Chapter 16 – Train & Tale.

While she had thought of it as a generic passenger carriage, as that was what it looked like to her, it was that and more. She climbed up into it behind Clocky, walking along a small passage that ran alongside one side of the carriage, passing by a number of doors that Clocky tapped on as he passed. Bedrooms she guessed. A collection of swords and crossbows were fastened to the outer wall opposite the doors. It then opened out completely, with a dining area and kitchen situated one one side, tables and all, comfortable seating on the other, storage racks running along the ceiling and at the other end as well. A door clearly labelled as a toilet sat at the far end. Rather fancy.

Seated at the table, eating a plate full of some variety of white meat, was another man who Crys guessed was probably about a decade older than her. While he had brown hair and eyes like Crys did, his hair cut very short though, as was his beard, and he was of a similar size, his body seemed to be composed of rippling muscle, most of it on show given that he was just wearing a pair of shorts and a singlet. Back in her time, Crys would have pegged him as a kickboxer or the like, someone trained to fight with their body. He was one of Clocky’s guards after all, so the comparison wasn’t far off. The man gave her a strange look and then ignored her completely.

“Don’t let it get to you,” Clocky commented, seeing Crys’ worry. “You’ll likely confuse some of them. That’s Mason. He’s a nice guy and one hell of a fighter. Never quite understood how he manages to maintain that look though.”

Clocky motioned for Crys to sit on the side seating, which had the luxury of padding on it, as he pulled up a chair from Mason’s table, and then proceeded to sit on it backwards, his arms resting on its back.

“So, are you from the Outerlands?” Clocky then asked. Crys shook her head as Spectre nestled itself under her feet.

“Can you use magic?” Clocky then followed up.

“Not as far as I am aware,” Crys replied. It was the truth, as far as she was aware, even though she wished otherwise.

“Hmm...” Clocky mused. “I don’t know too much about the Innerlands, but most people there have some measure of magic, or are touched. I guess not all are able to use it though. Your armour is certainly something special though.”

Clocky was interrupted by the arrival of some more people, who either stood near Clocky, pulled up a chair, or sat nearby to Crys, all then giving him a questioning look.

“Ah good. Everyone is here. Figured I’d do the introductions all at once while Gaston refills the water tanks.” Clocky smiled, and then motioned at the now nervous Crys. “This is Crys. They’ll be travelling with us to Brightswater. They’re somewhat displaced at the moment so give them some kindness please. Make ‘em feel welcome.”

Crys didn’t miss that Clocky had referred to her as they. She appreciated that, and it’d probably be a bit easier on them than asking them to refer to her as a she right now. She still looked male under the hair and clothes after all.

“As for us, you know me, and I’ve introduced Mason here,” Clocky continued, looking over at Mason as he continued to eat. He then proceeded to cycle through the rest, looking at them each in turn. “Sitting beside you is Vorsce, and the amazon standing by the door looking threatening is Alison. Don’t let her intimidate you, she has a heart of gold. The shifty one here is Dudley, and this lovely lass here is Fairweather. Yes, she is a touched.” He had a huge sheepish smile on his face as he named the girl who was standing right by his side, her hand on his shoulder. His other half Crys guessed.

“Thanks for having me,” Crys said nervously. They were a strong group of people and she was very much feeling out of place. Heck, some of them even intimidated her.

Vorsce, who had seated himself a couple of spaces down from Crys on the padded bench, gave her a smile.

“Welcome aboard kid. Clocky seems to like you, so you’re in safe hands.” Vorsce was dressed in leather armour, with the same metal plates as Clocky, as well as ones on his shins and boots. He looked to be shorter than Crys, and Crys would have said that his build was solid and stocky. Vorsce’s skin was a deep bronze, his black hair short and curly, and his eyes were an intense red. Taller than a fantasy dwarf, but he gave Crys a similar impression. Minus the beard as well, as Vorsce was clean shaven.

“Thanks,” Crys replied.

Alison nodded, and then turned and headed back to the rooms in the carriage. Clocky typing her as an amazon actually fit, though Crys had no idea where Clocky had got that reference from, as it was an old pop culture reference even in her time. Alison was taller than Clocky, and just as solidly built but with more curves, her well defined muscles showing under the tshirt that she was wearing, that and her bare arms. She was wearing leather armour pants and boots the same as Vorsce (except for their size of course), her long blonde hair braided, reaching all the way down her back. She had a nice but serious face with piercing blue eyes.

