16. Sloan
SIXTEEN
SLOAN
Sloan walked to the front of the cart. She pounded a gloved fist on the door leading to the engine. The door immediately opened. A short man with white hair and a white mustache peered out.
“Nemo, why are we slowing down? Have we arrived?”
“Oh, no, ma’am.” The small man blinked through spectacles that magnified his eyes to an unnatural degree. “There’s something you ought to see.”
Sloan followed the short conductor to the front with the rest of her party close behind.
The locomotive was nearly at a standstill when they entered the inside of the mage engine. It was a small room with a seat for Nemo and windows that opened in every direction. Black was the primary color decorating the interior with a few brown handles and whistles.
Sloan caught sight of a huge furnace with a lever nearby that opened a container suspended above the fire. The large container held a mass of swirling red magic.
“See, ma’am? I didn’t want to run them over. They haven’t said anything yet and, well, what are they riding?”
Sloan stopped, examining the inside of the mage engine. She craned her neck to see what Nemo was talking about. Just thirty yards from where the locomotive stopped, there were a dozen or more figures dressed in black.
Each figure was sitting on top of what looked like a large bicycle. The thing that separated the machines the strangers sat on from any Sloan had ever seen were the red plumes of smoke coming from large pipes under the contraptions. The machines grunted and hummed with dangerous intentions.
They were too far away to make out any distinguishable traits about the men who sat in their path. Still, Sloan had a feeling this wasn’t meant to be a friendly encounter.
“Run them over,” Aareth said through clenched teeth. “Kill them, now.”
“What?” Marcus gave Aareth a disapproving stare. “You don’t even know who they are or what they want.”
“Old man, they’re not here for social hour. You can trust me on that.”
“You do know who they are.” Jack let his hand drop to the wand at his side. “Don’t you, Aareth?”
“While I was working in the Outland, I passed through villages that had been destroyed. Decimated towns whose survivors told stories of men on steel horses. I’ve never seen them myself, but what else could they be? Keep going and don’t stop this locomotive, no matter what.”
“Let me at least talk to them.” Marcus wasn’t ready to give in to violence just yet. “We owe them that much before we try to run them over. I mean?—”
Sloan heard the shot and saw the glass shatter at the same moment. She hit the ground hard as small shards rained around the room. More bullets followed and pelted the engine like steel raindrops.
Aareth was the only one who hadn’t ducked for cover when the shooting started. He stood tall and straight, winding the gears on his gauntlets. “With all due respect, sorcerer, you were wrong.”
“Nemo.” Sloan shot to her feet and flipped the switch on her sword with her thumb. “Full ahead and don’t stop, no matter what. Your one and only job is to keep this machine moving forward. Understood?”
The little man gave her a half salute and jumped in his chair, pulling brown handles and pushing large levers. The locomotive began to slowly move forward again.
Adrenaline flowed freely through Sloan’s body as she witnessed their attackers charge.
Bullets shattered the stillness as loud cracks marked their exits from smoking guns. Bullet after bullet buried itself into the metal casing, protecting the mage-powered engine.
The men on the iron bikes were swarming around the locomotive. Sloan stuck a head out to see a handful of the men jump from their mage bikes onto the train itself. The dark figures pulled themselves on top of the roof and out of sight.
“Sloan!” Jack searched for the captain. “We have a problem.”
“I see them,” Sloan shouted over the noise in the engine room. “Jack, Aareth, get them off the roof. Marcus and I will stay here and keep them from destroying the engine.”
Jack moved to follow Aareth.
“Careful, son.” Marcus caught the underside of his arm before Jack left. “This isn’t going to be like killing shadow spirits.”
Jack nodded and his father released his arm. Aareth was already gone. Jack holstered his wand and prepared to ascend.