Alan Price and the Statue of Zeus (The Nephilim Chronicles Book 3)

Titles also by Jonathan Yanez

The Elite Series

The Beast Within (Book 1)

The Trials (Book 2)

The Judge (Book 3)

The Steampunk Files

Steam and Shadows (Book 1)

The Nephilim Chronicles

Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (Book 1)

Alan Price and the Temple of Artemis (Book 2)

Thrive

Bad Land

Alan Price
and the Statue of Zeus

       Text copyright © 2015 Archimedes Books

All Rights Reserved

Prologue

Before the Creation of Mankind

The air was perfect, the sun’s warm rays the same. Peace was whole in a time before conflict. For Michael, the idea of strife was nonexistent. The world as he knew it was flawless in everyway. Joy was waking up to be surrounded by the ones he loved and an eternity with those same beings.

Michael let his wings flap ever so gently through the rushing air. His eye caught motion to his right. He already knew who was coming to join him. Two angels he would consider as close as brothers, Gabriel and Raphael.

“If you smile any wider, I think you’re going to break your face,” Gabriel said. “Thinking about Ardat again?”

Raphael maneuvered himself to Michael’s side and gave him a gentle nudge on the shoulder. “Oh, let him be happy Gabriel; it’s not everyday we get to see our little brother appointed as an Archangel.”

Gabriel joined his two brothers. They flew slowly in sync. Their massive wings spread out on either side of their bodies. Michael soared in the middle with Gabriel on his left and Raphael to his right. “To be honest with you, you both were right. I was on my way to go see Ardat and I was thinking about my new position. It’s beyond an honor to be appointed as an Archangel with the two of you and—”

“Oh, please,” Gabriel said. “You deserve it. We’re privileged to have you become one of us.”

“He’s just looking forward to giving you some of his workload,” Raphael said with a playful grin.

Michael’s smile widened as Gabriel feigned indignation. “As the oldest of us, you know that’s not the case, Raphael. Six Archangels were enough to handle the work…”

“But?” Michael said sensing the word coming like an inevitable force.

“But,” Gabriel agreed, “I’ll probably ask you to help handle some of the creatures the Creator has me looking after. They’re a handful and gigantic by the way.”

“Of course,” Michael said.

“Well, come on Gabriel. We don’t want to overstay our welcome. I think our little brother has somewhere to be.”

Michael blushed as he gathered Raphael’s meaning.

“Oh right,” Gabriel said. “We don’t want him to be late for his game of kissy-face.”

Raphael gave out a booming laugh. His wavy, silver hair melded into his beard of the same color as his chest rose and fell with mirth.

Before Michael could deny Gabriel’s jest, his two friends increased their altitude and were gone. Once again, Michael found himself flying alone. He knew what he had wasn’t luck. He was blessed to be in the company of such great angels. Now, as the newest addition to the Archangel corps, he would be able to give back in a greater way to his friends and family.

As Michael approached the earth, he picked her out amongst the deep greens and vibrant blues of the world’s surface. She was waiting for him at their favorite location. A hill topped by a single tree thick with branches. The spot overlooked a body of still shimmering water.

Ardat wasn’t alone. She sat with her white wings folded at her back, her long, black hair draped over her right shoulder. In her lap was an infant pegasus, a supernatural being quite closely resembling a horse except for the two wings that spread out on either side of its small body.

The baby pegasus’ head rested gently in her lap. Ardat stroked its soft white mane. She focused her scratches on an area right between the creature’s large, blue eyes. The motion invoked a series of happy sighs and gentle tremors from the small creature.

Michael landed beside the two with a soft thud on the thick grass. “I see you found someone to keep you company.”

Ardat fixed him with the same stare that always stole his breath. She was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The rising of the sun, the brilliance of the stars, the creation of the world; everything paled in comparison to the woman he loved.

She gave the pegasus a final scratch and stood to give Michael a hug. The two embraced. The feeling gave Michael a rush of joy.

“I’m so proud of you. Today, at the ceremony you looked beyond handsome, Michael. You did it; you’re an Archangel now and will join the six others.”

Michael released his hold on her and held her at arm’s length. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Your love and support have meant—still do mean—so much to me.”

