An Icy End

The gentle swaying of the train as it raced over the tracks could lull her to sleep if she let it. Though the noise was a bit much for her, the clacking of the wheels as they rolled, the cranks and rods moving up and down all made a racket. The scent of burning coal was strong in the air but at least in first class, there was no ash or visible smoke. 

Cora didn’t want to be on the train, but it hadn’t been her choice. She was only sixteen and thus not old enough to live alone apparently. She’d like to argue otherwise but no one was willing to listen. And so, she was being shipped off to some cousin in the capital. If she had accepted the betrothal to Daniel then she would have been able to remain in Thornbriar rather than relocating to Aeternis. But if she married then she wanted to marry for love and she did not love Daniel. 

She glanced around at the other passengers, taking in the fine clothing and stoic faces. It was like they were statues just being shipped to a new location, rather than living people. It was more than a little creepy if you asked her. She felt so out of place in her much plainer clothing but she supposed it was good that she’d let Mina talk her into wearing her best dress for the journey or she’d stand out even more. She had little use for dresses, she much preferred trousers, they were so much more functional! Farmwork was a lot easier when she didn’t have to worry about hems and petticoats. 

But there was no more farmwork in her future, no caring for the chickens or checking the garden for ripe strawberries, no hauling water to the house. It hurt. Yes, life could be difficult but it was fulfilling and honest work. The farm was meant to be her inheritance but her parents were dead now, far too young. Her father had only been thirty-seven, her mother even younger. But no one could have seen the sudden raid coming, it had been nearly a century since the Glacians’ had come so far inland. Only the fact that she had been sent into town for some supplies had spared her life. She had been among a group of children and women who were quickly ushered into the temple and hidden in its basements. Sometimes, she almost wished she hadn’t, that she had been at home to fight with her parents and even die with them.

Cora let her head rest against the window, closing her eyes. There were hours left to the journey, she should try and rest. She didn’t want to be exhausted when she arrived after al. It was tempting to just get off at a random station but she wasn’t quite that desperate to avoid her cousin. She didn’t remember ever meeting a cousin, but she’d never been to Aeternis before, though her parents had before she was born. Mother had lived there as a child, had moved to the country for father, and the cousin was related to her. 

Gradually, she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of her parents and home.

***

Ever so slowly, the tracks began to ice over, despite the summer heat. A second set of tracks made completely of ice formed, gradually diverging from the original, shifting the trains’ course so slowly that none of the passengers noticed. 

The driver and engineer would have realised quickly enough, except they lay dead on the floor, faces frozen forever in expressions of terror.

***

Cora stirred, shivering. Why was it so cold? She pried her eyes open, forcing her lethargic body to move. It shouldn’t be so cold, it was summer. Even the mountains didn’t get so cold during summer. She shook her head to clear it, staggering to her feet to look around the cabin, catching herself on the wall as the train jolted. This…this wasn’t natural. Something was very wrong. 

Several passengers were slumped, lips blue, either not breathing or doing so, so shallowly that she couldn’t see it. Were they dead? She shook her head, forcing herself to focus. She grabbed travel cloak from where she’d flung it on the second seat earlier, wrapping herself in it before moving to pull the emergency bell. The cord didn’t move and she saw the ice crystals clinging to it. 

“Wake up!” she yelled, and a few people stirred sluggishly, but no one got up. “You have to get up.” Some of them were still alive at least. 

She stumbled over to the closest passengers that she’d seen move, reaching out to shake a cold shoulder. “Please, get up,” she urged. 

She cried out, falling back to the floor as the train stopped far too suddenly. The lights flickered and didn’t come back on, leaving her in the dim light of late afternoon. She slipped on the floor as she tried to get up. Ice, the floor was frozen. Her heart was racing, her head clearing more. And she knew, she knew what this was. 

Cora moved to the door to the next carriage, pushing at it, but it was frozen solid. She wiped at the little window, seeing movement in there. She banged on the door. “Help!” She yelled as loud as she could and then a man appeared between the two carriages, motioning her back. 

The door rattled as the man threw himself against it hard, over and over, and finally the ice cracked. She rushed forward and he grabbed her hand, pulling her into the other carriage. A few people huddled together for warmth; the rest unmoving in their seats.  They moved down the train, finding more survivors the further they went, the air warming a little. But the cold was moving up behind them.

And slowly, a sound began growing ever closer and louder. Skittering noises, familiar noises that had her heart pounding even harder. “Run,” she whispered, unable to speak louder past her terror. There was no Temple basement here. She pushed at the woman in front of her. “Run!” She gasped out louder this time.

The man who had saved her glanced down at her, obviously seeing her terror. “Run!” He yelled, pushing at those ahead and thankfully, the began moving faster. 

They were getting closer and then the first one appeared when a child jumped from between the carriages. Someone screamed as the boy was snatched up, the life draining from him as he froze. It was over so quickly.

They were trapped on the train and running out of carriages to run through. There had to be some way out. Even when the train failed to arrive at the next stop, it would take time for anyone to begin checking along the tracks since they would contact the previous station first to check for delays. It was obvious the train was no longer on the tracks and none of them had realised, so would there be any evidence left at the spot where the train diverted? Would they ever be found? 

Cora tripped over her skirt, scrambling to get up, then was yanked to her feet. And then it happened, they reached the door but it was frozen solid and beyond it, empty land. They had reached the end. Where was the baggage carriage? 

“We get out and split up, run and don’t stop,” a man was telling everyone.

Split up and force them to split up as well, it might give some of them a chance to escape. There was no other plan, no other hope. The Glacians did not know of compassion or mercy, they would kill everyone they caught. They fed off the warmth of their victims as they froze them solid, to them, they were just food. And who let a cow go? How had they gotten so far inland without an alarm being raised? They had thought that the attack back home to be an isolated incident, but it seemed it wasn’t. There would be no Temple nearby to run to for safety, they were smarter than that. 

Cora was pushed towards the centre of the group with the single remaining child and an elderly woman. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but she was the second youngest in the group, protect the children and elderly, right? The poor girl couldn’t be more than ten and was utterly terrified, Cora doubted she would manage to run, but one of the men kept a hand on her shoulder so hopefully he would take the girl with him. Her weight wouldn’t slow him much. 

But as much as they beat at the door and even the windows, they remained frozen shut, the ice growing ever thicker. The light in the carriage became strange as it was filtered through the thick ice, the lights in the carriage flickering one last time before going out. 

All they could do was huddle close, makeshift weapons ripped from the seats and decorations in hand. The skittering grew ever louder, strange shadows moving over the iced windows and then there was a scream.

Cora spun to see the little girl was no longer behind her, the old woman reaching for her. But it was too late. And as if that was signal, they seemed to slip through the very walls of the train. They moved strangely, low to the ground, skittering about, sharp teeth and claws on show. She gripped the iron bar tightly, swinging at the first one to get close.

***

Word went out relatively quickly but by the time the train was found, stranded in the middle of nowhere, it was far too late. It actually took several examinations to confirm it was the missing train. Little was left, the metal warped and torn apart by extreme cold. 

Of the passengers there was no sign.