(Previously on Immortal Wars.)

(Believe it or not, it took this long to get to the start of Chapter 2.  I had no sense of pacing back then.  My relationship with commas is tenuous at best.)

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!

In the farthest part of our solar system, a gigantic warship has come out of an invisibility field.  It is shaped like a thin bullet with several rectangular wings, windows, and fins covering the main body.  From a distance, the alien vessel looks almost defenseless.  But if a person was close enough to it, they would see the many lasers, missile launchers, and other weapons of total destruction that are hidden on the enormous vessel.  The warship silently orbits the planet Pluto and hides from the view of almost anyone by using an alien sensor deflection system.

Looking through one of the many dark-tinted windows is a woman whose face is covered by a black helmet shaped like a horned skull.  The helmet matches her dark armor, which has very long shoulder spikes of dull steel.  Thin and tangled strands of white hair are slipping out the back of her headgear and her eyes are an eerie bright orange.  The strange eyes give the woman an aura of mystery and pure dread.

“What are you looking at, Startrix?” asks a loud, high-pitched voice from somewhere behind her.  The armored figure slowly turns her head from side to side and sees nothing except the empty hallway.

“Why have you come to annoy me, Tegam?” asks Startrix.  Her voice sounds like gusts of wind blowing through dead leaves.

“I really hate the fact that I can never surprise you!  You and your stupid powers of seeing the future have always managed to ruin my fun.  Especially on April Fool’s Day!” yells the voice whose handsome owner appears out of nowhere.  The man’s name is Tegam and he prides himself at being a very talented and creative prankster.  His red, spiked hair and cunning blue eyes can easily be masked by his birthright ability to turn invisible.  Instead of wearing heavy metal armor like Startrix, Tegam wears a color changing jester costume that gives him a somewhat comical appearance.

“Your voice is very unique, Tegam.  It is very hard to hide something that is constantly out in the open.  Still, you may hate my powers, but they have saved our lives on many occasions,” replies Startrix as she looks out the window again.

“Your point is?  My birthright powers have done the same thing, but you don’t see me acting like a friggin antisocial bitch.  Why can’t you just enjoy the fact that we’re back home and are finally ready to cause some really big amounts of property damage?  And, it’s about damn time too.  We’ve been hiding in this Jtla warship and sneaking onto Earth like ghosts since the middle of 1980.  One could get cabin fever like this.”

“Are you forgetting about that immortal guardian named Solix?  Even though our scanners cannot get into the sun, I believe that he is still alive.  How do you plan to handle the final guardian?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe drop a heavy anvil on his balding head or stuff some lit dynamite down his ancient throat.  Something both funny and messy.”

“I think you have been watching too many of those childish cartoons.  You cannot even attempt to consider using all of the power that is at your disposal.  What about that magic whip that you took from those long dead guardians?”

“The what?  Oh!  The whip of matter.  Of course I would use it, gothic one.  I’m not as dumb as Hellax.  I’m also much cuter than him if I say so.  Anyway, how do you think I would be able to get the anvil or the dynamite?”

“I am very sorry that I asked.  If I were allowed to, I would have gladly tortured and slaughtered you long ago.  But, lucky for you, I am not in charge and do not have the necessary authority to do so.”

Without another word, Startrix walks off down the shadowy hallway and leaves Tegam to talk to himself.  The immortal prankster is actually used to being alone, even if he is in a really crowded room.  In fact, he likes being alone so much that he will annoy people until they have no choice but to leave.

“Stupid time bitch.  I could easily leave this moronic gang of criminals whenever I want to.  Not even the power of this Jtla warship can stop me.  I can turn it into a tiny Venutian Moth if I wanted to.  Of course, without me this group wouldn’t have any fun,” mumbles Tegam to no one in particular.

“Who are you talking to, Uncle Tegam?” asks the tiny voice of a young girl from the shadows behind him.

He turns around to look at an attractive teenage girl, with curious blue eyes, standing about three feet away from him.  Even though she is as slender as Tegam, she is slightly smaller than the redheaded jester.  Her shoulder-length blond hair falls down to cover her right eye and she slowly pushes it back with her hand.  She is the youngest of these evil immortals and perhaps the most naive.  In her smooth, ivory hands is a scythe that has a rough, gnarled handle.  Attached to the top of the handle is a blade that is pure black with a swirling white mist moving in it.  It is the planet guardians’ magic scythe, whose last two owners were ruthlessly killed.  The point is dangling a few inches from Tegam’s nose.

“Hello, Kilanus.  I didn’t hear you sneak up behind me.  Must be losing my touch.  Excuse me, but do you mind moving the death scythe’s blade out of my face?  It’s a lot more dangerous than you think.  Honestly, I don’t see why your mother allows you to carry that thing around like it was some children’s toy.  Thank you,” answers Tegam.

“Who were you talking to, Uncle Tegam?” repeats Kilanus.  The reason she calls Tegam her uncle is that she is the mysterious daughter of this sinister gang’s leader.  Everyone on the Jtla warship has been either her uncle or her aunt since she had awoken from a twelve-year coma.  Her long coma was caused by the very early appearance of her birthright powers.  When the traumatic event forced her mind to turn itself off, she mentally stayed at the age of a five-year-old.  Although Kilanus’ body grew into that of a healthy teenager, her mind was stuck in the phase of an innocent child.

“I was simply talking to myself.  It’s just a way for me to . . . relax,” replies Tegam with a friendly smile.

“I usually sleep or watch TV if I want to relax.  There’s this one show with people in it that have powers like us.  They go around and fight each other while helping other people.  It’s fun.  Have you seen Aunt Psylon and Uncle Draveon today?  They promised to show me what planet you all came from.”

“I think they’re still in their room.  Probably torturing something and having sex on the corpses.  Disgusting homicidal maniacs.  Wish they were either dead or neutered, but you didn’t hear that from me.  Wait a sec.  You don’t know what planet all of us are from?  Didn’t we already tell you about seventy-four times in the last week?  And I was told that my memory was terrible,” says Tegam with a smirk.

“Mommy did tell me.  But I just wanna see it with my own eyes.  Or at least a hologramic simulalition.  That is the word, right?  Well, I’ve gotta get going.  I’ll see you later, Uncle Tegam.  Bye.”

Kilanus cheerfully skips down the shadow filled hallway and nearly trips over her large blue cape.  The scythe clangs to the floor just a hair from her head.  Tegam is left alone again and wonders if the teenage child will ever start acting like her real self.

“I guess only time will tell.  Still, to be that young again would be great.  I could easily pull off a lot more pranks if I were smaller and faster.  But then again, I don’t even remember being that young.  It doesn’t really matter anyway.  My past will show itself eventually and right now I plan on enjoying now.  Especially the fun parts,” thinks Tegam.  With a puff of smoke he disappears and only his echoing footsteps on the metal floor are heard.