They stood huddled together at the train station, waiting for the train. They had spent two days in a Khethinian hotel. Xena had to admit, it had been fun. She had gotten to know these people a little, and Khethinia was amazing.
"When is the train coming?" asked Alfie, rocking back and forth. "It's so cold."
Jake stood to the right with his hands open, taking in the fresh air. "The cool air is one of the best things about Khethinia."
Maria fixed her headscarf. "The train is due in 10 minutes, keep your pants on."
Xena laughed, up, she had gotten to know these people all too well. They had agreed to skip Shlow and head straight to Lagor from here on out because their parents had called, asking for updates, which they did not have.
"Finally," sighed Alfie, "the train's here."
Xena looked up and saw a blur of shiny silver zooming towards them. They picked up their bags and scanned their phones as they boarded.
"Welcome aboard the Train of Khlovesh. We will be heading to Lagor and we'll be there by nightfall."
They listened to the intercom as they headed to the last compartment. Maria plopped down next to Xena, and surprisingly, the boys sat next to each other without complaint.
After they settled in for the train ride, Xena broke the silence. "So what's the plan once we get to the Fifth Realm."
Jake sat up and put his hand up. "I say, we do some quick recon, take a couple of pictures, then head over to Shlow."
Alfie took out his notebook and flipped to the back. "I think we should find like a leader and then make them talk."
Xena leaned in, trying to get a peak in his notebook.
"I thought the Fifth Realm didn't have a leader," Maria said. Her eyebrows were raised and she looked around the room for an answer.
Alfie pushed his glasses up farther up his nose, and moved his notebook away from Xena, "Yeah, well, they don't have a known leader, but obviously there will be some sort of gang that's on top."
Jake threw his head back and laughed, "So you want us, four 16-year-old kids, to find the scariest gang in the Fifth Realm and torture them for answers."
Alfie shrugged, "Well, we could bribe them or something."
Xena zoned out a little as they debated. They needed a solid plan, and quick. She focused back on the conversation as Alfie got up to go to the bathroom. She sat up properly, suddenly alert. She had been waiting for the chance to look inside his little notebook. She got up and felt around his seat. Jake gave her a weird look and went back to his heated conversation with Maria, something about Shlow politics.
She looked under Alfie's bag that was laying on the floor, nothing. She asked Jake to stand up for a second, still nothing. She sat back down, baffled. Did he really take it to the bathroom? What the hell was in there?
Alfie came back a while later, and sure enough, his notebook resurfaced seconds later. Xena gave him a look.
"What?" he asked.
Xena shrugged and avoided his eyes, "Nothing."
Jake and Maria's conversation eventually died out and they all ended up sitting around in silence, using their phones.
"What the hell was that?" asked Jake.
They all stood up and looked out the window. The Khlovesh had come to a sudden stop. Xena bent down and grasped at the end of her Sabule, itching to bring it out.
The overhead speaker came on and a hologram appeared in their compartment, and every other compartment. "The Khlovesh is experiencing temporary delays. We apologize for the inconvenience. You may leave the train as you please. Another announcement will be made when there is more information."
They all looked at each other. Jake got out his little gadget ball and Alfie clutched his notebook to his chest. "This is so suspicious," whispered Maria. "The train suddenly stops working when there are four heirs to the throne on it. Hell no."
Alfie nodded in agreement, "Someone's trying to kill us."
Xena huffed out a breath, "No one's trying to kill us, because no one knows we're here, right?"
"Haha, yeah," said Jake, chewing on his knuckles.
They all turned to him. Alfie groaned, "What did you do, idiot?"
Jake looked at the ground and shuffled his feet, "Well, I might have posted that we were on a little vacation."
"Jake," they all groaned in unison.
Xena pulled out her sword. "We need to get out of here, now."
She took all their phones and threw them into the next compartment. It had been risky bringing them, and it would be even riskier taking them now that they were being followed. They grabbed their bags and got into a single file line behind Xena, who was working her way onto the top of the train. She elbowed the glass window and leaped out and climbed to the top. The others followed her lead but were not as graceful.
They got to the top and looked at their surroundings. The train was in the middle of Everstan and Lagor, in the barren lands. There was dry and dusty land for miles. No grass, and no trees, just lifeless land.
"I think we're in trouble," said Maria, pointing at a group of cars.
Xena glanced in that direction. There was a group of black cars on the right side of the train that had triangles drawn all over them.
"I say we run," said Alfie.
