Fallen Gods, page 22
The other drew his katana rapidly. The blade skimmed Aaron’s arm at the maximum of its reach, cutting his sleeve open, and slicing the surface of his left tricep. It was a clean cut, but he still felt its sting. The swordsman lifted his weapon for another strike, but Thanatos punched him square in the face. His sunglasses shattered into a dozen parts as his head snapped back, and he collapsed unconscious. But he’d collapsed toward a metal pipe that would have raised the alarm. Luca leapt in and caught him as he fell, lowering his body slowly. He looked at the neck tattoos, and they confirmed everything he was expecting. But he reached for the katana to study it. It was of high quality, but nothing like the Olympian blades they carried.
“It’s just a regular sword.”
“They’re just low-level sentries. They must have taken many Olympian blades with all they have killed, but it’s still not a limitless supply.”
Theodosia leaned in to see for herself. But as Luca felt the razor sharp edge, he couldn’t help but ponder his own mortality. For the blade could kill him as easily as an Olympian one. It was the closest he’d ever been to a real sword fight, having sat out both times Aaron had to step up.
“Come on,” said his partner.
“This just got very real, didn’t it?” Luca asked as they reached the doorway.
It was partially open where it no longer shut fully. They heard muffled voices in the distance, and the room beyond was well lit. It was a vast open hall with a domed roof like something from the 1920s. Bulbs hung from the ceiling, but hundreds of candles caused the room to burn brightly with a warm glow. They could hear conversation, almost like some kind of chanting, but nothing they could understand. Aaron took a deep breath as he edged forward. They had come out at the top of a balcony and stairway overlooking the hall.
More than fifty armed men and women were standing before an empty stage as if waiting for an act to come on.
“What is this, an underground Kiss concert?”
“Kiss?”
“You’d love them, Thanatos, trust me,” replied Luca without providing any explanation.
As they got a better look, they could see some of them were waving swords in the air with excitement. Many were in Black Vipers’ martial arts gear, others in military fatigues. They soon spotted familiar faces in their long coats, Rastus, and Dion, who was once again alive and kicking. Someone else walked on stage, a shadowy figure obscured by a cloud of fog wherever he went.
“Erebus,” Thanatos said in disgust, as he raised his hands to draw them to silence.
“Welcome to the moment we have all been waiting for. The last shard of the crown has been discovered. Soon, we will have an Allfather once more!”
Cheers rang out.
“I give you, the rightful heir to everything!”
Erebus drew back and swept his hands out, creating a dense fog that clung to the stage until finally a figure burst through it, and took up position in the center of the stage. Aaron felt a tingle down his spine and fear set in. He’d never seen the intimidating figure before, but he didn’t have to be told who it was.
“Hades,” whispered Theodosia.
Chapter 16
“How do you want to play this?” Aaron asked quietly, as they watched the ceremony unfold from the dark balcony overlooking what was the most bizarre of sights. That’s when he noticed the unique architecture.
“I’ll be damned, just like the image, like you said it would be,” he said to Luca with an impressed look upon his face.
“So, you never believed it, then?”
“Come on. If something sounds like bullshit, it’s usually because it’s…”
“Bullshit, yeah, yeah, yeah, but not this time.”
Aaron looked back to those they were leading. He noticed Grace and Ava first. They’d stuck together and had bonded in the brief time they’d had together. They looked anxious but also eager. Ava was egging him to go on. She believed in him, no matter what, even if he had little faith in what they were about to do.
“What do we do?” Aaron asked Theodosia and Thanatos.
It was clear that not one of them had any great ideas. That bothered Aaron, for no matter how hostile a situation he entered, he always had a plan. A plan dictated by procedures he’d spent a long time learning and many years mastering. But the rulebook had gone out of the window here.
Hades’ booming voice soon grabbed their attention as he erupted into a ball of light and reappeared in his armor. The gleaming bronzed armor of Olympus, just as Thanatos wore, although he was a far bigger man, a hulking and intimidating figure.
“The last shard has been discovered. Our greatest smiths now work tirelessly to reassemble this mighty crown that will give us power over all!”
“Us?” Theodosia asked in a doubtful tone.
Bursts of light flashed from a corridor on the far side of the room. It sounded like a giant anvil being struck. Hades looked back and smiled at the sight.
“They’re trying to do it here?”
“They don’t know how to reforge it, Luca,” Grace said gleefully.
“What?” Thanatos asked in disbelief.
She pulled a small pack from her back and took out a notebook. She opened it. It showed pages of drawings and detailed notes she’d made with her own hand as she’d obsessively poured over old texts.
“You see, the prophecy of the re-forging of the crown. If they knew it, they’d have finished by now.” She smiled, “They don’t know how to do it.”
Theodosia snatched the book from her hand and studied it intently. She couldn’t believe it.
“Where did you find all this?”
“It’s all in the books. How can people possibly keep going forward and keep fighting without learning from the past?”
“So without this, they can’t make the crown?”
“No, but I’m not the only one with access to this. You just need to know where to look.”
“It’s only a matter of time before Hades’ people go looking and find it. He won’t stop until he has this info,” replied Thanatos.
