Fallen Gods II Read online

  FALLEN GODS II

  By Nick S. Thomas

  Copyright © 2019 by Nick S. Thomas

  Published by Swordworks Books

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Prologue

  It has been two months since Zeus’ crown was broken for the second time, and Hades and his immortal allies were cast away once more.

  The war in Olympus ended in devastation, with the loss of many lives, and the survivors cast into the mortal realm of Earth. A war that soon continued on the streets and among the mortals of Earth. An NYPD cop, Aaron Miller, rose to the task and sided with the remaining Zeus loyalists. Including the most unlikely of allies, Thanatos. A god who sided with Hades in the war and was instrumental in bringing an end to Zeus, but then fought to stop Hades and his plan to reassemble the crown to seize power for himself.

  A desperate struggle against Hades cost many lives but was ultimately successful as Miller recruited allies to the cause, police officers, and most important, trained swordsmen. The world is safe, for now. But the fate of Hades and his minions is unknown. For those that defeated him, some try to move on with their lives, while others prepare for his return. But mysterious reports around the world suggest there may be more than just Hades to worry about.

  Chapter 1

  “Don’t ever let your guard down!”

  Aaron barked his orders as he pushed against Ava’s sword with his and placed the other on her shoulder, shoving her hard. Being so much larger and stronger than she was, she was thrown back several paces. She gasped, regaining her footing just before plunging over the edge of a steep embankment. The wind howled through her hair as she caught a breath, and took a few casual steps along the edge as if to prove she was not scared. They were fighting atop a high peak in a national park. They could see for miles around, and no other humans were in sight. She charged back at him and threw a cut. He smiled, thinking he’d seen every move she was making. But she had fooled him and stepped off to his side, cutting up toward his sword arm. He cut down against the blade, and sparks flew as he backed away in surprise.

  Sparks because the blades were sharp. They wore no safety equipment, but neither seemed bothered by that. Far from it, exhilaration filled both their faces. Ava lifted her sword high over her head in an almost vertical position, threatening a powerful downward blow. Her sword was a short one, with a simple cross guard that had just a small shell protecting the knuckles. The grip was pinned to the blade in the way a knife would be made, a sort of German short sword that was in fact called the long or big knife, or simply messer. It was a good close in fighting weapon, and perfect for practicing for the sort of real life combat they’d endured against Hades and his allies.

  Aaron held his messer low, looking like he was unprotected. Yet he was inviting an attack. He liked to draw his opponents in, tempting them to make predictable attacks that he could exploit. Ava was well aware of this, and she thrust forward to invite a response. He lifted his messer swiftly and parried with the back of the blade. A smile stretched across his face as he saw his opening and cut around, pivoting the blade parallel to the ground with a rapid snapping action. But it was just what she had planned for. Ava lifted her hilt and let the tip of her blade drop low, glancing his blade off her as she stepped out to his side, cutting up against his outstretched arm.

  His smile vanished as he panicked and cut down against her blade, narrowly saving himself as he backed away.

  “You done?”

  “Not yet.” She came at him again.

  Her aggression surprised him, forcing him to parry the three powerful cuts she laid on him. She kept coming, under the cover of a high parry as he so often did. She slipped the long grip of the weapon over his arm and put her other hand on the back of her blade. Using leverage, she had his weapon locked, and he was driven down onto one knee, the edge of the blade slicing lightly into his upper arm.

  He winced in pain but covered it well.

  “Now we’re done,” she replied with a smile.

  She backed off, and yet he looked as happy with the wound as she was for inflicting it. It was nothing more than a surface cut, for she hadn’t applied much force.

  “That was some good work, Ava, but not exactly your usual style.”

  “Yeah, well I used to fight for fun, but it’s more than that now, isn’t it?”

  “So, you’ve been practicing more, outside of class? Because I sure as hell didn’t teach you that.”

  “I might have been doing a little extra,” she smirked and drew out a tissue to mop up the wound on his arm.

  “Yeah, and from who?”

  “Mikey.”

  “That son of a bitch. He’s not even an instructor, you know that.”

  “No, but he’s a hell of a fighter, that’s for sure.”

  “You’re not wrong,” Aaron gasped and went to the craggy edge. He sat down, dangling his feet over the edge, laying the messer down beside him. He reached for a rucksack nearby and went for the first aid kit to patch over his wound. She came to sit beside him and marvel at the beautiful scene of nature before them. Aaron put a large dressing across the wound before resting back and taking it all in.

  “It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

  “What?”

  “This. What we’re doing. I mean, I know it’s crazy, and yet somehow it just doesn’t feel like it is. It doesn’t feel out of the ordinary at all. That’s what worries me. Do you remember the first time you let me handle a sharp sword and cut some mats?”

