Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  “Exactly. Our asses are on the line, too. Trust me, dragons had no easy time with the asshats of Olympus.” Jax became red in the face as he thought about all the stories he’d heard from his grandfather. His bloodline nearly became extinct because of the gods. “Something tells me spending all this time underground, or wherever the hell they were, isn’t going to make them any softer than before.”

  “The problem we’re facing,” Carter rubbed his face, sleep still trying to claim his mind, “is that we now know that Ares has been around for a lot longer than we thought. Meaning, he came back, who knows how long ago, and we knew nothing of it. There was no alert to his arrival. We have no idea how, but he has been hidden to us. That also raises the question of who else has followed in his steps, what other gods are out there that we know nothing about? For all we know, we could be walking into an ambush with this.” He got up and headed to the kitchen. Might as well start the coffee, since it’s obvious I won’t be going back to bed.

  “You mean to say they have found a way around the beacons?” Dee straightened in his seat. “He could have a damn army by now and we would know nothing of it.”

  “Exactly.” Carter leaned on the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew. “I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. There is a chance that it’s just him, but I want us to be prepared for the very real possibility that it isn’t.”

  “Damn.” For the first time since he’d come through the door, Jax didn’t have a witty retort. The situation was much more complicated than any of them were prepared for.

  “I mean, if you think about it, they had to have noticed those who disappeared. Maybe they were supposed to be reporting back and never did,” Inda offered as she got up to join Carter in the kitchen. She never was one to turn down a good cup of joe, and she knew that Carter always brewed the good stuff. As the tall woman passed Jax she winked at him. Yeah, there was definitely something going on there.

  “Yeah, and we weren’t the only ones hunting them down.” Carter nodded toward the room.

  “You mean to tell me your lady friend in there is badass god hunter? Is she from Oikos?” Dee asked, and peered around the corner even though the door was closed.

  “No, she isn’t. I actually just met her, she was here to kill me.” He laughed and then addressed the series of incredulous looks he’d received from all of them. “It’s a long story, but she has good reasons for hating them. Trust me.”

  “Well, good. At least we know we aren’t the only line of defense out there. Hell, there may very well be others,” Jax offered. “We better hope there are at least, considering the new developments.”

  “Yes, there may be,” Carter added. “There are others from Oikos. I’ll need to round them up. We’re going to need a lot more help.”

  “I’ll put a call out. Like I said, us dragons have our own bone to pick with your gods.” Jax pulled his phone from the pocket of the worn leather jacket he’d owned since before he knew Carter. He started sending out what he termed ‘party invites’.

  “There aren’t many phoenixes here who will fight, but I have friends who will help.” Inda thought of one phoenix in particular who was always up for a good adventure. What better adventure than that of cutting down gods?

  “Faes are ready, they have felt this coming. I will sound the alarm.”

  “Excuse me?” Dee asked. “What do you mean they are ready?”

  “It was foretold. A long time ago, a young witch came to our people, warning of a threat to the princess. She told that a siren would save the princess and that in return our people would have to gift her a stone, forged with the energy of the sun. This stone would someday be an integral piece in saving the world from the tyranny of the gods. No one wanted to believe her, but the task was completed anyway. Hell, a chance to get rid of the gods, a chance to live life without fear of them, everyone wanted that. As she warned, our princess was in danger, she was wandering and found herself lost at sea and trapped by a vile beast. It was the bravery of a siren that saved her. The stone was gifted to her and she was never seen again. When the gods fell, our people cheered, thinking that it was the prophecy come to pass, but the witch appeared again, with a warning. The war was far from over and we would need to prepare for the true fight.”

  “Well, fuck, at least we got some preparation on our side. Why did you never mention it before?”

  “I didn’t find a need to.” Madelyn shrugged. Her people’s history was only given out on a need to know basis, and as far she was concerned, until that point, none of them needed to know.

  “Well the bears don’t have nearly as much hatred for the gods … hell, most of them are probably unaware of any of this shit, but I have my people who will stand by me regardless.”

  “Good, so we all have our tasks for the day, recruit as many people as we can.” Carter poured himself a cup of coffee that finally finished brewing. “There is a warehouse space we can use, everyone sure as hell can’t stay here.”

  “Hell, we can’t even stay here, I booked a room,” Inda poked at him.

  “Do we get to meet her, this mystery woman?” Jax motioned toward the closed door.

  “Um …” Carter looked to the bedroom.

  “We can wait, no need to wake her.”

  “Yeah, let’s just give her some time. She probably hears us anyway, considering the matchbox of a place this is.” Dee laughed and smacked the arm of the couch.

  “Hey, you want to pay my rent? I will gladly move to a condo in the sky.”

  Eleven

  It had been hours since his crew arrived and Asa still hadn’t emerged from the room. Periodically, Carter would go to the door and listen; at first, he could hear her inside, and then nothing. He wondered if she had awakened and was contemplating coming out. He figured it was best to give her more time, but as hunger set in, they decided to head out for food, time was up for pensive hiding.

