The Newt and Demon - Chapter 5.5 - Riding the Maglev

Theo stood on the shore of Tero’gal’s ocean. He looked out over the sea, smiling to himself. Creating a version of his realm in the Dreamwalk always felt like a vain thing to do. But the sea he had made was a beautiful, pristine thing. Unlike the real-world version sitting outside Broken Tusk, the waters were clear and cool. The bay in the mortal realm was filled with sea muck, and was often murky from the flow of the sea into the bay.

Tresk was somewhere nearby. She had taken the news of Uharis and Sulvan poorly, and was currently killing dream-versions of those people. Alex hadn’t helped the matter, claiming she would poke their eyes out with her little clawed toes. If someone was messing with Khahar’s plans, it was best if Theo took control of those people. Or maybe they were just that desperate.

The Dreamwalk ended, depositing Theo in his comfortable bed. He remained there for some time, looking up at the ceiling long after Tresk had departed. When the scent of the food from below became too much for him to resist, he removed himself and put on his coat. The effect of the magical clothing was doubled within the manor, making it almost impossible to leave without feeling some discomfort. The dining room table was stacked with delicious food. Xam outdid herself more as the days rolled on.

Tresk had a few meetings with the Aarok and his staff today. Alex had become an important early-warning system for the town, thanks to her flight ability. She was also fooling around with her nature affinity, working with the farmers to grow crops faster. Theo had a meeting with Throk today, which was exciting. The artificer needed go-ahead on the tram project. The only thing in the notes was ‘MEET ME. MY SHOP,’ a message penned by the marshling himself.

Theo bid farewell to his friends before heading off to the Newt and Demon. He worked with Salire to get the stills in order for the day. They had started mass-production of their new potion, but the batch they were running today would be the first third tier version of the [Hallow the Soil] potion, likely making it a [Greater Hallow the Soil] potion. The alchemist had already planted and upgraded his third mushroom cave, planting the [Dragon Talon Mushroom] for cultivation.

After getting ten Drogramathi Iron stills running, Theo headed off. He passed by a few people, who seemed excited for the upcoming celebration. Of course they knew about it, even if the event wasn’t officially announced. No one could keep a secret in Broken Tusk, and he couldn’t blame them. Once the maglev was operational, there would be little need to distinguish between the towns.

Throk was outside of his workshop, hands on his hips. “About time!”

“Busy as always, Throk. What do you have for me?”

“Well, do you remember that upgrade you gave to sweet, precious, darling Nira?”

“All right… I remember.”

“Alloys, right? Well, we got to do some experimenting. That girl is a genius. Far smarter than you, and better looking.”

Theo nodded. “We’re getting to a point, I’m certain of it.”

“Yeah. She made me an alloy. Drogramathi Iron and Tworgnothi Copper.”

Theo paused for a moment to think. Copper didn’t alloy with iron. Copper wouldn’t even weld to iron, so that made no sense. He shook his head, clearing away his old Earth logic. Both Tworgnothi Copper and Drogramathi Iron were magically infused metals. They didn’t follow logic.

“Interesting,” Theo said. “I’m guessing the alloy has properties that are useful to us.”

“Check it out yourself,” Throk said, holding out a bar. The ingot of metal alloy had bands of purple-black running through bright orange. The alchemist inspected it.

[Azrugium Ingot]

[Metal Ingot]

Legendary

Quality: Excellent

An Azrugium ingot.

Theo gave the marshling a flat look. “Did you let Azrug name this?”

“How could you tell? Anyway, feel the weight. Lighter than either Drogramathi Iron or Tworgnothi Copper. And stronger than both.” Throk was far more animated than normal. And he was waiting for the big reveal. The marshling edged closer to the double-doors of his workshop. “Wanna see?”

“You already made something? Are you serious?”

“Behold!” Throk shouted, yanking on one door. It swung open, revealing the train car within.

The entire car was made with the Azrugium. Theo shuddered as he thought of the alloy’s name, but was so dumbstruck by the quality of the car he almost pushed it out of his mind. The entire thing was made from the metal. It was far more sleek than he expected, and even had glass windows near the front to prevent a field of bugs from entering the passenger’s mouths. It could seat ten, with five on either side. Even the artifice work was completed, tucked up in the undercarriage.

Theo approached the tram car, running his fingers along the angles. He grabbed it, and lifted it with almost no effort. “This thing is light, Throk. Damn, how do you do it?”

“Heh heh heh,” Throk said, hands on his hips. “This might be the best thing I’ve ever made. We worked on the shape for a while. Squeezed more speed out of it than expected. I even bribed Ziz and his guys to create a return track for the maglev. As you might imagine, I’ll be running more than one train.”

“Astounding. It really is, Throk. I never imagined I’d see something so impressive. Have you run it, yet?”

