Free Cyra's Cyclopes by Tilly Greene

Chapter One
    “Careful, guys. We want to finish
the bolts for Zeus without any mishaps. He wants to celebrate the
return of his sons’, Castor and Pollux, in a big way and that can’t
be done if someone gets hurt.” Hephaestus’s voice boomed throughout
the forge.
    The god was a good boss and they
liked their work, but Brontes knew his brothers, like him, weren’t
focused on completing the task at hand. The job they chose to do
was dangerous and required their undivided attention, except right
then, their minds were closed to everything except their
woman.
    The day was hot and even hotter in
their workshop, which was one of the reasons why they only wore
thick leather aprons, gloves and boots for protection. It didn’t
help matters that the forge wasn’t particularly large. The crude
space was filled with fiery pits, massive boiling cauldrons, and
the four large men intent on their duties made it feel even smaller
and hotter.
    None of their tasks were quiet
either. Banging, clanging, sizzling, and pounding all were
necessary in them building quality bolts of lightning with
sufficient noise for the God of Sky and Thunder to be proud to
throw. It was an intense job, full of risks, and they were the only
Cyclopes who could and would do it.
    A mixture of what was in their soul
and their emotions played a big part in what they added to the raw
steel rods Hephaestus produced. The potential for disaster became
even higher when they were in a mentally unstable
position.
    Even though he didn’t need to
vocalize thunder to add it to each strip of metal, his throat still
burned from the effort he put into each one he constructed. Pulling
the latest bolt from his personal cauldron filled with boiling oil
and the essence of his personification, thunder, he walked over to
the drying rack, and took a moment to see how his brother around
the corner from him was doing.
    Steropes who added flashes of light
to each bolt, occasionally flickered, but still looked to be in
control. With heavily gloved hands, he picked up a raw bolt from
where they waited to be enhanced, and walked a different way back
to his vat to check out his other brother. One look at Arges and he
knew he’d found the reason for their boss’s concern. He was the
sibling who made the bolts brighter and, as he stood working at his
fiery iron tub, he was glowing like a lit lantern.
    Brontes knew his brother wasn’t in a
good place mentally. They had to do something to pull him from the
path he was currently on as it led to a potentially tragic
end.
    They prided themselves on holding
their special qualities in control. Thunder, lightning, and
brightening were traits humans and many immortals couldn’t deal
with in a raw state, but they could. When they’d first started
working with Heph, the four of them had settled on a routine, and
it helped them establish a controlled environment to enable
productivity. There had never been any problems, but then again,
they’d never been in love, nor were they prepared for the upheaval
it caused in their lives.
    The noise of the workshop was so
loud. Brontes knew if he managed to shout a warning, it wouldn’t be
heard by the others. Quickly, but with care, he made his was to
their boss’s side, and let him know there was a big problem
brewing.
    “Boss! We have to stop! Agres is in
serious trouble. He’s letting his personification take over!”
Brontes was surprised to hear his voice rumble out. Apparently he’d
let his thunder slip further into his body than he’d
thought.
    They’d never really believed it was
possible, although they had been warned there was a downside to
embracing their special elements. When they were young and just
discovering their abilities, their mother, Gaia, used to tell them
that if they allowed their personal qualities too much power over
their souls, they’d be altered forever. Neither he nor his brothers
wanted that to happen. They had to help pull Agres back from the
edge before it