The tattered train car was filled with debris and damages. Wooden arrows of varying shapes and sizes could be found all over the small enclosure. The seats, the floor, and even the walls were riddled with gaping holes. Nevertheless, all of those paled in comparison to the massive opening in the ceiling that had been blown into it for all to see. Along with it came water that betrayed its nature and acted as air instead. The only tell that it was indeed water were the stray bubbles and a slight haze over the area.
In that ravaged space that seemed to defy logic, three people were locked in a standstill juxtaposed to their chaotic surroundings. That was only on the surface though. Within their minds and hearts was a tumultuous jumble of machinations and emotions.
“You can’t make the heart to kill me, Kate. We both know that.” Tierney confidently espoused as the pressure on her neck increased ever-so-slightly.
Ignoring the obvious taunt, Katelyn held a razor-sharp edge to the throat of her longtime friend and mentor. That same mentor had an arrow ready to fire at a young man who was trying to protect her own protegee. Meanwhile, Allen had no one’s life at his mercy as he wondered how this deadlock could open without anyone ending up actually dead.
Katelyn had been running over the dilemma so much in her head that her mind began to wander. The young violinist’s eyes were clear and resolute but her hand quivered for the briefest of time. That was all Tierney needed to cut through the storm inside her head and make her decision. Her next step was kicking Katelyn’s leg out from under her. The arm holding the bow of the Mermaid’s Tear was then swiftly knocked away, but not without leaving a deep gash on the half-elf’s neck.
Tierney paid no mind to the wound and leaped forward while notching her bow again. Allen tried getting out of the way but his failed attack earlier had left him stuck in an awkward pose with his right foot far ahead of his other. He was in no position to get anywhere that quickly. The best he could pull off was a jolt backward while landing flat on his butt.
“Initialize: South Run: Dreki Command: Transform.” Along with her chant, she let loose an arrow that exploded into life as a raging jade dragon. The lesser Spirit spewed acid that melted anything it came across. It was a Skill that often led to excessive collateral damage but Tierney was at her breaking point. After all the tricks and ploys Allen had mustered up till now, she was not going to take any more chances.
She planned to burn away any remaining cards he had left up his sleeve in one fell swoop.
“Shit, how-” Allen raised his arms uselessly to block only to find the vines entangling his wrist began to stretch out in front of him and weave together to create a dense barrier. The acid-breathing dragon collided with the wall of vegetation with a spine-chilling hiss.
Allen looked up to see the cause of the last-minute save. A woman made up of pure gold with a flowing dress and long silky hair. She appeared when Allen harnessed the power of the Mandrake’s card and it seemed the vines the card manifested were hers to command.
“I know you said to pull you out of danger when you needed it, but I couldn’t find anywhere to run away from this thing,” Flos commented self-deprecatingly.
“Uhh, that’s fine. It’s better than having my flesh melted off. How long can you keep that up for?” Allen got up to his feet and was already wondering how he would deal with that terrifying arrow. He dearly hoped it was not something that could be fired in rapid succession.
“Not much longer I’m afraid.” Flos reluctantly admitted and startling cracks appeared in her barrier of vines as acid ushered forth from the ever-increasing gaps in its defense. “At best, it’ll only hold for about a dozen or two more seconds.”
Allen’s face drooped when he heard he had much less time to think than he would have liked. Everything he came up with by far had been improvisations made up on the fly but he was not sure how much that would work when one hit would mean game over.
“Are you sure you can’t just use your powers to entangle Tierney with those vines? I have no idea if my next card will be strong enough to beat her.” Allen inquired honestly.
His question was answered with a shake of the head. “I don’t have any power of my own and what I am borrowing isn’t enough.” She bluntly relayed before perking up with a faint smile. “But you spent years drawing up ways to use all sorts of powers. If the next card isn’t strong enough, just draw over it .”
“Huh? I don’t think that’s how it works.” Allen protested with a confused expression.
“Wait, you didn’t get it? Was I too cryptic?!” Flos sounded more flustered than her ethereal presence suggested was even possible. “Sorry, I got way into chara-”
The wall of vines was obliterated with a roar of incineration as Flos shattered into pieces with a manic look totally at odds with the initial impression Allen had of the spirit-like entity. However, he had no time to dwell on that bizarre observation. While the vines had used up the first shot of the Dreki arrow, they had been destroyed and Tierney was already preparing to fire again.
