Island of the Gods

by C. M. Kane

  ‘As well as can be expected without a drink in my hand.’ He grinned.

  Zeus motioned to the wine.

  ‘You were warned.’ Odin laughed.

  They spent the next few hours drinking and telling each other stories, each one growing more outlandish than the one before as the day progressed.

  Tannan had been fussing on the com-panel, issuing orders and seemingly quite put-out at times from what Zeus, and he was sure Odin, could see. Tannan went rigid. ‘You’re sure? Damn,’ he said quietly.

  Zeus immediately made a decision to entrust Odin and Thor with what was occurring, mainly because he was bursting with curiosity at his second in commands outburst. He turned to Tannan. ‘What now?’ he asked.

  Tannan looked uncomfortable so Zeus relayed the entire story to Odin and Thor who listened impassively. After he had finished he turned once more to Tannan. ‘So, what now?’ he asked again. Tannan frowned. ‘Well, my lord, it seems that either she’s found a way to switch off her nanites or someone else has, because we can’t find her.’ All three gods frowned at the unexpected news.

  ‘She could do that?’ asked Odin.

  Tannan moved closer, his brow furrowed in thought. ‘I believe so, my lord. The girl has proven to be exceedingly bright. She has not only smashed her vid-ball but she has also avoided detection by our most able tracker, it seems someone must have taught her well.’

  Once again Zeus wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or delighted. Odin and Thor looked puzzled.

  ‘She’s avoided Vesh? For how long?’

  ‘Just over thirty-four hours, my lord, Added to that, the woman has only recently turned seventeen and only had an hour or so head start.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Odin muttered.

  Thor whistled. ‘Impressive.’

  ‘She is also the one responsible for the orange thalien,’ Tannan added with poorly concealed delight.

  Zeus laughed. ‘Show them the vids,’ he said.

  Tannan went back to the work station and punched in some commands. The com-panel filled with the occurrences at the WLE from Vesh’s perspective.

  Odin roared with laughter at the red, elven commander and the orange thalien.

  Thor slapped his knee in delight at the Satyr. ‘Oh I really must meet this … “girl” did you say?’

  ‘Woman,’ Zeus said, ‘she’s of age.’

  Thor grinned. ‘I wonder if she’d like to meet a god. What does she look like? And how did you say you found out about her again?’

  Zeus nodded wearily at the eager Tannan who quickly brought up the prayer from the Jaxburg temple.

  Odin was speechless for a moment before roaring with laughter again. ‘If Loki had had a daughter,’ he pointed at Tae’s three dimensional image that was now frozen in place, ‘that’s who she’d be. No wonder you came to the Island. I’ve had more entertainment provided in the last few hours … by this woman … than in the last nine hundred damn years.’

  ‘She’s quite attractive.’ Said Thor as his eyes roamed over her body which was encased in some hideous brown pants and a shirt.

  Zeus narrowed his eyes at the younger god just as Tannan put his hand to his ear again.

  ‘Excuse me, my lords.’ He looked at them with wide eyes. ‘The Cretach has just come through the portal from Chena.’ The three gods looked at each other.

  ‘Bugger me,’ said Odin, ‘if the Terrans look up to the sky tonight they might be a bit concerned. Seems we’re starting to get a parking lot up here, and the last time so many of our battleships arrived here things didn’t turn out so great for them.’

  Tannan held up his hand in concern. ‘Excuse me again, my lords, but the Chemah came through directly behind the Cretach. Isis from the Cretach is requesting permission to board, as is Baste from the Chemah.’

  Zeus waved his hand in Tannin’s general direction. What in the seven hells is going on? The way things are heading I’m going to have half the damned fleet here soon. I haven’t just shaken the tree gently to see what fell out, I’ve chopped the damn thing down, and it’s fallen on me. Now what am I supposed to do with all these gods arriving.

