A faint rustling in the tall grass was the only sound in the dead quiet of the small pond.

  “Oh come ON!” Gio grunted, readying his spellbook. He was tired, but wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  A pair of beady eyes emerged first, reflecting the burning starlight of Jean’s spear like little holographic saucers.

  “Please to not be attacking!” yipped a small voice.

  Gio and Jean looked at each other in surprise.

  “Reveal yourself,” Chandrika commanded, brandishing her golden magic.

  A small form parted the grass, walking out onto a rock. The diminutive creature had shaggy brown fur and an elongated head with a mix of features somewhere between a fruit bat and a sloth. It had four fuzzy arms that ended in nimble-looking hands, and was outfitted in several straps, each holding a large number of pouches, satchels, bags, and other fabric-based pockets. His sharp little fangs were curled into a semblance of an easygoing smile. He was… adorable, by Gio’s measure.

  “Halllooooo. My name Babka, like pastry.” He said.

  Sapphire blinked in surprise. “You’re… never mind. Hello, uh, sir? How can… we help you?”

  She quickly mimed “BE NICE” at the group.

  “Good manners, blue friend! But is no worry. Babka here to help you. Quick, get in bag.” Babka said.

  Babka unstrapped a burlap sack, nimbly throwing the complicated opening tie open and widening it until it seemed like a fully grown person could fit inside.

  “Uh, excuse me… mister… Babka,” Gio asked, tired and confused. “But we’ve had a long day, and-”

  Babka sniffed the air when Gio approached. His cute face scrunched into a curious expression. “Spicy! Why is it spicyyy?”

  “I- uh…-what?”

  Babka launched himself at Gio, who made a squeaking noise as Babka sniffed at him like a curious puppy. He climbed Gio effortlessly, swinging from his arm and landing on Gio’s head before biting softly on his ear.

  “Like ground after lighting… or maybe before? You brother! Spicy brother! Babka is [Bag-Man], am SNUG!” Babka shouted.

  …Snug?

  “That’s… interesting… mister Babka… but why are you here? You said that I needed to get in your bag?” Sapphire cautiously asked.

  “Ah. yes. Scary man on way to kill Googoo DeeGoogooga and Chan- chanda- uh, princess lady… you!” Babka said, pointing at Chandrika

  Everyone paused, with wide eyes.

  “Hold on, what? Is someone coming to kill us? Who?” Jean demanded.

  “Blegh. Rude.” Babka spat. “Ass-Ass-in. Famous killing man, err… men. Someone put bounty on you and you.” Babka said, pointing at Gio and Chandrika. “Googuroo and princess.”

  Chandrika furrowed her brows. “Who would-”

  Babka’s ears went completely stiff, pointed up.

  “No time. Sorry, I try be gentle.” Babka said.

  Faster than anyone could react, the bag on the ground flew to the hand of the small being on Gio’s head. Gio disappeared into the bag as Babka shoved him inside like he was collecting a particularly shiny rock. Babka collected the entire group in a second, darting off into the brush.

  _____

  The smell was not particularly pleasant, somewhat like damp hair and a thick musky incense. Gio’s arm was pinned behind him at an odd angle, and were his face not pressed firmly into the scratchy material of the bag, he’d probably be asking whose knee was knocking against his ribcage.

  As it was, Gio watched between threads as the forest passed by at frightening speeds from the sack on Babka’s shoulders. They had seemingly shrunk down impossibly to fit in Babka’s bag, and their small captor was bobbing and weaving in between the trees, summoning long ropes at will and using them to catapult himself forward in a blinding dash.

  Gio tried to speak, but couldn’t form any words, instead uttering a jumble of squished syllables. He thought he may have heard a scream from somewhere behind him.

  Gio nearly vomited as they whipped to the side, narrowly avoiding a dart of silver from the black abyss between the trees that turned a section of ground into dust. No sound was made, either from the attack or from Babka’s retort, as a rope pulled him to the side, yanking their savior, and by extension, the whole group, off into the canopy above. This time, as they launched, Gio tried to scream.

