The Wild Beasts of Anthony Mannis

At the time of this writing, Free Crossing’s walls have never been breached during a siege, despite having been owned and attacked by both Borges and OZM forces at different points in history. Previous changes in ownership have been due to more diplomatic means (see also: Fort Wu Wei, Pamphlet XIV).

- Information Available to Borges Citizens, Pamphlet IX

They were lost.

“Hmm, I could have sworn the way to The Line was this way,” Hayley muttered, scratching her head. It was the third time she had said that, and they were currently facing the brick end of an alley.

“I thought you’ve been to this city many times! How can you not know your way around?” Anthony yelled.

“Back off, kitty, it’s been a while,” Hayley snapped, “Things have changed since last I’ve been here. New buildings. Very few old landmarks. Not to mention, under a lot of a stress?”

“I still think we should have asked someone for directions.”

“No! I can find it on my own!”

“Well excuse me, princess, you never want to ask for help!”

Philip stepped in between them. “Hey you guys, let’s calm down.”

“No, you calm down!” they both shouted at him.

There was a distant explosion, and some screams.

A stalker came around the corner to cut them off. Hayley dove and rolled, drawing her bow and sighting simultaneously. My last Tzolkhan arrow. She loosed, knocked the pilot out of her seat, and was up and running before she had hit the ground.

“Move, kittycats! More stalkers at nine and three!” Hayley shouted, glancing sideways to where the tri-walkers were keeping parallel pace with them. She jumped on a crate and used her staff to vault herself onto a mezzanine, grabbing at windowsills and railings to clamber onto the roofs, on the same level as the stalker’s eye. There was a Spectre Man piloting it. He fired on her as she flipped towards him, the beam scorching a red scar where she had been standing. Hayley alighted alongside him and swung her quarterstaff like a bat. With a great crack the Spectre Man was knocked out of the driver’s seat and tumbled three stories to the ground. Hayley looked up to the other stalker, its great eye glowing red at her. Another Spectre Man grinned at her from the cockpit, but it was wiped away when a rocket launched from an OZM bazooka took out one of the stalker’s leg. The militiaman who shot it waved them on.

“I can see the train from up here!” Hayley yelled triumphantly, pointing at the railway station ahead of them, where a silver and blue bullet train waited impatiently. “I told you I didn’t need directions.”

“Good job,” Philip shouted up to her, “now get down here.”

The train whistled as Anthony and Philip boarded. They beckoned frantically to Hayley as she sprinted for the doors.

“Hayley! Behind you!” Philip cried.

She glanced back to see the Spectre Man she had knocked from the stalker aim—despite his mangled leg—a revolver at her. There was a bang and Hayley sprawled out on the cobblestone.

“No!” Philip screamed. He returned fire, and the Spectre Man ducked behind a shipping crate. The train began to move. The gun clicked empty. None of Philip’s bullets had hit the Borges soldier. He cursed and began to reload, fumbling with the bullets.

“We need to stop! My friend is hurt!” Anthony yelled to the conductor, a gaunt OZM officer.

“Sorry kid, orders are to take you to New Haven, with or without an entourage,” the man said.

“Then you better hit the brakes,” Anthony snapped, and jumped off. He ran towards Hayley, who lay gasping heavily. He heard the brakes of the train squeal amidst the conductor’s cursing.

“You okay?” he said, hands hovering over her. She was splayed out under her straw jacket.

“I’m fine. No. It hurts,” she groaned, “that was one big bullet. I think he fractured a rib. I can move though. I’m getting up. Oh, okay, nope, just kidding,” she fell back down.

Anthony heard a click behind him. The Spectre Man was aiming at them again.

No you don’t.

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” he roared. He focused every ounce of strength he had into summoning a beast, though his body screamed against it.

Come on. Just one more monster. His head throbbed, his body ached as if he had run fifty miles, his muscles begged for rest.

Come on.

He felt the blood rush from his hands and feet and pool inside his chest. His vision clouded, the world went grey. Then red.

COME ON.

There was another bang from the Spectre Man’s revolver. The bullet lodged itself uselessly into the minotaur rampaging towards him.

The Spectre Man put up his gun and sighed. “Aw, shi—”

Anthony propped Hayley up and helped her limp to the car. The minotaur bellowed victoriously.

