“Thank you,” Victor stated. The Templar nodded and left the family, taking Jazai and Asla outside for a spell to allow mother, father, and son to have a moment to themselves.
Chapter Sixteen
The group spent the night at the Alouest abode. The following morning, after a feast of a breakfast, they set out to one of the prides of Monleans, the Renaissance Central Station. Even though they arrived fairly early in the morning, the station was already bustling. Whistles and orders rang out as adventurers, merchants, travelers, and many others hastily found their routes and the right places to await their trains.
Devol looked at the black-and-gold archways that decorated the main concourse. Several train lines were huddled under the main building which had orange glass covering the ceiling that bathed the area in a sunny glow.
“This is one of our city’s masterpieces,” Victor said with pride. He was now dressed in the white-and-gold armor of the city guard, and on both hips were large curved blades with a grip in the middle that connected Glaives, his unique exotic. “Only Britana has more travel than Renaissance, but we still have the most elegant station in all the kingdoms.”
“Monleans had the first cobalt grid trains as I understand,” Wulfsun remarked as he looked around the station. The Templar stood head and shoulders above all others there.
“Indeed. They started to bring them in twelve years ago and most of the cobalt furnace trains have been phased out already,” Victor added, so boastful one would think he had a hand in inventing them.
“Here, Devol, take these.” Lilli insisted and handed her son two large bags. “The blue one has extra food for the trip,” she explained. “And the white one has clothes and other supplies for when you return to the order hall.”
“I’ll be back, Mom, I promise!” he assured her and gave her another hug. “Like Wulfsun said, I’m only a portal away now.”
“Is that our train?” Asla asked and pointed to one of the tracks. The group turned as a large, sleek train pulled into the station. It was white with gold trimming and white light streamed from under it as the mana transferred from the cobalt engine in the train and connected it to the tracks.
There were no doors on the front. Instead, a man in a white suit and hat teleported out and held a hand up as blue mana formed the word Levirei in the air. “Train to Levirei! All aboard!” he shouted and finished his declaration with a whistle as he began to march down the line. The group all began to hurry forward along with dozens of others.
Devol produced his ticket and an official punched it to allow him onto the transit area. The others did the same except for his parents, but thanks to his father’s position, the man simply bowed and let them through to see their son off.
He loaded his bags onto a cart, which was taken by a bellhop whom he thanked with a few cobalt bits. As the cart was pushed away, he noticed a set of odd figures in the distance. There were four of them and all wore dark robes that shadowed their faces. They were dressed from head to foot in black, but he noticed an odd curve to the fingers of their gloves and felt a strange yet familiar presence from them. As he began to send mana into his eyes, a hurrying merchant bumped into him and almost knocked them both over.
“So sorry…not paying attention!” the man apologized and helped to stabilize him. “It’s best to get on soon, young one. The train waits for no one.” He stepped quickly on board and when the boy turned to look at the figures again, they were gone.
“Last call for Levirei!” the conductor shouted as he passed through on his way to the front of the train. He teleported inside once he reached his mark.
“We’d best get going,” Wulfsun said and Devol turned to confirm that everyone was behind him. “Are the bags on board?”
He nodded absently. Although he wanted to mention the cloaked figures, he did not know where they had gone and he decided he shouldn’t worry his parents at this juncture. He gave his mom one last hug and shook his father’s hand as he and the others climbed aboard. Their train car was decorated with white carpet and similar orange glass above, which bathed the car in the same warm glow as the station. He found his seat, lowered the window, and waved to his parents as the train started. The car lifted slightly and he ducked inside before it set off and he closed the window.
“So, are you excited, apprentice?” Wulfsun chortled as he chose a seat across from the three and his bulk almost filled the row.
“Are you already calling me that?” Devol responded and folded his arms. “So you’ve finally come around, eh?”
The Templar stroked his beard and regarded him with an unrepentant look. “I never minded the idea at all. I merely wanted to make sure my ass was covered,” he admitted and looked out the window as the fields of Renaissance flew past. “In case Elijah does come back, it’s better to be safe.”
The boy frowned as he thought about that. “So, Elijah…you make him sound like a rather stern man.”
Wulfsun hesitated for a moment before he shrugged. “He’s not exactly the rowdy type at all, but he is a gentle soul normally. It’s merely best to not annoy him.” He waved a large hand as if to dismiss the thoughts out of the air. “That’s something you should still talk about with your parents. For now, I’ll mark this as the official start of your apprenticeship. You’d best be prepared.”
“Technically, you have been training him until now,” Asla pointed out. “This is only…ceremonial, is it not?”
“Templars are big on ceremony.” Jazai chuckled. “Haven’t you noticed?”
Devol took a moment to look down the car from his seat. A stewardess was checking on passengers but he did not see any signs of the figures he’d noticed before.
“Is something wrong, lad?” Wulfsun asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked curiously at the boy. “You seem anxious.”
Devol wondered whether he should bother or not. Perhaps he was being paranoid. Before he could make his mind up, the Templar leaned forward. “Being your mentor is more than only training, Devol. If you need something, let me know.”
