by Dyrk Ashton
“Paternus: Wrath of Gods is what a sequel should be -
bigger stakes, bloodier action, and even more mythological madness.”
-Fantasy Book Critic
PRAISE FOR BOOK ONE
Paternus: Rise Of Gods
“Epic, innovative urban fantasy. A great read!” -Mark Lawrence, Gemmell Award winner and international bestselling author of Prince of Thorns and Red Sister.
“An imaginative...exhilarating ride - highly recommended.” -Anthony Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of Blood Song and The Legion of Flame.
“A crucible in which myths are melted and remade to thrilling effect.” -M. R. (Mike) Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts and the Felix Castor series.
“A really unique novel.” -Anna Stephens, author of Godblind.
“Intelligent, intricate, suspenseful, and epic.” -Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld.
“Expansive, ambitious, and engrossing.” -Josiah Bancroft, author of Senlin Ascends.
“A mighty debut.” -Jonathan French, author of The Grey Bastards.
“Fast-paced, gloriously intricate” -Kirkus Reviews.
WRATH OF GODS
(The Paternus Trilogy, Book 2)
Paternus Books Media
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FURTHER READING
IN THE WORLD OF PATERNUS
“BERSERKER”
A stand-alone short story framed as a “missing chapter” from Paternus: Rise of Gods. It tells of the time when Bödvar Bjarki finally met his father, many centuries ago. Kindle eBook available for 99 cents through the title link above, or free by subscribing to the Paternus Books Media Newsletter.
LOST LORE
This free fantasy anthology contains “Deluge,” a short backstory in the world of The Paternus Trilogy concerning the adventures of Myrddin Wyllt and Fintán mac Bóchra in ancient Ireland at the time of the Great Flood.
ART OF WAR: ANTHOLOGY FOR CHARITY
Includes “Valkyrie Rain,” a short backstory in the world of The Paternus Trilogy that takes place during the great battle of Ragnarok. Forty of your favorite fantasy authors contributed to this anthology. All proceeds go to Doctors without Borders.
Paternus: Wrath of Gods is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is entirely coincidental.
2018 Paternus Books Media eBook Edition
Copyright © 2018 by Dyrk Ashton.
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 noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Paternus Books Media, DBA
P.O. Box 1027
Perrysburg, OH 43552
www.paternusbooks.com
Paternus/ Dyrk Ashton. -- 1a3 ed.
ISBN 9780997173734
Cover Illustration: John Anthony Di Giovanni
Cover Design: STK-Kreations
Author’s Photograph: Lee Fearnside
To:
Richard & Harriette Ashton
Nelson Sr. & Alice Campbell
Ralph & Maggie Ashton
And
Tom Oldham
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Story so Far
The Characters so Far
Glossary
Quotes
PART ONE
Ch. 1 Wake
Ch. 2 Chinatown
Ch. 3 Highlands
Ch. 4 Chinatown: Slip
Ch. 5 Highlands: Box Canyon
Ch. 6 Chinatown: Mac’s Gym
Ch. 7 Highlands: Slip & See
Ch. 8 Nagalok
Ch. 9 Highlands: Mine Eyes
Ch. 10 Nagalok: Naga’s War
Ch. 11 Highlands: Poor Fellow-Soldiers
Ch. 12 Nagalok: Moddey Dhoo
PART TWO
Ch. 13 Highlands: The Lake
Ch. 14 Highlands: Siege Perilous
Ch. 15 Highlands: Parley
Ch. 16 Highlands: Bad Zeke
Ch. 17 Highlands: The Wheel
PART THREE
Ch. 18 Norway
Ch. 19 Norway: Fi’s Big Run
Ch. 20 Norway: New Vanaheim
Ch. 21 Norway: The Healing of The Bull
Ch. 22 Norway: The Mother of Cats & Dogs
Ch. 23 Norway: Sifu
Ch. 24 Norway: Maha Yuga
Ch. 25 Norway: Pratha’s Confession
Ch. 26 Norway: A Plan
Ch. 27 Norway: Crickets & Baths
Ch. 28 Norway: Galahads
Ch. 29 Norway: Jinn
Ch. 30 Norway: Paterna
Epilogue
Latest News, More Info, Share & Connect
Further Reading in the World of Paternus
Songs
Acknowledgments
About the Author
THE STORY SO FAR
(WARNING: Book One SPOILERS)
The story told in book one, Paternus: Rise of Gods, takes place today, in this world, but the veil of normality is gradually peeled back to reveal that the gods and monsters of myth and legend really did exist, all sired by one being, The Father (The Pater), and born of various natural animals throughout the history of life on the planet. They are called Firstborn. Those who sided with their father to protect humankind in ancient wars are the Deva, and those who opposed them, the Asura.
