He awoke to his bed rattling.
With a thought, flame spread to his ears, and his hearing returned, just as a shout pierced his head.
He vaulted off the bed as the Blinking Blade burned into his hand.
The workers and hunters, rudely awoken, were looking around in confusion.
The hunter named Gulner was pointing towards the door.“We are under attack! Man the cannons, they have almost breached the wall.” He said.
But Wretch heard nothing, only the creak of the bunks and the shuffling of the newly awoken crew.
They all looked at each other. A hunter from Dalynja’s crew, the tall, broad defender, walked up to him and whispered something in his ear.
Gulner turned to them with wide eyes. “I heard them walking, pounding at the doors.” He said.
“We hear nothing, Gulner.”His comrade said. “It’s an illusion. A trick the fog is playing on us.”
The room grew still. Wretch sighed and laid back down on the stiff bed. Trying to drift off to sleep.
The noise of the train died down, the odd whisper and murmur between the crewmen. Unless that was a trick too. Through the metal wall to his left, the sound of feet stepping on grass slithered into his consciousness.
He could make out four, maybe five different footsteps.
He sighed and turned to the side. Above him, he heard Astrid toss and turn.
“You can’t sleep?” he whispered. “This is real, by the way.”
“Too much noise,” Astrid answered.
“Yeah. I’m hearing footsteps. It’s annoying.” Wretch said. looking up at the underside of the bunk bed above.
Astrid’s pale face slid into view from the bunk above. Her eyes were wide with lips pressed shut.
“I hear footsteps too,” she said.
His heart grew cold. “They are real then?”
She nodded.
He rolled off the bed. Sneaking up to Edmund, who laid with his eyes closed.
“Captain,” he whispered. “Footsteps outside. Both me and Astrid can hear them.”
The Captain didn’t respond, breathing easily.
Oh, Right
He put a hand on Edmund’s shoulder and his eyes shot open. Wretch repeated himself and Edmund nodded, then swung of the bed in haste.
He pressed an ear to the metal wall, and he met Wretch’s gaze with a grim look. The captain shook Dalynja awake while Wretch roused Elenya back into consciousness.
“Any suggestions?” Dalynja whispered a moment later, hastily fastening her gear.
“Wake the crew.” Edmund said. “Fire up the engine, in case we have to reverse. Then we take the fight. If they break the rail behind us, we’re done.”
Dalynja nodded to her hunters“Move. Double pace.”
The train came alive in silent urgency. Elenya pulled on her warrior skirt and armor, knuckles white on the halberd’s grip. Wretch jumped up and down, limbering up his shoulders and knees.
“Finally,” Elenya said with a joyless smile. “right Ratty.”
“Better than waiting around.” He answered.
The steam engine roared to life driving away the cold that seeped through the walls. The workers had noticed the commotion and sat still on their beds, watching them. Edmund held up a finger to his lips, then gave Elenya a look.
She flung open the door. Mist flooding inside like a milky tide. She vanished into it. Wretch jumped after, landing softly on the wet grass with raised blade and twitching claw.
Elenya stood in the light from the open door, her feet obscured by a fog so thick it roiled like water.The other hunter welled out. Edmund came up from behind them, followed by Dalynja’s massive dog and her crew.
“Where are they? Do you see them, son?” Edmund said from behind his raised shield.
Wretch squinted. Their lamps flickered in the branches, almost obscured by a mist twice as thick as before.
Then he saw them.
Shapes in the treeline just beyond the glow. Humans, or not quite. Their arms were too long, ending at the knees. They were hunched and broad over the hairy shoulders. They were watching them.
“Beyond the lamps,” Wretch said. “At least five. Human-like.”
Dalynja’s dog growled.
The figures moved, vanishing into white background. One figure was slimmer than the rest. As they retreated, he realized why. It was wearing a blue overall. The kind the workers had. The fabric stretched and torn.
Not pulled on, more like...
The melded back into the fog, leaving only a wisp of twirling white.
“They left,” Wretch said.
“They fear us,” Dalynja muttered. “That’s good.”
The night broke into a choir of howling laughs. A chill darting down Wretch’s spine.
“You hear that too?” Elenya whispered.
Dalynja nodded. The previous confidence faded from her expression.
“One of them was wearing blue overalls.” Wretch said.
Edmund lowered his shield. “Victor, the missing worker. They got him then.”
“Yes, but it was too tight.” Wretch growled. “I think… that was Victor.”
The group looked at him in silence. Only the occasional shuffling from inside the train and the low hum of the steam engine.
“By the Saint and all that is holy,” Astrid mumbled.
“Captain,” Gulner said. “Let’s reverse out of here, this place is mad.”
“Job ain’t finished.” Elenya said. Towering over the man.
“This place is beyond our capabilities.” Dalynja said. “The steam cannons are useless and what are we? Just a few Firelings and Embers, that's nothing out here.”
“That is true.” Edmund said, turning back to the train. “But remember why we are here.”
“Sternthal is cut off. The people there need us.”
“We can call for a blaze.” Gulner scoffed. “Let them deal with this.”
“That’s the thinking that trapped us behind walls.” Wretch said, claw around the Blinking Blade. “Aren’t we hunters? They will find no weakness in me. I ain’t running.”
Another moment of silence.
“Back on the train.” Edmund said finally. “Me and Dalynja will decide our next move.”
They climbed back in the spiked wagon. Most of the workers had awoken. Sitting nervously on their bunk beds as they returned. Only when the latch screeched into place did some of the tension disappear.
A minute later. Edmund and Dalynja discussed in hushed voices by the light of the humming engine.
