As Cain fled from her pain, the Apostle could not help but feel abandoned.
Kicking Jonathan’s knee, causing it to buckle, she yanked his knife free and
tossed it aside. Warm blood gushed down her side. Many of the wounds a Subject took would heal almost instantly, but a wound so deep could take hours. He’d effectively cut her efficiency by a fair margin with his little surprise.
Holding one hand over her wound to keep from bleeding to death, the Apostle
raised her sword in the other.
“I guess we’re about even now. You sure you won’t reconsider and come quietly to my father, or do we really have to do this the hard way?”
The Apostle’s answer was a series of lightning fast attacks with her sword that Jonathan barely managed to block. Throbbing with angry pain, the wound in her side seemed to sap her strength and speed. It felt like she was fighting underwater.
She could not remain on this world, but she would not abandon such a potentially useful tool when there was still a chance he might be converted. Having never lost a fight before, the Apostle also could not allow herself to be beaten, especially not by an inferior male! Her pride would not allow her back down or run away.
Breaking completely from its hinges, the door burst open and two more Subjects rushed in. The first through was the two-tailed fox, bearing a great deal of resemblance to Jonathan in her face. Her straw colored hair was tangled and matted with sweat. The tips of her ears and the tips of her twin tails beneath the hem of her skirt were white, just as in her beast form. Behind her, stood an exact copy of Jonathan.
“He really does have the same face.”
Staring in wonder, the Apostle had never encountered the like in her travels. It was strange enough that the girl bore such a strong resemblance to Jonathan, but to have someone who was completely identical to him staring back at her made the Apostle’s skin crawl. What sort of power could make two completely identical Subjects?
*****
Kicking the door down, Kari stepped through. Inside, the Apostle pointed a
sword at Jonathan, holding a hand to his armored side with blood oozing slowly between his gloved fingers. Breathing hard, Jonathan leaned against his broadsword. His clothes were slashed in several places and soaked through with blood, but the wounds appeared to have healed already.
Drawing her bow, Kari took aim at the Apostle’s mask, which she noticed for the first time had no eyeholes. It didn’t matter. She’d put an arrow through his eye anyway.
“What the hell, guys,” Jonathan cried, turning to them. “Took you long enough!
What? Did you say to yourselves, hey, our beloved older brother has been captured, but rescuing him seems a little too much trouble right now, let’s take a nap instead?”
“That’s just like you,” Michael sounded deeply offended, his tone somewhat
ruined by his wide grin. “Completely ungrateful.”
“So Apostle,” Kari said. “We meet face to face.”
“More like face to mask,” Michael pointed out.
“Put down your weapon and surrender and you won’t be harmed,” Kari ordered.
“If I have to beat you into submission I can’t make the same guarantee.”
Looking at her silently, the Apostle did not lower his sword.
“She’s a girl, by the way,” Jonathan nodded to the Apostle. “Only the most
beautiful goddess ever to be born, to be exact.”
“Lucky,” Michael drew the word out, sharing a sleazy grin with his twin.
With a growl, Kari could not believe that Jonathan had actually been hitting on the Apostle of Cain!
“Uh, you’re pretty too, sis,” Michael said, completely mistaking her growl.
“But you’re sorta related to us,” Jonathan nodded.
“Not to mention the fact that we bathed you and changed your diapers as a child.”
“Yeah, therefore you’re pretty well disqualified from the whole most beautiful goddess ever to be born thing.”
“Nothing personal.”
“Indeed.”
“Would you two shut up,” Kari snapped. She was surprised to hear the Apostle
shout the exact same thing at the exact same time. At least he— she, rather — knew stupidity when she saw it.
“As much as I would like to stay and chat,” the Apostle reached for something
around her neck, “I’m afraid that three on one is two too many with this wound. I’ll have to be going now.”
“Wait,” Jonathan growled. “Stop!”
Hefting his broadsword, he dove for the Apostle. Purple light enveloped her and she began to fade away at the exact moment Jonathan tackled her. Both of them vanished in a blinding flash.
Staring at where they’d been, Kari was so startled that her hand slipped and her bowstring twanged, sending an arrow streaking across the room to pierce the metal wall opposite her.
“Well damn,” Michael scratched behind one of his wolflike ears. “How are we
gonna find them now? They could be anywhere.”
“Shut up and let me think,” Kari snapped.
Wracking her brain for any sort of solution, Kari knew there had to be some way to trace where they’d gone. Her eyes fell on the blood that had pooled at the Apostle’s feet.
“That’s it,” she cried, tossing her bow aside. “She’s a Heretic! I can use her blood to trace where she’s gone and guide our next jump to the same place.”
Heretics were the offspring of humans and the extra-dimensional beings known as Demons. Demons existed as pure energy, and every single one of them had a distinct flavor. It was the same with Heretics. Demon energies infused their blood and could be called forth by drawing symbols with it. The Demon energies in the Apostle’s blood could be found only in the Apostle, so she could use the energy in the blood to find the energy in the Apostle and hopefully make a connection between the two that their shards of the Gate could follow.
“Have I told you lately that you’re a genius,” Michael asked.
“Yes,” Kari replied as she began drawing complex symbols on the floor in the
Apostle’s blood, “but I never get tired of hearing it. Don’t worry, we’ll have your partner in crime back before you can work up the motivation to do something productive.”
“We’re never gonna get him back! When have you ever known me to show
anything resembling motivation or productivity?”
Gasping for breath, Keir appeared at the door. Leaning on the doorframe, he gave a start when he saw Kari drawing on the floor in blood.
“What are you doing,” he gasped, his voice hoarse and choked from the run up all of those stairs.
“I’m afraid we were too late,” Kari said. “The Apostle fled to another world, and she took our brother with her.”
Keir slumped. “I’m sorry. Is there any way for you to follow?”
Kari nodded. “I can use her blood to guide us to her.”
“Her,” Keir asked.
“Apparently, the Apostle’s a girl,” Michael said. “It makes sense. Only a woman could be that evil.”
“Keir, could you be a dear and get my bow for me,” Kari asked with a much too
sweet smile. “I think I’m going to club my brother to death with it.”
“See what I mean,” Michael gestured to Kari.