Grey Angels

Chapter 1

     A fist hammered heavily on the door to Cale's room, dragging him out of sleep. His eyes felt scratchy and his head tight from exhaustion. He lifted himself up off his pillow, feeling like weights were dragging him back down. The crisp bed sheets almost crackled as he got out of bed, his feet burning at the sudden contact with the cold floor. A strip of cold light streamed in from outside his window, powered by the massive full moon and reflected by the plain white walls and ceiling.

     The fist slammed into the oak again.

     "Cale, wake up." Snapped a man's voice. It wasn't particularly deep, but rough and scratchy.

     "I'm up, I'm up," the young man called back. He hurriedly hopped around his small room, pulling on whatever articles of clothing he could find and opening the door, squinting at the bright yellow light of the hallway outside. The same lux-powered lights that lined the ceiling in that one hallway illuminated the rest of the building as well. They also did a fine job of lighting up the pinched and taciturn face of Mr. Umbrald, the administer of assignments for new graduates.

     He was an old man, and not a particularly tall one. In fact, he stood several inches below Cale himself. However, he made up for it with his ability to make any human being feel like a rodent, regardless of stature or accomplishments. He had a sourly demeaning expression that lay permanently plastered across his face and wisps of grey hair that clung desperately to his nearly bald head. A huge hooked nose was the crowning achievement of his face, resting gloriously disproportionate in the center of his noggin, with shifting grey eyes that glared coldly out at anyone who dared to exist in his presence.

     Needless to say, he had not aged well.

     "You look... unkempt." The man said flatly.

     "It's three in the morning." Cale responded.

     Mr. Umbrald paused for a moment, then inclined his head in acknowledgement. Cale almost didn't know how to react. Respect was not something he was used to from this man.

     "Regardless," said Mr. Umbrald huffily, "you've been assigned."

     "At this time of night?" Cale raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

     "It's a bit of a special situation. I personally have no idea why they would decide to send you, but the higher-ups have their reasons and I'm sure the man you're replacing will debrief you upon arrival. We're prepping the Blitz Rails for you, I expect you at the station in half an hour." Cale's jaw almost dropped. If this required the Blitz Rails then it was serious. He suddenly felt very responsible, quickly regaining his composure.

     "I'll be there," said Cale, nodding once.

     "And no doubt you'll be late," Mr. Umbrald snorted. Cale grinned as he stepped back into his room. He preferred this Mr. Umbrald. The Mr. Umbrald that treated him like a human being scared him.

     Thirty-one minutes later, Cale walked down a set of steps into a cave-like recess that lead to the Blitz Rails. The same lux lights that lit the rest of the school of darkness operated down here. The school itself lay shaped like a miniature castle. It had high walls with several buildings inside of them and a great hall acting as a keep. Arguably the largest and best of the four defender schools, it also had a small village located outside its walls that provided it with all of the resources it needed to run. 

     The blitz rails themselves were one of the crowning achievements of the Second Age, a masterpiece even in the time before Virania went dark. Now in the Third Age, they were a legend. Cale had heard stories about them, heard that they could transport a person from one end of the Kingdom of Gaile to the other in minutes. He doubted the validity of such rumors however. It took weeks to make that same trip on horseback. Nothing moved that fast.