  Zeus switched the enormous single com-panel to multi and several large three-dimensional screens appeared around the walls, each one showing differing views of the Island’s combatants. The one directly in front just happened to be showing the small, balding man from earlier on having his throat rather ruthlessly cut by a red-haired man ,with what looked like shit stained pants and an insane expression on his face. He turned from the screens as Isis and Baste strolled in.

  Isis, as ever, was in a long golden see-through dress made of some sort of floaty material, intricate tattoos seemed to cover every inch of her visibly naked body. Thor s gaze immediately fixated on her, his eyes never travelling above her neck. Baste was in emerald, a firmly wrapped short skirt with the same see-through material falling from its hemline to the floor but split at the front to expose her short, shapely legs more fully. A top of the same colour left her midriff bare, and a golden circlet engraved with the images of cats sat upon her flaming red hair.

  Her green eyes looked from one god to the next, finally settling on Zeus. ‘Are we going to war?’ she asked with no preamble.

  Isis moved beside Baste, her dark eyes narrowed on Zeus. ‘Who do we strike?’

  Zeus frowned. What the hell? ‘I came here in all innocence to simply watch the Island on this world.’ He pointed to the empty bottles of wine. ‘And to have a few drinks and catch up with some old friends.’

  Isis humphed with disbelief and moved gracefully to the wine, casually filling a glass. ‘You don’t honestly expect us to believe that, do you? Not when we see both the Asgard and Idris taking turns poking at the Hindishah? I could practically smell the excrement coming from her reactors as I came through the portal.’

  Odin chuckled. ‘That’s my fault I’m afraid. When I arrived and saw the little bastard had taken my park, I thought I’d teach him a lesson in manners. So what brings you two here anyway?’

  Isis moved to another settee and lounged across it. Zeus thought that Thor looked as though he might try to jump her right there in front of them if given even the slightest encouragement.

  ‘I heard rumours that the Olympus had crossed the portal to Terra on full battle alert,’ said Isis. She smiled at Zeus. ‘A friend of a friend, you know.’ She winked. ‘Then there were these strange reports of orange Thalien at Terra’s WLE.’ She raised her eyebrows in curiosity, when the three gods returned her stare, she continued. ‘I moved the Cretach nearer to the portal and waited for more news. It wasn’t long before I witnessed the Idris head through to you, and then reports came in that the Asgard was here with you also. Of all the ships in the armada, these are probably the three least likely I would expect to see at this planet, especially … to just catch up.’

  Baste sat near Isis. ‘When I received the same reports I, too, moved to the portal. I arrived in time to see the Cretach go through, so I followed immediately in case you might wish my assistance.’

  Zeus sighed. ‘I assure you, we are not going to war. I am merely here to watch the Island.’ He pointed to the screens.

  ‘Excuse me, my lord,’ Tannan said.

  Zeus frowned in annoyance. ‘Don’t tell me someone else has arrived.’

  Tannan flushed. ‘I’m afraid so.’

  Zeus grabbed the side of his forehead. ‘Who the hell is it this time?’ he asked in exasperation.

  Tannan glanced at him nervously. ‘It’s the Atlantis, my lord. Your brother Poseidon is here.’

  Zeus glared at Tannan, as if Poseidon’s arrival was somehow his fault.

  ‘I’ll just go back to the Olympus and continue my duties from there, my lord.’

  Zeus nodded irritably and looked around. ‘Just how many damn spies have you lot got on my ship?’ Odin and Isis laughed, raising their glasses to him in reply.

  Thor suddenly spoke up, his face a mask of genuine concern. ‘I think we’re going to n
eed some more wine and mead,’ he said in all seriousness. ‘It looks like this could be quite a reunion.’

  Zeus would have raised his eyes to the gods in exasperation, if he hadn’t already been one.

  CHAPTER 24

  Tae woke with a start. The first thing she became aware of was the smell of sulphur, the second was that she was curled into a tight ball, trying to keep warm. Her teeth were chattering loudly and her legs felt leaden. She groaned and sat up with difficulty, her muscles felt stiff and sore. Leaning over she grabbed her water bottle, which was now full thanks to the still steadily dripping leaves of the fern, she took a long satisfying drink before repositioning it under the leaves again.

