Big Nuts To Crack

"What about those Forerunners? You knew them, right, Johnny? Edward?"

A thought strikes my mind of the other Sigiled that were helping us, the Forerunners, and Johnny's head droops. My heart falls in a similar way as I expect them all dead, and Johnny speaks as we stride hurriedly eastward through the city. Even Edward pays full attention as he sheathes his longsword onto his belt, especially when Johnny mentions Laura.

"The two old-timers... Phineas the Razorope finished off their Angel after Judas gave his life to hold it down. As for Laura... I believe she survived. The Angel that her group was fighting retreated once it sensed Karn's defeat. For now, it's a regroup and retreat on all sides kind of maneuver. As far as we know, Blackstone was the only city to repel the attacks from the Alliance."

I nod sadly as we approach a man in the middle of the road, sitting with his back turned to us. In his hands is a poker, with an entire thigh on it of some dark blue humanoid. My concern skyrockets as I find Bonfire... eating a demon?

"Y'know, they eat us; I was wondering if they tasted good. Answer? They taste awful. Like... sulfur and gunpowder at the same time. This one wasn't very human-looking, don't worry. I won't be cooking you any time soon."

My eyes examine him for wounds, but he seems far less injured than the rest of us. I suppose that with him, it's either all or nothing. If he's still made of fire, not much can hurt him. Yet, he's not as cheerful as usual. Bonfire is still joking, sure, but I notice that sadness in his eyes as he gazes around us.

He gives Aniwye a minor glance before shrugging and groaning as he stands, speaking to us as we are speechless to him. He drops bombshell after bombshell, though some of them we already know.

"Well, I stayed to let you guys know that the others had already left to meet up with the others at Blackcrink. Only one Claw remains, Laura, and Judas is dead. Many others died, too. Skyswain lost a wing. Elizabeth... she was Daymared by Abraham after Dawn did all she could. She's alive at the very least, though."

My soul trembles at the news about Elizabeth, and I immediately increase my pace. Johnny just nods sadly as we continue.

"We did what we could. Some more may be trapped beneath rubble, but there is simply no way that we can save them. It's best if we go now."

I nod to him as we gradually increase our pace as a group. All of us are wounded and exhausted, some more than others, meaning our speed back to Blackcrink is far slower than our pace here.

Exhaustion courses through my body like a relentless tide as I stagger across the unforgiving, moonlit terrain. My limbs feel like lead, and each step is a struggle against the weight of fatigue. The battle we've endured has taken its toll on every fiber of my being, and I can barely muster the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Aniwye's Ether remains, but the weakness in my body is returning fast. How I ever thought I could do something in a fight after this is beyond me.

I'd be completely useless.

Time is rapidly dwindling, and we move with all the motions our bodies can manage until Aniwye grows annoyed.

"Enough. You are all too slow with your human frames. Allow me to speed things along."

Johnny raises an eyebrow and questions her as I see Edward suspiciously circle her, hand on his hip. I shake my head at him, and he returns me a tilted head. Dammit. He's still wary of her. I just hope he doesn't swing first.

"And how will we do that? Are you going to carry us or something?"

Bonfire snickers at the question despite the sweat pouring down his face. Ironically, Aniwye nods.

"How else? Stand still. I shall deliver you all with my mind."

Confused, I simply gaze up at her before my salvation arrives in the most unexpected form—Aniwye, whose Power transcends the bounds of the physical world, reaches out her hand toward us all, opening it invitingly. With a mere thought and, of course, a colossal stream of Ether, she harnesses the Ether within her mind, reaching out to me far beyond her hand with an unseen force that lifts me from the ground. It's as if I'm cradled in the hands of an invisible titan, weightless and borne aloft.

It's not uncomfortable as my body sits in the air like I'm placed within a bundle of pillows, and the others with me are affected in the same way. Bonfire, struggling to resist the efforts with gouts of useless flame, rises into the air. Johnny and Edward are the same, though they oppose this whole thing far less. They are more so curious and suspicious of her Ether as she furrows her brows in focus.

