Bolton
Aurous burst in from the opposite end of the train, his massive frame backlit by the shattered windows as moonlight spilled through the broken glass. He didn’t hesitate—his four massive arms moved like coiled pistons unleashing at full force.
Bolton saw the attack a second too late.
Aurous grabbed him by the collar and hurled him backward like a tossed ragdoll. Bolton barely had time to brace before he slammed into a booth near the bar, the impact rattling his bones. Wood splintered beneath him, and for a moment, his vision blurred.
But he couldn’t focus on the pain.
The train was a battlefield.
Tables lay overturned, lanterns swung wildly, their flickering glow casting jagged shadows over the carnage. The entire length of the train stretched before him, booths lining both sides like the ribs of a beast.
And at the far end—**past the overturned chairs and shattered glass, past the haze of steam and the wreckage of a broken world—**the Malice loomed.
It hadn’t reached him yet.
It twitched where it stood, its form grotesque and unstable, its muscles flexing like a thing in the process of becoming.
Then—it moved.
The Malice surged forward, a blur of sinew and metal. Its limbs piston-fired as it lunged.
And something huge swatted it aside.
The Malice hit the opposite end of the train with a sickening crunch, crashing into an empty booth. Wood splintered. Metal groaned. The entire frame of the train car shuddered under the force.
The creature let out a garbled hiss, steam venting from its pulsating sinews. Its glowing red eyes flickered in and out, glitching, struggling to stabilize. It twisted on the ground, half-crushed beneath the wreckage.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A low rumble rolled through the train.
Not from the engine.
From the miners.
Bolton gritted his teeth, breath still uneven. His body ached, but his mind was sharp. His fingers twitched.
He wasn’t just going to sit here.
His eyes locked onto a Yardrat hunched at a booth nearby—a burly, scarred miner gripping a tankard. The icepick at his belt loop gleamed under the swaying lanterns.
The man wasn’t moving. Frozen. Just watching.
Bolton didn’t think. He moved.
His fingers snatched for the icepick—
But before he could grab it, a hand caught his wrist.
Sarah.
Her grip wasn’t tight, but it was enough. Cold. Not the kind of cold from fear, nor the fleeting chill of nerves. Something deeper. Something unnatural.
Yet—beneath the ice of her skin, her pulse was hammering. Fast, steady, relentless. Like a machine running too hot, too fast, inside something that should have been lifeless.
Bolton swallowed hard. He didn’t understand what he was feeling—only that it was wrong.
She didn’t speak. She didn’t have to.
Her blue eyes flicked to the icepick, then back to him. No panic. No anger. Just understanding. And something quieter. Something sadder.
Bolton’s fingers hovered, pulse hammering.
Then—a whip-crack of sinew snapping tight.
The Malice lunged.
It closed the distance in an instant.
Its grotesque hybrid fist slammed into a Yardrat’s chest, lifting the man off the ground like a ragdoll. The miner whipped backward, his spine colliding with the ceiling in a sickening thud.
The Malice didn’t let go.
Before the Yardrat could even scream, its other arm shot up, clawed fingers locking around his throat. His boots kicked uselessly in the air.
The thing’s muscles pulsed, sinew glistening under the dim lantern light, stretched too tight over its grotesque limbs. Steam hissed from its joints, filling the cabin with the stink of scorched metal and raw meat.
The Yardrat gasped, his voice a desperate, choked rasp.
"SOMEONE GET THIS BLOODY THING OFF ME!"
Chief Hogswind didn’t hesitate.
His massive boots slammed onto a table, shaking the entire train car.
His voice was a roar.
"WHAT’RE YOU LOT WAITIN’ FOR? AN INVITATION?!" he bellowed. "Aurous gave us an opening! THAT THING'S DOWN—TEAR IT APART!"
The cabin erupted.
The miners surged forward—a wall of grit, steel, and fury.
Is AI something to fear? (At least right now)(Definitely not a reference to this chapter >.<)