“Then what do we do?”
“What we came here to do, Luca,” replied Thanatos. He turned to Theodosia, “If you can wrestle that crown away from them, you do it, you hear?”
He then backed away toward the door. They couldn’t work out what he was doing, but then Aaron remembered the fight at Max’s shop.
“Oh, shit,” he whispered, when it dawned on him what was coming.
Thanatos leapt forward. He was at a sprinting pace in no time at all.
“No, wait!” Theodosia insisted as quietly as she could.
But he wouldn’t be stopped and took a running jump from the balcony. He covered a surprising distance before descending into the crowd. He came down with an almighty crash, landing on a Black Viper, and flattening him as the ground cracked beneath his knee. Dust burst out from the breach in the ground. As the debris settled, Hades could see him standing alone.
“Thanatos! Come to rejoin the winning side, I see!” Hades yelled.
“I’m not here to join you. I’m here to end you!”
“Now he’s gone and done it.”
Aaron rushed for the stairs, no longer concerned with concealment. Thanatos had blown that. Theodosia leapt from the balcony as the rest of them took the two flights of stairs. She landed below and paced toward Thanatos. The Black Viper soldiers parted to allow her through. They watched her like a hawk, but didn’t dare try and strike her, not yet. Aaron led the way as they hit the ground running and spread out into a line, facing off against the enemy. They were twenty feet apart, with Thanatos and Theodosia deep within the ranks of the enemy, and a narrow channel leading back to Aaron. Luca was terrified but also excited as he looked at the battle lines that had drawn up.
“A straight up fight?” Luca asked as the two sides squared each other up.
“This is gonna get bloody,” said Aaron with regret.
They were outnumbered. He had faith in his people, but he knew a lot of blood was going to be spilt, even if they won. The odds were tipped against them, and he couldn’t see a possibility of that happening.
“We need to get to that crown,” insisted Grace.
“I think we’ve got bigger problems right now.”
Aaron calmly gripped his sword tight and tried to ready himself for battle as best he could. He’d never been in a situation anything like it, a pitched battle, a melee, and knowing their chances of victory were slim.
“You really think we can handle this,” Luca said quietly.
“Sure, sort of.”
Luca smiled, for the fear was gone now. He’d accepted that there was no turning back.
“Aaron Miller, you piece of shit!”
He looked through the enemy until he finally spotted one pushing his way through.
“Who the hell is that, and how does he know you?”
“We trained together, Luca, a long time ago.”
The man was the same height as Aaron, but had tattoos running up his face. He was of Chinese American heritage. His bare arms were muscular, and he wore nothing on his torso but a plate carrying vest. Their viper head logo was spray painted over the front. He looked angry, and the sort nobody would want to tangle with.
“You picked the wrong side, Miller, again! You chose the cops over the street!”
“You don’t have the street, Zhang! You’re not some kingpin from an eighties action movie, as much as you try and look like one. You’re drug dealing asshole who sells to kids, and thinks he’s Al Capone. Get real.”
Luca could barely believe it as his opponent aggressively went after his opposite number in an uncharacteristic tirade.
“You trained with this guy, really?”
“You think you’re the only one who hung out in bad company back in the day?”
Luca looked astonished.
“You came to the wrong house, pig. This city is ours now,” he said, hanging the hilt of his sword against his chest, a double-edged straight blade clearly of Olympian manufacture. “Look around, Miller. You don’t have enough warriors to win this fight. Walk away, while you still have legs to carry you.”
Some of his fighters laughed, but Aaron didn’t see the funny side of it, and he didn’t consider running for even a single moment.
“We have unfinished business,” he declared.
Luca was starting to feel the pressure. He knew Zhang was right. They didn’t have enough.
“Look at us. We don’t have the numbers. What have you always said about not picking a fight you know you’re gonna lose?”
“We don’t have a choice.”
Luca sighed as his shoulders slumped. There seemed no hope with such great odds against them. Zhang lifted his sword as if to call for the fight to begin. There was a crashing noise behind them, up on the balcony where they’d come from. They looked back and saw Max Carter rush to the edge. He was wearing an Olympian cuirass, with a sword slung at his side, and an M16 in his hands. Beside him was Vulcan, armored up for the first time, and in his hands a massive two-handed war hammer. Others were pouring in behind them, armed, armored, and ready to fight. Many of them were Pilipino, but with a broad mix of others, and men and women of all ages.
“How the hell?”
All Luca’s fears were abated as he realized the extent of the army the old veteran had brought with him.
“I called in a few favors!” Max yelled.
He had more than twenty fighters with him, and Vulcan looked eager to get stuck in. It lifted all their spirits as Aaron felt warmth inside his body. The coldness of the fear that had gripped him was melting away. He looked back to Zhang with a smile, but the gangster said nothing and lifted his sword. He let out a shrieking battle cry as he and his army of martial artists and mercenaries rushed toward them. They ignored Thanatos and Theodosia entirely, leaving them to Hades and his immortals.