“Yeah, we’ve been doing test runs. Had to replace some old track with the Azrugium. One thing we’re missing is conductors.”

Near the front of the train car was a single seat for the operator. That would require training, but even Theo recognized how easy the controls were. In the undercarriage, Throk had created a webwork of artifices. He explained what they did, which was even more impressive. There were speed regulators, power sensors, and even a simple monster detector. While there were no counter-measures, those could be added later. Not that there was a monster alive who could catch up to this beast.

“Both the train and the track need power. Motes, of course. I’ve finally perfected my mote delivery system. We just need to feed the hopper in Broken Tusk, and the entire track will be powered. If the tram senses that any track in the line is without power, it will stop. Boom. Done. Safety.”

“We’re paying you for this, right?”

“You’re paying me a fortune. But I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it for speed!”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s get it out on the track.”

“Already got one ready for you. Let’s go.”

Theo followed Throk outside of the workshop. Over the eastern road, and through the eastern gate. Alongside the road that Ziz and his guys built was now a raised track. It was roughly the height of the alchemist, supported by tall white marble pillars. At the track’s end, on the Broken Tusk side. Was a small station. Alongside the track itself was another track. The return line. Both tracks connected together, allowing someone to ride from one end to the other without turning around.

“Let’s go,” Throk said, grumbling as he ascended the stairs into the station. A cart was waiting for them.

Theo entered the train car, finding a seat and buckling himself in. He cinched the leather straps over his shoulders, then rocked back and forth. The maglev artifices effectively glued the train to the track, making it impossible to rock the car.

“Ready,” Theo said, holding onto the straps.

“Alright. I’ve got a route programmed so my conductors only need to press this button,” Throk said, gesturing to a single red button. “It runs through all the safety crap, then follows a course. At each checkpoint—checkpoints are the power-generating sections of the track—it runs another safety check. Let’s go!”

The train eased out of the station, sliding over the track with no friction at all. The ride was absurdly smooth, but they pulled out at roughly walking speed. People below waved as they eased over the river, then took a bend. The train increased to running speed as they took a corner. Even at that low speed, Theo felt his stomach bottom out as they turned. The train leveled out, aiming directly north along the road.

“From here,” Throk said, turning and shouting back at Theo. “It’s a straight shot to Rivers. How long do you think it’ll take?”

Azrug’s ‘roided out karatan could make the trip in about an hour. “An hour?”

“Heh heh heh. Better hold onto something.”

Once the track had cleared the first hill, it sped up. It hit the pace of a normal karatan quickly, then kept speeding up. Once it reached the speed of Azrug’s karatan, Theo was certain they were going as fast as possible. The wind whipped against the cart, but it didn’t budge to either side. It flew straight as an arrow, even after Theo was certain he would release the contents of his stomach on the newly created car. Then it doubled the speed of the karatan. Tripled. Quadrupled. The world outside the train rushed by in a blur of sound and color. The alchemist’s nails dug into the leather straps as he grit his teeth.

Throk only shouted excitedly, holding his hands over his head as though they were riding a roller coaster. Only fifteen minutes passed before the cart slowed down, pulling into the Rivers station. Theo’s eyes were dry, and his voice hoarse from the constant yelling.

“Holy hell,” Theo said, drawing ragged breaths. “Are you kidding?”

“We ain’t done!” Throk shouted, slamming his fist on the button again.

The train took off again, gaining a chorus of surprised shouts from the citizens of Rivers below. Within thirty minutes, Theo had traveled from Broken Tusk to Gronro-Dir. He exited the tram wide-eyed, his heart pounding. He stumbled down the platform, looking at the town of his allies for the first time. The alchemist had only ever visited Gronro in the Dreamwalk. It was a fortress set between two massive mountains. The defenders on the walls waved down, cheering. Throk was pumping his fist in the air, cheering himself on.

“That was amazing,” Theo said, digging his finger into his ear. “Perhaps we could have windows on all the openings.”

“Nah. Too heavy. Deal with it.”

Azrugium was truly amazing. Throk had juiced so much speed out of the train that it was unbelievable.

“Welcome to Gronro, Archduke Theo Spencer,” a voice called from the battlements.

Theo looked up to spot Grotgrog Stormfist, cheering with his men along the wall. It seemed impolite not to drop in. He was already here. “Hello! We’re testing the train!” he shouted back.

“Come in for a drink, won’t ya? This calls for celebration!”

“Oh, don’t mind if I do,” Throk muttered. For all his bravado, when the marshling approached the gates of Gronro, he did so on wobbling legs.

Gronro was a town dominated by dwarves, humans, and half-ogres. When the gate swung open, the sound of cheering was almost as deafening as the whistling wind on the train. Theo had a mug of foul-smelling ale in his hands before he could object. Grot pulled him into a hug, then punched him in the ribs and kicked his shins. That was apparently a proper dwarven way to greet someone.

