Reapers - Thirteen Brothers

XXXXVI - Alliance

Vincent pushed me to the ground. The blast must have shattered my eardrums since they were buzzing. A silver blind spot covered more than half of my field of vision because of the flash.

A huge crater gaped in front of us, destroying most of the courtyard entrance. Product of the blast.

Once the debris had settled down, an abnormally large cat with long rabbit ears emerged from the explosion site. Electrical sparks crackled over its yellow and gray bristled fur as it padded toward us.

"Told you, I'm on your side." Alexis' smooth unused voice startled me when he climbed out of the hole and brushed the dirt off of his blue Nysmic tux.

Antoinette, the cat, immediately stood vigilantly beside her master.

After Alexis, clambering up from the crater were Rosario, Archie, Byron Flynn and another familiar I didn't recognize. It was a doll-faced girl, around twelve, with big chemical green eyes and golden blond hair that waved until the back of her petite knees. A small gash on her porcelain white cheek was healing rapidly when she tilted her head to me and gave me a wide smile.

"Aramis Rayne," she greeted in an unnatural honeyed tone. "My name is Apple. Apple is here to assist you." The girl then pushed aside her curly hair to show us the mark on her neck. Number eleven—Hector's. Whatever his motive was for helping us, I wasn't going to complain.

Silently, I helped Vincent up. The burns on his back didn't look good. Second or third degree perhaps, though he didn't let any sign of weakness show on his face. Even for him, it would take a little more time before those injuries would heal and it wouldn't be painless.

"We have to go," he said with some effort, gasping for breath as his wounds started to mend quickly.

I knew how excruciating Vincent must feel. But there was no time for an argument.

We started moving while Death's and Cairo's familiars were still stunned by the blast. Maybe some of them got hit and died, but that was just wishful thinking.

We draughted over the bridge in pairs. A few seconds later and I could already hear the enemies drawing nearer and nearer.

Byron Flynn and Antoinette fell back all of a sudden and flanked our group.

 Byron Flynn was literally blazing red. The air shimmered around him with heat that made the pavement smoke. He lashed his burning tail on the pathway, making the ground rumble before it cracked, spitting fire from every crevice. Then Antoinette yowled, her pointy ears sizzling with energy like a pair of conductors. She tilted her head towards the enemies, sending bolts of electricity whizzing to the foot of the golden bridge. It blasted a good part of the bridge in a split-second.

I exerted more spiritual energy to my feet and strained my legs to catch up with the others while supporting Vincent's weight. His pallid face and clammy skin told me that he must be in a lot of pain.

As Byron Flynn and Antoinette hurriedly loped past us, I took a quick glance behind me. The foundation of the bridge began to collapse brick by brick. Massive cracks crept at the end of the bridge just as we were nearing the bank. With every step, I kept feeling the concrete giving way under my weight. My lungs and calves were already burning, but I didn't stop and kept avoiding the crevices without letting go of Vincent. He was getting heavier by the minute.

The others had just reached the other side.

"Hang in there," I told him in panic.

The crack in front of us became a gaping pit in a fraction of a second. The ground shook.