A few feet away, unnoticed by the others, Darniss found herself pinned to the carriage wall by a middle aged woman with blood streaming from a cut to her head. She was holding a small dagger in her hand, for self defence, but seemed dazed by her injury and was staring blankly at the other passengers as if she'd forgotten where she was.

     Darniss glanced at Ardria and the soldiers to confirm that none of them were looking in her direction, then grabbed the woman's wrist and twisted it until she dropped the knife. Darniss snatched it up before it hit the floor and plunged it into the other woman's chest. She died instantly, dropped to lie on the carriage floor and Darniss shoved the corpse with her foot until her bloodied face was uppermost. It looked as though she had been knocked unconscious by the blow to her head, and she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that her knife had been taken.

     Darniss hid the dagger in her boot, point uppermost. It was small enough to be completely hidden there. As she rose again, she felt real confidence returning for the first time since her arrest by the Helberion palace guards. She had a weapon! She was no longer a helpless pawn of others. She had taken the first step to regaining real power.

☆☆☆

     “Captain! Captain!” It was Shackell, holding Tamwell's sidearm in his hand. He and Silva tried to fight their way towards each other. A man bumped heavily against Shackell, throwing him back against the door, and the gun fell out of his hand, sliding under the rearmost seat. Silva and Tamwell both dropped to the floor, running the gauntlet of panicked, trampling feet, and reached under the seat at the same time.

     The piping of Radiants was heard above the tumult, rising in pitch as they prepared to cast more curses. “Do something!” someone demanded. “Why are they doing this? Do something!” People fought with the soldiers for their weapons, a shot went off and a soldier cried out, blood pouring from the wound in his side. The triumphant passenger pointed his pistol through the connecting door, fired off several more shots, most of which hit more passengers desperately trying to escape from the Radiant ahead.

     Tamwell's fingers brushed against the barrel of his gun just a second before Silva grasped hold of the handle. Tamwell felt it pulled from his grasp, and then the Carrow Captain was pointing it at the Helberion Captain, a look of fury on his face.

     “I was trying to save us!” cried Tamwell desperately. “I wasn't going to...” A passenger tripped over Silva’s crouching body and fell heavily across him. Tamwell jumped back to his feet, then helped pull the cursing and swearing passenger from his counterpart. Silva brought the gun to bear on Tamwell again as he regained his feet, but the look of fury was gone.

     “There are only eight rounds in that gun,” said Tamwell. “You can't waste one on me. If you’re going to kill me, use your own gun. Kill me if you’re going to, but save the Princess. Promise me you'll save her!”

     Silva stared at the other Captain. “This incendiary ammunition,” he said. “Does it handle differently from regular ammunition? Does it need special training to use?”

     “I’m led to believe it has slightly less recoil. I've never used it, but I've been briefed by those who have.”

     “Then you save the Princess.” He handed the gun across. Tamwell stared at him, then nodded and took it.

     The tumult in the carriage was lessening as the passengers realised that there was nowhere to go, that their only chance for survival lay with the soldiers. Tamwell squeezed past them to the windows. The smaller window at the top would open, but the main window wouldn't so he smashed it with the gun and cleared the shards of broken glass from the frame with a sweep of the barrel. Then he climbed into the opening and leaned out.

     The three Radiants towered above them like stormy thunderheads, their tentacles reaching in through broken windows, groping and feeling around for anyone still human. Their hideous piping filled the air. Even as be watched, the nearest Radiant, attacking the carriage directly adjacent to their own, delivered another curse and the screams and pleadings of terrified passengers was replaced by the howling and squealing of animals. Tamwell aimed the gun at the main body of the creature, pulled the trigger...

     At that moment one of the passengers stumbled against his legs. The shot went wide, a line of incandescent white that missed the Radiant by more than three feet. He almost fell from the train, but he reached out with his free hand, grabbed the window frame and pulled himself back to safety. “Keep them back from me!” he cried, and he heard a scrabbling and struggling from inside the carriage as the soldiers tried to clear a space around him. Tamwell aimed the gun again...

