The Severance Game, page 25
I staggered forward as the train jolted into motion and we rolled away from the station. It was too late. We were on the move again.
“New plan,” I announced. “We find our way to the luggage cars, grab the Pegasi, and escape on their backs. Adelaide’s not that far now, and they should be rested enough to take us the remainder of the way.”
“What about Blue?” Jason asked.
“I’ll go find her while you guys get ahead.”
“No way,” Daniel said, grabbing my arm as I headed for the door. “They’re after you. We can’t have you wandering all over the train.”
“He’s right, Crisa,” Jason agreed. “I’ll go get Blue. You go with them.”
“Fine,” I said. I shook Daniel’s hand off me in disgust. “But be careful.”
I turned to the door again, but this time SJ grabbed hold of my elbow before I could exit the compartment. “Crisa, wait,” she said.
I swear, if one more person grabs me today . . .
I spun around. “Now what?”
“The stop the train just made, it was in Dobb—my kingdom. My parents and I take the train from here to Lady Agnue’s every year,” SJ explained.
“And?” Daniel interjected.
“And I know the route that is coming like the back of my hand. In about fifteen minutes we will begin to pass through a series of mountain tunnels. When we go through them the conductor will turn off the lights throughout the train so we do not attract the vampire bats that dwell there. Between that and the fact that it is already night, all the train’s cars will go black and no one will be able to see a thing.”
“So since we don’t know where Arian and his troops are,” I said, finishing her train of thought (no pun intended), “we should make our move then. When the darkness can conceal us.”
“Exactly,” SJ affirmed.
Jason blinked in surprise. “That’s brilliant.”
SJ smirked. “Hey, not just a pretty face.”
“All right, first things first,” I said to Jason and Daniel. “I’ve been on this route a couple of times myself, and while we won’t be able to see a thing when the lights are out, if we just keep going straight we’ll be fine. If I remember correctly, pretty much everyone stays seated during the dark intervals. But for passenger safety the train conductors always make sure the aisles are completely clear before we approach the tunnels so no one will trip over anything. SJ,” I turned to my friend, “you know the route best. You wanna walk us through it?”
SJ nodded and snatched a piece of parchment and a quill from one of the passenger box cubbies. She swiftly began to draw our trajectory as she spoke.
“Okay, there are a total of six mountain tunnels that the train will pass through, resulting in six episodes of darkness that vary in length. In between the tunnels the intervals of light will become longer. When the train enters the first tunnel, Jason will head for the engine room to find Blue while the three of us go toward the luggage cars.”
I looked to Jason. “Once we reach the luggage cars we’ll wait there for you and Blue to catch up. You guys should use the remaining tunnels to conceal your journey back to us. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Good,” I said. “Now all we have to do is wait.”
I Make the Wrong Decision
J fiddled with her slingshot, Jason tapped his foot anxiously, and Daniel stood by the window.
In a moment of lapsed judgment, he reached inside his pocket and checked his mysterious golden pocket watch. I guess he thought we were all too distracted to notice the slight glance he stole at its contents. But he was wrong. As he took his hand from his pocket, he saw me looking at him.
A weird moment passed between us. He didn’t avert his eyes quickly like someone ashamed. I didn’t look away like someone embarrassed. We just held each other’s gaze for a long, hard beat.
The train sped on. Eventually Daniel’s attention moved away from me and back toward the window. I stayed focused on him, though.
I had a lot of enemies on this train—Arian, antagonist soldiers, a whole slew of magic hunters. But I knew what each of them wanted from me. All were direct in their intentions. Not knowing Daniel’s made me wonder if the enemy I should really be worried about was standing right across from me.
I tore a piece of fabric from my dress and used it as a makeshift bandage to wrap my injured left hand. By wrapping the cloth tightly around my wrist and in between my thumb and pointer fingers, it soothed some of the pain and immobilized the joint to give it a bit of support. This wasn’t a permanent fix, but I figured it would do for now.