  Babka flitted from branch to branch, scuttling into the shadows of leaves and avoiding a rain of knives. Their pursuers were fast, but Babka vanished.

  His four hands made strange signs, beginning to conjure whip-like branches as Babka wove some kind of working of magic. Gio couldn’t make out any relevant details of the spell, but the effect was clear, as Babka stopped avoiding the trunks of the trees, instead melding into the wood.

  The space between the tree trunks was almost familiar, in a way. It was dark and smelled of earth and sap, but it had a very familiar formless liminality, just like the Between. Babka melted out of a tree much further ahead of the pack of pursuers just in time for a section of forest to explode with sickly green fire.

  Fortunately, Babka was out of the treeline. His tiny hands and legs scrabbled across the dirt path in a mad dash, kicking up clouds of dirt from which grasping vines emerged. A black-clad figure was impaled by a root, stopping dead in their tracks as they brandished a sharp black dagger to cut away the conjured wood.

  “Hmf.” Babka sighed. He came to a halt, and the sudden loss of momentum nearly caused Gio to vomit, which would have been particularly unfortunate, since Sapphire’s hair was now in his mouth.

  A shadow of a young man stood in Babka’s way. Two white circles glinted, the barest hint of a pair of round glasses in the moonlight.

  “Mister Babka. Please, if you would be so kind.” The shadow asked, holding out his hand. It was a mangle of scars on ivory flesh.

  Gio felt his heartbeat in his throat.

  “No,” Babka said.

  Gio didn’t see the young man move, but a short knife had torn through the place where Babka had just been.

  But before he could do that, Babka pulled out another bag and pulled it over his own head.

  Something very wrong happened, and it felt like the whole world folded in on itself. Someone puked, and it might have been Gio. With a twist like a knotted rope unraveling, Gio came to consciousness, watching the underside of the Copper-Ring gate fly overhead, as Babka stole away into the city proper. His furred escort flew through the streets, tracing the quickest path in between the shadows of streetlights, bounding through stone archways, and folding himself in between buildings. Soon, a familiar architecture faded into view.

  The Inter-Ring Express.

  Babka ditched the entranceway, opting to climb the exterior of the building and approach the express itself. He stopped on a dime. A man stood in the doorway of the mechanical marvel with a stern expression. His pristine moustache barely hid a grimace as he held up a glowing pocketwatch.

  “Two minutes. Tickets. Now.” The conductor clicked.

  Babka presented him with six tickets.

  The conductor ushered them into the entranceway of the Inter-Ring Express, where Babka unceremoniously dumped the group out of his bag. Gio was folded into Jean’s arms, and Sapphire was laying facedown with Chandrika and Hatra tangled on top of her.

  “Ow.” Sapphire grunted.

  The gaunt figure that melted out of the moonlit shadow would haunt Gio for days to come. He had a grim expression and short brown hair, charmingly coiffed to the side in a manner that wouldn’t have been out of place on an aristocrat. His long black coat concealed several long knives, and he didn’t seem to touch the ground, seemingly gliding across the darkened ground like ghostly ink spilling across a dirty ledger.

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  “That was… unwise.” The pale man said.

  Babka stood near the leg of the conductor.

  “Why break rule? Money?” Babka asked.

  “It’s not about the money.” The man snapped. “You don’t- He knew things. Impossible things.”

  “Poor excuse. She won’t like this.” Babka replied.

  “You think I care about what some over-ambitious prostitute has to say? I don’t need her protection. I never did. I’ll miss you, Babka… but you all die tonight.”

  The assassin’s voice chilled Gio to his core. It wasn’t a threat- that much he could feel.

  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Said the conductor.

  “Excuse me?” scoffed the shadow.

  He took a lazy step forward, and as his boot melted out of the shadow, the click of his heels against the stonework mirrored the beating of Gio’s heart, as well as the faint mechanism of the Conductor’s watch.

  “You have already lost your opportunity to kill these passengers. I merely decided to see what you had to say for yourself. I must say… while it is always a shame to lose a customer, I won’t be losing sleep over someone who would take such an assignment. They are children, you know. “

  While the Conductor’s previous expression had been stern, this new one radiated disapproval like a neon sign.

