Prince of Blood and Thunder_An Urban Fantasy Novel

by J. A. Cipriano

  “That’s no good. You won’t be able to power that to get up there, let alone fight,” Gordon said, looking me over as he chewed on his lip in thought. “Use this.” He handed me his lightsaber even though we both relied on our lightsabers more than any other weapon. I knew, even with his switch off, it was a big deal for him to give it to me.

  I took it, and as I closed my hand around it, I looked up at him and saw him smiling at me in the way I’d felt when I’d given him the last Pop Tart when we were kids.

  “Thanks,” I said, smiling back at him. “I appreciate it.”

  “Aww, you know I love you, sis,” he replied, putting one arm around my waist. “To infinity and beyond!” he cried, causing his rocket boots to flare to life even though it was totally the wrong movie.

  We zipped through the air and landed on the building a split second later. Unfortunately, we hadn’t exactly been inconspicuous because the caster saw us, and as she turned to face us, my heart fell into my toes.

  “If you stand down, I won’t kill you both,” Morgan Le Fay said, and as the words left her lips, ice began to crackle through the air between us. “Either way, you are not going to interfere.”

  22

  “Yeah, that’s not happening. There’s no way I’m going to let you bring an army of werewolves into Atlantis,” I said, calling on my magic as I thumbed the lightsaber on. Kylo Ren’s scarlet broadsword sprang to life, spitting crimson sparks into the air as I dropped into a fighting stance.

  “Foolish girl,” Morgan said, glancing at me like I was incredibly dull. “This is all your fault. Because of you I’ve been forced to make a deal with the King of Air and Fire. Now in exchange for leaving us alone, he gets to come into my city and take his traitors back.” She narrowed her eyes at Gordon. “You should have left well enough alone.”

  “Or you could man up and stop letting the booted foot of the man keep you down. At least I took a stand. Right or wrong, I did something,” Gordon said, fixing her with a glare. “You, on the other hand, haven’t done anything to help. You’re the worst kind of politician. The kind that makes back room deals under the guise of helping the common mage when in reality you’re just concerned about yourself.”

  “Believe what you want.” Morgan let out a heavy sigh, and as she did, she turned toward us and snapped her fingers. Blades of pure emerald energy leapt from the ground around her and hovered in front of her protectively. “You are not even on my level.” She turned away and focused her attention back on the hole in the dome.

  “Is it my imagination, or is the hole in the dome getting bigger,” I murmured as the energy blades surrounding Morgan came slashing out at us.

  “I think you’re right,” Gordon said as I parried the first blade. It was a lot harder than I expected, and as I dodged a slash from the second blade and blocked the third, I instantly knew we were in trouble.

  “Gordon, I can’t hold these off for long so I hope you’ve got a plan.” I parried and slashed, doing my best to keep the four dancing swords of plasma from cutting us to ribbons, but I was already being pushed back toward the edge of the building. If something didn’t change, I was going to be taking an express elevator to the ground, and that was if I didn’t get chopped into itty bitty pieces.

  “Just buy me some time,” Gordon replied, and as he spoke, he threw off his trench coat. As it hit the ground with a heavy thud, he reached behind his back and pulled a silvery longsword that gleamed in the light of Atlantis from the scabbard strapped down the center of his back. Then he hefted the weapon in front of him and moved so I couldn’t see it anymore. “Hey Morgan, remember this?”

  Morgan Le Fay glanced at Gordon as he sent a surge of magic into the gleaming longsword, and as he did, light exploded from its surface like a flashbang. The leader of Atlantis screamed, instinctively reaching up to grab her eyes, and as she did, the energy blades attacking me evaporated.

  The dome overhead shuddered as my brother launched himself at her. He swung his sword so quickly it left little contrails of emerald fire in its wake, but unfortunately, Morgan recovered quickly enough to dodge.

  “How did you get Excalibur?” she growled, stepping inside his guard and elbowing him in the stomach. Her blow managed to knock my brother back a step, but since he was decked out in Kevlar body armor, it didn’t have a lot more effect.

