Reapers - Thirteen Brothers

XXXIV - The Attack

 

In a matter of minutes, we were all suited up in Nysmic gear, gathered in the drawing room, awaiting for orders. No one bothered to start a conversation. Everyone seemed tense. Only Amyr looked bored out of his mind but even he wasn’t speaking.

When at last, the masters came with Archie, we all stood up. Vladimir rolled The Riddle of Chasms and handed it to the silver-haired familiar before facing us.

“Everything must go according to the plan. Head straight to your posts and keep in contact with Archie. Does everyone have their Diviner’s Amulet?” he inquired.

Everyone nodded in reply, intuitively touching the tiny diamond studs in their newly pierced ears.

“Very well.” The boy straightened his suit before turning to Vincent with a smile. “Any word of encouragement, brother?”

With a smug snort, Vincent looked away disinterestedly. “Three simple things. Whatever comes up, just slash the hell out of it. Stay alive. Don’t die.”

“Oh, c’mon!” Amyr whined beaming. “We already know that.”

All of a sudden, all of us were chuckling awkwardly and with that, we were deployed to our posts with Archie as our lookout back in the surveillance center. I half-draughted, half-ran to our post in the Borough’s cemetery. It took several grueling minutes to get there with my tacky draughting skills. When we got there, I didn’t pause to rest. Vincent and I split to search the area and luckily, found no trace of the intruder there.

I scaled one of the tallest pedestals of the several angel statues in the rear of the cemetery while Vincent draughted all over the Gates in the perimeter to check that they were still functional. From nearly ten feet off the ground, I could see nothing suspicious. Just stark, malignant silence. Snow stopped falling tonight but the ground was heavily covered with white sleet that reflected the moon’s pale glow. The night was cold and motionless as I surveyed the enclosed overrun lot embedded with rows and rows of weathered, forgotten tombstones.

Activity in Main Gate three. Archie’s voice reached me through the Diviner’s Link. I repeat. Activity in Main Gate three. Amyr and Master Vladimir are already securing the perimeter. Stay in your posts and wait for my signal.

Main Gate 3. That was the area where Vincent and I had encountered the Swarth last week. Frantically, Vincent spun, his eyes searching until he spotted me perched like a cat on top of the head of a marble angel. He looked to me as if to say get ready. He specifically chose to guard this spot because he was convinced that the intruder would use this area as an escape route again.

After a minute, Archie announced the status from the link again. Target spotted. Target engaged by Amyr and Master Vladimir in Main Gate three area. Mei and Byron Flynn on standby. The rest, hold your positions.

What now? I asked Vincent through our own private link, straining to see farther though I knew the Main Gate 3 was too far away.

We wait. He replied sparingly, looking at the same direction.

I knew he was worried about Vladimir. The boy may be smart and quick but he wasn’t in his top shape. Rosario kept stressing that the deterioration of his health might be due to the number of his familiars—the number of lives he had to sustain.

He was slow to recover these last few days and spent most of the time resting in his room. So I had volunteered to do every job that had something to do with opening a Door. I pushed myself to the limits but as if reading my intentions, Vincent did not object. Unlike Vladimir, he had only me to share his life-force with. Plus he was so much of a freak to run out of energy so easily.