An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) Read online

  “Here; give this to the leader of the tigers and you’ll have their full support.” Murugan tells me.

  “Alright, thanks…” I reply, unsure of the mess I just got myself into.

  “Well, the girls are waiting for me so how do I get back?” I ask.

  “Oh, just open that door and it will take you back. Ganesha and I created direct links between the girls’ quarters and ours so they could easily make their reports.” Murugan answers.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll see you around, brother.” I reply and open the door behind me.

  The ground shifts beneath my feet and I find myself facing the door in the right foyer of Kanta and Nagi’s house. The girls have left the foyer and I hear voices coming from the general direction of the kitchen. I head down the left hall towards the hallway in the center of the house that Kanta said leads to the kitchen.

  “No offense intended, but Lord Cole seems a little dense. I think telling him outright would be best.” I hear Kanta say.

  “I agree with my sister, Chezarei. Cole will never get it if you use obscure analogies and metaphors.” Nagi says.

  “I know, but it’s so hard… I don’t know how he’ll react… especially after how he reacted a few years ago when I simply brought up the idea of having a baby…” Cheza replies.

  I halt mid-step in the hallway, my lungs no longer taking in air. Is that what she’s been trying to say this whole time? The vague analogies that didn’t make sense, the puking, people’s reactions… did everyone know but me? Every fiber in my body is telling me to run, get the hell out of here, and never stop running, but this isn’t a problem that I can run from.

  I’ll protect her… I swear to the Void, I’ll protect her… I’ll slaughter anyone that threatens her or our child.

  (Master, calm down!)

  This won’t end like last time. This won’t end like last time. This won’t end like last time. This—

  Cheza suddenly tackles me and slaps me in the face. The prickling in my left arm, which I wasn’t aware of until just now, fades.

  “Cole?” Cheza asks with concern.

  “I’m alright; it was probably something my brother said… thanks. Did Nagi find the picture?” I ask, changing the subject because I’m not quite ready to tell her that I know.

  “Yeah, I did.” Nagi replies.

  Cheza gets off of me and gives me a hand up. Nagi hands me a picture of her, Kanta, and Jeremy as kids standing in front of a wooden pagoda-type structure. Even though it’s been four years since I’ve seen him and he’s only about seven years old in this picture, it’s obviously the Fogquartz University Fight Club’s president.

  “Alright, let’s get going.” I say as I hand the picture back.

  “Do you mind if I tag along?” Kanta asks.

  “Sure.” I reply and snap my fingers, porting the four of us to Mount Kailash’s gate.

  “Just hang on.” I say while holding out my left arm as I grab Cheza’s hand with my right. Nagi and Kanta grab my arm, I focus on the four of us standing in front of the pagoda from the picture, and we port away.

  Chapter 17: Tigers and Trains

  We port to the pagoda and I hear guns cock behind us. I turn away from the pagoda and find a platoon of thirty weretigers standing in a grassy field with Heckler & Koch G3 assault rifles, all pointed at the four of us. ‘The four of us’ includes Cheza, doesn’t it? I step in front of her as my left arm starts prickling.

  “At ease men; it’s just Nagi and Kanta.” One of the soldiers says and they lower their weapons as Cheza grabs my left hand and the prickling fades.

  “Hi boys!” Kanta greets.

  “Hi!” The majority of the soldiers call back from their positions in the field. From what I can see, the field expands out until it reaches a beach.

  “Chief in the house?” Nagi asks.

  “Last I saw.” A soldier answers.

  “Thanks.” Nagi replies and starts heading off to the left, towards a dirt path that leads into a tropical forest; Cheza, Kanta, and I follow her.

  “Do you always have to act like such a whore every time we come here?” Nagi asks her sister.

  “I’m not acting like a whore! I’m just being nice!” Kanta expounds.

  “Offering to let them run a train on you isn’t called being nice, it’s called being a whore.” Nagi replies as we clear the forest and see a large one-story house across an expansive grass lawn.