Dudley was perched on a chair near Clocky, and looked to be the youngest of the group. He was about the same height as Crys, and had a wiry frame, over which (and under his light clothes) he was wearing some form of metallic chain-mesh, though it didn’t look very heavy, and the dark colour confused Crys as to what it could be. Of course it could be that the visible portions of it had been dyed if Dudley was the stealthy type. He had short raven black hair that fell loosely around his head, a neatly trimmed goatee, brown eyes, and his skin was a darker shade than Vorsce. Giving Crys a final look and then nodding to Clocky, he got up and headed out the back door of the carriage.

“Just going to check on Gaston and make sure nothing has decided to creep up on us,” Dudley stated as he headed out the door.

And that left Fairweather, who in all honesty confused Crys, and not necessarily the other way around. She was the prettiest of the lot, though she still had an athletic and well muscled frame that was the theme for this group. She had a lot more curves than Alison, in all places, but more importantly, she was a cat-girl. She had honest to god black cat ears on her head that poked out through her wavy and voluminous black hair, that twitched every so often when someone spoke, and a black fluffy tail that her leather pants had been modified to accommodate for. She had deep green eyes, her face both attractive with its soft curves, but also distinctly feline at the same time as well. She was wearing a light green top that looked to be a little too small with the way it stretched across her chest and left a bit of her skin exposed around her waist, and her hair came partway down her back. Her nails were painted a gloss black, and actually looked quite sharp. Clocky had said that she was a touched.

“I apologise if it’s rude to ask, but what exactly do you mean by touched?” Crys finally asked, having gathered up enough courage to do so.

“Oh, sorry, unfamiliar term.” Clocky smiled, and continued to ramble. “It happened ten years ago, at the time of the Demon King’s defeat I’m told. Kyla did confirm the timing for us. A pulse of energy was felt by some people, accompanied by a brief glimpse of the ‘avatar’. Those who felt it were all changed in some way, like a small amount of magic had been infused into them. For some just minor physical changes, usually animalistic like the Ferals in the Innerlands, for others the ability to do very minor magic. Which was of course unheard of out here, given it’s lack for the last thousand years. It didn’t manifest straight away either, for most it took years before it became obvious.”

“And it still grows, the power that is, albeit slowly,” Fairweather added, looking at her nails. “These are fairly recent.” Oh. So they weren’t painted after all. Crys was kind of jealous.

Clocky nodded. “Nothing compared to what I saw Velvet using, but Kyla said is was comparable to the more common levels of magic there. It certainly isn’t common here, but going from none to some is a huge change. I think they call the avatar the Dawn Angel in the Innerlands as well. Not that either is her actual name. Some cult arose up around her in the western kingdom.”

Chris was stunned. If she had thought that Spectre had dumped a whole lot of weirdness on her, Clocky has just dumped even more. Additional names that meant nothing to her, but were obviously significant enough, but more importantly another mention of a Demon King. Hadn’t Spectre said that the war against it had ended a thousand years ago and resulted in the shattering? But Clocky just said that it had been defeated only ten years ago.

‘Correct on both accounts. He was sealed, but then released again in recent times. He was defeated again ten years ago, though not sealed away, so those in the know are still worried about him. Not our direct concern however. Not a weapon of war remember.’

“Umm...”

Clocky gave her a questioning look. “Hmm? You have a question?”

Crys took a deep breath. “A million of them in fact. A lot of what you said is foreign to me, but stuff that I think I really need to know...”

The high pitched whistle of the train’s locomotive interrupted him before she could continue. Clocky got up, putting his chair away, with Vorsce and Mason also rising.

“Looks like we’re ready to go. Time to double check everything before we leave.” Clocky then grinned, and placed a hand on Crys’ shoulder. “I’d be more than happy to tell you what you want to know. I’ve learnt a lot over the years, though my knowledge of the Innerlands is limited. I think Merianne would also be keen to met you. However I know that you also have a lot of interesting stuff that you could tell me too. I’m a touched as well, though not as strongly as Fairweather. I have a sixth sense about things, and it tells me that you are from neither the Inner nor Outerlands.”

