Chapter 22 - Train Station

"'How did you know that we were coming?' Lynn asked. She was surprised to see Master Ilmari waiting for us just outside the train station. We were all surprised to see Master Ilmari. His presence outside the train station made us think that our disguises have been compromised. We stared at each other and checked if there was something in our disguises that gave away our true identities.

"Master Ilmari is considered as the most accomplished member of Order of the Illuminated Commune. He took over our education on defending against opponents that use eizou. Later on, he took Anika, Lynn, Eunshi, Mingmei, and Mingmai as his disciples—at the request of Master Nainen Nautti, an accomplished eizou-jin himself. What made Master Ilmari even more famous is that he does not belong to any clan. He's been invited by different clans to join them, but he refused. His parents were both born from the Untamed West and came to the Old Orient to migrate. He was born shortly after and has been proud to be clanless ever since he was young.

"'You wouldn't believe how I knew that you'd be arriving!' Master Ilmari replied with a wide grin. 'I shall tell you all about it later, but your arrival means that you are needed outside the train station. There!' he exclaimed as he pointed at the open grounds beyond the train station. Two families were running towards the train station as a cloud of dust formed behind them. A loud ringing of a huge bell filled the city, and everyone was suddenly on high alert.

"'Somehow, I doubt that's the lunch bell,' I said jokingly.

"'No, Ianme,' Master Ilmari replied with a grin.

"'Those families!' Mingmei exclaimed as she pointed to the cloud of dust that seemed to be chasing them. Several figures emerged from the cloud of dust as we stared. Four of the figures looked like monstrous dogs with two heads and were five feet tall at the shoulder. They have long razor-sharp fangs that could easily kill any member of the fleeing families with a single snap of their jaw. A fifth figure emerged from the cloud of dust that urged the two-headed dogs with a spiked whip that flamed at the tip. It was heavily muscular and was more than seven feet tall. It had three short horns and looked like a cross between a buffalo and a lizard or dragon although it had scales instead of fur. It stood upright on two muscular hooved feet.

"'We need to help those families, Master Ilmari. They wouldn't make it to the wall without help!' Lynn exclaimed. We all stared at Master Ilmari with a pleading look. 'But we also need to maintain our disguise!'

"'I completely understand,' Master Ilmari said as he walked into the train station and on the platform where he could see everything more clearly from the opening on the train station where the train entered. 'I shall cover you with a powerful illusion. However, I will not be able to help any further while I maintain the illusion,' he explained.

"'We understand. We can take care of this!' Liam declared boldly. No one teased him this time. No funny remark came from anyone in the group. The lives of two families hang in the balance right in front of us. It was not the time nor the place to tease Liam and everyone understood this perfectly.

"'Use the Shield and Whip Formation. Izrik, Guunnar, and Ianme will go for the initial strike. Yiiq-yin and Liam will serve as the barrier to separate the families from those beasts. Anika and Eunshi will escort the families as they retreat in case there are any unforeseen attackers. Mingmei, Lynn, and Khyn will be the rear offense until the front offense can retreat and reposition,' Master Ilmari commanded our group. We were all familiar with the formation. We practiced it many times together, and as we grew older and stronger, we added modifications to it to compensate for the weaknesses of each member of the group and capitalize on our strengths.

"'Izrik is not here yet, Master,' Guunnar said briefly.

"'Where is Izrik?' Master Ilmari asked concerned.

"'He's at Heung, but we can handle this.'

"'Ok. I trust you all. Mingmei, do you still remember this formation?'

"'Yes, Master.'

"Guunnar and I were already running towards the fleeing families before Mingmei could reply to Master Ilmari. To our surprise, Mingmei reacted to the situation fast and used an eizou that greatly increased the running speed of everyone in the group as she ran into position with Lynn and Khyn. We were able to reach the family and get into position before the attacking beasts reached the families.

"At the last moment, Guunnar ran with a burst of speed to get ahead of me for a few meters. He then stopped abruptly as I jumped towards him. He used our combined momentum to throw me into the air. As soon as he launched me to the air, he pivoted on his left heel and drew one of his javelins. He threw his javelin straight towards the lead two-headed dog. It pierced the dog's shoulder and up to half the length of the javelin sunk into the dog's flesh. The dog stopped his advance and howled in pain. The dogs behind him slowed down and stared at the howling dog. I drew my twin butterfly swords and used my falling momentum to pierce the neck of another two-headed dog. The entire length of the blades of my twin butterfly swords penetrated the neck of my opponent. I was mildly surprised that it was still alive and standing. The beasts of Goruumshimi are known for their resilience.

"It was a good thing that we were trained for our ability to kill our opponents as well.

"I pushed my twin swords outwards to slice both sides of the dog's neck from where my swords penetrated the flesh. It howled in pain and tried to shake me off from its back. My swords loosened from the dog's neck as I sliced his neck. When I felt that I was about to get thrown off the dog's back, I pressed my back against my left butterfly sword and pushed my right butterfly sword with both my feet. I was able to slice the right side of the dog's thick neck at last thanks to the extra force from my legs. I jumped off the back of the dog before I finally get thrown off. All four dogs have stopped their advance and have focused on me and Guunnar.

