by Andrew Rowe
On my own, I couldn’t see myself having good odds against even one of the Blackstone Bandits.
If I’m lucky, I can get to her before I even run into them.
I wasn’t lucky. Not in that sense, at least.
I found them right after I moved into the next car. Four people in hooded cloaks, black garb, and black neutral masks. They were moving through the middle, two abreast, about fifteen feet away.
They were heading straight toward me.
None of them had weapons drawn, which was good. They also weren’t in swinging range yet, so I had a moment to choose how to act.
I stepped out of the way. “Excuse me.” I lowered my head, making room for them to walk past.
My heart hammered in my chest.
The group gave me a look, then walked past me without stopping.
I started moving again the moment they passed me, my heart still pounding.
Strange that they’re going the opposite way from me. Isn’t the vault car in the direction I’m heading? Maybe some of them are robbing the wealthy passengers, too. That could get really messy.
I didn’t pause to ponder. I had to keep moving.
The second group very nearly ran straight into me when I reached the door to the next car. Three of them were coming through it, walking fast.
“Sorry,” I muttered, stepping out of the way.
Rather than brushing past me, though, they froze. I saw someone reach for a weapon.
I took a few steps back, raising my hands. “Easy, there.”
“Go back to your car, kid.” The one in front commanded. The voice was male, and I noted that he had a blue gem in the center of his mask.
“I, uh, sorry. It’s that way.” I pointed past him. I was lying, of course.
There was a tense moment while my heart threatened to leap right out of its chest cavity. I pictured that, hoping it would smack someone in the face if it did.
“I know you.” The leader spoke again. “Why do I know you?”
I tried not to panic more. This was good, I told myself. A chance. “I ran into Jade last year. She talked to me about recruitment after I graduate.”
The leader took a step forward. “Is that so...? Hm.” He paused, looking me up and down. “Take off your sword belt.”
“I, uh...” I lowered my hands to my belt. There was an important decision to be made here.
“I said lose the weapon. Don’t make a mistake.”
My hand inched for the hilt. I wasn’t going to hand Selys-Lyann over to train thieves, nor was I going to let myself be unarmed if they decided to attack.
“It’s fine,” a voice came from behind the three people I’d seen. “He’s with me.”
There was a fourth masked figure behind them. Not hidden, no. Just unnoticed.
And I knew that voice.
It made my heart pound even faster, but for different reasons.
Heads turned toward the fourth figure. Apparently, they were almost as surprised when he spoke as surprised as I was. “Is he, now?” The leader asked.
“He is. I’ll take care of him. Move on ahead, I’ll catch up.”
“You’re not in charge here.”
The fourth figure shook his head. “No, but I’ll take responsibility for this. Trust me.”
The leader grunted. “We’ll discuss this later. Don’t mess anything up.”
The fourth figure nodded. “Of course.”
“Out of our way.” The bandit leader told me.
I stepped aside, hands up.
Three bandits shoved past me. The fourth remained.
In a moment, we were left alone in silence.
The black masked figure walked closer, his eyes meeting mine. “Hello, Corin.”
I tried not to sound too agitated. “Hello, Jin.”
He lifted a finger to just in front of my lips. “Don’t use that name here.”
I took a deep breath. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you again, it seems.” I couldn’t see him smile, but I could hear the amusement in his voice. “But I can’t help you for long. I need to get back to work. Come on, I’ll walk you back to your car. Which, in spite of what you said, is in this direction.” He pointed back behind me.
I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or terrified that Jin knew where I was staying on the train. Probably both.
“I can’t. I still have a friend that way, and I need to make sure she’s safe.”
There was a pause. “Ah. The girl.” There was something odd in his tone. Irritation, maybe?
“She’s not much further. Please. I’ll wait with her until you finish whatever you’re doing here. As long as no one is getting hurt, that is.”
“There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Then you know what they’re planning then? You’re actually a part of this...” I waved at the air. “Train ro—”
“Yes, I’m with them.”
“Why?”
He sucked in a breath. “When my parents sent me to Lorian Heights, they told me to make friends. Allies. You, Patrick, and the others were my first choice. But that didn’t exactly work out, did it?”
“So you joined...” I glanced at the nearby sleeper cars. I didn’t think anyone was probably listening to our conversation, but I didn’t want them to overhear anything.
“No one will notice us talking unless you’re too loud.” Jin said, reading my thoughts.
“Mesmer thing?”
He nodded. I felt a little jealous — that was an extremely useful ability.
“Then back to my question.”
“I didn’t join them. Not exactly. You remember when Jade mentioned that we could join after graduating?”
“Sure. They said there would be tests. Is this one of your tests?”
He shook his head. “No. I tracked them down early and asked for a favor.”
“A favor?”
He paused, then responded in a serious tone. “I have a debt to pay. Today, if we succeed...well, it’ll be a start.”
I frowned. “You’re robbing a train to pay off a debt? Who could you owe that much?”
