The rescue operation went smoothly for everyone. An investigation of the accident yielded similar results to the one Lushar suffered, tampered points and scrambled security cameras. The Controller of the Narrow Standard Railway immediately ordered the points ripped up and replaced with a single set of rails. Drufath\u2019s repairs also went smoothly. This led the RIA and the local police to issue a warning to all engines and railway staff to keep their eyes open for any suspicious activity near the trackside. Points were randomly checked and the authorities conducted sweeps of the line. All Realmfleet ships in the area would be searched as well. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, the engines, and Realmfleet\u2019s, it wouldn\u2019t be enough to catch the saboteur\u2026at least, not until later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was early one morning a week later when it happened. Thanks to the lateness of the year, various industries across the southern continent shut down, except the fish industry. Being a volcanic land mass, the natural heat that bubbles from the lava rivers and volcanoes kept the ice from fully forming near the ports. At the harbor near Rootan Station, the workmen were taking full advantage of this. A large shipment of fish had come in. Most would be delivered by rail while the Galdredan Reliable Road Services took care of the rest. Tornoth Steelhorn and his partner, Bulshnak, had just hooked up their horseless carriage to the wagons. They were the go-to drivers for this job because they had such an excellent record when it came to the deliveries of fish. Sadly, that would change with this run. The workmen gave the Minotaur\/Orc team the all-clear. \u201cRight, off we go!\u201d said Tornoth. The carriage then moved out of the station, and they got up to speed at once. They went up a road that would eventually lead to a railway crossing. The gates were flashing yellow lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a caution sign if I ever saw it,\u201d muttered Bulshnak. Just then, the lights turned green. \u201cThen again,\u201d chuckled Bulshnak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAway we go!\u201d cheered Tornoth. I\u2019m sorry to say that the lights were supposed to turn red. The carriage had made it over the tracks, but the wagons didn\u2019t clear them, thus a goods train slammed into them and pulled the carriage along before derailing from the debris of the wagons. Tornoth and Bulshnak were tossed out of the carriage, their heads hitting the ground hard and causing them to pass out and bleed from the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the next day when they woke up in the hospital. Their vision was blurry at first and all sound was muffled. Both aspects soon cleared up and they saw Arsha, Gorfanth, Malnar, Calandra, and Galya standing there. \u201cC\u2026Cousin?\u201d mumbled Bulshnak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m here, Bulshnak,\u201d assured Galya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy head!\u201d groaned Tornoth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEasy, Tornoth,\u201d soothed Gorfanth in a brotherly tone. \u201cYou just suffered a nasty accident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAcci\u2026that\u2019s right, the train!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTornoth, I know this is a stupid question,\u201d said Arsha, \u201cbut are you two all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been better, your Highness. I personally ache all over and I\u2019m confused as crap! What was a train doing going down the line? That wasn\u2019t the fish train!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, it was an express goods train that needed to get to the shipyards. It suffered a delay and needed to make up for lost time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat was it doing coming at us?\u201d asked Bulshnak. \u201cThe gate arms were up, and the crossing lights were green.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a safe bet the saboteur did this,\u201d replied Calandra. Her face became grim, \u201cOnly now, they\u2019ve graduated to murder!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMurder?\u201d asked Tornoth. A nasty thought then struck him. \u201cWas there someone near the-?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, no one was near the line,\u201d assured Galya, although her assurance was tempered by grief. Bulshnak then got an even nastier thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomeone on the engine\u2019s crew?\u201d he asked. Galya drew in a breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026It was a non-Mechanica engine,\u201d she finally revealed. \u201cNumber 57646. My father\u2019s engine. He and his usual fireman were on it. The crash embedded a piece of debris right into their heads, killing them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Uncle Lutak! NO!\u201d wailed Bulshnak as tears welled up in his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDame Gronsar, I promise you, we had no inten-!\u201d began Tornoth. Galya raised a hand and stopped him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMr. Steelhorn, I don\u2019t hold you, Bulshnak, or your company responsible! No one does and no one will. Our contempt is for the monster behind this catastrophe! So, please, give me some peace of mind, you two, and don\u2019t blame yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRest assured,\u201d Calandra promised the two injured men and railway controller, \u201cno pains will be spared to catch the villain! You have my word! Arsha and I will head back to the crossing to find out what they did!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming with you!\u201d declared Galya. \u201cI want answers on what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you mean \u2018nothing\u2019?!\u201d Galya demanded Officer Furnaf as his investigation was wrapped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith all due respect, Ma\u2019am,\u201d he replied, \u201cI don\u2019t know how much clearer I can be. This wasn\u2019t sabotage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you absolutely sure?!\u201d asked Calandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPositive, Your Majesty. My team went over everything with a fine-toothed comb. There was just enough ice and snow that forced the gate\u2019s weights down. There\u2019s really nothing criminal here. It was just extremely bad luck that caused an accident where two men lost their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the understatement of the age!\u201d remarked Arsha. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that makes the situation better or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how many people will accept this,\u201d replied Calandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019m one of those that doesn\u2019t!\u201d hissed Galya. \u201cAn accident following two connected acts of sabotage? There\u2019s no way that\u2019s plausible! Are we even sure the ice wasn\u2019t magically formed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid we are,\u201d replied Furnaf. Galya slammed her hand on the crossing gate in frustration and growled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey, don\u2019t take it out on him!\u201d said Arsha. \u201cWe\u2019re just as frustrated!\u201d Galya drew in very deep breaths to try and steady herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ll excuse me,\u201d she finally hissed, \u201cI need to make funeral arrangements.\u201d She headed off to her horseless carriage and drove off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The rescue operation went smoothly for everyone. An investigation of the accident yielded similar results to the one Lushar suffered, tampered points and scrambled security cameras. The Controller of the Narrow Standard Railway immediately ordered the points ripped up and replaced with a single set of rails. Drufath\u2019s repairs also went smoothly. This led the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,239],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-5356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-6-the-eternal-age-of-unity","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5358,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5356\/revisions\/5358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}