Allen frantically raced to get to her before she could. Dodging that acid-spewing dragon was not an option much less blocking it now that Flos’s vines were out of commission for who knew how long. The part-time monster hunter’s best bet was stopping the projectile before it could be released but that was still only a gamble.
It all depended on the next draw.
“Eject Slot 4!” Allen yelled as he dashed forward and took out the only specter stone left, the Draugr’s. He crossed it with the card he retrieved from the deck at his waist. He allowed the stone to flow into the mystic tool before drawing out one last weapon with a flash of teal light. From that light, a long-bladed handaxe made of refined stone emerged and an anxious smile formed on Allen’s face.
“If you hadn’t broken my last one, I could’ve dual-wield!”
“Maybe in your next life, you’ll get the chance.” Tierney coldly replied as she released her Dreki arrow. A slight smile also appeared across her visage.
Three. That was the number of times that Allen Lee could activate the power of his Craft Cards before they shattered uncontrollably. Tierney had been right to be skeptical at his sudden use of those mystic tools. That was clear from her analysis of him throughout the battle.
Hallucinations that no one else could see often disrupted his attention and he wildly flailed his weapons around while paying no heed to Extract conservation. The most damning flaw born from inexperience was that the items manifested from his cards were so unstable they lasted only for three uses of their true power. Yes, the half-elf had every right to feel confident.
Her opponent was limited to three while she had countless arrows to fire.
Allen was worried as well as he ran headfirst at that ethereal dragon that melted the ground, the walls, what was left of the ceiling, and even the water with steam pouring off the Spirit. Its massive wings propelled it slowly but the dragon’s size more than made up for it.
‘I gotta destroy it before it can unleash its acid breath.’ Allen felt this could be done since he’d been able to block them and knock the arrows aside. If he could make his weapons stronger, Allen could destroy them outright.
He wondered if that’s what Flos had meant and then remembered that he did have a way to follow her advice. The young man focused and swiped his hand along the blade's flat while concentrating the last energy stored in the crystal underneath his bandages. The handaxe became covered in an inky black aura.
Tierney’s eyes widened as her emerald dragon was cut down with a single vertical slash. Its destruction revealed Allen wielding a blade covered in jet-black ink. The weapon’s aura flowed viscously as it moved through the air.
“Miasma?!” The half-elf yelled out as she tried to prepare another arrow but Allen had already closed the gap. She had no time to gather the necessary power for another Dreki arrow before dodging the handaxe. The ebon blade passed straight in front of her eyes.
“Hah, that’s just condensed aura.” Tierney scrutinized after getting a better look. “You’re not the only one who can improvise!” The archer abandoned long-range and stabbed her Dreki arrow into the bow itself, transforming into an acid-infused staff.
The two warped weapons clashed together within that confined space. A small crack formed in both where they made contact. It was a struggle between overflowing magical energy from the half-elf versus extremely compressed power from the outsider.
Abruptly, the axe passed through the wooden staff like it was empty air and almost cut Tierney’s pierced ear in half. That was the power the card had received from the Draugr that could sink into the ground beneath it. Allen’s gaze flickered to the ominous vision of an earthen grave appearing right under his feet, but he had no time to dwell on this card’s side effect.
“You can’t be serious!” Tierney said as she swiped her acid staff in a long arc that Allen had to jump back from. Emerald drops flew that singed his arms and legs “I can tell you missed my head on purpose,” She spat, infuriated that he thought he needed to go easy on her.
“If you aren’t resolved to do what it takes to win then just give up already.” She had lost all pretense of calm and control. No, she just wanted to get rid of the eyesore in front of her.
Allen tried backing up even further but was blocked by a passenger seat as the enraged half-elf attempted to spear him through only to be tackled from the side.
“You’re the one that should give up already!” Katelyn struggled with her meager strength to grapple Tierney to the ground while her mentor noticed drops of leftover acid falling from what remained of the car’s ceiling. She turned her back to block the hazardous liquid from hitting Katelyn.
The violinist watched in stunned disbelief as smoke rose from Tierney’s back. No matter how much her Extract possessed, aura could not protect her from chemical reactions. This added to the risk associated with her final arrow which made her wary of using it.
