Embers of Magic

We Nearly Miss Our Train

By the time we caught up to Zarah and Rain, my hands wouldn't stop shaking. Between seeing Felix and the state their mother had been in, I was in shock. It didn't seem like the others had any better luck, though.

Zarah sat with her back propped against a wall. A bandage was wrapped around around her arm and drenched in a deep crimson. Rain looked around, anxiously, as if she were expecting something bad to happen at any time.

“What happened?” Josh asked. His voice startled Rain as she hopped backwards, ready to fight until she saw who the voice belonged to. She settled down. “What's going on?” I asked, my voice a little raspy.

“We were attacked. Zahir's men.” Zarah’s accent flared as she spoke with nothing but venom behind her words. “We were near the train yard when they showed up.” She spoke, wrapping her hand around the wound on her arm as she stood up. “We barely got away.”

Rain's eyes lowered as she stared at the group. “I was no help. All I could do was watch as Zarah fought.”

“Don't say that, Ash.” Zarah spoke firmly. “I would have bled out, if it wasn't for you.” She said while struggling to get up using one arm only.

“You might still, if you don't sit still like I told you! You're going to open the wound again, idiot!”

Zarah smiled as she looked around. “If it happens, so be it. We don't have time to sit around right now. We have a tail.”

I nodded in agreement as Hecuba buzzed around my neck, warning about the same thing. “Let's get out of here. Can you walk?” She nodded, answering my question as Rain began looking around.

“It's almost sundown. If we don't get moving soon, our tail would be the least of our worries.” She spoke as we began moving towards the train station. Josh knew the place well so it had been no issue.

“So, what happened with you guys?” Rain asked. I wasn't sure if Josh wanted me to answer or not so I remained quiet until he spoke. “We ran into Felix.” He answered, finally.

“Your brother Felix?” She asked as he simply  nodded. “He is controlling the empousa.”

“How is that even possible?” Rain asked, turning to me. I couldn't answer. Empousa was said to be loyal only towards my mother yet now, they've fallen into the hands of Felix Ryker. It just made no sense. I shook my head and continued walking.

“How come didn't we just enter the Labyrinth again from the entrance in the club?” I asked and this time, it was Josh who answered. “We thought about that while you passed out. It turns out the entrance there wasn't stable.”

I lowered my eyebrows in confusion. “This world seems to get more confusing everyday. Anyway, how's our tail?”

“Still there.” Zarah answered. “Let's speed up, before we miss the train.” I nodded as we began running towards the roads, trying to pick up on wasted time. Our tail started running behind us, trying to keep up.

“Determined bugger.” Rain spoke while looking behind her, still running. “Come on, let's see him out run a train.”

We ran towards the train and hopped on just before the doors shut behind us. “That never gets old.” I commented. “You think we lost him?” I said as we all looked out the window, staring at him as he ran down the platform at full speed. Without hesitation, he lunged towards the moving train, grabbing onto the ladder to the door of the drivers carriage at the back before slipping in.

I sighed. “What in Hades?”

“Let's move forward.” Josh said as the rest of us nodded before moving forward in the train, carriage by carriage. People stared at Zarah’s bleeding arm and some even offered a plaster, leaving me wondering what exactly they saw. I shook my head and continued moving through the carriages.

I didn't even know why we were moving forward. Of course, we were putting some distance between us and him but for how long? We'd eventually just run out of carriages. We continued pressing.

“Stop.” I said as I stopped moving. We reached an empty carriage and it would have been better just to stay and waited. “We can't involve ordinary people.”

Zarah stared through the glass of the carriage door looking into the next. “Seems we'll have to fight.” She said as she drew her sword. The rest of us followed through and moved against the edges of the carriage.

Eventually, the door swung open and the boy ran through. Josh stuck his foot out, tripping the boy up and causing him to hit the ground hard. Zarah sprang forward quickly, with her blade propped up against his throat.

His eyes widened in shock. The blue in his eyes shivered as his hair fell backwards out of his face, not hiding his shock one bit. “Stop!” I yelled as Zarah turned to face me.

“What's going on?”

“Look at him!” I yelled again as Rain looked closer. “Zarah, stand down.” Rain commanded and Zarah moved back, allowing the boy to stand up.

“You're the kid we saw during the meeting, aren't you?” She asked. “You're the chief's son.”

He nodded, trying to catch his breath. His jeans were torn up and the sleeves of his hoodie was ripped right off.

“Were you attacked?” I asked and he stared down. “Not just me. Zahir has attacked Gelida.”