Kevan felt no killing hostility from the strange man. He lowered his gun. He hoped he wouldn’t regret it. “Who are you and what’s with the ball on your head?”
“Some call me the Omniscient Man. And the ball… it adds to my mystery.”
“Why, Mr. Omniscient, have you come to see me?”
“I came to tell you that your plan is suicidal.”
“That word has been going around lately.”
“I suggest you alter your plan.”
“Why should I believe you? Only August knows what I’m going to do.” Kevan raised his gun again. He had only told August and the lady watching his children.
“I used to be like you, a man forsaken by his god. When I finally had the power to, I made my god atone for his sins. But by the time he finally came down from his heaven, the world he created was already in turmoil. I can help you.”
“How do you know what I’m planning?”
“My power…” A split in reality itself opened up behind the Omniscient Man, showing an infinite of stars in the black of space. He back into it and another tear opened up next to Kevan’s kids. The Omniscient Man stepped back in the room next to them. “…expands greater than your wildest imaginations.”
Kevan nearly dropped his gun to the floor. “The hell?” The tears closed and everything was back to normal.
“With the power August gave you, you will not even make it close to the fortress. The shield can be chipped down if you use only one of them and you can only kill so many people before you run out of bullets.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I will give you a better power, and you can still use your gun if you’re attuned to it.”
“Why? Why are you helping me?” After what Kevan saw, he’d believe anything the man would say.
“So you can save them all.” The man opened up his hand and a gem swirling with an infinity of colors hovered in it. “Don’t allow yourself to be weighed down by those above. With this power, you can kill He himself.”
A clock dinged as it struck midnight. August stood alone in the living room. Everyone had called it in early, as they were about to have the biggest day of their lives tomorrow. Everybody except for Ezekiel. He left on some business or something.
August had his pistol in his hand. He willed the finite weapon out of it. A green orb floated in front of him. He willed it away. Those things were awesome.
He found out that he didn’t need to keep it on his gun or on a weapon. He simply thought it away and it was gone. And when he needed it again, with simply a thought, it came to him.
The best part was that he didn’t even need a weapon. Two of the orbs appeared in front of him. One of them green, the other blue. He stared at it and thought of a shape. A long thin teal blade appeared in his hand.
He tossed it up and down. It had no weight. He swing it in front of him. It felt like it could slice through the air. In August’s eyes, it left a teal after-effect.
He liked the new awareness he had. He stabbed the blade into the coffee table in front of him. It pierced right through without any effort. He swung it up and the table split in two.
“Shit,” August whispered.
The morning sun peeked over the horizon. Queen sat in an office chair, staring out over the city of Los Angeles. From this high, she could see miles out. This was the best view of the world since the Eye of the World had broken.
Her face was slick with tears. She hadn’t stopped crying since the day before. She felt an emptiness inside her. A pit of darkness she couldn’t escape from. Her handkerchief was damp from her tears.
Out there in the world was the person who had killed Brookes. The ants that dared step up to a god. She’d burn them all. She’d wipe out cities, states, communities of people until Kevan was brought to justice.
She clutched her hand so hard it broke through the skin. She looked at her hand. There were multiple scars.
There was the trademark boom of Svante’s arrival. Queen wiped the blood with her handkerchief.
Svante walked into the room. Queen jumped up. She couldn’t let him see her that way. She wiped her face as Svante came up to her.
“We need to talk—”
He paused, looking at her face. Her eyes were puffy, her face was red. She stared straight out of the window. She wouldn’t give him the dignity of a response.
“What’s wrong, Queen?” Svante asked. There was genuine concern in his voice.
“Nothing of your concern.”
“Nothing of my concern? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were crying.”
Queen didn’t answer him.
“Did Brookes matter that much to you? I would’ve expected a different reaction from the god of death.”
“Expect a different reaction? He died because of your ignorance, Svante. If you allowed my men to move through your domain then a pair of wanted criminals wouldn’t have killed the best man I had.” Queen didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t have much of a voice anymore.
“You know the matters of my domain go far above the death of a soldier. I might have acted differently if I knew Queen herself loved a hu—”
“Don’t you dare say another fucking word.”
Svante paused, there was a heat in Queen’s eyes. If he went on, there just might be another war of the gods.
The door swung open. “Queen!” an office worker said in a hurry.
Queen turned to the man. “We’re having a discussion. Don’t interrupt us again.”
“It’s urgent!”
Queen saw the fear in his eyes. Svante nodded at her and walked out.
“Oh God…” Queen could barely mutter any words. Police and Ifor soldiers had blocked off the street. On the stairs of Ifor’s headquarters was the head of Juraj. The head of a god.
He had a note attached that read. “From the rebels, with love.”
Svante stood next to Queen. “How is this possible? It must be another god, another god must be helping the rebels. That’s the only way. A human cannot kill a god. It’s impossible.” Six other major gods surrounded the head.
