But he was the Bear.
"Catch," Thane roared.
He hurled the hammer.
It flew across the forge, a missile of divine iron.
Apollo saw it coming. He sneered, raising a hand to stop it with a void shield.
But he forgot about the hounds.
The one with the broken leg dragged itself forward and clamped its jaws onto Apollo’s ankle, jerking him off balance at the last second.
The hammer missed his center mass but clipped his shoulder.
The impact spun him around like a ragdoll. The ball of entropy in his hands destabilized. It exploded prematurely, blasting Apollo backward into the wall of the forge with a boom that shook the stalactites loose from the ceiling.
He hit the stone and slid down, buried under a pile of rubble.
"Now!" Hephaestus screamed. "Final phase! The memory graft!"
"The what?" I yelled, wiping black blood from my eyes.
"The vessel needs a blueprint of self!" Elias explained, his hands weaving frantically. "You have to remind the metal who it is protecting!"
"How?" Kaelen demanded.
"Show her!" Elias cried. "Show her why she wants to live!"
I looked at Aria. She was vibrating on the slab, her skin swirling with gold and grey and red. She looked terrifying. She looked beautiful.
Show her.
I closed my eyes. I reached into the deepest, most guarded part of my mind. The part I didn't let anyone see. The part that wasn't the Wolf or the Prince.
You give me peace,I projected into her burning mind.You are the quiet place where the Wolf sleeps.
I felt Kaelen do the same. I felt his fire change, softening into warmth. He showed her the first time she stood up to him, the spark in her eyes that made him realize he wasn't looking at a victim, but a queen.
You make me worthy,his thought burned.
Thane showed her the feeling of standing behind her, of knowing that for once, he wasn't shielding a burden, but a treasure.
You make me strong.
Elias showed her the pattern of the future, not as a tragedy, but as a possibility.
You make me see.
Aria gasped.
The sound sucked the air out of the room.
The grey metal on her body flashed blinding white. The runes fixed into place with an audibleclick, like a lock falling into alignment.
"It holds!" Hephaestus shouted, raising the hammer for the final strike. "The lattice is fused!"
But Apollo wasn't done.
