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.
As fast as I could, I slung Vincent's arm over me and jumped forcefully off the collapsing bridge. We barely made it, stumbling against the cold hard flagstone path that was the only way in and out of this hell hole—the Spirit Gate.
Rosario helped me get Vincent onto his feet. "What now?"she asked, keeping a wary eye on our surroundings.
I risked a glance back.
The golden bridge was reduced to rubble, sinking slowly into the depths of the lake, but that couldn't mean the enemies wouldn't pursue us anymore. It just gave us a little more time. We had to keep moving.
I kept my eyes off Vincent's burns. The skin and flesh would be more or less be shifting and squirming to patch-up by now. Not exactly a pretty sight to watch.
We followed the path towards the Gate in pairs. Alexis and Archie were on the lead while Rosario and Apple flanked the party. Since Vincent couldn't fight, we were kept in the middle. Byron Flynn and Antoinette were on the watch, their keen yellow eyes alert with every noise.
There were no enemies in sight so far. Ethereals swooped curiously here and there beneath the red curtain of willow filaments. Even the fireflies appeared agitated as they hurriedly flew away from the area. For the meantime, we couldn't rely on them to light up the way for us.
We had already covered a good distance when all of a sudden, Byron Flynn leaped backwards with an alarmed woof. His ears attentively pointed upward. He crouched down, a low ominous growl coming from his throat.
Antoinette looked up and sniffed the air, the fur on her back bristling.
Sensing the panic coming from the animals, Alexis halted, raising his hand. We all stopped.
My eyes automatically surveyed our surroundings but the fog was too thick. The darkness prevented me from seeing more than five yards away. So much for super-vision.
With a trembling hand, I set the butt of my staff firmly on the ground. My heart was practically skipping out of my throat. A brief rustling behind the willows made me jump. Then it disappeared before I could get a clear view.
Someone was out there.
"What's that?" I whispered shakily.
None of the others answered. All I could hear was Vincent's harsh breaths. I wanted to look at them to assure myself that I wasn't alone. Yet, I was too afraid that something would snatch my head off if I so much as looked away from the disheartening darkness.
I saw a slight movement from behind a twisted trunk. Then that rustling again. Whatever that thing was, it was moving towards us and fast.
"There!" I shouted at the moving thing, bracing myself.
Before I could react, something lunged at me, hitting me on the side of my face.
I stumbled back and tried to shake the daze off my system. The pain set in. Blood trickled from the side of my lip. I wiped it off on the back of my hand. The slanted cut throbbed like hell. Still, I kept my ground, my blurring eyes mechanically looking for the enemy.
"Too slow," Rosario reminded me, giving me a nudge.
"Not helping," I snapped back at her. She really knew how to egg on me.
Not.
There was a flicker in the shadows behind the trees. Whatever it was, the enemy seemed precise, calculating the situation before making a move.
Archie immediately summoned his scythe—a slender silver rapier that could have belonged to some medieval royalty. Beside him, Alexis was unmoving as though a flawless statue. He closed his eyes to listen for any suspicious noise.
I might have gaped at him for a second or two. Totally his fault.
All of a sudden, a figure hurtled to us at an unfathomable speed. There wasn't time to dodge. Just as I thought it was going to hit me, Vincent deftly caught the enemy with his Cataclyst.
Without thinking, I pounced at the attacker. We both hit the pavement rolling. I gasped for breath and used my weight to pin the enemy down. I felt a punch land to the side of my head. If I could see at all, I was sure the world would be spinning around me by now. I clenched my teeth and shook the stupor out of my system.
I hit back and fumbled for the enemy's neck. Once I got a firm grip, I lifted my head only to see Sharifa under me, thrashing to free herself.
"S-sharifa? Why?" I rasped.
Immediately, she looked away, her eyes vague. "You defied the Grandmaster's wish." She sounded unsure. "Only punishment waits for all of you." This time, there was some form of conviction in her voice and something else—pity.
