Gods of War (War of the Gods Series) (16 page)

Terry saw a jealous look come over Jessica’s face.
Uh oh,
he thought. Terry did love her, but sometimes she could get jealous at times. Terry put his hand on Jessica’s knee and gave her a stern look. When she looked at him, she blushed and stopped glaring at Aphrodite.

“Yes, well after we took over, I found a tome that told about other beings,” Zeus continued. “In this book, it talked about two forces. One force embodied good and the other embodied evil. Being curious and young, I went in search for these forces. As I searched, I stumbled on a different dimension I never saw before. I began exploring this dimension and stumbled upon two creatures I never saw before— they were battling each other fiercely. One was made of pure light, in the shape of a female body while the other was pure darkness, in the shape of a man. Naturally, me being who I am, I went to the aid the female. It was a battle I wasn’t prepared for, the creature made of dark almost killed me. After the conflict, the woman healed my wounds and told me everything.”

Zeus paused the story and started running his finger on his goblet. There was this look on his face that none had seen before, not even the other gods. For the first time, Zeus was showing fear. Aphrodite looked like she was about to say something, but Zeus started talking again.

“She told me that since we had killed a few Titans, the dark entity had been able to slip through the prison’s seal,” Zeus held up his hand to stop the questions from being asked. “He was a Daimōn, or otherwise called a ‘demon’ in human terms. She said in order to prevent more from escaping, I had to create more gods and link their life force to the prison that held the Daimōn in their place. That’s what the Titans were here for; they helped seal the Daimōn. Since all of the Titans are either dead or made into gods, we had to take their place. Unfortunately, some have escaped their prison, and that is what you encountered in the compound.”

Zeus got up from his chair and turned away from them. In front of the group a sphere appeared out of nowhere. It was a replication of earth. Zeus turned around touched the sphere causing it to break apart. In the middle was an even smaller sphere.

“She didn’t explain much. She just showed me where the prison was. What the humans call the core is actually the prison.”

“Without the core, this planet won’t be able to hold life,” Amadi said. “How can we destroy them?”

“You don’t defeat them. We continue with the plan with Ares.”

“Why can’t we fight them?” Nicolai asked.

“Her kind defeated the Daimōn and put them in a prison that currently resides in the center of the world, to give life to the world. If they die, we die. If they get released we die. The only way we live is if we keep the status quo.” He then stared at the gods sitting at the table. “That is the
reason
for my actions. If more of us die, more of those things will run rampant on this earth. They will destroy everything.”

“Why haven’t we seen one of these good creatures?” Nicolai asked. “Why aren’t they helping us?”

“I don’t know. I have tried to search others out, but I have not had any luck. Perhaps they only come when we need them the most. Perhaps they are all dead,” Zeus said. “Or maybe they are preparing for the daimōn to break free. In the meantime, we need to concentrate on our current problem. Amadi, do you have an idea for how we are going to do this?”

Amadi sat there trying to absorb all of the information he had just heard. After a few moments of silence he finally spoke up.

“Well, we have three fronts and three people. One of us has to go to the underworld, one to Ares’ lair, and then one to conduct the war on earth. Are there any conditions that I need to be aware of before I come up with the game plan?”

“Yes there is,” Aphrodite answered. “First of all, not many people can enter Hades’ lair. He has always been a private person. How he has done this, we don’t know. But we believe that the only one here who can enter would be Nicholaus.”

“I guess he will be going after Hades. I assume Hermes can take him to the entrance?” Amadi asked.

Hermes coughed up his drink. “Me? Why would I do that?”

“We will need you to take Nicholaus as far as you can and bring him back. Being the messenger of the gods you probably have access to the underworld that not even Hades knows about. Or am I wrong?”

“No, you are not wrong, Assaraeus,” Zeus cut in. “Hermes, you will do it. I know you have your secret routes. You had to have picked up secrets since you can’t teleport directly into places.”

“Fine, I will do it,” Hermes said grudgingly.

“Great, now we have to deal with Ares’ domain. Naturally, it should be Tereus who goes there. Seeing how you will need both Athena and I to run this war, which just leaves Jessica for the battle on earth.”