“It’s not like that.” He shook his head. “But I’ve said too much already. You need to get back to your car.”
“I need to get to Cecily’s car.”
Jin grunted. “You’re stubborn.”
I felt a smile cross my face. “I thought that was something you liked about me.”
“Not particularly.” He jerked a thumb behind him, toward the car I’d been approaching. “Follow me. Don’t speak to anyone. We’ll be unnoticed unless you make a mistake.”
I followed him.
There were a cluster of black masked bandits in the next car, a dozen or more. Most of them were in the hallway, but some of them were going into the sleeper cars. I heard a few heated conversations, but no fighting. Not yet.
My instincts told me to step in and help the people who the bandits were robbing, but as Jin led me through the bandits, I didn’t actually hear any robbery going on.
The snippets were more like:
“Hang in there. We’ll be done soon.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got the best guys up top.”
And weirdly, “How’s your uncle doing? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
There was no hostility. And the bandits that were standing in front of the doors weren’t facing inward, they were facing outward...like they were guarding the people inside, or just watching the halls for trouble.
What is going on here?
The strangest thing was that I knew the train had guards onboard.
Where are they? Did they all rush to the vault car?
I didn’t have much more time to think about it before we reached the next car, where Cecily was located.
There were no more bandits in this particular car. I felt some relief at that, but it didn’t mean this was over.
Jin continued to lead me forward.
“
Stop. This is it.” I pointed to Cecily’s door. I didn’t know if I should be relieved that Jin didn’t know where Cecily was located or not.
Jin turned back to me, glanced from side-to-side, then nodded. “Good. Once you get in, stay inside. No matter what you hear outside.”
That was pretty needlessly ominous, but I understood his meaning. “Sure, as long as she’s actually in there.”
“Stay either way, until we’re gone. You don’t want to be walking around when things escalate.”
I didn’t like the sound of that either.
“Can you tell me what—”
He shook his head. “Not now. This is where we part ways. Stay safe, Corin.”
Jin’s eyes met mine once more, then...
Then I’d forgotten who I was talking to, and I was all alone.
In the moment, I didn’t realize anything was amiss. The Mesmer attunement is that insidious. I had countermeasures for mind-influencing spells, but I didn’t know to use them, so I didn’t. I just felt a little disoriented, took stock of where I was, and got back to work.
I turned toward Cecily’s room on the side of the car and knocked on the door.
There was a pause, then I heard her voice. “Who is it?”
“It’s Corin.”
“Oh, Corin!” I heard some shuffling. “Come in!”
I opened the door, hastily stepping inside and shutting it behind me.
Cecily was sitting on the floor, ringed in books. Her hands were covered in ink, and there was a long metallic rod on the ground next to her. An etching rod, I realized, just a different model than the ones I used.
“Sorry! I know it’s, uh, kind of a mess. Also, I can’t really move.” She gave me a sheepish look. She pointed at something draped across her lap — a piece of silvery cloth. At first, I hadn’t realized it was a separate piece from her dress.
It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at. “Oh. You’re working on a dueling tunic?”
“More like a dueling shawl, actually. I’m trying to find something I can just toss over a school uniform without breaking the dress code. And, uh, I can’t stop mid-enchanting. Explosion risks, you know?”
I nodded, understanding. “Okay. I’ll watch the door.”
“Watch the door...? Why?” She blinked. “Is everything okay, Corin?”
Oh. Right. She probably has no idea what’s going on.
“Uh...so, we might have a slight case of bandits.”
***
While Cecily worked on finishing her garment, I etched defensive runes into the wall of her cabin. Just in case.
No combat ever reached our part of the train, though. In fact, I didn’t hear any fighting at all. Maybe the combat was just far away, but the absence of obvious battles actually made me more nervous. At least if there were sounds of steel and explosions, I could gauge where the danger was coming from or how bad it might be.
In silence, all I could do was draw more runes and try not to panic.
Minutes passed.
Finally, there was a knock on the door of the room.
“Who is it?” Cecily asked.
I tensed, hand resting on Selys-Lyann’s hip.
“Hello, Miss Lambert. This is Researcher 437-C. I am pleased to inform you that the train is now secure.”
I opened the door, finding Researcher standing just outside. Wait, when did Sera summon her. Is this the same Researcher, or someone else’s…no, that’s too unlikely. It’s probably fine, I concluded. “Is everyone safe?”
“Hello, Master Cadence. Undoubtedly, some people are not safe. However, if I am properly interpreting the intent behind your question, your friends that remained in the other cabin appear to be safe.”
I felt a hint of my nervousness slip away. “Thank you. Is it clear for us to head over there?”
Researcher nodded. “Yes. I would be pleased to escort you there.”
I turned toward Cecily.
“Two more minutes on this, sorry!”
I briefly considered offering to help with her project, but jumping in mid-way on an enchantment that I wasn’t familiar with was a bad idea. And I was still too nervous.
