Inhuman Chapter 10

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Grym punched the woman who stumble across him in the stomach hard. She doubled up in agony as the ghoul struck her again. The violence cleared his mind enough that he got to his knees above the woman. As another wave of madness threatened to overtake him, he beat her again. She stopped resisting, only groaning with each strike of his fist. Finally, his vicious rage subsided.

As the inhuman got to his feet, he heard the distant whistle of the train. He looked down at his victim, who sobbed silently. Grym’s immediate thought of killing her suddenly changed. He realized his mask was missing. During the frenzy of his attack, he did not notice the disguise fall away.

Despite the darkness, an inhuman easily saw the details in the area like an owl. Grym scanned the area, then quickly picked up the pieces of the broken mask with his bloody hand. Using his aether, he made the stone-like pieces turn soft. He quickly molded the pieces together and covered his face. Instantly, his silent chant turned the mixture into a movable mask. He heard the injured woman turn over to her back with a painful whimper. Grym touched her head as he cast a stupor spell and the woman collapsed.

“Go home when you wake. A wild boar attacked you,” he rose while pulling out several silver coins.

After he dropped the money on her belly, Grym went over to the remains of the mapache. He lifted it up and let the blood drop into his open mouth. As the inhuman walked into the night back to the station, he ripped at the dead animal’s flesh. Grym stopped by the water tower after discarding the animal carcass. He cleaned off the blood from his mask and his chest the best he could in the dark.

To cover his wet vest and shirt, Grym cinched up his coat and put the hood over his head as he walked back to the rail station. He stood on the platform, carefully looking over the area while the light of the train slowly got closer. The fat merchant stepped out onto the platform and the inhuman silently pulled in behind him to enter the building.

Valary sat in the same place where he left her, and her face unconsciously brightened as he got closer. She stood and leaned close.

“You have blood covering your mask!” she whispered.

He nodded and said a spell under his breath. The blood disappeared into the mask, which reddened slightly, giving him a more human look. He adjusted her hood to ensure her face remained hidden, then picked up the bags.

“How can you maintain that disguise on the train?” Her tone caused him to pause, unsure if the question contained sympathy or not.

“I carry more aether than you,” he replied under his breath. “Besides, passengers aren’t looking at people walking by them. Keep your eyes on my back and don’t look around. You’re still too famous among those with money enough to afford this train.”

The odd couple waited in the shadows after the train stopped and discharged a few passengers. Grym frowned at the sight of the full seats taken up by uniformed soldiers sitting inside the coaches. Their blue and red woolen frock coats adorned with golden epaulets almost glinted under the oil lamps in the coaches. The inhuman carefully walked to the back of the platform, feeling Valary’s close presence behind him. He looked over the artillery and supplies sitting on two flat cars. In front of those was a cattle car which held horses of the cavalry troops onboard.

“Can you identify the unit badges on the uniforms?” He asked the woman quietly.

“Yes, 36^th Storm Cavalry from the capital,” she replied. “They usually rode on our left flank.”

“Of course they did,” he sneered. “This is a do or die situation. If they recognize you, you know what will happen.”

Grym turned to face her. After a long pause, he sighed.

“Well, I can’t teach you to change your appearance before this train leaves and we can’t wait until the next one. So, it’s a simple solution.”

His evil grin showed under the pale light.

“Don’t let them see your face!”

Grym turned and walked toward the train. Momentarily baffled, Valary rushed to catch him as he stepped up to enter the last passenger car. The raucous noise inside struck them like a foul smell. Grym paused briefly as he looked over the rows of soldiers with a frown. Several rows faced the others, where the men and a few women played card games of chance. Despite the noise, a fair number of the troops tried to sleep on the uncomfortable wooden benches.

“As long as we walk normally, we’ll be fine,” he told Valary under his breath. “Come on, we’re heading to the next car.”

Following his earlier instructions, she followed the inhuman closely as they walked down the aisle. As expected, none of those still awake paid little attention to the travelers passing through the area. When Grym reached the back of the car, he opened the door just as the train whistle sounded.

The jolt of the engine pulling forward, along with the loud whistle, jarred Barart Figra awake as he leaned against the wall and into his seat. He glanced up to see a man in an unusual gray Inverness cape and a woman in a similar hooded coat at the back door to the car. The light coming from the oil lamp above them caught the woman’s profile before she disappeared through the doorway.

Instantly, painful memories flooded back to Figra. The darkness all around him, the agony of his mangled arm, and the steady patter of rain falling on his face. The yellow light of a lantern slowly going through the battlefield as Figra kept dropping in and out of consciousness. Then, the face of an angel looking down at him with concern.

It was her!

No, it can’t be!

The trooper rose from his seat, telling himself that he just saw an illusion after waking. He went to the exit and looked through the glass panel on the door. The car behind him was a cattle car holding the horses of his unit.

Spies?

