“Training?” she asked.

  I nodded, but I took the time to kiss her properly and pat that sexy ass of hers possessively.

  She grinned and as we headed for the back door, I summoned three souls for armor, shield, and blade.

  It was a little overcast and humid out, but we’d survive it and the actual physical workout would take place inside anyway. In my training it was all in my mind as the world slowed around me. It took a couple of minutes for her to set up the illusions which moved and weaved in a totally different pattern from yesterday, she took my training very seriously.

  Then I was dodging fireballs that arced, circled, and went straight, blocking the ones I couldn’t dodge with my shield, and sending the blade through the illusions at the same time. The second day wasn’t all that different from the first, it took a whole lot of focus and mental effort to control three things at once, and every time she snuck a fireball through my guard and hit the armor my mind kind of skipped and I got sloppier for a second.

  It was about a half hour in and I had over ninety five percent of my power left, when the sky crackled with a snap and three whooshes of fire. My eyes widened at the arrival of all three furies. They didn’t even make any demands that time. A moment later I desperately dodged three of their spears of fire by going up, two of them had aimed to either side as the middle one aimed at me, and it’d been my only choice as I summoned up twelve more souls and added four each to my armor, shield, and blade.

  I also suspect that’s what they’d been hoping for, because they dove for me at the same time with their swords and claws, with a scream of rage, and I was flying right into their trap. One was coming at me from above, while the other two swooped lower and locked in my sides, while filling the air below my feet with fire.

  The air whistled as I sent the blade at the left-hand side fury, even as I moved the armor to the left and backwards. The blade struck her hard in the chest but didn’t break through. I hadn’t really expected it to, it’d take time to wear them all down. My heart was also pounding, and adrenaline had flooded my veins. I’ll be honest. I was terrified, it’d taken almost two thirds of my magic just to banish one of them back to the underworld. How the hell was I supposed to survive all three demonic gods?

  The one on the left screamed at the hit, and swooped after me, while the other two aborted their pattern and swooped to become left and right even as they sent fire in my direction. I dropped to the ground like a stone and went horizontal at the last second, part of their spear of fire hitting me as I passed through, but all three furies missed me with their swords and swooped back up into the sky.

  I hit the same one hard even as I rose fifty feet in the air, it seemed like a good idea to be able to dodge in any direction. They turned even tighter than I was expecting, as the sword came back again and stabbed the same bitch in the ass.

  “Surrender now, and we promise to make your death quick,” that one roared, with the promise of extremely painful torture in her eyes if I didn’t.

  I ignored it, concentrating on staying alive as they once again swooped down from above in a pattern of vectors that would block me from most escape routes, even as they sent fire. My mind took me straight up that time, as the blade hit the same one again, but they’d all anticipated that, and I was blasted and sent reeling by their fire.

  It hurt, and I panicked as I tumbled wildly through the sky as my power dropped at least ten percent. I arched my back and moved, not a moment too late, and I still got hit by one of their swords, but fortunately not all three.

  It was a huge problem, eventually my blade would get through, but I was taking too many hits in the meantime. So I summoned fifty souls. It drained another five percent of my power to add them to the sword, but my sword was now ten times more powerful. It would also take ten times the amount of magic to move, but that was an acceptable cost. It’d shorten the fight, which meant getting hit less. Overall, it wouldn’t cost anymore, because I’d have to move the blade ten times less to kill them, the only greater cost was the one-time cost of making that blade.

  Where I saved magic was in how many times less they’d be hitting me, when I killed them faster.

  They were diving at me again from three different directions, that time I flew toward the one I’d been hitting, even as my new blade rocketed up off the ground and hit her under the chin. The bitch’s death scream was horrific as the blade cut through her protections, the soft tissue of her neck, and then her head exploded as the blade went through her brain matter and shattered her skull and flew out the other side.

  Her body started to fall like a stone as it broke up into ash, and I flew right over it.

  I wasn’t sure, but I think I’d just killed a fury. Last time the fury had escaped in fire, fleeing back to the underworld before death. This time her body had been fully destroyed, but I could ask about that later. If the war cries of rage were any indication, I’d done something to piss off the other two.

  The strike had also cost me another ten percent of my power. I’d underestimated just how much energy the actual hits would take, while holding together fifty souls in that form. Still, I had about half left, and two more bitches to kill. It was more than possible, as long as I didn’t take any more major hits from their fire or weapons.

  The fire that came in was easier to avoid with only two streams, but they were coming at me from both sides, one from above and one below. I shot straight back on a forty-degree declination, and they both turned to me head on, one from above and one from below. My new blade shot up and drilled a hole through the one on the bottom’s chest, though she either didn’t have a heart or I’d missed it because of the awkward ninety-degree perpendicular angle I’d had to aim with. It also only drained about four percent of my power.

  Then my body slid to the side in an arcing circle with an eighty-degree inclination. The furies had a tight turn radius with their wings and power, but I moved in any direction with thought. My only real disadvantage there was there was two of them. Regardless, they were both now coming at me headfirst if at separate angles.

