“Radiants!” said Captain Tamwell.

Princess Ardria looked through the train's grimy window, following his pointing finger and saw three small points of light on the northern horizon. She felt her guts clench up in fear. Were they coming this way? Was this it, what they'd been dreading ever since setting out from Marboll?

The Carrow soldiers sharing their carriage saw them as well, but paid them no special attention. To them, the creatures were their allies, battle brothers. They searched the horizon for the small patches of glowing light, trying to see in what direction they were travelling, but only in idle curiosity. If they were approaching, they might wave out the window as they passed overhead, but that was it. They had neither fear nor a special fascination for the creatures. Ardria knew better, though. Did they know that she was on this train, heading for Charnox, now less than a day away? Were they looking for her? Even if they weren't, they wouldn't pass up a chance to take her out if they spotted her.

She watched them, therefore, along with Tamwell and Brailsford, desperately willing the tiny points of radiance to move along the horizon, signifying that they were moving across their paths, that they just happened to be in the same part of the world at the same time with completely unconnected purposes. Hopefully they would just continue on their way and never know how close they’d come to ending her dangerous mission. There was a tree on the horizon. A large oak tree that had lost most of its leaves in the seemingly endless draught, almost between them and the Radiants. She used it as a frame of reference while compensating for the train's movement, tried to convince herself that the creatures were about to pass behind it. They didn't. Instead, they grew brighter, and after a couple more minutes there was no more room for doubt. The Radiants were coming their way!

Tamwell left his seat to approach Captain Silva, and half a dozen soldiers immediately jumped upright and drew their pistols. Tamwell hurriedly raised his hands. “I just want to talk!” he said.

“It's okay,” said Silva, and the soldiers returned to their seats, although they continued to watch him warily. “What's on your mind, Captain?”

“When I entered Carrow, I was carrying a pistol,” said Tamwell. “Do you still have it?”

“I imagine it’s still among your possessions, in the baggage.”

“Is it still loaded with the same ammunition it was when it was taken from me?”

“I have no reason to believe otherwise.”

“Captain, this is very important. You must send one of your men to get that gun. We're going to need it very shortly.”

“Need it for what?”

“It is loaded with very special ammunition. Incendiary ammunition. It sets alight any flammable substance it touches. You'll need it to fight off the Radiants.”

“The Radiants are our allies, Captain. We have no reason to fear them.”

“Yes you do. They are desperate to prevent Princess Ardria from speaking to your king. They don't want her telling him what she knows.”

“And what is that?”

“That the Radiants are your enemies just as much as they are ours. They don't just want Helberion destroyed, they want all human civilisation destroyed, including Carrow! Duchess Pardew will confirm this.”

Everyone in the carriage looked at Soonia Darniss, and Ardria felt her heart in her throat. This was it! If she was going to betray them, it would be now. She could deny everything Tamwell had just said, then sit back and laugh when Radiant tentacles smashed through the windows and dragged the Princess away...

Darniss deliberately paused, as if enjoying Ardria's anxiety, but then she nodded. “It’s true,” she said at last, and the Princess relaxed. “Captain Tamwell is right. The Radiants want to destroy us as well.”

“Why do you think this?”

Ardria looked out the windows again. The Radiants were visibly closer. They didn't have much time. “Perhaps you could get the gun first,” she suggested, “and we'll answer all your questions later.”

Silva stared at her, clearly suspecting a trick of some kind, but then he nodded. “Shackell,” he said. “Go get Captain Tamwell's pistol from the baggage.” One of the soldiers rose from his seat and went off to obey, disappearing through the connecting door. “I just want to see this special ammunition of yours,” he explained. “There's no chance of the Radiants attacking.”

“If they do, they’re likely to just cast a curse the moment they’re close enough,” said Ardria. “If they know I'm here, they won't care who else is in here with me...”

“Helberry lies!” cried one of the soldiers. “Captain, They’re trying to...”

“Silence, Frell!” snapped Silva. “Control yourself in front of the enemy!” He turned back to Darniss. “You were their captive for several months. You could have been brainwashed...”

“I saw their attack on Paisley Palace,” replied Darniss. “There were eight of them. Seven of them died. Some of them could have gotten away, they died because they were so desperate to kill the Princess and her father at any cost.”

