Gods of War (War of the Gods Series) (13 page)

Zeus extended his hand and the space in front of them turned solid and transformed into a clear screen where they saw a projection. What projected was the earth, or what used to be the earth. The landmasses were all torn apart. The whole continent of Africa had broken off and in the process of turning sideways. Russia was separated from the continents of Europe and Asia. The projection then spanned towards the Americas, showing both California and Hawaii gone. Canada was also detached from the rest of the continent and South America was in the process of breaking off. Everyone watched silently until Zeus broke the silence.

“As you can see, two weeks here has been months on earth.”

“Why are you not doing anything?” Jessica shouted. She was clenching Terry’s hand tightly. Terry started to wince from the pain.

“I am doing something.” Zeus spanned the projection until it showed Florida and the neighboring islands. They weren’t being plagued by Ares’ Gods, only his monsters.

“I can only do so much,” Zeus said looking at Jessica. “It is Ares and the rest of the Gods who are doing this. They are creating their own territories here on earth.”

“What about the people?” Jessica said still questioning Zeus. “How are the people doing?”

“That is a good question, dear.”

Zeus zoomed in really fast and now they were on a street view in Washington D.C. All around, people were being put into chains. Monsters were killing humans for sport. There was a crater where the White House used to sit.

Zeus showed what was happening in every major city. Killings, raping, and torture took place everywhere. Lava flowed down streets that were filled with people trying to reach safety. One man managed to climb up one of the buildings, but was knocked down by one of the Minotaur’s who greedily watched the man die. In another area, the gods were having their own run of the bulls, but without real bulls. Instead they were using Minotaurs who would charge down the humans.

“Enough of this,” Nicolai spoke up.

That surprised Amadi.
Here I thought it would be the woman who would get sick of the scenery.

“Why aren’t you down there protecting them?” Nicolai finished.

Zeus studied Nicolai before answering, “Assaraeus, do you want to answer this?”

Still looking at the projection, Amadi spoke up. “If we were to send our full strength against Ares now, we would be destroyed. Not only does Ares have a larger army than us, but he is exploiting the rule that Zeus has in place that he won’t kill any gods. If we were to send our army in, we would cause more death to the humans just from collateral damage. We are actually saving more lives by waiting to fight.”

Amadi turned his attention to Nicolai. “Why do you think any war now days always ends up in guerilla warfare? It’s because the defending force has the best advantage. This is how we will have to fight, because we don’t have enough men or power to face Ares head on. The weapons that Hephaestus is developing for my men and for our human allies will help.”

“Okay, so if guerilla warfare is for defensive attacks, how do we do an offensive attack?” Nicolai asked.

“We do it the same way,” Terry said. “Exactly what Amadi’s rebel group did against his government. You conduct coordinated pin pricks. You wear your enemy out. You always attack. You attack and move, then attack again. And when your enemy is weak you go in for the kill,”

“That is going to take forever. Can’t we just kill Ares and be done with it?” Nicolai asked.

“Killing Ares will only put the gods in their place,” Zeus replied. “The monsters Ares has unleased, along with the humans he has put into power will not give up easily. He is creating his own government on earth and setting kings loyal to him in charge. He has also brought back some of the greatest generals to ever live. They won’t go away willingly. This war is going to last a long time.

“After us gods defeated the Titans, it took thousands of years for the world to heal,” Zeus continued. “We have to fight this war in a smarter way. Because if we don’t every human will die.”

Zeus let the projection of earth disappear. “I think we are done for the day. Tomorrow you will pass this test.”

Zeus and the other gods said their goodbyes and left. Terry and Jessica walked off to be on their own, and Nicolai walked over to the cabin to rest. That left Amadi to his own thoughts.

Why am I not happy?
Amadi thought. He started to jog around the compound to clear his head.
This is what I wanted. I have always wanted the chance to prove his skills as a warrior.
As Amadi kept walking the projection he just witnessed kept tugging at him.
Ares and his ilk are not killing for honor. They are killing for sport. Was this how my enemies thought of me?

