Chapter 289 Train Stampede

The room shook as shockwaves of battle drew near. Even as far from the front line as he was, the titanic monsters every step sent ripples into the earth.

“Master, the tier nine siege spell is almost complete, in just one more hour it will be ready to fire. Your orders?” Cali asked, waiting patiently.

“Have them fire it as soon as it is charged.” Malon ordered then got up from his desk. “Have everyone, including the soldiers evacuate from the front lines. I don’t want anyone anywhere near where that spell is going to go off.”

“Yes master.” Cali answered. “The mages you called for are ready and are waiting in the vaults.” She hesitated. “Though with the spell… Do we still have to go through the ceremony?”

Malon raised a brow. It was very rare when Cali of all people questioned his decisions. “Yes… As much as I would not like to, the fact remains there is still a good chance that monster can survive the blast. We do not know how high its defenses are, nor how quick it is to regenerate. As much as I hate to pull out this trump card, I rather err on the side of caution and make sure my people are safe than let them die because I didn’t think they were worth the cost…”

“This will force us to expedite our plans…” Cali replied.

“That’s fine.” Malon looked at her, back straight, filled with vampire pride. “I would rather put the lives of my people before the cost of whatever scheme I had in place. We are vampires. I’ll just make another scheme.” Now smirking a little.

Cali gave a small amused sigh. “Yes master. I’ll settle things on my end. What will you do?”

Malon turned to look out the window. “I’ll stay and watch how things play out for a few minutes before heading to the vault. Have all unimportant personnel evacuate. I also made a list on the table of all those I want to survive. Make sure they get everything they need to escape the city.”

Cali walked over to the desk and picked up the paper. On the top of the list was Van and Devi as well as Avalyn and a few other names from various houses and clans. “I understand. I’ll make sure they flee safely, even if it costs me my life.”

“Well… No need to go that far…” Malon said, turning to her. “You know how important you are to me… Right?”

“I understand master… I’ll try my best not to die following your orders.” She said somewhat sardonically, giving a small smile to show she didn’t mean her tone.

Malon sighed. “I suppose that’s the best I can ask for…” Knowing his maid too well.

---

Luna and Anna were running for their lives. Both filled with worry for what might have happened to their husband, but also sensing through their shared connection that he was okay. When they sensed that he was leaving the battlefront they sighed in relief as they huddled in their own shelter that they were forced into when the fighting began in earnest.

Now almost half a day later they were fleeing alongside a multitude of other students and civilians towards the train stations that would hopefully lead them out to safety. But both couldn't help but worry for their husband, wondering if they would meet up again, yet both also knew that they had no choice but to hope that they will see each other again when all this was over as they fled the city.

“Luna! Over here!” Kira yelled at her friend on top of Aldina’s shoulders.

Anna had to help point her out to Luna since she was so short and couldn’t see over most of the other people around her.

The two groups met up and Luna found that Seral, Cerina and everyone else from her dorm had come to look for her and Van. All of them asked to know where he was and if he was okay. Anna answered them all to the best of her ability as they were forced to move forward as the weight of bodies from all those fleeing moved them to their destination.

“I sense that my master is already at another train station. He is in good health.” Anna spoke to help soothe everyone’s fears.

Looks of relief were shared amongst everyone. Then talks began of what to do now.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tabitha spoke up, for some reason also being there. “We have to leave! It doesn’t matter if we are separated if we all end up in the same place eventually. Even if we don’t go to the same city or town, we can always meet up somewhere else later. Let’s just get going already!” She demanded clearly annoyed by all this dithering around.

As much as they didn’t like to hear it, Tabitha had a point and so group up together and tried to angle themselves towards the tracks in the distance at the end of the road they were going through.

It was slow going as for every step they took, it felt like they had to fight for it. Whenever the train arrived the flood of people would move forward, and when it left it would stop again, forcing everyone to wait until the next one arrived.

All the while the sounds of battle drew closer and closer, making people antsy and mean. Sometimes even yelling at each other or starting fights because someone accidentally stepped on a foot or two.

But that all ended when someone yelled. “ROACHES!” And everyone collectively began to duck and turn their heads to see where they were coming from. Thankfully they were still pretty far off, but their buzzing became progressively closer. And without the wall to stop them they slowly trickled in, attacking those farthest in the rear while the few soldiers set aside for escort duty did their best to shoot them down and fight them off.

The Annas then began to surround Luna, making sure she was going to be safe and sound even if it cost them their lives.

Luna for her part pulled her bow from her soul realm and got ready in case she needed to fight.

