Free Gods From the Machine by Andrew Ly

had another terrible dream the night before. He thought that he could alleviate some tension through his usual morning routine. Today he paid particular attention to some of the new changes that occurred to him physically. Color returned to his complexion, and he had regained lost weight, a fact he realized was due to Agrian. He also felt different inside and the way he carried himself around others had changed as well.  Assertive was the only way to describe it. Where he used to have self-doubt and shyness before, he now bore a sense of reassurance and pride. They were subtle changes, but he actually felt like he was becoming a different person.
    The attention he commanded from his peers had also changed. Whereas they still hate d him, his physical prowess garnered the envy of the other knights. Weight lifting, pushups, pull ups—he could do it all, and more of them than anyone else. Even as he was taking his daily run with Matt around the track, the gazes of the others burned into him from the sidelines, watching and wondering how Nick Emberson, Peter’s skinny errand boy could have changed so drastically.
    “ You have to tell me how you did it.” Matt huffed and puffed to catch his breath. They were sitting on the grassy part beside open track field after a five mile run. “In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never beaten me in a race. How do you still have energy to go on?”
    Nick g ot to his feet and hopped around in a boxer’s stance, throwing a flurry of combination punches in the air. “I don’t know why, but lately I feel like I can take on the world!”
    Matt chuckled. “I take it you’ve spoken to the lovely lady? How you can focus on training is beyond me. I don’t know about you, but girls rule my world. Put demons and damsels together and I’d always go for the latter. That’s the only way Matthew Cunningham operates!”
    “ I spoke to her, but I haven’t exactly set up a real date yet,” Nick admitted. It was frustrating since he wanted to see her so badly, but at the same time he couldn’t afford any distractions that could ruin his chances at knighthood. He had to keep his eyes on the prize.
    “ Smart thinking. Wait until after it’s all said and done and you get knighted,” Matt said.
    “ Don’t jinx it,” Nick said, “I don’t need any bad omens going my way. The pressure is running high and I can’t fail in front of the others, even if they expect me to.”
    “ You won’t. But since when did you ever care what the other knights thought? Last time I checked Nick Emberson was fine being a loner. In fact, he seemed to prefer it,” Matt said.
    “ I don’t and I do, but I can’t look like a loser in front of Paul. The guy has been pushing my buttons my entire life, and the sooner I prove that I’m not such a screw up the sooner I get a chance to personally slap that arrogant look off his face,” Nick said.
    “ Wouldn’t we all love to see that? But let’s be honest, you’re a long way from being on his level. Even I won’t get to his level the way things have been going,” Matt said. “Thanks to Gabriel’s wise decision, that sociopathic brat is going to be the next archangel in a couple more years and we’ll have to start taking orders from him. Just thinking about it is enough to make someone want to transfer to a different Garrison.”
    Nick dropped his hands to his sides, letting his shoulders sl ump. The realization that he would never be an archangel was a great disappointment. He had the qualifications to become a knight, but that was the extent of his growth. He could never be an archangel like Lucius or Bartholomew because no sane knight would follow a demon’s orders. It went against all their rules and teachings. What bothered him most was the idea that Peter was the only reason he wasn’t immediately expelled. The others only tolerated him now because of the Supreme Commander’s wishes. How would they react if they knew about his demon heritage?