Revenant Slaves Chapter 15: Chapter 14: Ash

Read chapter 15 of Revenant Slaves by Zee on NovelPedia.

Chapter 14: Ash Ash watched in tense silence, his blaster pointed at the little circle of visibility cast by his flashlight. Xander had lowered his own to the floor, much to Ash’s bewilderment, and knocked on the door twice. Three knocks resounded back in quick succession. Xander raised his palm toward Ash, signaling him to hold back, and opened the door quickly. Ash wasn’t going to take any chances; he didn’t lower his gun. Whoever was on the other side must have been leaning on the door because they just fell forward. Xander seemed to fall to the ground with them, quickly hugging them. Both were on their knees, Xander trying his best to hold them upright. All Ash saw was a mantle of the flamebound, covering their head. They wore a knight’s armor. “That’s a bloody knight, Xander.” “No, they aren’t. Put your weapon away. She’s… she’s my sister.” Another surprise, Ash thought he should have learned better by now. “Your sister is a knight from the temple?” “No, move!” Xander replied sternly as he got up, supporting his sister, who was barely standing on wobbly legs. Her hood slipped, and Ash saw her face. Xander had light brown skin, but that tone bore no similarity to the rich, dark brown complexion of the girl he saw. Her lips were pale but formed a half-smile. As Xander helped her away from the door and further into the apartment, she dragged a large black metallic skeleton behind her. ‘Another suit. How did she even carry it here?’ Ash realized she was wearing the same kind of exoskeleton suit Xander wore, though hers looked sleeker than his. “Ash, close the door and man the window, please.” Ash heard the heaviness in Xander’s voice. This wasn’t the same confident stranger who had led them here. This was a vulnerable person worried for his family, a person Ash could actually relate to. That thought didn’t sit well with Ash. “Zain…” the woman wheezed, coughing up blood. “Calm down. I’ll be fine. Get me a booster shot.” ‘Zain…’ Ash paused. Of course, he had given him a false name. Ash was actually angry at himself. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Zain looked over at Ash for just a second before turning back to his sister with a sigh. “Of course. You’re sure you didn’t hit your head somewhere as well?” Zain rose and moved toward the counter. Ash looked back, and since he was no longer shining his flashlight in the room, it was pitch black. Their ability to see in the dark was still eerie to him. “You idiot,” Zain’s sister coughed again. “If I didn’t have this hole in me, I’d smack your mouthy little head.” “Ash? Do you see anything on the street?” Zain asked. “No, everything is dark and quiet here.” “Good. I need you to go and bring all the lights that you have out here, and bring Miru too. We need more hands.” Zain didn’t give Ash time to argue. He started talking to his sister instead. Ash took one last look out of the window to make sure no one was there. He was about to move away when he saw flashing lights moving in the rain. It wasn’t a few men; it was the entire garrison. It looked as if the entire contingent of guards had suddenly appeared on the street. Splinter groups tore away from the main group and entered each building on the street one by one. “It’s the guards. They are searching every building,” Ash said urgently. “How many?” “All of them.” “How much time till they get to this building?” “Soon? Does it matter? We have to leave now?” “We can’t leave without me properly treating her injury, so give me an estimate,” Zain said forcefully. “By their speed, a search party will reach our building in about three minutes. I give us fifteen minutes at most before they reach the apartment.” “Okay, then you better move, get the flashlights and Mir…” Zain let out a pained groan. Ash paused, turning his flashlight in Zain’s direction. His sister was on her feet, barely holding on. It seemed she had smacked his head. “Look at what you made me do, you little brat,” she said. “We have 15 minutes and more important things to do. Y