Eye of the Gods: A Mindlord Novel by Igor Swann

“This book is dedicated to Lu-Ann, my inspiration for Ricci, who
showed me that love in the hands of a master, did not invariably
produce a stiletto through the heart; it remained equally suited to
inflict blunt force trauma to the brain.”

i

PROLOGUE
The imperial cruiser floated gracefully through the vast black
underbelly of the universe. Now and again, it would bounce a
luckless asteroid into a planet or star, but for the most part, it did
not disturb the gentle constitution of the universe.
Truthfully, the universe had hardly stirred from its everlasting
slumber long enough to scratch the itch on its well-rounded
expanse before lulling back into eternal sleep.
The universe dreamed.
It dreamed of new beginnings and of timeless endings. It has
been here for an eternity and it was quite tired of it, eternity
seemed to be taking forever.
It used to fear the end; fear the day it too would reach critical
mass and, well, another big bang would follow. Only this time it
would be his internal galaxies plastered all over the canvass.
Of course, other universes would take his place.
There were always a few ready to experience singularity and
explode into being.
It did not begrudge them this desire since he himself was one of
them a few billion years ago. It smiled at the thought of how
many universes would be able to find a point for themselves in
the plasma soup he would leave behind.
Clusters were of course the new buzzword, since many
universes were vying for a little bit of the canvass; but this specific
universe still enjoyed space.
It felt that even the tiniest star should have enough room to
grow and spread its light.

ii

Of course, this was old school. Nowadays the number of stars it
contained measured a universe’s success and clusters were the
only way to increase the number. Some planets were orbiting as
many as ten stars, if you could call it orbiting. A more accurate
description would be a downhill slalom designed by a demented
herd of monkeys. The planets would be more like ping pong balls
than a cradle to induce the creation of life, preposterous!

The old universe thought about their lack of imagination with
disdain. It would seem all cluster designs came from the same
building plans, bought from the pedlar on the left upper corner of
the canvass. Little wonder the life forms on these planets
discovered television before they discovered fire.
The biggest diversity in planetary creation among the more
creative young universes would be if they changed the colour of
rocks from the standard grey brown.
Some of the freethinking universes even went as far as to create
passion pink rocks, but unfortunately, when the primordial life
forms reached the prebiotic beaches, this seemed to incite a state
of uncontrolled vomiting and subsequent death. After years of
universal enquiries on premature extinction, the courts ruled that
the rocks were responsible. An injunction made them illegal on all
planets whose new life forms did not sport blond hair, said like a
lot and came with the standard Shih-Tzu accessory option.
This universe had an even bigger problem with these new
universes’ attitude to expansion.
They had very little pride in their creations, using substandard
materials in planetary development, which were sure to last only
a couple of millennia. Unstable tectonic plates, inadequate

iii

meteor protection, earthquakes, flooding, volcanoes, global
warming… somewhat similar to its own failed attempt very early
in its existence, commonly occurred on these planets. He
however, might find absolution for these little mistakes, since he
had to use trial and error. He did not have blueprints or mentors.
Alas, nobody seemed the care anymore.
Most of the life forms did not even reach the evolutionary point
of discovering bungee jumping, bad hairstyles, and flower power
or sexy lingerie, the two being mutually exclusive. Even the early
discovery of divorce lawyers and fast food restaurants were
unlikely, before they woke up one morning with one final OH
SHI…
Through some good fortune and the female of the specie
discovering their vocal cords early in the evolutionary
development, some prehistoric life shortly after discovering fire
initiated an emergency space exploration program. However,
considering a parallel study on the ability to reproduce asexually
would have been a very important point for deliberation had they
had enough time… and silence, to think about this.
Through careful analysis of the cave paintings several centuries
later, scholars have affirmed that a very accurate translation for
the thoughts leading up to this event had been.
‘We have to get away man, we have to leave before she find
us… hey dude, don’t forget to pack the beer.’
Of course, the reproduction conundrum would never become
an issue, since they all gave up and died out in any event when
the beer ran out… about T+42 minutes after liftoff.
The ancient thoughts of the universe returned to the end. It has
seen its share of beginnings and now longed for closure, and

iv

maybe a gold watch. It did not fear the end anymore, although it
wondered if there was a heaven for universes.
The end would be welcome relief from trying to keep thousands
of galaxies together.
The universe sighed in its slumber and thought about its itch.
The end would also be welcome relief from them…

v

EYE OF THE GODS
A Mindlord Novel

IGOR SWANN

vi

Eye of the Gods

CHAPTER 1
A tense atmosphere prevailed with six anxious figures staring at
the blue planet slowly coming into view. The reason for their
anxiety would soon become apparent.
‘You said you would have a plan before we got here,’ a female
voice belonging to a girl of around eighteen exclaimed in
exasperation.
‘I know sis, and I am sorry. We will just have to play it by ear.’
The girl’s voice began to tremble.
‘It is mom and dad we are talking about Blade. We need a plan!’
the young girl screamed in anguish.
‘Okay Storm, calm yourself, we will think of something. Just
remember it is not only our parents that are in trouble,’ Blade said
glancing at the other worried faces looking to him for guidance.
Bladin or as he preferred Blade, seemed out of his depth.
S’tormindal unfairly placed the weight of this futile excursion on
his shoulders alone. He was barely older than she was, and in the
greater scheme of things, although he has on numerous occasions
made a strong point of this fact; a few seconds mattered little
now.
#we are entering an orbital pattern around earth# Skibladne
stated.
‘Thanks,’ Blade mumbled before plopping himself down in the
command chair, absentmindedly scanning the blue ball his
parents used to call home.
He squeezed his brain in the hope that an idea would pop out.
Nothing,

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Some fizzing did occur, but alas no pop.
He had to settle for a rerun of the events of the last few
months.

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Eye of the Gods

CHAPTER 0.01
A thunderous laughter rolled through the usually monastery-
like halls in the palace on Arken. The second sun had already
passed its highest point and was busy racing the first sun for the
horizon. It never won but always seemed to try.
‘He did what?’ Kirom asked with a grin still playing across his
broad dwarven face. His waxed goatee forming a sharp point, and
even his usually bushy eyebrows somehow appeared less bushy,
with most hair pointing in relatively the same direction.
A strange blue creature answered his question. He had a metal-
like sheen to him and seemed to be completely devoid of any
orifices. This would include mouth, nose, ears and other more
private protrusions and gaps.
He was an Aesir, a race born into magic, which to them is as
breathing is to us. It is almost exactly like breathing to them since
they had no way of sustaining their own life without the magic
field that constantly surrounded them. Through this magic field,
they were able to eat, breathe and do many wondrous things.
The blue creature projected his thoughts in an impish tone
directly into the minds of the others.
‘He made Teral’s mindcom produce the voice of a female
seductress in the minds of his crew on the cruiser. All his
commands sounded like this raunchy woman of the night’s pick-
up lines. The problem was that Teral was the only one that could
not hear how his own thoughts were received and of course why
the crew were so cheerful in executing his orders,’ Guival
repeated his earlier recount of events.

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‘Kids,’ Laidin smiled. She did not have many opportunities to
smile anymore, or visit with her friends. Her monarchical duties,
as Queen of the El, better known as elves on earth, took up all her
time. She lived for these moments before the council meetings, of
just sitting around talking nonsense with these two. She and
Kirom had a long history as friends. Together they had survived
many adventures, with relatively insignificant survival ratings.
However, after Guival joined the band, even going to a birthday
party for children had a less than comforting probability of safe
evacuation.
The three of them stared dreamily to where the kids were
playing a game of volleyball. Angel had taught them this strange
low-tech Earth game and the kids loved it.
They watched as Blade and Storm both started pointing at
Feral, obviously upset about something. Feral just shrugged and
seemed to gesture that there were no rules against magic in the
rulebook. It would be hard going for anyone to convince him that
magic is not a talent readily available to sportsmen on earth, but
by the look of things, the twins were going to give it their best
shot.
Throm, Phalin and Shen had taken up seats on the grass
embankment next to the volleyball court. They patiently waited
for this dramatic scene to reach a conclusion, and of course, it was
always amusing the watch the twins gang up on Guival’s son.
Feral seemed to have no objection in affording them every
opportunity to do this. He would readily provide one at every
opportune and inopportune moment.
He believed that rules were merely guidelines of sorts, and
were there to provide stimulus for the more creative mind.

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Eye of the Gods

Therefore, the creation of rules were solely to test the resolve of
the open minded, and give these minds something to keep busy
with, so they do not get bored, and do something stupid. If no one
was going to break rules then what was the use of creating them
in the first place? Nobody created rules for things that surely
needed rules, like do not jump from the palace tower, or strata
surf in a meteor shower. No! Rules were there to protect the
weak minded from having fun, and he would not stand for it.

A familiar smoke trail from a ship’s ion engines appeared in the
sky overhead. A very special ship called Skibladne. She was a one
of a kind wonder, with an inexhaustible fuel supply and capable of
ridiculous speeds. However, the most remarkable feature of this
ship is that it parked in another dimension. Similar to an earth
vehicle’s immobilizer, Skibladne would shift into an uninhabited
parallel dimension with the press of a button.
This button appeared on a gauntlet on the arm of the UGE lord,
the ruler of all the UGE planets, and an earthling. The UGE lords,
in their infancy, were abducted from earth and mind transformed,
which gave them not only super human strength and speed, but
also changed their minds into arguably the most intelligent in the
universe.
The current UGE lord was an exception to this rule, as his
abduction occurred when he had been a full-grown man, after his
predecessor met with an unfortunate murder. Nevertheless, this
reluctant soul, luckily without too many side effects, managed to
become the next UGE lord.
One side effect is worth mentioning though. LOBE, the alter ego
his mind created when it could not accept the transformation

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process. This part of the brain took on its own personality, and it
hosted all the new and special functions unlocked by the mind
transformation process. The UGE lord affectionately referred to
LOBE as his migraine for which he could find no obvious cure, with
the exception of maybe a jackhammer or power drill.
Angel discarded these options since he had grown somewhat
attached to his brain.
Even though in his early fifties, on Arken that would translate to
about his late thirties since an earthling aged slowly here. He
showed slight greying areas around the temples but this just serve
to make him look more regal. He stood almost six foot four in his
boots, and appeared well built thanks to the transformation
process. His dark hair, and grey blue eyes that had a constant
naughty glint to them along with his well-chiselled face and broad
shoulders made him a very attractive man indeed. Even the scar
running from the corner of his right eye about a centimetre down
his temple, just made him more handsome, in a rugged kind of
way.
His features, and the fact that he was mostly unaware of how
attractive he was, made his wife quite protective over him.
Especially when they visited the Valk’r, whom for obvious reasons
consists of only female warriors. The fact that she instilled the
fear of the gods in them seemed of little comfort to her.
He had a very amicable personality and was friendly to
everyone he met, which his wife referred to as flirting and cause
him to sleep on the couch in snoring earshot of her on many
occasions. She just could not accept that she was the love of his
life, and no other woman on earth or otherwise, would ever peak
his interest in any way, form or means. He was hers, mind, body

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Eye of the Gods

and soul. She just wished she could tell him how much she adored
him, but the circumstances always seemed inappropriate.
Angel reluctantly became the leader of the free universe. This
did not mean he could not lead, or that he was not a great leader,
he just preferred not to. Unfortunately, the Arks made this choice
on his behalf and he now occupied the position of ruler of the
United Galactic Empire. A modest title, one he wore with suitable
contempt.

The smoke trail gently curved towards the palace’s hangar bays.
Both twins turned as one and started running towards it.
Laidin sighed.
‘I suppose we should follow and welcome the UGE lord back
from his vacation,’ she mentioned while pushing herself out of the
deck chair.
Kirom nodded ‘I actually missed them.’
‘So did I,’ Guival agreed, ‘I need new material for my comedy
act and your cousin is always ready to oblige.’
He levelled this remark at Laidin to which she pulled a sour face.
The cousin Guival referred to was Ricci, a former Valk’r warrior
that stole Angel’s heart.
Ricci, even though mostly of human origin also shared an
ancestry with the El, Dwar and Aesir. Through a series of
circumstances that you could describe as the universe actually
having a sense of humour, the DNA of the most influential leaders
of the three races had become a part of her genetics.
She was a distant descendant of the dwarf Grand Master Thor,
Sif queen of the Elves and Odin of the Aesir. These leaders of

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course had lived millennia ago, but the DNA traces were
unmistakable.
This made her the perfect candidate for First Princess of the
UGE since she embodied all of the most powerful of the member
races, and what an embodiment it was.
Slim and graceful with green eyes that one could easily drown
in and long flowing locks that seemed to be weaved from gold. It
took every ounce of self-control from her dwarven friends to
abstain from mining this.
Her courteous royal outward appearance seemed a perfect
cover for her less than highborn tongue. A tongue adorned with
razors, which could slice even the most hardened egomaniac into
suitably humble pie pieces.
Everyone respected her, that was their story and they were
sticking to it. On a live intergalactic poll that streamed to
thousands of worlds, a brave presenter posed the question.
‘Would anyone rather face the princess’s tongue or her blade,’
the reaction had been an overwhelming no. The station inundated
with exactly one response, which had been a wrong number and
the person begged the station not to let her find out he had called
in.
Realizing what they did, the presenter and producer fled to
another galaxy. They are rumoured to have become monks in the
church of the seven-day advertisers. This has become a very
popular belief, since it required you to be drunk constantly and
pay penance when caught sober.

The kids reached the hanger bay quite some time before the
rest of the entourage.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Mom, dad, you are back,’ Storm yelped and jumped into
Angel’s open arms.
‘No, it’s just a mirage, we are actually still on Tigus Prime,’ Ricci
quipped before adding, ‘now give me a hug before we disappear.’
Blade felt he was too old for hugs and should follow the more
mature approach in greeting his parents.
‘Welcome back mother, father, hope you had a pleasant
journey.’
Angel grabbed him in a headlock and ruffled his hair.
‘Dad, don’t mess with the do,’ Blade exclaimed blushing.
‘My lord, welcome back to Arken,’ Laidin remarked as she
joined the family reunion.
‘I hope you had an uneventful return trip.’
‘Yep, we even took Jormo-alley back, but without finding even
an ion trail of a pirate ship,’ Angel replied as Ricci pulled a sour
face.
There had been peace in UGE space for more than 19 years
now, with of course, the occasional skirmish or feud erupting, but
these never lasted long.
A consortium might wish to flex its muscles and show who is in
control of a sector. However, when the UGE showed their bulge in
turn, the companies usually looked positively anorexic.
Yet they still tried and since the UGE was in a word huge,
sometimes they might even get away with it. On one such
occasion, the only UGE ship in the problematic sector happened
to be Skibladne.
She stood nose to nose with the mining magnate’s cruiser. This
might not seem fair since the cruiser is to Skibladne as a dog is to
a tick. Unfortunately, for the dog, this tick ate rhinos for breakfast.

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Behind the magnate, a fleet of corvettes, freighters and fighters
cluttered space and made it look seriously untidy.
They were on their way to decolonize a planet, which had an
unprecedented amount of Zellion. This precious metal was almost
indestructible and very expensive. Some of the most expensive
ships’ hulls had a thin plating of Zellion on their most critical
sections. Skibladne construction however, consisted of this
precious metal in its entirety.
The inhabitants of the planet were low-tech miners. They were
making a decent enough living from the little Zellion they
managed to excavate. Although they did not have the knowhow
to mine the rich deposits quickly or in significant quantities, they
were aware that they could sustain their way of life for a very long
time.
They did not intend to sell their means of generating an income,
and the mining magnate did not intend to pay anything near a fair
price for the planet in any event.
The magnate decided that they would simply decolonize the
planet. A cheap and easy solution and after all, who would know.
It was not as if anyone would miss a few hundred colonists on a
forgotten planet, among the hundreds of UGE controlled systems.
Fortunately, not everyone in the magnate’s employment felt
the solution was that simple and informed the UGE of the plans.
Time was however, a problem and the only ship in the UGE fast
enough to reach the planet in time was the UGE lord’s.
This was the reason why Skibladne stood alone and nose to
nose with the cruiser.
‘And where do you think you are going?’ Angel asked.

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Eye of the Gods

‘None of your business,’ the curt answer slammed into Angel’s
ears.
‘Oh, but I am making it my business. Shall I repeat the
question?’
‘Move out of my way UGE lord, or I’ll blast you into tomorrow.’
Angel smiled.
‘Battle mode,’ he said under his breath to Skibladne.
#Battle mode engaged# Skibladne acknowledged in her
synthesized metallic female voice. A touch Angel’s predecessors
enjoyed even though it was possible to create a perfectly
replicated human voice if they so wished.
Skibladne instantly transformed into what you could describe as
a porcupine having a bad hair day. Turrets sprang up all over the
place. Some of the weaponry the lady deployed was not even
recognizable as anything that could exist in the current day and
age. Others were arguable if they should exist in the now, and yet
others might never exist, and those who saw these swore they
were a figment of their battle stressed minds.
Angel heard a gruff laugh over the mindcom.
‘Should I be scared? Maybe I should just make an example of
you,’ the ignorant voice expressed.
‘You and what army exactly,’ Angel remarked while an innocent
smile played across his face.
‘Are you blind UGE lord? This ar…’ The mining magnate had the
foresight to turn his scanners towards his fleet before continuing.
‘I think it would be best for all if I just go now and we forget this
unfortunate incident, huh?’ he relayed his apologies in a fearful
voice.

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Apparently, Skibladne’s legend had even reached this remote
part of the universe, and it might have increased in size in the few
minutes it had a standoff with the magnate’s cruiser. The
magnate’s entire fleet had turned and ran following Skibladne’s
transformation into a very angry ball of weaponry, and it
appeared painfully obvious that she knew how to use it.
‘That might be a one of your best ideas yet, and if I ever hear
your name again, I will personally come and wipe you from the
face of the universe. Oh and from now on I will expect you to pay
triple the asking price for the Zellion from this planet. And you will
buy their entire supply,’ Angel ended the conversation.
Angel gave Skibladne a mental command to fire a small salvo at
the cruiser’s forward array, which completely obliterated the
shields on the vessel.
‘Oops, sorry about that, wrong button,’ Angel laughed.
The cruiser left in a hurry.

The group walked towards the palace. A race called the Arks
hosted the UGE lord’s dwelling. They were what earthlings fondly
referred to as anal probing aliens.
They discovered the mind transform technology. They were also
responsible for abducting the infants from earth, who possessed
the gene that made mind transformation possible. They looked
exactly like the pictures of aliens on earth would suggest, with the
long faces, thin bodies and huge almond eyes. They spoke like the
Aesir using telepathy since they had no vocal cords.
Qren assumed the role of leader of the Arks. He was a
benevolent creature, and close friend of the group now slowly
making their way to the palace kitchen.

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Eye of the Gods

His daughter, Shen, due to the lack of a better description,
appeared among the party that now happily strolled towards the
palace grounds.
The reason for this hesitant reference to child was that the Arks
had long since lost the ability to procreate. The Ark engineers
developed a process whereby any Ark who wished to have
children would submit their DNA. Through some technological
magic, a child artificially grew from this living DNA.
There was however, a huge backlog since they had only one
scientist. Qren had ordered Shen more than 50 years ago, but she
was currently aged only 19.
The Arks distinguished themselves as a race of engineers, but
unfortunately lacked the facility for creative, out of the box
thinking. They could re-engineer anything from existing
knowledge. Their single scientist had been a complete anomaly
and widely speculated that his parents were a little promiscuous
and introduced some alien DNA into his triple helix.
This lack of creative thinking though led to the abduction of
earthlings, since earthlings were the only creatures with a neuron
structure suitable for the mind transformation process. The
thought of abducting earthlings was widely accepted as the most
creative thing the Arks had ever done.
The Arks proceeded to convince the council, that with the
superior intellect the human abductees possessed after the mind
transformation process, they would make the perfect rulers. Thus,
the UGE was born and the UGE lord established as an earthling.
The Arks now had a perfectly good creative genius at their
disposal and they thrived.

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‘I wonder where your dad is hiding. It is not like him to miss a
chance of a welcoming ceremony.’ Angel directed this question at
Shen to which she shrugged.
‘I do not know my lord. He is aware that you were returning
today. He mentioned this at breakfast this morning,’ she replied.
‘Oh well, I am glad that it is just our family and close friends this
time. He does seem to go over the top whenever we return from
a trip,’ Ricci grinned.
Shen seemed uncomfortable, which Angel noticed.
‘But we do appreciate all the trouble Qren goes to, and it does
make us feel welcome here on your beautiful planet,’ he sincerely
added to his wife’s comment.
Angel looked up at the palace in front of them. It remained an
awesome sight, with huge spirals and turrets made from shining
metal. Enormous glass windows adorned most of the palace’s
battlements and steeples, shining brightly as they reflected the
setting suns.
The party noisily made their way through the palace’s gardens
and into the endless corridors that ran through the entire palace
complex.
Dinner preparation completed well in advance of their arrival
and the dishes stood waiting on the central table of the great
dining hall.
‘Good, I am famished,’ Ricci exclaimed with glee.

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CHAPTER 0.02
Qren anxiously examined the long-range scanner console in
front of him, with the image of a tiny ship clearly visible on the
scanner.
‘How long ago did you say it appeared?’ he asked the
commander standing next to him.
‘Almost 10 minutes ago, sir.’
‘And there has been no attempt at communication from the
vessel yet?’ Qren inquired.
‘No sir, we have repeatedly tried to hail the ship but have so far
been met with silence. We have dispatched a cruiser to intercept
and lend assistance,’ the commander promptly replied.
‘Thank you commander, please keep me informed of any
further developments,’ Qren dismissed his commander.
He knew the type of ship on the scanner well. The ship
belonged to the Valk’r, human female warriors sworn to protect
earth. They reside on earth in a fortress known as New Valhalla.
The Valk’r warriors were instrumental in the defeat of the Taur,
when they tried to invade earth nearly a quarter of a century ago.
What would one of them be doing coming to Arken? He
wondered, surely they would not send one lone ship on this
arduous journey, and what reason could there be for this surprise
visit?
It was customary for the UGE to send a cruiser whenever the
Valk’r needed to visit Arken. This was simply because the journey
takes weeks and the Valk’r fighters are single seater spacecraft.
They were therefore not suitable for such a voyage.

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Igor Swann

Qren hurriedly left the office.
Angel should be back by now, and I am sure Ricci would want
this information, he thought to himself as he hurriedly walked
down the corridor.
He stopped a guard to ask for the whereabouts of the royal
party, and unsurprisingly learned that they were currently in the
dining hall. Qren picked up his pace.

‘Qren, I am so glad to see you,’ Angel beamed as he spotted
Qren enter the hall.
‘My lord, welcome back,’ Qren answered.
Angel noticed the concerned undertone in Qren’s thoughts.
‘What is wrong my friend?’ he projected.
‘My lord, my lady,’ he said in turn facing Angel and then Ricci.
‘We have picked up a Valk’r fighter on our long range scanners.
She seems to be alone and do not respond to our attempts at
communication.’
‘What?’ Ricci exclaimed anxiously.
Ricci, once a Valk’r commander herself, still carried them close
to her heart. This news was worrying, and she needed to act.
‘My lady, we have dispatched a cruiser to intercept the fighter,
and we are awaiting news of the rescue as we speak.’
His words still hovered in the party’s mind while a streak of gold
disappeared through the mess hall doors, obviously heading in
the direction of the landing bay.
‘We should probably follow her,’ Angel remarked.
He did not enjoy situations that would upset his wife, mostly
because he loved her dearly, but also because he would surely
become the target of her extensive arsenal of verbal munitions.

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They reached Ricci where she impatiently waited for the shuttle
from the cruiser.
‘Where are they,’ she mused, tapping her foot.
‘My lady, they are still a way off, but we could go to the
communication room and see if there is any news,’ Qren
suggested.
‘Well, what are we waiting for?’ Ricci exclaimed and set off
again at terrifying speed.
Angel shrugged and set off after his wife.
‘My lord, may I suggest the hover platforms,’ Qren noted. His
frail anatomy now quite exhausted after the first pursuit of the
princess.
‘Great idea Qren,’ Angel remarked as he dashed for one of the
three platforms silently floating in the corner of the hangar.
The crowd piled onto the hover platforms and raced after Ricci.
She anxiously spoke with the lieutenant in charge of the
communication array by the time they arrived.
‘Apparently the girl is unconscious,’ Ricci explained when Angel
and the rest entered the room.
‘She is safe at least, thank god.’

At least twenty minutes passed before the cruiser entered an
orbit around Arken. The Ark medical team rushed the young
Valk’r to the medical quarters, and gave her a full examination.
‘She is stable for now,’ One of the Ark healers gave his
prognosis. ‘She is covered in serious wounds that seem to have
been made by animal claws and fangs. She lost a lot of blood.
There is also a toxin in her system, which seemed to have induced
this coma. It is a miracle she is still alive. Whatever message she

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brought must have been very important for her to fight death for
so long.’
‘Can you save her?’ Ricci asked in barely a whisper.
‘We will do what we can, but she might remain in this condition
for a while still. We are working on an antidote for the poison,’
the doctor answered her.
Ricci sat in brooding silence. Angel softly walked up to her and
put his arm around his wife, not knowing exactly what to say to
comfort her.
The twins looked at each other while they sat on the staircase,
the worry clearly visible on their faces. The silence made
everybody uncomfortable.
After what seemed to be a lifetime, Ricci suddenly broke the
silence.
‘We need to know why she came,’ she exclaimed through
pursed lips.
‘But how princess, she is unconscious, she cannot speak and her
thoughts are not readable,’ Kirom explained the obvious.
‘I know,’ Ricci said gritting her teeth.
‘There is a way,’ Laidin softly helped with her customary regal
confidence.
The party stared at her.
‘There is a way,’ she repeated her statement, ‘my lord,
remember when you had your dreams of the Taur invasion of
earth?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ Angel exclaimed, ‘Noone’s dream scanner.’
Noone was an alien, even to these aliens. He was old, very old,
nobody knew how old exactly but he knew the great, great

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grandparents of Laidin of the El. Since Elves got impossibly old,
some even as old as a thousand years, Noone had to be ancient.
He was from an extremely advanced alien race that unwittingly
forgot him on Arken on their travels many millennia ago. 1
‘So what are we waiting for?’ Ricci shouted, ‘bring Noone here.’
Angel turned towards the guard and quietly gave him a few
instructions after which the guard rushed off to find the ancient
being.
When Noone eventually entered, he found Ricci impatiently
stomping around the waiting room.
‘About time you got here!’ she growled when she saw his small,
almost dwarf-like form and, as always, completely covered with
the dark robe. Nobody had any idea what Noone looked like
except maybe for Qren. Their friendship was unshakable,
especially after the ordeal with the evil elf princess’s betrayal of
the UGE.
Noone did not respond and glided past her towards the patient.
He did not care much for her uneducated tongue even though he
remained quite fond of the hotheaded princess.
‘May we move her?’ he solemnly asked the healer, while
standing next to the badly battered body of the young girl.
‘I am sorry, but the answer is no,’ the healer projected. ‘If she is
moved it would surely kill her.’
‘Then I will need to bring my equipment here,’ Noone observed,
‘I promise to cause her as little trauma as possible,’ he added for
the healer’s convenience.

1
See Mindlord novel: Waking the Angel.

19

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.03
A dark figure determinedly strode through the passages
beneath what was left of the great New Valhalla. This used to be
the home of the Valk’r, and it disgusted every bit of the sleek form
now confidently strolling through its hallways.
The once great halls lay in ruin. Irreplaceable contemporary art
gathered through many centuries, littered the floor, in a display of
the artistic faculty of a suitably sick-minded individual.
The glorious dome that used to extend beyond the mountain,
now remained as a tangled mass of shattered glass and steel.
The corpses of both Valk’r warriors and unholy abominations
covered the marble floors. These horrors could not have been the
work of evolution, since not even evolution could be that cruel.
The ruins that were left of the Valk’r base usually took hundreds
of years for Mother Nature, Father Time and Brother... Bear to
accomplish. It took mere minutes for this evil being and its
accomplices.
New Valhalla was no more.

The ominous figure stood tall, radiating power and an
unmistakable deadly demeanour.
It smiled as it surveyed the dead.
Another less impressive contour joined its victory march
through the once, as in about 10 minutes ago, extraordinary
structure.

20

Eye of the Gods

‘We have not been able to locate the few Valk’r that escaped
through the tunnels master,’ the second shape hissed with a
female undertone to its voice.
The words came from a deformed humanoid shape.
Even though most of its parts were in the same position as a
human’s, that is where the resemblance ended.
She and her kind lived in sewers, caves or tombs and
worshipped Lamia, an ancient princess from Greek mythology.
Lamia had been the secret lover of Zeus, but when Zeus’s wife
Hera found out about the affair, she killed all Lamia’s children
except for Scylla.
Lamia took revenge by destroying the children of others, and
drinking their blood. Her deeds were so cruel and terrible that
Zeus turned her into a monster, with the head of an enchantress
and the body of a snake.
Her descendants, the Lamies, lived cursed as monsters and
sustained their life through the drinking of blood.
The stories of the Lamies gave rise to the legend of vampires.
However, the tales that evolved, of beautiful creatures of the
night biting the necks of virgins, were a complete fallacy. All
Lamies were female and horribly deformed creatures, who
hunted during the night because it was easier to do so. They did
however have fangs and claws, and preferred biting their victims
in the neck since the jugular provided the greatest flow of blood.
This particular Lamie was at present cringing away from the
dark figure, with whom she was desperately trying to keep pace.
The terrible figure paused and turned towards her.
She stood framed squarely in the gaze that emanated from
behind the frightening mask that adorned her master.

21

Igor Swann

The dark figure seemed to be thinking, which only increased the
Lamie’s anxiety.
Master is thinking of the cruellest way to remove Bruxa’s head,
she thought to herself while fingering her neck.
The evil gaze shifted and the figure seemed to shrug.
‘No matter, it is quite inconsequential in the greater scheme of
things. They have served their purpose by dying quite amusing
deaths. Call back the search parties. We need to prepare for the
next phase of my plan,’ a hollow grating voice commanded the
Lamie.
The voice sent chills down even this Lamie’s spine. She would
never get use to this voice with such pure evil and hatred
embedded in it.
‘Immediately master,’ She hissed a reply, and hurriedly left.
She rubbed her, neck relieved in the knowledge that it
remained attached.

22

Eye of the Gods

CHAPTER 0.04
Noone addressed the council with deep concern clearly audible.
The Arks had hurriedly assembled the council, after Noone
finished the dream scan on the unconscious Valk’r.
He had refused to tell the group what he found. Even after Ricci
threatened to do unmentionable surgery to some of his private
anatomy, and promised to have the orbs, shining from inside his
hood, mounted on her bedpost before nightfall.
Noone wished for the entire council to be present before he
relayed the images he found lurking in the Valk’r’s mind.
The senate consisted of the leaders of all the member races of
the UGE, which now included the Taur. After their surrender in
the battle for earth, and the overthrow of the bloodthirsty
dictator who instigated the whole mess, Angel allowed the Taur to
join the UGE.
The Taur currently prospered under the leadership of Tri’st, a
benevolent Emperor of the Sa’t, a Taur sub species.
The other pure blood races on the senate included the El, the
Dwar, the Aesir, the Ark and of course humans. The rest were
mostly mixed races or minority species that enjoyed the United
Galactic Empire’s protection.
Angel and Ricci sat at the head of the senate flanked by Laidin
of the El and Kirom of the Dwar. Guival of the Aesir and Qren of
the Ark sat on either side of them to form the top part of the dais.
The only two empty chairs were those of Noone who was
addressing the senate and that of the Valk’r who represented
humanity.

23

Igor Swann

Noone cleared his throat.
‘Friends, I stand before you with a heavy heart as the bearer of
most disturbing news,’ he started, but was cut short by Ricci.
‘Noone, you get on with it right now, or I swear I’ll…’ Ricci
started but broodingly stopped short when Noone raised his hand
and begged for silence.
‘The earth has been overrun by strange creatures that I have
not seen before. I have extensively documented all creatures on
earth with the help of the Valk’r, but these do not appear in any
records,’ Noone explained.
‘How do these creatures look and what have they done?’
Angel’s concerned voice interrupted him.
Noone paused to gather the image of the creatures in his mind.
‘They are huge beasts with nine heads that look like what you
call snakes. From what I could gather from the images in the
Valk’r mind, they have been fighting them for a while. The
creatures seem to be attracted to technological hot spots and
they destroy and kill everything in their path. They appear to be
mindless monsters bent on destruction, but there seems to be
something guiding their madness. I gather from the images that
the Valk’r have tried to find this source.’
‘There are no creatures on earth with nine heads!’ Ricci
reproached Noone quite forcibly, ‘quite a number with two, but
only one allegedly has a brain, and usually they think with the
other one.’
The senate snickered.
Obviously, the species, even though removed by light-years,
were not that dissimilar, however, they soon quietened down
when they saw the look on her face.

24

Eye of the Gods

‘Maybe they were genetically engineered,’ Guival proposed.
‘Maybe,’ Noone acknowledged before adding, ‘since the images
are placed directly into my mind, I cannot show you the animals
as they really are, but I have created a holo reconstruction of how
I remember them.’
Noone activated a three dimensional hollow image on the small
device in front of him.
The senate stared at the creature quite perplexed, everybody
except for Tri’st.
Tri’st tried to lock on to a distant memory buried deep within
the recesses of his mind, as he absentmindedly examined the
image.
His eyes came into focus and he reached for his personal
information centre, linked to the Taur Centre of Knowledge.
He made a couple of intricate movements with his hands before
staring at the console in front of him in disbelief.
Tri’st raised his hand to be granted a turn to speak.
Angel nodded.
‘My lord,’ he began, ‘our legends from forgotten times speak of
creatures such as these.’
Angel turned his focus from the strange creature to Tri’st.
‘Excuse me?’ he said.
‘Yes my lord, I have found reference to them in our knowledge
centre.’
‘I should have known these creatures were your doing! Did not
do enough damage the first time round huh?’ Ricci screamed.
Tri’st appeared taken aback, and shocked at such allegations.
‘My lady?’ he asked.

25

Igor Swann

‘Maybe they were left and forgotten there during the war,’
Kirom suggested.
‘More than two decades ago?’ Ricci spat.
‘They could have been hibernating or getting their forces
together?’ Kirom unconvincingly offered.
‘My friends, you misunderstood me. These creatures are from
legends countless millennia ago from our home world. These are
creatures of myths, created to frighten Taur children. No one
believes that they actually existed, but then again very few,
except for aging scholars, remember that Evergal’t is not where
our species originally came from. Our home world and its
location, is lost in the mist of time,’ Tri’st explained.
‘I don’t care if they are lost in the fumes of Taur shit, they are
your legends!’ Ricci spat.
‘Actually dear, that is not entirely true,’ Angel paused and took
a deep breath before continuing.
‘They are from our legends too. Those are Hydras as they are
mentioned in Greek mythology.’
The whole senate turned to stare at Angel. They were just
about to declare war on the Taur again, but now they were not
entirely convinced anymore.
‘Tri’st just reminded me when he mentioned legends and
myths,’ Angel confessed.
‘You called them Hydras?’ Tri’st asked.
‘Yes. That is how they are called in Greek mythology,’ Angel
confirmed.
‘Well my lord, we call them H’dros, which seems too close to be
a coincidence,’ Tri’st suggested.

26

Eye of the Gods

‘You mean our races, separated by galaxies share a common
creature of legend?’ Angel asked.
‘Seems so my lord,’ Tri’st shrugged.
The rest of the senate were still speechlessly trying to follow
the conversation.
‘Actually…’ Angel started and then took a moment to think
things through, ‘there was something bothering me from the
start. You see everything I have found here comes from Norse
Mythology. The Norse gods like Thor, Sif, Loki and Odin. The El
and Dwar, all the weapons, even the Valk’r, everything is from
Norse Mythology.’
He paused.
‘The only part that did not fit on these worlds was the Taur
races. You see, Centaurs, Minotaur and Satyrs are all part of Greek
mythology and not Norse mythology. Norse mythology never
mentions the Taur, but I never got the time to question why the
Taur were here. Later on it never seemed to matter.’
He glanced at the confused faces in the senate.
‘Sorry,’ Angel apologized, ‘I forgot, you do not know our
mythology. Earth mythology does mention the Cen’t, Sa’t and
Mino’t, but it comes from a different set of beliefs to the one,
which mentions the rest of the UGE races. I was puzzled by this
since the two beliefs had very little in common.’
‘Okay so what?’ Ricci was in no mood for drawn out
explanations.
‘Because my darling, Hydras are from Greek mythology as well.’
‘Okay still not following you,’ Ricci said.

27

Igor Swann

‘You know how Norse mythology was born through the mind
link between Freyr who was here on Arken and his twin sister on
earth,’ Angel tried to explain again.
‘Yes, yes,’ Ricci rolled her eyes.
‘Well, I don’t think the idea of the Taur and Hydras were born
through a mind link. I think the Taur were actually physically on
earth at some point, or they visited earth a long time ago. I think
the Hydras were on earth as well.’
‘So you are saying they found a way back,’ Laidin spoke up for
the first time.
‘Or they were sent back,’ Angel theorized.
‘That is a viable theory,’ Noone confirmed.
‘So then we go to earth and kick their slimy behinds back to
where they came from.’
The green fires burned brightly in Ricci’s eyes now; she felt
dangerous.
A cheer went up around the senate chambers.
‘It is not that simple,’ Noone interjected when the crowd
quietened down.
‘The Valk’r already tried that and failed. The creatures seem to
multiply exponentially.’
‘Then we find the source, cut of its head and burn the wound
close,’ Ricci sneered, she was not about to be denied a fight now.
‘There is more…’ Noone softly continued.
Everyone caught the subtle undertone in Noone’s voice.
Something worse was about to come.
‘The Valk’r might well all be deceased,’ he breathed solemnly.
‘What!’ Ricci screamed in anguish.

28

Eye of the Gods

‘The Valk’r warrior in the recovery ward may well be the last
survivor. I could not get a clear vision from her regarding the last
part of her experiences while on earth, but there had been a
surprise attack on the Valk’r, by intelligent creatures with a clear
purpose. I could not get a description of them, as they seem to
hide and attack from the shadows. All I know is that they are
bloodthirsty and deadly. This girl escaped by good fortune alone.’
‘Yes and fortunate for us too,’ Angel grimaced at the tortured
visions that were now clouding his thoughts.
Ricci sat in stunned silence.
‘You could not have mentioned this before,’ she said through
clenched teeth.
Noone said nothing.
She advanced dangerously.
‘You could not have mentioned before that my friends and
family have been wiped out?’ Ricci snarled.
No one was stupid enough to get between Ricci and her prey.
Angel needed to act.
‘Order, the council will come to order,’ he demanded with
authority, saying the only thing that came to mind at such short
notice.
Ricci hesitated.
‘Friends, we need to prepare to leave for Earth, right now,’ he
commanded and gestured to Ricci that they would be leaving
straight away.

29

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.05
The throne carved from solid stone stood in the middle of the
huge chamber. The walls were granite and covered in hieroglyphs
of kings and gods. A huge mirror covered the wall in front of the
throne in its entirety.
On the throne, an exceptionally irritated masked figure tapped
its fingers on the armrests.
Bruxa had often hid in the shadows and just marvelled at this
being.
It wore a long hooded dark green cape, so dark it appeared
almost black, and in the dim light would easily be mistaken for
black. Bruxa had to consent that this strange green hid the wearer
more effectively in darkness than simple black would.
She wondered why this being would ever want to hide. She
could not imagine anything on earth powerful enough to face it in
battle.
Its clothes and boots were of the same dark green cloth, with
many bits of metal intricately weaved and moulded around the
cloth. The larger metal pieces included gauntlets, and the
terrifying mask. Bruxa noted relieved that the hood mostly hid the
mask from sight. The metal appeared to be strange dark platinum
colour unlike anything Bruxa had ever seen.
Strangely the metal bits seemed to enhance the movement of
the creature instead of impede it.
Bruxa desired so much to touch the strange metal, but the fear
for this malevolent creature kept her from ever giving way to her
desire.

30

Eye of the Gods

‘What is taking so long?’ The Lamie master rasped the rhetorical
question. It knew no one could answer the question, but the
question still made its blood boil.
The figure flung itself from the throne, and swiftly strode
towards the exit.
‘Have we any more Valk’r left for my training?’ it shot at the
Lamie guard.
‘No master, you killed the last one this morning,’ the guard
fearfully answered.
The dark figure left without a further word, irritation clearly
visible in its long determined strides. It had been using the
captured Valk’r for its death ring matches with bladed weapons,
but unfortunately, they never even came close to scratching it.
Even when it fought unarmed, the fight only slightly alleviated the
boredom of the darklord.
The portentous figure walked through a labyrinth of endless
narrow passages before coming to another chamber. This
chamber resembled the throne room in that, pictograms and
hieroglyphs covered the walls. In the middle of the chamber a
detailed and obviously ancient sarcophagus stood.
I suppose I have you to thank for my good fortune, the figure
smirked at the sarcophagus.
If not for your descendants, I would never have known about
the gate, which finally gave me the opportunity to annihilate my
enemy. The thought made it smile; a smile that would cause
weeds to wilt uncontrollably.
The masked being’s thoughts drifted back to where it all began.

31

Igor Swann

The memory started in a dark alley on a desperate night. Calmly
leaning against an old graffiti ridden wall, the dark clad figure
cleaned its nails with a long bladed dagger, made from a strange
metal. The foul smell emanating from the dumpsters did not seem
to bother the figure in the least. It appeared relaxed and alert as it
waited patiently.
It expected to meet an informant, someone who claimed to
have information on an item it sought.
The flicker of a shadow caught its eye.
Wrong scent, wrong shape, interesting, it thought.
It sneered beneath the mask but gave no outward sign that it
knew about the stalker.
Another unobtrusive movement caught its attention, this time
from a different direction.
This is getting better and better, the evil figure thought to itself.
Something leaped.
The masked figure did not appear to move but a head rolling
into the street suggested its dagger probably did move.
The second assailant had less luck, since it now had the masked
figure’s fingers firmly attached to her neck.
She slowly felt the life leave her body as the iron grip around
her neck tightened. Her feet remained suspended almost a foot
above the ground.
The confused creature slowly lost her hold on life.
The grip seemed to slip a bit and it felt like the masked figure
was inspecting her.
She tried desperately to break free, but the figure did not seem
to notice.

32

Eye of the Gods

How can this be, she thought, we are much stronger than
humans are?
Hunted for centuries they were only alive because of their
inhuman strength and agility.
How could a human be this strong, and why does it not just kill
me? She pondered her seemingly final thoughts.
It took a couple of minutes before the figure with the dark
hooded cloak started to speak.
‘What are you?’ it rasped inquisitively.
‘I… I am Bruxa, a… a Lamie,’ she stammered, not wanting to lie
and provoke the wrath of this frightening apparition, calmly
choking the life out of her.
She felt the grip tighten again.
‘Again, what are you, and I do not like repeating myself?’ the
grating voice calmly came from behind the mask.
A dagger appeared from nowhere in the evil figure’s hand.
It nonchalantly started to flick pieces of Bruxa’s flesh from her
body.
She experienced intense pain, overshadowed only by her fear of
this fearsome figure.
‘We are Lamies my lord,’ she said, and quickly added as she saw
the blade aiming for her eye, ‘cursed creatures of the night,
descendants of Princess Lamia. We drink the blood of humans to
sustain our life.’
‘Hmmm, interesting… and what pray tell gave you the
impression that I was human.’
‘My lord…?’ The confused Lamie surrendered. Why would this
masked figure not be human?
‘Are you human?’ the dark figure asked.

33

Igor Swann

Bruxa felt relief that the demonic being had stopped deboning
her. She knew however, that one answer not given to its
satisfaction would cause the torture to begin anew. She carefully
chose her words.
‘Bruxa is half-human my lord… the ancient mother was a
princess but she had an affair with a god. The god’s wife found
out and cursed our mistress to be a monster that never sleeps.’
‘Hmmm,’ the tall figure replied again.
‘Mistress took revenge by murdering and destroying all the
babies she found and drinking their blood,’ she added this
because she sensed her captor would enjoy this bit of
information.
Was it smiling? Bruxa wondered.
‘And what can you offer me that would let me spare your
miserable life?’ the evil one asked.
The Lamie thought long and hard. She had nothing, nothing of
value at least.
I am going to die tonight she thought. Her mind flashed back to
the miserable life she had lived, but even now, the survival
instinct was strong within her. She was not ready to die.
‘Maybe… maybe I can help the master with something,’ she
offered.
‘How could you possibly help me?’ the grating voice asked.
‘What does master desire?’ She desperately inquired.
‘To kill everyone and destroy the earth,’ it said as a simple
matter of fact, annoyed that her informant never showed.
It would deal with him later.
Bruxa tried to laugh but her throat was still clamped shut.
‘Master is not serious,’ the Lamie returned in a fearful voice.

34

Eye of the Gods

She felt her body lift up until she stared into the complete
darkness behind the eyeholes, her face hovering a few millimetres
from the evil being’s mask.
She had never been more frightened in her life. What manner
of demon is this, she wondered?
‘I obviously have no use for you,’ it announced as the grip
tightened again, this time with a definite finality to it.
‘Master… Bruxa has a secret,’ Bruxa managed to squeeze out
with her second last gasp.
The grip relaxed.
‘A secret of the gods,’ she said in a barely audible whisper,
gulping down a welcome mouthful of air.

35

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.06
Gemmi did not attempt to hide the irritation clearly visible in
the bright sunlight that filtered through the huge windows in her
office. Her office space resided at the top of the incredible dome
that marked the only outwardly visible area of Valk’r base.
The Valk’r built the base inside of a mountain, which was a
maze of tunnels and secret passages.
The home of the Valk’r named New Valhalla.
The lavishly decorated caverns inside the mountain were from
riches hoarded by this once secret organization. The Valk’r use to
be more secret than the Illuminati, to such an extent that no one
on earth knew about their existence until roughly two decades
ago.
Stories of the Valk’r told only in Norse mythology, described
them as beautiful maidens who took fallen warriors to Odin’s
banquet in the sky. These stories were born from the fact that the
Valk’r warriors have been the sworn protectors of earth and in
ancient times would find battles where they would take the
injured and dying from the battlefield. The Valk’r would fly the
injured warriors in their fighters to Valk’r medical treatment
centres, which in ancient times, became misconstrued as taken to
heaven.
The attack on earth by the Taur forced the Valk’r out of the
shadows, and into a war, they had trained centuries to fight. Even
so, they were ill equipped to battle such an armada. Only with the
intervention of the UGE lord and his fleet had the Taur been
defeated.

36

Eye of the Gods

Now, two decades later a new enemy threatened earth’s
existence. Reports have been coming in all morning about more
and more of these nine-headed creatures attacking population
centres.
They seem to seek out technology, but they had no problem
killing everything they encountered to get to that technology.
The Valk’r has been trying to exterminate this plague for the
past week. Their successes however, seemed severely limited
with more and more reports of these creatures’ worldwide
infestation.
What made things worse was wherever they kill one of these
beasts it left a toxic spill, since their blood was like acid.
Brave people fighting these beasts had been left horribly
deformed and scarred when the creatures ruptured.
Gemmi stood up from her chair and walked around the desk,
her long shapely legs and slim figure accentuated even more by
the determined strides she took as she paced the length of the
office.
A small blue monkey-like creature peacefully slept on the
couch, unaware of the turmoil raging in its best friend’s mind.
It wore the same style of white tunic as Gemmi did. Perhaps
because it was her best friend and she liked to play dress up. On
the other hand, perhaps because this little creature would wait
every morning to see what Gemmi wore that day, before finding a
matching outfit of his own. Her tailor knew that every outfit
Gemmi requested, he needed to make in two sizes. Even the
evening gowns, which Gemmi could never convince her most loyal
companion, was for girls only.

37

Igor Swann

The tailor did not welcome a visit from the little creature if it did
not have a matching outfit. Mostly because when angered the
adorable little blue monkey would increase in size to a less
adorable 18 foot guerrilla like creature that would use King Kong
for a chew toy.
The tailor knew by now, to have several replacement sets
ready, since the creature would often get angry with someone
telling him how cute he looks, and then pat him on the head.
Nobody felt the urge to pat a 5-ton juggernaut on the head.
Gemmi’s golden blond hair shone as the sun rays played on it.
She stopped pacing and smiled down at Loser, the little blue
creature.
‘It’s been almost 24 years we have been together now, my little
friend,’ she whispered. ‘Together we have had some amazing
adventures in that time,’ her face grew grim again, ‘but this time
my friend I think we are in a lot of trouble.’
One of her lieutenant arrived, interrupting her thoughts.
Carra was a beautiful red headed girl, with a seductive voice
and, a bewitching presence.
‘I hope you have good news Carra.’
‘Afraid not your ladyship,’ she muttered, ‘it’s getting worse
daily.’
‘We still have no idea where they come from?’ Gemmi asked.
‘No my lady, however, we have narrowed the most probable
location down to Central Europe, possibly Romania,’ Carra replied.
‘Well then, send everybody we can spare to Central Europe. We
must find the source,’ Gemmi Commanded.

38

Eye of the Gods

Gemmi felt like a crocodile with braces and she had a lot of food
stuck in them with no little plover to clean her teeth. It was
starting to smell rotten to the core.
Someone is behind this, she thought to herself, they did not
appear by accident and their movement seemed too organized.
Gemmi was sure the answers lay at the source of the
infestation.

39

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.07
‘Stop wasting time! We’ve got to go!’ Ricci yelled.
‘Yes darling, but we still need to organize the kids,’ Angel
explained, trying not to sound too irritable.
‘They can sort themselves out. They are old and ugly enough!’
Ricci’s patience was wearing wafer thin, only a few civilized
threads now separated her from going primal on her husband.

Just a short while ago Angel was left with the duty of informing
his kids that they were not going along.
‘But Dad…’ Blade begun, but was immediately cut short.
‘No buts, no arguments, no nothing. We do not have time for
this, and you will stay here,’ Angel sternly replied.
‘But dad…’ Storm began. She stood exactly as her mother
would, her hands on her hips and lips pursed tight. In outward
appearance, she resembled him, dark hair, grey blue eyes, but
personality wise she was becoming her mother, more with each
passing day.
Blade on the other hand had his mother’s golden hair and
piercing green eyes, but definitely Angel’s temperament. He was a
born leader, compassionate and fair, but without his father’s
reluctance to lead.
Storm gave her dad one of those stares, that coming from her
mother, would have had Angel wishing that he could change into
a hat stand made from titanium and hope she would not notice
him. However, this was his daughter; he could deal with her. She

40

Eye of the Gods

might now, after years of training under her mother, wield a semi-
automatic rifle but he had the support of the original
intercontinental ballistic missile with a 2000-kiloton yield, and he
was not afraid to use it. All he had to do was press the big red
button.
‘Darling,’ Angel called out to someone in the next room. He
smiled at the twins, ‘would you mind coming here for a second.
The kids are refusing to stay.’
The twins heard a growl from the room next door and decided
that for the sake of their health and the position of their heads, it
might be better to pull a David Copperfield on themselves. They
scampered off without another word.

Angel tapped the mindcom on his chest; it was in the form of a
pendant shaped like Skibladne.
‘Please ensure Skibladne is ready for departure,’ he informed
his engineers.
‘Sir?’ a very confused thought entered his mind.
‘We need to depart soon, please ensure Skibladne is ready,’
Angel tried again, thinking the chief engineer might have
misunderstood his previous request.
‘But sir, you instructed us to start disassembling the jump drive
as soon as you returned from holiday, so we may install the
modifications you proposed,’ the perplexed thoughts of his
engineer returned.
‘The jump drive is currently in a million pieces.’
‘Damn,’ Angel thought, ‘I forgot about that.’
‘Ricci, darling, it seems we need to find alternate
transportation, Skibladne is not going anywhere.’

41

Igor Swann

He explained to her what happened.
‘What? Did you have an extra bowl of stupid this morning, why
didn’t you just have them shoot down the Valk’r while you’re at
it…’ she gave him a dangerous look, ‘aargghhh,’ she roared before
sweeping around to go and find the others.
She bumped into Laidin in the hallway.
‘Laidin,’ Ricci’s exasperated voice reached the El Queen’s
pointed ears, ‘Skibladne is broken. Have you got a tub we can
use?’ she asked not immediately realizing how forceful her
demand sounded.
‘Yes princess, the Royal El Cruiser is in orbit right now. I also
have 2000 El Fighters on manoeuvres testing our new
experimental ships in this sector. I will recall them immediately,’
Laidin calmly answered.
Ricci’s eyes softened, ‘I’m sorry cousin. Thank you,’ she said
before rushing off to go and finish packing.
Ricci felt relieved. She did not even think on the fact that they
would need support once they reached earth. The band of heroes
was a formidable force, but not enough to conquer the evil she
imagined would be waiting for them.
Thanks again cousin, I owe you big time; she thought to herself
and smiled a wry smile.

It was only about an hour later that the cruiser departed at full
burn from Arken with destination earth.
The kids watched with heavy hearts as the light generated by
the ship’s engines faded away when it left orbit.
‘This is so incredibly unfair,’ Storm announced exasperated.

42

Eye of the Gods

‘We all agree,’ Phalin added, ‘but this was the wish of our
parents, and we must abide by their rule. They are after all the
leaders of the civilized galaxies.’
‘Says who?’ Feral sneered.
‘You question our parents’ rule?’ Throm innocently asked.
‘No you halfwit, the abiding by their rules part,’ Feral scoffed.
A fire flashed in Throm’s eyes. Feral called him a halfwit on
purpose, seeing he was almost half the size of the others. This
Aesir needs to learn when to hold his tongue, he angrily thought,
its time someone taught him a lesson.
‘Apologize apprentice mage,’ Throm exclaimed through
clenched teeth. The short dwarven fuse burned brightly.
‘Or what,’ Feral telepathically asked with a glint in his metallic
like eyes.
Throm’s hammer started to crackle as small lightning bolts shot
from its head. ‘Or we shall see if the Aesir head is truly harder
than a tremal crystal1.’
‘Gentlemen, this is not the time and place to initiate a petty
feud,’ Phalin interjected and turned to Feral, ‘Feral, apologize
immediately.’
Phalin although the youngest of the group at only sixteen;
already showed the bearing of an El Princess. She spoke with
authority, and seemed to be the most mature of the kids.

1
Tremal crystal is the hardest morphologic element known in the universe.
Only a few Dwar were skilled enough to process it. It took a large vocabulary of
swear words to do the job properly.

43

Igor Swann

The Elven princess made no threats; she did not need to. Feral
knew that if he continued with this game, he was going to be
seriously outnumbered.
‘Okay, okay, I apologize for calling you a halfwit Throm,’ he said
quite reluctantly, ‘that’s the long and the short of it, but I am sure
you only caught the half of that,’ he laughed and bounced away.

Shen quietly stood watching the events unfold.
She rarely if ever got involved in the others’ arguments. Unlike
the rest of her species, she had the ability to dream.
She had the same long slender limbs as the rest of her species
with the huge almond eyes, and thin face, but in a strange way,
she appeared quite attractive.
Her thoughts turned to her most precious possessions, namely
the blasters securely strapped to her hip. These were a gift from
her friends a year ago.
These additions departed noticeable from her species usual
peace loving ways, as they did not regard anal probing as
aggressive behaviour.

The twins had made a bet on who could design and build the
best blaster weapon, with their friends eagerly joining in.
They had just finished a semester on advance hand held
weapons, and they were eager to test its practical applications.
This would be the girls against the boys, the gender battle, and
everybody knew who would win.
The only three rules were that Shen, deemed adjudicator, must
be able to fire it without being seriously injured; this rule changed
from killed at her request. That they had two months to build it

44

Eye of the Gods

and that it must still resemble an ordinary blaster for the most
part, able to fit a hip holster.
Feral sulked at this last bit of news. He had already envisioned
attaching one of those ion cannons to the weapon. Who cares if
Shen would not be able to lift it, or carry it around, it would make
a big bang.
Even though Shen formed part of the girls’ team, the friends all
knew her legendary skill with blaster weapons, and they knew
that she is probably the most honest person in existence. She
would be unbiased, even towards her team when judging the
weapons.
The twins worked feverously for weeks, with the rest of the
friends providing support, and usually some of the more exotic
parts the twins required.
Storm even scavenged some of the ancient technology used in
Skibladne, after she convinced the ship that they were both
female and should stick together.
The two months passed quickly and one bright morning the six
friends met at the firing range.
The weapons looked incredible.
The boys’ team had a weapon, black as midnight, and
resembled a slightly enlarged desert eagle handgun with scope
modifications. It had dials on the side for selecting firing tempo
and type of ammo.
The girls’ weapon sporting the same dark platinum colour of
Skibladne showed a lot more style and refinement than the boys’
did. It had a sizable view screen built into the back of the gun.
Blade picked up the girls’ weapon and examined it.

45

Igor Swann

‘And where did you get this much Zellion from?’ he asked
accusingly.
Storm gave him a devilish grin, ‘oh scrounged a bit here, dug up
a bit there…’ She refrained from mentioning that Skibladne now
missed some hull plating.
‘Gumph,’ Blade snorted.
‘So let the testing begin,’ Feral declared, eagerly awaiting the
impressive bang that was sure to follow.
‘Ladies first,’ Throm suggested giving a flamboyant bow.
Shen picked up the ladies’ weapon while Storm explained.
‘We decided to build a long range sniper weapon, with pin point
accuracy. The ion beam has an endless supply of recyclable energy
and we have modified the intensity to penetrate even Zellion
alloy.’
‘The blaster’s screen,’ she said while pointing to the back of the
weapon, ‘is modified to show hidden enemy up to 5 miles away,
with infrared, x-ray and even faint electrical emission like that
from an organic life form’s skin as targeting options. The zoom
option can perfectly target an eye at this range. There is zero
recoil when fired, and beam intensity and widening options for
unforeseen circumstances, like opening doors or being attacked
by more than one enemy,’ Storm proudly concluded her little
presentation.
‘May I direct your attention to the screen?’ Storm said pointing
to a monitor next to her.
‘This target has been set up at a distance of 5 miles, so you will
probably not be able to see it with the naked eye,’ Storm
explained, ‘Shen if you will.’

46

Eye of the Gods

Shen levelled the weapon and the settings on the back seemed
to adjust themselves until the target was clearly visible.
‘As you might have noticed the weapon settings is complete
controlled by Shen’s mind,’ Storm stated beaming.
‘I object,’ Feral exclaimed, ‘you had access to Shen and could
map her brainwave patterns.’
The rest of the boys nodded in agreement.
‘Fine,’ Phalin sighed, ‘Shen please disregards this feature in your
final assessment.’
Shen nodded and then expertly fired the blaster, causing a
burning hole to appear in the centre of target on the screen in
front of the friends.
Cheers went up all around her.
‘Wow that was amazing shooting,’ Blade exclaimed.
‘Yes Shen, well done,’ Phalin agreed.
‘Now it’s our turn!’ Feral excitedly announced, not even waiting
for the cheers to die down.
‘Go ahead,’ Storm replied confident in the superiority of their
creation.
Blade cleared his throat.
‘Ehem… well we decided to build something with a little more
kick,’ he said smiling.
‘This is a mini missile launcher with a tachyon cannon option.’
His smile widened.
‘That’s impossible!’ Phalin exclaimed, ‘there is no way a tachyon
cannon can fit into a blaster, and even if it could, which it cannot,
it would destroy the blaster when fired.’
‘Hmmm… and there the little ladies thought they were the only
team who could talk to Skibladne, or steal her hull plating,’ Feral

47

Igor Swann

grinned while ducking to avoid a wild blow from Storm aimed at
his head.
‘So, Skibladne helped you design your weapon?’ Storm asked
accusingly.
‘No more than she helped you,’ Blade flashed back.
‘Fine, fine, you may engage in mortal combat later. You both
cheated, so let us see what this thing can do,’ Phalin said fulfilling
her normal arbitration duty.
Storm just gave her brother a dirty look and reluctantly
relinquished the floor.
‘As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted,’ he said
with a wide grin on his face, ‘our weapon fires missiles and
tachyon blasts. It has the capability to lock on to heat signatures
and electrical signals. Once you have identified your target, the
weapon will track it wherever it goes, and display its position in a
radar grid on your wrist console.’
Throm beamed, as this was his idea, ‘Your missile will follow
and destroy any target, currently tracked on your wrist console,’
he repeated just to be sure everyone heard.
‘Miniature missiles that have heat seeking and radar guidance
options,’ Phalin expressed duly impressed.
‘Oh yes,’ Throm could not contain his enthusiasm any longer, ‘it
also has the explosive equivalent of a level 7 Skibladne stinger
missile, which means it can disable everything from fighters to
reapers.’
Blade smiled and looked at his friends.
Feral not about to be left out, added, ‘and of course if you really
feel the reaper or fighter is annoying, just use the tachyon
cannon. The target disappears like magic.’

48

Eye of the Gods

Feral pretended to be deep in thought, ‘hmmm… I wonder if it
can make Storm’s mouth disappear. No. Nothing is that powerful,’
he jested while quickly changing into a Gerbit and dashing for the
nearest tree.
The teams laughed while watching the young mage awkwardly
trying to evade Storm shooting at him with the girls’ new blaster.
‘Stop, please, stop,’ he yelled before dropping out of the tree,
compliments of Storm removing the branch from beneath his
paws.
Shen brought some sanity to the preceding. She was eager to
see what the boys’ weapon could do.
Blade made a few adjustments to the screen, until it showed a
banged up old reaper in the distance.
‘My lady, if you please,’ Blade bowed.
Shen fiddled with the controls until she got the reaper in her
sights. She locked the radar guidance and fired a missile.
Blade continued, ‘unfortunately we could only fit 6 missiles in a
weapons clip, but the tachyon cannon is good for at least 100
shots before it needs to be recharged.’
The group intently watched the screen as the smoke trail
swirled and hit the target.
A gaping hole appeared in the side of the reaper.
‘Bravo,’ Phalin acknowledged.
Even Storm cheered.
‘Now the tachyon, now the tachyon,’ Feral screamed.
‘Yes, yes, we are getting there,’ Blade answered exasperated.
He adjusted the screen again, to show a decommissioned
fighter.

49

Igor Swann

‘Unfortunately the cannon’s range is a lot less than the
missile’s, but it packs a much bigger punch. You need a visual fix
on the target and a range of no more than 200 yards.’
Shen levelled the weapon again, took aim and fired.
The recoil knocked her off her feet, and she went flying
backwards into the wall.
Everybody ran to her side, trying to see if she was alive.
‘Shen speak to me,’ Blade screamed, ‘Sorry, I mean think to
me!’
‘I’m okay,’ a weak response came from the girl.
‘Throm, you dolt, I told you to make sure you balance the
recoil,’ Blade remarked accusingly.
‘Hey I am sorry; I am a Dwar after all. I forgot to factor in that
we have a lower centre of gravity and much firmer footing,’
Throm mumbled.
‘A much lower centre of gravity, at about waist level, and a foot
off the ground,’ Feral quipped.
Throm was too embarrassed to pummel Feral.
They helped Shen to her feet.
‘Hey! Shen still managed to hit the target,’ Feral exclaimed.
It was true. A screen completely devoid of a relic fighter greeted
the friends.
‘Brilliant Shen, absolutely brilliant,’ Storm verbalized what
everyone thought.
‘So who’s the winner Shen?’ Feral asked.
Shen thought hard and long.
‘Come with me,’ she finally projected into her friends’ minds.
The troop followed her to the hangars.

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Eye of the Gods

‘I think the prize for the perfect weapon should go to…’ she
paused for dramatic effect, ‘…Skibladne.’
The teams stared at her in disbelief.
‘Well you both agreed that she designed most of the weapons’
features, and it is her hull plating featuring in both the weapons,
thus I think that she deserves the prize, don’t you?’
The rest reluctantly agreed as her decision sank in, since clearly
there was no cut and dried winner in this contest.
#thank you, I sincerely appreciate the honour# Skibladne
announced in her metallic female voice.
#Wait until LOBE hears about this# she continued.
‘Who is LOBE?’ Blade asked.
#just a friend of your father’s# Skibladne answered.
The kids had never heard of their father’s alter ego. Angel
managed to keep this a secret from the children.
He sometimes wondered how they would feel about their
father talking to a voice in his head, and the voice talked back,
often to other people. He did not care to find out what they
would think.
No, definitely did not want to find out.
Anyway, LOBE mostly just showed up when there was trouble
or something interesting that baffled Angel. He still maintained
that Angel just created the twins to spoil his fun, so he generally
disappears when they showed up. This suited Angel.

‘So what are we going to do with the weapons? Destroy them?’
Feral asked with a sly grin projected into his friends’ minds. He
had already seen how Shen’s eyes gleam when she looks at them.

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Igor Swann

‘I think that would be the right thing to do. They are far too
dangerous,’ he teased, pretending not too notice the horrified
look in Shen’s eyes.
#might I suggest that they be presented to Shen# Skibladne
proposed. She was as always monitoring the vital signs of all her
occupants, and noticed the anxiety in Shen’s bio reading.
The friends cheered the suggestion. Feral looked dejected, he
wanted to drag this out for a while.
#I have taken the liberty to create a belt in her size, with
holsters and spare missile clips. It is in the materialization
chamber#
The kids ran to the cabin and found a beautifully crafted belt
that looked like the ones their parents wore when going on a
mission. It had the Skibladne insignia on the buckle.
Shen became emotional, something that was impossible for the
rest of the Arks.
‘Thank you, thank you all,’ she said and hugged them each in
turn.
The friends beamed back at her.
She gently picked up the belt and carefully fitted it around her
slender waist, while the twins in turn placed the weapons in the
holsters on either side. They both fit like a glove and the weapons
automatically secured themselves in the holsters.
She looked spectacular… and extremely dangerous.
‘I think you better watch your step from now on Feral,’ Phalin
quipped.
‘Er, Shen, just make sure Throm adjusts the recoil on that
blaster before you use the tachyon cannon again, okay?’ Blade
warned.

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Eye of the Gods

‘I won’t forget, but for now these beauties are staying put,’ she
happily remarked with a smile forming in the kids’ minds.

53

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.08
The dark green clad figure stood in front of the huge mirror in
the throne room. It stared intently at the shapes that moved
inside the mirror. They were dark and foreboding, which pleased
the darklord immensely. They were creatures after its own black
heart, bent on mindless destruction.
The darklord turned and slowly walked back to the throne
where it made itself comfortable.
Memories invaded its thoughts again…

‘Not far now my lord,’ Bruxa said.
The tunnels smelled musty and dimly lit. This did not sit well
with the masked figure that preferred to be in open air.
‘It better not be!’
The tunnel opened into an equally dim chamber. The darkness
did not bother the evil one much; its eyes pierced every corner of
the room with ease. What it found in every corner made it smile.
‘Very good Bruxa, I did not notice you organize a welcoming
committee for little old me. Shall we ask our guests to join us?’
the voice rasped from behind the mask.
As if with an unspoken command, Lamies pealed like ants from
every corner of the room, completely encircling the dark one.
Their teeth bared, saliva dripping from their oversized canines,
while their eyes glowed like those of rodents. They snarled and
clawed the air, but they did not advance any further.
The group directly in front of the dark one parted and a
seemingly older Lamie walked through the gap. However, since

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Eye of the Gods

their age was indeterminable, it might have been a trick of the
dim light.
‘Why have you brought this human here Bruxa?’ She croaked.
‘Human?’ said the grating voice emanated from behind the
mask, obviously not amused.
‘Not human mistress. He killed Raza and almost killed me
without us laying a claw on him,’ Bruxa cringed.
‘He looks human t…’ the old voice continued, but was cut short
by the dull thud of its voice box and other vocalisation equipment
hitting the floor; the rest of the origins of the voice seemingly
unaware of this aforementioned event.
‘Would anybody else care to question my origins?’ the ominous
words floated in the stale air, while the dark figure wiped its blade
on a section of its robe.
The circle widened and fearful grunts replaced the snarls.
It was not only the speed at which the dark figure executed the
kill that had the Lamies confused, it was the fact that the figure
did not move as much as was required to accomplish this feat.
‘Now disappear! I’ll have Bruxa summon you when I am in need
of your assistance,’ it continued, ‘Bruxa, you stay.’
Nothing happened as the confusion thickened. Who was in
charge now, this demon? Should they listen?
‘Move!’ the demon commanded.
<Blink>
<Swoosh>
‘Now Bruxa, please tell me this little get together was not the
only reason you brought me here!’ the voice attempted to sound
sincere but only managed to convey the feeling of, I am going to

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Igor Swann

enjoy torturing you very, very slowly, and if you die on me early I’ll
have to follow you into hell to finish the job.
‘No master, it’s here, it’s here!’ Bruxa screamed cowering in
fear.
‘The next chamber, master,’ she said beckoning.
The darklord followed seemingly unperturbed by what might
await it.
The next passage opened into a large chamber with the only
fixtures being a throne in the middle, and an enormous mirror
covering the opposite wall. The darklord unsheathed one of its
daggers and proceeded to sharpen it on its metal gauntlets.
Bruxa who had walked with fear her entire life, befriended it,
and used it so effectively to terrorize and horrify her prey, had to
admit that she was in the presence of the being that fear might be
afraid of facing.
‘There master, look!’ she stammered.
‘I am looking Bruxa, and I will be looking at your bloody
intestines decorating this floor, if I do not see something
extraordinary by the time this dagger reaches your throat.’
‘The mirror master, look closely at the images in the mirror,’
Bruxa pointed while covering her throat with her free hand.
The dark figure stared and… the image in the mirror changed. It
did not see its own reflection anymore but another world.
It faded in and out.
‘It’s a gate master, a gate to the home of the gods!’
The black shape slowly moved to the mirror and touched its
surface.
It did not yield.
The mirror remained as solid and impenetrable as ever.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Bruxa, if I wished to watch indiscernible shapes on a big screen
I would have slaughtered a movie theatre, sprayed their blood on
the screen and do my own inkblot test; and done so without
travelling all the way out here.’
‘Bruxa is sorry master, but the master is smart, smarter than
anyone Bruxa has ever met. Bruxa thought the master might
understand how to open the gate.’
The darkness behind the mask’s eyes burned into Bruxa’s skull.
‘Sit master, please,’ Bruxa motioned towards the throne, ‘and
Bruxa will tell master the story of the gate, and what lies beyond.’
Bruxa cleared her throat, and then started to cough as phlegm
hit her windpipe.
‘Sorry,’ she sputtered.
She tried again.
‘In the days of the gods, they used this gate to visit earth and
return to their world. Three terrible creatures called the furies
guarded this gate. They were sisters called Tisiphone, Megaera
and Alecto, the daughters of the night,’ Bruxa explained.
‘They did not only serve as gatekeepers, but had a little side line
business of their own. They were avengers and punished
criminals, murderers, evil doers and abominations without
mercy.’
‘Of course my sisters and I are all those things, so Bruxa and her
kind were the main prey of these horrifying creatures. Princess
Lamia had the foresight to create many of us, and we scattered
into the four winds, hiding and waiting for the prophesied time to
come when Lamia would have her revenge against Zeus, Hera and
all the other gods.’