The man’s seriousness was rather disarming and he put his thoughts together quickly. “A few minutes before we left, I saw these guys—four of them—in dark robes. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about them.”
“Oh, good. It wasn’t only me then.” Jazai sighed. “I think they may have been dark magi. It’s not technically illegal as long as they don’t use blood magic or necromancy, but it's not exactly looked on favorably either.”
“Pot and kettle,” Wulfsun said as he stood. “I need to hit the head. If I run into them, I’ll let you know. Or if you see them again, let me know.”
“Understood,” Devol confirmed with a nod.
“And start planning for when we get into the city,” the Templar ordered as he slid out of his row. “When we get our boots on the ground, we need to be ready.” With that, he left them and the train car and moved to the next one.
“Planning?” the young swordsman asked in bemusement and looked at the others.
Asla was equally as puzzled. “I’m not sure what we can accomplish. He’s the one with all the plans.”
“He’s probably trying to sound like a general or something,” Jazai quipped as he stretched his arms before he slid them behind his head to rest. “Welcome to being official Templar recruits.”
Wulfsun walked casually through another train car and passed one of the restrooms. He had also caught a glimpse of the figures Devol had seen, and his anima was always up. They were more than odd. There was something foul about them. He knew they were aboard because he could feel them although he couldn’t place them. The farther he moved down the train, the more he could sense them, and the lingering unease strengthened to a sickening aura.
He let a steward pass and both men gave the other a friendly nod. As soon as the official had left, he tried to open the door to the next train car but it was locked. He used a trickle of vis to force it open and grunted when the lock cracked loudly. Quickly,
he stepped through and shut the door. This car was larger than the others—storage, most likely. He took a few more steps and could now feel the foul magic all around him. The interior was dark with only a few lights above and below to illuminate the space.
A rattle caught his attention a moment before something landed on the floor. Wulfsun strode forward and unleashed his anima as the cloaked figures emerged from the shadows. He stared intently at them but their hoods hid their faces. “Are you taking a walk there, lads?” he asked.
One of the cloaked figures held a hand up. A tattooed rune on the palm lit up and he braced for an attack. Instead, the rune created a thin field around the car and everything immediately grew quiet.
“A silence spell?” he asked and thumped his fists together. “So it’ll be an exciting walk, will it?” The cloaked figures let their gloves slip off to reveal gray, spotted skin and pointed nails. Two of them brandished jagged daggers.
“Oh, I see.” Wulfsun grinned and punched his fists together until the knuckles cracked. “Quite exciting, then?”
Chapter Seventeen
The strangers attacked first. Those with only their claws lunged at the Templar and swung the talons down as Wulfsun raised his gauntlets to block them. A blast released as his majestic activated to coat his body in a hardened mana shield. The barrier knocked them back and slowed the strikes of the other attackers.
The Templar moved to the side. He had little room in the car to maneuver but enough to let their attack slide past as he powered his fist into the back of one man’s head and hurled him into the assailant behind him. The other attempted to strike at his throat and he noticed a coating of liquid running down the blade—poison, no doubt.
He was able to snatch the figure by the wrist. At least they appeared to be smart enough to aim for the places that weren’t armored, but as he wrestled with the dagger-wielding attacker, he was finally able to shake its hood off. He recoiled instinctively when he understood why they had such a sickening presence.
The assassin’s skin was gray and his eyes were lifeless with nothing but yellowed corneas and no irises. It had the appearance of a male but had been shaven bald and browless and its mouth was sewn shut. A dark spot between its eyes allowed a small trickle of mana to seep out.
These were ghouls, corpses reanimated by magic and under someone’s control. When the surprise wore off, the entity lifted a leg and drove it into Wulfsun’s chest. Although it did no damage, the force was strong enough to jostle him and make him take a step back. This weakened his hold and allowed it to wrest its hand free. The Templar snarled as he tried to adjust to this new reality of ghouls that could use vis. It was unusual, even in this strange moment.
The being he had previously knocked back had begun to recover. It focused on the Templar’s undefended back as its comrades began to descend on their quarry. One of them raised a hand that formed ice around the fingertips. Wulfsun could sense the ghoul behind him preparing to strike as the three others moved toward him.
He straightened and lifted a leg as the creature in front of him fired an ice lance and the assailant behind him prepared to stab its dagger into the back of his neck. When he slammed his foot down, it activated his great barrier around him. The ice lance struck it and broke apart, while the dagger met the barrier and shattered. He balled a fist, turned, and dropped the shield as he drove his fist into the chin of the ghoul behind him. The blow landed with a sickening crack and launched the being into the roof of the train car. Its skull was crushed by the impact with the metal and it fell heavily, and what little mana was left within evaporated.
“Yer master must have not known who he was dealin’ with.” Wulfsun snarled defiance, his voice almost a growl more akin to a beast than a man. He turned to face the remaining assassins. “Or perhaps I wasn’t your primary target. You were after the kids.” The gauntlet on his right hand began to glow with his yellow mana as he placed a hand atop his fist and held it firmly while he concentrated his mana and anger. “No matter. There’s no use in keeping you alive when you can’t even talk.”
