We left our cabin and entered a short hallway in chaos. People from the other compartments were coming in from the cars behind us and were filling up the hallway. Rich nobles who could afford the price of the cars, but some were in various stages of undress or wearing casual clothes.

In their rush to find out what was going on, they’d disregarded fashion. And anything that made a noble ignore their appearance was cause for concern.

Charlie stuck to my back as we pushed through the throng of citizens as we headed up the many cars. The noise built, as did the heat from so many bodies packed together, all of them shouting or asking questions no one had the answer to.

As we reached the front car just before the steam engine, we encountered a group of three people dressed in various armor: two men and a woman, all on the younger side of life. There was no uniformity to the gear, which discounted them as guards or mercenaries.

Which made them adventurers.

They were crowded around a stout, balding man with a thin mustache who, from his uniform, must’ve been the conductor.

“What’s going on here?” I asked as Charlie, and I approached.

“Just asked that myself,” one of the men said in a rugged voice as he glanced back at me and then to the conductor.

He was tall, well built, with lean muscle with several scars crisscrossing his arms and hands. He had long red hair tied back in an intricate warrior braid down to his shoulders, stern, piercing green eyes, and a thin, angular face.

The man wore thick leather armor well patinaed from use with several nicks and scratches along the surface. He also carried a small spear across his back, with a wicked blade at the end.

He was a silver ranked adventurer from the polished metallic plate attached to his glove on his wrist, but I couldn’t make out the stamp to figure out which guild he was from.

The other man and female adventurer also had silver on their gloves. Which meant this party was more experienced than not and could handle themselves to a reasonable degree.

“As I was just saying,” the conductor said. “There appear to be signs of monster activity up ahead. The protocol is to stop the train before entering the beast’s territory and to send a message to the closest city to call the guard or adventurers guild to investigate.”

“But that’ll take at least a full day for them to get here just to assess the situation and then who knows how long after that to take care of whatever it is,” the soft-faced female of the group said in a lilting voice.

She had fine, silver-white hair that flowed down to her slim waist, large crystalline blue eyes, and an inhumanly pretty face. Her thin gown shone white in the overhead light, which meant she wore mithril just like I did, except hers was thin and flexible, giving her greater agility.

An elf. How strange.

Whatever her reasons for leaving Sylfaen, I couldn’t guess, but her quick reflexes and acutes senses would be a great boon to any adventuring party.

The third member was tall, heavily muscled, and rather stoic. He had raven black hair shorn close to his scalp and thick features. His dark eyes glanced back at us, and then he turned back to his group, clinking slightly as his plate mail jostled against his massive claymore across his back.

“How about you let us deal with whatever’s out there, and we can collect the payment for the quest when we reach Haleia? It’d save us all considerable time?” The red-haired man said.

The conductor nodded. “That would be agreeable. Normally I’d have to say no, but you’re silver ranked. And I don’t have the authority to stop you. Since this voyage is lacking guards, I have no choice but to issue an impromptu quest for you three to exterminate whatever threatens us.” His gaze turned stern. “But I urge caution. It would reflect poorly on the Whittaker company if its passengers were to perish.”

“You need some backup?” Charlie asked, coming to stand in front of me.

The group looked back and then promptly dismissed us.

“No thanks. We appreciate the offer truly. But we don’t exactly play well with others. No offense,” red replied.

Charlie laughed and reached into her storage space and withdrew a leather glove with a single thick obsidian plate embossed with golden filigree. “No offense to you, but I was just being polite. You can’t actually stop us.”

The three of them and the conductor stared at the glove transfixed, their mouths agape.

“Ob─obsidian,” the female elf squeaked out.

“But how?” Red asked. He looked at Charlie and then at me.

I sighed and reached into my own storage and pulled out a thick leather-wrapped roll. I undid the clasp and unfurled it. Attached to each pocket was a different tag for different guilds across the world. Three were obsidian, two were gold, and one was copper.

I never got far with the Legrange Kingdom’s guild.

“I haven’t kept up my certification, so my licenses are probably expired. But let’s keep that just between us, shall we?” I said as I rolled my tags back up.

“Show off,” Charlie said with a snort.

“At least one of us is organized, you witch.”

She harrumphed. “Rude.”

“You started it.”

“No, seriously.” Red pointed at the two of us, pale in the face. “Who are you guys?”

Charlie stepped to the side and tilted her hips to showcase the holster where she kept her wand, and in the process, revealed the sword at my hip.

“Can’t you tell?” she asked, teasing.

All of them glanced down, and their pale faces went white as paper as they took in our exalted weapons.

“The Ashenwand…and the Silverblade.” Red said.

“Heroes,” finished the elf.

We nodded.

