Maelstrom (a UC fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Abel clenched his teeth as he forced himself to keep his pace. Guards are still after him, and he needs to lose them before they attract more.

Too late, he thought as he glanced back to see more pairs of guards joining this lovely game of Death Tag.

Abel turned and squeezed between two houses and ran up to a stone building across the gravel road. He caught sight of a ladder leading to the roof, so he grabbed on and began climbing.

Which was damn near impossible with his injured shoulder. He gasped and groaned, struggling to pull himself up the two-story building. Blood soaks the back of his linen shirt, making the fabric cling uncomfortably to his skin.

Once he made it to the top, he looked down to see the guards hurrying towards the ladder, shouting for him to stop as two of them began to climb.

Abel took out his dagger and smashed the butt of the handle against the rusty screws that keep the ladder attached to the roof. When the guards caught on to what he was doing, they climbed faster. The first guard is only feet away, and he reaches up to grab Abel, but one particularly hard swing caused a screw to snap.

It was a domino affect as the other ancient screws could no longer carry the weight of the ladder and the guards, and so the ladder broke away from the roof. The guards fell backwards, but the first one managed to grab hold onto the ledge of the roof, clinging to it before Abel smashed his fingers.

The guard shouted as he let go and fell, but then Abel heard the sounds of more guards rushing through the building beneath his feet, frantic to get to the roof.

Abel turned and ran to the back of the building, looking for something to land on, but then his eyes caught onto two of his brothers walking the vacant street just below; Cerberus and Malachi.

Abel whistled, catching their attention. He knelt down, then kicked himself over the ledge. He stumbled as he landed, wincing at the pain it caused him.

"Abel," Malachi called as he and Cerberus hurried over to him, but then his eyes widened when he saw the blood staining the entire right side of Abel's clothing. "What happened?"

"Where's Ambrosius?" Cerberus asked, frowning.

"We-We were caught," Abel panted, his eyes darting around in search for the guards as his brothers widened their eyes in alarm. "We need to get out of here."

"Where is he? Is he hurt?" Malachi asked as they began to walk quickly, and Abel nodded.

"He was shot in the leg. He told me to leave him behind."

Cerberus abruptly stopped walking and stared at Abel, aghast. "You left him!?"

"I had to."

"Where is he?" Malachi demanded with a glare, which Abel returned.

"It doesn't matter, they have him."

"Son of a bitch!" Malachi cursed. Cerberus put his hand on his shoulder, which Malachi shook off. "Abel, you shouldn't have left him."

"There was nothing I could do! I tried, I really did!"

Cerberus took a deep breath, removing his tricorn hat and brushing his hand through his hair as he looked around. "Are they still after you?"

"Probably. We need to get going and find Hades. We'll figure something out." Abel turned and began walking again, and Cerberus and Malachi followed.

"If Ambrosius gets killed because of you-"

"They won't kill him," Abel interrupted Malachi, who growled in frustration. "All he has on him are a few shirts. It's not even enough for him to be in a cell for a few weeks."