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Igor Swann

‘Lamia knew about the gate. Zeus had told her of the world he
came from. He told her how he moved between earth and
Olympus. The location of the gate was however kept secret.’
‘Many Lamies died at the hand of the furies trying to discover
the location of the gate. After many years and the sacrifice of
hundreds, the furies made a mistake and led a Lamie to the
entrance of Olympus.’
‘On Olympus a similar battle unfolded between the Olympian
gods and a goddess named Echidna. She became the mother of all
monsters like the Nemean Lion that was killed by Hercules,
Cerberus the three headed dog whom she gave to Hades,
Chimera, Medusa the Gorgon, the Sphinx and the Lernaean Hydra
to mention but a few. She too had the torso and face of a
beautiful woman and the lower body of a snake. She ate the raw
flesh of her victims and she was immortal,’ Bruxa continued.
‘You better get to the point quickly my dear Bruxa, I am getting
impatient,’ the grating voice announced, ‘what makes you think I
care at all for this pathetic planet’s history?’
‘Master, there is a point to all of this, Bruxa swear,’ Bruxa
stammered.
‘Continue,’ the darklord commanded.
‘Echidna came to hear of Lamia and felt an immediate kinship.
Since the gate could only be operated from earth she had to wait
for it to be activated by the furies for one of the Olympian gods,
and managed to slip through before it closed.’
‘Why could it only be operated from earth?’ the terrible voice
came from behind the mask.
‘Selfish little gods, did not want all the other gods to use earth
as their playground. They restricted access to earth through the

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Eye of the Gods

gate, and the furies ensured that it would only open for Zeus and
his friends. Zeus was afraid that if the gate could be opened from
Olympus the other gods could find a way through, but he also
knew that as long as he controlled the furies, the gate would be
safe.’
‘Fine, continue,’ the darklord ordered.
‘Echidna and Lamia met and the sisterhood was formed. They
looked alike, they loved the same food namely flesh and they had
the same goal. Kill the Olympian gods.’
‘This is becoming beyond boring Bruxa. I guarantee you, if you
say one more word I will fall asleep, and my dagger will fall from
my hand; but be assured it will end its fall in your heart,’ the
darklord rasped.
Bruxa pointed at the murky passage, and then stammered ‘I will
go find Drugunxa. She is our entertainer.’
‘I won’t need to come find you, will I Bruxa?’
‘No my lord,’ Bruxa said in a soft voice trailing off as she silently
left.

A colourful yet odd creature walked in. It seemed patched
together from odd bits of clothing, other people’s hair and old
chewing gum.
‘Master,’ she said with a flamboyant bow, ‘I am honoured and
humbled by your majestic and wondrous presence.’
The darklord said nothing. Its mask remained half hidden in the
shadows of the cloak and the gloom, but Drugunxa suddenly
wished that she rather saw nothing.
The evil it emanated terrified every synapse in her system.

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Igor Swann

‘Bruxa told me where in the story she ended, so I am here to tell
the rest,’ she hesitantly tried.
Still the darklord said nothing; it simply started to flip the
dagger repeatedly, catching it neatly after each turn.
‘The story my lord, of Echidna and Lamia's ultimate revenge,’
Drugunxa began.
<Flip>
‘Echidna was married, to a god, a bad ass mother named
Typhon. He scared the living crap out of the other gods, and that
must have been the attraction because he was one ugly mother
father.’
<Flip>
‘This son of a planet, since earth was his mother and hell was
his father, had 100 goddamned ugly heads like snakes, which
coiled together to form one big one. He had too many snake-like
arms and legs to be of actual use to anyone, and if he coughed up
a fur ball, rather hope you are somewhere else since it was made
of molten lava and rock. He also had this poison tear thing going
from his eyes, so yeah, he was a bad, real bad.’
<Flip>
‘Anyway he put the good fear into the gods and those scared
little shits all packed their little halos, shoes with wings and
lightning bolts and went to hide in Egypt. Hoping some other gods
could protect their sorry asses from Typhon; The Man!’
<Flip> <flip>
‘So then the whore Athena cracked a few smart assed remarks
at Zeus and wham bam thank you mam, the sucker fell for it. He
took on Typhon, and got his lightning butt kicked from here to the

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Eye of the Gods

Corycian Cave, where Typhon cut out Zeus’s sinews and stuffed
him in a leather body bag.’
<...>
‘Unfortunately the damn bitch Athena got the other gods riled
up and Pan the pansy-assed-man and Hera, Zeus’s main screw
when he was not seducing innocent princesses like Lamia, went to
look for the wiener. Long story short, they found him and fixed
him up for round two.’
<Flip>
‘Of course his little ego was stomped on and spat on, and he
lost face with the other little gods, so he just had to go back for
more. He got a personal trainer, started taking steroids and his
protein shakes, did the entire clean living thing, no more snorting
coke in the mornings, you know.
Man what a battle, Zeus pulled hair, kicked Typhon in the shins,
biting, the whole nine yards. It was like trying to beat up the
school yard bully that was held back for 23 years and Zeus was 6
years old.’
<Flip> <flip> <flip>
Drugunxa swallowed hard.
‘This time The Man Typhon threw a whole mountain at Zeus,
but the electrical power plant got lucky. He hit the mountain with
a few of his lightning bolts and it fell back on Typhon. And there
he still lies today, buried beneath mount Edna.’
<Flip>
‘Anyway, Echidna wanted her man back and both wanted to
kick Zeus’s monkey butt.’
‘The plan was for Lamia and her brave Lamies to lure Zeus’s
lapdogs, the Furies, away from the gate. Then Echidna could get

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Medusa through the gate, while she, that is Echidna, starts a little
war on Olympus, making sure all the little gods run back home.’
<Flip> <flip> <flip>
SHIT, Drugunxa thought, I am going to die, better end this soon.
‘Medusa1 waits for the Furies to get back, and then casts her
evil eye on them, turning them to stone. Meanwhile Lamia goes
to free the man from beneath the mountain and brings him to the
gate. Then Echidna and Typhon kick the Olympian puke’s asses on
the other side. That was the plan.’
<Flip>
‘So, and the rest is a little fuzzy, but apparently Medusa zapped
the Furies but lost her head somewhere. That’s four gods down.
Lamia could not get the Man out from beneath the mountain, and
since there was no gods left on earth’s side to open the damn
gate, everybody was stuck on their own side of the mirror.’
‘Just say that again,’ the darklord spoke for the first time, the
evil grinding voice sent chills down Drugunxa’s spineless spine.

‘Er… yeah… did Bruxa not tell you?’ Drugunxa seemed confused,
‘we can’t open the gate because we have human genes, only a
god can open it, and the god needs to be on this side.’
‘Bruxa… come here,’ the malevolent voice commanded in a way
a cat would invite a little bird closer before ripping its head off.

1
Medusa was able to turn people into stone just by looking at them. Her blood
is rumoured to be able to heal and kill depending on which side of the body it
came from. She had a gorgeous snakehead hairdo, but struggled to keep the
same hairdresser for long.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Master, it is not like that. You said yourself you are not human;
therefore, I thought that you could open the gate. I am sorry
master. Please won’t you just try, please?’ Bruxa pleaded.

...The memory faded as the darklord returned to the present
with the sound of an anguished scream. The tormented noise
came from the other side of the mirror, and the sound pleased
the darklord immeasurably.

63

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.09
New Valhalla bustled in a hive of activity, as the Valk’r initiated
alert level Charlie. We found the source of the infestation, the
message had echoed through the great halls. Gemmi rushed to
the control room with Loser in tow.
‘Where?’ she breathed as she rushed through the door.
‘An old forgotten castle in Transylvania,’ the answer came
immediately.
‘Do we have a point of penetration and schematics?’ Gemmi
asked.
‘Coming through as we speak; our spy satellite is finishing deep
penetration scans and heat formation tracking right now,’ the
commander replied.
‘Ready all squadrons,’ Gemmi commanded, ‘we attack as soon
as we have an identifiable target.’
Gemmi took up position on the command chair with a clear
view of the numerous screens lining the wall. These displayed
readiness statistics, squadron vitality monitors, ground scans,
enemy positions, relief maps, 3D terrain orientation and
everything else she might need to form a battle plan.
‘Bad news your ladyship, it seems our target is underground,’
Carra pointed out, ‘we will not be able to use an air strike.’
‘Hmmm… then ready a full Gentari1 ground assault force, and
deploy,’ Gemmi commanded.

1
Gentari is the elite attack force of the Valk’r, similar to say a delta force on
seriously illegal steroids.

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Eye of the Gods

‘On second thought, leave a strong presence here too, just in
case they decide to retaliate. Also ensure our fallback positions
have been prepared.’
Gemmi did not intend to take any chances with such a
formidable enemy.
Not long after and not far from the foreboding castle, a
squadron of Valk’r fighters silently touched down.
‘We are in position your ladyship,’ Gemmi heard her field
commander report over the communication array.
The commander ran over the briefing in her mind for one last
time.
Heat signatures show the most activity in the main halls and
entrance hall of the Castle. The kitchen entrance seems the least
heavily guarded. This will provide a relatively clear route into the
subterranean levels.
‘Move out,’ she commanded using the mindcom technology
provided to them by the UGE. This allowed her to speak thoughts
directly into the conscious minds of her troops.
Silent as acrobatic ghosts, they faded into the night.
‘Eagle leader to Gentari-1; Snipers in position, and awaiting
your orders,’ the first of her captains reported in.
‘Fox and Wolf teams have reached the back entrance and
awaiting your command,’ the second of her teams reported.
‘Snake team covering primary escape route.’
‘The Great-Tropical-Whitefin-Hammerhead-Shark team in
position and covering secondary escape route.’
‘Ledra, I see you changed your team’s name again,’ the
commander hopelessly noticed, ‘so here is what I’ll do. I will give

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Igor Swann

you a name okay, and you will use it from now on. No arguments
and no objections.’
‘Your team is now the pink fluffy bunnies. Report in.’
A moment’s silence followed, then the slow and tedious
thoughts.
‘Pink… fluffy… bunnies… in… freaken… position,’ the thoughts
uttered through a clenched medulla oblongata reached Gentari-1,
followed by a severe giggling episode.
‘Now ladies would someone please attack,’ the commander’s
command flowed through the mindcom.
You would expect a lot of screaming, taking the amount of
females involved on either side of the conflict, but there were
only deathly silence. There was however, a substantial amount of
dying happening but very little noise accompanied this.
‘This is fox leader; we have reached the tunnels and are now
entering the subterranean levels.’
‘Everything seems clear so far. There is a passage leading to the
left,’ her thoughts continued to pour into the commanders head.
The Gentari Commander suddenly felt a pang of fear. This is not
right, she thought. If the upper level were full of the enemy, why
would the tunnels be unguarded? This had to be their escape
routes and they needed to keep it clear. Where are all the guards?
‘We are dropping even deeper. It has opened into another
chamber. Shit it is a trap, a cage just dropped from the ceiling. We
must have activated a trigger somewhere. Damn it, we are stuck.
Our weapons cannot damage the cage’s metal. It’s like Zellion
only a different colour.’
The commander had reason to worry, but her training taught
her... ‘No woman gets left behind.’

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‘Snake and bunny teams; move in… move, move, move,’
‘Eagle team come in,’ the commander send the thought.
Silence greeted her.
‘Eagle team respond,’ the commander tried again.
What the hell is going on, she thought, they could not have
been expecting us… could they?
‘Snake team report in.’
Again, only silence.
‘Bunny team come in.’
‘All teams fall back, FALL BACK NOW!’ she ordered.
Nothing but silence greeted her.
There were only her small team of Gentari looking at her with
anxious faces.
‘Fox and Wolf team leaders; any sign of the rescue?’
The horrible silence followed once more.
The commander felt unsure of what to do next.
Should she contact Gemmi and tell her the mission was a
complete failure, or should she try rescuing her troops.
‘Let me make that decision for you,’ a grating voice said from
behind her as if reading her mind.
She slowly turned around, not having expected a greeting by
death in person, big as life and twice as mean.
Her hand flashed to her sword but it never reached it. Her
troops experienced the same fate as her.
‘Your death was painless; be thankful for that,’ the evil voice
hovered on the night air.
‘We put the ones we knocked out with the gas in the cage with
the others. They are sleeping too. We took their radio things,’
Bruxa said with glee.

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Igor Swann

‘Excellent, bring the infiltration units to full alert,’ the darklord
ordered, ‘make sure they wait for my orders before attacking.’
Bruxa hurriedly spoke into a field radio.
‘Come Bruxa, we are needed elsewhere,’ the masked demon
smiled, anticipation of the carnage to come filled it with ecstasy.

An icy grip encased Gemmi’s heart.
She knew.
How she knew she did not know, but she knew.
Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong.
We walked into a trap.
If they knew we were coming and their leader knew anything
about the art of war, then they would realize the enemy would be
at its weakest and most disorganized now. They would coordinate
the trap with an attack.
‘Bring New Valhalla to alert level Alpha,’ she urgently
commanded.
‘Move all non-essential personnel to the fall back position.
Ensure the charges in the escape route are primed.’
The night breeze coming through the open window did little to
comfort her. An unnatural chill suspended on the warm summer
air.
Less than 37 minutes later, the first enormous boulders came
hurtling through the dome.
The shield held for the first dozen or so metamorphic projectiles
but after that, the dome resembled a pretzel run through
morphing software operated by Mango the manically depressed
monkey.

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Eye of the Gods

Shards of glass, girders and beams rained down on the Valk’r.
Those unlucky enough to be caught without a seriously large steel
umbrella, did not have long to worry about this unfortunate turn
of events.
Gemmi desperately barked orders, as New Valhalla fell into
darkness and fear.
‘The generators died, my lady,’ the anxious voice of her second
in command barely reached her ears.
The noise of shouting and screaming, and snarls and growls
filled the air in a symphony of horror.
The switch from the brightly lit halls, to the utter darkness
completely blinded the Valk’r for the moment and that made
them easy targets for the demons that seemed to swarm in from
every hole.
‘Loser, where are you?’ Gemmi screamed.
‘She felt small little hands grab her face and a familiar tail
wrapping itself around her neck.
He was scared and blinded as well. He could not morph into his
alter ego1 if he did not know with what he was supposed to be
angry.
‘All Valk’r, retreat, retreat,’ Gemmi screamed in desperation
into the pitch-black slaughterhouse.
This was no fair fight and she saw no reason to have her
warriors slaughtered to protect an inanimate object.

1
A Gerbit could change from a spider monkey size to a bus size gorilla in
seconds if it was angry enough. They communicate with emotions and are
immune to magic.

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Igor Swann

She desperately tried using the Brisingamen jewel around her
neck, but in the confusion, she could not focus on a mind clearly
enough to control it.
She tried again.
She clearly sensed another mind out there, ancient, powerful,
terrible.
Gemmi felt drawn to it, wanting to touch it, explore it; feel its
power. The ancient mind called to her, daring her to sample some
of its might.
She knew it would take her, take her mind far away and she
knew it would torture her for all eternity in the dungeon recesses
of its cranium. She knew all this. She heard its promise.
Nevertheless, the power presented the flame and even thought
the moth would not survive, it still needs to get near it.
She cautiously crept closer, inch by inch. It called much louder
now. The sense of dread washed over her soul. She could feel the
urge of this creature to destroy, anything, everything, and it
hated. It simply hated.
She was close now; she could reach out and touch it. So close. It
was right there in front of her. All she had to do was open the
door and go inside of the horrific mind.
She reached for the hand that beckoned her so gently to take it.
She did not want to; she knew she should not, but the call, it was
overpowering.
Gemmi tried to fight it. She wanted to turn and run, but her
hand kept moving towards the one beckoning her to take it.
She tried to scream.

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Eye of the Gods

The hand was not a hand anymore but a claw, a deformed black
claw, with rotting flesh falling from it and a thick black liquid that
looked like acid oozing from the wounds.
The claw lifted while its fingers parted.
A searing pain coursed through every synapse in Gemmi’s face.
‘Sorry my lady, I had to do it,’ Carra apologized, ‘you seemed to
be in a trance and the jewel glowed so brightly, but then your face
became twisted in such horror and dread that I was afraid you
were in trouble.’
‘Thanks…’ Gemmi muttered, ‘we have to go, immediately.’
‘To the fallback positions,’ Carra called, while helping Gemmi to
stand.
Suddenly Gemmi shot about 2 feet up into the air, and hung
there as if someone had her clamped around her throat, lifting
her by her neck.
Her eyes glazed over and her breathing laboured, before she
finally dropped down, and sagged into a heap on the ground.
Loser seeing that his friend and master was in trouble had
grown to the size of a small blue whale.
He carefully took Gemmi in his arms and started to run with
her. Gemmi seemed to be unconsciousness… or worse. The
Brisingamen jewel around her neck pulsated with a sinister dark
red glow.
Loser could sense the emotions from the one that had Gemmi
in his grips; he had never ever experienced such intense and
focused evil. These emotions were ancient, as old as the
mountains. This was pure unadulterated hatred. There was no
clouding by other emotions such as compassion or needs. It was
simple in its complexity. This creature hated everything equally.

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The Valk’r able to follow formed a protective shield around
them. Others carried fallen comrades they managed to find along
the way.
The tunnels appeared dark and foreboding but they kept on
running, since that which followed them was worse, much worse.
They eventually exited the tunnels and climbed onto the
platform that would take them the rest of the way.
Carra waited until the snarls and growls moved to within a few
steps from the exit of the tunnel. She knew there would be no
more Valk’r survivors, not anymore. She closed her eyes, and shed
a silent tear before she threw the switch, which caused the entire
length of the tunnel to explode in a ball of fire and molten rock.
Seconds later and only a deathly stillness remained in the
direction they just came.
She slowly walked onto the platform and activated it. Her
shoulders drooped and her eyes leaked.
Except for the groans of the injured, no one else made a sound.
They did not need to; no one had to speak to know what
everyone else felt.
Loser had shrunk back to his original size.
The little blue creature lay on Gemmi’s chest, shaking. He held a
strand of her hair in his small little blue hand and silent tears ran
down his cheeks. His head remained tightly nestled under her
chin, and his other arm wound around her neck. He tried to place
Gemmi’s arm around him to hold him, but the arm just fell back
limply.
His tiny little body convulsed as he tried desperately to fight
back the tears.

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Eye of the Gods

Carra felt such sadness come from the little creature, her heart
ached for Loser.
She could not help but go over and try to comfort the tiny ball
of fur, but he softly pushed her hand away, and continued to hug
Gemmi as if his little life depended on it.
The platform slowly gathered speed and had already put some
distance between them and the nightmares.

New Valhalla was no more.

The darklord smiled beneath the mask.
‘Bring me a live one,’ it commanded, ‘I need to send a little
message.’

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Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.10
The cruiser came into viewing range of earth.
‘It looks so peaceful from up here,’ Angel remarked.
‘I’ll build you a Zen garden, but for now, let’s go help my friends
shall we!’ Ricci shot at him.
‘To the fighters, I’ll fly with Laidin,’ Angel said ensuring he got
out of the way of his wife’s tongue.
The party rushed to the back and hurriedly took off bound for
the Valk’r base. They had an escort of about 100 El fighters
accompanying them.
As they approached New Valhalla, Angel spoke into the
mindcom.
‘El fighters secure the area, anything unnatural either
apprehend or destroy,’ Angel commanded.
‘Angel, we are from Elheimr,’ Laidin explained, ‘everything is
going to seem unnatural.’
‘Oh… right, okay then anything shoots at you or looks menacing,
destroy it,’ Angel corrected, ‘and anything with more than one
head is an automatic target.’
Ricci looked down at the crumpled mess that used to be the
once great New Valhalla.
A rage such as she has never felt before pushed up inside her
threatening to explode with the force of a nuclear warhead. She
searched in vain for a focal point to go nuclear on, but this was
not to be.

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Eye of the Gods

She was glad that Angel did not share a ship with her. She felt
ashamed for always going off at him, but she could not help
herself.
Her vocal cords somehow attached itself to an involuntary
section of the brain and her conscious thoughts struggled to keep
up.

The five friends managed to find a place to set down on a small
section of the hangar bay.
They slowly made their way through the carnage looking for
some clue as to what happened.
The dead were plentiful.
Angel knelt next to a slain Lamie and examined the corpse with
interest.
What are you? He wondered.
‘Is something amiss my lord?’ Kirom inquired.
‘Yes Kirom. This thing, I have no idea what it is. I have not seen
this kind of mutation on anyone from earth. Do you think it could
be alien?’ Angel asked in turn.
Kirom examined the body as well.
‘I do not know. It seems to have oversized canines and the limbs
seem to be strangely attached, but other than that it seems quite
human,’ Kirom concluded.
‘I could understand one person deformed in this way, but it
seems all of the dead from the enemy has the same genetic
mutation. I do not understand, maybe it had been some genetic
experiment.’
‘Ever hear of vampires?’ LOBE spat brain fluid.

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Igor Swann

‘Excuse me?’ Kirom asked confused; it seems as if Angel just
answered his own question.
‘LOBE’s back,’ Angel enlightened his dwarven friend, pulling a
face.
‘Yes I’m back baby, better believe it,’ LOBE smirked.
Kirom smiled, he wondered what had awakened LOBE now. He
probably senses danger and LOBE seems to be his advisor and a
way to double check himself. Strange though effective, Kirom
thought.
‘So these are vampires?’ Kirom asked as the rest of the heroes
joined them around the body. There had been a string of vampire
films showing when they last visited earth, therefore they knew
what it meant.
‘From my expert opinion I would say so. The mutations to their
arms and legs I would surmise would give them extra strength,
speed and agility, they might even be able to rival the Valk’r,’
LOBE lectured the group, ‘Their hands or claws seem well
adjusted to rather slice than grab their prey, suggesting they
prefer to hunt with speed instead of a direct confrontation. Their
eyes are oversized and their pupils are over-exaggerated. I would
suggest they are well adapted to see in darkness and possibly
hunt at night.’
‘How does this help us find out what happened here and where
the rest of my friends are, braniac?’ Ricci sneered. She intensely
disliked LOBE’s know it all attitude. The only reason LOBE still had
synaptic impulses was that Ricci had not become a brain
surgeon... yet.

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Eye of the Gods

‘I would suggest you check the generators,’ LOBE suggested in a
patronizing tone, ‘I assume you will find that they have been
tampered with.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Laidin asked.
‘Well, look at the way the fallen Valk’r are positioned,’ Angel
pointed on LOBE’s behalf, ‘a logical assumption is that they could
not see what they were fighting. Since the Valk’r are the most
agile warriors I have ever seen, this can be the only logical
explanation. The wounds seem mostly from failed defence and
not from attack. They were obviously moving backwards and they
backed themselves into compromising positions.’
‘They were slaughtered?’ Ricci exclaimed shocked and revolted.
‘Yes Ricci, they were slaughtered, I am so sorry,’ Angel
sympathetically replied, after reacquiring his vocal cords from
LOBE.
‘All dead... all my friends are dead,’ Ricci sat sobbing on the
ground; the fight had suddenly left her.
Angel walked over and carefully placed his arm around his wife.
She allowed him to comfort her to Angel’s great relief. Even
though Ricci never blamed him for LOBE’s obnoxious behaviour,
he could never be sure.
She buried her face in his embrace and let the tears flow
unashamedly.
Angel gently kissed his wife on the top of her head.
Laidin, Kirom and Guival continued to search the wreckage for
more clues and possible survivors. After all these weeks had
passed, no one seemed hopeful, but at least it gave the team
something to do.
LOBE cleared Angel’s throat.

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Igor Swann

What do you want now? Angel thought to LOBE.
‘Is no one going to check the tunnels?’ LOBE sarcastically
remarked.
Ricci shot up and sped off so fast that she painfully threw
Angel’s arm against the wall behind him.
‘Thanks, you numbskull,’ Angel grimaced while rubbing his arm.
‘My pleasure milord,’ LOBE remarked dryly.
Angel and the others followed at a more distinguished pace,
and met up with Ricci on her return trip.
‘The tunnel’s entrance has been destroyed, we can’t get in,’ she
explained while trying to catch her breath. This of course was
unnecessary, since she could run a whole herd of deer ragged and
then have enough energy to swim the English Channel, tangling
with a few sea monsters along the way, or go look for a few if
none presented themselves; but here the panting added to the
effect.
‘No... Really,’ LOBE replied.
Ricci gave Angel a look that hinted at the possibility that he
should sleep lightly and preferably covered in full body Zellion
armour… in a different dimension.
‘Sorry,’ Angel pointed to his head, ‘ … LOBE,’ he unnecessarily
stated in his most apologetic tone, looking like a squirrel who just
got caught stealing muffins from the windowsill, and wanting to
look innocent. Secretly he wanted to give LOBE a high five.
‘So my lord, now what?’ Laidin asked.
LOBE sighed using his, ‘are you really that blond?’ sigh. At least
Laidin knew better than to blame Angel for LOBE’s uncouth
behaviour.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Where do the tunnels lead that no one could find them unless
they had UGE technology?’ LOBE remarked.
‘The Island1,’ Angel answered himself or LOBE.

‘Yes the Island, so shall we go or are we waiting for better
weather?’ LOBE mimicked Ricci’s attitude and Angel absolutely
loved it… inwardly of course. Outwardly loving it and he might
find he needed to go potty like a girl for the rest of his unnatural
life… on a very low potty.
Laidin shivered.
She hated that place even more than the others did. Elves
needed living things surrounding them like forests. This island was
dead, completely and utterly dead.
‘We should go,’ Laidin remarked without much conviction to
the remaining heroes, ‘where is Ricci?’
Angel shrugged, anticipating the sonic boom any second now.

1
The Island was a desolate piece of real estate the Valk’r had placed some kind
of cloaking shield over so that it was invisible to pretty much anything trying to
scan for it, and did not appear on any map. See ‘Waking the Angel’

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CHAPTER 0.11

A sinister shape approached the throne in the Lamies’
headquarters on which the darklord sat.
‘Find what you were looking for?’ the darklord asked.
The other figure merely grunted and shook its head before
resuming its activities.
‘They still have not arrived but I expect them any day now,’ the
darklord commented.
The figure gave no sign of acknowledgement.
‘You are probably itching to get home?’
The sinister being again showed no interest.
‘So what are you looking for anyway?’ the darklord tried again.
The figure shrugged.
For some strange reason the darklord did not push the subject
and just fell back into a brooding silence, trying to get comfortable
on the throne.
Where are they? The Valk’r was no more and the Hydras have
systematically been destroying the earth. Why are they keeping
me waiting?
The masked figure’s thoughts drifted into the past again as
memories was all that seemed to engage its mind presently.

‘Are you sure that is how it functions?’ the darklord had asked
Bruxa.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Yes my lord, you need to be on the earth side of the mirror and
a god. Then when you see yourself in the mirror and
simultaneously Olympus the gate will open,’ Bruxa explained.
‘What you are saying, if you had any mind to explain things
clearly was that you have to project your image onto that of the
puny world of Olympus,’ the grating voice coming from the
masked figure affirmed.
‘Yes my lord, imagine you are there.’
‘Hmmm, then obviously I am not a feeble enough god to open
the gate, since I most certainly have no foul human blood in my
veins.’
Bruxa seemed dejected.
‘Where is he?’ the darklord asked.
‘Who is my lord referring to?’ Bruxa enquired puzzled.
‘The god trapped under the mountain.’
Bruxa stood gobsmacked.
We never thought to go look for him. In all these years, we
never tried to find him. What were we thinking? Were we too
scared he would destroy us all? Definitely, that is what he does...
destroy. No, no… the master cannot, must not awaken him, Bruxa
thought.
<Flip>
‘I am waiting Bruxa.’
‘No my lord, he is too terrible, you will destroy us all,’ Bruxa
whimpered.
‘That is the whole idea Bruxa, destroy everything. Oh and if you
waste my time any longer Bruxa, trust me, he is a kitten compared
to me.’

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Igor Swann

A new plan seemed to take shape in Bruxa’s mind, maybe just
maybe I could… she started to smile at the ideas rushing though
her head… good, very good, she thought.
‘He is at Mount Edna my lord,’ she finally said.
‘Then let us depart immediately for this Mount Edna of yours,’
the darklord commanded.
‘How will we get there?’ Bruxa asked.
‘Oh I have my means of getting around,’ the darklord rasped.
They walked outside the castle and stood in the front courtyard
seemingly waiting for something.
Bruxa noticed a disturbance in the air a way off, coming closer
and it started to shimmer in front of the two of them.
A moment later, it was there.
It appeared to be black, a midnight black, or rather the absence
of any colour whatsoever. It was, as you would imagine the inside
of a black hole might be. The colour of the vessel radiated its
absence so intensely it seemed to suck you in and twist your
mind. It made it almost impossible to distinguish the shape of the
vessel.
Bruxa averted her eyes, since just looking at it gave her a
migraine.
The side opened up to reveal a hatch into the vessel.
‘Get in,’ the darklord commanded.
The inside of the vessel astounded Bruxa; she had never seen
equipment like this.
The master truly is not from this world, Bruxa thought.
The darklord took up its place in the front of the vessel and the
ship lifted off and sped away silently.
They reached Mount Edna in a heartbeat.

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Eye of the Gods

The vampire master made a few intricate gestures over the
controls while intently studying the incomprehensible display.
Bruxa although intrigued did not dare ask what her master was
doing.
‘There,’ it finally said.
‘There what, master?’ Bruxa asked.
The demon lord did not answer; it simply landed the ship inside
the volcano and proceeded to disembark.
The toxic fumes and heat from Mount Edna threatened to
asphyxiate Bruxa. The darklord seemed to care less about the
noxious conditions, and strolled on.
‘Master, does this place not bother you?’ Bruxa wheezed
attempting to breath.
‘My dear Bruxa, this is paradise compared to some of the places
I have been placed against my will… of course my subjugators will
never have the chance to regret their decisions.’ This seemed to
amuse the darklord and a horribly demented sound escaped from
behind the mask, which Bruxa could only guess must be an
attempt at laughter.
Bruxa’s head began to spin as she was losing consciousness.
‘Wait on the ship,’ the darklord commanded without looking
around or breaking its stride.
Bruxa complied gratefully.
She settled down on the command chair and waited patiently.
The dark figure confidently strolled into a cavern that had
formed inside the volcano wall.
The tunnel twisted downwards and ended in a chamber that
had magma flows running in superheated streams next to the

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Igor Swann

narrow path leading into the chamber. It formed a natural Island
with only a small piece of rock protruding above the magma sea.
The only way across to the little island needed the legs of a
person at least 40 feet tall.
The darklord stood and watched the magma erupt and explode
in balls of flaming death.
It hardly flexed a muscle but an instant later, it softly landed on
the rock island.
A colossal rock coffin stood in the centre of the island. The lid
alone weighed in excess of 2 tons. The darklord lifted and threw
the lid into the magma drift with one hand and seemingly little
effort.
Inside a terrifying sight awaited it.
Even the darklord felt slightly sick for moment.
The thing inside the coffin was by far the most horrific being the
darklord had ever seen.
The black creature had snake like protrusions coiled together to
form limbs.
Strange metal shackles bound these limbs to the coffin.
The darklord stood and watched the creature, trying to
ascertain if it still lived.
Suddenly the creature’s eyes shot open.
Two sets of completely black eyes stared into each other.
Neither moved a muscle; both tried to figure out the other’s
intentions.
The darklord shrugged, removed one of its daggers and fit it in
the gap where the restraints joined around the creature’s left
wrist. A flick and the shackles fell free. The darklord moved to the
other side and repeated the procedure.

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Eye of the Gods

A booming voice reached its ears; the voice seemed to bounce
off every inch of the cavern and even though the sound caused
excruciating pain to the darklord, it showed no outward
discomfort.
‘Who are you?’ it rumbled in an ancient tongue. Small flames
leaped from its mouth and a sticky black liquid leaked from almost
every part of its body.
The acid seemed to be flowing out but none ever fell off the
body. The liquid seemed to be absorbed back into the skin.
‘Your liberator Typhon,’ the darklord rasped in the same ancient
language.
‘How long have I been here?’ it roared again.
‘Impossible to say, I only heard about you a few hours ago.’
‘What do you want of me?’ it thundered sitting up in the coffin,
its legs still bound.
The masked figure moved to the front of the coffin and in two
deft movements severed the remaining bonds.
‘Same thing you want, the destruction of everything and the
death of everyone,’ the darklord replied.
‘Good,’ the deafening voice boomed again seemingly pleased at
the answer.
‘Follow me please,’ the darklord requested and turned to leave.
It easily cleared the magma pool and waited for Typhon to catch
up.
He simply waded through the magma without much effort, and
flicked a few burning pieces of molten rock from his skin once he
reached the other side.
The darklord nodded before turning and heading up the narrow
path towards the ship while Typhon lumbered close behind.

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Igor Swann

They reached the ship in no time, and Typhon almost had to
fold himself double to get inside.
‘Please make yourself at home Typhon; we will have time to
speak shortly,’ the darklord commanded while Bruxa tried to get
as far away as possible from the hideous figure. She was about to
say, ‘I’ll walk,’ when she felt the slight pressure from the positive
g-force as they lifted off.
‘Come here Bruxa,’ the darklord commanded.
‘Yes master.’
‘What is this strange metal?’ it asked.
‘Bruxa has seen this only once before master, it is called
adamant,’ Bruxa said before continuing, ‘how did you break it
master? This is the strongest metal in all the worlds, and the only
metal strong and hard enough to shackle a god.’
‘Strongest substance this backwater planet knows of,’ the
darklord sneered.
They were fast closing on Transylvania when the darklord spoke
again.
‘Bruxa, if you were outcasts, how did you come to be in this
place in the open, it almost seems as if you were welcome here.’
‘Yes my lord, we were granted safe haven here by the Agathyrsi,
son of Echidna and Hercules. He was ruler…’ but she did not get
any further before Typhon interrupted her.
‘Echidna, what did this mongrel say about Echidna?’ Typhon
boomed in ancient Greek.
‘She said you must miss her terribly and that we will do
everything in our power to unite the two of you again,’ the
darklord lied in the same ancient tongue.

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Bruxa sat back in her chair and tried desperately to hide her
smile.
The darklord set the ship down in the courtyard of one of the
upper battlements. The trio made their way down the stairs and
into the caverns, to the chamber that housed the gate.
‘Now Typhon would you be so kind as to stand in front of the
mirror,’ the darklord asked.
‘The Olympus gate is here?’ Typhon asked.
‘Yes it was brought here by the followers of Lamia for safe
keeping,’ the darklord explained.
‘Then at last I may destroy those weaklings that trapped me
under the mountain,’ Typhon roared, ‘they were fortunate last
time, they shall not be that fortunate again.’
The darklord became a blur before it appeared between Typhon
and the gate.
‘All in good time Typhon,’ it rasped.
‘Do you dare stand between me and my destiny?’ Typhon
bellowed. The acid oozed even faster now.
‘Not at all Typhon, but I wish to present an alternative
arrangement; for a while at least,’ the darklord suggested
followed by a proposal.
‘You see Typhon if you enter the gate now, it will be sealed for
all eternity. Then you will only have the pleasure of destroying
your planet, but not this disgusting world that your enemies loved
so much. You are the last Olympian god and the last able to
activate the gate.’
Typhon seemed to listen.
‘You have waited millennia for this moment, would it hurt if you
hear me out first?’ the darklord recommended.

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‘Then speak, since I am still in your debt demon,’ Typhon
rumbled.
‘Well it is simple Typhon; I need your help to destroy earth.
Nevertheless, even though we are both incredibly powerful it
would still take decades to destroy this entire planet on our own.
We need an army and I have a suspicion you know where to get
one.’
‘An army... I need no army to defeat a few mortals,’ Typhon
thundered, affronted by the demon’s insinuation.
‘They have multiplied like a plague since you went to sleep
Typhon. They now number in the billions, and even though they
may not have the weapons to completely defeat you, they will no
longer come at you with bows and spears.’ The darklord removed
something from its back and made a few intricate movements
with its claws. There was a flash and a hole appeared in the
sidewall of the chamber, which continued for at least the next
three chambers.
Bruxa stared at the weapon in amazement, but kept her mouth
shut. She understood that her master needed to impress the god.
Typhon erupted in roaring laughter. He pulled a huge boulder
from the cavern wall. It burst into flames and began to melt
before he threw it with little effort at the roof of the chamber.
The cavern was several floors under the stronghold but a huge
section of the castle lay in ruins, and the chamber had a sunroof.
‘Interesting,’ the darklord said attempting to sound as
unimpressed as possible, ‘but now my secret chamber is exposed.’
Typhon pointed his arms at the roof. Heat seems to be
travelling into the hole and the rock around the hole in the roof

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began to melt. A stream of molten rock poured from the hole and
formed a natural pillar where the hole used to be.
‘Even though it would be a pleasure destroying the earth alone,
if what you say is true and there are that many of them it would
take too long even for me,’ Typhon grumbled.
‘Yes, it would,’ the darklord exclaimed glaring at the glowing
pillar now adorning the right side of the throne.
Typhon seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts for quite a
while, before he spoke again.
‘I do not have an army, but an army can be defeated. There is a
better way,’ something that might be mistaken for a smile formed
on Typhon’s face. It in fact looked more like a naughty baby not
wanting to eat its porridge letting it slowly gush from its mouth,
except that this was black toxic ooze coming from an ancient evil
being; not quite as cute as a baby.
‘Please enlighten me,’ the darklord stated trying its utmost to
hide its irritation. It did not handle contradiction or
insubordination well.
‘You need to travel to Olympus and find one of my children,’
‘I did mention I need an army, so unless your child can divide
itself it would be useless to me,’ the darklord shot impatiently at
the god.
‘Ah, but that is exactly what it can do,’ Typhon roared, ‘with a
little help.’
‘Tell me more,’ the darklord inquired in a sinister voice.
‘The child I am referring to is the Hydra, a huge beast with 9
heads. My child may grow back any severed part of himself.
However, what few know is that when you halve its entire body it
will form two separate creatures. Only the half that had the

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immortal head will be immortal, but the other creature would be
just as deadly as the original. The creature with the immortal head
may then be split again,’ Typhon gave what looked remarkably
like a sneer of contempt, ‘and in no time I will have an army.’
‘Excellent!’ the darklord expressed its pleasure.
‘So what are you waiting for, bring me my army,’ Typhon
bellowed.
‘Careful Typhon, we are on good footing here and we do share a
common destiny. However, if you mistake me for one of those
feeble Olympian gods, it will surely be your last mistake,’ the
darklord rasped through clenched teeth.
A flaming ball of lava1 rock appeared in Typhon’s hand. He
seemed to consider this for a moment, before he said, ‘agreed
demon, we will work together. But if I sense betrayal or any form
of disrespect; well let’s just say you will be well done to extra
crispy.’
‘Agreed Typhon, but be forewarned, this concord is yours as
well as mine. What binds me binds you.’
The darklord moved to the side allowing Typhon to stand
before the mirror.
The mirror shimmered and became like water, ripples extending
all the way to the edges.
The darklord walked up and boldly placed its gloved hand
through the glass.
‘Good, very good,’ it announced.

1
Lava since it has now left Typhon’s body, but scholars have debated this point
for centuries, since holding it in his hand you might argue that it has not left his
body yet and refer to it as magma.

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‘Now Typhon please explain to me how we find your child, and
how do we contain it?’
A long explanation followed with the demon lord interrupting a
few times and the exasperated monster god spitting molten rock.
‘Bruxa summon 30 able Lamies, ensure they are well armed,
and bring lots of rope,’ the darklord commanded.
Would it hurt him to say please? Bruxa thought, and scurried off
to fulfil her master’s wishes.
She shortly returned with a host of Lamies in her wake, all
looking extremely fearful, all having heard that a god is back, and
the most terrible one at that.
‘Very good Bruxa, now I need Drugunxa to tend to lord
Typhon’s every need; understood?’ it waited for Bruxa to nod
before continuing, ‘also ensure he does not leave. I know she can
be persuasive if needs be. Her being alive right now should attest
to that. It would be a shame if I cannot return through the gate
and must find another way back here to torture her for eternity.
But fear not I will find my way here again.’
‘But my lord he speaks a strange language we do not
understand,’ Bruxa lied.
‘Get an interpreter,’ the darklord growled, and to the rest it
motioned to follow it.
‘Master...’ Bruxa attempted to question this order.
‘Yes?’ the darklord seemed clearly agitated now.
‘Nothing master, I will follow as soon as I have briefed
Drugunxa.’
‘Excellent,’ the grating voice emanated from behind the mask.
Bruxa watched them disappear through the gate.

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She motioned Typhon to take a seat on the throne and hurried
off to find Drugunxa.
‘Drugunxa,’ she said when she finally found her, ‘the master
needs you to go keep lord Typhon amused. We must ensure he
stays happy and does not get bored. Tell him stories of his
beloved Echidna; make them up if you have to.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Drugunxa asked sensing Bruxa was
up to something.
‘Never you mind, but be assured, if I succeed we will get back all
of that which we lost,’ Bruxa smiled a knowing smile.
She hurried to the infirmary where she collected a couple of
vials and syringes.
Bruxa rushed to the gate and ran through without pause. She
had very little time to execute her plan, and time was of the
essence.
She emerged in a spectacular world. Golden clouds formed
streaks in the air swirling with a turquoise backdrop. Everything
seemed to have a glow about it and appeared to be just slightly
out of focus. The forests looked vaguely unreal with an almost too
perfect organization to them.
The birds sang in perfect harmony, unlike the random chatter
found on the earthen variety.
Bruxa forgot her self-appointed charge for the briefest of
moments and her cold and dark heart seemed to melt and lift.
She quickly scanned her surrounds and found an overgrown
path leading off to the west.
Hurriedly she started to fight through the undergrowth, but
even the scratches and bruises she sustained seemed less painful
than on earth. Most of the brush did their utmost to twist and

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bend out of her way, but she moved so rapidly that most did not
make it.
After about 2 miles, the path widened and opened onto a stone
road of which the stones seemed cast from pure silver.
She tossed a coin on which way to go from here, her quest
focusing her thoughts into a dart of deliberate action.
Where would Aegis be? How will I find it? She thought while she
hastened on.

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CHAPTER 0.12
Storm wiped the sleep from her eyes and stretched out while
another lazy morning slowly spread across Arken. In fact, it was
the second dawn breaking, as early dawn had passed quite some
time earlier.
She ambled to her dressing area and slowly got herself
presentable.
A quiet breakfast table greeted her arrival with her friends
nowhere in sight. Shen and Phalin appeared a while later after the
duo had paid a visit to the shooting range for practice.
Still the boys were conspicuous in their absence.
Storm never had a problem locating her brother though, since
with the mind link they shared, and the effects of the gene they
could find each other even when separated by galaxies.
The three girls left the dining halls chattering excitedly about
the morning’s training, and Shen’s astonishing shot with a blind
fold and a 1000-yard target.
She had somehow developed the ability to ‘see’ the target with
her mind.
The threesome walked in on the boys who busied themselves
with disassembling the Valk’r fighter.
Blade sensed his sister arrival and even though his head was
stuck inside an engine compartment called out to her.
‘Hey sis, you should see the low tech gadgets on this bucket, it
is positively ancient. We used more sophisticated parts on the
hover carts we built when we were kids.’

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‘That’s nice,’ Storm replied absentmindedly not overly enthused
with a history lesson this early in the morning. The girls took up
seats a little way off on the wing of one of the Arken scout ships
and continued talking about things girls talk about, which is
nothing important. Well at least they do not think it is important,
like boys do about their discussions. Although since girls talk
about boys, and boys talk about girls, that would mean girls do
not think boys are important but boys think girls are important.
It was not long after that Feral discovered something that
seemed out of place.
‘Hey guys, look at this,’ he projected.
The other two rushed over.
‘What do you think it is?’ Throm asked.
‘Dunno,’ Blade shrugged, ‘The technology seems newer than
the fighter, and the device does not seem to be integrated like all
the other technology. This seems to be added in afterwards and
hurriedly by the looks of things.’
The girls noticed the commotion and sauntered across to see
why all the fuss.
‘Is something amiss?’ Phalin wanted to know.
‘Just this strange thingamagic Feral found,’ Bladin explained.
The kids took turns examining the device.
‘I suggest we ask Skibladne to scan it for us,’ Throm said.
‘Good idea,’ Storm agreed.
They bundled off to go consult the ship of legends.

#it would appear to function as some kind of guidance system#
the lady gave her opinion.

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#the programming suggests its sole purpose was to pilot the
Valk’r fighter into UGE space#
‘You mean the Valk’r did not fly here?’ Bladin asked.
#speculating, it would seem the answer is no#
‘That would mean who ever planted this device knew the Valk’r
would not be conscious, or even alive?’ Throm interjected.
‘That would explain the unknown poison,’ Storm added her bit.
‘I suspect the idea was for her to expire on the journey and
appear as if she escaped, to lure the UGE to earth,’ Phalin echoed
everyone’s thoughts.
‘That means our parents are in grave danger,’ Throm
interjected.
‘I imagine they walked into a trap set for them,’ Phalin agreed.
#there is something else, even though crude whoever built this
device had knowledge of UGE technology# Skibladne stated.
‘Dad always said that the Earth technology was moving
forwards at hyper speed. Could someone not develop this from
looking at the Taur ships our parents shot down last time they
were on earth? It has been more than 2 decades,’ Blade asked.
#Possible but improbably, this device has a UGE signature and
not Taur. There might however be another logical explanation. #
‘Which is?’ Storm asked.
#Do not know, I just stated their might be# Skibladne answered
her.
Storm appeared a little white around the gills.
Shen closed her eyes and a few second later, they blinked open
again.
‘Father will meet us in the operations room,’ she stated bluntly.
They ran.

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The twins ran some distance in front of the rest because of their
enhanced nervous system followed by Phalin. The others took the
easy way out and grabbed a hover disk.
They all bundled into the operations room, but Qren had not
yet arrived.
The children impatiently waited until finally Qren floated
through the door, his slender limbs completely covered by the
robe he wore.
‘Qren, I do not know how much information Shen has given
you, but we have strong reason to believe that our parents have
been lured into a trap on earth,’ Blade announced.
‘Please continue Bladin, my daughter only asked me to meet
you here,’ Qren projected anxiously.
Blade told him of their discovery and Skibladne’s take on the
situation.
‘Hmmm… this is grave news indeed,’ Qren concluded,
‘However, what are we to do.’
‘I’ll tell you what we are to do. We are going to earth to do what
is necessary to save our parents. That’s what,’ Storm exploded.
‘Hmmm…’ Qren projected again.
‘Father...?’ Shen questioned his apparent hesitance.
Qren scanned the worried faces in front of him.
‘I will not stop you from going,’ Qren answered but added, ‘you
will however do so on your own accord, willingly and without
group pressure. Each will come to his own decision.’
The children nodded each in turn, as Qren’s huge almond eyes
found theirs.
‘Then make haste younglings, your parents may be in dire peril,’
Qren concluded.

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‘Right, you have 15 minutes before we meet in Skibladne’s
hangar,’ Blade declared.
The friends scampered off to go pack.

Blade already warmed Skibladne’s engines by the time the
others arrived in scattered formation, Feral as usual the last one
to turn up.
‘Get on board you lazy slouch,’ Storm shrieked.
‘Yes, yes, I’m coming,’ Feral projected unperturbed.
The hatch barely shut when Blade commanded Skibladne to
take off and set course for earth.
Feral had to jump for his seat and hurriedly strap in as the
enormous g-force knocked the air out of his shipmates’ lungs.
Skibladne accelerated like a bat out of hell.
Once they broke Arken’s atmosphere, the children who
required air managed to start gasping.
Blade was the first to recover, ‘mother, that was hectic.’
‘I concur, that was quite intense,’ Phalin wheezed.
Storm focussed on the view screen in front of her while she
puffed, but kept her thoughts to herself; Mom, Dad, please be OK,
please.
Skibladne interrupted her mind trip, #entering jump point in 37
seconds#
‘We arrived at the Bifrost jump point in less than 5 minutes?’
Throm exclaimed, ‘this was supposed to be a 2 hour trip.’
#Ancient’s engine enhancements# Skibladne answered.
‘How long will we be in the jump?’ Storm asked.
#about 4 days with my new jump drive#
Storm just nodded.

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#Might I suggest you prepare yourself by looking at hollow disks
on the planet and its customs#
The team agreed, and set off to do just that.

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CHAPTER 0.13
The darklord stared at the image in the mirror. The pained
expression on the heads of the Hydra as the Lamies spliced it
over, and over again comforted it. The terrible screams soothed
its anguished wait for the arrival of its enemy.
Everything had gone smoothly so far. For the past few weeks
the Hydras has systematically destroyed earth under the control
of Typhon. More recently with Typhon’s help, they had laid waste
to the Valk’r, and all it had left to do now was to wait for the
rescuers to arrive so it could have its revenge. Then it could
continue with phase 2 of its master plan.
‘Summon Typhon,’ the darklord rasped, ‘the next batch is ready
to be transported through the gate.’
‘Immediately my master,’ Bruxa said and went in search of the
god.
Bruxa’s thoughts were a confusing collage of excitement, fear,
concern, and blind commitment as she strolled through the
tunnels.

It has been almost 2 months since her daring and masterful plan
became a reality.
Her timing was perfect, it had to be, but it is as if the gods
themselves were guiding her feet. They must have been, she
thought, Lamia was with me, and she guided me.
She fondly remembered her headlong rush down the path on
Olympus. She must have travelled for two hours, and there it was,
the golden temple of Athena. The very first structure she finds on

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Olympus, and it would be the house of Athena. The very place she
set out to find.
Those vain bastards; they built themselves temples, even on
their own planet.
She ran up the steps as fast as her deformed legs could carry
her. She ran into the temple hiding and scanning the area from
behind the first pillar, she found.
The courtyard appeared as devoid of sentient life as the rest of
the countryside. I wonder if anyone is still alive on this world, she
wondered, I thought these beings were immortal.
She brushed the thought aside and started to search for Aegis.
A desperate thought escaped into her conscious mind.
What if the bitch took Aegis with her, then I would have come
all this way for no reason.
It must never rain here, she thought as she noticed that the
structure had no roof, even though plush furniture adorned the
inside of the temple. These were definitely not weather proof.
She started searching the rooms.
They did not hide anything away.
Valuables lay all over the place.
Obviously, riches mean nothing to them. Since the only reasons
for stealing are, to survive, get rich or have something that others
want, crime obviously seems to be useless here.
Food were in abundance everywhere, riches had no value, and
that which others would want to steal is generally carried on you,
and most probably the item that has made crime a hazardous
career in the first place.
She had to be careful; Aegis did not need to be equipped to be
deadly.

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She had looked into every room and had grown quite
despondent. Time was running out and she had made no inroads
in discovering the whereabouts of Aegis.
A thought hit her squarely on the nose; Aegis needed to be
covered. Athena would not leave Aegis exposed, since her guests
would turn out to be stone-faced blockheads with the intelligence
of a rock, even more so than usual.
She started running through the temple again, looking beneath
any kind of covering.
Two covers however she replaced hurriedly.
Bruxa was a creature that spend most of her days in sewers, but
the smell from that cesspool made even her eyes seek shelter in
her brain, and caused her lungs to put up a one way sign; exhale
only.
The second cover she replaced hurriedly, opened and looked
again, and then started to blush, was a box of what you might
describe as an indulgence in popular mechanics that would induce
spasmodic spasmatic reactions in the user.
Finally, she found the outline she expected. Carefully she traced
the features of the decapitated head mounted on the shield, not
daring to drop the cover. The head she searched for would turn
her to stone the instant her gazed fell upon it.
‘Aegis,’ she exclaimed as she recognized the distinctive
characteristics of the head. The thin face, the beady eyes, the long
chin, and then of course her most decisive clue being the thick
strands of hair that each ended in a snake’s head. The head could
belong only to one entity, Medusa.
The myth said that the blood drawn from the right side of her
body would heal while that from the left side would kill.

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Bruxa hurriedly opened the syringes and the vials.
She plunged the syringe into the right side of Medusa’s brain
through the cloth. She was relieved to find her hypothesis was
correct, since the gods were immortal; their fluids remained, well,
fluid even after death.
That was probably how these idiots managed their frequent
resurrections, she thought.
Any so-called hero, who could find some way of, stapling the
head back on the body, or find a magic flower, apple, water or
blood, could magically bring any god back together for the sequel,
no matter how many little bags the god occupied currently.
If you had a portable smoke generator, you did not even need
all the pieces. The god would re-emerge unscathed from behind
the smoke screen, usually with a custom fireworks display and
dramatic organ music. This would get progressively more
impressive depending on how high up the food chain the god
used to be, and how much worm food it currently was.
The vial quickly filled.
She labelled the vial with the word right before repeating the
process with the left side of Medusa’s brain. She carefully labelled
the poison, and stashed both vials securely in her robe.
Bruxa hurried to the gate praying she was not too late. Actually,
she more hoped than prayed since praying required the act of
belief in that something or someone actually listened, and could
do something about it.
She did not believe in much, except that the world was a bad
place to begin with, and now that the master and Typhon were
around it had become considerably worse.

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It had been eight hours since she left but as she reached the
gate, she saw the sight she hoped she would see. Her sisters held
on for dear life to thick ropes, attached to most of the
appendages of a huge nine-headed beast.
Bruxa scanned the area for her self-proclaimed master, but it
was nowhere in sight.
The Lamies were getting restless and quite unsure of what to do
next, when bushes on the far side of her vision opened, and the
darklord appeared. It immediately started shouting orders at the
Lamies.
Hmmm… where have you been Demon lord? Bruxa thought but
rather said, ‘master, I found you at last.’
The darklord simply flashed a deadly look at her and continued
giving orders.
Bruxa ran to grab hold of a rope that suddenly lashed free, as
one of the nine heads threw a Lamie into the shrubs.
‘Bruxa, go tell Typhon to control this beast,’ the darklord rasped
furiously.
‘Immediately master,’ Bruxa shouted and jumped through the
gate.
Typhon stood on the other side laughing big clumps of toxic
ooze from its mouth while it surveyed the scene on Olympus. He
enjoyed the carnage, and the occasional vampire minion losing a
limb or a head.
‘My lord, master asks if you can control your child please,’ Bruxa
pleaded through the interpreter quite unnecessarily.
Typhon seemed to consider the proposal before shrugging.
The Hydra immediately calmed.

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Bruxa did not hang around to witness the rest of the
proceedings. Her personal mission was far from completed.
She raced to her next destination, the crypt of Lamia.
She quickly slinked away in the shadows and hurried to the
crypt.
With great respect and care, she removed the lid from the
sarcophagus that held her beloved Lamia.
Time to wake from your slumber mistress, she thought as she
uncorked the vial from the right side of Medusa’s brain.
I know you are just sleeping princess; you cannot die, not after
Zeus’s curse to an eternity of damnation. Please come back now,
we need you.
She carefully dropped three drops of the cure onto Lamia’s
forehead.
Almost instantly Lamia’s skin became smoother, her hair
became shiny, and the scales on her snakeskin torso became oily
again. Her eyes stayed permanently open as part of Zeus’s curse
but now Bruxa could see life returning to them.
Good, good, she thought.
She hurried down the tunnel desperately searching for a Lamie
to help her. She did not have to go far.
‘Ganaxa, quick, get a team together, and meet Bruxa in Lamia’s
crypt.’
‘Why?’ Ganaxa asked.
‘She’s awake,’ Bruxa said, ‘now hurry, we must get her to
safety.’
Bruxa ran back to the crypt. She found Lamia still lay exactly as
she had left her, but with a much healthier glow to her skin.

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A few short minutes later Ganaxa returned with 10 other
Lamies.
‘Good,’ Bruxa exclaimed, ‘now take her somewhere safe. Do not
tell Bruxa where, Bruxa must not be able to give up her location
even under torture. Give her enough time to heal and then tell
her everything that happened.’
‘But how did you do it?’ Ganaxa asked.
‘With medicine I removed from Medusa’s head, a long story...
no time now. Go quickly,’ Bruxa commanded.
Bruxa did not wait around to see what happened to Lamia; she
rushed back to the throne room as fast as possible.
Typhon and the darklord seemed deep in discussion and she
definitely did not want to interrupt. She faded into the darkness
and quietly waited for a summons from her master.
A smile played broadly on her roundish face.

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CHAPTER 0.14
The mist remained as foreboding and sole destroying as Laidin
remembered it. Even though she prepared herself mentally for
this kick me in the balls if I had any experience, it took nothing
away from the sheer magnitude of this creep fest.
They set the fighters down next to the waterfall, and regrouped
at the start of the stones that led into the caverns behind the falls.
Carra had the foresight to station a Valk’r guard at the cave
entrance.
She stepped through the waterfall to welcome the guests.
‘Welcome back, my lord… my lady,’ the Valk’r warrior said,
bowing and looking very surprised to see them.
‘Thank you. I am glad you guys made it out,’ Angel said.
‘Some, not very many my lord,’ the Valk’r expressed sadly, ‘but
come, Carra will be very glad to see you.’
‘Carra...?’ Ricci asked surprised.
‘Yes my lady. Gemmi has fallen into some kind of comma. We
cannot explain it since physically there seems to be nothing wrong
with her.’
‘Then let us make haste,’ Laidin exclaimed with deep concern.

The wounded and severely injured Valk’r littered the sandstone
hall. In one corner on a small mattress, some medical personnel
tended to Gemmi. Loser lay on her chest refusing to move.
The heroes walked over to her and formed a guard at the foot
of her mattress.

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‘There has been no change since we arrived,’ a familiar voice
said from somewhere next to them.
‘Carra,’ Ricci exclaimed and hugged her fondly.
‘My lady,’ Carra curtseyed and smiled, ‘might I inquire how and
why you are on earth?’
Loser lifted his little head slowly and looked at them seemingly
without recognition. Then he slowly lifted one small paw to greet
them, but was too weak and it just fell down again, his little head
followed suit to rest on Gemmi’s chest.
‘He has been positioned like that since we arrived here; it is as if
he thinks he is protecting her. He has not eaten anything or slept
for the past four days,’ Carra explained, ‘he also will not let
anyone touch her, or even get near her.’
‘Four days?’ Guival asked since he had never been on the island
before.
‘Yes Guival, time moves differently here on the island, even
though it took us almost 2 weeks to get here, plus the time it took
the Valk’r warrior to get to us, only four days had passed on this
island since the unfortunate incident that caused all of us to come
together,’ Laidin explained.
‘Then it is some kind of temporal sphere?’ Guival asked.
‘We have not analyzed it but yes it seems to trap time,’ Laidin
concluded.
‘Wait a second you said one of our sisters came to warn you?’
Carra asked.
‘In a fashion,’ Kirom answered, ‘she is still unconscious and has
been poisoned with something we do not know how to cure. But
we assumed her presence there meant something was amiss here
on earth.’

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Meanwhile Ricci had knelt next to Gemmi; she had Dragonfang
her sword with the other half of the Brisingamen jewel planted
between her legs and held the hilt in both hands. Her jewel had a
bright red glow compared to the dark blood red jewel hanging
around Gemmi’s neck.
Loser stared at her; it looked like he was trying to stop her, to
say no, but he had no strength left. Small tears rolled down his
face, his little gerbit’s eyes pleaded.
Ricci however did not notice this since she had shut her own
eyes.

Ricci opened her eyes in a very different place. It was dark and
evil. She felt repulsed by this vile place; she wanted to run; to
vomit; to kill.
She saw a flicker of golden light and walked to it. It was faint
and fading quickly, next to it sat a small little girl cradling her legs
in her arms while quietly sobbing. The abuse was evident, and her
entire body had been badly scratched and bruised. Ricci saw a few
broken bones pushing beneath the skin.
‘You have to go… go now… when the light goes out he will
come… he will hurt you too… go… go now.’
‘The light goes out?’ Ricci asked.
‘Yes he hates the light, but he is patient, he waits for the light to
fade, then he comes,’ the little girls said and then added, ‘please!
You must leave me be.’
‘Not on your life darling,’ Ricci adamantly stated, ‘I need to
leave you for a second Gemmi, to make some arrangements, but
I’ll be back before you know it.’

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Ricci snapped out of her trance.
‘Loser is protecting her; he is using his talent of projecting
emotions to keep something away from Gemmi. Something
horrible is in there, a demon of sort. It has trapped her inside her
own mind, and badly assaulted her. Both Gemmi and Loser are
dying, dying slowly and painfully,’ Ricci started to choke up, ‘I am
going back to protect her in Loser’s stead for a while. The jewel
should give me some protection even though I am vulnerable to
magic, unlike Loser. Whatever has a hold over Gemmi is using
very strong magic. Get Loser some food and make sure he sleeps.’
Ricci turned to Loser, and spoke to him slowly.
‘Listen to me little one. I am going back in to protect Gemmi for
a while. We can take turns looking after her okay. Do not worry,
she means a lot to me too. She needs you to be strong and your
light to be bright. If you die there will be no one to help me
protect her, and she would not be able to live without you. So
please, once I go in eat something and get some sleep.’ She gently
stroked the little head and hoped that he understood.
Ricci lay down next to Gemmi and rested Dragonfang on her
chest; she crossed her arms over it and closed her eyes.
A few seconds later Loser’s frail skeleton relaxed.
Carra carefully picked the tiny body up while the arms and legs
hung limply down the side.
She motioned one of the Valk’r to bring another mattress and
placed it next to Gemmi.
‘Sleep tight little one, and thanks for protecting Gemmi, she is
precious to us all,’ She said as she carefully laid him down on the
mattress.

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Eye of the Gods

Carra motioned the others to follow her and moved to a
secluded area of the chamber.
‘Maybe I should start the story at the beginning,’ Carra
suggested.
She told them of the appearance of the Hydras, of how they
attacked the cities and how some unseen force guided them.
She continued with the discovery of the source of the Hydras in
Transylvania. How they sent a team of Gentari there to shut the
place down.
Then she told them of how Gemmi sensed that something went
wrong with the operation and evacuated most of New Valhalla.
How the attack started suddenly without warning, how the
generators stopped working and how they could not see the
enemy.
She described what happened to Gemmi when she used the
jewel, how she lifted off the ground and then fell silent. Carra
described the evacuation and the blowing of the tunnel.
‘And that’s how it happened,’ Carra ended off her retelling.
‘So the problem is in Transylvania. Ring any bells… anything…
anything at all?’ LOBE sarcastically remarked, ‘Nope? It’s where
the vampires are rumoured to be from,’ LOBE sighed.
‘Okay, so we found vampire bodies, how was I to know that all
those movies were based on fact?’ Angel asked.
‘Most fairy tales are based on fact,’ LOBE said, ‘just look around
you.’
‘Settled then,’ Kirom remarked.
‘Yes, but before we go we need to see what we can do for these
Valk’r,’ Laidin remarked flatly.
She tapped her mindcom.

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Igor Swann

‘Commander, I need medical personnel on my location
immediately, also a full evacuation crew with shuttles to bring all
these Valk’r warriors aboard.’
‘It will be done my lady,’
‘There are also three very special individuals that need extra
care; I’ll explain when you get here.’

The rescue party arrived soon afterwards, and made good time
in evacuating and treating the wounded.
They carefully moved Gemmi, Ricci and Loser onto stretchers
and into the imperial shuttle.
Angel said a long goodbye to his wife, wherever she was. The
agony of leaving her threatened to tear him up inside.
He gently brushed a lock of hair from her face and told her to be
strong; they would find a way to free her and Gemmi from their
prison.
He kissed her forehead and reluctantly drew his hand away
from hers.
Laidin gave strict instructions to her elves not to disturb them
but keep them under 24-hour observation.
‘They are never to be left unattended, and you will need to feed
then intravenously, so start them on a drip immediately,’ Laidin
ordered.
‘It shall be done your highness,’
‘Thank you, and when you get back send a repair crew to New
Valhalla. Treat the fallen Valk’r with all the respect of fallen El
Heroes.’
The commander curtsied and left with the evacuation party. He
hated this ritual; he hated calling her your highness. He was a dark

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Eye of the Gods

El, who according to him remained the true rulers of the El, the
true royal bloodline. The dark El all shared the same features,
raven black hair and platinum colour eyes. After Laidin and her
friends overthrew their queen, Sharin, and sentenced her to a life
on the planet of damnation for treason, he was forced by the El
council to abide by the rule of this lowborn. Unfortunately, the
dark El remained a minority and the penalty for treason was still
decapitation, or worse.
The time will come when we will take our rightful place again,
the commander thought to himself and smirked.

The band of heroes stood in a huddle in the desolate cave, now
devoid of the hustle and bustle of pointy ears and others who do
not feel battle scars make them look sexy.
‘Let us depart, this is no place for an El,’ Laidin suggested
eagerly.
Not even Kirom disagreed with this sentiment and they
hastened to the fighters. Angel felt comfortable with the controls
on his wife’s fighter although she never let him drive. Of course,
she had no problem borrowing Skibladne to go shopping in
another galaxy.
‘Do you know how much it cost to repair the dents and
scratches on this thing? Not to mention the resell value
plummeting,’ she would jest, ‘I’ve seen you drive Skibladne. If she
did not have that built in self preservation technology, which
won’t allow you to make an accident, she would probably have
looked like an empty tin of baked beans used as target practice by
kids with a sling shots using rhinos as bullets.’

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This thought of his wife made Angel smile quietly, while the
heroes departed for Transylvania.
They left the fighters not far from the castle. His wife’s fighter in
stark contrast to the other 3 fighters of which Laidin’s was a sleek
beautifully sculpted golden fighter; Kirom’s was midnight black
and much broader, and then Guival’s platinum coloured morph
ship. This last ship could change into any other ship for which it
had enough molecules to change into, without forfeiting hull
integrity. It would be difficult to fly a ship in space if there were
not enough molecules to complete the hull when it morphed.
Ricci’s fighter was strange in that it looked more like a golden
spider than a fighter, but it was special in that it could walk or run
if there were no way to fly and it could teleport itself short
distances. This fighter belonged to Odin, and since Ricci was a
descendent of Odin, Arch-Chancellor Teral of the Aesir presented
her with this ride.

The huge dark wood doors appeared in front of the uninvited
guests. The demonic symbols used as decor sent shivers down
Angel’s spine. The doors would not budge no matter how hard
Angel tried.
‘We have to assume they know we are here,’ Guival interjected,
his spy senses tingled.
Laidin scanned the surrounds but her El sight discerned no
movement in any direction.
‘Hmmm I agree. There is no movement out there, not even a
small rodent,’ she acknowledged, ‘that usually means there are
bigger things that are trying their utmost to not be there either.’

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‘So then let’s knock,’ Angel suggested, ’Kirom if you would be so
kind.’
‘My pleasure my lord,’ Kirom smiled and wound up Mjolnir the
great Hammer of Thor.
He knocked.
The door turned to smouldering dust along with the doorposts
and most of the wall surrounding the door.
Angel smiled, ‘hmmm… artistic, I like it, notice those intricate
lines formed by the cracks in the rock, and how it gets repeated
ever so often, absolutely masterful.’
The gloomy castle seemed quite devoid of life.
‘I don’t like this,’ Kirom snarled, ‘not one little bit.’
‘I concur,’ Guival conjured up a fireball, spinning in the palm of
his hand as a torch, and could use as a weapon at a moment’s
notice.
Laidin uncovered a clue with her El sight, ‘look the ground over
here is worn more than anywhere else.’
‘Then let’s follow it. Laidin you lead,’ Angel commanded.
They followed Laidin down the stairs and into the maze of
caverns below. The darkness closed in around them and only the
glow from the fireball held it at bay.
Several times Angel set off in the wrong direction before Laidin
caught his arm and pulled him in a quite different direction.
‘But can you not see the opening there,’ Angel had asked.
‘Yes milord but the worn out path leads this way,’ Laidin
explained.
‘Fine, fine lets go,’ Angel smiled.
The minutes felt like hours before the dark tunnels and
chambers opened up into the dimly lit throne room.

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Igor Swann

The adventurers could clearly discern the stone throne and the
mirror occupying the opposite wall.
‘What is that thing?’ Guival asked.
‘Looks like a mirror,’ Angel suggested.
‘Looks more like a rather large view screen,’ Laidin remarked.
‘What? I am seeing a reflection of myself?’ Angel ventured.
‘So am I,’ Kirom agreed.
‘That is strange, since I am seeing another world,’ Laidin
remarked.
‘I too see the other world,’ Guival acknowledged, ‘and I see the
nine headed monster you were talking about. Well one of them
anyway.’
He walked to about a foot from the mirror and tried to touch
the image on the screen.
‘Oh shit,’ he said as his hand slipped right through the screen. It
glowed slightly around the edges where his hand and arm partly
disappeared.
‘A portal me thinks,’ Kirom suggested.
‘Well the enemy is on that side so I vote we go through,’ Angel
shrugged.
Laidin seemed apprehensive, this is too easy, why did no one try
to stop us? Why would they leave something this important
unprotected? She knew the answers probably lay on the other
side so she did not voice her objection.
The band looked at each other one last time and nodded,
before gingerly stepping through the eye of the gods.

Two ominous figures stepped from the shadows. The black
behemoth seemed to form a smile on its hideous face, small

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pieces of molten rock floated out of its mouth as it breathed
death.
‘Do you wish to gloat now?’ Typhon asked.
‘Give them a few minutes,’ the darklord replied.
Typhon had caused the gate to act like a one-way mirror,
allowing them to see into Olympus but not the other way around.
The masked figure strode to the throne and took up a regal
seating posture.
For a while, she watched the unfolding events with interest.
‘Lord Typhon, now please if you will,’ the darklord requested as
she deemed the UGE team should now be suitably discouraged
and concerned.

117

Igor Swann

CHAPTER 0.15
Skibladne emerged from the Bifrost jump with barely a shudder.
The kids still slept peacefully and she saw no reason to wake them
yet. It would take another 3 hours to reach earth and she felt they
needed to get all the rest they could. She had to pump a bit of
sleeping gas into their rooms the previous evening, just to get
them to calm down.
They discussed strategy but obviously being unaccustomed to
this they were not doing well.
‘So we will form the front line,’ Blade said referring to himself,
Storm and Throm the Dwarf,
‘Feral, you and Phalin will be in the back since you are using
ranged attacks. Shen, you will take up a sniper position.’
‘So what if we are in a tunnel?’ Storm asked, ‘and we can’t get
three in the front line, who will be in the front then?’
‘Yes and where will I be?’ Shen asked.
‘What if we can’t shoot past you, and they are still a long way
off? Anyway my weapon is short and long range so I should be in
front as well,’ Phalin suggested.
‘Okay, Okay so we have one ranged weapon and one close
range weapon in front,’ blade tried again.
‘Then what about us, are we just suppose to hang around and
do nothing?’ Throm asked.
‘I give up, we walk as we walk and we fight as the situation
demands,’ Blade surrendered.
‘We still need to decide what we are going to do once we get
there,’ Feral opted.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Yes, what is the plan of action, since the Valk’r is no more?’
Phalin asked.
‘How will we find mom and dad,’ Storm asked obviously
distraught.
‘Enough!’ Blade exclaimed anxiously.
He started to feel weary and he knew this debate was going to
continue for a long time.
‘I think we should call it a night and be fresh tomorrow,’ Blade
suggested to a nodding of head, ‘I am sure I will have a decent
plan of attack by morning.’

#One hour until arrival# Skibladne announced over the ships
intercom.
A furious scurrying and a lot of swearing accompanied the next
few seconds.
#I have taken the liberty to design and make team suits, such as
the ones your parents wear# Skibladne announced again, #you
will find them in the materialization chamber#
The team rushed to the cabin.
‘Geez Feral you could have put on some clothes,’ Storm
remarked disgusted with the metallic blue being running next to
her.
‘To cover what exactly,’ he shot back, ‘I have no external organs
or orifices?’
‘Yeah, but it is the principal of the matter,’ Storm pulled a sour
face.
They found the suits neatly hanging in the room each labelled
with the name of the wearer.

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Even though the suits were black like their parents’, instead of
the silver trimming, these suits had an assortment of colours.
The twins had white trimming, Shen green, Feral blue, Throm
red and Phalin gold trimming.
The all had a gauntlet with built in sensors, navigation and a
data link, which would give them all available information on their
current location. It could also tell time.
They each received a pendant in the shape of Skibladne that
housed their mindcom.
They hurriedly grabbed their suits and ran to get dressed. Feral
simply touched his suit and one just like it formed around him.
This made his ability to shape shift much easier since he did not
need to get undress, and maybe Storm would let up.
The team assembled on the bridge.
It was only then that Blade realized that except for him and his
sister, all the other team members were armed.
Throm had the exquisite hammer he received from his father,
Kirom, at the dwarven coming of age ceremony. Phalin had one of
the finest bows ever crafted on Elheimr, since her mother used
the bow of Odin. Feral had his magic, and Shen had the side arms
the team created. She, with the help of Skibladne, had modified
them heavily in recent times, not only to appear similar looking,
but flow around her unique physiology. She also included the
mind control technology in the boy’s blaster, which meant she
only had to think at them to control them.
The twins sat in brooding silence.
‘Skibladne, do you have any weapons like blasters aboard?’
Blade inquired sullenly. It would not be special like the others’ but
at least they would not have to resort to unarmed combat.

