The large iron horse trudged on, going towards the looming castle.

(Wait for Wolf?)

(Sure)


He growls and tries to stand, but he's badly injured and completely exhausted.

She seems to admit defeat as she watches Ash. She looks down, "I'm sorry..." Is all she says, it's barely a whisper, her voice is tired and dazed, she's clearly out of it.

It was a torturous, nightmare march toward Machinas tower.


A length of chain was wrapped around everyone's waists, except for the kitsune, attaching them to Ironhorse, who walked briskly down the tracks without pausing or looking back. Ash wore another, and it was hurting him. He kept stumbling, barely managing to keep his feet as we followed Ironhorse down the railroad tracks. Gremlins cavorted around us, poking and pinching and laughing at our torment. The knights walked to either side and refused to let Ash step off the iron tracks, shoving him back if he tried. Once, he fell, and was dragged several yards before he finally got his feet under him again. Angry red burns crisscrossed his face where his skin had touched the metal tracks. The sky clouded over, changing from yellow-gray to an ominous reddish-black in a matter of moments. Ironhorse stopped and craned his neck, flaring his nostrils.


"DANG IT," he muttered, stomping a hoof. "ITS GOING TO RAIN SOON." Lightning flashed, filling the air with a sharp tang.


"QUICKLY, BEFORE THE STORM HITS." The horse stepped off the tracks, breaking into a trot as thunder growled overhead and it was either keep up or be dragged. Ash stumbled and fell, and this time he did not get up.


A drop of rain spattered against the ground. More drops fell, hissing as they struck the ground. The air reeked of chemicals, and I heard a few gremlins screech as the raindrops hit them. A silvery curtain of rain crept toward them. It caught up to a few of the slower gremlins, engulfing them. They screamed and writhed, sparks leaping off their bodies until they gave a final twitch and were still. The rain came on.

Ironhorse was leading them into a mine shaft. They ducked under the roof just as the storm swept over them, catching a few more gremlins, who squealed and danced around in agony, holes burned through their skin. The rest of the gremlins jeered and laughed.


Ash lay motionless on the ground, covered in dust and blood from where hed been dragged. Steam curled off his body where the raindrops had hit. He groaned and tried to get up, but didnt quite make it off his back. Snickering, a few gremlins started poking him, climbing onto his chest to slap his face. He flinched and turned away, but this only encouraged them further.

The kitsune slumps to the ground, fainting.

Vines wrap around the gremlins and they are soon thrown against the ground, a vine gently wraps around Ash and hoists him up.

Claire didn't even look at them, she kept her eyes down, it looked as if she was in pain, having to use her powers hurt her and that made it all worse for her.

Ironhorse doesn't really care for the kitsune, almost glad that it had fainted. Almost.

Hissing, they swarmed up Claire's pant legs, pulling her hair and raking her with their claws. One sank its razor-sharp teeth into her shoulder. ENOUGH! Ironhorses shout made the ceiling tremble. Dirt showered them, and the gremlins skittered back. Ironhorse glared at Claire, swishing his tail against his flanks, then tossed his head at the knights.


"TAKE THEM INTO THE TUNNELS," he ordered with a hint of exasperation. "MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT ESCAPE. IF THE STORM DOES NOT ABATE, WE MIGHT BE HERE AWHILE."


The chains binding them to Ironhorse were released. Two knights pulled Ash out of the gentle caress of the vines and half dragged him away down a tunnel. The last knight, the one with Ashs face, took Claire and Lin by the arms and led them after his brothers, also carrying the kitsune. They paused at a junction where several tunnels merged. Wooden tracks led off into the darkness, and rickety cars half-filled with ore sat off to the sides. Thick wooden beams held up the ceiling, standing along the tracks every few feet. A few lanterns had been nailed into the wood, though most were broken and dark. In the flickering torchlight, glimmering veins of iron snaked across the walls.


They continued down a tunnel that dead-ended in a small room, where two wooden posts stood side by side in the middle of the room. A few crates and an abandoned pickax lay stacked in a corner. The knights pushed Ash against one post, unlocked a cuff, and reattached it behind the beam, securing him in place. The flesh under the metal band was red and burned, and he jerked when they snapped it around his wrist again.

The knight whod first caught Claire and Lin straightened and patted Ash on the cheek, chuckling as Ash flinched away from the steel gauntlet. Feels good, dont it, worm? he said. This was the first time one of them had spoken. "You oldbloods are completely weak, arent you? Its high time you moved over. Youre obsolete now, ancient. Your time is done."

He soon starts to wake back up.

They chain him to an iron cuff in the wall

She simply spits at his feet, sneering. "Back off, leave him alone." She snaps, her voice cold and strong but her eyes were tired and pained.