Chương 62: The Selfless

He gasped for air as the whirlpool of pain and blur focused back into figures. His ears were ringing, and he couldn't feel his legs, all from one singular hit of the Blaze. Gradually the high pitch receded, replaced by screams of terror. The dancing figures grew clear, soldiers and civilians fighting hordes of hounds. And losing. The fallen soldiers quivered in gruesome transformation to join the ranks of the hounds. In the chaos between the two barriers, Elenya battled the giant beast, the chieftain.

Her cleaver lay on the floor as she fought desperately with two swords. His thoughts were slow and muddled. I have to help her. He realized someone was touching him and he grew aware of the sensation of his back against a wall, a child and an elderly woman shaking his body.

"Get up, hunter!" the child called with tears in his eyes. He used the remaining fourth of his flame to regenerate his crushed body, staving off the raving whispers. His thoughts quickened as the painful healing stitched him back together and he struggled to his feet, not even sparing the two civilians a glance. He walked forward as a loud whistle sounded in the distance, followed by a call that changed everything.

"The train! I can see it. It's here!" The train held little meaning to him unless his crew could board it, and he wobbled towards Elenya and the thrashing beast. Only a sliver of flame remained, leaving him being nothing more than a youngling with sharp claws and a tail. But he'd killed things without flame before. Soldiers and civilians were rushing from the frontline towards the track. Wretch walked in the opposite direction. Another whistle rang, and human voices exploded in shouts.

"Board the train!" some shouted. Wretch let his blade burn back into his hand as the pain from his body diminished. His limp turned to a walk, then a jog. Soon he was sprinting across the hall, sidestepping between bodies. He came towards it from the side, but fiery eyes on the creature's back watched him. At the last moment, Vishnii spun away from Elenya and swiped towards him. Wretch threw himself into the air, rolling over the hand that was almost as large as his body.

As he passed, he let his blade cut into the hairy wrist, carving a gash through an unprotected eye. He landed and leapt backwards as another slam shook the ground. It had bought enough time, and Elenya snatched up the cleaver. He expected another strike, but it didn't come. The creature clutched its wrist and lifted its snout through the veil of dark hair, releasing a howl powerful enough to rattle his skull. Wretch dashed to Elenya. She was leaning on her weapon with heavy breaths.

A gash on her forearm spewing blood.

"It's time to move!" Wretch shouted over the ear-piercing howl. Elenya only nodded while putting a hand on his shoulder, a faint burst of flame running through his system. He had barely enough to grow the two giant arms from Jonah's form for ten seconds. A lot more than nothing. The creature stopped its furious call and looked down at them. The hair on its body twitched and moved, shifting between material and mist. With a twitch, all the eyes on its body fixed on them. Had it only been playing with them?

This is bad. Wretch glanced towards the train tracks. The steel behemoth's doors were opening. Survivors surged towards it, climbing the spikes before the entrances had even fully opened. A line of armed soldiers fought against the trickle of hounds while the steam cannons of the train rotated into position.

"We have to get on," Elenya said.

"We can't win against it, not yet." Wretch opened his mouth to respond, but a slight shift of air brushed against his senses.

"Above!" he shouted. They dove to the side as a claw shook the earth where they had stood. He had only let it out of his sight for a second. They rolled onto their feet and sprinted for the train. Wretch slid under the swipe of a regular hound and glanced behind him. Only dissipating mist remained. Damn. In the corner of his eye, the mist converged. A giant maw shot from it. There was no time to dodge. He began growing the bladed arms. At least he was going to hurt to chew on. Love this story?

Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! A cluster of thunderous bangs erupted. Steam cannon fire slammed against the creature, knocking it off course. He upped the pace, and Elenya kept up. A furious howl echoed behind them. The train was almost finished boarding, most refugees opting to crawl up to the roof rather than squeeze through the doors. Mist gathered above the rear cannon.

Vishnii burst out of it, smashing into the machinery, dismembering metal and the screaming soldier manning it. Bursting pipes sprayed hot steam into the air. Wretch saw a familiar figure leap onto the roof. He isn't named the Selfless for nothing. A moment later Edmund raised his shield. A booming wave of force struck the creature. Another wave of cannon fire followed, sending the howling beast tumbling from the roof. The train gave a whistle and wheels ground into motion.

Wretch and Elenya sprinted past hounds rushing in the same direction. A boy with a spear was the last of the civilians to board the train. As he vanished inside, Astrid reappeared, her black dress torn. Wretch stepped over a twitching soldier half transformed into a hound as Elenya launched herself towards the moving train. She caught Astrid's hand. Only then did Wretch notice Elenya was gripping his tail. He gave a yelp as she hauled him inside and slammed the door shut.

