Page 128 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Midnight (Day of Death)

The battle ignited before Sonya and Shakespeare could launch their attack. Sophie leaped into the air. Her body glided on an unnatural wind that seemed to carry her longer than physics would allow. Sonya summoned her fiery dark energy and stepped back as she braced for the inevitable strike. The forest itself felt alive, its twisted branches whispering the score as the battle began.

Sophie landed with predatory grace and spun into action. The rapid motion of her spin unleashed a barrage of dark, energy-infused blows. Her kicks and slaps sent Sonya staggering off the path, deeper into the heart of the dark forest.

Shadows clung to Sophie, wrapped around her like living armor. Each strike came faster, sharper, and more vicious than anything Sonya had ever experienced. Sophie inflicted a cut across her face, delivered a powerful kick to her gut, causing her to spit up blood, and compelled her to engage in defensivemaneuvers because of her rapid strikes. This wasn’t just a fight—it was domination.

“He’s mine bitch! I’m taking him back to hell with me,” Sophie snarled.

Sonya fought back hard and fast with counter kicks and fisted blows. Sophie’s red hair flared like flames in the wind, and her eyes gleamed with a hatred that bordered on madness. It was her ghastly face and stitched together neck that made her beauty monstrous.

Sophie delivered the hardest kick to Sonya’s chest she’d ever experienced in her warrior existence. Sonya’s back slammed against a tree. The bark bit into her skin. Pain radiated down her spine, but she couldn’t afford to let it slow her. Not now. Not ever. Sonya dropped to her hands and knees as Sophie stalked her down. Sonya stood. She held herself by one arm around her waist. She staggered backward, her breath ragged. A growl of defiance escaped her lips.

Kaida, my Goddess, strengthen me…

Sophie stopped.

The dark wind energy that she seemed to summon released her and soaked into the earth as Sonya's eyes closed, and then opened with an internal bluish flame glowing within. The same dark energy that had disappeared snaked up and all-around Sonya, becoming her new force of energy. She smirked at Sophie. “Bring it bitch!”

Nearby, Shakespeare grappled with Raven. The two consiglieri circled each other, the heavy silence between them broken only by the sound of their feet moving through the underbrush. Shakespeare could hear the battle between Sonya and Sophie, and he ached to turn to defend Sonya. Instead, he looked over his once-friend’s grotesque form. Phoenix must have killed him in Vegas. Raven’s head, only recently reattached,moved unnaturally—his neck still half-severed was held together by crude stitches.

“Raven,” Shakespeare muttered as he dodged a swift punch. “This isn’t you.”

Raven’s response was nothing more than a snarl, his once-human voice drowned in the abyss of dark magic that had bound him to Phoenix’s will. He swung out with deadly precision, his movements sharp, brutal—there was no trace of the brotherhood they once shared.

Shakespeare fought back, battling with his rage over the gut-wrenching hurt because of the betrayal of Phoenix, who had reduced a consiglieri to some blood beast puppet. Raven landed a vicious blow that sent Shakespeare stumbling. The pain was sharp, but the betrayal? That cut deeper.

“I’m your brother!” Shakespeare roared. He caught Raven’s next punch and twisted his arm with a brutal crack. Raven’s scream was inhuman, a mix of agony and rage. To Shakespeare’s surprise, his zombie state gave him an extra amount of supernatural power. He threw Shakespeare back with unnatural strength.

Shakespeare’s feet barely touched the ground before Raven was on him again, moving like a ghost in the night. Shakespeare struggled to find a way—any way—to win. Then he saw it. The stitching that held Raven’s head together—loose, vulnerable. It was his only shot.Decapitate him for good.

Domencio leaned heavilyon the much smaller Maman Julia as they made their way through the hall. Her presence felt real, though how she manifested her physical state was a mystery for later. For now, having her near brought him comfort.

They stopped at a door he had never paid much attention to. As soon as they reached it, a bone-crushing wave of exhaustion hit him.

“Hold on,chile. We here,” Julia said. She pushed the door open with her arm around his waist. Inside, a glare of blue and lavender energy lived. It forced Domencio to shield his eyes from the burning brightness, as intense as the sun.

“What is this?” he asked, with a hard squint to see through the light.

“Phoenix had Marcello make this, to save your father. It does not,” Julia replied in a grim voice. “It gets its power from the realm,” Julia replied in a grim voice. It’s ancient, full of secrets I never understood. Here. In this place. Here it rips through the dimensions of the universes, and it brought me back, beyond Legba’s reach. Well, this version of me, I reckon.”

“What’s it for?” Domencio asked.

Julia spoke in French, her voice hurried: “To drain the Draca’s power. I doubt Marcello knew what he was creating, but it’s the weapon Phoenix needs to weaken you and your brothers. It’s the reason your consiglieri are turning into monsters. It’s why Vittorio’s mind is unraveling, and his aging is speeding up ahead of the timeline for the curse. This is from the realm and was never meant for evil. If you want to save Darlene, you must shut it down.”

“I can’t get close,” he winced.

“You must,chile,” she urged softly.

Domencio hesitated. “Will I lose you? The brothers. They need to hear this from you,Manan.”

Manan Julia smiled sadly. “Papa Legba has my soul,cher. I’m already lost. But it ain’t so for you. My boys can carry us into the new order. This... this abomination is Phoenix’s doing. We have to stop him.”

Steeling himself, Domencio stepped into the room. The searing energy clawed at his skin, but he lowered his hands and focused his power, forcing himself to see through the blinding light. At the center of the room, a glowing gem pulsed within a strange contraption.

“One more thing,” Julia whispered. “Do you love her,cher?”

Domencio looked back at his mother. He frowned, surprised by the question. Love was not an emotion he entertained.

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