The Return of the Gods (Children of the Sun Book 1)

Nira couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept for over eight hours, but this morning she woke with the alarm clock on the bedside table telling her it was nine o’clock. She must have really been tired to have slept for…well, she couldn’t remember when she had gone to bed, but it must have been at least twelve hours, probably more.

Once she and Nef had eaten something, they started searching for hidden cameras, and after nearly three hours, Nira came to the conclusion that they were either so well hidden that they would never find them, or that there weren’t any. Nef claimed that his eyesight was too great to miss something as obvious as a camera lens, no matter how hidden it was, so the obvious answer was that there weren’t any cameras at all, but that made no sense to her. Nira kept her skepticism to herself and also didn’t bother pointing out that since Nef wore glasses, his eyesight couldn’t have been that great. It was a good opportunity to tease him, but now wasn’t the right time for it.

Next, they started brainstorming ideas on how to open the locked door of the apartment. Though there wasn’t much brainstorming. They each had one idea and argued about which was better.

Nira wanted to call room service—what kind of apartment building had room service, anyway?—and knock out the person who would bring them what they had ordered with a pan from the kitchen.

Nef claimed he could unlock the door with his special skills.

“I wasn’t even aware you knew how to pick locks,” Nira said, not hiding the disbelief in her voice at all. “I’m pretty sure that if you were good at it, you’d brag about it at least once.”

Nef pretended to look offended and put a hand over his heart dramatically. “You injure me, Your Majesty.”

Nira sighed tiredly. This was the third time today he had called her that. Even back in Irithara, she had barely ever been called that. Thankfully, Nef stopped laughing soon and continued talking, actually adding something relevant.

“Al taught me how to do it. And I even have the right tools for it,” he said, pulling two thin, black hairpins out of the hair just above his right ear.

“Are you serious?” Nira asked, unsure whether she should laugh at him or be amazed. How had she never noticed that? She touched his hair a lot—mostly because he didn’t like it when she deliberately messed it up, and he was cute when he pouted. Maybe she had always assumed she touched his glasses since they were metal, just like the hairpins.

“I always come prepared,” he said, winking at her and straightening the pins, so they formed slightly wavy rods. Nira scowled at him.

“No, you don’t. You barely even remember to bring your ID with you when you want to buy beer.” How many times had she watched him try to convince a cashier that he was over eighteen? It had been good fun at the beginning, but now she usually just pretended she was the one buying the alcohol, so she could use her own ID.

“Fine, so I always come prepared for opening locks,” Nef amended with a scoff, and Nira snorted.

“When was the last time you had our apartment keys on you?”

Nef sputtered, trying to come up with a comeback, but then giving up. “Just let me try this.”

He stalked away toward the door, Nira following him slowly. She stopped at the kitchen to grab one of the frying pans just in case, and then joined Nef, watching him as he moved the pins around in the lock. It genuinely looked like he knew what he was doing, but it was clear that he was out of practice if his constant cursing was anything to go by.

“Wait. What are we going to do if this actually works, and you manage to open the door?” Nira asked, and Nef turned his head to look at her with a slightly annoyed expression. Nira scoffed. “Fine. What are we going to do when you open the door?”

“I guess we make a run for it?” Nef suggested, focusing on his makeshift lockpicks again. Nira was about to sarcastically compliment him about how well thought out his plan was when she heard the lock click. She and Nef exchanged the same look of surprise before Nef quickly disguised it with arrogance.

“See, told you I could do it,” he said, twirling the pins between his fingers with a grin. And then the door opened. Nira immediately hid behind it, so she wouldn’t be visible to whoever opened it and clutched the handle of the pan tightly. It would be hard to attack the intruder from behind the door, but maybe she would get an opportunity to strike if she waited. Nef would have to handle himself in the meantime.

There was a brief silence before a woman’s voice spoke. “What do you think you’re doing?” Nira heard Nef laugh nervously and take a few steps, most likely back.

“Well, you know, cleaning all the keyholes,” Nef answered, and Nira shook her head. There was no talking himself out of this situation, and yet he was trying, anyway. It would be sort of admirable if he hadn’t come up with such a stupid explanation. “I can’t sleep well with dirty keyholes around, see? It’s a very rare phobia. Few people know it exists.”

