Shadows of Olympus (Universe in Flames Book 6) Read online

  UNIVERSE IN FLAMES

  VOLUME VI

  Shadows of Olympus

  By Christian Kallias

  Copyright © 2016 by Christian Kallias

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2016

  Cover artwork by Christian Kallias. (Fury ships 3d models by Levi Mueller)

  Christian Kallias

  [email protected]

  www.christiankallias.com

  www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

  www.twitter.com/kalliasx

  CONTENTS

  Dramatis Personæ

  The story so far

  Prologue

  Chapter I

  Chapter II

  Chapter III

  Chapter IV

  Chapter V

  Chapter VI

  Chapter VII

  Chapter VIII

  Chapter IX

  Chapter X

  Chapter XI

  Chapter XII

  Chapter XIII

  Chapter XIV

  Chapter XV

  Chapter XVI

  Chapter XVII

  Chapter XVIII

  Chapter XIX

  Chapter XX

  Chapter XXI

  Chapter XXII

  Back Matter

  More from this author

  Sample : Rewind 717

  Keep in Touch

  DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

  Earth Alliance

  Lieutenant Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

  Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

  Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid (currently aging fast)

  Commodore Saroudis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

  Commander Daniel Tharraleos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

  Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

  R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

  Ryonna Isch’ys – Droxian Warrior (formerly a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

  Tar’Lock – Gorgar (Insectoid and formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

  General Adams – Earth Human (formerly US Army General)

  Emperor Altair - Raxin Humanoid and Obsidian Empire leader.

  Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

  Rae Kwan – Earth Alliance human (formerly US scientist)

  Olympians

  Aphroditis – known to humans as the goddess of love

  Ares – known to humans as the god of war (deceased, living as pure energy form)

  Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

  Hades – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

  Furies

  Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

  Miseo – Arakan’s son and right arm

  Oryn – Arakan’s daughter

  Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

  Other characters

  Keera – Humanoid bounty hunter

  Tararok – Zarlack (Lizard/Reptilian) bio-scientist

  Kvasir – Asgardian scientist

  Admiral Ally Thassos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Admiral - deceased, clone version still alive)

  THE STORY SO FAR . . .

  Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

  This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (it’s free)

  Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

  Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivor led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their homeworld (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

  Volume II: Fury to the Stars

  Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him get a grasp on his emerging powers. Meanwhile Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

  Volume III: Destination Oblivion

  Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase join forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world. His twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury homeworld (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

  Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

  Argos reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near th
e end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

  Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

  Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come, using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead, where he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepius from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepius with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friend risk their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaia Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance also leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll destroyed.

  And now the continuation . . .

  PROLOGUE

  Chase felt as if he was being syphoned away from where he stood.

  What the hell is happening to me?

  The force pulling on his body was like nothing he had ever experienced. He tried to counter it but there was no escape. He was being sucked out of the Hope as if a black hole had taken grasp of him and him alone. His vision was distorted and it felt as though time had stopped. His friends were all around him but none of them seemed affected. They looked like statues, frozen in time, while Chase skidded against his will across the floor of the Hope’s bridge towards a dark portal.

  The oval-shaped doorway swallowing Chase was a void with ominous purple lightning all around its circumference.

  Chase fired one fireball at it. When that failed he unleashed a dozen more powerful ones into the portal but they were simply swallowed up. To make things worse, the portal now grew bigger and the gravitational force even stronger.

  If he’d had any illusions about escaping this relentless force before, he could forget about it now. There was nothing Chase could do. He called for help but no one could hear him. After several minutes of struggling, the gravitational pull proved too strong. Chase lost his footing and tumbled forward. Instead of falling onto the ground he was snatched in midair and swallowed inside the portal.

  * * *

  Chase was lying on the ground in an unknown place. It took him a few seconds to regain access to all his senses. Whatever feedback they were providing made no sense, though. He lay on something that felt organic. It was soft. And it was moving. The place was dark, and he could barely see anything. He heard soft murmurs all around him, thousands of them. Some distant, some so near he could almost feel people breathing down his neck.

  From time to time purple lightning flashed in the sky. For a brief moment it would illuminate the place, but the resulting light was so strong that Chase’s eyes couldn’t adapt fast enough to get a clear picture of where he was. The split-second shadow of an image he saw made no sense.

  His heart started beating more strongly. Whatever this place was, it felt ten times worse than the underworld he had visited not long ago. There was also a wretched smell all around him.

  “Can anybody hear me?” he cried out, but all he could hear were the layered and indiscernible murmurs. Voices he wasn’t sure were even human, but they sounded as if they were either in pain or afraid. Perhaps both.

  He struggled to his feet, having trouble keeping his balance. The ground was not a flat surface; that much he was sure of. He needed to see where he was. The last lightning flash had rendered his eyes useless in the dark. He cast an icy-blue energy sphere in his hand in order to see what was around him.