First, we were introduced to Kabir, a bodyguard in Detroit, who was attacked in an alley by a creature named Maskim Xul (The Spider), also known as Max. In Toledo, Ohio, we then met Fiona Megan Patterson, Fi for short, and her (possible) boyfriend, Zeke Prisco. While talking on the sidewalk outside her uncle’s home where she lives, Fi’s uncle’s enormous dog, Molossus (Mol) showed up. Fi experienced a seizure in which she had a vision of a baby floating in a red ocean on a world with shooting stars and erupting volcanoes.
Fi had the creepy feeling she was being watched by the moon, but attributed it to her being crazy—which she really wasn’t, just a bit high strung. In the house we were introduced to her stuffy British Uncle Edgar.
The story shifted to South America, where Baphomet (The Goat), Ao Guang (The Gharial), and Idimmu Mulla (Dimmi for short, The Hyaena) had a run-in with a frightening lizard-beast in a cave—whom we later found out was the legendary Prathamaja Nandana, The First Daughter, one of the oldest of all living Firstborn.
Meanwhile, in the Mendip Hills of England, a big fellow named Bödvar Bjarki (The Bear) was spotted by Fintán mac Bóchra (The Falcon) trying to find the cave where Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin) had been trapped 1,500 years ago. In subsequent chapters, Bödvar found Myrddin and released Lamia (The Leech), who nearly killed Myrddin before Fintán arrived to save him.
We also followed the story of Tanuki, Arges (The Rhinoceros, also the armorer of the gods in many myths), and Asterion, (The Bull), who all lived in a mountain dwelling above the Order of the Bu
ll monastery in Turkey. They were attacked by Asura Firstborn Ziz (The Quetzalcoatlus) and Xecotcovach (Xeco, The Terror Bird). Arges was killed and Asterion fell from the cliff, while Tanuki escaped to a safe room on the other side of the mountains.
Fi was an intern at a local hospital for the aged. Her best friend, Billy, was an orderly, and Zeke played guitar for the old folks there. Fi’s primary job was to take care of a catatonic old man named Peter. The hospital was attacked by Kleron (The Bat, whom we found out later was Lucifer and Master of the Asura himself), a gang of wampyr and werewolves, Max, and the Cerberus brothers—Cù Sìth (red eyes), Wepwawet (blue eyes), and Surma (with yellow eyes and only one arm). Mol, Uncle Edgar's dog, arrived unexpectedly and killed a bunch of wampyr and weres, but was driven off. Billy, revealed to be Samson, fought back and was killed. Peter “slipped” Fi and Zeke to other worlds until they came to the white sands and milky ocean of World Memory, where Peter was transformed into a man who appeared to be in his early forties, and who we later learned is The Father of the Firstborn (though not God the Creator—who or what that is remains a mystery). He has been known by many names by different cultures around the world, not the least being Odin, the All-father.
Fi and Zeke followed Peter to retrieve his spear, Gungnir, identification, and cash from a bank on another world, and we found out Zeke also has the ability to slip—a rare thing for anyone, especially a human. While at the bank, Zeke spotted a man outside and followed him. He was shaken and pale upon his return, but divulged nothing of what had happened.