Crys nodded. Was Clocky’s ability like a lie detector, or just the ability to read between the lines? Or something more. Clocky did seem trustworthy, and did she have anything to lose? Chris wasn’t so sure about some of Clocky’s team, but her first impressions of Clocky and Fairweather were quite positive.

‘He seems like a nice guy. And very perceptive despite his looks...’

“Sure. Call it a deal.”

The train ride was a lot more comfortable than she had expected, not that she was actually sure why she had expected it not to be. Perhaps she had associated it with wagon travel or the like that was the staple for fantasy settings, and not the smoothness of the journey that you get from being on railway tracks. A misplaced preconception, especially as she had travelled on trains before, though never a steam train.

It was however a lot nosier, and smokey if a window was left open or the door opened at the wrong time. The clickety-clack and rumble of the train as it travelled down the rails, accompanied by the wooshing and hissing from the steam locomotive itself. Crys could barely hear anything above it at first, but after a while it just faded into the background as she adjusted to it. It was amazing what the human body was capable of.

Once all the checks had been made, the engine sufficiently heated up, and the guard team confident there wasn’t any threats nearby, the train had departed. Mason was on lookout duty, so he was in the engine with Erron, one of the train drivers, while Gaston had retired to his room. They would be travelling through the night, and while two people were required to run the train, the guard team had been helping out there, taking turns to do some of the manual labour. Apparently there was usually also an additional fireman on the train, but he had taken sick just before the train had departed its previous stop, so he had been left behind and Clocky had taken extra pay in exchange for the extra work. Wasn’t the first time that it had happened either.

Crys sat nervously near the back of the carriage on the padded bench, still unsure of her place with them all. There were after all stranger to her, and she wasn’t the best people person. As the light had faded, the rest of the crew had retired to their rooms, except for Clocky, who has busied himself in the kitchen, after lighting a number of candles which now illuminated the carriage from the glass lamps in which they had been put. Apart from the prep area itself, where Clocky seemed to have some other form of light that looked more akin to something battery powered. Crys was unable to hide the sound of her tummy rumbling, hoping that it had been lost to the sound of the train.

Clocky walked over, handing her a plate of sandwiches before sitting down beside her.

“Sorry, we haven’t got anything fancier at the moment. Need to restock at the next stop,” he offered as way of explanation.

“Thanks, anything's good,” she murmured as she hungrily devoured the offering. She was grateful for food, and it wasn’t too bad. The bread was a little stale, but the meat inside was some of the best she had ever tasted. Washed down with some water that Clocky provided and she was feeling quite satisfied afterwards.

“So, tell me about yourself then,” Clocky asked once she had finished.

“Would you believe me if I said that I come from the time before the Shattering?” Crys eventually managed to say nervously. She wasn’t sure at all how he’d react to that statement, but it was the truth.

Clocky smiled and laughed. “Is that what you’re worried about? My mother is one of the most powerful Channellers of this time, I’ve met the lady that is practically a goddess, as well as some of her companions who wield unimaginable power, seen a dragon that would dwarf most buildings, and technology that can kill us without second thought. Heck, I’ve even seen the inside of Odinsphere, something that almost no one else can boast about, ignoring the fact that even though it came from your time it is leaps beyond what was in existence then. And now we have the touched in the Outerlands. Such a claim fits right in, there are a myriad of ways that it could be possible, at that’s just with what we understand, and so much of the world is beyond what we even know.”

Crys smiled. She couldn’t help herself. True, he had seen things that made her story seem insignificant in comparison.

“So why then, if you’ll indulge my curiosity, are you doing something so ordinary as guarding a train?” She couldn’t help herself from asking.

Clocky grinned. “Such things happen so quickly and then are over, and like my mother, I prefer to avoid the complicated politics that comes with power. Perhaps I feel that I have yet to earn my place, and perhaps I am biding my time too. Perhaps love plays a part as well.”

“Fair enough” Crys nodded. It was actually quite easy to talk to Clocky. He just radiated friendliness.