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Eye of the Gods

#why do you not visit the weapons locker# Skibladne suggested.
‘Where is that?’ Storm asked.
#Two cabins down from the materialization chamber. It is
where the previous UGE lords placed the weapons and special
items they collected on their travels#
The twins did not even wait for a second invitation.
‘Why did no one tell us about this?’ Blade asked.
#No one knew and no one asked# Skibladne said in her metallic
drone, but Storm was sure she heard a grin in there somewhere.
‘Wow, look at all this stuff!’ Blade exclaimed.
The twins started rummaging through a walk in closet that was
stacked with stuff that people keep because they might need it
someday, only this was century’s worth of stuff.
The children’s eyes sparkled, especially the boys who loved to
tinker with anything strange and unusual.
‘I found a sword!’ Blade screamed, ‘is there anything special
about this one?’ he asked Skibladne.
#yes, that sword is called Gram. Legend says it belonged to
Sigurd and he killed the dragon Fafnir with it. The famous Dwar
Weyland forged it. The sword can slice through anything including
my hull plating#
The hilt felt cold to the touch and Blade could see ice crystals
forming on the midnight black blade encased in a bluish glow.
#it harnesses the power of cold, freezing anyone who opposes
its wielder on contact#
Storm felt dejected; all she found was stupid knives and
daggers, a few blasters and relics from the past.
#Tyrfing should be here somewhere# Skibladne suggested.
‘Tyrfing, what is that?’ Storm asked.

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Igor Swann

#the magic sword of Odin’s grandson, cursed to cause three
great evils. It would kill a man every time he used it. Throm, one
of your ancestors created it, a Dwar named Dvalin#
Storm cringed, ‘I don’t want a sword that is going to kill
everyone I meet when I use it.’
#do not worry Storm, the curse was broken when the sword
had slain King Heidrek1. This was the last of the three evils#
‘Are you sure,’ Storm asked.
#quite# Skibladne said.
‘Ok then let us find it,’ Storm insisted, ‘Feral, can’t you use a
locator spell?’
‘I don’t know what it looks like,’ Feral answered.
‘Skibladne, hollow projection of the sword please,’ Storm
commanded.
#No need, the sword looks exactly like Gram, except it has a
golden hilt and seems as if encased in fire#
‘Cool,’ Feral said as his hands and eyes began to glow, bathed in
silver light.
In the far corner, a pile of stuff shivered, and the sword
matching the description lifted from the pile.
‘Great work Feral!’ Storm shrieked and slapped him on the
back.
Feral beamed.
‘So brother, we have twin swords, exactly like mom and dad.
This is so cool... or rather hot, your sword is cool,’ Storm laughed
with the other children joining in.

1
In Norse mythology, Heidrek was king of the Goths, and was killed using
Tyrfing by the Thralls. After this, the curse lifted.

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Eye of the Gods

#you will find back mounted scabbards in the materialization
chamber#
‘Well at least we won’t lose your sister again with the light
coming from that thing,’ Feral quipped as Storm stood admiring
her beautiful sword, which seemed as if made from gold and with
a blade bathed in white fire.
Phalin and Throm’s team suits had integrated weapon holds for
the bow and the hammer respectively.
#Earth is now visible on the bridge view screen# Skibladne
announced.
The twins hurriedly strapped on their swords before leading the
stampede onto the bridge.
They fell silent as they stared at the blue planet on view screen
in front of them.
Five anxious faces turned and looked at Blade.
He stared back; he had no plan yet, but that would not stop him
from doing something stupid.

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Igor Swann

CHAPTER 2
A piercing howl escaped from the beast as yet again it spliced
into two halves. Angel and the group of heroes watched in horror
as the poor animal fell into two pieces before it started to grow
the missing body parts again.
The Lamies guarding the animal were no trouble at all, and
dispatched to the nether regions without bothering the team in
the slightest.
‘What is that thing?’ Angel asked pointing to the huge machine
cutting the Hydra in half.
‘It’s an industrial ion laser,’ Kirom explained, ‘it is used to do
very precise cutting of even the hardest substances over vast
areas.’
‘How do you know so much about earth mining technology?’
Angel asked.
Kirom looked surprised by the question, but before he could
answer, Guival interrupted him.
‘Hey guys, what do we do about them?’ Guival asked, ‘they
seem to be getting agitated.’
‘Well this must be the Hydra with the immortal head,’ Angel
suggested thinking hard about what he knew of Greek mythology,
‘that’s why the others could be killed and this one not.’
‘That’s nice,’ Guival sarcastically remarked, ‘but how do we kill
it!’
‘We don’t,’ Laidin interjected, ‘it is a stupid mindless beast,
whose only crime is being born. We will not kill it. I have a strong
suspicion that if we set it free, we will not see it again.’

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Eye of the Gods

Angel grabbed his sword and started to move so fast he created
a whirlwind behind him. Both creatures were unbound in
milliseconds. To the team it looked as if all the bonds from the
creatures dropped to the ground at exactly the same time.
‘Show off,’ Guival grinned, ‘now just a little prod to get it going
in the right direction,’ Guival suggested.
He generated a fireball and exploded it in front of the creatures.
The two Hydras turned around and one more fireball underneath
their backsides made them decide that a vacation in the mountain
seems like just the thing for this time of year. Especially since
there were cold mountain streams, they could dip their fiery arses
in.
‘Perfect,’ Kirom said, ‘let’s get out of here. I am keen to get
home.’
‘Aren’t we going to do a little exploring first?’ Guival asked
disappointed.
‘I must admit this is a beautiful world,’ Laidin said as her elven
side came to the fore. The trees were lush, green, and simply
magnificent.
‘Er… friends might I remind you my wife and Gemmi are both in
grave danger. And you do remember that there are still a few
hundred of those creatures messing up earth, controlled by
something we have not encountered yet,’ Angel brought some
sanity back in the lives of the group.
Angel tried not to think of the terrible situation his wife found
herself in for fear that he would lose his sanity. The emotions
buried themselves deep inside him, where they festered, and
every time they surfaced, it made it harder to continue.
‘Agreed, we need to get back,’ Laidin replied firmly.

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Kirom reached the gate first and started walking through. He
walked into a glass wall and fell hard on his backside, which was,
to his good fortune, only situated a few inches off the ground. His
pain minimized to the embarrassment of sitting down
unintentionally and the bump on his head.
‘What the…’ he started to say fingering the bump on his
forehead.
The others tried to move through as well but decided to use
their hands instead of their heads.
‘We can’t get through,’ Angel anxiously breathed.
‘No really? What was your first clue?’ Guival projected.
Angel flashed him a look. Guival generated a small fireball just
in case things turned for the worse, which usually involved him
needing to run very fast.
‘What now?’ Kirom asked frowning.
‘There must be a switch here somewhere,’ Angel suggested,
‘start looking.’
‘Nothing,’ Kirom conceded after a fruitless search.
‘We are stuck here,’ Guival agreed dejected.
The team looked at their reflections in the mirror. The image
started to grow misty and swirl around, until they looked into the
gloomy throne room again.
Something sat on the throne.
They waited impatiently for their eyes to adjust. Laidin, whose
eyes got accustomed to the murkiness first, took a step back. It
can’t be, it cannot be, she thought.
Kirom became the next one to recognize the figure on the
throne.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Sharin!’ he exclaimed in a mixture of anger and confusion. The
masked figure stayed etched in all their minds after their last
encounter1.
‘Sharin?’ Angel and Guival asked in unison, their eyes not able
to adjust as easily as the others did.
Sharin, sitting on the throne seemingly quite relaxed,
sardonically waved at them, before the mirror turned misty, and
only reflected their own miserable images again.
An uncomfortable silence followed.
‘It was a trap!’ Angel spat the words. The anger he felt
reinforced by all the emotions he kept hidden deep inside him,
exploded in an uncontrolled moment of rage.
The team wordlessly stared at the mirror. All of them silently
wishing the mirror would open again if they stared at it long
enough.
‘What are we going to do?’ Guival asked.
‘I do not know yet,’ Angel replied, ‘but I can tell you this much;
Sharin has a plan, and it will not be good for us, and we need to
stop it from happening.’
‘I am quite sure this world is inhabited, therefore I suggest we
find a local and ascertain if there might be an alternative means to
unlock the gate,’ Laidin suggested.
‘Fine let’s go,’ Angel sighed, ‘seems you will be exploring after
all Guival.’
Sharin, Angel thought, if she was involved then Ricci was in
worse danger than he anticipated. An unknown enemy might

1
See Waking the Angel.

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show some compassion, but if Sharin was involved, Ricci was as
good as dead.

They walked a fair way through the forest. At regular intervals,
Laidin would swing up on the branches to the top of a tree and
scout the terrain. At one such excursion, Laidin’s eagle eyes
spotted a hill in the distance.
‘We would get a better vantage point from there, so let us head
in that direction,’ Laidin suggested.
The troop reached the foot of the hill by nightfall.
A shiny golden road led up to the top, and the team decided the
best course of action would be to follow the yellow brick road,
and hopefully not run into the wicked witch of the west.
A magnificent Greek styled temple adorned the top of the hill.
The heroes wasted no time in entering the massive structure, with
its enormous columns supporting the roof. The columns were all
beautifully sculpted representations of the same person striking
heroic poses.
‘Someone has an ego bigger than Sharin,’ Guival remarked.
‘Hello! Anyone home... Hello?’ Angel called as they strained to
detect the faintest sign of life.
They approached a dais with a larger than life throne stuck in
the middle.
‘This guy must look like an angry Loser,’ Guival observed
pointing out the vast seating area.
A booming voice greeted them. Its echo thundered from every
corner of the temple, and vibrated through every fibre of the
quartet.
“Who dares enter the house of Zeus?’ the voice demanded.

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Zeus? Like in Greek god Zeus, Angel wondered.
He decided it would be pointless hiding anything at this point in
the game, and to put his cards on the table, face up. He held a
royal flush. He had a king, a queen, a joker and a jack who would
be king if Brom the Grand Master Dwarf should ever expire, and
an ace in LOBE.
‘It is I, Angel, ruler of the United Galactic Empire,’ Angel
announced in his most boisterous voice, ‘accompanying me is her
majesty Laidin Queen of the Elves, Master Dwarf Kirom, and Vice
Chancellor Guival of the Aesir.’
‘Dwarfs, Elves and Aesir here, but you are myths? Stories I
heard when I still visited earth. Those idiotic Norse men believed
in them. I remember there was a guy called Odin. Hmmm yes and
someone named Freyr, and apparently, a hot elf named Sif. Then,
let me think, oh yeah Thor the farting thunder god. Oooh scary...
trying to steal my thunder he was. Oh yes and this bad news one
called Local… locust… Loco, no wait Loki, yes, Loki, if I remember
correctly,’ the voice bounced off the walls, ‘never saw any of
them, those fanatic Norse fools, believing in silly things that do
not exist.’
Angel had to swallow a grin, when he saw the faces of his
friends. They were about the tear this temple apart like a lobster
to find the voice, and then of course the owner of the voice would
be lightly sautéed for dinner.
‘Ah I see manners are not one of this worlds primary exports,’
Angel remarked, ‘Sif was the great grandparent of Laidin, Loki was
an ancestor of Guival, and Kirom is a direct descendent of Thor. I
am sure he will be happy to prove it with Mjolnir if you would be

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kind enough to provide him with the opportunity to do so. I am a
successor of Freyr who in turn was leader of the UGE as well.’
‘You rule the Huge, what is so huge about what you rule?’ the
booming voice smirked.
‘Not much. Maybe the 2372 planets in my kingdom or the 500
Billion subjects, but who’s counting,’ Angel replied drily.
‘Oh?’ the voice returned with a slightly embarrassed undertone.
‘So what are you doing here, and what do you want from us,’
the voice recovered and desperately tried to boom again.
‘Well, why do you not try coming out and we can talk,’ Angel
suggested, ‘It's no fun talking to an empty throne.’
‘Well… okay… stand back we’re coming out!’ the voice boomed
again.
The more polite heroes had to stifle a grin, and it was a very
good thing Guival had no vocal cords because roaring laughter
echoed through the heads of his teammates.
Seven extremely frail and ancient figures hobbled out from
behind the throne, with one lady pushed in a wheel chair. The
females all had sagging breasts and wrinkles that would, make a
pug look like it just had Botox treatment, and he sat in a
hurricane-effect testing wind tunnel. The men were skinny with
bumps for bellies and hunchback with mostly no hair. One of
them fell asleep as he emerged from behind the throne supported
on two walking sticks.
‘I am Zeus,’ a frail and weak voice said.
‘That voice we heard?’ Angel asked.
‘Yes. A little trick, you do not get to be 539 years young without
picking up a few tricks,’ Zeus replied with a glint in his eyes,
‘impressive huh?’

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Angel had to admit it was an impressive voice.
‘But how is it that you are from a different universe and we can
understand you?’ Zeus asked.
‘We have technology that allows this,’ Angel answered not
caring to explain.
Angel was of course referring to the universal translator device,
created by the Arks, and injected behind the organ used for
hearing of all UGE races.
The device directly transmits the dialog of the user into the
speech recognition centre of the receiver’s brain. The other
person thinks he hears words, but what he actually hears is
thoughts translated into his own language by his own mind.
Although to the recipient, it seems as if he understands the other
race’s language.

Something puzzled Angel.
‘By the way, you are supposed to be immortal? And how can
you only be 539 years old, it has been millennia since you have
been on earth?’ Angel was intrigued.
‘From the eyes of mortals would we not be immortal?’ Zeus
asked, ‘and since there is nothing on earth that could kill us, it was
a pretty sweet deal.’
‘As for the age, time moves very differently here, and
Olympians aged much more gracefully and slower than
earthlings,’ Zeus concluded.
Angel had to break into a smile after this explanation, since
Arken had the same effect on humans.
He just hoped the graceful part was less evident on Arken.

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‘My dear Zeus, you have us at a disadvantage, would you be so
kind as to introduce your entourage?’ Laidin requested.
‘Sure babes. That old guy over there is Apollo. The hot chick is
Athena, and that is Hera my ball and chain. Then we have
Aphrodite and Ares, love and war if you know what I mean, and
Hermes my messenger.’
‘Like please to meet you, like nice to like actually like meet
some other people for a change. Like this dump is like soooo
boring,’ Athena croaked while leaning on a pillar trying to keep
upright.
Angel was mystified. Should these gods not speak with the
regality and voice of the ancient Greeks? He expected Zeus to
break out in rap any second.
‘Er I was wondering where you learnt this modern way of
speaking,’ Angel politely enquired.
‘Oh we like look through the eye sometimes when we like get
nostalgic about our past like you know, and sometimes there are
some of those Lamie younglings in that chamber you see. So you
see we like check them out you know and like catch up on the
happenings and such you know,’ Athena interrupted again, ‘like
haveta keep up with the current fashion doll, like veeery
important you know.’
Angel was getting nauseous trying to follow the teenage slang,
luckily Kirom interjected.
‘The eye?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, that mirror thing, the eye between here and earth,’ Zeus
answered.
‘You can open it?’ Laidin asked.

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‘Nope, but we can look through it and hear what they are
saying. It can only be opened by one of us from the earth side,’
Zeus opted.
‘How did you travel to earth then?’ Kirom asked.
‘We had these gate keepers, pets of mine, that opened it when I
told them too,’ Zeus explained, ‘but that bitch Medusa turned
them to stone, so now we are stuck here.’
A thought seemed to creep up into Zeus conscious mind, very
slowly; he hoped it would reach it before he died.
Zeus face suddenly lit up.
‘Hey! How did you guys get here?’ he asked.
‘Through the gate... er I mean eye,’ Angel answered.
‘Then who opened it?’ Zeus seemed perplexed, ‘there are no
Olympians left on earth.’
‘We do not know it was open when we got there. After we went
through we saw an enemy of ours in the eye, but she is elven and
I doubt if she could do it,’ Angel speculated.
‘There was another,’ Laidin frowned trying hard to remember, ‘I
remember a shape, large and black, but I cannot be certain of the
features. It was hidden in a dark corner quite unobtrusively,’ a
pensive Laidin thought hard for a moment on how to phrase the
next bit of information without sounding insane, ‘and well, he
appeared to be melting.’
‘Typhon,’ Zeus snarled, ‘it can only be him. I thought I locked
that son of a bitch away for good.’
‘Apparently not well enough,’ Kirom replied sarcastically.
‘You want a thunderbolt up your arse,’ Zeus asked innocently.
‘Er, I would be careful Zeus,’ Angel smiled, ‘you seem to forget
Thor was the god of thunder, and that is his hammer with which

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he controlled it. Kirom will return the favour a hundred fold if you
do that.’
Zeus seemed to rethink his strategy.
‘Okay, but if Typhon is back it spells bad news, with a capital B,
for earth and us. He destroys, that is what he does. He will
destroy earth and then come here and destroy us.’
‘How do we stop him?’ Angel asked not excessively worried
about someone feared by these generates.
‘Well darling, if you could get back through the eye, which you
can’t, even then I do not think you can beat him. He is
impenetrable and ageless because he is not mortal here or there,’
Aphrodite remarked.
‘Yes, the magic is strong with him; black and evil it is,’ Zeus said,
‘gone over to the darkside he has.’
‘Thanks Yoda,’ Angel said deep in thought.
‘By the way, what are movies?’ Zeus asked. He had heard the
Lamie younglings speak in this humorous way after watching
something they called a Star Wars movie. He had irritated the
other gods endlessly by talking in this way.
‘Similar to you watching the eye, it is just people pretending to
do things and then other people watch it,’ Angel explained.
‘Oh like a play?’ Aphrodite asked.
‘Something to that effect,’ Angel replied absentmindedly.
‘So how do we get back?’ Kirom asked.
‘No way Jose, do you really think we would be stuck...’ Zeus
stopped and seemed to ponder some conundrum, ‘or maybe
there is, but it will be tricky.’
‘Tell us!’ the heroes exclaimed in unison.
‘Well you see Typhon has a wife…’ Zeus began.

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Suddenly Angel missed his wife, one of her comments like ‘No!
Really... tell me more,’ would have been so refreshing right now.
Zeus continued.
‘Well if you could get hold of her, and then place her in front of
the mirror, maybe that demon would open it up for you and you
can get out.’
‘We could work with that,’ Angel exclaimed, ‘where is she?’
‘Well the thing is, we don’t know,’ Zeus remarked sheepishly.
The heroes just stared at him with daggers flashing; and maybe
a sword and hammer as well.
‘So we can’t get back because we need a hostage we don’t have
to stop a monster we can’t beat. Perfect!’ Angel spat in anguish.
‘Why don’t they go ask the Sphinx?’ Hermes suggested.
The heroes looked at the god with, interest in that he is able to
speak, confusion as to the suggestion, but mostly with, ‘would you
get the f*&^ on with what you meant.’
‘Capital idea big foot, it should know where its mother is,’ Zeus
congratulated his fellow Olympian as Hermes fell asleep or
possibly into a coma.

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CHAPTER 3
It had been a long time since Sharin had been this pleased.
She trapped her number one fan club on the other side of the
eye of the gods, and she had free reign in destroying everything
she hated. This would include almost everything in the universe,
except for the dark elves; her brethren; her family. She could
suffer them.
She had a plan, a fiendishly clever plan, that she had a lot of
time to work on and perfect in the time it took these pathetic
lowborn idiots to get here.
‘Master,’ Bruxa asked, ‘why did they call you Sharin, master?’
The darklord flashed a burning look in her direction.
‘Never ever refer to me by that name again. Sharin is dead. I am
Dar’kel,’ the darklord rasped, ‘how did you know what they said
anyway?’
‘I can read lips master?’ Bruxa explained.
‘Useful in your pathetic life I imagine,’ the darklord said and left.
She walked down the passage contemplating gleeful murder.
She hated the fact that she had to wait again.
Where is that moron with the weapon, she thought. He had
been to Poseidon’s palace so many times and now he has
forgotten where it is. How stupid could you be? It is just one
pathetic little ball of spit he has to search. It is not as if he forgot
on which planet he left it. Why do I surround myself with
incompetent fools?

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Typhon had left shortly after they trapped Angel and his friends
on Olympus to go in search of Poseidon, the god of the oceans. He
had been searching for him whenever he had a change for a while
now, ever since they started moving his children through the gate.
He wanted to kill Poseidon before he went back to Olympus,
since Poseidon was Zeus brother and he wanted to give Zeus the
bad news personally, before he tortured him for eternity. He
wanted the Trident of Poseidon with his head adorned on it to
take with him.
The trident would be useful as it is a weapon of tremendous
power, which caused earthquakes of continental proportions.
He knew Poseidon’s home lay somewhere just off the coast of
Greece but the underwater topography had changed considerably
since he last found his way there and he had lost all his
landmarks.
He strolled on the bottom of the ocean brooding silently.
A deep ditch appeared in front of him and he decided to follow
it.
A couple of miles later he found an underwater cave that
seemed familiar. He entered it and followed the tunnel
downwards into the bowels of the earth.
His excitement grew with every step.
He had explored numerous caves thus far, always with the same
disappointing results.
This cave, he knew to be different, it did not occur naturally,
someone created it. A few twists and turns later the cave ended in
a huge wall of rock. He flicked one of his serpentine arms at it and
the wall exploded with a faint pop.
He found himself looking over a huge underwater cavern.

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In the centre of the cavern, a coral palace stood, adorned with
beautiful statues of mermaids and horses and shells in colours
that someone who hated everything could never describe. It
showed the same architectural design techniques as the Olympian
temples.
It might seem puzzling to find statues of horses under the ocean
for someone not familiar with Poseidon, but he in fact was the
father of the horse. He created them as a gift to the city of Athens
in his contest with Athena over dominion of the city.
Ah, at last, the hideout of that pitiful brother of Zeus, wonder
what I will do to him first.
Typhon confidently strode into the palace.
As he entered, he got the distinct feeling that his revenge will
be denied.
The palace resembled a mausoleum; no life existed here except
for a few non-sentient bottom feeders. Last time Typhon came
here this place looked like Wal-Mart in rush hour, at the end of
the month, with a final clearance sign in the front.
Where are the mere-people? He wondered.
He entered the throne room, which he found to be, quite
unexpectedly, also devoid of life.
Typhon uttered an ancient and foul curse.
‘Shit!’
He grabbed the throne and threw it across the room, shattering
a number of statues and columns, and leaving one of Poseidon’s
statues dismembered in its path towards the cavern wall.
Typhon looked at the dismembered body part on the palace
floor, Hmmm seems old tripod really was hung like a horse; he

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must have created horses in his own image. Makes you wonder
why Athena ran for her life.
Behind the throne casually resting against a stone figure of a
little boy relieving himself in a pond, which in itself was strange
since the palace was underwater, stood the trident.
That freak would never leave his trident behind, Typhon
thought, I hope he drowned.
He searched for a little while longer, but clearly, this place had
not even seen squatters for quite some time.
He ambled towards the cave entrance, which would take him
from this place. He liked death as much as the next guy, well more
than most next guys, actually more than every next guy, but then
at least something should be gracious enough to die... where he
could appreciate it. Here there remained only the stench of death
and decay, not the kind of dying at the top of his top-ten list.
He casually aimed the trident over his shoulder as he left and
caused the roof of the cavern to collapse in a thunderous roar.
He increased his tempo to a fast stroll, which is the same as
saying a cheetah at full pace was going like a turtle with arthritis.
It was time for him to go home, home to his wife and kids, and to
destroy it.
That his wife and kids were all despicable evil monsters, which
were mostly not welcome at fancy dress costume balls, at
Halloween parties or in hell was quite beside the point.
He hated them all the same, they were family after all; it was a
quite passionate hate, filled with fond memories of murder,
mayhem and destruction. What more is there to say, evil hates to
love evil, or loves to hate evil.

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Typhon entered the eye of the gods’ chamber, with Dar’kel
sitting on the throne, clicking her fingers on the armrest.
‘What are you still doing here?’ Typhon asked.
‘Waiting to say good bye,’ Dar’kel said in her sweetest grating
voice, which sounded more like nails on a tree, made of
chalkboard, and attempting to scratch out a heart with two sets of
initials inside.
‘Well bye,’ Typhon said and walked to the eye.
Dar’kel rushed to catch up.
‘I see you found the trident,’ she said.
Typhon kept walking.
The eye activated instantly and he stepped through.
When only the last few inches of the trident remained on her
side of the eye she moved with lighting speed.
She grabbed hold and yanked, with every ounce of her
considerable strength. Typhon did not expect this and he did not
have a firm grip on the trident, as he did not wish to break it... yet.
The trident came free more easily than Dar’kel expected, and
her momentum slammed her against the foot of the throne,
where she lay sprawled across the floor.
She painfully pushed herself up onto one elbow.
Dar’kel looked up into the furious face of Typhon where he
stood on Olympus unable to return and do anything about her
little deceptive ruse.
Dar’kel saluted him as the vision disappeared, replaced with her
own image standing triumphantly with the trident of Poseidon
securely in her outstretched hand.
‘Phase 5 complete,’ her lips curled into an evil smile as she
nonchalantly marched from the castle.

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The throne room, now devoid of life, slowly began to fill with
little vampires, appearing from tunnels and hidden recesses.
Bruxa followed the darklord up to the battlement. She silently
watched as the black ship disappeared.
Dar’kel is gone; Typhon is gone. At last, the master is gone,
Typhon is gone, and mistress she is back, Bruxa screamed and did
the river dance of uncontrolled joy. This could also be mistaken
for a one legged sailor drunkenly struggling to find his wooden leg
and his ship, which he stood on and sailed in a typhoon.

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CHAPTER 4
It was late afternoon on Olympus. The team had been travelling
for almost a full day now in the direction Zeus had pointed out as
the way to the Sphinx.
Ambrosia ponds littered the way, the food of the gods, which
Angel found was enough to sustain their energy indefinitely.
On Zeus's suggestion, the team decided to make camp.
Apparently, on Olympus there are no stars or moon for light thus
it would be near impossible even for Laidin to see and guide the
team at night.
This was not a train smash since night was only 6 hours long and
a full day 12 hours, thus they could have a nice rest before setting
off again.
Guival suggested that he could have a fireball hang in the air
above them for light, but Zeus shot that idea down with a
thunderclap. Olympus was like a sugarcoated pill, once you get
through the outer layer the inside was bitter and impossible to
swallow. Typhon’s kids, which were numerous, and other
monsters still walked these lands.
During the day, the heroes met the occasional peasant god and
sometimes they would stop for a few seconds to talk to them. No
useful information was ever forthcoming as the peasant gods had
little time for anything that happened outside their little world of
waking up, feeding the farm animals, training the animals to
worship them and then to sacrifice themselves on an altar in
homage to him, since gods will be gods.

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The team sat around the campfire courtesy of a little fireball
from Guival.
Angel still picked out bits of firewood stuck in his hair from the
first fire that Guival lit with a fireball. Guival, after walking the
land of the gods for a day, had a brief psychotic moment of smite
the altar with holy fire. His fireball exploded onto the camp
firewood with the fire of a thousand suns. His second fireball
barely lit a bit of dry tinder and wood shavings.
This had been after Laidin threatened to make a coat from his
lovely blue metallic skin, to which Guival felt another time would
be better.
Angel looked dejected.
‘What is wrong my lord?’ Kirom asked.
‘Hmmm let’s think… Gemmi held hostage by a demon, or my
wife with her in that prison. Our kids alone at home or us stuck on
a world full of geriatrics. Oh then there is that little matter of
earth being destroyed by monsters and vampires, and another
god monster we can’t destroy running wild, or Sharin and her
plans probably for the UGE,’ Angel replied thoughtfully, ‘Hmmm
nope, I can’t think of a single thing that is wrong at the moment.’
‘Do not be troubled my lord, we will find our way home, we
always do. When things are darkest we always seem to find the
light,’ Laidin remarked.
This is where Guival started to explain that this was exactly
what he was trying to do with the first fireball since things do not
get much darker than this and he wanted to make sure they had
light.

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He quit this line of thought when Mjolnir started to glow with a
foreboding blue light even though Kirom still silently and intently
studied the fire.

The following morning the heroes rose as soon as they had
enough dawn light to leave. Around midday, the topography
started changing, becoming more mountainous and less green.
The team lumbered on and even though the path now ran up a
mountainside, it did not seem to faze them. The air was clean and
fresh and had a higher oxygen ratio than earth therefore the
group had little trouble climbing the mountain.
They made camp for the night on one of the peaks, deciding to
leave the descent from the mountain for the following day.
They spent another peaceful night under the black sky.
Angel stared at the flames licking the wood with bright red
tongues, much the same colour as Kirom’s hair. This reminded
him of something he never got round to asking his dwarven
friend.
He needed the distraction.
‘Tell me about Grand Master Thor, on earth he is rumoured to
be huge, and the son of Odin?’ Angel enquired.
Kirom’s eyes lit up, he loved to talk about Dwar history.
‘Well, where shall we start, you see my lord, the legends of
Dwar origins tell us there were five tribes. These were Austri,
Sudri, Vestri and Nordri,’ Kirom began but Angel interrupted him.
‘Yes, I have heard of them, the names of the wind directions on
earth comes from them, namely East, South, West and North,’
Angel added.

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‘Correct my lord, and these four tribes share similar attributes
found in most Dwar today, and almost all Dwar originated from
one of these four tribes,’ Kirom explained.
‘You mentioned a fifth tribe?’ Angel asked.
‘Yes my lord, the Etin. Although similar in appearance, they
were huge, giants in your tongue, and they had the red hair
passed down to all Thor’s descendants,’ Kirom answered.
‘Ah, Thor was part of the Etin tribe,’ Angels acknowledged.
‘He was, but his tribe did not scatter across the universe as the
other Dwar tribes did, and because of their friendship with the
Aesir they became a target of the Jotuns,’ Kirom said with sadness
in his voice.
‘Jotuns, frost giants,’ Angel exclaimed excitedly.
‘I guess they could be called that,’ Kirom mused on Angel’s
outburst, ‘but these Jotuns were many times the size of the Etin,
similar to calling both a shuttle and a Dreadnaught a ship.’
‘The reason I think earth mythology depicts Thor as the son of
Odin is that Odin found Thor as a dying infant in the aftermath of
the Etin’s battle with the Jotuns. He was the only survivor and
Odin breathed life back into his body. Odin adopted Thor as his
son, and raised him as his own,’ Kirom clarified.
‘Thor married a Dwar named Jarnsaxa. Their son Magni became
the bloodline for all Grand Master Dwar,’ Kirom explained.
‘I still don’t understand why Thor is so important in your
history,’ Angel asked perplexed.
‘Before Thor the Dwar race was spread all over the universe.
We were slaves to the other races, employed as craftsman,
miners, wandering tinkerers, to do the work no one else would.
We had no government and no future. Thor united the Dwar

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tribes, he made us one, gave us a future to be proud of. We
created Mjolnir for him and he became the first Grand Master,
leader of the united Dwar people. We became a strong influential
race under his rule.’
‘What became of the frost giants?’ Angel asked.
‘Together Aesir and Dwar destroyed them,’ Kirom proclaimed
proudly, ‘you might have noticed the close bond between the
Arch-chancellor of the Aesir and the Grand Master Dwar. It was
born from there, from Odin and Thor.’
‘Wow, that is amazing Kirom, thank you for explaining it to me,’
Angel sincerely professed.
‘Only a pleasure my lord,’ Kirom answered.

The day after, the landscape slowly became less encouraging
the further they travelled from the mountain, as if it tried to
soften the travellers gradually in the fashion of a frog in a pot.
Throw him in a pot of boiling water and he will jump out. Cook
him slowly letting him get used to the heat and you will be eating
frog ala carte.
‘We should be getting close now,’ Angel observed.
‘Agreed, I smell evil everywhere,’ Kirom acknowledged while
sniffing the air, he readied Mjolnir just in case.
They travelled less than a mile, when they came upon a huge
black metal gate in the middle of the road. It was well fortified
and it was obvious to the heroes that no one was going to go
through that gate if not invited to do so.
A solitary figure guarded the gate.
She had the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings
of a bird.

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‘Halt! Thou shalt not passeth,’ it called to them.
‘And why not,’ Angel asked.
‘For I am keeper of thine gate to Hades, none shall passeth
whom hath not presented thine answer to mine riddle. T’is gates
whilst open once thy, have made thy call.’
‘So I can make any call and the gates will open,’ Angel said.
‘Nay thou needith thee answer to mine riddle,’ the sphinx
explained again.
‘But you just said…’ Angel started saying.
‘Forget what I said you stupid mortal,’ the Sphinx suddenly lost
its ancient vocabulary.
‘Ok so you won’t open the gates for us if we don’t answer your
riddle, but what keeps us from just walking around it?’ Angel
asked.
The Sphinx looked to the left and right of the gate. There were
no walls or other obstacle simply the gate in the middle of the
road.
‘Nay t’is is not how it works. Thy must walk the path.’
‘But really there is nothing stopping us from simply walking
around it.’
‘Shut up you little twerp, you will play this game my way,’ the
Sphinx threw a small tantrum, ‘People go through the gate that is
how it’s done or they die.’
‘Do lot of people come through here?’ Kirom asked.

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‘Nay none wishes to travel to Hades willingly less they are ready
to die alive1, truthfully thou be the second idio… I meant to say,
patrons doth seeking to travel t’is path.’
‘Second?’ Angel asked.
‘Ay, another traveller wished to walk the road to Hades, but it
was a demon already and simply wished to return home. It knew
the answer to my riddle by the way,’ the Sphinx seemed deep in
its own thoughts for a second, ‘strange it came back and said it
forgot something it needed to go fetch, but it never returned. Oh
well, Hades is not for everyone you know.’
‘Actually we don’t want to go to Hades, really,’ Angel pulled a
slight face and wondered if the Sphinx noticed that, it had lost its
ancient tongue again.
‘What?’ the sphinx shrieked.
‘No we simply want to find your mother,’ Angel explained.
‘But my riddle, I haven’t eaten in so long…’
‘Ok, the answer is a man, now will you tell us where your
mother is?’ Angel asked again.
‘How…? How doth thou knowest, I hath not uttered mine
riddle?’
‘Everyone on earth knows that riddle now, it’s in all the
mythology books,’ Angel explained.
‘Nay, t’is must not be,’ the Sphinx screamed in anguish.

1
There are two ways for an Olympian to join the underworld. Firstly, as a soul
or shade, meaning the Olympian died outside of Hades and he goes to the plain
of Asphodel or secondly the Olympian knowing he was close to death could
enter as alive, but could never leave again. The good Olympian who joined
willingly would have his youth and health restored and live forever in Elysium
(Isle of the Blessed) or if bad, he goes to Tartarus.

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‘This is of no consequence, we do not seek passage, we simply
require information,’ Laidin suggested.
The Sphinx seemed to think for a while.
‘Then I whilst ask of thee a new riddle, so thou might find mine
mother.’
‘Okay, what is it,’ Angel asked.
‘Give me a minute dammit, I haven’t got it yet,’ the sphinx’s
irritated reply came. The team waited.
Nightfall came and they made camp. They were tired after the
long walk and fell asleep without much trouble. Even Angel’s
restless spirit could not keep him from succumbing to the
weariness.
The next morning they hunted for more ambrosia. As they
finished off their meal, they heard the Sphinx shriek in triumph.
‘I have it!’
The team gathered close to the creature to listen to the riddle.
‘Thou whilst answer correctly or thou whilst forfeit thine lives,’
it smugly announced.
‘So let us have it already,’ Angel remarked.
‘Patience mortal, the riddle doth rhyme as follows,’

Mercury and Venus will multiply,
A sacred gift to the Sun will increase thus fold,
Crowns from Neptune to divide the tri,
Creation be the portion told,
Its descendants provide the way.
What remains leaves love unbound,
While night would lead astray
There she waits until Pluto found.

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The group stared at each other in silent confusion.
‘Good one huh?’ the sphinx said then added, ‘now mortals,
what be thine answer?’
‘Give us a minute why don’t you,’ Angel agitatedly replied. He
had no idea what it could mean, but he was fed up with the delays
and extremely anxious to get back to earth.
Angel formed a huddle with his friend.
The blank stares on their faces were not quite the answer he
was hoping to see.
‘We’ll get back to you,’ he said looking over his shoulder and
motioned for his team to follow.
They walked a short way off and sat down to dissect the
impressive riddle of the Sphinx.
Guival spoke first.
‘I say we beat the answer out of him,’ his head hurt just thinking
about thinking about the riddle.
Kirom agreed.
Angel actually considered this idea, but then sighed, ‘No, we do
not know its strengths, it might be invulnerable and we never get
the answer or completely vulnerable to our weapons and we
accidentally kill it.’
‘Let us examine the riddle first before making a hasty decision,’
Laidin suggested.
‘It seems there are a lot of heavenly bodies in there. There is
Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Neptune, Pluto and creation that could
mean earth. Maybe it has something to do with planets,’ Angel
suggested.

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Laidin thought for a moment, ‘I don’t know, how do planets
multiply and give gifts. Also what crowns came from Neptune?’
she asked.
‘Maybe crowns of Neptune mean moons?’ Guival delivered his
two cents.
‘Okay, but what does love have to do with anything, it’s not a
planet?’ Kirom asked.
‘Could refer to Venus again, she was the goddess of love,’ Angel
interjected.
‘Well done pretty boy,’ LOBE interjected, ‘at last you are moving
in the right direction.’
‘What do you mean,’ Angel asked LOBE. The team knew that
pensive scowl on Angel’s face well. It meant LOBE was at it again,
and a private conversation is to follow.
‘Those planets of yours were all named after Greek gods using
their Roman names,’ LOBE smirked. Angel slapped his forehead.
‘Of course, each of the Greek gods had an alternate Roman
name,’ Angel exclaimed.
‘Mercury let us see, that would be,’ Angel began counting gods
on his fingers, but LOBE rudely interrupted him, ‘Hermes. Venus is
Aphrodite, Neptune is Poseidon, the Sun is Apollo and Pluto is
Hades.’ LOBE sighed.
‘So now we have the names of Gods, what does that help us.
How do Hermes and Aphrodite multiply?’ Guival asked.
‘Well you see, a boy has a penis and a girl has a vagina and what
happens is the boy,’ LOBE sardonically explained but Angel cut
him off, ‘that’s enough, let’s focus on the problem.’
‘We need Zeus!’ Laidin suggested.

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‘Agreed,’ Kirom voiced his approval, ‘we need someone who
knows these gods and their history.’
‘Guival, do you think you can project your thoughts that far?’
Angel asked.
‘I can try, with the enormous magical field surrounding this
world it might just be possible,’ Guival confidently replied.
He sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes.
A few moments later, he opened them again.
‘Zeus is on his way,’ he projected into the teams’ minds and
seemed quite disappointed when they did not recognize his
amazing accomplishment. Oh so when Laidin or Kirom does
something quite ordinary they are appreciated but when I do
something amazing its simply overlooked, not even a well done
Guival or a slap on the back, just a slap in the face… ghmph.
Guival walked off to go and sulk.

A couple of hours later a rickety chariot drawn by four horses
that looked as if they were smoking came into view. It weaved
madly across the sky, dipping and then climbing, then falling
again.
It made a touchdown, bounced a couple of times and came to a
halt not far from the UGE team. One of the horses passed out,
another puked behind a bush, yet another leaned choking against
a nearby tree and the last sat unflatteringly on the ground,
wheezing. One of the wheels dropped off the chariot with a loud
plonk.
‘Sorry about that, had to borrow Apollo’s chariot, but these old
galls cannot take the pace anymore,’ he commented.

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This is the chariot of Apollo drawn across the sky by four fiery
steeds giving light to the world, Angel thought disappointedly but
said nothing.
‘So, why am I here,’ Zeus asked curiously.
‘Well, she…’ Angel said pointing to the Sphinx, ‘has given us this
weird riddle to solve about some gods, and we just wanted to get
your take on the history of these gods.’
‘Okay, fire away,’ Zeus gave the go ahead, but ducked just in
case one of the heroes misunderstood.
Angel repeated the riddle, and relayed what they had figured
out thus far.
‘So, if we take the first line, did Hermes and Aphrodite have any
kids?’ Angel asked.
‘Not as far as I know, wait they had one kid… I think his name
was Hermaphroditos, a scary bugger; a she-male if I remember
correctly,’ Zeus gave a shudder.
‘Okay,’ Angel seemed unconvinced that this was actually the
answer he was looking for, ‘now what sacred gift was given to
Apollo.’
‘By whom...?’ Zeus asked.
‘Probably by Hermes or Aphrodite,’ Angel suggested.
‘I remember Hermes gave Apollo a Lyre, which he loved, it was
his most prized possession, but other than that I have no idea.’
‘Fine, now what were the crowns of Poseidon and why would
they try to divide Hermes, Aphrodite and Apollo?’
‘Got me there?’
‘Geez you are a lot of help,’ Guival sneered.
‘Hey ask me questions that actually have answers metal mouth
er… metal head.’

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‘Can we now go over there and beat the crap out of that bird
woman?’ Guival asked sincerely.
Angel shook his head.
‘I was kidding!’ Guival shot back when he noticed the
disapproving glare from Laidin.
LOBE sighed loudly and liberated Angel’s vocal cords.
‘As exciting as this might be we are getting absolutely nowhere.
Look at the first four lines, multiply, divide, increase thus fold,
portion. Does that not sound familiar to anyone,’ LOBE paused for
effect, ‘Math people, it is called math. Thus all the other things
mentioned should translate into numbers.’
The heroes stared at Angel while LOBE continued unabated.
‘Now let’s try again. Hermes and Aphrodite, what are their
numbers, any number special to them?’ LOBE asked.
‘Hermes was born in the fourth month, he’s my son you know,
and it was always a sacred number to him,’ Zeus remarked.
‘Okay Aphrodite is the goddess of love and union, with 5 being
the nuptial number of that combo,’ LOBE answered himself.
‘How did you know that?’ Angel asked, ‘I never studied that?’
‘Don’t you worry your tiny little pea brain about that,’ LOBE
answered, ‘then for Apollo the Lyre is the key, anything special
about it?’ LOBE asked Zeus.
‘It had six strings, that was something special about it,’ an
excited Zeus suggested.
‘Good,’ Lobe remarked, ‘now we are getting somewhere. Next
line, did Poseidon sire any kings?’
‘As a matter of fact he did, he’s my brother you know,’ Zeus
exclaimed gleefully, ‘Now, that scallywag had a couple of kids that
were the kings of Atlantis. How many were there…’ Zeus counted

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on his fingers, ‘I sent gifts 5 times and all five times there were 2
gifts. He had twins every time. That would mean he had 10 kids
that were kings, ka-ching.’
Angel suddenly ached to see the twins, and felt relieved that
LOBE controlled this debate.
‘Excellent,’ LOBE exclaimed, ‘and the number of creation is 3,
number of trinity etc, before you ask a stupid question again,’
LOBE remarked addressing Angel who said nothing.
‘So the numbers are 4 and 5 multiply and multiply again by 6,
then divide by 10 and divide again by 3?’ Guival summarized all
their findings.
‘Yep and the answer is four Angel, before you injure your last
remaining brain cell,’ LOBE stated bluntly.
‘I would never hurt you on purpose,’ Angel sweetly replied with
an evil grin on his face.
‘Shut up nitwit,’ LOBE scoffed.
‘So who are the 4 children of creation?’ Laidin asked stifling a
laugh since from the outside Angel threatened and mocked
himself.
Zeus scratched his old grey head, and a few flakes of wrinkled
skin fluttered gracefully to the ground, where godly ants
immediately attacked them, and discarded them just as quickly.
They had a problem breeding since they all assumed they were
gods and since the queen was simply a queen, and since you
simply can’t be both, they decided she had to do all the work in
the hill which left little time for making more ants.
Zeus continued.
‘I don’t know, I thought there were only 2 according to our lore.
That would be love and chaos,’ he shrugged.

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The team thought they were on another wild goose chase until
LOBE piped up again.
‘Am I going to have to do everything on my own again,’ he said,
‘the riddle said descendants, not children, so how many
grandchildren did creation have?’
Zeus’s eyes rolled upwards for a few seconds.
‘Four, yes four, from love came light and day and from chaos
came Erabus and night,’ he said and did a little dance, ‘who’s your
daddy now, huh?’
He screamed when his hip dislocated, and fell into a
disorganized pile of skin and bone.
LOBE stepped inside Angel’s mind and shut the door, while the
others expectantly stared at Angel who simply shrugged.
‘LOBE is unavailable for comment and his phone is going to
voicemail,’ Angel told the others.
LOBE returned with a flourish and grabbed the microphone that
doubled as Angel’s vocal cords.
‘Attention, attention, I have deciphered the rest of the riddle…
almost,’ LOBE announced, ‘there is still one piece of information
missing.’
‘The next line reads, what remains leaves love unbound, which
would suggest it is not love but chaos, and the line, while night
would lead astray, would suggest we are looking for Erabus,’
professor LOBE gave his lecture, ‘therefore, thus, and because
hereof I would suggest we look in Erabus for Echidna, where she is
waiting for death. That is all.’
‘You don’t know where Erabus is, do you?’ Angel mocked.

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‘Lack of knowledge is no indication of intelligence, just because
you never bothered to read where Erabus is does not reflect on
me.’
The team had gotten used to the two-way conversation
between Angel and him, but it still fascinated the life out of Zeus.
This might however be construed as being bad since he did not
have much life left to give.
‘I know where it is,’ Zeus interrupted.
‘Then would you be so kind as to inform us,’ Laidin suggested.
Zeus pointed towards the Sphinx and beyond, on this road, the
road to hell, that is Erabus.
‘I am going to kill that Sphinx,’ Angel snarled, ‘she has wasted
almost a day of our time with this pathetic riddle and we were
going the right way to begin with.’
He marched up to the gate with the others in tow.
‘Open this gate, we are going to Erabus, before I pluck every
feather in those wings and make a duvet from your hide, stuffed
with it,’ Angel growled.
‘Thou hath solved mine riddle mortals, thou might passeth,’ the
Sphinx replied.
‘And stop speaking like that, you are giving me a headache,’
Angel said before he led the team through the gate.
‘Thanks for all your help Zeus,’ Laidin said, ‘we really appreciate
it.’
‘No prob, but do you mind if I tag along, I haven’t been on an
adventure in centuries and truthfully I am bored,’ Zeus pleaded.
Angel looked at the rest of his team.
‘Sure, why not. Welcome aboard,’ Angel said before turning to
the other heroes, ‘let’s go boys and girls.’

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Zeus led the horses who seemed to have rested up to a faint
smouldering effect and a lot more smoke, through the gate. They
still wheezed and coughed but Angel could not decide if it was
from their age or the smoke. Probably emphysema, he decided
and shrugged.
‘So Zeus, do you have any idea where on this road Echidna
would be?’ Angel asked.
‘In a cave I would think, there are many on this road.’
Kirom was all too happy with this news and while the search
continued, he and Laidin made a great team. She would spot the
cave and he would bounce away singing the dwarf song to go
examine it. Soon after he would appear as part of the team again,
reporting on the amazing rock formations and ore he found, but
unfortunately no Echidna.
It was not until close to nightfall that Kirom started screaming
for them to stop and turn around.
‘I found the cave,’ he shouted.
‘Did you speak to her?’ Angel shouted back.
‘No, I did not enter but there is a pot and a place for making fire
in front.’
‘We’ll be right up,’ Angel acknowledged as the team quickly
climbed to where Kirom waited.
The cave looked the part of the home of a fearsome monster.
‘Weapons ready kids, we might have to subdue this one,’ Angel
ordered as they all unsheathed and readied their weapons.
They entered the cave slowly, carefully, expectantly. They
exited in a free for all stampede a moment later.
‘God, what was that smell?’ Angel sputtered and tried to
scratch his nose off.

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‘How should I know?’ Zeus replied shrugging.
‘Death,’ Laidin answered the question in an ominous tone of
voice.
‘He was talking to me,’ Zeus stated smugly.
Guival appeared from the cave entrance.
‘What’s up ladies? Why did you leave so quickly,’ he asked.
‘Can’t you smell that?’ Angel asked.
Guival tapped the area where his nose would have been.
‘Oh right, sorry,’ Angel replied.
‘Well could you go in and look around for us then.’
‘Sure,’ Guival shrugged.
A huge explosion followed with Guival flying out of the cave
well over the heads of the others.
Angel reached him first.
‘Are you alright?’ he asked concerned.
Guival’s voice appeared shaky as it entered Angel’s head.
‘I needed more light, and then everything went very bright and
then dark,’ Guival whimpered.
‘Never create a fireball in a methane gas pit caused by a
flatulent decomposing monster,’ Kirom ascertained merrily.
‘Anyway she’s dead, and if she wasn’t, she is now,’ Guival
concluded.
‘Are you sure?’ Kirom asked, ‘they are immortal after all.’
‘Well, there is the smell, the methane, and the fact that I found
pieces of her scattered all over, but not enough to make one
whole monster,’ Guival explained, ‘so yes, I would say she is very
dead.’
‘She was in pieces? Like in chopped up?’ Kirom asked.

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‘Well, the reason I created the fireball was to actually see more
clearly, admittedly not working out to well for me,’ Guival
retorted sourly.
‘Great!’ Angel spoke through clenched teeth, ‘now how are we
going to get Typhon to open the gate for us.’
They needed Echidna’s cooperation or as a hostage to get
Typhon to open the gate. Typhon’s wife was their only chance.
With her death, things looked bleak for the heroes.
‘I might have an idea,’ Guival said with a weak grin forming in
the minds of the team.

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CHAPTER 5
‘Keep holding my hand Gemmi, just don’t let go,’ Ricci urgently
expressed clutching Gemmi’s little hand tightly in her own, while
gripping Dragonfang in the other hand.
‘I won’t,’ Gemmi said and held on even tighter.
Ricci could not believe such a place could exist in Gemmi’s
mind.
The darkness, completely impenetrable, and thick as fog,
seemed a lot brighter if they just kept their eyes closed. There
were no real smells, but the emotional stench was overpowering.
The stink of unbridled hatred, fear, pain, suffering and true evil,
clogged their nostrils and gave Ricci a sinus headache.
The heavy air remained difficult to breath, and tasted like week
old socks with a mustard sauce.
The chill tore at their skin, like ice shards chopping them into
sushi, causing a slow and painful death. They heard the howls and
screams of the demon as it circled them, snarling playing with
them like a cat with a mouse that had nowhere left to run. Now
and again, the cat would whack the mice and send them tumbling,
howling gleefully when they screamed in pain and stumbled
around trying to find each other afterwards.
‘He made this place you know,’ Gemmi explained as if reading
Ricci’s thoughts, ‘this is a piece of his mind in my mind.’
‘Wait until I find him, I’ll give him a piece of my mind,’ Ricci
spat.
‘Can’t you fight it?’ Ricci asked as she heard the swish just in
time to duck another blow coming from within the darkness.

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‘How?’ the little 8-year-old Gemmi asked, ‘I see what he wants
me to see, and what you see, which is nothing. How do you fight
that?’
‘True, so we need a way to see what we are fighting,’ Ricci
grunted as a blow hit her in the stomach, and left deep gashes.
Ricci felt her arm jerk wildly as Gemmi got a slash across the
face but made no sound to acknowledge the pain. Brave girl, hold
on we will get through this, Ricci thought but her confidence
waned by the second.
‘Hey, you freak out there... It’s not a good idea to let your mind
wander unattended, it’s too small to be let out on its own,’ Ricci
screamed at the demon.
‘Ricci, you must concentrate,’ Gemmi pleaded, ‘It’s the only way
we can hope to make it.’
‘This is how I concentrate little one,’ Ricci clarified as she threw
another taunt into the darkness.
‘I don’t know what the hell your whiny ass problem is but I bet
it’s damn difficult to pronounce.’
Ricci suddenly had an idea, a good idea.
She focussed all her feelings and thoughts on her sword, all her
anger, her fear, her rage and her confusion. She threw it all at the
Brisingamen jewel in the hilt of Dragonfang. It started to glow red,
faintly but enough so Ricci could spot movement from her
peripheral vision.
‘See I told you it helps me concentrate,’ Ricci smirked, ‘now
back to back darling and scream if you see any kind of movement.’
The plan worked, and they managed to avoid at least three
quarters of the attacks. Ricci even managed to inflict a few of her

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own, with the creature yelping in pain every time she hit the mark
with Dragonfang.
‘Just scream and say “Yes Mistress”, you freak,’ Ricci yelled.
Ricci had no concept of the passage of time, it felt like minutes
and days had passed concurrently.
‘What do you say we call it a night and take it up at daybreak
huh?’ Ricci suggested to something out there.
‘Oh and by the way you ugly gene pool reject, I am not your
type, I am not inflatable.’
The snarls and growls just kept going.
‘Geez conversations on your planet must be a ball of fun, so
intellectually stimulating its threatening to explode my brain,
which I thankfully left in my other body.’
Ricci wished she could find a wall or something to put their
backs to. The pain from the cuts and the broken rib and
collarbone were excruciating. Unfortunately, the room seem to be
one huge empty space except for them and the demon.
‘Love what you’ve done with the place, gone for the
minimalistic approach I see,’ she sneered.
More time passed, hours... days... seconds... in that order.
Gemmi sat down hugging her legs and softly crying while Ricci
circled her with the sword. The Demon appeared more interested
in Gemmi than Ricci, since little Gemmi had taken the brunt of the
attacks so far.
‘You like hitting girls don’t you, you perverted son of a bitch.
Fight me asshole if you are monster enough. Come out where I
can see you freak, and stop hiding your sissy ass in the dark.’
The demon ignored her.

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Gemmi screamed, a hairy arm had reached out of the darkness
and a claw held her a few feet off the ground squeezing the life
out of her.
Ricci spun around just in time to see the arm with Gemmi in its
claw retract back into the darkness.
Ricci screamed and rushed in the direction but found only
empty air.
A sign little one, let me know where you are, Ricci thought as
she frantically scrambled around trying to find Gemmi again.
Ricci closed her eyes and let her breathing return to normal. She
let the glow from the sword die out completely.
She listened intently.
There, a slight noise came from her left.
She softly moved in the direction.
Again, the slightest shuffle, not too far off this time.
She jumped her sword flaring. She saw an outline, which did not
belong to Gemmi a fraction of a second before she flayed in a
downward arch.
Dragonfang hit air then flesh, then bone, flesh and air again.
A blood-curdling scream followed.
The Brisingamen jewel pulsed ominously.
Ricci felt relief and alarm flood her at the same moment.
A black hairy spiky arm lay on the ground next to an equally
unmoving body, belonging to Gemmi.
Ricci rushed over.
Gemmi still breathed but only by the slightest of margins.
A golden light began to form next to them, shining brighter and
brighter.

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‘Loser, thank the gods,’ Ricci said, ‘keep him away little one
while I look after Gemmi.’
Ricci sat on the ground and cradled the little girl in her arms
slowly rocking backwards and forwards.
The light was so beautiful. It brought comfort, protection, and
love with it.
Ricci could not remember ever being this grateful for anything
in her life.
‘Thanks little one, thank you so much,’ she said and felt a little
choked up, ‘I understand now what Angel meant when he said
that you were the heart of the team when we were fighting the
Taur and Sharin.’
Ricci sat bolt upright.
‘Sharin!’ she screamed.
It all made sense suddenly, the attack on the Valk’r, the lone
Valk’r fighter appearing in UGE space without a pilot able to fly it
there, the destruction of earth. She knew we would come if she
sent enough signals. It is a trap. It is all a trap, my husband walked
into a trap. The bitch is here.
She felt a cold fear grip her soul. What was she to do? She could
not leave Gemmi but she could not leave her Angel to die either.
The golden light moved closer, and seemed to rest on Gemmi’s
chest. Then it floated over to Ricci and seemed to squeeze her
hand.
‘I understand, thank you Loser,’ she said.

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CHAPTER 6
Skibladne gracefully soared across France and then into
Switzerland flying low over the snow covered Alps.
‘Our parent’s fighter signatures are just ahead, we should be
there soon,’ Blade explained.
Five other tense faces said nothing, and kept their focus fixed
on the view screens.

The kids’ concerns were more than justified since they left orbit
and entered Earth’s atmosphere.
‘Where is mother’s cruiser,’ Phalin had asked about 10 minutes
earlier, it should be here in orbit.
‘Maybe they’ve left for Arken already,’ Throm suggested.
‘Oh bugger, they’re going to be pissed if we are here and
they’ve returned,’ Storm expressed her worried opinion.
Feral said nothing but continued running his hands over
Skibladne’s controls.
‘They would understand,’ Blade stated, ‘we were all worried
and all the evidence pointed to a trap.’
‘Agreed,’ Shen said, ‘we had no choice, there was no harm in
coming to take a look and to make sure everything was in order.
In any event we have Skibladne to protect us.’
‘Well since they have obviously left, we might as well turn
around and go back,’ Blade suggested.
‘Aw, can’t we just stay awhile and look at mom and dad’s home
world?’ Storm asked.

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‘Sounds like a plan to me. Father mentioned this planet has the
most interesting rock formations he has ever encountered,’
Throm agreed.
Shen and Phalin shrugged.
Blade, even though outnumbered did not quite finish arguing
the point.
‘The fact is if we leave now and with Skibladne’s new engine we
might get back before them and they would never be the wiser,’
he argued.
Feral looked up.
‘I am sorry to disappoint you Blade but we are going nowhere.’
They all stared at the metallic blue Aesir.
‘Skibladne just found our parents’ fighter signatures on Earth,’
Feral explained, ‘they have not left, and if the cruiser is missing we
might be in more trouble than we first anticipated.’
‘Skibladne, set course for the fighters, maximum planetary1
speed,’ Blade commanded hurriedly, cold sweat poured down his
face.

Skibladne made a perfect three-point landing outside the horror
movie original replica castle. A gloomy overcast day greeted them,
with the sun only tracing faint grey lines in the dark clouds.
They tentatively walked up to the entrance, the excitement of
the adventure only slightly subdued by the concern for their
parents.

1
Any ship inside an atmosphere was limited to a more moderate speed
otherwise it would mess up the weather patterns of the planet by dragging
huge amounts of compressed air with it. The thickness of the air would also be
like trying to fly through a mountain.

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Igor Swann

To the left a huge piece of the castle had disappeared.
‘Something very, very hot came through here, it melted the
rock instantly,’ Throm explained, ‘this is the kind of firepower only
carried by dreadnaughts and the darkmoons. But this came from
inside the earth not from space,’ he concluded.
‘Let’s keep moving,’ Blade suggested.
They entered the great hall where Phalin noticed the same
thing her mother did, the worn out stones leading into the castle’s
lower levels.
The group apprehensively inched nearer the entrance to the
lower levels.
Something felt very wrong. Throm could smell it.
It was as if someone gave an invisible noiseless signal because
Lamies poured from every corner, crevice and hole rapidly
surrounding the kids.
‘Defensive positions,’ Blade screamed, ‘back to back triangle.
Storm, Feral take left; Throm, Phalin take right; Shen you are with
me. Weapons ready.’
The children snapped into attack mode instantly, blasters
appeared as if by magic in Shen’s hands, Throm’s hammer glowed
and the twins’ swords flashed into existence. Feral had a fireball in
each hand and one in the air juggling them absentmindedly.
However, the biggest surprise came when Phalin activated the
El Bow. The creatures seemed to back off instinctively.
They were afraid.
‘They don’t care about my fire balls but are scared of that little
bow of yours,’ Feral sneered.
One of the creatures stepped forward.

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‘Bruxa and her sisters have seen that weapon before,’ it
explained.
‘Mother,’ Phalin determinately expressed, gritting her teeth.
‘Your mother is a demon? You do not look like a demon,’ the
creature asked surprised.
‘You dare call the Queen of the El a demon?’ Throm roared
menacingly, his hammer discharged electricity freely and with
intent.
‘Bruxa means no disrespect, but this girl is beautiful whereas
her mother is a hideous monster hidden behind a metal mask,’
the creature explained.
‘You call her mother a monster? Have you looked in a mirror?’
Storm asked sarcastically.
‘Wait, did you say metal mask?’ Blade asked.
‘Yes youngling, Bruxa did.’
‘I do not think she was referring to Queen Laidin. This sounds
like the stories mom and dad use to tell us. The ones about that
evil elf, Sharin remember?’ Blade reminded his friends, hoping
someone could fill in the blanks.
‘True. She would wield a bow-staff like this, since she is a Dark
El,’ Phalin added.
‘Master’s... bow-staff... was black like her soul, not beautiful
and shiny like this one,’ Bruxa tried to helped.
The reality hit the children all at once.
‘Where are our parents?’ Storm yelled.
‘Hmmm Bruxa assume you mean the others. The ones the
master trapped in the eye.’ Bruxa said.
‘Trapped? Eye... how... what... Huh?’ Throm asked.

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‘It’s a long story, which I will tell you now if you wish,’ the
creature said settling down for the retelling.

Storm seemed frantic by the time the story ended.
‘Come, Bruxa will show you,’ the creature who called herself
Bruxa said, and led the kids into the caverns below the castle.
Bruxa felt drawn to these children for some strange reason. The
demon had been pure evil, but these kids were just pure,
untainted, uncorrupted, they had no concept of evil.
They reached the throne room moments later, and the kids
stared wordlessly at the mirror covering the far wall.
‘The master could see through to the other side, even though
she could not open the gate. Maybe you can too,’ Bruxa
suggested.
The kids took up position in front of the mirror and stared
intently at it.
Shen and Throm saw nothing but themselves. The twins thanks
to the Aesir gene from their mother, Phalin and Feral however,
being the most magical of the group, did manage to see the other
side.
The other two eagerly awaited news.
‘I don’t see our parents anywhere,’ Storm glumly stated.
‘I do not either,’ Phalin agreed, intently studying the forest on
the other side of the clearing inside the mirror. No one hides from
an El in a forest.
In turn they tried to open and use the eye but without success.
Bruxa felt a strange emotion. She felt sorry for the kids. They
were the first she has ever met that did not make her feel like a
monster. They were kind to her, and spoke softly when asking

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questions as she was retelling the story of their parents’
entrapment.
They did not even blame her for her part in it, but instead
understood that she was an unwilling accomplish.
‘Bruxa will take you to see the mother,’ she suddenly decided.
‘Excuse our ignorance, but who is the mother?’ Phalin asked.
‘She is the mother of all my kind. Bruxa found the cure for her
on the other side of the eye, and she has been resting and gaining
strength ever since,’ Bruxa said.
‘Could she help us?’ Storm asked in a quivering voice.
‘Maybe… maybe, she is very old, as old as the gods who live on
the other side of the eye. She had been cursed by them, so maybe
she could help you.’
‘We will take any hope we can get,’ Throm agreed, ‘lead the
way my lady.’
No one had ever called Bruxa that.
She felt four inches taller as she entered the tunnels that would
lead them from the caverns.
‘We will need to use your ship,’ she said, ‘mistress Lamia has
been taken to a safe location, where the darklord and Typhon
could not find her.’

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CHAPTER 7
The day dragged to a close as the four heroes and Zeus reached
the eye.
‘Okay Guival, you have kept us in suspense long enough. Would
you mind telling us what your grand plan is?’ Angel demanded.
‘You’ll see,’ Guival secretively smiled in the minds of his friends.
Guival took up place in front of the eye and started to shimmer.
Half a second later Echidna stood before them.
‘How is this possible?’ Kirom asked astonished as Zeus
screamed and ran for cover in the bushes, ‘Echidna had been
chopped into pieces and most of it was missing. You could not
possibly have absorbed her form.’
‘I did not need a complete and living Echidna my dear friend.
You see the thing with immortals is that they can regenerate lost
limbs etc when they lose them. For them it only becomes a
problem if decapitated. Nonetheless, every cell in their body
knows how to regenerate every other. Therefore, instead of
absorbing the form of the body as a whole all I needed to do was
absorb the definition stored in one cell. I got hers from her left
eye... I think; it was dark; and then there was a little explosion
which is rumoured to have been my fault,’ Guival projected a
wide grin.
‘So why does it not work with him? Why does he not
regenerate?’ Angel asked pointing to Zeus.
‘Since I am not immortal, mortal,’ Zeus answered after he
emerged from the bushes having made sure it was safe, ‘I will die
eventually. There are however creatures and monsters on

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Olympus that are immortal. Guess it is a trade off in that either
you get beauty and a finite lifespan, or the universe hits you with
the ugly stick, and you have to live with it forever. Sort of poetic
justice I think.’
‘Oh there is one other thing I found,’ Guival said triumphantly.
‘And what pray tell would that be?’ Zeus asked fascinated with
this blue creature.
‘The last image anyone sees before he dies is burned into his
retina. Guess what remained burnt on Echidnas retina?’ he asked.
‘Large chunks of her face?’ Kirom suggested.
‘Nope,’ Guival smirked, ‘our favourite dark El,’ Guival concluded
theatrically.
‘Well there is a big surprise. Just wonder what the reasoning
behind that was. I thought she and Typhon were working together
on this dastardly scheme,’ Angel speculated.
‘I apologize for interrupting this infinitely enlightening narrative,
but might we focus on the task at hand?’ Laidin brought the team
back to reality.
‘Of course my ladybird,’ said Zeus, ‘Guival in front of the eye,
the rest of you, become scarce.’
‘I’ll open the eye now, so you can see them and they can see
you,’ Zeus addressed Guival when everybody had taken up their
places.
The eye began to swim and then glow. The image on the other
side slowly formed inside the mirror, and Guival could clearly
make out the throne room.
‘It’s empty!’ he screamed in anguish.

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‘Yes. I was afraid of that,’ Laidin remarked, ‘I did not expect
Typhon to hang around and wait for someone to appear in the
eye.’
‘He is probably off killing innocent people again,’ Angel said
glumly.
The group sat down while Guival prepared a fire.
The bushes rustled close by the team.
Weapons appeared as a reflex action, in less than the blink of
an eye.
The menacing bush attacked without warning as it broke apart
and a heap of wheezing, coughing and spluttering bones fell from
it.
‘t’noD,’… wheeze… ‘Nekcuf llik,’… wheeze splutter… ‘em,’ the
heap of bones breathed.1
‘Don’t have to,’ Guival quipped, ‘we just need to wait a few
seconds.’
At least he could read the old man’s thoughts and understood
what he meant.
‘ll’I,’ wheeze, cough, cough, ‘tel uoy,’… gasp, ‘wonk taht I,’
splutter, ‘ma sa f****n tif sa…’2 <conversation ended with old
man passing out>
‘Make him comfortable,’ Angel commanded, ‘and give him
some ambrosia.’
The old man, who turned out to be Apollo, slept the sleep of the
dead for a long time. Most of the time he probably was dead, but
gods do not permanently die that easily. Apparently, they need to

1
Don’t … f****n kill… me
2
I’ll let you know that I am as f****n fit as…

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die in combat with dragons, three headed dogs or woman with
snakes for hair.
Apollo was definitely a god.
It intrigued Angel as to why he could not understand the god
until LOBE made some sarcastic comment, and told Angel that the
old man enunciated his words front to back.
LOBE adjusted the universal translator.
‘There. Probably not perfect but will be better now,’ LOBE
stated.
‘Where the f*** am I?’ he sputtered as he woke, ‘who the f***
are you? Who the f*** am I?’
A god with Alzheimer disease, Angel surmised.
‘You’re at the eye, I am Zeus and this is our friends from earth.
You are Apollo and a god,’ Zeus patiently explained.
‘I am a motherf****n dog?’ the sorry figure asked.
Apparently, Apollo is a dyslexic god with Alzheimer disease and
Tourette’s syndrome.
‘I thought dyslexia was a reading disorder,’ Angel inquired,
while the other heroes only stared since the concept remained
foreign to them.
‘Very advanced state, almost godlike, his real name is Apollopa,
for obvious reasons. It became Apollo on earth though,’ Zeus
replied knowingly.
He turned to Apollo and started to speak very slowly.
‘Tell me my friend, why did you come all the way here?’
‘To tell you f***n dinner is ready?’ Apollo guessed.
‘No I don’t think so,’ Zeus suggested.
‘I cannot remember, f***!’ Apollo stuttered quite disheartened.

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‘Listen this is all very touching, but we need to get back through
the gate. Typhon is still out there destroying our planet,’ Angel
interjected quite annoyed.
‘F****N NOHPYT,’ Apollo screamed and went into an anxious
coughing fit.
‘Yes? What about him old friend,’ Zeus asked rubbing his
friend’s back.
‘He’s here, the son of a female god is here,’ Apollo managed to
splutter.
‘Female god,’ Kirom asked.
‘I think he meant female dog… bitch,’ Angel suggested helpfully.
‘Tell me everything… before you forget,’ Zeus gently questioned
his friend.
‘Forget f****n what?’ Apollo replied.
‘About Typhon,’ Zeus patiently remarked.
‘Who the f*** is he?’ Apollo asked.
Angel threw his hands in the air and walked off.
Guival followed.
‘If I ever get like that, make sure you plant a fireball right
between my eyes please,’ Angel ordered the Aesir.
‘Uhuh and then I have to deal with Ricci afterwards? I do not
think so. Sorry my lord but you are on your own on that one,’
Guival grinned.
Something caught Angel’s eye in the bush from which they
rescued Apollo.
Angel walked over and pulled a piece of parchment from it. He
tried to read it.
‘Don’t understand a word of it,’ Angel told Guival.
‘Hey Zeus, what does this say?’ Angel called over to the god.

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Zeus studied it for a while and went white as a sheet, then red
and purple, and then a colour, which the universe must have
reserved for an angry little god.
‘It’s from Athena. Apparently, Typhon went looking for us at my
palace. The gang stayed hidden and he could not find them. He
then levelled my home, smashed it to the ground. Do you know
how difficult it is finding building contractors in this
neighbourhood?’ Zeus stammered furiously.
‘Okay not that we do not have empathy with your problems
thunder-ball, but we still need to save earth, and apparently the
only one that can get us through the gate… IS NOW ON THIS SIDE,’
LOBE announced using Angel’s vocal cords.
The other heroes and gods stared at him in horror as the reality
set in; the trap was permanent.
‘Oh and it gets better,’ LOBE continued unabated, ‘Not only are
we trapped on this world while Sharin is happily destroying
everything. We now have an already pissed off monster god that
is able to toss mountains around, to play hide and seek with, soon
to find that his wife had been killed. And which home wreckers do
you think mister bipolar immortal is going to blame for it?’
‘But we did not do it,’ Guival’s childlike denial of guilt entered
their minds.
‘Fine, but does that care bear sound like the type to ask
questions first?’ LOBE asked.
‘He might not find out it was us… er, was not us… er, looks like
us but was not us,’ Guival continued.
‘Remember the Sphinx,’ LOBE sneered, ‘the daughter of
Typhon! I am sure she won’t mention to him that Zeus and friends
asked about her mother and where to find her.’

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‘And I guess he won’t have to answer the riddle either,’ Kirom
added agitated.
‘Shall we begin to panic now?’ Zeus asked.
‘Lets,’ Guival suggested anxiously.

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CHAPTER 8
Dar’kel stood next to the command chair on her ship. The Dark
El or the royal elves as they see themselves, had given her this
ship to escape with, after Laidin had beaten her and left her for
dead. The ship, Naglfar that literally translated means Wrath
Ferry, had a name that aptly described its function considering the
current occupant. The ship appeared black, but not the colour
that absorbs all colours; more like the colour that absorbs your
eyes and then let you see the back of your own skull through your
eye sockets, before it sucks in your soul. This smuggling ship was
near imperceptible and it could slip through any defence grid as
easily as a fart in a Roquefort cheese factory.
It was completely undetectable by sensors or scanner, no
matter how advanced they were.
She glared at the giant Royal El Cruiser now slowly filling the
view screen. My cruiser, she grimaced, the one that bitch stole
from me. I am the rightful queen of the El; how quickly these
cretins forget. Nevertheless, I will make them remember, and I
will make them pay for treating me like a commoner, a criminal.
ME, THEIR QUEEN, she thought as she came closer.

She did not ask for permission to land, the royal docking bay
doors were open and she knew the landing control codes.
The black ship silently touched down. She opened the outer
hatch and confidently stepped out into a deserted hangar.

