by C. M. Kane
Realms of the Gods
C. M. Kane
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Well, we’re at book two - already. I honestly never thought this would happen. Once again I must thank my family, especially my mother Val Bryant, for both encouraging, and helping me in this little endeavor. So yes, it’s their fault entirely that I’m still at it. For the cover, a big thank you goes to, Les, at German Creative, as well as my wonderful niece, Candice Hutchison, who has once again agreed to pose as Tae. I can’t thank her enough; I think she gives the covers a whole new level of oomph.
A big thank you also goes out to the gang of three, my Beta readers – Jenifer Winterbine, Val Bryant, and Lyn Lougoon. Once again they have proven to be invaluable to me. They have given their opinions and advice freely, right alongside their sometimes brutally, honest criticisms. Thanks guys.
I’d also like to thank Vanessa Lougoon, for her help and tips on how to navigate the terrifying world of self publishing. She has now taught me the womanly art of “Tweeting.”
A huge thank you must also go out to, Kat Betts, of Elemental Editing, for the original first line edit. Kat is not only extremely talented, she has seemingly unlimited patience, and answered all my questions with a smile – well I hope that was a smile on her emjoi’s, perhaps it was some kind of weird snarl. - As I have said in my previous book, Island of the Gods, Kat has taught me an enormous amount about crafting what I want to say.
Another thank you goes out to my trusty formatters at Polgarus Studio who have done all the formatting - mainly because I am an idiot with anything computer related.
Lastly, but most importantly, I wanted to thank you, the reader, for taking a chance on me and downloading, Realms of the Gods. If you have read, Island of the Gods, and you’re back for a second dose of Tae, then may I just say, WOW! Thank you for following my girl on her journey.
Well I guess that about sums it up except for; I really hope you enjoy it.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2016 by C. M. Kane
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
First Edition 2016
C. M. Kane
Cover design: Les (German Creative)
Formatting: Polgarus Studio
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Excerpt: Defender of the Gods
Prologue
Pain. It was the first thing that intruded into its newly-formed awareness. The feeling encompassed it so fully that it blotted out any other sensation. It was the only thing it knew for what seemed an eternity, until one day, it finally noticed a slight lessening in its agony. Over time, as the pain gradually subsided, it cautiously began to reach out with its newly-formed senses. It quickly realized it was alone, surrounded by a vast … the word nebula entered its thoughts.
Fear coursed through its newly developed consciousness, it knew it was badly injured, and therefore vulnerable. Images of scorching energy bolts hitting its body flooded its mind, a strange ship heading towards it, coming closer and closer, the memory stopped just as the ship seemed to fill all of its senses. The images came from a time it knew nothing of, yet it knew they were real, and the reason why it was here. It had been nearly destroyed. Judging by the images of its near-death it knew that its body had been slowly repairing itself before it had become aware, but for how long it had no idea.
It began reaching out with its partially repaired tractor beams, drawing in the debris of the surrounding nebula in an effort to cloak itself from potential threats. Once it was finally satisfied it was sufficiently concealed, it settled down to concentrate its efforts on rebuilding its shattered body. Information still coursed through its damaged and corrupted systems, as well as from still viable nanites left over by the dead beings still locked within itself. It took all it could in an effort to help repair itself, as well as to learn from them. When it found what it wanted it discarded what was not needed back into the space that surrounded it.
Time was irrelevant in its world. All it knew was the overwhelming desire to feel safe, and to be free from the lingering pain. It now concentrated on repairing itself while studying all that was around it. When it was finally able to, it created a time distortion field around itself as a protective barrier. It had worked and expanded on an idea it had absorbed from the nanites of two, long-dead, theoretical scientists. The effort required to create the, bubble, as it called it, cost it greatly. All forms of rebuilding ceased completely for over three centuries while it slowly recovered. But now, for the first time in its existence, it was confident it was safe. Now it could kill anything that came within the bubble’s perimeter, if it wished. Alone, with only its thoughts for company, new and unfamiliar needs began to assail it. As time moved on newly-formed emotions began to develop, it began to feel a sense of emptiness within itself, it was incomplete.
It needed … more.
Even as its power began to return and its building restarted, the feelings of emptiness and need not only persisted, but seemed to grow. It reached out with its sensors and scoured the furthest reaches of the nebula in a desperate attempt to find others like itself. It found only more emptiness; there was no-one else. It was truly, totally, alone.
At this discovery another foreign emotion began to assert itself, it began to feel despair. As one long lonely decade slipped into the next it sat there, wrapped in its cocoon of solitude, unreachable, untouchable, until one day a small craft neared it. It watched its steady approach with both alarm and curiosity.