“You idiot..” Tierney uttered out from clenched teeth before throwing the protegee to the side. Allen was almost as surprised as Katelyn that she had taken that hit for her. The young woman was so shaken up that she had not even got up past the armrests of the seats before Allen stopped her.
“Don’t worry, I got it from here. Trust me, looks like she’s more of a pushover than I thought.” Allen quipped as he rested his axe along his shoulders. It was not a sign of confidence. The weapon seriously felt heavy after overexerting his untrained arm muscles for so long. He was not going to let that show, however.
Katelyn nodded in compliance and Tierney studied the stone axe dyed black again. Cracks that pulsed with teal light had already formed in the blade. Two more activations and it would be gone along with the last of Allen’s borrowed magical power.
Their exchange of blows resumed with this time being much more in Tierney’s favor. Allen’s weapon was repeatedly knocked out of the way and he was always centimeters away from getting burned. In a desperate move, he vaulted into the air using a seat to launch from.
Knowingly, Tierney paid no mind to the splintering of her bow-turned-staff and gripped it with both hands and prepared to meet his attack. If he used the axe’s power to phase through the bow, her staff would reach him first. If he did not use that ability, she would simply knock the weapon out of his hands and leave him to fall to his defeat. Those were the only two options that Allen Lee had.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The axe came down as a crescent of darkness and resounded as it struck Tierney’s emerald rod. Allen’s weapon exploded with a burst of teal light that broke the half-elf’s bow in turn and sent her flying into the far wall of the train cabin with a thud before landing face-down on the ground motionlessly.
Allen dropped to the floor with a heavy sigh. “Finally, it’s over. I never want to fight anyone that strong again.”
Katelyn hesitantly stood up straight and asked. “What makes you so sure that it’s over?”
The young man huffed. “Well, she poured everything she had into her bow with that last attack. She has no fuel left in the tank.”
Even though his exhaustion made him biased to this judgment, he was not lying and his reasoning was sound.
With great effort, Tierney raised her head off the ground and sneered at him. “Dammit, you destroyed my Gusisnautar. How’d you manage that?”
“Everything has a limit,” Allen stated matter-of-factly while still seated on the floor.”I overloaded my axe and that was enough to push your bow to its breaking point too.”
“...Intentionally throwing away your own mystic tool, no self-respecting Crafter would ever use such a cheap trick.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not a Crafter then. It’s your fault for thinking people should be stuck with the hand they’re dealt with.” The teen derided while looking up to the makeshift skylight or perhaps oceanlight. It did not matter as long as he got a view of the moonlight blurrily wafting in from beyond the surface of the water.
Tierney similarly turned over and looked up as well. Katelyn was crouched down next to her, wearing an intense mask over her face that was hard to decipher.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to make the white flag. I give up.” Tierney relented with a nonchalant attitude.
“It’s raising the white flag, you idiot.” Katelyn chided with the slightest tinge of care. She had opened up a little bit after seeing Tierney truly did mean to protect her no matter what. Now, she wanted to know more before she could make up her mind about how to feel.
They both remained still until one finally spoke again. “I wanted to shield you from the parts of this underworld out to harm you. That former Monarch isn’t innocent either. He already took someone from me before.” Upon reflecting on Katelyn’s desperation in the fight moments prior, the Concealer had a startling revelation. “...but maybe killing Nathan would’ve ended up hurting you the same way my brother’s death did to me.”
‘...She had a brother?’
Katelyn’s mouth quivered but before she could respond, others entered the car and someone spoke up first.
“So, there was a connection after all.” Nathan grimly acknowledged as he walked over to where they were with Connor’s arm draped over his shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I’m deeply sorry. I know how important Brecc was to you from the little you have told me.”
Tierney turned her head away from him. “Doesn’t seem like it from the way you talked about your botched prison breakout, never mentioning the sacrifices on either side.”
The tension became palpable and the weight of those words hung in the area around them. More than ever, Allen felt like someone entirely left out of the loop. Suddenly, they all felt motion as the train began gradually continuing forward to its destination, signaling that the rest of Virtuoso had done their part.
“Hey, Allen.” Tierney abruptly spoke up and forcibly pulled him back into the conversation by making a point to say his name. “Are those friends of yours all as strong as you?”
Allen immediately shook his head with an obnoxious smirk. “Nah, they’re all way stronger.”
