Erravi (The Lost)

1 : R E A S S I G N E D

Ichor drips from the black blade, running down its perfect reflective surface to the hilt and pools along my right hand. The demon gives a wet gurgle, some of the ichor splashing on my face before his flat black eyes glaze over. Our faces are level, but only because the 10'6 beast is on his knees before me, my sword buried deep in his chest. With a grimace, I forcefully remove the blade and the demon explodes in a cloud of black ash. I wrinkle my nose as a foul, sour scent hangs in the air.

"Evie," I turn to look at the girl cradling her cousin behind me. Her deep cerulean eyes are calm, the fear draining from her expression as I turn back to them and pick up her nearly identical cousin in my arms. Salara Lyle, one of my Charges, and a very powerful Erratum. "We should get going." The area around us has been leveled, debris is all that's left of the apartment complex we've been staying in for the last few months. The lot beyond is empty, that should have been the first sign that something about this place was too good to be true. With a heavy sigh, I wipe the sword clean on my torn up leggings and put the Demon Blade into its sheathe slung across my back.

"Get the car." I tell Ara, carrying her cousin bridal-style to follow quickly after her. I glance down at the girl in my arms, her violet eyes are closed, her normally calm face is twisted in confusion and worry, wavy blonde hair matted with dirt and her own blood. This is her fault mostly, the destruction around us; though, if I'm being honest, it's mine too. The demon I just sent back to Hell had been hiding his true nature as a level six demon from all of us for the last few months while we were here.

Ara drives the car from the street where I'd left it before busting down the door to the apartment where her cousin's psycho demon-boyfriend had held the two captive. It's a good thing I got there in time before the demon killed either of them. After parking the car, Ara comes around to the back door of the little silvery car and opens the back door, sliding in so she can help me set her cousin down beside her. Once the two are buckled up, Ara holding Elle's head in her lap, I go to the front and sit in the driver's seat.

As I put the car in drive, the GPS screen comes to life, flashing a soft blue before asking for a biometric scan to access the incoming information. I press my right palm to the glass surface, then remove it as the screen flashes a soft green before a map pops up on the display. I vaguely recognize the area it's showing me, and all the blood drains from my face.

I read the messages scrolling on repeat on the GPS screen beneath the new sight location: Michelle & Salara Lyle reassignment Sector 399. Cold grips my bones and I clasp the steering wheel tightly, the plastic covering cracking as my strength begins to destroy the perfect circle. I take a deep breath and redirect my attention to the two girls in the back. Ara and Elle are my first Charges, pure-blooded Erratum from a very powerful line of Erratum, and yet they're still just kids. I've known them only a few years, but it's like we've been together for centuries. They're more than just my Charges or even my friends, they're my whole world.

Sector 399 is maybe the worst place these girls could have been assigned to. The country is split into sectors, numbered by the level of difficulty or amount of evil known to be a constant in the area. We're now just leaving sector 125 alive. And though the demon we just faced was an anomaly, I don't know what makes the Coordinator think we're ready to take on a sector twice as dangerous as this one. But we're not supposed to question our assignments.

"What's wrong?" Ara seems to sense my mood, her question bringing me out of my thoughts.

"We've been reassigned." I tell her, finally removing my foot from the brake pedal and allow the car to roll forward and slowly down the street. "They're sending us to sector 399."

"Sector 399?" Ara's eyes widen with understanding and fear. "I-I thought that was a restricted sector?" Really anything above 250 is considered restricted.