“Let’s go let’s go let’s go!” the conductor shouted. The train whistled. Stalkers rounded the corner and sweepers loomed in the sky.

The few feet to the train seemed like miles, but the pair made it on. Anthony sent his minotaur charging towards the stalkers, and it bulled one down before he unsummoned it and collapsed against the seats. The train doors slammed shut and the train took off, announcing it with multiple whistle blasts. The stalkers faded behind them, their three legs no match for the lightrail.

Philip caught Hayley, who was breathing heavily, and lay her down lengthwise on the thin padding of the car seats. She grunted in pain as she adjusted to see out the window.

“Yo, Train Man! Sweepers still on us. Their blockade is still chasing us. Put the pedal to the metal, would ya?”

“I know, little girl, we’re going to break through that fleet.” the conductor replied. His hand was holding the accelerator at max. “We just need to make it to the ocean.”

“You are burning up,” Philip said to Anthony, feeling his forehead, “are you getting a fever?”

“Get off me, man.”

The sweepers pulled up alongside them, one on each side of the train. Side panels slid open, revealing Spectre Men with mounted railguns.

“Almost there,” the conductor repeated.

“Almost where?” Philip snapped, peering out the window, “We’re dead meat!”

Anthony tried to sit up, but couldn’t. Hayley, Philip, I can’t summon anymore. I don’t have it in me. I’m sorry, guys.

He angled his head to see out the window, and could see one of the Spectre Men smiling. The railgun glowed.

Then the sweeper he was on exploded, and the explosion whipped away. The train sped on. Anthony watched the Spectre Man on the other sweeper look ahead of the train, motioning panickedly to the sweeper pilot to pull up right before a massive hand came crashing down, knocking the sweeper into the water.

“We’re here,” the conductor said.

The ocean spread out before them, blue-green and gold. Rising out of the water were two colossi—a giant glassy sea serpent and a massive, glimmering triton. The triton held the crushed sweeper in its palm as if it were a toy airplane.

“Invokers,” Philip said, awestruck.

“Yessir,” the conductor confirmed, “those are Ocean Zone invokers.”

Anthony pressed his face to the glass windows. “Are we…?”

“At the edge of Ocean Zone. Still a ways to go before New Haven. But you are safe now, we are in OZM territory. There are no Borges colonies this side of Ocean Zone.”

Philip and Anthony exchanged a look that said, Not yet.

The conductor winked. “Try to hold your breath.”

“What?”

And just like that, their surroundings changed. What was once sky, sand, and trees became water, coral, and fish. The train was underwater.

“Legends say the Fish Prince grants you a wish if you hold your breath all the way to New Haven,” the conductor said.

Anthony inhaled and held it.

“How is this train able to move underwater?” Philip asked incredulously.

“Magnets, I bet,” said Hayley helpfully, from her seat.

“I was asking the conductor.”

“Magnets are involved,” the conductor replied. Hayley stuck her tongue out.

“How far is it to New Haven?” asked Philip. Anthony’s face was turning red.

“Farther than he can hold his breath,” laughed the conductor. Anthony wheezed and gulped for air.

“I think I saw a starfish out there!” he said.

“Sea-star.” Philip corrected.

Hayley began to laugh, grimaced, and clutched her side, then laughed even louder. Philip went to her side and laid a hand on her.

“How are you feeling, Hayley?”

“You know,” she smiled up at him, “I feel great.”

“Me too.”

“I feel great too!” Anthony blurted. They all laughed, and Hayley grabbed at Anthony’s hand.

“Thanks for gettin’ me back there.”

“Anytime, Haystack. You did the same for us in the forest, I was just returnin’ the favor. It’s what friends do.”

“Aye,” Philip said slowly, “and we are all friends.”

If Anthony had looked down, he would have noticed tears budding in Hayley’s eyes, but his face was instead pressed against the window glass. The sea floor whizzed past, underwater mountains passing under a blue-green lens. Rays of sun beamed down and splayed across the sand, reflecting diffused light. Brightly colored fish darted to and fro. It was a different, exciting, new world, a different forest than the one he was used to.

“I’m coming, Ma!” he shouted into the ocean. The train swished serenely.