Ardat let her hands find his. Something in her eyes and the slow way she spoke told him she was choosing her words carefully. “I’ll always be here for you, Michael. No matter what happens. Nothing will ever stop me from loving you. Everything I do, I do for us.”

Michael’s lips moved towards hers as if he didn’t have a choice in the matter. His life was complete. He couldn’t imagine how things could ever be different. Nothing would happen, they would be together forever.

Michael had no idea how wrong he could be.

Dread inched down Alan’s spine as the darkness became total. Nothing could be heard besides the breathing of those around him. One thing was clear, Gabriel had managed to use the curse that manipulates reality. What that meant exactly, had yet to be seen.

Everyone was suspended in the moment, victim to his or her own fears of the future. Then, just as fast as the sky darkened, the shadow left. Alan blinked against the light of the morning sun. He rubbed his eyes when the landscape around him came back into view. When the darkness overtook the group, they were standing at the entrance to the underground Temple; now Alan stood inside a building.

Large, stone columns reached to the heavens. High above, a stone ceiling provided shelter against the sky. The sun showed sideways through the forest of pillars offering light to the structure. Alan was speechless. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. Everyone was still around him; Gideon, Esther, Angelica, Ardat, Danielle and Artemis who all shared a similar expression. Their faces spoke of wonder and fear.

Something was still off. A thought tickled the back of Alan’s mind as he tried to work out the implications of the event. It hit him like a slap in the face, the humans. The people traveling on the human plane, like phantoms were gone completely.

A dozen different possibilities pushed for Alan’s attention as panic filled his heart. “What—what just happened?”

“Gabriel exercised his power over the spell,” Ardat said with anger in her eyes, “This changes everything.”

“The people,” Danielle said looking from Alan to Ardat and back again, “Did he kill them?”

Gideon was the first to speak. If he was shaken by the events of the last few minutes, the old angel didn’t show it. “Unlikely, however, it does seem he has managed to separate the two plains the natural and the supernatural live in. It seems he has also managed to remake the Temple.”

“More than likely, he has brought back all seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” Artemis breathed. All eyes turned to the small girl. She was slowly walking among the pillars, her hands briefly touching their cool surfaces as she spoke. “The game has changed. Everything that was old has been made new once again.”

Alan remained quiet as he listened to everyone but tension was building in his shoulders. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he had a responsibility. The pressure of this title ordered him to speak. He had to do something. “I need to find out how Gabriel is doing this,” Alan looked at each one of them in turn. “This may change things for all of you—and that’s fine, don’t let me hold you back—but I still need to know how Gabriel is so much stronger than any of us. I’m going to the spot where the Statue of Zeus once stood.”

Alan didn’t wait for a reply. Sitting in the aftermath of Gabriel’s actions was beginning to anger him on a deeper level than he thought possible. As the Horseman of War, he needed answers. The fact that he was always waiting, always reacting to Gabriel instead of being the one to make the first move ate at him. With a thought, Alan ordered his wings out behind him. Blue tendrils of energy obeyed his command and waved gently anticipating flight.

“Wait,” Esther said speaking for the first time since the darkness covered the sky, “we need a plan.”

Anger rose in Alan’s chest. “All this planning is not helping us. I’m going. You can talk and discuss all you want but I need to find answers.” With that Alan’s wings beat the air behind him. He lifted into the sky ready to maneuver through the Temple’s pillars and head for the Statue.

No one moved to stop him, however Artemis’ voice gave him pause. “The future is so unclear at this point, it’s impossible for me to give you sound advice. If your heart tells you to go, then go. The rest of us should stay near the Temple and prepare.”

“What?” Danielle asked, “You can’t be serious. We can’t let Alan go by himself, we should—”

“Let him go,” Gideon said with a tug on his short beard. “Everything is playing out as it should. This has all happened for a reason. If Alan feels like he needs to go, then he must walk his own path. Who are we to stop him?”

Alan heard enough. In the wake of Danielle’s protests, he sped through the Temple pillars and out to the unknown world beyond.