"See? Now, this will be far easier. As I move, so will you."

Edward opens his mouth to speak, but he doesn't get the chance as Aniwye's whole body vanishes. The massive creature that she is shifts with such speed that I only see a lingering blur. Then, the world muddies around me in mere moments as my 'mother' races across the flat, rocky expanse beneath the pale moonlight. Time becomes a fleeting concept, and the ground beneath us becomes instinct colors. The wind whistles past, tugging at my clothes and hair without force as I'm carried forward with breathtaking speed.

There is a palpable urgency in the air, a sense that every second counts. Yet, as we hurtle through the night, Aniwye's mind cradles me in her psychic embrace, ensuring that I keep up with her incredible pace. I had no idea she could move this fast, but I suppose it makes sense. How else could she have killed Kai? That man moved beyond the speed of sound. Without at least a comparable speed, Aniwye would have been lost as to what to do. It's a surreal experience, moving this fast without effort and suspended in the air, but I welcome it. It's...

It reminds me of those piggyback rides with Ma when I was young. Unlike before, I don't push away the memory but instead savor it. She might not have been real. The love might not have been real. But the feelings it gives me are. There is no point in denying them.

We swiftly approach a moving light in the distance, a rumbling and shifting object that is audible even from nearly half a mile away. It's fast, but not as quick as Aniwye's threatening form.

It's the Steam Train. That's how they got out of Blackstone so fast!? It makes so much sense now! I shout for Aniwye to get onto the train, but my words are carried by the wind into the endless skies. For a moment, I think myself unheard, but she does respond to me. Only she does it into my mind.

"Little one, there are more significant concerns than the few hundred on that train. We must concentrate on our own safety. All our joining their group does is lower our chances of survival. This is a race against time. I will carry you to the finish, however, and I hope you can aid me afterward."

I grind my teeth at her answer, but I accept it after a few moments of thought. She's right. We can't affect the speed of the train at all. Sure, we could make it a little safer, but we also need to get to Blackcrink first and warn the people there.

The last reason likely isn't a part of her calculation, knowing how selfishly adamant she is about my father, but it still tracks. So, I stay silent as we speed through the terrain of Blackreach. As we move, I maneuver myself to gaze backward, discovering many red and yellow lights on the westward horizon.

All those cities are gone... The Sigiled and Hunters in each of them were in contact with Edward as of days ago. They were planning a rebellion against the Estates, helmed by the Bloodied Beast: a dozen Forerunners and thousands of Hunters turning to the sight of righteousness.

What's left of them? It's likely only to be those within that train. Strong people exist all over the frontier, but they're dwindling. The chances a more considerable number or even influential people survived are low. They aren't zero, but they are pretty shallow.

I sag with sorrow as, after a few more minutes, a city appears on the horizon. Speeding through the air, I catch eyes with Johnny as he nods at me. In just a few more moments, as Blackcrink grows in size from a pencil tip to a towering cityscape, Aniwye stops. Her body lurches forward when she finally pauses, bits of scorched earth under her gigantically sized boots as she breathes with difficulty.

We are all promptly let down, and Johnny turns to Aniwye with a concerned face.

"Is there any way you can hide yourself? These people won't be as accepting of a demon as we are. I know you and can vouch for you, but not everyone will take that so lightly."

Aniwye chuckles lightheartedly as I feel a wave of Ether covers her form. A prickle enters my mind before being quickly rebuffed by Blodwyn and me as we make each other aware of it. An illusion. It must be.

Edward nods to her before walking toward the city's gates, a pair of colossal cold steel bars that keep the unwanted out. With a wave of his hand, the guard at the gate opens it. Following that, in a rush, we enter and hurry through the city, only to find everyone inside already packing up to leave. Carts and carriages are speeding eastward toward either Gravecross or Lawless Lake.

How did they learn of what's happening?

My mind roars with thoughts as Aniwye spits out an answer, pointing to a Hunter who is loading boxes onto a horse and buggy.

