Saturn's Rings Episode Four

By Odette C. Bell

Lisa can’t go back to who she was. She can’t go back to where she lived. She can’t go back to anything.
She can only go forward. But she won’t move a step without J’Nar.
They’ll have to fight every obstacle standing in their path. And these obstacles are armed with gods. When the Underside’s plot unravels and threatens to sweep the multiverse into their chaos, J’Nar and Lisa fight from opposite sides of the battle until finally they’re together once more.
But even standing side-by-side, hand-in-hand how can they possibly fight destiny?
...
Saturn’s Rings follows a starry-eyed astrophysicist and a newly-minted lieutenant fighting destiny to save life itself. If you love your space operas with action, heart, and a splash of romance, grab Saturn’s Rings Episode Four today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.
Saturn’s Rings is the 2nd Supreme Outer Guardian series. A massive, exciting, and heroic sci-fi world where the day is always saved and hearts are always won, each series can be read separately, so plunge in today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Feb 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215709627

Book preview

Chapter 1

Lisa Snow

I wasn’t a soldier. You knew that. I wasn’t some Guardian. You knew that, too. I was just someone who kept being forced from problem to problem. Because there was nobody else to step up.

I stared into Frost’s eyes. She was serious. And so was the situation.

I went to swallow.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but I felt something appear just behind me.

There wasn’t a warning or an alarm – just my instincts.

Whatever happens next, don’t let us down. Everything is riding on your shoulders. If you don’t— Frost began.

Suddenly a light-filled hand sliced through the hologram. It destroyed it right in front of me. And I needn’t tell you whose hand that was. I had already wondered whether Glory Tarn could be on this planet. He might’ve simply been projecting his avatar form to Contor.

The answer was I’d been right.

And now everything – everything – would turn wrong.

I jerked back.

I didn’t move like I ordinarily did. Because something very important had changed. I was now in incredible Guardian armor. This armor was clearly made for ordinary, solid bodies, however. Every now and then, the unit creaked, and I saw cracks form over the chest and hands.

The cracks didn’t undermine the structural integrity of the armor. It was more like crusts on some creamy dessert.

Perhaps my own energy was interacting with the Peacekeeper armor and pushing through. Whatever the true facts, it meant little blasts of my light shone out. Little ones. Glory Tarn, on the other hand, was brighter than I had ever seen him. And he was far, far more dangerous.

You contacted the outside, he hissed. It’s pointless. They cannot come here anymore. Our god won’t let them. And our god is everything.

Your god is a mere criminal, I spat back as I darted into the air.

I’d give this armor one thing. It was quickly learning how to assist me. Whereas it had felt strange and clunky at first, the more I moved in it, the easier it became. If I had an hour or two, I imagined it would feel like a second skin. But I didn’t think anyone had an hour or two in this cursed universe anymore.

Certainly not if Glory Tarn was in control.

He snarled and sliced toward me again. Maybe he was putting more effort into manifesting this form, because the snarl looked exactly the same as the numerous ones I’d seen on his face. You might remember that I hadn’t spent that much time in his presence. Did that matter? If you spend even a few seconds at the ocean, you learn that it’s watery and wild. Even half a second in Glory Tarn’s presence would confirm to you that the only thing he was born to do was snarl. Oh yes. And take.

He surged toward me from the left. He moved so very quickly. If he’d had this kind of speed back when I’d fought him on Contor, he would’ve won. Was there something different now? Had the Underside god given him some kind of upgrade?

No. It was the star in this system, wasn’t it? It was more powerful. As it was closest to the world where he spent most of his time, it was presumably a star he had manifested through multiple times, too. In other words, this was his home ground. And I, as such, shouldn’t have a chance.

I couldn’t back down now. Not with Guardian armor, and not with Frost’s warning echoing in my mind.

I was the only person she had left.

I didn’t know the woman. I’d only just seen her face and heard her voice. And yet her mission still affected me. It still sank down through the layers of my personality until it sat there in my sternum like a dead weight. One that wouldn’t allow me to sink. And one that wouldn’t allow me to rise unless I could pull everyone up with me.

Speaking of rising. I had to dart to the side and up. I was thankful for the fact this room had a very tall ceiling. You needed a large, cavernous space to fit all of these treasures. It meant we could dart around with relative impunity, though.

It also meant there were lots of things for Glory Tarn to protect. Or at least that was the theory. When I flew toward what looked like an expensive statue in the middle of the room and threw a bolt of power toward it, he didn’t blink.

The statue exploded, chunks of it burning out in every single direction.

He still focused on me, that snarl getting closer as he threw his hand out. Starlight arced from finger to finger. It was blisteringly strong.

But apparently it wasn’t strong enough. He threw his hand up and went to call on yet more power still.

I’d learned that trick from him, but he was still the original, and trust me, he’d likely always be the best.

He threw his arm up high. His fingers spread wide. He grunted and called on his power. A halo of light appeared right above him.

It shimmered there for a moment, almost as if it was confused. I’d been the last person to call on light like that. But its confusion couldn’t last.

Glory Tarn roared, pushed his hand up even higher, and let his fingers spread wider. I would’ve said I was impressed, but it wasn’t as if they possessed real knuckles, so he could stretch them as far as he wanted.

