Bloodflowers Bloom (The Astral Wanderer Book 2), D'Artagnan Rey [essential reading .txt] 📗

were after the kids.” The gauntlet on his right hand began to glow with his yellow mana as he placed a hand atop his fist and held it firmly while he concentrated his mana and anger. “No matter. There’s no use in keeping you alive when you can’t even talk.”

The ghouls seemed to realize their impending doom and launched themselves at the Templar in one last vain attempt to stop him. They only rushed to their second deaths. Wulfsun swung his powered fist into the face of the first one he could reach. The head exploded from the force of the punch but when the hit connected, the mana stored in the gauntlet was unleashed in a wave of force empowered by the mana.

It catapulted his three assailants across the car and shattered the doors holding the cargo along the sides so the contents spilled out. The ghouls had no control and the energy carried them like they were caught in the winds of a cyclone. Only when they slammed into the other end of the car and their forms broke against it did they finally stop.

They crumpled and the remnants of mana that maintained their bodies dispersed into the air before it vanished, along with the silencing cantrip surrounding the car. Wulfsun drew a breath and let his anima withdraw a little. He shook his head when he realized he'd let himself get too hot, which wasn’t smart in any battle. They might have been assassins but even if their purpose was to try to kill the kids, they would not have made proper training dummies given their ineptness.

He turned to look at the first ghoul he’d eliminated, knelt beside it, and examined the hole in its head—or what remained of it. It must have been the connection point where the controller of the macabre minions stored their anima to give them life and bind them to them, but something seemed wrong. Like he had thought earlier, this master of theirs must have been either looking down on them or incompetent.

They needed to be close to have proper control of the ghouls without sacrificing power, and given all the oddities of the beings like using cantrips and vis, he had to deduce that these weren’t the ordinary shambling bodies he was more accustomed to. As such, they needed a more powerful connection than normal. The train car rattled slightly. Unless their controller was able to keep up with the vehicle, sending them on board was a poor decision.

He closed his eyes and felt for mana in the air but discerned nothing unusual. In fact, he and the three young ones seemed to be the most powerful beings aboard at the moment, which meant it was unlikely the controller was on the train themselves. He could have deduced that without much thought. Vello was not his specialty like Vaust and Freki but someone controlling ghouls like this would have stood out to him.

His thumb dug into something and he opened his eyes and recoiled when the ghoul began to soften. Black liquid seeped from its body as it turned to mush. Without the mana to keep its form together and the rigors it went through, it was now dissolving in his hands. He looked at the others but they had yet to start decomposing, although he had no doubt they would soon follow.

Wulfsun looked around hastily. He had to get rid of them. There was no need to cause an incident as the staff would probably already have issues to deal with when they returned to this train car. He noticed a hatch above, grasped the ladder on the side, and lowered it before he took hold of the ghoul’s robes and dragged it with him. Quickly, he scrambled up, undid the latch, and pushed the hatch open. He poked his head out.

They were passing through a forest now, which provided sufficient cover. He manhandled the body through and hurled it out into the trees as hard as he could, hoping no one in any of the cars behind could see as they drove past. Working quickly, he dragged the other bodies up one at a time and disposed of them in the same way. Although he was relieved to be rid of them, he was somewhat annoyed that he had to throw potential leads away.

He shut the hatch and replaced the ladder. With a sigh, he stroked his beard and he surveyed the car around him and all the luggage that had fallen during the fight. Among the wreckage, he found one of the daggers but the dark sludge had consumed it and melted it like the ghouls. He covered his gauntlet in mana and crushed what remained of the blade. There should have been another one somewhere there but he couldn’t locate it in the limited time at his disposal.

With a baleful glance at the luggage scattered around the car, he sighed. He certainly did not have the time to try to make this right. They would be pulling into Levirei in about twenty to thirty minutes. Reluctantly, he turned to the door and checked to see if anyone in the next car had noticed him before he stepped through. It would be best to get back to the others and let them know there might be a slight delay in getting their possessions once they reached the city.

Chapter Eighteen

As the train raced past the Arkalod Mountains, now only ten minutes from its destination, a figure in a dark cloak and cowl grimaced and shattered the mirror in his hands that he had used to watch his slaves fail. Salvo composed himself, dusted the shards from his gloves, and made sure none had pierced his hand. He sighed and wandered into the cave as he acknowledged that he’d been too eager and sent the ghouls in too early.

If he had waited, perhaps the Templar would have returned to his car rather than proceed farther. Or maybe he