Before she could thrust her knee against my stomach, Archie and Apple were already on her, grabbing both her hands. They pulled her onto her feet. Before long, she stopped fighting back, letting the other familiars restrain her. She knew she was pinched and she was smart enough to realize that.
Rosario suddenly conjured her Cataclyst. Like a tigress, she bounded straight for Sharifa. She closed her claws around Sharifa's neck. There was only rage in her eyes.
Forcing back the swelling that seemed to block my throat, I ran to Rosario and tried to yank her Cataclyst away from Sharifa.
"Rosario! No!" I shouted.
"She tried to kill us!" she yelled back, shoving me away with a glare that hinted of disgust.
Carefully, I stepped toward them, meeting Rosario's taunting eyes. "She could be the only one who could tell Pilgrim Reaper the truth!" Then I turned to Sharifa, searching her face for any sign of sympathy. "Isn't that right, Sharifa? You know Vladimir didn't steal the book—the Grimoire of Chasms.Cairo did, didn't he? And you sent the Grimoire to us because you want to help us without us knowing. To make sure it's in safe hands."
The familiar didn't answer. I could sense the overwhelming fear in her eyes as she looked at our faces one by one. Then halfheartedly, she shook her head, her pursed lips quivering.
"That's a lie..." I mumbled.
"She's one of them," Rosario muttered impatiently. She slowly tightened her Cataclyst around Sharifa's throat.
The familiar stifled a cry. Blood slowly drained from her face.
"She'll kill us if we don't kill her first." Rosario's forbidding expression scared me.
"Stop!" I pleaded.
Vincent staggered his way in front of me and put a hand on Rosario's shoulder. "Let her go," he said, his voice hoarse and faint.
The sudden movement made him flinch. He closed his eyes to fight off the pain of his mending wounds. The bulging veins on his forehead and neck, the rapid rise and fall of his shoulders, the vacant stare weren't good signs. He might just be struggling to stay awake.
Rosario was in utter frustration as she was forced to let go of Sharifa's neck. She was left grumbling to herself about how we were wasting time.
I ignored her and faced Sharifa. "I know you're scared. But I'm here. We're on your side," I said to her in the most comforting tone I could muster, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
A tear rolled down her cheek when she finally met my eyes. "You don't know what you're dealing with. A revolution is coming."
"A revolution?" Alexis' sounded incredulous. His eyes had that sidetracked look again. "Who's behind it? Tell us!"
In reaction, Apple smiled sweetly, giving Sharifa a harsh jerk. "Answer the Master's question," she trilled happily before nudging Sharifa sharply on the ribs.
Out of breath, Sharifa cringed, hunching as she waited for the pain to ease. There was no resistance. Just tears she was trying to fight back. As she was about to speak, Archie stepped ahead of us as if in search of something.
"What is it, Archie?" Alex demanded.
Immediately, Archie set his gleaming rapier in front of him and pointed the blade forward as though to parry an attack. "I know you're there!" he shouted. "Show yourself!"
Soft unhurried footsteps clacked against the stone floor. Before long, the gangly fair-haired boy in a gray pin-striped suit emerged from the wafting mist followed by the balding old man in white flowing robes—Death's familiars. They casually walked up to us like they were strolling in a park.
We outnumbered them. Our group was intimidating enough—a little girl, a pretty guy with the attention span of a cockroach, a school teacher armed with a bucket of sarcasm, an old butler, a stupid girl and a big piece of roast. Go figure.
"Conrad!" Sharifa called out to the blond boy.
He just answered her with a leer.
"Amos! Help me!" She turned to the old man.
Despite her pleading, the other two familiars looked indifferent. Something told me they couldn't care less that we captured Sharifa. Instead, the boy called Conrad turned to Archie.
"Let us pass," Archie demanded, as calm as ever. He pointed his rapier in between the blond's eyes.
Conrad only smirked, eyeing at the tip of the blade just inches from his nose. "What a way to greet your only son, Father."