Raven Girl

Chapter 10

Gylfi tripped over the sliding door of a compartment. "Whoops, excuse me, gentlemen!" he called as it began to open. They looked to be a rough bunch. Maybe they'd strike gold this time.

At the same time, Nadine spoke loudly to Regina, who was clothed in the ridiculous blue and gold robe she'd been wearing when they met her. It practically screamed wealth. "Oh my goodness, you're Regina Kostin!" Nadine gushed, her eyes sparkling. "I've been a fan of yours for years! I can't believe I'm finally meeting you!" Regina did a very good imitation of the average aristocrat – partly because she was one, and had to act like herself – curling her lip and looking down her nose at Nadine in disgust.

Gylfi hopped on one foot, rubbing his stubbed toes. That was the fifth carriage door he'd 'tripped' over, inadvertently opening them. He risked a glance back at the men. They were staring, interested.

"Aren't you, like, the richest girl in Ravenna?" Nadine continued.

"Possibly," Regina said loftily.

The men had started to argue. Gylfi leaned heavily against the door in feigned pain, concentrating on his foot but straining to hear.

"...Maratov wants us to deliver the information, not steal a rich girl," one of them muttered.

"Hey, the commanders won't complain if we get them more funding. I'm serious, we should..."

"It's Regina Kostin – we'd have her daddy in the palm of our hand," a third added. "Word has it she'd been kidnapped. We could easily make the rumours true."

These sounded like shrikes to Gylfi. As Regina and Nadine moved to sit in the compartment opposite, he shouldered his way inside. Six faces looked up at him, shocked and angry.

"Hello. If you'll excuse me..." Gylfi snatched a black case from a rack above their heads and dove out, slamming the door behind him. A gunshot sounded and the glass window cracked.

Elias charged along the corridor, knives in hand – a scimitar or sword would be useless in such a tight space. "Run – I'll watch your back. Check for the symbol!"

Gylfi ran for it, barging through doors and into the next compartment down. As Elias shielded the way to him he dropped to his knees on the shuddering floor and smashed at locks with his knife. Hands trembling at the sound of guns firing and bodies dropping, Gylfi eventually managed to break the case open. Papers spilled everywhere. There it was – the circular shrike symbol.

"They're shrikes!" he shouted, flinging the door open. A handgun was pointing straight at him. He ducked.

People screamed as the bullet hit the other end of his carriage. Shrikes leaped after him. One had Elias in a headlock, and further down, Nadine and Regina were locked in combat.

"Come and get me," Gylfi growled through clenched teeth, snatching up papers and running, stuffing as many into his pockets as he could. Adrenalin swept into his blood vessels as he leaped to the next carriage. This one had a metal ladder leading up to the roof.

He climbed, letting the remaining shrike papers fall from his hands. They needed the information, but he needed his life more, and they would make climbing a nuisance. Another shot cracked the air, and a bullet dug into wood beside Gylfi.

He clambered onto the roof. Wind threatened to bowl him off, and he only just managed to get his footing when a hand seized his ankle.

Gylfi fell, colliding with the roof. Pain lanced through his head and he lashed out, but a shrike – a man dressed all in grey, with close-cropped hair and the build of a soldier – pinned him down. His face was cruel and sharp, scars lacing the skin.