War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

“I told you to come here, mortal. I am going to give you a great gift,” the freakishly huge man growled to him.

Since Kyle couldn’t seem to move a muscle, at least to do anything other than paw at the air like some squealing baby, he decided to play along with the hallucination. He wondered if that was the right thing to do. They say to do that, don’t they?

He couldn’t remember. Was he supposed to talk to the voices in his head or ignore them? He guessed it didn’t really matter; he was really gone if it was this bad.

“In case you can’t tell, I’m bleeding to death. I don’t really need a gift from you,” Kyle spat out.

Then the giant started talking a bunch of mumbo jumbo about sensing victory on Kyle and being drawn to it. He said that they were kindred spirits and that his life was destined to end today, and Kyle’s soul would go to whatever afterlife awaited it. That was all pretty depressing, but not all that shocking.

Then his hallucination said something that finally caught Kyle’s attention.

“I can heal your body, Kyle Hudson. In fact, I must if I am to dwell in it. I can’t return to my world now. The other gods will hunt me down. They would recognize my essence right away. But not if I alter it. You shall inherit my mantle as the war god of Verden. My powers are great, but will have a different flavor with you. That should keep you safe, at least for a while. You will need that time to build up your strength.”

Kyle listened as he spoke, even though what he was saying was making less and less sense. What Kyle got out of it was that this guy wanted Kyle to voluntarily give up his body, his life here on Earth, and in exchange he would give him a new body on some world called Verden.

It sounded like he was even promising to make Kyle into the god of war, like out of a myth, or maybe like Kratos from that old game his grandpa had shown him. The downside, was that he would leave Earth forever, but it looked like that was going to happen no matter what. Oh, and he did say something about having to beware the other gods of Verden?

Before Kyle realized it, he found himself nodding in agreement. The giant told him that he needed to take his hand and place some of his own blood upon the huge ruby set in the center of his breastplate. Luckily, or unluckily as it might be, he found that the stuff was leaking all over the place. It was easy enough to smear some on with his trembling palm.

As he did so, he felt piercing pain strike him to his very core. The pain robbed him of his breath, of his will to live, and made that pesky little bullet wound seem like a minor inconvenience. It went so deeply into him that he began to actually believe in the idea of a soul.

Blessedly, the pain lasted only an instant. Then Kyle found that he could see his own body. It was floating there in the air before the giant. No, giant wasn’t right. Somehow, in a moment of lucidity, he knew that body was his former residence just as much as Kyle Hudson’s body had been. At least the part of him that had been Krig, War God of Verden.

Slowly, like a feather, his body drifted to the cold pavement of the parking deck and settled prone at the feet of the now-decaying figure of Krig’s old avatar. Kyle watched as the bullet hole in his back closed. The body trembled, but why was he thinking of it as a separate entity? That was the only body he had ever known.

As it sat up, there was a gleam in its eyes.

If one’s eyes were a window to the soul, then these eyes showed that there was a new owner in this house, and he was settling in. The last thing that Kyle of Earth saw was Krig patting down the body that he had just co-opted. Something didn’t feel right about this, and he started to protest, but he had no mouth with which to form the words.

Then he felt like he was being flushed down a toilet. He had a sudden sympathy for every goldfish that had ever met its end this way. If this was the path to rebirth, then Kyle shuddered to think about some of the big loads he had sent to respawn.

He wanted to laugh at his own joke, but had no body. He couldn’t feel his shoulders shake with mirth and couldn’t hear the sound even in his own mind. He simply felt himself being swept deeper and deeper into the dark.

As he was leaving the mortal coil, Kyle heard his own voice speaking from the body that had belonged to him. Except the words made no sense. He tried to hold onto a bit here or bit there, but only a couple things really stuck with him. If this was a hallucination, it was definitely top tier.

If this was the end of his life, he felt cheated; no white light and definitely no life experiences flashing before his eyes. He would have wanted one more chance to relive each moment of victory, struggle, and bliss. Nope, just droning words which he barely understood.

“Avenge me. Let no foe stand against you. Find my sword. You will need it. And beware those who are too devout. They may see you for what you are, or more properly, what you may become.”

Chapter 2 - Rough Landings

A sudden feeling of falling swept over Kyle. He felt as though he was waking from a long sleep and didn’t know how either of those sensations were possible. The last really clear memory he had was of how cold the hard concrete floor