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[i]"Tell me. Tell me how many shipments of humans you guys have gotten and tell me how many have died!"[/i]

Martini reeled back in fear as Lesley slammed a hand against the tabletop, shrinking as far back as she could from his angry gaze. Tears were already forming in her eyes before the whole room erupted into chaos, with humans both accusing and defending the guides as the Nobodies themselves started to react. Songbird was livid, coming to stand between the mermaid and Lesley and shouting at the humans while Brandy glared wordlessly at the humans, fist clenched in his robes at the mere gall of them daring to accuse the guides. 

[i]“Yes, we’re paid to look after this batch. It’s a smaller sum than the one we get from our original jobs, but for some infernal reason… We took it. This just proved that it was never worth the trouble.”[/i]

The rabbit couldn't help but agree. Did the humans not realize the risks being a guide posed? He supposed that it was easy enough for them to forget that the Nobodies could die just as the humans could, just because that this was supposed to be their world. At least the Harper boy was being reasonable, and Martini couldn't help but cling onto the reassuring hand he placed on her shoulder, lower lip quivering. 

Brandy's lips were pressed into hard lines, but after the apologies he could only shake his head. It wasn't completely the humans' fault that they had snapped- it had been a long day, not to mention the questions they had about the train weren't completely invalid. Still, snapping and threatening the guides with a spear was hardly the way to get them home- they had to complete the list; it was the only way.

The door to the cabin burst open before anyone else had the chance to do anything, the corpse of the unicorn that had helped them earlier splayed out on the ground. The scent of blood was strong and its neck was stained with red, blood still oozing out from the wound where its throat was slit. Martini only managed a small shriek before everyone in the room was sent flying, slamming into various pieces of furniture. 

Brandy staggered to his feet, the wound on his head having reopened and dripping blood down the side of his face. He swore, wanting to punch himself for not noticing that they had forgotten the most vital part of witch slaying- taking the heart. 

"Song-!" The rabbit snarled as the witch plunged the dagger into the item-hunter's shoulder, blood spraying into the air. He lunged forward, catching the man before he managed to hit the ground, surveying him frantically. The wound was deep and bleeding heavily, and Brandy didn't dare pull out the knife in fear of causing blood loss. 

The mermaid had managed to crawl her way over to the heavily wounded dragoon, tail flopping uselessly against the floor as she cradled the heavily bleeding Avian, shielding them from the falling debris with a wavering bubble that threatened to pop at any moment. "J-Jasper!" She sobbed, calling for the healer. "Hurry, Avi is- He's-"

[i]"Knock down the back wall!"[/i]

A large blast followed Ace's command, the wall blasting into mere fragments from the force of magic. Due to the dilapidated status of the house the other walls quickly followed, raining chunks of rubble down only to bounce off a crackling green barrier that surrounded the humans. Brandy panted in the middle of the debris that was what used to be the cabin, one hand outstretched as the other wiped blood out of his eye, rather relieved to have remembered the barrier spell he hadn't touched in a long while. It shrank as the dust cleared until it settled onto Martini's bubble under which the two wounded Nobodies lay. "Bring the wounded or exhausted under the dome," he instructed, stripping off his scarf and pressing it around the dagger wound. The material quickly soaked red, and Brandy winced as Song let out a groan of pain. They would uphold the shield until it exhausted all their magic, and hopefully that would be enough to withstand at least a few blows from the witch. 

No matter what the humans believed about them, they weren't about to abandon the brats that they had worked so hard to keep alive till now.