"Objective achieved.

"Guunnar charged at the howling lead dog at full speed. He drew his second javelin and threw it at the howling dog. A third dog parried the incoming javelin with its paw, and it fell to the ground harmlessly. Guunnar leaped into the air as he approached the third dog that protected the injured lead dog. The dog opened its jaws wide as it prepared for Guunnar to fall straight into its jaws. Guunnar anticipated this and quickly drew his double-bladed spear and braced it downwards. The spear used the Guunnar's falling force to pierce the mouth of the defending dog. The spear exited the dog's chest and it fell lifeless to the ground. Another dog charged at Guunnar as he pulled his spear out of the dog's throat.

The buffalo figure cracked his whip twice and four more two-headed dogs emerged from the dust cloud behind him. He uttered a command and the four dogs rushed towards our position.

"'The families are safe! Withdraw!' Liam exclaimed from the shield formation behind us.

"I stopped rushing towards another two-headed dog when I heard Liam's call. Guunnar dropped to the ground with his spear extended forward as another dog leaped towards him. The momentum of the dog's forward movement impaled itself at Guunnar's spear. He kicked the dog off of him and rolled himself to a standing position. We defensively withdrew to the second-stage position where Liam and Yiiq-Yin waited. A flurry of daggers flew from the rear line as the last two-headed dog pursued us as we positioned ourselves. A large ball of fire exploded at the rear of the last two-headed dog as the second group was about to join it.

"'Hahaha! That's it! Blast them!' Lynn exclaimed with a laugh. Khyn and Mingmei handled the ranged attacks as Liam, Yiiq-Yin, Guunnar and I prevented the two-headed dogs from reaching Lynn, Khyn, and Mingmei. Lynn made sure no one will be able to reach Khyn and Mingmei from the sides. We withdrew steadily as we attacked the five burned two-headed dogs. The buffalo leader exclaimed a command that we could not understand and cracked his barbed whip a few more times. A group of twelve more two-headed dogs emerged from the dust cloud. As it charged towards our position, the buffalo leader cracked his whip a few more times and a second batch of twelve two-headed dogs emerged from the dust cloud.

"'He wants to overwhelm our defensive line,' Eunshi said as they joined the secondary offensive line. 'We should withdraw faster.'

"'No! Maintain our pace. If we rush our withdrawal, we will lose our line and they will break through,' Mingmei explained. Liam looked surprised. Mingmei was correct. If we rushed our withdrawal, we would end up withdrawing at different speeds. The different speeds of withdrawal will create a break in the defensive and offensive line that the two-headed dogs can easily exploit.

"'Let's hope we reach the wall before those two-headed beasts overwhelm us,' Yiiq-Yin muttered.

"There was a cold wind that flowed from our backs. It felt like it was a statically charged wind and we could all feel the hair from our backs stand. A brief moment later, a force barrier appeared in front of the two new groups of two-headed dogs. They pawed and clawed on the barrier, but they cannot get through.

"'I thought Master Ilmari wouldn't be able to help anymore to maintain the illusion?' I asked in surprise.

"'It's not Master Ilmari. It's the wings of the dove,' Lynn said briefly.

"'Of course! Barriers!' Yiiq-Yin exclaimed.

"'Let's improve that barrier.' The sound of quick chanting followed Mingmei's words. A short moment later, the two-headed dogs behind Anika's barrier started to float helplessly as they struggled to reach the barrier and take a swipe at it. They looked like helpless soap bubbles in the air. The more they pawed at the barrier, the more they floated away from it.

"The remaining two-headed dogs fell one by one as combined attacks from the front and rear assaulted them. It did not take long until we reached the wall of Haan-Dar and safely entered the train station once more. The train station was immediately sealed as soon as we were safely inside.

"'Thank you! Thank you! If not for your intervention, our families would have suffered at the hands of those beasts!' one of the farmers that we saved said as we entered the train station. Master Ilmari's illusion made us look like members of Haan-Dar's elite strike force. The farmers thought that members of their city's army had saved them.

"We immediately left the vicinity of the train station and Master Ilmari led us to a series of backstreets then dispelled his illusion when we were far from the train station. He led us to an eatery where he happily treated us to a hearty meal. We were all hungry after that battle. It was the first time that we fought denizens from Goruumshimi, and we were fortunate that no one was injured.

From the top of a mountain overlooking Haan-Dar

"Who are those? I have never seen them before," a figure with golden fur asked as he stared seriously into a spyglass. He looked like an eight-foot-tall heavily muscled human with the head of a lion. He had a layer of short golden fur all over his body. His head was covered with a majestic mane of red hair.

"Haan-Darian Elites," another figure with red skin replied. He had small horns and a scorpion's tail.

"They look like those Haan-Darian elites, but they are more effective. Fearless. Haan-Darian Elites would scramble to retreat at the site of that number of headhounds."

"They are probably veterans. They have a layer of illusion about them too."

"They want to protect their identities. They do not care about their reputation. They only care about the fight. Blood-thirsty skilled fighters. The master will like that."

"Yes, yes. He would love to have those as his servants."