The ghouls seemed to realize their impending doom and launched themselves at the Templar in one last vain attempt to stop him. They only rushed to their second deaths. Wulfsun swung his powered fist into the face of the first one he could reach. The head exploded from the force of the punch but when the hit connected, the mana stored in the gauntlet was unleashed in a wave of force empowered by the mana.
It catapulted his three assailants across the car and shattered the doors holding the cargo along the sides so the contents spilled out. The ghouls had no control and the energy carried them like they were caught in the winds of a cyclone. Only when they slammed into the other end of the car and their forms broke against it did they finally stop.
They crumpled and the remnants of mana that maintained their bodies dispersed into the air before it vanished, along with the silencing cantrip surrounding the car. Wulfsun drew a breath and let his anima withdraw a little. He shook his head when he realized he'd let himself get too hot, which wasn’t smart in any battle. They might have been assassins but even if their purpose was to try to kill the kids, they would not have made proper training dummies given their ineptness.
He turned to look at the first ghoul he’d eliminated, knelt beside it, and examined the hole in its head—or what remained of it. It must have been the connection point where the controller of the macabre minions stored their anima to give them life and bind them to them, but something seemed wrong. Like he had thought earlier, this master of theirs must have been either looking down on them or incompetent.
They needed to be close to have proper control of the ghouls without sacrificing power, and given all the oddities of the beings like using cantrips and vis, he had to deduce that these weren’t the ordinary shambling bodies he was more accustomed to. As such, they needed a more powerful connection than normal. The train car rattled slightly. Unless their controller was able to keep up with the vehicle, sending them on board was a poor decision.
He closed his eyes and felt for mana in the air but discerned nothing unusual. In fact, he and the three young ones seemed to be the most powerful beings aboard at the moment, which meant it was unlikely the controller was on the train themselves. He could have deduced that without much thought. Vello was not his specialty like Vaust and Freki but someone controlling ghouls like this would have stood out to him.
His thumb dug into something and he opened his eyes and recoiled when the ghoul began to soften. Black liquid seeped from its body as it turned to mush. Without the mana to keep its form together and the rigors it went through, it was now dissolving in his hands. He looked at the others but they had yet to start decomposing, although he had no doubt they would soon follow.
Wulfsun looked around hastily. He had to get rid of them. There was no need to cause an incident as the staff would probably already have issues to deal with when they returned to this train car. He noticed a hatch above, grasped the ladder on the side, and lowered it before he took hold of the ghoul’s robes and dragged it with him. Quickly, he scrambled up, undid the latch, and pushed the hatch open. He poked his head out.
They were passing through a forest now, which provided sufficient cover. He manhandled the body through and hurled it out into the trees as hard as he could, hoping no one in any of the cars behind could see as they drove past. Working quickly, he dragged the other bodies up one at a time and disposed of them in the same way. Although he was relieved to be rid of them, he was somewhat annoyed that he had to throw potential leads away.
He shut the hatch and replaced the ladder. With a sigh, he stroked his beard and he surveyed the car around him and all the luggage that had fallen during the fight. Among the wreckage, he found one of the daggers but the dark sludge had consumed it and melted it like the ghouls. He covered his gauntlet in mana and crushed what remained of the blade. There should have been another one somewhere there but he couldn’t locate it in the limited time at his dispo
sal.
With a baleful glance at the luggage scattered around the car, he sighed. He certainly did not have the time to try to make this right. They would be pulling into Levirei in about twenty to thirty minutes. Reluctantly, he turned to the door and checked to see if anyone in the next car had noticed him before he stepped through. It would be best to get back to the others and let them know there might be a slight delay in getting their possessions once they reached the city.
Chapter Eighteen
As the train raced past the Arkalod Mountains, now only ten minutes from its destination, a figure in a dark cloak and cowl grimaced and shattered the mirror in his hands that he had used to watch his slaves fail. Salvo composed himself, dusted the shards from his gloves, and made sure none had pierced his hand. He sighed and wandered into the cave as he acknowledged that he’d been too eager and sent the ghouls in too early.
If he had waited, perhaps the Templar would have returned to his car rather than proceed farther. Or maybe he should positioned them around an occupied car that might have at least given him pause. Then again, this one seemed more feral than the mori so he might not have minded the collateral damage.
He stopped a few steps into the cave and glanced at the three remaining ghouls still seated motionlessly on the floor where he had left them. Thoroughly disgruntled, he leaned against the wall and considered what he should do next now that his plan had failed. A thought occurred to him, one that should have been easy to answer but now eluded him. What was the point of the preemptive attack in the first place?
Would he have been satisfied if the ghouls had killed the brats? In all honesty, he would not mind if the Templar was dead, but that could have caused complications. Perhaps the others would have given up on the mission if their leader had been killed. That would have ruined everything.
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