Fi and Zeke left Peter at a restaurant and ran into Fi’s Uncle Edgar and Mol, who had escaped the hospital. Edgar took them to his employer’s manor in the country along the river. Peter was there and they discovered he had been Edgar’s employer all along. Kleron and his posse showed up, leading to a battle which included Asura brought back from the dead—Mahisha The Buffalo Demon, and Tengu-Andrealphus The Peafowl.
Zeke inadvertently slipped Fi, Edgar and Mol away, and they saw that other worlds had been overrun with swarms of infernal locusts. Peter at one point went to save Zeke and saw the locusts as well.
Back at Peter’s house, Cù Sìth defied Master Kleron by killing his Cerberus brothers and saving the life of Kabir, brought as a bargaining chip by Kleron and Max.
At the end of the battle, Edgar, Mol, Fi and Zeke escaped into tunnels beneath Peter’s home, and Kleron’s minions detonated bombs that destroyed the house, burying Peter. Fi and Zeke were saved from the collapsing tunnels by none other than Mrs. Mirskaya, Fi’s old babysitter and owner of a Russian market where Fi once worked. Together in a chamber in the tunnels, Edgar and Mrs. Mirskaya told Fi and Zeke who Peter was and what the Firstborn were. Edgar revealed he was actually Thirdborn and Sir Galahad, and Mrs. Mirskaya Firstborn and the ancient Slavic deity Mokosh. They then revealed to Fi she herself was Firstborn and therefore Peter was her long-lost father, who abandoned her mother before Fi was born. (Fi’s mom died in a plane crash when Fi was seven, which was why she lived with Edgar).
Kleron and Max showed up again, and not even Edgar/Galahad and Mrs. Mirskaya/Mokosh could fight them off. Kleron was about to bite Edgar’s face off when The Prathamaja Nandana arrived with Baphomet, Ao Guang, and Dimmi as her prisoners. Kleron and Max were no match for her, so they fled—but not before Kleron had Max bite Fi with his poisonous fangs.
Peter finally made it to them, and Pratha did her best to save Fi, while Zeke panicked. They took her, unconscious but still alive, to a boat, then downriver toward Lake Erie, but not before Peter tossed an old coin on an islet in the river below his home for Kabir and Cù Sìth to find.
Fintán and Myrddin left England to locate their father, and Myrddin vowed to find his estranged grandson, Galahad. Asterion arrived, gravely injured, in the safe room where Tanuki had been grieving. Kabir and Cù Sìth swam to the islet where Peter had told them to meet him, but Peter and the others had already gone. They found the coin, which Kabir knew was a call for a gathering of the Warriors of Old—the Deva Firstborn who fought in the ancient wars they called the First and Second Holocaust, but we humans know as the mythic battles between gods and giants, light and darkness, heaven and earth. Though Kabir didn’t trust Cù Sìth, he agreed to take him with him, and headed off to wherever it was Kabir knew they needed to meet the other Firstborn (though there weren’t that many of them left). At the end, the motif of the moon watching the events taking place on earth was repeated.
THE CHARACTERS SO FAR
(WARNING: Book One SPOILERS)
In Order of Appearance:
Kabir - Bodyguard, Truename Zadkiel. Alignment: Deva
Maskim Xul (Max) - The Spider, The Ambusher, The Lier in Wait. Alignment: Asura
Fiona Megan Patterson (Fi) - Young Woman
Zeke Prisco - Young Man
Molossus (Mol) - Uncle Edgar’s dog, Fifthborn.