“It was a decapitation strike,” pointed out the Carrow Captain. “Take out the enemy leadership.”

Darniss shook her head. “If that were the only objective, would they have sacrificed so many of themselves in the attempt? No, they were desperate to Kill Leothan and Ardria because they knew something. Something the Princess learned while she was half demon, while she was telepathically connected to the Radiants. She learned that all of mankind was their enemy, including Carrow. Not just Helberion. Captain, if they attack, they will not hesitate to kill you and your men if that's what it takes to kill the Princess.”

Silva stared at her. “Maybe you genuinely believe that,” he said, “but the fact remains that you were their captive for months. They clearly did something to you, made you believe this.”

“I assure you they did not.”

He just shook his head. “It makes no sense, don't you see! An attack on the train would be a dead giveaway! How can they still pretend to be our allies after killing Carrow soldiers and hundreds of Carrow civilians? They would be defeating the very object of killing you!”

“When they’re through, there'll be no living humans left to tell what happened!” said Ardria. “The blame will be put on Helberion assassins. No-one will guess that Radiants were responsible!”

“And what reason would Helberion have for massacring a train full of civilians?”

“No-one will care what the reason was! Just another senseless atrocity to be blamed on us!”

“The people back in Finchingfield know you boarded this train, with an escort of soldiers. Remember the huge crowd that gathered to see you? It'll be obvious that you were the target... Oh! People will think they were rescuing you.”

Ardria nodded. “Which is ridiculous, since I want to be here. I don’t want to be rescued, but people will believe it. No-one will believe that Radiants were responsible.”

“Speaking of Radiants,” said one of the Carrowmen. “They're here!”

All eyes turned to the windows, which were filled with a growing radiance. Dangling tentacles could be seen just outside, just a few feet away from the grimy glass. The creature’s hideous piping could be heard distantly, somewhere above them. Ardria tensed up in fear, but then the tentacles drifted away as it moved along the train. It can't see us! she realised with a surge of hope. It only has eyes around its body, and that's twenty feet above us! Then, with a surge of fear, she realised what it would have to do if it wanted to be sure of getting her. Curse the entire train, starting at the front and working methodically back to the box car at the end!

“How can it keep up with us?” asked one of the men. “We must be travelling at fifty miles an hour!”

“It's generating a fifty mile an hour wind to blow it along,” answered Brailsford. “It must be! Open the window and see.”

“That's just a myth!” said Silva. “If they could control the weather...” He looked out at the arid Carrow countryside with its shrivelled crops in their cracked, dusty fields. Brailsford rose from his feet, raising his hands to signal peaceful intent as the Carrow soldiers tensed up warily. The Kelvon Captain went to the narrow top window, moved the catch and pulled it open. There should have been a gust of wind as the train rushed along the track. There wasn't. Brailsford took a handkerchief from a pocket and held it outside the window. It hung limply. The air outside the train was moving at the exact same speed as the train itself!

The Kelvon Captain stared meaningfully at his Carrow counterpart, who stared back with wide, astonished, terrified eyes. Yes! thought Ardria with rising hope. Figure it out! Put all the pieces together!

“Captain,” said Tamwell. “Your King has ordered you to bring the Princess to him alive and unharmed. Is that so?”

“It is,” confirmed Silva. He looked at the dividing door. “Where the hell’s Shackell?”

Another Radiant appeared outside the window, the thicker, upper parts of its tentacles visible this time. It tried to drop lower, tried to bring its eyes level with the windows, but that meant dragging its tentacles along the hard, stony ground at fifty miles an hour. It tried to lift them, but seemed incapable of raising more then two or three at a time. It must have hurt, because it hurriedly rose again, abandoning the attempt. It fell back, going to the rear end of the train, while the third creature approached the middle part of the train, two carriages behind them. They were arranging themselves systematically along the train, preparing to attack!

“Does anyone know how to drive a train?” asked Tamwell. “Because if it curses the engine first, the driver and the engineer...”

Silva stared at him, then jumped from his seat. “Everyone move forward!” he ordered. “Get to the front of the train...”

He was too late. Screams came from somewhere up ahead, and a moment later from behind as well. The distant hubbub of panicked, confused, terrified voices, as well as panicked animal noises. “No!” cried Frell, leaping to his feet, waving his gun around in wild panic. His finger was white with pressure on the trigger and the prisoners shrank back into their seats fearfully. “They're our allies!” He aimed the gun at the Princess. “You did this! You turned them against us!”