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The crew obviously did not expect anyone right now. Gumph,
she thought unimpressed, when I was still around this place had a
crew 24/7, how slack they have become.
She walked to the passage that would take her straight to the
bridge. This was her design, for when she needed to get from the
bridge to her fighter in a hurry if she felt the need to go blow
something up. She would blow up just anything; she was not a
fussy killer like some of the people she knew. She hated people
who discriminate; she had etiquette and good manners...
everybody died as equals.
She confidently strolled onto the bridge.
‘Commander, prepare to leave orbit,’ she rasped while taking
up position in the command chair.
She’s back, the commander silently thought, his dark El heart
beating in his throat, what a glorious day, I will probably hang for
this but I do not care. I have waited so long for this day.
‘Immediately my queen,’ the commander acknowledged and
turned to the confused bridge crew, ‘close all outer hatches.
Recall all fighters in range. Secure ballast. Fire up the main drive,’
he commanded.
‘Anything else I may do for you your highness,’ he asked Sharin.
‘Yes,’ she sneered, ‘get me my old command chair and get rid of
these commoners, I want only royalty on the bridge.’
At this moment, one of the less than gifted light-El decided to
die for his Queen, the real queen, Laidin. His battle cry consisted
of ‘F…’ before his head hit the view screen; the rest of his body
seem to have forgotten to change direction.
‘And clean up this mess,’ Dar’kel growled while wiping her
dagger.

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‘Yes my lady Sharin, as you command,’ the dark elf commander
snapped to it.
‘Dar’kel, my name is Dar’kel, Sharin is dead,’ she rasped from
behind the iron mask.
‘As you wish my queen,’ the commander acknowledged.
‘I need an inventory of the crew. Have those not loyal to me
executed immediately.’
The elated commander left to do her bidding.
He had ensured through careful manipulation of the system
that all his sub commanders and lieutenants were dark elves.
He called them to the briefing room.
‘I want all your commoner crew and pilots sent on a mission to
earth,’ he stared at their confused faces, ‘the day of the dark El
has come at last. We will take back what is ours. Our Queen
Sharin has returned, and wishes us to slaughter all commoners,
but we are too few. The best we may do is to have most of them
leave and then kill the rest.’
‘What shall we tell them the mission is,’ one of the Lieutenants
asked.
‘Tell them Laidin,’ he spat the name, ‘has ordered them to go
help rebuild, New Valhalla.’
He saw their excitement slowly replacing the confusion and
fear.
They had moved all the injured Valk’r to New Valhalla after they
completed the medical wing two days ago.
All except for the comatose two blonds and the blue monkey,
they were Laidin’s personal charges and stayed aboard.
Most of the El crew were on the planet in any event helping the
Valk’r rebuild their home.

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‘How many of our royal brothers are on earth,’ he asked.
‘None,’ his sub commander answered, ‘we will not send royalty
to do the work of commoners or shed our sweat for this primitive
species,’ he scornfully replied.
‘Good, then make haste, the day of the Svartálfar has arrived,’
the commander said and left.

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CHAPTER 9
Ricci’s head jerked upright and she immediately felt a thin
trickle of cold sweat run down her back. Loser lay in his familiar
position, stretched out on Gemmi’s chest. They must be under
attack again, she thought as she saw small tears forming in the
corners of Loser’s eyes.
The medical facility on board the El cruiser looked deserted.
This seemed very strange to Ricci, but she had far more pressing
concerns.
Have to think, Ricci mumbled, I have to save that blundering
fool husband of mine, but I cannot leave Gemmi.
Ricci absentmindedly played with Dragonfang.
Her eyes focussed on the pulsating jewel.
Idiot, she berated herself for not thinking of this sooner as it hit
her squarely between the eyes. The stories of the Brisingamen
jewel, how it was too strong to control and it would destroy minds
at will. The reason why they split it was simply that it took control
of the wearers mind as well. That is exactly what we need. We
need to have the jewel take control of Gemmi’s mind and we
need it to destroy the monster’s mind.
She frantically searched the medical facility until she found a
scalpel like instrument in one of the drawers.
Ricci anxiously started working on the Brisingamen jewel buried
in the hilt of Dragonfang. At last, she sighed as she pried the jewel
from its resting place. Ricci knelt beside Gemmi and took the
jewel around her neck in her hands.

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Well Gems, this jewel got you into this mess and at full strength,
it will get you out... I hope.
She placed the two halves together and a faint red line of light
formed between the pieces.
The jewel melted into one and began to shine with a light that
made Ricci shield her eyes.
She dropped the jewel onto Gemmi’s chest.
Even at this distance, she could sense the terrible power the
jewel possessed, and the joy it felt for being one again.
‘Oh shit,’ Ricci said aloud, ‘god I hope I did not just cause a
bigger problem.’
Loser yelped and jumped onto the light fitting in the room, still
confused from the violent way he awoke from his trance and he
chattered furiously.
A few seconds later Gemmi opened her eyes. It glowed like blue
orbs. Loser fearfully backed away, but Ricci knew what was
required next. She had anticipated something drastic might be on
the cards when Gemmi finally emerged from her comma, and
Dragonfang already rested under the chain holding the jewel.
With one deft movement, she severed the chain, and with the
flat of the blade knocked the jewel from Gemmi’s chest.
The light in Gemmi’s eyes began to fade as soon as the jewel
left her chest.
‘Where am I?’ She asked as a faint trace of recognition slowly
crept over her.
Loser jumped from the light fitting onto her chest and hugged
Gemmi in an embrace that said, ‘I am attached to you for life, live
with it.’

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‘Hey little one,’ Gemmi smiled and hugged him back weakly,
‘I’m glad to see you too.’
‘I had the weirdest dream,’ she finally said, ‘strangely both of
you were there.’
‘That was no dream Gems,’ Ricci gritted her teeth, ‘something
tried to kill you, and if not for that brave little creature on your
chest it would have succeeded. You owe Loser your life.’
Gemmi stared at Ricci as if she was trying to figure out the truth
of the words Ricci just spoke.
She knew. Deep down she knew it had not been a dream. She
tightened her hug on Loser, and small tears dropped onto the
head of the little blue creature.
‘Thank you my precious friend, thank you so very much.’
Ricci carefully moved the jewel into the centre of the room
using only the blade of her sword. She did not dare use her hands
since in the jewels current state it would fry her mind.
Once she had it positioned exactly the way she wanted, she
lifted Dragonfang and brought it down in one swift blurred
movement.
A scream went up around the room, filled with terrible agony
and pain. The scream came from the jewel.
Two perfectly halved pieces of the Brisingamen jewel lay on the
floor, when the scream eventually subsided.
Ricci tossed one to Gemmi and set the other back into the hilt
of Dragonfang.
‘We need to get out of here immediately,’ Ricci suddenly
remembered the reason for her urgent attempt to free Gemmi,
‘Angel and the others are in big trouble. This was all a trap created
by Sharin. We must go help them right now.’

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‘Lead the way,’ Gemmi said trying to stand but failing miserably,
‘sorry my little friend it seems I am in need of a little assistance.’
Loser became a suitable size for carrying Gemmi and effortlessly
lifted her in his guerrilla arms.
Ricci opened the door expecting to grab the first passing El and
order him to prepare their shuttle for immediate departure;
instead, several energy bolts slammed into the doorframe beside
her.
Ricci ducked back into the medical bay.
‘Shit, I think we are too late,’ she shot back at Gemmi.
Gemmi smiled and tapped the Brisingamen jewel, ‘no problem
princess.’
Ricci nodded.
Both fell into a trance like state focussing intently on the half of
the Brisingamen jewel they each had. Ricci attempting control of
the guards to the left and Gemmi would make marionettes of
those to the right. The two Brisingamen jewel pieces shone
brightly as it dispersed its mind control power, but to no avail.
‘It is no use, I cannot sense their minds. Maybe it’s too small for
me to sense,’ Ricci complained after a while.
‘Hmmm, yes it is strange,’ Gemmi agreed, ‘I did however pick
up another mind, a very familiar mind. You were quite correct,
she is here, and she is in command of this vessel. She managed to
shield most of her thoughts from me, but those I found were
determined and nothing she has done thus far had been random.
Sharin has a very specific plan, and for her to be this happy, it
must be Universal Armageddon.’
‘Still, why can’t we control the monkeys outside?’ Ricci asked.

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‘The must be wearing scrambler helmets, the stuff used when
hunting Grey Farren1,’ Gemmi suggested.
‘Then we are stuck and have to wait for them to come take us
out like clay pigeons.’
‘I doubt it,’ Gemmi said looking around the room, ‘this place is
stacked with a highly flammable and explosive inventory and
energy conduits running inside the walls. We are also right next to
the hull. I doubt they would try fire energy weapons in this room.
It might prove bad for everyone’s health.’
‘Still there are a lot more of them than us,’ Ricci noted.
‘True, but we have an angry Gerbit for company, would you
want to mess around in here?’ Gemmi smiled.
‘You know you can’t ask me questions like that, do I ever think
before I leap,’ Ricci grinned, ‘but we still need to find a way out,
even if they cannot get in, we are prisoners of our own design. I
don’t think our blond bimbo routine will work on these clown,
especially since they are dark El, and blonds are not exactly to
their taste.’
Deep furrows appeared on Gemmi’s angelic brow, ‘Hmmm…
Nope I’ve got nothing; seems we are compelled to wait and see
what happens.’
‘Me, wait, seriously?’ Ricci asked, as hyperactive as a cat on
speed left on a red-hot tin roof.
‘Do you have a better idea?’ Gemmi asked.
‘No, do you, because your last one sucked,’ Ricci said accusingly.
Gemmi smiled and sat down, while Ricci angrily paced the
room.

1
See description in Genealogy at end of book.

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CHAPTER 10
#Egypt, why do all answers seem to lie in this dessert country#
Skibladne stated.
‘What she on about?’ Feral asked.
‘Dunno?’ Blade shrugged.
#your parents had to come here is search of answers two
decades ago when they were searching for the Valk’r. History is
repeating itself# Skibladne explained.
‘That’s the place,’ Bruxa indicated, pointing at the image of the
sphinx on the view screen. The huge monument stood clearly
outlined in the moonlight.
Phalin was silently relieved, since her sensitive elven nose did
not adapt well to the smell of the several dozen vampiric sewer
rats they had as guests.
Blade gave Skibladne a mental command to land. After the crew
and their passengers evacuated the ship, he sent her into her
hangar dimension using the remote control on his wrist, a
foresight Skibladne built into his gauntlet.
Bruxa stood in awe as she saw the amazing ship vanish into the
night. She made a few experimental grabs at the place where she
knew the landing claws should be, but her hands met only empty
space.
The team had moved some way off and she had to sprint to
catch up.
Her sisters had already vanished around the side of the Sphinx.
The kids were gracious enough to provide them all with transport
here, leaving the castle in Transylvania deserted.

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‘This way,’ she pointed her claw at the solid rock wall on the
side of the Sphinx.
She hit one of the smaller blocks, and then kicked another. A
grinding of ancient stone and gears led to the opening of a small
doorway into the belly of the beast.
‘Follow,’ she motioned to the children.
Throm eagerly examined the sand stone formation he
witnessed inside the passage, and it took some persuasion from
the rest of the team, to have him keep pace with them.
After what seemed like an endless ensemble of passages and
stairwells, the crew finally entered a candle lit chamber. The
hundreds of candles illuminated pictograms and hieroglyphs of
gods, pharaohs and other events from ancient Egyptian history.
‘Wait here,’ Bruxa commanded, ‘Bruxa will talk to mother first.’
The children walked around the chamber absentmindedly
studying the hieroglyphs on the walls. This did not include Throm
who had the heart of an archaeologist and intently studied them.
He was quite adept at deciphering ancient text and pictograms.
He became absorbed in one particularly strange assortment of
glyphs. Some form of enlightenment was about to dawn on him,
when the approaching footsteps interrupted his thoughts.
Bruxa entered the chamber followed by an ancient woman, or
rather mostly woman, since from the torso down she became
snake. Her scales glittered in the candle light. She appeared old,
very old, but still refused to cover her upper body. A push up bra
at least would have been a huge improvement. Even just tying
pieces of string to her well stretched nipples and tying it to the
back of her neck would have made the sight more bearable.
Her voice crackled as she began to speak.

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‘You were right Bruxa they are delectable… I mean
desssspondent little onessss,’ Lamia hissed before turning her
attention to the children, ‘how may I put a smile on those
adorable little facessss?’ she asked with honey dripping from her
lips and it is a very good thing honey never spoils.
Blade suddenly had visions of ginger bread houses, candy canes
and glowing ovens. This was strange since he had no idea what a
ginger bread house was supposed to look like.
He shuddered.
Storm spoke up first.
‘We need to find a way to rescue our parents, my lady,’ she said
in a quivering voice.
‘Ah yessss, ssssit down my child,’ Lamia motioned to the rocks,
seemingly doubling as chairs, arranged in one corner of the
chamber.
‘Your parentssss are in a world of godssss,’ she spat after they
were all comfortable.
‘We know. What we need to know is where the key to that
world is,’ Throm looked expectantly at the old woman.
‘Patience little one,’ Lamia said ignoring the look of pain that
crossed Throm’s face being referred to as little one, ‘you see the
gate or eye that formssss the bridge between our worldssss is
magical, and must be operated by a being from the godssss
world.’
‘Sort of like Skibladne that can only be flown by me and Storm,’
Blade suggested.
Lamia shrugged, ‘unfortunately as you well know all the godssss
have returned to Olympussss, there issss now none left on earth.’
She saw the hopeless expression on the faces of the children.

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‘Ah I ssssee the gravity of the ssssituation hassss sssset in,’
Lamia hissed, ‘well then it issss time for a little hope, which issss
more than what those basssstard godssss gave my children and
me.’
‘In the days of the godssss, there were three beingssss that
guarded the eye. They were Tissssiphone, Megaera and Alecto
known as the Erinyessss or Furiessss. You ssssee Zeussss changed
the eye to only opened from thissss sssside and he made the
Furiessss guard the eye,’ Lamia explained.
‘I still don’t understand how this will help us, none of us can
open the gate, we all tried,’ Blade remarked sullenly.
‘Yessss, and neither can I, ssssince I had been human until I was
cursed by that bitch Hera,’ Lamia smiled, ‘but now the hope I
sssspoke of.’
Six anxious faces stared at her.
‘Medussssa, one of the monsterssss let through by Typhon after
he sssslipped through, could turn any life to sssstone ssssimply by
looking at it. After Typhon introduced her to this world, sssshe
turned the furiessss to sssstone. Nothing can turn them back from
sssstone, except...’
The kids looked even more anxious as they moved forward in
their chairs.
‘Brave little Bruxa travelled to Olympussss to bring back
ssssomething which I believe can help ussss. It issss blood from
Medusa. You ssssee any blood drawn from the left sssside of her
body would be a deadly poisssson.’
‘The poison used on the Valk’r we picked up,’ Phalin exclaimed.
‘Possssibly, even probably,’ Lamia remarked thoughtfully before
continuing, ‘but the blood extracted from the right sssside of her

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body would sssserve as a powerful reanimation agent. This I
ssssusssspect could be the counter reagent needed to reversssse
her sssspell on the Furiessss. Of course it issss just a theory but I
do not see what you have to losssse.’
Feral looked sceptical, he had been around gambling worlds
long enough to know, nothing comes free. It is also true that the
more valuable the item the higher the price and it seemed to him
that this item would require the ultimate price.
‘So my lady, what will this magical reagent cost us,’ he asked
innocently.
‘Nothing, abssssolutely nothing,’ Lamia said quite innocently,
but the glint in her eye could not be mistaken for a tear of joy.
The team looked at her sceptically, but were in no position to
look a gift snake in the mouth, or pass up what might be their only
opportunity to free their parents. Bruxa meanwhile carefully
measured three drops of her most precious possession hanging in
a vial around her neck into a smaller glass vial.
‘Thank you my lady. Now for one more vexing problem, where
do we find the furies?’ Phalin asked.
‘Greece younglingssss… the furiessss are in Apollo’ssss temple
in Delphi, Greece,’ Lamia smiled showing her fangs.
‘Thank you my lady for your patience and time, and the
precious gift,’ Blade sincerely thanked her and bowed, ‘we must
now take our leave and do our best to free our parents.’
‘Yessss you musssst,’ Lamia said and a thin little tongue shot
from her lips, ‘Jusssst a word of caution, thesssse creaturessss
ssssensessss guilt and sssshame, and will probably kill you if they
do.’

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She watched the children leave, before she let an evil python
bark escape her lips.
‘Good, good,’ she hissed while turning and rubbing her hands. A
slimy trail followed her descent into the bowls of the Sphinx, ‘they
will do what we cannot,’ she said to herself when she reached a
safe distance from their ears.

‘Do you trust her,’ Storm asked her brother, while they boarded
Skibladne.
‘Don’t know, she seems to want to help,’ Blade answered, ‘I just
don’t know.’
Blade ordered Skibladne to the temple of Apollo after a
moment’s hesitation.
Six worried faces stared at the landscape rushing by.
‘She gave me the creeps,’ Throm finally stated.
‘That she did my friend,’ Phalin agreed.
‘I sensed ill intent,’ Shen spoke in one of her rare moments.
The whole team looked at her. They were not used to hearing
her speak much, and they knew to listen when she did.
‘She believed her words to be true, but she hid a deeper truth
from us. We must proceed with caution and be on our guard
every step of the way. I sensed she believes this is the only way to
free your parents, but…’ Feral interrupted Shen, ‘the price will be
great, right,’ he finished her sentence glumly.
Shen nodded solemnly.

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CHAPTER 11
The temple of Zeus lay in complete ruin, no stone remained
unturned, which of course meant that the temple now stood semi
inside out, upside down, and at most laying no more than half a
kilometre.
Five frightened but unharmed figures emerged from the
wreckage that was Zeus’s throne.
‘That… that… demon broke my voice,’ Zeus spluttered, and
seemed to want to cry.
The heroes looked at each other quite perplexed.
‘My thunderous voice was generated through a series of pipes,
and diaphragms underneath my temple. Now it’s all gone,’ Zeus
explained in a quivering voice.
‘What shall we do now?’ Guival asked.
‘I’ll have to speak in a normal voice when foreigners visit,’ Zeus
answered distraught.
‘Not you,’ Guival sighed, ‘us.’
‘None of our temples will be safe,’ Zeus remarked.
‘We will need to mount a defensive though,’ Angel suggested,
‘who has the most fortified and defensible temple?’
Seven confused faces stared at him.
‘Did any of you build your temple on a mountain with only a
small path leading up to it so we can get the high ground
advantage,’ Angel tried.
Ares, Apollo and Hermes slowly raised their hands.

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‘Not you Apollo, your temple slid into the river almost a century
ago with that mud slide, when the water pipe burst,’ Zeus
explained.
‘It did?’ Apollo said with tears welling up in his eyes, ‘yM nekcuf
esuoh si enog1?’
‘Yes my friend it’s gone,’ Zeus softly explained. He turned to
Angel, ‘every few weeks it the same story when we tell him his
temple did a very impressive turn of speed into the river…’ Zeus
spoke louder and over his shoulder so Apollo could hear, ‘because
someone did not listen to me when I told him to build his temple
on the rock. NO… the view is better from over here… and the sun
lights up my throne so nicely over here… yeah it’s really nicely lit
now at the bottom of the river you old fart.’
‘Fine, fine,’ Angel gestured with open hands trying to calm a
seemingly volatile situation, with the gods readying potentially
lethal walking sticks and walkers.
These geriatric gods remained armed to the teeth and of
course, the teeth were removable and classified under weapons
of mass destruction as well.
Ares skilfully wielding his walker whacked Apollo who had been
attempting to liberate one of Hermes’s walking sticks.
Ares did manage to say, ‘hands off you defunct old bat,’ before
realising he needed the walker for a different reason. Ares
dropped face down on Hera’s lap sitting in her wheelchair where
the latter expertly tried to shove a knitting needle into his ear. ‘At
last I have you where I want you. So many years I’ve waited,’ she
crooned, before Hera suddenly and inexplicably fell asleep.

1
‘My f****n house is gone?’

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Her wheelchair rolled backwards as Ares slipped to the ground,
and bumped into Aphrodite who subsequently tried to strangle
Hera but with severe arthritis in her hands she stroked more than
choked.
Hera woke from the tickle on her throat immediately realized
what was happening and bit down on the one hand. Aphrodite
yanked it away unfortunately with Hera’s teeth still attached.
Aphrodite fainted from exhaustion and pain.
‘Listen!’ Angel boomed causing enough confusion to halt the
battle, ‘we need to decide which of Ares or Hermes’s temples we
will use to defend ourselves.’
‘I think we should use Athena’s temple,’ Ares suggested having
recovered into a sitting position against a ruined pillar.
‘Like, whatever for doll,’ Athena spoke up, ‘why do we have to
like obliterate my digs when yours will do just fine.’
‘Yes why hers Ares,’ Laidin asked, ‘is it high up?’
‘No,’ Ares answered.
‘Is it heavily fortified with battlements?’ Kirom inquired.
‘No,’ Ares answered reflectively, ‘unless the bitch redecorated
in the last five centuries, which I don’t believe.’
‘Has it got underground escape tunnels and traps set up around
the perimeter?’ Guival asked.
‘No,’ Ares stated again.
‘Then what good is her temple to us?’ Angel asked now suitably
confused.
‘Simple,’ Ares said with the wisdom of old age and many battles
shinning on the old grey head, ‘there are no mountains nearby,
for Typhon to THROW AT US.’ He coughed.

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A lot of nodding and ‘oh, good point,’ and ‘never thought of
that,’ and ‘should have thought of that,’ and ‘gith me back my
teeth you cowth,’ echoed around the ruins. Apollo of course
wanted to know who the visitors were and why nobody
introduced him.
‘Then to Athena’s temple we go,’ Laidin announced and started
to lead the way down the steps and onto the path that would take
them there.
Angel caught up to the regal form of Laidin as she gracefully and
purposefully strode up front.
‘Do you think we can take him?’ Angel asked.
‘No my lord, but we will not let that stop us from trying.’
‘I know we have never shirked away from a fight thus far, have
we?’ Angel smiled.
‘That we have not, my lord.’
‘And of course now we have the seven dwarfs to protect,’ Angel
grinned, but then turned sober, ‘we are helping these geriatric
gods, when we should be trying to find a way back through the
eye.’
Laidin said nothing.
They reached the temple a few short hours later.
‘Everybody, start barricading the outer area of the temple,’
Angel commanded. He was not someone that would ever go back
on his word once it was given, but in these circumstances he wish
he was.
Hermes tried to lift an ornament the size of a shoebox, ‘Ooh my
back, I think I put out my back,’ he screamed.
Ares kicked a small statue a few centimetres, shuffled after it
with his walker, and then he would kick it again. He had covered

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the last half a meter at breakneck speed, and he got faster all the
time. Guival was taking bets that he would do the next half meter
in less than an hour.
Aphrodite lay neatly pinned under a pillar, with only a leg and
arm on either side neatly dissecting the god. She apparently
pulled on a rug and this toppled a small vase, which toppled a
bigger vase, then a statue of Apollo, whose naked appendage hit a
statue of Zeus in the arse and caused him the fall on the pillar,
which then squarely landed on Aphrodite.
‘She was a good friend,’ Zeus said in mourning.
‘0hW saw?1’ Apollo asked, and then added f*** because he
could not quite fit it into the question, but knew it should be
there.
‘Aphrodite,’ Zeus said, brushing away a tear.
‘Eht toh nekcuf dnolb2,’ Apollo asked again.
‘My friend she has not been blond in 3 centuries,’ Zeus
explained.
‘Nepo ruoy nekcuf seye nam, era uoy nekcuf dnilb3,’ Apollo said
accusingly.
‘Er Apollo, that is a wig on a coat hanger you are pointing at,’
Zeus explained, ‘that is Aphrodite,’ he pointed at the stiff arm and
leg visible from beneath the pillar.
‘Yloh tihs4,’ Apollo exclaimed.
‘Yes, it is terrible,’ Zeus sorrowfully remarked.

1 Who was?
2 The hot f****n blond
3 Open your f****n eyes man, are you f****n blind?
4 Holy Shit

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‘On, I naem eh nekcuf tahs flesmih, ees1,’ Apollo said pointing at
Hermes, who had a brown stripe running down his toga,
Aphrodite already forgotten.
‘Okay, all Olympians, sit down right now,’ Angel commanded,
‘we can’t afford to lose any more of you.’
Laidin suggested a small ceremony for the dearly departed.
The gods mostly remained solemn for an almost respectable
amount of time before arguing again about, who gets her stuff,
and Apollo doing his best to ascertain who had died.
Laidin just sighed, shrugged, and turned to Angel shaking her
head.
He raised his eyebrows and smiled. Enough said.
The four heroes diligently worked while the Olympians gave
constant advice.
‘Hey that statue of me is skew,’ Zeus explained.
‘Move that box to the right, the sun is in my eyes.’
‘Hey I was using that tray.’
‘That is my antique shield collection, are you nuts, you can’t use
that.’
By nightfall, Angel and friends had fortified the temple to
absolutely no god’s satisfaction, but the fortification was to battle
standards. They decided to take turns on watch. Kirom took first
watch since his eyes were accustomed to working in the dark.

Nightfall came on the second night in Athena’s temple and still
not a whisper of trouble.
‘I hate this waiting around,’ Angel remarked with a deep scowl.

1 No, I mean he f****n shat himself, see

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‘Yes my lord, I feel the same way, but this is an excellent time to
do your battle meditation. To clear your mind and focus it on the
task at hand,’ Kirom advised pointing at Laidin who sat in the
Lotus position.
At least he shared that trait with his wife, Kirom thought to
himself.
The three sat in silence with closed eyes. Guival being just as
bored joined them after a while. He first tried to distract them,
but when they paid him no heed, he decided to join in the
meditation.
Zeus stood watch, after insisting that the Olympians do their
part.
A boulder the size of a Mini Cooper landed squarely in the
middle of the group of heroes.
The mixture of an adrenalin injection in conjunction with
Angel’s enhanced muscle structure caused him to jump straight
up, reaching more than forty feet in the low gravity. At the turning
point LOBE, who had performed the calculation on the exact
height reached by Angel, was just too pleased to inform him of
this fact.
‘42.6 feet, wow, that is simply marvellous. We should make a
lovely splatter pattern on the ground from this height in exactly
3.14 seconds. Well done.’ LOBE remarked.
‘Shut up, and help me stabilize my fall,’ Angel ordered.
At the very last second, LOBE took control of Angel’s muscles
and made a perfect paratrooper roll, which absorbed the entire
downward velocity vector.
Chaos reigned in the temple.

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Most of the gods were down on their knees praying to each
other.
Kirom vaulted the barricade to get a clear view of the attacker.
Laidin took up position on a pillar overlooking the battlefield.
Guival delivered fireballs as fast as he could produce them, and
Laidin fired her bow with deadly accuracy.
The boulders kept raining down, but with the luck of the gods
seemed to keep on missing anything of interest to anyone except
Athena.
Angel heard Mjolnir discharge with an incredible thunderclap.
Kirom I hope you hit home, Angel thought. A black shape passed
over Angel’s head. He ran after it with all possible speed. He only
saw the shape for a fraction of a second but he knew it well.
The dwarven figure lay crumpled against a pillar.
Angel picked up his head and cradled it in his arms, ‘Kirom,
speak to me… Kirom, wake up,’ Angel shouted.
Angel slapped him a few more times before the dwarf’s eyes
opened.
‘What… where… where am I,’ he asked, ‘Oh… that bastard, he’s
dead, blindsiding me with that rock; he’s dead!’ Kirom shouted
and before Angel could stop him, he had cleared the barricade
again.
LOBE started to count down from 20.
‘What are you doing?’ Angel asked.
LOBE said nothing, but kept counting down, ‘5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
duck,’ he mentioned nonchalantly.
Angel ducked.
Kirom slammed into a pillar behind him.

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Angel rushed over but Kirom was already shaking his head by
the time he reached him.
‘Kirom, do not move, that’s an order,’ Angel commanded
sternly.
Angel ran and easily cleared the barricade.
‘LOBE can we beat him?’ Angel asked.
‘Sure let me just check my How to kick a god’s arse for
dummies, that’s strange there is only a dummy version available,
and it only has one page. It reads ‘HA, HA, HA’, for further
reference please check First aid for dummies, for dummies.’
‘Thanks num-nut but I really need help here,’ Angel said as the
sword of Freyr appeared in his hand, and another ten El bow bolts
whistled over his head.
Angel could see the monster’s outline in the distance, black and
ominous, with faint red lines running like veins across his body.
As Angel came closer, he saw Typhon’s skin, which seemed to
be in constant movement. The hundreds of appendices coiled up
to form a head, arms and legs.
The mouth seemed to be molten, like black porridge trying to
overrun the pot, but never managing to fall. He saw the glowing
black eyes and the two growths on its head.
Geez all it needs is the pitchfork and the tail and this thing could
pass as the devil in the children’s bible.
‘I am death human,’ Typhon said sensing Angel’s emotions of
dread; he then got even more annoyed when he thought about
the trident that Dar’kel stole.
‘You can talk?’ this threw Angel for a second, ‘… and obviously
read my mind… great!’

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‘No,’ LOBE said, ‘not read your mind, otherwise he would have
said the devil, I think he senses emotions.’
‘Can this lecture wait?’ Angel agitatedly replied, ‘I am kind of
busy trying not to get killed here.’
A molten ball of magma and acid hit Angel on his shoulder. Only
by fate and good fortune, LOBE saw this coming and caused Angel
to twist or it would have hit him squarely in the face.
‘Well you are doing an absolutely superb job of it,’ LOBE
smirked, ‘would you mind not getting hit in the face though? I
kind of live there.’
The sword of Freyr screamed as it sliced neatly through
Typhon’s upper body.
The wound sealed as quickly as it appeared.
‘Foolish human, you cannot harm me.’
‘Maybe not but I am sure as hell going to try,’ Angel warned,
feinting left as Typhon swung at him.
Angel lost his footing on the uneven ground.
The pain that shot through his lower extremities and into his
brain was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Typhon had
reached and grabbed Angel by the midriff crushing his ribcage.
The exposed skin smouldered.
LOBE tried to dull most of the pain, but was only partially
successful.
LOBE noticed Angel’s rapid descent into unconsciousness; hit
out with the sword and severed Typhon’s arm with the last ounce
of strength he could find in Angel’s body.
Angel dropped to the ground battling to stay cognisant.
The arm simply turned to molten rock and flowed back into
Typhon’s body. Meanwhile bolts from Laidin and fireballs from

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Guival pummelled into Typhon, but it seemed like raindrops
hitting a tank. The hammer Mjolnir hit Typhon in the chest, hurled
by Kirom from a great distance. Mjolnir discharged again as it
made contact with a thunderous roar that shook the ground for
miles around. Huge chunks of Typhon flew from his body and
landed mostly everywhere. The pieces simply turned to molten
rock and like filings to a magnet, became part of Typhon again.
Typhon did not flinch or break his stride as the great hammer hit.
He raised his leg and readied himself to place the final crushing
blow to Angel’s head.
LOBE shouted from inside Angel’s head, managing to get
Angel’s voice box working.
‘HOLD.’
Typhon hesitated.
‘We are your only hope for finding your wife’s killer,’ LOBE said.
‘I have already found them human,’ Typhon replied.
‘No, she was dead when we found her,’ LOBE explained.
‘Liar,’ Typhon boomed.
‘She was killed by the same thing that imprisoned us here. It
was written in her eyes, when we found her.’
Typhon appeared to hesitate.
‘So?’ Typhon sneered, ‘I am still going to kill you all; did you
think that information would save your life?’
What happened next caught both the devil and Angel
completely off guard.
A gigantic explosion happened on and around Typhon. A
combination of fireball, Mjolnir and a bolt of El bow energy hit it
in conjunction with a lightning bolt, which picked Typhon up and
threw him miles away from where Angel lay.

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‘Noooo...’ a scream of anguish and frustration disappeared into
the distance, followed by a trail of black smoke.
Angel lost consciousness.
His three teammates and Zeus rushed to his side; well Zeus did
not rush as much as jump on the back of Kirom with a, ‘Giddy-up.’
‘Wow those lightning bolts of yours sure pack a punch,’ Guival
admiringly stated.
‘Yes, but I am getting too old to make them so I have to use the
few I have left sparingly.’
Laidin knelt next to Angel. She felt around his blackened
crushed midriff and the acid burn on his shoulder.
‘I am afraid if he does not get urgent medical attention on my
cruiser, he will die,’ Laidin expressed deeply concerned.
‘Is there nothing we can do for him here?’ Kirom asked
frantically.
‘No, all we can do is feed him Ambrosia, keep him comfortable
and hope that LOBE can keep him from dying,’ Laidin hopelessly
remarked.
Guival felt anger and frustration the likes of which he has never
felt before.
‘Typhon can count his lucky stars that Ricci is not here now,’ he
said through a clenched mind.
‘Let’s get Angel and get out of here, shall we?’ Zeus suggested,
‘that thing might be back any minute.’
‘Where shall we go?’ Laidin asked.
‘I think we should go to the gate and pray for a miracle,’ Guival
suggested.
‘Pray to whom exactly?’ Zeus asked, ‘we are the gods.’

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CHAPTER 12
Ricci, the one-woman angry mob, paced the length of the sick
bay, with the only divergence from this monotonous routine
being the occasional muttering.
‘We can’t sit around like this. We have to do something. This is
ridiculous; I refuse to be a victim.’
Gemmi sat quietly, while Loser slept completely oblivious to
Ricci's traumatising protest march.
I wouldn’t want to be on an aircraft carrier converted to be a
shark fin fishing boat with her working for Greenpeace, Gemmi
thought to herself, anyone who has ever tasted shark fin soup
might find it beneficial to invest in a nuclear bunker somewhere in
Antarctica. While becoming a religious fanatic might not hurt
either.
Something caught Ricci’s eye, ‘Yes!’ she shouted.
Picking up the pace, she dashed over to the opposing wall.
Dragonfang appeared as if by magic and made a loud thunder clap
as it passed through the sound barrier, before connecting with an
even louder scream as metal hit metal, and the stationary piece of
metal came off worse. The electrical conduit cover fell to the floor
in slow motion out of respect for the speed Ricci removed it,
feeling anything that moved that fast, meant there must have
been a breach in the space/time continuum, and it was supposed
to float gently to the ground at present.
‘Loser, get your arse over here,’ she shouted.
Loser sleepily ambled over, dreamily wiping the sleep from its
eyes with its tiny hands.

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‘Double time,’ Ricci commanded.
Loser jumped and landed on the table in front of Ricci staring
fearfully at her with his huge almond eyes. There were only a few
things in the universe, which a Gerbit feared, and Ricci was
definitely one of them.
‘You have a plan?’ Gemmi inquired.
‘We can’t control those freaks because they are wearing those
helmets. We cannot fight them because they have the corridor
blocked off on both sides, and we would be in the crossfire. So I
thought Loser might politely go over there and ask them to
remove their helmets,’ Ricci explained.
‘Hmmm, and the conduit is there to get him close enough,’
Gemmi said.
She looked thoughtfully at Ricci, ‘I’m sorry to throw a spanner in
the works but there are at least 10 heavily armed Sharin minions
on either side of the corridor, which is more than even an angry
Gerbit can safely handle.’
‘Aha but this is where it gets interesting, he will not be alone,
well not after he removes the first helmet,’ Ricci smirked.
‘Of course we will be able to control them then; brilliant my
friend.’
Loser looked puzzled, but felt the excitement emanating from
Gemmi and got excited as well. He chattered feverously without
being entirely sure why he was supposed to be excited.
Gemmi placed him upon her lap and slowly explained to him
what he would need to do.
Loser nodded, gave Gemmi a hug and scampered into the
conduit.
The pipes running inside the shaft where scalding hot.

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His tiny hands and feet blistered within the first few steps. The
cramped space forced his little chest to remain in contact with the
pipes more often than he could avoid.
Gemmi had patiently explained to him that he needed to be
very quiet.
Loser quiet, no sound, loser no make noise, the little creature
kept telling itself.
Tears freely flowed down his cheeks. He tried to use his little
knees and elbows when his hands started bleeding; slowly he
inched forward.
His tears dropped on the scalding pipes and instantly vaporized.
He bit through his lip to stop from screaming. He kept going;
Gemmi needed him to go on, he loved her so much. He
concentrated on her face, to overlook the excruciating pain.
The pain seared through every fibre in his tiny body. He felt
himself losing consciousness.
‘Gemmi,’ he projected his emotions, ‘Gemmi friend. Gemmi
help Loser. Loser hurt, Gemmi friend, help Loser.’
A crying Gemmi came into his mind. He felt her hold him, felt
her comfort him. The blood from his tiny hands and feet now
formed a steady stream onto the pipes and wires running beneath
him, where the blood touched the pipes they sizzled.
He struggled on.
The skin boiled on his little hands and feet.
‘Loser do, do not cry Loser friend, Loser do,’ Loser projected his
emotions again with all the reassurance he could muster. His
vision was blurred.

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For every step he took, he was sure he could not take the next
one, but knew he had to; Gemmi depended on him. His friend
needed him.
Another panel appeared alongside him.
‘Far enough little one,’ he felt Gemmi’s shaky voice come into
his mind.
Loser knew instinctively what to do; he grew his one arm and
smashed the cover plate.
He yelped silently as the pain from his burn wounds shot
through him.
He jumped and landed awkwardly as he slipped on his own
blood.
He mustered the will grow and then to run, from the emotions
he felt from Gemmi as he had nothing left.
The El barricade was only a few feet from him, just around the
next corner.
A noise erupted from the infirmary where Ricci and Gemmi
were. They started shouting and throwing things outside the
room.
The distraction worked. The guards remained focused on the
ruckus and they did not notice the Gerbit looming up behind
them.
He easily managed to remove two helmets, allowing Gemmi
and Ricci to take control of the luckless El and start a little fight of
their own.
Loser removed another helmet as both Ricci and Gemmi’s mind
control, managed to wrestle bewildered co-workers to the ground
and remove their headgear.

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By now in the left hand corridor, the odds favoured the
attackers and the rest of the guards surrendered.
They removed their headgear on command and the El guards
immediately fell under the spell of the manipulative two blonds. A
war erupted in the corridor as El fired upon El. Loser shrunk to
avoid a hit from the wild firefight.
He found a little space to hide his tiny battered body from view
and lost consciousness. Gemmi safe now, Gemmi safe... his last
thought faded away, as a deep blue pool of his blood formed
around his lifeless figure.

The shots in the corridor slowly died down. The confused
guards did not call for reinforcements, against whom exactly. Did
they need reinforcements against themselves? They just kept on
firing until only two remained standing, both on the helmet-less
side. Gemmi made them run into each other, followed by a
resounding crack echoing through the passage as their unwilling
heads met.
Gemmi ran.
She had grabbed bandages and painkillers as well as burn
ointment.
‘Loser, oh my dear Loser,’ she cried as she saw the little
crumpled body lying in the pool of blood. Open burn wounds
covered more than half his body. He reeked of burned hair and
charred flesh, and lay drenched in his own blood.
She picked up his limp body.
His heartbeat was faint and irregular.

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She cursed herself for allowing her friend to go, and started to
bandage the tiny body, while Ricci checked on the guards making
sure they were either dead or in the process of dying.
Ricci made sure to keep her back towards Gemmi while she
worked, ensuring Gemmi could not see the tears in her own eyes.
She pulled the lifeless guards into the infirmary.
‘Now to find a shuttle and get the hell off this tub,’ Ricci
grimaced as Gemmi finished cleaning and bandaging the tiny
body.
Loser’s eyes opened slightly and he smiled, his teeth covered in
blood from the wound on his lip, which made him look quite
menacing, but the warmth from the emotions he projected made
it seem like the smile from an angel.
Even Ricci had to swallow hard.
‘Let’s go,’ she softly remarked and waited patiently while
Gemmi carefully took Loser in her arms.

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CHAPTER 13
The imposing ruins on the southern slopes of the Parnassos
Mountain lay before the heroes’ children.
Skibladne silently hovered over what they assumed were the
main section of the temple of Apollo.
‘Skibladne, please start scanning for cavities or passages below
the temple,’ Blade requested.
#please direct your attention to the hollow projector#
Everybody turned to look; #the passage starts at the base of
tallest pillar. A simple inconspicuous stone handle that needs to
be twisted activates the entrance#
‘How will we recognize the stone handle?’ Storm asked.
#it is the member of Apollo’s stone carving on the pillar#
‘Member of what,’ Storm asked.
#I will rephrase, it is the external organ from the male of the
specie#
‘She means his dick,’ Feral cleared the confusion with a huge
grin as he saw Storm blush. He had heard Ricci use the word many
times and had asked her its meaning, knowing it would come in
handy some day.

Skibladne softly touched down a short distance from the ruins,
and the team took the most direct route to the entrance of the
hidden passage.
‘Ok who’s going to open the passage?’ Storm asked.
The team casually studied the ruins with more than the
required gusto, hoping to stay inconspicuous. All accept for Feral

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who had no appendices and therefore had no reason to be
bashful about touching any.
He calmly walked to the carving, grabbed hold and twisted to
the horror of the girls.
The grating sound came from the left side of the pillar and the
team quickly moved in that direction.
A pitch black hole greeted them.
‘Feral, some light please,’ Blade requested.
Feral moved into the passage and a fireball formed on his palm.
The light streamed down the staircase, and the team cautiously
proceeded downwards.
A few steps later and the staircase opened into a room carved
from stone.
The opposite wall of the room looked to be the original location
for the eye of the gods, as the rock had discoloured tracing an
outline of the mirror. The rest of the decor in the room interested
the children far more.
Statues of beautiful woman adorned three of the corners.
‘The statues of the furies,’ Storm breathed as she examined the
quite imposing figures of the three ladies.
‘Ok let’s wake them,’ Feral exclaimed over eager as always.
‘No!’ Phalin commanded as Feral was about the start dousing
the furies with the antidote.
‘What now?’ he asked irritably.
‘Listen, what control or bargaining chips would we have if you
wake up the three of them?’
‘None, but what is your point?’ Feral asked.
‘Ah, I get it,’ Throm began, ‘we wake up one and promise to
wake up her sisters if she helps us, right?’

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‘Exactly,’ Phalin agreed beaming at her stubby friend.
‘Hmmm, good plan,’ Blade acknowledged, ‘but which one do
we wake?’
The kids studied the faces of the three statues intently, trying to
ascertain if one of them looked less menacing than the other two.
Blade tapped his mindcom.
‘Skibladne, do you have any history on the furies, and which
would be the best one to negotiate with?’
#not much, the three consist of Tisiphone the leader also called
the unceasing avenger of murders, Megaera the grudging or
jealous one and Alecto the unceasing in anger. I would suggest
you try identifying Tisiphone, being their leader she might be the
easiest to bargain with#
‘Thanks, we’ll try,’ Blade said.
‘Well this one is Alecto, without a doubt,’ Storm stated and the
others had to agree, those eyes and facial features belonged to a
constantly angry being.
The other two looked very similar, until Phalin examined the
eyes more closely.
‘Look this one has fine lines next to her eyes. That must be from
squinting a lot, and I am sure jealous people narrow their eyes
continuously. I think we have found Megaera. And that means
that one,’ Phalin announced pointing to the third statue, ‘must be
Tisiphone.’
‘So is it okay if I dose this one now?’ Feral asked sarcastically,
‘or do we need another weeklong debate and maybe hold a
referendum? Hey we can make campaign posters and buttons
with “vote yes for Tisiphone”’
‘Shut up you fool, and get on with it,’ Throm boomed.

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The antidote drops splashed on Tisiphone chest, and for a brief
moment, nothing happened.
Then the stone started to turn to dust, and float off the statue
like fine ash. This continued for some time.
The skin on the statue started changing colour and seemed to
grow softer, more flexible.
Without warning, the statue collapses but instead of breaking
into a thousand pieces, it made the thumping noise of flesh and
bone hitting the ground.
The Skibladne’s junior crew just stared but did not dare
approach the being.
She lay in the same position for what felt like hours. The kids sat
down and waited. They gathered some firewood and made a fire,
when the cold started to creep up on them.
Suddenly the figure arose in flurry of robes, and let out a
banshee howl that tore through every fibre of the children.
Instantly weapons appeared in their hands.
The figure looked at the six curiously, but did not attack or seem
to be concerned.
Blade signalled for them to lower their weapons.
‘Where is Medusa?’ It asked in ancient Greek.
The UGE translation device implanted in the children
immediately translated this into an understandable language.
‘Deceased, as far as we are aware,’ Phalin answered,
‘apparently, her head now adorns the shield of Athena.’
This seemed to please the Fury.
‘Who are you? Did you wake me from my torturous slumber?’
the Fury asked in the most enchanting voice the children had ever
heard.

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‘We are the children of righteous heroes, whom have saved the
earth from evil but now needs saving themselves,’ Blade
answered.
He made sure he uses the exact words Lamia anticipated he
would need to convince the Furies of their virtuous nature.
‘Save, how?’ Tisiphone asked.
‘They are trapped,’ Throm began, ‘they were tricked to go
through the eye of the gods by Typhon and now they are stuck on
Olympus.’
‘TYPHON!’ the Fury screamed and changed from the beautiful
woman into a hideous demon beast with flaming hair and witch
like features.
The six took cover as a reflex action.
The Fury changed back to her former state, just as suddenly as
the infuriated apparition appeared.
‘Where is Typhon?’ she growled in a seductive voice.
‘He has gone through to Olympus, and now there is no one left
on Earth to open the eye and let our parents back through,’ Storm
explained.
‘That is no concern of mine, though Typhon is,’ Tisiphone spat,
‘why are my sisters still sleeping?’
Feral had noticed the creature probing their minds, and he
could sense the confusion of the creature after it was unable to
penetrate the magic barrier around his. Feral thought quickly.
‘We do not have enough antidotes to wake them, and Medusa’s
head is on the other side of the eye. We would need to go to
Olympus to get more and then you can let us through with
enough to wake your sisters. You would need to stay here else we

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cannot get back, and if you should follow Typhon you would not
be able to get back either.’
‘Do not worry, she cannot read my mind,’ Feral projected into
the thoughts of his teammates. The other friends looked at Feral
with no small amount of admiration.
The Fury seemed to examine the conundrum.
‘Agreed,’ she said and looked at the wall behind her for the first
time, ‘where is the eye!’ she screamed.
‘The eye had been moved hundreds of years ago for safe
keeping. We know where it is and will take you there,’ Throm
remarked.
‘Show me,’ Tisiphone ordered and started to float from the
room, ‘goodbye for now sisters. I will see you soon and free you
from your prisons.’

Moment later and Skibladne had already placed a considerable
distance between itself and the Parnassos Mountain.
Blade pushed as hard as he safely could.
The fury calmly broke the tension.
‘You do know that your parents are deceased, do you not?’
‘What do you mean?’ Storm anxiously squealed.
‘If Typhon is on Olympus, then your parents have succumbed by
now.’
‘How can you be sure of that?’
‘You said your parents were virtuous heroes, right?’
Six heads nodded in unison.
‘Well Typhon is the personification of malevolence and would
destroy righteousness wherever he would find it.’

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‘He hates our parents for being good?’ Storm asked fearfully.
‘Assuredly,’ the Fury answered, ‘he is also unstoppable.’
Skibladne screamed through the air, and she did not even hover
to land. Blade simply looped the lady and put her down hard on
the downward spiral.
He had given the command for the hatch to open even before
the huge landing claws on Skibladne had settled into the earth.
The six ran while the Fury easily kept pace floating just behind
the kids.
They made short work of the tunnels leading down to the eye
and anxiously stood waiting for the Fury to open the gate.
The eye of the gods shimmered and for a moment, they saw
themselves standing on the other side of the gate reflected in the
mirror. They ran through the eye after the Fury nodded its
consent, where loud booming noises greeted their arrival.
‘That way,’ Phalin yelled.
The team wordlessly ran. Tears of anger and helpless concern
streamed down Storm’s face; even Blade bit hard into his lower
lip as his feet raced over the ground.
The noise abruptly ceased and the world became as quiet as a
tomb.
The kids rushed on until they eventually came upon the scene
of mass devastation.
‘Search the area,’ Blade commanded.
‘What is the magic word?’ Feral asked.
‘NOW,’ Blade screamed.
‘Yep, that’s the one,’ Feral agreed.

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After a fruitless search of several minutes, they had to agree
that whoever had won the battle had taken the losers prisoner, or
worse.
The felling of trees disturbed their contemplation. An enraged
shriek thundered through the valley.
‘Someone sounds very unhappy, and I guess it’s with our
parents. Time to go,’ Feral suggested hurriedly.
‘Agreed,’ Phalin said and started to run in the opposite
direction, away from the noise.
After several minutes, Blade called a halt.
‘I do not think we are being followed,’ Phalin observed while
training her Elven ears in the direction the pursuits would come
from.
‘Was that Typhon?’ Feral asked.
‘I suspect it was,’ Phalin replied.
‘If that beast lives then our parents…’ Storm swallowed her
words.
The reality was too horrific to utter aloud. Everybody knew
what she wanted to say. It was not however, ‘… our parents are
f#@#ed,’ as per popular belief.
‘No!’ Blade angrily exclaimed, ‘I will not rest until I see their
bodies, and if I do, then that demon is going to wish he was never
born immortal.’
The rest of the team agreed wholeheartedly.
‘Let’s go find our parents!’ Throm shouted as a simple battle
cry. Dwarfs loved their battle cries. They even had one for sex,
said to be an ancient prayer to the fertility gods to grant them the
gift of a child. The origin of the battle cry was lost in the mist of

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time but the essence remained preserved through the
generations. It sounded something like, ‘Whoopppeee.’
‘Where shall we start?’ Storm asked.
‘I suppose if our parents were able to flee, they would head in
the direction of the eye,’ Phalin suggested, ‘it is the most logical
assumption.’
The others agreed and set off again at pace, taking a less direct
route to the gate in case they were followed by the demon god.
Sometime later near the entrance of the eye, a sombre silence
had enveloped the kids.
There had been no sign or sound of their parents thus far.
A rustling in the forest just a little way off disturbed the night
air.
Instantly weapons appeared in the children’s hands.
Cautiously they approached the origin of the noise.
Something moved rapidly and not at all attempting to move
silently.
‘Typhon,’ Blade hissed, ‘now you die monster.’
The bushes to their left cracked open, and Feral’s fireball left his
hand at the same moment.
‘Blast it,’ an angry Kirom’s voice arose. He had the incredible
good fortune of having moved Mjolnir in front of his face just
then, which took most of the fireball damage. The flames licking
around the edges had caused his beard to go up in smoke and a
very unimpressed dwarf required retribution for this unspeakable
crime. Messing with a dwarf’s beard remained punishable by
death, mostly by the dwarf in question.

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A blink of an eye separated both Phalin and Laidin from
discharging their formidable weapons, but managed to contain
their desire to blow the living dung out of each other.
‘Mom,’ ‘Phalin,’ they yelled in unison.
Weapons disappeared as rapidly as they appeared and arms full
of family members replaced them.
Storm and Blade knelt next to their father, and quickly realised
the severity of his condition as he lay on his makeshift stretcher.
Tears uncontrollably streamed down both their faces. Blade did
not even attempt to appear brave anymore.
His head jerked up suddenly, ‘where is mom?’
‘She is safe child, looking after Gemmi, aboard my cruiser,’
Laidin replied unconvincingly.
‘Your cruiser is gone,’ Feral interrupted.
‘Yes we feared that might be the case,’ Laidin acknowledged,
‘we needed to make haste in pursuing Sharin but unfortunately
we are trapped on this world.’
The realization hit Laidin like a meteor shower.
‘How did you get here?’ she anxiously asked Phalin.
‘Through the eye mother, we awoke the Fury who let us
through.’
‘Yes with some stunning deception from Feral,’ Throm beamed
at his friend.
‘Can we get back the same way?’ Laidin asked, while Kirom
tried to salvage some of his dignity, which seemed to be
smouldering.
‘Yes mother, the Fury awaits our return.’
‘Then we must make haste, Angel will not survive much
longer…’ Laidin replied with deep concern, ‘but without my

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cruiser we have no way of treating him. Earth’s medical
advancement is far too primitive.’
Blade brightened up a little, ‘we brought Skibladne, her
regeneration chambers are state of the art.’
‘Skibladne… thank Odin,’ Laidin exclaimed, ‘then hurry young
ones,’ she commanded.
‘Who were those old people that were watching us,’ Phalin
asked as she effortlessly ran next to her mother.
‘By Odin’s beard, I forgot about them,’ Laidin cursed, ‘Storm,
Blade keep going with your father, the rest follow me.’
The confused Olympian gods stood around in the same spot
they were abandoned.
‘Everyone, grab a god,’ Laidin commanded.
Shen did not have a passenger and functioned as rearguard.
The others rushed ahead, with the two Aesir in the lead having
assumed the shape of alien racehorse type creatures, followed
closely by the elves. They paid no heed to their unwilling
passengers’ curses as the branches from their mad rush slashed at
the gods’ faces.
In no time, they reached the eye, and moved through it, after
giving the dwarfs a moment to catch up.
Laidin cursed at the scene that met them, having hoped Angel
would be safely aboard Skibladne by now.
The Fury had caught Blade by his collar and he hung suspended
in the air with Storm pleading in anger and desperation.
‘Our bargain,’ the Fury shrieked.
‘Go,’ Blade yelled to the rest of the team, ‘I will catch up.’
Shen took up Blades position at the back of the stretcher and
the team continued towards Skibladne at speed.

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Feral slapped the Fury on the back on his way past. He had a sly
grin on his face as he did so, but the reason was not apparent to
anyone but him, and maybe a deranged arctic penguin counter in
a mental asylum somewhere, singing ‘kumbaya my Lord’ to his
pet coconut.
Zeus managed a quick wave at Tisiphone in passing, but she
ignored him, which upset the aged god no end.
Blade fumbled around in his jacket pocket and brought forth
the vial with the antidote.
‘Here take it,’ he shouted angrily.
The Fury dropped him and he scampered off as soon as his feet
touched the ground.
Tisiphone stared at the vial in her hand intently, and she slowly
started drifting towards the exit.
A sudden movement caught her eye, but when she turned to
look nothing remained except for the shimmering eye. She waved
her hand in the direction of the gate and it closed.
Tisiphone left noiselessly.

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CHAPTER 14
Typhon was in a word, pissed. Sharin had stolen his Trident and
killed his wife. His prey had escaped, and now he found that the
one human he could still torture, had managed to destroy the
mind-bit he left inside her head before he crossed over.
The girls fought hard after he possessed her, and he
remembered her fondly.
It was even more fun after her friend joined her.
Typhon roared in frustration.
He calmed himself.
At least he managed to get back to earth before the gate
closed. He had managed to cloud the minds of the heroes and
none of them noticed him slipping through the gate with them. A
simple task with their minds focused on their dying leader.
Such pathetic shallow minds, indulging in such petty things as
pity and concern for other useless beings, he thought.
He would get a second chance at revenge, sweet, sweet
revenge.
He would find them all, kill them all… no, he would torture
them for all that is left of their pathetic lives.
The LOBE’s words echoed in his head.
We are the only hope of finding your wife’s killer.
I have to follow them, he thought.
He stole a glance from behind the pillar.
Good, he thought, the blasted Fury did not see me.
They cannot know about me. If they find me, they will fight and
I will never know whom I should take care to destroy slowly.

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CHAPTER 15
A silent figure floated over a railway line towards the
southeastern part of Greece.
Her ancient thoughts remained focused for the moment.
Free my sisters.
However, her hunger threatened to overwhelm her resolve. She
had not eaten for millennia.
Must free sisters to punish the wicked, bring justice to this
lawless world, find sustenance.
She could feel the people in the little villages around the track.
She could feel their guilt, their lawlessness.
Furies did not judge, they never judge, people judge
themselves, they all feel guilt for breaking the rules of society. The
guilt gets stored in a part of the mind that the Furies sense like
steaming manure on a hot summer day. It reeked, she had to
remove it, silence it… purify it.
Everyone had guilt, no matter how well a human ignored it.
Some were just a mild annoyance, a slightly off smell.
She could live with those.
Guilt is a built in human function, whether you show remorse,
feel ashamed or not. This is of no consequence because your
subconscious knows you did wrong. It had nothing to do with the
emotion you felt. The guilt remained locked within your mind, and
became the stench the Furies smelled. Your own mind became
the judge and jury to your execution.

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A psychopath for instance shows no remorse, no emotion but
even he knows he is guilty. Same with religious fanatics,
schizophrenics, bipolar… all feel the guilt.
Her thoughts clouded again.
The hunger wanted to take control of her, she needed to punish
to feed, fulfil her destiny so she could quench her hunger.
Feeding remained a natural consequence to the punishment
they expended on these lawless creatures, a reward for being the
hands of justice.
She believed this.
She believed that the hunger served to keep her focused on her
mission to cleanse the earth.
Her belief remained unshakeable.
It had to be.
First, she needed her sisters.
Together they would tear asunder the evil that slumber in the
hearts of all humankind with the holy authority of the Furies.
She focussed her mind again and picked up the pace.

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CHAPTER 16
Ricci took the time to reflect on all that happened while she and
Gemmi stealthily moved towards the back of the El cruiser. So
many things did not make any sense. Sharin was back, that was
clear. She and Gemmi both felt her but whom were they fighting
in Gemmi’s head. The mind that trapped Gemmi was ancient and
evil. Sharin hated everything and everyone, but she had an
“except” in her design, the mind that had trapped Gemmi had no
exceptions in its hatred. It was dedicated, a fanatic hater.
Then there was the little matter of where that blundering fool
husband of hers was.
If he got himself killed, I will kill him, she thought to herself.
She felt panic grip her heart as she sensed Sharin’s joy. That
means things were going her way, and if things were going her
way then it was definitely going the wrong way for her husband
and her friends. Mostly one way, and that would include into
concrete boots, and downward towards to the bottom of a very
deep lake.
She picked up the pace.
The corridor ended in the aft launch bay entrance.
‘I don’t feel any minds on the other side?’ Gemmi commented
slightly perplexed.
Ricci did not catch on immediately. Her mind still clouded with
the worry about her husband. She loved him to death. Angel
feared this was no figure of speech where Ricci was concerned.
‘Oh. The hanger should be a hive of activity if the cruiser is in
orbit, which means…’ Ricci turned a little whiter.

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‘Yes, I fear we have left orbit,’ Gemmi worded what they both
knew to be true.
‘So she is taking Laidin’s cruiser back to UGE space,’ Ricci
deduced before continuing, ‘and obviously Angel is not on board.
Neither are the others or the Valk’r.’
‘Or the mind that imprisoned us,’ Gemmi concluded.
‘True,’ Ricci frowned, ‘so the question is do we try stop Sharin,
or go back to earth and try stop whatever is giving her so much
joy, and then stop her later?’
‘Well you are welcome to stay on and stop the wicked witch my
friend but I have sworn to protect earth, and earth is in trouble at
the moment. I need to be with my Valk’r and I still have a score to
settle with a certain dark mind,’ Gemmi simply stated before she
resumed walking towards the door.
‘Well this is a no-brainer then. I cannot be in two minds when I
have sworn to protect a husband who is always in two minds, but
mostly absent minded enough to get into glorious trouble.
Without me to get him out, I don’t even want to know what
would happen.’
They walked quickly towards the nearest shuttle.
As they were about to get in the shuttle, Gemmi thought of
something else, ‘Hold up Ricci.’
‘What now? We need to go,’ Ricci pleaded.
‘I know, but if we are not in orbit then we must be in the
jump…’ Gemmi started.
‘…and a shuttle will not have enough speed to escape in the
opposite direction as per Brom’s theory of relative jump travel,’
Ricci finished the sentence.

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‘Yes we need to surpass the cruiser’s forward momentum
before we leave the hangar bay so we can slingshot towards the
earth gate,’ Gemmi remarked.
‘We will need a fighter then,’ Ricci acknowledged already
moving towards the nearest 2-seater El fighter.
She gracefully vaulted into the pilot seat and gently held Loser
while Gemmi took up the back seat.
She handed Loser back and strapped in for takeoff.
Ricci warmed up the engines and then she took them to
maximum burn, before hitting the switch to open aft hangar bay
doors.
‘Whoooppppeee!’ she screamed as they rushed towards no
space inside the jump, ‘Angel would have a cow if he saw me
drive like this, or rather a mad cow,’ Ricci started giggling, ‘he says
that PMS is called that because mad cow disease was already
taken.’
Gemmi had to smile at that remark.
‘Do you think they will find the guards we stuffed in the medical
bay soon?’ Ricci asked, ‘Not that it really matters, we are home
free now,’ she laughed.
‘Maybe, but I do not think any of them will have the guts to go
tell Sharin that we escaped. I think they will each hope there is
another sucker who would be stupid enough to go tell her, and in
the end no one will.’
‘Let’s hope they do,’ Ricci sneered, ‘anything to piss off that
bitch.’
‘I suspect we have been in the jump for a couple of days
already, we might be stuck in here for a few days going back,’
Gemmi observed.

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‘Angel will love that; he said I was getting a little flabby. Well
according to that coward, apparently LOBE said it. Yeah right.
Anyway a few days without food will be good for me,’ Ricci
remarked without much conviction.
‘Loser seems to be sleeping but he will need decent medical
attention soon,’ an extremely concerned Gemmi stroked her little
friend’s head while a tear rolled down her cheek.
‘We will get him some…’ Ricci replied absentmindedly. She was
quickly fading into a deep sleep. The weariness caused by the
intense action of the last few days overwhelmed, or rather
bludgeoned her with a blunt anvil.
Ricci settled back to sleep, snuggling into the seat as best she
could. This was a fighter after all and not a luxury cruiser.
‘We will get him some soon,’ she whispered again before finally
passing out.
Gemmi stayed awake for a while longer making sure Loser was
as comfortable as possible before she too succumbed to the
intense fatigue.

A faint shudder passed through Laidin’s cruiser as it emerged
from the Bifrost jump close to Arken. Dar’kel smiled beneath the
cold iron mask. She had a well-spent 2 weeks in the jump and the
amplifier has been operational for the past 2 days.
The pride for her fellow dark El and brethren swelled inside her
chest.
How can they doubt the superiority of our kind? Those pathetic
UGE clowns think they can make decisions because of their weight
in numbers. However, we will change all that, soon, we will
change all that, she thought and let out a grating laugh.

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She stared at the familiar space now occupying the view screen.
This was home, how long has it been since she last saw this?
More than 2 Decades since she had been exiled and left to die
on that god-forsaken planet with those demonic creatures, the
Perols1.
Her revenge had been denied her once before. This time
however she would have her revenge, the day of the Dar’kel has
dawned, and she was going to repay them for every single
torturous moment… many, many times over.
‘Set course for Nidavellir, maximum burn, and send a subspace
message to all Royal El to leave for Svartalfheimr2 immediately,’
she rasped at her commander.
The commander did as ordered with a short curtsey.
Dar’kel’s hyperactivity reawakened, the waiting drove her to
insanity.
She walked down to the amplifier to go check on it as she has
done more than a dozen times in the past few hours.
Yep, still all there, the trident and the dish thingy, she thought,
good, everything checks out.

1
A Perol is a creature created in hell, or so rumoured, to torture the most evil
of souls. However, even hell had to draw the line somewhere. The torture
dished out by these creatures was so inhumane that the demon union voted
them out, calling it cruel and unusual. The demons banned them from the
underworld and left them on a remote planet with no life forms, the planet of
the Damned.
2
Svartalfheimr is the secret home of the Dark El.

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She then remembered that she still had the two Valk’r and the
Gerbit cornered in the medical facility.
A fleeting thought crossed her mind to go and kill them but she
stopped herself. She had bigger fish to fry, and could not afford
her ship being destroyed because of careless weapon fire. No,
they would need to wait until she completed her plan.

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CHAPTER 17
Grand Master Brom of the Dwar sat staring at the Digs game
board. He had taught the game to Teral his lifelong friend and
arch-chancellor of the Aesir. Brom remained the ruler of the
Dwarfs and brother to Kirom, while Teral chaired the council of
mages.
‘Incredible,’ Brom exclaimed, ‘it is as if you knew what the fate
card would read before you positioned those miners…’
Brom studied Teral’s blue metallic emotionless face.
‘…wait a minute, you did know what the card was going to say,
didn’t you. I cannot believe you cheated Teral. That must be a first
for you in history. I wonder what Odin would say if he knew, his
descendant used cheap parlour tricks to cheat his opponent.
Shame on you,’ Brom roared with laughter, ‘no matter I will still
beat you, and admittedly it would make it more interesting this
way.’
‘I apologize, my old friend,’ a grin appeared in Brom’s mind, ‘the
temptation overcame me and I peeked through the card. It will
not happen again… probably,’ Teral joined in his friend’s laughter.
‘You have most assuredly spent too much time in the company
of your nephew Feral,’ Brom laughed, ‘His ways are rubbing...’
Brom went silent, his head shot up and he stared at Teral as if the
other had killed his pet mole and now contemplated performing a
castration with a blunt spoon.
‘What?’ Teral shot at him, ‘I did not cheat again?’
‘No, there is something amiss. The rocks are screaming; the
earth is in pain. Nidavellir is in agony.’

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Teral had long since learned not to question his friend’s
judgement when it comes to things earth and under.
The rumble approached, softly at first then it turned into a
thunderous roar.
Instinctively Teral cast a force field spell around him and his
friend. Teral remained the only fifteenth circle ascended mage in
this universe, but even he struggled to keep them safe from the
millions of tons of rock falling on them.
The sound moved on slowly.
Seconds felt like hours as Teral summoned every ounce of
energy to keep the force field in place.
The rocks stopped moving and Teral collapsed.
Brom erected a few makeshift support beams before he rushed
to his friend’s side and attempted to make the mage as
comfortable as possible.
‘Thanks for saving us old friend, but what the hell was that?
Nidavellir has been tectonically stable for millennia?’
‘I sensed an energy beam of sort, but unlike any I have
encountered before. I also sensed a somehow familiar presence
but I cannot place my finger on where I know it from,’ Teral
explained quite frustrated.
‘We have to get out of here,’ Brom urged his friend, ‘there will
be hundreds of Dwar trapped and hurt in the caverns.’
‘I… I apologize, my friend… I do not know how to say this,’ Teral
turned his gaze squarely onto his friend’s little black eyes staring
from beneath the bushy eyebrows, ‘… there is no one but us alive
on this planet. I am sorry.’
‘You must be wrong Teral. That cannot be, there were nearly 8
million Dwar living on Nidavellir. All the aged that had retired

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here, the palace staff, the warriors and younglings,’ Brom
screamed in anguish.
Brom cried for all the lives lost.
Teral had his arms around his comrade as the sadness
threatened to consume him.
It took only a couple of minutes to destroy the seat of power of
the Dwar without mercy.
Nidavellir did not house the biggest contingent of Dwar but it
was their capital planet.
The depleted ore mines on Nidavellir had run dry many
millennia ago, which meant all the prospecting dwarfs had moved
to other planets.

It was not possible, Brom thought, yet Teral said that everyone
was dead… dead… DEAD, he screamed in his mind, and then
aloud.
‘We need to get out Teral, we need to find out what, or who
was responsible for this,’ the fury steadily built inside the dwarven
ruler, ‘someone needs to be held accountable!’
Millions of Dwar, wiped out of existence, with no warning, no
chance to defend themselves.
What monster could do this?
What evil demon could possibly slaughter the innocent with no
regards?
They were the aged, the dwarfs who toiled endlessly for
decades to scrape enough money together to buy a small cavern
on their home world. The dream remained for those that could
afford it after many years of toil, to one day retire on the home of
their parents and grandparents.

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The Dwar dream, all younglings had it, all dreamed of one day
retiring on Nidavellir.
Now all those fortunate enough to acquire a piece of heaven
died, massacred, butchered, exterminated for no reason.
Brom howled again, he roared in fury and pain.
Teral looked at his friend with a heavy heart, but had no news
that could lift his friend’s spirit.
Truth was they were in deep trouble.
‘I agree, but as for the escape, I do not see any clear way of
doing that my dear friend. Even if you use your hammer the area
you clear would just fill with the rock from above, and my magic
would be useless as well. I also do not know if I would be able to
keep another rock fall from burying us alive,’ Teral’s disturbing
assessment came into Brom’s mind.
The two friends sat down in silent contemplation.

Dar’kel examined the devastation on the planet with glee. The
trident exceeded her wildest expectations. Such beautiful
destruction, it brought a tear to her eye.
‘The planet is dead my lady,’ the voice of the commander
operating the scanning console confirmed.
‘Excellent. You are sure the entire planet is destroyed?’
‘Yes my lady, there are a few faint signs of life but they are
buried under millions of tons of rock and will be dead before any
rescue is possible. They are not the lucky ones,’ the commander
smirked.
Dar’kel smiled. This commander seemed as heartless and
bloodthirsty as she was, well in the same way you would compare
a praying mantis to a great white shark. She liked him, the

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thought crossed her mind to sink to his level and to bite his head
off but she did not feel like having sex right now.
‘Did enough ships in orbit witness my… I mean Laidin’s cruiser
here.’
‘Yes my lady, at least a dozen ships sped off when the planet
started shaking apart.’
Sharon caught something out of the corner of her eye,
something she did not expect, but welcomed nonetheless.
‘My, oh my, isn’t that convenient. Teral’s imperial battle cruiser
is simply sitting there, waiting for little old me. How can this day
get any better,’ she crooned with a huge grin forming under her
mask.
She turned to her commander, ‘I want you to go get me that
cruiser, understand, and then have the amplifier moved there.
Leave no one alive, I want no witnesses.’
The Aesir were in such a state of shock that they hardly put up
any fight. The dark El slaughtered them without mercy.

It was less than an hour before the message came from her
commander that the Aesir flagship now flew the flag of the Dark
El.
‘Good; very, very good.’ She let loose a grating laughter.
‘Ready my fighter, I am leaving for Teral’s cruiser. Take the
amplifier across as well.’
‘Take my cruiser and set course for Svartálfar, maximum burn.’
She spat at a sub-commander that occupied the command deck of
her cruiser alongside her.
‘Now after all this work it’s time to have some fun,’ she
sneered, ‘all I want is revenge, is that so wrong?’

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‘Bring me the prisoners,’ she commanded, ‘I need some
exercise before I leave.’
The new twist in her plan made her laugh uncontrollably, it was
so perfect it could not have worked out any better.
Her mindcom beeped.
‘What?’ Dar’kel sneered.
‘The prisoners your highness, they are gone,’ a nervous voice
attempting to disguise its user reached her pointy ears... well
more like what would have been pointy before it became a chew
toy for a Great Dane.
‘What! Who is this?’ Dar’kel screamed.
‘I’d rather not say your majesty,’ the voice remarked before the
mindcom went dead.
Sharin’s mindcom shattered against the view screen.
She stormed off towards Naglfar, her mood as foul as a
Croman1 on speed.
A luckless Dark El talking to a friend about how wonderful it was
now that their queen had returned unfortunately occupied the
same corridor as her. Their heads bounced against each other as
they rolled down the passage.
Well admittedly, she had to go into the one’s room, since he
saw her and ducked inside, but had been unable to lock the door
in time.
Naglfar sped off towards the Aesir Imperial Battle Cruiser.

1
The Croman was a little black ball of hatred. It despises everything. Even if the
target were as big as a house and not necessarily breathing, it would still try to
bite its head off out of principle. One of these agitated, hyperactive creatures
once tried to kill Skibladne.

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CHAPTER 18
Angel woke to a very familiar sight, the inside of the recovery
chamber on his ship, Skibladne.
How long was I out, he wondered.
‘3 days,’ LOBE unceremoniously answered.
‘Aargghhh, you still here,’ Angel managed in mock disdain, but
in truth he was truly happy to hear the voice in his head.
‘Yes well you would not be here if not for me, so I would
appreciate a little respect. And next time, try to have the
semblance of a plan before attacking a god, you know, it just
might hurt less.’
‘Guess you were awake then, huh. Care to fill me in on how I
got back onto my ship?’ Angel asked, ignoring LOBE’s sarcasm.
‘Seems your kids were raised with more sense than their father
was, probably got that from their mother. They found a way
through the gate… but more importantly, they had a way BACK to
earth. So they came to rescue their helpless father and now we
are merrily sitting in the hangar bay on New Valhalla.’ LOBE
explained.
‘How do you know where we are?’ Angel asked surprised.
‘Your kids have been hanging around the chamber since you
were dumped in here. I heard them speaking,’ LOBE explained.
‘The kids,’ Angel clicked for the first time, ‘here?’
‘Yes genius, or did you think Skibladne missed you and came
looking for you all on her own,’ LOBE sighed.
‘Ooh their mother must have freaked out,’ Angel thought with a
smile.