Edgar - Fi’s Uncle, Truename Galahad, Thirdborn, grandson of Myrddin Wyllt. Alignment: Deva
Ao Guang - The Gharial. Alignment: Asura
Baphomet - The Goat. Alignment: Asura
Idimmu Mulla (Dimmi) - The Hyaena. Alignment: Asura
Prathamaja Nandana - The First Daughter. Alignment: Deva
Fintán mac Bóchra - The White Watcher, The Falcon. Alignment: Deva
Bödvar Bjarki - The Bear, Truename Matunos. Alignment: Asura
Tanuki - The Tanuki (a wild dog from Japan that looks like a raccoon). Alignment: Deva
Mrs. Mirskaya - Fi’s former babysitter, owner of Matryoshka Russian Market and Café, Truename Mokosh. Alignment: Deva
Asterion - The Bull. Alignment: Deva
Arges - The Rhinoceros, armorer of the gods. Alignment: Deva
Billy - An Orderly, Truename: Samson. Alignment: Deva
Ziz - The Quetzalcoatlus (largest of the pterosaurs/pterodactyls). Alignment: Asura
Peter - The Pater
Kleron - The Bat, Truename Lucifer, Master of the Asura
Xecotcovach (Xeco) - The Terror Bird. Alignment: Asura
Wepwawet - Cerberus Brother (blue eyes). Alignment: Asura
Surma - Cerberus Brother (yellow eyes, one arm). Alignment: Asura
Cù Sìth - Cerberus Brother (red eyes). Alignment: Asura
Myrddin Wyllt - a.k.a. Merlin, The Madman. Alignment: Deva
Lamia - The Leech. Alignment: Asura
Mahisha (Mahishasura) - The Buffalo Demon. Alignment: Asura
Tengu-Andrealphus - The Nightingale Robber, The Peafowl. Alignment: Asura
The rest are supporting, incidental, or fodder.
GLOSSARY
Parvulus: n. human [negative; derogatory]. pl. parvuli.
Mtoto: n. human [neutral; affectionate]. pl. watoto.
Firstborn: n., adj. children of The Pater (a.k.a. The Father).
Deva: n., adj. (Sura). Firstborn who have supported The Pater and fought for humankind.
Asura: n., adj. (anti-Sura). Firstborn who have opposed The Pater and fought to enslave or eradicate humankind.
Brahmastra: adj. highest class of weapon, of which there are very few. Capable of mass destruction.
Astra: adj. very high class of weapon, capable of harming even the eldest Firstborn.
Mighty: adj. lower class of weapon, also capable of harming Firstborn if used with sufficient force.
Mortal: adj. weapons of the type used by humans.
“Who really knows? Who can declare it? Whence it was born, and whence came this creation? The Deva were born later than this world, so who knows from where it came into existence?
He who surveys it in the highest heavens, He alone knows—or perhaps does not know.”
Hindu Rig Veda 10. 129.
* * *
“I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
A band of angels coming after me.”
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
(traditional lyrics)
Wallis Willis
* * *
“One, two, three and four
&n
bsp; The devil's knocking at your door.”
“Heaven Knows”
The Pretty Reckless
PATERNUS
WRATH OF GODS
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
WAKE
“He is dead.”
“Don’t say that.”
“He looks dead.”
“Stop it. He’s not dead!”
“Glupaya devochka, I am meaning ‘dead to world,’ not dead dead.”
Zeke hears the voices, but it’s like they’re speaking from another dimension, in slow motion, through a garden hose.
He extricates himself from the sucking black sediment of deepest sleep, relief dawning in his sluggish mind—relief to be emerging from the hellish nightmares that plagued every moment of his slumber. He struggles toward the light of consciousness, then becomes aware of movement below.
Inky black tentacles swell from the void. One lashes out—slap, sting and burn. Another grabs his ankle and he’s dragged back into the depths, ears ringing with a whine, whir and squeak like the sound of changing channels on an old-fashioned radio. He screams, soundless, swallowed by darkness.
* * *
Cheap booze. Abandoned buildings. Filthy blankets, flea bites and vomit. Playing guitar with strung-out bands in shitty bars reeking of piss and sour beer. Sticking needles in his arms with shaking hands. Fever sweats and hunger. Ribs cracked by boots in a cold alley. Despair.
