‘On the other, when you boss me around, even though I’m the one asking you to do it, it makes me feel dirty.’
‘It’s worse for me.’ Lith replied. ‘It feels like I’m tainting our bond. We have always trained together but we’ve never hurt each other on purpose and controlling your mind is still violence.’
“Isn’t there another way to do this?” Solus asked after a long hug and a partial mind fusion.
It reassured her that her bond of trust with Lith was as strong as ever and that he didn’t see her as something less than himself. It was something they both needed.
“Resisting orders from an outside source is bound to be easier, but I guess we can give it a go. Putting you one against the other is not working anyway.” Dusk sighed.
“Verhen wavers whenever he gives you an order, making them less effective, and even when he succeeds, you feel too emotionally hurt to gather your will to oppose him.”
In the other wagons, boredom was proving to be a fearsome enemy.
Soldiers were used to sleep or perform maintenance of their equipment during downtime but they had already slept the previous day and their equipment was stored in the cargo with the rest of the magical tools to avoid sabotage.
After playing cards, gambling a bit, and exchanging stories, the members of the different units started to get restless. The Wayfinder was spacious, but not enough to allow multiple people for a stroll.
“Damn, I think we underestimated the issue.” Even Orion felt cranky after sitting for so long. “We can’t drink alcohol or move around. This isn’t a problem if a Train is used for public transportation since the trip doesn’t last long.
“Yet if we ever are to use them for more long journeys, it’s necessary to devise some kind of entertainment.”
“Big time.” Friya was so bored that she begged Kamila to let her change Elysia’s and Valeron’s diapers.
It smelled and was overall an unpleasant experience but at least it had the charm of the novelty.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten used to doing it, but seeing a powerful magician struggling with cloth diapers is entertainment to me.” Kamila chuckled.
“At least one of us is having fun.” Friya grunted. “Are you sure you don’t want to give this a go, sis? We all know that you are going to be next. After Mom, of course.”
“I what?” Quylla blushed hard, her hard-light construct shattering like glass against Lith’s.
She had perfected Light Mastery on her own but without a teacher, Quylla was still struggling to find the perfect balance between hardness and flexibility. She had asked Lith and Solus to spar with her and they had accepted.
Their pact with Nalrond prevented them from teaching Quylla anything, but by performing the Light Mastery equivalent of arm wrestling, she could still put her constructs to the test and examine the creations of two different Light Masters.
Even though they didn’t say a word, Quylla could still learn by observation and imitation.
“Your sister is right dear.” Orion mocked her. “Weren’t you the one who begged Morok for a baby during the War of the Griffons? Now that you two are married, there’s nothing keeping your dream from coming true anymore.”
“He told you about that?” Quylla blushed even harder, her ears turning to a shade of purple.
“Yes, and in great detail at that.” Lith nodded, making her wish for a swift death. “He lists that discussion as one of his finest hours and proof of his charm.”
She went from wishing for her own death to becoming a widow.
“I’m going to kill him!”
“Why? I know that being turned down is never pleasant but he acted like a true gentleman.” Friya giggled at Quylla’s outrage.
“Laugh all you want. The moment we are away from the kids, I’m going to give you a piece of my min-” The Wayfinder jolted suddenly, a low rumble spreading through the floor with increasing strength until it made it hard to keep standing.
The lights above the exits became flashed red and the sound of a bell alerted everyone that the Train was under attack.
“What’s happening?” Lith asked as the external projectors displayed meters-tall waves crashing against the sides of the Wayfinder.
“What we were afraid of.” Orion replied. “We have still a way to go to reach Jiera, but according to the sensors, the seabed is not very deep in this area. Around 100 meters (328′).”
“It’s the perfect spot for an ambush.” Lith cursed. “Why didn’t the Kingdom send scouts before arranging the Wayfinder’s route?”
“We did, but from the sky.” Orion replied. “We already had to plan things so to have islands were to land nearby, we couldn’t also stop every now and then to measure the ocean’s depth. The preparations would have required years otherwise.”
Lith nodded in agreement and switched to cursing their bad luck.
The relatively shallow seabed meant that if whoever was attacking them sunk the Wayfinder, the wreckage would be easy to find and plunder.
He was about to Spirit Blink when he realized that he had no idea of the dimensional coordinates outside and even if he did, at the speed the Wayfinder moved he would have just watched it disappear on the horizon.
“This way.” Orion answered Lith’s silent question by pushing one of the small buttons near the entrance.
The metal wall rearranged itself into a ladder leading to an opening in the ceiling.
“Here, put these.” Orion handed him a pair of boots. “They are magnetized. They will help you keep your balance and not fall off the train.”
“Thanks, but with my weight, they are not really necessary. Also, the moment I turn into a Tiamat, I’d shred them.”
“I could use them though.” Kamila said and Orion handed her the boots as the hits made the wagon tilt.
“You stay here with the kids. It’s the safest place on Mogar.” Lith went out and the air pressure forced him to lessen the effects of gravity fusion to not be blasted off the roof.
“Damn, either we are very unlucky or someone set us up.” Orion gritted his teeth, looking at the size of the creatures flanking the Wayfinder and slamming their bodies against it.
A few of them still tried raining spells, but the elemental-sealing arrays encasing the train neutralized them before they could deal a single scratch.
“There’s no other explanation for so many Emperor Beasts targeting us.”
“These are actually magical beasts.” Lith replied while looking around with his seven eyes to gauge the situation.
“Magical beasts?” Orion had a hard time believing those words.
“I’ve been under the sea in the past and I assure you these are no Emperor Beasts. Sea predators can easily reach a significant size due to-” Something big and long enough to put the Wayfinder to shame jumped out of the water and cut Lith short.
Its shadow eclipsed the sun and as it came crashing down, it wasn’t hard to guess how big a sea Emperor Beast was supposed to be.
The mages of the Association reacted promptly, having the single cars detach from one another and spread out.