The power that struck them was real enough. Immediately, I felt it doing what it had done to me back on Contor. My energy reduced by half in a moment. In another moment, it reduced by half again.

I staggered down to my feet.

I didn’t let my head drop. I sneered at him.

I threw my own hand out. I couldn’t get underneath the halo of light. So I just had to give it a reason to transport over to me. It wasn’t like I could actually reason with it, however. It didn’t understand language. It didn’t understand anything other than who was the strongest in the room.

I hadn’t wanted to think of my parents again. Their snarling arrogant faces were images I wanted to forget for the rest of time. They rose, anyway.

I was their daughter, apparently. A glorified weapon.

Which meant I had a power greater than Tarn’s, greater than my parents’, and greater than any other Glories’. I just had to find it.

I concentrated. But not just inside my avatar body. I pushed some of that attention into my Guardian armor. I hadn’t connected to it yet. It wasn’t as if I’d had the time.

Now I felt something moving through me. This easy energy. This sense that the armor was becoming one with me.

If I gave to it, it would give to me.

You, Glory Tarn began.

I’m going to make we Glories pay for everything we’ve done. And that’s a promise.

The only promise you will soon be capable of making is one of complete loyalty. When your memories are wiped and you become my wife, I will still make you pay for this moment.

You’re never going to get to my mind, Glory Tarn. Because you’re never going to get out of this room.

My visor had been showing me what was going on around me. I’d assumed it was just a faithful representation of everything in the room, but now things changed. Lines of light started to converge over the halo above Tarn.

What the— I had a moment to spit.

We know what you are trying to do, my armor suddenly announced to me. It would be better to shut this process down and begin your own.

The armor… damn, it had a point.

I’d never tried to attack one of these halos before. There was nothing to say that I couldn’t.

I changed tack immediately in the time given left over to me. I was still weak, shaking down on my knees. That didn’t stop me from throwing a hand out, grunting, and sending power spiraling toward the halo.

Glory Tarn didn’t even have time to react. If he did, he would’ve probably spat some fresh new insult. As it was, he could only react once my power struck the halo. I thought that I would have to send several volleys into it. I was wrong. One was enough. I split it right around its girth.

Then it just fizzled out. And that extra shipment of power Glory Tarn so desperately needed disappeared.

Obviously it was hard for him, considering I had ended the shipment abruptly. Or maybe his body had connected to it too much, or something else had occurred, because he staggered down to his own knees and clutched his face.

You know what that gave me time to do?

I darted right up to the top of the room.

I blasted through the ceiling.

I put as much distance between him and me as I could. Then I shoved my own hand out. And I called on my own shipment of power from the nearby star.

I think I’d told you previously that it felt like the star in this system was on my side. It understood there was a war on its way. It knew that if this universe were to have a chance, it would only have a chance with me.

I swear I hadn’t made that up. Something had to account for the fact that as the star downloaded its force into me, it was a quick, perfect process. There wasn’t even time for Glory Tarn to catch up to me.

One moment, I was weak. The next, I was stronger than I’d been in a long time.

I turned. I was in one of the large, white, well-lit corridors.

I was near the base of the parliament building. It still had a startling view. I could see beyond to the city streets.

I shivered as I saw all those vines and trees that had been such a startling and beautiful feature previously. And they still were. They were married gorgeously with the architecture. Large, sumptuous vines even clung to the sides of the parliament building. But ever since leaving Contor behind, the natural world had taken on a wild edge for me.

I was lucky I was paying attention to it now. For it was just in time to see something sharp slice down from space.

It happened right in front of me, falling into one of the vines wrapping around the side of the large parliament towers.

Tarn has almost caught up, my armor warned me.

I was too consumed by what I was seeing. Armor, if that’s what I’m meant to call you, I stammered. Then I shoved a finger out and pointed shakingly at the spike. I opened my mouth to ask what the hell was going on. But I needn’t have bothered. I saw it for myself. And the culprit was here to explain himself.

Just as Glory Tarn punched up out of the floor beneath me and went straight for my throat, I watched as more spikes fell from the sky. Whatever they touched, they changed. The once beautiful still plants started to morph and grow. Vines unwrapped themselves from the sides of buildings. Trees suddenly grew taller. I knew that if I was out there, I’d hear the sound of their bark cracking on fast forward.

It was almost too much, and I nearly didn’t dodge back when Tarn’s fingers brushed past my throat.

I lurched forward, kicked him, and forced him back.

I could tell from the look in his eyes that he thought this was it. He’d finally capture me. But I was stronger. As I struck him, he was forced through the wall beside me.

He grunted and threw himself back into my corridor, but he was far warier this time. He sneered, showing his perfect glowing teeth. You have become an instrument of our enemies.

You work for a god. How could you possibly have enemies? I taunted. Your god is all-powerful – and gods have to be all-powerful by definition. So he should be able to wipe away all of your competition. But where is he now? I roared. Where is your god now?

He roared himself. Previously, I’d heard him grunt, snarl, laugh victoriously, and scream. But this was different. It shook up from a much meaner place within him. You knew his personality, but apparently I hadn’t yet plumbed the depths of just how nasty Glory Tarn could become.

Before he threw himself at me again, he paused there, one foot propped against the crumbled wall he’d been forced through and