The Bloodbound Veil

Chapter 7 Shadows on the Rails

"You boarded the wrong carriage, friend," the man whispered in a low tone that was nearly drowned out by the roar of the train engine.

The cargo carriage sped rapidly through the dark underground tunnel toward the Central District of Aethelgard. Silas felt a violent vibration travel from the wooden floor right up to the soles of his feet. The man in front of him was still pointing a weapon without the slightest hesitation. The tip of the iron barrel pressed coldly against the skin of Silas's temple.

"Or perhaps you intentionally handed yourself over to be killed here?" the man asked again with his eyes narrowed sharply.

Silas did not immediately answer the threat. He slowly raised both hands into the air to show a gesture of non-resistance. He performed the movement as calmly as possible so as not to trigger the gun's trigger. While raising his hands, Silas stared straight into the man's eyes.

"I am not just any fugitive you can find in the black market," Silas said in a low yet firm voice. "I am a former Inquisitor being hunted by the department."

Hearing the word Inquisitor, the man slightly loosened his grip on his weapon. He observed Silas's appearance from the tips of his hair to his dust-covered boots. The man's gaze finally stopped at Silas's slightly open coat pocket.

A specially engraved silver emblem peeked out from behind that pocket. That emblem was only possessed by high-ranking officials of special law enforcement institutions. Seeing this authentic proof, Kael slowly lowered his gun barrel. The look in his eyes, which had previously been full of threat, now turned into deep curiosity.

"So you really are a former tower hound dog with terrible luck," Kael said with a soft snort. "If that information is true, the two of us share the same enemy at the end of this line."

Kael stepped back two steps and holstered his weapon behind his waist. He sat on a wooden cargo crate near the carriage wall. The atmosphere inside the room began to feel a little looser than before. Silas also lowered his hands and leaned against the stack of goods on the opposite side.

"If you know this train route, tell me the quick way into the central tower," Silas said to the point.

Kael flashed a small smirk upon hearing the question. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small rolled map made of worn cloth. Kael spread the map out on the surface of the cargo crate in front of them. The flickering light of the carriage chandelier helped them see the lines of the underground map.

"The main route is currently strictly locked down by military forces," Kael explained while pointing at a red dot on the map. "But I know a secret route to the central tower controlled by the elite nobles."

Silas carefully observed the route pointed out by Kael. The route passed through an old maintenance tunnel that was rarely touched by routine patrols. That intelligence information was very valuable for Silas to infiltrate without being detected by enemy sensors.

Before Kael could explain further regarding the details of the route, the sound of a violent collision shook the entire train. The train suddenly braked abruptly with a very harsh screech of metal. Sparks sprayed out from beneath the wheels as the emergency brake friction worked to its maximum.

Silas almost lost his balance and crashed into the carriage wall. Kael deftly braced his body against the side of the cargo crate to keep from tipping over. Outside the carriage, the sound of an emergency alarm shrieked loudly through the iron walls.

Kael stood straight and felt for his weapon again. "Get ready, the tower guards are already welcoming our arrival."

A loud thud was heard again from the front of the train, this time followed by the sound of a heavy object striking the metal coupling of the carriage. The smell of ozone and gunpowder began to seep in through the cracks of the fragile wooden ventilation. Silas tightly gripped the hilt of his silver dagger behind his coat, preparing to face whatever tried to break in from the outside.

"They won't let this train reach the district border," Kael said in a cold voice while c*****g his weapon. "Department soldiers must have set up steel barricades on the main track."

Silas peeked through the narrow gap between the loose wooden planks of the carriage. Out there, the tunnel darkness was lit by the glare of a glowing red flare spinning wildly. Dozens of steam-armored officers appeared running along the side of the tracks, brandishing ether rifles with brightly glowing barrels.

The cargo carriage slowed down drastically until its pace stuttered on the tracks. The iron wheels screeched loudly as they rubbed against the magnetic brakes forcefully deployed by the pursuing forces. The violent jolt caused several cargo crates inside the carriage to shift and crash against the wooden walls.

"We can't just stay inside this carriage," Silas said sharply. "The moment they open the door, we'll become sitting ducks."

Kael glanced toward the tightly closed sliding door on the right side of the carriage. Without hesitation, he ran toward the door and kicked its safety lock hard until the retaining iron bolts popped off. The carriage door swung wide open, revealing a wet concrete tunnel filled with sparks from stripped electrical cables.

The cold night wind blew fiercely against both their faces, carrying the scorched smell of train brake friction. In front of them, a three-meter-high steel barricade stood across the middle of the tracks, guarded by a dozen fully armored soldiers.

"Follow me if you don't want to die roasted inside this piece of junk!" Kael shouted while jumping out of the slowly moving carriage.

Silas did not waste a single second. He immediately jumped after Kael out of the carriage, landing with both knees bent on the hard rail gravel. A stinging pain shot through his left arm from the landing impact, but he quickly ignored it for the sake of survival.

The chaos of battle instantly erupted when the department soldiers realized the presence of both outside the train. Ether laser shots darted through the darkness, hitting the rocks near Silas's feet and sparking fire. Silas ran quickly following Kael's back as he slid toward the maintenance tunnel recess on the left side of the tracks.

"This way!" Kael yelled while firing his rifle at the enemy searchlight until it shattered to pieces.

The tunnel atmosphere suddenly plunged into pitch blackness as the main searchlight was utterly destroyed. Silas utilized the darkness to push forward through the billowing white smoke from the train smokestack. At the end of the narrow tunnel, a rusty iron door bearing the department emblem appeared half open.

Kael kicked the iron door wide open, revealing an emergency ladder leading upwards toward the ground surface. "Climb up fast before their reinforcements surround this place."