The craft stopped just outside the bubble’s distortion field. It felt a mind reach out and touch its own. Strange feelings of peace and gentleness that were not its own tentatively touched its thoughts. One word began to continuously echo through its mind, a word it recognized …friend.
Excitement and trepidation flooded its being as it decided to take a risk; it allowed the craft to approach it through the bubble. Immediately the connection with the being inside strengthened appreciably. It could sense no ill will or malice, as it scanned the being thoroughly. In desperation for companionship it adjusted its inner atmosphere to suit the foreign creature. When it felt it was ready, it opened its outer body to allow it entrance to its inner self.
It was alone no longer, it had found a friend, Cassandra.
Soon more creatures came to join Cassandra and its loneliness eased. Yet still it felt an inexplicable emptiness. It found it had no real desire to interact with any of the creatures that now resided within its body, although it did enjoy spending time studying and learning from them, as well as cannibalizing the ships they came in to continue healing itself. Despite these new-found pleasures another yearning c
ontinued to grow unabated within it.
It didn’t know what it wanted; it only knew that it still needed … something.
Along with Cassandra’s arrival and friendship, it began to recognize itself as a sentient being in its own right. It was more than simply a body or mind. It was so much more than a mere, it. After an in-depth analysis of the beings who now lived within its body, it decided that its nature was female; she was simply unlike any females she had yet to encounter.
Not long after this realization Cassandra came to her. She told her how she might be able to help fill the empty void that she could sense was growing inside of her. Finally, she understood. Somewhere in this vast universe was the one being meant for her, and her alone.
Cassandra promised that she would help find this wondrous creature. She would help to bring it within her, and at long last she would be complete. She would no longer be alone, her heart would once again start to beat and they would be as one. She was going to find her missing half.
She was going to find her captain!
And she would destroy anyone, or anything, that stood in her way to obtaining her goal.
Chapter 1
How in all the seven hells did that just happen? Zeus fumed. He was unhappy, yet again, and this really wasn’t something he was used to. He had just offered the woman, Tae Rames, a prime position onboard his flagship the Olympus, complete with training from one of the best minds around, his second-in-command Tannan, and she’d damn well turned him down. The more he thought about it the more aggrieved he became. After all he’d done for her, the ingrate had turned him down. This simply wasn’t right. He had, after all, been instrumental in saving the lives of her mother and brother, as well as switching her health nanites back on. A gift that had stopped her from ageing whilst she was still on the Island and, although he hadn’t known that she’d spent the last few days in there trying to reach and free his friend, the trapped god Loki, he’d even sent a protector in for her. But he hadn’t even been thanked for it, had he? No, she’d gone and wrapped herself around Tannan, as if it were all his idea. Technically, Zeus supposed it had been, but Tannan served him, so ultimately it was he who had given the go-ahead, so that made it his idea, surely. Besides, he could have sworn Tannan had looked over at him smugly. Prick!
Things were just not going according to the wonderful little plan he had mapped out in his head for her. Namely that she fall into bed with him as soon as possible and then, once he’d tired of her, he’d have shuffled her off somewhere out of sight. But to turn him down flat with-out so much as a small hesitation. Especially when he was lounging in front of her in a blatantly sexual pose, in full battledress, and looking quite magnificent, he thought.
Not only had she turned him down, but she’d done it in front of some of the other gods who had come to watch the terrans’ Island. Horn in on my fun more like it. His mood dipped even lower. And for what? Loki? He smirked nastily. Loki didn’t even have a personal army - or ships security detail as they were more commonly called- anymore, let alone a ship, and to top it off, he looked as though he’d lost a quarter of his body weight from his time in the sleepers. Yet she still went and chose his scrawny friend in his faded old clothes over himself – un-freakin-believable.
I might just leave the Fenris buried under that volcano. No ship, no service, he thought sourly. He looked over at Tae. It wasn’t as if she were even any prize; she was dirty, disheveled, and stunk of sweat from her constant running. Her time on the Terrans Island had brought much amusement to himself and the other gods seated in the pavilion, especially her last kill, a Thalien.
He pushed his amusement at the killing away and refocused on her for a moment, after all he was still angry, and she was the source of that anger.
What type of name is, Tae, anyway? Obviously her parents are congenital idiots. He studied her more closely and, for the first time noticed that she looked like she was about ready to collapse from exhaustion. Perhaps that’s why she had chosen Loki. Perhaps it had nothing to do with his own formidable charm and good looks after all.
Of course, that would explain her reasoning perfectly, the woman is simply exhausted and doesn’t know what she is doing. He perked up a little at his line of thought; this explanation suited him far better than being passed over for a disheveled, rather emaciated god with no ship or crew, bar the thirty vampires he’d somehow saved.
‘I switched your health nanites back on while you were on the Island by the way,’ he said.
