The moment the Dark Master was gone everyone began moving. Those who stood on the platforms looked out at the departing tracks without thinking that they should look the other way, at the wave of teenagers that was rolling behind them.

I was glad that I was in such a good position when the first wave broke over the platform. Part of the station building next to the platforms had collapsed into a treacherous pile of concrete slabs, rusty fittings, and sharp fragments. It was three meters tall and it provided a moderately comfortable spot to watch the show unfold.

Depending on who you asked, it was a real theater.

What I saw and heard kept me stunned. I didn’t believe that the Dark Master would show up. The only thing that soured my situation was a guy who climbed next to me just minutes before the Dark Master appeared. He remained there, so I was able to examine him.

Either he was a complete fool or from a kindred of Pit Divers. His parents were probably the second or third generation. So, he could’ve already possessed some abilities. Besides that, he carried a sword almost as wide and big as him and looked at anyone in the crowd like he was ready to cut them down if they came any closer.

When he climbed up, he gave me a quick glance and that was the end of our communication. His gloomy face drove away any attempts at encroaching on our position. That gave me a small breath of confidence. Even more so for the sole fact that kindred were on this adventure. It gave me hope that this was not a hoax. A small hope but it was something. The only catch was that there was probably going to be more like him, which would make this difficult.

Meanwhile, the crowd tried to split up and divide into groups. They pushed from all sides, fighting with fists, knives, bats, and anything that could be used to hurt someone.

The Dark Master knew how to rile up teens. The train had not even arrived yet and still, the body count was rapidly rising.

Oh, and the train, that was a sight to be seen. It crawled around the bend and slowly came into full view. Even from a distance, its condition was suspicious at best and it looked like a piece of junk.

Soon after it was spotted by the rest of the teenagers. I mostly saw guys on the platform. The girls among them were smart enough to hide or cover up their faces.

Those who fell off the platform and were still able to get back on their feet, ran along the tracks toward the train. Some had to jump to the side, others tried to jump on it as it moved.

The only normal-looking thing on the train was the last car. Black, clad in armor, it was clear that that section was in good condition. The rest of the trailers were ordinary and without any cabins, I counted a total of seven of them. It would take a lot of rows to stack the people assembled here. When the train stopped at the platform, the crowd went completely crazy. No one, not even whoever was driving the train cared that several dozen teens were run over by its wheels.

The noise was unimaginable, a cacophony of death screams and curses. I squinted at my neighbor. He stood with an imperturbable expression as if this was a common occurrence to him. Suddenly, he jerked, and his hand intercepted a bottle that was flying straight at his head. Without effort, he threw it back at the idiot who tried to climb up to us. They fell back into the crowd and got trampled. At the same time, I kicked another loser in the face that was trying to do the same on my side.

I had to leave if I was to get a seat on the train, but something caught my eye.

A girl was moving through the crowd, jumping right over everyone’s heads with stunning agility. She was dressed in a tight-fitting, patchy gray suit with a backpack and two long daggers strapped to her hips.

I could not help but admire the cruelty and grace with which she moved. Anyone who got in her way simply disappeared into the crowd.

I tensed up for a second time that day when she jumped straight towards us.

“Found you,” she said to the swordsman as she measured him with a cold gaze.

“Kalia,” the swordsman responded with a curt nod.

“I’m coming though,” she demanded, all while looking at me appraisingly.

“Go on.”

The noise around us was deafening, and yet they talked like they were at some dinner party at a mansion.

“And who’s this?” the girl asked about me. “Should we kill him?”

“Makes no difference to me.”

And here I thought we had become friends.

We moved at the same time. She took a step forward, while I threw out the chain that was hidden up my sleeve. I used it like a whip to play a cruel joke on her. Her pride would have her think that she was as agile as a hundred cats, but on this surface of uneven debris, any movement could lead to an easy stumble. Kalia, or whatever her name was, lost precious seconds in repelling my attack. The chain wrapped around her leg, I yanked it and sent the girl flying. She hit a stone and fell down onto a concrete slab where she was overwhelmed by the crowd.

“A foolish move,” the swordsman’s tone was accusatory as he watched me hide the chain again. “Kalia will remember that.”