  A knife whistled through the air as if shot by a cannon. It hung in the air before the Conductor’s heart, before losing speed and clattering to the ground, safely out of the doorframe.

  “I apologise… I meant to be more direct. It is not possible for you to board the train. You don’t have a ticket.”

  “I’ll kill you for this.” The assassin replied. “You have to leave that train eventually. I’ll find your family. I’ll hunt down everyone who gets off of it until I force you to come out.”

  “You may try. Be mindful of the closing door.”

  A pleasant chiming noise echoed as the image of the platform leading up to the door stretched like taffy, elongating into a corridor miles long. The assassin glared as mechanisms sprang into place, and the engines of the train hummed to life. The door closed, and the Conductor turned to Gio’s group.

  “Please follow me to your cabin. I trust that a hot meal and showers would be appreciated after this evening’s… excitement?”

  “I love you.” Sapphire said.

  _____

  Turning away from the closing door of the Inter-Ring express, the assassin fumed. The other miserable stragglers would start to arrive within moments, and they would likely start in-fighting, or causing a mess, or worse- try speaking to him. Maybe he would kill whichever idiot thought that blowing up half the forest with witchfire would be a good idea. No, that would be a stupid risk. It was best to get out of the city before-

  “Lovely evening for a stroll, isn't it?”

  A chill ran down his neck.

  The voice came from a woman leaning against an unlit lamppost. Though no artificial light fell upon her, the pale light of the moon glinted off her silver butterfly earrings. She wore her black hair up in a high ponytail, and an easy smile graced her delicate features. She wore a lilac lace slip dress underneath a short white leather jacket.

  His voice caught in his throat.

  “Gotta say, this is a surprise. We’ve been waiting for you to slip up like this for a while now. You’ve had a… busy few months, haven’t you, Cowl Sigresse, the Glory Hand Killer?” She asked.

  Cowl’s thoughts raced. What was she doing here? How was this possible?

  No. I got double-crossed.

  “I’ll give you information,” he said.

  “Ah, so you do know who I am. Sadly, little too late for that.”

  “You were told that I’d be here tonight. Someone who knew things.” Cowl said.

  That got her to pause.

  “He told me things, too. He knew what I wanted before I did. He brought me information on the movements of targets I hadn’t told anyone about. He played me like a fiddle. Whoever this guy is… I’m sure he’s got a reason for turning me in.”

  “Interesting story, but one problem- we know who gave us the tip that you’d be here tonight- and although she’s usually famously tight-lipped, she’s not a man.”

  He choked on his own spit.

  What? If not the man who hired me… who? I told nobody. My mental defences are top-notch. Nobody knew that I would be here… but then, who hired the smuggler to protect the targets?

  “We’re being played,” Cowl said,

  “Hmm… I’ll look into that. Thanks for the tip.”

  She stepped forward.

  In the dark of the night, her graceful movements cut through the air. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn’t carry him away from her- away from death.

  The royal executioner raised her blade, a plain black-sheathed instrument of justice. With a soft swish, it was done.

  _____

  Babka flicked another sardine into his mouth. His dirty feet were staining the ottoman that he splayed out across as if it were a king-sized bed, which the group had unilaterally decided would go to him for the duration of the train ride. He deserved it, as far as Gio was concerned.

  “Already tell. No know. Babka find message in super-secret dead drop. Very spooky.”

  Jean, being the last one out of the shower, still wore a pristine towel around his shoulders. “You don’t think it could have been the Headmaster, right?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe? If she knew something like this was coming, she would probably have warned me. She’s a cruel taskmistress, but I don’t think she’d use a life-or-death situation as training… probably. I am completely blind to the weavings of fate for the first time in months. When my powers were at their worst, I dreamed of this and thought it would be serenity- but instead I’ve never felt more stressed.” Chandrika replied.

  “Bah. Be heppy. Babka save kittens, and now mewing for why. Live! Go back to school, go live safe in big rock with scary lady and bone thing.” Babka huffed.