The lights in our cabin began to dim. It was time.
We filed into the hallway as everything went black. Daniel was ahead of me and behind SJ. He was close enough that I was able to make out his shadow. But anything outside a one-foot radius was a total blob of ink. Swiftly but carefully, we moved from one car to the next, the train’s wheels rumbling beneath us.
Soon enough the lights came back on and the three of us sat down in available seats before anyone could notice our presence. It was a general seating area. SJ ducked into a chair in the third row. Daniel and I slid into a pair of seats on the aisle of the fifth.
As we waited I wondered if Jason had found Blue yet. I wondered when SJ had developed such stealth. And I wondered how long my injured hand would tolerate being ignored. Then I stopped wondering and leaned out from my chair to take a look at the aisle ahead.
Just like ones we’d come down, this one was also clear. Unlike the first time I crossed the train, all the luggage was now either fully stashed beneath seats or strapped firmly in the above-head compartments.
My attention came back to Daniel. I eyed the pocket where he kept his watch, then the sheath strapped to his back.
If I could just get him to be honest with me about something . . .
“Daniel?” I asked, quietly so as not to call attention to our conversation.
He met my gaze. The lanterns of the train car defined his bone structure in sharp shadows. Meanwhile his dark brown eyes had deepened to an almost beastly color.
“When we were about to break out of the Therewolf camp, why did you ask me to make sure I brought back your sheath?” I gestured to the plain, unremarkable thing that held his weapon. “You were adamant about it. Why was it so important?”
“Does it matter?”
“Would it make a difference if I said it did?”
Daniel adjusted the strap of his sheath, but I think it was more of a reflex than a conscious decision. I waited with bated breath, realizing only then how much his secrets deprived me of air.
“I appreciate you getting it for me, Knight,” Daniel said slowly. “But just let it go, okay. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“So the usual answer then.” I sighed—not frustrated, just sad. The lights in the train began to dim and Daniel, SJ, and I rose as darkness settled.
We continued to advance from one car to the next until we entered the last passenger compartment before the luggage cars. I made my way forward, but after a few steps I suddenly tripped over something that protruded into the aisle. In an attempt to not draw attention to myself, I stifled my natural “Eep!” as I toppled over. The sound of me landing on the roughly carpeted floor was concealed by the train turbulence.
Ugh, what the heck? All this stuff is supposed to be stored.
And why had I been the only one to trip? SJ and Daniel were ahead of me. Shouldn’t they have fallen over the suitcase too?
Obviously they hadn’t. Nor had they noticed my fall since they appeared to be moving on without me. I perceived the sound of the door opening ahead, followed by the subsequent noise of their feet moving across the bridge that connected this compartment to the luggage cars.
Just as I got to my feet, someone’s hand covered my mouth and yanked me back.
Immediately other hands began to grab my arms. I struggled and thrashed violently as I tried to get away or get out a sound.
It was far too dark for anyone to see I was in trouble. But in my peripheral vision, I noticed a light. It was like a tiny spark, and it was running down the aisle as if being conducted by a thin metal wire. As my eyes followed its route I realized this wasn’t just a spark. It was a small flame. And it was making its way in the direction of SJ and Daniel like a . . . fuse.
Oh no.
I side-kicked, rear-elbowed, and backwards head-butted at my unseen assailants. Somehow I managed to break free. I raced forward in a feeble attempt to outrun the fuse rapidly burning its way down the line.
I didn’t make it in time.
A couple of yards before I reached the door, an explosion went off. I was thrown back into the car—landing in a pile of other passengers who’d also been tossed to the ground. When my eyes finally blinked open, I discovered that the lights of the compartment had come back on, but a large haze of orange and purple smoke still hindered my vision.
I scrambled to my feet and bolted to the rear doorway. When I got there I found myself facing empty track.
