“Alexa, Raya has bestowed this upon you. You are now officially one of us. As far as the king is concerned.. Meh, he does not need to know. However, I have the ability to now grant you full authority as a god of war. You will not be subject to any authority except mine and Raya’s, and with this rank, you also now have authority second only to mine and the other gods of war.”
Alexa blanched, realizing just what was being bestowed upon her. “Are you sure?”
“It is not up to me. This is Raya.” He said calmly. “Now, It is time we get back to our own tasks in Durres. There is still plenty left undone there, and sadly we have new business to attend.”
Alexa remembered her dead wolves and nodded.
“Go ahead and load up. I will be out with Anika shortly.”
Alexa headed out, flanked as soon as she left the meeting hall by several wolves who had been waiting outside the doors.
When th
Alexa unstrapped her blade and handed it to Andrew. Her wolf, Cole had been his name before he took on the designation of #2, handed over several blades as well. Nash checked the other soldiers to make sure they were not hiding any weapons.Satisfied, Andrew glared at Tannis, but opted to let Alexa fix this herself. “Winner gets the title and honor. Loser is demoted. No weapons. Submission wins. BEGIN!”The word begin had barely left Andrew’s lips when Alexa and Cole exploded. Alexa’s black hair billowed in the wind and she rushed forward, and then Cole powered before Her, arm out stretched. She caught hold of his arm and he swung her, tripling her speed and he added every bit of momentum he could to her flight. Alexa rocketed at the soldiers and flipped into a feet first attack at the last second, crashing into two soldier’s mid sections. They were rendered unconscious as they flew back, smashing into the side of a transport truck, the wi
The ride to Kaibain started out quiet. Alexa stared out the window, lost in thought. The realization that she had killed one of their own soldiers over a stupid argument galled her. Raya joined her thoughts, ‘He pulled a weapon on of god of war. That is tantamount to treason.’ ‘He didn’t know I was a god of war. You only just made that appointment. I don’t wear any insignia, nor am I even in this army.’ ‘Alexa, you are my warrior. You were there under Andrew’s command, with Anika, Nash, and the rest. Everyone of them is a known god of war and every member of the dragon squad outranked that pissant. That is over 1000 soldiers from across the land that are KNOWN to outrank him. no one travels in the company of the gods of war without outranking that traitor. He still chose not only to disrespect you but to pull a weapon on you. He disobeyed a direct order from the supreme commander, and chose to use deadly force on a higher ranking office
Alexa marveled at the militaristic atmosphere as they entered the palace of Devos Mansion. There were guards stationed at the entrance who bowed respectfully as their badges automatically lifted the gate without the guard needing to activate it.When they arrived at the front doors of the castle, six guards came to the side of the car and stood at attention. They exited the car and Anika led the way into the grand hall.“Seems they might have expected us.” Anika said softly as Alexa took in the numerous guards who lines the alcoves of the grand hall. Many were hidden in shadow and if her keen hearing had not detected their breathing, or the subtle expansion of their chests against taught leather and breast plates, she likely would have assumed they were statues. At the far end, a throne sat empty. A steward stood off to the side and raised his voice.“The Red Dragon, Anika Archeron and company.”Nothing happened, and the room fell eerily silent.“Are the devos not in?” Anika asked A
Andrew led the way as they headed back toward the great hall. “Come, it is time to return to Durres.” As they passed into the grand hall, Alexa let out a shocked squeak as two men grabbed her arms from either side. Anika and Andrew spun back to her and Anika drew a dagger. Conner’s two younger brothers held Alexa. “Lookie what we found. A murderous little bitch.” Lord Devos stepped out of the shadows then with a man that Alexa felt bore a striking resemblance to lieutenant Tannis. “Ah, goddess Anika, you saved me a lot of trouble bringing this traitor to me. I thank you. the Praetorian guard has already been summoned. After all, the death of the son of Senator Palmos cannot hardly be overlooked.” “Lord Governor Devos, you will release Alexa now. If you don’t, you will find I am far more than you can afford to offend.” Andrew said coldly. “Son, don’t play here.” Governor Devos said, snapping his fingers. Twenty home guard stepped out of the shadows and surrounded them. General Ezra
The throne room the the High king of Dragard would normally be a bustling place. After all, the kingdom had been at war with the Jerean Empire for over fifteen years, and courtiers, emissaries, and administrators would be flying down the halls all hours of the day and night. Today, however, the room was silent as the king sat pensively staring down at eight of the kingdom's most deadly warriors. The Dragon Squad had earned their stripes, and now stood before him in splendid formal regalia, complete with impressive gold knotwork on their shoulders denoting them as having the highest ranks afforded to officers in the king’s army. The King finally stood, and gestured the warriors forward. “My gods of war, come forward.” The eight stepped forward and bowed low, and saluted fist to heart. Six were men of various heights, and two were striking female warriors, who today had chosen to don their elaborate war paint for the public ceremony. The King loo
Anika, the newly minted goddess of war, made her way onto the private train bound for Placida. She was still in her formal regalia as she was sure the lord governor would find out she was on her way and set up a greeting committee. She groaned at the thought of more public appearances. The black and green war paint she wore made her flame-red hair blaze in stark contrast. As she boarded, she noticed a tall, lean man reclining in one of the few luxury seats aboard, reading a file. At first, all she could make out was a standard field uniform and standard short-cropped brown hair, but just as she was about to question who he was, the man lowered his file. Anika snapped to attention. “Commander!” “At ease, ‘General’ Anika,” came the slightly sarcastic baritone voice. “we know each other better than that. If you are ready, tell the conductor that we are ready to leave, then have a seat.” “Yes, sir!” said Anika, snapping another salute, her tone full of re
The black hoverbike slipped around a corner and flew through intersections. Most people just thought a motorcycle was weaving through traffic. Few realized a high-end, powerful hoverbike was next to them. As the rider neared the port city of Durres, feelings of rightness began to settle on him. It had been 15 years since he first left Durres. Back then he was only a young starving boy of 12 who had just lost his parents. However, despite the pain of memory in this city, coming back now, this place just felt right to him. ‘thinking of making this home?’ said a telepathic voice in his head. ‘yes, Raya, I believe we will call this place home once more. It will take some work, but I think we are up for the challenge.’ Replied Andrew. ‘Andrew, this place… you may be feeling good about it, but it gives me the creeps. There is so much…. Wrong about this place.’ said Raya. ‘There are likely some bad people around. We will
Five men in black formal suits were hurrying over to him as if they expected him to turn to smoke and vanish if they were a second later. This would be people from the Devos family then, thought Andrew. People walking in the park gave way, and many ducked out of the area fearing some sort of police action was underway. Several even tried to hide, not wanting to attract the attention of these imposing men. The men scanned the park and began to fan out as if they had lost track of their prey. Little did they know that Andrew was a master of avoiding detection. The lead suit turned onto the walkway with Andrew's bench only feet away and froze, startled. Andrew was just sitting nonchalantly playing with his phone, but a simple glaring glance from Andrew made it clear he had been aware of the group’s approach the whole time. The leader spoke without introduction “the Devos family master wants you to come back to Vroengard, he has business to