My situation was only made worse when two more kids leapt forward. We had a brief exchange of kicks and punches which resulted in me losing my baton and them joining my pile of victims. A bad trade for me because the baton was doing a lot to keep the kids back..
I had already given up a quarter of the carriage at this point. It was difficult to stand my ground against so many, and if it wasn't for the narrow aisle then I would have been quickly overwhelmed.
Without any clue to how long the door lock was going to take, I decided I couldn't give away any more ground for free. Launching forward, I smacked the new frontrunner back into the mob. They almost acted as ropes as they kept him standing under my punches.
Someone tried to sneak by on my left but they went low to do so, opening them up to a kick to the head. Their body went limp which worried me in case I'd done too much damage. The people at the front clearly thought the same and for a moment we all just looked at the fallen sneak. He let out a groan and I sighed in relief.
Relief was short-lived. The crowd surged forward, and my pile of bodies was quickly becoming less of an obstacle. People were dragging their friends out of the way, while fresh fighters stepped up to take their places.
Then I saw him.
A big guy I hadn't noticed during the run here was forcing his way through the mob. Judging by the excited murmurs and eager looks, they expected him to end this little brawl.
As soon as he reached the front, he puffed up and began to speak. "You have put up—"
I punched him in the face and followed it with a knee to the nuts, cutting his speech short.
As he dropped, I slammed my elbow into his head. Once. Twice. A third time. Then a gash opened and he stopped moving.
That was that.
I remember watching a brawl outside a tavern once. A drunk guy leaned over to me, breath thick with ale, and unsolicited advice dripping off his tongue.
"There's always someone stronger," he'd slurred. "Doesn't matter how tough you are. One day, you'll fight someone bigger, meaner, and badder."
Then he'd grinned and tapped the side of his nose.
"But you know what evens the odds, kid? A kick to the balls... and a rock to the head."
Well, I didn't have a rock.
But it seems my elbow did just fine.
There was a stunned silence as the giant crumpled. Clearly, the crowd hadn't expected their mountainous champion to fall. Especially not that quickly. Once again, I'd taken advantage of their bad habit of talking when they should've been swinging
I reckon I'd taught a lot of them the stupidity of talking when they should be swinging. The question now was whether I could continue getting away with it.
"You dishonourable crook. How dare you board this train and attack respectable citizens with such cowardice?!" Someone shouted from deep within the mob.
I couldn't make out who it was. Too far back. Which meant I couldn't punch them. A shame, really.
"Nothing dishonourable about winning a fight when you're outnumbered," I shot back. If we kept up the banter, maybe it would buy Morgana and Dillon more time to get that blasted door open.
"You have wreaked havoc on the unsuspecting and then claim you are winning a fight?" The voice sneered. "This is no more than an opportunistic ambush by a coward."
"A coward?" I laughed. "You're calling me a coward? When you're hiding back there with your pals? I've been stood here fighting you all. That's not the move of a coward where I'm from."
"You rely on trickery to do your fighting. The moment Gibbon stepped forward for an honourable fight, you struck him in the nethers like a scoundrel! You, sir, are a craven bandit, and if this were a duelling field, I would have already cut you down."
Wow. This guy sounded like he swallowed a textbook.
Still, it was working. The crowd was backing off. No one was stepping into my space. Something was up. They weren't just afraid. No, they were stalling me.
What for?
"Ha! A 'duelling field'! You're in for a shock when you get to the real world, pal."
"A duelling field is the hallmark of a civilised society," the voice said, pompous as ever. "Not all of us are spineless plebeians clawing for scraps at the cost of honour. If you had attended a proper institution, like Anshew, perhaps you wouldn't carry yourself with such disgrace."
I rolled my eyes. Typical of his sort. Rich kid, high blood, all ego and no self-awareness.
I glanced behind me. Morgana and Dillon were still struggling with the door, but the chains looked undone. That meant multiple locks.
Of course it did.
"What's your name? Maybe we can have a little duel after this."
"My name is Bartholemew Mattais III."
That wasn't good. Bartholomew Mattais II was the leader of the Helion House. They had occupied the second rank for centuries. This wasn't good at all.
"And yours?" Bartholomew asked, smug and expectant.
"Bart, come on. A chicken-shit like me wouldn't give his name out so easily. If you want to know who I am, you'll have to earn it," I told him, putting as much smugness in my voice as I could. If I could rankle him, he might come forward for a fight.