  “I wasn’t offering to let them run a train on me! You just came in at the wrong time!” Kanta exclaims.

  “Of course! How could I forget the ever-popular innocent conversation about trains! I’m sorry for calling you a whore, Kanta!” Nagi says, the epitome of sarcasm.

  “What are they talking about trains for?” Cheza thinks.

  “No, they’re talking about ‘running a train,’ where in this case, the train is a line of naked guys.” I reply.

  “That are connected!?” Cheza exclaims.

  “No! Not like that! All they would all be connected in the fact that they would become Eskimo brothers…” I think.

  “Eskimo brothers?” Cheza asks.

  “You should know this; it’s what you call the guys that a singular woman has slept with. I think it’s from The League.” I answer.

  “I know, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the guys in the gay train that are all having sex.” Cheza replies.

  “No, you are misunderstanding the concept of this train. The only one that is getting fucked in this train is the girl… singular.” I explain.

  “Oooooh, got it.” Cheza thinks as we approach the house.

  Nagi and Kanta stride through the sliding back door like they own the place. We follow them in, finding ourselves in a sitting room as Nagi and Kanta take a seat; Cheza and I follow suit.

  “Chief! We’re home!” Kanta shouts.

  “You really need to stop calling me that; it feels weird with our history.” Jeremy says as he rounds the corner into the room.

  “Feros, it’s been a while.” Jeremy adds, looking indifferent to see me.

  “We need to meet with grandpa.” Nagi reports.

  “Grandpa?” I question.

  “You know how people sometimes call the grandparents of their good friends, grandpa and grandma?” Nagi answers.

  “Is this one of those occasions?” I ask, seeing something in Nagi’s eyes that makes me doubt the statement.

  “Not exactly…” Kanta quietly replies.

  “He’s pretty busy with the impending war.” Jeremy responds.

  “That’s what we’re here about. I have a letter from Lord Murugan.” I interrupt.

  “I see… follow me.” Jeremy says.

  I stand up and follow Jeremy down the hall. Jeremy turns left, knocks on a set of doors, and waits.

  “Come in.” a gravelly voice calls out from beyond the doors.

  “Commander, a messenger of Lord Murugan’s has arrived for you.” Jeremy announces as he opens the doors.

  “Is that so?” the white haired Indian man says while inspecting me over the rim of his glasses, still holding the report that he was reading.

  I remove the letter from my jacket pocket, walk across the room, and hand it to him over his desk. After setting the report down and taking the letter, he flicks out the index finger on his right hand, morphing it into a claw to cut open the letter with. He removes the letter, unfolds it, and reads while I stand there.

  “I’ll just be leaving now.” Jeremy says.

  “Wait a moment, boy. Since you will be taking over for me soon, perhaps you should stay.” The commander says.

  “Nagi and Kanta are waiting in the sitting room and I don’t wish to be rude.” Jeremy replies and shuts the door as he leaves.

  “Stubborn boy… he always has that face on when it comes to those girls, even the first time.” The commander says while wistfully looking away.

  “I still remember that stubborn determination on his face when he asked me to take in those two girls w
hen the war claimed both of their parents, in much the same way they had claimed his… and now it’s restarting all over again after less than a decade…” the commander recollects.

  “But this time there’s an opportunity to stop it before it truly begins.” I interrupt.

  “That there is… you have my full support, Lord Cole.” The commander replies.

  “Please, just Cole; and I was thinking that it would be better if I didn’t have your support at all… at least not officially.” I inform him.

  “What did you have in mind?” the commander asks.

  “Well, my name, or rather my nickname, is well known in the supernatural community. If anyone finds out that you’re working with me when I kill the Dragon Kings and rescue my friend, the war will continue.” I start to explain.

  “If this war gets going again, it won’t matter; the dragons and the tigers have always had a rivalry.” The commander interrupts.

  “Then we won’t give it a chance to get going. There’s an idea that I’ve been toying with, but it has certain parameters. First, what is the dragon’s naval force like?” I ask.

  “Unprecedented. It would be suicidal to face them in naval combat so we avoid it all together.” The commander answers.

