Sons of Zeus (The Warrior Trilogy #1)

“Never mind.”


“Come on,” Sera said, stepping beside Dak and holding out the Infinity Ring. “Let’s go say our final bye-bye to Aristotle.” They had two more trips to make. Back to Greece, then back to the modern day, where hopefully everything was hunky-dory. Then maybe they could spend a few months healing from the toll all that time traveling took on their bodies.

Dak reached out and put his hand on the cool metal of the Ring, then he gave one last glance at the banished prisoners. “I hope you guys learned your lesson. And don’t be mad at us. It was Aristotle’s idea, and we just do what we’re told. He’s the boss of the Hystorians, you know.”

Sera loved the expression of confusion that swept over the face of Olympias. She pushed the button and quantum physics took them back to Greece, far in the future and long ago, depending on how you looked at it. She just never knew how to think of such things anymore.



“I don’t really know what to say,” Aristotle said as they sat on the balcony in the place they’d had their first deep discussion. Dak thought it seemed like thousands of years ago, which, in a way, was true. “We’ve been through so much in such a relatively short period of time. It’s hard to say good-bye to friends. Friendship is a single soul living in two bodies. Or, in our case, four. At least I’ll get to see Riq — I mean, Hephaestion — again, once the wars are over.”

Dak nodded, not sure what to say himself. He was itching to get back to the modern day and make sure his parents were okay. And that the world wasn’t, you know, about to blow up into tiny pieces. Sera did the talking for them.

“So, how are things going to work now?” she asked. “I know that talking about this stuff can drive you nuts, but since we corrected all the Breaks . . . then that means you don’t need to start the Hystorians. But if you never start the Hystorians, how will we know to go back and . . . Oh, never mind.”

Dak was glad she stopped. His head was starting to hurt.

Aristotle chuckled, a great sound coming out of the great man. He looked a million times better than he had right after the fighting.

“Not to worry, Sera. I suspect these things are simpler than we make them out to be. Most people will have no memory of the former time line, though for you two they will remain linear recollections. In fact, including your Remnants, you will have memories of three distinct time lines, in whole or in part. ”

Now Dak’s head really hurt. “Boulders in the river of time. That’s what I always say when I don’t have a clue what anyone’s talking about.”

That earned another couple of laughs, especially from Sera.

After a few moments, Aristotle grew serious. “Still, we know now that history is a special thing. And that it can be changed — but with dire consequences. I’m still going to form the Hystorians, and create a society that will last throughout the ages.” He paused, scratching that grand beard of his. Then he held up a finger in true philosopher form.

“But this time things will be a little different,” the old man said. “Instead of putting our focus on changing history, we will now do everything in our power to protect it. That’s what we’ll do, my friends. We will protect history until our last, dying breaths.”

Dak wanted to high-five the guy, right there on the spot. But instead he hugged him.

Then came the good-byes, along with more tears.





TO THE future they went.

They warped to the Hystorian headquarters first. But . . . it wasn’t there. Instead, all they saw was a big field, lined with rows of corn.

So they zapped themselves nearby to Sera’s house next. Half of her was terrified to discover what awaited her in this new world, and the other half could hardly stand the wait. Dak had to break into a run to keep up with her as they made their way through the neighborhood.

“Things sure seem . . . normal,” Dak said, slightly out of breath.

“Yeah. They do. And it’s weird about the Hystorians being gone.” But everything around them seemed brighter, the people happier, the colors and edges sharper. So far they hadn’t seen one sign of destruction or oppression.

“I bet they still exist in some way,” Dak responded. “Maybe they’re a lot smaller now, without the SQ to fight. I don’t know. But it sure looks like we re-created a pretty good planet, if I do say so myself.”

Sera slapped him on the back. “Say it all you want. By jove, I think we’ve done it.”

Dak whacked her on the shoulder, though not as hard. “You know, funny that you say that. The phrase ‘by jove’ originated in . . .” He trailed off, his face showing that he’d just been kidding. Although she honestly missed his constant spewing of historical facts. She hoped he relearned everything quickly so he could get back to it.