     The Radiant had seen the burning light of the incendiary round, though, and it angled its main body to allow the eyes on one side to look downwards. Tamwell saw them fix on him and a tentacle lashed out towards him. Tamwell jerked his finger on the trigger in the way you weren't supposed to, in the way almost guaranteed to miss the target...

     But it was a big target. This time the streak of lambent white grazed the side of the creature, ripping through its tough, leathery hide and penetrating the spongy hydrogen sacks within. The creature erupted into a ball of red fire. Tamwell ducked back into the carriage as fragments of burning flesh fell all around him. He waited a moment to make sure it was clear, then looked out again.

     Both the other Radiants were converging on him. One from ahead, the other from behind. Tamwell aimed the gun again, and a moment later a second creature was blown into a ball of fire to the sound of cheering from inside the carriage. Tamwell allowed himself a moment of hope. Only one left... Then a tentacle wrapped around his waist and, with a scream, he was pulled from the train. The others could only watch in horror as he was torn in half, and then he and the gun were casually discarded.

     The others flinched back as tentacles reached in through the windows, showering them with broken glass. “What do we do now?” cried Darniss in a high, shrill voice. The sound of piping filled the carriage, rising in tone as the creature above prepared to cast a curse.

     “The engine!” shouted Brailsford. “There's fire in the engine!"

     The passengers heard him and rushed forward, choking the doorway. The soldiers had to push them out of the way, and they couldn't afford to be gentle. A tentacle wrapped around the rearmost and pulled him hard. There was a loud, wet smacking sound as his head hit the window frame with a spray of blood, and broken glass around the frame slashed his flesh as he was pulled through and dropped. More tentacles reached in, feeling around blindly, grabbing passengers and pulling them out, and all the time the awful piping rose higher and higher...

     Silva pulled the last passenger out of the way and pushed the Princess through into the next carriage. She ran, Silva, Darniss and the soldiers behind her. Brailsford followed behind, and the curse hit while he was still in the narrow, concertinad passage between carriages. The crying and cursing of passengers vanished, to be replaced by a variety of animal sounds. A large bird flew past the Princess, going for a broken window and vanishing through it. Ardria tried not to look at it, tried to suppress the sick horror that threatened to overwhelm her.

     She looked back, and cried out in shock when she saw what was left of Captain Brailsford. He'd been caught on the edge of the curse and was still partially human, but he could no longer stand fully upright and his face was furry and bestial. He tried to pick up a pistol dropped by one of the Carrow soldiers, but his fingers no longer had the necessary dexterity. He stared at the Princess in misery and despair, and Ardria could only sob in sorrow as she turned her back on him and left him behind.

     They dashed through one carriage after another, past panicked, confused animals, each of which had been a human being with hopes, dreams and ambitions just moments before. A large horse was blocking the aisle, its eyes rolling madly in its head. It tried to kick the Princess as she squeezed past. Its hoof hit a seat instead with the loud crack of breaking wood. The animal reached out with its mouth and its blunt teeth closed around a mouthful of the Princess's hair. She cried out in pain, then there was the loud, close sound of a gunshot and she was free. She glanced back as she ran, saw the horse falling with blood pouring from its head. She forced herself to put it out of her mind and kept running.

     There was no door at the end of the first carriage behind the engine. Ardria skidded to a halt and stared at the wall in baffled, helpless confusion. Silva joined her there, took in the situation at a glance then turned towards the still intact windows. “Wait here!” he shouted. He smashed the frontmost window with his gun, climbed through, reached up and climbed up onto the roof of the carriage.

     The hell with that! thought Ardria and she followed after him. Her gown caught and tore on the broken glass as she climbed through. She shrugged out of it, let it fall and climbed through in her underclothes, broken glass scratching her skin. Before her, Silva was at the front of the carriage, judging the distance, and then he jumped, landing on the coal car. He slipped as the coal shifted under his feet, spread his arms wide to regain his balance and ran forward, almost losing his balance with every step as the train shuddered and vibrated under him.

