REAPER ─ kaz brekker

seventeen; anywhere i want, just not home

SEVENTEEN;              ANYWHERE I WANT, JUST NOT HOME

ONYX PRAYED TO WHATEVER SAINTS MIGHT BE LISTENING THAT THE REST OF HER FRIENDS WEREN'T RISKING AS MUCH LIFE AND LIMB AS THEY WERE. 

The punctuating, echoing sound of gunfire richoetting off the sides of the tomb and shattering stained glass windows overhead felt like enough of an answer. Matthias shouted to Kuwei over a second rattle of bullets and he dropped to the ground, flattening himself to the stone ground as much as possible. Onyx dropped to her belly from the other side of the tomb and edged across the cold floor to her weapons. She snatched her bow off the table with one hand, strapped her quiver to her thigh, and counted the knives on her person, ensuring they were all there before jumping up into a low crouch. 

"We're surrounded," Matthias reported, peering through thin crack in the tomb's wall. 

Onyx and Jesper maneuvered their way over to another slim gap in the wall and peered out. Between the low hanging fog and the darkness looming between the headstones, Onyx could make out striped vests and horribly discolored checkered coats. These weren't men dressed in the purple livery of stadwatch officers, nor did they bear a resemblance to Van Eck's personal guards. These were men from the Barrel. Their mix matched weapons and clashing patterns confirmed that. 

"I can't make out their tattoos," Jesper said. "But I'm pretty sure that's Doughty."

Matthias glimpsed toward them. "Dime Lions." 

Onyx curled her fingers around her bow. Her knuckles turned a bright, off-white color. They were followed back to the island, or someone had seen them coming and going. "A lot of them." 

"What do they want?" Kuwei asked tremulously. 

Even beyond the solid walls of the tomb, Onyx could hear the Dime Lions laughing and shouting. There was a bloodthirsty hum in the air-- a sick joy brought in by the buzz that thrummed over the island, punctuating their bloodlust. They were cornered, and were at the disadvantage. The Dime Lions knew that. 

A loud cheer rose up from the ranks of the Dime Lions as one of their members broke free from the headstones and sprinted forward. He hurled something toward the tomb. It stored through one of the broken portholes and hit the floor, green gas hissing from its sides. Matthias leapt across the floor and shoved a horse blanket over the canister. He wrapped up as tightly as he could, then pushed it back through the window as another round of gunfire rattled the air. 

Onyx yanked a chair away from the table and hopped up on it, carefully peeking out over the edge of window. The Dime Lions surged toward the tomb. She notched an arrow and sent it careening toward the first Dime Lion she saw. Jesper squeezed off several shots below her. Their ranks dispersed as they dove for cover from the onslaught of bullets and arrows. 

"Come on out!" Doughty shouted from behind a grave. "You can't shoot us all!"

"I can't hear you!" Jesper called back. "Come closer!"

"Come on, don't be such a tease," Onyx yelled. "No one likes a tease."

 "We smashed your boats. You got no way off this island except us. So come quiet or we'll bring just your heads back to the Barrel." 

"Watch out!" Matthias shouted. Doughty's prodding had been a distraction. A second canister flew through the window, followed by a third. "The catacomb!"