Amadi continued his jog picking up speed. This is exactly what I was looking for, the war of all ages. To come against someone just like Ares.

Now in full sprint, Amadi was quickly running laps around the compound. I need to learn his strategy. Something is not right here. Why would he turn over his campaigns to humans? Amadi stopped running as it hit him. He is expecting us. He has forced our hand to land into Florida. If we land anywhere else, his gods will attack us. He will have his monsters waiting for us if we land in Zeus’ safe zone. Amadi started chuckling.
I am impressed
.
This is exactly what I’m looking for. Ares is certainly living up to his reputation, and more
. By using the gods as a quick reaction force, Ares has forced their hand without them even knowing it.

Amadi felt good that he figured out Ares’ battle plan. Forcing Zeus to section off a piece of earth marked their only option. Zeus wouldn’t let them attack the gods. Zeus would have them deploy where the gods can’t reach them. All Ares had to do was send in his army to wipe them out.
Where did Zeus get his information from?
Amadi tried to figure that out. It had to be when they were both gone. Wherever they went, they sure did come back fast as soon as Terry made their weapons. Watching Terry explain what he did amused Amadi enormously.

They accepted it eventually, especially since it cut our training time in half. But the gods had been distant since then. The gods were watching the demi-gods, watching for something Amadi could not yet figure out.

Perhaps Nicholaus can help me figure out what they are watching for. He is a smart man
, Amadi thought. He started heading towards the cabin Nicolai entered.

Nicolai entered the cabin, happy to get away from everyone. He was getting mad because of their incompetence. Nicolai sat down, began massaging his temple and tried to go through his breathing exercises. He needed to fight off the anger building inside him before the urge to kill overcame him. By then it would be too late for his breathing exercises. Only one person could settle him down when he got the urge,
Celeste
. Celeste always had some sort of soothing effect on him.

This time was different though. He wasn’t getting mad at the incompetence affecting him, he was getting mad at his and the gods incompetence to protect the humans. Celeste would expect him to help and he couldn’t. He knew he should be down there doing something; instead he was up here screwing around.

I sure have changed
, he thought.
I had a big chip on my shoulder, but of course, Celeste removed that chip and made me a better man. Celeste, I miss you a lot.
Nicolai laid down and started to reminisce.

It was a typical cold day in Russia, with a steady snowfall that would soon turn into a blizzard. Nicolai sat waiting for his target at the bus stop across the street. The plan was to have his target leave the government building and stab him in the middle of the lunch crowd. There he would die when the poisoned blade worked its magic. He was so concentrated on his target that he never noticed the figure coming from behind him. He was just sitting there when suddenly a woman tripped over his feet. With her nose buried in a book,—not noticing his feet— she tripped over them. Nicolai was about to yell at her, asking what her problem was, but when his eyes met hers he was left speechless.

They both tried apologizing at the same time, talking over each other and then laughed when they realized what they were doing. Nicolai invited her to sit down and they both started talking. As they talked Nicolai was sucked into her charm and fell madly in love. She was perfect for him. Apparently she thought the same because she was the one who asked for his number. She was late to meet her father, but she still wanted to talk with him more. When he gave it to her his target approached them. It was her father.

For the first time in his life, Nicolai had one of those moral dilemmas he had always heard about. As Nicolai got to know Celeste more, he knew he couldn’t kill her father. It would devastate her. The problem was he had screwed off the wrong people and if Nicolai wasn’t going to kill him, his employers would hire someone else.

For a year he held off other hit men for Celeste’s sake—either by killing them or warning them off. The price on her father’s head had grown so large not even he could protect him.

Then came the day she died. Nicolai was going to tell them what had been happening but he was too late. The hit men were already there. Nicolai tried to stop them when they ambushed her father, they killed Celeste by accident.

When Nicolai realized what happened, he ran straight to Celeste letting the killers get away. She laid in his arms dying. Before her spirit passed on, she made him promise to quit his lifestyle and to actually do some good in the world. She knew what he did for a living, but still loved him. She believed he was a better person and wanted him to prove it to her.