To Nira’s absolute amazement, the woman let out a laugh. And not the evil kind. “You’re funny. But you better not try to do that again, or I’ll tell the boss, all right?”

“You mean you’re not going to tell him about this?”

“Look, kid, I get that you don’t wanna be here,” the woman said, and Nira did a double-take. Had she just called Nef a kid? The woman didn’t sound old enough to do that. “Trust me, I don’t wanna be here, either. I was supposed to be in Irithara, looking for this Yorin guy—a really important mission—but I screwed up, so now I have to stand outside your door for seventy-two hours instead.”

Okay, now Nira was sure that this woman was an Eternal. Not only had she referred to Relioth as the boss, but she also talked about guarding their door for three days with no sleep like it was just a minor annoyance she had to deal with, and on top of that she had mentioned searching for Yorin, the Iritharian god of medicine. Why would Relioth be looking for him, anyway?

Nira looked down at the pan in her hands, feeling much less confident now. What good was a bit of metal against a god?

“You’re a dragon,” Nef said, realizing this as well, despite not knowing who Yorin was. He sounded much more relaxed now. Nira had no idea how he managed that.

The Eternal laughed again. “We don’t really call each other that, but yeah.” She paused for a moment and then asked: “Hey, isn’t the princess supposed to be here, too?”

Nira swallowed thickly when she was mentioned, but also frowned. If their guard was an Eternal, wouldn’t she know already that Nira was hiding behind the door? They were telepathic after all. Relioth had even controlled Nef into going where he’d wanted him to.

“Shouldn’t you be able to tell?” Nef asked her, and Nira could almost see him folding his arms over his chest. As quietly as she could, she leaned over the edge of the door and risked a glance. Thankfully, the woman’s back was turned to her, and she didn’t seem to notice Nira at all. She didn’t look very imposing to Nira—even in the suit she was wearing, she looked very thin—but that didn’t make a difference when she could transform into a huge, fire-breathing lizard at any moment.

The woman scoffed, jerking her head to the side. Nira quickly jumped back, but after a few seconds, she decided that she hadn’t been spotted and went back to watching the scene.

“Usually, yeah, but the boss took some of my powers away for failing him. He said he’d remove the suppression bracelet after this, so it’s not all bad, I guess.”

Nira’s heartbeat quickened as newfound hope surged through her. So maybe the pan would knock the Eternal out after all. Nira swallowed once again and took her first quiet step out of her hiding spot.

“Suppression bracelet?” Nef repeated as Nira took another step, and then another. Despite being able to see her, Nef did remarkably well at acting like she wasn’t there at all. Nira was grateful for that because even a single look in her direction would give away her position.

“This thing,” the Eternal explained, raising her left hand and pointing at the black, metal bracelet encircling her wrist. Nira studied it for a second. When light hit it, the color turned into a dark shade of red. It looked quite elegant, but that was hardly the point of the device. If the bracelet could suppress the abilities of these beings, it would be useful to figure out how it worked, but if the bracelet was the only thing keeping the Eternal in front of her from using her powers, it was probably not worth it trying to take the device with them. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Nira took one final step and swung as hard as she could with the pan, hitting the back of the woman’s head, and sending her to the ground. Nira stared for a moment at the slow trickle of blood that started staining the carpet around the Eternal’s head, shock overwhelming her. She’d never been in a fight, nor had she actually hurt anyone like this.

Then the woman let out a pained groan which immediately snapped Nira out of it.

“C’mon!” she yelled at Nef, taking his hand and almost dragging him out of the room.

“Nice one!” Nef told her as they rushed to the elevator, which was a short run away from them. There wasn’t anyone else around, which was a blessing, but it was also strange that Relioth hadn’t told more people to guard them. Maybe he had assumed that one Eternal would be enough, and honestly, it should have. They’d just been lucky.

Once they reached the end of the corridor, Nef hit both of the buttons next to the elevator door with his palm almost violently and repeated this about ten times, as if that would get the elevator here more quickly.

“Hey, what did I ever do to you?” called the woman after them from the apartment. Nira didn’t look back to check if she was already outside of it or not and quickly looked for anything that would tell her where the staircase was. Thankfully, it seemed to be behind the door on the right, so they wouldn’t have to run to the other side of the corridor and risk getting caught.