  What he saw terrified him to the core. He was standing on a pile of bodies, some human, some alien. They were in constant movement, their faces deformed by pain and suffering. Their bodies were dark and their mouths opened and closed as if they were fishes gasping for water. Their eyes were wide open but all gray: no irises, just dark, gray globes. When Chase moved, they jerked their heads around in a brisk and unnatural way, as if they reacted to his presence. That sent shivers down his spine.

  What the hell is this place? Why am I here?

  Chase moved the ball of energy around to get a better picture, but it was hard looking at this unfathomable mud, made of bodies, limbs and faces as far as the light would shine. The sky was just a dark void, starless and filled with thick, dark clouds that moved like smoke. Even in his worst nightmares he had never seen anything so terrifying. Could it be a nightmare? He sure wished it was and hoped he would soon wake up.

  “Why am I here? Answer me!” shouted Chase.

  Something moved a couple of yards in front of him and he aimed his light towards it.

  Something or someone was trying to rise from the sea of intertwined bodies. The view sickened him but he felt compelled to keep looking. A female shape took form and rose upwards from the fleshy ground. Many hands and arms wrapped around her as she did. They didn’t seem to want her to rise from below. Her back was towards Chase so he couldn’t see her face. Hands grabbed her in an attempt to bring her back down. Long, dark and filthy nails planted themselves into her dark skin, ripping into her ashy-colored flesh. Black, gooey liquid oozed from the wounds.

  A dark pit formed in Chase’s stomach. He had never before seen anything so gruesome and disgusting.

  He needed answers though, so he addressed the tormented female figure.

  “Ma’am? Are you alright?”

  Multiple lightning bolts shot from the sky all around him, hitting the piles of bodies, their murmurs turning into unbearable screams for a few seconds after each strike. Chase’s blood froze. His mind was unable to fathom this horror.

  If there is a hell, I’m in it.

  When the lightning-bolt storm ended the woman’s head turned an impossible one hundred and eighty degrees in a jerky and unnatural motion, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking with every inch of movement.

  The woman’s features were deformed by pain. Only when she spoke did Chase recognize her voice.

  “Chase,” said Aphroditis, her voice weak and tainted with torment.

  “Oh my god,” was all Chase could say in return. “Is it really you?” He wasn’t sure he really wanted an answer.

  When she spoke her mouth moved in a strange way. Like a puppet’s mouth, somehow. But her expression morphed from one moment to the next. With each syllable her face grimaced with agony. The sight gave Chase the creeps.

  “It’s me, Chase. Listen to me as I don’t have much time. It took a long time to get through the pain and gather enough energy to find the strength and focus to contact you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to invite you into a nicer place.”

  Chase dreaded his next question, but felt compelled to ask it. Aphroditis had often brought him into visions to talk to him. But they were, more often than not, projections of peaceful and relaxing places. This was the complete opposite. “Is this a visual representation of how it feels to be inside the machine?”

  A black, oozing tear ran down her cheek. “Yes.” Her voice trembled.

  For the love of the gods. What have I done?

  “I’m so sorry, Aphroditis. This is all my fault. Please forgive me.”

  “Never mind that, Chase. It matters not. You must save Earth. You
have no choice but to leave it behind for the time being, or that evil Gaia will destroy you and your fleet. But don’t stay away for too long. Come back to free the planet as soon as you can. This is paramount, Chase. Do whatever it takes, but don’t let Earth fall.”

  More hands grabbed Aphroditis’ body and dragged her slowly back down inside the fleshy ground.

  “Tell me how I can get you out of this hell. Please!”

  “You can’t, Chase. Perhaps once the Furies are gone. But if you destroy the machine or attempt to rip me from it, you risk creating a tear in space and time that could destroy all life in the universe. So you have to promise me you won’t do it.”

  Chase’s frustration grew exponentially. He was responsible for this. Guilt permeated his being.

  “I can’t do that, Aphroditis. I can’t leave you here for all eternity.”

  “You have to, Chase. Promise me!”

  Chase clenched his teeth. How could he? How could he promise to abandon all hope of ever rescuing her?

  “I understand you want to appease your conscience, Chase, but understand that I don’t blame you for any of it. You’re doing what I expected of you. You’re putting your life on the line to defeat the Furies, and I know in my heart that you will succeed. You need to understand that this place, this torment I feel . . . I accept this fate gladly if it means you complete your mission.”

  Not good enough!

  Her wounded body had sunk halfway back into the mass of tormented bodies. She had turned slightly more to the left and had to rotate her head more to look at Chase, which meant more bone-cracking.

  “Please, Chase, promise you’ll put all your energy into fighting the Furies and won’t try to get me out of here. I beg you. Please give me your word.”

  Chase felt like firing fireballs at the other bodies that were dragging her back into that fleshy pool of pain and suffering. He felt compelled to destroy this entire place by unleashing his fury. But deep inside he knew it wouldn’t make the slightest difference. This place existed only in his mind, a terrifying representation of what his oldest Olympian friend was going through.