  “Asa?” Carter tapped on the door before opening it. Inside he found an empty room. The window stood open, the curtain blowing in the wind. His phone, which he’d left on the bedside table blinked, a notification of a new message. He picked it up to read a message from an unsaved number he could only assume belonged to her. ‘Sorry I couldn’t stay there. I will be back. But first, there’s some things I need to take care of.’ He cursed and tossed the phone on the bed. At least she’d made the bed before she left.

  “Everything okay?” Inda entered the room slowly. “Oh, shit, did she leave?”

  “Yeah, she did.” He looked at the window as if she would reappear.

  “I’m sorry, Carter.” Inda laid her hand on his shoulder.

  “She’ll be back.” He held up the phone, indication of the text he received. “Let’s go eat.”

  Asa had to leave. She’d been awake from the moment Carter left the bed. The absence of his warmth pulled her from dreams of her home. When he closed the door, she sat up and listened, trying to determine if she should join them. She had nearly left the room to introduce herself when the fae girl started to tell the story of the Siren and the stone her people crafted at the request of a witch.

  What were the odds that they would all be so connected? There was someone pulling strings and she knew exactly who it was. The same someone who warned the fae people, the one who had aided the God of War, the one who had stolen her life. She knew just where to find the woman. There were questions that needed to be answered. She hoped Carter would understand. He’d had his task, he would continue to recruit help. While he did that, she would get the answers he needed.

  She looked down at her phone, a text from Carter flashed across the screen. ‘Where are you?’ She’d been away for the day. And he had every right to worry. ‘I’m okay, I’ll be back soon.’ She responded, not answering his question, but hoping the response would bring some peace to his mind. She tucked the phone back into her pocket and looked ahead. The wind was picking up. Under the night sky, atop the skyscraper she, held up the stolen stone, and repeated the word
s she heard once before. “Anoichtí gia ména to spíti mou!” The sky before her opened up, and she stepped across the threshold into Oikos.

  On the other side, the world she visited once before was not the same. Still ornate, still far beyond what she had originally imagined, it seemed a darker place. The sky not as brightly lit, the grass not as boldly green. The smells were even dulled. She followed the same path, that lead to Lehela’s door which stood open. The life, the minimal evidence of inhabitants that she saw before, was gone. The city of Oikos was quiet, empty.

  “Hello?” Asa called as she entered.

  “Asa, yes, come in.” Lehela sat at the stone table, waiting for her.

  “You knew I would be back.”

  “I had a feeling you would return, that you would have questions for me.”

  “This was all you, wasn’t it? You orchestrated all of this, from the beginning, before I was even born. Why?”

  “Orchestrated, implying that I am in control. Trust me when I say that I was not and am not in control of what is happening here. I only listen to the message.” She lifted a cup of tea to her lips and sipped it slowly.

  “What message?”

  She lifted her finger to her head. “The one that I hear, right up here, in my mind. For as long as I can remember, there has been this voice.” She paused, looking off in the distance, thinking. “I don’t remember my family, my people. These people here are not my own. The message lead me to them, just as it lead me to you. This was all meant to be, one way or another.”

  “Why? What was the point?”

  “I thought, for so long, that Oikos, the ones who live here, were meant to take the place of the gods. I now see why that was and is a terrible cause. The corruption of the gods, the selfishness, the greed, it is all evident here now. The others, the ones who created this place with me, they are looking to leave. They want to find a way out, to get to Earth, to gain power again.”

  “Carter said if any of you leave here, you will die.”

  “Yes, but Carter, by simply existing, proves that there are ways to work around the rules.”

  “Why did you warn the fae? The stone for my mother, the one she gave to me. It was created because of you.”

  “Yes, this is true. It was the message I was given. One, like so many others that I misinterpreted.”

  “What does it all mean? You have to tell me.”

  “It means we are all exactly where we are supposed to be. It means that you are here, Ares has returned, and he must be defeated.”

  “I am not strong enough for that. I cannot defeat him.”

  “No, you can’t, not on your own.” Lehela stood. “With my help, you have one hell of a chance.”

  “How do you intend to help me?”

  “There is much that we need to discuss, and time is not on our side.”

  I’m at your place, where are you? Carter looked down at the phone. Asa. She was back.

  Stay there, I’m coming. He tapped on the screen, and gave Jax word that he would be away then headed out.

  “Asa?” Carter burst through the door. “Are you here?”

  “Yes, I am.” She stepped out of the bedroom.

  “What the hell? Where were you?” He stood in the doorway, wanting to pull her into his arms, but fought the urge.

  “I needed to get away, Carter, I’m sorry. You had your preparations and I had my own.”

  “Are you serious? That’s all you’re going to say to me? You up and leave and you’re gone for damn near a week, now you come back here and expect me to do what exactly?”

  “I don’t expect you to do anything, but trust that I was gone because I had to be.”

  “Doing what?” he moved forward. “What were you doing? Don’t lie to me, no more secrets!”

  “Finding out more about what the hell is going on around here.” She pulled the stone out of her pocket and placed it on the coffee table.

  “You went to Oikos?” Carter grabbed the stone from the table. “Are you kidding me right now?”

  “No, I’m not. I had questions that I needed answered. Questions that would not have been answered had you been there. Lehela hides things from you Carter, whether it’s for your good or hers, I haven’t figure that part out yet.”

