I feel like I'm drowning

I'm sinking deeper

White light fades to red

As I enter the city of the dead

33 -  Spell

Soon, the familiars went to their positions. Seven crossed the bridge and waited at the other side of the abyss, directly across from us. The remaining four took their posts just a couple of feet away from the edge. Behind the familiars were Rajinder and Joaquim. At the very back, was Vincent, guarded from either side by Darius and Pierre.

"Get back," Vincent told me.

I was about to object when I felt Yuki's hand turn cold. One look at the boy and I knew I couldn't just leave him by himself. Sighing, I towed him away from the abyss, just behind the line of trees bordering the abyss.

Vincent tore his gaze away from us only when he was satisfied with our position. When he did, he went silent for a few seconds, apparently to talk with Vlad.

"Get ready!" he barked.

The others began summoning their weapons. Most had their scythes out. Some resorted to their Cataclysts. A few who couldn't summon both, Darius included, unsheathed their Helcium blades. The familiars on the other side of the abyss mostly wielded long-ranged weapons from bows to throwing daggers.

Taking a deep breath, Vincent touched the mark on his forearm. It glowed, sending crimson sparks running down his hand. The tips of his fingers bled flames that licked the ground, creating a smoldering circle around him. A crimson lance with a diamond-shaped tip pushed its way out of the circle's center. The second Vincent closed his fingers around it, a wave of blistering heat surged outwards from around his feet, making the air shimmer.

As hot air hit us, I covered my face with an arm and protectively pulled Yuki behind me.

Killing any trace of fear from my face, I conjured my Cataclyst. As much as it wouldn't be as effective on Legion, I didn't particularly like the risk of my scythe breaking, and consequentially, me dying so... I was hoping maximum effort would do the trick.

Wiping his tears on his sleeves, Yuki pulled a tiny Helcium blade from the side of his boot and tried to look brave. That alone calmed my nerves a bit. Having someone to protect gave me a purpose, a motivation to stay strong.

When I turned my eyes back to Vincent, he was already chanting under his breath. His brothers tensed up protectively around him, their eyes vigilant.

It wasn't long before mist began to rise up to the skies in a spiraling motion, creating what looked to me like a vortex on top of the abyss. Light flicked on and off in the eye of the vortex like mute lightnings.

The air became very still, and our surroundings eerily silent except for Vincent's incomprehensible mutterings. I couldn't even hear my own breaths. My scalp prickled. A cold shiver ran down my spine. For a moment, I was frozen in fear. I bit my tongue if it was just to feel something, to fight off the feeling of powerlessness that overtook me.

Yuki's fingers tightened against mine. He was shaking. Instinctively, I looped my right arm over his shoulder.

"It's okay," I tried to say, but no sound came from my mouth.

The light from the vortex grew blindingly bright, swallowing the once midnight blue sky. For several seconds, there wasn't anything to see but white. Then, it dimmed, leaving only a single pulsing dot of light in the sky.

Slowly, the dot of light descended. As soon as I had blinked away the white spots the brightness had burned on my retinas, I realized that it was a person. More specifically, Adrianna; eyes closed, straw-colored hair billowing over her head.

My insides twinged with anxiety as the seemingly harmless girl reached the opening of the abyss. Her small frame reminded me of the ancient days, when we used to huddle inside the cold cave that served us our safe haven, the way her head fit on the crook of my neck while I held her.

Could I really live with myself knowing that my sister would be imprisoned in this bottomless pit forever?

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Vincent's face. It wasn't until a transparent wall of light began rising from the edges of the abyss did the strain on his face lessen.

The wall slowly crept upwards to the sky, emitting a blue glow that glinted on and off like a pulse. Every second of waiting was torture.

Halfway through, I saw Adrianna's eyes open. Our gazes locked. Her blank expression impaled my feet to the ground. A gasp of horror grazed its way out of my throat.

Something began moving from under the skin of her cheek, turning her face into big writhing mass. A chorus of wails escaped where her mouth should be as if all the tainted souls trapped inside her could not wait to break free of the small body they were occupying.

Unfazed, she closed her eyes and flexed her neck. In an instant, her face sprung back to normal. Then, her eyes fixed on Vincent and mouthed, "Together," before she flew towards him.

Every muscle in my body ached to charge at the monster who used to be my sister, but I stopped when I felt Yuki bury his face onto the side of my waist. With my heart hammering against my rib cage, I readied my Cataclyst in front of me.

Eun Jae was the first to react, leaping high up in the air, swinging his blade-tipped spear towards Adrianna. She easily deflected it with her arm, caught the red tassel attached to the base of the curved blade and sent Eun Jae tumbling across the field.

Three more familiars attacked Adrianna in mid-air. Like Eun Jae, they were swatted like flies. One almost fell into the abyss if Eun Jae hadn't caught her arm and pulled her back up.

The group behind Adrianna began launching arrows and throwing weapons, breaking her momentum. Seeing their opportunity, Eun Jae's group bombarded her with aerial quick attacks, each one dealing a few blows and jumping away before she could retaliate. Not a winning tactic, but it delayed Adrianna from reaching Vincent.

Vincent's brothers formed a protective semi-circle around him, their bodies tensed and ready to strike once the first line of defense crumbled. To my dismay, the barrier formed painstakingly slow and the familiars were dropping quickly. Without the spontaneous healing, they could only last so long in battle.

Impatiently, Vincent recited the spell through clenched teeth, louder, faster, perhaps in panic. The barrier, still not perfectly solid, allowed Adrianna to hover to and fro as she fought.

A familiar from the other side threw an axe. It struck Adrianna's back. With a nightmarish shriek, she thrashed trying to reach for it. Once she had pulled it out, a gnarly claw came out of the gash.