Crys leaned back into the seat, and began to tell Clocky about her past, Fairweather joining them just after she had started talking, sitting beside Clocky and snuggling into him. Clocky seemed curious about what the world was like, so she started there, talking about the country she lived in, and what everything had been like. How many people had been there, and what life had been life. Of growing up, going to school, then off to study at university. Of her work, jobs in general, describing society as best she could. She detailed what technology had been like, and how old steam trains had been for them. Of the weapons used, governments, travel, and overall what normal had been like. Life at the turn of the century. Life without magic, life in a world that was heavily populated. She was sure she ended up talking for a number of hours as the pair listened intently, not dismissing or ridiculing anything she said.

Then finally she got to the last few days of her old life, which to her felt like it was only a couple of days ago. She glossed over most of the details, instead mentioning Old Town, and her fatal excursion into it, finally realising as she talked about it that Rachael must have been using magic in the battle against the werewolf. She couldn’t think of any other explanation, and it fit. It also meant that she knew even less of Rachael than she though she did, which just made her want to find her even more. Thinking of her she could sense her, that she was alive and well somewhere, but as to where she had no clue. Perhaps she might be able to learn something that could actually help her find her?

“Do you have any idea when the war against the Demon King started in relation to your last memories?” Clocky asked.

Crys shook her head in response. “Some point afterwards is all I know.”

She then briefly talked about her awakening, and how she had ended up at the water tower, Clocky nodding as she spoke about Spectre.

“I have seen a couple of Arkchildren, as it seems to call its kin. Kyla and Melody have one each, and they are unmistakable if you know what you are looking at. Yours is very good at staying out of sight however. I don’t think most of the others have actually noticed it yet.”

‘It’s a talent,’ Spectre confirmed, sounding quite smug with itself.

“Alright, my turn,” Clocky stated, now that Crys had reached the end of her tale, Fairweather closing her eyes and looking like she was going to doze off, Clocky proceeding to put his arm around her and hold her close. Crys was sure that she heard Fairweather give a contented purr.

“Where to start...” Clocky looked deep in thought.

“There are two main parts to the world now, the Innerlands and Outerlands, separated by the Circle Sea, the change caused by the event that we call the Shattering. It reshaped everything, destroying a lot of what you were use to, the effect more prominent closer to the centre than further out. The Innerlands is the smaller of the two land masses by a significant margin as far as we can tell, and it is completely surrounded by the Circle Sea, which as its name suggests, circles right around it. The shattering of the Core occurred in the centre of the Innerlands, and as a result the Innerlands has both the highest density of magic, both in leylines and those blessed with it, and also the highest population. I think I’ve already said, but most people in the Innerlands have some measure of magic. Not all can use it, but it is there. Its divided into six kingdoms that were established post Shattering, by the heroes who helped defeat the Demon King, the western kingdom taking on the responsibility of monitoring the seal of said Demon King. That is pretty much all that our texts tell us about the place. There has been little communication between the two because of the Tempest Storms that separate us. It sits in the middle of the Circle Sea, encompassing the entirety of the Innerlands, winds and currents that are almost impossible to cross. Almost, because apparently one of the first Dragon Riders made it across a hundred years post shattering on her dragon, and Velvet returned on hers. Kyla also has the ability to ‘walk’ the leylines, but that is me getting ahead of myself.”

“This next bit was told to me by Kyla and Melody, residents of the Innerlands, who I will talk about a bit more soon as they are probably of relevance to you. There are different grades of magic in the Innerlands, and they call them shards, gems, and lattice souls. Shards are very weak but common and can do minor stuff. Gems are potent, nowhere as common and are split into three main types. Ferals, those with animalistic traits and supportive magic, a bit like Fairweather here but much more powerful, Casters, those who are able to draw out quite a bit of power with the right preparation and enchantments, and Dragon Riders, females who summon their own Dragon familiar and also have supportive magic. The Riders are considered the most potent of that grade, though their familiars are usually only up to five or six meters high at max. Then there are those who are classed as lattice souls. Their power is leaps above gems and at the upper tier of what is normally possible. They share traits with the gems, but are all unique. Not many of them exist at all.”

“It isn’t all that simple any more though. Like here, there are also now the touched, whose magic is probably somewhere above a shard, but the magic very much focused in a single direction. And it usually isn’t under the direct control of the person, but rather an aspect of them. I like to think of it as a quirk or a special ability rather than magic, but its source is undeniable and magic it certainly is. It is also possible for someone to be both touched and another grade as well apparently. Then there are those who sit outside that entirely, like Kyla and Melody, who can ‘walk’ the leylines, and then those they have referred to as the Primals, whose magic dwarfs even the lattice souls. One of those Primals, who you’ll hear referred to as the avatar in the Outerlands or the Dawn Angel in the Innerlands, was responsible for the creation of the touched. I don’t think she meant to somehow, but it happened and all touched know that she is the source.”