  “Well, here’s the thing Morgan. I’m an animator, so while this isn’t the Excalibur, it’s close enough,” my brother replied as he stepped back and brought the blade down at her in an overhead swing designed to cut her in half. “And I know you’re old so I’ll give you a tip. EBay is a thing.”

  A purple blade of sound and fury appeared in Morgan’s hand as she dropped back a step and caught Excalibur’s edge on it. Amethyst sparks crackled and popped as she held him away with one arm like it was the easiest thing in the world. It was a bit surprising because she was about my size, and my brother was a giant of a man.

  Part of me wasn’t surprised he’d brought Excalibur along, but at the same time, it struck me as odd, that he’d have that particular sword handy when doing battle with Morgan. Was that why he’d brought it? I’d have liked to think so, but my brother never struck me as that smart. He was always more the pawn than the chess master. Sheev could have thought of it, but this didn’t seem like his sort of plan. Not religious enough.

  Morgan lashed out with her foot, and right before she kicked him in the stomach, a sonic boom of sound and force erupted from her black boot. Bloody spittle sprayed from my brother’s stomach as he flew backward across the roof with enough force to cartwheel awkwardly.

  “No!” I cried, lashing out at Morgan with my lightsaber, but before I could strike her down and make her more powerful than I could possibly imagine, she reached backward with her free hand and caught the lightsaber barehanded. It crackled and popped in her hand as she wrenched it free of my grip. Instantly the blade evaporated, and the hilt fell to the ground between us.

  Her eyes widened in surprise as she stumbled forward, but I didn’t let that stop me because I was too busy throwing myself into her. I hit her in the stomach with my shoulder and knocked her onto her back. Her head smacked into the rooftop, and her eyes went glassy as I reared back and decked her in the face. Then because I liked it so much, I did it a couple more times.

  “Annie, watch out!” my brother cried, and as I turned my head toward the sound of his voice, Morgan pressed one hand against my chest.

  Electricity exploded from her fingertips. My body convulsed. My muscles tightened painfully, and my chest felt Kentucky fried. I screamed and collapsed to the ground beside her. As I lay there trying to remember what it felt like to not be microwaved, Morgan stood and wiped the blood from her broken nose.

  “Now it’s time to leave the nest. Let’s see if you can fly.” Morgan grabbed me by the arm, took a step for leverage, and flung me off the roof.

  A scream tore from my lips as my brother reached out to me like he was trying to force grab me from the air, but it was no use because the force was fictional. I careened back through the air, and as I started to fall through empty space, I pushed all my magic into my Green Lantern ring.

  Which was when Morgan reached out toward me. Her hand was wreathed in purple fire, and my body jerked to a halt in midair long enough for the ring on my finger to erupt into flame. A cry of agony escaped my lips as molten plastic burned into my flesh. Then I was hurtling upward into the air toward the dome so fast I had to shut my eyes before the wind could dry them out in my sockets.

  “Whoops, did I do the wrong spell? Oh well,” she said, turning away from me to face my brother who stood there, Excalibur in one hand and a silver and blue cylinder in his other. “Give up, or I drop her.”

  “If you drop her, I will kill you,” my brother said as a smile crossed his lips. He wanted her to drop me, but why? I wasn’t sure, but I tried to trust him. If I didn’t, I was as good as dead, and I had to believe he wanted me to live since he’d given me his lig
htsaber.

  “Her death is on you, Gordon Vance.” Morgan dropped her hand, and I fell.

  “Gordon!” I screamed because I had no way to stop myself from falling. “Don’t lose!”

  “I won’t,” he called as he flung the cylinder at me. As it sailed through the air toward me, he took off in a burst of speed from his Iron Man rocket boots and lashed out with Excalibur, driving Morgan backward.

  The two of them fought, her energy blade clanging off Excalibur’s sliver edge, but I was too focused on the cylinder coming toward me to care. I wasn’t sure what it was, but no doubt Gordon thought it’d be useful. I caught it as I fell, and my eyes went wide. Then a smile crossed my lips as I popped the top on the can and chugged it faster than I had ever done before. My heart pounded in my chest as the sweet taste of taurine revitalized my body and mind. Magical energy exploded along the length of my body as my fingers dug into the aluminum can.

