(Previously on Immortal Wars.)

(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality.  Everyone groan in unison.)

Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school.  I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books.  That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins.  FYI-  I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day.  Enjoy!

“Could they possibly make this trip any harder,” says Infinity to a dead alien that resembles a hammerhead shark with arms and legs.  This alien is the tenth strange guard that the immortal has been unable to avoid.  The villains certainly know where he is by now and that makes him nervous.  Infinity runs through an open door and finds himself standing in the middle of a vast jungle.

“Oops.  I definitely think I made a wrong turn.”  The Earth guardian turns to leave, but the door swiftly closes with a soft swishing noise.  He tries to open the door, but he finds that he is locked in this humid greenhouse.  It is a few feet of steel that his telekinetic powers can only put harmless dents into.

“Welcome to my jungle!” yells a booming voice from high above the guardian.  When Infinity looks up, he sees a huge creature towering over the orange palm trees.  The thing has a humanoid body structure as well as a thick, fuzzy tail that slowly swings back and forth in the damp air.  Glowing orange fur covers the giant’s legs and torso, but there is no hair on its immense, black arms.  The alien’s head resembles that of a wild boar with huge tusks of gray stone jutting out of his mouth.

“Who, or should I say what, the hell are you?” asks Infinity as he cranes his neck to look at the large creature.

“I am from the distant planet that used to be known throughout the cosmos as Awolic.  I was that world’s supreme leader until these small creatures, called immortals, kidnapped me and destroyed the entire planet of Awolic.  My name is Crol.  Who are you, little speck?” bellows the giant while picking Infinity up by his cloak.

“My name?  I am Infinity, the immortal Earth guardian.”

“An immortal?  I have a much better name for you, immortal.  What do you think of this new name?  Lunch,” laughs Crol as he drops Infinity into his gaping, fanged mouth.  The huge creature tries to swallow his still-breathing snack, but soon ends up spitting his meal onto the ground.  Infinity had skillfully blocked Crol’s esophagus with a quick telekinetic wall that prevented him from falling into the hungry alien’s stomach.  It also caused the large monster to start choking.

“Try some extra strength mouthwash, big guy.  Phew,” taunts Infinity as his body begins to sprout blue and white feathers.

“I’m going to smash you into a pool of red paste since I can’t eat you alive like I really want to.  The great Crol is not going to be beaten by a tiny speck of dust like you.”  Before the alien can lift his fist, Infinity changes into his giant bird form that stares Crol in the eyes.

“You were saying,” says the angry bird.  Infinity jumps on top of Crol’s boarish head and clutches onto him with his talons.  The bird cuts deep into the monster’s head with his razor sharp talons and pointy beak.  One strong peck gets Crol in his left eye and the bird’s beak comes out of the hole with amber blood on it.

“Get off of me!”  Crol grabs Infinity by an outstretched wing and hurls the bird into a nearby waterfall.  The orange-furred creature charges his enemy, but is soon reduced to ashes by intense lightning blasts that erupt from Infinity’s pure white eyes.

“Thank god that didn’t take long,” thinks Infinity while reverting back to his human form.  The only two sounds he can hear are the gurgling waterfall and an out of place noise that greatly resembles someone applauding.

“Bravo, guardian.  What do you do for an encore?” hollers Kilanus who is dangling from a low tree branch.  She doesn’t have her scythe or any other visible weapons, which gives Infinity a minor amount of relief.

“You?  How long have you been watching me?” asks the guardian while Kilanus drops to the ground.  She calmly leans against the smooth, blue tree and playfully smiles at Infinity.

“Long enough to see you easily destroy Crol.  The only reason he was kept in this fortified room was because he was considered a major threat to us that we could wait to take care of.  I think someone was studying him and getting poisons from his physiology.  I still can’t believe none of my family killed that ugly thing decades ago.  Psylon or Draveon could have taken that bloated, oversized pig out of action in their sleep.”

“Psylon and Draveon are your parents?  That doesn’t seem right.  You’re nothing like those two psychos.  At least not from what I’ve seen.”

“No kidding, handsome.  Adriana is my mother, obviously, and Hellax is supposed to be my father.  Actually, I believe that my real father was some mortal, who died before I woke up from my coma.  I mean, let’s face reality here.  Hellax is way too stupid to be my father.  I’ll have to remember to bring my lineage up with my mom after this whole bloodbath thing,” says Kilanus as she walks up to Infinity.

“Not that I’m complaining, but why are you not trying to hurt or kill me?” mentions Infinity when Kilanus seductively puts her hand against his chest.  The cascading waterfall softly drenches the two immortals and Kilanus starts to have a playful grin.

“Mmmm.  Your heart is beating very fast, bird boy.  Are you excited or nervous?  It doesn’t matter.  I have more interesting plans for you.  You are a lot better looking than your rough friend with the blond hair.  I’m really beginning to like you, Infinity.  And I’m not talking about liking you as a friend.  You are very powerful and have a lot of potential to be one of the strongest warriors in the universe.  Do you get my drift, Infinity?  Or, do I have to be a whole lot more direct?”

“Sorry, Kilanus.  I already have a serious, though annoying, girlfriend.  You’re not my type anyway.  You’re beautiful, but the psychotic behavior is a turn off,” stutters Infinity.  He backs up into the slick rocks behind the waterfall before Kilanus grabs him by his shoulders.  She passionately kisses him right on the lips before savagely kneeing him in the stomach.

“Frankly, I don’t care if I am your type or not.  I want you big time and I will have you all to myself.  As for your dear Hydrana.  I’m afraid she won’t be with you much longer.  My mom is dealing with that minor annoyance as we speak.”

“Let me ask you something.  It’s really just a simple, unimportant question.  Does this room have a glass ceiling?”

“Yeah.  Why would you ask such a stupid question like that when I hold your near and distant future in my hands?  Your choices are simple guardian.  You will either be killed by me or become my personal, obedient slave.  Either way, I will take pure enjoyment from what happens between us.  What does the ceiling have to do with anything?” responds Kilanus as she stares at him with hungry, blue eyes.

“Nothing,” Infinity says with a crafty smirk.  The Earth guardian quickly binds Kilanus with some telekinetic coils that are stronger than steel and levitates her off the ground.  He uses the rest of his power to create the strongest telekinetic blast he’s ever made.  This telekinetic blast sends Kilanus into the air with a sonic boom filling the room.  The screaming immortal crashes through the glass ceiling and sends glass shards raining down on Infinity.

“She is going to be really mad once she wakes up,” whispers the Earth guardian as he makes his way up one of the trees that reach the newly made hole in the glass.

“Finally.  The ceiling didn’t look too high from the ground,” thinks the brown-haired guardian when he leaps onto the warship’s curved roof.  He turns around just in time to see a heavy, spiked ball hit him in the head.  The painful blow doesn’t kill Infinity, but it gets the attacker’s job done.  Infinity blacks out as his assailant picks him up and heads toward the pit where all the villains are still impatiently waiting.