Page 22 of Reaper's Quest

Holding one of the circular light bombs lightly in my grasp, I turned it and inspected it from every angle. Countless tiny holes peppered the surface around a thumbprint-sized toggle.

My father did tell me not to take any chances. Self-preservation first.

“Deter, not harm or kill,” I mumbled and, with hesitation, pressed the thumb-sized switch. Tossed the piece out the window.

Eight seconds later, a blanket of electrical charge and a massive burst of light illuminated my field of view. I jerked my arm upward, shielding my face from the radiance.

The train’s whistle sounded twice, and the car began to slow.

I blinked several times in an attempt to reset my vision. “What’s happening?”

The train slowed and slowed some more.

Please don’t stop here. Anywhere but here.

The last place I wanted to get stranded was in the middle of monster chaos.

“We’re approaching our destination,” Mr. Aldine replied and held up a flash bomb. “The Royal Citadel of Veritas is mere minutes away, so toss your flash bombs at the creatures. Let’s try to clear the skies before we pull into the station.”

“On it.” Chace motioned to me with directional waves of his hands in an attempt to guide me to the rear of the car and better organize our efforts.

Hishelpfuleffort, a simple thing, shouldn’t have irritated me, but it did.

Who is he to tell me what to do?

With my nostrils flared and my ears burning, I turned to Mr. Aldine, a flash bomb held high. “You promise these things won’t hurt them?”

I didn’t want to disembark with those creatures all around and ready to swarm us. But I also didn’t want to end up responsible for any unnecessary damage to a life.

“I promise. They’re safe and won’t hurt the creatures. They simply leave a charge in the air that works as a repellent of sorts.”

I nodded, my jaw clenched. Mr. Aldine’s age and experience instilled within me a trust that he knew what he was talking about.

Okay, then.I steeled my resolve.Clear the skies before pulling into the station.

Chace took the left side of the train, and I took the right. We tossed flash bombs out the windows, lightingup the sky with explosion after explosion of insta-bright burn and electrical charge. With each blast, the number of monsters decreased.

“Go away,” I whispered to the creatures. “Fly far from here. Don’t make me burn your eyes with the light.”

Once or twice, I caught Chace tossing me a discerning stare, but I didn’t care. We didn’t come here to hurt creatures. Just because someone thought the things flying outside the train looked like monsters didn’t mean they truly were.

Sometimes, monsters were a matter of perspective. To some souls, reapers were the monsters. And even beings perceived to be the most delicate among other kinds harbored a dark side.

The trainchuggedandchuggedandchugged-a-slug, through the land of still waters and craggy hills, pulling into a desolate station, and drawing to a slow stop with ashwoooch. The whistle blew twice.

Ours was the only stop, so…

Did we need to detrain here? Where thosethingscontinued to fly in the sky overhead.

“Get your stuff.” Mr. Aldine slung his bag over his shoulder and then wiped his hand against the side of his cloak. “The train isn’t going to sit at this stop all day.”

Alright then. I reached for my bag, attempting to hide the slight tremor quivering in my hands by wrapping the strap around my fingers.Here we go.

7

Aheavy flint aroma clung to the air, but everything beyond the train appeared calm. Too calm, actually.

No people wandered the platform. No animals or bugs made a sound. The only noise?the rustle of a soft wind rearranging loose leaves upon the boarding platform.