  “Perfect. That leads to my next question: do you have any way to get to the dragon’s base, their palace, at the bottom of the sea?” I inquire.

  “No, we don’t. We know the location, but we lack a submarine vehicle and even if we had one, it ties in to the naval combat situation. We tried dropping depth charges on top of the base, but the dome covering it detonated the charges; this resulted in no casualties on their part, but a boat and three lives lost on our side. The dragons are masters over water; anything in their domain doesn’t stand a chance.” The commander replies.

  “I don’t know about all that…” I reply with a smug smile. “They know this fact though? They know that you have no means to reach their base?”

  “Most likely.” The commander says.

  “So they will most likely send their full force out to fight…” I say as the parameters of my plan come together, but then I realize something important: if I start a fight up here, Cheza is going to want to help since she can’t come with me to the palace… I can’t put her in danger like that…

  “Wait a second, you said that they fight underwater, and guns don’t fire underwater or they end up with ruptured barrels, but water is super conductive… do you have any napalm? My original plan was to sneak in back once the main force leaves the base to fight, and then kill the Dragon Kings, but I think I’ll just kill them all myself and save you the hassle. Alright, all I need are the coordinates and some napalm; a couple gallons should do.” I tell him and he gives me a quizzical look, but doesn’t ask any questions. I pull out my phone and type in the coordinates as the commander gives them to me.

  “Ask the boy about the napalm. Are you sure that you don’t require anything else?” the commander asks.

  “Yeah, I should be able to take care of this; thanks.” I tell him and exit the office.

  I head back down the hall and into the sitting room where the girls and Jeremy waiting.

  “Hey Jeremy, the commander asked me to tell you to get me some napalm.” I announce.

  “Why do you need napalm?” Jeremy asks.

  “To initiate a one man naval battle with the dragons.” I reply.

  “But that’s suicide!” Jeremy exclaims.

  “For normal people, yes; however, I am far from normal.” I respond.

  “Cole, what’s going on?” Cheza asks, concerned by the whole ‘suicide’ comment.

  “I’m going with an option that doesn’t cost the tigers dozens of lives; I’m going in alone.” I reply.

  “Cole!” Cheza exclaims.

  “Don’t worry, Cheza; they think that they’re unbeatable in water so I’ll simply prove them wrong using water’s weakness.” I tell her, but she still looks worried.

  “Just trust me.” I add with a smile.

  “Okay, Cole…” Cheza reluctantly replies.

  “Waiting on that napalm.” I tell Jeremy.

  “Follow me.” Jeremy says and heads outside.

  I follow him around the left side of the house and over to a secondary building that is about the size of a tool shed. He opens the door to the shed and all I see is a set of stairs leading down. I follow Jeremy down the concrete stairs and into an underground armory.

  “I need to requisition some napalm on the commander’s orders.” Jeremy tells the man on the other side of the window that is presumably made of bulletproof glass.

  “How much?” the man asks Jeremy.

  “How much?” Jeremy asks me.

  “I don’t know; three gallons worth?” I reply.

  “A ten liter tank.” Jeremy tells the man.

  The man stands up, walks around a corner, and comes back holding a metal canister that is about two feet tall and a foot wide in both hands. He opens the reinforced door to the left of the window and I take the canister from him with my left hand.

  “Thanks.” I say.

  “Yep.” The man replies and shuts the door. Jeremy and I head back up the stairs.

  “Thanks, JJ.” I tell him as I take my phone out and see that I’m a little over twenty miles from the palace coordinates.

  “Good luck, Cole.” Jeremy says as I unzip my sleeve, unwind the bandage from my arm, and slip them both into my pocket.

  “I don’t need luck when I’ve got skill.” I smugly reply as my arm flushes black and I take to the skies.

  Chapter 18: Electric Feel

  I reach the coordinates of the palace in just under ten minutes. I screw off the cap of the metal canister and start pouring the napalm onto the ocean’s surface, spelling out Feros in cursive. Once the canister is empty, I replace the cap and engage my helmet in case the next step backfires. The purple lightning bolt on my left hand surfaces as I create a small spark to ignite the napalm; that should get the dragon’s attention.