  “Yeah, you were trembling,” he laughed.

  “Exactly. It was one of the craziest things I’d ever done. My whole body locked up, and I could barely move. My pulse was racing. I was a wreck, and now we’re fighting each other with sharps as if it’s no big deal.”

  “Yeah, well I guess once you’ve faced the real deal, and faced immortals, it puts it all into perspective. It’s not all that surprising, is it? In my line of work, the things most people would panic at, we see all the time. It normalizes you.”

  “I get that, but is it a good thing? Is it a good thing that this is normal for us?”

  “Honestly? I don’t even know anymore. But I do know we need to keep our skills sharp. I know we don’t exactly want to go all out fighting each other, but it’s valuable practice. Fighting with sharps, it’s like no other kind of training. Can you imagine a cop learning everything there is about the job, but never learning to fire their weapon?”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t shoot live targets.”

  Aaron laughed.

  “Okay, you got me. That’s true.”

  He took a deep breath and let his shoulders relax as the adrenaline pumping about his body began to fade away.

  “What is it, Aaron?”

  “Just all of this. To think we came so close to losing it all.”

  “Are you sure that’s what really happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Hades was a bad guy, that’s not hard to see. But were we really fighting to save ourselves, or for some other ca
use?”

  “You don’t think this was just about good and evil?”

  “How many wars ever are? Even in your work, is it always clear? That one side is good, and the other bad?”

  “Sometimes. Pretty often, actually.”

  “Yeah, sure, I bet you have to deal with some real assholes. But there’s a difference between being a criminal or something like that, and wanting to end the world.”

  Aaron laughed, and she had to see the funny side as well and joined him.

  “I’m serious, you know,” she added, trying not to giggle.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I know,” he replied more seriously.

  “So how do we know? That we were really fighting for good, and not just for some cause we don’t understand?”

  “Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. I saw what was going on. I saw what Hades and his people really were. I watched Thanatos risk everything to save Theodosia, and he took chances to protect us, too. There is compassion there. But with Hades, there’s nothing but ambition.”

  “And that’s enough for you?”

  “I guess so.”

  Ava was clearly waiting for more of an explanation than that.

  “Come on, some things in life we just know to be right and wrong, and the way things are. I guess we aren’t always right, but mostly we are. When I became a cop, I didn’t question the work we did. I knew it was the right thing to do, even if the application can sometimes be ugly.”

  “But you knew it was right because of all the folks that came before you, all those generations. But Thanatos and Theodosia, we don’t know that. We’re working this stuff out for ourselves. So, are you really sure we made the right call?”

  “Do you think I’d have asked any of my friends to risk their lives if I wasn’t?” He remained confident but still friendly, “Would you even be out here today if there was any doubt? The fight is long over, and here you are still training to the limit. You know we did the right thing.”

  “I had to check with you. You get so far into something that sometimes you can’t see beyond it, you know?”

  “Yep, there’s no doubt about that.”

  “So, it’s not over, is it?”

  He took a deep breath and sighed as he shook his head.

  “I doubt it. What we’ve seen and what we know to be true. We can’t unsee that now, and I don’t think it can be undone. What’s more, if they are real, what else is?”

  “I never really thought about it that way.”

  “Really? Well, spend enough time with the doctor and you will.”

  “Dr. Harris, you and she have been getting close?”

  “Yes, I guess so.” He smiled, “She asks the big old question that none of us know the answer to, but all worry about. What else is out there? All these books and texts that describe things we never thought existed, monsters, gods, and the supernatural. As far as I was concerned, they were all just stories. But if Zeus and those myths are legit and real, what about the rest?”

  “I don’t even want to think of it. The possibilities and the horrors.”

  He nodded in agreement but was clearly deep in thought about something else entirely.

  “We’re all thinking about him, Luca, I mean.”

  “I put a lot on his shoulders. I thought he could take it. Or maybe I just never stopped to wonder if he could. I mean, he was there when we needed him. He was everything we needed him to be. I never thought about what kind of toll it would take on him. On any of us, for that matter.”

  “He’ll be fine. He’ll come back to us when he’s ready. Going through what we went through, it affects people in different ways.”

  “Sure. Three of our members have left the city. Yet we’ve had more members join since Rick has run his mouth, not that anyone seems to believe him.”

  She sighed and got back to her feet.

  Aaron didn’t look impressed. He’d got quite comfortable enjoying the view.

  “What?”

  “We came here to train, didn’t we?”

  “You haven’t drawn enough of my blood already?” he asked, as he took her hand and was hauled to his feet.

  She reached down, took his sword, and handed it to him.

  “I don’t know what’s coming next. None of us do, but I’m gonna be ready for it.” She put some space between them and took up her guard position, “Don’t hold back on me now, Aaron.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t,” he growled and rushed forward.

