Me and Billy, the barkeep, chatted for a while about his uncle and how it wasn’t just the feathers. He apparently had the occasional bird behavies and oer a major bender, woke up in a messy his family’s barn. His brothers never let him live that moment down and apparently sometimes still leave a bundle of twigs on his bed when they visit each other.

  “Hey, sorry if this is iive, but y…?”

  I chuckled and nodded “Remember that iion I mentioned? It was really, really bad.” was all I said oter. I did notice he still seemed somewhat tense and I figured I knew why. I g the soldiers in the room with us, my escorts. I sighed “You hear the at, yeah I’m from Pitrak. But Uvtrayl saved my life and has been helping me recover and adjust to the shit I’ve stumbled into. New leg, fancy treatments, even a cute o help me get around. Not sure I’d expect the same were things the other way around. I’ve been cooperating with yover, telling them everything I know.” All teically true.

  “And you don’t think that makes you a traitor to the cause or something?” He asked with a raised brow.

  “Hey, I’m a moderate.” I sprihat bit of additional truth in, I was with the moderate poor dead Bernson’s unit after all. “I don’t give a damn about winning or losing. I just want us to stop killing each other. Life’s better with more friends and fewer enemies as far as I’m ed.” pletely, 100% true. No obfuscation needed.

  He poured two more shots of the raspberry liquor and raised one “I’ll fu’ drink to that.” and like that I had another friend.

  A few more minutes of mindless chatter with my new pal Billy and I suddenly felt a familiar prig on the bay neck. I sat up straight and looked around, but no direal sense followed. I waved the soldiers over and Billy froze.

  “Ma’am, is something wrong?” One of the escorts asked.

  “I have Sixth Sense and it’s going off.” I figured skipping directly to the point robably the best option. All of them, Billy included, seemed to know what that Skill was because shoulders shot up and rifles were readied. “Billy, get down and stay down.” He just nodded and dropped to the floor, clearly not wanting tue with guns out.

  “Dire?” the escort asked.

  “None, just… danger.” I keep my eyes searg the room, and the two other passengers present quickly realized they did not want to be here and scooted out to the rear car at a brisk walk. After several more tense seds the lead escort started to look at me, likely to ask if I was sure. But I felt the pull and looked towards the forward car. “There.”

  A few moments ter the door slid open and four men stepped in, cheerfully chattering about some spame they’d seen earlier. Their shoulders were stiff and their hands were in their pockets and they gnced around the room. Not as good at faking casual behavior as they thought. Sixth Sense spiked in iy and my hand moved.

  I pulled the sidearm off of the lead escort’s waist and shifted to the side as I raised my arm towards the ones my very soul was screaming were a threat. One of them started to pull his arm up and I saw metal in his grip. I pulled the trigger and a bloody hole appeared in his chest. The other men all drew their own handguns and started to aim but my escorts were faster and a series of overly loud bangs in the enclosed train car ter, all four were down before they could get off a shot.

  I realized after it was quiet that all of that had happened in maybe ten seds. Probably less.

  I stood there shaking, the pistol in my hand trembling until the lead escort carefully pulled it from my grip. I looked at the man and swallowed. “I… I think that was the first time I’ve killed a person.” and I could see the surprise in his face. “Also my ears hurt.” It seemed like an important fact at the time. Pretty sure I was in some kind of shock, but to be ho I’d already been through far worse in just the past couple of months so I shook it off pretty fast. Fast enough that some part of me worried for my mental health. Maybe I should boost my Willpower more.

  “Ma’am, we o get back to the general, now.” I just nodded and took a breath.

  “Mind if I get that gun back till things are secured?” To his credit he didn’t need long to think about it and I felt the pistol’s grip in my palm again almost immediately. “Hey Billy, you okay?” a scared response in the affirmative answered, though it was more a squeak than words but he didn’t sound hurt at least. “Just stay hidden then, sorry about this.”

  “Let’s go, once we’re with the rest of the unit we’ll see what the general’s orders are.” he said it more for the uards than for me. But I found it grounding. Guess some more of my fotten military training was kig in.

  “Any idea who they are?” I asked as we were on our way through the car.

  “Hostiles.” Yeah, that’s a no then.

  Thankfully we didn’t enter more hostiles on the way back, but we did meet up with two more of the escorts who were ing forward to iigate why a couple were fleeing to the rear cars. The word ‘Hostiles’ was all it took and I was led into my quickly.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Henna asked, seeing the gun in my hand and quickly moving to draw her own.

  I looked at the two of them, Jaina’s blouse had two buttons in the wrong holes. I raised a brow and saw her g Henna and blush. File that away for ter though, not dying first. “My Sixth Sense saved our asses out there. Four men, no uniforms, handguns. They’re dead and we’re fine.”

  I felt a twisting in my guts. Wow, I really think that was in fact the first time I’d killed a person. I mean, sidering that I was only level ten for two entire years after my Status became active, I guess I ’t be too surprised I never actually shot anyone.

  “Is it still active?” I blinked and started to ask what she meant but then I noticed the prickle on my neck was still there. If anything it was getting worse.

  “Stronger. No dire yet.” I responded and she poked her head out.

  “Additional hostiles expected. No os near.”

  Followed by eight responses of “Sir!”

  Jaina was shivering in fear in the er of the room, curled up on the floor to keep her down low. I would be making things up to her over this forever, I just k. Carmil too, I could feel her nervous tension inside me building more as the miicked by.

  Munfire erupted from the hall and I could see through the frosted gss as two of the guards went down. Yelling and gunshots filled my ears for several minutes. But eventually it all stopped. My heart sank as I noticed I couldn’t make out any of our escorts through the gss. It sank even further as a voice yelled from just outside where I could see in the hallway.