Smoke rushed past me as we sped away from the tunnel. The explosion had detached the luggage cars from the rest of the train, severing the bridge that once connected us. I was barely able to see the disconnected cars roll to a stop as my own compartment raced on with the rest of the locomotive.
I looked down and saw that the steel, which had formerly linked to the bridge, had been completely burned through. On closer inspection, I discovered that the metallic edges were singed with the glittering magic dust that powered the train. There also appeared to be bits of torched purple lanyard crusted onto the area where the explosion had erupted.
I heard movement in the compartment behind me and turned to face what was coming.
The car was littered with luggage and frazzled people who were struggling to get to their feet. Directly behind them were Arian and several of his men. When he saw me looking at him he began to push even harder to get through the swarm of passengers.
I whirled back around and leaned out over the open space where the door had been. Unlike some of the others, this car did not have a ladder attached to it.
The lights started to dim again. I took the remaining few seconds to scan the layout from here to the other side of the compartment. Arian and I locked eyes just as the last lantern fluttered into blackness.
As the train plunged through the next tunnel I hurriedly maneuvered my way back across the chaotic car. I couldn’t see a thing, but worked from memory as best I could to hurtle myself over the fallen people and luggage then crawl beneath the rows of chairs and seated passengers.
General commotion echoed everywhere, allowing me to elude Arian’s capture. I eventually slipped out the other door into the next compartment. Once I had, I got to my feet and made a full on break for it.
With little to no regard for the luxury of keeping a low profile, I sped through the cars. The lights came back at some point. From then on I kept my eyes peeled for Blue and Jason. They had to be around here somewhere. And I needed to find them ASAP so we could figure out a way to get off this train and reconnect with the others.
As I continued I noticed that the rest of the passengers seemed oblivious to the explosion that had happened at the rear of the transport. It was pretty far back, and with all the lapses of darkness and mountain turbulence, they must’ve either not sensed it or chalked it up to a particularly bumpy ride.
I shoved my way past a haughty waiter as I burst through the dining car. Bobbing and weaving around one obstacle after the next, I proceeded through the kitchen and the various refrigeration compartments that followed.
With all my strength I soon heaved open the hefty door to the meat locker. The engine room wasn’t too far ahead now. When I arrived there I would tell the conductors to stop the train, and hopefully I would find Blue and Jason too.
The door suction-slammed behind me. I crisscrossed through the various hunks of hanging protein until—
BAM!
I thought I’d run into a really thick cut of beef, but then I looked up and saw the fedora-wearing magic hunter.
I reached my left hand into my satchel for my wand, but all I had time to grasp was one of those matchbooks I’d taken from the dining car. Two seconds after I bounced off his chest the hunter grabbed me. Yanking me by the wrist, he pulled me in close with one hand while he drew his dagger from its sheath with the other. He moved so fast I didn’t even have time to blink. The dagger was at my throat before I could finish a heartbeat. I would have been impressed had it not been for the sharp, cold blade I now had pressed against my neck.
Behind the hunter, two of his equally sketchy companions appeared. They entered through the other door, carrying several massive sacks of the magic dust that powered the train. When they saw our strange confrontation, they set their sacks down.
“Parker,” a hunter wearing a black tweed jacket said. “Come on. The others have secured the engine room. We need to help them prep the bridge for the explosion.”
“Hold on,” Parker said as he studied me.
He pulled me in even closer. I resisted, but not enough to prevent him from taking a long, deep sniff of my left arm. His nose twitched and his eyes sparked with recognition.
“This is the girl from the platform,” he said. “I was right. She’s a carrier.”
“Why didn’t we sense her on the train then?” another magic hunter wearing a green scarf asked.
The one called Parker noticed the empty orb on my lanyard. He twisted my injured hand, causing me to wince. Then he lifted up the lanyard with the tip of his dagger and brought its dangling orb close to his face.
“Not if she was blending in,” he said, comprehending what I’d done. He turned to look back at me. “Thought you were pretty clever, didn’t you?”