There was a foul miasma that hung over the town. Theo felt his stomach turn, and it only got worse as the celebration moved closer to the northern battlements, closer to the place the locals called ‘the scar.’ Theo ascended the northern wall with Throk and Grot. The group looked down at the destruction below, just over the stone bridge resting over the ravine.

The land outside of Gronro was tainted. Compared to the soil sample he had been delivered, Theo couldn’t stomach the endless sprawl of befouled earth. It pulsed with Balkor’s wretched power. No plant life survived the tainted energy. The alchemist truly understood how important it was that they healed the land. Glantheir certainly wasn’t doing anything about it. So it fell to the mortals.

But the foul air didn’t affect the dwarves the same way. Grot claimed it had something to do with their ancestry, tracing back to their underground homes. Better for them, but that didn’t stop Theo’s mind from prioritizing this problem. By the time he was ready to leave, several members of the town wanted to ride down to Broken Tusk. Even if a return journey wouldn’t be available.

The dwarves that joined Theo and Throk on the train screamed with excitement the entire time. They blew past the Rivers station and headed directly for Broken Tusk. The alchemist almost couldn’t handle the shock of traveling such a great distance in such a short time, but he was impressed. This would change the alliance forever. And Grot was quite happy that he had already found a solution.

Theo stumbled out from the train, nearly falling over as he descended to ground-level. He wanted to kiss the solid earth. To roll in the mud and never ride the damned train again. But it was just too good not to use. And if they got one of those running all the way to the lizard islands? Yeah, they would be in business for sure.

“So, what do you think?” Throk asked.

“I think you’ve just changed the world,” Theo said, patting the marshling on the back. “Our little corner of the world, at least.”

Throk smiled widely. “Happy to help.”

Theo drifted to one side as he walked away from the station. He wondered if the people in town would welcome the rail with open arms. They certainly were excited, all crowded around the area. But they hadn’t ridden it yet. Once they had a taste of the speeds that thing could do, they might change their tune. Broken Tuskers were surprising, though. The crowd that lingered all wanted a ride, but Throk wouldn’t start operations today.

Riding the maglev had counted as Theo’s meeting, but he had to get into it with Alise and her gang. He found his way to the town hall, then the massive conference room where she waited with Gael and Gwyn. They started by updating him on the massive profit they made trading with Partopour. Broken Tusk was gaining attention on the world’s stage, but perhaps not for the right reasons. Instead of recognizing merit, the other nations were amused at the way they had survived disaster. Since disaster was a part of life on this planet, it had been viewed as hilarious instead of heroic.

“Salire reported you shared an anti-undead recipe,” Alise said, sifting through piles of notes. “Are we really worried about the undead crossing the sea?”

“I won’t present it as a guarantee.” Something had been tingling in the back of Theo’s mind. Balkor’s hidden plan. “But I’m almost certain that Fenian survived his encounter. Which means I can’t be certain what Balkor is planning.”

“Does it matter?” Gael asked. “Isn’t he bound to the heavenly realms?”

“Maybe.” Theo picked at his teeth, trying to think of anything but Balkor. His mind flung back to the beach in Tero’gal. He should have told the souls to build a little beach house there. Maybe an outside bar… The alchemist shook his head, breaking those thoughts away. “He might not be. Could be that he’s commanding the undead from the high heavens.”

“None of our concern right now,” Gwyn said, nodding. Her face was set in a firm expression, lips pursed tightly. “We’re just happy to have a solution to the gross stuff the undead left behind. The administration is sitting on its hands, waiting for you to save us all.”

“I have Salire, now,” Theo said. “That’s a small mercy. I think our first step is going to be to aerosolize the potion, then drop it over Rivers and Gronro somehow. That might help get rid of the lingering effects. Then we can concern ourselves with pushing the undead curse back.”

Gwyn shared a look with Alise. They nodded.

“Are we going to reclaim lands to the north? Under the banner of the alliance?”

Theo grimaced. Yeah, that might be a good idea. But did they have the resources to do it? At that point, why would the Southlands Alliance stop there? They could clear the land from Broken Tusk all the way to Qavell, then reclaim Gardreth. Maybe they wouldn’t establish towns in all those places, but they could clear the way for others. It was a novel thought.

“Maybe. We’ll clear the land, then worry about what we do with it later. Hard enough managing everything south of Gronro.”

“Agreed,” Gael said, wiping his brow. “And we’re looking at a possible response from both Qavell and Tarantham, depending on how the Wavecrest does.”

“Right. Well, let’s…” Theo paused for a moment, tilting his head to one side. “What’s that?”

The rapid sound of a hammer bouncing off a bell issued somewhere in the distance. Everyone at the table shot up, then ran to the window. A smile crept across Theo’s face.

“Speak of the devil.”