  ‘Perhaps I did my job a little too well…’ I think as a spout of water shoots up and knocks me out of the sky, smacking the canister out of my right hand; so much for not littering. I recover before I hit the water, only to have a tentacle-like stream of water wrap around my leg and drag me into the ocean.

  A dragon says something to me in Chinese (presumably) while releasing air bubbles beneath the surface of the ocean. I feel the flames of the napalm heating my back as I activate Neptune’s power and engage a bubble around me.

  “You fuckers got me all wet.” I tell the ten dragons that have surrounded me, armed with harpoons, tridents, and… is that a fucking speargun?

  The purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my blackened left hand as I hold it outward, dipping it into the water outside my bubble. The lightning streams from my palm and rapidly expands in the water. The dragons surrounding me do fantastic impressions of epileptics that have accidentally walked in on a rave as the electricity interrupts their nervous systems, seizes their muscles, and stops their hearts.

  (‘I said ooh girl. Shock me like an electric eel. Baby girl. Turn me on with your electric feel.’)

  “Haha, Electric Feel by MGMT. You know that this isn’t what that song is referring to, right?”

  (Really? It sure sounds that way to me. Listen)

  Airi starts playing the song in my head and I propel myself deeper into the ocean as the dragons float to the surface while their weapons sink.

  (See? ‘She got the power in her hand, to shock you like you won’t believe.’ Tell me how that doesn’t apply here besides that fact that you’re a man?)

  “I’m pretty sure that MGMT is using a metaphor.” I think as three more dragons come out of the dome that is barely visible at the bottom of the ocean.

  The three dragons speed towards me, using their wings to propel them forward like giant flippers. They must be scouts investigating, meaning that the group from before was most likely out on patrol or running dri
lls and I just got unlucky. The three scouts are all armed with spears so I stick my hand into the water when they get close and zap them all.

  (I don’t know… it sounds to me like they’re singing about a woman killing her enemies with electricity)

  “Haven’t you ever heard of someone describing a feeling they got when with a person they’re attracted to as electric?”

  (Ah, I see… incoming)

  Ten dragons come out of the dome and swim towards me, armed with spears and tridents. A few use their control over water to hold my bubble in place while the others use tentacle-like jets of water to whip at me. I let them jerk me around a bit before expanding my field of influence with Neptune’s power. The whips suddenly cease and the hold on me stops. The dragons panic when they find that their power isn’t working and they all charge at me. I stick my left hand into the water and fry them like a redneck fishing with a live power line. With this threat dealt with, I continue my descent.

  ‘It appears that they’re getting serious.’ I think as I see a large squad.

  A grouping of twenty dragons comes out of the dome. As I get closer, I notice that this dome is much bigger than the one in the east; most likely to accommodate the military force. The dragons approaching all seem to have guns, which I find to be odd. When they are about thirty feet away, they make use of the third axis available in underwater combat and fan out into a wall that is four high and five across. Once in position, they all open fire. The guns don’t explode and five inch bolts shoot out in rapid fashion.

  I just let the bolts hit me and bounce off of my jacket, armored jeans, and helmet. When they stop firing, I yawn mockingly before feeling stupid when I realize that they can’t see me yawning because of my helmet. I place my left hand in the water and concentrate the lightning in front of me, which doesn’t work out too well and branches out because of the water. The lightning is enough to get the whole ‘epileptic at a rave’ effect and the dragons float downward due to the weight of their weapons that are strapped to them.

  I propel myself forward and snatch one of the guns to find out what in the hell it is: ASM-DT Russian made amphibious rifle, 26-round magazines, shoots five hundred rounds per minute at a velocity of less than 1000 ft/s. I release the gun and let it carry it’s wielder down as I continue towards the giant dome on the ocean’s floor. A dozen metal tubes come into view and it appears that they are traveling towards me.