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LOBE sighed again, ‘You are the epitome of the responsible
parent.’
‘Ha,’ Angel thought, ‘there is nothing I can do or say that would
come close to the lashing their mother must have dished out.’
‘They did save your life,’ LOBE argued, ‘and I think they gave
themselves all the reprimand they needed from what I heard. It
might be a good opportunity to score a few points by treating
them like adults, which in truth they are,’ LOBE sneered.
Another thought struck Angel square between the eyes, just
missing LOBE… unfortunately.
‘Where is Ricci? Is she okay?’ Angel asked.
‘I’m afraid she is not here, but the Valk’r will have more
information for you. I only know Sharin is involved somehow,’
LOBE explained.
‘Why have we not gone after Sharin yet?’ Angel asked.
‘I am not sure. It seems like another problem has arisen on
earth.’
‘Fine, now if you would be so kind as to get Skibladne to let me
out, it would be much appreciated,’ Angel demanded.
A faint whirring noise followed as the recovery chamber door
swung open.
Angel tested his legs as he carefully got out of the chamber.
Wobbly at first, his muscles strengthened with every step, and by
the time, he left the ship of legends his legs had fully recovered.
‘Thank you my lady,’ he called over his shoulder to Skibladne,
‘you saved my life again.’

He was approaching the hangar entrance to New Valhalla when
it opened and the entire team, young and old, encircled him.

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Blade and Storm grabbed him around the waist while the rest
seemed overjoyed to see him.
‘Dad you’re okay,’ Storm sobbed.
Even Blade had a tear running down his cheek.
‘How did you know?’ Angel asked.
‘Skibladne radioed ahead and informed us,’ Laidin answered,
her arm tightly wrapped around her daughter Phalin.
‘I am really happy to see you guys,’ Angel said with a huge grin
on his face, ‘All I had for company was him,’ Angel said pointing to
LOBE’s home inside his mind, ‘so you can imagine the fun time
had by all.’
Laidin, Kirom and Guival all pulled faces since they knew what
Angel had to have gone through.
The kids though confused were just happy to have their father
back and did not question the strange comment.
LOBE was conspicuous in his absence and this bothered Angel.
LOBE would not let a remark like that pass, and last time he went
silent like this the earth had been about to be destroyed and
there was nothing that could be done about it.
Kirom spoke for the first time.
‘I should think you are famished my lord?’
‘Sure am Kirom, any suggestions?’
‘Well we do not have Loser here to play chef, but the New
Valhalla kitchens are fully operational again so I am sure they will
be able to rustle up some grub, as they say here on earth.’
‘Sounds wonderful, let’s get going,’ Angel agreed as his stomach
now growled and the primal instinct was overriding his brain
functions.

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As they walked to the dining hall, Angel stood in awe at how
quickly and efficiently the Elves had managed to rebuild New
Valhalla. The Valk’r home looked more impressive than ever. They
upgraded the technology throughout New Valhalla to Arken
standards and Angel felt he could well have been on one of the
UGE planets.
‘So LOBE told me that there is a problem on earth again?’ Angel
asked Laidin.
‘Yes my lord,’ Laidin answered quite disturbed, ‘it seems the
Furies that were awakened have gone mad.’
‘Furies...?’ Angel asked.
‘The children had to wake them so that they could rescue us.
Unfortunately unbeknownst to them these creatures has a dual
purpose, one other than being the keepers of the gate,’ Laidin
explained, ‘these creatures are the dispensers of justice and
vengeance and would enforce the rules of society, severely
punishing those who would break these rules.’
‘That does not sound too bad?’ Angel remarked.
‘Yes my lord, except society today has made it almost
impossible to not break a rule or law somewhere, even if it is
something simple such as speeding or littering. Also they would
enforce laws of ethics, and in a morally corrupt society such as
appears on earth… well I assume you understand.’
‘And the punishment for these crimes would be?’ Angel asked
alarmed.
‘Under Furies law… Death,’ Laidin said in a sombre tone.
‘Shit.’

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‘Yes, quite a dilemma my lord,’ Kirom interjected, ‘we still have
the Sharin problem and we have not had word from Princess Ricci
either. We fear the worse.’
‘This is a dilemma, we cannot be in two places at once, and I
fear we might need to be,’ Angel’s brow formed deep furrows as
he pondered the conundrum.
‘I assume Ricci and Gemmi were still aboard the cruiser when it
disappeared? So they must still be there?’ Angel asked.
‘Yes my lord and I shudder to think what Sharin has planned for
them,’ Laidin acknowledged.
‘Well I am going after her, there is no question of that,’ Angel
stated with a determined expression on his face, ‘but I hate
leaving the Valk’r in a pinch.’
‘Dad,’ Blade tried to get Angel’s attention in a barely audible
tone, ‘we should do it.’
‘Do what,’ Angel only half heard his son’s request.
‘Save the world of course,’ LOBE chipped in.
Suddenly a water pipe seemed to have sprung a leak right over
the spot where Angel stood because a cold shiver ran down his
spine.
‘It is our fault the Furies are free dad,’ Storm agreed with her
brother.
‘Over my dead body will I let you kids go after those
abominations. You do not even know how to stop them,’ Angel
tried desperately.
‘And of course you do brainiac,’ LOBE mocked Angel.
‘We have to try dad, it is what you would have done,’ Blade
said, ‘remember all those stories you told us, about the
adventures you, mom, Laidin, Guival and Kirom went on.’

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‘Yes but that was different,’ Angel replied stubbornly.
‘Different? How was it different? Were you better trained?’
Storm asked.
‘Yes!’ Angel shouted exasperated.
‘Translation, you did not have overprotective parents back then
to stop you,’ Storm grinned.
Angel shot daggers from his eyes.
‘Daddy, we have been trained in military strategy and battle
techniques since before we could walk. We have had weapon
training since we were old enough to hold a toothpick. We have
the greatest heroes in history as parents. We can do this daddy,
you know we can,’ Storm concluded with an earnest look on her
face.
Laidin smiled at Angel, ‘Might as well stop my lord, this battle is
lost.’
Angel mumbled a few words and then a more audible, ‘All right,
as if I don’t have enough problems worrying about your mother,’
before stomping off to the kitchen.
Angel wished Ricci were here. She would stop them; they would
not dare question her.
Nevertheless, in the end, they were right. They needed to take
responsibility for their actions. They needed to be trusted. They
were not children anymore, and they were clever, resourceful,
and determined.
Well Phalin and Feral were strictly still underage, but the twins
were nineteen, and so was Shen, while Throm turned eighteen
quite recently.

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Angel had to admit that at sixteen, Phalin, even though the
youngest, definitely had the maturity and he knew she would
ensure reason above rashness.
Feral had succeeded in becoming the youngest ever mage to
ascend to the eighth circle, having been fortunate enough to
receive training from his uncle Teral, the only fifteenth circle
mage in the universe. Guival even though he now belonged to the
twelfth circle, had only been a seventh circle mage when they
fought the Taur more than two decades ago.
They would succeed. He had to believe that.
This was what all parents dreaded, trusting their children to
make the right decisions, to live their own lives.
They were young adults, and he needed to treat them as such.
Yes, they lived a sheltered live on a distant planet as the
children of the rulers of the universe. Nevertheless, as Storm
pointed out, in the end, they were the children of heroes, and
they were extraordinary in themselves.
They are better trained and more organized than his team had
been two plus decades ago when they defeated the Taur.
He had to trust them, his fellow parents did, why not him too.
He tried to focus on his own mission.
The team sat down at the long table in the dining hall.
‘So what do you suggest we do,’ Angel asked Laidin, ‘I assume
you have discussed a course of action while I was asleep?’
‘Well my lord; Kirom, Guival and I feel that we should take
Skibladne along with all my El fighters left on earth and go after
Sharin. The kids as we just decided will then help the Valk’r
warriors on earth, while the Olympian gods can help and give
advice from command central.’

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Angel had clean forgotten about them.
‘They are here? On earth?’ he asked quite surprised.
‘Yes my lord, they are probably wandering the halls as we speak
causing trouble. Zeus of course discovered cable TV and the
pornographic channel, so I do not expect to see either him or
Apollo anytime soon,’ Guival smirked.
‘Okay; so then we leave our fighters here for the kids?’ Angel
asked.
‘Yes my lord.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Angel agreed a lot happier now.
‘I am afraid we will need to depart soon my lord,’ Laidin
remarked still quite concerned, ‘you know Sharin has a Croman1
up her arse, and the same one track mind as one. She will not wait
to execute her plan.’
Everyone looked at Laidin. They had never heard her use any
kind of strong language before.
Angel cleared his throat.
‘Er… yes, let us move people.’
The crowd split into smaller groups of parent and children. Shen
was left standing alone thinking of her father and wishing she
could say goodbye.
Blade noticed her and walked across putting his arm around the
slight alien girl.
‘Hey… I know it is tough Shen, but we are all thankful you are
here. This team would not be a team without you. I know you

1
The target did not matter as long as it had a head that he could remove.
Statues cowered in fear. Of course males were in trouble since they tend to
have 2 heads, and if the Croman got to the wrong one first… well they tend to
overlook this little mistake by promptly and efficiently removing the other.

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Igor Swann

miss your father… why don’t you go make him a recording on
Skibladne. The lady can transmit it as soon as they reach UGE
space,’ he suggested.
Shen’s emotionless face seemed to brighten for a moment and
she quickly turned and floated off.
Meanwhile a number of other significant events transpired on
Valhalla. One was, Zeus seducing a young Valk’r eager to bestow
on her the gift of his ancient lovemaking techniques and new
found blue pills.
In three other significant events, Phalin received the bow of
Odin.
‘Keep it safe my child. It is the symbol of our power, and it will
protect you,’ the queen of the El smiled proudly at her daughter.
Kirom presented Throm with Mjolnir, ‘may it serve you mightily
my son.’
Feral received Gungnir, the spear.
‘I want it back you hear me, it is mine, so don’t get any funny
ideas,’ Guival remarked, and then hugged Feral.

The team spent the rest of the day preparing for their return
voyage while Angel desperately tried to give last minute
suggestions to the kids.
‘Know your enemy… plan for contingencies before attacking…
use the element of surprise… eat all your vegetables.’
‘Good thing you thought of all this before attacking Typhon
huh?’ LOBE sarcastically remarked.
‘Shut up!’ Angel shot back wordlessly.
Angel hugged the twins in turn.

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Eye of the Gods

‘You two will be fine, I know it,’ Angel said trying hard to bite
back a tear.
He was so proud of them; he knew Ricci would be too.
The El fighters were already warming their engines by the time
Angel finally boarded Skibladne.
One Elven fighter pilot at the back of the fleet felt his day could
have gone slightly better, but the thought seemed to disappear in
the fog now clouding his mind. Funny that, the weather report
was for a sunny winters day, he thought absentmindedly. His
fighter’s load reading was off as well, by a ton or two. This was
less of a concern than the more pertinent question of who am I,
or more exactly, what am I, that he now experienced.
He continued his system checks as if in a dream, and took up
position in the formation when they left without being able to
focus on all that seemed to be wrong. Like for instance the huge
pile of breathing black molten rock, which now occupied the co-
pilot seat behind him.

249

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CHAPTER 19
The kids stood staring at the departing fleet with heavy hearts,
but excited for the great responsibility bestowed upon them by
their parents.
‘Any ideas on our first move,’ Feral asked happily.
‘I propose we start with the elderly gods,’ Phalin suggested,
‘talk to Zeus and the others so we may gain as much intelligence
on these creatures as possible.’
‘I concur. Then I would suggest we invade the Valk’r command
centre and try track their movements,’ Blade added.
The team hurried to where they knew the Olympian gods
stayed. They had no previous encounter with the gods. Throm
thought they would be a bad influence on the kids and Laidin
agreed.
Many signs adorned Zeus’s door, that read Keep out unless you
have big boobs and do not disturb unless you have a lightning rod,
or danger high levels of wild discharges, and any one crossing this
point will face a battery charge.
The kids laughed and went in search of Athena.
The old lady sat in her quarters reading a book by a young
upcoming writer, which did not so much move her, but rather
slowly dragged her along a very bumpy road. Her head ached as it
smashed on the rocks littering her slow literary progression.
It was a do it yourself guide on how to get like the hot boy to
like notice you.
She counted the word like 427 times and pink close to a
hundred on the first 10 pages alone.

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The kids were a welcome distraction as they packed liked
sardines into her small room.
‘Hi, like wow, aren’t you the cutest thing ever with that big
hammer strapped to your little back,’ she said to Throm, stroking
his beard.
Phalin saw Throm’s temperature rising to spontaneous
combustion levels and quickly intervened.
‘Greetings Athena, we were wondering if you might assist us in
our investigation into the Furies.’
‘Like no problem darling, what would you like to, you know,
know?’
‘At this stage anything that might be useful in stopping them,’
Storm interjected.
‘Like okay. Well you already know what they are and like what
they do. Fortunately, I know a little more than that about the dogs
of Zeus. Like, they cannot like die until there is like no more evil
on earth. Also like they are itchy,’ Athena explained.
‘Huh?’ the kids exclaimed in unison unable to follow the strange
dialect.
Feral tapped the place his universal translator was injected;
quite sure it must be malfunctioning.
‘Yeah, like they each have a ragemeister… a jealousy button. All
you need to do is find it and push. The furies are all ambivextrous
like.’
‘So what does ambivextrous mean?’ Blade sighed.
‘It means they would get ticked off no matter what you do like,’
Athena explained.
‘So?’ Storm asked.

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‘So you need to like use it to make them jealous of each other
gimmer.’
Storm glared at Athena, almost convinced that gimmer was an
insult in some way but could not prove it. The others got the vibe
as well and started to snicker.
‘You want them to attack each other, very clever. So how do we
go about doing that?’ Blade asked.
Athena threw her hands up in the air.
‘What? Do I look like the oracle, you go fig it for yourselves,’ she
replied in mock anguish.
She smiled before continuing with a glimmer in her eyes.
‘But I can tell you this. Alecto is a control freak. Tisiphone was
the guardian of Tartarus, which was like a prison of the
underworld. She was very good at it and proud of the fact.
Megaera will probably be the easiest since she gets jealous of
everything and everyone.’
‘Thanks Athena,’ Blade expressed his appreciation as the troop
bundled out of the room.
‘Like no prob angels, and if the little one wish to stay...’ Athena
said in parting, but Phalin grabbed Throm by the arm and pulled
him clear of the room before he could go nuclear.
She got back to her book and made a mental note to not like,
use the word like ever again, starting like now.

A serious air of intense debate followed the children as they
made their way to the Valk’r command centre.
‘What did she mean they cannot be destroyed?’ Storm asked no
one in particular, ‘Everything is made of matter; everything can be
destroyed given enough energy, can’t it?’

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Eye of the Gods

‘That is a good point sis,’ Blade agreed, ‘maybe they just never
had the weapons that could beat the Furies?’
‘Sure, but who says we do?’ Feral chipped in, ‘we might have
the most powerful weapons in existence namely Mjolnir, Gungnir
and the bow of Odin but remember all these weapons existed
when the Furies roamed the earth as well.’
‘And a hell of a lot of good it did against Typhon,’ Storm added.
Blade stared glumly at his friend.
‘That is true, but a different type of weapon, even though not as
powerful might be all that is required,’ Phalin replied, ‘one of
Shen’s blasters might be enough to abolish them to the
netherworld?’
‘We can only hope,’ Throm added.
‘I do not think we should make this the foundation for our plan
though,’ Phalin continued, ‘my suggestion is we use the
knowledge that Athena has imparted on us and form our primary
battle strategy from that. If this should not succeed we might
revert to a more brute force tactic.’
Nodding heads greeted this suggestion and they walked the rest
of the way in silence, each occupied with his own idea of what this
battle plan might be. Unfortunately, most of the battle plans
consisted of waiting for one of the other team members to say
something intelligent.

The Valk’r command centre was abuzz with running bodies and
anxious faces. The Furies were a much more efficient judge, jury
and executioner than most courts in the free world. They did not
take time to hear arguments, set court dates for months in the
future, deliberate or dismiss cases because the name on the

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charge sheet had the incorrect spelling. They did not allow for due
process or plea-bargaining, and you were not even required to
plead. Sentencing was swift and always the same… death.
Since, with the exception of Mother Theresa and a small
number of other individuals, most everybody was guilty of
something, and some of earths most populated regions fast
became uninhabited.
Las Vegas and Monaco became ghost towns overnight and if
you did not die living here, it meant you probably visited your sick
mother in the desert town of
Nolakespringswellpondorotherwatersourcehere population 9 and
some of them human according to their birth certificates.
The Valk’r tried their best to keep track of the furies’
movement, but unfortunately the most accurate coordinates they
had were that the furies were probably still on earth.
The young band of heroes found Carra sitting in the command
chair reading reports and listening to her officers simultaneously.
Multi tasking came naturally to the acting Valk’r Chief, she could
stress about several things all at once.
‘Ah, about time you showed up,’ she exclaimed with a tired
edge to her voice.
‘Sorry Carra, we were doing research on the Furies,’ Blade
earnestly responded sympathizing with the irritation Carra
displayed.
‘My apologies Blade, it is just that there are so many good
people dying at the moment and we have no way of stopping or
even getting close to those monsters. They simply move too fast.
The feeling of helplessness is getting to all of us.’

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Eye of the Gods

‘I understand Carra, but without a strategy we are wasting our
and your time, and would probably end up dead along with
everybody else.’
‘So may I assume you have one,’ Carra inquired in a much more
amicable tone.
‘Not quite yet… but we are working on it. What we do need is a
place to start our search from,’ Blade answered slightly abashed
for not having a battle plan.
Carra smiled, and then replaced that with a serious pout of her
lips.
‘Well there is some more bad news. They have separated. The
Furies are currently on three different continents.’
‘Perfect!’ Feral exasperated thoughts entered their heads, ‘as if
we don’t have enough problems.’
‘Not necessarily a problem my friend, an opportunity I think,’
Phalin said while a sly smile played across her perfect lips.
The others stared at her confused.
‘Would it not be easier to enrage one of them if the other
sisters were not there to defend themselves?’ Phalin remarked.
The kids looked at one another and then nodded in
appreciation at the insight shown by their young Elven friend. It
was true, it would be a lot easier making the Furies jealous of
each other if they could corner them one at a time.
Storm still seemed unsure of this.
‘Does that not mean that we need to split up the team?’ she
asked.
‘Yes. I assume that would be the case,’ Blade said looking at his
team mates in turn, ‘Guess Storm and I will take one, Phalin and
Throm will take another and then Shen and Feral the last Fury.’

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Nods of agreement followed.
‘Okay Carra, we need locations, preferably a little more
accurate than third rock from the sun please.’ Blade announced
smiling.
‘Seems the hot spots at the moment are Australia, Southern
Africa and South America,’ one of the Valk’r operators gave her
enlightened opinion, ‘that is unfortunately as close as we can get
to a fix on their position. They would destroy a city and then
disappear, just to reappear in a different city altogether.’
‘They seem to prefer the hotter climates. It’s summer in those
countries at the moment,’ Carra observed.
‘That’s perfect,’ Phalin remarked happily, ‘this cold is driving me
nuts.’
Feral caught up with the twins as they left.
‘I need to show you a trick on shielding your mind from the
Furies,’ he told them while falling in step beside them.
‘What makes you think we could master it?’ Blade asked
confused.
‘Uncle Teral said you have the Aesir gene, therefore
you must have some magic,’ the young mage suggested.
‘No harm in trying,’ Storm eagerly agreed, admittedly she had
always envied the Aesir their magic.
The trio searched for a quiet place to practice.
Throm’s frustrated thoughts seemed quite a bit further away;
something in his subconscious tried its utmost to find a willing
neuron in the cerebrum.
The Furies prefer hot climates. Something I saw. Why is that
important?

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Eye of the Gods

The memory appeared linked to Lamia somehow, of that he
was sure but why and how alluded him. He dismissed the problem
for now, deciding to focus instead on a more pertinent tri-nation
tester.

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CHAPTER 20
Skibladne gently floated out of hyperspace before racing off
towards Arken with the El fighters still 7 days behind.
Angel’s mindcom beeped.
‘Qren, am I glad to hear from you old friend,’ Angel said with a
smile touching his lips.
‘I am overjoyed to find you well my Lord, we were extremely
worried.’
‘Thank you, it was touch and go for most part,’ Angel said.
‘Milord, did you see the children?’ Qren asked with his concern
clearly noted by Angel.
‘Shen is fine my friend, they are still on earth dealing with a
small problem,’ Angel tried to sound as nonchalant as possible not
wanting to worry his friend with small details. Details such as, the
problems were for the most part unstoppable, and the kids were
going to die trying.
‘Shen made you a recording. I will send it through now,’ Angel
informed Qren as he sent the file to Arken.
‘Thank you my lord,’ Qren paused, ‘I unfortunately have terrible
news; the UGE is in a state of war. Fights have erupted between El
and Dwar in every sector. We are trying to keep the peace but it
has thus far been unsuccessful. The Dwar blame the El for
destroying Nidavellir, and killing Brom and Teral.’
‘Brom is dead? Nidavellir is destroyed?’ Kirom wailed.
‘Seems that our favourite evil Princess has been busy since she
hijacked Laidin’s cruiser,’ Angel gritted his teeth, he felt sick.
Qren’s puzzled thoughts entered Angel’s mind.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Sharin is back, and she is pissed my friend,’ Angel clarified.
‘This is grave news indeed my lord.’
‘We shall go to Nidavellir and see what we can do to help,’
Laidin announced joining the conversation.
‘You are sure they are dead?’ asked Kirom.
‘There have been extensive rescue missions launched, but no
sign of Brom and Teral. The planet appears to be lifeless,’ Qren
explained with deep regret.
Kirom’s heart sank; he could not believe he might have lost his
brother to such a cruel fate again.
‘Yes my friend but none of them had Skibladne, she has exact
DNA footprint scan abilities and sensors far more advanced than
anything else in the UGE.’
‘Then Godspeed my lord, without Brom and Teral there is no
hope of ending this war.’
‘My lord, I’ll be sending my fighters home when they arrive,
since it seems we might need to defend our home world, if we
cannot stop this madness,’ Laidin confirmed the seriousness of
the situation.
‘I understand,’ Angel agreed, ‘but if we do not end this feud I do
not think even that would make any difference. There has been
too much hatred between the two races to ever see this battle
end if we do not end it right now.’
‘Agreed my lord,’ Laidin nodded, ‘It would never cease and
would just become more powerful with every passing day, until it
is an out of control raging tempest fuelled by years and years of
feuding.’
‘Skibladne, set course for Nidavellir, maximum burn,’ Angel
ordered.

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The four friends flew into the back wall on the command deck
of Skibladne as she jumped the gate like a thoroughbred
racehorse.
‘Dammit Skibladne, you did that on purpose,’ Angel angrily
grimaced, rubbing the bump on the back of his head.
#sorry my lord, I was simply following orders#
‘Yes but next time wait till we are strapped in,’ Angel said. Did
he imagine it, or did he hear a metallic snigger coming from the
lady; no, that was impossible.

Nidavellir appeared as one very angry gigantic ball of electric
storms on Skibladne’s view screen. The eerie lack of activity
compared to the usual buzz around the planet filled with cruisers
and trade ships, caused more than a little discomfort to the crew.
Kirom stared at the screen mesmerized, as if his eyes lied to him
and if he blinked enough they might start telling the truth.
‘Skibladne, start doing a scan of the planet, if there is any life
down there I want to know about it,’ Angel commanded.
‘Kirom I need you to man sensors and guide Skibladne, you
know all the most likely places where your brother and Teral
might have been.’
Kirom snapped out of his trance and started giving Skibladne
directions and depth coordinates for her scans, his hands moved
like lighting across the intricate sensor console settings.
‘What can we do?’ Guival asked.
‘Pray,’ Angel earnestly replied.
Laidin quietly stared at the view screen. She seemed to come to
some kind of conclusion, and started flipping through all the

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outward facing cameras showing the different sections of space
around Skibladne.
‘Hmmmm,’ she said.
Guival and Angel examined her intently, then looked at each
other and shrugged.
Laidin walked over to the sensor console and started fiddling
with the short and long range scanners, while Kirom kept busy
running infrared scans.
‘Hmmmm,’ she said again.
‘What?’ an exasperated duo screamed in unison.
‘Well what is missing from this picture?’ Laidin asked pointing to
the view screen.
‘I don’t see anything,’ Guival reported puzzled.
‘Exactly,’ Laidin acknowledged.
Angel and Guival performed their look and shrug routine a
second time.
Laidin sighed pretending to find them hopeless, ‘Teral was on
Nidavellir with Brom, right.’
They nodded.
‘And Teral’s crew would do everything in their power to locate
their leader, right?’ Laidin continued.
The two bobbleheads stupidly nodded again.
‘And only Teral can order his cruiser to depart, right?’ Laidin
became concerned that her two friends might have hit their
heads; they cannot really be this thick, can they?
Angel started smiling, ‘we got it Laidin. We were just playing
with you.’

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‘This might not be the proper time for amusement my lord,’
Laidin responded as the voice of reason once more. She had a
pained expression as she looked over at her lifelong friend Kirom.
‘So the only way that Teral’s cruiser would have departed was
under duress,’ a guilt ridden Guival stated the obvious, wanting to
change the subject as quickly as possible.
‘Now the real question should be, what would Sharin need
Teral’s cruiser for, she already has mine?’ Laidin pondered.
‘Well she came back here to start a war,’ Guival added.
‘And she managed to get the Dwar and El at each other’s throat
using an El cruiser,’ Angel said.
LOBE sighed.
‘So I guess she needs the Aesir cruiser to put two other races at
each other’s throat?’ Guival suggested.
‘The Aesir and the Arks...?’ Angel opted.
LOBE sighed again.
‘She does hate the Arks, but the Arks are not powerful enough
to take on the Aesir. They are a peaceful race and will surrender
before the first shot is fired,’ Laidin deliberated further.
‘The Taur,’ Angel and Guival screamed in unison.
LOBE applauded.
‘Took you long enough,’ he said.
‘Her next target must be the Taur, oh this is terrible. Tri’st and
his people have just managed to rebuild their home after the last
devastating war,’ Angel expressed with a lot of emotion, ignoring
LOBE.
The sadness and trepidation felt by the crew grew in intensity.
The war, and all the innocent Dwar that perished because of one

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sadistic inhumane monster, remained foremost in their minds,
but now the Taur had become a target as well.
Angel slammed on his mindcom, a little harder than he meant
to.
‘Ouch…’ he whispered rubbing his chest.
‘Skibladne, get me Qren.’
A few seconds later Qren’s voice came into Angel’s head, and at
the same moment, Kirom screamed.
‘I found them!’ he shouted, ‘two life forms, one Dwar and one
definitely Aesir!’
‘Qren, just hold on a second please,’ Angel requested.
‘They are deep underground, but with a tunneler, we can get to
them,’ Kirom smiled from ear to ear.
‘Great, see if you can find us one so we can go get them,’ Angel
exclaimed relieved.
‘Qren,’ Angel thought into the mindcom again, ‘we got Teral
and Brom, we are putting together a rescue party right away.’
Angel could sense the relief coming from Qren.
‘We still have another urgent matter. It seems the evil bitch
hijacked Teral’s cruiser, and we suspect her next target is
Evergal’t,’ he told Qren.
‘I will inform Tri’st immediately,’ Qren replied urgently.
‘Yes, tell him that if he spots the Aesir cruiser to destroy it
immediately. Do not let it get near the planet, tell him not to even
attempt to communicate with it.’
‘I will my Lord,’ Qren agreed.
‘We will go after it but it has a 2 day head start,’ Angel added.
‘Godspeed my Lord,’ Qren ended the call.

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Kirom expertly moved the short-range scanners around
desperately searching for a way to save his brother.
‘Yes!’ he exclaimed, ‘found a Dwar exploration ship close by.
Skibladne would you be so kind as to set a course for it please,’ he
asked.
#immediately# Skibladne answered, #and thank you for asking
so nicely#
Angel laughed, more from relief than joy.
‘Guival I assume you wish to accompany Kirom on the rescue
operation?’ Angel asked Guival.
‘You know it! My boss is also down there,’ he projected.
‘Great, then Laidin and I will pursue the cruiser.’
He had hardly finished this sentence before he slammed into
the bulkhead as Skibladne hit the brakes hard.
‘What the hell!’ he shouted, ‘I thought I told you to warn us.’
#you said to warn you if I accelerate my lord, nothing about
deceleration# Skibladne quipped.
Angel had a thought.
‘Guival!’ he screamed furiously, ‘this is your doing isn’t it?’
Guival’s laughter came into the crews head.
‘I couldn’t resist, and Skibladne was such a willing accomplish.’
Kirom’s hammer slammed into the wall behind Guival’s head,
missing by fractions of an inch.
Guival turned into a pile of liquid metal, just in case an El blade
also came his way. None of the crew had ever seen a puddle
snigger.
‘Get off my ship,’ Angel screamed in mock irritation.
‘Going, going, gone,’ the puddle flowed from the bridge.

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‘And as for you my lady, we are going to have a little talk when
we get home,’ Angel said to Skibladne pulling a face.
#drat# she replied, like a concerned teenager.
Angel smiled.
He waited for the two friends to board the exploration ship,
after which Kirom explained to them what he needed.
‘Now my lady, please spare no horses in following that cruiser,’
Angel ordered making sure that he and Laidin had securely
strapped in before giving the order.
#are you sure my lord# Skibladne asked.
‘Yes. Everything you got,’ Angel ordered, bracing himself.
Skibladne did not disappoint.

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CHAPTER 21
Throm felt like screaming from shear frustration.
He missed something crucial, something important he saw.
We visited Egypt. Spoke to Lamia. No, it had been before
speaking to Lamia. Was it inside the Sphinx? Yes, I am getting
warmer. The chamber we met Lamia.
‘That’s it!’ his elated scream startled the other children who
were all anxiously getting ready to depart.
The hieroglyphs in the chamber, when they waited for Lamia to
arrive, were the answer, or rather the question.
‘We have to speak to Zeus immediately,’ he snarled and ran off,
his glee disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
The kids gave each other a perplexed look but followed without
question.
The door to the god’s chambers remained locked with the, ‘do
not disturb’ paraphernalia covering it.
Throm knocked.
‘Go away!’ the agitated Zeus shouted from behind the door.
Throm knocked again.
‘We need to speak Zeus,’ he announced, muttering under his
beard.
‘Go away!’ the king of the gods exclaimed again.
The kids looked at each other.
Blade shrugged.
Throm knocked again, this time with Mjolnir.
The door exploded.
Zeus looked up from the television.

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‘What?’ he screeched cantankerously.
‘How did you control the Furies?’ Throm asked, just as irritated.
‘Hmmm, so which little dwarf are you? Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy
or Ugly,’ Zeus laughed at his own little joke.
‘Again, how did you control the Furies?’ Throm commanded,
ignoring Zeus’s comment. He had never seen Snow White, thus
Zeus’s joke was lost on him.
‘That’s for me to know and you to find out,’ the old god
snickered with a glint in his eye and turned his attention back to
the Wet and Wild Playboy show he was watching.
‘Electricity,’ Throm breathed through clenched teeth.
He was suitably annoyed with this old has been, who would
send them to their death while he knew how to beat the Furies.
‘Yes!’ Zeus screamed swivelling around on his couch and
peering at the kids over the backrest, ‘my pets are susceptible to
high doses of electricity. How did you know?’
‘Brilliant,’ Storm exclaimed slapping Throm on the back.
Throm remained too infuriated to acknowledge the adulation.
‘The hieroglyphs in the Sphinx where you hid from Typhon you
old fart. It showed you throwing lightning bolts at three figures
that looked a lot like the Furies. That and it’s not as if you possess
any other skills.’
Throm now way passed the point of being a polite little dwarf,
resembled a mean little hairball, and he aimed to become stuck in
this vindictive little god’s throat, ‘what I want to know is why and
how much is needed?’
Zeus looked slightly bemused.
‘Well since you figured out my little secret, I assume there is no
harm in telling you.’

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‘Firstly I was not going to let you die. I just wanted one last
chance to show I am worth something. I was going to stop them
eventually.’
‘When exactly was that?’ Feral sneered, ‘when we lay in body
bags?’
‘Ok, so I haven’t figured out that part yet,’ Zeus sourly replied,
‘but to answer your second question, a lot, and to completely
destroy them, a hell of a lot. Even more than that wonderful
hammer of yours has.’
Zeus started to explain, ‘yes, my lightning bolts did control
them, and was the only thing that scared them or could harm
them. Never figured out how much you needed to kill them
though, but I once threw one of my best at Alecto after she threw
a temper tantrum. She seemed a lot happier after that.’
The old God seemed to think hard on something for a second
and then seemed to dismiss the thought.
‘So why did you think you could stop them this time?’ Phalin
asked.
Zeus just looked at her with vague eyes, as if he was in a dream,
reliving the good old glory days as a deity, before slowly
responding to nothing resembling Phalin’s question.
‘We only came to this world because Olympus was so boring.
Nothing ever happened there. I was ruler, yes, but ruler of what,
since nothing ever went wrong. The only amazing thing I ever did
on Olympus was imprison my father, Cronus, and the Titans in
Tartarus. That was a very long time ago and followed by decades
of boredom. My friends and I were adventurers. We loved to
experience new and exciting things. Unfortunately, on Olympus
we were nobodies, just a couple more crazy Olympians with a lust

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for adventure. Then we found the eye, and everything changed,’
Zeus explained distantly, lost in his memories.
‘You see here, here we were gods. We were all-powerful, with
incredible weapons and powers. We fought amazing battles
against demons and monsters. We were revered deities. We were
somebody. The humans prayed to us, they built us magnificent
temples,’ Zeus sighed.
‘Then one sad day we got to the eye and it would not open. We
were stuck back in our lonely boring existence,’ Zeus sighed
heavily.
‘I am old. I will be gone soon. I just wanted one last chance to
be a hero, be the god people knew and loved. Be admired again.’
The children suddenly felt a pang of sorrow for the aging god.
Blade spoke up, ‘okay, we will see what we can do. Ask Carra for
a mindcom, we will be in touch.’
They departed talking among themselves.
‘At least we have a semblance of a plan now, or at least the
beginning,’ Feral suggested.
‘Yes, we will need to get the Furies in one place and then zap
them,’ Blade added.
‘Do we still split up to find them?’ Throm asked.
‘Yes, we will need to convince them to go to a specific place and
take care of them all at the same time while they are fighting
among themselves,’ Blade said, ‘I don’t think even with the
hammer we can take the Furies in a head on battle, even one at a
time. We will need to trap them.’
‘So we might need the old man’s help after all?’ Feral asked.

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‘I think we will need all the firepower we can muster. I also
don’t think getting them to go to a nuclear power plant is going to
happen so we will need to use portable solutions,’ Blade added.
‘So what do we have?’ Storm asked.
‘We will need Mjolnir fully charged, Throm please make sure it
is. Then Zeus’s lightning bolts,’ Blade hesitated.
‘And mine,’ Feral added, ‘Uncle Teral taught me how to conjure
lighting and I’m pretty good at it.’
‘Might I suggest we inspect the Valk’r arsenal for electrical
weapons,’ Phalin proposed.
‘Good, now we have the how, let us get the when and where
sorted too,’ Blade resumed the discussion.
‘I think the gate room?’ Shen recommended.
‘Outstanding proposal Shen truly inspired. If we are unable to
destroy them, we might be able to compel them to enter the
gate,’ Phalin agreed.
The other kids nodded in unison, very clever indeed.
‘So let’s get cracking,’ Blade ordered, ‘we will coordinate
implementing our plans to get them to the gate when we are all
ready. We have to make sure we get them to go there at
approximately the same time. We can’t have them there at
different times.’
The others nodded again looking at each other in turn. It would
not be much use if the Furies were there one at a time.
‘Are we going to make our plans on coaxing them to the gate
now?’ Storm asked.
‘I think the teams should decide that among themselves. It
might be necessary to use the natural resources to help
improvisation, so it would be better not to have plans cast in

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stone. Also we do not know which Fury is where and I think they
might need to be approached in very different ways,’ Blade
thought pinching the bridge of his nose so he would seem more
intellectual. He read that Sherlock Holmes did this in a book he
found in his dad’s library on Arken. He loved these mystery
novels.
He had often spoken about the adventure of the greatest
detective on earth to the others but they seemed disinterested, as
they could not understand the alien world to which the stories
referred.
He smiled at a thought that suddenly popped into his head.
‘So any general tips then?’ Throm enquired.
‘Elementary my dear Watson,’ Blade began which got a
seriously confused stare from everyone.
Blade just smiled.
‘Facing Alecto I suggest playing on her Anger. With Megaera, we
would use her constant jealousy and with Tisiphone, the fact that
she is the avenger of murder. Maybe convince her that one of her
sisters murdered someone without just cause,’ Blade continued
very proud of his insight.
This got the required response from his sister mimicking their
mother.
‘No shit Sherlock.’
The children laughed as Blade turned a superb racing red.
‘Might I propose we depart immediately?’ Phalin advised
distracting everyone from Blade’s obvious discomfort.
‘Agreed,’ Throm said, ‘and may the gods be with you.’
‘Preferably not the ones hold up here in the Valk’r base,’ Feral
jested. They parted still laughing.

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CHAPTER 22
Storm expertly piloted their mother’s ship towards the tip of
Africa, or more precisely the east coast of South Africa, to the city
of Durban. According to the Valk’r tracking the Furies, a lot of
radio chatter originated there on people inexplicably dying in this
coastal city, less than half an hour ago. It was the December
holidays and the beach was buzzing with tourists.
They landed near the city centre on top of one of the high-rise
buildings, to begin their enquiries as to the whereabouts of the
Fury.
The heat was stifling and the humidity was through the roof.
Even through the temperature regulating team suits, the twins
sweat profusely.
Blade had a thought.
They walked into the nearest clothing outlet.
‘My lady, would you be kind enough to provide us with the
appropriate beach attire?’ Blade addressed the girl behind the
counter.
‘Sure,’ she said while crudely chewing her gum and blowing
bubbles, giving Blade a funny look, as if to say, what planet are
you from, dude?
‘Light travels faster than sound, that’s why my dear brother
appears bright until he speaks,’ Storm quipped.
Blade ignored his sister’s sarcastic remark.
Storm sulked since not only her brother but also the
shopkeeper gave her comment no hint of admiration, ‘nothing is

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more discouraging than unappreciated sarcasm. Oh well, we just
have to keep on trying.’
The twins hurriedly changed into the clothes the shop assistant
gave them.
They both appeared well tanned as they often visited Phalin on
Elheimr and the radiation of the planet had turned their skin into
a permanent golden brown.
Storm looked particularly stunning in a two-piece black bathing
suit and sarong, which complemented her dark hair and blue grey
eyes.
Blade had a simple costume, but his rippling muscles and
impeccable abs, caused many a beach babe to walk into a pole or
fall off the curb in the moments following their appearance on the
street.
‘Weapons,’ Storm remarked.
‘No need, they would have no effect on her in any event.’
‘So genius, how are we going to pay for this?’ Storm asked her
brother.
Blade looked at the girl behind the counter who seemed
enthralled by his body, and did not attempt to hide her adoration.
‘Wait here,’ he told his sister, and turned to address the shop
assistant.
‘My lady, please do not be alarmed. I simply need to depart for
an instant, but I assure you that I do not intend to abscond with
these garments. I mean to compensate this establishment in full.
My sister will remain until my return.’
‘Please keep talking,’ Storm told her brother, ‘I love the way
your voice is making my ears bleed.’

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‘Sure, whatever,’ the shop assistant answered Blade with
complete indifference.
Blade quickly gathered their discarded team suits and weapons,
and ran to where his mother’s fighter stood. He started to search
the ship, leaving their clothing and swords in the main cabin. He
found what he was looking for; a golden pendant, worth possibly
as much as the entire shopping mall.
The girl’s eyes sparkled as he handed it over moments later, and
hurriedly opened her own purse paying for the clothes from her
own funds. The pendant disappeared into her handbag.

They decided to go down to the beach first.
‘How are we going to find the Fury with all these people about?’
Storm asked after someone shoved her again. She reached boiling
point, not only from the heat but also from the abuse at the hand
of the obnoxious vacationers. They would either, undress her with
their eyes and make unseemly comments, or they simply ignored
her and shoved her about.
She was hot and bothered, and not in a good way.
‘I don’t know yet, we just need to keep looking sis.’
‘Hell!’ She screamed, as another person bumped into her
knocking her off her feet. The person just walked off without even
a hint of an apology.
Blade helped her up, ‘bad time of year it seems. It looks like
everyone is on vacation in this part of the world.’
‘Well, if its tourist season why can’t we shoot them?’ Storm
spat.
More like mom every day, Blade thought silently.
‘Let’s keep looking for signs of the Fury,’ he tried again.

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‘Cant we just wait till the Fury finishes here and move to
another city?’ Storm asked with mock pleading in her eyes.
‘Come on sis, let’s go, remember we are the heroes in this tale,’
Blade smiled and moved off.
Storm said something under her breath Blade could not quite
make out, and for some reason he was glad he could not.
They could smell the ocean. The fresh sea breeze was
intoxicating.
‘Let’s investigate in that direction,’ Storm suggested, pointing in
the direction the cool breeze emanated from.
Blade agreed.
They finally broke through the concrete jungle away from the
stampeding cattle, and as a reward they found the enticing crunch
of sand under their feet, the subtle roar of the rolling surf and the
screams of dying humans.
‘Look!’ Blade shouted pointing down the beach.
It scene was horrific.
People simply keeled over, others screamed and ran in arbitrary
directions without real hope, and yet others sat around crying,
waiting for death.
Children lay across the bodies of their parents and loved ones
sobbing. Little ones aimlessly wandered around hoping to find a
guardian or caretaker.
Dead bodies littered the beach and in the middle, a fearsome
figure silently floated a few inches off the sand. Panic formed in
front of her and death followed behind her.
‘Do you see that?’ Blade asked his sister.
‘No, I was looking at the sea shells, aren’t they pretty,’ Storm
scoffed drily.

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‘No sis,’ Blade remarked patiently, ‘look at the people dying,
there is some kind of energy flowing from them to her.’
Storm noticed in horror what Blade referred to, ‘my word you
are right brother, it’s like she is draining them from…’
She looked at Blade with a puzzled expression.
‘Their life force,’ Blade suggested with a shrug.
‘Okay, we can wonder about that later, for now we need to stop
her and get her going to the gate,’ Storm said with a determined
expression and stomped off in the direction of the Fury.
‘Wait! What if she simply kills us too?’ Blade asked hurrying
after Storm.
‘Want some cheese to go with that whine?’ Storm answered
but with a lot less attitude than usual.
She walked off with deliberate strides; she did not intend to
show weakness in front of her brother after a comment like that.
‘Remember to shield your mind like Feral taught us,’ Blade
shouted after her and then joined her determined march towards
the approaching Fury.

The Fury hesitated, not sure what to make of people actually
confronting her. People run in hopeless terror, do they not? Why
did these two approach her?
Only a couple of yards separated them.
‘So which sister are you?’ the female called out, ‘not Tisiphone
obviously.’
‘I am Alecto,’ the Fury answered, slightly confused as to how
they spoke her language.
The twins shared a glance; the angry one, they had an unspoken
mutual realization.

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‘Why are you interfering with my duties?’ she screeched.
‘Oh we just thought we would catch up on old times, seeing as
we freed your sister and gave her the means to free you. It’s been
long overdue that we sat down to chat,’ Storm growled, the grisly
scene behind the Fury made her lethal. She felt like ripping this
monster limb from limb.
‘You are the ones who freed us?’ Alecto asked surprised,
‘Tisiphone mentioned you.’
‘Hmmm nothing escapes you, does it? Yes, we go back a way.
Tisiphone and I are like this,’ Storm knotted her fingers in a show
of unity.
‘I need to know why you freed her first, and not me?’ Alecto
asked as her surprise waned replaced by her endless unceasing
anger.
‘Because she is your leader,’ Blade stated solemnly.
‘WHAT?’ The fury screeched, ‘I am the leader human!’
The twins caught on immediately and had to do everything in
their power to stifle a smile.
I think I’ll let Storm take care of this one, Blade thought, this
situation called for her finesse and soft feminine touch in sarcastic
holocaust encouraging logic.
‘That’s not what Tisiphone said,’ Storm began slowly warming
up, ‘she said she was the leader; that you were too incompetent
to lead.’
‘She said what?’ the fury fumed.
‘Sure, she said you were ugly and stupid and that she had to
endure you for now, while there was work to be done but that
she wished it was all over so she could take care of you. I think her
exact words were, but do not quote me, you were so ugly it

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should be a crime, and the punishment is death by mirror,’ Storm
laid it on thick.
She obviously succeeded, as the Fury turned more hideous by
the second.
Storm kept going, ‘yes, she said she and Megaera were the
beautiful intelligent sisters and you were an embarrassment to
the family.’
The Fury seemed to be on the brink of losing it, only one more
push sis, Blade thought.
‘I don’t believe you,’ Alecto screamed, confused as to why she
could not access their guilt centres.
‘You don’t have to Alecto; you’ll see when you get back to the
gate. We just risked our lives to come warn you, but that’s
gratitude for you,’ Storm mimicked sincere hurt feelings to the
enjoyment of Blade.
‘They are waiting for you to return, and when you do return,
you will receive your well deserved reward for all your hard work
on earth. They will kill you for your trouble. It is so unfair, we
know. I cannot even imagine how I would feel after such betrayal.
After you have given them the best centuries of your life,’ Storm
thoroughly enjoyed her first lead role in a Broadway production.
Blade saw the Fury’s conflict and he knew the mind block was
working.
Should she continue on her quest or confront her treacherous
sister?
She could still convince Megaera that Tisiphone was the
problem. Yes, she just needed to find her. The kids mentioned the
gate, so that is where her sisters are going to kill her.

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She can prepare her own surprise for the deceitful Tisiphone
now that the kids had warned her.
The resolve spread across her face.
The twins simply watched and smiled as the Fury furiously
turned away, and headed in the direction that the kids knew the
gate was.
‘You go girl,’ Storm shouted after her, ‘and don’t come back. No
seriously don’t.’
‘Sis you were amazing!’ Blade exclaimed with pride when he
was sure the Fury had moved out of earshot.
‘Thank you, thanks you,’ Storm proclaimed bowing, ‘and that
ladies and gentlemen is how you do that.’
It was only now that the twins grasped the extent of the
devastation the Fury caused.
Their joy instantaneously replaced with deep sadness as they
surveyed the scene in front of them.
Small children hugged their deceased parent’s lifeless bodies.
The sorrow around them became too much to bear.
The beach quickly filled up with rescue workers, paramedics
and police.
‘We have to stop these monsters now,’ Storm hissed.
‘Let’s go sis, there is nothing further we can do here.’
Both twins’ shoulders drooped as they walked towards their
mother’s fighter. Neither of them noticed the crowd cheering
them on.
‘Time for round 2, and this time it’s to the death,’ Storm
exclaimed through clenched teeth.

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CHAPTER 23
The morph ship silently glided over the endless rainforest in the
southeastern corner of Colombia. Because of the remote location
of most of the towns in South America and the lack of proper
communication equipment, the Valk’r found it almost impossible
to track the Fury.
Shen and Feral had been following a trail of massacred village
for the best part of a day. Even though neither of them shared any
bond with these primitive earth creatures, they knew Blade,
Storm, and their parents since birth and they loved them dearly.
Shen felt physically sick having seen the trail of needless
slaughter left behind by this self-righteous monster.
Thus far, they had no idea if they were closing on their prey or
not. The boiling heat outside made the monitoring of
temperatures from the dead bodies to determine time of death
an exercise in futility.
They just had to keep following the path of deceased, and hope
it would turn into recently deceased or more preferably not yet
deceased.
Shen kept a sharp eye on the scanners. The morph ship
remained set on autopilot with Feral monitoring communications
with the Valk’r.
Shen sensed that something had suddenly gone amiss.
She saw the shadow from the corner of her huge almond
coloured eye and spun around while the blasters appeared in her
hands as if by magic.

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A Fury hovered behind her. The unmistakable stench of death
hung over the huge creature with the long flowing black robes
and beautiful yet terrifying face.
Shen felt fear the likes of which she had never felt before.
How did this creature get aboard the ship? What happened to
Feral, had she killed him already? How am I going to stop this
creature when much more powerful beings could not even place a
scratch on it?
Well she had the tachyon cannon, but at this range, the blast
would destroy the ship and her with it, with no guarantee that it
would destroy the creature.
Shen smiled in her mind.
At least she was going to die knowing she gave her life for
something more important. She was going to die attempting to
make the universe a better place.
Her smile widened.
If her friends taught her anything it is that, a selfish life is a
wasted life. There was no greater fulfilment or gratification than
self-sacrifice when protecting the weak and the helpless.
She had listened intently to the stories her father and Noone
had told her. She heard the tales of heroes and demons, of
glorious quests, of valour and bravery, and friends. Since she was
but a youngling it had been her dream to one day be such a hero.
She was not going to live to tell the tale, but all Arks will
remember her story.
The Arks had no imagination of their own but they did have a
deep appreciation for imagination in others and loved weird and
wonderful accounts, even thought their own kind rarely… no,
never appear in such legends.

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Her thin long finger tightened around the blaster’s trigger.
Goodbye dad, wish I could have said goodbye in person, but I
am going to make you proud. I am going to make all Arks proud.
We will have our own legend to tell. Unfortunately, a very short
legend, but at least it will not keep the kids up past their bedtime.
She closed her eyes and uttered one final sigh.
‘Don’t shoot!’ the Fury fearfully projected into her mind.
‘Feral!’ Shen screamed back.
‘Yes it’s me, don’t shoot!’ Feral shrieked again, the panic clearly
audible in his thoughts.
‘How is this possible?’ Shen asked.
‘If I tell you, do you promise not to shoot?’ Feral pleaded seeing
Shen had not lowered her blaster yet, and that she did not look
like she intended to either.
‘I’ll think about it,’ Shen projected back with a slight smile
creeping back into her thoughts.
Feral changed back swiftly.
‘Do you remember when we came back through the gate?’ he
asked.
Shen nodded, placing her blaster back into its holster.
‘Well do you also remember me touching Tisiphone when I
passed her?’ Feral asked but saw Shen shake her head.
‘No I cannot remember that, you were behind me.’
‘Well I did, and I absorbed her form definition when I did,’
Feral’s pleasure took shape in her mind; ‘I thought it would be
handy at a party someday, never realizing I might actually need it
on a quest.’

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‘So now we have a way to get close to the Fury,’ Shen caught on
to Feral’s plan, ‘that is if this is not Tisiphone. Then we will have a
problem.’
‘Well we have a one in three chance,’ Feral smirked, ‘and I like
those odds.’
‘I don’t play odds,’ Shen exclaimed angrily.
‘Do you have a better idea?’ Feral asked.
Shen seemed slightly disconsolate, ‘no, we will go with your
idea. But what is the rest of your plan?’
‘My dear Shen, my race are entertainers, the showmen of the
universe,’ the blue metallic Aesir said with a theatrical wave of his
hand, ‘sometimes you have to create the show while you are
doing the show.’
‘So you have no plan, and you want to improvise,’ Shen stated
bluntly.
‘Well not as such…’ Feral remarked slightly more subdued.
‘It is amazing your race survived as long as it did,’ Shen turned
her attention back to the scanners.
Feral felt a little dejected for Shen’s lack of enthusiasm in his
creativity and lack of admiration for his forward thinking.
Stupid Arks… no imagination, he thought.
It was at least another hour before Shen finally found
something on the scanners.
‘I found a village where the people are still alive, and it’s on the
same path the Fury followed. She must not have reached it yet.’
Feral nodded.
He set the ship down in a small clearing close to the village, well
inside the dense forestation surrounding it.

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The duo took up position outside the village in a tree, providing
them with a great vantage point of the town square.
Indian children happily laughed and played in the great fountain
on the square, which had a distinct Spanish influence.
The village consisted of mostly unassuming huts with grass
roofs and seemed quite primitive. They appeared to centre on the
square with one building at the far side of the square the only
exception to this rule. It too bore an obvious Spanish architectural
design.
The alien friends settled down and waited.
A troop of curious black spider monkeys appeared around them
for a while, but they soon dissipated when Feral turned into one
too and decided to play with them. He got the size slightly wrong
on purpose. The troop did not appreciate a 10-foot spider monkey
playing tag with them and hurriedly made their getaway.
Shen was first to spot the silent black form of the wrath floating
out of the forest, on the opposite side of the clearing.
‘Feral!’ she projected at the Aesir who entertained himself with
a black widow spider.
They watched the fury as it floated towards the village.
‘Not Tisiphone,’ Feral breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Guess you are up,’ Shen remarked, ‘I’ll cover you from here,
the first sign of trouble and you better get out of there.’
Shen kept watch while Feral climbed down and turned into his
rendition of Tisiphone.
The Fury had reached the fountain and seemed to be ignoring
the small children.
They must not be guilty of any crimes yet.
The children had all gone quiet.

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They intently watched the imposing figure of the Fury float
across the town square.
Deciding that this was nothing to be concerned about they
again started splashing each other with water.
One overeager boy made a dive bomb from the side.
The water sprayed high into the air and over the side. It caught
the Fury on her chest and she shrieked in horror.
Shen sat transfixed on the events that unfolded.
Small lightning bolts flowed from the Fury into the ground and
she appeared to be in genuine agony.
The Fury slowly turned and stretched her hand towards the
child who now stared at the strange creature with his huge dark
brown eyes wide with fear.
The child collapsed in a heap.
The rest of the children screamed and started running in every
general direction.
Shen saw the limp body, and it was obvious to her that the child
was without question diseased.
‘Feral, wait!’ she called into her friends mind.
He stopped his advanced and turned his Fury head towards her.
‘She just killed an innocent!’ Shen relayed, ‘for creatures who
believes in the law that must be a crime.’
Feral nodded.
‘I think we have an angle,’ Feral agreed catching on.
‘Yes and I think I know how to use it,’ Shen replied with a little
grin attached to the thought.
‘You need to convince that Fury that you have seen her crime
and that you are going to find her sister so they may destroy her.’
‘Great plan!’ Feral said with admiration, ‘I’m on it.’

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Something else had Shen’s mind in overdrive.
Why did she react so strangely to the water? Hmmm water…
Shen thought, what do I know about water? It gives life. It is a
good conductor. That is it! There was electricity flowing from the
Fury. She must need electricity, and water causes it to leave her
body. Therefore, if she needs electricity, maybe she feeds on it
too. Maybe that is what happens when they kill humans; they
drain the electrical energy from their bodies. It was logical. It
made sense. She was quite sure of her hypothesis.
A frightening thought suddenly took shape in her mind. That is
why the Furies listened to Zeus. Not because he controlled them
with his bolts of lightning, he fed them. It was not as if electricity
was in abundant supply centuries ago, unless they found victims
to drain. Zeus fed the abominations. That is why they followed his
orders, why they remained his pets. He was the only one that
could give them what they needed when there was no one to
murder.
A Shiver ran down her spine. That means their plans to destroy
the Furies would fail! They would feed the Furies instead of kill
them. She would need to contact the rest of the team soon.
Another thought occurred to her.
It never rained on Olympus and that is why no one knew of the
Furies’ problem with water.
So maybe they could use this new information to their
advantage, she thought to herself.
Feral was now nearing the Fury, and her attention snapped
back to her friend that she needed to protect.
His voice rang out across the square and Shen could clearly hear
what he said to the Fury.

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‘Sister, what have you done?’ Feral shouted.
Shen saw the Fury freeze.
‘I don’t know. I had to… I wanted to… I was hurt, I needed to
feed,’ the Fury stammered.
Good, the Fury is too confused to realise that it’s not her real
sister, Shen thought, and to realize her sister should be thousands
of miles away.
‘Keep her off balance Feral, we need to figure out who she is,’
she projected to her friend.
‘You killed an innocent,’ Feral exclaimed, ‘why could you not be
more like us? You are not worthy to be our sister. You are a
disgrace to the name Fury.’
Shen smiled.
‘What?’ The fury screamed, ‘You think you are superior to me?
You think you are better than I am. You always thought you were
perfect. You’re not!’
‘Great work Feral,’ Shen projected, ‘It is Megaera, that jealous
outburst could not be from anyone else.’
Megaera continued, ‘So I made a mistake, I took an innocent’s
essence. What are you going to do about it? You are too weak to
harm me.’
‘I am going to find Alecto and we will judge and destroy you
together,’ Feral replied.
‘And where do you propose to find Alecto?’
‘She is on her way to the gate. I came to find you because we
were summoned to Olympus.’ Feral smiled inwardly at this ruse.
So I cannot think on my feet, ha! Can’t improvise; take that
Shen, he thought.

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‘Ok, that’s enough, get out of there before she sees through
you,’ Shen instructed her companion, ‘let's not overplay our
hand.’
Feral agreed even though he felt he had just now managed to
sink his teeth into this role, and he gave the performance of his
life.
‘Everyone’s a critic,’ he thought back as he started to retreat to
the tree line.
Megaera seemed to regain her composure, and with a shriek
followed Feral.
Shen screamed in her friends mind, ‘she’s coming for you!’
Feral did not think twice, he rarely did, he rarely thought once.
Spider monkey it is, he laughed and vanished into a small ball of
fur and limbs with a cocky monkey scream.
He swung himself into the nearest tree and watched the
infuriated Fury float past below him in hasty pursuit.
Later, he thought, see you soon.

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CHAPTER 24
The gold and the black fighters disturbed the air only slightly as
they sliced a path towards Australia. The radio remained silent as
Throm and Phalin contemplated the impossible task ahead of
them.
They had to make a detour high in the Alps for Throm to charge
Mjolnir, just in case they needed to fight. The hammer seemed to
be their only defence at this time.
Phalin did not enjoy this excursion into the mountaintops and
stayed inside her mother’s fighter for the duration. The loud
booming noise and flashes of lighting disturbed any chance of
catching a few winks. Throm enjoyed himself immensely charging
the amazing hammer of Thor’s lineage.
The noise, accompanied by the mammoth task that lay ahead of
them, caused her mood to sour noticeably by the time her friend
rejoined her, and they could continue on their journey.
Now as they continued their silent flight into the unknown, an
intense feeling of despair slowly replaced the irritability.
She appreciated the radio silence as she suspected she might
snap at Throm should he decide to strike up a conversation.
Fortunately, the mindcom did not come alive thus far and the two
occupied themselves in contemplating their misery free from
distraction.
She missed her mother. She missed her advice and her strength;
she always knew what to do, what was right.

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Her mother had a hard life living under Sharin’s rule, which
ended in the fight to regain the throne the Dark El stole from
them.
She did not have all the amazing opportunities Phalin had,
studying under the wisest tutors in the galaxy, the training with
the best teachers in combat and weaponry, and how to rule. Yet
she always knew what to do, and always had the right answers.
Phalin was afraid.
Afraid she would let her mother down, her race down, her
friends down. She had so much pressure on her sixteen-year-old
shoulders.
She absentmindedly fingered the bow of Odin, the symbol of
power for her entire race.
Phalin linked her ship’s controls to Throm’s ship.
Her ship would now follow him wherever he went.
She sighed deeply and then assumed the position used for El
battle meditation, controlling her breathing and emptying her
mind.
Phalin went into a deep trance, used to gain combat focus by
her race.

Her mindcom projecting Throm’s voice shook her from her
abstraction.
‘We are close,’ he broadcast.
The Australian coastline came into view and the duo set their
scanners.
‘I would suggest that we calibrate our scanners to detect
population density and do sampling at one second intervals for
sudden decline in numbers,’ Phalin remarked feeling the time had

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arrived to attempt forming a plan. At least her mind felt focussed
thanks to the meditation.
‘Sounds good,’ Throm concurred sharing his companion’s lack
of enthusiasm.
Silence again followed as they calibrated their scanners.
‘We do not have a plan do we?’ Throm interjected.
‘Not as such my friend, but we do have a duty to perform and a
planet depending on our success,’ Phalin attempted a brave
attitude, but realised that at this moment their mission would
have no chance of success. She wished she and Throm could
shield their minds from the probe of the Fury as their friends
could, even though she knew that, it would not have mattered.
She would never lie, and neither would Throm, not even to an
abomination.
‘Ghmphf,’ was all the dwarf could muster.
Another few moments of uncomfortable silence followed.
‘I wish our parent were here, they would know what to do,’
Throm continued.
‘Possibly, but they are unfortunately not here at present, thus
this foreboding task lies squarely on our shoulders,’ Phalin replied
stiffly.
‘Ghmphf,’ Throm expressed a second time.
‘Throm, it is not like you to give up, we have the blood of Thor
and Sif flowing through our veins. We will prevail. We will
succeed. You have to believe that my friend. Without our belief in
ourselves we have no hope.’
As soon as Phalin uttered these words, she knew.
She just knew that she would know what to do when the time
comes. That she and Throm, while having the impossible odds

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that no gambler would bet on, stacked against them, they also
had the lineage of kings and the destiny of heroes in their blood.
Throm knew this too.
Phalin was right.
Throm knew she was right, but still, they had no plan.
Throm’s scanner beeped.
‘Found something, downtown Sydney according to the GPS
maps the Valk’r uploaded,’ he informed his elven friend.
Once they had their scanners focussed on the relevant area,
both were shocked at the rapid decrease in life.
‘By Odin’s beard, this is horrifying,’ the usually composed elf girl
felt the dread well up inside her.
‘Let’s go,’ Throm proposed without much conviction since they
still had no idea how to stop the monster.

As was the case with most heroic moments, and last minute
events that would save the day, after the suspense had built and
doom seemed inevitable, the mindcom beeped.
‘Hi guys, Shen wants to speak to us,’ the urgent sound of
Blade’s voice entered their minds.
‘Shen you’re on,’ he announced hastily.
Shen’s clear calm voice entered their thoughts bringing a slight
feeling of euphoria with it.
Phalin always admired this trait in the girl. The tranquillity and
cool calculated objectivity, which she would inject into a situation
when they faced insurmountable odds, baffled the mind.
Shen was Ark, a race not admired for many things, since they
collected more than invented, and as such were rather boring.

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They were practical, useful, constructive, essential beings make
no mistake, but they were not leaders, they did not exude destiny,
purpose or any other of the qualities so admired by dwarfs, elves
and mages.
The stigma of millennia clinging to her race, was an exceedingly
tough burden to bear and even harder to overcome.
Arks though respected were never revered.
Shen was.
Storm and Blade did not judge the way generations of El, Dwar
and Aesir caused her, Throm and Feral to see the Arks. Maybe
that is why Shen was different, because she saw herself through
the non-criticising, non-racial, unbiased eyes of the twins.
Allowing Shen to reach her full potential free from the
limitation society forced upon her, by expecting her to be, well, an
Ark.
This seemingly timid creature had more spirit than the rest of
them put together. She was the heart of this team.
Phalin felt a sudden pang of shame that she never told her
friend this. She made a mental note that if they should survive
this that she need to tell Shen just how important she is to all of
them.
Phalin snapped back to reality.
‘Greetings my dear friends,’ Shen said feeling a little proud of
what she was about to divulge to her friends.
‘Feral and I made some quite startling discoveries on our trip to
Colombia, which brings with it some good news and some very
disturbing news.’

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‘Firstly the bad news, electricity does not harm these creatures,
they feed on it,’ Shen waited for a moment while a collective
intake of breathe happened over the mindcom.
‘They are like the Lamies, vampires of sorts, only they satisfy
their demonic needs by draining a person from synaptic essence
and not life essence?’ Shen continued her explanation.
‘Huh?’ Throm said.
‘They drink a human’s electrical impulses not blood,’ Feral
translated.
‘Oh,’ Throm replied sheepishly.
‘Yes my friends, and thus our plan of attacking them with
electricity will not work, we will only make them stronger,’ Shen
explained, ‘but now for the good news. Feral and I also discovered
their weakness.’
Shen again waited while a collective sigh of relief came from her
friends.
‘Water,’ Shen said, ‘This seem to drain them of their electrical
energy.’
‘But how did you discover this?’ Throm asked.
‘Ah story time,’ Feral said, ‘May I tell it, please, please Shen.’
‘Sure go ahead,’ Shen sighed mocking her overeager friend.
‘Well it was a beautiful sunny day. The birds were singing.
Monkeys were happily chasing each other through the trees.
There were buzzing and chirping coming from every corner of the
dense green rain forest floor. We followed the trail of destruction
with steely determination, focused on the incredible task at hand,
knowing that we were rushing towards our certain demise…’
‘FERAL! Get to the point!’ Throm screamed, ‘We have people
dying here and no idea how to stop the Fury.’

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‘Ok, ok,’ Feral replied crestfallen, ‘we saw the fury get splashed
with water by a kid. She was in pain while electricity drained from
her body. I turned into Tisiphone and confronted her for killing an
innocent. I was going to tell ‘our’ sister Alecto and destroy her.
The end,’ Feral said in a dull monotonous tone.
‘That was brilliant Feral. Well done to you and Shen for your
quick thinking and stunning observation skills,’ Blade remarked to
which Feral immediately felt a lot happier.
‘Well I have to confess it was Shen who deduced that they
drank electricity and she also figured out that water was their
weakness,’ Feral admitted, ‘but I helped,’ he quickly added to not
minimize his effort in the heroic tale.

‘Fantastic work Shen, but it does throw all our plans out the
window,’ he added annoyed.
‘Yes it does,’ Shen remarked, ‘but it does present another way
to destroy them, which would perhaps be a little less dramatic but
a lot more effective. It also gave us the perfect way to lure all the
furies back to the gate.’
‘Hmmm, please continue,’ Blade advised not quite following the
Arken girl.
‘Well firstly, all Throm and Phalin has to do is convince
Tisiphone that her sister killed an innocent, and tell her where her
sister is heading.’
“Yes!’ Throm shouted immensely relieved that they now had a
plan.
‘Thank you. Thank you so much my dear friend,’ Phalin added
feeling the same relief flowing over her.
‘My pleasure,’ Shen smiled in their minds.

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‘Secondly my plan to destroy them is to flood the gate room
while Throm and Feral absorbs the electricity they discharge.’
‘Can you do that Throm, Feral?’ Blade asked.
‘Sure no problem,’ Feral said, ‘it’s simply reversing the spell.’
‘From my side too,’ Throm added, ‘all have to do is empty
Mjolnir and we are good to go.’
‘How will we flood the gate room?’ Phalin asked.
‘Oh leave that to me,’ Storm said. She had a tinge of mystery
hidden in her voice, which she made sure the others heard.
She also had a good plan but did not want to spoil the surprise.
Blade saw the glint in his sister’s eyes, and knew he was not
going to get anything out of her before she was ready to give up
her secret.
He also knew it was probably going to get him into trouble.
‘Well guys, good luck and see you at the gate room as soon as
possible,’ he said to the team, ‘oh, Shen and Feral, I just wanted
to say super work, yet again.’

The new generation of up and coming heroes said their
goodbyes, while Throm and Phalin hurried to catch up with
Tisiphone. It did not take them long to find the Fury.
Neither of them felt any need for stealth. They simply landed
their fighters in front of her approach blocking her path.
‘What is the meaning of this!’ she screamed as the two heroes
emerged from their fighters, and the thunderous noise from their
fighter’s engines had died down.
‘I think you’ve done enough killing for one day… of humans at
least,’ Throm proclaimed menacingly.

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‘Watch your tongue dwarf,’ Tisiphone shrieked, ‘you have no
idea whom you are dealing with.’
‘Oh I have a very good idea you murdering hell bitch,’ he
breathed not loud enough for her to hear.
Tisiphone would not have noticed in any event as a fully
charged Mjolnir distracted her.
What wondrous object is this?
Such power, she thought, with that we would never need to
drink from these humans again.
She licked her lips.
‘Tisiphone, we come bearing unfortunate news regarding your
sister Megaera,’ Phalin interrupted the Fury’s fixation in her high
Elven tongue as was bestowed upon the descendants of Sif. It
magically captivated any audience in its harmonious presentation,
and took the recipient on a peaceful yet attentive journey.
‘Speak Elf,’ Tisiphone commanded her attention for the
moment torn from the hammer.
Phalin continued unabated.
‘Members of our fellowship witnessed your sister committing
the unspeakable act of taking the life of an innocent child, whose
only crime was that of being a child,’ Phalin expressed in the same
elven tone.
‘I do not believe you,’ Tisiphone objected defiantly.
‘Search the centres of my mind where you detect unlawful
behaviour. Lying is to an El a crime of the highest magnitude, on
my word as a princess of the noble house of El,’ Phalin decreed
unwaveringly.

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‘You are telling the truth Elf,’ Tisiphone remarked, after a
moment where she displayed a puzzled expressions followed by
disbelief and then intense anger.
‘Where is she?’ the Fury spat.
‘On her way to the eye of the gods to meet up with Alecto
presumably to influence her before you arrive,’ Phalin continued.
‘I will go at once,’ Tisiphone said already drifting off.
‘Farewell Fury,’ Phalin said, ‘but know this, we do not agree
with your self-appointed charge, and we will do everything in our
power to put an end to this needless slaughter of human life. We
are now, and forever will be, mortal enemies.’
Tisiphone spared a backward glance but said nothing as she
disappeared into the distance. Her thoughts now occupied by her
sister as much as the hammer whose immense power drew her
like a moth to a billion watt light bulb.
Throm burst with pride at his dearest friend, ‘you were
magnificent your majesty,’ he half jested and was rewarded with
a regal smile from the gorgeous elf-girl.
‘Shall we join our comrades?’ Phalin asked.
‘For damn sure,’ his booming laughter filled the street.
A Few grateful Australian people stared appreciatively as the
light from the fighter’s engines vanished in the distance.

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CHAPTER 25
The El fighter gracefully touched down in the hanger bay of
New Valhalla. The Valk’r honour guard stood at attention as Ricci
and Gemmi exited the fighter, and a huge cheer erupted as if
someone gave a silent command.
A medical team hovered at the bottom of the stairs to the
fighter, anxiously awaiting their small charge.
‘I want an update on his condition every 10 minutes, do you
understand?’ Gemmi ordered the lead physician.
She nodded and rushed off after the medics who were running
towards the medical centre with the little creature.
Carra greeted her leader with a mixture of delight and relief.
‘My lady, we are all overjoyed at your return,’ she said and had
to fight the urge to hug Gemmi.
Gemmi smiled and enfolded Carra in a tight embrace.
‘It is wonderful to be back… and I love what you’ve done with
the place,’ Gemmi answered.
‘I think you need to fill me in on what happened immediately,’
Gemmi continued.
‘Hey is no one glad to see me?’ Ricci asked sourly.
‘Of course we are princess,’ Carra smiled and gave Ricci a hug as
well.
‘Ok, ok, enough of the soppy nonsense,’ Ricci grinned a tired
grin and ignored the hunger pains, ‘let’s get down to business.’
‘Would you not like to eat first,’ Carra inquired.
‘Ok you’ve twisted my arm,’ Ricci laughed.

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As they ate, Carra descended into a long retelling of Typhon, the
dark entity that enslaved Ricci and Gemmi. How Sharin duped
Angel and the rest into going through the gate. About the
Olympian Gods that now infest New Valhalla. How it sent the
Hydras into disarray when Typhon returned to Olympus. About
the Lamie vampires that helped Sharin and Typhon. How the kids
went after the Furies and Angel and the crew went after Sharin.
Carra intentionally left out the part where Angel almost died.
‘Blade and Storm are here?’ Ricci winched.
‘Yes princess,’ Carra said shying away just in case.
‘And Angel let them stay?’ Ricci ground her teeth.
‘Again, yes. He thought they were old enough to take on the
responsibility of solving a problem they created,’ Carra explained,
mindful of Ricci’s sword arm hovering dangerously close to
Dragonfang.
‘Have you heard from them?’ Ricci asked with a deep scowl.
‘We are in constant contact with them princess, and they
proved to be quite resourceful and imaginative in their approach.’
Ricci looked slightly more relaxed, ‘so they are safe?’
‘Yes my lady, they have a well thought out plan to deal with the
Furies. We have the utmost confidence in their success,’ Carra
lied.
‘The kids are well trained and have common sense, they will be
fine Ricci,’ Gemmi encouraged her concerned friend.
‘You know the problem with common sense is most people are
morons. Especially that fool husband of mine who let them stay,’
Ricci growled.
‘Well, moving on,’ Gemmi said before Ricci could continue her
cross-examination of the beleaguered Carra.