“Just leave her to me, buddy.”

“Buddy?” he inquired, eyebrow arched in surprise.

“Well, yeah. You joined me here on this hill of ours,” I patted the spot beside me. “Anyway, I'll leave this place for you now.”

I took one last look at Kalia as she knocked one guy after another. Then I grabbed onto a ledge and clambered up the ruin until I was high enough. Taking a running start, I jumped as far as I could and landed gently on the roof of the platform. The same one that the Dark Master had his speech on. After moving to the opposite edge, I stopped and started waiting.

“Is your plan to jump aboard when the train starts moving?” The swordsman’s voice sounded next to me.

It was annoying how I didn’t notice him approach me.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“What? You again?!” I gave him an annoyed look. “Growing fond of me, buddy?”

“As if,” he snorted and raised his chin.

“Sure, sure, Mr. Frying Pan,” I shrugged before continuing to observe our surroundings while keeping an eye on him.

The idiots below would be smart to throw something heavy at us, but thankfully they had other problems down there. At this time the train was already covered with teens that wanted to leave. By sheer screams of rage and pain, it was obvious their struggle was real.

“Frying Pan?” The guy asked calmly.

“You are kidding, right? That thing on your back, it’s perfect for cutting meat and then frying it.”

I expected him to feel insulted and attack me on the spot. Instead, he paused for a few moments, then burst out laughing.

“Good one,” he said, “in different circumstances, I would have killed you for that.”

“And our current circumstance is that we are standing above a crowd of teenagers killing each other.”

“Right”, he agreed gravely.

I spent the next few minutes in fear of Kalia coming after us. She did, but by the time she climbed onto the roof, the train was starting to depart.

I planned to jump onto the first trailer going out. If it left the train station first it would be reasonable to think that the intensity of the battle would decrease quickly. I just had to time it perfectly.

The swordsman and I ran at the same time. We jumped off with all our might and landed in the middle of a group of people like two wrecking balls. I kicked someone, grabbed onto someone else’s arm, and as I tried to get up, I got punched in the ribs for my troubles. Having braved through the pain, I stumbled and regained my senses, standing back-to-back with the swordsman. Our fierce battle for a spot on the train began.

Brass knuckles were a much better choice than the chain in this situation. I was very generous with my punches and every time one landed, the opponent flew off the train or rag dolled under my feet.

We were not the only ones who had this idea. So, when the fighting started to tone down there were quite a few small groups who managed to carve a foothold for themselves. Silence suddenly fell on everyone present. In the end, no one was attacking anymore, and whoever survived was evaluating everyone else. Fights on other trailers didn’t last much longer either. And if you couldn’t punch out your ticket, you were punched off the train.

The swordsman didn’t draw his blade but fought with bare hands like I did.

“So, buddy,” I looked at him. “Introduction time?”

“I don’t think so,” he answered and simply walked away from me.

He repositioned to the edge of the trailer so no one could stand behind him. After some hesitation, I walked up and stood by him.

“All right, as you wish,” I answered. “As long as you don’t stab me in the back, we are all good.”

“I am not that kind of a man.”

That was something you couldn’t hear every day. When you lived your life on the streets you didn’t know if you would make it till tomorrow. You survived the best you could or died from a knife in your side, huger, or illness. You couldn’t trust a stranger on the street and a stab in the back was as common as a hello to some of the vilest of them. But a nobleman of the new world, you could trust them even less.

“Besides, I’m the least of your worries,” he looked towards Kalia who was three trailers away from us.

I would cross that bridge when I got to it.

The train was accelerating. Soon it was going so fast that if you didn’t sit down, you could easily fly off the trailer. I looked at the survivors. There were exactly twenty on our trailer. Those who grouped up I put under the “ordinary” column. Street kids, because why would a city dweller get involved in this adventure when they could live safely behind a wall?

Those who acted alone I put under “kindred”. Who else would be tough enough to be ready for such a battle alone? I was technically alone and without a kindred, half-kindred.

Actually, one of my goals was to find my family. To find out if my parents were alive or dead and why they left me with my aunt. I had no complaints living with her, she was a saint. Was. An ability user killed her one night under mysterious circumstances.