“Not that knowledge will be of much use to you at the moment, but I can feel her touch on you, so I suspect that at some point you will end up in the Innerlands, and it will be good for you to know before then.”

“The Outerlands is very much a different beast than the Innerlands, and much safer too I hear, though that is only true in a comparative state as this land is definitely not safe. We have our fair share of dangerous beasts and monsters, and people will die to them. We call them Wildlings, but they seem to be growing too, as if some were also touched. However they’re not as supercharged with magic as those in the Innerlands are, and no demons here yet either. Hopefully never too. The Outerlands is massive, and sparsely populated, most of the population living in or around the great cities. It didn’t start that way, but because of the need to survive, the desire to try and hold onto what we lost due to the Shattering, and the emergence of Channellers, it ended up that way.”

“While the leylines flow through the Outerlands, they are usually deeper and much more spread out than the Innerlands, surfacing at critical points, namely old ruins and all of the major cities. Before the touched, so for a thousand years, there were no magic users here at all. None. But as a trade off, more technology survived than it did at the centre. Well, okay, survived is a relative word, much of it was broken, but it wasn’t completely obliterated. Until the reserves of fuel ran out, functioning cars where still common, not that we had the roads for them. We still have electricity too in many of the cities, though only for those who can afford it or where the ruler feels is essential. Recovering ‘useable’ technology is a worthy and lucrative profession, though not without its dangers. The Scavengers either get rich or die to a Wilding that has absorbed too much from a leyline. Ironically the most intact technology can be found in areas with surfaced leylines, but that is also where the most dangerous beasts are. My mother also theorised that some may also die from mana poisoning in such areas as well, but we’ve never been able to prove that.”

“As I mentioned, while we had no magic users, what we did end up with were incredibly rare individuals who were able to pull the magic out of the leylines and through technology in order to power it. Being magic and all, it doesn’t matter if the technology was broken, it is still be able to power it and in some cases repair it as well. They are not true magic users as they have to be in the presence of the leylines in order to be able to draw it out, but still powerful individuals. We call them Channellers, and they either become prominent and influential individuals, or slaves to such people. One of the two extremes. My mother Merianne is one of the more powerful Channellers of the current age, though she has managed to stay out of both extremes. People hate her for that however, claiming that she is squandering her gift. She is free and happy, and I personally think the world would be a better place if more of them were like her, but I am probably biased.”

“You’ll get a better feel for the cities once we arrive at one, but I dear say that they will be somewhat familiar, just stepped back in time, from what you have told me about your age. Brightswater is a large one, and a fairly important trade hub. That’s why the railway line was built. Some of it was salvaged, the rest created from scratch. It took a few hundred years, but we have serviceable mines and are able to get some of the materials that we need for such things. While much of the technology and infrastructure was lost with the Shattering, we have managed to preserve some of the knowledge. One of the first Channellers, Millie, realized the importance of retaining knowledge, and the great libraries are her work. Access to them is highly restricted, and I dare say the life of those responsible for maintaining them isn’t pleasant, but there is a lot contained within.”

Crys was shocked at hearing that name. Could it actually be the same Millie? She would have been ecstatic if it was her though, perhaps a small blessing in amongst the complete devastation. However that would have required the Shattering to have occurred within her lifetime, and she didn’t have any idea of when exactly it occurred, and that would have been its own set of suffering, on top of the disappearance of Rachael and herself.

