Gods From the Machine by Andrew Ly

misfortune, everyone was inside discussing a new mission. Peter, Matt, Paul, and the archangels were all together except for Daniel, and they were talking among themselves when he entered. Then it suddenly became quiet.
    “ I’m glad you guys are all here,” Nick said. He made sure he gathered all their attention’s before he continued. “I just wanted to apologize for my actions before. It wasn’t able to control Agrian and I hope this won’t affect our team dynamic.” His eyes slowly rose to meet Peter’s who was sitting in his usual spot.
    Peter ’s solemn expression transformed into a smile and then he was suddenly laughing. The rest of them followed and erupted in laughter. “No need to get sentimental, boy. We all know you feel bad. Now stop blubbering like a baby and take a seat.”
    “ Yeah, it wasn’t your fault.” Gabriel was taking everything in stride, despite the exchange they had before. “You’re adjusting to being a demon. Everyone already knew the risks. We just didn’t expect things to escalate so quickly like it did. Besides, you passed the exams and you beat your opponent fair and square.”
    “ How is he?” Nick asked.
    “ Daniel still needs time to recover, but he’s taking it all in good humor. I must say, you did quite a toll on the little guy. Then again, he must have known he had it coming to him. He admitted he exchanged less than friendly banter throughout the match,” Lucius said.
    “ I’m just surprised you didn’t tell me,” Matt said. “I mean, it makes sense now. There’s no way you could you have beaten me in a race without any supernatural help.”
    It was Nick ’s turn to laugh. Even knowing he was a demon didn’t change Matt’s opinion of him one bit, and he was grateful.  Everyone else also seemed to have forgiven him, which alleviated some feelings of guilt. He had been afraid he could never face them again, but apparently it took a lot more than hospitalizing another soldier to fall from their good graces. The only person in the room who didn’t seem amused was Paul, who left abruptly as the laughter subsided, making sure that Nick caught his glare as he passed him by.
    Matt made a mock shudder just as the door closed behind him. “Is it just me, or did a cold draft just blow through here?”
    Ga briel waved a hand of dismissal. “Let him be. He’s a little mad because he thinks you got off easy. You wouldn’t believe how he wanted us to punish you, Nick. I never thought I could meet someone as brutal as Bart!”
    Bartholomew growled with annoyance.
    Nick couldn’t help but feel it was a bit justified. But he was glad he was getting the silent treatment from Paul because he wouldn’t have to try to rebuild a relationship with somebody he hated.
    “ Now that this whole debacle is over, let’s get on to new business. Pete? What is the run down for our newest knight?” Gabriel said.
    “ Are you boys up for a mission?” Peter asked.
    Nick and Matt nodded at the same time.
    “Excellent. Your task is to bring the sword shards you collected from Sir Marcus’ tomb to Garreth Graves in Hyperion. Only he has the knowledge and skill to restore it. Time is ticking. We need to act fast so we can strike first. The tremendous power of that blade alone is enough to slay a Crowned Prince,” Peter said.
    “ Strike first? I thought you didn’t want to cause a widespread panic by keeping things under wraps,” Nick said.
    “ That was our original intention, but with the explosive combat trials that showcased one of our own as a fire wielding maniac, people were starting to ask questions,” Lucius replied. “And so during your little isolation punishment, we took the liberty to host an assembly where we divulged everything and officially announced the attacks in Fyria.”
    “ It was better received than we expected. Most of the kids were more pumped to fight than anything else,” Gabriel said. “We sort of lucked out with the generation of today. Zero