Thump
A figure crashed onto the side of an upturned chair, a groan escaping his lips as he fell on the blue coloured metal of the train.
The twisted, uneven metal surface hit his joints as he rolled over and pulled himself up. His messy black hairs jingled as they covered his eyes for a moment.
He pulled out a transparent cloak from his own body. A small smile graced his features as he heard an astonished voice, high pitched as it echoed in his eardrums.
[ Just what is this Protean Veil, Adrian? It’s not even a weapon and yet it looks like it is an evolved object....which is practically impossible.]
’Because it is, Evelyn. It’s an evolved Stage VI weapon...but not something you need to know.’ Adrian thought as he smirked internally. As his levels increased back, he was also able to use the cloak’s powers...again.
One of them being the "Swap". The one that just saved his life. It literally did what its name suggested minus the requirement of the cloak itself having to change places.
Not deigning her with an answer, he climbed over the seat and jumped high, catching the passenger rod. Summersaulting over it he crawled out of the broken window.
He glanced around him. The train lay overturned, derailed from the tracks and burning at few compartments. His right was covered with masses of forests, peaceful and brimming with tranquility in the chaos-filled night. For more chapters visit NoveI[F]ire.net
He glanced at his left. The scene that greeted his eyes was a complete contrast to the scene at his right.
Where there were trees on the right side, there were none on the left.
Where there was a solitary peace on his left, there was chaos and destruction at his left.
Guards lay dead, several of them causing Adrian’s face to scrunch into anger. He had been clear with Luna on the no-killing rule for tonight. But it seemed she just straight up violated it.
[That Luna girl sure knows how to leave a spectacle huh?]
Adrian couldn’t agree more. Everything around him was burning which didn’t even make sense to him.
Why destroy the entire field when the only trouble was right at the middle of the ground, just beside the tracks? It was more of a dramatic flair than anything of nigh significance.
He glanced to his right where Luna suddenly arrived. She looked at him with mischievous eyes as she sweeped her hands over the fields just like an artist appreciating their art.
Luna’s art---destruction.
"How do you like it, sir? All hot and spicy neh?" She giggled as she spoke, her eyes reflecting the warmth of the fires burning away everything behind him.
Adrian sighed. "Didn’t I say you not to kill them? Now the city shall be having a deficiency of guards. I swear by the name of the Forgotten Student, if that prince brings even more guards with them as a matter of more protection, my plans are fucked up." Luna’s smile faltered and seeing it, Adrian quickly added. "Well that is if you can tackle all of them alone."
Her smile returned back as she clapped her hands in front of her. "That’s just perfect. Do you think their trained Imperial Guards can beat me? Never."
Adrian amused, asked in return. "Even the few Elites in their rank?"
Luna blankly looked at him. "You actually think they would send their biggest assets at this city?"
Adrian shook his head as he started going back in the train.
"Alright time to go. Reinforcements should be coming in minutes."
Luna nodded as she turned back and walked away.
Inside the train, Adrian laid his back on the metal surface as he closed his eyes and....slept.
He was already bleeding from few places, so why not just act unconscious for a better act.
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
An hour later...
"Any signs for the sabotaging party?" A middle-aged man draped in blue colours with the royal insignia of a roaring lion with its right paw extended was stitched on the chest of the uniform.
A young soldier stood beside him, his head bowed in submission. "No signs of any intruding party as of yet, sir. More patrols are being dispatched."
The Imperial Guard dismissed the soldier as he walked over to the train or whatever debris was left of it.
Minutes ago, an army had arrived at the scene from the several camps that surrounded the Dawn Mountains. The ducal house had secured the place for a while and successfully evacuated the few soldiers stuck inside the overturned train.
The Imperial Guard arrived soon enough followed by a company of soldiers dispatched from Woodrock City.
Kneeling down, he removed his right glove and touched the edge of the crater where the train had fallen into.
The ground was hard to his touch.
Looking up in contemplation, he debated over this newfound lead. A ground as hard as this couldn’t have simply yielded even under a massive weight, he thought.
His gaze instinctively shifted to the iron pillar that now lay broken, pointing upwards
in a diagonal position. Its insides lay hollow devoid of the aetherite crystals it was supposed to carry.
"Has Duke Versicos been informed of this?" He asked his assistant trailing him, a clipboard in his hand.
The assistant adjusted his goggles and scrolled his fingers through the page full of marked and unmarked events.
"Yes, Sir Marcus. A raven has already been sent to their estates."
Marcus nodded, his expression grave. He had been serving the king for about a decade and as someone who visited the frequently held meetings with the kingdom’s lords, Marcus had seen his fair share of the short-tempered nature of the Duke.
Only the Gods knew what he would be demanding from the king. The mountains might be his territory but not the lands surrounding it nor the Woodrock City. They fell under an earl.
And Marcus, he felt sorry for the poor earl who was about to get tons of accusations against him and his house.
As he was standing up, his gaze fell on something.
A piece of a red cloth, stained with dried blood.