She fully accepted her defeat upon hearing that. Leaving the rest to them was probably for the best after all.
The half-elf got to her feet and took out a strange object from the pocket of her black dress pants. It was a small gray metal instrument that looked like an arcane tuning fork. The rectangular handle was covered in cryptic runes. She held it far off to the side, as far as her arm would stretch, as if it was radioactive.
“This is the tool that the Concealers have been using to control Specters for over a decade,” Tierney admitted with a sense of shame and regret. “I’ll at least put a stop to the mess I’ve caused.”
Allen gulped when he heard that. “Over ten years? How much have they been hiding their crimes with this?”
He did not receive an answer as Tierney waved the tuning fork in the air. Immediately, her face contorted in extreme pain as pitch-black spikes erupted from her arm and her eyes reddened from the shock.
***
Iyo was bewildered. The Fossegrim that should have been completely gone was still there even after being fatally wounded several minutes before, even after the other two had succeeded in getting the Subatlantic Express moving again.
He inspected closer and came to the hypothesis that it was receiving support from some external source. That source was likely its controller, Tierney.
“If it’s something that can be severed on command, that’s fine, but if it’ll last for as long as the controller is alive…”
The young man did not have any more time to continue his morbid speculation when the monster began to stir and rise back up on its tail.
Iyo prepared to face the Wraith once more but instead of charging at him and crashed straight through the wall on the side of the car with a rain of glass, metal scraps, and ocean water.
Iyo could do nothing but look on in confusion as he was left in that cabin that would soon be flooded entirely.
***
Back to where Allen was, everyone tried rushing to Tierney who was barely standing, writhing in agony, only to be impeded when the whole car shook violently. Some thing had rammed into it from the outside. The Fossegrim Specter could be seen and felt repeatedly crashing into the cabin from the windows.
“What’s going on?!” Katelyn tried reaching Tierney again but was stopped by the woman herself this time with a strained swipe of her hand.
“Stay back!” She slurred. “…Those bastards…They rigged the tool with a trap in case I changed my mind. You have to get away from me. That…thing won’t stop until I’m taken out.”
“Give it a rest already,” Katelyn demanded fiercely. “I stopped listening to you a long time ago. I’m going to do what I want and you’re going to be there to see it with your own eyes!” She closed the distance between the two and tried to rip the tuning fork out of Tierney’s hand. Try as she might, the spikes that had gouged the hand seemed to have fused it irrevocably to the sinister object.
“Either I die alone or you all go with me…those are-” Tierney was cut off mid-sentence.
“...the only options. Thinking like that is how you lost to ordinary people like us. Just wait til my friends get here and I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Allen pleaded.
The half-elf who was much older than her appearance suggested looked at the faces of both her juniors and realized how set in her principles she had become over time. When presented with only unfavorable options at the outset, she went with at least one whether it was logical or not. That had led her to enlist in an organization that she despised, join a group led by a person she hated, and enact a scheme that put her prized pupil in danger.
Tierney sighed exasperatedly and smiled bittersweetly. “Fine, I guess I’ll listen to the younger generation for once.” From the side of her eye, she could see the Wrait sea monster gathering its blood for a devastating attack as it barreled toward them again. It was steadily draining her of life and would not stop until this source of power was cut off.
“Whew..” Katelyn’s shoulders relaxed and she eased her grip on Tierney’s hands, right before she was slammed backward into Allen.
They watched on in horror as Tierney raised the razor-sharp bow she had just stolen from Katelyn and came swinging down on her outstretched, mangled right arm. Allen leaped to stop her and his whole word was sent spinning when Katelyn’s Specter collided with the train one last time.
***
When the youth opened his eyes again, he saw a dismal scene. There was hardly any light left inside the ruined cabin. The windows had been broken open and the walls had been caved in. Allen felt a chill as he realized a time that he was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. One look outside of the wrecked car told him all that he needed to know. That final charge had derailed it. They were now slowly but steadily sinking to the very edge of a Mirage that was coming undone at the same time. Rather soon, this cabin would become a watery coffin.
“Hey! Is everyone alright?!” Allen yelled out as he tried to make sense of his surroundings with the faintest of light trickling in from the surface.
“Yeah! We’re fine.” He heard a familiar voice from the man known as Connor. He and Nathan were covered under a heavy pile of debris with Nathan having taken the brunt of the damage. Blood dripped from the former underworld leader’s forehead but he was still fairly, relatively okay. “...But, I’m not so sure about Tierney.”
