Magic Murder Cube Marine

Two days before the attack:

Zeus and Hades had decided to meet in neutral territory to discuss the situation in Brexis. In this case, a dive bar in Grumble's capital named The Fat Robin. (But everyone called it The Fat Rat.)

It had sticky floors, and tattered wanted posters nailed to the walls in lieu of art. Normally that would have been a fire hazard, but the building was too damp to burn.

“I think the time has come to clip young Francis’ wings,” said Zeus as he punted a stray rat that had dared run across his foot. The unfortunate rodent sailed through the air and collided with the metal gong behind the bar, scoring him ten points. (Nobody knew what the points were good for and the bartenders refused to explain.)

“Really?” Hades looked at his brother incredulously. He couldn't imagine what had gotten Zeus's toga in such a twist since their last meeting. “What has the idiot done this time?”

“Nothing. At least, not yet.” Zeus sat down and summoned up a golden goblet of ambrosia. He took a sip and considered his options. Trusting Hades was like trusting a snake. The only thing you could rely on him to do was try and kill you in your sleep.

“So, what's the problem?”

Zeus sighed. “The problem is, one of my holy cities is fucked if Brexis reopens.”

“Ah, got it.” Hades consulted his mental map. “Are you talking about Olympia?”

“Indeed.” Zeus confirmed. “The mines are running out, and once that happens all they will have left is the river trade routes.”

He didn't need to spell things out for Hades. Olympia was a mining town crammed between the mountains and the Dark Forest. Caravans went there to ship their goods downriver. But if Brexis opened up again, there would be no reason for them to make the detour.

The Silver River was boxed in by the Dark Forest for the first half of the journey and mountains for the rest. It was relatively safe, but until it came to the lowlands near the capital there was almost no easy access. Brexis had better roads, a tireless undead workforce, and was closer to the major cities. Once news spread that it was back open for business and lich free, merchants would flock there.

The way Hades saw it, Olympia was screwed no matter what. “Killing Francis won’t solve your problems,” he said, relishing in his brother’s discomfort.

Hades let Zeus squirm for a minute. Losing a holy city would be more than just an embarrassment to Zeus. It would leave him substantially weakened. “But if the people of Olympia were to take over Brexis to ensure the safe operation of a vital trade route, I'm sure nobody would mind.” Hades raised his clay mug of beer in mock salute. “Here's to Francis, and his demise.”

Zeus tapped his golden goblet against it and laughed. “To Francis, dead too soon.”

They laughed, paying no attention to the old graybeard in the corner. Miller sipped from the clay tankard of water, pretending it was beer. Francis was right, you really did hear interesting things while doing security work.

***

Francis burst out of the house he and Jack had been sheltering in and ran towards the nearest green cloaked figure. Something deep in his grunt brain had told him staying inside that building was a bad idea. As the Marine swung Relativity like a baseball bat and caved in the skull of the man in front of him, he became aware of why his danger sense was itching.

“Incoming!” Jack shouted as he ran past Francis, “Time to go!”

The Marine followed behind, eliminating anyone dumb enough to try and stop him instead of running. Jack hauled ass up the stairs across the road. Five seconds later, the bombs hit.

Static blew through Francis’ mind and time skipped, his body continuing forward without conscious thought. Dust jumped from cracks in the walls and the overpressure hit his back like a sledgehammer. Francis' eyes itched and his sinuses burned as he stumbled up the stairs.

Where the fuck did these guys get high explosives? And why don’t I have any? Francis wondered hazily. He would have given someone's left nut for some high explosives.

All Francis could hear was a high pitched ringing, like someone was holding tuning forks next to both of his ears. He kept moving, ignoring his growing headache and nausea. The stairs were the quickest way up the mountain and his best chance of getting to safety.

The Marine looked up as a shadow crossed in front of the sun. A hawk the size of an elephant with the wingspan of a dragon flew towards him, something black clutched in its talons. Two more followed behind it. They were three hundred meters away and closing fast.

He pointed Relativity at the closest bird and cast Dominate. “Squeeze that thing you're holding as hard as you can.” Francis commanded.

The great hawk disappeared in a cloud of grayish pink mist as the bomb in its talons detonated, taking the other two bird bombers with it in a chain of sympathetic explosions.

This time there were no buildings between them. Francis could see ripples of distortion in the air from the approaching shockwave. It kicked up dust and rubble as it went. He leaped forward and tackled Jack to the ground, putting himself between his friend and the explosion.

Taken from NovelFire, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.