“Great, now that we’ve cleared everything up, let’s get our asses in gear. There’s a monster about, and the sooner it’s dead, the less chance it has to hurt innocents,” Charlie said and turned on her heels before leaving the cabin.

I spared the silver-ranked adventurers one last glance and a shrug before I followed after her. She was fast when she was determined, and I had to sprint to catch up with her, barely dodging a few passengers in the attempt.

As we departed the train, a stiff breeze tugged at my clothes, and Charlie shivered before us lay large sprawling hills and rocky outcroppings as small frost-tipped mountains loomed in the distance.

“The earth is rocky and tough. Not a lot of farmland out here,” I said and looked up.

The bright yellow sun beat down with a feverish intensity, but even it couldn’t overpower the harsh winds that kicked up as they rolled down from the mountains.

“Yeah, not a lot of food around the Galtian Mountains. Plenty of water, but a low animal population,” Charlie said.

“Which means that whatever’s out here isn’t here for the food? Right?” Red asked as he and his party departed the train.

His tone wasn’t resentful, more genuinely curious, and now that the shock of meeting us had worn slightly, there was an air of respect in his voice.

It happened with everyone that recognized us, and after twenty damned years of it, I was frankly sick of all the praise.

Hell, Red looks like he’s barely out of his twenties. He’d have been a baby when I was famous. Haven’t done anything worth being praised over in well over two decades.

I was a nobody now, just an old man, and I much preferred that to all the praise and adoration.

“Maybe. It does make me curious as to why a monster would venture all the way out here. A lack of prey here means that if it’s hungry enough, it might sniff us out and attack the train or continue on, starving until it reaches Haleia or any of the towns near it.”

Charlie prodded me. “But that’s just pure speculation on our part. But it does tell us that we need to be on our guard here.”

“Because a starving monster is twice as dangerous,” the elf girl said.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

“So, how do you want to do this?” he asked. “Ah, sorry.” Red rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin plastered on his face. “Here we are about to go into battle, and we haven’t even introduced ourselves properly. I’m Kayen, but everyone calls me Kay.”

“My name is Caeda,” the elf girl said, smiling at us as she thumbed over to the tall, dark-haired warrior. “And tall, dark, and brooding over there is Grail.”

He inclined his head. “Honored.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

His voice was a deep rumbling baritone like he gargled with gravel. Though quiet, his dark eyes scanned over us and the scenery and our surroundings with quick practiced motions.

Likely doesn’t miss much.

“If you don’t object, Kay. Charlie should take point, with you and Grail behind her, and then Caeda and I can support you from the rear.”

He nodded and then scrunched his face up in confusion. “Shouldn’t you be on the frontlines? You’re the best fighter here.”

“That was a long time ago.” I smiled and stroked my silver beard. “If you can’t tell, I’m old as sin now. I’d just slow everyone down.”

“Alright.” he shook his head and sighed. “I get your point. We’ll follow miss Charlotte’s orders.”

Charlie turned around and practically hissed at Kay. “Uh-uh. Let’s get one thing straight. We’re not in court or at any royal function. We’re about to go into battle, so don’t you dare call me Charlotte. It’s Charlie. Got it?”

Kay went rigid and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Charlie.” She scowled even harder. “Charlie. Call me Charlie or I leave your ass here and take care of whatever this is myself.”

“Okay, Charlie.”

“Good.” She beamed. “Now, let’s get moving.”

I chuckled under my breath, and we started hiking.

It was clear to us what had stopped the train. Giant tracks marred the otherwise pristine grassy surface. Thick scars that churned the dirt below and ripped it from the ground.

Though they were too rough to give us an exact match, they did give us a decent idea of what we were dealing with.

“Something large, likely twenty feet or longer, with wickedly sharp claws. Reptilian by the looks of things,” Charlie said as we passed them by.

“Reptilian?” Kay said with a twinge of unease. “Are you thinking, dragon?”

She shook her head. “Too small for a dragon, but perhaps a drake or any of the other myriad scaled beasties that inhabit this world. Maybe a naga?”

“No, too clean for a naga. And they don’t usually get this big,” I said as we followed the monster’s trail that led along the railroad tracks and headed for a large craggy valley a few hundred feet ahead of us.

“Well, we won’t have to wait long to find out,” Caeda said. “I’ve got movement a few hundred feet straight ahead of us.”

I couldn’t pick up anything, but I wasn’t an elf and didn’t have anywhere near their level of senses.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been around an elf. I forgot how amazing they are.

As we walked into the valley, the large rock outcroppings around us bathed us in darkness, and I placed my hand on Silverblade’s hilt and got ready to draw it.

Charlie was in the lead, so as soon as the shadows fell over us, she drew her wand and settled into a defensive stance as the others prepared for battle.

Gravel from the tracks crunched under our feet as we walked deeper into the crevice as rocky grass slopped high overhead.

