[2023 Wattys Shortlist, 2023 Amby Awards winner, Featured 3 times in Wattpad Picks lists]
Kaleth has worked as an agent of Luxarx for years. What the average person might see as an exciting, dangerous job has become the routine, and the only thing...
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After the day they'd all had, Kaleth had been hoping they were done. That was not the case, though.
As they climbed off Mel's back once he had landed next to the entrance to the tunnel, the first thing they all noticed were three new additions to the mansion's defenses. It was a bit of a shock, seeing turrets with machine guns surrounding the house, but Kaleth got over that quickly. Directly shooting people wasn't his father's style, but he was certainly capable of it.
"Awesome," Rayni gushed, and Kara begrudgingly agreed.
The presence of their upgraded defenses also must have meant that Nef had done something with the card he had given him. Maybe he had even done something about the alarm, but they would use the tunnel anyway. It was better not to risk it.
When Mel had switched forms so he would fit through the hatch, the armor had changed with him, its appearance now basically what Rayni was wearing. And his eyes were glowing.
"What's wrong?" Rayni asked, noticing the eyes as well. Her previous enthusiasm was all but forgotten.
"The only person in this house is Alor," he told them. "And I think he's hurt."
If Mel hadn't added that last sentence, Kaleth would have probably tried to come up with an explanation that didn't suggest that Nef and Nira were dead. However, hearing that Alor was injured made it hard to explain it differently.
They all rushed through the rest of the tunnel and climbed up into the garage, following Mel into the kitchen. Even before they entered it, they could see blood all over the floor.
Finally reaching him, Kaleth carefully examined his teammate. Alor seemed to be unconscious, leaning on the kitchen table with a towel wrapped tightly around his right thigh. The makeshift bandage was almost completely saturated with blood.
Mel didn't waste any time, immediately kneeling next to Alor, putting his hand on his wound, and a second later the entire wound was enveloped by Mel's blue light.
The whole process took about ten seconds, but it felt much, much longer. With every second, Alor looked a bit better, while Mel looked worse. Unable to just watch it anymore, Kaleth stepped in and crouched down next to the Eternal. He put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him.
When he was done, Mel sat down, breathing heavily. Kaleth kept his hand where it was just to be safe and turned his attention to Alor when he started coughing.
"You okay, man?" Rayni asked with concern from behind Mel. Alor nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine now," he replied, looking gratefully at Mel, who smiled wearily but happily back. It was odd how easy it was to tell he was smiling despite the cloth covering his mouth, just from looking at his eyes.
"I think I speak for everyone when I ask," Kara said, "what the hell happened while we were gone?"
"Relioth happened," Alor replied, gesturing to the makeshift bandage on his leg. He untied it and a bullet fell out. There was a collective cry of confusion and alarm, to which Alor nodded.