“Come on,” she told Nef and pointed at the door. Nef didn’t look happy about it but agreed and followed her when she ran to the staircase. They sprinted down the stairs so fast it was a wonder they hadn’t killed themselves along the way, but gradually they slowed down when they didn’t hear anyone following them. Surely the Eternal hadn’t given up. Or was she too injured to follow them?

Nira suddenly felt incredibly guilty. What she had done might have been necessary, but that didn’t make it right. That Eternal had done nothing to them, she’d just been following her orders. Unable to look at the frying pan she was still holding in her hand any longer, she put it on one of the stairs, ignoring the confused look Nef threw her way, and just continued going down until they reached the ground floor.

Nef breathed a sigh of relief, but Nira stayed cautious. This had been too easy so far, and she was expecting Relioth to show up and send them back as soon as they stepped outside the building.

That didn’t happen though. At least, not exactly. Relioth didn’t show up, but the corridor leading to their freedom was blocked off by the Eternal who had been guarding them. She was glaring at them fiercely as she started walking toward them the moment they showed up.

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” Nef blurted out, looking at the woman in shock, and she rolled her eyes.

“I took the elevator,” she replied with a glare, focusing on Nira. “That was pretty rude, you know. But I guess that’s to be expected from an Iritharian.”

If she had badmouthed only Nira or even her family, Nira would have let it go, but no one would insult all of her people and get away with it. She glared back at the Eternal and was about to insult her back when Nef started laughing.

“Are you joking?” said Nef. “If you want rude, go to Artex.”

The woman seemed to consider this and then shrugged. “All right, fine. It still hurt. I’ll have to report this. But first, you’re going to go back to your apartment, and I’ll get back to doing my job.”

Nef and Nira exchanged a determined look, and the Eternal sighed. “Mortals…” she muttered and stretched out her hand to…. Actually, Nira wasn’t sure what the woman had meant to do before she was interrupted by the doors opening with a slam.

“Get away from them!” yelled Alor, pointing a gun at the woman, who turned around to look at the newcomers. Nira had no idea how they had found them, but at the moment she was just grateful that they had come to get them out.

Alor had probably yelled at them until they agreed, Nira thought to herself. Rayni and Kara stayed outside, keeping a lookout by the door while also looking inside the apartment building over their shoulder. And behind Alor was someone dressed in black with a cape over their head…. Wait, was that Mel? Only then did Nira realize that Rayni was wearing something similar.

“Umbra!” hissed the woman, pulling a black dagger from her pants pocket. The metal looked exactly like the one her suppression bracelet was made of, but in this form, it looked much more threatening. Whatever metal this was, it must have also been capable of killing Eternals because the woman was now only looking at Mel, holding the blade as close to him as she could without moving her legs. “I didn’t know there were any of you little cowards left. Not complaining. It’s been a while since I killed one of you.”

Mel only had time to glare at her before she lunged at him, the dagger missing him only by an inch. He jumped back as she made another attempt at stabbing him and grabbed her hand, trying to wrestle the dagger from her hand.

It didn’t look like Mel had any weapons of his own, but after a few seconds, it became clear that he was stronger than the woman, if only barely. Nira doubted that Mel would be winning if she didn’t have the suppression bracelet.

Alor stood there, trying to aim at the woman, but since she and Mel moved around a lot, he wasn’t shooting, most likely afraid that he’d hit Nira or Nef. Gunshots rang out outside suddenly, as Kara and Rayni tried to fight off whoever was out there. Nira couldn’t see them anymore, but she could hear them, and judging by the amount of swearing, they weren’t winning.

A pained cry sounded through the room, and Nira immediately looked back at Mel, who now had the woman’s dagger lodged in his shoulder. A faint blue light started flowing out of his wound and into the dagger as if the weapon was sucking the Eternal’s power out of him. Maybe that was exactly what it was doing because just a second later, he looked not only pained but also tired.

Nira watched, frozen, as the woman gripped the hilt of the dagger and started to pull it out with a grim smile on her face, preparing to stab him again. That was the moment Alor finally pressed the trigger. And then did it two more times just for good measure, making the woman cry out and press a hand to her chest where she had just been shot.

This only incapacitated her for a moment, but it was all the time Mel needed to pull the dagger out of his shoulder and stab it into the flesh under her chin, driving the blade into her brain. There was a quick flash of greenish-yellow light and then it was all over.

