Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Terra

Chapter 8 Eternal Rest For The Wicked

The sudden appearance of the elf that had just come and gone distracted Sol from separating their own train car. Whatever was going to happen next, they had to improvise again with Sköll. The train was getting closer to what appeared to be Junistar City and was beginning to pull into the next station. "Guys I have a really bad feeling about this." William had to say as he watched just how big the city was from one of the small windows. Tall ironclad buildings and walkways could be seen above them, countless exposed gears turned to activate drawbridges from all around, and steam rose from several bronze pipes. Everywhere William looked was some sort of intricacy that he couldn't understand, yet only understood that the average dwarven city was as complex as the mines that Terra gets their materials from and then using those materials to create cities like the one they were in now.

The train blew its whistle one last time before coming to a complete halt. Sköll got up from where he stood, understanding the command Sol was giving him through hand gestures. William had to say it again but with a softer voice. "Sol... I don't like this." William's voice became increasingly worried. Although without any of them noticing, Hendrick, still tied up and prevented from speaking, broke out in a sweat as he waited for the train's doors to slide open by a dwarf. Once they finally did, everything that happened next was too fast for any of them to expect coming.

Before Sköll got the chance to erupt from the train car, Hendrick had thought this would be his chance to make a run for it, for freedom. In the corrupt bounty hunter's head, he had thought he would be able to get away freely while the dwarves were preoccupied with Sköll. Hendrick realized just how wrong he was when he became unable to move after immediately getting up from where he was to make a run for it. He was unable to talk with his mouth covered but knew he wouldn't be able to through the amount of shock regardless. A few cultist dwarves that served Sinnel knew they were coming because of Bila and the first person to take a step off of the train would receive two spears in the chest. One spear punctured Hendrick's heart and the other into one of his lungs.

Hendrick fell forward to the ground after the spears exited his body. With the life now completely drained from him, his blood began to spread from beneath his corpse. Everyone else that was still on the train was too surprised by the outcome to show themselves. That was also when a few of them began to cough. Jordan and William couldn't stop coughing and eventually fell to the ground, appearing to be passed out. It even became too late for Sol to realize that the dwarves were pushing in some sort of gas. The dwarves already knew. There was only one thing Sol could do at this point.

Sol held his sword in one hand and covered his face with his shirt in the other. "Sköll! Take Yvonne and Cinder!" The wolf waited for Yvonne and Cinder to get on top of his back before heading out. "What about you?!" Yvonne asked. The Shining Giant was now set ablaze. "I'll defend Will and Jordan! Just go!" Using the sword he had, Sol sliced up the train car to create a customized exit for Sköll to escape through, not wanting him to meet the same fate as Hendrick.

The strange sword Sol held was able to burn away anything he wanted in mere seconds, despite the material. Sköll's might and force appeared to be enough to escape any dwarf waiting on the outside. "Get them!" One of the dwarfs called out. Some of the dwarves tried their best to pierce Sköll but the blood wolf being as fast and big as he is, was able to run freely and unharmed.

Unfortunately for Sol, the fight he took up with the dwarves which now surrounded him, seemed like an impossible win. The prince frantically swung his blazing sword, keeping the dwarves from getting any closer to them. "What are you waiting for, an invite?! Come on, I'm right here!" Sol never had a plan on what to do if he was to ever get caught. He could have easily joined Yvonne and Cinder but leaving half of his group behind was something that he never wanted to do again. The dwarves kept their distance. For that reason, Sol finally understood that covering his mouth with his own shirt wasn't doing as much to protect him from the gas as he initially thought it was.

It didn't take long for Sol to join William and Jordan on the ground, suddenly growing tired and shutting his eyes. The sword's flame flickered away and that too, dropped beside him. Some of the only remaining thoughts in Sol's head before dozing off to sleep became only "I should've done better." This came with Sol looking at Hendrick's lifeless body. Hendrick was a loud mouth and a criminal but still died because of Sol's decision to bring him along, another weight added to his continuous guilt as a poor leader.

To any normal citizen that lived in Junistar City, Sol's group arriving became a shocking surprise. As Yvonne and Cinder rode on top of Sköll's back, countless loud bells could be heard ringing throughout the city. As each one echoed off the walls and ricochets through Junistar, the bells sounded louder than they probably should have been. It was all as if the city was now under lockdown because of their arrival. Any normal dwarven soldier that wasn't a part of Sinnel's cult also seemed to be just as surprised before pulling their nerves together to try and chase them down.

"May I suggest hiding? I doubt we will be able to keep running for much longer." Cinder said as Sköll did his best to traverse his way through the streets. "Easier said than done!" Yvonne said as she attempted to speak over the bells. With Sköll running and jumping about, Yvonne did her best trying to hold on to him and Cinder at the same time. As rough as the ride was, both girls did their best to look around for the best place to lay low, though finding such a place seemed difficult.

A sudden thought then occurred to Yvonne as they rode on top of Sköll's back. The dwarves were after them, not the wolf. Sköll could just as easily get away on his own but it would be much harder for him to hide due to his size. "Cinder, you're gonna have to trust me on what I'm about to do!" Yvonne jumped off of Sköll's back and went rolling, all the while protecting Cinder's head. The wolf looked back at them when he noticed the loss of weight that was on him. "Go on boy! You'll know how to find us later! Trust your nose!" Yvonne said as she got up to run in another direction from the blood wolf. A few of the city's regular citizens tried to throw random objects at Yvonne and Cinder but none of what they did seemed to work.

It only occurred to her at the moment that she may have accidentally used Sköll as bait as well when she noticed that all of the dwarven soldiers were still chasing him. "I feel terrible about this..." Yvonne said. "They won't be able to catch him no matter how hard they try. This is our perfect chance to find a good spot to hide." And what Cinder said to Yvonne was right. Most of the dwarves hadn't realized that they veered away from Sköll yet. Now they were both able to take paths that the blood wolf they rode wouldn't have been able to.

"This also makes it easier for us to get caught." Yvonne said, feeling like a sitting duck despite her moving legs. "That is also true." Despite the panicked look on Yvonne's face, Cinder remained calm. That was just about the only thing Yvonne had to keep herself sane in an insane situation. One left turn later around a corner and she manages to find a runned down building with a few broken windows. "Do you think anyone lives here?!" Yvonne asked Cinder as she frantically looked around their environment one last time to make sure no one knew where they were and that they had actually gotten away. "I am not sure. Though by my observation, the state of this building does not look like it would be suitable for housing life."

"No it is then!" Yvonne tried to bust down the locked door and eventually got in through sheer force. She placed Cinder's head down so that she could quickly prop the door up to fix its hinges. With the door clean off its frame, Yvonne took what she had from her toolbelt to fix their entry and barred it. After that was said and done, she couldn't help but peer out of one of the broken windows just to see if the ghost was clear. The bells still rang, but it didn't appear that anyone knew where they were, all except the figure approaching Yvonne and Cinder from the dark.

"Were you followed?" The voice said to her. The sudden voice from behind Yvonne made her turn around with wide eyes. Speechless, Yvonne and Cinder watched the figure step into the light that was granted access through the window. "Speak girl. I'll throw you out if you give us away." Daika raised her sword as a warning to them both. "I- I don't think we were." From what she heard the dwarf said, Yvonne could assume that she was also on the run but would come to soon realize that she was speaking to Daika Elgood, the very person Sol wanted to search for.