---

Fear wasn’t exactly the right word. An eerie stillness covered the world with an unnatural quiet. Silence was the only thing accompanying Alan on his flight. The world around him was motionless. The terrain remained the same, however all signs of life were gone. The earth for all intense and purposes was abandoned. No roads lined with buildings on either side ran across the ground. The white noise of cars and voices was completely gone, vanished like a shifting specter.

The everyday hum of activity was gone, in its place an empty world of silence reigned. As Alan’s wings beat behind, him he chanced a look over his shoulder. There was no doubt that the Temple was rebuilt. In the place where nothing but a few broken pillars stood before, a monolithic structure now took his breath away. It was beautiful. Given any time to spare, Alan would have loved to explore the remade structure, which had been destroyed thousands of years before; but time was not on his side.

Just as he was turning his attention back to his flight path, Alan caught movement from the between the Temple pillars. A streak—someone flying towards him at a speed so fast he couldn’t gage. Ardat’s ability to manipulate gravity lent her the ability to fly, regardless of her lack of wings. She appeared next to Alan within seconds.

“Haste will not lend you strength during this time,” Ardat said without even looking at Alan. “If you are to have any chance at all, you’ll need to learn to cool that temper of yours.”

Alan looked the former member of the Fallen race up and down. “I didn’t ask you to come.”

Ardat barked a laugh as she turned her dark eyes to Alan. “Trust me, I’m not doing this for you.”

“Then spare me,” Alan said trying to reign in his temper, “I don’t want or need your help.”

“You’re wrong when it comes to the ‘needing’ part. However, I believe you when you say you don’t ‘want’ my help because you are a fool.”

“Listen, if you came to insult me—”

“I came to assist you,” Ardat said with a softer tone, “It is what Michael would want. Artemis cannot leave her Temple, Esther and Gideon need to dole out new orders to the angelic core, and Danielle… That girl is too confused by her emotions for you to know what she wants. Who else is left?”

Ardat’s last words regarding Danielle shocked Alan. “What are you talking about? Danielle and I are just friends, nothing more.”

Ardat looked at Alan and rolled her eyes. “Oh, the naivety of youth. You have a lot to learn not only about being the Horseman of War but about women, Alan Price.”

Alan moved to open his mouth but Ardat cut him off, “Before you ramble on with meaningless reasons you don’t agree with me or need my help, do you know which way you are going?”

“Of course I do,” Alan said with a sigh of exasperation, “I’m going to the Statue. Michael said to look there for answers to how Gabriel has managed to become so strong.”

“And which direction would that be?” she asked.

Alan had never been savvy with directions, even before he was chosen as a Horseman. He pointed forward and waived his finger in the general direction of their flight path. “This way-ish.”

“You’ll need more than a wandering finger to find the Statue. Knowledge will be even more important if you are to discover the truth behind Gabriel’s power.”

The way Ardat spoke made Alan wonder if she already knew. He hated to admit, he needed her help. “You know how Gabriel became so strong, don’t you?”

“I have my suspicions.”

---

The rest of the flight with Ardat was spent in uncomfortable silence. Calling Ardat an ally would be a stretch. As Alan flew beside, her he thought of the reasons the demon couldn’t be trusted. She had already betrayed the Light, choosing to side with the Usurper when the war in heaven waged. Her supposed love for Michael was the only reason she was helping Alan now. Alan decided that he would have to keep a wary eye on his traveling companion’s every move.

Despite his lack of trust in Ardat, Alan was forced to allow her to take the lead as they neared their destination. From his studies on the Seven Wonders, Alan knew the Statue of Zeus had been erected in a temple in Olympia, Greece. He also remembered that a fire destroyed the site in the fifth century. For all he knew, they would be looking for another destroyed piece of land much like the Temple of Artemis when he first found it.

But for the reason yet to be seen, Gabriel chose to remake the Temple, perhaps the Statue would also be made whole again. Alan chose to voice his concerns to Ardat to see if she could shed any light on the events surrounding the Temple’s resurrection. “Why do you think Gabriel used the spell to rebuild the Temple?”