     Ardria glanced back and saw the last Radiant less than twenty feet behind her. There was no wind, despite the fact that the countryside was rushing past at fifty miles per hour, and it took her a moment to remember why. She cursed in a most unladylike manner, then followed the Captain in a wild jump onto the coal car. She fell into the coal, getting black coal dust on her skin and underclothes. She didn't dare try to stand but crawled on hands and knees towards the front of the car. A soldier passed her on the way, running without a care for the deadly drop on either side. Then another soldier passed, so that there were three men waiting for her when she finally reached the engine.

     “I told you to wait back there!” shouted Silva, but most of his attention was given to the door to the fire box. The heat brought a sheen of sweat to Ardria’s bare arms and legs, turning the coal dust into dirty smudges every time she brushed against one of the men. She looked back again and saw the Radiant closing quickly, its tentacles already reaching out towards them. It could see her now, and she could see that it was reaching for her in particular. Another soldier was scrambling across the coal car towards them. A tentacle snatched him up and casually threw him away.

     “Shoot it!” shouted Silva.

     His two remaining men opened fire on it, the bullets tearing through its body without doing it any serious harm. Silva, meanwhile, was struggling to open the door to the fire box. He pulled at the lever and cursed in pain as the heat burned him. He wrapped a rag around his hand before trying again. The lever refused to move. He cursed in frustration as he tugged and pulled at it, totally without effect. The air was filled with the sound of gunshots and the piping of the Radiant, which was again rising in tone. No! thought the Princess defiantly. It doesn't end this way! It does not!

     Tentacles reached out for her. One of the soldiers grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her roughly back behind him. A tentacle reached past him to get her and the soldier shot it. The tentacle pulled back as if in pain.

     Ardria looked down to see how Silva was doing. He was still tugging ineffectually at the handle, and the Princess saw why. “The other way!” she shouted. “It opens the other way!”

     Silva didn't look up, but pulled the lever the other way and the door opened easily. A wave of heat and yellow light spilled out. The Radiant was right beside them now, its eyes focusing on the Princess. Tentacles lashed out, and the soldiers shot them, turning them into torn ribbons. Gas was hissing from its buoyancy sacks from dozens of bullet wounds. Ordinarily, the wind would have whipped it away, replacing it with clean air, but there was no wind. Hydrogen gas collected around the creature, therefore.

     Silva reached into the boiler, picked up a burning lump of coal in his rag-wrapped hand. The rag immediately burst into flames and the Captain cried out in pain, but he ignored it and turned to face the Radiant, preparing to throw the burning coal. The Radiant’s eyes fixed on him instead. Seeing its danger, it hurled itself away from the train, into the still, clean air that surrounded it, and the train left it behind.

     Ardria stared in heart thumping relief as the creature fell away into the distance. Gradually, the fifty mile an hour wind that had been following the train fell away, and a normal wind blew across their faces, chilling the Princess's bare skin. “Can it still catch us?” she asked.

     “How fast a wind can it generate?” asked Silva, pulling the smoking rag away to examine his blistered hand.

     “I don't know.” Behind them, the Radiant seemed to be drifting away, as if it had given up the pursuit. Did that mean there were more Radiants waiting for them up ahead? She didn't allow herself to think about it. “I think we're safe, for the time being at least.”

     She grabbed the Captain’s hand and scowled grimly at the fast rising blisters. “We need water.” She looked around the small cab. There was a small bottle of drinking water in the corner. She picked it up, twisted off the top and poured it in a slow trickle over the Captain's hand.

     “I wonder if there’s anyone still human back there,” she wondered aloud.

     “The Duchess was right behind you,” said one of the soldiers. “She may still be in the last carriage.”

     “If she is, she'll wait,” said Silva. “The town of Tarchem has a telegraph line to the capital. It’s about three hours down the line. We'll stop there and inform the King. He needs to know what happened here.”

     He looked at the bewildering variety of wheels and levers mounted on the boiler wall, none of which were labelled. He scratched is head. “I don't suppose any of you know how to drive a train?”