  I was able to judge much better, as my mind flung the falling blade right at the head of the one I’d run through the chest.

  Unfortunately, despite the blazing speed of my blade, she had a good angle to see it coming as well, and her sword whipped out and slammed it with a parry. It still sheared off her left arm, and half her left wing. Still, the move had taken fifteen percent of my power, five to tear her arms off and cut through her wing, but her demon sword had drained ten percent of my power, trying to hold the sword together from her shattering hit. She still had her sword arm, and she still seemed to be able to fly though with less grace.

  I was fucking up, being too tentative because I was trying too hard to manage my power usage. Now I was down to just over a third or so. I kept circling as well, which was a constant small drain but not that large of a one. I circled in the same direction, but I was changing my inclination and declination constantly, weaving up and down at random times to avoid their continued shots of fire.

  It was also when I realized I was a damned fool. I’d already taken down her protections with the first blade strike. I didn’t need to hit her with that one anymore. I summoned three more souls and made a much weaker blade, then sent it rocketing for the back of her neck.

  She sensed the danger and did a dive roll, but only fast enough to take the blade on her throat, which sheered her head off her neck. Despite just losing her head, the fury’s head and body went up in flames and she disappeared. Damn, I was really hoping to kill that one too, maybe the only way was to kill her brain or something.

  “Look out!” Maggie cried.

  Damnit, I hadn’t been paying attention while watching the results of my awesomeness, which made me a dumb ass. I hadn’t changed the up and down angle of my circling in the last few seconds, and I flew into a stream of fire which raked across my shield and my armor. It only drained another few percent but seeing as I only had a quarter of my power left it wasn’t a good thing.

  The third one looked murderous, well they all had, but I’d just killed and banished two of her sister furies. Her style changed, she’d given up on swooping at me, and instead she was weaving constantly to keep me and sword in view while taking pot shots at me with fire.

  I was terrified to attack her with the strong fifty soul sword while she could see it coming, because she’d deflect it with her sword and drain me another ten to fifteen percent, instead of it killing her. It would quite literally kill me at that point, I’d only have ten percent which wouldn’t be enough to kill her.

  I had to do something though, that was obviously her plan, and at the moment all I was doing was burning my power off in tiny increments as I flew around with my armor. Eventually it would drain me, then she could swoop in for the kill. The longer I hesitated, the worse my situation would get with the fury playing defense right now.

  I sent the three-soul sword instead as a distraction, and I aimed for her chest. As she moved to parry it, my fifty-soul sword rocketed toward her back. But she’d fooled me again, it’d just been a feint as her body suddenly spun around.

  She gladly took that weaker strike to her back which didn’t penetrate, and then my head rung with the drain of power as her sword whipped out and hit other.

  I focused hard, on its course. It was knocked slightly to the side, but not nearly as far as the fury had probably hoped. Black blood flew and her scream was awful, as the sword ran her through the chest and blew out her back, completely severing her right wing on the way out.

  Of course, it also cost me even more, to steady the sword and hold it together through her strike, not to mention blast through her fresh shields save the one weak strike, and even her flesh and blood.

  I banished the fifty souls and the sword disappeared, but I was at something like two percent, literally running on fumes. I’d hurt the bitch bad, but she was far from dead or even going up in flames.

  She fell toward the ground, and I sent the three-soul sword at her head. That would’ve been enough to kill her, if she hadn’t been ready for it. Her remaining wing beat hard, and her body spun like a top as she brought her sword around. Her sword hit mine hard. While not as devastating as the fifty-soul sword taking a hit, my power was on fumes. The sword shattered, and I literally felt dizzy.

  In a panic that the fall would actually kill me, I banished my shield and headed for the ground.

  She laughed, “So close mortal, only to fail at the last. I’m going to enjoy torturing you for the next thousand years, for this affront.”

  She shot fire at me, and I tried to dodge, but my power sputtered, and I fell the last twenty feet to the Earth, which is probably the only reason I didn’t die. Quickly passing through the flames however was enough to finish off my soul armor. With no more power to hold it together, the souls shattered apart and became ghosts again.

  Absurdly, I thought that would piss off my father. I had no magic to send them back, as if that mattered in that moment as my body hit the ground. I tempered the high fall by collapsing my legs and trying to roll, but the impact still jarred my body badly, and my back and shoulder felt like it was on fire. I also wouldn’t be surprised if I’d sprained both of my ankles.

  Not that it mattered, I was about to die.

  I managed to look up as fire plumed in her hand, and the only thing I regretted in that moment was I hadn’t had enough time with Maggie. Damned gods.

  Then I heard a powerful hiss, and steam rise. My eyes widened as water streamed and collected around the fury from several directions at once, going into her mouth, and completely surrounding the fury in a growing coating and bubble of water.

  Then the water froze, and it exploded. The fury’s body was torn to bits, and quickly turned to ash.

  I got a little dizzy, then heard a smoky voice say, “Well… damn. I hope this works out, or I just pissed off Hades for nothing.”

  Then I passed out.

  Chapter Ten

  The sun was overhead. The clouds had moved off during training and battle. I wasn’t sure how long I was out, but I didn’t think it was that long.