Zhang came at Aaron like a whirlwind. He was fast and strong, lashing about with the frenzy of a martial artist who trained to maximum intensity in everything he did, but rarely had an opponent to work against. The cuts were wild but fast. Aaron parried back and forth, matching him for speed, but barely. When his cuts couldn’t get through, he kicked Aaron’s shin and knocked his leg out from under him. It forced him to drop to one knee. He groaned in pain as his kneecap was driven into the hard floor. He sighed as he looked around at the massive brawl all around him.
A cry of pain rang out as one of his students was slashed across an arm, but another ran through a Viper. He looked up at Zhang with bitter resentment. That leg kick was the sort of thing he’d never use in the salle. It was not something you’d do to a fellow opponent you respected.
But this wasn’t friendly sparring anymore. He righted himself and felt immense pain surge all the way to his groin. He was lucky to still be able to walk. He knew if he could just get moving again he’d be able to soften the leg up and regain his agility. This wasn’t going to be an honorable fight between respected opponents. He should have known that. They may know each other by name, but it was no different to taking down a gangbanger on the street.
If that’s how you want to play it, so be it.
All bets were off. He would do whatever he had to in order to win this fight. He was determined to not just win, but to survive, and achieve the same for as many of his own as he could.
“You always were a punk,” he fired back, going forward confidently.
He parried a head cut before kicking forward into Zhang’s stomach. He keeled forward head first, and Aaron smashed the pommel of his sword down onto the bald tattooed head of his opponent. Zhang staggered back, and his legs buckled. He landed on his ass, looking stunned as he felt the wound on his head. Blood began to seep down the side of his eye and ear. He got back to his feet. At first, he looked worried, but that soon turned to anger once more as he came forward with even more determination than before.
Thanatos looked at the carnage before him. Blood was flowing as an all-out melee ensued. Max had reached the bottom of the stairs and was leading the charge of his reinforcements. He fired his rifle from the hip. The rounds pounded into the body armor of a Viper. It didn’t penetrate, but rocked him and drove him back. Another shot hit one of his legs, and finally Max was on him. He swung the butt of his rifle and clipped the fighter square on the jaw in a perfectly aimed uppercut like blow. Another came at him, he parried with the rifle in both hands, but the Olympian blade cut it in two. He beat his opponent over the head with the stock end before throwing both parts and drawing his sword to join in the carnage, but a Viper was on him in no time. With lightning speed his attacker went from side to side, lashing out and cutting across his shoulder, and throwing him to the ground. He was bleeding, but he wasn’t in trouble yet, for Vulcan ran to his aid. The Viper raised his sword to parry the incoming blow, but the hammer dropped and smashed into his collar. He fell to the ground, dead.
Thanatos looked to the bloodied Aaron. He’d been struck in the nose but was holding Zhang in a lock. He nodded toward him to see if he had things in order. Blades clashed and echoed about the room, as the combat broke down to dozens of individual contests.
“Do it!” Aaron yelled.
He was content and turned back to face Hades. He and Theodosia were facing off against the fiercest competition of their lifetimes. Hades, Erebus, Dion, Rastus, and a dozen lesser immortals who formed their personal guard. They knew it was more than they could handle, but they had no choice but to try.
“It’s not too late to come back to the winning side,” growled Hades.
The battle raged on behind them, but he showed no concern or respect for it at all. Thanatos wondered whether it was all an act, of if he really were that powerful. His clash with Erebus made him think he was.
“Any ideas on how we can do this?” Theodosia whispered.
“With luck.”
“That’s the best you’ve got? Really?”
He merely shrugged, and that confirmed it.
“You would rather die for her than stand beside me as I rule everything?”
“I didn’t come here to die, Hades.”
“Join me, for that is your only option.”
“Join us, Thanatos. You fought with Hades before, why not again?” Erebus pleaded.
“Because it was a mistake. A mistake I wish I could take back.”
“But you cannot. Zeus is gone, and order is needed. Hades is the only one strong enough to be an allfather to us.”
“How can you say that? You never used to care about any of this. You used to walk your own path?”
There is nobody in between anymore. There are two sides,” he replied wearily.
Clearly, Erebus was not entirely enthused with the situation, and yet he would not be swayed from it. Thanatos knew it would be an uphill battle to sway any who followed Hades. He appeared to be all-powerful.
“There can be no victory for you here, not with them,” added Hades.
Theodosia looked deeply concerned for a moment. Concerned that he would be swayed, but she knew deep down what he would do.
“I won’t join you, never again.”
Hades looked disappointed and pointed for his guards to go forward. Each of them wore a blackened cuirass over black clothing, as well as cloaks that flowed as they moved, giving the illusion they were far larger in stature than they really were. Theodosia looked to Thanatos as they prepared for the onslaught. It was an uphill battle that they’d barely made a start at. Thanatos was reminded of the moments when he ascended the steps of Olympus to confront Zeus. He pulled his shield off his back and tossed it at the first of them. The edge struck one in the chest with such force his legs came out from under him. But the shield bounced the cuirass and struck another in the side of the head, sending him barreling off to one side, and landing on the floor in an unconscious state.
