The Red Pyramid [BTS adaption]

72. Our Family Is Vaporized - II

Jimin POV

At first, the plan seemed to go well. Turning into a kite was no problem, and to my surprise, once I reached the prow of the ship, I managed to turn back into a human on the first try, with my staff and wand ready. The only person more surprised was the demon right in front of me, whose switchblade head popped straight up in alarm.

Before he could slice me or even cry out, I summoned wind from my staff and blew him off the side of the boat. Two of his brethren charged forward, but Namjoon appeared behind them, sword drawn, and sliced them into piles of sand.

Unfortunately, Seokjin was a bit less stealthy. A giant vulture with a girl hanging from its feet tends to attract attention. As she flew towards the boat, demons below pointed and yelled. Some threw spears that fell short of their mark.

Seokjin's grand entrance did manage to distract the remaining two demons on our boat, however, which allowed Seo Joon's to appear behind them. He'd taken the form of a fruit bat, which brought back bad memories; but he quickly returned to human form and body-slammed the demons, sending them tumbling into the air.

"Hold on!" he told us. Seokjin landed just in time to grab the tiller. Namjoon and I grabbed the sides of the boat. I had no idea what Seo Joon was planning, but after my last flying boat ride, I wasn't taking chances. He began to chant, pointing his staff towards the other boat, where the demons were just beginning to shout and point at us.

One of them was tall and very thin, with black eyes and a disgusting face, like muscle with the skin peeled away.

"That's Set's lieutenant," Namjoon warned. "Face of Horror."

"You!" the demon screamed. "Get them!"

Seo Joon finished his spell. "Smoke," he intoned.

Instantly, the second boat evaporated into a gray mist. The demons fell screaming. The golden capstone plummeted until the lines attached to it from our side yanked taut, and our boat nearly flipped over. Canted sideways, we began to sink towards the cavern floor.

"Oppa, cut the lines!" I screamed.

He sliced them with his sword, and the boat leveled out, rising several meters in an instant and leaving my stomach behind.

The pyramidion crashed to the cavern floor with much crunching and squishing. I had the feeling we'd just made a nice stack of demon griddlecakes.

"So far so good," he noted, but as usual, he'd spoken too soon.

Seokjin pointed below us. "Look."

All those demons who had wings—a small percentage, but still a good forty or fifty—had launched themselves towards us, filling the air like a swarm of angry wasps.

"Fly to the pyramid," Seo Joon said. "I'll distract the demons."

The pyramid's entrance, a simple doorway between two columns at the base of the structure, was not far from us. It was guarded by a few demons, but most of Set's forces were running towards our boat, screaming and throwing rocks (which tended to fall back down and hit them, but no one says demons are bright).

"They're too many," I argued. "Seo Joon, they'll kill you."

"Don't worry about me," he said grimly. "Seal the entrance behind you."

He pushed me over the side, giving me no choice but to turn into a kite. Namjoon in falcon form was already spiraling towards the entrance, and I could hear Seokjin's vulture flapping its great wings behind us.

I heard Seo Joon yell, "For Brooklyn!"

It was an odd battle cry. I glanced back, and the boat burst into flames. It began drifting away from the pyramid and down towards the army of monsters. Fireballs shot from the boat in all directions as pieces of the hull crumbled away. I didn't have time to marvel at his magic or worry about what had happened to him. He distracted many of the demons with his pyrotechnics, but some noticed us.