  After spending some time massaging her aching legs to get the circulation moving again she decided to finish her work from the day before. She took out the two sticks that she had brought with her and quickly sharpened both to deadly points. Tucking them in the left-hand sleeve of her shirt she let the sharpened ends reach just past her palms so she could access them easily in an emergency. Happy with her efforts she decided to take a chance and relieve herself in the far corner of the rocks in an area exposed to the elements. As it was at the opposite end of where she came in past the ferns and it was still drizzling lightly, she thought it should wash away her scent soon.

  As she was moving back to her sleeping area her stomach growled loudly. Her hunger had seemed to intensify dramatically overnight and her now empty belly was now prodding at her for food, she sat back down and took out another protein bar, looking at it in disgust. ‘Why in all the seven hells aren’t you bigger?’ she said, as she tore the wrapper open.

  Stupid WLE knobs. She was starving, and to Tae that was somehow worse than the cold and pain she was feeling, it was like the Universe in general was kicking her while she was down. Once again she divided the bar in half then checked her water bottle again, seeing it had almost refilled she took another two swallows before repositioning under the still steadily dripping leaf. She knew she could use the plastic but feared she would run the risk of developing hypothermia, as it was she was still cold and slightly numb, despite the relative mildness of the night

  The smell of sulphur that she had first detected when she had arrived seemed much stronger now. She was glad Brohan had warned her about it or she would have been concerned the volcano was about to erupt again.

  She nibbled on the bar, savouring every last nut and raisin as she wiggled and stretched her cold legs and feet. Leaning over she took another swallow from the water bottle and swished it around her mouth in a vain attempt to make sure she swallowed every last morsel of food in there. So far she had seen none of the tuberous plants she had memorised, and she wasn’t going to chance any berries. She stretched out and replaced the bottle’s cap, it was time to move. Easing out from behind the ferns in the semi dark she started down the mountain. She had no idea of the time, just that it must be close to dawn judging by the slowly lightening sky. She quickened her pace appreciably, picking her way less carefully then before in a bid to stay ahead of Brohans schedule, just in case something untoward occurred later on.

  She had no idea how stupendously stupid she was being until she nearly tumbled over the crevice. She had also miscalculated the effects that constant rain and drizzle could cause on the loose soil and rocks of the mountain, landslips were going to be inevitable. She had been incredibly foolish.

  So here she was, clinging to a rock near the edge of a deadly precipice, listening to seagulls and thinking of how she had gotten herself into this mess. Crap! C’mon Tae, time to get going, you can’t just lie here all day. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to move. She pulled herself up on her hands and knees and, very carefully, started to crawl further away from the edge, making sure the small rock outcropping was between her the ledge at all times. Finally she regained enough courage to get to her feet and start her journey again.

  After that narrow brush with death she slowed her pace considerably. She couldn’t afford to keep ignoring Brohans plans in an effort to guard against future trouble. All there was at the moment was the here and now, just one problem at a time. The old warrior had known this and had tried to teach it to her, but she hadn’t listened, and she’d nearly died because of her stupidity. From now on it was back to run when you can and always be on guard. By the time dawn finally broke, she had carefully found her way around the precipice.

  Unfortunately for Tae, going down the mountain seemed as hard, if not harder, than climbing up the damn thing. Apart from that first major precipice, she had to climb down several metres over smaller, sharp drops in a couple of spots, and although there were excellent hand holds everything was wet, making it slippery and dangerous, even though the rain had now stopped.

  Added to her problems, she now felt like she was being watched. She’d looked around several times and had begun listening even more intently, but she had neither seen nor heard anyone. Still, the feeling persisted, so much so that she didn’t relieve herself until she found another small ledge surrounded by thick ferns. Getting paranoid now, Tae, that’s the first sign of madness. She giggled to herself, a little uncomfortable at her thoughts.

