Chapter 20 - Hittiar Station

"If they're going to document this mission, then I need to have a say in it. A much-needed contribution, so to speak. I was born immersed in the art of both the visual and the literary type, and I believe that it would be an earnest injustice to the chronicle of our mission if I do not get myself involved. Thus, I have decided to recount the most important parts of our adventure and commit them to a literary record well worthy of a library of chronicled adventures!

"The last entry in the chronicle told the story of how we escaped the battle of Crater Hills and then eventually out of Crater Woods on the western side. Our friends that we left in Heung caught up with us as we exited Crater Woods. I later found out that Mingmei left a hidden message for Anika disguised as a simple note conversion that will be handled by her clan. Taisen Anika's clan—the Hatokotei Clan—is the only clan who oversees the sending of messages across the Five Kingdoms. Since some messages involve sending money, they eventually had to include in their messaging services a form of currency conversion. If someone from the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi works for the mines of the Kingdom of Ryuubi-Huozhi and he needed to send money to his family in Zeiken-Shi, he would then need to be able to change the currency of Ryuubi-Huozhi to Zeiken-Shi before he sends it, or his family will need to find someplace to switch the currency once the money arrived. The Hatokotei Clan made it simpler for everyone when they offered currency conversion sometime during the turn of the century.

"And it was very clever for Mingmei to use a service that is used by a lot of people to send a message to Anika to find us and follow us.

"I honestly never expected that Mingmei has grown to be such a tactical person. Lynn, Eunshi, and Anika probably half expected Mingmei to be like that, but not the guys. When her twin died, it seemed to everyone that she just wanted to be left alone in her grief. She never left The Ancestral Lands of the Jerboa Clan since the day Mingmai died. The guys in our group left her alone and never disturbed her. However, every now and then we would overhear the girls say that they spoke to Mingmei recently about girl stuff, so, we never asked. We all knew that Liam goes and watches Mingmei in her room from a tree near their house every now and then but that is all that he does. He never goes and visits Mingmei to talk to her.

"And knowing how skillful Mingmei had become, I am sure that she knows about all of Liam's 'visits.' That eizou that she pulled off before we escaped shocked all of us. We have seen our masters use and eizou to deflect arrows or bolts. That is just deflection. What Mingmei did was fly all of those arrows back to whoever fired them and hit them. I imagined that there must be an eizou that could grab a thrown weapon and fly it back to whoever threw it. If that was the case, then what Mingmei did was similar to simultaneously activating as many eizou as there were arrows fired at us and then fly them back to the sender. I think we were all surprised because we never saw the incremental improvement that Mingmei had. We saw how powerful she was when we were seven winters old and then the next time that we see her power is now that we're twenty-three. The jump in power level took everyone by surprise. I suspected that she was holding back some secret power when she made all the large boulders in Crater Hills erupt at the same time. Even Lynn had that look on her face like she has seen a dragon swooping down on us.

"I'm sure that if Liam saw how powerful Mingmei has become, he'd find it even harder to approach her and talk to her.

"But enough of personal anecdotes, let's continue with the chronicle.

"When we exited Crater Woods and met with our friends, we all agreed that we need to reach Haan-Dar in the fastest way possible. The reappearance of the shuul-ying has added complexity to the mission that we never anticipated. If the shuul-ying was involved in the abductions, their taste for human meat would explain why they are abducting people. However, they were supposed to be extinct for 500 years already, and if they were running an abduction operation that spanned the entire kingdom then that is a reason to be alarmed beyond the abductions.

"Because that would mean that they have grown in sufficient enough numbers to become a threat to the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi.

"Guunnar revealed that he knew of a way to get to Haan-Dar in the fastest way possible. Since no one else had any idea how to get to Haan-Dar other than walk, we all agreed to let Guunnar take us to the famous border city.

"We walked for half an hour northwest to a town called Hittiar. Even from a distance, you could see that Hittiar is busy with several ongoing constructions. There were large platforms and a metal dome on the western outskirts of the town.

"'I asked the stable boy in Mountain Brew about the railroad. He said that they are currently constructing the latest station in Hittiar just northwest of Crater Woods,' Gunnar revealed as we walked towards Hittiar.

"'So, the fastest way to Haan-Dar is through a steam-powered cart?' I asked in a humorous tone.

"'Steam-powered train. They call it a train,' Guunnar said correcting me.