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Tamwell tensed up, ready to hurl himself at the Carrowman in defence of his Princess even if it cost his own life, but it was Silva who came to her rescue, drawing his own pistol. “Frell! Control yourself, this instant!”

“But they did this! This is why they came here, to turn them against us!”

“They're already against you!” said Ardria. “They...”

“Lies! You're lying!” He steadied the pistol, aiming at her heart, but it was Silva’s pistol that spoke first and the Carrow private was thrown back down into his seat as two bullets pierced his chest. The other Carrow troops stared at each other in fear and confusion, their fragile discipline close to breaking. “Steady up!” commanded Silva. “It seems we have been lied to, but not by the Princess and her people...”

“Captain, that's treason!” said one of the Carrowmen in a hesitant, fearful voice.

“Not at all,” said Ardria, though. “We believe the treason has been committed by people close to the King. Adoptees. People with luminous skins, or who hide their luminous skins with powder. Possibly some of his advisors. They have been lying to him. All those who are loyal to King Nilon, all those who are loyal to humanity, have a duty to...”

She was interrupted as the connecting door burst open and passengers poured through, their wide, staring eyes blind to everything except an escape from the slaughter taking place up ahead. They ignored the soldiers and their prisoners and almost ran along the central aisle to the other door, which also opened to admit passengers coming from the other direction. Each group fought to get past the other. Punches were thrown, and from both ahead and behind came more terrified screams and animal noises. Passengers fell sideways onto the seats. Ardria found herself under a struggling businessman with a bloody nose. Her head was banged against the steel window frame and for a moment all she could see were stars, but then Tamwell was pulling him off her, pushing him back out into the aisle and helping her back to her feet.

“Captain! Captain!” It was Shackell, holding Tamwell's sidearm in his hand. He and Silva tried to fight their way towards each other. A man bumped heavily against Shackell, throwing him back against the door, and the gun fell out of his hand, sliding under the rearmost seat. Silva and Tamwell both dropped to the floor, running the gauntlet of panicked, trampling feet, and reached under the seat at the same time.

The piping of Radiants was heard above the tumult, rising in pitch as they prepared to cast more curses. “Do something!” someone demanded. “Why are they doing this? Do something!” People fought with the soldiers for their weapons, a shot went off and a soldier cried out, blood pouring from the wound in his side. The triumphant passenger pointed his pistol through the connecting door, fired off several more shots, most of which hit more passengers desperately trying to escape from the Radiant ahead.

Tamwell's fingers brushed against the barrel of his gun just a second before Silva grasped hold of the handle. Tamwell felt it pulled from his grasp, and then the Carrow Captain was pointing it at the Helberion Captain, a look of fury on his face. “I was trying to save us!” cried Tamwell desperately. “I wasn't going to...” A passenger tripped over Silva’s crouching body and fell heavily across him. Tamwell jumped back to his feet, then helped pull the cursing and swearing passenger from his counterpart. Silva brought the gun to bear on Tamwell again as he regained his feet, but the look of fury was gone.

“There are only eight rounds in that gun,” said Tamwell. “You can't waste one on me! If you’re going to kill me, use your own gun! Kill me if you’re going to, but save the Princess! Promise me you'll save her!”

Silva stared at the other Captain. “This incendiary ammunition,” he said. “Does it handle differently from regular ammunition? Does it need special training to use?”

“I’m led to believe it has slightly less recoil. I've never used it, but I've been briefed by those who have.”

“Then you save the Princess!” He handed the gun across. Tamwell stared at him, then nodded and took it.

The tumult in the carriage was lessening as the passengers realised that there was nowhere to go, and that their only chance for survival lay with the soldiers. Tamwell squeezed past them to the windows. The smaller window at the top would open, but the main window wouldn't so he smashed it with the gun, cleared the shards of broken glass from the frame with a sweep of the barrel, then climbed into the opening and leaned out.

The three Radiants towered above them like stormy thunderheads, their tentacles reaching in through broken windows, groping and feeling around for anyone still human. Their hideous piping filled the air. Even as be watched the nearest Radiant, attacking the carriage directly adjacent to their own, delivered another curse, and the screams and pleadings of terrified passengers was replaced by the howling and squealing of animals. Tamwell aimed the gun at the main body of the creature, pulled the trigger...