  “General! You’re in a tactically disadvantaged situatiht now, so do the smart thing and just give the Pitrak girl to us. You and the civilian will be unharmed and released I promise.”

  To make things worse, a screech filled the air and the train jerked as the breaks brought us to a gradual stop. I gnced out the window and could make out the dark shadow of trees, stuewhere miles from any town most likely. This was well fug pnned.

  “Yildren? You spineless shit!” Henna barked out, putting herself down low between the hallway and Jaina. “Should have known y-fug boss was behind all this.”

  “He’s doing what you should be you insane old vulture, trying to save Uvtrayl from its enemies. Instead you spread ys for them like a five copper whore!”

  I snorted “More like aremely expensive and exclusive one.” And she gave me a brief death gre.

  Henna responded “She’s cooperating you ass! Not to mention I’m actually following orders! The Prime Minister himself told me to keep her happy with us!”

  I stared at her with eyes wide. That would have been something I wao fug know. She gave me a vaguely apologetic shrug. We’d talk about that ter.

  “The man is a t old mert! He made the try some money and now thinks he knows everything! The High Marshal isn’t so stupid and uands the dahat creature with you poses. She’ll doom us all, Devatius! Just let me remove a threat to our home!”

  Henna gripped her pistol, I gripped mihis was gon-, I winced as the tiurned into needles in my neck “Fuck, It’s hitting hard.” then fusion spread as I turowards the direy Skill was warning me of. Looking into the night outside I saair of glowing red wings hurtling towards the car, and just a moment before impact made out a humanoid face twisted in rage.

  “INING!” I screamed just before the erain car shook, lifting into the air. It fell again and hit the ground, rolling over a half dozen or more times, holes tearing in the walls and gss shattering. I somehow mao myself around Jaina though I don’t remember doing it. Henna was oher side, the two of us f a protective person barrier around the Nurse.

  Wherain car stopped it was on it’s side and I was bleeding lightly from far fewer cuts than I expected. “What the fuck was that?” I heard Henna groan as she pulled herself up. She looked no worse for wear than I did. We helped Jaina up who had a few small bruises and was clearly terrified, but otherwise unharmed.

  Henna peeked, then stepped out of a hole torn in the roof and waved us to follow. Stepping out was like a fug fshback to the first day I could remember. Several of the bodies of both uards and the people attag us were scattered around, along with a dead civilian. Some poor middle aged man that robably just hiding in a neighb . It looked like the crash did it, his head was smashed like a melon.

  “How did we survive that?” Jaina spoke, her voice shaking.

  “A FAILURE I WILL SOON CORRECT.” a voied from above, it was less like someoalking and more like the sounds of a r fire somehow f words.

  We looked up and I nearly pissed myself. It was an actual angel. I had a familiar sensation of fusiourn to me, I had not missed it. I felt pletely baffled, angels are real? Of course they are, I khat. Why does it look like that? That’s just what they look like, this kind anyway. You know that Esme. Angels are good and want to help people, don’t they? What? No, angels are just agents of the celestial pne. Less mindlessly destructive than demons and occasionally willing to aid mortals when causes align, but not our friends or allies in any respect. Why would I think otherwise?

  It was o get some information about something I entered for ohout having to ask, but man I did not he distra of some weird internal argument with my own memories and knowledge. It nearly got me killed as his fming spear drove into the ground where I’d been standing just a moment earlier, before I dodged almost entirely on instinct.

  He nded and pulled the spear free. The angel was at least teall with mostly humaures though his skin looked like metal still glowing from the fe. He had some kind of skirt of white and red fabrid no other clothing. Two enormous red wings glowing with heat spread from his bad his hair was just fire, like someone poured oil on his bald head and lit it.

  His face was a mask of anger, all of it focused at me. “FACE YOUR END WITH SOME DIGNITY, ABOMINATION. EVEN A VILE BEING SUCH AS YOU SHOULD HAVE SOME SLIVER OF HONOR.”

  “Oh this day is just absolute shit.” I said as I remembered the gun I was somehow miraculously still holding. Without hesitating I unloaded the thing at the awo rounds hit and caused his glowing blood to pour out before he pulled his wings around to shield himself and I was out of ammo. “Oh fuck.” I muttered a aside to avoid a swing of that enormous spear. I nded hard and rolled away from aab just in time, the heat of the on searing my clothes and leaving my skin pink and sore without even toug me.

  I tried to stand and run but I wobbled as my prosthetic slipped. The angel raised his on and prepared to end me while helpless but more sh out aaggered forward. He twisted around and I looked where he did to see Henna with one of the fallen soldiers’ rifles. He growled and rushed at her. But before I could do or say anything suddenly Jaina was there tugging oraps of my metal leg, getting it in pd tight again.

  “W-we o run, H-Henna said she’d distract it.” she stuttered while helping me up.

  “No, I’m not leaving her with that thing.” and Jaina whimpered in fear. I didn’t get a ce to say more before I heard dozens of gunshots fill the air just as the angel reached the General. It looked like more of the other side’s soldiers had been elsewhere orain and were just now reag the thrown wreck.

  It looked like seeing an atag someone in an Uvtrayl uniform and with little other information they made the decision to unload into it rather than ask questions. He jerked and roared in pain as glowing bullet wounds tore across his body and I realized that right then was actually a good ce to do what Henna said and run.

  I didn’t think the angel would st with what looked like twenty or so soldiers blowing holes in him and Henna would be way more likely to be okay with them than the glowing being. So I grit my teeth and turo run.

  “YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE JUDGMENT THIS DAY, ABOMINATION!” I turo look just as He reached a hand towards me and the entire world turned bright. I felt the sensation of floating, of weightlessness and pure calm. A feeling I lost myself in. I closed my eyes a go, the world drifting further and further away from my thoughts by the moment.