"Where you idiot?" asked Jake, "there's nowhere to hide."
"I don't think you have any say," said Alfie, sticking his nose in the air, "this is your fault you know."
"Get down," Xena hissed, dragging them down next to her. "Are you ok?" she asked Maria.
Maria shook her head. Her face was pale, and she looked like she was about to throw up any second.
"We need to get the hell out of here," said Jake. He looked panicked. They all did.
"Everyone just breathe, we'll get out of this," said Xena.
She threw her bag back into the train and made them do the same. The extra weight would only slow them down. Xena motioned for them to follow her to the other end of the train. They were on all fours, crawling in fear.
"How do you know we'll get out of this?" whispered Alfie. He looked more pissed than scared. "This isn't some novel or fairy tale where the heroes come out perfectly fine. This is real life." He emphasized life by slamming his hand down.
His hand made a big thud as it landed on the roof of the train, causing an echo. Alfie's eyes widened and he heard the men searching the train shout to their companions.
"You idiot," said Jake. He did a facepalm and got into a fighting stance.
The rest of them got up as well. Xena's mind was racing, "Jump," she commanded.
"W-what?" asked Maria.
Xena grabbed Maria and Alfie's arms, and leaped off the train. The air hit her face as they fell to the ground. Jake dropped down right next to them and they bolted. It wasn't a long drop, but Maria looked terrified. Xena held onto her hand for reassurance and pulled Alfie along as well. "I think if we get to their cars, we can steal one without them knowing," she said.
Jake ran ahead of them and got to the group of cars. He shook the door handle, "It's locked."
"Try all of them," said Xena, going to the next car.
Xena spun around as she heard a deep voice. It sounded like a growl, "What do you think you're doing."
His face was covered with tattoos and his hands were larger than half her body. She stood for a second, completely frozen. "Run," she shouted.
They all scattered in different directions. Xena felt the man brush the back of her head and swiveled right. She picked up the pace and didn't dare to look back.
"Xena, duck," shouted Jake.
She dropped to the floor and heard a thud as the man fell to the floor. Jake stood next to one of the cars. The window was shattered and he had a handgun pointed at the man.
Xena caught her breath and bent over to take the keys out of the man's pocket. He was screaming in pain and his eyes were bloodshot. Xena noted the triangle tattoos and jogged back over to the rest of them. Alife snatched the keys from Xena's hand and jumped into the driver's seat, "We need to get the hell out of here."
Xena bobbed her head, still shaken up. They got into the car and Alfie drove off in the opposite direction of the train. She glanced back and saw the other men coming out of the train with their guns pointed at a group of civilians.
"We can't leave all those people with those gangsters," said Maria.
"Oh yes we can," said Alfie.
Xena looked back at the civilians and then at Maria. She sighed, "You're right. Alfie, go back."
Jake looked panic-stricken, "Are you trying to get us killed?"
Xena grabbed onto the wheel and helped Alfie turn the car around, "Those our civilians from our countries. We have to help."
Jake punched the back of his chair in frustration. "Why?"
They head back to the train full speed and ran the car right into the man holding a gun at the civilians. The gun went off and everyone ran for it.
Xena ditched the car and whipped out Sabule. There were four men, covered in tattoos like the one they had taken down earlier. She stabbed the sword in the man the car had run into and smacked another one in the face with the butt of her sword.
"Are you girls going to help?" she asked the others. They sat in the car watching her as she took down another gang member. Jake came out the back seat of the car and kneed the last one in the groin. Xena grabbed the man by his neck and Jake pointed a handgun at his head. Maria joined them and Alfie started moving the car back for a quick getaway.
Xena took a good look at the man. He was rough on the edges, but his stomach was round. His face and all the men were similar in a weird way as if they were all related. His eyes were bloodshed and he had different color triangles all over his face.
"Who are you?" asked Jake, coming closer to him with the gun.
Xena loosened her grasp on him so he could respond. He coughed and glared at Jake, "Boom."
"What?" said Maria.
He spat at Maria's foot and repeated himself, "Boom."
Xena backed away from him and started yelling at Alfie to get the car away from the train. "Bomb, there's a bomb on the train."
Maria and Jake were at her heels while Alfie drove beside them. They ran in the direction of the civilians and hopped in the car when they got away from the train.
The floor rumbled as the train exploded and the pieces flew everywhere. They watched it explode from the car window, wide-eyed and shaky.
"No," said Jake, clawing at the window "my precious jems."