A throaty moan filled the air as the black creature slithered its way out of her. Its head was bald, misshapen, eyeless, without lips to hide its razor-sharp teeth. Unlike wraiths, it had a slender, sinewy body and legs that were bent backwards.

Adrianna was stunned, her expression strained. Her body began to twitch and morph. Her skin stretched and bulged. It looked like she was having a tough time trying to contain the frenzied monsters inside her.

The creature leaped over Adrianna's back and lunged at the familiars on the other side of the abyss. It slashed the first familiar it could land its claws on. Shock registered on the familiar's face when she saw the blood from her stomach drench the ground. Her chin fell onto her chest before she dropped dead.

The creature bit the dead familiar's arm and ripped it off before it exploded into a swarm of fireflies. It coughed and growled, apparently dissatisfied that his meal had disappeared. Then it turned on the others.

"W-what on earth is that?!" Pierre shouted, stepping back.

Two more creatures landed in front of us; equally hideous and menacing. They prowled around us, snapping their teeth.

Some of the few remaining familiars backed away. The others were frozen where they stood.

"Hold your positions!" Eun Jae told the others.

But it was obvious: they were no match for these creatures.

"Foda-se," Joaquim muttered angrily, snatching the cigarette from his mouth. He dropped it and charged before it could hit the ground while swinging a black sword with a cross guard shaped like crab claws.

As he lunged, the creature caught his blade in between its clawed hands. Growling, Joaquim pushed the hilt sideways, hooked the sword's guard around creature's fingers and pulled hard. He jumped back before the spray of black blood could ruin his pristine suit.

Next thing I knew, the creature was already missing three fingers.

Seeing its friend howl in pain, the second creature launched itself behind Joaquim. Rajinder appeared in front of it, thrust his curved saber into its stomach. Wedging his arm on the creature's shoulder, he pulled out the blade.

The creature's body convulsed as it went limp, soaking the ground with black blood.

Before Rajinder could celebrate his first kill, screams filled our ears. It was coming from the other side of the abyss.

"Raj! Pierre!" Darius called out. "Go and help the others! Joaquim--"

"Jack," Joaquim corrected, lighting another cigarette before slashing wildly at the remaining creature.

Darius rolled his eye. "Jack and I will handle this side."

Pierre pouted, throwing Darius a reproachful look. "You said this was going to be easy."

Jack was wiping his sword on the chest of the creature he had just beheaded when he glared at Pierre. "When the hell did things ever go easy for us, you sissy! Quit complaining and get your ass out there before all your familiars die!"

Shoulders hunched and frowning, Pierre followed Rajinder to the bridge.

Adrianna had somehow managed to heal her wound and stop the creatures from coming out. It wouldn't take long for her to recover. We still had at least a dozen creatures to care of. And the barrier had barely reached the skies.

Stooping down, I took Yuki's shoulders and looked at him. His eyes were wide, his lips quivering with fear.

"I have to help them, Yuki," I told him in the calmest tone I could muster. "You have to promise me two things, okay?"

He didn't speak, but his fingers tightened around my arms. To muffle the whimpers coming out from his mouth, he clasped his teeth together.

Swallowing the blockage in my throat, I brushed the trail of tears down his cheeks with my fingers. "First, promise me you will not come out until Legion is inside that barrier. And if... we don't succeed, I want you to run as fast as you can. Whatever happens, don't let her catch you."

Yuki's sobs grew louder, his shoulders shaking violently as he nodded to me.

"Atta boy," I said, forcing a smile. I grabbed his hand and tightened his fingers around the dagger. "You'll be alright. I promise."

It felt like my heart was being torn to shreds. But I couldn't just wait and do nothing.

As I straightened up, several shadows whizzed past me with gusts of wind characteristic to draughting. Folding my arms protectively around Yuki, I whipped my head to follow the shadows with my eyes and saw my cabal already standing behind Vincent.

"Look who crashed the party!" Amyr shouted, resting the flat of his sword onto his shoulder.

Mei nudged him on the ribs, narrowing her feline eyes at the unconscious familiars scattered around us. Her lips parted upon spotting the strange creatures before us. "Eldest bless us! I thought they were extinct."

"Yikes! What exactly are those uglies?" Amyr asked.

Kyoshiro pushed aside the shrubbery that barred his way, forcing back a yawn so that the sides of his eyes began to water.

"Jinkininki," he answered, stretching his arms over his head. "Hungry ghosts, flesh-eating spirits, in other words; ghouls. Pretty sure we killed every last one of them way back in Burma. You remember, Vlad?"

Nodding, the boy wiped his glasses with a handkerchief. "Did Napoleon have Napoleon complex? Of course, I remember, Kyo-nii. I remember everything."

He cracked his knuckles and waved pretentiously at Joaquim who was still fighting with the ghouls. "Oi! Aniki! Crush the heads after you cut them off so they don't grow back new bodies!"

It was only then that I noticed Kyoshiro was right. The ghoul Rajinder stabbed was still moving. The large wound in its stomach squirmed and mended on its own. In a matter of seconds, the ghoul was already pushing itself up.

"I'll take it from here, Vincent," said Vladimir, his eyes still focused on the open Grimoire in his hand. After fixing his glasses back into place, he continued chanting the spell.

I felt a hand over my shoulder. It was Alexis, eyes already surveying the scene. For five whole seconds, he gazed at Adrianna. He nodded to himself as if mentally computing the odds of our success. Hector was a step behind him, busily wiping the clawed blades of his weapon on the sleeves of his jacket.

"Stay here, Aramis," Alex ordered, throwing me a meaningful look before hurrying to the others.

"And you expect me to just stand here?"

"Well, yes," Hector answered as he walked past me. "Oh, and try to look pretty while you're at it."