"Not unexpected from one such as yourself," he replied. "But not to worry, we will find out who you are soon enough."
I could see some eyes light up at the back. It was looking like whatever they had planned was going to come into play before we could escape. I suppose we had been doing a lot of talking when we should be doing a lot of fighting. Hard to avoid with Bartholmew hiding in the shadows.
Still, better to disrupt whatever they were doing.
I lunged forward and hit the front line hard. They'd been focused on their slow retreat during all the back-and-forth and didn't expect me to restart the brawl. That's on them. Another lesson learned. Lucky for them I was already getting paid for this job, or I'd be charging for the tutoring.
Three stood at the front. One was a little ahead of the others. He went down fast, crashing into the luggage rack on the right. I pivoted and slammed the second's head into the opposite rail, then turned and drove my skull into the third's face. He staggered but didn't fall, so I followed up with a series of punches to the ribs until he folded.
Two more stepped forward. One girl, one boy. The girl looked serious. Head shaved, scar running down the side. She'd seen a fight or two, and when she dodged my first swing, I knew she was a real one.
She came at me hard, fists flying in a tight rhythm that pushed me back. I was blocking more than I liked, and even that was hurting. My body was starting to scream with every movement, my accumulated bruises becoming too much to handle.
The boy saw me on the back foot and decided to join in. Tut, tut. That was a mistake. He stepped into her flow like an amateur, getting in her way instead of helping.
He threw a punch. I caught it, yanked him forward, and introduced his face to my knee. He crumpled fast.
I'm pretty sure I saw the girl crack a smile as he went down. Cold.
She moved to press the attack, but I wasn't about to let her get comfortable again. I kicked out hard, forcing her to stumble over her partner. She fell awkwardly, and I gave her an apologetic look before smashing a few punches into her face.
She was good. Probably better than me in the right scenario. But this wasn't that.
When I looked back up, there were no more contenders. Instead, the remaining mob were looking between me and something behind them. I didn't love that so I cautiously retreated back a few steps.
It was getting to the point where I was seriously thinking of breaking a window and leaving that way. Feeling the pressure, I shouted out to ask Morgana and Dillon how they were doing.
"How are we doing back there?!"
"We're nearly through!" Morgana called. "It was triple locked. One was reinforced by an enchantment. We had to blow a treasure to get through it!"
I wasn't aware we had any treasures that could blow an enchantment so it must have been something they'd picked up from Rolando's cabin.
"They're up to something and I don't like it. You're gonna need to hurry. If not, we're going out of the window."
"We're two minutes away from the bridge. Can you buy us that long?" She asked.
"I don't know," I said, eyes on the shifting crowd. "But I'll try."
Someone from the crowd was reaching forward, not for an attack but to grab the dazed girl and the boy out of the way. I decided to let it happen in the hopes that it would delay whatever it was that they were doing.
Two minutes. That's all I needed.
To slow them down a bit more I tried to engage Bartholemew in conversation.
"Bart my friend, what is it you're buying time for?"
"That would ruin the surprise, craven," came his slimy voice, "and we've seen how you like surprises."
"I hate to ruin it for you Barty, but I only like them when I'm the one doing the surprising. Perhaps it's a power thing."
I was running my hands over the left shelving unit as I got closer to the mob and finally found what I was looking for: a crate that wasn't secured. Jackpot.
I slid into the aisle and yanked it free, drawing confused mutters from the mob. Then I stepped out with the crate in hand and the biggest grin on my face.
The crowd scattered like startled pigeons, a mini stampede erupting as the crate slammed into the entrance and bounced into place.
Blocking the doorway.
Beautiful.
Exactly as I wanted.
I turned to find another crate and was just reaching for it when the mob picked up the first one and shoved it aside.
Right.
I forgot they could move it too.
"What were you thinking?"
A voice called out. It was heavenly, sharp, and unmistakably female.
The crowd shifted like a tide. Smiles bloomed at the front as students began parting to let someone through. A hush rippled with reverence. Whatever they'd been stalling for, it had arrived.
We were out of time.
I eased my way towards the exit. Not fast enough to spook them but definitely not as slow as I had been going.
"Did you really think you could board this train, attack its passengers, and just leave?"
I could see blonde hair peeking through the crowd now, glinting like gold. There was something familiar there.