  Gio smirked at their diminutive savior.

  “So… Mister Babka is a Domovoi.” Sapphire carefully said.

  Gio looked at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

  “Blue one know good things!” Babka chriped.

  “Domovoi are a… species that is usually grouped in with goblinkind-” She paused, as if waiting for a negative reaction from Babka, but not receiving one. “But are closer to a type of sub-spirit, like elves. There’s folklore about them protecting households, but in reality, they mostly stick to small communities in mossy subterranean dungeon vents, or in alpine forest environments. There’s a colony of them in a protected status in the Lead Ring.” Sapphire said.

  “Lead Ring, family. Babka not see often. Work… carry things. Sometimes carry thing for bad people… not always friend to king people.”

  “So you’re a… smuggler?” Gio guessed.

  “Da. Today good day, help smuggle kittens away from bad man. Ride on nice train. Train lady friend.”

  Train lady? Who would that be referring to?

  Gio moved over to the bunk where his cousin was sketching out some designs. She had been enraptured with the train as soon as the panic had worn off.

  “Hmm… what’s that?” Gio asked.

  Her drawing looked to him like a nonsensical arrangement of wheels and cogs.

  “I’m trying to guess how the mechanism on this train works. Obviously, I don’t think I’ll get anywhere close… but it’s fun to imagine. I think that there’s got to be some kind of advanced spatial magic at play here- it’s just too good at what it does to be using anything else.” Hatra spiritedly replied.

  A faint nagging sensation pulled Gio’s attention to a tiny section of shiny trim in the corner of the room. The only thing he saw was his inert reflection staring back at him.

  Rio? No, he’s been in sleep mode since we left the dungeon, just like Trio said he would… but what was that?

  It had almost felt like someone was watching him. Actually, it had almost felt like someone was using mirror magic to watch him. He wanted to think that he was imagining it, but the spell just felt too familiar.

  “Everything okay?” Hatra asked.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah. Must be nothing.” Gio said, letting his eyes linger on the spot.

  “I get it. I’ve been droning on and on about how awesome and great this train is for the past half hour. You must all be sick of hearing it.” Hatra joked.

  “No, really, it’s not that-”

  A knock at the door interrupted his train of thought.

  “Greetings, guests. I have come to inform you that we shall be docking at the Gold Ring shortly. A carriage shall arrive to escort those of you who reside in the Crystal Ring to your end destination safely. I am told that the Inquisitors will be prepared to stand guard, in case any threats are foolish enough to try anything within the gates of the Gilded City. As for you, Mister Babka…”

  “I find own way. Thank you, friend.” Babka chirped.

  The conductor smiled, a rare thing that lit up his rosy cheeks.

  “I’m sorry, sir? I don’t mean to bother you, but I don’t think that I’ll be allowed to stay in the Crystal Ring.” Hatra frowned.

  “Ah, Miss Hatra. My patron has asked that I offer you a night’s stay aboard the vessel. It is unsafe to return you to the Copper Ring, and we have already informed your place of employment that you will be absent from work tomorrow… but I assure you that we shall manage to find work for an enterprising young Thaumaturge like yourself to do to compensate you for the lost pay.”

  “I uh… ho, wow. I would looove to- t-thank you for the opp-”

  Hatra fainted.

  _____

  After bidding farewell to his enthusiastically shaking (nearly vibrating) cousin, and profusely thanking their furry savior (who vanished impressively into the night), the four students boarded a heavily-armed carriage to the gates of the Crystal Ring.

  Halfway to their ultimate destination, Gio bolted forward in his seat, scaring the rest of the drowsy students and drawing an expressionless look from the reflective-helmeted inquisitor at the helm.

  “My family! I totally forgot. They’re probably in danger!” Gio yelled.

  “The Ring Guard has increased patrols around South Copper for the night. The remaining mercenaries are being hunted as we speak, and there is little else that can be done. Also, please lower your voice. People are sleeping.” The robotic voice of the inquisitor said.

  Gio retreated into his seat, cowed slightly. He looked out at the elegant townhouses of the gilded city as they passed by. It had been a long night.