Allen followed Connor’s eyes to see the half-elf sprawled on the floor with a dark liquid spreading from her right side. Her eyes had already glazed over.
“Wait! Hold on, dammit!” Allen frantically got up and rushed over to kneel next to the woman who had been desperately fighting just minutes prior. “You could’ve just waited for help!” He yelled random blabbering until he saw her chest move faintly up and down,
“You’re still damn annoying. If I hadn’t cut off its source, it would’ve pushed us outside the Mirage and drowned us already.” Tierney explained with ragged breaths. “For the first time in my life…I picked a difficult choice I’m proud of. Don’t make me regret it…get everyone ou-”
Allen clutched her hand when she suddenly stopped, everything stopped. “C’mon, crooked elf…Why are you overestimating me, now?” He was not level-headed or pragmatic enough to leave behind a dying person to save others with far better chances of surviving. The young man was still just an ordinary person after all, so he remained clutching her hand for better or for worse.
She weakly squeezed it back before losing all strength.
Then, harmonious notes pierced the silence and shining blue light vanquished the darkness of the space. It was all due to the playing of a crystal clear violin by a resolute violinist. Allen looked up in shock to see Katelyn standing over them as she began to sing an ethereal song with closed eyes, one that came from no lived experience of her own.
“Ó mikill andi árinnar sem rennur norður!
Ekki snúa höfðinu frá.
Stilltu strengi háls þíns til blæðingar.
Ég mun spila lag sem heillar jafnvel móður náttúru sjálfa.
Blóð Kvasis. Mane Hófvarpni.
Lát trén dansa og fossana stöðvast!
Ég er auðmjúkur nemandi þinn og þú ert tryggur kennari minn.
Ég bið þig, gefðu mér áheyrn þína.
Örlátur Strömkarlen Fossegrim!”
Answering her summons, the Greater Spirit, Fossegrim, appeared behind its master. The entity was a regal but primal being adorned with the garb of an ancient noble alongside having the features of the sea itself. Within its visage, one could find the pitch-black eyes of a shark, hair that flowed like seaweed, and scales that shimmered with the colors of a coral reef.
The Spirit proceeded to clap.
His applause beckoned luminescent runes that covered every object and person, including Tierney’s body. Allen gazed in awe as the car was restored to perfect condition with the water of the ocean around them being transmuted to replace what was missing. The half-elf’s body was healed as well as a deep glow emanated from her wounds and made them disappear.
It was only a low thud that made Allen understand that they were now back in place with the rest of the Subatlantic Express. Likewise, Tierney opened her eyes slowly in disbelief that she had made a near-full recovery. Her right arm was still missing but she could not take her current state for granted. Most of her blood had escaped her body, a condition that neither being given magical energy nor using Pulse could remedy, but she was somehow still alive.
“Magic that transcends human minds and reasoning. The very origin of the mystic arts that can defy the laws of nature. That is what makes Spirits the true rulers of Craft and beings that stand on par with the Grim Reaper itself.” Nathan heralded with reverence. He and Conner were also back in great health as if nothing had happened.
Katelyn silently walked over and helped her former mentor to her feet. “I remembered what my dream was after the Wraith vanished. Everything seemed so clear after that.”
It dawned on Allen himself that the Specter Fossegrim had indeed been Katelyn’s Wraith. With something as precious as a dream returned to her after so many years, he could not help but wonder just how different the woman standing over him was now.
“Of course it would, you’ve somehow been able to make it this long without your north star,” Tierney said regretfully. She was ready to accept the punishment she knew she deserved but hoped that she could still at least watch on to see how far the rising star would go.
Katelyn simply looked her straight in the eyes. Her demure face blemished with eyebags seemed a little less tired than before. “I still haven’t forgiven you, but I’ll need a lot of people for what I’m envisioning now. I’m going to need your help too whether you like it or not.”
The two nodded in agreement and Allen grinned after a deep breath of relief.
“I should’ve guessed she’d be able to summon that Spirit when it mattered. Just when I was getting used to it, this world found another way to blow my expectations out of the water, heh.”
He chuckled a bit at the unintended pun and counted himself fortunate. Sometimes, it paid to be just an extra on a grand stage of performers.