  * * *

  Theodosia marveled at the night sky from her perch. She was three floors up beside a busy street. A long dark coat concealed her weapons, but it was open, showing her armour, though it would look like nothing more than a plush corset to anyone that didn’t know better. She soon spotted what she was looking for as a bright red 1955 Ford Thunderbird came into view. Thanatos was at the wheel, cruising the streets with a smile on his face as if he owned the city. She watched him pull up outside a lavish and decadent nightclub. He leapt out to be greeted by two beautiful and scantily clad women. He tossed the keys to an usher and strode on into the club as if he owned that, too. Theodosia was shaking her head.

  “How predictable,” she said scornfully and leapt from the edge.

  The concrete sidewalk cracked as she landed, and several passersby turned in shock and surprise. They hadn’t seen where she’d come from, but she gave a murderous look to several of them, and they soon went about their business. She wasn’t in the mood to explain herself to anyone, and she groaned, looking at the bustling nightclub and the queue formed outside it. It was the last place she wanted to go, but she strode on toward the door.

  “Hey, there’s a queue back here!” An angry man a few places back in the crowd yelled at her.

  She ignored him and approached the doorman, a hulk of a man who loomed over her. His shoulders were twice as wide as any normal human, and with no visible neck, for how overdeveloped his body was.

  “Fine woman like you, you can go right in,” he said with a smile.

  Then the angry man in the crowd pushed out of the queue toward her.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He demanded of the doorman, “You’re just gonna let this whore in while people have been waiting an hour?”

  “Whore?” Theodosia sneered in disgust.

  “You heard me!” The man pointed his finger at her.

  She’d heard enough, grabbed his finger, and yanked him in close. It broke with one firm snap. He cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees, only to find a small dagger at his throat that soon silenced him.

  “Jeez, girl, where’ve you been all my life?” The bouncer had a huge grin on his face.

  “Well, don’t just stand there, do something,” the man snarled at him.

  “I don’t have to. It looks like she’s got this, man.”

  She turned the angry man around and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back to the edge of the pavement. Many in the queue were laughing at him, and that made him more furious. He got up, picked up one of the metal barrier posts, and ran at her with murderous intent. She held up her left arm and took the impact, stopping his two-handed swing dead. She didn’t even hunker down or show any sort of pain as the post was stopped mid-air.

  “You’re wasting my time,” she snarled and punched him in the face. He was thrown back once again, but this time he was sprawled out unconscious.

  “Damn it, girl, you’ve got a swing on you,” said the bouncer.

  “Now can I go in?” Theodosia asked in an irate tone.

  “Sure,” he replied and went to see to the man still flat on his back. He continued shaking his head in amazement as she vanished in through the doors.

  “That’s one hell of a woman!”

  “Hey, you’re just gonna let her get away with that?’ A woman in the queue protested.

  “You want to try and stop her, you be my guest, Madam.”

  Theodosia pushed her way into the club. She didn’t want to be there and had
no time for anyone.

  “Can I buy you a drink?”

  She looked to her right to find a smartly dressed man in his late twenties. He was suave and handsome.

  “Where is Thanatos?”

  “Come on, it’s just one drink?”

  Her patience was wearing thin now and her hand shot up to his throat, lifting him onto his tiptoes. There was utter shock in his face as he gasped for air and did little to fight back.

  “Thanatos?”

  The man pointed with his eyes, and then lifted one trembling hand to a doorway across the busy room. She released her grip, and he staggered back, gasping for air. She went on across the dance floor, pushing her way through forcefully as several complaints and protests rang out, but she had no time for any of it. There was another doorman protecting what was clearly some kind of VIP room, but he made no attempt to stop her.

  She stepped inside to the sound of celebratory cheers and glasses being slammed down. The hallway led to a balcony overlooking a party room almost as large as the one she’d come from. Dozens of people were dancing and drinking, but at a table in the corner she spotted Thanatos. He was surrounded by four scantily clad women and throwing back shots as he partied without a care in the world. She groaned, knowing this was going to be hard work, and headed down the stairs to confront him.

  He was dressed sharply in a three-piece suit but with open collar and no tie. He had one arm over a woman beside him, and another poured him a glass from a bottle at their table. He looked to be having the time of his life. She didn’t understand it at all and stopped in front of the table to address him.

  “Theo, I didn’t think this was your kind of establishment!” Thanatos said excitedly as she approached.

  “Vulcan is missing,” she declared sternly.

  “Okay?”

  “Doesn’t that mean anything to you, Thanatos?”

  “He’s free to go and do as he pleases. Same as the rest of us. The war is over, Theo. Kick back, and enjoy yourself for once!”

  “How can you rest?”