From the shadows a voice hissed. “You don’t have what it takes,no will, no strength. Too weak. I would have been happier if you never joined us.”
Wretch turned to Elenya, still in her armored dress and in the middle of inspecting her fingernails.
“Damn voices,” he muttered.
The Captains nodded to each other and Edmund walked back to the rest of Richter’s. “We are staying.”
Astrid sighed while Elenya and Wretch nodded.
“Good.” Wretch said.
Edmund looked between the red haired girl and him. “I know you want to prove yourself, but let’s not get overconfident. We don’t know what we are dealing with.”
Astrid tapped her fingers against the metal frame. “Do we have a plan?”
“The sun rises in three hours.” Edmund said. “We get to work immediately, if all goes well, we finish by noon. Then we continued to Sternthal, completing the mission.”
Edmund put a hand on Astrid’s shoulder, slumped on the bed. “Sternthal is only an hour away. Forward is safer than back.”
Astrid fiddled with her dress. “I was ready for things to be bad, but this…”
“We will be fine.” Edmund continued. “Our group isn’t as great as Dalynja’s at tracking or at range. But in close combat? I reckon we’re the deadliest Fireling-Ember unit alive.
Astrid nodded.
“Take it easy sis.” Elenya said with a grin. “We are getting through this. Even if I have to carry you or the rat all the way back home.”
“Get some rest.” Edmund said. “We’ll be free of this mist soon enough.”
Wretch settled down again.
The noises were frequent now. whispers, tapping on the metal wall. the sound of scurrying creatures beneath his bed. Twice he shot upright to illusionary roars that rattled his skull.
When Jakob, Dalynja’s fighter, shook him, he was already fully awake. He and Elenya were next up to guard the train. He gave the man a toothy smile as he stood up and Elenya delivered a deadly stare.
They sat down on two chairs by the dying engine.
“What do you hear?” Wretch asked.
“A battle,” Elenya said leaning back with the halberd in her lap. “Just outside of the walls. Screaming, struggling. you?”
“Rats, whispers. Howling beasts. That sort of thing.”
The orange light reflected in her eyes. “That letter, are you going to read it?”
“Maybe.”
Boots tapped against the steel floor. Gulner walked over, drumming his finger against the crossbow. The weapon was beautiful, with inlaid brass and cogs for a reload mechanism and an intricate sight of glass and metal.
“Sorry about Jakob.” He said. “The oaf didn’t think it through. My apologies.”
Elenya patted an empty barrel beside her. “I’ll forgive you, If you tell me about that crossbow.”
Gulner sat down, twisting the weapon in different angles, allowing them to inspect it thoroughly. “Dalynja’s mother made it. She was a Blessed inventor.” Flame of ingenuity, Wretch thought.
“Is it Blessed? My weapon can switch locations.” he said, petting the Blinking Blade looped in his belt.
“Yep!” Gulner replied with an excited nod. “Gives me sight like a hawk, but the downside—”
His eyes flickered to the corner. “Damn noise.” He said with a sigh. “You two from Nov Yanosk?”
“I am,” Wretch answered with a toothy smile. “First time outside the walls.”
Gulner squinted at him. Inspecting his claws, teeth and lingering on his black eyes.“You know you look terrifying, right?”
Elenya gave a half-hearted smirk. “Wait until you see his fireling blessing. I am from Yenvograd by the way,” Elenya said.
Wretch gave her a look. He knew Elenya’s blessed name. Her true name.
Butcher of Yenvograd
“Oh, an outer-city hunter, that’s nice.” Gulner said “Never really cared for city folk. Did a lot of fishing then?”
“Everyone works with fishing down there. So you’re good at shooting or what?” Elenya asked, giving a nod to his weapon.
Gulner gave a crude try at a one eyed wink.
“Yes ma’am! Very good. Flame gave me two blessings. Increase the speed of my shots and steer them in the air. Took forever to master the last one,” he said.
“That’s useful,” Elenya said with a yawn.
Wretch scratched at the scales of his neck, irritated by the damp fog. “You know, Blessed usually keep their powers to themselves.”
Gulner shrugged his shoulders. “Why not. We’re on the same team, right?”
After two hours, the clock in the cramped cabin marked seven. Workers and hunters moved from their bunks. Bags under their eyes.
Once again, they burst out of the metal door, securing the perimeter. The train was untouched, except for footprints, stamped deep into the mud.
“Like a dog’s paw crossed with a man’s foot,” Dalynja said after inspecting it.
“Keep sharp.” Edmund said with shield in hand. “Soon we’ll be behind the walls of Sternthal.”
The workers toiled with fervor. hauling metal and hammering with no regard for the noise while the hunters stood in pairs, watching the mist.
The sounds pressed in on Wretch. Skittering claws and whispers. Was he going mad? Or was something coming closer.
After six hours of gut wrenching labor, a man drenched in sweat looked up with a curious expression.
“Voja! We are almost done. Where are the bolts?” He asked out into the air as Wretch and Edmund stood to the side. He would have thought it a hallucination if it weren’t for the man’s mouth moving.
“Voja?” the man asked.
“I got a few extra,” another worker said as he produced a few metal cylinders from his pocket, his eyes looking around wearily.
A rustle came from the mist and Wretch ignored it with a mutter.
Something whizzed through the fog. A worker fell. Spear jutting from his neck. Screams and laughs shook the mist.
Authors note: I know you've been anticipating Wretch's use of his new blessing. Looks like he'll get an opportunity to flex those conjured muscles very soon. If you are interested, I can drop some of my sketches of his forms, I am a decent artist and the cover was made by me on a Wacom one (For free of course).As always, thanks for reading and shoot me a message if anything comes to mind./Emil