Queen stared at Juraj’s head. Of all the gore and violence she’d seen before, why was this the one that made her sick?
Her stomach turned. It was because it was another god. Not a human. This could happen to her.
Why didn’t she feel him pass? Queen covered her mouth with her handkerchief. Maybe she did feel it. A god’s soul is too big not to notice. Maybe it was because of her mourning. How could she feel anything with how empty she was on the inside since Brookes’ death?
Svante was right, no human could kill a god. But something more than a god or a human could. Queen’s eyes widened in shock. The Omniscient Man.
“No,” she muttered. Everything was crashing down. She turned to her side and hurled.
Svante came up to her and patted her on the back. “Are you okay?”
“This…this is your fault for acting childish!”
“How can you blame me?”
“This happened in your domain. They just declared war on us, Svante. They have a weapon that could kill us. If you had never forced me out then this would’ve never happened.”
“Don’t put the blame on me.”
“You’re the god of war. And at any moment, they will be knocking at our door and who will you defend then Svante? Us or the humans?”
Svante looked down and put his hands in his pockets. He was trapped. She had him.
“What do you want to do next, Queen?”
Queen smiled.
It was noon. Ifor’s Sotira’s headquarters was quieter than usual. Inside the office, workers went about their day, chatting at the water cooler, filing paperwork, doing the normal mundane office things.
The front desk secretary sat in her chair, eyeing the waiting area. Every chair was taken. It was unusual. All of them had hoods lowered over their faces. But the secretary didn’t worry. She never had a worry in her life.
One of the
m walked up to her. “Hey…”
“What?” she asked.
“Someone is going to attack today. I would run away.”
“Yeah, okay,” she said sarcastically.
“No. Seriously. Someone really hates the gods and anybody that works for them.”
“Seriously? Do you know whose office this is? It’s Svante’s, the god of war. We are all Touched here. If this is some kind of veiled threat, then it’s not working. Try the office next door.”
“You have to believe me!”
The secretary hit a button on her desk. Two security guards walked up to them. “We got a problem here?” one of them asked.
“You’re really doing this?” the man asked.
The guards approached him.
“I guess we’re doing this,” the man said. He pulled out two pistols and aimed it at the guards.
The secretary and guards burst out in laughter.
“I’ll give you one more chance to forget the gods and run away before I kill everyone in this place,” the man said.
The guards were bent over in laughter, their eyes tearing up.
The man sighed. “Well, I tried warning you.” He shot both of them in the head, their heads exploding when the rounds hit them.
The secretary’s laughter stopped and she stared at him in shock. The man turned to her.
“This is your fault.” Her brains splattered onto the wall as her body fell limp.
The man removed his hood. It was Ezekiel. He whistled and everyone but three people stood up in the waiting area. Everyone pulled out their weapon of choice.
The three civilians stared at them. August looked at the civilians. “I suggest you leave.”
They got up and ran out the door.
August checked his pistol. His heart was beating fast. He had already killed a god, what was another? The god of war. The god of warring. A god so experienced in fighting and war that they had a position just for him. His very purpose was to be the most efficient at killing someone and who the hell was August?
A failure of a man who barely had any real fighting experience. He was starting to regret going along with Ezekiel on this mission. He should’ve been a good brother and helped Kevan with saving Luna.
August silently cursed to himself. Why didn’t he think of that first? He always thought about himself. He could’ve helped his brother. He could’ve started redeeming himself. But it was too late for that now.
Ezekiel said, “Kill them all, boys!”
The rebels ran into the offices and gunfire and screams erupted in the air.
Svante sat in a room in the dark, his cigarette painting an orange light on his eyes. He was at the tower of Ifor in Los Angeles.
The humans had done it. They had figured out a way to kill gods. He chuckled.
He wondered how it was done. He had enjoyed the look on Queen’s face when they found Juraj’s head. But she was right. He was the god of war. He had to fight for the gods, no matter what.
But after whatever battle was coming, he would make sure Queen wouldn’t be the head of Ifor and the gods anymore. Even if it caused another war.
He stood up. He needed allies.
He buttoned up his gray vest and the cuffs on his white long-sleeved shirt.
Juraj’s death would change things. Changes he had to make sure weren’t in Queen’s favor. He needed to go back to his office. In a flash of light, he was gone.
Blood-curdling screams and booms surrounded August as he walked behind Ezekiel. August had his gun down.
All around him rebels were shooting the office workers dead. There was nowhere to run. They would huddle under a desk, but a rebel would just kick the desk over. They would hide in an office but another rebel would just blow down the door and shoot them dead.
Some tried to run to the front entrance but Raul was waiting for them with a smile and a MP5 in hand. He mowed down anyone who tried to get away.
Blood was plastered on the walls and desk. Papers and office supplies littered the floor. The rebels left nobody alive.
So, why couldn’t August kill anyone? He simply walked behind Ezekiel as he executed everyone in his path. They were heading toward the back of the office, where Svante’s office supposedly was.