Another fifty feet and I finally picked up what Caeda’s ears had minutes earlier. Heavy gusts of breath and scuffling echoed around us while vibrations thrummed below our feet ever so slightly.

Because of the narrow valley we were in, sound bounced, and I couldn’t tell where the disturbances were coming from. It had me on high alert, and I was about to speak up when Caeda shouted from beside me.

“Stop! Defensive formation. There’s more than one!”

Even as she uttered her first syllable, I recognized the panic in her voice and drew my sword on principle.

It was just in time, too, because as soon as she spoke, there was a high-pitched roar and a new shadow fell over the ground as something large climbed atop the ledge above us and to the left.

I looked up as a massive, scaled reptile poked its head over the mound of rocks.

It was a dull green with a wide, angular face, and as it opened its mouth and hissed, a dozen ivory fangs glinted in the sun overhead as it crawled over the rocks and gouged deep furrows with its wicked talons that capped each of its four limbs.

Beyond that, ruby red spikes rose sharply along its back and down its spine until they reached its tail which was capped with smaller spikes in an approximation of a steel flail.

Ah hell.

“Spikebacked salamanders!” I called out.

As soon as the first appeared, three more of them slithered out over the rocks and began descending.

“Watch out for their fangs!” Kay shouted as his group formed up and readied their weapons.

The Spikebacked salamanders had numerous ways to kill their prey, but its fangs were the least of the dangers to watch out for.

“No! Watch out for its─”

As I spoke, the lead salamander hissed and opened its mouth wide. A heavy gout of bright green mist sprayed out in an arc toward Kay and his party.

My eyes went wide at the torrent of acid, and I quickly held up a hand. A sharp pain tore at my chest as my palm glowed with a bright pale light as I commanded my mana to bend to my will.

My spell formed in an instant, and a thick and shimmering ghostly shield appeared right in the path of the salamander's spray. It struck the ethereal shield like napalm and clung to it, bubbling and hissing as it started eating through the false metal.

The salamander kept up its acid spray, coating my shield completely as if to melt it through sheer determination.

Damn it.

There was only a second or two before it would succeed, and my shield would fail. The others were already reacting, moving into a defensive position as they leapt out of the way of the acid.

But it wouldn’t be fast enough.

With a flick of my wrist, I sent the illusive shield flying back toward the salamander. It whipped toward it so fast, the gushing acid from its mouth rebounded and splashed harmlessly over the salamander.

My shield crashed into its face, and it buckled under the blow. The salamander’s head jerked back with a sickening crunch as bright purple blood and fangs littered the ground.

It howled in rage, but with the acid in its mouth, it turned to a gargled screech as it writhed in pain.

Charlie, reacting faster than any of us, backed up and, as the other salamander clawed their way down the rocks, raised her wand.

With a whisper of power, the Ashenwand glowed with a pallid light, and the crimson jewel lit up like a star as Charlie swept her arm up. Rushing wind gathered around us, howling like a banshee as it tore at our clothes and scattered my hair across my forehead.

A raging storm built in an instant, and when Charlie thrust her wand to the ground, it followed.

The lead salamander was twice as large as the others, with wicked talons and fangs that barely fit into its wide mouth. Its sickly yellow eyes screamed malice at us, and it scurried toward Charlie in the blink of an eye.

It didn’t make it in time.

The alpha salamander stopped as a gust of wind buffeted it from on high and lifted its head, sensing danger but unable to find it.

As its head turned toward the sky, a cyclone of wind spun wildly overhead before it condensed into a single point and crashed down with the fury of a god.

The salamander slammed into the ground with a vile squelch as its entire head was pulped in an instant.

Bright purple chunks of meat and scales scattered in all directions as the body of the beast slumped over, its leg still twitching even as it died.

In a single moment, everyone froze. The rest of the salamanders stared at their leader in abject confusion, unsure of what to do. But it only lasted for a second before I twitched, turning to Charlie and the salamanders whipped their heads toward me, and time restarted as the battle continued anew.

Charlie wavered, her face a little pale as she shakily raised her wand to keep fighting.

The spell took a lot more out of her than I guessed. She used to could sling magic like that for hours. Guess we’re all aging.

And as if the monsters could detect her weakness, they converged on her.

“Ah, hell.”

Before she could launch another attack, I sucked in a deep breath and opened the floodgates of my mana well.

A surge of brilliant warmth rushed from my chest and filled my entire body in an instant. I was weightless as I held my hand up and focused my desires, shaping them into reality.

In front of me, a shadow formed, hazy, before it took shape and, in an instant, I now stood in two places, a doppelganger wielding a copy of Silverblade stood in front of the salamanders.

The weight of the blade in my hand was comforting, and after so many years of not wielding it, standing in front of the monsters who stood poised to rip us to shreds.