Still, she expected even that possibility and managed to look after me from beyond the grave. Her will gave me useful information and left me a gem of power. Sure, it was weak, but I was promised it would be more valuable if I collected two more and a rare one.

Gems were a reward for all this, that was the simple reason for why I was here. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to learn from the crazy Dark Master. Not because he organized today’s massacre. No, he had a much worse reputation than that. He was like a demon; Night Demon was what people called him. That meant something in our crazy little world, a place where real demons could actually appear.

I was thinking while still keeping my eye on Kalia, to see what she was up to. She was still far away, and there were almost a hundred people between us on these three trailers. I wouldn’t have seen her so clearly if the other teenagers on the trailers hadn’t sat down. I sat down as well. It was not normal for a train car to shake and wobble so much. Only a handful, like her, were standing up as if this was a leisurely ride.

They were all from a kindred, definitely. I could stand too, but I didn’t want to risk it. To be honest, I didn’t want to fight Kalia at all. I didn’t like hitting girls. Today was an exception I avoided my whole life. But she didn’t know that.

Luckily, she wasn’t in a hurry. She walked slowly and by the time she reached us, she managed to throw a guy off the train after talking to him for a moment. He probably angered her somehow.

She knew exactly where I was. She was just taking her sweet time, trying to make me nervous. It didn’t work; I was bored by the time she got to me. Her outfit was now covered in bloodstains, her hair was disheveled, its dark locks fluttering in the wind.

One should stand when one is approached by a lady, so I did.

“Look at this, buddy,” I said without turning. “We have a guest.”

There was something predatory about her. I wasn’t afraid of her, so I decided to end this quickly.

A slight movement and the daggers flew out of her scabbards. She crouched and rushed forward. I released the chain to meet her. Still, she bent down even more and smoothly flowed around it without touching it.

We clashed.

Mastering the chain was not easy. Even though I received the power gem as a gift from my aunt and absorbed it, there were still more steps to be made. The gem required I train my body for two whole years, without any indulgences or excuses for bad mood, illness, or laziness. No one on the streets knew that the gems were not simple stones, they were smart and insidious.

The point was I was a master with the chain. When the girl managed to bend the sinker at the end, I moved my hand and created a wave that whipped Kalia on the forehead. For just a brief moment, she closed her eyes. It was just enough for me to move. I grabbed her wrists and it was like trying to stop a train. I fell on my back and almost out of the platform, but I pulled the girl towards me and…

And she flew straight off and away from the train.

Right there, lying on my back, I wondered why the sky was so beautiful on such a gloomy, bloody day. Bright blue with just a sparse covering of snow-white clouds.

“You alive?” My buddy asked me as he leaned over me.

“Frying Pan, why do you have to ruin the mood? The sky is lovely but your face, not so much.”

“Damn, you are alive,” he spoke in surprise, “What’s your name?”

“So finally introductions are in order?” I chuckled and got up.

Others looked at us with interest, some of them were apprehensive. Kalia was like a snake that slithered her way past the passengers, unnerving them with her threatening presence and appearance. And then some random guy threw her off the train.

“I don’t know you,” said the swordsman. “Your hair, eyes, and face are strange… But still somehow familiar. Like a distorted mirror,” he listed dryly like I was some kind of half-breed dog.

“What the… Do you know everyone in the world?”

“I know everyone whose kids can throw Kalia off the train like that.”

“Well not everyone it seems. You can call me Spartan.”

I wasn’t going to introduce myself with my real name, not in this company.

“Spartan, really?” he repeated. “Came up with that on your own, did you?”

“A friend gave me that name.”

We called him Geek. I didn’t just make it up. I had friends who I had to leave for a chance to join this adventure. I just hoped they were waiting for me.

“Do you have a kindred?” he asked bluntly.

“No, I’m a street urchin. How about you?”

“Street urchin…” he repeated. “You can call me…” he was going to say a name but stopped himself and gave it a thought. “Gats. The rest does not matter here.”

“Okay, Gats-Frying Pan. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I held out my hand.

He hesitated for a moment, then shook my hand.