My eyes narrowed. “I have my moments.”
The other hunters came to join Parker in the overcrowding of my personal space. As they did, the train shook with an abrupt jolt of turbulence that caused one of the hunters to knock over his sack of magic dust.
My eyes widened as the sparkly powder fell to the ground a few feet from the back door. It spilled in a crescent shape around the exit, managing to coat several links of sausages.
“You idiot. Look what you did,” the hunter in the black tweed jacket said.
He reached down and picked up a fistful of magic dust and chucked it at his clumsier, green scarf-wearing accomplice.
Green Scarf dodged, causing the splash of dust to stick to a large chunk of beef hanging between them. In retaliation, Green Scarf grasped two handfuls of magic dust and chucked it at Tweed Jacket.
Tweed Jacket rapidly moved out of the way. Most of the dust got on an adjacent dangling cut of pork, but some still managed to stick to his sleeves, and Parker’s too.
Parker cleared his throat and clutched my injured wrist tighter, making me wince again. The other hunters refocused. Green Scarf ripped the lanyard from my neck. Then he and Tweed Jacket compared it to the ones around their own necks and took in my scent.
“I don’t believe it. She smells like Fairy Godmother magic,” Tweed Jacket said.
“Yeah, but stronger somehow,” Green Scarf added. “More powerful than any Godmother scent I’ve ever been around. What do you think, Parker?”
Parker’s dry, cracked lips formed into a small, malicious grin. “I think there’s only one way to find out. Hold her down.”
Oh, I don’t think so, you—
The steel door I’d entered through abruptly slid open. Facing us now was Arian and a posse of five sword-wielding companions. They barged into the frosty place and rushed through the meat maze to the center of the compartment.
Parker hurled his dagger at Arian’s head. The aim was perfect, but regrettably so were Arian’s reflexes. He dodged the blade with ease. The same could not be said for the guy who’d been standing directly behind him.
Hmm. I guess that makes it four sword-wielding henchmen.
Arian didn’t even blink as his fallen attendant collapsed to the ground. He simply continued to approach us.
Parker yanked me back a couple feet in response. I swallowed hard at the burst of pain in my hand, squeezing the matchbook I had concealed within my fist.
“Stand down,” Arian said as he drew his sword. “I don’t know what your business is here, hunters, but the girl is mine.”
“I don’t think so, Jack,” Tweed Jacket countered as he whipped out a rather rusty looking knife in retaliation.
He and Green Scarf stepped forward, meeting the opposing forces in the middle of the compartment and blocking Arian from coming anywhere near me. This would’ve been great had it not been for Crusty the Magic Hunter (i.e., Parker) still latched onto my arm.
I glanced over Parker’s shoulder. The exit was barely five feet away.
“We found the kid first,” Tweed Jacket continued. “Her magic’s ours.”
“Her magic . . .” Arian raised his eyebrows, finally understanding why I could work my Fairy Godmother wand.
After a pause he shouldered the realization and readdressed the hunters. “Look, you can have her magic,” he told them. “I just want her head when you’re done. Deal?”
The boys on both sides of the standoff exchanged looks; silently deciding whether or not the terms were acceptable. Their macho staring match was so intense that they didn’t notice the lanterns inside the compartment were beginning to flicker.
“Works for me,” Parker finally replied.
The light dimmed more and more with each passing second.
“Actually,” I interrupted, raising my free, non-injured hand as if to ask a question. “If I could interject . . .”
In the next instant everything went black. The moment it did I curled my raised hand into a fist and punched Parker directly in the throat. He released me and I reached out for where his lanyard had been, purposefully entangling my hand within it.
I tightened my grip around Parker’s necklace and pulled back—strangling him with the lanyard while my other hand grabbed his arm. He was my human shield as I swiftly backed up through the darkness.
When I felt myself touching the steel of the door I kneed Parker in the back, released my grip, and shoved his body forward—knocking over the hunters who’d tried to come after us.