The other students around her, and not just from her dorm, seemed to get the same idea and also started pulling weapons from their soul realm just in case.

As the buzzing drew ever closer, calls rang out from the students. Some to spread out, others to stand in formation. The pushing and shoving actually started to add more friction between everyone instead of making people feel safer. And when the train arrived again, there was an even more violent dash for the safety of its doors than usual. Some even went so far as to crawl and hang on top of the train, while others even were willing to walk on its tracks if it meant getting on the next one.

“ROACHES!” Someone yelled out once more. But this time for good reason. A few of the nasty bugs began to hover over the crowd of people.

Luna lifted her bow, but before she could even shoot it down it had already become a pin cushion from a dozen other arrows, both from soldiers and students alike. There were a few screams from those that the bug fell on top of, no one wanted roach guts all over them, or a giant ass bug either…

Periodically now a few of the roaches would fly overhead, almost as if scouting them out, only to be shot down. But as time went by and the trains arrived and left, more and more roaches began to show themselves as the screams of battle drew closer until some could even see the fighting happening in the rear. When this happened people tried to push even closer to the tracks, some even accidentally pushed on to them as the crowd tried to avoid direct confrontation with the swarm nipping at their heels. One had to remember that half the people fleeing were civilians and children, and therefore couldn't fight like some of the students could, but that only gave them so much leeway when it came to getting in the way of their own survival…

Soon Luna found herself constantly firing her bow as more and more roaches showed up flying overhead. With every train that arrived there were less people to worry about getting in the way of the fighting, yet at the same time there were also less people fighting as a whole. It didn’t help that the train itself had to slow down even before it got to the station proper because of all the people on its tracks. A few unlucky individuals were slowly crushed because they couldn’t make it out in time, though some narcissistically believed that it would stop for them because they were special, or had connection to this or other house, clan, or person of interest…

All of a sudden a large wave of buzzing was heard and as people looked up they saw thousands of the roaches heading their way.

“We need to leave now!” Anna yelled and bodily picked up Luna and ran with her to the train. Using her other selves to force a path open even if it meant pushing others aside or losing a few of her clones.

The entire dorm followed her lead as they realized that this might be the last train anyone would be getting onto. Thankfully they were rather close after all these hours of fighting and waiting for their turn.

The cannons on the train slowly began to turn and fire salvos into the flying swarm of roaches, ripping large holes into the cloud of bugs. But since there were so many of them it didn’t slow them down much and they continued to fly ever forward.

As cruel as it might sound to say, thankfully the roaches were more interested in those close by that they could easily kill and feed on than those in a tough metal shell that fired back with plumes of smoke.

Luna watched it all with horror as she was dragged away and forced inside the train where her vision was mercifully blocked by the hundreds of other refugees entering right after her. As the train finally began to pull away, the open tracks left behind were slowly filled with the onrushing roaches.

No one left behind survived…

Luna and the others tried to make sense of everything that just happened. It was a bitter pill to swallow to know you survived because a great many others died… Some wondered if they all even made it. Others wondered If this was really the end and they were really headed to safety. Though it didn’t matter to those who really did lose those they loved, now in the supposed protection of the train they found themselves in, many began to weep and wail at the loss of any of their friends and family that couldn’t make it with them.

All this pain got to Luna and Anna, and they both tried to close their eyes and force all the noise away in the hopes of concentrating on their beloved.

But when they tried to sense him. He wasn’t there…

---

Malon found himself in the deepest pits of the city. So old that the architecture and masonry went through several different changes, each depicting a different era of Alcray. He stood now before a large metal door, body and shoulders tense as he tried to force out a sigh.

The strange glowing lights were the only thing that illuminated the dim dark around him and cast a haunting and foreboding feeling to all those who found themselves in this most hollow of places.

Slowly he took out an ancient key. It was round with no marking but he raised it up anyway. As it glowed something clicked within the door and it slowly began to open. Several layers of black metal began to move away, slicking into the dark and opening up a path.

Malon had to build up the nerve to walk forward, but he eventually found the courage and entered the deep dark. As he made his way into a gloom not even his enhanced eyes could see through, he wondered if he was making the right call.

But realized he had no other choice…

“There’s a saying to let sleeping dragons be. I wonder what saying they will make for this…”

When he arrived he put his hand on a pedestal, the only thing he could see. With a glow it turned on and slowly the entire caver began to light up. One by one lights blinked into existence, bathing light upon row after row of coffins as far as the eye could see and layered several stories from left to right.

“Oh ancient knights and nobles… Please forgive me for waking you up…”