Mighty Hammer Down (49 page)

There was a look of anger in his eyes,
but his voice did not show it. "What else is there? There are many
thousands of innocent people who are going to die because the
Bhoors are coming to spread the word of their god. You met the
gods. You know what they are like. I will not let the Bhoors
advance any cause that those gods might have.

"The light at my horizon, the false
sunset that I chased, was nothing. It was just a trick to get me to
do as Oderion wanted. I do not want to live in a world where such a
god controls mankind."

"But Rommus, he created you. What
Oderion wants is all that matters."

"No, freedom is what matters. You
heard him. He ignored all of our prayers. If we are so unimportant,
so small in his eyes, then I will ignore him as well and do as I
see fit here in this world. Freedom is what matters to me, and the
Bhoors are coming to crush freedom. We must stop them; and we have
no gods to help us."

She paused a moment as she looked in
his eyes. "We have the god of war."

"No, we don’t. We have a man. I do not
have the powers of a god. I hardly have the power of an ordinary
man."

He looked like he wanted to say more
but something in the distance caught his attention. She saw his jaw
muscles tighten and flex as he stared intently. Maybe it was his
new sense of purpose, or his brimming confidence, but she was
suddenly even more attracted to him than she was before. He stood
so calm and proud, like a statue carved to represent power and
dignity. She slowly reached out to gently touch his arm but he
began to walk away before she got the chance.

"What is it? What’s wrong?"

"That man on the horse. Can you see
him?"

"I see a few men on
horses."

"The one in the center coming towards
us. He is coming for me."

"What makes you think that? There are
a hundred people on that street and you can pick out one that is
coming for you? He couldn’t have seen you come out of the temple.
He has no idea who you are."

She started to change her mind as she
saw the man bring his horse to a run. Innocent people in the street
fell to either side of him as he charged up the dirt road. Rommus
had pulled his sword and people near him ran for cover. She wasn’t
sure what to do, so she drew her own sword but backed up against
the wall of a nearby shop, giving Rommus room to fight. She decided
only to interfere if it was needed.

The man’s face could finally be seen
as he raced closer to them. He was a handsome Medoran, with
piercing blue eyes and a wide jaw covered in bristles. He wore red
armor, but only on his forearms. He had a heavy sword in one hand,
held out to sever the head of his victim. When the hoof beats were
the loudest, Rommus ducked and swung his golden sword at the legs
of the man’s horse. There was a terrible crack as the animal’s legs
snapped and its massive weight was thrown into the crowd of
gathering people. The man rolled as he fell, but stood up
immediately, apparently unaffected by the fall. Many innocent
people in the crowd were not so lucky, and were crushed by the
wounded horse.

The Medoran approached Rommus. "Rommus
Tirinius?"

"I am", was all Rommus
said.

"I have come for the sword and your
life. Give up now and I will make it as painless as
possible."

Rommus wasted no time and brought the
sword down at the man’s face. He managed to block the strike but it
disrupted his balance, sending him off to the side. He did another
roll on the ground and when he stood, he instantly struck at
Rommus. The man was tall and strong, and was obviously an expert in
the use of weapons. She watched the two of them clash for what
seemed like forever, their swords clanging and ringing through the
silent street.

She wanted to rush in and help, but
she feared that it would surprise Rommus and leave him open for the
man to kill him. Her face twisted with worry for him, but she stood
frozen as the men continued to fight. Her face contorted even more
when she saw the man knee Rommus in the groin. He let out a short
cry from the pain, but continued attacking and
defending.

In a mighty swing, Rommus managed to
snap the man’s sword in half and send the blade clattering against
a wall. The man simply laughed, discarding the broken hilt as he
rolled again and stood up several paces away. Alana felt a strange
hum in the air and noticed that the hair on the back of her neck
was standing up. Even though the sun was warm, she felt an icy
chill all over her body.

The man lowered his arms some and made
fists as he screamed what sounded like a battle cry. The red armor
on his forearms suddenly burst into an intense red light that was
blinding to look at and made her want to close her eyes. He raised
his arms above his head and his whole body became enveloped in the
light, accompanied by a piercing sound that reminded her of the
ringing sound of a sword being drawn. There was another bright
flash of light that seemed to send a shaft into the heavens, and
suddenly the man was covered in red armor from head to
toe.

As the light faded she could see more
clearly. The armor was a deep red color, and it was trimmed with
gold accents. The helmet covered the man’s face with a strange
darkness that obscured all of his features. The armor shined in an
odd way, reflecting only the colors of fire. Instantly her heart
sank. She knew who this was. This was the real Arius, returned from
the void and here to kill Rommus and take back his sword. Tears
came to her eyes as she realized that she was going to watch him
die.

Arius punched Rommus and knocked him
to the ground. His sword flew from his hand and landed by the feet
of the crowd, but they backed away not daring to touch it. Arius
calmly walked over and picked it up while Rommus shook his head to
get his wits back. Rommus ducked as soon as he stood, avoiding a
fatal slice from the sword. Rommus punched at the armor when he
could, but it only stung his hand with pain. Arius laughed as he
continued to toy with Rommus, and he even smacked the back of his
head with the flat side of the sword when he clearly could have
killed him. Arius soon found that he had made a mistake though as
Rommus hurled his shoulder into his midsection and threw him into a
nearby wall. They both fell to the ground and clawed for the sword
when it fell. Rommus was able to reach it first.