"He heard it from another Hunter who heard it from Eli Weiss' command. It would appear the old bastard is less heartless than I thought. Some of my respect down the drain."

I ignore her latter half, finding it odd that she judges Eli for caring for his own kind when she is so fixated on Killian. Shaking my head, I listen to Johnny and Edward discuss plans between themselves.

"I'll go to the train station and prepare all the things they need to continue onward. You go and gather everyone else that's worth taking? If the others didn't inform the masses and Eli did, I can only assume they already made a break for it. We don't have room for every random person. With our injuries, the train is the fastest way to Gravecross. Aniwye can't bring hundreds at once. She's sweating after getting us four. Those two can follow or go with Aniwye, whatever they want."

Aniwye shuffles with an unmistakable tinge of annoyance, so I distract her. I doubt she likes to be thought of as weak or lackluster in any way, even if she's misunderstanding a compliment. Johnny and Edward split up, leaving Bonfire, Aniwye, and I.

"Hey, so... what do you think Eli Wiess is actually planning?"

Aniwye shrugs as Bonfire tries to sneak away, and I grab him by the arm, whispering with a sharp tone.

"Hey! We need to stick together!"

Emmet Knox throws his hands up, irritated.

"I know! But can't we make sure people are okay? I haven't seen Frozen or Clumsy running around. Have you?"

Sighing, I nod, motioning him to follow as Aniwye finally delivers an answer.

"I can only imagine he'll do it here, whatever it is."

As far as my eyes can see, a sea of humanity surges eastward, a ceaseless tide of men, women, and children united by a singular purpose—escape. Eli Weiss' current headquarters is simply a place of chaos as so many do all they can to live, making it even harder to find our friends. Each footstep is a collective effort to distance themselves from the impending storm. Though, not all are kind.

I spot several would-be thieves and promptly stop them with non-lethal force. There is simply no need to kill more people, and I don't think I could kill these people even if I raised my hand. Not because they are strong but the opposite. Most are Unsigiled looking for profit during the harsh times, but one is a Sigiled. I don't have it in me to do such things to such people. They are simply afraid. And fear changes people.

The urgency in the air is palpable, a sense that time itself is slipping through the hourglass. There's a rawness in their movements, an instinctual drive to flee from the gathering death that threatens them all.

Yet, not everyone is in a mad scramble. Among the evacuees, I spot a select few who take a moment to pack their belongings—a calculated few, armed with a measure of strength and a confidence that they can outpace the impending cataclysm. Their forms sheen with a color higher along than yellow. The 4th Sigileds and above move with a reckoned grace, securing their possessions with a calm resolve that sets them apart from the frantic crowd.

Bonfire and I push through the many people as Aniwye uses her mind to hover over them all, not wanting to break her cover. The power of her mind combined with her Ether is almost unbelievable. Is this what Abraham could become? Maybe. Maybe not. He's so focused on his Nightmares that I am unsure if he could reach this potency level with Force. Nonetheless, we near Eli's Estate, empty as we desired. It seems everyone else has left already.

Bonfire's disappointment is evident, but as we approach the bunker, a figure steps out of it. Tears stain their face, and a blindfold covers their eyes. Yet... a difference lies within Kate's form. A confidence that was not there prior is there.

A presence that is not usual.

"Mie?"

A hand raises and waves to me as the artifact speaks. She immediately deciphers the changes within my body but doesn't discern who Aniwye is. In fact, she doesn't even notice the demon.

"Wyatt? My... it would appear today is a day for celebration. Both our other halves have grown. Though... it is also a day for sadness."

I nod to her, trying to explain things to her, but she interrupts me.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened to you down there, but we need—"

"To run for the hills? Yeah, I already know. Kate is... hibernating just as your artifact was. I have no clue when she will awaken. It could be hours. It could be days. It could be seconds."

Her words are a curious prophecy of my future when I hopefully rise to become an Angel, but I don't dwell on it. Instead, I quickly scan the bunker before returning to the train station. Aniwye, Bonfire, and Mie, in control of Kate, follow me. The path isn't as long as it took to get to the Estate, and by the time we arrive, the train is just anchoring.