"'Wait. Train? Did I hear that right?' I asked in a puzzled tone. At that point, I have heard of the steam rail that the ruling families of the Five Kingdoms use, but I have never heard them use the word train to refer to the transportation using steam.

"'Yes. It's called a train,' Guunnar replied. The rest of the members of our group started to snicker and grin. I doubt they know about the word train, but they seem happy that it was I that was getting the butt of the discussion.

"'Well then,' I said finally. 'All of our years of training have brought us here, to get into a train to Haan-Dar.' It was a lame joke, but my friends laughed at it, nonetheless. This only tells me how happy everyone was at getting back together.

"Only Izrik is missing to get us all together again.

"We entered the town of Hittiar unceremoniously. Everyone was busy going about their own business that they are basically ignoring us. Even the few travelers that entered the town almost at the same time as we did were in too much of a hurry that they even looked irritated that we were a big group passing through the town's main gate. There were several guards stationed at the two elevated outposts a few meters outside of the town gate, but they never stopped any of the people entering the town. Of all the towns that we have been to so far, Hittiar is the only one that has a lot of guards patrolling the town, but the security for newcomers is still relatively lenient.

"Guunnar led the group to a nearby makeshift barracks. He approached one of the guards and asked about the train. I had to focus on stopping myself from giggling when they started talking about the train. It sounded so strange to me to use the word train for a steam vehicle.

"'The train only travels from our town to Haan-Dar once each day,' the guard replied to Guunnar when he asked if there was a train that brings passengers to Haan-Dar in their town.

"'What time does it leave?' Guunnar asked.

"'The schedule changes each deck. To accommodate the changes in the construction and the rotation of workers.'

"'What time does it leave today?'

"'I am not so sure. Let me ask someone inside.' The guard stepped inside the makeshift barracks and asked one of the guards inside for the schedule of the train today. He went out in a hurry and turned to all of us. 'It's leaving any minute now! Go now! Run! Turn right at the end of the market. Go!' he screamed at us to rush us to get to the train.

"But we don't need a lot of urging. We sprang into action halfway before the guard finished speaking. We ran as fast as we could through the streets of Hittiar. Some people started running in the same direction that we do even though they do not have any idea why we were running. They likely assumed that we were running to catch the train. Faces with surprised eyes watched us pass by them because of our unnatural speed. Thank our years of training for that.

"A few seconds after we started running, a crisp sound caught my ear. I was behind Guunnar and Yiiq-Yin as we ran. I turned around briefly and saw Mingmei giggling. She looked so happy and was obviously holding back a burst of thunderous laughter behind her ruddy cheeks. Lynn started to laugh too as she ran beside Mingmei. It has been years since we ran together like this. I think we were working to succeed at Anika's challenge of delivering thirty messages within Heung before lunchtime. If we succeeded, she would treat us all to lunch at Limening's Canteen. We won, naturally, but it was the fun of running together during that moment that likely brought laughter to Mingmei's lips as we rushed to the train. It was refreshing to hear her crisp laughter once more. Everyone in the group was devastated at her cries when Mingmai died that it was the strongest memory that we had of Mingmei. Her laughter helped make that memory fade a little and we were all thankful for it, I am sure.

"A few moments later and we reached the market. It was bustling with busy people with a large group of animals carrying packages. They were also going in the direction of the train and were effectively blocking our way. Guunnar led us to a small side street where we turned southward to return to the direction of the train. Two more turns and we were right in front of a makeshift platform for passengers.

"The train was not visible when we entered Hittiar, so, we were all surprised when we were finally saw it up close. It was a huge metal vehicle with an arrow-shaped front that extended to a cylindrical chamber. I assumed that it was the main engine because of the large amount of steam that it spewed constantly. Behind the main engine were several box-like cars that are made of a combination of wood and steel. The cars that take in passengers have windows while the cars that are for cargo do not. There are a total of twenty cars. Fifteen were dedicated for passengers and the remaining five were for cargo.

"Several guards are stationed at the entrances to the cars. They take the payment before they allow passengers into the train.

"'I am sorry. We do not accept notes. Only dragon coins. The money of the kingdom!' the guard declared when Guunnar handed him a stack of notes to pay for our fare. We stared at each other for we do not have any coins with us, only the merchant notes. Anika's group also brought merchant notes with them because it was lighter and easier to carry compared to coins.

