Leona woke up to Tusund knocking on her door. She looked around with her squinted eyes at the dim sunlight that was just beginning to break thorough the blinds. Leona tore off her bed sheets to begin yet another very early day. Peeking through the glass hole in the door she saw her travel companion eager to leave.

She opened the door a crack and mumbled, “morning Tusund, I’ll be ready in ten.”

When she went to close the door, Tusund wedged his hand in the way.

“Better make it five,” he said. “The train is coming sooner than I thought, and we can’t miss it.”

Leona grumbled in acknowledgment before rushing to change out of her night clothes. At least she did not have to do much. All of her things were still tucked neatly in her bag and ready to go. Her orb was still in there too. She imagined her parents waiting for her to call.

After securing her bag, Leona changed into her favorite green tunic and cloak, brushed her hair, and hurried out the door. Outside, Tusund sat in one of the few chairs in the hall that seemed to be supporting his weight. Upon seeing her, he rose and the chair sprung back into form. They met at the double staircase and went down to the lobby.

In the lobby, all of the tables were empty and even the receptionist was asleep with her arm hanging over the counter. The two of them set their room keys on the counter and slipped outside.

Emral Town was still asleep while Leona and Tusund walked through it’s streets. A light shower of rain was running off the rooftops and dotting the glass covering oil street lamps. The paved road was becoming overrun by mud, making Leona glad to have brought her boots.

Leona’s sense of smell was enhanced by the humid air. She could smell the moss growing on Tusund, and as they neared the train depot, a tinge of burning coal settled in her nose. She smelt something strange too, not knowing exactly what it was. It seemed sweet, like berries of some sort.

All the new smells were soon overtaken by the sight of a immense train pulling into the distant train depot. The train was coming from the direction of Vera City. It must have stretched back further than the width of the entire town, because Leona could not see the end of it.

The humans in Verlass, gifted with their resources had a way of building things that surpassed what even the greatest mages could imagine. Leona marveled at the great iron snake, that while empty now, had carried heaping tons of tear gems that made magic possible. It looked like a mobile fortress or like a wall crawling out from the jungle. It shook the ground.

Sparks flew off from the train’s wheels as it came to a screeching halt. Leona and Tusund ran into the depot as morning crews began a hurried effort to load up materials bound for the coast. Tusund rushed Leona to the front of the train where behind the engines there were a few passenger cars to transport workers and soldiers.

The conductor, dressed in a long green coat, was shouting orders at the workers. He periodically pulled at his gray beard while checking his watch. Without proper greeting, Tusund passed off some notes to the conductor, who waved them onto the train.

Leona pulled herself up the tall steps into the passenger car. Inside, the car stretched back a dozen rows. Each row had tall glass windows, and wood shelves held luggage above. In each burgundy leather seat, there was a pair of travelers. The people didn’t seem to pay any mind to Tusund pushing his branches through the aisle, their eyes were locked onto Leona.

A chill came over Leona’s mind. She was thinking about the Overseer looking at her through their eyes. She had to assure herself that was just a story that parents made up. They would do things like that to ensure that their kids behave. The Overseer, she thought, was a myth that people used to come to terms with the scars of the world. None of it was true, but what she had seen in the clouds above the city was making her think.

Tusund settled himself into a seat in the back, Leona squeezed in next to him. Peeking down the aisle, Leona saw the people still looking back at her. Not a minute later, the train lurched and began moving again. Leona could not see much out of her own window, with Tusund in her way. She looked across to her neighbors window.

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Rain tracked its way across the glass. Outside Emral Town was a gray blur. Heading out of town, Leona expected to see another great ring-wall like the one around Vera City. Instead, there was a modest wall before a long stretch of water. They kept their monsters out with a moat.

“Are you staring at me?”

Immediately, the woman in the seat across from Leona drew her attention. She looked to be about her age with deep brown eyes and tan skin. Her hair came in shiny brown waves, running over her shoulders. Long ruby-red robes, with black rims and ornamentations concealed the curve of the saber at her waist.

“Sorry, I’ve never been on a train before. I’m just trying to look out your window.”

“And I’m only trying to get a moment of peace before we enter the Dead Lands. It’s my first hunt, so of course, they put me on a train where nothing of interest ever happens,” she sighed dramatically.

“Wait,” Leona says, turning sharply to Tusund. “When were you going to tell me that this train is going through the Dead Lands.”

“It is the most direct route. Besides there is nothing to worry about. The train goes faster than any monster can run, even at full capacity,” Tusund replied, all too calm.

Leona couldn’t explain why, but she trusted Tusund. It must have been his demeanor, or more so, that he said he would protect her as she became a dark mage. She never met anyone who would openly defend a user of dark magic. The world would sooner see those mages bring themselves to ruin.

A moment passed and the train rattled lightly along the track.

“So if you are on your first hunt, does that mean you are going off into the Dead Lands?” Leona asked the women, who looked offended that Leona even spoke again.

“Yeah,” the woman scoffed. “Me and my team are going to hop off at the next stop and blaze through this wasteland. Together, we’ll take down every giant who dares to cross us.”

“Really?” Leona said awestruck. “Can hunters really do that?”

“No, you moron,” the woman chuckled.

Tusund's expression was as stiff as a board.

Leona had all the wind taken from her wings. “So what’s even the point of having all these hunters on the train?” She asked innocently enough to get an answer.

“We are here to guard the cargo on the train, that’s all. Though, Twilight Town is in need of some hunters. Maybe instead of this boring job, they might station me to end my career early fighting the things that come out of the sea.”

“Sorry,” was all Leona could say back. She was already thinking of what might have come to her if she had stayed on the path of becoming a soldier. She might live a peaceful life guarding the wall, or her skills with the sword may have sent her elsewhere.

Outside, the jungle had taken on a brownish hue. With the speed of the train, it wasn’t much longer before the greenery fell away and the rain calmed. Rolling hills of gray, dotted with pink and red mushrooms, took over the horizon.

Giant mushrooms crawled across the land as the train passed them. Their caps where both flat and ascending like church bells. Thick white webbing ran between the fungus and red spores filtered through the brown accordion-folds under each cap. Bright red, the sun looked like another one of the spores that clouded the sky. In the Dead Lands there was still life, but not a gentle kind.

Tusund’s mouth bent down with his branches. He looked like a weeping willow. “This was where my people were created. Only a few generations ago we lived here.”

The train took on an air of respectful silence.

“There was no place more abundant in the whole world.” Tusund said to anyone willing to listen. “It wasn’t the breaking of the sky that tainted this land. Our elder reminds us, even now, especially now, that it was our mistake.”

“How could this be anyone’s fault?” The woman in red asked, gently.

“We poisoned the water,” Tusund admitted. “Long ago, the Chlorophanes dragged a cursed monster into the sea. The corrupted water flowed inland all the way up to here. For banishing the monster, we are known as a tribe of heroic warriors, but the truth is much more complex.” He spoke, coming to a whisper. His little squirrel perched on his arm for petting. “This is what we reap from sowing injustice.”

Leona remembered the mural in the throne room with the pearl leviathan being pulled under waves. “These are just legends,” she said.

“Enough time passes and people will call their own history a legend. Our elder was there, you can talk to him,” Tusund asserted.

Leona shook her head in disbelief, but resolved to ask the elder more about it. Someone that old must either be mad or wise, maybe even both.