Skye's POV
"I am Bal Shadowend. Demons Leader, Demons Keeper." He closed his eyes for a short while and I felt an instant rush of mana.
"What are you doing?" I asked defensively.
"Calling my god."
"No, Bal, don't!" Her voice came before her form materialized. "Please, Bal, don't call him!" Lady Jacqueline was still in her yellow dress from earlier, but now her hair was tied up and she was pushing Bal to the other end of the tavern.
"What's going on here?" I asked as Sophia came up to me. "Isn't Lady Jacqueline you're guys' god?"
"All of the gods are gods, human." Trag'thomoth stated behind us again. "But our Creator, our God who gave us Life, that would be Jasper. God of Earth and Flame."
"But I thought Jacqueline was the only one who could give Life?"
"Under her tutelage, our God was as he created us." He answered my question again.
"So, wait. What you're telling me is that Jasper can also create life?"
"Not without Lady Jacqueline's help." Sophie pointed out.
"So, does that mean that any God can create life?"
"As long as Jacqueline is present, yes."
Bal and Jacqueline were still in the corner of the tavern whispering incoherently. Most demons had returned to their meat and ale.
"Does this happen often?" I asked as I noticed that no demon actually cared that a literal Goddess had just appeared and was speaking directly with their King. Sophia nodded.
"Yes, Bal and the Lady Jacqueline are very good friends." She answered as I watched the duo argue. And then it happened. Bal's eyes wandered down the length of Jacqueline's body. Before I knew what I was doing, I was ripping him away from her and punching him in the face.
Surprise flitted across his face before my fist met it's mark once again. Bal stumbled back and I threw a fist into his gut. Spittle flew into my face and I flinched. My mistake. Bal's eyes were enflamed and he kneed me in the gut. Blood came from my wound and my mouth. My vision blurred and I fell into the pit as Bal punched me in the face. He was unrelenting as he jumped on top of me as gracefully as a cheetah on a mountain goat. I tried grabbing his arms, but he was much faster than I was. I brought my arms up to protect my face and it was all I could do against the onslaught.
Magic! Came the voice residing in my head. I uttered the shield spell which glowed yellow as it surrounded me. Bal paused for a moment before laughing. He stared hard at me as I stood within my cocoon of safety. He smirked and without looking away from me, punched his fist right through my shield shattering it to a thousand pieces on the ground. Mana didn't rush back into me as it would have in Comwen. It disappeared entirely, shattered just like the shield I had thrown up. Shock brought me to my knees. Bal didn't stop. He wasn't expecting me to fall to my knees and so his blow went well above my head. I'm not going down without a fight!
I grabbed his legs and threw him to the floor. I stood up just as he jumped up in front of me. There was something serious in his eyes now and I stamped out the fear that threatened to distract me. Whatever he was going to do, I'd be ready. Suddenly, Bal vanished. Instantly I tracked him with his mana usage. I blocked him from the right and intense pain ran through my arm. It was the same pain I had when Jacqueline crushed my bones. He vanished again, but he wasn't far. I went on the offense and kicked his fist away, he corrected instantly and I ducked. Tackling him, I punched him as hard as I could with my unbroken hand. His toughened skin bruised, but no bones broke like I wanted. He twisted his legs around my neck and threw me down. He crushed my windpipe and lava formed around his hand.
I thrashed trying to get out of his hold, but the lack of oxygen soon blurred my vision once again and my muscles weakened. I screamed in agony as lava burned my chest. Bal dug his hand deeper and I passed out.
Jacqui's POV
"Stop!" I screamed as soon as I found my voice again. Bal looked at me curiously before removing his lava encrusted hand out of Skye's chest. I ran to his side as Bal stood up. Skye didn't look good. He was bruised from head to toe and his chest had sunken in where Bal had punished him. Lava quickly cooled into magma rock within him. This was bad. Blood spilled from his nose as well. I felt his life source begging to be released. I couldn't. I wouldn't. I wasn't going to let him die here!
I strengthened his soul and before I could rip the magma rock out of his chest a hand rested itself on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Jasper staring worriedly down at me. He wiped a tear away that I didn't know had escaped my eyes and I moved away from my brother. He took my place beside Skye and glowed a bright red orange. The demons around us couldn't stand to look at it. Bal ordered them to leave and then stood guard by the door outside. I watched as tears flowed freely down my face as Jasper went to work using the Healing Fire inside him. Molten rock gravitated out of Skye's chest and flew above Jasper's head like a halo. Broken veins repaired and bruises disappeared. Crushed bones mended themselves inside.
"This may take time, sister. His mana source has been broken."
I knew that. We all saw it as Bal punched through Skye's shield. His belief and trust in magic was incredibly slim. It was easy for a veteran like Bal to destroy that petty thing. Without a single word, I left the demon tavern.
It was some time before Jasper came outside. He looked worn out. I ran into the tavern to see that Jasper had taken Skye into a room and laid him out on the bed. Skye was still unconscious but I knew he was going to live. I sighed in relief before Jasper appeared beside me suddenly. He touched my elbow gently and I knew then what he wanted. I closed my eyes and braced myself for a long explanation. I teleported us to my room where we could speak privately.
Jasper was unnaturally quiet. He paced up and down and he opened his mouth a lot, but no words came out. He shook his head and sat on my recliner. It's best to get this over with.
"I kept it a secret from you because Father would have been alerted."
"You let her live?"
"Yes."
"Where? How? And why?" He could barely get the words out between the ache in his throat. Tears were welling up. I thought it best to start from the beginning.
"Jasper, Amber deserved to be a goddess."
"I know that!" He roared. I shrunk back into my seat by the window. He sighed, "I'm sorry." I nodded in understanding and went back to my story.
"The day our Demigod Queen died, I didn't actually take her soul."
"I know, I looked all over this place for her."
"And when you couldn't find her alone, you wanted to create the Demon race."
"Yes, history." Jasper responded.
"Her soul has never entered the Underworld." I spoke slowly. "As my gift to her, I gave her another life. She chose who she wanted to be and I created a body for her to reside in."
"I wanted to find her soul so bad, I never thought it'd be within another mortal shell." Jasper whispered.
"Well, I kept it a secret from you and Josephine and everyone because Father would have been furious about it." Remembering my friend, another tear slipped from my eye. Jasper's eyes widened.
"Father did find out, didn't he?"
"Yes, he did."
"What happened to her?!" Jasper yelled. I didn't shrink back from his anger this time. I deserved this. After all that I had done.
"In her second life, she was killed in a raid. The very beginning of the Timeless War." I paused for a moment and when Jasper didn't say anything I continued, "I found her soul in the rain forests. She was a protector. A Guardian of Comwen."
Jasper's expression changed from ferocious rage to a terrible sadness. "Nero found her as he inspects all of the Guardians. He knew then that I had broken his word. I had rebelled. And we were all punished for my disobedience."
"That was when he kicked us out of Comwen and it's affairs." Jasper's eyes were wide again. "I thought it was because of my love for her. But it was because of yours."
I hung my head in shame. Jasper threw a pitcher of berry juice at the wall before he sunk back into the recliner. He rubbed his face and then he looked at me. He smiled sadly at me.
"You loved her and wanted to keep her safe." I met his understanding gaze. "I don't blame you."