Free Gods of War (War of the Gods Series) by Jory Smith

hasn’t hit the main land—Greece— or the Americas yet, but he will get there soon. The most intriguing aspect of all of this though is how fast he is conquering. He is using one of man’s religions to gain more followers and prayers. He is growing stronger by the second,”
    “What do you think about all of this, Athena?” Zeus said.
    “It is strange,” Athena commented. “Your brother knows warfare, but he isn’t the most intelligent among us. To do something like this is beyond him. I wonder where he got the idea from,” Athena answered. She turned to Hermes. “What religion is he using anyways?”
    “He is using the one called Islam. He is claiming to be some kind of prophet or god or whatever they believe in. He is there to lead them to world domination,” Hermes said not fully understanding the importance of what he was saying.
    Zeus looked at Hermes with a sense of pity before turning to Athena. “Athena, you are wrong. Ares is not the stupidest among us. Hermes has taken that claim.”
    Zeus then looked calmly back to Hermes and spoke to him like a child. “You know that as you receive prayers from the humans, you can get stronger, right Hermes?” Zeus waited for Hermes to nod yes. “Islam is one of the largest religions on earth. If Ares has directed their prayers to him, that is 1.3 billion humans praying to Ares. They are some of the most devout religious people on earth,”
    Hermes eyes finally lit up as he understood the complication of the matter. Until now, he didn’t know understand the severity of Ares’ plan. “How did that come to his mind?”
    “That is what we are trying to figure out Hermes,” Aphrodite said patting him on the cheek before turning back to Zeus. “Who is helping him with this battle plan? Could it be Hades?”
    “I don’t think so,” Zeus said. “He is not going to do all this work to not be the king. If I know him, he has a plan that will hurt Ares. He wouldn’t want Ares to grow more powerful than him. Has there been anything else that is strange about Ares’ actions?”
    “Well, it is strange that he is actually allowing his enemies the chance to surrender. Usually he just sets up one government and destroys all the rest.” Aphrodite mentioned.
    “Ares is using more diplomacy than he has in the past,” Athena said. “Usually he just destroys a kingdom if they show any signs of resistance. His first wave has only met pockets of resistant in Africa. In Asia he has had some resistance, but one country has joined forces with him and now it’s just a matter of time before that whole area is going to fall.”
    “There is some hope though,” Hermes said. “Even though the weapons the humans have are pitiful, they still can kill some of his forces, the ones who aren’t immortal. It just takes them a bit longer.”
    Zeus sat listening to the other gods continued to deliver their information. When he realized they were done talking, he spoke up.
    “We need to start concentrating on our plan. From what you have told me, Ares still doesn’t know what we are doing. If he did he wouldn’t be wasting his time slaughtering humans. First we need to get the demi-gods trained. At the same time we need to have the gods still loyal to me in stowed in a safe position. We can’t put any more gods in harm’s way. Ares is willing to kill any god who gets in his way. Being one of the original born from a Titan he has the power to do it. Finally we need to find out what happened with Artemis. I sent her to see if she could spy on what Ares was doing. I have not heard back from her.”
    “Why is it bad that gods die?” Athena asked. “We can breed more when this pointless war has ended. I am sure Aphrodite would love to partake in that.”
    “You don’t understand, Athena,” Zeus said annoyingly. “Our life force is holding a prison together that binds a force so horrible, it will destroy everything in its path, including earth. If earth goes, every plane that