This time Terry was surprised. “What are you talking about? Jessica isn’t doing anything of the sort.”

“We sort of discussed this before you got here. Jessica has agreed to help fight in the war with the humans. We will need her expertise,” Amadi said

“Jessica, what are they talking about?” Terry asked incredulously. “You have no fighting experience. The only weapon you’ve ever fired was your father’s gun.”

She looked around, fidgeting as she finally spoke. “That is not entirely true. You know I am Irish, and my adopted parents are also Irish. What you don’t know is what they were. I told you I didn’t like guns. I told you that the only weapon I ever fired was my father’s weapon and that he gave it to me when he died. Well, that wasn’t entirely true,” She reached over and grabbed a cup of wine and gulped it all down. “My father did die and he did give me his pistol. But the reason that is all I have of him is because he and mother were Real IRA members, otherwise called the Real Irish Republican Army.”

Both Nicolai and Amadi showed a look of surprise on their faces. Athena bent over to Amadi and asked. “What is Real Irish Republican Army?”

He responded. “They are a terrorist organization. Really deadly,”

Jessica continued, “Being the daughter of a Real IRA member, I was raised differently than other kids. You can probably say that I am about as trained as you are.”

“You are a terrorist?” Terry managed to get out.

“No, I have never taken part in any terrorist act. And Amadi is going to need the skills I have. America is in a civil war, half of the people are fighting for Ares while the rest are fighting against him. The situation is the same throughout the whole world. We need all of the help we can receive, and I can help.”

“Fine, if that’s what you want,” Terry turned to Amadi. “If anything happens to her, I am coming straight after…”

A pain shot across his side cutting off his sentence. He turned around and saw Jessica pulling back her fist.

“One, you don’t talk like that to me. Two, we have already gone through this before. I can protect myself. Next time, it won’t be a love tap.”

Still clutching his side Terry turned away from her.
This is what I get for falling in love with a strong woman,
he thought,
one that won’t put up with my macho crap.

Preparing for her next jab he continued. “You can’t stop me from protecting you. I just won’t do it within arm’s length of you okay.”

“I guess that will be good enough for now,” she said, winking at him.

Terry looked around and saw that everyone was looking at them. He spoke to change the subject.

“That leaves me going after Ares then? Well, this will be fun. Maybe I can meet up with Ares and give him the beating he deserves.”

“I guess we’ve got our game plan. Does that meet your approval, Athena?” Amadi asked.

“Of course, even though Hermes could have come up with this idea.”

“You have not seen me in action yet,” Amadi said, trying to impress her. “I can guarantee you that I will leave you in awe.”

Both Athena and Aphrodite giggled in amusement.
What is up with Athena?
Terry thought.

Ever since they had come out of the compound, Athena had seemed almost likeable, especially towards Amadi. Then there was Aphrodite. Something told Terry that she had her own agenda brewing. Then there was Zeus.
What have I got myself into?
You’d think something that nearly killed us would have been important enough to inform us about before we ran into it
, he thought.

“So it’s settled. We have our strategy and now we just need to set the execution date. When will you three be healed?” Zeus asked.

“The healers said sometime next week. They won’t know for sure until a couple more days have passed though,” Nicolai answered.

“That is good,” Zeus responded. “Heal up and enjoy your rest. You four are going to need it. As for me, I will take care of my part drawing both Hades and Ares to where the Token resides,”

Breakfast continued with the group talking among themselves. Nicolai sat with his own thoughts. Amadi was with Athena discussing how they would first invade earth and what area would be the best place to liberate first? Terry spoke with Jessica, trying to learn more about her past.

After the meal was done, Nicolai went back to the cabin while Amadi and Athena headed to the training compound. Terry and Jessica decided to go off on their own. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could in the few days they had left.

“Do you think you will be able to keep up with your injuries?” Athena asked when they reached the training grounds.