At that moment one of the passengers stumbled against his legs. The shot went wide, a line of incandescent white that missed the Radiant by more than three feet. He almost fell from the train, but he reached out with his free hand, grabbed the window frame and pulled himself back to safety. “Keep them back from me!” he cried, and he heard a scrabbling and struggling from inside the carriage as the soldiers tried to clear a space around him. Tamwell aimed the gun again...

The Radiant had seen the burning light of the incendiary round, though, and it angled its main body to allow the eyes on one side to look downwards. Tamwell saw them fix on him and a tentacle lashed out towards him. Tamwell jerked his finger on the trigger in the way you weren't supposed to, in the way almost guaranteed to miss the target...

But it was a big target. This time the streak of lambent white grazed the side of the creature, ripping through its tough, leathery hide and penetrating the spongy hydrogen sacks within. The creature erupted into a ball of red fire. Tamwell ducked back into the carriage as fragments of burning flesh fell all around him, waited a moment to make sure it was clear, then looked out again.

Both the other Radiants were converging on him. One from ahead, the other from behind. Tamwell aimed the gun again, and a moment later a second creature was blown into a ball of fire to the sound of cheering from inside the carriage. Tamwell allowed himself a moment of hope. Only one left... Then a tentacle wrapped around his waist and, with a scream, he was pulled from the train. The others could only watch in horror as he was torn in half, and then he and the gun were casually discarded.

The others watched in disbelieving horror, then recoiled as tentacles reached in through the windows, showering them with broken glass. “What do we do now?” cried Darniss in a high, shrill voice. The sound of piping filled the carriage, rising in tone as the creature above prepared to cast a curse.

“The engine!” shouted Brailsford. “There's fire in the engine!” The passengers heard him and rushed forward, choking the doorway. The soldiers had to push them out of the way, and they couldn't afford to be gentle. A tentacle wrapped around the rearmost and pulled him hard. There was a loud, wet smacking sound as his head hit the window frame with a spray of blood, and broken glass around the frame slashed his flesh as he was pulled through and dropped. More tentacles reached in, feeling around blindly, grabbing passengers and pulling them out, and all the time the awful piping rose higher and higher...

Silva pulled the last passenger out of the way and pushed the Princess through into the next carriage. She ran, Silva, Darniss and the soldiers behind her. Brailsford followed behind, and the curse hit while he was still in the narrow, concertinad passage between carriages. The crying and cursing of passengers vanished, to be replaced by a variety of animal sounds. A large bird flew past the Princess, going for a broken window and vanishing through it. Ardria tried not to look at it, tried to suppress the sick horror that threatened to overwhelm her. She looked back, and cried out in shock when she saw what was left of Captain Brailsford. He'd been caught on the edge of the curse and was still partially human, but he could no longer stand fully upright and his face was furry and bestial. He tried to pick up a pistol dropped by one of the Carrow soldiers, but his fingers no longer had the necessary dexterity. He stared at the Princess in misery and despair, and Ardria could only sob in sorrow as she turned her back on him and left him behind.

They dashed through one carriage after another, past panicked, confused animals, each of which had been a human being with hopes, dreams and ambitions just moments before. A large horse was blocking the aisle, its eyes rolling madly in its head. It tried to kick the Princess as she squeezed past, its hoof hit a seat instead with the loud crack of breaking wood. The animal reached out with its mouth and its blunt teeth closed around a mouthful of the Princess's hair. She cried out in pain, but there was the loud, close sound of a gunshot and she was free. She glanced back as she ran, saw the horse falling with blood pouring from its head. She forced herself to put it out of her mind and kept running.

There was no door at the end of the first carriage behind the engine. Ardria skidded to a halt, stared at the wall in baffled, helpless confusion. Silva joined her there, took in the situation at a glance then turned towards the still intact windows. “Wait here!” he shouted. He smashed the frontmost window with his gun, climbed through, reached up and climbed up onto the roof of the carriage.

