The train lurched to a slow, screeching stop, and the doors flew open. I lugged my luggage over the platform and prepared to board a Troll Taxi.

You see, you can’t just get to the Academy. You need magical forms of transportation, and of course, Troll Taxis were very popular. Obviously, you needed to go to secret stations hidden across large cities to get there, but Mei gave me directions to one.

I took a turn into a dark alley, and I swear I could’ve felt something crawling up me, but nothing happened.

I continued walking and walking, and turned to a large, looming brick wall. Vines were sprouting through the cracks, while old trucks and pickups littered the lot in front of it.

“Trolled, Trolled, you’ve been trolled, take a ride, give us more…?” I mumbled the secret words. After a few seconds, the wall shifted open where a large and well-tended lot of taxis sprawled for hundreds, if not thousands of feet.

“Welcome, young mage! How far would you like to travel?” A burly troll in front of the gate asked.

“Er, just up to the Western Branch Academy.”

The troll smiled. “So you’re a young student, eh? Well, follow me!”

The troll lead me down the lot to a small taxi, and opened the door for me. I stepped inside, and the troll turned the key for the car. As it rumbled to life, I could feel the seat start to warm and buckle up and down, relaxing my bones and making the ride a bit more enjoyable.

“Like the new specs I added? Did it myself, yes I did.” The troll winked, as if appreciating himself and his impressive seating system.

The troll backed up the taxi, did a fast swerve across the lot, and bolted through the back exit. We were zooming at around 70 MPH on a road that looked smaller than my apartment alley. I grabbed on to my seat-there wasn’t anything directly to grab on to.

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“Woo-hoo!” The troll yelled as we went towards a gnarly looking bump in the road. Soon, I felt the entire taxi heat up as he blasted right for it.

“Wh-what? Look out!” I screamed, as the looming chunk of dirt, rock, and roots loomed closer and closer.

The Troll smiled, and turned up the heat once more. We blasted forward, but the troll pulled the wheel towards him. All of a sudden, a massive blast of fire shot the taxi at least 20 feet in the air, sending us flying, as we glided through the air.

“Yee-haw,” The troll shrieked with delight. “That was crazy, yes it was!”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It looked like I wasn’t going to die just yet. The troll started to lower the heat, and we hit a nice, calm cruise. The taxi blasted forwards, and it seemed everything wasn’t going to completely fall apart.

After a few minutes, the environment changed. Rows of houses and local shops twisted into small, random cabins and weird outposts, patrolled by all sorts of mages. We’ve clearly entered magical territory, with spells blocking out non-mages from breaking in or exploring the area.

We arrived at a fork in the round, and the troll turned left. I noticed that the troll started getting a bit more tense as we entered a thick forest. The road got bumbier, small pebbles flying out of the way of the taxi or getting scorched from the heat.

Then, I heard it. Growling.

“Young mage, we are not safe here. There are monsters…enemy trolls, that work for Him.”

“What?”

But all of a sudden, it all fell apart. A troll, different in color. It lurched onto the windshield and blasted some sort of chunk. I realized it was a massive boulder, and it slammed into the troll.

“Run, young one!” The troll choked, and sent a blast of fire into the troll, who simply sidestepped.

The taxi was losing control, swerving crazily across the road until it smashed into a massive tree, blasting debris into the back of the car, small shrapnel slicing my arms. Scarlet blood dripped from them, and I winced in pain.

I watched the fight unfold. The driver sent another blast of fire, but the attacker sent a wall of chunky earth and mud, stopping the blast.

“That boy is mine!” The troll growled, and a boulder smashed into the driver, sending him flying backwards. The troll turned towards me.

“Die.”