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‘I have another concern. Where to find the demon who
imprisoned me,’ Gemmi felt the hatred boil inside her when she
thought of what he did to her and Loser.
‘He is, as I said, on the other side of the eye of the gods, my
lady,’ Carra explained.
‘Can we go after him?’ Ricci asked.
‘Yes my lady with the help of the gods, but he is indestructible,
absolutely unbeatable. Your husband and his crew barely escaped
last time.’
Ricci seemed unfazed.
‘I don’t care,’ Ricci exclaimed, ‘I am going after him.’
Gemmi nodded.
‘Carra prepare a team of Gentari, we are going after Typhon,’
Gemmi commanded.
‘What about Loser?’ Carra asked, hoping this would dissuade
Gemmi from her mad quest.
‘Yes, he would have been a great help but he has already done
much more than could ever be expected of him. He will be safe
here. Let him rest,’ Gemmi hesitantly answered, knowing that
without Loser their quest had very little chance of success. The
hatred was unfortunately burning so bright and the thought of
revenge all consuming.
This monster almost killed my best friend, I will find a way to
make him pay, she thought.
‘Well then I suggest you rest now,’ Carra gave in, ‘I will ask Zeus
to accompany you, he has been aching to get out of New
Valhalla.’
Both Gemmi and Ricci were desperate for a soft bed after
having spent that long in a cramped fighter. Neither put up a fight

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at this suggestion. They happily walked off in silence both deep in
thought. Gemmi’s thoughts were with Loser and Ricci was
contemplating what she was going to do to her husband when she
catches up with him. How could he place the twins in such
jeopardy? If they get themselves killed, I am going to kill them, she
thought bitterly.

A few short hours later, eight Valk’r fighters, Gyrfalcon1 and the
El fighter left New Valhalla. Zeus, although quite happy to get out,
nevertheless sulked about the fact that he had to be a door
attendant, while the others were going to have all the fun.
Even after Carra earlier in the day reminded him that chances
were very good that none of them would return alive, this did
nothing to suppress his desire to go out in one great blaze of
glory.
‘I still know a few tricks,’ Zeus had explained smiling.
‘Here’s one for you,’ Ricci snarled, ‘play dead.’
‘But I can help,’ Zeus shouted.
‘You did a bang up job last time sparky,’ Ricci sneered turning to
the screen behind her. She had heard the story of her husband’s
near demise only a short while ago from one of the other Valk’r,
and it remained vivid in her mind.
‘Who the hell do you…?’ Zeus began, but Ricci interrupted him.

1
Gyrfalcon was originally Freyja’s fighter given to her by her brother Freyr.
Freya created the Valk’r. Only a descendant from the house of Freyja could
pilot it, thus Gemmi was the only person able to. The ship looked like a falcon,
an incredibly large falcon but a falcon nonetheless with claws, beak and tail.
This made it very useful in recon missions where it would be mistaken for a
bird.

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‘Tell me, is being stupid a profession where you come from or
are you just naturally gifted,’ Ricci asked.
‘You insolent...,’ Zeus began but did not finish.
‘I am really busy now; can I ignore you some other time?’ Ricci
spat.
Zeus started to unsheathe a lightning bolt but saw Gemmi
furiously shaking her head with wide eyes, which silently
screamed at him, don’t do anything that rivalled shoving a lit
firecracker in your ear.
He slowly let it go.
‘Good move, it would have been very hard to go potty with a
lightning bolt shoved up your arse,’ Ricci said while still intently
studying the screen in front of her, ‘come to think of it, I do need
a new nightlight, maybe we should see how it works out for you,’
she mocked the hapless god.
Zeus stormed out.
‘Why so mean?’ Gemmi asked when Zeus was out of earshot.
‘Oh, we just have some religious differences, he thinks he is a
god, and I don’t,’ Ricci said before her demeanour became
serious.
‘Truth is Gems, I have a feeling that one way or another that old
fool is going to get us killed. I just cannot shake the feeling that he
is trouble. His arrogant talk is writing cheques his body, and mind
cannot cash. Every time I look at him, I get this foreboding
feeling… I just can’t explain it.’
‘You don’t have to princess, I get the same feeling, but we need
him.’
‘Yep, that’s why he is still breathing,’ Ricci replied.
Gems had a feeling that Ricci was not kidding.

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Gemmi spend most of the flight time interrogating Zeus on
Typhon. Unfortunately, she learned nothing new, and the mission
got more ominous with every new question answered. According
to the god, there was no known way to defeat Typhon.
Last time we were close to death and he caught us by surprise,
Gemmi thought, this time he will feel the full force of the
Brisingamen jewel and two minds behind it. We might not be able
to attack his body but his mind is uncharted territory, and we
have a very good idea what to expect this time.
Even these thoughts provided little comfort, but it gave her
some hope and this was enough to keep her rage fuelled.
They landed a little way off from the castle and set up a cloaking
device around the fighters, which would shield them from
observers.
The Valk’r moved like ghosts towards the castle, and they would
have been near invisible, had it not been for the geriatric swearing
god following them. Zeus made enough noise to scare a goat in
the next county from producing milk.
‘Impressive,’ Gemmi said as they stood in front of the eye of the
gods.
‘Not really,’ Ricci smirked, ‘I’ve got a bigger mirror in my room
on Arken.’
‘Really...? And does your entire ego fit?’ Gemmi asked with a
huge smile on her face.
‘Hmmm, now how am I going to explain to Loser that his best
friend had a fatal accident?’ Ricci grinned dangerously.
Gemmi smiled but said nothing further. She knew when not to
push her luck with the obstinate princess.

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Ricci turned to Zeus.
‘Sit… Stay!’ she commanded as if talking to a naughty puppy
before she entered the gate.
‘Why you arrogant whelp…’ Zeus shouted, but Gemmi’s stern
look cut short his rant.
‘I would not go there if I were you Zeus,’ she explained, ‘you
might be ruler of one world, but she rules thousands, and if she
decided to stand on her own and declare war on those thousands
of worlds. Trust me, they would probably surrender, and then
move to another uncharted galaxy just in case. Take my word for
it.’
Zeus opened his mouth to say something sarcastic but managed
a quick glance around him at the fearful expressions on the
Gentari’s faces.
He thought better of it and sat down, mumbling to himself.
Nine silent figures disappeared through the gate, following
Ricci.

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CHAPTER 26
Bruxa felt ill, but it was a strange ill. Her stomach turned, which
was another incongruity since Lamies had no stomach.
Even though they had canines to puncture the jugular, and they
then swallow the blood, it did not end up in a stomach. The blood
collected in a blood sack that fed directly into the Lamie’s heart.
A heart that now beat uncontrollably, and it ached and it
longed. It longed for the hairy little man, with the big hammer.
Bruxa need to think clearly. The mistress has tasked Bruxa. We
cannot fail the mistress. Mistress trusts Bruxa, she thought trying
to gather herself into concentrating on her charge.
He is so strong, so determined; a real man, and he called Bruxa
a lady… no, no, Bruxa has work to do.
Almost a week had passed since she and her sisters stowed
away on this supply ship, and have systematically killed all the
crew, after they wrecked the ship’s communications.
Time dragged on and it would be another day before they
reached Thessaloniki shipping port in Greece.
Lamia trusted her with the plan.
Bruxa felt proud that Lamia trusted her so much, but why did
she feel that it was wrong.
All her life she wanted her mistress to return, it was her dream,
her vision, to one day restore Lamia to the Lamie throne, and then
to serve her queen.
However, what Lamia wanted to do, it was evil. It would not be
what her love would want. Her love was good. He would not

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approve, but this was her mistress’s bidding, he would
understand. Bruxa must do this. Bruxa has no choice.
Bruxa watched the stars from where she laid on her hammock…
the stars are pretty, wonder why I never noticed before.

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CHAPTER 27
‘You want to do what?’ Blade yelled with a desperate gawk in
the direction of his sister.
‘Sink mother’s ship,’ Storm laughed.
‘Are you insane?’
‘Come on brother; this ship can withstand space and I heard
mom talk of surfing magma flows with it. What is the chance that
a bit of water will harm it?’ Storm teased.
Blade thought about this for a moment.
‘I’m right aren’t I?’ Storm asked her brother with a smile still
playing on her lips.
‘Suppose so, but this is all on you,’ Blade wagged his middle
finger, ‘if anything happens to Sleipnir you are explaining it to
mom.’
A sudden look of fear passed over Storm’s cute but naughty
face, followed by that ever-present glint in her eye and crooked
smile she inherited from her father.
Blade knew he was going get the blame. No matter what
happened she would find a way to make him look like the guilty
party.
‘So we seal the inside of the cargo bay. We teleport the ship
under water, open the outer cargo bay door, and flood Sleipnir.
Then we simply teleport out of the water,’ Storm explained
gesturing as she did.
Her mother’s ship Sleipnir had the ability to teleport short
distances. It remained a strange looking ship, even with the eight
legs it walked on, currently seamlessly folded away in the belly of

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the ship. The ship was broad and flat and shaped into a fin at the
back with short stubby wings adorning the sides. It looked like a
fish, at least according to Storm. Unbeknownst to the twins the
ship’s design included the ability to travel under water using its
legs as propulsion. This detail had unfortunately not been
revealed in the tales their mother had told them, giving way to
their current dilemma.
This fact however was not going to deter Storm in executing her
brilliant plan.
Blade sighed, ‘Let’s do it.’
Storm winked at her brother as her hands blurred over the
controls of Sleipnir.
They were hovering over a lake not too far from the castle in
Transylvania.
The outside distorted for a moment followed by the inky
blackness of the water in the lake.
‘Opening the outside cargo bay doors,’ Storm announced with
fingers crossed.
‘Cargo bay full,’ Blade returned as the sensors measuring the
contents of the cargo bay showed it reached its capacity.
‘Teleporting now,’ Storm confirmed before the outside blurred
again, and they were inside the storm clouds hanging in low
formation over the lake.
‘All indicators are in the green, we’re good,’ Storm smiled.
Blade looked noticeably relieved. Since nothing went visibly
wrong, she would probably boast of her brilliant plan, and get
herself into hot water with mom if something was wrong with
Sleipnir. All he had to do now was to shut-up, and ensure his sister
gets all the credit.

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A faint shudder gently rocked the ship as Storm pointed it in the
direction of the castle and set off.

It was a gloomy morning outside the castle walls. Dark clouds
have been ominously hanging overhead since they arrived, and a
storm seemed sure to break soon. This would surely put a damper
on their plans, as they furies would sooner hole up somewhere
than brave the rain.
Shen and Feral had watch duty outside the castle and
monitored the entrance closely. They had observed Alecto and
Tisiphone enter in the last couple of hours but no sign of
Megaera. In addition, Throm and Phalin have not yet arrived, but
that was understandable since Throm had to discharge Mjolnir
completely. For this, he needed a lot of empty space and a lot of
time. Mjolnir stored a lot of energy, and he did not have a lot of
time.
Unfortunately, the only empty space, empty enough for a fully
charged Mjolnir not to destroy anything of any real importance
that someone might miss, like the planet earth for instance, was
preferably not to be on said planet.
It was conceivable therefore that the new moon that appeared
around Saturn that day, was in fact the work of the amazing
hammer. Deniability however remained quite uncomplicated
since security cameras were not as abundant on Saturn as say the
New York Stock Exchange.
‘Wonder what they are doing in there?’ Feral asked Shen.
‘Not our concern, as long as they do not leave,’ Shen answered.
‘Probably fighting over who is the leader, and who should
punish Megaera,’ Feral suggested.

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‘Well those clouds looks heavy with rain, so get your rain dance
ready just in case those two lose interest and try to leave.’
‘Oh I’ve got something much better,’ Feral replied with a glint in
his metallic eyes, ‘I’ve got a spell that will vibrate the air inside the
clouds and make them shed their load.’
‘Good,’ Shen said without any emotion.
Feral growled in his own mind at the unappreciative Ark with no
understanding of his immense creativity and magical prowess.
That spell he suggested was ninth circle, and he had only just
ascended to an eighth circle mage, the youngest ever to do so.
Most mages aspire, but rarely become eighth circle mages in an
entire lifetime of trying.
I swear I’d get more interest performing to an audience of
manikins, he thought to himself.
Feral was first to spot the approaching Sleipnir, mostly because
he was relaxing and looking the wrong way.
‘Ok guys, we have two out of three inside,’ he told the twins.
‘Great, we’ll get in position so long,’ Storm acknowledged.
She started scanning the area above the gate room but was met
with only disappointed. Sleipnir could not fit into the room above
the gate.
Blade peered over her shoulder, ‘look sis, the room to the right
has a tunnel running down into the cavern above the gate room, if
we teleport in facing north the cargo doors will open into the
passage and flood the room above the gate.’
Storm gave her brother a huge grin and punched his shoulder.
The blow rattled Blade’s teeth and he was sure she dislocated his
shoulder.
‘Dammit sis,’ he yelled while rubbing his shoulder.

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‘Aw, did the whittle gurl hurt her bwig bwothe?’ she grinned
and started setting the teleporter controls. Moments later, they
disappeared and reappeared in a dark room.
‘In position,’ she told Shen.
‘Affirmative, I will give the signal when you need to release the
water,’ Shen replied.
She brimmed with confidence after her encounter with the
Fury. Blade smiled at his sister, they both noticed the change, and
were both proud of their friend.
‘Awaiting your signal and good luck to you and Feral,’ Blade
answered.
Shen did worry though, since Megaera still had not arrived and
the rain seemed imminent. Their plan would be for naught if not
all the Furies were present.
The next half hour passed without incident, followed by two
cloaked fighters landing a little way off from Shen and Feral. They
appeared almost invisible to the naked eye and were it not for the
two watchers expecting the arrival of these fighters it would have
gone unnoticed.
The cloaking device not only made the fighters invisible but also
removed the engine noise, which it did by creating white noise
with a frequency the exact opposite to the noise of the engines
and thus cancelling it completely.
‘Anything...?’ Shen heard the gruff dwarven voice coming from
the brush behind her.
‘Two down, Megaera to go,’ she responded.
The elf and the dwarf took up position alongside their friends.
‘You two take a break, we’ll take the next watch,’ Throm
suggested.

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‘Thanks little buddy,’ Feral gladly accepted feeling as if his eyes
were going to fall out of its sockets from all the strain.
His words spoken in the minds of his friends had hardly
dissipated before the light became even gloomier and the already
chilly air became positively frozen.
The demonic silhouette of the Fury floated from the brush not
30 paces from where the kids hid.
It swiftly floated towards the castle, her concern for the
approaching storm more than that of facing her sisters. The Fury
hovered at the huge wooden doors for a moment before
disappearing into the castle.
‘Let us proceed before they regain their balance and come to
some agreement,’ Phalin suggested.
The four heroes cautiously followed their prey into the bowels
of the castle.
An intense argument had already ensued as they arrived in the
gate room.
The furies carefully studied each other for any aggressive
moves, so much so that they did not even notice the children
appearing in the room.
‘Ehem,’ Phalin cleared her throat.
The Furies fell silent and turned to face the kids.
‘What…,’ Alecto started, but a determined elven princess
interrupted her.
‘You have been found guilty of crimes against humanity,’ Phalin
spoke in the crisp clear voice of a judge, ‘for your crimes there can
be only one punishment.’
At the same moment as Phalin began her verdict, Shen sent a
telepathic message to the twins to release the water.

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‘Water released, just give it a few seconds Shen. We will be
joining you guys as soon as our cargo bay is empty,’ Blade replied
eager not to miss any of the action.
‘Ha!’ Tisiphone responded, ‘who are you to judge us elf?’
‘Yes and leave us immediately, we have no time for your
meddling,’ Alecto screeched.
‘Make time demon!’ Throm sneered, ‘we are not going
anywhere.’
Feral knew what came next and he watched Shen attentively,
but could have sworn he never saw her move but nonetheless a
tachyon cannon round hit the roof of the gate room.
Utter chaos followed.
Water streamed through the now non-existent roof. The Furies
uttered blood-curdling screams as electricity flowed from them.
Throm and Feral struggled to keep up with absorbing the
enormous amount of voltage discharged by the Furies.
Fortunately, Shen and Phalin managed to find high ground safe
from the charged water. The twins joined them to watch the
spectacle.
‘What, no popcorn?’ Storm joked.
Feral started to glow and Mjolnir screamed with the strain of so
much energy entering it, but it had become used to a lot more
and absorbed everything that came its way with ease.
Things were going well... but then... someone must have
thought something in the line of We can do this or what can
possibly go wrong now. This is of course the long recognized cue
for the universe to prove that person wrong.
Thus, without warning, a lightning bolt crashed into Tisiphone.
‘No!’ Throm screamed as he realized what happened.

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Zeus threw bolts as fast as his arthritis-ridden limbs allowed.
The Furies, with enough of their life force restored by Zeus, and
since the waterfall had stopped, managed to lift themselves
above the water covering the floor of the room. The water rapidly
draining through the huge cracks in the ancient floor and it was
obvious to the onlookers that their ploy had failed miserably.
The Furies howled in unison and immediately started draining
the electrical energy from the bodies of Zeus and the heroes.
Feral looked around at his friends dying. He alone remained
unaffected by the Fury’s attack as his life energy was purely
magical, and he had no electrical energy except for that which he
had absorbed earlier in his body.
‘Please stop,’ he screams into the Furies’ minds as he watched
his unconscious friends and their life force fast slipping away.
‘We will stop only if you give us that hammer,’ Tisiphone
shrieked pointing at Mjolnir.
‘Impossible, only a descendant of Thor can lift it,’ Feral cried,
‘please I beg you stop killing my friends.’
‘We need their energy to live. They tried to kill us. We have just
cause. We will not stop,’ Alecto replied.
‘Wait! Please just wait a minute, I have another solution,’ Feral
screamed and rushed from the gate room.
Feral ran, as fast as his legs could carry him.
Outside, there, Throm’s fighter, he thought.
Where is it, he screamed as he frantically searched the cockpit.
He was getting desperate. Relief flooded over him as he found
what he was looking for in a compartment below the back seat.

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He rushed back, bursting into the gate room immensely relieved
to see the Furies had not started feeding on his unconscious
friends again.
‘Here,’ he screamed holding Throm’s hammer in his
outstretched arm towards Alecto.
He just prayed that his friend would forgive him for giving away
the hammer he had since childhood.
He shuddered, probably not.
‘There is a condition though,’ Feral said pulling back the
hammer from the eager arms of the Fury.
‘You are in no position to make demands mage,’ Tisiphone
scorned through pursed lips.
‘Then, see it as a mutual beneficial arrangement, as you do not
know how to recharge the hammer when it runs dry,’ Feral
remarked slyly.
‘Speak mage, and be quick about it. We are still quite famished.’
‘You will return to Olympus when I give you the hammer and
swear never to return to Earth,’ Feral demanded, and added as a
bonus incentive, ‘you will be much happier there anyway since it
never rains and here on this planet it constantly does.’
‘Your request is acceptable; now tell us how to recharge the
hammer,’ Tisiphone answered after sharing glances with her
sisters.
‘You hit any rock formation with it. The hammer will absorb the
energy released and recharge itself,’ Feral explained, quite
pleased with his persuasion skills.
‘That’s it? Then give it here so we may go,’ Alecto spat.
‘What about my friends?’ Feral asked concerned.

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‘They will be fine in a few hours. We did not completely drain
them. They will probably make a full recovery,’ Tisiphone said
absentmindedly without much conviction, eagerly fondling the
hammer. She waved at her sisters to follow her and disappeared
through the gate.
It lonely wait followed for Feral as he tried to make his friends
as comfortable as possible.
Shen was first to recover, as her alien physiology was slightly
less dependent on electrical energy than her humanoid friends
were.
Phalin and Throm awoke shortly after and then Zeus. The twins
showed no signs of recovery.
‘Let’s get them to New Valhalla.’ Phalin remarked as she
gathered Storm in her arms. If they had just stayed in the fighter,
then this fate would not have befallen them, she thought to
herself.
Zeus began to say something, but the eye of the god’s
unmistakable shimmer, which indicated its activation, interrupted
him.
‘Heads up,’ Throm said readying Mjolnir, ‘they’re coming back.’
Feral and Shen took up defensive positions next to him. Feral
cursed himself for not thinking of removing the old god earlier.
Throm was sure he heard the old god say, ‘Oh shit!’, but
dismissed this as a reaction to the Furies’ return.
Ricci emerged first, quickly followed by Gemmi and the Gentari.
She was irritated as hell, following their fruitless search of
Olympus. They had found Typhon’s trail immediately after exiting
the gate and started to hunt him.

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They followed him as he headed towards Erabus, but also
noticed a trail coming back and rather followed that. This trail
ended on the battlefield where they lost it for a while.
The Gentari picked up the trail again a few hundred yards away
and followed it to the gate.
Ricci’s annoyance stemmed from the fact that they did not
notice this on their arrival. She became even more infuriated
when there was no trail leaving the gate again, which means he
found a way back to earth. Unless... no, he could not be that
insane. The geriatric voltage boy would not let Typhon through
just so he could fight him and go out in a blaze of glory.
She gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom in the
chamber.
‘What the…?’ she began, but immediately noticed her
unconscious children.
She ran without thinking, scooping Blade up in her arms and
throwing him over her shoulder in one movement. She roughly
grabbed Storm from Phalin, slinging her over her other shoulder.
She ran.
She could sense her children’s minds through the Brisingamen
jewel in Dragonfang and what she saw made her run even faster.
They were dying. Their minds fading fast.
She knew she had to get them back to New Valhalla and the
restoration chambers there. It might be their only chance.
Shen spoke into her mind, ‘Sleipnir is on the level directly above
you.’
She did not bother to thank her but veered into the tunnel to
her right and ascended.
Where is it? Where is it? She repeated to herself.

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Shen realised that it would not be that easy to find and spoke
again, ‘follow the water.’
‘What?’ Ricci’s agitated thought came back.
However, before Shen had the opportunity to explain, a simple
‘Oh!’ projected into her mind.
Ricci ran into the mud stream and followed it to her fighter.
She unceremoniously dumped Blade and Storm into two cockpit
chairs as her hands raced over the controls.
The ship disappeared, and travelled at top speed towards New
Valhalla while still emerging from the teleport.
‘If they die…’ she spoke aloud.
At that exact same moment, Gemmi who had heard the story
from Phalin said the exact same thing.
‘If they die… Zeus I would suggest you kill yourself before she
gets hold of you, and then kill your spirit too, because she will
follow you into the House of Hades.’
The children and Valk’r left swiftly, leaving the beleaguered god
far behind.
‘Tamara, go fetch him,’ Gemmi said when they reached their
fighters, ‘I’d love to leave him here, but it might be better to
watch that old fool, before he does something else even more
ludicrous.’
‘On second thought Tamara, I think you should convince him to
go through the gate. I will radio ahead to New Valhalla and get
them to move the rest of the gods to a safe location until we can
bring them through the eye. This might be the only way to stop
princess Ricci if anything should happened to the twins.’
‘Shen, would you be kind enough to bring back Ricci’s El
Fighter?’ Gemmi asked the little Arken girl.

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‘With pleasure,’ Shen replied in her unemotional tone and
strode off towards where the El fighter stood.
A scattered procession left for the Valk’r base.
The mindcom beeped in Gemmi’s cockpit shortly after she had
given her orders to the Valk’r in New Valhalla.
‘We have rounded up the gods and they are safely on a
transport to an undisclosed location. We also made sure that the
crew chose a safe house at random. It does not appear in any of
our archives. I do not even know where it is and neither does
anyone else here. The crew will make contact every few hours to
receive orders, but other than that there is no way to contact
them,’ the hesitant Valk’r voice came over the communicator.
‘So there is no one for Ricci to torture, good,’ Gemmi
acknowledged.
‘Yes, but…’
‘But what Carra...?’ Gemmi asked.
‘We can’t find Apollo my lady, he must have wandered off
again,’ Carra relayed the news of the missing god.
‘What do you mean wandered off again?’ Gemmi asked.
‘You see my lady; Apollo has an extreme Alzheimer condition.
Most of the time he has no idea where he is and the rest of the
time he is either pretty sure he has no idea who he is or when he
is.’
‘But he is still on the base?’ Gemmi asked.
‘We have search teams scouring the entire base as we speak my
lady. We also know not to let princess Ricci know there is still a
god here on New Valhalla,’ Carra replied anxiously.
A few seconds of radio silence followed.

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Carra thought Gemmi had gone off the air when Gemmi’s
thoughts came back into her mind.
‘On second thought Carra, have all the gods moved through the
eye as soon as the transport crew makes contact. And find Apollo
and send him through as well, then at least no one can open that
cursed thing again,’ Gemmi responded.
‘As you wish my lady,’ Carra acknowledged.

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CHAPTER 28
The only sound coming from the dank dark sewer tunnels were
the shuffling of little feet. The smell would have been unbearable
for even the most hardened of scavenger rats, but for these
creatures, the smell was that of safety. Almost a week has gone
by since they docked in Greece and left on their quest across
Bulgaria. They travelled in sewers and tunnels when possible, or
skulked in the shadows by day, and ran endlessly by night
Bruxa cleverly left the Captain of the ship alive, even though he
remained under duress, to ensure that the ship’s presence does
not raise questions.
A Few of her sisters carefully watched his every move, while the
rest now followed behind Bruxa.
Her thoughts went back to the one who stole her heart. He was
all she could… no wanted to think about on her seemingly endless
journey.
She thought about his strength, his righteous heart, and she
wanted to be like him, for him.
How could she? Bruxa must do this; so Lamia could fulfil her
plan; her terrible plan. Bruxa shed a silent tear.
Bruxa understand the dark master forcing Bruxa and Bruxa’s
sisters to do unspeakable evil. However, this is Bruxa’s mistress,
why would she want Bruxa to do such terrible things.
The image of the one she loved filled her mind once more and
brought warmth to her heart.
The conflict between the love for one, and devotion to another,
tore the little creature to shreds inside.

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He will understand, my little dwarf man who is bigger than the
Sphinx and more powerful than a mountain will understand… he
will understand… he must… Bruxa cried again in silence.

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CHAPTER 29
The El fighters arrived through the gate into UGE space almost
seven days after Skibladne. Their leader instantly opened a
channel to the UGE lord’s ship.
‘We have entered UGE space, my Queen,’ the commander’s
thoughts reached Laidin over the mindcom.
‘Impeccable timing commander, I need you to proceed to
Elheimr with all possible haste. Secure the planet against possible
renegade attacks from Dwar, but rather use dissuasion than brute
force where possible. I also need you to detain every one of
Sharin’s kin that attempt to leave Elheimr,’ Laidin commanded.
‘My queen,’ the puzzled thoughts faded away. The commander
knew nothing of the war that had erupted between the El and
Dwar, but he would never question his queen’s orders.
The El fighters turned towards Elheimr, and went to maximum
burn.
One confused El pilot seemed to hesitate.
Then he seemed to make up his mind quite suddenly, or rather
something made up his mind for him.
The rest of the squadron did not notice a lone El fighter
breaking off and head in a completely different direction. A
direction, which would by the calculations of an Ark genius take it
on the same bearing as the subspace transmission between the
commander and Laidin.

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In a very different part of UGE space, on the other side of afore
mentioned subspace transmission, Skibladne arrived just in time
to witness an epic battle.
The Aesir flagship, bathed in a swarm of angry little Mino’t, Sa’t
and Cen’t fighters.
A quick scan from Skibladne confirmed that the Aesir Battle
Cruiser’s shields were almost gone.
‘Tri’st, this is Angel, come in please,’ Angel spoke into the
mindcom.
‘My lord, good to hear your voice,’ a familiar friend’s thoughts
entered his mind.
‘Everything ok down there?’ Angel asked.
‘Yes, my lord. Sharin did not have time to fire the weapon. We
were keeping her occupied and out of range till you arrived,’ Tri’st
replied.
‘Appreciate it,’ Angel smiled, he did not want the cruiser
destroyed just yet.
‘Skibladne, any sign of them?’ he asked the ship of wonders.
#No my lord, I have scanned the entire ship. There is no sign of
princess Ricci, Gemmi or Loser aboard the vessel. They must still
be on Queen Laidin’s cruiser#
‘Tell your fighters to pull back a bit Tri’st. I don’t want them
caught in Skibladne’s attack.’
‘Will do my lord,’ Tri’st acknowledged.
Angel reset the mindcom again to the frequency of the cruiser.
‘What’s up Sharin? Having a bad day?’ he jested.
‘#$^$#*^@@$,’ was the only response.
‘We found Teral and Brom, after you destroyed Nidavellir,’
Angel snarled.

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‘You are lying? I made sure no despicable Dwar survived on that
planet,’ Sharin rasped.
‘Where is my wife?’ Angel asked with contempt, ignoring her
remark.
‘On Svartalfheimr, being tortured by the royal El. Too bad you
will never find her,’ Sharin taunted him.
#she is lying, my lord. Stress levels in her voice indicates she has
no idea where the princess is#
Angel nodded, that at least was good news.
‘Surrender now,’ he commanded.
‘I don’t know how you got here, and how you survived, or how
you managed to get through the gate, but I am glad. Now I have
the pleasure of ripping out your heart and feeding it to you all to
myself. However, first I am going to kill everyone you love,
starting with your children. Yes I know about your children,’
Sharin’s grating voice snarled at the UGE lord.
‘I’ll take that as a no then,’ Angel grinned dangerously.
‘Battle mode my lady,’ He commanded.
#Battle mode engaged# Skibladne acknowledged.
The sleek streamline super ship suddenly sprouted a freakish
amount of turrets and missile banks, which seemed to divide and
multiply into more turrets and missile banks, which according to
the rules of modern physics is impossibly.
These physicists, who theorized on the improbability of the
space occupied by the weapons wielded by Skibladne being
contained in the space occupied by Skibladne, did have a plausible
theory.
The concept stemmed from the fact that Skibladne could
traverse dimensions. This feature provided the proof to the

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theory on the absurd amount of weaponry Skibladne had at its
disposal. Skibladne did not deploy its weapons as much as
summon them from the alternate dimension.
‘Sure you don’t want to surrender,’ Angel asked innocently,
even though he knew the answer.
‘Go to hell!’ Sharin screamed.
‘You first bitch,’ Angel laughed.
‘Fire at will my lady,’ he commanded Skibladne.
It was impossible to look at Skibladne even through welding
goggles without going blind, as she released a salvo of epic
destructive force.
The rear end of the battle cruiser and most of its midsection
disappeared.
‘You held back didn’t you?’ Angel asked Skibladne.
#Yes my lord, I thought you would like to hear Sharin beg for
mercy# Skibladne calmly suggested.
Angel smiled.
‘Sharin, you still there?’ he asked in his mindcom.
Only silence greeted him, and then a fireball engulfed what was
left of the cruiser.
‘I surmise she set the self destruct on the ship, as an alternative
to being captured again. I think, in her mind, that would have
been a worse fate,’ Laidin remarked.
‘Well I guess that takes care of that then,’ Angel smiled, ‘Good
riddance to bad rubbish.’
‘Skibladne, please start transmitting Sharin’s confession on all
subspace frequencies. We have to stop this war now,’ Laidin
requested.
#transmitting#

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Igor Swann

No one noticed the almost invisible midnight black ship that
seemed to absorb all light around it speed away from the Aesir
battle cruiser’s wreckage moments before it exploded.
No one accept one being, still 7 days adrift from the speeding
Naglfar’s current location.
You thought you could shield you mind from mine demon, a
black heap of molten rock on the back seat of a lone El fighter
thought. You killed my wife, stole my trident and tried to imprison
me on that god-forsaken world. I am going to enjoy killing you
slowly, first your mind and then your body, it might take years,
but time is all I have.

Laidin and Angel pushed hard to get back to their friends Brom
and Teral.
News had come earlier that the rescue attempt mounted by
Kirom and Guival had succeeded, and that both the Arch-
chancellor of the Aesir and Grand Master Dwar is safely
recovering on Arken.
A steady stream of reports came in from all over the UGE
territory of skirmishes between Dwar and El dissipating.
It felt like an eternity before Skibladne finally powered down
her engines in the hangar bay on Arken.
The duo rushed to the medical ward, where they found their
friends sitting around, calmly talking about all that transpired on
earth in the preceding weeks. Guival entertaining as always made
sure that everyone noted his humble part in the adventure, or
more accurately his over-exaggerated and embellished to the

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point where grey areas might do well as touch up paint for
Naglfar, part in the adventure.
‘So where’s my cruiser?’ Teral inquired.
‘Ehm, well, here and there, and mostly everywhere,’ Angel
laughed.
‘You blew up my imperial battle cruiser?’ Teral asked fuming.
Angel shrugged, ‘It was an accident?’ he replied with a
genuinely innocent expression.
‘I will show you an accident,’ Teral barked into the friend’s
minds, ‘where is Skibladne, I am going to dismantle her for spare
parts for my new cruiser.’
Everybody broke into a cheerful chuckle, everyone except for
Brom who remained heartbroken thinking back on the loss of so
many innocent Dwar.
Laidin gently put her arm around her dear friend’s broad
shoulders.
‘I am truly sorry Brom, I wish there was something I could do to
ease your pain. I am unable to imagine a tragedy such as this
befalling my people. I know that vanquishing the demon is of little
comfort. My heart and that of the El is with you dearest Brom,
and all your people. We are at your service should you ever
require it.’
The other champions of UGE races agreed wholeheartedly.
Brom attempted a brave smile, but fell back into a deep
depression almost immediately.

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CHAPTER 30
Ricci stared at the peaceful faces of her beloved children. There
had been no change in their condition since they arrived in New
Valhalla the previous day, and she had not left their sides for a
moment since.
Gemmi and their friends sporadically visited but she did not
even acknowledge their presence. Truth is she had not spoken to
anyone since the return to the Valk’r stronghold.
Loser felt like his old self again and took up his previous duties
in the kitchen with gusto, sporadically bringing Ricci delicious
platters which he later removed uneaten. He did not mind, he
could sense Ricci’s trepidation.
He understood.
Ricci stayed connected to the children’s minds through the
Brisingamen jewel in Dragonfang.
Nothing, no improvement, she exclaimed in anguish. What can I
do? Their minds are so fragile, there is barely enough cerebral
energy for me to get a reading. I cannot help them without killing
them. Maybe if I touch their minds gently… no I must be patient, I
cannot bear to be responsible for their deaths because I was
reckless.
Her frustration boiled over, patience not being one of her more
marketable virtues.
She had a thought.
Maybe I am not the answer, maybe they are, they can help each
other… Yes, that will work… hopefully.

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She pushed the twins’ beds together and laid Dragonfang
between them. Then she gently placed each of the twins’ hands
on the Brisingamen jewel in the hilt of the sword.
The EEG monitors spiked almost immediately on both twins.
The signal remained weak, but it seemed her plan could work;
the twins helped each other to find their way back.
Well done my babies, you keep it up, bring each other back to
me, she sighed and relaxed a little.

Over the course of the next few hours, the twins showed
marked recovering and even though they remained in a coma, the
prognoses seemed favourable for the first time. Ricci even got her
appetite back much to the enjoyment of Loser, who did not fail in
his efforts to provide culinary delight at every opportune and
inopportune moment. The willing recycling bins for the excess,
with names like Throm, Phalin and Carra never disappointed.
It was early evening when Feral came to visit.
Gemmi sat deep in conversation with Ricci while skilfully
avoiding the subject of what really happened in the gate room.
Ricci looked up and screamed.
‘Get that thing out of here,’ she yelled.
‘But it’s just a little salamander,’ Feral declared innocently with
a glint in his eye. He glanced at the small reptile on his shoulder.
‘I said; get that bonsai crocodile out of here before I take both
your heads off!’ Ricci snarled menacingly.
Feral made his theatrical exit, really wanting to extend the
moment but wisely fearing for the future placement of his head.
‘You are willing to single handily take on the entire Taur armada
but you are afraid of a tiny salamander?’ Gemmi asked perplexed.

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‘They are slimy ok, and their feet stick to your hands, and then
they wriggle that little body and they stare at you with those huge
black eyes… yuck,’ Ricci pulled a face.
Gemmi just smiled and walked away, ‘Ricci you are an enigma.’
‘Well don’t think on it too much Gems, your head might
explode,’ Ricci sneered still embarrassed.

For the first time Ricci wondered what happened in the gate
room.
The worry for the twins completely overruled the desire for
revenge, but now that there was hope, she wondered whom she
needed to blame for her children’s situation.
It was only about half an hour later when Shen floated in or
rather, appeared to float in with her limbs completely hidden
beneath a full-length coat in the style of the team’s suits.
She glided to Blade’s side with the grace of the Arks and softly
took his hand in hers.
Ricci had fallen half-asleep, sitting on her chair with her arms
and head resting on Storm’s side of the bed.
Ricci in her dream state heard Blades EEG monitor beeping
more urgently and woke with a startled jolt.
Shen spoke to Blade telepathically and he responded.
‘Come back to me Bladin. You are my inspiration. I have come
to depend on your strength as my will and your wisdom as my
guide. I value you more than I value anyone else in my life. Please
come back to me Bladin, I am unable to imagine a universe
without you and S’tormindal,’ Shen projected into Blade’s mind.
‘What is he saying?’ Ricci yelped, when she figured out what
Shen was doing.

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‘He is unable to speak for the moment princess, but he hears
and he understands,’ Shen explained softly.
‘Well, keep going Shen, whatever you are telling him is
working,’ Ricci anxiously suggested keeping a close eye on the EEG
monitor.
‘I do not wish to fatigue Bladin further my lady.
He still has a long journey ahead guiding and protecting
S’tormindal. She depends on him. I simply wished to encourage
him. He is fighting princess, and he is giving S’tormindal the
confidence to fight as well.’
‘Well thank you Shen, I appreciate it,’ Ricci earnestly recognized
the slight alien girl’s efforts.
‘Shen, what happened on your mission? Why is Blade and
Storm like this?’ Ricci asked.
Shen was the perfect person to ask, as she appeared to be on a
strict diet of Sodium Pentothal.
Arks never lie.
Shen seemed hesitant, obviously briefed by Gemmi not to tell
Ricci anything.
‘Please Shen; these are my children I deserve to know the
truth.’
Shen came to a decision and turned her huge almond eyes to
look squarely into Ricci’s emerald green eyes.
‘Very well princess, I will tell you what happened,’ Shen agreed.
Shen told Ricci about Blade’s plan to trap the Furies in the gate
room and then bombard them with electricity from Mjolnir and
Feral. She told Ricci how they discovered that the Furies actually
fed on electricity. How they changed their plan, and Storm had
the idea to fill Sleipnir’s cargo bay with water and then teleport

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into the castle. She released the water into the chamber above
the gate room.
Ricci heard how brave the twins were, how quickly they thought
on their feet. She told Ricci what a great leader Blade had become
and how ingenious his sister reacted in impossible situations.
Ricci had to swell with pride; she had no idea her babies had
become fully fletched heroes. That they were more like her and
Angel than she and Angel was.
‘Then when we had them cornered in the gate room, Storm
released the water and I fired a tachyon burst into the roof.
Storm’s plan proceeded splendidly. The Furies remained trapped
in the water while Throm and Feral drained them. We were
winning and only moments away from destroying the Furies when
suddenly out of nowhere, Zeus started hurtling bolts of lightning
at the Furies. Recharged enough to break free, they immediately
began to drain our bodies from its electricity. Feral thankfully
remained unaffected and begged them to stop. He was splendid
under pressure and offered them Throm’s old hammer in
exchange for the lives of his friends. He also made the Furies
swear to leave earth and never return. They agreed and left.
Moments later you arrived,’ Shen concluded.
‘That little twat,’ Ricci screeched with every vein in her head
bulging, ‘where is he. I am going to rip out his eyes and his balls
and use his intestines to make a necklace.’
Ricci screamed in fury and fled the room with an overwhelming
urge for arts and crafts.
‘Stay with them,’ she ordered over her shoulder as she ran.

Ricci managed to corner Gemmi in the command centre.

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‘Where is he!’ she screamed.
‘Who...?’ Gemmi asked inching closer to Loser.
Loser inched closer to the door. He might be a Gerbit but he
was not stupid.
‘Oh don’t you even... That f***** thunder dolt,’ Ricci spat.
‘He is on Olympus,’ Gemmi replied attempting to steady her
voice.
She had seen Ricci angry before but this bordered on the far
reaches of psychopathic rage. Even Batman’s arch foe Joker would
not go this far, there are some lines no one should cross.
‘I assume that’s your doing?’ Ricci grimaced with clenched
teeth.
Gemmi just stared back at her, carefully.
‘Where are the other gods?’ Ricci fumed.
‘On Olympus as well Ricci, I had to protect them. Yes, that senile
old fool almost killed your children... and your husband. Hmmm
not doing too well in representing him am I,’ Gemmi cleared her
throat, ‘however, he did not know, and he tried to help. I am sorry
princess but I had to put them somewhere where you could not
get to them. The gate is sealed and there is no way to get to them
now.’
Ricci flashed daggers, but her anger remained directed at Zeus
and not Gemmi. She furiously marched out of the room, heading
for the hangar bay.
Gemmi breathed a sigh of relief, she does not know about
Apollo, thank goodness.
‘Carra,’ she called, ‘redouble all efforts in finding Apollo, we
need to get him to safety before Ricci returns.’

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Sleipnir’s failsafe, which automatically set it to planetary speed,
remained active and nothing Ricci did could override this
safeguard.
She had no idea how she was going to get through the eye of
the gods, but even if she had to bash her way through, nothing in
the universe was going to stop her.
When she reached the castle Ricci teleported her ship into the
gate room, as landing and walking seemed a waste of time.
Ricci stood and stared at an empty wall.
The eye of the gods was gone.
She slammed the mindcom activation switch on her chest.
‘Gemmi you traitor, where is that gate?’ she shouted at a very
confused Gemmi, while rubbing the welt now forming on her
chest.
‘What? What do you mean?’ Gemmi asked.
‘Are you retarded or are you making a special effort today?’
Ricci screamed.
‘The gate is in the castle. We did not move it,’ Gemmi answered
perplexed.
‘Well it’s gone now.’
She could sense Gemmi had not lied to her.
‘This is grave news indeed, who would need to steal the gate?’
Gemmi asked a rhetorical question, before adding, ‘hold on a
second Ricci,’ as someone interrupted her.
Ricci impatiently paced the room with justifiable homicide on
her mind.
‘Wonderful news Ricci, the twins came out of their coma. They
asked for you,’ Gemmi’s excited thoughts entered Ricci’s troubled
mind.

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‘On my way,’ Ricci responded.
Gemmi remained concerned, where was Apollo and where was
the gate? She was chastising herself for not having thought of
moving the gate to New Valhalla herself. What is going on?

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Igor Swann

CHAPTER 31
The huge 18-wheeler low bed truck slowly trudged along the
country road on its way to the border between Bulgaria and
Greece.
They had rented this truck from a shipping company in Romania
and instructed it to meet them at the castle.
The truck driver had seen his share of insane things in his life,
but nothing prepared him for these strange creatures carrying an
enormous mirror, and loading it onto the back of his rig.
Only when one of them appeared on the seat next to him did he
realise that he should be scared out of his wits, and revolted, so
he vomited and swallowed hard at the same time, the result was
interesting to say the least.
The little monster quietly explained to him what he needed to
do.
Drive to the port in Thessaloniki.
When they get near the border she and her sisters will
disappear, and rejoin him after the outpost. He is to wait a few
miles after the border for them to join him.
If he does not do exactly what they say, his family would die an
excruciating death.
He knew they were not kidding.
Maimed, quartered, chopped into little bits while alive, or, the
horror... these creatures might force his family to look at them for
extended periods.

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Bruxa stared at the road in silence. With every day passing, she
got more conflicted in her feelings. She did not feel like talking or
for that matter thinking anymore.
She just wanted solitude.
The monotonous journey did nothing to alleviate her despair.
The only relief came when they had to sneak across the border
between Bulgaria and Romania.
For obvious reasons they had no passports1.
It would be another four hours before they reach the border
between Bulgaria and Greece.
She sat back again and just stared at the endless broken white
lines and the cat-eyes that glimmered for a brief moment every
time the trucks headlights hit them.
A deer next to the road, caught in the truck’s headlights,
triggered a flashback.

They were in the forest outside the fortress of New Valhalla.
They had been there for a number of days, with no clear way of
infiltrating the Valk’r stronghold.
Ever since their previous attack, the security around New
Valhalla had become impenetrable. The entire mountain had
been covered by infrared and motion sensing cameras,
supplemented by an immense amount of alien technology.
Patrols appeared regularly, and only by luck, their sure footing
and stealth did the Lamies remained undetected.
Bruxa was desperate, Lamia’s instructions had been clear.

1
If you do question this, you are reading the wrong book; there are no cats or
hats, in them or otherwise, used in this novel.

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Kidnap one of the gods and bring him unharmed to Egypt
without arousing suspicion.
It was early morning when a noise woke Bruxa from her restless
slumber.
Someone sang very badly.
She slowly crept to the origins of the singing.
Bruxa could not believe her eyes, Praise be to Lamia, she
thought.
Apollo stepped from behind the tree.
‘Hallo,’ Bruxa said in a pleasant tone.
‘Ollah,’ the god answered just as cheerfully.
Bruxa was confused, ‘Ollah?’
The god seemed unperturbed by her bewilderment.
‘Od ouy wonk erew ym nekcuf esouh si, ym doog tuls?’ he
continued happily smiling.
Bruxa caught on.
‘Do I know where your house is?’ Bruxa asked ignoring the
profanity.
‘Sey,’ the god answered.
‘Of course Bruxa knows, follow me, Bruxa will take you right
there,’ Bruxa happily lied.
The god talked incessantly, and the more excited he got the
more his deity dyslexia and consecrated Coprolalia1 acted up.
‘Gag him. Please, please, just make him shut up,’ Bruxa ordered
when the frustration got the better of her.

1
Coprolalia refers to the condition of involuntary swearing or use if profanity,
mistakenly referred to by many as Tourette’s syndrome.

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Apollo appeared more than just a little confused and outraged
at the indignity.
The Lamies guarding him bared their fangs and snarled at him.
Apollo decided that this was probably all right then, and he really
did not have a problem with this maltreatment.
Unfortunately, his divine Alzheimer condition kicked in every
five minutes or so, followed by mystified outrage at the
disrespect.
Thus, the mortification, dyslexic profanity, fang bearing and
blissful acceptance continued the entire journey.

These memories faded as Bruxa fell asleep in the truck.
She dreamed of a valley of lilies, and her love bouncing towards
her with open arms.
They embraced and kissed.
Her fangs intertwined with his beard and they struggled to
separate themselves.
They fell into the lilies and laughed.
Bruxa had never felt happiness like this before.
Nothing mattered except this moment.
They held hands and watched the clouds drift by overhead.
He turned his head and smiled at her.
He was so beautiful.
This was her perfect moment of happiness.
She woke with a start as a car honked its horn at someone else
on the road.
Just another dream she realized.
Her depression grew worse.

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CHAPTER 32
Laidin cheerfully packed her belongings away for the trip to
Elheimr. Her thoughts were with her beloved home. The
shimmering radiated forest was beautiful this time of year. She
wanted to get back to her palace, and her people.
The elves needed her now. The fighting had ceased but the
devastating destruction caused by the sporadic fighting needed
her attention.
Her monarchical duties called.
A knock on the door interrupter her preparations.
‘Enter,’ she commanded.
A slightly more relaxed Angel entered, and plopped himself
firmly down on her bed, adjusting the cushions behind his head
for comfort.
‘Ready to go your highness?’ he asked.
‘Almost ready my lord. I shall depart within the hour,’ she
replied with a smile.
‘Can’t wait to get home, huh?’ he grinned.
‘I am most certainly eager to see Elheimr again my liege, I shall
not deny that.’
Angel’s face turned serious even though he tried to hide the
concern.
‘Mind if I tag along?’ he asked.
‘Of course not, why would you even ask that?’
Laidin knew his thoughts were with his wife, and even though
they both knew, she was quite capable of taking care of herself,
his eagerness for news did not surprise her.

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‘Thank you Laidin,’ Angel replied in earnest.
He turned to go prepare for his own departure, but stopped at
the door.
‘Mind if we take the lady? You know how she hates being left
behind,’ he asked.
For a moment, Laidin looked confused, then she realised what
Angel meant and smiled.
'I would be honoured if Skibladne could escort me home.’

Angel stared absentmindedly at the view screen on board the
ship of legends. It has been some time since they left Arken and
their friends behind. Laidin had retired for the night, and he
remained alone to gaze at the stars and stress about his wife and
what has befallen her. The children kept on slipping into his
thoughts as well, but he knew that they had friends and support
where they were and would be fine.
‘Ricci, please be safe,’ he muttered.
How could someone that gives you so many problems when she
is with you, leave such an immense hole when she is gone.
I feel so miserable without you, it is almost like having you here,
Angel thought smiling half-heartedly at his little joke.
He loved her and the children more that life itself.
He remembered how brave she was when she entered Gemmi’s
mind.
She was a warrior princess, one of a kind.
When she lay there with her arms folded across Dragonfang,
the look of grim determination splashed across her beautiful face.

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She lay like a corpse on display, which is probably the reason his
concern for her grew worse than ever before. When he last saw
her, she was in a trance, helpless to protect herself.
His thoughts just rumbled on.

It seemed like forever before Skibladne broke the silence.
#is it not time you retired as well my lord. You do not know
when you will sleep again. You know how quickly events unfold in
your life#
Angel looked up vaguely perceptive, and left for his quarters
without a word.

Skibladne must have done something to the air in the ship or
increased the speed slowly to ridiculous velocity, because when
the two leaders appeared on the command deck again they
looked at Elheimr.
The beautiful emerald planet glowed brightly on the front view
screen.
‘What?’ they both exclaimed in unison.
They were sure they both heard the ship snigger.
They did not ask questions, as they were both happy to see
their destination.
The mindcom beeped.
‘Welcome back my Queen,’ the clear voice of her most trusted
advisor entered their minds.
‘Greeting Kainen, hearing your voice fills me with joy,’ the El
monarch replied.
‘You are cleared to land at your private hangars your highness.’
‘My thanks, and please prepare a suite for the UGE lord.’

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‘Already done my lady, we assumed that Lord Angel would not
willingly loan the UGE crown jewel to anyone,’ Kainen replied.
‘If it pleases your majesty, might we meet in the war room as
soon as possible? We have news that might interest both you and
Lord Angel.’
The two friends looked at each other and shrugged.
‘Skibladne, land, quickly,’ Angel ordered.
As Skibladne descended, Angel looked sheepishly over at Laidin,
‘you know I would lend you Skibladne anytime don’t you? It is just
that you need the gene to pilot it and...’
Laidin smiled knowingly wishing to rescue Angel from this
embarrassing situation, ‘I would never ask that of you my Lord,
the lady is like family, and you do not loan your family to anyone...
even if you could.’
Angel smiled awkwardly and returned his focus back to the
conversation they just had with the El advisor. He did not hear
anything that raised concern in the El advisor’s voice but he was
not taking any chances. It might be news of Ricci, he anxiously
thought.
Skibladne omitted her usual flamboyant entry into planetary
space when she knew she would entertain admiring onlookers,
and landed hurriedly.
She was smoking hot and she knew it, even at her age she had
no rivals in any known galaxy.

The war room curtseyed deeply as the two leaders entered.
Laidin’s eyes immediately found the one mistake in the picture.
A dark El stood with his head bowed in defeat between two of her
royal guards.

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Kainen approached her with a smile.
‘We found it your majesty.’
‘Found it?’ Laidin enquired.
‘Svartalfheimr,’ Kainen replied.
‘Where,’ Angels demanded loudly.
‘This traitor tried to flee Elheimr, but we intercepted his ship
and managed to detain him before he had time to reset his
navigation computer,’ Kainen beamed.
‘So we have the coordinates for Svartalfheimr?’ Laidin
confirmed with a quick glance towards Angel, or more accurately
the spot Angel occupied only nano seconds ago.
Angel’s mindcom beeped.
‘My lord, I am transferring the coordinates to Skibladne. Good
hunting,’ Laidin gave her support, ‘please be careful,’ she added
as an afterthought.
‘Thank you Laidin, I will be,’ he answered.
‘I will dispatch an El Squadron in support, but they will not be
able to keep pace with Skibladne,’ Laidin remarked.
‘I know, thanks again, I appreciate it.’
Angel tapped the mindcom again.
‘Warm up those engines beautiful, we are departing
immediately.’
#Yes my lord, I just received the coordinates, and I am awaiting
your arrival#
Angel ran, his legs moved so fast it ached.
A luckless El he passed blew clear off his feet from the air Angel
dragged behind him.

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Eye of the Gods

He had kept his composure up to now as he had no leads, but
now, he did not need to run blindly, he had a direction, he had
hope.
He made the jump from the bottom of the stairs clear into the
ship.
‘Now,’ he commanded.
The lady did not disappoint.
Angel felt as if every atom in his body screamed to leave the
ship, without seemingly attached to any other atoms in his body.
For once in his life, he did not mind.
He still could not believe only a short while ago he could keep
his composure and at least outwardly display a semblance of
calmness. However, with this little hope, all his fears and anxiety
came flooding back.
‘Faster!’ he commanded softly before passing out from the g-
forces.

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CHAPTER 33
‘He cannot be stopped!’ The dark El commander screamed in
desperation. His station and whom he was addressing completely
forgotten.
‘Send in more warriors!’ Sharin commanded.
‘There is no one else!’ The commander fearfully yelped, ‘we
threw everything we had at the monster, even the prisoners.
Everyone is dead or dying.’
Sharin grew silent.
She stared over what was left of the most amazing city in the
entire universe.
Most architects in the universe would not agree with this
statement.
Yes, it was lavish and over the top in its design, but they would
all agree there was something off. Something was amiss. As if, the
city’s design did not include any functionality or common sense. It
solely served to satisfy the dark El’s desire for luxury and appease
their egotistical need for excessive extravagance. A bunch of
narcissistic people built this city to serve the needs of even vainer
self-absorbed extremists.
Therefore, nothing actually worked, but it looked great doing
that... or it did before the molten juggernaut had started
wandering through the city.
Sharin grimaced as another flaming villa spiralled into the heart
of the city.
She could hear the screams of her beloved dark El brethren.
She smiled zealously.

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Eye of the Gods

Dying creatures always provided her with such intense fanatical
pleasure.
She almost felt as if she should be sad or angry or something
different... hmmm, the feeling passed.

I am coming for you demon, and I am having fun doing it, the
ancient thoughts rumbled through Typhon’s head.
He hurled more stones and buildings at the hapless El trying to
stand in his way.
He hardly noticed the energy bolts from their bows, or the fire
from the heavier ion cannons mounted on the turrets surrounding
the palace.
His thoughts remained focussed.
Another tower crumbled as he scored a direct hit with a tank
that did not retreat hastily enough.
He dropped a mansion on a squad of dark El that appeared on
his left flank.
He was in no hurry.
He was sure the masked creature would fight him until she had
nothing left to throw at him.
More pointy ears appeared in front of him firing their bows,
praying that they might hit some unknown weakness in this
monster’s armour.
However, there was none.
A squadron of El fighters came screaming from above and
rained down every missile they had available.
In a moment, the area where Typhon stood exploded in a ball of
fire and shrapnel.

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The heat caused El on the castle battlement to spontaneously
combust.
The rest started to cheer as the smoke and dust cleared and
only a heap of rubble remained.
The rubble moved.
Rocks began to fly in all directions.
El died.
Typhon picked up more flaming rocks and hurled them at the El
Fighters. He knocked one into the path of another and they
obliged by turning each other into names on the wall of
remembrance.
He found the mind of the squadron leader.
The squadron leader saw an invasion of dragon-like creatures
coming from above him.
They surrounded him.
He fired, killing one after the other of these monstrous
creatures.
He did not notice that these creatures were trying their best to
avoid him rather than attack him.
The last of the creatures found its way into his targeting
scanner.
The missile left his ship as Typhon released his mind.
‘Noooooo...’ were the last words the squadron leader’s
wingman and best friend of the last 2 millennia heard before he
left for the big forest in the sky.
Typhon strode on unperturbed.
Sharin knew whom he wanted. Even though she enjoyed the
slaughter fest, she needed to escape... now.
She ran.

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Naglfar stood on the battlement near the gardens.
Typhon increased his speed. He noticed her escape attempt and
knew exactly where she was heading.
The few remaining stranglers in no way deterred his advance
towards his target.
Ah her chariot, he thought as he saw Naglfar.
He boarded and waited, she would be here soon enough.
He searched for minds that might alert her but found none.
The faint sound of silently running feet reached him; she was
here.
Sharin hurriedly boarded and urgently rasped at Naglfar to take
off and set course for earth.
Earth, the ancient thoughts considered this.
He reached a decision. He would wait for her to deliver him
back in reach of the Olympians before he destroyed her.
Sharin smirked underneath the mask.
So he was on board, she thought. She could smell his stench.
She had noticed this before she even boarded. That is why she
gave the very clear and unnecessary command to Naglfar to set
course for Earth. Typhon did not even notice that she had said it
in ancient Greek for his ears only.
She knew he might want to get back home, and this would give
her the time she needed to find a way to kill him.
How did he keep on finding me, she thought to herself. Of
course, he knows my mind. Obviously, he can find it wherever I
go.
She sat down to think, ignoring the fact that the most
dangerous being in existence sat only a few paces behind her
intending on torturing her for eternity.

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So, I need to shield my mind, her thoughts focussed on this
problem.
A sinister smile appeared underneath the horror mask.
She knew what to do, and she had the time to do it.
Her smile grew until she could not help and let out a grating
laugh.
Typhon simply assumed her escape pleased her.
Enjoy your moment of triumph demon; soon it will be horror-
time, Typhon thought.

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CHAPTER 33
Bruxa admired the setting sun from the comfort of her life raft
aboard the cargo ship.
The Lamies in her charge complained of hunger on a number of
occasions as there were no more sailors on which to snack. Even
the captain had succumbed to the hunger of the vampiric children
of Lamia.
Bruxa was unperturbed by this, since they were all more afraid
of disappointing their unholy mother than actually contemplating
mutiny.
In any event, she had her own conundrum to consider.
This distraction caused her to forget to resupply the ship for the
return trip. She however, stayed immune to the hunger for her
heart ached for another type of nourishment.
They were close to the Alexandrian harbour when she finally
came to a decision.
She would complete her mission.
She had to, since if she did not, her own kind would hunt her
down for her treachery.
Then she would find her love, no matter how long it took or
how far she had to go.
Her optimism grew.
Had she known how far her object of affection actually lived
from where she was, her optimism would not have reached these
elated heights.
She felt strength come from her decision; she even felt the
tinge of joy creep into her deformed heart.

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Yes, she would find her love and then she would...
She had no idea what she would say when she did find him, but
this would not discourage her.
She was sure that when he saw how pure her heart was and
how selfless her act was to prove her love she would win his
affection.
She had to believe that love like this had to be.
Bruxa shifted some of the lifejackets, she had made into a bed,
to sleep more comfortably.
She gazed at the stars through the top of the life raft for a little
while longer before falling asleep.
Sleep was peaceful, and she even managed a smile as her
dreams turned from dread to hope.

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CHAPTER 34
‘Approach Bruxa,’ the snake like voice commanded.
Bruxa tentatively approached, fearing that the ancient mother
would sense her thoughts of betrayal.
‘Well done my child,’ the voice hissed, ‘I am sssso proud of you.’
‘You have given me all I required for my revenge,’ the
serpentine creature continued.
‘How may I sssshow my gratitude my daughter,’ Lamia asked.
‘Bruxa asks nothing mistress,’ Bruxa answered meekly.
‘Come now my child, there musssst be ssssomething you
wissssh of me?’
‘No mistress. Bruxa wish only to serve,’ Bruxa remained
resolute not to accept a reward for her evil acts. She wanted to
start being someone her love would admire.
‘Very well,’ Lamia continued.
For a moment, she seemed concerned about Bruxa’s lack of
need for a boon. This did not hold with the nature her children
usually displayed. Nevertheless, her plans for revenge were finally
coming to fruition.
To dwell on the strange behaviour of Bruxa did not feature in
her list of priorities.
She supervised the gate installation on the wall inside the
sphinx personally.

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Igor Swann

She now had the door and a door attendant who would open
the door for her, and the best of all is there was no one who
knew, or could stop her.
Lamia curled into a snake pile in front of the mirror mesmerized
by its simplicity and its power, while her children prepared for the
final stage of her plan.
All she had to do now is wait and savour this moment, a strange
moment of power, of deceit, of treachery and deception. A
moment every evil creature lived for. The moment where she is
the only one that know what is about to happen and the rest are
all going about in blissful ignorance, while she plays her game by
her rules to one inevitable outcome.
She wins.
Oh, the other players will try play when they realize there is a
game.
Some might even think they have some semblance of control
over the outcome of the game.
That is what makes this so perfect.
The gods love games.
They played games with the earth and its people since the start.
All they had was their games, their power struggles, one
dominating the other, one betraying the other, and if you got in
the way of their games, played it different, changed the rules, you
found yourself cursed or killed.
Now it was her game, her rules, and they were the chess pieces.
Chess pieces that were already in checkmate, even before the
game started, but they will not know that. They will try to play.
She hissed, and then laughed.
Her revenge will be perfect.

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Eye of the Gods

The resplendent full moon echoed off the endless dune canvass
causing an intricate montage of light and dark, mirroring the soul
of the fleeing shade.
A slight silhouette briefly etched itself onto the orb of night as it
crested a ridge, and then disappeared, forever erased from the
mosaic quilt.

‘Let’s go, let’s go,’ the small voices of her children drifted into
the room where Lamia lay.
Not long after and a small very deadly army bundled into the
room, and desperately tried to look organized and presentable. It
was like organizing 50 babies for a photo shoot.
Drugunxa pushed forward from inside the ranks. She cautiously
crept towards their mother, as Lamia uncoiled and stretched.
‘Peace mistress, your kickass army is ready,’ she said, eyes
darting, feeling completely out of her depth.
‘Lovely,’ Lamia hissed, her tongue flicking the syllables of the
word into the room.
She looked intently at the faces of her army.
She coiled her body and snapped her snake eyes within inches
of Drugunxa’s face.
‘Where issss Bruxa?’ she hissed.
Drugunxa shrugged, ‘said she forgot something on the boat.’
Lamia appeared pensive for a second then recoiled back, ‘bring
Apollo.’
Moments later a very confused god entered the room flanked
by two Lamies.
He looked around like a tourist on vacation.

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‘Siht si nekcuf taerg1,’ Apollo smiled, ‘dna ohw era uoy ym doog
hctib?’
‘Closssse hissss mouth, and hold him in front of the eye of
Lamia,’ she barked.
The mirror began to shimmer. Within moments, the picture
stabilized and Lamia surveyed Olympus again for the first time in
hundreds of years.
‘To Olympussss my lovelies,’ she happily flicked her tongue.
She focused the two hypnotic black eyes on the two Lamies
guarding Apollo, ‘when the lassst of ussss have gone through,
bring him through assss well.’
She felt a slight pang of guilt for leaving Bruxa behind, but
dismissed this as indigestion from her late night rat snack. Victory
was close and no one was going to make her wait a second longer.

1
‘This is f****n great, and who are you my good bitch?’

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CHAPTER 35
Svartalfheimr looked like a miniature version of Elheimr from
the command deck on Skibladne. Although it did not have the
golden shimmer from radiation like Elheimr, and in fact was a grey
black, not green like Elheimr. In retrospect, it looked nothing like
Elheimr. The entire planet appeared covered in a black forest,
similar to the German wooden mountain range in Baden-
Württemberg. It looked beautiful in a foreboding; please send me
back to my happy concentration camp kind of way.
The planet however did not concern Angel in the least. He
carefully studied the scanner, as if it was possible for him to
notice anything of interest before the ship of legends could.
#I have located the cruiser my lord. She is on the far side of the
planet#
This only served as an informational update as Skibladne
already ran at full speed towards the cruiser’s location.
The hangar bay door stood open and Angel did not feel like
announcing his presence.
Skibladne had been in stealth mode since long before it reached
Svartalfheimr and its approach went undetected.
She extended her landing skids and gracefully landed without a
sound.
Angel ran noiselessly through the very familiar corridors inside
the royal El cruiser.
The medical bay is where they left her, I should start there, he
thought.

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Igor Swann

The scene filled him with dread, with many bodies scattered
around the medical centre. There must have been a firefight, the
sickening thought ran through his troubled mind.
He searched through the bodies, but found no familiar faces
among the dead. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, how
barbaric, these dark El do not even care for their dead.
He swung round and headed back the other way, with little
hope of finding much else. If the battle occurred here, and they
survived then they are long gone, or, he gulped, captured.
Angel needed answers. He ran, with his only thought being, find
someone to interrogate.
Angel tapped his mindcom.
‘Scan for life, I cannot find anybody,’ he commanded Skibladne.
Only a few seconds passed before the ship’s emotionless voice
entered his mind.
#there are no life signs on the cruiser my lord, and I took the
liberty of scanning the planet as well. There are only a minimal
number if life signs detected on the planet. My scan also revealed
signs of battle#
‘You do not think Ricci could... no... Not even she is that
destructive... is she?’ Angel asked.
#my lord, I detect there are a number of structures still intact in
what I surmise to be the main settlement. I therefore conclude
that the princess was not responsible for this destruction#
‘She might have been in a hurry,’ Angel remarked, but he was
quite sure that even his wife could not be this vicious.
‘I am on my way,’ Angel loudly announced as he ran towards
Skibladne.

360

Eye of the Gods

The destruction on the planet was unbelievable. Villas and
mansions lay on top of other villas and mansions. Skibladne was
kind when it said there were a few structures intact. These
structures were limited to what seemed to be the small
apartment behind a ruined mansion that an El built for his mother
in law to live in. The apartment appeared slightly smaller than
most people’s spare bathroom. Apparently, the feeling towards
mothers in law was universal.
Skibladne guided Angel through the small streets and rubble
towards any life signs it could detect.
Angel rounded a corner and almost ran headlong into a group
of dark El. They were clearly in bad shape; most were severely
wounded and crispy. Even though they were badly in need of
assistance, they still displayed their normal reverence for
arrogance and contempt.
‘What are you doing here UGE scum,’ one of the braver dark El
muttered.
Angel had no use for pleasantries.
‘You need help. I can provide that as soon as you answer one
simple question.’
Angel glared at them before continuing, ‘where is my wife.’
For a moment, the El contemplated continuing in his arrogant
tone, but then sighed, ‘she was not on board the cruiser when we
left the jump. She, along with the other human and the simian
escaped mid jump.’
The El realised how this might sound, ‘I am telling the truth,
they were there when we entered the jump and not there when
we left the jump.’
Angel looked pensive, ‘I believe you.’

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Igor Swann

The El sighed with relief.
Hmmmm so she used Brom’s theory of simply overcoming the
forward momentum inside a jump to return to the point of origin.
That means she is back on earth, Angel thought to himself, and
Gemmi and Loser are with her.
Angel suddenly found himself in a very charitable mood, with
the news of his wife’s escape.
He tapped his mindcom, ‘my lady, please direct the El squadron
here as soon as they enter the quadrant. There are survivors that
need assistance. Send a subspace transmission to Laidin. Inform
her that her cruiser is ready for pick up.’
Angel looked around him absorbing the magnitude of the
destruction for the first time.
‘Now, would someone please tell me what happened here, or
are you going to try convince me it was just a little house party?
Knowing Sharin I might actually believe that.’
‘A demon, a huge beast made of fire and black rock came out of
no-where. He slaughtered everyone, destroyed everything,’ the El
said in tears. The weight of the situation suddenly overwhelmed
him.
‘Typhon is here? How is that possible?’ Angel spluttered.
He shuddered, how did the monster get out of Olympus, and
how did it get here?
‘We do not know this Typhon, but the beast was unstoppable.
We threw everything at it, our most advance and devastating
weapons were useless against it. A full-scale aerial attack did not
even break its stride.’

362

Eye of the Gods

‘I know, I fought him once before. We had no luck either,’ Angel
said through clenched teeth as he remembered how close he
came to losing his life on their previous encounter.
‘He ended up disappearing, along with Queen Sharin,’ the El
muttered.
‘To be expected, It is just like Sharin to escape with no regard
for her people,’ Angel spat, ‘and he must have followed her, since
it was her he was after. She killed his wife, and he is out for
revenge. Your precious Queen brought this on you.’
The El said nothing, the bitter realization visible on his perfectly
chiselled face.
The shock of the betrayal and the hopeless future that now
faced his race caused his shoulders to slump even further.
‘Anyway, help will be here soon,’ Angel announced suddenly
feeling compassion for these evil elves.
Even though there were absolutely no redeeming qualities to
this subspecies, he had to believe they were only following orders
from Sharin and would not have destroyed Nidavellir otherwise.
The journey back to Skibladne was filled with questions, where
was Sharin heading? Did his wife make it? Was Typhon with her?
He entered the command deck on Skibladne and
absentmindedly instructed her to set course for Arken.
‘Get me a line to Kirom, Guival, Laidin and Qren please,’ he
asked Skibladne.
A few minutes later and the faces of his friends appeared on
Skibladne’s view screen.
‘Friends I have some good news and disturbing news,’ he began
and then relayed all the information he gathered in the last while.

363

Igor Swann

‘The dark El that was captured will be tried in Dwar court under
dwarven law,’ Laidin announced, ‘the El as a nation will accept
any verdict passed down as final judgement.’
This pleased Kirom, ‘our thanks my Queen.’
Angel ended off with the intelligence of Sharin’s escape and
Typhon disappearing at the same time.
‘Well, I understand the need to go after Sharin, and her new
best friend, but it might be a little difficult right now,’ Kirom
remarked.
‘For me too,’ Guival added a little dejected fuelled by his love
for experiencing strange and wonderful things.
‘They speak the truth my lord. The Dwar has lost much,
Nidavellir needs rebuilding, and as for the Aesir, with Teral
recovering they will need a leader as well,’ Laidin added.
‘Yes my Lord, unfortunately our duty lies here,’ Kirom agreed,
‘we will not be joining you on this mission.’
‘I will be accompanying you this time if it pleases my lord,’ Qren
suggested, ‘I wish to see my daughter.’
‘Of course my friend,’ Angel smiled with a heavy heart.
Angel felt alone for the first time. Never before had he
embarked on a quest alone. True he did go after his wife alone,
but that was personal. His friends were always by his side when
he ventured into the unknown to face the monsters, to do battle
with insurmountable odds.
‘Qren, I will return to Arken shortly to fetch you. Angel out,’ he
finished, not wanting his friends to see his distress.

364

Eye of the Gods

CHAPTER 36
A grating laugh echoed around Naglfar.
Typhon looked on confused. Even though he could sense minds
and project the most horrific nightmares into said minds, he could
not read thoughts. He sensed Sharin’s emotions but as always,
these were simple arrogance and contempt. No emotions that
gave away her intentions were present.
He had watched her for days now from the extreme discomfort
of the smugglers compartment he found.
The compartment appeared huge and the stench of rotting
animal excrement was unmistakable. It’s construction obviously
necessitated by a Grey Farren smuggling operation.
They were in the jump, so there was nothing else for him to do
but wait.
She had removed her facial cover, and the sight of what
remained beneath the horror mask filled even the bringer of
nightmares with revulsion.
It seemed as if Dr Frankenstein’s helper had sown her face back
together, a cross-eyed Igor, who seemed to have taken a sowing
class from a drunken rhinoceros.
The placement of the facial features could be the work of the
Mad Hatter on heroin, playing the Operation game, blind folded in
a teacup. He however mislaid some of the more common pieces,
but merrily substituted it with others he procured from different
creatures.
The flapping skin and scars from infection, the enormous
stitches that missed most of the wounds, and the placement of

365

Igor Swann

the eyes, ears, mouth, and noses, did nothing to distract from the
beauty of her personality.
Whoever put all the pieces of her face back must have had a
stomach made of Zellion and for his sake hopefully a neck as well.
She worked unperturbed on the inside of the mask, calibrating
some electronic device she installed within the frame.
From time to time, he would get an emotional burst of pleasure
from the demon, but mostly he observed only intense
concentration.
The day before they would reach on earth finally arrived, and
Sharin ended her incessant tinkering, but neglected to replace the
mask. Instead, she hung it from her belt and continued to prepare
for her arrival on the third rock from the sun.