  As I careened past the edge of the building on my way to certain death, a giant pair of fucking eagle wings exploded from my back.

  Even though I’d never sported wings before, I flapped them as hard as I could. The muscles on my back shifted, instantly understanding how to make the wings keep me from becoming road pizza.

  I surged upward through the air, landed on the roof, and dropped the Red Bull can on the ground. “Hey, Gordon! Can I join in, or are you gonna be all ‘I can do this on my own!’?”

  Without waiting for a response, I scooped up my fallen lightsaber and launched myself at the still dueling pair in a flurry of brown and white feathers.

  I landed next to them and swung my crimson energy blade at Morgan, who was suddenly looking very worried. She shifted to block my attack, and as she did, Gordon capitalized by trying to drive Excalibur through the stomach, forcing her to drop her free hand in an effort to knock the blade away with the edge of her hand.

  As Morgan reached for Excalibur, a surge of power exploded from my brother, and the infinity gems on his gauntlet lit up. Morgan’s hand slowed. Not a lot, but enough for the blade to slide under the knife edge of her palm and between her ribs.

  She screamed, and the grip on her energy blade faltered. Only it was holding my lightsaber back. My blade knocked hers from her hand as it came crashing down and connected with her shoulder in a blaze of fire and heat. Her arm went flying across the roof as she staggered backward.

  Overhead the dome shrieked and crackled, and as the opening she’d made erupted in a tornado of flame, Gordon drove Excalibur through her up to the hilt.

  “Morgan, I hope your name carries a lot of weight down under, because last I checked, Death isn’t too keen on people avoiding him for centuries,” Gordon said as he kicked her backward onto the rooftop.

  She hit the ground hard, crimson spreading out around her body as her good arm reached up and tried to pull Excalibur free. Only it was no use because that wound was caused by Excalibur, and it would keep bleeding until she was dead or Gordon stopped empowering the weapon. Somehow, I doubted he was going to go with the second option.

  “You don’t know what you’ve done,” Morgan croaked, her hand slipping away to fall emptily by her side as she lay there like a badly pinned butterfly. “Alabaster will kill us all.”

  “You know, I’ve heard that before,” I said, shaking my head as I flapped my wings. Above thunder crashed and lightning flared. “But I’ve had my fair share of hiding, cowering, and hoping the big bad wolf doesn’t come to blow my house down.” I glanced at my brother, and he smiled at me. I wasn’t sure why, but it made me feel like, for once, I was on the winning side. “I won’t let another child animator be thrown to the wolves because you’re all too scared to fight.”

  Overhead the hole in the dome closed, sealing off the majority of the werewolf army. A smirk crossed my face. Now Justin just had to do his thing.

  “You’ve already lost,” Morgan said, turning to look at me, though her eyes were closed and her lips barely moved. “You’re just too dumb to realize that.”

  “You unleashed a tornado inside your own city and I’m the dumb one?” I said, but my voice was drowned out by the crash of lightning and the roar of thunder. I spun to look and saw Alabaster and Justin streak through the air, flinging gobs of power at one another like this was a bad episode of Dragon Ball Z.

  “So they’d abandon the city and leave you to your demise.” Morgan started to laugh, and the sound of it resounded through the air. “We all do what we need to do for our people, Annie. You’d do well to remember that.” She flung her good hand out toward the dome and a surge of magic poured from her fingers. The dome above Justin shattered and a torrent of water knocked him from the sky and as he tumbled toward earth, Thor’s hammer slipped from his grasp.

  “No!” I screamed, and before I could stop myself, I launched myself off the building, flying toward him as fast as my Red Bull fueled wings could carry me.

  23

  I was going to catch him. I was going to catch him! I. Was. Going. To. Catch. Him. Period.

  As Justin plummeted toward the ground with Thor’s hammer just out of his reach, I poured on all the speed I could muster. My wings started to fade, burning away as my magic reached its limits, but I didn’t care. The scenery warped into a horrific blur of color as I rocketed toward him. The windows in the surrounding buildings shattered as I reached out toward him.