Steam bellows from it as the entire vehicle is riddled with damages and is hot to the touch. They pushed it to its speed limit to get here fast enough. The doors open as a thunderous voice enters the air, splitting my mind with its simple force.

"VINCENT! WE'VE COME FOR YOUR MIND! AND YOUR LIFE! TELL US YOUR SECRET, AND WE WILL LET THEM, AND YOU LIVE!"

I pivot around, finding four forms that hover hundreds of feet beyond the ground, above the city. It is clear who each is, even from this distance, due to the uniqueness of their bodies... and their colors.

Tonuyn, the Creator Of Glass, the Penciled Oath, with a similarly dark purple web of chains that wraps around his right hand, stands upon a shimmering pane of glass. The strongest Pygmy is missing all the technology and tools they are known for, except for the glass panel in his hand. Nevertheless, I know not to underestimate him despite him not having his tools.

Ytern, the Stalwark Spine, the Chilling Grasp, with a deep midnight purple pendant that crisscrosses over his open chest, hovers with a heart in his left hand, a platform of viscera beneath him. The Nahullo is pale like all his brethren, but he is far from them in aura. He stands like a noble sovereign, detached from reality. The eldest northman presents himself toward the back, as if not wanting to draw all the attention.

Behemoth, the Mountain Crasher, the Horned Giant, crackles the very air with his step, compressing it to a foothold. His figure is the largest and the most outwardly threatening as he bears the brunt of the attention. Nearly a hundred feet tall, he forces the others to appear tiny with his horns, fur, and claws clad a surprising hue of pure darkness. Unlike the Nahullo and Pymgy, the two Binary Lords bear a different shade of chain. It must signify something, only I have no clue what.

Leviathan, the Sky's Hivemind, the Serpentine Soul, hovers without any noticeable platform or discernable Ether. She is entirely humanoid, almost indiscernible from an ordinary woman, barring the gem embedded into her skull and the slight blueish tint to her skin, offsetting her abyssal black fetters. The normalness of her stance is what perks the hair on the back of my neck the most.

Yet, amongst them all, Behemoth is the first to shout, his voice echoing further throughout the entire city as it breaks windows and shatters eardrums. I nearly stumble backward from the mighty roar, catching my hand on a nearby pole.

The Mountain Crasher is so deafening, that I can't even recognize what he had just said. Instead, I search, looking for any hint of what happened. Everyone else is similarly confused, but no one moves regardless.

Thunder rumbles in the sky as the figures hover high above, and only a handful of stressful moments pass where not a soul moves until Ed Summers appears, his form normal and usual as he uses his cane to walk across a rooftop toward them. He stands far below them, and from my angle, and I can only see his upper body. Yet, for how insignificant he is, the old man speaks loudly enough to echo back.

"Vincent is preoccupied, milords. You'll have to settle for us."

Three more figures join him without pause, covering different rooftops in a triangular formation.

Two of them are porcelain forms, identical in every way to the one from the bunker. They must be the two Vessels we saw. How many remain besides these? Four? Three? It can't be that many.

It's the last figure that surprises me the most, however. It is a man nearly forgotten by the world—the worst of the Hindrinces. A man banished to a cellar deep within Northene. It is a man with missing eyes, the old ones burnt out, as he holds his hands behind his back. Richard Lang. The Blinded Man. I squint at him, finding something eerily familiar about him. Then, I notice it. The stance. How his back is slightly bent with his hands behind his back. He stands just as the Conductor would.

Flashes of suspicious points from the Conductor flow into my mind until I remember that he wore a locket that he no longer has. Instead, it dangles at the side of his hip with an aura that distorts my sight. He was hidden from us—from everyone. But how? And why?

The air itself pauses with tension at an all-time high, the stakes never being at such a level before. Behind me, Kate and Bonfire shuffle into the train, but I can't help but watch. Other figures approach the train as well, Earl and Elizabeth coming into my sight from the street. But still I cannot do anything other than watch the sky.

And neither can Aniwye.