Ardat didn’t respond. Alan waited a few moments to determine whether she was thinking or if she hadn’t heard his question at all. Just as he was about to ask her again, she spoke. “Gabriel hates humans. He hates the way the Creator cares for them. The concept of selfless and complete love is lost on him. He blames humans for destroying much of our heritage. It would make sense that Gabriel remade what was once lost to us, erecting the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World when he separated the human and supernatural planes of existence.”

Alan swallowed hard as he thought of a reality where humans would be destroyed altogether. “You—you don’t think Gabriel could have, killed off the human race, do you?”

Ardat shook her head sending her already wind-tossed black hair into even more of a waving frenzy. “No, no matter how strong he has become, even that is beyond him. No power outside of the Creator could destroy the human populace. More than likely Gabriel has removed human interference in preparation for the war he is going to wage.”

Ardat spoke as if everything she said was the truth. No sorrow or worry laced her words. It was simply how she saw things, as fact. For Alan, the news struck a deeper note. He still thought of himself as human, or at least partially human. “It can be reversed though, right?” Alan was afraid to ask the question but ignorance seemed like a poor reason to withhold his words.

“If it is a spell as we suspect,” Ardat said slowing her forward momentum, “it can be undone.”

Alan let out a sigh. Relief was a feeling he hadn’t experienced much of lately. “Why are you slowing down?”

Ardat looked at him then stared off into the distance. Her non-response made Alan follow her gaze. Below him the Greek landscape played out in a mix of ancient and modern buildings. One structure in particular caught his eye. It was an ancient temple. Much like the Temple of Artemis, the structure was made up of large pillars. Unlike the Temple, it was smaller in width and not as tall.

Alan followed Ardat as she touched down feet from the entrance. If she encountered any kind of amazement at the structure, she hid her thoughts well. Alan couldn’t help but let his jaw hang low as they walked into the building. Alan had to remind himself over and over again to breath as he entered the temple.

Inside, the light of the sun faded and gave way to torches lit among the many sconces on the pillars and walls. It was evident that the structure served only one purpose: to house the Statue of Zeus. The temple itself paled in comparison to the statue. Over forty feet tall, the monument was sculpted to depict the Greek god sitting on his throne. The Statue’s head nearly crested the temple’s ceiling.

Alan was so taken with the statue, he failed to see the man who stood before it. Alan jolted when Ardat’s voice broke the stillness. “I thought you would be here, Raphael. Or should I call you ‘Poseidon’?”

The man didn’t turn. Alan couldn’t see much of him but from his back, Alan could tell he was tall with thick, unkempt, greyish hair. A low, defeated voice responded to Ardat’s words. “Do not speak to me, demon.”

Ardat stopped yards from the man, giving him a wide berth. “The Statue stands again. Michael needs your help if he is to defeat Gabriel.”

Alan could hear himself swallow in the silence that grew after Ardat’s words. Raphael stood motionless. He would have been tall if his shoulders did not slump forward as if he was carrying an invisible cross. His disheveled grey hair fell just past his neck. Alan couldn’t help but feel the hope that had been growing in his chest diminish. The leader of the Archangels, by all appearances, was turning out to be a vagrant.

“I forgot how much the Statue looked like Michael,” Raphael said. The volume of his voice was low as if he were speaking to himself more so than Ardat or Alan.

Alan broke his gaze from the Archangel to reexamine the Statue. Raphael was right. Beyond the curly hair and beard covering the face of Zeus, Alan could see similarities. The high cheekbones, square face and piercing eyes belonged to his friend, Michael.

Alan tensed as Ardat exhaled so loudly, it nearly echoed through the temple. “If the Statue has been remade, odds are Gabriel has also resurrected the other Wonders of the Ancient World. We can lose no time, Raphael. Whatever your past, whatever our issues, you must look past them now if Michael—”

“Enough,” Raphael said with disgust as he finally turned to face them. Whatever Alan was expecting to see, Raphael looked far worse than he had imagined. Along with a wild mane of hair, a thick shock of grey beard grew from his chin and cheeks. Any part of Raphael not covered in hair was smeared with what looked like layers of dirt. His clothes matched his appearance, giving off a slight stench that made Alan’s nose wrinkle in revulsion. Raphael’s right hand quaked with a spasm as he continued, “I gave you my answer. Too much has been lost in the name of the Light. I cannot help you.”