The unexpectedness of that voice caught Cail by surprise. He looked back and his eyes widened.
Jael was in the yard, half of his body buried under the ground. He looked pale, his eyes weary and strange red marks were on his face.
Cail didn't have time to think, he hurriedly ran over to him and tried to pull him out of the mud. Jael was stuck.
"Oh come on!" Cail shouted in frustration. He let go of Jael first and grabbed something out of his pocket.
"You guys aren't the only ones who knew blasting." And with that, he flicked the lighter on and threw a small makeshift explosive towards the hoard of Shards.
BOOM
Jael didn't react at his house getting bombed. He looked really pale and weak. Cail once again tried to pull him hard, but it was as if his feet were rooted into the ground, Jael refused to budge.
Cail only had three explosives in his pockets, one big and two small. He couldn't waste any more or else they're doomed.
Despite his blood bleeding like crazy, Cail still tried to pull Jael with all his strength.
Then, when he finally managed to pull Jael a bit, he felt something was off with the sensation.
"Jael—"
"I'm fine, continue!" Jael cut him off.
With the danger approaching, Cail had no choice but to ignore the nagging suspicion in his mind.
When the Shards finally came close, Cail tossed the last small explosive. Fortunately, after struggling for a few minutes, he finally managed to pull Jael out of the mud.
At this point, adrenaline was the only thing that kept Cail's body moving. He carried Jael on his shoulders and ran fast. When one of his hands was reaching on his pocket.
Just as he was about to toss it into the kitchen window, he felt a sudden sense of dread. He dodged, but the long machete-like blade still managed to slice his side.
Looking at how hard the knife was embedded into the tree beside him, if he hadn't dodged, he'd probably be sliced in half.
This was very familiar to Cail, he murmured, "So my karma is finally here." Such a way of dying reminded him about that man with a skull headdress that he ran over.
But now was not the time for contemplation. He shot the Shard and threw the big explosive into the kitchen window.
By calling it big, it didn't mean that it's a nuke, it's slightly stronger than the previous two and is less likely to fail.
"Now brace yourself." He grinned. He had shot the gas line beside the stove before, now it was time for the Grand Finale.
BOOOM!
With the gas combined, the house crumbled. Shattered windows and debris flew everywhere. Cail and Jael's distance to the house widened, it wasn't because they ran and escaped, but because they were blasted by the aftershock.
It was damn strong that Cail finally knew what Bram probably felt after the compass incident. "Ugh, I had many flashes of empathy this time. Am I healing?"
Probably not.
He landed pretty badly into the ground. Blood, bruises, and wounds. At this point, he's surprised that he wasn't dead yet.
Jael by his side was a bit better. Aside from looking weak, he looked uninjured. He was coughing on the side and looked at the bloody Cail with concern, "Are you okay?"
Cail, feeling irritated, snapped, "Do I look okay? Whose eyes are bad here, mine or yours?!"
Jael didn't mind his attitude, he pointed at Cail's eyes.
Despite Jael not saying anything, Cail knew what was happening. He could feel blood dripping in his eyes. It was warm.
He took a deep breath. His natural instincts hated it when he exposed weakness, but his eyes had been very out of commission a while ago. It felt like he was experiencing tunnel vision. He could barely see void energy. Not sure if it was permanent or not, but Cail hated feeling this insecure.
Cail stood up, staggeringly. He glared at Jael, "Next time, don't call me unless you want me to burn your house down to the ground again." Of course, he was the one who told Jael to call him, but this time he probably just wanted to blame someone at this moment.
Jael, knowing Cail's personality, didn't take it to heart. He raised his hand, "Sorry, but can you help me? I can't walk."
Cail didn't say anything, but for some reason, instead of carrying Jael, he dragged him into the ground.
"You—" Jael was in disbelief as his bottom was dragged into the ground.
But seeing that Cail was panting so hard, he went silent.
After a few minutes, Jael looked at the bleeding Cail and couldn't help but ask, "Although I knew you are used to injuries because of your dealings with my father before, are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?" Among Cail's three friends, Jael was the only one who had a grasp of his true nature.
Cail continued pulling him as he could hear the sirens from the distance. "I don't need a hospital. I have someone I know at the Lawless Slums that could help me." Of course, that's a lie.
It was fine at first, Jael believed in him, but after seeing Cail's blood dripping on him, he started to feel desperate and panicky. "Cail! You're bleeding too much! This is dangerous! Why don't we go back and wait for the police? I'll cover up for you!"
He's slowly draining, Cail could feel it. He looked at Jael and tried to joke, "I changed my mind. Next time, if you call me... Be sure you're worth saving." That was a joke (?).
It wasn't funny.
Jael went silent. Cail didn't care. "Shut your mouth. Stop talking."
Did you know that Cail is fickle? Probably yes. Because now that the danger is finally averted, some bad ideas popped out into his mind.
"Jael, do you know what those cults are?" he asked.
Jael looked normal, "Some kind of terrorist?"
Cail shook his head. "No, they are a full-fledged cult with a God. I heard that their reason for visiting homes was for their sacrifice."
"I—I didn't know that," Jael stammered.
Then it was silent. Cail pulled him towards the woods where he parked his motorcycle. While doing that he casually commented, "You must be scared. Your hands are very cold."
"Yes? Was it really that cold?" Jael whispered. His voice scattering in the silent night.
Cail didn't hesitate, he nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty cold. It felt like I'm touching something that isn't alive."
Jael looked up, this time, he looked genuinely terrified. His eyes were filled with horror and his lips trembled, "Cail, I know you're angry at me, but please, don't joke like that."
'You look more terrified than I expected,' Cail thought. "Why are you looking like that? Don't take my mumbling seriously, I'm also as cold as you." Probably because of my blood loss.
Jael looked down.
Cail, who was dragging him into the ground, just looked at him and smiled grimly.