Mel stood above the dead body of his foe, panting, shaking, and gripping the bloodied dagger tightly. Alor wasted no time, running towards Nef and Nira as soon as he could see them again, and asking if they were all right.

“Are you kidding? That apartment Relioth put us in was awesome,” Nef joked, but his voice was strained and squeaky. Nira studied his face with worry. He seemed to be doing everything he could to not look at the dead body right in front of him, but his eyes kept flicking toward it, anyway.

Oddly enough, Nira wasn’t too disturbed by seeing someone being killed in front of her. She wasn’t sure how to feel about this, so instead, she focused on Nef. She wanted to hug him, but Alor did it first. He looked relieved that he had found his brother. Not that Nira was surprised.

“How did you find us?” Nira asked when Nef and Alor separated.

“Mel tracked down Relioth’s portal or something,” Alor replied, looking unsure. “I haven’t really asked. I’m just glad that he did find you.” He threw a grateful look Mel’s way, who didn’t seem to notice at all. He studied the dead Eternal’s bracelet for a moment before running out of the building to help Rayni and Kara after hearing them shoot.

“Did you finally stop being a dick to him?” Nef teased his older brother, and Alor sighed.

“I was just being—”

“Cautious, yeah.”

“We need to go,” Alor said abruptly as another gunshot rang out. “We only have about an hour to get to Enbrant.” He started walking towards the exit, Nira and Nef following him. Nira did her best to ignore the dead woman as they walked past her, and Nef straight up closed his eyes for a moment.

“Why?” she asked as they walked out of the apartment building cautiously. It seemed the fighting was over, but Kara and Rayni still had their guns in hand. Nira couldn’t see any bodies, but she did see blood pooling from under a nearby dumpster. She tried not to think about that too much.

Strangely enough, there wasn’t anyone around, but they seemed to be on the very edge of the city, so maybe it wasn’t as odd as it seemed to her.

“Kaleth’s going to assassinate Relioth,” Alor explained simply, sounding either hurt or angry. Or maybe both. Nira blinked a few times.

“What?!” She wasn’t given an answer to this question, though.

“And we’re going to what—stop him?” Nef asked, voicing Nira’s exact thoughts.

“Of course not,” said Kara. “We’re going to get him out of there before he gets himself killed or captured. And you two are going to stay in the car.”

Alor looked at them apologetically. “We would take you back, or at least get a different car for you, so you could fly back yourselves, but we really don’t have any time to spare.”

Nira just nodded, seeing no problems with this plan. She’d had too much excitement for one day already. Nef for once looked like he agreed as well with no pointless arguing. Nira couldn’t say she was exactly surprised by this. Nef liked acting like he was tough and fearless, but he had never actually been in a serious fight, as far as Nira knew, and just seeing blood that wasn’t his own made him queasy, so seeing someone get killed must have been much, much worse.

Currently, Nef’s face was turning slightly green as he watched the blood from under the dumpster making its way very slowly toward them. Nira grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, which seemed to have helped him at least a bit. He smiled at her slightly and swallowed.

“Right, we better get a move on before the police show up. There’s no way someone didn’t hear the gunshots,” said Rayni, and swiftly walked to a blue, somewhat dented and rusted car. Nira didn’t know where they’d gotten it, but something told her they’d stolen it. But at that moment, she didn’t really care about that at all. She just wanted to sit down after what they had just done.

She got her wish about a minute later as she climbed into the car and settled in the backseat with Nef right next to her. Nira leaned into him, and he wrapped an arm around her. She breathed in deeply, which did nothing to slow down her racing heart, and stared out the window, watching as the relatively large city slowly disappeared, replaced by rolling green hills, and a faraway mountain range.

Alor quickly summed up what they had found out during the time they had been separated, but it was mostly just a confirmation of what she had already taken as fact: Relioth had been the one to destroy the Flare, although they still weren’t sure how he’d managed it, and he had blamed it on Irithara, so he had a reason to attack the Empire.

She couldn’t believe she was about to witness a political assassination and even less that the politician that was to be assassinated was the mythological personification of war. That was mostly the reason why she couldn’t make herself feel bad about wanting him to die. He certainly deserved it. Nira just hoped Kaleth would manage to do it.