NEW OLYMPIANS (ISSUE 1) by Kelly Logue (novels to read for beginners txt) 📖

they will grow up to be men,” it said. “Men who will continue this madness.”

He understood.

And mercy he gave them…

The mercy of a quick death.

After, he remembers staggering back, his body shaking.

He caught his reflection in a broken mirror, and a striking woman stared back at him.

A woman with cold, gray eyes.

And that’s when the world stopped making sense.

The rest of his memories become a blur after that.

Awarded a Medal of Honor

But, also receiving an Honorable discharge from the Army for medical reasons.

Visiting Sarge in the hospital.

The Sarge a broken man.

Carl again thinks that he should have just let the man die.

 

* * *

 

Carl, or rather Carol Manners now―he still wasn’t used to the new name―shifted uncomfortably in his tiny cell.

He pulled again at the chain that held him, wondering what sort of metal could hold back the power of a goddess.

And wondering where was the voice of Athena now?

Focusing his mind,

Coming up with a solution out of this mess.

She had been oddly silent, for a while now, and that made him worry what exactly that old gray eyed bitch had been planning.

He sighed.

His voice is soft and feminine. Something else he was still trying to get used to.

His mother was a church going woman, and Carl wondered if he should appeal to a higher power.

The question was, which god or gods should he be praying too.

The cell door opened.

Light flooded into the room, temporarily blinding him.

He straightened.

Just because he was shackled to the wall, didn’t mean he had to go down easy.

He again struggled against his chains.

“Hello,” a voice called out: a girl’s voice.

His eyes adjusted.

It was a girl, and kind of a cute on at that, with white hair and big round eyes.

“I’m Chipmunk,” the girl said. “Princess of the Rodent Kingdom.”

Interlude

This man is old.

Old as time.

Old as sin.

But he has a young face.

He is alone.

The bar is empty, and he has poured himself a drink.

How he got here, or who he is, remains a mystery.

All he knows is the beer is cold but stale.

He drinks anyway.

All the way to the bottom of the glass.

But, he doesn’t wish to join liquid spirits in some hazy oblivion.

The drink hasn’t quenched his thirst.

He yearns for something more.

He’s sure not what, but it’s there just on the tip of his tongue.

He looks down at his glass.

Ice lines the bottom.

No, he thinks, not ice, frost.

The words trigger a flicker of recognition.

“Frost,” he turns the word over in his mind.

“Frost,” he says out loud.

Yes that was his name. Not his real name, though, just the name people know him by.

It’s starting again.

The old game.

His heart races.

Well, what passes for his heart anyway.

Someone is coming.

Someone always comes, if you wait in a bar long enough.

And, he’s been waiting a long time.

He pours himself another drink.

A little liquid courage, before the old game starts again.

In a mirror that has lost most of its shine, the old man with the young face stares at himself.

And, a monster stares back at him.

 

 

Chapter II

“The rats say you're okay,” the girl said, scratching the top of her head.

“The rats?” Carl asked.

“The ones in the walls,” the girl answered, as if stating the obvious.

He must have looked confused, because a few seconds later the girl added, “This place is old, and underground, and no matter what people do, rats always sneak in.”

“If they can sneak in,” Carl said. “Does that mean we can sneak out?”

The girl nodded her head eagerly.

This girl was an answer to his prayers. If she could be trusted. Of late, Carl was starting to have his doubts about women, and one in particular. The goddess had been hiding things from him, and had been somewhat cagey when he asked her questions. The blackouts were the worst. The ones where he would wake in some strange location with no idea how he had got there. The last time he had blacked out, he had woken up here chained to the wall.

“Stand back,” the girl said now, and then she advanced, baring her teeth―large incisors that looked incredibly sharp.

“Now wait a minute,” Carl said.

But, the girl was already on him.

She bared down.

Carl flinched.

The chains that held him fell with a clang to the floor—bitten clean through.

“Ow,” the girl said. Rubbing her front teeth.

Then she stopped, and tilted her head skyward.

Carl watched with some amusement, as the girl sniffed the air.

Suddenly, she jerked her head forward.

“The bad people,” the girl said. “We have to go.”

She grabbed his hand and led him out.

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure we are going the right way?” Carl asked.

“Yes!” The girl said, sighing in annoyance, in that special way that only teenagers seemed to be able to manage. “I told you I can see in the dark.”

He hated being a pest, but still he had to question the girl’s sense of direction.

Carl figured they were in some sort of access tunnel, but several times he had to stoop down, or turn sideways to fit through a narrow corridor, and now he felt water pooling around his feet.

“We’re in a sewer, aren’t we?” Carl said. Nearly slapping his head, at how stupid he had been. The smell should have been a dead give away.

“Took you long enough,” the girl said.

“If we’re underground,” Carl said, “Shouldn’t we be going up, not down.”

