Alcingeria Volume Three

Chapter Two: Holdup

Chapter Two Holdup:

Monday June 4th 1724

The train was blowing from Treigner's Point to Taq R'lal, the nearest Lizardfolk town on the northwest side of the island. Rao Mansa was big, as voyages confirmed in the months after the island's discovery, bigger than we thought at first. Railroad was still a relatively new technology, especially for Rao Mansa, and the rail lines only went to a few places. Our settlement was close enough to the Suli village that one could easily walk or ride. Retler lands were a few hours out on foot, which was also part of our thinking the island was small. Lizardfolk territory was a long journey on foot, two days at least, so rail was a much more convenient option. Turns out Treigner's Point was on the southeast part of the island, and Suli and Retler lands were north of them. Those three areas were all part of a boot shaped outcrop, and the rest of the vast island lay west.

The majority of the island was populated by elves, but a sizable chunk of it was comprised of lizardfolk. They had their own language, but after the Retler Scourge it was agreed upon that the common language of the island would be Suli to facilitate trade and communication. It made sense seeing as it was the majority language anyhow, and I had learned to speak it acceptably.

I glanced out the window, watching the jungle whiz by. Transportation by rail was amazingly fast, much faster than by horse. The magic engine on most trains such as this one was capable of a maximum output of 400 Craws. To put it in perspective, it's estimated that the magic blast Alice used to kill Ceberus was around that.

Just then, four men with bandanas over their faces entered the car, all wielding six shot revolving pistols.

"Everyone, put your hands in the air." One of them commanded.

A few women yelled and a murmur of fear went over the car as two of them went around demanding wallets, jewelry, watches, anything of value.

"Nice and easy, no sudden movements."

I looked back towards the rear of the car and saw another man guarding the door to the one behind us. They must have hit every car before this one.

"Minerva?" I asked in my head.

"What do you want?"

"I don't really feel like getting robbed today, want to help me out?"

"Do I get to kill someone?"

"Only if the situation escalates."

I heard a huff of disappointment before she agreed.

"Fine. I'll paralyze them, you do whatever you're gonna do."

I stood up, hands still in the air.

"Hey," one of the men yelled. "Sit back down, now!"

I then heard him and his men gasp as they realized they couldn't move.

"Gentlemen," I drawled, looking between them. "I've done my fair share of holdups, believe me. They're fun, yeah, lucrative sometimes. But you know what else sometimes happens?"

I walked right up to the one who yelled at me and stood toe to toe with him.

"Sometimes, just sometimes, you hold up the wrong person. Now, unless you want to find out what happens after your skull is blown open, I'm not someone you want to be holding up."

"What the hell are you?" He demanded. "You're a warlock, aren't you?"

"Close enough," I shrugged. "Look, I know you probably don't want to die, and I don't really want to kill you. I know someone who really, really does though, so I'm giving you ten seconds to drop everything you stole and get the hell off this train before I let her loose on you."