The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (26 page)

Before anyone could stop
him, Eversor hurled the dagger back at Leo’s chest. Nikolaos,
quicker than the blade, caught it
by the
handle
at the last
second
.
There was
a tiny hole in Leo’s shirt where the tip of the dagger
pierced
, scratching
his chest.

Eversor laughed at Leo’s
startled expression
.
“I was only returning what is rightfully yours.”

Nikolaos grabbed Leo’s
wrist and smacked the handle of the dagger into his
hand
.
“Do not
make a foolhardy move like that again.”

Leo
nodded
,
frightened
,
and returned the dagger to its holder in his belt. Leo had
seen Nikolaos tense before
,
but never this tense. After he returned the
dagger, s
heer
panic lingered in Nik’s eyes as they met Leo’s.

The three brothers were
unaccustomed to mortal danger. Rarely having to fight against
someone stronger and more skilled than them, they had forgotten
demigods are only immortal so long as they are not mortally
wounded. A dagger through the heart may prove
too much for their immortal souls.

Everyone watched as
Nikolaos moved to the head of the group and stood protectively in
front of Breanna. His movements
were
slow and smooth, emanating
strength. A slight
,
pulsating tension in his arms revealed his uneasiness,
betraying his fearless façade. The closer he moved to
Eversor
,
the
faster his heart raced
,
and
the more visible
the
artery
pounding
in his neck
became
.

Eversor yawned and
surveyed the area. He caught glimpse of a large rock off to the
side
and
smirked
mischievously. He formed fists and placed one in front of the
other. He then heaved his arms backwards as if pulling an invisible
rope. The boulder slid towards him, rattling the earth with each
tow. When it was close enough, Eversor vanished and reappeared on
top of the boulder, popping grapes into his mouth. He looked as if
he were about to watch a show
.
“Ahh, the eldest son has come to sacrifice for
the family
.
How
noble.”

Nikolaos stood silently
guarding the group
.
More so
,
guarding Breanna.

Bre was unsure of
who
Nikolaos
was
,
but she
relaxed with him there. The same sensation of safety she shared
with her animals.

Despite her unusual feelings towards
him, Nikolaos’ silence irritated her.

“Who is this man?” Bre whispered to
Eoghan, nodding towards Nikolaos. Eoghan remained silent, further
annoying Bre. “Ugh! Useless,” she grumbled.

Breanna walked in front of Nikolaos
and gave him a “watch this” smirk.

Eoghan clenched a fist, shaking his
head as Breanna moved away from his protective presence. “Damn it,
woman,” he grunted through clenched teeth. He knew Breanna’s
defiant mind all too well.

Eversor’s smile
disappeared, turning into smug curiosity mixed with alert
apprehension
as
Breanna approached the rock. He put the grapes down and
watched her carefully, paying specific attention to her
hands.

“
Eversor, correct?”
Breanna called out, placing one hand on her hip. “I have heard a
few stories about you
.
you know
,
the ones
where you kill
your wife and all,” Breanna smirked as Eversor’s
smug
face
contorted in rage. Breanna continued to taunt Eversor, “No
one has come to sacrifice anything, Sir. We shall be leaving now. I
have to wash the taste of dead eagle out of my wolf’s mouth. She
gets awfully cranky when she’s not clean.” A low growl rolled out
from behind Cailean where Lupa stood, digging her claws into the
ground ready to pounce.

“Silence,
mutt
.
I am more
powerful than a daughter of Mars,” snapped Eversor.

Lupa snarled at Eversor’s
insult.

Eversor jumped down from
the boulder
and landed
in front of Breanna. The
morning
was
silent
:
even
the birds
seemed too scared to chirp in
Eversor’s presence
. The
dim, dawn light
reflected off his silky dark hair
,
but cast his face in
shadows
.

Eversor, still watching
Breanna’s hands, placed his own in his pockets and casually
sauntered to Bre. “You are a conundrum, my dear Breanna. You are
too young to be so brave, yet not old enough to be scared. This
must be an awkward age for you.” Eversor squinted and stared harder
into her eyes
, and
then smiled. “You don’t know who you are.” His eyes then
rolled over the three brothers and he cackled, astonished at his
findings. “And neither do they! I am impressed with your ability
for secrecy, Brian!”

“
I am fully aware of who I
am, as are they. I am the daughter of King Remus, future queen of
Etruria. However, I must say, I am impressed that at your age you
can jump down from such a height without breaking a hip. The
Morrigan has kept you well,” Bre quickly retorted.

Eversor closed the
distance between him and Breanna with one-step.
“
No one keeps me,
child!
” he screamed
,
an inch from her face.

Eversor dropped back a few
paces, slung back his arm, and shot a lightning bolt at Breanna.
Nikolaos moved quicker than humanly possible and pushed her out of
the way. He caught
the
bolt with one hand and twisted it around, hurling it back at
Eversor in one fluid motion. Eversor barely deflected the bolt with
his sword and sent it crashing into the stone behind
him.

Breanna looked up at Nikolaos in
amazement.

“Who are you? Are you a god? That was
amazing!” Breanna exclaimed.

