The late afternoon sun beat down on the small outcropping which I’d hidden myself. I could have set up closer to the treeline, but the rocks were a lot closer to the tracks, and provided a much better sightline, so here I stayed.

  “Mow?” Kaylee called from her position on Nightmare’s saddle, as the horse wandered around, grazing on the scrub grass.

  The secondary holster on my hip felt a little heavy, so I readjusted it for the twentieth time since I’d strapped it on. I rarely had a reason to wear both of my pistols at the same time, but if things went south I’d probably need the second weapon.

  “No, I doubt they found the horses,” I replied without looking away from the tracks, “And even if they did I doubt they would have delayed the train. I couldn’t ask for the exact train schedule without looking suspicious, so all I know is the train is scheduled to head back east sometime today.”

  My cat leaned forward, pinned her ears back, and narrowed her eyes. “Murrr…”

  “If the train doesn’t show up by the end of the day, then we’ll know I’m wrong. No matter how strong it is, I doubt they’d be stupid enough to send it suspecting an ambush,” I snapped, whirling about to yell at my cat. “What do you want me to do? Head back and check?”

  Of course, the instant I took my eyes off the track a distant train whistle cut through the air. I snapped back towards the track and scanned the horizon. As soon as I spotted the smallest sign of smoke on the horizon, I hopped down.

  “You know the plan right? As soon as I sever the caboose from the train, bring Nightmare up. I can’t carry three people on my broom.” My broom, which I had assembled early and left leaning against a nearby rock, jumped into my hand.

  The ground was shaking now, and the sound of the train was rapidly approaching, so I flipped my broom horizontal before straddling it.

  “Merrrrrrr,” Kaylee whined as Nightmare paced around nervously.

  “Too late for second thoughts now,” I yelled over the growing noise. “Just make sure you get Nightmare up there, I don’t want to stay even a second longer than we have to.”

  That’s when the train engine shot past our hiding spot. The burst of wind nearly knocked me off my broom, before I tightened my grip and lowered myself closer to the shaft. A little part of me was glad the armored carriages were locked up, and had no windows, because that meant that no one could see me flailing about before I even started the attack.

  As the second to last wagon passed I leaned forward, unholstered one of my pistols, and urged my broom forward. My fingers and arm screamed as I struggled to maintain my grip as the broom accelerated insanely fast.

  Within seconds I was flying next to the junction between the last car, and the caboose. As my gun hand came up, aiming at the coupling, I let the void within me loose. The concentrated nothingness surged outwards. I was barely able to direct it towards the end of my pistol where it jumped to the bullet and was carried towards the train.

  The junction didn’t break apart at the blow. It didn’t explode, or disintegrate, it just ceased to exist.

  As soon as the caboose was disconnected from the train its brakes automatically engaged, and the car slowly ground to a stop. The train itself continued forward for several long seconds before it too engaged the brakes, but between the increased mass and slight delay I had a little bit of time.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  Hopping off my broom I strode towards the door of the rapidly slowing caboose. Jumping on the extended stairs as the car slid past me I placed my empty hand upon the door and let the abyss loose again.

  The interior of the car was fancy, plush furniture, covered with the kind of art I would have expected in a museum back east, a massive safe mounted to one wall, and even a full bar at the back. Unfortunately I didn’t see the girls anywhere. The caboose was definitely far shorter than it should have been, suggesting there might be a hidden room at the back.

  The two men in the car had their weapons drawn when I stepped in, but they apparently weren’t ready for the armored door to just dissolve. It didn’t even seem like the first one even saw me, his gunhand was still hovering at his hip when I swept through the opening and unloaded two rounds into his chest. The other man managed to snap off a few hip shots, but he was no gunslinger. As the bullets smashed into the room around me I unleashed the last three rounds in my revolver. With so much incoming fire I didn’t aim as well as I could have, and instead I walked the rounds up my opponent.

  The first round slammed into his knee, and before he could even begin to fall the second struck him in the pelvis, and the final in the chest. I tried to ignore the wet gurgling as I swapped weapons, and swept the rest of the room. Getting shot in the lungs was a slow, painful way to die.