"'What do we do? The train is about to leave. We do not have time to exchange our notes for coins!' Liam asked. The ladies in our group were all silent as they stared at each other. Lynn finally nodded and smiled. She approached the leader of the guards near the front of the train and we followed closely.

"'What is it, miss?' the head guard asked.

"'Liu Hanni. I am the daughter of Master Liu. We are urgently needed at Haan-Dar. We are willing to compensate you well if you would take our merchant notes instead of coins as payment for passage to Haan-Dar.'

"'I cannot take your merchant notes. It's policy to take only coins.'

"'We do not have the time to exchange it for coins. The train is about to leave.'

"'You can always stay in town and another train will be here tomorrow.'

"'We need to be in Haan-Dar right away.'

"'There is nothing I can do.'

"'There is something you can do,' Mingmei said out of turn. The head of the guards turned to her in surprise.

"'Who are you to interrupt our conversation?' the head of the guards asked. His brows furrowed while Mingmei remained calm.

"'I am Hanni's cousin. Niece to Master Liu. I am Li-Mei. I do no believe that you do not know him.' Mingmei replied.

"'Well, I do not know him!'

"'Ordinance of self on a sunset of arrows,' Mingmei replied calmly. The mouth of the head of the guards fell agape. We all expected him to ridicule Mingmei because of the gibberish that she said. Instead, the guards nodded his head twice. His face twisted into an expression of disbelief and fear.

"'Uh. I-uh. Barrel in a hat!' he replied in a stammering voice.

"'Do not worry. We will pay you in notes ten times what we owe you in coins. Consider the extra as payment for your services. You can exchange the needed fee for our group in coins and keep the rest,' Mingmei explained calmly. Her voice was too calm and cold that I had goosebumps listening to her speak.

"'Yes, Mistress. You are too generous!' the head of the guards replied.

"'Of course. We always take care of everyone who helps the twin suns set,' Mingmei replied in the same tone. She grabbed a large stack of notes and handed it to the head guard without counting.

"'Th-This is too much, Mistress!'

"'Nonsense! Take it!' Mingmei replied dismissively and signaled all of us to walk to the nearest entrance.

"One of the guards moved to stop us from entering the nearest car, but a loud voice coming from the front of the train barked at him. 'Let them pass, idiot! Let them pass!'

"I stared at Guunnar and Liam and they were both dumbfounded as I was. Only the ladies in our group seemed to know exactly what happened. 'You should tell us how you pulled that off,' Khyn said as we entered the car.

"'It was Lynn's idea,' Mingmei replied briefly.

"'Lynn's idea?' Khyn repeated.

"'I will only tell you how we pulled that off if you're willing to be the next bait,' Lynn replied. She was grinning as one of her eyebrows went up.

"'I think being a bait is worse than not knowing what happened,' I replied as I scratched my head.

"We walked to a row of vacant seats. There were seats for three passengers on each side of the windows and an aisle in the middle. A few minutes after we were seated, the train started to move. A few minutes more and the train has accelerated to the speed that is more than five times the speed of the fastest horse that I have ever ridden.

"We talked about the adventures of our respective groups as we sat and waited to reach Haan-Dar. Mingmei remained quiet and watched the sceneries change outside the windows. A few hours later, the tall walls of Haan-Dar, the Bastion City came into view. It was the last city at the edge of two borders—the border to the Kingdom of Ryuubi-Huozhi and the Goruumshimi. Because of its close proximity to Goruumshimi, many wonder why the clans do not have any strongholds in the city to help defend it. Because of this, the leaders of Haan-Dar have long ago taken it to themselves to fortify the city and train their own defense army that is loyal only to the administrators of Haan-Dar and does not answer to the regular army of Heung.

"We got off the train without incident and got off the station. It was a large station just outside the city walls. The station is also well fortified and was strategically located at the edge of the wall and at the edge of one of the bastions that form a projected part from the main wall. Exiting the station would take you into the walled city of Haan-Dar. The exit can be closed by a series of metal gates that cuts the station off from the wall and bastion in case of an attack.

"Entering Haan-Dar is like entering a completely different world. If Heung was a traditional city, Haan-Dar is a city of marvels. Machines powered by steam can be seen everywhere. They help the citizens in their daily tasks like gathering water and harvesting food. Smaller versions of the train travel along the streets of Haan-Dar replacing the horse-drawn carriages of Heung. We were all busy looking at the sights in Haan-Dar that we did not notice the approach of a familiar person.

"'I knew you'd get here around today!'"