Resurrection (Book Three of the Soul Forge series)

Persephone was asleep, curled up in her bed under a mound of blankets while her body recovered from feeding Julian. He felt better for feeding, but worse for the transaction. Persephone was a nice girl and Yani hadn't minded her feeding him the last time they were in Eden together, but now? Now it felt wrong.

Julian sighed and pulled a clean tunic over his head, shrugging on his jacket and lacing his boots just in time to recognise the steps of the Soul Forge pausing outside Persephone's door. He slipped out into the hallway quietly, careful not to disturb the handmaid as she slept.

"Good meal?" Sypher asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Don't tell Elda."

"I don't keep secrets from her,” he replied slowly. “If I do, I die. Remember?"

"Then don't bring it up in conversation," Julian frowned.

"If she asks me, I'm going to tell her. It's not like you're having an affair with the girl, Jules. Elda will understand."

"But if she doesn't ask, you won't bring it up?" he probed hopefully.

Sypher's dark brow hiked even closer to his pale hair. "I don't make a habit of talking to my wife about who you screw."

"Good. That would be an awkward conversation."

"I doubt it," the Angel shrugged, his wings shifting with the rise and fall of his shoulders. "We need you anyway. Elda says you know how to take down the shields around the monoliths?"

"Sort of,” the Vampire frowned. “I winged it. It wasn't like any of us had a plan."

"Well, now we need one. Come back to the suite with me and we'll talk there. With Horthan creeping about the palace I'd rather not discuss things like this in the hallways."

"Makes sense." Julian fell into step beside him, stuffing his hands into his pockets. The aroma of wildflowers and honey touched his senses, sweet and fragrant. "Ah, I see why Elda is already in the suite," he mused, leaning closer to take another whiff.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Sniff me," Sypher scowled. "It's weird, Jules."

"What? It's weirder to smell a woman on you. Compared to the four hundred years or so we've been friends, you've been in a relationship for the blink of an eye."

"I still don't like you sniffing me," he muttered.

"Do you think I'm gonna mark it on my calendar every time you get laid?" the Vampire scoffed, elbowing his friend. "I'm not going to start a tally."

"You're such a moron," the Angel sighed, shaking his head. Julian saw the hint of a smile teasing his lips and nodded in satisfaction. Sypher didn't pause at the door to his suite, pushing it straight open without knocking. It was odd to see him with somewhere to live that wasn't an inn.

"Julian," Elda beamed from her seat at the dresser. She was dressed in hardwearing trousers and a tunic, her boots laced up to her knees, weaving her blonde curls into a thick braid.

"Hey pipsqueak," the Vampire grinned. "You smell nice today." Julian dodged the seat cushion Sypher aimed at his head, catching it and tossing it back at him before Elda noticed what was going on.

"Thanks. It's probably the expensive soap my mother insists on putting in the bathrooms." Elda finished her braid and stood, turning to face them and folding her arms across her chest. "We need you to tell us how you got through the shield in Bratus."

"Luck, mostly," Julian shrugged. "We had no other ideas, so we started whacking the smaller rocks with our weapons until something happened."

"...That's it?" Elda asked, blonde brows creeping higher.

"That's it. The shield chipped off bits of our weapons until we found the right place to attack."

"And where was that?" Sypher questioned. When he leaned back against the bedpost Julian saw Vel peering back at him too.

"Right at the base. There was a small sliver of exposed rock where the ground meets the protective spires that we could attack. It was a lot of work, and one wrong move meant losing a hand, but it was the best chance we had at getting to the monolith." He surveyed his two friends. “I’m surprised it took you this long to ask.”

“After everything that’s happened, it slipped my mind.” She chewed her lip guiltily.

“Hephaestus asked us to wait for him before we make a move,” Vel reminded her. “At least you remembered before he contacted us.”

“What do you think Hephaestus is doing that means we need to wait?” Julian asked, still skeptical about the presence of the jaguar Spirit.

“Re-centering himself in the world,” Elda smiled. “He needs time to regroup and so do we. Smashing the monoliths is no easy task, and without the magic of the Soul Forge we’ve lost our strongest weapon.”

“No we haven’t,” Vel frowned. “You’re our strongest asset. You always were. My purpose was to train and protect you, not to be the spearhead.”

"That doesn't change the fact that you were more powerful than any of us before your magic was bound," Julian pointed out. "Speaking of - are either of you going to tell me anything about this Hephaestus creature besides his name and his penchant for destroying monoliths?"

"The less all of you know, the better," Vel answered. "We want to tell you, but if we do it means our plan could be exposed. We can't risk that before the second monolith is gone."

Julian scowled. "Usually you trust me with everything."

"I do. I'm trying not to get you killed." The response came from Sypher, his arms crossing over his chest as his one red eye flared a little brighter. "I trust you with my life, Jules. But I can't lose anyone else. Please let me protect you the only way I'm able to."

"Fine," the Vampire grumbled, scuffing the stone floor with the toe of his boot. "I can't argue with you when you put it like that."

"I know," Vel grinned, jumping back in to flash him a cheeky smile.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?"

"We don't know," Elda shrugged. "All we know is that we can't make a move until Hephaestus is ready."

"We could be here for months then?"

"Pretty much," she nodded. "All we can do is keep training and improving while we have the chance."