Figra noticed light coming from inside the other door panel, and he decided to investigate. Stepping out on the gangway between the cars, the man noticed their speed picking up while listening to the rhythmic tick of the wheels on the rail. He went to the window on the door entering the next car, looking in to see his unit’s horses standing in the faint light. Lined up for easy unloading, the horses kept their halters on with their reins tied off to a single rope running down the middle of the train car.

Growing more curious, Figra slowly opened the door and slid into the compartment. Crouching by the first horse, his ears picked up only parts of the conversation coming from nearby. He inched forward, remaining behind the horses. As Figra listened, he got the feeling the two strangers were planning on staying in the car. Then, he noticed a body on the floor a half-pace away. The man crawled to the unconscious trooper, who tended to the horses.

What is going on?

Pulling his sidearm from the holster on his belt, Figra slowly stood and carefully stepped toward the couple. After pushing past two of the horses, he finally saw Valary leaning against the wall of the train car. He instantly recognized her face in the golden glow of the lantern light coming from high above and behind him. The healer noticed Figra, and her expression caused the man in front of her to turn.

“Don’t move!” Figra ordered. “You’re supposed to be dead. They executed the Infinites.”

“No, put the gun away,” Valary implored him.

Figra stood there, uncertain of the reaction.

“You’re a traitor. Though you saved me once…I mean,” the trooper hesitated. “I can’t let you go even…”

The man stiffened.

“I’m sorry, but I have my duty!”

“That’s unfortunate,” Grym stated as put his hands in the air.

The inhuman rose and slowly turned. He smiled at the fearful face of the soldier.

“I can smell your fear amid the stench of manure,” Grym told him. “You’ll be staying here with us.”

“Grym don’t!” Valary warned him.

In a flash, the ghoul shot forward two paces and grabbed the soldier’s gun hand. The soldier heard the bones in his hand break before he could feel the pain. However, a weak, shocked cry only lasted for a few seconds after he heard the inhuman finish the spell that killed the trooper.

A sheen instantly covered the skin of the soldier as his body quickly disintegrated. As Grym held on to the hand holding the pistol, he felt the flesh of the man’s hand turning to a sickening ooze. The soldier’s body of gelatinous flesh dropped into a heap along with the bones and clothing on the straw covered floor. Seconds later, the flesh and muscle were gone, leaving only a pile of bones amid the soldier’s damp clothing. The only sound came from the horses whinnying around them, trying to back away from the smell of death with growing alarm.

Grym waved his other hand above his head, placing a calming spell which immediately settled the horses. The inhuman looked down as he dropped the bones in his hand on top of the pile at his feet. Then he stared at the revolver in his hand.

“You truly are a monster!” Valary’s voice broke as she awkwardly wiggled up the side of the wall with her back to get on her feet.

He glanced back at her.

“Yes, that’s what an inhuman is,” he growled. “Would you prefer he spread the news of your escape?”

She looked down at the bones and shook her head.

“No, there was no other option.”

“It’s the first time I used such a spell,” Grym stated with pride. “I originally planned on using it on my betrayers. Now, I have other ideas to ensure their slow deaths.”

Valary went over to one horse. She stared at the animal, longing to hug it.

“I wish I had my hands to pet the horses. I always like to do that before I went to my tent after a long march.”

“This soldier knew you.” Grym stated as he crouched down and picked up a handful of straw to wipe the gooey remains from his hand and the pistol. “Do you remember him?”

Valary looked down at the remains.

“I don’t think so. I saw too many young men like him. Their faces became one when I think back to those days, just young, afraid, and in pain.”

“It’s the nature of humans. The old to send the young to their deaths.” Grym stood when he finished. “Go to the corner with those hay bales and cover yourself to sleep. I’ll take care of these remains. We must get off the train before the train stops in Wrse.”

“You want to jump from a moving train at night? That’s insane!”

“The train slows down on the long curve just before the town. We’ll be fine. After all, you’re the hero healer of the empire,” he replied.

She glared at him, then shook her head.

“And you’re forgetting the soldiers will send someone else to watch the horses before morning,” the woman hissed.

“I’ll just put them to sleep like the other one over there,” his unnerving grin came back. “Remember, an inhuman doesn’t need much sleep, just flesh. Now, get some sleep.”

Grym pulled an empty feedbag off the wall and picked up the bones and clothing of the dead soldier.

“Just don’t kill them for no reason,” Valary said as she went to the dark end of the car.

“You’re not making sense again. They’re our enemies until you’re transformed. Even then, they will stand in the way of your retribution. Quit thinking like an ordinary human.”

The woman refused to acknowledge his words. While she knew he was correct, Valary also was desperately tired. She lay in the hay stacked in the corner, the scent from the dried clover calmed her. It reminded the woman of pleasant nights under the stars.

Valary looked across the train car and did not see the inhuman. While her continued fear of her savior pushed her to remain awake, she felt her eyelids closing. A few seconds later, the woman slid into the darkness of sleep.