He jarred the helmet with the butt of
the hilt as he used it to punch Arius. He stood up as soon as he
could and swung the sword, hitting him in the chest. There was a
blinding white spray of sparks when the sword touched the armor,
but there appeared to be no damage. Rommus struck again before
Arius could stand, this time in a stabbing motion. Again the white
sparks flew, but no harm was done.

For some reason Rommus threw the sword
in her direction. It landed near her and she bent down to pick it
up, taking her eyes from the battle for only a split second. Rommus
was smashing the helmet against the street but since it was made of
dirt, it did little to hurt Arius and barely even made a sound. The
two of them rolled a few times as they struggled, and finally
Rommus put out a leg to stop them. He was on top of Arius, choking
him with his bare hands. Alana was surprised to see the god flail
and hear the crackling sounds of death in his throat. Although it
seemed impossible, it looked as if Rommus was actually killing a
god with nothing more than his hands.

Soon the flailing ceased, and the
hands of Arius fell away from Rommus’s wrists. Rommus continued to
choke for a while, but stopped when the blinding red light
returned. There was a bright flash which made everyone look away,
and when they looked again, the armor was gone. All that remained
were the red arm guards ringed with gold, and Rommus wasted no time
removing them. He placed them on his own arms and stood.

She whispered to him as he came to her
for his sword. "Rommus, what have you done? You just killed
Arius."

He breathed heavily as he answered.
"Would you rather that I let him kill me? Besides, that was not
Arius."

"How can you say that? You saw the
armor."

"And while you were holding this sword
were you a god? Just because the man had the armor did not mean
that he was Arius. You heard the gods. Arius is dead. They told us
that if the artifacts are used correctly, a god can be killed. They
also said a god cannot harm another god, so it only makes sense
that humans are able to use the artifacts. Besides, human Mages
used the sword on me."

She sheathed her sword and hooked her
hair behind her ears. "I guess that does make sense. What do we do
now?"

"I came here to find out what the
feeling was, and I have done that. It was the armor calling to me.
Now that I have it, we can use the portals to travel back to
Burnhamheade and maybe a few other towns to warn people about the
war.

The silent crowd in the streets parted
as they walked, but this time they cleared a wide path.

Chapter 33

"I don’t understand. The gods are
afraid of Rommus?" Uritus asked the ghostly form of
Inshae.

The gods are not afraid of
him as a god, but as a human he may possess powers that we are
unaware of. He threatened Oderion with the sword. It was enough to
cause a great deal of concern.

"But the gods are responsible for
allowing humans to become gods. Wasn’t this danger known when you
made the rules?"

If you had finished the
ritual properly, we would not be in this situation. It is because
of your failures that we are cursed with this rebel god who is half
human.

"It’s not my fault. I did exactly as
the books instructed me to do. He somehow was able to free himself
from our control before we could finish. I hope you are not angry
with me for this," he said, sitting down in his black marble
throne.

To dwell on the past is
pointless. It is obvious that you did not intend to lose control of
Rommus Tirinius. Things still go well, even if the other gods are
aware of the identity of the god of war. They are concerned of
course, and none of them trust Rommus except for Terinopus. For
some reason he has sympathy for him. But the god of life has a
weakness for all living things.

Uritus stared at the dark skull of the
god as his voice echoed in his mind. "What shall we do now, my
master?"

While Rommus is still a
possible threat to us, he is not as dangerous as you imagine. Even
if it is possible for his human side to do us harm, we have ways of
avoiding him. What you must focus on now is finding his father and
killing him. Rommus can be dealt with when the time comes, but we
must not forget that the father is a threat. We must slay both so
that the Tirinius bloodline ends. Only then will the balance of
power be thrown to the gods of darkness.

"Denura will not fail us master. He is
clever and quick. He will get the sword, even if he cannot kill the
new god of war. When he has the chance, he will kill Tannis
Tirinius. He knows what to do and what is at stake. If he can get
the sword he can kill Tannis with it. That will kill his son in the
same stroke."

Yes, it is possible to
kill him in the same way you killed Arius. In fact, that is the
only way that I am sure he will die. But as I told you before, do
not attempt to raise Tannis Tirinius as the god of war. Just make
sure they are both dead. As far as your servant Denura is
concerned, while he may be capable, I want you to ensure that these
things occur personally. Find Tannis and his son and kill them
before this war breaks out.

"But master, the war is upon us. I’m
sure the Legions are nearing Burnhamheade as we speak. It will take
me more than a week to ride there even if I do not pause to eat or
sleep."

You are granted the same
power Rommus has been granted. Ever since he crossed the gateway
between this realm and mine, the old magic has been awakened. The
portals in the temples now function again.

He looked up into the empty eyes of
his god. "What do you mean? What portals?"

Any god or man who
possesses an artifact of the gods can enter any temple dedicated to
the gods and choose a different temple to appear in. The
transportation is instantaneous.

"You mean I have the power to be
anywhere in the world in an instant?"

No. You can only go to
places where temples are built. In Bhoor-Rahn and beyond, there are
no sufficient temples for this. You are also able to take items
with you. You can even take people, but I do not suggest taking
more than a few. If the temple loses its connection to you while
they are in transit, their souls will be ripped apart.

Uritus grinned. "I understand. How do
I use this power of the temples?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I’m sorry I’m late Red Master, I had
some complications with some soldiers in the Moon Legion." Battus
Gredda said as he closed the door behind him.

"It’s nearly sunset. I called for you
two hours ago."

"Again I apologize. How did the speech
go? I missed the whole thing I’m afraid."