There was barely a shudder as Naglfar broke the atmosphere
somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.
Typhon was used to killing time; he spent countless aeons
trapped in the prison Zeus created for him. Even though he
waited patiently, the thought of destroying this demonic female
had become just too appetizing, to alluring. He wanted to start on
having his fill of torturing pleasure immediately.
Typhon came to a decision. They were inside earth’s
atmosphere. Gravity would take him down, instead of floating in
space for an eternity.
He could act now. He did not need to wait any longer.
He opened the secret door and stepped outside.
The demon stood a few paces away grinning at him, or what he
assumed was a grin on the immensely disfigured face.

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Eye of the Gods

The disdainful body language of the darklord filled him with
rage such as he had never felt before.
Never before had anyone dared to mock him, but this wretched
humanoid arrogantly taunted him.
He had barely moved two steps before Sharin spoke.
‘Goodbye Typhon,’ he heard the final words from Dar’kel before
she uttered a shrill laugh.
The floor beneath him disappeared and he fell.
It all happened too quickly.
He had no time to react.
The last thing he saw of the demon while he fell was how she
replaced her mask, and then she seemed to die because he could
not sense her mind anymore.

Sharin or rather Dar’kel watched as Typhon plummeted into the
Pacific Ocean.
She let rip another grating laugh from behind the demon mask,
a mask that was now not only there to hide her disfigurement but
also to protect her from Typhon.
The smugglers compartment Typhon hid in had in fact housed
illegally traded Grey Farren previously.
Grey Farren, notorious for being almost impossible to trap,
could sense thoughts and emotions, very similar to what Typhon
did. In the case of the Grey Farren, this served as a protection
mechanism where they would sense danger and find safety.
Hunters developed a very special thought scrambler helmet to
counter act this ability.

367

Igor Swann

Normal thought scramblers as used by the covert sectors of the
UGE races were inadequate to mask the thoughts from the Grey
Farren.
Only a few immensely expensive thought scrambler helmets
gave adequate protection for the hunting of these elusive
creatures.
These outlawed helmets had only one obvious application, and
the hunting of the endangered Grey Farren remained illegal, and
therefore highly profitable.
Since Naglfar became the most notorious smugglers ship in the
UGE, it had a fully loaded arsenal of only the most impressive
criminally inclined gear. Among these a certain thought scrambler
helmet of which the components now reside within Dar’kel’s
mask.
Try find me now you stinking pebble brain, she thought, before
she flicked the switch that controlled the hatch on which Typhon
previously stood, and it silently closed.
The hatch, used to dump smuggled goods quickly when being
tracked by the authorities, now came in handy when needing to
get rid of the unwanted stowaway.
She waved her hands over the controls and the stealth ship
resumed its voyage towards Tokyo.
In the years Dar’kel spent on earth, she had set up an extensive
underground network and a quite lavish secret lair in Tokyo.
The lair had protection from scans, be it alien or human. It
remained completely undetectable, even though the concealed
entrance existed in plain sight, near the centre of Tokyo.
Perfect, she thought, the dusk would mask my approach, even if
anyone paid enough attention to the sky to notice me.

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Eye of the Gods

The shape of a cloud reminded her of Skibladne and she
thought back on how many times the UGE lord messed up her
plans.
Time to clip the Angel’s wings, she thought bitterly even though
her enjoyment for tricking Typhon still lingered in her mind.
She had no idea how to accomplish this but she was sure that
time will present a way, and she had a lot of time, since El lived
for a very long time.
She spread out on the couch in front of the television and
immediately switched to the disaster channel. Usually this would
cheer her up, but revenge remained primarily on her mind, and
the volcanic eruption that destroyed an entire village did not even
provide a distraction. What was however distracting was the itch
inside her mask. She took it off and adjusted the component that
was causing the irritation. Immediately she realised what she did
and hurriedly slammed the mask back on without making sure her
nose aligned with the mask’s imprint. This would not have been a
problem if her nose resided anywhere near the normal placement
of a nose, which of course the maker of the mask assumed in
making it. Blood flowed freely but she did not dare remove the
mask again.

Typhon desperately searched for the mind that had become the
bane of his existence. He slowly trudged along at the bottom of
the ocean not sure in which direction he should be going to find
Dar’kel.
Then suddenly he felt an emotion, a single moment of dread
from an all too familiar mind.
He had a direction.

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Igor Swann

His rage made the sea boil around him, fish that were unlucky
enough to find themselves too close to him spontaneously
combusted and some further away drifted to the surface Sautéed
with a delightful ultramafic1 seasoning.
His trudges became a lumbering gait.
His thoughts would have been something in the order of; karma
is a bitch, if he knew what karma or bitch was.
The only thing Typhon knew for a fact was in which direction he
needed to travel, and that was enough for the moment.
She would make another mistake, for as old as an El could get,
he could get older, much older; and while she still drew a breath,
he had a reason to get much older.

1
Ultramafic or komatiites, are or were, the hottest lava flows, but has not
surfaced much since the Proterozoic time when the earth’s heat flow was much
higher.

370

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CHAPTER 37
Ricci strolled into the Valk’r operations centre where she found
Gemmi sitting in the command chair, overlooking a group of
Valk’r furiously running through scans, and updating strategic
holographic maps, and terrain analysis.
Loser happily played around her feet. He seemed fully
recovered from his ordeal on Laidin’s cruiser.
Ricci took a sip of coffee, ‘What’s up Gems?’
Gemmi did not look her way, and seemed genuinely concerned.
‘He’s back,’ she replied.
Ricci did not need her to qualify that statement. She knew
exactly to whom Gemmi referred as back.
‘Where...?’ Ricci asked with a serious expression on her face.
She had felt something out of place all morning but could not lay
her finger on it.
There must still be some residual effect from the link between
her mind and Typhon’s.
‘Downtown Tokyo,’ Gemmi answered still refusing to separate
her gaze from a blank monitor.
‘Satellite in range,’ Carra interrupted them.
The monitor Gemmi stared at started to flicker.
‘Zoom in,’ Gemmi commanded.
Slowly the aerial map disappeared, and a city map replaced it,
followed by people on street level, terrified people who ran for
their live.
Ricci and Gemmi where both glued to the scene unfolding
before them, neither spoke, neither had to.

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‘Do we send in the fighters,’ a red headed Valk’r, whom Ricci
had not seen before, asked.
‘Seriously...?’ Ricci exclaimed, ‘You really should not drink on an
empty head,’ Ricci scoffed, glancing in the girl’s direction.
Gemmi gave Ricci an annoyed look, before addressing the girl
who had now turned a bright red, which complimented her hair
quite nicely.
‘Typhon controls minds Sheila. He would take control of our
pilot’s minds and make them shoot each other down. Second
problem is that nothing we have can hurt him. He is immune to all
know weapons. I doubt if even a Darkmoon1 can stop him. I won’t
sacrifice any Valk’r in a futile mission.’
‘So we are just going to do nothing?’ the girl asked, with a
fearful expression on her face.
Ricci only now noticed the girl’s oriental features. Her bright red
hair was certainly not natural.
‘Not the brightest crayon in the box, are we? No wait I take that
back, definitely the brightest with that head of hair, or are you on
fire?’ Ricci asked and sighed sarcastically, ‘of course, we are going
to do something. We just do not plan to send lambs to the
slaughter. Typhon will be stopped, we have a plan.’
She turned towards Gemmi, ‘we do, don’t we?’
Ricci did not like coming up with plans, especially ones that did
not involve taking someone’s head off and spitting down his
throat.

1 Darkmoons were moon sized weapon platforms, hence the name, with
unrivalled firepower. They deployed in the earth’s defence against the Taur
invasion in Waking the Angel: a Mindlord novel.

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Eye of the Gods

Gemmi nodded but seemed unconvinced.
‘So what are we waiting for? Let’s go Gem’s,’ she said and
clapped her hands in a show of urgency.
Gemmi reluctantly got up from her seat and followed the eager
princess, with Loser perched on her shoulder.
Experience was a wonderful thing, it enabled you to recognize
mistakes when you make it again, and rushing into a battle with
Typhon was definitely a mistake. She knew this from experience.
‘To Sleipnir,’ Ricci proclaimed and hurried off.
A thought came to her and she spun around.
‘Carra, the kids stay here. They do not move. If they are not
here when I return, I will do a mosaic with your nails and use your
tongue as a glue brush,’ she explicitly ordered the Valk’r.
Carra said nothing, but thought, I wonder if the aliens forgot to
remove her anal probe.
She smiled inwardly at her private little joke.

By the time Gemmi boarded, Ricci had already warmed the
engines. She managed a detour to fetch her sword Dragonfang
and still beat Gemmi to Sleipnir.
Gemmi sat down without a word and stared at the view screen
in front of her.
‘We don’t have a plan, do we?’ Ricci asked without looking in
Gemmi’s direction.
‘We do. Unfortunately not one I am looking forward to, but I do
have a plan,’ Gemmi responded unenthusiastically.
‘Good,’ Ricci announced cheerfully.

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‘I am going to beat the molten snot out of him,’ Ricci decreed
relishing the chance of a rematch. She had no idea what the plan
could be but she was fine with them having a plan.
Plan good, Typhon bad, Ricci grinned dangerously.

Typhon knew he was close, he could feel it in every molten
synapse in his body. He threw another car at a little herbal store.
The vehicle exploded and the store became instantly engulfed in
flames.
He paid no attention to the shrieking of the frantic people
running all around him. His focus remained on finding the mind he
so desperately sought.
He picked up two cars one in each hand. They melted where he
touched them, and he nonchalantly threw them into buildings on
the opposite sides of the road.
One entered an apartment from where screams of terror
immediately followed, the second hit the side of another building,
which caused the building to collapse.
Still no sign of the demon, but she was here, he knew she was
here.
The tar on the road melted and a flaming trail of footprints
tracked his advance.
The vehicles on the side of the road, which did not get an
upgrade to missile status, burned from the heat of his passing.
Typhon stopped.
Something distracted him, a familiar mind, but not the one he
sought.
Typhon smiled, a welcome distraction, he thought.

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His main prey would still be here when he had his fun with this
familiar consciousness.
On their previous encounter, he had to let her mind go because
he stepped through the gate to Olympus.
He left a bit of his mind in hers but she managed to destroy it,
and the girl managed to sever the connection.
Disappointing, since he had such fun torturing her and her
friends, but then he had much bigger fish to fry.
However here she was again, back for more. She must love the
attention of a god, Typhon laughed.

Sleipnir landed about a mile ahead of Typhon’s rampage.
‘Going to tell me what the plan is now?’ Ricci asked as they
disembarked from Odin’s ship.
Gemmi looked straight into her eyes with a determined
expression.
‘You are not going to like this,’ Gemmi remarked in a faint voice.

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CHAPTER 38
Qren suffered from verbal constipation in the best of
circumstances. This suited Angel, his concern for his wife and
children overrode his need for companionship. The last time he
had seen Shen and the twins was before they went after the
Furies.
He had no answers for Qren’s unspoken questions and the alien
engineer sensed this.
Angel knew they had the protection of the Valk’r and he knew
he had to trust the children.
The children of heroes, he thought, or rather the curse of being
the children of heroes.
They built their image of their parents on legends and tales.
Truth remains that bards embellish legends and romanticize
tales.
They tend to neglect to mention, how many times the heroes
were inches from death, and only escaped by luck. How many
times the champions were in despair or scared out of their wits.
How many times they survived because an angel watched over
them, an angel without a sarcastic voice in his head.
Angel felt fear; fear that the children might not know that
bravery was a sure way of getting dead. That sometimes you need
to retreat, to run away and wait for a more favourable encounter.
‘Will you please, please stop these ridiculous thoughts? You are
giving me a migraine,’ LOBE interrupted his anxiety attack.
‘They are justified,’ Angel replied infuriated.

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‘You are going to give yourself a hernia. Worry about things that
are true, not that which may be true, but most probably not,’
LOBE said.
‘You are not a parent,’ Angel said dismissively.
‘You want to rethink that statement?’ LOBE sneered.
‘Ok, ok you are me, guess you should understand,’ Angel replied
annoyed.
‘I do understand, but I also understand that those children,
although they don’t have me, have more brains in their pinkies
than all of you so called heroes put together,’ LOBE remarked.
Angel listened.
‘They grew up together, they had pulled pranks on you guys
that you still have not figured out,’ LOBE suddenly seemed slightly
bemused, ‘some of which I have not even managed to completely
comprehend.’

Angel smiled as he thought about some of the brilliant pranks
that the children had managed to play through the years.
They held a party on Arken, and took the entire planet hostage.
They created a fake uprising in a remote sector of UGE space,
which of course the UGE lord and the council had to go unravel.
Then they managed to configure the defensive grid so only
ships with occupants aged less than 20 years could land.
Angel and Ricci were off world and could not get back on Arken
to punish them for the party. They had to swear there would be
no repercussions before the children returned the defensive
shield to normal.

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Ricci had mentioned that they had Skibladne and could destroy
the planet, but then the kids mentioned that they had Sleipnir and
it would perish as well.
Ricci surrendered, probably the only time ever.
If she would really have destroyed the planet, Angel never knew
for sure, but he had to believe that she actually loved the children
too.

‘Fine, they can take care of themselves,’ Angel reluctantly
admitted.
‘Yes, they can and maybe you can consult them before your
next mission so you don’t screw up so badly,’ LOBE sniggered.
Qren rescued Angel from the agony of LOBE’s derision session.
‘Sorry to interrupt my lord,’ Qren’s thoughts pushed LOBE’s out
of the way, but Angel was sure he could still hear LOBE laugh in
the back of his skull.
‘The trouble with life is there is no background music,’ Angel
snidely remarked, to which LOBE started to hum.
‘Pardon me, my lord?’ the Ark engineer asked perplexed.
‘Nothing, Qren, what did you want to tell me?’ Angel asked.
‘We should reach Earth shortly,’ Qren continued, ‘just thought
you would like to know.’
‘Thanks Qren, I should get ready. I’ll see you later,’ Angel
remarked, and started to make his way to his cabin and a shower.
Qren stayed on the command deck, Arks had no need to
shower, and he was excited to see earth again. To him it remained
the most beautiful planet, and his daughter would be there. His
joy had no bounds.
If he only had the ability, he would have smiled.

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Qren stared at the moon orbiting earth as they passed it. He
understood why people on earth found it magical; it was
mesmerizing in some strange way.
The view screen flickered and Carra’s face appeared, ‘Qren, so
good to see you again,’ Carra exclaimed, ‘how long has it been?
Close on 20 years?’
Qren was amazed at how little the Valk’r had aged. He had
analyzed earthlings in detail for many years and he had studied
there aging process very carefully. Only earthlings possessed the
TNRF-12 gene needed to create the UGE lord, and only one or two
males per generation.
In females however, the gene was much more common and all
Valk’r had this gene. The transformation process worked slightly
differently on them, with a more physical than mental effect, but
they also gained the longevity by-product of the mind
transformation.
The reason for the longevity was a simple cellular
reconstruction caused by the mind transform technology. As soon
as a cell grew old or became damaged it re-spawned itself into a
healthy clone and the old cell was recycled as energy.
Therefore, the mind transform artefact remained a very
effective way to slow down the aging process.
Qren sent a thought towards Carra, ‘it is extremely pleasurable
seeing you again my dear Carra.’
‘Is the UGE lord around?’ Carra enquired.
‘He is currently in his quarters preparing for our arrival. Is there
some way I may be of assistance?’ he asked.

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‘Would you tell him his wife and Gemmi went after Typhon.
They left for Tokyo a little while ago, and I think they might need
his help.’
‘I think he will have questions, I therefore suggest you deliver
this message in person Carra.’
Qren activated the remote view screen in Angel’s quarters.
‘Are you decent my lord?’ Qren asked.
‘Yes, Qren, what’s up,’ Angel answered sitting on the edge of
the bed strapping on his soft leather black boots.
‘Carra has news, she wishes to speak to you,’ Qren explained.
The view screen split into two images with Qren occupying the
left and Carra the right.
‘My lord, as I just told Qren your wife and Gemmi went after
Typhon in downtown Tokyo, and they might need your
assistance,’ Carra repeated the message.
Angel felt relief flooding over him. Ricci was alive.
‘Are the children safe?’ Angel asked.
‘They are fine my lord, all here and accounted for. Admittedly
they are slightly irritable since your wife gave strict orders for
their containment,’ Carra seemed a little haggard as she relayed
this news.
Angel smiled; the kids must be giving her a hard time.
Carra addressed Qren again, ‘you can be very proud of Shen my
old friend, she is a true hero and saved the other’s skin on more
than one occasion. Her creativity and ingenuity was the
inspiration for their success.’
Qren beamed... on the inside.
‘Thanks Carra, we’ll see you soon,’ Angel dismissed the Valk’r
commander and the right hand image on the screen disappeared.

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Eye of the Gods

Angel looked confused, ‘I thought your species did not have
creativity and ingenuity Qren? No offence meant, but is this not
the reason you abducted the UGE lord to begin with?’ Angel
asked.
Qren seemed uncomfortable, his huge teardrop shaped almond
eyes stared directly into Angel’s blue grey eyes. Even with
showing no outward emotion, Angel could sense it.
‘Shen...’ Qren began, ‘Shen is different. Her DNA is not purely
mine. She has some of the scientist’s DNA as well. The scientist is
the only Ark that has this ability1 and I wanted to make sure it did
not die with him. Shen embodies the continued existence of our
specie. She is Ark-Alpha.’ Qren explained.
‘Why do you not create all new Arks with this ability?’ Angel
asked.
‘The reason why Arks only have one child is that the process is
extremely dangerous. The DNA extraction is fatal in a high
percentage of child creation procedures. I had to convince the
scientist to extract his DNA and fuse it with mine before creating
Shen. The fact that Shen survived is a miracle in its own right. The
DNA after extraction degrades within seconds. The scientist had
to fuse the DNA and start the growth cycle in an impossible period
of time.’
‘So Shen has two dads?’ Angel asked.
‘Yes, I assume on earth that would be the logical conclusion,’
Qren said in a dismissive tone, ‘please keep this between us my

1
The scientist was the only Ark that possessed creativity and imagination. He
was an anomaly and an integral part of the Ark society.

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lord, if the Arks learned I endangered the scientist in such a way,
they would see me as a traitor. I would be banished.’
‘You have my word old friend,’ Angel said impressed with
Qren’s fortitude.
‘Skibladne, set course for Tokyo,’ Angel commanded and then
added, ‘sorry Qren, seems you will need to wait a bit longer to see
your little girl.’
‘I understand my lord, and concur; we have a duty to perform
first.’
#Course set# the metallic drone of Skibladne’s voice filled his
quarters.

382

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CHAPTER 39
Typhon rapidly approached the blond duo.
‘We need that plan now Gemmi!’ Ricci screamed.
Gemmi sighed.
‘Remove the jewel from the sword’s hilt,’ she commanded.
Ricci caught on.
‘No Gemmi, you know that almost killed you last time.’
‘I know princess, but we need it to enter that monster’s mind.’
‘You want us to go inside his mind? Are you insane?’ Ricci
asked.
‘Please trust me Ricci. Now hurry,’ Gemmi exclaimed.
Ricci Qrenched the jewel from the hilt of the sword. It started to
glow as if anticipating the events to follow.
‘Now grab my hand. Loser, hang on,’ Gemmi ordered.
Loser was still perched on Gemmi’s shoulder, his little hands
fearfully clasped tightly around Gemmi’s neck.
‘Now I need the two of you to focus all you thoughts on Typhon,
try seeing his mind,’ Gemmi explained.
‘Hold up the jewel Ricci, quickly now, we need to get into his
mind before he enters ours,’ Gemmi anxiously commanded.
Ricci complied hurriedly, whispering through clenched teeth,
‘you know I would agree with you that this is a good idea, but
then we would both be wrong.’
‘Ready, here we go,’ Gemmi proclaimed resolutely.
Typhon had moved close enough for them to smell his ghastly
breath.

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She forced the piece of the Brisingamen jewel in her hands into
the half of the jewel Ricci held, their hands tightly clasped each
other covering the jewel.
The jewel had no objections to being one again, and seemed to
scream in delight.
It burst into an ominous pulsating red light. The orb that formed
by the two halves joining spun on Gemmi’s palm, looking like
something you would find at a demented satanic disco party.
The trio were however unable to observe this unholy display of
colour and light, as their consciousness forcibly detached from
their bodies and plunged deeply into the demon god’s mind.
Gemmi kept a tight grip on Ricci’s hand even in astral form
while the blocked memories of their previous encounter surfaced
again.
‘Ok Typhon, here I am, what are your other two wishes,’ Ricci
sneered courageously.
Typhon appeared in a sickly grey vision.
‘Welcome to my humble abode, come closer so I may give you a
piece of my mind,’ Typhon sadistically roared.
‘Oh no, I really cannot take the last piece,’ Ricci grinned,
unsheathing Dragonfang which she had conjured up from
memory in her astrophysical state.
‘Is that supposed to scare me?’ Typhon mocked.
‘I’m smiling aren’t I? That alone should scare you,’ Ricci
answered with contempt.
Typhon waved his hand, ‘I am being an ungracious host, please
make yourselves comfortable.’
The inside of Typhon’s mind changed.

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Imagine every image from a late night horror movie you have
ever seen, demons with rotting skin, demented creatures that
appeared hundreds of feet tall, tore at other putrid creatures and
horrifying demons. Completely distorted shapes and images that
changed, flowed, and made you nauseous to look at. Everything in
his mind he had fashioned to instil fear. Every nightmare created
in the minds of humans through the centuries Typhon kept in
here, twisted and made more horrific.
Little baby bunny rabbits caught and eaten by cute tiny
toddlers, with blood dripping from their one and two little baby
teeth mouths as they tore at the flesh of the bunnies. Tiny
toddlers were sautéed by demonic apparitions as snacks; their
soul-destroying screams tore through flesh and bone as the little
ones cooked in the huge frying pans.
A huge boogie monster hid under the table clinging to
something resembling Freddie Kruger, while they both trembling
in fear.
Kids on giant torture machine, their limbs ripped off as their
pleas and cries deafened the trio.
These images came and went. Some were far away, and then
zoomed into their faces. Some images remained distorted others
so vivid that it felt like they sucked in your soul, made it even
more terrifying.
Ricci looked around, ‘love what you done to the place,’ she
mocked, ‘although it is a little bland, ever considered using more
contrast? Oh and their attire is so last season,’ she said pointing at
some wraths, ‘not very convincing, but what do you expect from a
has-been over the hill Olympian who thinks he is a god.’

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Typhon roared again, ‘you think you cannot be hurt here? Think
again human. This is not a nightmare. Here everything is real and
can and will kill you, again, and again. This will be your tormented
home for all eternity.’
‘What is the rest of your plan Gems?’ Ricci whispered to Gemmi
through pursed lips.
Gemmi seemed different, possibly the effect of the Brisingamen
jewel. She seemed possessed and scary even to Ricci.
Gemmi’s eyes glowed with a blood red light.
Loser jumped to Ricci’s neck and chattered furiously.
‘What is the one thing you do not see here,’ Gemmi asked.
Ricci looked around at the fear, despair, pain and torture
around her.
‘A good fast food restaurant,’ Ricci nervously joked, a built in
defence in a desperate situation.
‘Love,’ Gemmi said.
‘So?’ Ricci did not follow.
‘Loser is pure emotion. We will use his emotion, amplify it and
use it against the demon,’ Gemmi explained.
At this exact moment, Loser jumped from Ricci’s neck and stood
in front of them with a fearful expression on his face, he looked
from Ricci to Gemmi and looked scared out of his wits.
‘This place must be affecting his mind, he must be seeing us as
monsters,’ Gemmi suggested.
‘He does not have the jewel to protect his mind,’ Ricci added,
‘although even with the jewel your face is scaring the hell out of
me. We better get out of here quickly before the jewel fry both
our minds.’
‘Loser, close your eyes,’ Gemmi said.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Now feel my heart. Don’t look, just feel,’ Gemmi softly
instructed her friend.
Typhon seemed amused. He knew nothing could harm him
here. He was home, in his amazing Tortureland theme park, with
nightmares born through generations of creative human minds.
Sometimes, even he stood amazed at the demonic horrors human
minds could think up. New rides and carnival tents sprung up all
the time upgrading and replacing less terrifying ones; it was a
work in progress getting better every day.
Loser closed his eyes and he used his emotion senses.
He slowly inched closer to Gemmi and hesitantly put his little
paw in her hand.
‘Take his other hand, Ricci,’ she commanded.
They formed a circle.
‘Now Ricci I want you to project every bit of love you can
muster to Loser,’ Gemmi ordered, ‘Loser will do the rest.’
Ricci thought it an insane plan, but she ran through the images
of her husband and children anyway. Overcome by the love she
felt for them, she silently shed a tear.
Her brave arrogant facade completely obliterated by the
emotions she felt, enhanced by Loser’s abilities.
The loved flowed from the girls into Loser, and from Loser into
them. The emotions grew stronger and stronger with every
passing second.
Loser started to glow in an angelic light, a light so beautiful, so
pure, so holy it made your heart ache.
Typhon attacked.
He rushed at the circle but could not get close.
The light expanded and enveloped him in a force field of love.

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Typhon screamed.
He had felt love before in people he destroyed, but it had
served as fuel for the despair and fear he instilled on them. It
made it so much more satisfying killing a child while his parents
watched so that the love they felt turned into terror, anguish and
pain. He hated this emotion, this and hope, it made him
nauseous.
He loved destroying it.
This love was different, it grew inside his mind, it wanted to
destroy hate and fear and evil, it wanted to destroy him.
He felt fear for the first time in his existence.
It tore into every fibre of his being, the phantom image of
himself he projected into his own mind wrung in agony.
He wanted to run but the light surrounded him, and he had no
idea which way was out.
They had him trapped.

In the real world, Typhon clawed at his own face, tearing off
chunks of molten rock, trying to scratch out his brain.
‘Now what do we do?’ Ricci asked Gemmi, ‘we cannot keep this
up forever, and forever is as long as we will need to.’
Gemmi hesitated, ‘I thought we could destroy him with this
plan, unfortunately it seems we have only incapacitated him.’
The light faded slightly.
‘Keep going!’ Gemmi screamed, ‘trust our friends. We must
trust in good conquering evil. This is the only way, keep going!’
The light strengthened again.

388

Eye of the Gods

As all tales of heroes goes, it is required that all rescues and
victories happen at the last possible moment.
This is an indisputable requirement of any legend.
Unfortunately, this is not a legend, it is a story, and stories do not
always have happy-ever-afters.

Angel stood over the bodies of his wife, Gemmi and Loser.
They lay in a trance hands tightly clasped in each other’s.
The Brisingamen jewel slowly spun on Gemmi’s chest. Blood
seeped through the spot where the jewel pivoted and burrowed
into her skin.
Typhon laid a few paces off wringing in pain scratching at his
face, quite oblivious to everything around him.
Angel did not know what to do.
As Qren explained, from the images he was able to gather from
the girl’s minds, they were keeping him a prisoner there.
They could not remove the jewel or revive the girls because that
would cause Typhon to escape.
The girls could not keep it up forever; their bodies needed
sustenance and sleep.
They need to come up with a plan to imprison Typhon
permanently, somewhere where he could not control a mind to
rescue him, some place from which he cannot escape.

Anxious oriental faces cautiously appeared behind dumpsters,
wrecks and from ruined buildings.
Was it really all over? They thought.
They did not dare approach as they could see Typhon was not
dead yet, but the show was clearly too good to miss.

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Angel had no idea what to do; he simply could not tear his mind
away from his wife and her situation.
‘Ah hell, just look up,’ LOBE interjected forcibly.
Angel looked up into the blinding midday sun.
‘What? I can’t see anything, the damn sun is too bright,’ He said
irritated with the voice in his head.
‘That’s what I meant genius, the sun, dump him into the sun,’
LOBE haughtily sighed.
Angel brightened up.
‘That’s brilliant, even if he could control a mind, no one could
get close enough to him to rescue him. Well Skibladne could with
her Zellion hull but everyone inside would still be pressure
cooked.’
‘Of course it is brilliant,’ LOBE jeered, ‘everything I say is.’
‘Skibladne, teleport Typhon inside,’ he commanded the ship of
legends.
#would that not break the connection my lord# Skibladne
asked.
Skibladne although able to teleport inanimate objects, could
not safely teleport living creatures. Typhon, they did not care for,
but the girls and Loser could not be teleported.
Sleipnir was the only ship able to teleport with human or aliens
inside it. Scientists speculated this to be more Aesir magic than
technology and no one had been able to replicate this remarkable
attribute.
‘Dammit, I did not think of that,’ Angel replied agitated.
#if it pleases my lord, might I offer suggestion#

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The plan though simple remained eloquent, whereby Skibladne
would lift the four bodies with her tractor beam while Angel used
Sleipnir to teleport around them.

The girls, the Gerbit and Typhon materialized behind Angel as
Sleipnir finished its teleport sequence.
The landing bay on Skibladne opened and Angel docked his
wife’s fighter inside.
Skibladne set course for the sun and zoomed off as swiftly as
was possible without disturbing the unconscious teammates on
Sleipnir.
It took only a few minutes for Skibladne to achieve a safe orbit
around the sun.
The sweat dripped from Angel in buckets. The heat, even at this
distance, and with the cooling systems running at full blast,
remained unbearable.
Angel was about to tell Skibladne to teleport Typhon into the
sun when the irritating voice inside his mind appeared again.
‘Stop you idiot,’ LOBE commanded.
‘What now?’ Angel asked.
‘The girls and Loser’s consciousness are still trapped inside that
monster, if you teleport him now, you will kill them,’ LOBE
explained.
‘So what do you suggest we do,’ Angel asked in desperation.
Scenes of his wife’s funeral swam in front of his eyes, having the
preview of her wake in progress right now.
‘Simple choices really, if you sever the connection now, Typhon
wakes and destroys us all, if you don’t, Typhon gets imprisoned
and your wife and her friends die,’ LOBE gave the options.

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‘I meant a suggestion where no one dies,’ Angel screamed.
#Skibladne, get ready to teleport Typhon on my mark# LOBE
commanded the ship of legends after liberating Angel’s vocal
cords.
‘Okay, I’m going to explain this slowly so you can follow. Take
the sword of Freyr and get in position to knock that jewel away
from Gemmi,’ he told Angel.
‘We might only have a second, so do not mess this up,’ LOBE
jabbed at Angel.
‘I won’t,’ Angel answered through clenched teeth in grim
determination.
‘Now,’ LOBE commanded both Skibladne and Angel.
Angel swung the sword of Freyr as Typhon started to
dematerialize.
The flat of the blade caught the Brisingamen jewel dead centre.
It flew into the hull with such force it dented it.
Gemmi and Ricci both started to groan, and Loser silently lay
there with his eyes fluttering open and shut.
‘What happened?’ Ricci spluttered.
She focussed on her husband’s face, flew up and embraced him
so tightly it knocked the wind out of him.
‘Ricci, is that you?’ Angel asked bemused as she kissed him all
over his face.
‘Yes you idiot, what took you so long,’ Ricci yelled holding onto
him even tighter.
‘Yep, It’s you all right,’ Angel laughed.
Gemmi sat groggily supporting herself on her arms.
‘Where is Typhon?’ she asked.
‘View screen, my lady,’ Angel commanded Skibladne.

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The screen flickered and turned to a scene showing Typhon
plummeting into the sun, still screaming.
‘Welcome to your new eternal home,’ Ricci laughed, ‘being
immortal is a bitch.’
Loser grew a little in size and helped Gemmi to her feet, holding
her tightly to make sure she did not fall.
‘Where is my sword?’ Ricci asked accusingly.
‘Right behind you my dear,’ Angel smiled. He knew in what
trouble he would have been had he forgotten to take the sword.
Ricci picked it up and walked over to the jewel, splitting it in one
motion.
A deafening scream followed and this time Ricci and Gemmi
joined in, having had their minds connected through the jewel
that long, it felt like someone stabbed ice picks into their brain.
Loser held Gemmi even closer.
After a few seconds, the pain subsided and the two halves of
the jewel lay on the deck inside Sleipnir.
Ricci attached her halve to the hilt of her sword and Gemmi
mounted hers on the chain around her neck.
Ricci hugged Angel again.
‘Residual effect from Loser’s emotion energy, don’t get used to
it,’ Ricci joked.
Gemmi shook her head, knowing that the emotions they
projected dissipated as soon as they left Typhon’s mind.
‘You are squishing me,’ Angel breathed desperately, the wind
knocked out of him.
‘Ah, suck it up big boy.’
She let go as she saw Qren enter Sleipnir’s command deck.

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‘Qren, am I happy to see you,’ she shouted and hugged him too
before Angel could warn him to run.
‘You have one amazing little girl down there,’ Ricci said pointing
in the direction of earth.
‘Thank you my lady, and now if it pleases my lord may I go see
her,’ Qren projected.
‘Was that an attempt at sarcasm Qren?’ Angel smiled.
‘I think so my lord; did I succeed?’ he asked.
‘Nope, still need some work,’ Ricci remarked, while walking off
her ship onto Skibladne.
Angel and Gemmi laughed, the queen of sarcasm had spoken.
‘By the way Gems, next time you use love as a weapon; count
me out!’ Ricci yelled over her shoulder.
‘I know princess, that’s why I did not tell you the plan until the
last moment. But haven’t you been using it for years?’ Gemmi
mischievously called after her.
Ricci growled to the amusement of the others.
‘Screw you Gems,’ she shouted.
‘Now dear, that wasn’t very nice,’ Angel carefully berated her.
‘Okay, okay, I take it back. Un-screw you Gems,’ Ricci laughed.
‘Bitch,’ Gemmi giggled.
‘You say bitch like it is a bad thing Gems,’ Ricci said as she
walked away with swaying hips.
‘Are these your eyeballs I found stuck in my tight butt dear?’
Ricci teased without looking back.
‘Stop being a smartass dear.’
‘Well looking at your arse, you must be a freaken genius,’ she
shot back.
‘Damn, I’m on fire tonight,’ her laughter faded into the distance.

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Angel knew he loved her and could never love anyone as much
as he did his wife.
He sighed happily and followed her.

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CHAPTER 40
Angel sat bolt upright in bed. The dream he had, woke him with
a start.
‘What’s wrong dear,’ he heard Ricci’s sleepy voice drift up from
the pillow beside him.
‘I forgot something important,’ Angel said.
‘Well can you keep on forgetting it till morning, it is the middle
of the night,’ Ricci sleepily replied again.
‘Don’t you want to know what Typhon was after in downtown
Tokyo,’ Angel asked.
‘No babes, I only asked what’s wrong to be polite, I really don’t
care,’ Ricci announced turning her back on him and pretended to
snore.
With the excitement of seeing his wife and kids again, he had
completely forgotten whom they were originally pursuing.
He got out of bed and headed over to the Valk’r command
centre.
He was surprised to find so many Valk’r awake going over scans
and satellite images.
Angel was even more surprised to find that the images were of
downtown Tokyo.
‘What’s going on?’ Angel asked.
‘We are searching for Dar’kel,’ Carra’s voice came from the
door she just entered.
She pushed one of the cups of coffee she carried into his hand.
‘Thanks,’ he smiled, ‘so are you going to keep me in suspense
forever, or are you going to tell me how you knew she was here?’

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‘Qren told us you were following her,’ Carra explained, ‘we
assumed she must be hiding in Tokyo since this is where Typhon
attacked, and we know how much he hates her.’
‘Too bad we could not leave him to finish her off,’ Angel looked
pensive.
‘Yes my lord, but you know our objective here on earth is saving
lives. We could not let those innocent people die,’ Carra
explained.
‘I know,’ Angel replied, ‘but it would have been nice though.’
‘We will find her my lord, she cannot hide forever,’ Carra
decreed with determination.
‘Any news on Apollo’s whereabouts,’ Angel asked sipping his
coffee, remembering that the god went missing as well.
‘No my lord but we have every available Valk’r searching for
him. He could not have gotten far.’
‘Great, then I am going back to bed,’ Angel decreed before
remembering the cup of coffee he just drank.
Carra saw his unease, ‘do not worry my lord, it is decaf, you’ll
sleep just fine.’
‘Thanks Carra, have a pleasant evening.’

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CHAPTER 41
Two weeks had passed.
Angel, Ricci, and the children had decided it was time for a
holiday and they, along with Qren and the other kids, travelled all
over South America, visiting the most picturesque places.
The Cacahuamilpa grotto in Mexico fascinated Throm, while
Phalin loved the rain forests and Feral thought the Rio Carnival
must be heaven brought to earth.
The children had a closer bond than ever before. Shen
blossomed into a confident young alien.
Feral seemed to have grown up as well, even though as a
descendant of Loki the trickster god, the prank gene remained
imbedded in his DNA. His pranks were somehow more
entertaining and less childish, and he maintained it was part of his
training to become a ninth circle mage.
Throm and Phalin resembled their parents more with every
passing day. Their destiny to become rulers of their races was
obvious to everyone in their regal mannerism. Feral had the same
destiny but he unfortunately resembled Guival more than Arch-
chancellor Teral.
Angel could only marvel at the children’s transformation after
they were giving the freedom and faith to handle the Furies on
their own.
Skibladne skimmed across the Atlantic Ocean on its way back to
New Valhalla. The children happily chatted in the chairs behind
Angel.

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Ricci, sitting in the command chair next to him, turned her head
and smiled at him.
Angel wanted to freeze this moment in time; it was perfect.

The Valk’r hanger was quiet, too quiet; there were no support
staff or ground crew insight. Angel and the rest of his entourage
instinctively went into combat mode.
He gave no order; he did not need to.
Weapons appeared out of nowhere as they formed a semi
circle, each intently listening for the slightest sound, the slightest
indication of trouble.

Angel sighed as he thought back to only a few minutes ago. The
peace, the happiness, he had the perfect moment.
It could never last.
Feral moved a few paces forward, his hand outstretched in
front of him.
His other hand held Gungnir in a defensive grip.
Something seemed just a little off and slightly supernatural.
He felt the magical field and was about to throw a spell at it
when he heard someone roar with laughter in his mind.
‘Knew I could not fool you,’ he heard a familiar voice.
‘Dad, uncle Teral!’ he screamed.
The hangar started to shimmer and the occupants slowly
appeared, hidden from sight with Aesir magic.
The entire crew was present, Laidin, Kirom, Guival, even Brom
and Teral were there along with Kirom and Guival’s spouses.
‘We thought you could use a ride home,’ Kirom laughed, as
Throm grabbed his mom and dad in a warm embrace.

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Feral was about to comment on the little hairball, but a sharp
look from his mother ended that idea quickly.
Guival and Teral’s sister were married, and even though Teral
never had children, he had always thought of his nephew Feral as
his own.
Feral had always been very proud of the fact that he descended
from the two most powerful mages in Aesir history, namely Loki
and Odin, until Storm pointed out that he must have been the
result of inbreeding since they were in fact brothers.
Unfortunately, Phalin’s father could not make it as he oversaw
the process of dark El rehabilitation. Laidin created this program
for the non-military dark El, not responsible for the destruction of
Nidavellir.
The elven girls happily gossiped as only girls could.
‘Glad to see you have not lost my spear yet,’ Guival said
pointing to Gungnir.
Kirom ruffled Throm’s hair while his uncle Brom, Kirom’s older
brother, came over for another family hug.
Even though the Valk’r briefed the new arrivals on the events
that preceded the reunion, they still seemed to have much to
discuss.
‘Well met my friend,’ Angel greeted the Arch Chancellor of the
Aesir.
‘And you my lord,’ Teral replied.
‘I thought you guys were too busy to come?’ Angel asked the
arch mage.
‘Truth is we felt bad having the UGE lord come out here alone
when we owe him so much,’ Teral answered.

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Brom joined them, ‘Laidin felt the UGE council needed more
responsibility, and she decided they could oversee the rest of the
work that needed to be done.
She did ask Vadenin to return from his deep space exploration
mission to oversee the rehabilitation project.
All the UGE members were too busy helping the Dwar and El
rebuild to cause trouble again. We could take a small break and
come make sure you did not get yourself into any serious trouble,’
the Grand Master Dwar explained.
‘Vadenin, now there is a name I have not heard in many years,’
Angel remarked.
‘Well he has always been a free spirit. I guess that is what
attracted Laidin to him. I do not think Phalin will miss him not
being here though. She had seldom seen him growing up and
their relationship was almost nonexistent. Poor girl,’ Brom added.
He had a very low opinion of Phalin’s dad, for continuously
abandoning his family to go on his ridiculous explorations. These
quests would continue for years at time, and he missed almost all
of Phalin’s childhood. For a Dwar there was nothing more
important than his family. Vadenin, even though he was married
to Laidin had renounced his title as king so he may pursue his
passion for deep space exploration.
‘Well I am truly overjoyed to see you all,’ Angel beamed.
A small figure appeared in the hangar entrance flanked by
Gemmi and Carra.
‘Noone, is that really you?’ Angel squinted to make sure his
eyes were not deceiving him.
‘Ah, my lord, good to see you,’ the ancient being remarked.
‘You are on earth?’ Angel asked in disbelief.

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Noone pretended to pinch himself, ‘I guess I am. Imagine that.’
‘Geez seems I need to keep all you guys away from Ricci,’ he
scoffed.
Angel laughed and hugged his old mentor.
Qren was even more elated than Angel was at seeing Noone.
Gemmi cleared her throat, ‘lords and ladies. May I have your
attention?’
The room went silent.
‘In honour of the most revered and distinguished guest in the
universe gracing us with your presence on our humble planet, we
of the Valk’r decided to hold a ball in your honour.’
‘A ball,’ Feral asked confused, ‘that’s silly, why hold a ball, why
not a golden standard or a symbolic sword?’ he asked innocently.
‘A ball is a dance you moron,’ Storm and Ricci exclaimed in
unison.
The hangar bay erupted with uncontrolled laughter.
‘What, you think I’m stupid?’ Feral asked and blushed, turning a
deep blue.
‘It’s not your fault, but I must admit, as always, you have a very
strong grasp of the obvious,’ Storm jested.
‘Now listen here...’ Guival began.
‘I am ready to listen, are you ready to think?’ Ricci interrupted
him.
‘Well I think...’ Feral interjected before Storm interrupted him.
‘Shhh... Do you hear that? That’s the sound of nobody caring
what you think,’ Storm added to her mother’s pestering of the
two Aesir.
‘Oh no, ancients protect us, now there are two of them... we
are doomed,’ Noone screamed in mock anguish.

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The friends retired to ready themselves for the ball that
evening.
Angel suggested they invited dignitaries from all over the earth
to join them in the festivities.
This pleased the female warriors since it meant the guests
would bring guards and secret service boys for them to enjoy the
evening with.
Angel wore his formal Skibladne designed attire, as were all the
boys. The girls however decided to wear more eloquent ballroom
gowns. Each trying to outdo the other while making sure they do
not outdo Ricci.

Just to make sure no one was going to show Ricci up, Gemmi
had requisitioned a gown made from pure gold thread. It was
styled to hug Ricci’s amazing figure accenting her striking features.
Her hair that looked as if woven from gold flowed over the gown
in perfect harmony. Her full breasts lifted and showed more
cleavage than most men could handle without embarrassing
themselves.
When she entered the room Angel’s jaw physically dropped,
and he stammered to find suitable or even any words.
‘Is it that bad?’ Ricci joked knowing she looked amazing.
‘My love, you look... you look... WOW!’
Ricci giggled and grabbed him around the neck kissing him
passionately.
The great hall, where the banquet and ball was to take place
looked like something out of a fairy princess’s handbook. Ice
sculptures and glass structures swept across the room. White lilies

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seemed to grow along the walls and faint golden lights ran from
every corner.
Since the UGE lord was the guest of honour, all other dignitaries
and friends were already present in the great hall.
The entire room turned quiet to admire the princess of the
UGE’s entry.
The normal pleasantries continued where everyone pretended
to be very happy to see everyone else.
Most had no idea whom the other was, but they were still
happy to see them... again, and how are the children, and it has
been so long since we last had time to catch up... who are you
again?
Angel made Ricci swear to behave and not insult or gods forbid
kill anyone.
She reluctantly agreed when he promised her she could attack
the next planet that threatened the UGE stability.
Angel was quite surprised to see the heads of state of so many
countries around the world in attendance.
The children looked delightful in the same attire as the UGE
lord. They were overjoyed that they were now able to wear the
robes of honour as they referred to it. Even the girls, after finding
that some essential accessories did not quite fit their gowns,
quickly settled for the Skibladne designed formal tunic.
The accessories of course referring to weapons like Tyrfing
strapped to the back of Storm, the bow of Odin and the twin
blasters, which the girls argued were status symbols and deserved
the honour of the ball as much as they did.
In any event, there was no way that the boys were going to the
ball fully armed and they were not.

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Blade, Throm and Feral were showing off their best imitation of
their parents’ position, by strutting down the aisle in the most
kingly fashion they could think of, while the girls judged them.
Throm won by an enormous margin and Blade and Feral
decided to attack, while Throm defended the fair maidens’
honour.
The battle that ensued almost caused an international incident.
The girls not to feel left out joined in the attack, and a lot of
glass and ice shattered in the initial onslaught, as well as some
dignitaries receiving some nasty bumps and bruises.
Angel had his hands full persuading Ricci not to join the battle.
The situation only subdued after Storm’s blade accidentally
nicked Loser’s jacket and he grew to a supersized premenstrual
guerrilla. He grabbed each of the twins and Throm in turn stuffing
them under his arm like a bunch of stolen bananas.
The children knew better than to anger him any further and did
not struggle.
Feral turned into a metallic puddle and proceeded to flow
from the room avoiding the same indignity.
Shen and Phalin surrendered laying down their weapons.
The prompt banishment of the children from the proceedings
followed, and they had to spend the evening in the hangar bay
with Skibladne.

The kids still brooded over their misfortune and unfair
treatment, when they heard a commotion in the corridor outside
the hangar.

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They rushed from the room only to find an unkempt little
creature dragged between four Gentari warriors.
The beleaguered creature barely able to move her head from
the fatigue looked up and shyly smiled at Throm.
Something passed between them; the look in her eye stirred
something strange in his dwarven heart.
He felt such empathy well up inside him for this bedraggled
deformed creature, that his stocky dwarven body was hardly able
to contain it.
‘Bruxa,’ Throm exclaimed rushing to her aid.
‘You know this creature?’ the Gentari commander enquired.
‘Yes, unhand her immediately,’ he ordered.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked the Lamie who from exhaustion
and hunger appeared unable to speak. She still managed a smile
at her beloved but collapsed immediately after.
‘Where did you find her?’ Blade asked.
‘She was skulking in the woods,’ the Gentari commander
explained, ‘she must have been driven mad with hunger and thirst
because she ranted and raved about wanting to see the bearded
king of the mountain.’
‘I assume that must be you?’ The Gentari deduced pointing at
Throm.
Throm ignored her, picked Bruxa up and carried her to his
quarters.
The others crowded around, but Throm instructed them to get
water and clean clothes for the little creature.
The girls decided to give her a bath while the boys waited
outside the room. They had to fill the tub six times to get rid of
the layers upon layers of filth that covered little Bruxa.

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They had no idea how to feed her, until Throm closed his eyes
and offered her his arm. She refused at first but the thirst and
hunger overwhelmed her.
‘Bruxa is sorry my lord, and thankful, but sorry,’ she said
blushing as she gently sipped the blood from the cut Throm had
made on his arm using Tyrfing.
Even though the creature was horribly deformed, her humble
demeanour and friendly face, won the hearts of all the children
and since she had been willing to help them on their quest, they
remained in her debt.
She finished dinking, what could not have been nearly enough
to sustain her. She gently touched the rough bearded face of
Throm with her strange little hand.
‘Thank you my king,’ she said, and fainted again.
‘Phalin would you mind fetching blood from the infirmary, we
need to feed it directly into her blood sack,’ Throm requested.
Throm had studied the anatomy of these creatures after they
had attacked New Valhalla. He was a firm proponent of know thy
enemy. He never imagined it would be to save one of their lives as
an ally.
Phalin presented him with the two pints of blood, which he fed
via tube directly into her blood sack.
‘Let’s go,’ Throm ordered, ‘let her rest, we can talk to her
tomorrow.’
They left the room.
Storm, not entirely convinced of her good intentions, ordered
two Gentari to stand guard. She convinced Throm that they were
there just in case Bruxa needed anything during the night.
Throm was not happy about it, but agreed reluctantly.

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The following morning Ricci lay in bed refusing to take her head
from beneath her pillows.
She complained about a headache from the huge amounts of
champagne she had to consume due to her forced vow of peace.
The previous evening she had maintained that the only way she
was going to be able to keep her smile without inciting an incident
was if Angel allowed her to drink.
No one argued then, but this morning she was thinking of
hunting everyone that did not tell her to stop.
To beat the princess was never an option, mostly trying to look
cute and cuddly and hoping she would overlook you remained the
best course of action.
Angel quietly snuck out of the room hoping to find a secure
hiding place before she regained mobility.
The twins almost flattened him as they hastily rounded a
corner.
‘Dad, dad, you have to come listen to this,’ Blade screamed.
‘What could be so important that it can’t wait until I had had my
coffee,’ he asked bitterly.
‘Bruxa is here, and boy does she have news,’ Storm continued.
‘Who...?’ Angel asked confused.
‘Bruxa dad, the Lamie, who helped us locate the Furies,’ Blade
explained.
Angel was intrigued, one of Dar’kel and Typhon’s little helper
here? What could be the meaning of this?
‘Okay, hold your horses, I am coming,’ he sighed while the twins
manhandled him down the passage.

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EPILOGUE
The Valk’r quickly transformed the ballroom into a makeshift
council room. All the council members currently on earth were
present and accounted for, except for Ricci who was still
thankfully out of action.
The children were excited, as this was the first council meeting
Angel allowed them to attend.
The tables still decked out in white satin cloth formed a half
moon.

Throm, who had barely slept, woke his friends very early to go
check on Bruxa.
She was sitting upright in bed. She smiled as she saw her young
acquaintances, and her smile broadened considerably when she
saw the sturdy features of Throm emerge from behind the twins.
The team had to admit that this was a completely different
Bruxa to the one from last night. The blood drip they gave her
served as a miraculous reviver.
‘You look much better,’ Storm observed, still suspicious of this
little vampiric creature’s arrival at the sanctuary.
‘Yes my queen, Bruxa thanks you,’ Bruxa replied blushing with
all the attention.
‘Queen, Huh? She does act like a queen most of the time,’ Feral
laughed.
‘Feral, behave!’ Shen admonished the Aesir sternly in the minds
of all the children but did not project her thoughts towards Bruxa,
‘she sees all of us as gods or royalty. Her mind does not

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differentiate. We, in her eyes, are kind, generous, and inspire
loyalty and command. The only people she knows with those
qualities are royal blood.’
The friends looked at her in amazement. It was completely
unlike Shen to firstly give an emotional response, and secondly
actually confront one of the others.
‘Well, we are all related to the leaders of our races, so I guess
she was not far off,’ Throm smiled enjoying Feral’s reprimanding
by the little alien girl.
Storm smirked, ‘or the leaders of the leaders.’
Blade gave his sister a stern look, ‘only because their parents
allow our parents to be S’tormindal,’ he retorted.
Storm winched, the only time her brother would use her real
name is if she had gone too far.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.
‘So my little Bruxa, would you be kind enough to enlighten us as
to why you came to New Valhalla,’ Phalin asked.
The children’s eyes widened as the story unfold.

Two hours later and the council convened ready to listen to
Bruxa’s tale.
She looked quite presentable in a small frock Gemmi used to
wear when she first arrived on earth.
She stood in the middle of the semi circle of tables behind
which the most important and imposing figures in the known
universe sat.
The children had taken up seating on the side, in a space where
you would find the nerds and unpopular girls at the dance.
Bruxa was frightened out of her wits.

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She visibly shook, and fearfully looked around at the faces until
she found Throm.
He smiled at her and nodded.
She immediately felt slightly more at ease and smiled at him
timidly.
Angel’s voice interrupted the moment.
‘Bruxa, welcome to this UGE council meeting,’ he smiled at her.
‘Thank you your holiness majesty sir,’ she stammered.
‘Just Angel will be fine, Bruxa,’ Angel corrected her with a
friendly smile.
He quickly introduced the rest of the council members being
Kirom, Guival, Laidin, Gemmi and Noone. Brom and Teral were
also in attendance, as honorary members, even though Guival and
Kirom were the ambassadors, and council members, of their
respective races.
Bruxa nervously smiled and waved.
‘Would you be kind enough to reiterate the accounts you
regaled our brood with recently,’ Laidin asked.
Bruxa stared at her completely baffled.
‘She means, would you tell us the story you told our children
Bruxa,’ Angel restated the request when he saw the little
creature’s discomfort.
Bruxa cleared her throat.
‘With gladness, your lordiness Angel Sir,’ Bruxa stammered.
Her story began with her encounter of the darklord.
She told the council how she made the Lamie clan do her
bidding. How Dar’kel woke Typhon from his slumber. How the
darklord forced the Lamies with the help of Typhon to attack New
Valhalla.

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Gemmi felt nauseous as she relived the events and had to leave
the room.
Bruxa told the council how Typhon helped their evil master to
create the hydra army. Bruxa explained how she slipped away to
find the cure for their mistress, from the head of medusa on the
shield Aegis.
Little Bruxa explained to them how Lamia was revived, and
moved to Egypt. How the darklord and Typhon one day
disappeared. Then the kings and queens showed up, and she
helped them with finding the Furies.
‘Bruxa not know that her mistress was evil. Bruxa only want to
help sisters,’ the little creature explained.
‘Mistress had terrible plan for revenge on other gods from
beyond the eye, for cursing mistress and her children,’ Bruxa
explained.
‘She make Bruxa capture god and take eye,’ she continued.
‘So you took Apollo?’ Gemmi asked. She had returned a short
while ago, after spending some time in the rest rooms.
She was extremely happy that Ricci was not there to hear the
Lamie talk about the attack on New Valhalla, since the little
creature would not have survived the retelling.
‘Bruxa not want to, Bruxa not bad, Bruxa had no choice.
Mistress kills Bruxa if Bruxa say no,’ she told the council.
‘Bruxa escape to warn mountain king, and other god-kings and
god-queens. Mountain king kind to Bruxa, make Bruxa see the bad
things, make Bruxa be good,’ she continued pointing at Throm.
‘Mistress Lamia took Bruxa’s sisters to Olympus to kill Zeus and
other gods,’ she concluded.

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‘Serves them right,’ Ricci’s strained voice drifted in from the
door, having caught Bruxa’s last statement.
‘So this is where you’ve been hiding,’ she remarked sourly while
rubbing her forehead, ‘and what in heaven’s name is this thing?’
she asked pointing in the general direction of Bruxa.
‘Bruxa is a Lamie,’ Angel said, realizing his mistake as he said it,
but by that time, Ricci’s hands already choked the life out of
Bruxa.
He dove over the table grabbing his wife’s arms and pinned it
behind her.
‘Let me go right now,’ Ricci screamed in fury, ‘she killed my
friends; I will rip her to shreds!’
Angel started to sweat, as he barely held on to his wife. Her
rage was intense and she fought him with everything inside her.
‘Darling listen, she is not responsible. It was Sharin and Typhon.
They were unwilling pawns forced to do the dirty work, otherwise
they would have ended up dead. Bruxa came all this way risking
her life, both from her own sisters and us, to warn us. Please calm
down,’ Angel pleaded with his wife to see reason.
Bruxa sat on the ground coughing and wheezing, her wide
fearful eyes staring at Ricci.
The children formed a defensive line in front of her, but prayed
that Angel would have enough strength to keep holding on. They
were in no mood to face an enraged Ricci.
‘Okay, fine, let me go,’ she hissed at Angel a minute later, ‘I
won’t kill her.’
Angel tentatively let go.
Ricci shook him off and lunged at Bruxa again, but at that same
moment, a tranquilizer dart bit into her neck.

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Ricci had enough time to slap at the dart, turn her head and say,
‘YOU!’ before she went numb.
Carra stepped through the door with a tranquilizer gun in her
hand.
‘I thought you might need this when I found Princess Ricci had
left her room.’
The council stared at her in amazement. No one could believe
anyone would have the balls to tranquilize Ricci.
‘Thank you,’ Angel said, ‘but I suggest you take an urgent
vacation before Ricci comes to.’
Two Gentari appeared, and returned Ricci to her room.
‘Bruxa, we need you to show them where the eye is and bring it
back here,’ Angel ordered while pointing to the children.
His main thought being, get Bruxa off the base as soon as
possible.
‘Blade, I need you to lead a recovery operation, are you up to
it?’ Angel asked.
‘Of course dad, we are so on it,’ Blade stated proudly.
‘Gemmi, could you supply a Valk’r recovery crew and Gentari
fighter escort?’ Angel asked.
‘Of course my lord,’ Gemmi said turning to Carra, ‘Carra, could
you handle this please. I am placing you in charge of the Valk’r
effort, under Blade’s command.’
Gemmi had the same thought on Carra that Angel had about
Bruxa. Get them off the base before the princess regained
consciousness.
Carra curtsied and left to carry out her orders.

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‘In the meantime, the council will debate our course of action
on the intelligence we just received,’ Angel decreed while
returning to his seat, ‘take Skibladne Blade,’ he told his son.
‘Come Bruxa, you need to show us where the eye of the gods
is,’ Blade remarked helping the little creature to her feet.

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***
‘This is not good, not good at all,’ Zeus murmured miserably
while sitting in the stone cage with the other gods.
‘Yes this is wacked yo,’ Athena acknowledged.
Several days ago, the gods were sitting down to a feast. This
was the usual Hermday1 feast right after Athena’s afternoon yoga
classes, and evening Bingo.
From nowhere the attack came. The gods had no time to ready
themselves.
They complained bitterly afterward that someone should have
given them at least a day warning.
‘I’m not wearing my good teeth?’
‘My hair is a mess,’
‘I’ll show you where you can put that walker,’
‘Where are my mandamn2 bolts?’
‘Slow down Schumacher, this is a wheelchair not a F1 car,’
The Lamies unceremoniously dragged, wheeled, and pulled the
gods into the cage.
‘Apollo, where did you come from?’ Zeus shouted as he found
his old friend already inside the stone cage.
‘Os ohw eht kcuf era uoy,3’ Apollo asked utterly confused as to
where he was, and who he was.

1 The gods decided to name the days of the week after themselves, Zeusday,
Apoday, Hermday, Athday, Aphday, Aresday and Heraday.
2 damn for gods
3 So who the f*** are you?

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Zeus had become used to this and he took a seat next to his
friend to explain where he was.
‘Why I cannot tell you. I don’t know these creatures,’ Zeus
remarked.
‘Kcuf swonk fi I od. I evah reven nees meht erofeb1’ Apollo
replied.
‘Oh, but you do,’ a familiar voice hissed from the gloom outside
the cage.
Zeus thought hard, he knew that voice. Echidna, no she was
dead.
Zeus still racked his brain when the voice continued after a brief
pause.
‘Lamia you old fool,’ she hissed severely annoyed that he did
not know who she was.
‘Oh shit,’ Athena said.
‘Hera is the one you want,’ Ares tried.
‘What? Speak up, I can’t hear you?’ Hera said after she saw Ares
point at her.
‘Just nod your head like this,’ Ares suggested nodding his head.
‘Why?’ she asked again, nodding her head involuntarily.
‘Oh, no need for thissss, you will all die eventually when we are
through playing with you,’ Lamia proclaimed.
‘We have friends, they will help us,’ Zeus exclaimed adamantly.
‘You are misssstaken Zeussss,’ she spat, ‘the eye issss ssssealed.
No one will come for you. All your friendssss and petssss, who are
able to open the eye, are on thissss sssside.’

1
F*** knows if I do. I have never seen them before.

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‘So what do you want from us,’ Zeus asked now completely
petrified.
‘Nothing... jusssst need you to die, when I am ready,’ Lamia
remarked with an evil smile playing around her happily flicking
forked tongue.

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***
A hesitant Valk’r guard interrupted a lively discussion in the
council room.
‘Lords, ladies, please excuse the intrusion but we have a request
from some of the heads of state to address the council,’ she
announced.
This is strange, Angel thought, what could they possibly want to
discuss with the council at this time?
He looked at the rest of the council and shrugged, ‘show them
in,’ he announced.
Five of the dignitaries from the previous evening entered the
room. The Valk’r guards escorted the presidents of France, Russia,
America and China along with the prime minister of England, into
the council chambers.
They hurriedly placed tables and chairs in front of the half moon
occupied by the council.
‘Welcome my friends. What can we do for you?’ Angel asked
with burning curiosity as the 5 leaders took their seats.
The heads of state seemed to have elected the President of the
United States as their spokesperson.
‘Honoured council members, I apologize for the intrusion. We
saw the occasion of having the UGE council here as the most
opportune time to address an issue of importance to the entire
earth.’
‘Please continue,’ Angel instructed.
‘The earth has been constructing our own ships for interstellar
travel in secret. In a joint initiative from the most brilliant

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scientists on earth, we managed to reverse engineer some of the
ships we captured in the war on earth 20 years ago. Two
prototype ships have been developed with jump drive capability
and we are hoping to have more soon,’ the president continued.
Angel looked at Gemmi questioningly, how was the Valk’r not
aware of this and why was he not informed.
Gemmi smiled, ‘I knew about this my lord, but Valk’r law
prohibit us from interfering in the development of humankind. I
am as surprised as you are to find that they are so far along
though. We had estimated at least another 5 years before the
earth would be ready.’
The president continued, ‘the prototypes have been completed,
and we are ready to start trail runs.’
‘That is good news mister president, but I am still unsure why
you needed to address the council.’
The president took a deep breath, ‘we came to petition our
entry into the United Galactic Empire,’ he said.
Angel looked at his fellow council members, who all nodded in
turn giving their approval to hear this appeal.
‘Honoured guests, earth has long been a vital part of UGE
culture, and the earth has been represented on the UGE council
for the last 2 decades in the form of the Valk’r,’ Angel said
gesturing towards Gemmi, ‘even though up to this point your
seats were only there to ensure the safety of the planet.’
‘We understand this, but our petition is to be included as a
member race. We would like to introduce trade routes, undertake
exploration missions and perhaps establish small colonies on
different planets,’ the president concluded his petition.

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Angel considered this and determined that this was not up to
him to decide.
He addressed the council, ‘the earth has hereby formally
submitted their request for entry into the UGE. There are enough
of the voting council members here to reach a quorum, what is
the council’s decision.’
A chorus of ‘Aye’ flowed from around the table like a Mexican
wave.
Angel smiled.
‘Then mister president, it is my honour to welcome earth as an
official member of the UGE,’ Angel proclaimed, ‘we will have our
Ark engineers assist with the final configuration of your ships and
provide aid with the navigation equipment and star maps.’
‘If it pleases my lord, I would like to stay as an advisor,’ Noone
interjected.
Angel looked at the heads of state.
‘Noone is one of the Ancients and founders of the UGE. His
knowledge and guidance has brought the UGE to where it is
today. I assure you, there is no one better than Noone to take you
safely forward,’ Angel gave his appraisal of the Ancient being.
The presidents huddled together discussing this request.
Finally the president of the United States looked up, ‘Mr Noone,
we would be greatly honoured if you would assist us. We
understand that our scientist could not foresee everything that
could endanger our ships and people. Your assistance would be
invaluable and appreciated beyond words.’
‘Then I think at this time the only point we still need clarity on is
who will represent you on the council?’ Angel asked and
continued in the same breath.

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‘I suggest you keep the Valk’r as you ambassadors as they are
already familiar with UGE law and structure. They have also
represented earth admirable in the past,’ Angel suggested.
‘We agree that the Valk’r would be an unbiased impartial entity,
who would represent the entire earth and not just certain
nations,’ the president continued, ‘we would however need them
to form part of the United Nations, so we may convey points we
would like the raise in the council meetings.’
‘Then we are agreed, and again, may I extend my warmest
welcome to the earth as official member of the United Galactic
Empire.’
The council members all left their seats to congratulate and
welcome the heads of state into the UGE.
A Valk’r announced that they were ready to serve lunch and
Angel disbanded the council meeting, which would reconvene
afterwards.
The party left for the dining hall still merrily chatting. Brom ever
the opportunist discussed mining deals with the President of the
USA.
Angel overheard and quickly put an end to this discussion. He
had seen firsthand what was left of a planet once the Dwar had
burrowed into it.
‘As I said before Mr President, all deals will be handles with the
Valk’r and the UGE council as intermediaries. Even though this is
an amazing opportunity for the advancement of earth, the
destruction that you could invite upon the planet once the rest of
the UGE knows about you could be catastrophic. You have to
remember up to this point we had kept the location and as far as
possible the existence of earth a secret. However, now that you

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will start trading with the UGE that will not be the case anymore
and, unfortunately, there are bad elements in the UGE as well,
which would exploit and even destroy the earth. Just as a
protective measure, I have decided to send the darkmoons here
again. They will serve as deterrent for any pirates or smugglers
that might decide to try their luck with this planet,’ Angel said as
they walked to the dining halls.
The president was well pleased with these suggestions, as he
was concerned about the same points Angel raised. He had not
been President then, but everyone that lived two decades ago
remembered the two ominous new moons that appeared in orbit
around the earth. Their incredible firepower saved the earth from
utter annihilation on that occasion.
‘To a long and prosperous future together,’ the President
exclaimed.
‘Amen to that,’ Angel laughed.

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***
A Shadow darted across the rooftops and landed silently in an
abandoned alley, except for a nervous person pacing up and
down.
The person looked completely out of place in his expensive
Armani suit and well-groomed features.
This did not appear to be his first choice in meeting venue. An
air-conditioned boardroom would have been nice, preferably in
China, since downtown Tokyo is not where this Chinese person
would like to be.
Possibly because of Anti-Chinese sentiment flaring up all over
Japan.
Maybe it was because the Japanese Yakuza ruled these streets.
Probably being that he was a dragonhead, a boss in the Chinese
Triad.
Most definitely because he was ordered to come alone by the
only person he feared.
He stopped his restless pacing and watched as the strange
person walked up to him with an easy nonchalant gait. Everything
about this person was in balance and screamed, fear me, the devil
does, and he should know.
The shadowy figure could have been mistaken for a comic book
hero, until you stared into the soulless black eyes, and hoped to
die quickly.
As she came close, he bowed and offered her his thumb, which
he severed, as this was the Triad way for failure. He had been late
for their meeting on the previous occasion.

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Eye of the Gods

He hoped that this would appease her.
Dar’kel took the thumb, and flipped it over her shoulder into an
open dumpster.
‘What information do you have?’ Dar’kel commanded.
‘We are closing in on the prize my lady,’ the man nervously
spoke.
‘You have not found it?’ Dar’kel asked in a reproving tone.
‘It has been lost for many centuries your ladyship, we are doing
our best,’ the man shakily replied.
‘You disappoint me Shukuan,’ Dar’kel rasped in perfect
Mandarin.
Shukuan shuddered when he thought about how easily this
masked figure infiltrated his sanctuary. No, not infiltrated, she
strolled into his fortified stronghold through the front door.
While on her sightseeing exploration through his mansion, she
killed 17 of his best men by accident, seemingly without noticing.
She politely knocked on the door to his panic room.
The 5-inch thick metal door repositioned itself on the opposite
wall.
He tried to shoot her, but she never seemed to be in the place
his bullets headed.
She had walked up to him, grabbed him by the throat and lifted
him off the ground as if he was weightless.
She said she was looking for an object that was a myth to begin
with and according to legend lost many thousands of years ago.
The small number of his bodyguards that survived called her
Oni, the ghost demon.

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‘Shukuan, at our next meeting, if you do not know where the
artefact is, I will show your two little children what I have learned
about torture in my time in hell,’ Dar’kel’s hollow voice stated.
He believed her.

426

Eye of the Gods

***
A confounded council debated the next step in their plan to
liberate the Olympian gods.
‘We don’t even know if they are still alive?’ Guival interposed.
‘If you were in their situation, would you not be hoping that
your friends would try everything possible to help you?’ Kirom
asked.
‘Yes, but this seems hopeless,’ Guival stated glumly.
No one had any idea how to reopen the gate; save to rescue
Typhon from the sun, and the council severely dismissed that
option.
The children had piled into the meeting thirty minutes earlier,
after safely recovering the gate from Egypt. They were minus
Bruxa who now vacationed with Carra in an undisclosed location.
There was always a slim chance, which no one was prepared to
take, of Ricci torturing the children for the information. This was
the reason why no one knows where the two went on their
retreat.
‘Are we sure there are no more Olympians left on earth?’ Brom
asked in desperation. A semi rhetorical question answered several
times before.
‘Positive. Zeus was quite adamant that they were the last
survivors,’ Angel concluded.
The council room went dead silent.
Ricci groggily emerged through the door, Dragonfang in hand.
The Brisingamen jewel in the hilt of the sword had a deadly
glow about it.

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She leaned against the doorframe to steady herself.
‘Who tranq’ed me?’ she asked through clenched teeth.
No one spoke. Angel felt relieved that she did not remember
Carra’s heroic actions.
‘One more time, then I am taking a rolling head count. Who
tranq’ed me?’ she asked again.
Angel rounded the table and walked towards his wife.
‘It was me,’ Angel lied.
‘Could not have been you, you were holding me back,’ Ricci
retorted, seriously annoyed with her husband.
‘It was me,’ Storm said catching on.
‘No it was me,’ Blade said, following his sister’s lead.
‘I apologize profusely cousin, but I did it,’ Kirom added.
Qren was the next person to confess.
Ricci burst out laughing, ‘You Qren, seriously you will have me
believe you tranquilized me?’
Qren simply looked at her with his emotionless face.
‘Fine,’ she sighed giving up, ‘so what are we talking about,’ Ricci
asked now quite finished with her vendetta.
Angel smiled, his wife had a quick temper but she cooled down
as quickly as she heated up.
‘Olympus has been overrun with Lamies. We are thinking of a
way to go help them,’ Angel explained.
‘Why? Let those useless freaks rot,’ Ricci scowled, her temper
flaring again, ‘they almost got you and my babies killed,’ she
reminded the council.
‘It does not matter darling, we still need to help. That’s what we
do,’ Angel stated in a way that served to say this point was not
open for discussion.

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‘Ghmph,’ Ricci returned.
‘You might still get your wish princess,’ Guival spoke, ‘there is
no way for us to open the gate again.’
Ricci brightened for a moment, but then seemed to fall back
into misery.
‘Yes there is,’ she whispered through clenched teeth.
‘Sorry?’ Angel said imagining he must have heard his wife
wrong.
‘I said, there is a way to open the gate again, actually several
million ways,’ Ricci raised her voice.
The council stared at her in amazement. No one had a clue.
‘Well it’s a good thing you guys are good looking, otherwise you
would have had nothing to trade on,’ she smiled without humour.
Teral took offense to this. By now, he had had enough of Ricci’s
obnoxious disruptive behaviour, ‘I’ve heard enough. She obviously
has not idea and is simply wasting the council’s time,’ he said
agitatedly.
‘Say that again,’ Ricci glared dangerously, ‘I’ll hit you so hard
everyone that looks like you will show bruises. That would be your
entire race buddy, if you have not looked in the mirror lately.’
Angel quickly stepped between them as he saw Teral creating a
fireball burning white and blue. The table in front of him started
to melt and Brom’s beard began to smoulder as he had the
misfortune of sitting next to Teral. Feral looked on in awe, he had
never seen a conjured fireball burning white hot.
‘Enough!’ Angel ordered, while Brom desperately tried to douse
the flames.
‘Ricci, your plan, now,’ he ordered.

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‘Alright, keep your wig on,’ Ricci answered, disappointed that
she did not get to fight Teral, as she was still in the mood for a
fight.
‘Mythology,’ she simply stated.
‘Huh?’ Angel replied.
‘Who do you know that are part of Greek mythology?’ Ricci
asked.
‘Not following you,’ Angel asked again.
‘Think bigger darling. UGEly in fact,’ she smiled.
‘The Taur, of course,’ Angel exclaimed.
‘Care to explain to the rest of us,’ Teral demanded.
‘The Taur are not part of Norse mythology, my friend. They are
part of Greek mythology. Therefore, they must have originated on
Olympus. It stands to reason if they originally came through the
gate that they would be able to open it again,’ Angel replied.
‘So you are suggesting we bring the Taur here?’ Kirom asked.
‘Hmmmm, I do not think that would be a great idea,’ Brom
remarked, ‘the earth might still take offense to the fact that the
Taur almost annihilated the planet last time.’
‘I have a better idea,’ Angel said with a twinkle in his eye, ‘we
are going to take the gate there.’
‘Splendid idea my lord,’ Laidin smiled, ‘Olympus is part of the
Taur heritage, and would be well protected on Evergal’t.’
Ricci seemed to enjoy this idea. She could just imagine the
guided tour groups, ‘and on your right you have Zeus’s temple, if
you look closely you can see the old fart trying to throw rocks at
us. Feeding the gods remains strictly prohibited. Souvenirs will be
available at the end of the tour, so please do not pick stuff up off
the ground as you do not know where it has been.’