  With the first half of the car cleared I stepped up to an armored wall that split the caboose in half. I couldn’t make out a clear door, but that didn’t matter that much. The void surged, consuming a large section of the wall, along with the still suffering man at my feet.

  Bad sign. I’d only planned to target the wall, and the fact that it had lashed out meant I was close to losing control. I had to finish this quickly.

  The back room, in stark contrast to the front of the car, was little more than a steel box. Warding was etched into every single surface, and the back wall had half a dozen sets of shackles bolted to it.

  The girls screamed into their gags, and pushed themselves back against the wall, but I couldn’t worry about them, not yet, because standing in the corner opposite me was something I never expected to see.

  Even though they had a ten gallon hat covering their features in shadow, I could easily make out the nearly featureless bronze colored mask covering their face. The eye holes were covered in a tinted glass, hiding any hint of their identity. Their brown long coat was left open, revealing a breastplate of the same metal, the Graves emblem shone on their breast, and half a dozen strange alchemical tools hanging off their belt.

  My brain struggled to process what I was seeing. The Witch Hunters were government agents, and it was illegal for them to contract to private individuals, so how could there be one here, in full Graves regalia.

  That miniscule pause cost me dearly. The Witch Hunter brought their pistol to bear unbelievably quickly, and unloaded a round right into my gut. The electrical round sent me tumbling to the ground, spasming in pain.

  “Heretic,” the witch hunter hissed. The voice that drifted out from behind the mask was so distorted that I couldn’t even make out if they were male or female. A single rough, gloved hand grabbed me roughly by the back of the head, and forced me to look them directly in the eyes. “I don’t know what trick you used to destroy that wall, but by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging to share it with me.”

  Even with all the pain, and spasms, I managed to slap one of my hands against their arm. A small smile crossed my face. “I’ll share now,” I choked out before fully releasing the power within me. I don’t think the hunter even had time to register what was happening before they, and their ward inscribed garb was consumed.

  The void lashed out at everything around me. Huge chunks of my longcoat were consumed, leaving massive gashes in the garment, my hat fell in two, and long sections of the walls and floors completely disappeared. Finally I felt power turn inward and consume both the bullet buried within me and the charge it was releasing into my body.

  With slightly less pain, and a little bit of clarity, I struggled to once again regain control. The void fought me, but I managed to press it deep down inside, and suppress it once again.

  Groaning in pain, and using my free hand to hold in my guts, I struggled to my feet and stumbled over to the girls. The older looking one, a girl with brown hair and matching hazel eyes stared at me in horror as I reached out for her shackles. She tried to pull away but the void still found its target, consuming the restraints down to the cuffs. The younger girl, who appeared to be part native, trembled but allowed me to perform the same process on her cuffs.

  “Why are you helping us?” the older one asked as soon as she managed to loosen her gag.

  “No time to talk,” I slurred out. I’d been shot before, but the last time it happened I could nearly instantly recover. Not now. I was rapidly losing blood, and things were going fuzzy. “Horse outside. Run before the reinforcements arrive.”

  Shoving my pistol into its holster I stumbled back into the front room, the girls a few steps behind. I nearly tumbled out of the front door, collapsing to my knees upon the rough ground. There was shouting in the distance, and alarms. The other men from the train would be here soon.

  “What about you?” the younger girl asked.

  “Got my broom, I’ll be fine,” I muttered as I pulled myself to my feet, or at least I tried to. Strangely I didn’t seem to have the strength to stand, even with one hand on my broom to help me.

  “Cheyenne, let's go!” the elder girl yelled over the sound of my hissing cat.

  “But…” came the reply. I’m sure there was more to it than that, but I didn’t catch it. My vision was going black, and I pitched forward. I knew that collapsing here would be my end, but there was nothing I could do. The darkness took me.

  and gain access to my full backlog for all stories!

  Here's the link:

  server!

  Here's the link:

  Check out my Stories:

  Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!