Portals of Infinity (Myths & Mythics #12)

One

Wasteland - Stepheen's Lands

We came roaring down the hillside in our combat car. My son Cameron, the Demigod of War, was driving as I, the 'War Leader', opened fire with the machine gun mounted on a pintle in the back.

"I'm out!" I called, and Cameron brought the car around to a sliding halt, knocking down a group of soldiers as he did so. The two of us jumped out and pulled our combat rifles around as we joined up and moved through the camp in lockstep.

Cenewyg had set the terms of this war, and he'd set them at a very nasty level, so whenever Cameron led a raid against a camp, town, village, or anything, the goal was always to kill every man, woman, and child they could find.

Fortunately, I didn't think we'd find any children in this camp, but I didn't doubt we'd find a fair number of women, for all that Fuerston's army was made up solely of men.

"Clerics!" someone off to our left yelled, and Cameron and I both turned on a dime and started working our way in that direction.

There were a lot of dead people on the ground, mostly soldiers, but I noticed a few civilians.

Hell, I'd shot more than a few civilians!

If it moved, shoot it; if it didn't move, give it an anchor shot, just in case.

This camp was a support base well behind the front lines, so they weren't expecting to be hit like this.

Which was all the more reason why we had.

As the Demigod of War, and because of how he'd come to be one here, Cameron was immune to gunfire. True, there were other things that could hurt him, but Cam was able to soak up a lot of damage before it would hurt him, and he had magic, quite a bit of magic.

As for me, I was a mythic here. What exactly that meant, I was still discovering, but I had my champion powers in full force, extra healing, and a presence that inspired our people while striking fear in our enemies.

When we got to the tent the clerics had set up, I could feel that the ground was holy, which meant they'd actually set up a church or a shrine of some sort here, but neither of us stopped; we just charged right in and, drawing swords, we started hacking arms and heads off of everyone there.

Headshots could be healed, if they weren't too severe, and if the cleric was good enough and quick enough.

But decapitation was always the final word.

There were two of them—a priest and a priestess—behind the altar, and they were throwing out healing spells as fast as they could cast them, which, being on holy ground, was pretty quick.

It got pretty nasty, and I was getting shot up a lot, and being forced to use my healing up quickly, but I needed to cover Cam's flank so he could take the shortest route to the two clerics.

I think Cam drawing his pistol and shooting the priestess in the head startled the priest, and he paused a moment to throw a cure spell on her just as I threw my sword at him.

He had to dodge it, and both Cam and I followed the sword up with a lot of gunfire, and suddenly the priest was struggling to cure his own wounds, much less the priestess's.

With all of his spells going to himself, our other soldiers were finally able to take down the defenders, and they did.

Cam got the priest with his own sword, and that part of the fight was over. I slapped a shaped charge on the small altar, we fled the tent as it went off, and Fuerston's presence in the area waned significantly.

Twenty minutes later, the fighting was over, and our men were raiding all of the supplies and destroying what we couldn't carry. Several trucks were liberated in the process, which helped with the logistics.

"That went well, Dad," Cameron said to me as we drove off.

It was a two-day drive to get back to where we'd started.

The logistics to ensure we had all the fuel we needed to get there and back had been fairly involved.

That was another reason they probably hadn't expected us to strike a spot this far away.

"I just can't believe they didn't protect their main logistics camp better," I said with a bemused sigh.

"Yeah, their tactics aren't always the best. They used up too much of their resources when that Cen guy was leading them.

So now they're having to scramble to fill in the gaps.

Thankfully, Joseph teaching us how to set up those stills so we can create that alcohol-acetone fuel mixture has made a huge difference in our mobility. "

"I'm just surprised he and Dezba are still coming here as often as they do."

Cameron shrugged. "They're both still friends with Mom, and they want to see her succeed. I'm glad you came, Dad. I was starting to wonder."

"Well, yell at your Mom," I said. "I don't think she's been asking Feliogustus to have me come by and visit."

"She doesn't want to be obligated to him because she is a god now."

"Maybe you could try asking?" I said with a shrug. "But I'll try to come here more often. These last few years—" I shook my head "—I had to kill another god. Three, actually. Eventually, it'll be four, now that I've weakened the other one enough."