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Eye of the Gods

The council burst out laughing; even Teral had to crack a smile
in each of their minds.
‘Not trying to be pessimistic, but will the gate actually function
that far from earth?’ Brom asked.
‘The eye is a gate between dimensions. I do not think it matters
where in this galaxy it is. Skibladne’s dimensional shift seems to
work just fine here on earth and in UGE space,’ Angel remarked.
The council agreed.
Angel disbanded the meeting until morning when they would
start with final preparations.

431

Igor Swann

***
It was some time after dinner that the junior team cornered
Angel in the tranquillity lounge. The amazing water features on
the walls and the incredible exotic plants, some not even
indigenous to earth were cleverly woven into the design of the
room. Laidin and Phalin felt most at home here and this is where
they spent most of their time. Brom, Kirom and Throm preferred
the lower levels, in the caverns where they had created their own
quarters.
‘Dad we gotta talk,’ Storm demanded.
‘Oh no, why do I get the feeling I need your mother right now?’
Angel jested.
‘Daddy, this is serious,’ Storm said with a stern look on her face.
‘Fine, what is on your mind,’ Angel inquired hesitantly.
‘We want a crack at Sharon,’ Storm answered.
‘Uhuh, right, okay... no,’ Angel firmly replied.
‘Father, we have learnt much. We took on and beat the
Furies...’ Blade said but was interrupted by Angel, ‘and almost
died.’
‘Daddykins, you know we will be careful. We promise to let the
Valk’r know immediately when we know where she is hold up. We
will not move without backup. Don’t you trust us daddy?’ Storm
solicited in her sweetest most charming voice.
Angel looked at her with a sly smiled, ‘go ask your mother.’
He knew what the answer would be if they ever got up enough
nerve to go ask her.

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Eye of the Gods

‘But daddy,’ Storm pleaded, ‘we would just be in the way when
you attack the Lamies, and really, seeing the slaughter of all of
those innocent little creatures, can’t be good for our fragile young
impressionable minds.’
Angel smiled widely; he suddenly caught on.
‘Sharin is not the only reason you wish to stay is it?’
‘No my lord, we wish to stay here, and later when this is all
over, help Bruxa reunite with her people. Or what is left of them,’
Throm interrupted before Storm could continue.
‘And that’s the main reason you can’t ask your mother, because
she would never agree to that?’ Angel had a knowing smile.
‘No, she won’t,’ Storm said sulkily.
‘Alright, you promise to be careful, with constant, and I mean
hourly check-in with the Valk’r and I will agree to this. I am
serious; you miss one check-in and not only is this mission
scrapped but you will be confined to quarters until we get you
back to Arken,’ Angel explained.
‘Thank you, thank you daddy,’ Storm screamed hugging her
father, ‘but what are we going to tell mom.’
Angel looked pensive for a moment.
‘Hmmm, I’ll just tell her you guys are tired of war and fighting,
and you want to extend your vacation here. You want to learn
more about the cultural heritage of your parents. I think she will
buy that. If we are lucky she will think you are kept out of danger
instead of me sending you into danger,’ Angel swallowed hard, ‘I
hope!’
The children beamed.
‘We promise to take the utmost care my Lord,’ Phalin pledged.
‘And check in like clockwork,’ Shen added.

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Igor Swann

‘And make sure your daughter does not get us into serious
trouble,’ Feral teased.
Angel laughed and sent them off to bed.
‘Get some sleep; you will need an early start to move out
before your mother become suspicious.’

434

Eye of the Gods

***
‘Time issss growing sssshort for you Zeussss,’ Lamia hissed with
pleasure, ‘very sssshort indeed.’
Zeus had to watch the numbers in the cages grow steadily for
the past couple of weeks.
The Lamies hunted all over Olympus for any Olympian they
could find, while others built more cages.
There were now at least two hundred of them cramped into the
cages.
‘Your fight is with us Lamia, why are you capturing all the rest of
these people?’ Zeus asked.
‘Oh you will die eventually, but firsssst you will witnessss the
biggesssst sssshow Olympussss hassss ever seen. It won’t be to
your tasssste but it will definitely be to ourssss,’ she gurgled with
the sound a hungry snake makes.
‘Just get it over with you viper!’ Zeus screamed.
‘Patience, my dear Zeussss. You will firsssst ssssee how weak
and usssslessss you are. Powerlessss to help your sssso called
godssss. You will go to Hadessss, and live an eternity knowing you
are worthlessss,’ Lamia barked, ‘but do not desssspair... yet, for
tonight it will all end.’
Zeus slumped back down and watched the light slowly starting
to fade away.

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Igor Swann

From his cage, Zeus could hear the chanting. He tried to peer
into the dark, to see what was happening, but he only saw
outlines of deformed creatures in the fire light.
A voice rose above the noise.
‘My precioussss children, the time hassss come to fulfil the
prophecy. We will have our revenge on thesssse sssso called
godssss for what they did to ussss. We feed tonight and rule
tomorrow!’ Lamie barked.
The cheers and chants rose to deafening roar. Zeus could smell
the blood lust coming from the creatures. The hissing and snarling
were sickening.
‘Let the blood-fesssst begin,’ Lamia hissed.
All the cages around his opened, all except theirs.
The Olympians frantically scrambled in all possible directions.
They blindly stumbled around, trying to run without being able to
see in which direction to go.
Zeus listened to the screams as blood sprayed across his robe; a
Lamie ripped an Olympian to shreds right in front of him.
He listened to the pleading that changed to gurgling.
The cries of fear drowned in the cries of demonic lust.
The white marble of his temple changed to red; even in the low
firelight, it was clearly visible.
Zeus’s cellmates all cowered in the far corner of the cell.
Hera looked in a trance as she tried to pick brain matter out of
her hair without seeming to comprehend what it was.
Athena muttered to herself incoherently and tried to stick
knitting needles in Ares’s eyes.

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Eye of the Gods

Apollo had no idea what was happening, and he tried to explain
to everyone that the play they were watching seemed a little fake
and the cast were definitely overacting.
Zeus remained quiet, he simply watched with tears streaming
down his face.
The Lamie bloodlust grew so intense that they started ripping
their own flesh from their bodies.
Even frenzied sharks in baited water, could be confused with
day old fish jerky in little Johnny’s pocket at a Catholic Church
sermon, compared to these sisters’ unholy communion.
All except for one small corner of Zeus’s temple, a corner that
currently featured Drugunxa and less than a dozen of her sisters.
They looked at the blood-fest not daring to move but utterly
revolted at the same time with what their sisters did.
Drugunxa thought Olympus would be a new start for her and
her kind. She thought this beautiful place would accept them and
let them live in peace.
She had heard from Bruxa that Ambrosia not only tasted better
than blood but could also sustain her kind much better. Bruxa was
right. She and the few who would listen to her only drank
Ambrosia since they came to Olympus and they felt stronger and
more alive than ever before.
They could live here and not be monsters but a part of
Olympian society.
They only hunted to live, as animals do. No one sees a lion as a
monster when he kills a buck.
They did not kill for pleasure, never for pleasure.
Not feared but accepted.
Not anymore,

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Igor Swann

She never saw her kind as monsters, not until today.
She understood why Bruxa left.
She knew, Drugunxa thought, she knew all along and said
nothing.
She had convinced a few of her sisters that Lamia’s plan was
wrong, but they were powerless to stop it from happening.
Bruxa left because she felt this way, Drugunxa thought,
powerless and alone with no one she could trust. Lamia had
changed my sisters. We must stop our mistress.
Lamia held an Olympian by his upper arms and ripped his
jugular out with one swift bite.
She threw her head back and laughed as the blood sprayed over
her face. She made sure that every kill she executed was more
gruesome than the previous and in full view of Zeus and his
friends.
‘Mistress!’ an urgent call sounded from the path leading to the
eye.
‘What?’ she hissed irritated with the interruption.
‘It’s the gate mistress. It is starting to activate,’ the Lamie
explained.
‘Impossssible,’ Lamia spat.
‘I swear mistress, it started to shimmer,’ the Lamie said again.
Lamia had the foresight to post guards at the gate. Even though
she thought this would be redundant, she never took chances.
Lamia threw her head back in anguish and screamed to the
heavens.
‘Bring them,’ she hissed urgently pointing to Zeus and his
friends.
The guard reacted immediately.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Children, we musssst go, NOW!’ she barked over the shouting
and dying.
It was near impossible to control the feeding frenzy, but some
responded and followed her. The rest trickled after the main
entourage, as they regained some semblance of control.
Some Olympians still alive, managed to limp or crawl away.
Others, who were lucky enough to find hiding places and remain
undiscovered, escaped unscathed.
These were few in number, and the better part of the captured
Olympian contingence now found their way to Hades in shade
form, which was not the preferred way for an Olympian to join
the netherworld.
Drugunxa thought quickly, ‘stay here,’ she ordered the few
Lamies that did not join in the murderous rampage.
She caught up with Lamia a little way down the road.
‘Where are we going mistress,’ she asked innocently.
Lamia had a gleam in her slit eyes.
‘The one place where we will find the friendssss we need.
Where no Olympian would ever willingly enter, where the mosssst
dangeroussss and monssssteroussss beingssss are kept,’ she
hissed, ‘Tartarussss.’
‘Ah, very good mistress,’ Drugunxa concluded before slowing
and then altogether stopping. She watched as the procession
disappeared in the distance with a heavy heart.
Drugunxa knew what she needed to do.

439

Igor Swann

***
‘Where the hell do you think you are going?’ a very angry
princess appeared on Skibladne’s view screen.
‘On holiday,’ Storm answered meeting her mother’s stern gaze.
‘Without saying goodbye...?’ Ricci fumed.
‘We did leave you a letter mom, and dad said it was okay if we
stayed a little longer,’ Blade explained.
The children had left holo-messages for their parents. Throm,
Feral and Phalin had attached these to their parent’s weapons,
Mjolnir, the Bow of Odin and Gungnir the Spear. They hoped this
would convince their parents that they were not planning to
attack anything.
‘I don’t care what he said; you get your butts back here. We are
going home!’ Ricci raged.
‘Mom, you guys are off on another mission, and we just want
some peace and quiet for a while. We will be back on Arken
before you and dad get back from Evergal’t. We promise,’ Storm
said so sweetly that Feral contemplated collecting the honey
dripping from her voice.
Ricci thought for a second, here they would be out of harm’s
way, they have Skibladne and they are on vacation. What could
possibly go wrong?
Ricci appeared to be unaware of the peril in asking that specific
question of the universe.
‘Fine, I’ll see you on Arken soon. However, you had better stay
out of trouble. If I have to go into the underworld to fetch your
sorry behinds there is going to be hell to pay.’

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Eye of the Gods

‘Love you too mom,’ Blade concluded and Storm blew a kiss
before the landscape they travelled across replaced the image of
their mother.

Less than an hour had passed since their heartfelt goodbye to
their mother. The small shack they approached looked in a serious
state of disrepair from all observable vantage points. Situated
deep in a canyon next to a river, it was nestled in the trees and
completely overgrown by vines and other plants.
Blade double-checked the coordinates given to him by Gemmi;
this was definitely the place.
‘Anybody home,’ he called after knocking on the door.
He got no response.
He heard a faint click as he turned the door handle.
The team entered cautiously, and froze in stunned amazement.
The inside, which looked as old and run down as the outside
changed before their very eyes.
Advanced sensor and monitoring equipment sprung from the
floor. Comfortable quarters and a state of the art kitchen replaced
broken beds and battered cooking utensils.
‘What the hell?’ Storm managed.
‘It is gene activated,’ a voice from the brush clarified.
Carra and Bruxa emerged both carrying fishing rods and a
bucket filled with salmon.
‘Blade activated it when he touched the door. Only someone
with the TNRF-12 gene will cause the change, others will only find
a rundown shack,’ she explained when she saw the confused
expressions in front of her.

441

Igor Swann

‘Well we are glad to see you guys are alive and well,’ Blade
smiled.
‘I assume, since you are here, that the hunt had been called
off?’ Carra grinned.
‘Not quite,’ Storm answered, ‘but mom is leaving today, and we
have another mission for which Bruxa will be well suited.’
‘Bruxa is ready,’ the excitable little vampire gleefully
announced.
She was going to go with her beloved; she did not care where
they went or what they did.
‘Well then, I think I’ll extend my holiday for another day before
heading back to New Valhalla,’ Carra mull over her options.
‘Think that would be a good idea. Mom does not hold a grudge
forever, everybody dies eventually,’ Storm laughed.
The team and Carra parted ways with Bruxa in tow.
Skibladne’s engines roared to life as they approached, and they
set off immediately towards Sharin’s last known location.
#I have something for you in the materialization chamber#
Skibladne broadcast mysteriously.
The children ran, eager to see what the amazing ship had
cooked up for them.
Bruxa shyly stood at the back in the shadows hoping that the
children would not notice her. She did not want to be in the way
and obviously, this moment was for them.
On the materialization platform lay six gauntlets almost
identical to the one the children al wore on their left wrist.
The old gauntlets housed their navigation, research data,
scanners, their personal shields and all other kinds of toys
imaginable.

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Eye of the Gods

The children eagerly grabbed their new gauntlet although no
one could ascertain its use.
‘It’s beautiful Skibladne, but what is it for?’ Storm asked burning
with curiosity.
Bruxa could not see past the children, but she was happy
nonetheless for simply being able to share this moment.
#they are cloaking devices# Skibladne declared in her usual
metallic drone.
‘You mean it can make us invisible?’ Blade asked.
#it is a receiver for my cloaking ability. While you are in a 5-mile
radius of me, I can project my cloak around the wearer# Skibladne
explained.
‘This is so cool!’ Storm shouted.
Suddenly a weird mechanism popped from the ceiling and
bathed the little creature hiding in the shadows in an eerie green
light.
Bruxa was scared out of her wits.
She stared wide eyed at the children hoping for some indication
of what was happening.
The materialization platform started to glow again.
The junior team parted to form an honour guard, three on each
side of the terrified Bruxa.
Bruxa looked nervously at the crew’s faces not entirely sure
what they expected of her.
‘Approach my dear Bruxa,’ Blade said in his most formal voice.
On the platform lay the same outfit the team wore.
Bruxa timidly hunched her shoulders as she slowly walked
between the people she admired so much.

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All the children smiled kind-heartedly and this helped Bruxa to
get over most of her anxiety.
‘You are now officially part of Skibladne’s crew.
Congratulations,’ Blade smiled as he handed her the uniform.
Bruxa had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. She
stroked the material to make sure it was real.
‘This is for Bruxa...’ the little creature began to splutter before
the emotions overwhelmed her.
Nobody has ever been kind to Bruxa, nobody has given Bruxa
anything before, she thought while she quietly wept.
Throm gently put his arm around her.
She buried her face in his chest, so no one could see her
shameless display of emotion.
The children quietly turned and left after each in turn laid a
gentle hand on her shoulder as a welcome gesture, leaving Throm
to comfort the little creature.
This was the happiest day of her life.
‘What’s up with Throm?’ Blade asked when they were out of
earshot.
Phalin and Storm looked at each other and let out a collective
sigh.
‘Men,’ Storm exclaimed in mock anguish.
Blade and Feral shared a moment of confusion.
‘Bruxa adores Throm and he seems to be developing a fondness
for her as well,’ Phalin explained relieving their bafflement.
The children having grown up in an alien world with a diversity
of creatures and beings had never been prejudiced towards
outward appearance. Even though Bruxa was hideous to behold,
her kind heart had managed to break through the most stubborn

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of races’ temperament; because it is said that to win the affection
of a dwarf, could be likened to eating soup with a single chopstick,
blindfolded, in a hurricane, using only your left foot.
#nearing destination# Skibladne’s voice interrupted the
conversation.
‘Set us down on a rooftop near the area where mom and dad
fought Typhon,’ Blade commanded.
The engines gentle hum changed to a thunderous roar as
Skibladne applied the airbrakes and softly landed on a rooftop.
‘So what is the plan dear brother?’ Storm asked.
‘Well, I was thinking that since you and I are human we should
dress as tourists and talk to the locals. Throm, Phalin and Bruxa
will try picking up Sharin’s scent, since I assume she moves around
unseen using rooftops and alleys. Shen and Feral will monitor
communications and run scans on the surrounding area from
Skibladne. Search for energy signature from Sharin’s ship or a
residual ion trail. See if you can pick up any application of UGE
tech,’ Blade suggested.
‘Any questions?’ he asked.
None was forthcoming.
‘Well then, let’s get to it,’ Blade ordered and the team
dispersed.

445

Igor Swann

***
‘You want me to what! Are you insane? Those monsters killed
my friends, murdered the only family I knew growing up... and
you want me to stay on board the ship?’ Ricci fumed, ‘try and stop
me. Please, please, try and stop me!’
Angel knew when he reached the point where pushing would
become dangerous.
His wife was so much fun when they were not in danger. She
was unpredictable and witty, always ready with a joke. She had
this amazing imagination and could make a memory from the
most mind-numbing situation.
Unfortunately, when she had a vendetta to settle or family to
protect she became, well a handful. She tends to take things too
far, too extreme, like making popcorn in a nuclear reactor
because it would be quicker. Her heart was pure but her
execution sucked.
Angel sighed. He wished his wife had rather accompanied Brom,
Teral and Qren back to Arken, but he had no genii around to call
on.
The shuttle’s doors closed and then slowly made its way out of
the hangar bay on Laidin’s cruiser. A second shuttle closely
followed them carrying the eye of the gods, and two more filled
with Gentari who like Ricci had lost many close friends and
wanted revenge.
Angel stared out the little window of the shuttle and marvelled
at how much Evergal’t had changed since they were here last. The

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city was in ruin back then but now it had become a thriving
metropolis.
Tri’st had done an amazing job, Angel thought.
The shuttles made a beeline for the Taur council tower, where
Tri’st waited for them.
‘Welcome,’ Tri’st greeted them as the shuttle bay doors swung
open. Angel had given him a full briefing and Tri’st felt excitement
such as he had not experienced in a long time. Angel had perhaps
given them the opportunity to see their origins, to reconnect with
their roots.
Six Mino’t warriors unloaded the gate, from where they took it
to the hall of artefacts, which was Tri’st’s pet project. All remnants
he could find from early Taur history remained preserved here.
When Angel and his friends entered the hall of artefacts, the
Mino’t warriors were doing the final installation of the gate
against the tower wall.
Three armed platoons came smartly to attention when Angel
and Tri’st entered.
The Mino’t were heavily armoured and wielded their weapon of
choice, namely battle-axes. Both the Cen’t and Sa’t carried plasma
rifles.
‘My lord, I am curious, what makes you think Zeus and the
other gods are still alive?’ Tri’st asked.
‘This is just a theory but when we met Zeus he told us he was
539 years old, yet he walked the earth more than 1500 years ago.
So I have to assume that time moves slower on Olympus than in
this universe,’ Angel explained.
‘It is a sound theory my lord. Let us hope you are correct,’ Tri’st
smiled.

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‘Now how does this gate work?’ Tri’st asked.
Angel led the ruler of the Taur to take up position in front of the
gate.
‘Can you see Olympus?’ Angel asked.
Tri’st concentrated, and the image in the mirror began to swim.
‘Yes, yes I see it,’ Tri’st proclaimed triumphantly.
‘Good, now just imagine you stood on the other side. This will
activate the gate and allow the rest of us to pass,’ Angel
explained.
The gate began to glow.
‘Perfect, it worked!’ Angel exclaimed happily.
Tri’st called one of his Sa’t advisors over.
‘You saw how it is done. I will need you to open the gate for us
on our return. You may only open the gate for people in this
company, no one else,’ he ordered, turning to Angel he motioned
in the direction of the gate, ‘after you my lord.’
Angel entered first followed by his team and the Gentari. The
Taur Company followed with Tri’st in the lead.
A short while later they left the forest and saw the temple of
Zeus perched on the hill less than half a mile from where they
were. Angel could see they had done some repair work since
Typhon destroyed it; it was right side up for one thing.
At the bottom of the hill stood a small group of Lamies with
Drugunxa at the head obviously awaiting their arrival.
‘Lamies,’ Ricci snarled and without warning charged.
Angel only saw the movement from the corner of his eye but he
had anticipated this.
Ricci let out a war cry not as ancient as the dwarven one but as
effective.

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Eye of the Gods

‘Die you mother-sucker,’ she screamed.
The sword flashed in its arc, traced by the Brisingamen jewel in
the hilt.
A swing with which she intended to split Drugunxa from head to
toe.
Ricci’s entire body shook as Dragonfang made contact not with
flesh as anticipated but with metal.
The flat of the sword of Freyr’s blade lay inches above
Drugunxa’s head blocking her attack.
Angel managed to reach them with nano seconds to spare.
In a fit of rage, she swung Dragonfang to her left in the direction
of the person holding the sword that denied her, her revenge.
By pure luck and the intervention of LOBE, the sword of Freyr1
managed to deflect her attack, less than a hairs breadth from
removing Angel’s head.
Ricci froze.
She looked around at the faces of her friends watching her in
shocked horror.
She saw the look of pained sadness on her husband’s face.
It only took an instant to create a moment, a single moment
that would proxy a lifetime of memories.
The realization set in.

1
Because of the nano-technology used to create the Sword of Freyr, in the
hands of the UGE lord, it seemed the sword had a will of its own. This was
because it reacted to brain impulses rather that the user actually moving the
sword. Since no faster brain exists than the UGE lords it seemed as if the sword
was always in the right place at the right time without actually ever occupying
the space preceding the right place.
See Waking the Angel.

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Igor Swann

She almost killed her husband.
Ricci ran.
‘Wait!’ Angel screamed and turned to rush after her, but she
had already disappeared from sight.
Laidin’s hand rested on his arm, holding him firmly.
‘She needs time my lord, let her go,’ Laidin softly spoke.
‘Thank you sir for saving my life,’ Drugunxa meekly said.
Angel seemed oblivious, and walked off a few pace, staring into
the distance, in the direction his wife had vanished.
‘Drugunxa does not mean to sound insensitive but if you want
to save Zeus and his friends you must hurry,’ Drugunxa urgently
suggested.
‘They are still alive?’ Kirom asked.
‘Yes, but not for long,’ Drugunxa explained, ‘Lamia has taken
them to Tartarus. Come quickly,’ she motioned.
While they walked, Drugunxa filled in all the missing pieces.
She explained how they found Ambrosia sustained them better
than blood, but all Lamia could think of was vengeance and did
not care that they did not need to feed on the living anymore.
To the horror of the company, she described the events on the
night of the blood-fest. She told them how she and the few
Lamies with her escaped to bring them the news of Zeus and his
friends.
The Gentari were unsure what to do now that their leader had
left. Laidin ordered them to go back to Zeus’s temple and take
care of the survivors.
She did not fancy a repeat of the performance Ricci gave from
them.

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Eye of the Gods

The party moved swiftly, but had to wait several times for Angel
who brought up the rear and seemed to be in some kind of
trance.
The road to Erabus was unguarded; the Sphinx seemed to have
deserted its post.
‘Who are these strange warriors following us?’ Drugunxa asked
Laidin.
‘They are the Taur, warriors from Olympian mythology, but who
seemed to have ended up very far from home,’ she explained.
‘Taur, you mean as in Minotaur, Centaur and Satyr? Wow,’
Drugunxa exclaimed, she loved stories and history and smelled a
new one close by.
‘Yes my dear Drugunxa, they are those creatures from your
mythology, but until now no one on our worlds knew where they
originated from. For just over a thousand years ago, they were
not there one day and there the next. They themselves did not
know their origin as whatever brought them to us wiped their
memories. They only had a few artefacts and references that gave
clues but no specifics. Anyway until Tri’st took over as their leader
they were hell bent on destroying us, so no one really cared to
find out.’

Enormous iron gates in the side of the mountain loomed in
front of the party.
The gates were at least 25 feet high with ironwork as thick as a
man’s arm. Behind the gates were solid metal doors with iron
spikes mounted on them. An experimental tap from Mjolnir
ascertained that the mountain would fall before the gate. Ancient
magic seemed at work here, Guival could sense it.

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Igor Swann

A strange thing happened when Tri’st approached the gates. It
started to open.
‘The gates will only open for an Olympian,’ Drugunxa explained.
‘Why?’ Guival asked.
‘Well once an Olympian enters they can never return to the
outside world. If they do try, their souls will separate from their
bodies and go to the fields of shades1. No Olympian would go to
the fields willingly after living on the Isle of the Blessed2. However,
for a non-Olympian this is not the case, they may return from the
underworld. Therefore to protect the secrets and treasures of the
underworld, no mortal or other is permitted to enter... unless
they get an Olympian to open the gates for them,’ Drugunxa
clarified.
‘I assume that means that Tri’st and his troops will need to stay
here then? Would have been nice to know that beforehand,’
Kirom muttered.
‘Yes, that is true, only the four of you along with Drugunxa and
her sisters will be able to enter with the hope of return,’ Drugunxa
acknowledged.
Laidin sensed the hope of return just went from average to
particularly slim.
‘Tri’st, I need you to set up ambush positions around the
perimeter. If anyone or anything should return but us... well you
know what to do,’ Laidin suggested.
‘Be safe my lady,’ Tri’st smiled and hugged the elf queen, ‘we
will see each other again soon.’

1 The Plains of Asphodel, home of the shades, ghosts without memories.
2 The Elysian Fields, home of the Olympians who will live forever.

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Eye of the Gods

Laidin turned to the brave little creature standing next to her.
‘Drugunxa, I cannot ask you to join us. We will be fighting your
sisters. I am sorry but you will need to wait here with Tri’st,’ she
told Drugunxa.
‘Drugunxa understand your queenship, you do not know
Drugunxa and her sisters and fear an ambush. Drugunxa would do
the same. Take this highness,’ Drugunxa said producing a small
golden coin, ‘you will need this to pay the ferryman, so you may
cross the river Styx.’

453

Igor Swann

***
‘I’m hot, my feet hurt and we have nothing...’ Storm
complained.
‘I know sis. These people either know nothing or are too scared
to talk,’ Blade mused.
‘We are outsiders, what did you think was going to happen?’
Storm sniffed agitatedly.
‘Ok, let’s go back to the ship and wait for the others. We can
discuss our new strategy for tomorrow,’ Blade agreed.
He felt a little exasperated that his plan failed so miserably.
Shen and Feral found no trace of Sharin, and the rooftop team
had no luck either.
Blade and Storm patiently waited for Skibladne to decloak
before they boarded. The other team were making their way back
across the rooftops from the other side of Tokyo.
They used the two hover-cycles Skibladne stored in her hangar
bay, to jump from rooftop to rooftop.
Both the twins had already showered and changed when
Blade’s mindcom beeped.
An excited Throm’s voice filled their minds.
Bruxa found her scent.
‘We were looking in the wrong part of town. We assumed
because of Sharin’s arrogant pride she would be in upper Tokyo,
but she actually made her nest in Yakuza territory. We came back
in a roundabout way and picked it up. We are following the scent
right now. Will let you know when we find the hideout. You might

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Eye of the Gods

want to bring Skibladne closer to our position, and keep her
cloaked. We are cloaking as well,’ Throm finished.

Minutes later Skibladne silently touched down on the rooftop
where their three friends waited.
‘We lost it,’ Throm exclaimed irritably when Blade, Feral and
Storm joined them.
‘The scent got mixed up with the slums down there. All the
cooking and the unsanitary living masked the smell quite
effectively,’ Phalin explained.
‘I think I might have something,’ Shen said as she slowly floated
towards the team holding a holo-tablet.
She pointed to a building in the distance.
‘See that building,’ Shen asked.
The others nodded.
‘Well what is strange about that building is not so much what is
there, but what is not there.’
‘Huh?’ Storm asked.
‘I did not pick up any UGE tech there, but that is not what got
my attention. It is the lack of any human tech, which is strange.
The top three floors have no technology what so ever, and it
seems that it is completely isolated from the lower levels of the
building,’ she explained.
‘Makes sense,’ Storm said, ‘when Sharin masked the UGE tech
she must have masked all technology.’
‘Since we know now that the building has a technology shield,
Skibladne and I have started to hack it. We do not want to go in
there blind. Knowing Sharin, it is riddled with traps,’ Shen gave
them the update.

455

Igor Swann

It was almost midnight before Shen confirmed they were ready.
‘We may land on the roof of the building. I have full control of
its defence grid. I disabled all the rooftop sensors and weapons.
We will be safe,’ she explained softly.
Skibladne silently lifted off and made the short hop to the
offending rooftop.

They followed Shen towards a section of the roof, which
seemed to house absolutely nothing.
She made a few intricate movements on the holo-tablet she
carried.
A section of the roof slit open and a platform rose up to their
level.
The team bundled on, and the platform quietly and swiftly
descended into the building.
Everyone armed hurriedly and took up defensive positions,
circling each other, listening for the slightest sound or a hint of
movement.
Shen’s voice entered their minds while she continued to study
her tablet.
‘The place is clear; there are no other life forms present. I am
disabling all sensors and monitoring equipment. Feel free to move
around.’
‘Ok guys, spread out and search for clues,’ Blade ordered.

Documents and research material covered the table in the living
area, all pertaining to a specific artefact. None explained what it
did but it appeared in the shape of an enormous sphere. It

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Eye of the Gods

seemed that Sharin had been researching this for a couple of
months, long before the meeting with Bruxa.
It also mentioned someone named Merlin.
Phalin and Storm gathered up as much of as they could carry.
Blade and Feral searched east and Throm, Bruxa and Shen
followed the stairwell to the west.
‘We found nothing else,’ Blade stated a few minute later after
they returned to the living area.
Blades mindcom beeped, ‘come look what we found,’ Throm
boomed excitedly.
They ran to where Throm and the girls ogled something so black
it made their eyes hurt.
‘That is Naglfar,’ Phalin exclaimed astounded, ‘the most
notorious and illusive smuggling ship the UGE has ever know.’
‘I know,’ Throm roared, ‘isn’t it amazing. This is the only none
living entity in the universe with a bounty on its... nose. Even
among thieves and smugglers this ship has become an urban
legend, a myth, like dragons.’
‘So what shall we do? Destroy it?’ Blade asked.
‘Are you insane?’ Throm bellowed, his voice echoed around the
hangar area.
‘This is a one of a kind masterpiece Bladin. No one knows where
it originated or who had enough money to requisition it. The
technology, believed to be dwarven, used to create this is
astounding,’ Shen explained while walking around the ship
running scans.
‘You know how our parent’s ships can cloak making them
invisible to the naked eye?’ Feral asked, ‘well this ship is invisible

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Igor Swann

to any sensor or scanner the UGE has ever developed. No one can
explain it.’
‘How is it everyone knows about this ship except me?’ Blade
asked glumly.
‘And me brother, first I’ve heard of it too,’ Storm added.
‘Well, if we can’t destroy it, we should give it to...’ Blade
thought for a second and then smiled, ‘the only one of us who
does not have a ship he or she could reappropriate from their
parents, Shen!’
‘Hey, what about me?’ an indignant Storm screamed.
‘Ok sis, if you want to give up your claim on Skibladne, I don’t
mind,’ Blade had an evil grin playing across his face.
Storm’s face fell, ‘Er, okay, no, fine, Shen, she is all yours.’
Shen had no visible emotion, but the children felt such warmth
and happiness emanating from the alien girl, they were almost
sure Loser must be around somewhere.
‘Thank you my dear friends,’ she managed.
She had never had anything to call her own except for the
blasters her friends gave her. Now she had her own ship, a place
to keep her private things.
She gently stroked the ship’s hull.
‘You are mine, and together we will do great things. We will
give you a new reputation, one of reverence instead of notoriety,’
Shen whispered.
‘So, back to our mission,’ Blade requested the attention from
his team, ‘where is Dar’kel and how do we find her?’
Phalin held up a nondescript piece of paper with only the
words, we found it, written in Chinese.
‘I think she found it,’ Phalin remarked.

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Eye of the Gods

‘That could mean she has left with the artefact, or she is
studying it, or any number of things, all meaning she won’t be
back soon,’ Throm suggested.
‘At least we know she is on the planet,’ Feral added pointing at
the ship, ‘and probably close by.’
‘Then we have to decide if we are going after her?’ Blade asked.
‘Go where?’ Storm asked.
‘True,’ Blade acknowledged.
‘I suggest we alert the Valk’r to this location and return to our
home,’ Phalin suggested, echoing the sentiments of the entire
team. They were all feeling a little homesick, and this adventure
although seemingly exciting at first had somehow lost its appeal.
‘Could we drop you off somewhere Bruxa?’ Blade asked.
The little creature stared wide-eyed at the children, not
knowing what to say.
Throm understood.
‘Bruxa has nowhere to go, we are her family now, she is coming
with us,’ he announced defiantly.
Blade rolled his eyes, ‘that’s fine Throm. I just wanted to give
her the option.’
‘Bruxa would have much joy if she could come with lords and
ladies,’ Bruxa said, ‘much joy indeed.’
Blade gave her a friendly smile.
‘Then it is settled. We will take back the research material to
Arken and try figure out what Sharin is up to, while having the
Valk’r monitor this place in case Sharin returns. Let’s move
people,’ Blade ordered.
Shen made a few intricate movements on her tablet, and a part
of the roof silently opened.

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Igor Swann

‘Anybody needs a lift,’ she asked while seemingly floating
aboard her new ship.
The team laughed and rushed in after her.
They involuntarily grabbed their noses as soon as they entered.
‘What’s that horrible smell?’ Storm asked.
‘Most probably from those cages,’ Phalin pointed out.
‘This ship is going to need one serious valet and makeover once
we get her home,’ Blade acknowledged sputtering.
Shen just smiled; she had great plans for Naglfar.
‘Before we continue friends, we need to make a pact that no
one tells anyone about our little adventure. This remains our
secret from our families,’ Blade suggested, his mother foremost in
his thoughts, ‘are we all in agreement?’
A chorus of ‘Aye’ went up around the pirate ship.
‘Good, then let’s go home.’
A dark figure watched the two departing ships from a nearby
rooftop and cursed silently.

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Eye of the Gods

***
‘Oh Shit, we are in trouble now,’ Zeus exclaimed recognizing the
group approaching the cage.
The prison boxes stood in a corner of some kind of
amphitheatre resembling an underground coliseum in its heydays
but on a smaller scale.
The caged gods had all regained their youth since they entered
the house of Hades. Zeus stood almost seven feet tall. His athletic
build and rippling muscles would easily land him the mister
universe title. The girls looked like the goddesses of old and Ares
had turned back into a lumbering behemoth, taking up as much
space in the cage as the rest added together.
Zeus’s brother Hades and his wife Persephone had involuntarily
joined the six other gods, before Lamia and her children had
disappeared into Tartarus.
Now Zeus understood why.
‘As I promissssed Cronussss, your freedom and Zeussss,’ Lamia
indicated as she approached the cage.
Lamia, flanked by Cronus and six other titans who made Ares
look like an action figure, halted in front of the prison.
‘Hello my son, good to see you again,’ Cronus said with an evil
smile playing across his lips.
‘Father, cannot say the feeling is mutual,’ Zeus fumed.
‘I have been waiting for 2000 years to have my dessert, while
you and your little friends played gods,’ Cronus snarled, ‘trust me,
I am going to enjoy every moment of this.’

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Zeus shuddered as he remembered how Cronus swallowed his
brothers and sisters. A prophesy that one of his children would
destroy him one day, caused him to eat his children.
Zeus only escaped because his mother had replaced him with a
rock, which Cronus ate instead.
He later managed to slip his father an emetic, which caused his
father to vomit thereby freeing his brothers and sisters. With the
help of his brothers, Hades and Neptune, he imprisoned his father
in Tartarus.
‘You will honour our deal?’ Lamia asked.
‘Yes,’ Cronus answered, ‘now leave me so I may savour this
moment.’

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Eye of the Gods

***
‘I thought it would be warmer?’ Kirom miserably observed
shivering from the chill in the air.
They had been following a path covered in a dense fog and
riddled with skeletons, probably from Olympians trying to escape
the underworld and having their souls stripped from their bodies.
Laidin did not bother to answer, as she was not too happy
about being underground.
‘What are we going to do about him?’ Kirom asked motioning in
the direction of Angel, who dragged himself along behind the trio,
quite oblivious to where he was or what they were doing here.
‘He won’t be much use in a fight in the condition he is in,’ Kirom
concluded.
Laidin turned around and walked back towards Angel.
She looked into his eyes, and saw the pain.
‘LOBE, if you can hear me, we need you,’ she whispered, ‘not
only for the fight ahead but also to protect our friend.’
Angel did not respond; he simply trudged onward without any
affirmation to his friend’s words.
Kirom and Guival watched him walk between them.
Guival shrugged, and prepared to follow, when Angel suddenly
stood up straight and stretched.
‘Never fear, LOBE is here,’ LOBE exclaimed cheerily.
The trio of friend smiled; relieved that they had their leader and
most prolific fighter back amongst their ranks... of sorts.
‘How is Angel doing?’ Laidin asked.

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Igor Swann

‘He has retreated deep inside me, but he will be fine,’ LOBE
explained, ‘so what are we waiting for, let us get going, I’m not
getting any younger.’
They soon reached the docks, where the ferryman dutifully
waited. After Laidin produced the gold coin given to her by
Drugunxa, he seemed quite happy to ferry the quartet across the
river Styx.
As they crossed, the fog lifted and they started to notice their
surroundings.
They were in an enormous underground cavern with the walls
not visible in any direction and the roof probably about 3000 feet
above them.
This lifted Laidin’s spirits immensely as she could not stand
enclosed spaces.
The trail on the other side of the river led up a hill and into a
little village.
With the fog having lifted, the heroes were easily able to track
their prey, as the Lamies made no effort to hide their progress.
The Olympians living in the village curiously watched them pass,
but did not attempt to communicate with them.
A few hours later, they reached the entrance to a coliseum.
From the outside, they could hear loud talking and the voices
obviously belonged to Zeus and the other gods.
They crept inside staying in the shadows while gathering
intelligence on their target.
The coliseum looked empty except for the cage and the gods
inside.

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Eye of the Gods

Kirom was about to make his way to the imprisoned gods when
Laidin pulled him back into the shadows, her keen Elven ears
having picked up a noise from the other side of the coliseum.
They watched the titans and Lamia with an army of Lamies
approach the cage.
The band of heroes listened intently at the conversation
between Zeus and Cronus.
They knew they could not delay any longer, and at the same
moment in which Cronus ordered Lamia to leave him, the dwarf
let out a booming battle cry that filled the arena.
Kirom charged the closest titan with Angel, or rather LOBE, in
tow.
The Lamies rushed towards them, with Laidin firing bolts as fast
as the bow of Odin could produce them. Lamies went down in
droves, but they were quick and nimble and they advanced
rapidly on her position.
Guival threw fireballs at the heads of the titans, which only
seemed to irritate them.
At least it gave Kirom the opportunity to get under the first
Titan’s defence.
He smashed Mjolnir into the shin of the Titan crushing its leg.
The Titan doubled forward and as he did, Kirom swung the
hammer upwards with terrific force at the jaw of the Titan, which
now appeared in range.
Mjolnir discharged on impact and the shattering of jawbone
and vertebrae echoed through the Coliseum.
The Titan fell backwards and lay unmoving.
Kirom swung around in time to see the swords of Freyr rip
through the torso of the second Titan.

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In the same motion, he threw Mjolnir at the knee of the off
balance Titan. The Titan’s leg folded into a quite unnatural design.
It stumbled, and this gave LOBE enough time expertly remove
its head from its body.
Kirom however did not notice Lamia sneak up behind him. She
swiftly coiled her snake body around him and started to squeeze
the life out of him.
The Titans, having recovered from the surprise attack, had
Angel surrounded.
The vampires reached Laidin’s position and now faced the bow
of Odin wielded as a bladed staff, whirling and slashing at near
invisible speeds.
Deep gash marks appeared on Laidin’s legs and arms where
some of the Lamies managed to penetrate her defences, but she
quickly cut them down before they could inflict any serious
wounds.
She gracefully glided forward as if doing a beautiful dance,
accompanied by the whirling blades of the bow of Odin as her
dance partner.
She noted Kirom’s predicament and swiftly closed the distance
between them.
She adjudged the distance close enough and planted the bow
vaulting high above the heads of the Lamies swarming around
her.
She had perfect aim, and as she glided above Lamia, the staff’s
blade flashed and neatly severed the snake princess’s head from
her torso.
Lamia’s body uncoiled involuntary and Kirom stood on all fours
sputtering and gasping for air.

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Laidin landed lightly in front of a Titan, she whirled the blade
and struck, but unfortunately hit the Titan on his gauntlet, which
deflected the blade knocking her severely off balance.
The Titan swung his giant arm and hit her on her right shoulder.
Laidin flew through the air, her arm crushed by the superhuman
blow she received.
Laidin fell heavily and vampires immediately beset her. They
tore and slashed at her skin. She managed to fend off a few but
their numbers were too great.
Guival created a whirlwind on the position Laidin lay, which
sucked up the Lamies and spat them in all wind direction. Some
ended up unconscious but most just sprang up and ran back into
battle.
LOBE saw Kirom stumble to Laidin’s side from the corner of
Angel’s eye.
He tried to keep two Titans at bay by using his speed and agility.
He ducked, twirled, slashed then ducked again. One Titan
blindsided him and landed a blow to his side, which shattered
several ribs. LOBE managed to ignore the pain by switching off all
pain receptors. He tucked and rolled and left another deep gash in
one of the Titan’s calve muscles.
The Titan roared in pain and frustration.
LOBE slowly parried his way towards Laidin and Kirom’s
position.
Another one of Guival’s fireballs hit the Titan in front of LOBE,
allowing him to take several more steps in the direction his
friends fought for their lives.

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The second Titan had moved away, and as LOBE whirled
expecting another sneak attack he saw the Titan had snuck up on
Kirom.
‘Watch out!’ he screamed, but to no avail.
The giant hand of the Titan connected with Kirom’s head with
earth shattering force.
There were no illusions about the severity of the injury.
Kirom slumped forward with blood streaming from his ears, his
skull fractured.
A Lamie managed to slink up on Guival’s position from above.
His full focus remained with maintaining the whirlwind above
Laidin and Kirom and with the other hand throwing lightning to
help LOBE.
He knew nothing of the attacker or the statue that fell on top of
him.
Laidin managed to crawl towards Kirom, and cradled her friends
head in her unbroken arm.
The flesh had been torn and slashed from most of her body and
she was almost unrecognizable as the beautiful elf queen from a
few minutes earlier.
LOBE felt something looming up behind him.
He spun Angel’s body around and struck his sword upwards
with inhuman speed.
The surprise in the Titan’s eyes was evident as the sword of
Freyr entered his throat and exited his crown.
LOBE dragged Angel’s bruised and battered body into a
defensive position in front of his friends. He gasped for air with a
broken rib having punctured his lung and he could barely keep the
sword upright.

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The attackers had backed off slightly knowing victory was in
their grasp and they did not need to take any more chances with
injury or death.
Only about 20 Lamies and 4 Titans left, he thought, no problem.
The attackers circled and waited.
They knew who ever went first would most probably die.
They could wait for somebody else to sacrifice themselves, or
simply wait for Angel to fall over.
Cronus, who did not bother to take part in the battle walked in
between his troops, who smartly parted to let him through.
‘That was mildly entertaining,’ Cronus smiled.
‘Well, come a little closer and I’ll give you a real show,’ LOBE
spluttered bravely attempting to keep upright.
‘Defiant even in the face of death, how amusing,’ Cronus said,
‘but futile none the less.’
‘Kill him,’ he ordered his minions.
‘Not so fast,’ Zeus’s clear voice echoed through the arena.
Zeus had escaped the cage, and armed with his quiver of
lightning bolts, flanked by the other gods, took up position behind
his Father.
‘Who freed you?’ Cronus asked more out of curiosity than
actual concern.
‘They did,’ Zeus said casting his eyes upward.
The Coliseum’s upper parapets, all the way around the arena
had filled with Gentari sword in one hand and shield in the other.
Drugunxa’s sisters stood in between the Valk’r, each wielding a
Taur plasma rifle.
‘Attack,’ Cronus yelled.
‘With pleasure,’ Zeus answered.

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Plasma ordnance rained down on the enemy.
The Valk’r climbed on their shields and to LOBE’s great surprise
flew down from the parapets.
Like angry hornets, they swarmed the Titans stinging and
retreating. The Titans had no defence, the Valk’r simply moved
too fast.
Ares and the other gods helped as much as they could but
without weapons, their efforts were limited against the
monstrous Titans.
The Drugunxa and her sister easily picked off the remaining evil
vampires, as they remained grouped in a single area around
Angel.
Zeus found Cronus flaying wildly at the Gentari.
‘Cronus,’ Zeus yelled, ‘I want you to say hello to my little friend.
I named her, whos your daddy, oh yeah; it is that smouldering
heap of ash. I have been saving her especially for you.’
Zeus drew a gigantic lightning bolt from his quiver.
He threw it in one smooth motion and it exploded on Cronus’s
chest. It instantly enveloped him in a lightning storm running
across his body.
He collapsed and lay shaking on the ground while the electricity
dissipated.
Seeing they had no one left to lead them the remaining Titans
surrendered.
‘Fetch Asclepius...’ Hades shouted.
Angel felt the last bit of resolve drain from his body before
collapsing next to Laidin and Kirom.

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Eye of the Gods

***
Laidin awoke from a deep slumber. She was dressed in white
robes and lay on white linen. She remembered the fight vividly
but to her surprise showed no battle scars. Her skin felt smooth as
silk and she had no broken bones.
I’m dead, she thought calmly.
Kirom lay on a bed across from her and seemed to be sleeping.
Neither Angel nor Guival were anywhere in sight.
She stood up and slowly walked to the door.
Everything appeared bathed in a dim white glow.
She walked down the hall almost disappointed that neither Sif
nor Odin came to welcome her.
Surely, an El queen deserves a reception when arriving in
Valhalla, she thought.
She walked into the room at the end of the passage, where
Guival unceremoniously accosted her.
‘You are here too?’ she asked surprised.
‘Where else would I be?’ he asked just as surprised.
‘Did we all die?’
‘We are not dead Laidin. We are in the house of Hades under
the care of his personal physician.
This guy is amazing. Look, he fixed you up good as new. He even
managed to mend Kirom’s impossibly thick dwarven skull.’
‘Where is Angel?’ she asked.
Guival led her to a balcony overlooking the underworld.
‘He retreated back into his deep depression after the battle,’
Guival remarked sadly.

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Angel sat with a vacant expression staring into the city below
him.
‘So what happened?’ Laidin asked, not used to needing to prod
at Guival for a story.
‘It seems we all missed the end of the battle. They knocked me
unconscious with a statue. You were bleeding to death and Kirom
had a fractured skull. Angel tried to protect us but he stood alone
against an army. Fortunately, for us, Tri’st had the presence of
mind to send for the Valk’r. He knew we would need back up. He
also trained Drugunxa and her sisters in the use of plasma rifles.’
‘But how did the Valk’r get across the river? We had the only
gold coin remember,’ Laidin asked.
‘That’s the cool thing. Apparently, Noone and Qren messed with
their energy shields while we stayed on earth. They turned the
Valk’r shields into hover-boards. The Valk’r, each with a Lamie in
tow, simply flew over the river,’ Guival explained.
‘So in the end, they rescued Zeus, and gave him back his
lightning bolts. He took care of Cronus who turned out to be his
father. Drugunxa and her sisters showed real guts, and the Valk’r
were amazing as always. All the bad guys that survived are again
locked up in Tartarus,’ Guival grinned in her mind.
‘Kirom has not woken up yet but we expect him to regain
consciousness any day now,’ Guival concluded.
‘Where is the rescue party? I’d like to thank them personally,’
Laidin asked.
‘Zeus took them to some kind of weird temple here in the
underworld. The Valk’r went with. He was going to perform some
kind of ceremony. Probably to thank them,’ Guival shrugged.

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Eye of the Gods

‘We will probably find out soon enough,’ Laidin said, ‘would you
mind finding me some food, I am famished. I’m going to sit with
Angel for a while.’
‘Sure, see you in a bit,’ Guival acknowledged and walked off.
Laidin quietly took a seat next to her best friend.
‘She will be back,’ Laidin said after a long uncomfortable silence.
‘Why did she run?’ Angel finally asked, still staring into
nothingness.
‘The shock was too great Angel, she realized her temper had
almost caused the death of the one she loved most,’ Laidin
explained.
‘But we could have worked it out?’ Angel retorted defiantly.
‘This is something she has to do on her own. She needs time.
When she is ready, when she is sure she will not be a threat to her
loved ones, she will return. I swear it my lord.’
Laidin felt unsure that all Ricci needed was time. Ricci had been
getting progressively worse in the last couple of months, Laidin
thought. She seems to have no control over her emotions
anymore. Laidin feared there was a more serious problem than
just an emotional breakdown.
‘I miss her so much,’ Angel said with a single tear rolling down
his cheek.
‘I know my dearest friend. Keep the faith,’ Laidin said squeezing
his hand.

473

Igor Swann

***
Skibladne silently glided through no-space in the jump.
It would be another 4 days before they would reach UGE space
and the kids were all looking forward to seeing their home again.
Throm and Bruxa had become close friends in the last couple of
days. He had taught her the dwarven board game of Diggs and
they spent hours playing.
‘What does he see in her,’ Feral had asked Shen when they
were alone on the bridge one afternoon.
‘Bruxa embodies everything a dwarf values in a person Feral.
Bravery, strength of character, loyalty, a kind spirit, endurance
and the fact that she is very clever and loves to listen to his stories
does not hurt either,’ Shen had explained.
The children littered the recreation room reading and chatting.
Throm and Bruxa occupied a dark corner, away from the others,
playing Diggs.
‘What! That is not possible!’ Throm roared, threw back his chair
and stomped off to his cabin.
The children jumped up and ran to where Bruxa sat, curious as
to what the creature had done to upset Throm so badly.
Phalin started to chuckle.
‘What?’ the twins asked in unison.
‘She won,’ Phalin laughed.
Bruxa was in tears, ‘Bruxa sorry, Bruxa won’t do it again,’ she
cried.
‘Bruxa,’ Phalin said as she put her arm around the little
creature, ‘this game is not only a dwarven pastime, it’s their

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universal sport. Being a Diggs master is what every little dwarf
dreams of and longs to become one day. Throm’s uncle Brom is
the best Diggs player in the universe. Do not take it personally it is
a dwarven pride thing.’
‘And they can stuff a helluva lot of pride into that little body,’
Feral joked.
‘Bruxa understands, Bruxa play bad next time,’ she said with
tears still streaming from her eyes.
‘Good, but not too bad. When you see you are about to win
then lose narrowly,’ Phalin smiled.
She had hardly finished her sentence when Throm stormed
back into the room.
‘I want a rematch. Now!’ he growled in the gruff manner of an
angry dwarf that they all adored.
Bruxa sat looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
‘We’ll just see if your luck holds a second time,’ Throm barked.
Phalin standing behind Throm winked at the little creature.
‘Bruxa will try her best,’ the little creature said while trying to
wink at Phalin but failing miserably because of her severe
deformity.
The children watched the game intently but lost interest after
the first hour.
It was not until Throm cried victory a few hours later that they
relaxed.
The morning of the day they would leave the Bifrost jump broke
with a terrifying scream coming from Bruxa’s quarters.
The children rushed to her aid.
‘What’s going on?’ Storm yawned still rubbing the sleep from
her eyes.

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Blade shrugged and knocked on the door.
The door opened and the children had to take a step back.
‘Bruxa, is that you?’ Throm stared dumbfounded.
Bruxa’s deformity and hunch had disappeared.
The children stood in silent admiration of the beautiful
creature, no, girl with the huge doe eyes. They were golden and
shone with their own light. Her smooth auburn hair gently
accented her slight facial features.
She stood slightly taller than Throm. Her muscles appeared
beautifully sculpted from years of intense workout. Because of
her short stature, her muscles looked even more arresting than it
would, had she been taller.
Throm stared at her with stars in his eyes.
There were no denying that the El were the most beautiful,
graceful and noble creatures in creation, or that the Valk’r all
resembled athletic deadly super-models. However, this girl could
convince you to give your heart to her with only a wink and a
smile.
‘I’m hungry,’ Bruxa said, ‘I want cereal,’ she smiled.
The kids laughed not knowing what happened, but they were
happy. The twins wrapped their arms around her and led her to
the kitchen.
Throm just stood frozen in front of her cabin, with a gaping
mouth, staring after the disappearing party.
Bruxa looked over her shoulder, winked and smiled.
If he was fond of her previously, he was head over heels now.
‘Wait for me!’ Throm shouted and ran after them.
Skibladne ran all known scans, but could not explain the
transformation. All she could tell the children was that Bruxa’s

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physiology now resembled the twins. She was as human as they
were. She definitely did not need blood to survive anymore.

Their arrival on Arken was quite nondescript, except for Shen
needing to hide her ship on one of Arken’s moons as they passed
it.
Throm and Feral’s uncles, namely Brom and Teral, welcomed
the children. Shen’s father Qren hugged his daughter tenderly as
was the way of his race.
‘So guess mom and dad are not back yet?’ Storm asked the
elders.
‘No children, there has been no word,’ Brom remarked.
‘Have you seen Noone around?’ Blade asked.
‘He stayed on earth to help with their jump ships,’ Teral
answered.
‘Oh, Phalin, your father Vadenin is here, he is exploring the old
ruins on the far side of Arken.’ Brom said.
‘Father,’ Phalin exclaimed, ‘If I may beg your leave my lords.’
‘She is becoming her mother with every passing day,’ Brom
laughed, ‘those damn El just cannot help being haughty highborn,
can they.’
Feral and Throm remained with their family.
Bruxa nudged Throm and pointed to the vial hanging around
her neck.
Throm slapped his forehead, ‘how is the brave Valk’r doing,’ he
urgently asked.
‘We placed her in stasis till a cure could be found,’ Qren
announced, ‘she is in the infirmary.’
‘Let’s go,’ Throm motioned to Bruxa to follow him.

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The healer opened the stasis pod for them and Bruxa let one
drop slowly drip from the vial onto the girl’s forehead.
‘She will be fine now,’ Bruxa announced as colour started to
seep back into the face of the Valk’r.
That evening at dinner, Throm found himself seated next to
Brom.
‘Uncle, Bruxa is an amazing Diggs player,’ Throm told Brom.
‘She is?’ Brom asked, ‘we’ll see about that,’ he laughed.
Bruxa blushed.
‘Let’s retire to the hall of records and you can show me,’ Brom
roared in sheer delight.
He loved the game, but seldom found anyone to play with.
Dwarfs hate losing and Brom never lost.
Teral started to show Feral a new magic spell he had been
working on.
The twins thought they would look through the archives for
information on the artefact since they were here anyway.
Brom set up the intricate game board.
The game started and the two combatants shared the intense
concentration needed to master all the hundreds of elements
they needed to control to win the game.
Phalin returned accompanied by her father, catching up on
many years of adventure.
It was the longest recorded game of Diggs in history; not only
that but it was the first time since Brom became Universal Diggs
Champion that one of his games ended in a mine shootout. This is
where there is no outright winner; the winner is determined by
tallying the number of mines owned by each player. If this is still a
draw, they calculate the ore production from each mine.

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Eye of the Gods

Brom won by the narrowest of margins on the last count.
Bruxa and Throm walked over to where the twins and Phalin
looked over documents they found in the hall of records. Records
they hoped might possibly pertain to the artefact Sharin so
desperately sought.
Phalin’s father, a renowned archaeologist, decided to help
them. He was fascinated with the research material they
uncovered on earth.
‘Bruxa played her hardest,’ Bruxa said with a glint in her eye as
she got to the table.
‘We know you did,’ Phalin smiled knowingly.
‘Wait. She was amazing. I am so proud of her. I have never seen
such brilliant strategy. She only made one little rookie mistake in
the entire game, but uncle Brom is brilliant at causing his
opponents to make mistakes, that is why he is the best,’ Throm
beamed.
The children burst out laughing.
‘What?’ Throm asked not being able to share in the joke.
‘Bruxa tired, sleep now,’ Bruxa wearily stated, and left with
Throm escorting her back to her quarters.

Laidin’s cruiser arrived on Arken less than a week after the
children.
‘Where is mom?’ a puzzled Storm asked her father.
Storm could sense something was amiss; her father seemed
distant.
‘Your mother decided to take a little vacation of her own,’ Angel
remarked without much conviction hugging the twins.
‘She’s okay though?’ Blade asked sharing his sister’s concern.

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‘She is fine Bladin, in perfect health,’ Laidin answered, ‘she just
needed a little time to sort through a few personal issues.’
‘Will she be gone long?’ Storm asked.
Angel just shrugged and left for his quarters.
Laidin saw the twins’ desperate expressions following their
father’s retreat.
‘Bladin, S’tormindal, you need to give your father support
without burdening him further. Your mother left suddenly and
your father feels he is at fault. Until your mother’s return, you
must be there for him. Understand?’ Laidin asked.
The twins nodded.
‘What happened?’ Storm asked.
‘I think your father will tell you when he is ready,’ Laidin
answered, and changed the subject. ‘Ah, I see the ceremony
worked even all the way out here,’ Laidin exclaimed, noticing
Throm and Bruxa happily chatting with his dad, Kirom.
‘What ceremony?’ Blade asked intrigued.
‘Zeus lifted the curse on the Lamies,’ Laidin answered.
‘So that is why Bruxa transformed?’ Storm observed, her father
forgotten for the moment.
‘Yes, after some of the other Lamies helped us defeat Lamia and
free the gods, he removed the curse as a display of his gratitude,’
Laidin answered.
‘So where are the Olympians?’ Phalin asked.
‘They were unable to leave the underworld, and the Lamies
who helped decided to stay on Olympus. They felt they belonged
there more than they do here with us,’ Laidin answered, ‘they are
helping the Taur explore their heritage, and rebuild what is left of
Olympus.’

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Eye of the Gods

‘So how was your vacation?’ Laidin asked.
‘Oh nothing special happened. A lot of sightseeing,’ Storm lied
without blinking, ‘we would rather hear of your adventure,’ she
smiled.
Morning broke on Arken.
Breakfast started quite uneventful as usual.
The dwarfs were conspicuous in their absence.
Bruxa just started on her fourth bowl of cereal when the doors
to the hall opened.
Brom walked in wearing his ceremonial attire flanked by Kirom
and Throm.
He carried a wooden case that looked both ancient and
valuable.
‘Friends, may I have your attention for a moment,’ Brom said
after clearing his throat.
This was unnecessary as everyone had curiously watched the
procession enter, and he had everybody’s undivided attention in
any event.
‘Bruxa please approach,’ Brom requested of the little girl and
waited patiently for her to take up position in front of him.
‘For her service to dwarven traditions, her valour and
courageous spirit, it is my great pleasure to bestow upon Bruxa
the title of honorary Dwar. We welcome her into the Dwar family
with open arms if she should accept,’ Brom solemnly announced,
presenting her with the box.
‘This is your own Diggs board, an artefact rumoured the have
been played on by Thor himself.’
Bruxa heard the collective intake of breath behind her.
She looked at Throm who nodded with a huge grin on his faces.

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‘Bruxa accepts, and thanks his kingliness a lot,’ she sputtered
taking the valuable wooden box from Brom with shaking hands.
A deafening applause went up around the room, with fireworks
exploding around the hall courtesy of Feral.
Teral was sure Brom’s only motive for this announcement was
so that he could allow Bruxa entry into the next Universal Diggs
Championships.
The children swarmed around Bruxa, congratulating the shy girl.
Laidin seemed to remember something, and quickly left the
room, returning moments later.
‘My apologies, it slipped my mind Bruxa. Zeus sent this as a
token of gratitude for saving their lives,’ Laidin announced
handing Bruxa a quiver filled with lightning bolts.
‘Bruxa thank you, your queenliness,’ Bruxa blushed.
‘He said you are welcome to visit and replenish your supply
whenever you wish,’ Laidin concluded.
Peace and joy again descended on Arken, accept for one person
deep in the archives having just made a terrible discovery.
‘Oh no,’ Vadenin whispered.
Sadly, this is a story for another time.

THE END

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Genealogy
Vanir (Humans)
Planet: Earth (Vanaheimr)

Deity descendant from: Freyr

Angel
Position: UGE lord
Age: 55
Weapon: Sword of Freyr (Sword)
Ship: Skibladne; the ship of legends and the crown jewel of the United Galactic
Empire; enough said
Description: the hero; he would have preferred to be consulted on this career
change
Brother: Mark (twin)
Companion: LOBE, angel’s sarcastic migraine who could figure the amount of
nose hair needed to fill a room in seconds; an unstable truce exists between it
and Angel most of the time

Deity descendant from: Odin, Frigg, Thor and Sif

Ricci
Position: First Princess of the UGE
Age: 45
Weapon: Dragonfang (Sword, equipped with half Brisingamen Jewel)
Ship: Sleipnir
Description: a Valk’r warrior with a fast blade and an even faster tongue; she
causes the strange fluttery feeling in Angel’s stomach; LOBE calls it heartburn

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Blade (Bladin)
Father: Angel
Mother: Ricci
Age: 19
Weapon: Gram (Sword, Magic, Power of cold)
Ship: (Skibladne)
Description: One of the twins, and leader of the junior crew

Storm (S’tormindal)
Father: Angel
Mother: Ricci
Age: 19
Weapon: Tyrfing (Sword, Magic, power if heat)
Ship: (Skibladne)
Description: One of the twins, and Blade’s twin sister

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Valk’r (Humans)
Planet: Earth (New Valhalla)

Deity descendant from: Freya

Gemmi
Position: Valk’r Commander (New Valhalla)
Age: 30
Weapon: Half Brisingamen Jewel
Ship: Gyrfalcon
Description: The Valk’r leader, who has the weight of worlds on her tiny
shoulders. Loser is Gemmi’s pet and generally the other weight on her
shoulders
Companion: Loser (shape changing blue Gerbit)

Carra
nd
Position: Valk’r 2 in command, Gentari
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Valk’r sword, Valk’r energy shield (hover-board)
Ship: Valk’r fighter
Description: A Valk’r warrior, second in command to Gemmi, when Ricci is not
around, it’s complicated

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El (Elves)
Planet: Elheimr (El), Svartalfheimr (dark El)

Deity descendant from: Sif

Laidin
Position: El Queen
Age: 234
Weapon: Bow of Odin (Bow-Staff, fire 10 bolts consecutively)
Ship: Golden El Fighter
Description: the Elven voice of reason and guidance; she is more than she
appears to be and apparently even more than that. She is Angel’s best friend in
this unreal world

Phalin
Father: Vadenin
Mother: Laidin
Age: 16
Weapon: (Bow of Odin)
Ship: (Golden El Fighter)
Description: One of the junior crew

Deity descendant from: Unknown

Sharin (Dar’kel, Darklord)
Position: El Princess, evil bitch
Age: 200+
Weapon: El Bow-Staff
Ship: Royal El Cruiser, Naglfar
Companion: Seriously?
Description: is an arrogant self-centred Elf princess, egotistical to a degree that
on her death would make the devil wonder if he came at a bad time

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Dwar (Dwarfs)
Planet: Nidavellir

Deity descendant from: Thor

Brom
Position: Grand Master Dwar
Age: 167
Weapon: Mjolnir (Hammer)
Ship: Dwar Battle Cruiser
Description: Leader of the Dwar

Kirom
Position: Ambassador to the UGE
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Dwar War Hammer
Ship: Royal Dwar Fighter
Description: portraits the hardcore adventuring dwarf and is trying his best to
get out of his brother Brom’s shadow as well as the hip-hop pants Angel gave
him

Throm
Father: Kirom
Age: 18
Weapon: Dwar War Hammer
Ship: (Royal Dwar Fighter)
Companion: Bruxa (Vampire)

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Aesir (Mages)
Planet: Ásgarôr, Asgard, “City of Dreams”

Deity descendant from: Odin

Teral
Position: Arch-Chancellor of Aesir
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Magic
Ship: Aesir Battle Cruiser
Description: Leader of the mages

Deity descendant from: Loki

Guival
Position: Ambassador to the UGE
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Gungnir (Spear, Magic)
Ship: Morph ship
Description: the unfortunate Aesir spy who would rather be doing stand-up
comedy and magic tricks than the inevitable dying he is currently employed to
do; but the danger pay is great. At least it is rumoured to be, since no one has
actually claimed it. One of the senior crew

Deity descendant from: Odin and Loki

Feral
Father: Guival
Mother: Teral’s sister
Age: 17
Weapon: Magic
Ship: (Morph ship)

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Ark (Aliens)
Planet: Arken


Qren
Position: First Ark Engineer
Age: Unknown
Weapon: None
Ship: Ark Cruiser
Description: has no desire to be in command but frequently becomes burdened
with the responsibility; he would be happy if they would just let him abduct
people in peace

Shen
Father: Qren
Age: 19
Weapon: Twin blasters crafted by her friends
Ship: (Naglfar)

D’nari (Ancients)
Planet: Unknown


Noone
Position: Advisor
Age: Several Millennia
Weapon: None
Ship: Cruiser
Description: a mystery but speaks with the wisdom of the ancients

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Taur (Creatures)
Planet: Evergal’t

Deity descendant from: Minotaur, Satyr, Centaur

Tri’st
Position: Emperor
Race: Sa’t (Satyr)
Weapon: None
Ship: Taur Sovereign Destroyer
Description: main ambition in life is to become older. He is intelligent, but
profusely denies such groundless accusations

Lamies (Vampires)
Planet: Earth

Deity descendant from: Lamia

Lamia
Position: Mistress of Lamies (technically not a Lamie)
Weapon: Snake abilities
Ship: None
Description: She is the ruler of the Lamies

Bruxa
Position: Main advisor to darklord
Weapon: Vampiric abilities
Description: confused vampire

Drugunxa
Position: Story Teller (bard)
Weapon: Vampiric abilities
Description: Lamie entertainer sort of like a vampire with verbal diarrhoea

490

Eye of the Gods

Olympians (Gods)
Planet: Olympus
Deity descendants from: themselves

Zeus
Position: Ruler
Weapon: lightning bolts
Description: in charge

Hera
Position: goddess of marriage
Weapon: Knitting needles
Description: Zeus’s wife

Athena
Position: goddess of wisdom
Weapon: False teeth
Description: old bimbo

Ares
Position: god of war
Weapon: Walker
Description: old

Aphrodite
Position: goddess of love
Weapon: Venereal disease
Description: dead

Hermes
Position: messengers of the gods
Weapon: Walking sticks
Description: old

491

Igor Swann

Apollo
Position: god of light
Weapon: Blasphemy
Description: he is in an advance state of Dyslexic, Tourette’s, Alzheimer’s
syndrome

Typhon
Position: God-killer
Weapon: Mind, fireballs
Description: one seriously evil indestructible badass god

Other Norse gods mentioned:
Skirnir (Skern): Servant to Freyr
Magni: Son of Thor and bloodline of the Dwarfs
Modi: The crazy son of Thor and Sif
Thrud: Daughter of Thor and Sif
Baldur: Son of Odin
Ullr son of Sif: Pure royal bloodline of the Light Elves and so Laiden
Brunhild: Most famous Valkyrie
Gersemi: Daughter of Freyja and Odur

Other Greek gods Mentioned:
Echidna: Typhon’s wife
Sphinx: Demon creature born from Typhon
Medusa: Demon creature born from Typhon
Hydra: Demon creature born from Typhon
Furies: Zeus’s pets
Poseidon: ruler of oceans (Weapon: Trident)
Hades: Ruler of the underworld (weapon: Helm of Darkness)
Asclepius: Physician to the gods
Cronus: Father of gods
Titans: Ancient gods

492

Eye of the Gods

Animals

Gerbit
They could change from a spider monkey size to a bus size gorilla in seconds if
it was angry enough. They communicate with emotions and are immune to
magic.
Grey Farren
They are highly sought after bear-like creatures with enormous spines running
from their backs. Its head more closely resembles an insect with thousands of
eyes. The biggest problem with hunting this creature is that it would sense
brain wave patterns except through the most protective scrambler helmets.
When it sensed you wish to kill it, it would simply run away or roll on you
impaling you on the spines. Oh and it should be mentioned that these
creatures at full gallop have been heard to break the sound barrier.
Perol
These remain creatures of legend, rumoured to have originated in hell to
torture the most evil of souls. However, even hell had to draw the line
somewhere. The torture dished out by these creatures became so inhumane
that the demon union voted them out, calling it cruel and unusual. The demons
banned them from the underworld and left them on a remote planet with no
life forms, the planet of the Damned.
Croman
This is a little black ball of hatred. It despises everything. Even if the targets
were as big as a house and not necessarily breathing, it would still try to bite its
head off out of principle. One of these agitated, hyperactive creatures once
tried to kill Skibladne.
Gist
A furry little rat creature. However, he has a much more relaxed temperament
and is a heck of a lot faster. They created their own tunnel structure in the
Dwar mines and train easily, thus they were the preferred carrier of
information, since radio waves did not travel well in ore-rich caverns.

493

Igor Swann

Broadwing
Stupid alien ducks, that cannot fly and cannot run fast either. This is a blessing
since they always run towards the threat instead of away. Only reason they
have survived this long is that they taste worse than their manure.
Tre’nt
A warthog like creature, shy and retiring and quite the pacifist. That is until you
threaten its little ones. They would retreat into their holes dug in solid rock,
and you would be extremely brave to continue with the capture effort. Their
armoured hide and razor sharp barracuda like teeth would deter even the most
avid hunter. Whatever you place down the hole generally remains down the
hole.
Werten
The black bullet like creature, which seems to propel itself with a fart, it could
travel extremely fast on this gaseous propulsion method generated in its
stomach.
Lerok
A large bee like creature, about as big as a house cat. Very fast, very poisonous
with a stinger like a cattle prod. They do not like anything other than another
lerok breathing their air.
Erks
Are as would be expected the size and shape of bees, but with teeth. Not very
poisonous and it requires a few thousand bites from them to die. Only problem
is they always travel in swarms and these swarms number in their millions.
They have the same problem with air as the lerok.
Barken
When this animal wants some loving, it goes literally insane, and NOTHING will
stand between it and the object of its affection. Unfortunately, this ‘nothing’
would sometimes include ravines and chasms. They appeared on the
endangered species list.
Grun
An extremely poisonous snake that could become near invisible when asleep; it
seemed to fade out of existence when unconscious and then seem to come
back into being when it awoke.

494

Igor Swann

The Author
Shortly after he hatched, the author proceeded to lead the life that would
constitute the fantasies of most parentally supervised mental midgets. He
managed a miraculous escape from the festivities at university with his mind
mostly intact. He then became an instructor on special weapons, attended the
Military Academy and survived Special Forces.

An epiphany or two later he found that he preferred the life of a successful
nerd dodging viruses to a poor jock dodging bullets. He descended into the
world of bytes where he soon reached the top of his profession as a senior
systems architect. He got bored, became a lecturer, got bored, and became a
quant. He is now happily doing extreme maths, and according to rumour
mastered multiplication in addition to addition.

In an attempt to appear more interesting he found time to raise cheetahs, race
huskies, do modelling, fling himself from serviceable airplanes, and scuba with
those teeth with fish.

After someone, presumed to be his mother, told him that he actually lived a
quite interesting life for a hamster, he began to write his autobiography. This
factual account of his life encountered more than the expected scepticism so
he decided to reposition this book for publication in the genres of fantasy,
science fiction, science and mystery.

He unfortunately lives on; and has vowed to deposit more of these literary
masterpieces on the unsuspecting public.

496

Eye of the Gods: A Mindlord Novel by Igor Swann

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Eye of the Gods: A Mindlord Novel by Igor Swann