They struggled to their feet and for a moment, the three of them just stood there with heavy breaths amidst the crowded cabin. A rumble shook the train.

"Up top," Wretch said.

"That hairy one isn't letting us leave." They waded through cheering and sobbing passengers, climbed the ladder and emerged onto the roof. Where a steam cannon once stood, only twisted metal stained with blood and innards remained. The wind pulled at their hair. Refugees clung to the spikes and railing as the train sped across the bridge spanning the wide river beneath. Sternthal burned behind them, a torch against the gray sky. Edmund stood on the final cart, shield raised.

They walked past the ruined steam cannon, a howl chasing them from the gray haze.

"We made it," Astrid said between heavy breaths.

"We actually made it." They stood there in silence for a moment and Wretch thought of the twitching soldier, the mangled body of Melissa who had saved Astrid's life with her final act, Gulner laughing on the church tower.

"Let's go back someday," he said quietly. Astrid gave him a glance.

"Why?"

"To kill the rest." Astrid met his gaze.

"I don't know if I ever want to go beyond the walls again."

"Give it a minute," Elenya said. Wretch looked at his flame. Several new figures lingered there, heads bowed down in reverence. He'd have plenty of material to turn his form even deadlier until the next time he met a horror or Gulschak. Though the compendium, given to him from his father, was still lost in the fallen fortress. Edmund stood gazing into nothingness.

"Do you feel anything?" Astrid said, looking up at her captain.

"After all that, it must be enough, right?"

"It has to be," Wretch said in agreement. Edmund exhaled deeply. They had survived, saved what could be saved. Was that not enough to reach Blaze, the third tier of the Blessed?

"Nothing. Something is missing." A noise broke them out of the rumination, wood creaking behind the speeding train, barely noticeable. The steam from the train flowed behind them, blurring the tracks, and a drizzle of rain drummed against the metal. Wretch listened. The air shifted.

"Above!" Edmund and Elenya reacted without wasting a single moment, raising the shield and cleaver. A claw cut through the rain. Edmund's shield detonated with force, slowing the blow. With a blast, Elenya angled her strike upward. The cleaver bit into flesh. The metal under their feet screeched from the impact and screams rang out from the refugees further back. The creature recoiled, sinking its claws into the metal to hold its balance. It perched like a massive hound on the windy roof.

Wind whipped its mane, revealing two stitched scars where its usual eyes would be. On its hairy body, however, flickered at least a dozen other eyes, all trained on them. Behind it, a trail of thick mist melded into the smoke of the engine.

"Let's kill this bastard before it wrecks the train!" Wretch shouted.

"Target its grip!" Edmund shouted back, his hunters rushing past him. Wretch and Elenya launched a savage attack on its hands. As the blade and the cleaver neared, it dissolved into mist. Wretch swerved his head around, straining to hear the creature. The weight of the cart shifted.

"Behind you!" Wretch shouted. Elenya swung around with her cleaver in a strike. A clawed hand reached out from below as Elenya spun into a strike, shades of red on her skin as she struck with everything she had. The cleaver cut deep into the hand between two clawed fingers. It wasn't enough. Wound or not, the hand closed around her and tore her from the train.

"Elenya!" they roared in unison. Wretch sprinted as fast as he could, two massive arms growing out of his back. Beyond the lip of the train, the creature clung to the spikes, tightening its grip on her. Wretch launched himself off the roof. You expect me to just play along? Mere moments before Elenya was about to be smashed against the spikes, Wretch crashed into the creature with his oversized hands clenched together into boulder-like fists.

They struck its neck with enough force to make the train scream under their weight. He clung to it, the grotesque limbs from his back ripping and tearing against the creature's chest. Vishnii howled and released its grip on the side of the train. The trio plummeted off the bridge, into the gray abyss below. It bit over one of Wretch's oversized arms, snapping it like a twig, ripping the other free from his back in a spray of blood. It pushed him away and released its grip on Elenya.

Parts of its body turned to mist.

"As if!" Wretch shouted. From under his torn suit a third arm twisted out of his skin, a three-jointed limb stolen from Milley. It caught onto its wet fur and the mist shuddered. It turned towards him with a snarl, flickering out into flesh and blood once again. They twirled in the air, struggling to kill each other in the turbulence.

"Wretchy!" Astrid's voice echoed from above. Both monsters roared in unison. Then the river swallowed them.