cascade | kotlc

22. Combat: The Second Train

 All the muscles in her body tensed, and the world seemed to slow down, playing frame by frame as the train approached.

"It is a shame," Vespera said smoothly, each word stretching for centuries. "How people are so easily blinded by hatred. Look at you now."

Fool, fool, fool, FOOL, she screamed at herself. You actual fool, what were you thinking? Of course Vespera was planning something, when was she not, she never speaks like that!

Her legs strained as her brain racked herself for options, leaving her with no good ones and an exceptionally horrible one.

She jumped.

And the train skimmed her knees, scraping off her skin as she groaned and her head slammed into the frontward engine and her limbs sprawled out. She couldn't open her eyes in the whishing wind and the smoke drifting from the engine and the flames, and oh shit they were moving toward-

The wall of fire singed her body, sealing her in a membrane of flames, and for a second every part of her was on fire, her clothes erupted in messy orange and her hair was alight in blasts of red, and then they charged from the fire and Faye gasped for air.

Her hand slipped and she let go of the frunk, and as the train sped she flipped and positioned herself on the roof of the train. The fire on her was burning, incinerating, and she felt like she would die here, what with the wind fanning the fire and-

And the fire just extinguished itself, going out in a puff of white and black, and momentarily Faye was choking. But the train continued to slide down its rails and she was sliding to the back of the train, on the roof...

Her ponytail unraveled and all her long hair whipped into her face, strands of golden electricity and blue lightning flickering in her vision, distorted by the spiraling air. Friction was literally shredding her clothes, heating them to ashes, and she screamed when an especially hot burn ripped at her waist.

She blinked once, then twice, and then she had to shut her eyes. Her sleeve snagged around some kink on a cabin and she was stuck, flailing around with her hands and feet, but at least she wasn't-

A rev, a crash, a boom, the destruction of metal and everything, and the wind itself warped around her as the roof opened, creaking downwards like it was on a hinge. And Faye thought she saw a humanoid figure, a splash of white amidst the silver-toned wreckage, a handkerchief of silk fluttering away as Faye lost it when it flew down the train.

She hacked, taking in her position. She was lying atop a platform of shattered metal, surrounded with black smoke, and she groaned pitifully as she turned and reached for something. Anything.

"Ridiculous," Vespera scoffed, her projection appearing in front of her, immaculate and conceited. "How have you not died yet?"

"I don't know," Faye wheezed, attempting to stand.

"Well, you won't survive much longer. Would you like the statistics? On this train are a hundred armed men, scattered throughout the train. The train itself has lost its brake system and will never stop until it derails. Additionally, a bomb is primed and ready to explode on this train and will detonate in" -- she checked her wristwatch -- "twenty minutes."

Faye coughed. All her body was sore, and she really didn't have the energy to deal with any of this. "Sounds nice. Do I get a T-shirt?"

"Why do you always attempt to use humor?" Vespera asked. "Is it a natural self-defense mechanism? Or are you forcibly implementing a coping system in order to restrain your primal instincts?"

"My primal instincts are to tear you apart, limb by limb."

"I'm sure you'd be willing to do that. In fact, I suspect you could dismantle this entire train if you truly wished to. You can kill all my men. But something's holding you back." She stalked closer, her light flaring as she stood taller and held her posture straigther. "What is it?"