Cameron snorted. "I can't believe you kill gods, Dad. Mom mentioned to me once that you'd killed one back when she first started working with you. Joseph said you're up to like five now?"

"Something like that," I said, shaking my head. "I'm not proud of it; it's a filthy business."

"I think Mom was hoping you'd kill Fuerston."

"If he hadn't pulled the plug on Cenewyg, I probably would have," I growled. "I'm surprised it hurt him that much, though."

"Only because Joseph, and yes, Dezba, have been helping us in some of our fights. Fuerston's not been able to attract a high-quality champion from outside this realm; nobody wants to come and fight over a radioactive wasteland. So he's been stuck with homegrown ones."

"If no one wants to fight over a wasteland, why is your mother here?"

"Because a lot of it isn't? What lies between us is, though, and I guess Mom thought he wouldn't try venturing across it to come at us, but…?" Cameron shrugged. "He recruited Cen to be his champion, and of course, Cen's hate drove him to come after Mom no matter what."

#

Five days later, I looked back to where the team was building the new church as I sat watch on the perimeter.

Fuerston's temples and churches were all far to the northwest of where Stephanie's—or rather Stepheen's—latest church was being built.

Three months ago, Fel had dropped a couple of hints that I might want to go check up on my son Cameron.

So, I had. It'd taken me three weeks to get here; Stephanie wasn't yet strong enough to help gate anyone in, but she was working on it.

The last time I had been here was about seven years ago, so Cameron was about eleven or twelve, now, for all that he looked to be about twenty.

Stephanie's city was no longer a ruin, though it definitely had a long way to go.

Things had been cleaned up, and a lot of buildings had been rebuilt or repaired. Oliff was still her high priest.

"Hi, Dad," Cameron said, coming up to me where I was keeping watch. "I don't think anyone's going to interrupt us anymore."

"Your patrol went well, then?" I'd watched him and a hundred of his men come riding back an hour ago in their scout cars.

Cameron nodded. "That last fight really hurt them. All of their closer camps have packed up and left now that they're no longer getting any supplies. I think it's going to be a year, maybe two, before they can attack us again. By then, this place will be built up enough to withstand them."

I nodded.

"I wanted to thank you for all the times you went into battle with us. You didn't have to do that, Dad."

I smiled at him and, reaching over, I ruffled his hair. "Actually, I did, and not just because I want to see my son prosper and his mother's religion grow. I'm a mythic here, Cam, and that means I'm a mythic in a lot of other places as well, now."

"So?"

"So, I realized that I need to maintain my mythic status here in case one day you or Stephanie really need my help.

Also, just as you're still gaining and learning what your powers are as a demigod, I need to learn what mine are as a mythic.

Because I really have no idea, and this is a good place to learn. "

"Is that why you came?"

I smiled at him. "No, I came because I wanted to see you, and yes, Stephanie a little as well.

But I began to realize when I went out on that first patrol with you that I needed to be more active here.

That I was learning things. Plus, I'm your father, and you seem to like it when we fight together. "

Cameron smiled. "Yeah, I do. I guess it's because I got so much knowledge from you when I came here that when we fight together, I really enjoy it. It's nice knowing what your teammate's going to do, it's like we've fought together forever."

I nodded in agreement. We really did have the teamwork thing down when we were in combat.

"I need to find an easier way to come visit," I said with a sigh.

"Long trip?"

"Three weeks. I'm thinking of asking Feliogustus to help me figure out something better."

"Why haven't you already?"

"Because I'm just a champion, and I already owe him so much? He's my best friend as well as my god now. I don't like bothering him for favors too much. Plus, he's got this new project, and yeah, I've got one, too, that's a part of it, and I've already asked for way too much help as it is."

"So when are you leaving?"

"In a few days. I want to stop by your mother's temple before I go."

"Any last words of advice before you leave? I need to stick around here until the church is finished and they've got the town's defenses established."

"Go up into the mountains at some point. Find a cave or a hidden canyon, something no one can find unless they know where it is, and build a shrine to Stepheen. If possible, make it something you can expand into a small church over time."

"So no one can get all of Mom's temples or churches?"