Nicolai tried to do as Celeste asked, but it was so hard. Within a year, the urge to kill overcame him. Instead of going back to his old profession, however, he decided to get revenge. Nicolai worked his way up the chain. He found out who the two hit men were and made them give up their handler. In turn their handler gave up the person who set up the contract. Finally Nicolai hit the highest levels in the Russian mob. They gave up the deputy that initiated the contract to have Celeste’s father killed.

The door to their cabin opened and Amadi walked in. He saw Nicolai lying down with tears coming from his eyes. “Are you crying Nicholaus?”

Nicolai got up and wiped his eyes. “No, I am fine. Why do you keep calling me that? That’s not my name.”

“That’s your name. Just like mine is Assaraeus. Besides it fits you more than your mortal name.” Staring at both of them, Amadi’s face seemed to light up. “Is that what has you and Tereus not trusting me? Because I am not calling you by your mortal name?”

“No, it’s because you are acting more and more like them,” Nicolai replied. “Don’t you see there is something wrong with them? Especially when Terry had Hephaestus create our weapons, they look at us like we were going to betray them. I read the stories about them when I was locked up. They have always treated humans like trash. Even Zeus. In fact, he is the worse one out of them all.” Nicolai started shaking his head with disappointment. “Trust me; you don’t want to get too close. It will only give Athena an easier way to stick a dagger in your back.”

“If you believe that, then why are you here?” Amadi retorted. “No one is forcing you to be here.”

“I have my own reasons, just like you and Terry. It is my business, and it doesn’t require you to know. And where is Terry anyway? He said he had an idea to defeat those ublyudki. We are taking too long to get past those giants and we need to do it now,” Nicolai said, getting angry.

“I don’t know. He is still with his woman. You can go out and search for him. The gods are gone, so you will be safe from them,” Amadi said mockingly.

Nicolai stood up aggressively. Amadi reacted by reaching for his pistol in his right hand and a fireball in the other. But he was too slow, as Nicolai already had his shotgun shoved in Amadi’s face.

“Your too slow, old man,” Nicolai sneered at Amadi. “Give me one good reason.”

Amadi let the fireball disappear as he let go of the pistol that didn’t even leave its holster.

“You know what will happen if one of us dies,” Amadi said cautiously.

“That is the problem. I don’t tend to think that far ahead. Besides, what I am doing this for doesn’t depend on us winning the war. Think on that when you try to boss me around,” Nicolai replied stroking the shotgun’s trigger. “We are not teammates, nor are we friends. Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours.”

Both men heard something hit the floor and looked to see what it was. In the doorway stood Jessica, she had dropped a piece of fruit on the ground, with a look of concern on her face.

“Terry said he is ready to show you what he has planned.”

Nicolai lowered his shotgun and looked at Amadi. “Right after you, General”

The three of them walked out of the cabin to where Terry awaited.

Terry looked up at the three dummies. They were larger than the normal ones, but not as big as the giants that impeded their progress.
They will do though.

Terry wanted to use the training compound’s resources and they never taught them how to use it. So Terry had asked Hermes to run the training field. Hermes was hesitant to accept Terry’s favor, Zeus had to command it. Terry didn’t think anything about it. He still had that gut wrenching feeling like they were up to something, nothing to worry him about the new way the gods have been acting. At the moment, none of that mattered to Terry. His mind was on something more important. Looking back towards the cabin, he wondered what was keeping Jessica.

Jessica exited the cabin and began running to Terry. When she finally reached him, she started to speak, “We have to talk after this. I walked in on something bad. Nicolai, he…,” She cut herself off as the two men got within hearing distance. Terry nodded to acknowledge Jessica’s request and greeted the men.

“Thank you for coming. I had Hermes help me with creating some new dummies. Like I said earlier, I have an idea of how we can defeat the giants.”

Terry turned to Hermes and watched as the dummies separated at equal distances.