Whenever August had a chance to kill someone, he simply ignored him. Why? That thought rolled around in his head. Was it because they truly didn’t do anything wrong? But they worked for the gods so they must’ve deserved death, right?
August glanced at two office workers clutching each other. Tears ran down their faces. They looked at him before their faces were blown off.
August dry-heaved. He was going to be sick. He’d seen worse. Why was this getting to him? They were like his father and Sara.
“No,” August muttered.
They weren’t like them. These people had never ordered the death of somebody, never knowingly had their family members killed. They were just normal people trying to make a living.
August and Ezekiel made it to the end of the office. Ezekiel cornered a man. “Where is your god?”
“I…I don’t know?” the man said. He started to cry.
“Not good enough.” Ezekiel raised his gun to his head.
August had to stop this. It wasn’t right.
“Stop!” August pushed down Ezekiel’s gun.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Ezekiel said.
“Why do they deserve to die? If we don’t know who they are or what sins they’ve committed? We’re just here to kill a god.”
“The hell is wrong with you? They are knowingly working under the gods. The very gods who have killed millions of us! You’re not going to get in the way of my goal—” Ezekiel blew the man’s brains out.
A sudden explosion knocked both of them back.
Kevan stood on a hill, overlooking a valley. In the valley below was an enormous prison only a mile out. Somewhere in that place, Kevan’s wife was a prisoner. Kevan shivered in his trench-coat. The day was a chilly one.
The Omniscient Man walked next to him. Kevan said, “So, you said you’d help me get in.”
“Yes.”
“But will you help me and my wife get out?”
“You won’t need my help for that part.”
“And why won’t I need your help?”
“Are you doubting the power I gave you? You won’t need my help. All I will help you with is getting you into the place and locating your wife, who is in cell 263g. So my help is done with that part.”
“It seems impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible, Kevan. Just seldom possible.”
A hole opened next to the Omniscient Man. In the hole was a hallway of a prison. The prison they were only a mile away from.
The Omniscient Man continued, “Well, are you gonna just stare at it, or are you going to save your wife?”
Kevan stepped toward the opening. “Thanks for your help, Omniscient.”
“Go show the gods what you’re made of.”
Kevan stepped through the opening and the cold air ceased as it closed behind him. This was it.
He pulled out his rifle from his coat and walked down the hall. A particular stench hung in the air. The smell of dirt, blood and disgust.
The long hall was lined with cells. Naked people lay in them. Young and old, men and woman, kids and teenagers. Kevan stared through the cages in shock. There were no bathrooms, no beds or covers, just cold hard concrete floors.
He shook the negative thoughts from his head. He couldn’t save everyone. His family came first.
“Hey!” a guard shouted down the hall. Kevan paused and willed a crystal in his hand. It swirled with an infinity of colors. With a thought, it melted into a liquid and surrounded his body.
In a flash, it was gone and a shock ran through his body. The smells of shit intensified in his nostrils. The dull lights became vibrant in his eyes. His muscles pulsated in a synchronicity he’d never had before. He had power. And with it he could save his wife.
He pointed his gun at the guard. The guard fired at Kevan but the bullets just bounced off of him. They didn’t even tickle. He didn’t feel a thing.
He fired and a bright white light erupted from his gun and blew a hole in the guard. There was no blood, no guts, as the light seared through the man.
August moaned on the floor. He felt a surge charging through his body. He managed to stand to his feet. All the rebels were on the floor, slowly getting up.
August stared in front of him. Svante was walking out of his office. Rolling up his sleeves. He walked over to a rebel on the floor and swung down his arm. A flash blinded August and by the time he blinked the light away, blood spurted out of the rebel’s mouth and Svante was walking toward Ezekiel, still on the floor.
“Now, why did you have to go kill that innocent man?” There was an anger on Svante’s face. “He did nothing to you! And you killed him for no reason.”
Ezekiel stood up slowly, only a few feet away from Svante. “There was a reason. It was because he was a traitor to humanity. Everyone who works for Ifor is.”
“That doesn’t give you—”
Ezekiel swung his blade at Svante. Svante moved fast. In a flash, he was behind Ezekiel. Bullets erupted as the other rebels saw their chance. August just stood there, doing nothing at all. It was the worst time to start having second thoughts.
Svante weaved and buzzed past the bullets. He moved like he was of lightening, moving at an impossible speed, dancing with the wind.
Even with August’s enhanced senses, he still couldn’t see Svante’s movements. August swirled around as he attempted to track him. The rebels did the same as their bullets twisted through the air.
August jumped back against a wall and kneeled down. It was too much. The bullets flew everywhere. When Svante appeared, bullets landed where he used to be.
Svante was toying with them. He was too fast. But the fight took a turn when Svante appeared in front of Raul. A woman screamed; a rebel had found another woman and shot her in the head. Svante looked toward the scream as Raul landed a kick to his head.
Svante fell back and everyone paused.
Svante started laughing.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 215