Leo and Cole rushed to their brother’s
side with their swords drawn, each with a menacing grin. Clover
bound in front of Breanna to shield her from the oncoming battle,
while Eoghan grabbed Bre.

Breanna felt stronger than she had
ever felt in her life, but Eoghan was still stronger and pushed her
back a couple of feet behind the group.

“Eoghan, I advise that you let go of
me,” Breanna warned in the calmest tone she could muster. Her arms
shook in her struggle against releasing her rage.

Eoghan chuckled at her warning, “Or
you’ll do what?”

Despite his
laugh
, which
usually
made
her smile and
erased
the stresses of her day, it annoyed Bre that he
so casually made her seem weaker than him. Bre tried to grip his
arm to sling him over her shoulder. However, Eoghan had his leg
behind hers and pushed her down. Bre fell backwards, shocked at his
actions.

Eoghan stood over her smiling, “You
always fall for that.”

“Yes, but you
have
never used your
magic against me before,” Breanna
said,
slightly annoyed at being
overcome.

“You never had powers that
would require me to use magic, Your Majesty,” Eoghan said
as he
bowed
sarcastically. “Now will you sit down and behave while we handle
this mess?”

A flash of red light
filled the
dawn
sky and the wolf pendent around Bre’s neck vibrated against
her chest. The vibration sent a wave of panic through Bre’s
chest
, as if to warn her.
Suddenly, Bre looked behind Eoghan and saw
Eversor flying towards her
,
His arms outstretched as if attempting to
strangle someone. Bre stood up with such speed she was a blur to
Eoghan.

In Bre’s hand, her father’s sword
appeared. The sword had amazing power that coursed through her arm
up to her head, clarifying her thoughts and sharpening her
senses.

Swinging the double-edged
blade through the air, Bre slashed through Eversor’s chest.
Spinning around, Bre slashed once more to produce another wound in
his back. Eversor stumbled backwards, shocked
by
Bre’s speed and his burning
wounds.

Rustling grass and distant
screams caused Breanna to peer over her shoulder. The three
brothers sprinted towards Bre and Eoghan with swords drawn. It was
then she noticed the o’Conaill brothers, her mother, and Lysandros
unconscious on the ground. Clover and Aurora stalked Eversor while
Leora stood by Bre, growling. Someone chuckled beside
her
, a laugh
Bre
knew well.
The
small pang of fear that knotted in her stomach disappeared
with Eoghan’s reassuring laughter.

“Did you honestly think I
was going to let you have all the fun?” Eoghan
said
,
swinging
his sword in circles around his arm.

Bre noticed something was
different about
it
. It was the same sword she had seen him use a million
times
,
only this
time it glowed green with a silver word written down the middle of
the blade,
Dilse
,
meaning Loyal in Gaelic. She
then
realized
her own sword glowing red with
black writing in the middle,
Στρατηγική
, meaning Strategy in
Greek.

A flash
of
yellow light around
Eversor’s hands distracted Bre from examining her sword further.
Eversor conjured a large
,
double-headed axe. He lunged at Breanna, but she
caught the handle of the axe with the edge of her sword and pushed
him backwards, while Eoghan hacked at
his
legs.

Eversor was
quick
,
and
countered their every move with extreme speed and accuracy. Besides
the o’Conaills, Bre and Eoghan had never encountered such an
accomplished foe.

The three brothers finally
caught up with them and joined the fight. However, Eversor had a
surprise counter for their presence. He slammed the axe into the
ground and caused a shock wave
that
knocked
them all to the ground. When they
stood up, they came face to face with ten Eversor
clones
,
each
clone armed for a specific opponent.

The first two clones
attacked Bre and Eoghan
. Each
had two swords to deflect and slash at Bre and
Eoghan. The next three clones had a sword in one hand and a dagger
in the other to face the three brothers.

The next four sped off to
fight Alina, Cailean, Brian, and Lysandros
,
who were now back on their
feet.
These
four
were
armed with a sword in their right
hands
, but
their
left
hands
glowed
orange
,
shooting
balls of light at
their
enemies. The last of the clones stood in the
middle of a circle formed by Bre’s animals.
This
clone
was
armed only with a bow. Every
time he drew his arm back, an arrow would appear nocked in the
string.

“What in the gods’ names is happening,
o’Conaill?” Lysandros shouted as he avoided a gash from Eversor’s
sword.

“I thought it would be obvious by
now,” Cailean said through gritted teeth, pushing back his
Eversor.

Brian shot a blue disk
from his palm into the stomach of his Eversor
, causing
him to stumble
backwards
,
and
sent another disk at his hand, forcing him to release his sword.
Brian jumped on Eversor
,
knelt on his arms
, and
shouted
, “Try to find the real Eversor.
Kill the source, kill the clones.”

In unison, all ten clones echoed, “You
have to find me first.”

Still kneeling on
Eversor’s clone
,
Brian cut off his orange hand then thrust
his
blade into Eversor’s heart. When
Eversor’s heart stopped pumping, his body turned to black smoke and
was absorbed into the ground.

One Eversor clone pinned
Cailean on the ground
.
His sword
hovered
above Cailean’s left eye
,
slightly shaking as Cailean
wrestled with Eversor, gripping his wrist to roll Eversor off
him.