  “Justin!” I cried, but my words were lost in the blur of speed. Still, somehow he turned toward me. Scarlet streamed from his lips, and his bloody clothing stuck to his body, but still, somehow, he reached for me.

  His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear him as I stretched out for his fingers. We were so close. My fingertips brushed his, and I strained toward him.

  And missed.

  He plummeted past me as I rocketed past him, and as I spun in the air, I saw him impact the asphalt below. His body bunched up like a broken accordion as blood sprayed out of him like someone had dropped a huge bag of ketchup from the top of the Empire State building.

  My heart leapt into my throat as everything inside me died. My vision tunneled on his ruined body as I hung there, unable to do anything. Tears filled my eyes, and the whole of my world came crashing down. He couldn’t be dead. No, he had to survive. He had to! He was a wolf, he could heal. Couldn’t he?

  “No, no, no…” I whispered. Tears blurred my vision, and I couldn’t make myself breathe because that hurt too much. A scream tore from my lips, and the air around me shimmered with magic. I had to save him. Had to. He had to be okay.

  I surged toward his fallen body, and as my feet touched the ground, I went to pull a healing charm off my bracelet and found I had none left. I stood there, unable to do anything as I stared at my wrist in disbelief. How could they all be gone?

  Laughter filled my ears. Righteous anger overtook me as I spun to see Alabaster standing a few feet away looking pleased as fucking punch. A stupid, petulant smirk was plastered across his face. This son of a bitch was trying to use the hurt against his own people to start a war that would kill who knew how many mages and wolves?

  I couldn’t let that happen. I had to stop him here and now. I had to make sure he never got the chance to start that war. A wordless cry of rage surged through me as I grabbed the first thing I could find and flung it at him with all the power I could muster.

  Mjolnir sailed through the air, transforming midair into the true hammer of the gods. Lightning crackled and popped. Thunder boomed. And a wind so dark you could have ridden it down into the depths of Hell howled. The dome above surged as lightning struck it, and all that power rippled through the air, begging me to take it. I did, infusing every last drop I could siphon out of the magical city into the flying hammer.

  Thor’s hammer struck Alabaster in the chest, knocking him backward across the clearing, past his army of wolves, and through the wall of a building. I reached out, calling the hammer back to me, and as it touched my hand, I raised it high overhead.

  “Die!” I snarled, and
lightning hewn from the dome itself came arcing down upon me. It struck the hammer and filled me to the brim with energy. The asphalt beneath my feet went molten as I hurled all the lightning at the building.

  It didn’t explode so much as it was blown into a crater. Alabaster stood in the center, clothing singed and burned. He had both hands extended upward as he held a bubble of air and fire around himself. The ground beneath him was as pristine and that would not stand.

  It. Would. Not. Stand!

  I flew forward, electricity arcing off me and slammed Mjolnir down on his shield. As I struck him over and over again, driving the King of Air and Fire to his knees beneath the force of my blows, his shield shattered with a sound like breaking glass. As it burst into a million crackling cinders, he surged upward at me. He caught my wrist with his shoulder as I brought Mjolnir down, and I felt my wrist break from the sudden impact with his collarbone.

  Agony exploded through me as his shoulder deformed in a way that reminded me of someone striking the front half of a soda can with a mallet, but that didn’t stop him from sinking huge white fangs into the side of my neck. Hot blood gushed from my neck as Mjolnir slipped from my grip, but that didn’t stop me from kneeing him in the crotch with everything I had.

  His eyes bugged out of his skull, and his grip on my jugular slipped away before he could tear out my throat. As he stumbled backward grabbing his johnson, I decked him with my good hand and sent him reeling backward. Already his shoulder was back in place, and I knew I didn’t have time to fuck around.

  I grabbed Mjolnir with my good hand and whirled to face him, power leaping off me.

  “Kill me. If you do, the armies of the wolves will come down on you.” Alabaster began to laugh. “You are not a wolf. You cannot make this end. My death will make me a martyr. The King who tried to avenge his people.”