As I stepped into the terminal, the place felt emptier than I had expected. Fewer people moved along the corridors, their footsteps echoing off the high ceilings. Shops lined the halls,all shuttered and empty. I passed corridor after corridor, each blending into the next, forcing myself to pick out the scattered exits.
This place dwarfed the station in Ehrfurt.
Surprisingly, none of the signs I looked for were where Father had said they would be. There was no coffee shop tucked by a side entrance, nor any sign pointing to the theatre house he claimed stood right in front of the building.
I cursed under my breath, fumbling through my purse for the map.
It should have been here, yet there was nothing and not a soul in sight as I took in my surroundings.
This was supposed to be a crowded platform, especially on a day like today, with seasoned merchants from all across the country heading to the massive event.
Unless I’m too far behind schedule.
I headed for the nearest doors, pushing through the metal frames, only to find a very different city than I had imagined.
An anxious weight settled in my gut.
Instead of busy streets filled with cars and rushing dwellers, a stone-paved path stretched before me, winding into a thick wall of pine trees and shadowy underbrush. The woods were thick with fog, darkened by swollen clouds blotting out the sunlight. More dreadful than I had noticed on the train.
Streetlamps stood like sentinels along the path, the bulbs unlit and lifeless. There was no movement.
As I glimpsed the horizon, my gaze snagged on smoke rising beyond the woods and the silhouette of a structure. It had to be the city’s centre, and this...
Probably just a park.
I started moving, dragging my luggage behind me as its wheels clattered too loudly over the dirt-filled stones.
Boarding another train would take longer than simply walking, and I could no longer bear sitting.
Crisp autumn air bit my skin, forcing me to blow a warm breath into my freezing hands. I tugged my coat tighter around my neck, shielding the thin shirt beneath it from the cutting cold. I wasn’t expecting to walk through a blasted park, if I could call it that. At least my leather pants and ankle boots braced me well against the gust. My own hair was doing a decent job of covering my ears for now, but in this humidity, the copper strands were already darkening and springing into frizz.
More trees, more streetlights.
The deeper I went, the quieter it became. Not a bird, not a scurrying animal, nothing but the dull crunch of dead leaves and the bumps of my luggage on the ground. I took stock of my surroundings, the mist, the shadows, straining to see as far as I could beyond the greenery, yet hearing no whisper of traffic or another person.
A growing knot tightened in my stomach.
Pale shafts of sunlight struggled through the canopy, their warmth nearly gone. The Capital’s weather lived up to its reputation.
It wasn’t until a rustle shattered the suffocating silence beside me, followed by the snap of a twig, that I halted. This time, it wasn’t the wind.
My eyes darted around urgently, but I could see nothing that had caused the noise.
A prickling chill raised the hairs on my arm. My pulse spiked, the air suddenly too thin.
I went to take my next step, but caught a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye. A low, angry growl rose from the trees. Thenitcame out of the bush.
Razor-sharp claws emerged from behind the twisted branches, scraping eerily slow against the earth. A skeletalcreature hunched on all fours, slightly larger than a hound, loomed only a few metres away. Its body was covered in mottled grey fur, but patches lay bare, exposing hollowed recesses where...bones jutted through.
My breath caught in my throat.
Against the dense fog, its eyes, red and glowing, locked onto me.
I stumbled back, my heart thundering wildly, nearly choking me. My mouth went bone-dry.
Another growl rumbled from its maw, jagged teeth bared, as the creature advanced.
My legs trembled, numbed by fear and rendered useless. Yet if I ran, it would only give chase. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