“The bad men are up there,” the girl said.

Carl nodded.

“We’re safe here,” the girl insisted. “We can rest for a little bit.”

Carl started to protest, but suddenly felt very weak and out of breath. Carl again had to wonder if the goddess had deserted him. He didn’t think so. He still wore her guise, so to speak, and was still a woman. But, he should have been able to break those chains, and he shouldn’t be out of breath now. Was Athena testing him?

He could hear the girl panting, now. Which made him wonder now just how far they had gone.

“Chipmunk,” he said.

“Yeah,” the girl said.

“Thank you for freeing me,” he said. “Do you know where we are?”

“A bad place,” the girl said, shivering.

Well, that wasn’t very helpful. He decided to try a different tract.

“I’m...” he began.

“You’re Sargent Athena,” the girl said excitedly. “I’ve seen you on TV.”

“Right,” Carl said. “But my friends call me...Carol”

He had almost said Carl there, but saved himself at the last second.

“Hi Carol,” the girl said. Her voice chipper again.

“Do you have a...” Carl thought for a moment. “A secret identity.”

Now the girl thought, and then said, “Well, the nice doctor lady used to call me Maureen.”

Now they were getting somewhere.

“Can I talk to the nice doctor lady?” He asked.

“No,” the girl said, and Carl could hear the slight shiver in the girl’s voice.

“Something bad happened to her.” The girl said quietly.

Carl’s heart went onto the girl. She was obviously scared but doing her best to put on a brave face.

Suddenly, the girl embraced him.

He flinched at her touch, and his body tensed. But, then it relaxed, and she seemed to melt into his chest.

“You’re nice,” she said.

“Safe.” She added, a few seconds later.

The girl pulled away.

“We have to go where the bad men are don’t we?” The girl asked, quietly.

“If we want to get out of here,” Carl said. “I’m afraid so.”

Carl’s eyes had adjusted a little to the dark, and now he saw the girl slowly nod.

“They’re scary,” the girl whispered. “They almost caught me before.”

“I know,” Carl said. “But you don’t have to face them alone.”

The girl bit her lip, weighing her options.

“This way,” she said finally.

 

* * *

 

“Recycled air,” Carl said, frowning, as he tossed the manhole cover aside. It was surprisingly light, and he wondered if some of his godlike strength had returned. He had forgotten what it was like to be a normal man, in more ways than one.

The girl pitched her nose.

“Yuck,” she said.

There was a current of something else in the air too.

It was the smell of desperation, the smell of lost hope, and the sickly sweet perfumed smell of death: a sterile smell, a hospital smell. You only needed to smell it once, and you would remember it for the rest of your life.

But, Carl’s gray eyes focused on something on high.

Above, he saw a small shaft of light.

Might be a door, he thought, or shoddy workmanship. Either way, it could be a way out.

Carl quickly pointed it out.

The girl squinted and shook her head.

“I don’t see anything,” she said. “But I really can’t see more than a few feet in front of me. Rodent eyes you know. The nice doctor lady was going to give me a pair of glasses...”

Suddenly an alarm sounded around them.

The girl dropped to her knees, and covered her large ears.

She shrieked, as the floor rumbled underneath them.

An earthquake?

An earthquake yes, but of the man made kind.

 

A large metallic hand seized him by the shoulder. With a flick of the wrist, it throws Carl violently back, and into a steel wall.

The impact should have killed him, or at the very least broken his back.

But, a second later he is again on his feet.

Perhaps there is still some of the old magic left in him, after all.

The scent of battle energies him, sharpening his senses to a razor’s edge.

His gray eyes focus.

His mission is clear.

And for a moment, the world makes sense again.

He sees the guards close in on the girl.

The girl continues to scream, as the sound of the alarm leaves her at the sinister mercy of her assailants.

Carl counts three guards in total, all wearing some sort of armored suit.

The one nearest to the girl, extends a blade, drawing it toward the girl’s throat.

Without thinking, Carl launches himself forward.

He had guessed the distance right, and had come in low, catching his enemy by surprise—tackling the metal monstrosity to the floor.

It didn’t take the wisdom of Athena to figure out that these guys might be tough, but the armor makes them clumsy and slow.

Before the guard can attack, Carl brings his fist down, punctuating through the metal shell. Seeing that inside there are only wires and circuits.

The attack has the desired effect, and now the remaining guards turn their attention onto him.

Carl pulls his hand free, and immediately groans in pain.

His hand shattered.

“Maureen,” he cries out. “Run!”

The alarm above them still shrieks it’s hateful wail, and Carl can only hope that the girl has heard him over the sound.

He sees the girl cringe back, disappearing into a darkened corner of the room.

Then the two remaining guards are on him.

He won’t go down without a fight, and with his good hand, Carl makes a