I briefly turned back to Researcher. “Wait. You were in the spire. Did Sera summon you here?”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Researcher nodded.
“Do you have enough mana to survive here? There isn’t a lot of ambient mana, I don’t know if the bracer will be enough to help you.”
“Thank you for the concern. When Miss Cadence and I established our new contract, I was reconnected with my primary self, which vastly decreased my mana maintenance cost. The mana required provided by my contract is all that I need. Do you require the bracer to be returned?”
I shook my head. “No, that’s fine. Keep it as an emergency measure.”
“Your gift is much appreciated.”
With the knowledge that Researcher wasn’t going to suddenly die of mana starvation, I turned back to watching the halls until finally, after what felt like ages, Cecily finished her project.
She wiped her hands off on a nearby towel, tossed her new shawl on, and stood up. “Okay. Ready.”
Together, we headed to where Sera and the others were waiting.
Only one person was missing when we got inside.
***
I was still tense when we heard another knock on the door.
Vanniv opened it before I could say anything. Fortunately, it was just Keras on the other side. He was the last person to come back.
His shirt was torn to shreds. I frowned at him. “Everything go okay up there?”
“My poor, underserving shirt. Bah. I’ll get a new one.” He shook his head. “I’m fine. Everything is fine outside. You all okay in here?’
We gave him a round of nods.
“Good. I’ll go change shortly.”
Marissa frowned at him. “You didn’t have to leave me behind back there. And what happened? I heard thunder.”
I hadn’t heard thunder. That was interesting. Was someone using localized sound containment spells or enchantments, similar to the ones I used on the walls?
“That usually comes with lightning.” Keras shrugged. “It’s dealt with. Nothing to worry about.”
“I think she wants a description what happened, Keras,” I pointed out.
“Just a reunion with an old acquaintance.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You know the Blackstone Bandit?”
“Sure, we’ve met before.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Anyway, I won the battle, of course. But he got away.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Everyone else was doing the same.
“Unfortunate that your ‘old acquaintance’ slipped away like that, and that no one else happened to be there to see exactly what happened,” Sera began. “One might even wonder—”
Marissa poked her.
“Ow!” Sera frowned. “Fine, fine. I’ll just leave the obvious questions unsaid and we can all pretend that no one knows anything.”
“I’m sure Keras would tell us anything he wanted us to know.” Patrick was trying to say it in a placating tone, but Sera only looked more irritated.
“It’s nothing that concerns you right now. I’ll fill you in if it’s ever relevant,” Keras offered. His earlier enthusiasm had died down, and he looked a little more uncomfortable with the current line of discussion.
“Why don’t you tell us more of your story instead?” Patrick asked.
“...Right now?” Keras frowned. “Don’t you all need to recover a bit first?”
“Not really. It’s not like any of us were hurt by the bandits you’re probably conspiring with,” Sera noted.
I felt a little guilty at that, given that I had, technically, been conspiring with one of the bandits myself.
Or, bandit in training, anyway. Whatever Jin was. I’d really need to figure that out at some point, but presumably he’d already left the train alongside the bandits.
Marissa poked Sera again.
Sera growled in response.
Keras chuckled. “I suppose I could tell you a bit more. Let me get changed first.”
With that, Keras left the train car again, heading back to his own.
Eyes turned toward Sera.
“What?” She folded her arms. “I’m just saying the same thing you all should be thinking. He’s being suspicious.”
“I suppose I agree with you,” I admitted. I was actually hoping that Keras was hiding something, at least for the moment. If Keras knew something about what was going on, maybe he’d know why Jin was involved, too, and I could try to pry that out of him.
Sera gave me a sharp smile. “Thank you! You’ve made a good decision for the first time in...possibly ever?”
I ignored her. “But I’m not worried about it. If he’s colluding with the bandits, there’s probably a good reason. I think I know what it’s about.”
Sera leaned forward. “And what might that be?”
“I don’t think they were here to steal money.” I glanced down toward where I’d seen the bandits heading, and considered what I knew about the layout of the train. “I think they were here to steal a person.”
“Oh, kidnapping. That’s loads better. Why ever was I concerned?”
I shook my head. “Not kidnapping, Sera. I think this was a rescue operation.”
That got her to be quiet for about a second, at least.
“I think Corin is right.” Marissa took a breath. “Got an idea on why, too. But I think I should hold off on sayin’ too much for now. Don’t think Keras is holdin’ back without reason.”
Patrick sighed. “This sort of failure to communicate is exactly the kind of thing that gets us upset with each other later. We’re asking for more misunderstandings if we keep holding off on telling each other things.”
As usual, Patrick was the voice of reason, and no one listened to him.
“I can assure you that any information you provide will be kept strictly confidential, unless someone with a higher level of authority asks me about it.” Researcher offered.
I’d almost forgotten she was still with us.
...Maybe that was part of why Keras was being quiet.