  It took her until around three o’clock that afternoon before she finally reached the bottom. She figured it had taken her a good ten or eleven hour of careful travel. Her water bottle was nearly full thanks to several small run-offs that she had found throughout the rocks, she knew it was time well spent to stop for a moment and drink her fill then refill the bottle. As far as she could tell she was still slightly ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, neither she nor Brohan had counted on this mountain being such a nasty bitch, or on the constant drizzle that was making it difficult to navigate, slowing her progress considerably. She realised her earlier decision to push on while she could had been a brilliant stroke of tactical genius, despite her near miss at the precipice.

  For the first time since she was dropped off she smiled to herself, she was definitely becoming more like Valaria. Unfortunately for Tae another, more unusual, problem was developing, and it was one no-one had even considered. She was now ageing, and along with that came other worries. Her body was definitely changing, overnight her hair had grown to her waist and she’d had to hack it off with her knife to hang just below her shoulders again. Her pants had also become skin tight, they now hugged her hips firmly where once they had been loose, so much so that she could no longer keep her water bottle tucked down the front of them. She had sworn in annoyance at that and resorted to carrying it in her left hand while keeping the knife in her right. Worst of all, her bra felt like it had reached a level where it had decided it wanted to strangle her breasts.

  Once she reached the foot of the mountain she decided to take a brief rest, she sat down and reached up under her t-shirt unhooking her overly-tight bra. Feeling much better she began looking around her properly as she rested. She was in a clearing in what looked like a small valley between the mountain she had just traversed and the more gently rolling hills ahead. She saw that the trees thinned out dramatically further on … No, not the trees, thought Tae. The forest ahead was mainly devoid of the grasping ferns, she could see only small pockets of them.

  She continued sipping from her water bottle as she studied the terrain ahead. That will make things easier, she thought, unconsciously relaxing a little as she re-capped her drink bottle. She stood, stretched a little, and was about to start forward again when she heard a noise to her right. Sprinting toward her from a thicket of bushes, was a large brown-skinned man of about forty, his vid-ball flashing red as he charged.

  Tae didn’t have time to think, she reacted immediately by throwing her water bottle aside and positioning her knife, she then pulled the sharpened sticks into her left hand and automatically dropped into a low crouch to make herself a smaller target. Just as she had in the countless drills she had gone through with Brohan, she gripped her weapons in preparation for the attack and let her instincts take over. Everything came into stunning
focus in her mind, she registered that the man wasn’t slowing as he neared her, he was obviously intending to use his superior height and weight to his advantage. Wrong move arsehole, she thought briefly as her training made her moves almost automatic. He raised the knife in his hand when he was almost upon her and started to grin.

  Tae winked back, momentarily disconcerting him as he slashed outwards with the knife, aiming to slit her throat in one quick move. She raised her knife arm defensively taking the wild slash on the back of her arm, his knife cut through her clothing, landing on the thick sticks she had lashed to her forearm. At the same time as she was deflecting the blow she brought up her left arm, jamming both sharpened stakes into his throat as he crashed into her, sending them both tumbling to the ground and forcing the sticks to rip further into, and down his neck. As they crashed over she heard his gurgling scream, something warm hit the side of her face, but she ignored it. Using the momentum from the fall she continued rolling over and away from him, before quickly bounding to her feet again. She continued the motion by swinging around in one quick move to make sure she had some distance between them. Then she crouched, ready for another attack. The man lurched to his feet, screaming and crying while clutching at his now ruined throat, blood was flowing in violent pulses through his fingers. Tae felt her fangs lengthening at the sight as new needs began to emerge inside her. She kept her mouth firmly closed and ignored them while concentrating on her attacker, her knife and sharpened sticks held at the ready.

  The man staggered toward her with a look of total shock and horror upon his face, as if he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened to him. Tae danced away, watching as the blood continued to pour from the gaping wound. He was now making strange gulping noises and sobbing as she continued to move around him. He had lost his knife in the fall but still managed to produce a new one from his back pocket as he staggered toward her again, a look of mad hatred on his face as he made another stumbling charge at her.