“They’re gaining on us!” I shouted over my shoulder. The air whipped by as we rocketed down the rail, and the wooden board that was the back of the cart kept rattling like it was about to fall off. The goblins, predictably, had jumped into carts and pursued.

I mentally prepared for a fight. Or a crash. Both seemed quite likely.

“I’m already going as fast as I can!” Aerion called back. “Any faster and we’ll crash.”

I’d always thought cog trains were slow. Not this one. We were cruising along at highway speeds. With how much the little cart careened on every corner, that was a terrifying thing. The cart had clearly been designed for half this speed.

The goblins pursuing us didn’t seem to care.

“How many of them?” My dungeon buddy asked. He had his hands full fiddling with the controls, trying to keep the cart from derailing. Given how his fingers played over the levers with a maestro's deft, precise actions, I was glad to have him at the wheel. If it were me, the cart would’ve derailed at the first turn.

“Two carts! Four enemies.”

Aerion clucked in frustration. “They’re lighter than us, so their carts go faster! You were supposed to break them so they couldn’t follow!”

“I kinda had my hands full. Look, we need to figure out a—holy hell!”

I dove into the cart, yanking Aerion down with me. My action dislodged the rattling board that made up the rear face of the cart. It sagged, hanging onto its metal frame by one corner, clattering against the rail.

“What are you doing!” Aerion screamed, right as an arrow flew over our heads.

“Arrows! You’re welcome.”

Had I not pulled Aerion down, he might have been skewered right now.

“T-thanks,” Aerion said, clearly spooked. He glanced at the goblins. “Not arrows. Bolts. They have crossbows. Slow to fire. Far more powerful.”

Shit.

My health overlay showed my legs in yellow, flashing slowly. This, despite my Vigor having gone up to 8, increasing my stamina. It felt a bit like drinking a diluted version of that safe room water, filling me with energy. An excellent reminder that getting into fights without any healing was pure idiocy.

Aerion shoved past me, grasping the levers just barely in time to slow us down for a corner.

I braced against the side of the cart. At this rate, we’d be picked off.

“Change of plans,” I said. “Slow us down. Get us closer.”

“Are you mad? They have crossbows! We’ll die!”

“Trust me. I got a plan.”

Well, it wasn’t much of a plan. I jammed my arming sword into the back of the cart, and grabbed the wooden board that was about to fall off.

Initialize [Wooden Board Shield]? 99% chance to successfully Initialize [Common] armor. Essence Cost: 5.

“Initialize!”

Wooden Board Shield [Common]

As far as shields go, it’s about as bottom of the barrel as you can get. But it’s here. It’s sturdy. It might just save your life!

Essence Cost: 5

Condition: 100/100

Stats: None

Abilities:

— Minor Blunt Force Resist (Foundation - 0): Slightly reduces incoming blunt force damage

My excitement grew as I read the description… until I saw that it only reduced blunt forced damage. The goblins were firing arrows. Oh well.

There was no significant transformation as with Aerion’s robe, but the wooden board felt a bit heavier than before. I hoped it’d be enough.

I hefted my makeshift shield on the cart’s metal frame right before something thwacked against it.

Peeking over, I found a crossbow bolt embedded inside.

Condition: 97/100

Not bad, I thought. This might actually work.

And then I noticed the second goblin cart had gone missing.

Oh, shit.

“Aerion! We may have a problem!”

I searched desperately around, peering past our own tunnel’s transparent walls into the inky darkness of the sea that loomed beyond.

I expected to see nothing, but it was pretty bright out there. Like a string of Christmas lights. Other tunnels, running parallel to our own. Tunnels to our left and right. Even a few above us, floating in the middle of the sea.

“Why?” Aerion asked. “What’s the—oh no.”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I caught them too late.

One of the nearby tunnels was getting steadily closer to our own. And inside, I saw the blurry black outline of a cog cart, going exactly as fast as we were.

“Junction ahead!” Aerion called.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll—”

I never got the chance to finish. The tunnels merged faster than I’d anticipated, bringing the other goblin cart with it.

The little demons already had their crossbow trained on us, but as it turned out, that was the least of our worries.

“Greg! The tracks merge!”

You’ve gotta be shitting me.

I watched in horror as the goblins’ cart rapidly approached. Time seemed to slow. The stupid bastards weren’t even bothering to avoid a collision. Their eyes were on me, saliva pouring out of their deformed little mouths.

I stood there, frozen in a daze before my body acted on its own.

I shoved Aerion out of the way and slammed what I was pretty sure was the speed lever all the way back, braking hard.

Aerion lost his balance and collapsed on the floor of the cart, just a moment before I did the same.

My arms wrapped around his thin frame, and I draped as much of my body over him as I could.

“Hang on!” I roared.