The hell with that! thought Ardria and followed after him. Her gown caught and tore on the broken glass as she climbed through. She shrugged out of it, let it fall and climbed through in her underclothes, broken glass scratching her skin. Before her, Silva was at the front of the carriage, judging the distance, and then he jumped, landing on the coal car. He slipped as the coal shifted under his feet, spread his arms wide to regain his balance, then ran forward, almost losing his balance with every step as the train shuddered and vibrated under him.

Ardria glanced back, saw the last Radiant less than twenty feet behind. There was no wind, despite the fact that the countryside was rushing past at fifty miles per hour, and it took her a moment to remember why. She cursed in a most unladylike manner, then followed the Captain in a wild jump onto the coal car. She fell into the coal, getting black coal dust on her skin and underclothes. She didn't dare try to stand, but crawled on hands and knees towards the front of the car. A soldier passed her on the way, running without a care for the deadly drop on either side, then another soldier, so that there were three men waiting for her when she finally reached the engine.

“I told you to wait back there!” shouted Silva, but most of his attention was given to the door to the fire box. The heat brought a sheen of sweat to Ardria’s bare arms and legs, turning the coal dust into dirty smudges every time she brushed against one of the men. She looked back again, saw the Radiant closing quickly, its tentacles already reaching out towards them. It could see her now, and she could see that it was reaching for her in particular. Another soldier was scrambling across the coal car towards them. A tentacle snatched him up and threw him casually away.

“Shoot it!” shouted Silva. His two remaining men opened fire on it, the bullets tearing through its body without doing it any serious harm. Silva, meanwhile, was struggling to open the door to the fire box. He pulled at the lever, cursed in pain as the heat burned him and wrapped a rag around his hand before trying again. The lever refused to move. He cursed in frustration as he tugged and pulled at it, totally without effect. The air was filled with the sound of gunshots and the piping of the Radiant, which was again rising in tone. No! thought the Princess defiantly. It doesn't end this way! It does not!

Tentacles reached out for her. One of the soldiers grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her roughly back behind him. A tentacle reached past him to get her and the soldier shot it. The tentacle pulled back as if in pain. Ardria looked down to see how Silva was doing. He was still tugging ineffectually at the handle, and the Princess saw why. “The other way!” she shouted. “It opens the other way!”

Silva didn't look up, but pulled the lever the other way and the door opened easily. A wave of heat and yellow light spilled out. The Radiant was right beside them now, its eyes focusing on the Princess. Tentacles lashed out, and the soldiers shot them, turning them into torn ribbons. Gas was hissing from its buoyancy sacks from dozens of bullet wounds. Ordinarily, the wind would have whipped it away, replacing it with clean air, but there was no wind. Hydrogen gas collected around the creature, therefore.

Silva reached into the boiler, picked up a burning lump of coal in his rag wrapped hand. The rag immediately burst into flames and the Captain cried out in pain, but he ignored it and turned to face the Radiant, preparing to throw the burning coal. The Radiant’s eyes fixed on him instead. Seeing its danger, it hurled itself away from the train, into the still, clean air that surrounded it, and the train left it behind.

Ardria stared in heart thumping relief as the creature fell away into the distance. Gradually, the fifty mile an hour wind that had been following the train fell away, and a normal wind blew across their faces, chilling the Princess' bare skin. “Can it still catch us?” she asked.

“How fast a wind can it generate?” asked Silva, pulling the smoking rag away to examine his blistered hand.

“I don't know.” Behind them, the Radiant seemed to be drifting away, as if it had given up the pursuit. Did that mean there were more Radiants waiting for them up ahead? She didn't allow herself to think about it. “I think we're safe, for the time being at least.” She grabbed the Captain’s hand and scowled grimly at the fast rising blisters. “We need water!” She looked around the small cab. There was a small bottle of drinking water in the corner. She picked it up, twisted off the top and poured it in a slow trickle over the Captain's hand. He gasped at the pain, but it was a good pain, telling him that the burn would heal. There was no lasting harm done.

“I wonder if there’s anyone still human back there,” she wondered aloud.

“The Duchess was right behind you,” said one of the soldiers. “She may still be in the last carriage.”

“If she is, she'll wait,” said Silva. “The town of Tarchem has a telegraph line to the capital, It’s about three hours down the line. We'll stop there, inform the King. He needs to know what happened here.” He looked at the bewildering variety of wheels and levers mounted on the boiler wall, none of which were labelled. He scratched is head. “I don't suppose any of you know how to drive a train?”