“Gira sent for Bennigan when we got here, so maybe we’ll learn more when he arrives with his books,” Vel noted. “I should be able to read the journal you found and Sypher can handle anything Angelic.”

“So until then, we just sit around and wait?” Julian frowned.

“Seems like it.”

“That feels wrong,” the Vampire insisted. “Every minute we spend sitting here is another minute Malakai has to regroup and prepare to attack. He’s been one step ahead of us the whole time. We can’t afford to give him an even bigger head start.”

“I know,” Elda nodded. “Trust me, I hate sitting around as much as you do. But the truth is we have no idea what’s going to happen next and the Soul Forge is mortal. I can’t properly control my light yet and Gira is still struggling with Aetheria. None of us are linked anymore, Jules. It’s making fighting and training much harder.”

The door burst open and Brady tumbled through, Gira and Clover right behind them. Julian caught her before she could trip over her boots, Elda and Vel whipping round in alarm.

“Wraith! Approaching the gates!” Brady gasped.

Elda wasted no time, settling herself between the wings of the Soul Forge in a second. The pair of them shot through the balcony doors and out into the cold winter air with no armour, already focussed on the fight.

“Shadow walk,” Julian instructed his brother before turning his deep silver eyes on Brady. “Hold your breath.”

He leapt into darkness with his arm tightly around her waist, not waiting to check if she’d followed his instruction. He could sense Clover leaping through the shadows behind him, both of them jumping in and out of darkness until the gate was in sight. Clover let go of Gira and the pair ran to the portcullis, followed closely by Julian and Brady.

“Fucking Bennigan,” Gira muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Always getting himself into messes he can’t get out of alone.” He drew the broadsword from its sheath across his back, claws sprouting from his fingertips as his teeth lengthened and sharpened.

“Time for some fun!” Brady grinned through her own newly pointed fangs, her frame gaining a foot in height as her muscles corded into her half shifted form. Julian heard the fabric of her tunic and trousers stretch, the sleeves protesting until they tore.

The two Shifters took off at a run. Julian’s brother shot him a look, making him sigh.

“I guess we can’t let them have all the fun,” he muttered.

“We only have knives,” Clover reminded him.

“And teeth.” Julian set off after the others. “We’ve fought worse monsters,” he called over his shoulder, ducking through the portcullis to see the chaos beyond.

A hooded figure sat atop a huge brown horse, its hooved pounding fiercely against the dirt as it struggled to stay ahead of what looked line an entire flock of Wraiths. They hung above the fleeing rider in a cloud of black wings and vicious talons, swooping down to try and snatch at their prey.

As the rider broke the tree line and began to cross the flat expanse of grassy field that surrounded the main gate, several gangly white things followed, attracted by the noise.

“We’ll take the ones on the ground first,” Julian instructed, watching Elda and Sypher fly overhead. One of her powerful arrows blasted a hole right in the middle of the black cloud, the whole thing diverting from the horse to head straight for them.

Gira rushed forwards to direct the rider straight for the gates, and Julian saw two heavy saddle bags attached to the flanks of the horse as it blew past. He drew his knife and leapt into the shadows, dropping out of them right above the closest white demon. Its one beady black eye shot up to blink at him, the gaping maw opening to issue a startled squawk. His knife pierced its skull before it had chance to react.

Brady was ripping and tearing at another demon like a woman possessed, her clawed hands tearing one of the four arms from her target like it was made of butter. Gira was swinging his sword in great arcs, shockwaves of displaced air battering the small horde of demons. The creatures went stumbling and rolling, buffeted by more ferocious wind before they could find their feet.

Shadowy black birds fell from the sky in a macabre confetti as the Soul Forge and Elda cut them down, severing heads and wings in tandem. Julian glimpsed Vel gripping one of them by its beak, wrenching its head to snap the neck, and hurling the corpse at one of the things on the ground. His grin was savage when the white demon hit the floor with a thud.

A wayward talon sliced into his wing right near the base, tearing through the feathers and the skin of his back in an effort to grab Elda’s head and crush it. She slapped the gem on her bow, the dagger releasing into the palm of her hand. She thrust it upwards and gutted the bird, the motion of her blade so smooth she might as well have been slicing through water.

Vel managed to stay in the air with enough control to swoop down and let her drop safely to the ground, but when he tried to right himself his injured wing faltered and he hit the dirt with a grunt of pain, the impact visibly winding him. Elda stood over him without fear, reuniting the dagger with the bow and releasing a steady stream of arrows into the writhing mess of feathers and beaks.

Julian, Gira, Brady and Clover attacked the last of the demons on the ground, tearing limbs and smashing skulls, until Ember’s roar sounded out. Her great black wings appeared over the edge of the wall, streaking towards the Wraiths with Cain in tow. The pair of them circled in a perfect formation, letting out twin jets of blue and red flame from either side of the living cloud.

The sight was incredible. Ember and her son worked as one, reducing the demons to a smattering of charred ash that fluttered to the ground in a macabre snowfall. When the last monster burned, they landed and shook out their wings, surveying the trees for any others that dared to peek out of the shadows.

“That was fun,” Brady grinned. She sported a deep slash in her forehead, blood trickling down her face in a slow stream, but she was elated. “I fucking love it here!” she whooped.

Julian sighed. “You’re so damn weird.”