The speeding train was running unmanned, going through its daily cycle without regard to the lack of passengers. The explosions set off by Jet had disrupted the flow of the city above, but the subterranean transport continued uninterrupted.
The tunnel where they were was especially narrow with no crossing in sight.
If only they had gone so other way! But there had been nowhere to go.
Nowhere to hide.
Hiding!
"Faster! Get on the tracks!" Noble motioned to the center of the passage between the rails.
"Are you crazy?!" Fir answered reflexively.
Having dismissed and recalled his arrow, the man was picking off another of the creatures that had pulled ahead of the pack.
"A little," the floating master shrugged.
With no better option, the group packed tightly together in the center of the tracks as they tried to separate from the monsters. It was a deadly ga of chicken, but Noble saw no other way.
Behind them, the monsters squinted against the growing light as the humans faced the engine head-on. Were they choosing a grueso death by train instead of becoming vessels?
It would be quicker. And less painful.
Suddenly, the headlight of the train grew ten tis as bright, blazing like the sun and filling the passage with incandescent brightness.
The humans and their echo were bathed in the brilliance and then entirely engulfed. The train's horn sounded, an alarm being tripped by the obstruction on the tracks.
Perhaps at one ti, a chanism would have triggered the gigantic bullet to co to a halt, but not anymore.
Instead, the train barreled forward.
The vessels of the Skinwalker strained to see their prey as they continued to pursue. But in the pure white, they could see nothing: not each other, not the ground, and not the train.
The first few pressed against the walls to escape the engine but it wasn't enough. They may not have been able to find the engine, but the engine found them.
The collision was catastrophic.
——-
"Close your eyes!" Noble called up on the nas of light and getting brighter.
'Brighter!' She repeated over and over and over.
Even with her eyelids shut, the duelist felt like her eyes might lt in their socket from the brilliant blaze.
That was good. They needed any cover they could get.
'Closer…closer…'
Noble felt for those around her with her second sight and locked onto them while they ca uncomfortably near to the train.
"Get ready!" Noble tensed. "Hold on. I've got you!"
Lonzo gripped his son tightly. Dismissing his bow, Fir quickly turned in ti for his mangled palms to grab handfuls of Helios's fur, much to the echo's displeasure.
The two male Masters linked arms, determined not to lose one another or the group in the overwhelming brightness.
A mont later the horn blared. The driverless engine was ordering them to get out of the way. It was a command that Noble was happy to obey.
The floating Master reached out to touch Coy and Helios on either side of her. Then she lifted them off of the ground and into the open space between the train and the roof.
Now that they were past the headlight of the engine, the group could see. Noble set them down on the train's wide back.
They couldn't stay there though. They needed to continue in the other direction.
Noble urged them forward. "Run!"
While the width in this part of the corridor was narrow, the ceiling was high. During the dozen or so transformations that these tunnels had undergone, the walls and ceiling had undergone many costic changes. In this section, the natural rock was left exposed after the original facade crumbled years before, leaving about two and a half ters of clearance.
Helios bounded from car to car easily, his catlike reflexes aiding him in his effortless movent. His body remained in a low crouch as he raced forward so as not to hit his human cargo against the uneven roof.
Coy's feet glowed as a mory ford around them. He deftly leapt across each chasm without missing a beat.
And Chip?
'Now this is living!' His voice rang in Noble's head as he whooped. 'They should charge extra for this kind of ride!'
Noble shook her head. 'Only you could find a bit of fun in the middle of this chaos.'
She had no ti to spend on the crazy Master and his antics. Things were about to get tricky.
They were still on the train when the engine dove into the horde of abominations. The locomotive slowed as the hunk of tal collided with the mountain of flesh.
One or two monsters in their mundane vessels might have been squashed by the tal behemoth, but hundreds?
Not a chance.
The tip of the engine slamd into the sea of monsters, pulverizing the first mundane vessel into a mist of crimson. However, that is where the train's victory ended.
The chassis off of the tracks, trying to ride over the top of the people and continue on its way. The pursuit was in vain.
The top of the tal giant crashed into the roof of the tunnel, sending sparks in every direction. Its headlamp crashed into the roof as well, taking with it the light that Noble had summoned.
The second car careened and crashed into the engine, derailing and flipping to the side.
Plunged into darkness, the vessels scrambled to avoid the incoming shrapnel. Each car collided with the one before it, bouncing against the walls and people as it was forcibly brought to a halt.
tal twisted and entwined in a horrific sculpture. The walls of the tunnel groaned against the pressure. A few of the beams were ripped from the walls and ceiling to be counted among the casualties.
Noble was dealing with a problem of her own: staying ahead of the wreck. As soon as the engine crashed, the rest of the train was affected. It rattled and tested the limit of the tracks, threatening to throw Helios and the Masters from its back like a bucking bronco.
While that was a problem, Noble could handle it.
The bigger issue was avoiding being caught up in the growing catastrophe.
'Get out, get out, get out!' Noble repeated as she guided Helios through the falling debris.
'What you aren't having fun?' Chip teased, hearing her thoughts as well.
'I don't want to have fun. I want to get out!' The woman couldn't fathom enjoying the perilous dash along the roof of a crashing train, but it sounded like Chip was having the ti of his life.
At last, Noble could sense the end of the train.
"Just two more cars," she called to the others. "Prepare to land!"
Reaching the final car, the group braced themselves. Having exhausted all of its montum, the final car turned on its side just as the humans went to board its roof.
Instead, they landed on the side. While Helios landed safely on the solid siding, Coy crashed through one of the windows, falling against the seats on the inside.
Seeing his friend fall, Chip leapt in after him.
"Oh no you don't!"
The burly man helped his friend up as the weight in the car shifted again. For a mont the two n felt like they were in freefall. Grabbing Coy by the arm, Chip pulled his companion toward the back of the car.
The caboose continued its gravity-defying flip, turning on its head before joining its brethren in the graveyard of rubble.
The back of the train burst open expelling the two Masters before they could beco part of the macabre display.
Chip helped Coy to his feet.
"I thought I lost you for a second back there," the burly man furrowed his brow, concern filling his countenance.
"I can always count on you to get out of tough scrapes," Coy wheezed, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him.
"Are you alright?" Noble, Helios, and the others waited a hundred ters ahead for their companions.
"Yes!" Coy answered with a cough. "Unfortunately...so are they!"
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