“So, lets talk about Odinsphere. To be honest we don’t actually know a lot about it. Perhaps your companion there can tell us more? We know that it was created before the Shattering as a weapon against the Demon King, but it was not finished in time. It was finished afterwards however, though we have no clue how it managed to avoid the damage that all the other technology suffered, and who or what actually completed it. It isn’t just a thing either. It’s more like a collection of things, and from the outside it is a massive floating sphere of metal. Literally. It hangs in the sky just outside of Shusoku, and it is larger than any of our cities. Kyla said that it feeds of the leylines to stay afloat. When Velvet turned up we had a very brief excursion into one of its outer hangers, where it had some skimmers and defense bots, and while Velvet was easily able to defeat the bots, they certainly packed a punch and we’d be no match for them. I recall her saying that as a weapon against the demons it would certainly do its job. I haven’t been inside since, but I would still love to have a proper look at some stage, and Merianne is still as keen as mustard to explore, though not without the proper permission. We had initially thought it was a ruin, but we have since found out that it is anything but. It is still fully functional, just not doing anything at the moment. One would say that it is very much alive.”

“Kyla? Velvet? You’ve thrown those names around a bit now…” Crys was now also completely confused about Odinsphere. Who or what was running that place, and exactly what was it. She also wasn’t sure if it was the best idea to go there from what Clocky had said, but she didn’t really have any other destination in mind, and she had been given one of its children.

‘Everything that he said about it is true, but I cannot add any details. Not allowed to do so.’ No surprises there.

“Ah yes. I was trying to think of the best way to talk of them. They are both members of the same party of people, to borrow the term, though I’m not sure if it was ever anything official. A collection of people brought together by circumstance. Kyla is a cat-girl, sorry Cat-Feral from the Innerlands, who was rescued from slavery by Velvet. She was gifted the ability to ‘walk’ the leylines by a being called Angel who currently resides in Odinsphere.”

That name was all too familiar. She knew that it was the same being too. Instinctual, and without any doubt.

“Kyla and her lover Melody, another cat feral and a very talented musician, sought Merianne and myself out a couple of years after the defeat of the Demon King. Velvet had mentioned us to them before the battle, and combined with mum’s interest in Odinsphere they decided it was prudent to pay us a visit. In part to return a favour, and in part to warn us away from trying to explore it. As we had already summized it was very much alive, Kyla having been in direct contact with the things that ran it. Both Kyla had Melody have Arkchildren with them, Melody’s a flying creature that I’m ashamed to say that I can’t identify, while Kyla’s is a very large wolf. Both rather deadly I’d say, ignoring the magic of the two themselves. In exchange for our promises not to try anything silly around Odinsphere, and to be careful about our knowledge of both it and Velvet, they gave into mum’s request to tell them about the Innerlands and magic in general, which they did and hence why I could tell you. It’s also why I didn’t think you a nutcase when you said you were heading to Odinsphere, given your companions presence. Though I’d be one of the few.”

‘Fang is indeed a weapon of war, and one of the most powerful Arkchildren. Tell him my name so that he can stop trying to avoid not knowing it too.’ Did she sense a little irritation there, or maybe jealousy? Crys smiled.

“My companion is called Spectre. It said it can’t elaborate on Odinsphere though. Not allowed,” Crys informed Clocky.

“Expected as much,” Clocky said with a smile.

“Right, now where was I. Kyla. She also brought me and Fairweather together. I might have a thing for cat-girls, and mum may have asked Velvet to find me a girl, given that I was away from society a lot at the time. It was a couple of years later again, after I had left mum to her own thing and ventured out by myself, my quirk really starting to make its presence known. I had just started the guard gig, working with Alison and Vorsce. The manifestation of her quirk was giving her some issues, given that it was still the early stages for the touched and most people had never seen feral aspects on people, though there are many more like her now. Makes me wonder how Kyla and Melody managed to avoid the discrimination, though they are both very powerful individuals, and power speaks volumes in itself. Anyways, they strongly encouraged that I go to a certain location, find a certain individual, and invite her to work with me. Which I did, and we’ve grown very close since then. She’s part of the reason we’re here at the moment, combined with the nudges that my quirk seems to provide at times.”

“You should have seen his face when he first saw me,” Fairweather murmured, obviously not fully asleep. “He was so cute, and highly embarrassed too. He did manage it though, which I am grateful for. I wasn’t in a happy place, and he accepts me for what I am.”

Clocky’s face broke in a huge, affectionate smile, and he leaned over and gave Fairweather a kiss.