"That's exactly the plan actually, you've nailed it," I said. "My plan was to waltz on here, rob some rich kids, and then ride off into the sunset as a very rich man."
A magical sound came out of her mouth. Melodic and warm. It took me a moment to realise it was her laughter.
"You're funny, I will give you that," She said. "But then, so are most fools."
And then she stepped fully into view.
Her.
The girl from earlier. The one with the platinum hair and electric eyes. The one who'd looked right at me like she knew.
"Hello again," I said, flashing my most charming smile.
I was nearly next at the exit now and I could tell from the scenery we were moments from being on the bridge. I just had to stall a little longer.
"I had a feeling that you were up to something," she said, that smile never slipping. "A face I didn't recognize, peering into my room. Of course I didn't expect this level of chaos. If I had, I would have stopped you then."
"Really? Guess I'll need to work on looking less suspicious." I gave her a wink and took another step back.
"A stint in the Dungeons will sort that out for you I'm sure," she replied sweetly. Then she raised one slender finger and pointed at me.
"Stay," she commanded and suddenly–
I did.
Oh no.
My legs froze in place. Like my feet had fused with the floor. I tried to move, push, strain, anything.
Nothing budged.
Panic prickled beneath my skin.
She hadn't chanted. Hadn't pulled out a crystal or a scroll. One word. One gesture. That was all it took.
She was a mage.
"Aww you look so shocked," she said with amusement bubbling in her voice, her finger still pointing at me. "Oh you must really be a bumpkin. Do you not know who I am?"
"I think I'd remember meeting someone so pretty," I said, straining at the hold she had on me, willing myself to move with everything I had. Of course I knew who she was. As soon as I realised she had magic it was clear. Everyone had heard of her.
"My name is Alicia Santina, heir to the Santina House."
Alicia Santina was more than the heir to the number one ranked House, she was a prodigy. The stories in the taverns claimed she had taken part in Challenges since she was thirteen, fighting her way through waves of whatever was invading like it wasn't there. According to the stories, her magic was so potent, the king was trying to get her into the royal family in the hopes it would be passed on. The last drunkard I'd heard speak about her was convinced she would end up as queen.
This situation wasn't just bad.
This was disastrous.
"A pleasure to meet you, Alicia. I'd come to greet you but you appear to have locked me in place."
"No matter," she replied, all charm and honey, her finger still trained on me. "We'll have plenty of time to get acquainted. On the way to the academy."
I could see a small bead of sweat on her head which made me think she had to keep her finger trained on me. That it was more complex than her simply commanding me to be still. It was a manual spell, she needed to maintain the connection, and it was harder than it looked.
Good.
The wind hit first. A low whoosh behind me, then a sudden blast of air. The door had finally swung open.
Alicia's eyes flicked past me. There. The spell faltered. just slightly, but it was all I needed.
I seized the opening and lunged into a storage rack, grabbing for anything not nailed down.
My hand closed around a shoe-sized wooden box, and I hurled it straight at her face.
She caught it by reflex but that was enough.
"Jump!" I screamed as I ran back into the aisle.
Morgana and Dillon didn't even hesitate. I saw them vanish in my peripheral vision. Two shapes leaping from the train into open air. They'd be bruised, probably battered, but we'd planned for that. They'd survive.
Alicia screamed in frustration. Her composure finally cracking.
"Make this easier for both of us and give up already. I promise you, you're not getting away."
"I'd love that, I really would," I said, grabbing another box. "But unfortunately–"
I hurled it at her.
"--I've got other plans."
This one was smaller, lighter. She caught it with ease, smugness creeping back into her grin.
"Nice try-"
Dink.
The second box was a decoy.
I immediately hurled a larger one at her chest. It was heavy and fast, giving me what I needed to make a dash for the open door while she reacted. I was steps away. So close.
I looked back over my shoulder as I leapt, only to feel my body lock up
Midair.
She had hit me with a full body freeze whilst I was in the air and I came crashing down on the lip at the very end of the train like a sack of potatoes. The pain was instant and electric. I couldn't even throw my hands out to brace the fall.
"Get him! Now! I can't hold him!" Alicia shrieked, panic rising in her voice. It was chaos. Glorious, beautiful chaos.
It was like music to my ears and just as our carriage started crossing the bridge, I felt my body release.
The spell broke.
There was no way I was bothering to turn around this time. Instead, I pushed myself off of the moving train and onto the rickety bridge above Sea Drop Gorge.