  That same smoky voice said, “You’ve a fair hand at healing, very well done.”

  Her voice was seductive, but not anything like the warm faux innocently seductive tones of my Maggie. It was purer sultry. The kind of voice that would have sex demons crying themselves to sleep in envy.

  Maggie replied, “Thanks, I specialize in body magic. I think he’s coming around.”

  I groaned, “Thanks for that, thought I was dead.”

  I opened my eyes, and I took in my savior.

  She was petite and sexy at five foot one, with a tight curvy body. Proud B cups, a whisper thin waist, and lovely toned legs. She had on a black shoes with high heels which added three inches to her height, and a dark blue dress with sequins that showed her B cup cleavage to advantage and most of her legs. The dress looked… well it looked like she was going for classy, but she didn’t quite make it. Her body looked fantastic in it, but she was just on the wrong side of the classy and trashy line. Or on the right side I suppose, depending on your point of view.

  Her face on the other hand was exotically seductive, with just a tiny hint of innocence. The exact opposite of my Maggie in that way. She had fair skin, with just a tinge of golden tan in it that also looked fantastic. She had long and wavy dark brunette hair that would probably look black in a dimly lit room, but it was shiny and obviously brown under the beating sun. Her eyes were the color of dark chocolate, and a little wide. There were hints of both Latina and Eastern beauty in her appearance, and on her that mix was absolutely devastating.

  She was all sexy seduction, from her exotically beautiful face, to her tightly petite sexy body, to the just on the edge between trashy and classy dress, and of course her smoky seductively sultry voice. She was walking and talking sensuality, as far as I could figure.

  As my mind cleared further, I looked away as I realized I’d been staring a second or two too long. Then looked back.

  “Jack, Thorn. Nice to meet you.”

  She smiled, “You too, got here in the nick of time as they say. The muses told me to get a move on. Name’s Elena Vargas.”

  “The muses?”

  She nodded, “I’m a child of theirs. That’s where my power comes from. You know they’re the original water nymphs, of the goddess variety.”

  “Is that fury dead? I did that with the first one too, she didn’t leave in fire.”

  She shook her head, “They’re demon gods, and their spirits are immortal. But, we did destroy their corporeal bodies. It’ll be decades, if not a century before they can recover from that. They’ll have to build new bodies down there before they can come back, and then accumulate some power. Your father could speed that up, but I doubt he will, none of the gods reward failure, and he’s one of the harshest that way.”

  “Well that’s good. So only the one can come back anytime soon. She escaped, after decapitation.”

  She smirked, “You almost took down all three? That’s impressive. So, I hope we can get along and be allies, otherwise I just screwed myself.”

  I laughed, “That’s my hope as well.”

  I pulled those souls back, and I sent them to hell. It only took a whisper of power, and I was already at a few percent. Maybe I should’ve waited, but there was that whole putting my toys away thing. It made me feel a little faint, but that passed quickly.

  Maggie said, “I think we can skip the workout today. How about some coffee, and we’ll discuss it?”

  Elena replied, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

  I managed to get to my feet, and I felt a little self-conscious as both of them took my arms in case I fell. We moved inside, and Maggie led us to the lounge. I took a seat on the couch and Elena sat next to me while Maggie went to get me coffee.

  “So you follow them too, or just born?”

  Elena smiled, “Follow, and champion. Normally I don’t do the fighting, but I’ll protect those that are allies. I use my power artistically when I have a choice.”

  “Artistically?”

  She nodded, “Ice sculptures, and water twirling while I dance. I spent the last five years in Vegas actually, doing an act. But it was time to move on, when people started to ask me how I kept the blush of youth on my face at age twenty-four.”

  I asked, “And… how did you?”

  She laughed but not unkindly, it was in fact rather mesmerizing, “The same way you still look nineteen I imagine. We age three times slower than the humans.”

  “I didn’t know that. The humans didn’t realize… I mean, floating water streams and stuff?”

  She grinned, “Surprise! Half the magic illusion and entertainment acts in Vegas are owned by our kind, or witches. The humans just think it’s illusion, and actively disbelieve it.”

  “So, they just watch water move around, don’t get me wrong, those streams were impressive and cool earlier.”

  She winked, “Don’t judge the idea until you’ve seen me dance. The fake,” she winked, “magic water show just enhances that part of things.”

  Oh, I could see that. She was stunningly sexy and exotic, and I imagined in a skimpy and gaudy Vegas costume that her dance would just be that much more effective. It also explained her wardrobe, that’s exactly the kind of thing it brought to mind. A dress that tried to look elegant and didn’t quite make it out of trashy. On purpose. She was probably just used to dressing that way, and I wasn’t going to make any assumptions or judgements because of it.

  “I’d enjoy that.”

  She grinned, “I bet you would.”

  Her boldness forced me to return it in kind and up the flirting stakes, so I look her up and down, “I really would.”

  She laughed, “I like you.”

  Maggie got back with the coffees, and she sat down in the chair across from us after handing them out, but not before claiming a soft kiss.