Reapers - Thirteen Brothers

XXXXVIII - Ethereals

I sat, listening intently to every noise-the giggle of Ethereals, every twig that snapped, the silent whooshing of leaves against the gentle breeze. As far as I could tell, no one had found our trail, yet.

Thoughtfully, Apple sat on the ground, still staring at the spot where Rosario had disappeared.

"She's broken, that one," Apple murmured mostly to herself.

"What?" I blurted out.

Casually, the girl shook her head and gave me a weak smile. "Some of her parts are broken. I can tell. Someone should fix her damage or she'll stop working soon."

To me, Apple sounded like she was talking of Rosario like she was some kind of machine. I was totally at a lost how to react to that so I kept my mouth shut while scrutinizing the clearing.

The whole place was teeming with roses of every color and the scent was intoxicating, it was making my eyelids heavy. It was as if I could almost taste the sweetness in the air. My mind was whirring a hundred miles per hour as I found myself involuntary smiling for no apparent reason. Some part of my brain told me it was stupid to feel all giddy in a situation like this. The rest of my body accepted the euphoria as easy as oxygen. The exhaustion, the pain, the fear; they were all washed away in a moment. Like magic. All those worries lost in an instant.

Apple shushed me, her bright green eyes shifting left and right. "They're close," she whispered.

"Who?"

"Ethereals," she answered, crouching lower to conceal herself in the shadows. "They're here to corrupt Apple's and Aramis' programs. They want us to be trapped here."

My head hurt just by translating what Apple was trying to say.

Gurgling voices of different pitches started giggling simultaneously, echoing in a Round Robin all over the place. The skin on my nape suddenly prickled.

When I looked up, I saw a swarm of Ethereals swooping from behind the trees, heading toward us. Their constantly billowing long hair ranged from gray to blue. They had these small round faces and slit-like lipless mouths. Their abnormally large doe-eyes were a strange dark blue.

The creatures' wispy bodies turned into mist as they hovered over our heads. It was as if they were singing in a discordant tune that seemed to paralyze my whole body.

Apple stood up summoned her Cataclyst. At first glance, it wasn't that impressive. Her hand just turned pearly white. The claws weren't that scary either, but pulsing greenish veins ran like cracks from her fingertips to her elbow.

I pulled Vincent up in a sitting position and propped him on a tree. He was still asleep.

I faced the creatures, thrusting the butt of my staff on the ground. Without a sound, the long transparent blade swung out from the upper half of my weapon. It gleamed like the crescent moon.

The Ethereals seemed to hesitate for a while, lunging at us testily. Through the darkness, the creatures flitted into a blur of blue and gray.

Faster than I could blink, Apple darted across the clearing, plunging into the swarm of Ethereals. She took off the ground and somersaulted in midair, slashing one Ethereal right through the throat and pinning another to the ground with her talons as she landed. Almost instantly, the dead creatures twitched violently, their bodies turning crystal clear before splattering onto the grass.

Two Ethereals swooped over my head, giggling as they pulled my hair and clothes with chilly hands. I tried to dodge but my feet seemed to get heavier and heavier.