Right before our cart collided with the one behind us.

Our bodies went flying. The wooden panel burst into splinters from the collision, and I went sailing with Aerion in my arms.

I did my best to protect him as we rolled and tumbled, but there was only so much I could do. By the time we stopped, my health display was flashing red and yellow.

I felt like shit. Everything throbbed, and I wanted to curl up into a ball and wish it all away. After throwing up.

Congratulations! [Wooden Board Shield]’s ability [Minor Blunt Force Resist] has leveled up to Foundation - 1.

Congratulations! [Iron Cuirass]’s ability [Obsidian Bane] has leveled up to Foundation - 1.

At least that tumble was good for something.

Aerion groaned from beside me.

“You alright?” I wheezed, coughing.

Aerion rolled away, checking himself over. I got to my knees, and immediately collapsed, whimpering.

“What’s wrong?” Aerion asked, kneeling beside me.

“Might’ve broken something,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Me too,” Aerion replied, and I noticed he was cradling his right arm.

“Well, not the best plan in the world, but at least it worked?”

The junction was carnage. The cart that had collided with ours had met the same end, and its stone occupants hadn’t survived the crash well. That was to say—at all. Mangled obsidian shards lay strewn all across the floor.

“Where’s the cart that was chasing us?” I asked, sitting up as best I could. I was seriously messed up. If the safe room’s magic water didn’t heal broken bones, we were screwed.

“I don’t see it—wait! Over there,” Aerion said, pointing into the distance.

Squinting, I could barely make out the cart, maybe a quarter mile down the tracks, along with a couple of small black forms. They were moving.

“They’re running for us, aren’t they?” I said, suddenly feeling exhausted. I was injured, dirty, and couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept. Looming above it all was a sense of growing unease.

I was just barely surviving here. Had Cosmo really brought me here just to fight monsters? I had to wonder.

Aerion unsheathed his dagger, bringing my wandering mind back to the present. There’d be time to lick our wounds later. Assuming we survived this encounter.

Two goblins weren’t much of a threat to either of us, but as injured as we were, I didn’t love our chances.

“The shield. Can you grab it?” I asked. I figured we had less than a minute before they reached us.

Aerion searched for the shield and found it under a pile of debris. It took him half the time we had left to dislodge it.

I got myself into position, dragging myself along on the floor, blinking back the tears that formed when my body erupted in pain. Which happened every time I moved my broken leg.

I swore I’d never allow myself to get injured like this again. It fucking sucked.

I hid behind the cart rubble. It wasn’t much, but it’d at least force the goblins to divert around, hopefully giving us the time we needed to club them.

Aerion returned with the shield, which I propped up in front of me. I couldn’t run, so this was my last line of defense.

Aerion was my first.

“Your throwing arm. You’re pretty good, yeah?” I asked. “The troll fight. You did good.”

Aerion nodded. “I prefer a bow, but yes. I can throw.”

“Great. Then take these.”

I handed him every Initialized stone I had, along with the Obsidian Daggers.

“These daggers aren’t for throwing, but see if you can stick ‘em. The stones are heavy enough that you should be able to take them out before they reach us.”

Aerion collected the ammo and hunkered down beside me. I was facing the wrong way, leaning against the mangled wreck, so I couldn’t see them coming. This was a better-protected position, and I couldn’t turn even if I wanted to.

It was alright. I could hear the damn goblins well enough—their screams sounded like shattering glass, and their footsteps echoed against the stone floor.

“They’re almost in range,” Aerion said, hefting a stone and getting into position.

He let one fly.

“Damnit!” Aerion muttered, picking up another.

Crack.

The goblins’ cries grew louder. More frenetic.

“I hit one, but they’re still coming.”

We had three stones left.

They were close now. Very close.

I picked up my arming sword and propped the wooden board up above my chest.

“Got him!” Aerion shouted, but his motions were frantic. Panicked. He’d taken one, but the other…

Aerion grabbed one of my daggers and threw it at the beast. It missed, and I heard it clatter on the ground.

The goblin appeared in front of me, facing the other way. It stopped, turned, and took a moment to gawk in surprise at my sitting form.

[Lightbringer] activated, forcing it back even further.

It was the last mistake the ugly motherfucker would ever make.

I drew up every last reserve of energy I had. I roared, and I lunged.

My arming sword struck the thing in the belly. It didn’t pierce through, but it did drive the monster back. Right into Aerion.

With his dagger, Aerion slashed across the thing’s thin, vulnerable neck, roaring in adrenaline-addled rage.

With an audible crack, the goblin’s neck shattered and its head fell. It was soon followed by its body.

My head lolled and the darkness took me. I let it. I welcomed the sweet embrace of nothingness.

Had I stayed awake a moment longer, I’d have noticed the stream of System notifications that filled my vision.