just by the slightest touch. They cause whatever they touch to waste away. Of course, that ability only tends to run in one particular family.”

“Why can’t you just find out what powers we have and then train us to develop those powers?” Nicolai asked. “Aphrodite learned what powers I had and used it when she came for me.”

Zeus walked up in front of the group. “She is the only one who can do that. Let’s just say, Aphrodite has the ability to read anyone and get them to do what she wants, both male and female.”

Zeus lifted his hands up and the ground started to rumble. A building suddenly materialized from the ground. The building went on for miles. On the left of the compound’s entrance benches and a fountain magically appeared. To the right of the compound was a training area that consisted of training dummies, an obstacle course and racks of weapons and armor. The racks held all sorts of weapons. The swords, varied from long to short. From curved swords to ones that were straight. There were swords that were big and ones that were small. There were just as many variations among the axes, hammers, spears and the armor. Zeus turned around and looked at the three humans.