  “Asa, I am willing to be on your side. I’m willing to give you the space you need, to fight for your cause. I’m willing to let you have your secrets and even willing to at least try to understand your disappearing act, but you, stealing from me and going back to my home, I cannot deal with.” He turned his back on her to walk away.

  “Carter!” She called after him.

  “What?” Hand on the doorknob, he stopped.

  “Madelyn, the siren she talked about, that was my mother.” From the hidden sheath, the one she’d carried with her, veiled by magic, she pulled out the harpe sword and pointed to the stone now imbedded in the handle. “This is the stone, forged by the oldest of fae magic, infused with the power of the sun.”

  “What?” He moved closer to her to examine the weapon. Inside of the handle, glowing as if lit from within by a thousand suns, a stone so beautiful. He reached to touch it, but she pulled it back from him.

  “I heard everything.” Ignoring the look of agitation at her mistrust, she continued speaking. “That morning, I debated coming out, introducing myself and taking part in the discussion, but when I heard what she said, I couldn’t. I knew in my gut that Lehela had the answers I needed. Even if it were a good idea for you to join me, you had to stay here, be focused on your task. I knew that if you had any idea of what I was up to, you would either try to come with me or be too damn distracted to do what needed to be done here.”

  “Lehela?” He shook his head. “Why does it keep going back to her?”

  “She was the witch that warned the fae of the danger for their princess. She was the one who told Ares of my existence. She was also the one who came up with the idea to turn me as punishment. Ares wanted to put me back to sleep, but she put it in his head that I deserved a fate much worse. It was the only way that she could use her magic to change me the way she needed to without suspicion. All of this, it was her design.”

  “I don’t believe that.” When he stepped back, Asa caught her breath. He had to believe her, he had to know the truth. “I don’t know what to believe, but you keep putting this all off on her. She couldn’t have done all of this.”

  “Why not?”

  “Lehela, she,” The woman had been everything to him in his time of need. She helped him, cared for him when the one who was tasked to do so, turned her back to him. He refused to believe that the only reason she did that was to fulfil some grand scheme.

  “I know, she was and is an important part of your life. That doesn’t change. She has always protected you and would continue to do so. It’s the reason she kept so much from you. I believe it was to protect you.”

  “To what end though? If she designed all of this, she knew of my existence before I was even conceived. This was what she wanted wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shit, I don’t know what to say right now.” Carter fell onto the couch deflated. Lehela had lied to him his entire life. She was the reason his mother wasn’t a part of his life. She was the reason he wasn’t accepted in his own home, and yet she held him in her arms when he cried about it all. She told him that he would be okay, and that she would help him.

  “I’m sorry. That is why I went on my own. I didn’t want to even bring it up as a possibility unless I was completely sure. She didn’t try to deny any of it. She confirmed all of it, everything that I suspected. She also conveyed her fears, her worries that the people in Oikos, the ones who created that place, are now wanting to return to Earth. They want power, they want to be the new gods.”

  “I can see that. It has been evident for a long time. I remember Lehela once, arguing with one of the others. You know, she is the only one we ever see now. About 200 years ago, they all just left. They went into hiding
and Lehela was the only one who stayed in the community. We were told that they left because they needed to go into some sort of slumber and that this was how they would continue to sustain Oikos. They were never supposed to return, Lehela would be the only one.

  I wasn’t supposed to be in her home that day, but I was. I’d had a fight at school and couldn’t go home. I ran to her house and into the room to read more of the journals. Those stories were my haven, my place of peace. I heard them arguing. I heard my name and Lehela was angry, it was the only time I’d ever seen her angry. I waited until they all left. I just hid and when she went to bed I snuck out. We never even talked about it after that even though I knew she knew I was in the room. I knew she knew I heard them, but I never asked her.”

  “We have to stop them.”

  “Yea, right.”

  “Carter?”

  “I’m sorry, Asa. I just need to process all of this.”

  “I understand.”

  “What else did she say? Lehela, what else did she tell you?”

  “That all of this was meant to happen as it is.” Sitting next to him, hand on his knee, Asa paused before her next words. No matter what Carter said, that place was his home. “Oikos will fall.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, that is how she sees it playing out. Every scenario leads to the same outcome.”

  “And Ares, the gods? What about them?”

  “She cannot foresee what will happen to them, she can’t tell if they take Oikos or if they all perish along with it.”

  “Right, because they are above her magic.” He slammed his fist into the cushion of the couch. “I am just so sick of this. All of it.”

  “Look, I’m sorry. I’m moved to say that I wish I hadn’t entered your life, that all of this wouldn’t be happening to you, but that isn’t true. The truth is that we have both been played like pieces in a game.” She leaned back into the couch, relaxing for what would be the last time in a while. “Before we were born, all of this was worked out inside of her mind. Including this moment, and the next, and the one after that. Nothing we choose is really our choice at this point. It has all been decided for us.” She paused, catching his chin in her hand and turning him to face her. “Accept, after Oikos is done. If we survive, our lives belong to us again. We control the outcome.” It was all that she could do, to give him that bit of hope.