It was like coming home.

The salamander hissed at me, its fetid breath rolled over me in waves, and an errant spurt of acid flicked out and landed on my shoulder, beginning to eat away at my clothes.

A touch of mana caused the acid to vanish as I brought Silverblade up and charged the beast.

My heart hammered loud in my chest as the salamander reared back and swiped at me. Its claws whistled as they cut through the air.

I angled my sword to the side, and its thick talons met the edge of my blade.

Silver met its claws, and for a single second, they held and pushed me back. I had to fight to stay standing and still hold onto my sword. Fatigue burned up my arms, and they shook as sweat dripped down my neck, and my breathing increased, but I held on.

After the second passed, there was a sharp hiss before acrid smoke bubbled up from its talons, and Silverblade bit deep into them.

The salamander roared and pulled back, but with a flick of pressure, three ivory claws clattered to the ground between us. It's blood-stained my blade, but even it bubbled, frothing as it evaporated.

The salamander backed away, but as soon as it put pressure on its injured leg, it toppled over with a rasping groan. I glanced back at myself, who was currently guarding Charlie while Kay and his party engaged the last salamander. Caeda held her hands up, and jagged chunks of earth rose under the beast, spearing through its tough hide with ease.

While she cast magic, Kay and Grail both had their weapons free and prodded the salamander's weak spots, pulling its attention. Each time it tried to go for one of the others, Kay or Grail would cut into it and draw it back to them.

It was a macabre dance, but they were skilled dancers, and I didn’t need to worry about them, not when I watched over them.

I turned my attention back to my own prey, and though my body was on fire, I shook off the exhaustion as adrenaline burned in my veins and grinned.

Let’s finish this.

The salamander hissed at me, spraying a flood of acid toward me.

Another shield appeared in front of me with a flick of my wrist, blocking the acid splash. It dripped to the ground, blackening the grass around us, but I wasn’t worried. Not when the acid obscured the salamander's vision.

I shuffled to the left, circling it while it kept up the spray, and sprinted toward it. As I got close, I jumped and used its forelimb as a stepping stone as I clambered atop its back.

Silverblade flashed in the bright sun overhead as I raised it over my head.

The salamander turned at the added weight, and its vicious yellow eyes looked straight at me.

Then it blinked and hissed in defiance as my blade came down.

There was a long snick as it passed through its neck before its flesh sizzled and popped, and Silverblade parted its head from its neck. An arc of purple blood spun in a languid circle around its still alive head as it dropped to the grass with a dull thud.

Blood gushed in a river from its decapitated head, and its body hadn’t yet realized it was dead. It teetered and then tried to walk before its legs gave out, and it tumbled to the ground.

I grabbed one of the brilliant crimson spikes adorning its scaly back and rode it down. When it crashed against the train tracks, I hopped off as a cloud of dust and gravel blossomed around the carcass.

As I walked out of the cascading dirt, I glanced over to the others and found the final salamander dead, with Kay’s spear sticking through its mouth and out the back of its head.

Not bad. A little inexperienced for silver-ranked adventures, but they have some skill.

And to be fair, it’d been more than twenty years since I was last an active adventurer, the requirements for advancement could be more relaxed now. I had no way of knowing.

But it didn’t really matter. The job was done.

“Caeda, are there any more?” I asked.

She looked at me and then cocked her head to the side, her silver-white hair falling away from her ear as she listened for any signs of danger.

After a moment, she stood straight back up and shook her head. “Not that I can tell. The only thing I can detect is the train now.”

It was probably the best reassurance we could get.

Spikebacks tend to travel in packs, so I doubt there are any stragglers.

I looked to myself, and we shared the same thought. There wasn’t much more we could do, and keeping up the spell was incredibly taxing, so with a nod, I dissolved, disappearing back into nothingness.

“Ah.” I gasped as the spell canceled, and I was suddenly standing beside Charlie. My sight swam as sweat poured off me and my heart raced in my chest.

“Woah, you okay?” she asked, placing a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

I nodded, bending over to clutch at my knees. “Yeah. I just haven’t gone that hard in a long-damned time. Give me a second.”

She laughed and slapped me gently on the back. “Catch your breath. I’ll go check on the others.”

“I’ll just wait here,” I said, my voice labored.

As she left, I tried to compose myself, but it wasn’t as easy as it used to be, and it seemed my magic had burned out whatever Charlie had done to ease the aches in my body, so it was screaming at me.

After a few heavy breaths, I stood and looked down at Silverblade in my hand. The naked sword glinted, and a calmness entered my mind along with a twinge of satisfaction and pride.

I smirked as I sheathed my blade, maybe for the last time, and looked over to the others, who were basking in the praise of a hard-fought victory.

Yeah. I had fun too.