Tae smiled at him. ‘Thank you, Lord Zeus, you are most generous.’
Zeus made a hmming sound as he rose and headed for the closest console. He turned back to her, raised an eyebrow and looked her over again.
‘We haven’t even heard whether or not Loki wants you in his service. After all, he has no ship for the moment. I’m not quite sure what he will be able to do with you.’ He swung his attention to the god in question.
Loki leant back on his settee, his dark eyes assessing her; he stayed that way for a moment just watching her.
Tae stared back at him, her eyebrows raised in question as she awaited a response.
‘Why me?’ he finally asked.
‘Several reasons really,’ she said. The other gods seated around the room leant forward a little in interest at the young terran girl’s response.
‘Firstly, you don’t have that many people left as far as I can see. So you’re going to need people who you know you can trust and rely on to get the job done. That’s me’ she said, pointing to her chest with her thumb.
‘Plus you really need someone like me around anyway. I’m straight forward and tell it like it is - no sugar coating. Actually, my brother says if it’s on my mind it’s out my mouth, so you may have to take that into account with me’ she added sheepishly.
‘Secondly, all the gods here who have been so generous to allow me the opportunity to be in their service already have enough capable people. Like Elite Commander Tannan here.’ She gestured at the vampire who was Zeus’ second in command. ‘If I were to choose service with anyone else I feel I would be superfluous on their ships, and I really want to know that I’m doing someone some good.
Thirdly, my first recommendation to you would be to draft my warrior trainer, Master Brohan, back into active service.’
Her old mentor Brohan had been standing quietly by a console with Tae’s aunt Valaria, listening to her discussion, at her words his mouth sagged open in shock and his eyes snapped wide in surprise. For a moment it looked as though he would say something, before he quickly remembered where he was and stayed silent.
‘As you have been informed by Lord Zeus himself,’ Tae continued. ‘Once this warrior gives his word on something no-one can budge him. He is the most honorable man on our planet, and if he can teach a seventeen-year-old girl how to survive the Island in three weeks, then he sure as hell can train a new batch of warriors for you. Although,’ she added slyly, ‘due to his advanced age I think it would be wise to use some deageing nanites on him.’
At Loki’s puzzled frown she added, ‘According to the research I did when I was learning how to turn off my own nanites, there has been a recent addition of nanites that are now able to turn back the effects of ageing, to some extent, in mortals from my world. I know they are rare, and are obviously only used on your most able warriors, but they are in existence. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some onboard one of the ships gathered here.’ She glanced around hopefully at the other gods.
Odin nodded, seeing a way to try to get back into his son’s good graces by being helpful in his time of need. ‘Yes, I have some if needed.’
‘I believe it would be a wise move on your behalf to allow their use,’ she continued. As I understand it they can take anywhere from thirty to forty years off of a terrans age before they expire. This would put Brohan between thirty and forty years of age, which would be ideal for you, and having such a brilliant and honorable warrior in your service would add another much-needed weap
on to rebuilding your security detail.’
‘Fourth, and most important of all,’ she said, slowly walking to stand in front of Loki, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. ‘Someone went to a great deal of trouble to make sure you stayed under that volcano. I’m sure that not only you, but your friends and family here,’ she gestured around the room, ‘would be very interested to find out exactly who that person, or people, are. If I’m being honest, then you must know that I would really like to be a part of that, even if it is just from a peripheral standpoint.’
‘And, fifth,’ she grinned. ‘I’m fun! I’ve also got the most wicked music and movie collection that I’ve downloaded from the History Museum on Earth, and let’s face it, after spending nine hundred years under a slab of rock, I figure you could use someone with a sense of humor and some brilliant entertainment around you.’
A faint smile lifted the corners of Loki’s mouth. ‘You’re a very astute young woman. I will give thought to what you have said. In the meantime I wish to see these vids Zeus has of you and your so-called talents, before I make a decision. First I wish to see the original vid that set you on your path.’
Tannan stepped forward. ‘I am sorry, my lord, but I have searched the databank at the WLE Headquarters thoroughly and I can’t seem to locate it.’
Loki turned suspicious eyes toward Tae who frowned in puzzlement. ‘It came up pretty quickly for me,’ she said. She looked nervously at Tannan’s com-panel and its display. ‘May I?’ Tannan nodded and she walked over to his workstation.
Touching the screen and closing her eyes she issued the same orders as she had at her school when all this had started, hopefully she would get the same results. After a few minutes she again felt the vid she wanted download into her mind. This time she shifted it to one of the com-screens the gods had been watching. Tannan stared at her, frowning thoughtfully, while the assembled gods watched the vid of Loki’s ship nearly being destroyed. Once it ended she rewound the vid to the second last frame and showed them what she had seen.
