31 Injured

Amon slowly opened his eyes and stared at the dark sky above. He could see the stars emitting light to the best of their abilities as if to give him a magnificent show. For a while, he merely gazed at the black canopy, almost forgetting about the mortal shell that served as his body.

He was just about to forget himself in the heavenly lights when he suddenly remembered about the train. He couldn't remember what had happened after the train derailed, but he felt like he managed to protect Ven from a majority of the impact. This, in turn, meant that he suffered the brunt of the shock.

Unwilling to stay laying down forever, Amon tried to get up but was nailed to the ground by the intense pain that invaded his body. It was so bad that it almost made him faint. From what he could guess, he surely had a variety of broken bones throughout his body.

Thankfully, no vital organs seemed to be injured, which meant that he would only need time to recover. Had a significant viscera, like his heart or lungs, been pierced by a broken rib, he would be dead right now.

Amon considered himself lucky to be alive, but that did nothing to alleviate his current predicament. With his body in such a state of disrepair, he would be hard-pressed to seek medical attention. Furthermore, he couldn't have landed far away from the site of the crash, and the Order was bound to send someone to investigate.

If he were found at that moment, he would have little chance of survival. His problems didn't stop there; he still suffered the backlash from using his enhancement to its full potential. It was likely that even if his bones weren't broken, he would have a hard time moving.

His muscles were ruptured and would need a long time to heal. As such, Amon could only look up to the stars above and curse his bad luck. At the very least, he had accomplished his mission.

Even if Stormbringer suffered a lighter crash, being in the locomotive when it happened, he would most likely still die. Stormbringer had been in a terrible condition so the impact would send him to an early grave.

While thoughts swirled inside his mind, Amon heard a rustling sound nearby. He instinctively reached to his hip to draw his sword, but the pain reminded him of the reality of his situation. Like a captive prey, Amon could only wait and see what kind of predator was coming for him.

The sounds were steadily approaching him, but they were incredibly slow. At that moment, Amon realized that these footsteps dragging on the soft soil were most likely from a survivor of the crash.

The only other passenger being Ven, it was most likely that she was coming towards him.

Without even seeing her, Amon breathed a sigh of relief. The mere fact that she could walk indicated that she had suffered considerably lighter injuries. After a few minutes, Amon saw the light of the stars being slightly obscured as a figure knelt over him.

It took Amon a few moments to discern the traits of this figure, but a slightly painful smile drew itself on his lips when he recognized who it was.

Ven's beautiful features were slathered with a mix of dirt and blood. Her long, flowing hair was caked in a layer of grime, but besides that, she seemed fine. She reached to Amon's neck, likely to test for a pulse but she interrupted her movement when she realized he was looking straight at her.

She let herself fall down beside him as she let out a sigh of relief. She was worried that he had died trying to protect her. She would never have forgiven herself if that was the case, so she was relieved by the outcome.

After a while, she spoke to Amon in a rough voice. "We have to get up and leave. This isn't the best place to take a nap."

She waited a few seconds for a response, but when she realized Amon wasn't going to answer her, she got slightly upset. She was about to berate him over his silence when she realized that one of his legs was bent in an unnatural angle.

After this initial assessment, she once again bent over his body and examined it more closely. She soon realized that his injuries were far more severe than she had first anticipated.

She bit her lower lip as she thought about the best course of action. She had no way of calling for help, and she didn't the time nor the resources to make a stretcher.

If she were to carry him in his current condition, it was likely that he would suffer intense pain with every step she took. However, she didn't have a better option, so she got up on her feet.

"I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt, a lot. I'll transport you until I can find a good place for us to rest and recover."

With those words, Ven bent down and slid one of her arms under Amon's legs, and the other under his back. She flexed her muscles and lifted the man in the air. He was heavier than she first anticipated, but she had no problem holding him.

However, his weight might prove a problem for long-distance travel. Ven prayed that they had crossed a sufficient distance in the magnetic train and were close to a settlement.

They were about fifty meters from the train tracks, but Ven didn't attempt to get closer to them. Her idea was to follow the tracks until she found some sort of town or village. This was a much better idea than wandering in any direction.

However, Ven wanted to keep a certain distance from the track to avoid seeming too inconspicuous.

As Ven was transporting him, Amon was agonizing on the inside. He knew that she didn't have a choice, but the pain from his broken bones was killing him. He resorted to counting the stars above to distract him from the suffering, but it was only mildly successful.

The evening was rapidly turning into night, and Ven wasn't comfortable advancing in pitch black darkness. However, she knew that Amon needed medical treatment as soon as possible and she didn't want to delay any more.

As such, she made the difficult decision of continuing to advance. She was much more careful, but she barely slowed down her pace. After nearly an hour of this excruciating walk, Ven noticed something in the dark.

There were some sparse trees near the tracks, and on one of those trees, there was a figure seemingly resting.

At first, Ven wanted to avoid that figure as she was well aware that she wasn't equipped to fight a wild animal, especially with Amon in tow. However, a sudden idea sprung in her mind, and she decided to investigate.

When she got about twenty meters away from the figure, it reacted to the sound of her footstep and wriggled in place. Ven continued her advance and soon arrived face to face with the figure that was seated with its back on the tree.

It turned out that the figure was Stormbringer. Ven soon noticed that there was a thick piece of metal lodged in his side, and there was a trickle of blood soaking the ground under him. At the same time that Ven recognized the figure, it seemed that Stormbringer also identified Ven with the last strand of light from the setting sun.

A sour expression coloured his face when he realized that his plan had mostly failed. He had hoped that by derailing the train, he would kill the two Ravens but their presence in front of him proved his hopes futile.

Stormbringer let out a heavy laugh, interspersed with fits of coughing. "Have you come to laugh at me? Curse me for my failures? Make sure I died in as much pain as possible?"

Ven shook her head, and a tinge of pity filled her eyes. The once proud warrior, a favoured son of the Order, was dying with a piece of twisted metal in his flank as a final companion. However, she wasn's soft enough to extend a helping hand to an enemy.

"I don't think you need to my help to die. Judging by your wounds, the following hour will be your last. I also don't intend to humiliate you any further. You were a great warrior and fought with great intelligence. A pity you fought for the wrong cause.

-What, do you think the Ravens are some sort of noble liberators? The Ravens are merely a bunch of terrorists. The Order brought peace and stability to this world. What more do you want?

-I don't expect someone like you, raised and sheltered by the Order to understand."

With those bitter words, Ven sidestepped the tree against which Stormbringer was lying and walked away, showered by his curses.