Amadi looked at the compound that he and his companions had just recently completed. The dreams he kept having while unconscious came to his thoughts. In his dreams he was helpless, he couldn’t do anything while his friends died from that creature. Then that creature turned on him. Never before had he come against an enemy he couldn’t defeat. That thing inside had nearly killed him. He would have died if it wasn’t for Terry and Nicolai.

Amadi moved a hand to the burnt side of his face. Feeling a prickly sensation as he touched the singed skin, the smell of burnt flesh still emitted from his scars. The pain was unbearable.
I have been tortured a few times in my life. Nothing compared to what that creature did to me.

Athena tossed a practice sword towards Amadi. Still staring at the compound, the sword hit Amadi knocking him out of his trance. Stretching as he bent to pick up the sword, Athena stepped in front of him.

“Hey, didn’t you hear me?” Athena said.

“Sorry, my thoughts were elsewhere,” Amadi said trying to regain his composure. “What did you say?”

“Are you alright?” Athena asked, walking closer to him.

She had already equipped her shield and spear in hand.

“Yeah, just reminiscing on what happened in the compound,” Amadi said rubbing his burn scars. “We are in trouble if Ares has allied himself with those things. If just one of those could do what it did to us, imagine what more would do,” Amadi threw his sword to the ground. “We wouldn’t be able to stop them.”

For the first time in his life, Amadi was concerned if he was going to survive the war. For the first time, he had truly been humbled.

“Athena, can you take me to earth real quick?” Amadi asked.

“There is no way I can do that. Why do you need to go?

“I need to get something. We need something to help us remember why we are fighting. This is not us,” He said pointing to the chiton he was wearing. “Do this for me. I will owe you one.”

“Fine, I will take you down, but we will have to be careful. We will be attacked if Ares finds out we are us out there alone. As for my payment, I want to become your wife. With Zeus gone, we will rule the gods together.”

Politics. No matter where he would go, Amadi would always be pulled into politics.

“Fine, we have a deal. We should leave soon. We have three places we will need to travel too.”

“Okay. I am going to prepare what we will need and provide us a cover story. I will meet you back here in an hour. Go and grab whatever you want,” Athena teleported out of the valley, leaving Amadi standing alone.

Terry and Nicolai were right
. I am changing, becoming one of them. How could I have been so stupid to think that was a good thing? Not any more, I am not Assaraeus anymore, I am Amadi and I need to start acting like it. Amadi got up and headed towards Nicolai. I need to talk with Nicolai and Terry.

Nicolai was lying on a table as a nymph massaged his back.

What was up with Amadi coming in and rambling like that? He started rambling about needing something to fight for and something to help us believe in our fight. I think that guy is going crazy
.

“What was all of that about?” the nymph asked Nicolai while massaging his back.

“I don’t know. It seems like he has something planned,” Nicolai answered.

“It does. I wonder what it was about. How is the massage feeling?”

“Great,” Nicolai gasped. “Thank you for doing this. I have needed this for a long time.”

“It’s no problem. Now if you will turn over I can start working on your front,” she said.

Nicolai turned onto his back and then the nymph started rubbing his neck and chest. Nicolai got more comfortable as the nymph’s massage became more intense. Slowly the nymph worked her way to his stomach, softly massaging the skin so that the scar and muscles won’t tighten up.

“This is one terrible scar,” she said as she touched it. “Whoever gave you this must have been dangerous,”

“It was. We took care of the problem though,” Nicolai said closing his eyes getting more relaxed. Suddenly he felt the nymph’s hand moving towards his privates.

Nicolai reached out and grabbed her hand. “You don’t need to do that,” he said removing her hand.

“You know that you can have us whenever you want,” the nymph said soothingly. “My sisters and I have been trying to get you into bed for a while.”

“Why don’t you go after Terry or Amadi?” Nicolai replied

“Tereus is out after that woman sat us down and in a threatening manner, asked us to leave him alone, and Athena has taken a liking to Assaraeus. That just leaves you available, dear Nicholaus,” she said trying to sneak her other hand under the sheets.

Nicolai got up from the table causing the sheet to fall off. Not caring he was naked; he started shoving the nymph to the door. She fought him to no avail. When he reached the door, he opened it and shoved her outside.