“And that of course leaves Velvet. My mother and I met her in the early stages of her growth into her power, when she was recovering from a battle wound, having escaped to the Outerlands unintentionally via her magic. We helped her heal up, and she helped us have a look into Odinsphere. She was, and still is, somewhat of an enigma, and I don’t think anyone outside of her inner circle really knows much about her. Her magic was something else though. It radiated power like the sun, forming golden tattoos on her as she used it. For how naive she had said she was in battle, she fought really well. She has a dragon called Light, an unusual one even for its kind, that was either the size of a small cat, or massive at over six stories tall. You won’t find any dragons out here, only in the Innerlands, and only as familiars.”

“Velvet had said that she would return after her battle with the Demon King, but something happened during it that meant that she hasn’t been able to do so. Kyla didn’t say why when we saw her, not offering any explanation at all. She isn’t dead though, far from it. If anything, her power is more intense than what it was when I met her, and her power was impressive them. Any touched will be able to tell you that. The avatar that all touched saw when the pulse went through us, that was Velvet. There was no mistaking it. As I said though, almost all don’t know that and just refer to her as the avatar, or the Dawn Angel. A figure to revere. Probably for the best though. No idea how she copes with interacting with the touched, as there will be no way they’ll mistake who she is.”

Clocky paused and stretched. “Not sure if that makes things any clearer for you and answers your questions, but it’s a start. I think I’ve covered all the important bits, but if you have any additional questions let me know.”

Crys shook her head. She still had a lot of questions, mostly about the Outerlands itself, but nothing that she felt like asking right now. She was still digesting Clocky’s novel.

“We’ll be making a brief stop at Cannongate in the morning to drop off a few freight trucks. It’s just a matter of stopping and unhitching them. We’ll then be continuing through the Ethis plains, through Junctions Pass which cuts through the Eastern Teeth Range, and then to Brightswater itself. If we strike any issues, it’ll be at the Pass, though last time we weren’t bothered.”

“For now though, you should probably get some sleep. You can give yourself a bit of a clean in the wash room if you need, and then used the room right at the head of the carriage. It’s a little noisy, but it is unoccupied at the moment.”

“Thank you,” Crys said as she got up. Sleep did indeed sound like a good idea. She made her way to the toilet/wash room, Clocky handing her a lantern to use. Calling it a wash room was probably an overstatement, but it was still nice in the same way as the rest of the carriage, if somewhat archaic. There was a cannister of water and a sink with some cloths. There was even a toilet seat with toilet paper. She was glad that that still existed. She did however quickly discover that both just opened up directly onto the tracks, and she was instantly glad that she had chosen to walk alongside the embankment rather than on the tracks themselves. It was how they had done it in ages past, and granted with a low volume of trains it probably wasn’t that much of an issue. But still. Gross.

Taking care of her pre sleep routines, Crys made her way to the front of the carriage, Clocky telling her to take the lantern with her, still seated with Fairweather sleeping up against him. She opened the door, and then locked it behind her. It was very small, a pair of bunks taking up most of the space. She briefly considered trying to take some things off, but in the end opted to just lie straight on the bed, blowing out the candle and not sure if she’d sleep at all. The bed wasn’t anything like what she’d had at home, they’d obviously lost some of that knowledge or just hadn’t bothered, but it was serviceable. The room was noisy, but not worse than the rest of the carriage, the sound rhythmic, just like the gentle rocking of the carriage. She closed her eyes, wondering where Rachael was, and shortly afterwards was asleep.

mogust

It's the world building chapter that you knew was coming, though in context and conversation this time. Some of the information will be familiar, and a lot of it new. Given what is talked about, it'll help familiarize any readers who haven't read the first book.

We also get to meet Clocky's team. They are an interesting bunch, and you'd assume that since they've been given full descriptions that they might be around for a while. On that we shall see ^^

At the least they'll be here for the train ride :D

It's a longer chapter by quite a bit (on par with the released from book 1), but I didn't want to split it up given its nature.

If I haven't made something clear in the conversation let me know and I'll see if it should be revisited/expanded on.

I am about to start on chapter 25 - Brightswater [Yay :), progress is going well and I have this one mostly planned out in my mind already so it should flow well], the next chapter that I will be releasing (hopefully later this week) is Chapter 17 - Like Old, Like New.

On the exciting news front I have commissioned some artwork of Rachael/Crys, which will form the cover of the book once complete (as well as making a nice wallpaper for the PC). I like what I have seen thus far and am really looking forward to its completion. 

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment.