The air changed as they hit the foothills. The flat and open plains of the city ruins were gone and in their place were steep and jagged slopes covered in frozen pine trees. The snow here was not a smooth sheet but a deep and treacherous powder that hid sharp rocks and sudden drops. Lin Feng Yi felt the change in his lungs. The air was thinner and it tasted of old stone and cold water. Every breath was a struggle but it was a cleaner struggle than the ash filled air of the lowlands.
Behind them the smoke from the school gymnasium was a thin black finger pointing at the sky. Lin Feng Yi kept looking back. He knew the Hesperian Knight was not dead. A man who wears a suit of powered jade armor does not die from a simple gas explosion. He was out there somewhere climbing the same slopes and his white armor would be a ghost against the snow. He was a hunter who did not get tired and that thought made Lin Feng Yi skin crawl.
We cannot keep this pace Xiao Lin Geng gasped. He was slumped against a tree and his face was a dark shade of red. The sleds are getting stuck in every drift. We are going to kill the old man.
Lin Feng Yi looked at Uncle Chen. The old man was sitting on the edge of the lead sled and his head was bowed. He looked like he had withered in the last few hours. His breathing was a ragged sound that cut through the silence of the woods. Lin Feng Yi felt a sharp pang of anger at himself. He was the strategist and he was the leader but he was pushing his people into the ground.
We are almost to the tunnel entrance Lin Feng Yi said. He pointed his iron strut toward a massive cliff face that rose up like a wall of iron. The old maps showed a transit tunnel that cut through the base of the mountain. If we can get inside we will be out of the wind and the Knight will lose our trail.
How do you know the tunnel is still there? Hao asked. He was shivering so hard his teeth were clicking. Everything else is broken.
The mountains do not break as easily as buildings Hao Lin Feng Yi said. He tried to sound more confident than he felt. Now help Geng with the rope. It is just another hundred yards.
They moved like a line of slow and dying ants across the white slope. The snow was up to their waists in some places and the sleds felt like they were filled with lead. Lin Feng Yi took the front position and he used his iron strut to pack down the snow for the others. He felt the heat from the potion burning in his chest. It was the only thing keeping his heart beating at a steady rhythm.
He saw the entrance finally. It was a dark and yawning mouth in the side of the cliff. It had once been a grand arch of concrete and glass but now it was a jagged hole surrounded by fallen boulders. The tracks of the old maglev train were still there and they were twin lines of rusted metal that disappeared into the blackness.
Get inside! Lin Feng Yi hissed.
They scrambled into the darkness. The air inside the tunnel was strangely warm and it smelled of damp earth and grease. The wind died down instantly and the silence was so heavy it made their ears ring. They collapsed onto the concrete floor and for a long time no one spoke. They just breathed.
Lin Feng Yi did not rest. He walked back to the entrance and peered out. The sun was low in the sky and it was casting long and purple shadows across the slopes. He scanned the tree line and his eyes were searching for the glint of white armor. He saw nothing but the movement of the trees in the wind.
He turned back to the group. We cannot stay near the mouth. We need to go deeper.
Xiao Lin please Geng whispered. Just an hour. Let us just sit for an hour.
Lin Feng Yi looked at Geng and then at Mei. The little girl was curled into a ball and her eyes were closed. She was not sleeping. She was just retreating into herself. He realized he was losing them. If he didn't give them a win soon they would just stop moving and let the cold take them.
Fine he said. We rest for thirty minutes. Eat what you have left of the dried meat. We need the salt.
He sat down with his back against a rusted pillar. He felt the golden script in his eyes pulsing and it was a steady and rhythmic beat.
Location Identified Eastern Transit Tunnel One. Hazard Level Medium. Digestion Status Thirty-Four Percent.
He closed his eyes and tried to think. He was a Ritualist but he hadn't performed a true ritual yet. He had only used the energy to boost his body. He needed to find a way to use the Jade they were carrying to protect the group. He opened his pack and pulled out one of the industrial Jade crystals. It was warm to the touch and it glowed with a soft green light.
He held the crystal in his lap and began to hum. It was a low and vibrating sound he remembered from one of the old texts. It was a song of grounding. He wasn't sure if it would work but he felt he had to try.
Slowly the green light of the Jade began to spread. It didn't just stay in the crystal. It flowed into his hands and then into the floor. He felt a connection to the mountain. He could feel the weight of the stone above them and the deep roots of the earth below. He was weaving a ward. It was a simple thing a circle of energy that would mask their heat and their smell from the things outside.
The scavengers watched him with wide eyes. They didn't understand what he was doing but they could feel the change in the air. The tunnel felt less like a grave and more like a room. The fear that had been choking them began to lift.
That is some trick boy Chen said. His voice was a little stronger. It feels like the mountain is hugging us.
It is just a little bit of physics Uncle Lin Feng Yi said. He felt a wave of dizziness. The ritual had taken more out of him than he expected. He tucked the Jade back into his pack. We have to keep moving. The Knight is smart. He will find the entrance eventually.
They stood up and began to walk deeper into the tunnel. The only light came from the small lanterns they had scavenged and the faint glow of the Jade crystals on the sleds. The walls were covered in old advertisements that were peeling and faded. Lin Feng Yi saw a sign for a vacation in the Sun Isles and he felt a sharp pang of sadness. That world was gone and it was never coming back.
As they walked the tunnel began to branch off. There were smaller service passages and maintenance rooms. Lin Feng Yi used his vision to pick the path that stayed level. He didn't want to go up or down. He wanted to go straight through.
After an hour of walking they reached a massive steel door. It was blocked by a pile of rubble but there was enough of a gap for a person to squeeze through. Lin Feng Yi peered through the hole and his heart skipped a beat.
Beyond the door was a huge station. It was a cathedral of glass and steel buried deep in the heart of the mountain. Thousands of seats were arranged in neat rows and the maglev tracks ran through the center like a river of iron. But it wasn't empty.
There were people there.
Lin Feng Yi signaled for the group to stay back. He crept through the gap and moved into the shadows of a large pillar. He saw campfires burning on the platforms. He saw people moving around and they were dressed in heavy furs and scrap armor. They looked like scavengers but they were organized. They had guards at the stairs and they were carrying weapons that looked like they actually worked.
This was not a gang. This was a settlement.
He walked back to Geng and the others. Stay here. Stay quiet. I am going to talk to them.
Xiao Lin no! Geng whispered. They might be like the Iron Rats. They might kill you on sight.
They have children there Geng Lin Feng Yi said. I saw them. People who kill on sight do not keep children in the open. They are survivors. Just like us.
He stepped out into the light of the station. He held his hands up and his iron strut was tucked into his belt. He walked slowly toward the nearest platform.
The guards saw him immediately. They raised their rifles and the sound of the bolts clicking into place was loud in the silence of the station.
Stop right there! a woman yelled. She was standing on the edge of the platform and she was holding a long bow with an arrow notched. Who are you and how did you get past the wards?
I am a traveler Lin Feng Yi said. His voice was calm and steady. My name is Lin Feng Yi. I am traveling with a group of survivors. We come from the city ruins. We are seeking shelter from the storm.
The woman narrowed her eyes. The city ruins are a hundred miles away. No one crosses the plains in a storm like this. Especially not a boy.
I am more than I look Lin Feng Yi said. He felt the power of the Ritualist pulsing in his throat. We have industrial Jade. We have knowledge of the old world. We just want a place to rest.
The woman lowered her bow slightly. Industrial Jade? If you are lying I will pin you to that pillar.
I am not lying Lin Feng Yi said.
The woman signaled to the guards. Bring them in. But if any of them reaches for a weapon they die.
Lin Feng Yi waved for Geng and the others to come forward. They stepped out of the tunnel and the scavengers looked like ghosts in the orange light of the campfires. They were covered in ice and dirt and their eyes were filled with a mix of wonder and terror.
The group was led to the center of the station. A tall man with a thick beard and a face covered in scars was waiting for them. He was sitting in a chair made of old maglev seats and he was holding a heavy iron mace.
I am Kael the man said. I am the Protector of the Station. You say you have Jade?
Lin Feng Yi opened one of the crates on the sled. The soft green light filled the area and the people on the platform gasped. They hadn't seen Jade this pure in a long time. It was a treasure beyond measure in the year 4040.
This is a lot of power for a boy to carry Kael said. He looked at Lin Feng Yi with a look that was half suspicion and half greed. Where did you get it?
We found it in a bunker Lin Feng Yi said. It was an emergency cache.
Kael stood up and walked over to the crate. He reached out to touch the Jade but Lin Feng Yi stepped in the way.
It is a gift for the station Lin Feng Yi said. But only if my people are treated with respect. We need food and we need medicine for the old man.
Kael looked at Uncle Chen and then back at Lin Feng Yi. He smiled and it was a slow and dangerous expression. You are a bold one. I like that. We have food and we have a doctor. But the Jade belongs to the station now. That is the price of entry.
Lin Feng Yi nodded. He knew it was a steep price but they had no choice. They needed a roof and they needed allies.
As the scavengers were led away to a warm corner of the station Lin Feng Yi stayed behind with Kael. He looked at the man and he saw a leader who was tired. He saw a man who was carrying the weight of hundreds of lives.
You have a good place here Kael Lin Feng Yi said.
It is a fortress Kael replied. But it is a hungry one. We are running out of filters for the water and the air scrubbers are failing. Your Jade will help but it is only a temporary fix.
Lin Feng Yi looked at the ceiling of the station. I can fix the scrubbers. I know the blueprints.
Kael laughed. You are a mechanic too? What are you boy? A wizard?
I am a strategist Lin Feng Yi said. And I am a Ritualist. I see the things that are broken and I know how to put them back together.
Kael stopped laughing. He looked at Lin Feng Yi with a new kind of intensity. If you can fix the air I will give you anything you want. I will give you a seat at the council. I will give you men to follow you.
I don't want a seat Lin Feng Yi said. I want to build a new world. And I want your help to do it.
That night Lin Feng Yi sat by a real fire and ate a bowl of hot stew. It was the best thing he had ever tasted. He looked at his people and he saw them smiling. Mei was playing with the blue bird and Geng was talking to one of the guards. They were safe. For now.
But as he sat there he felt a vibration in the floor. It was a deep and rhythmic thud. It was the sound of a hydraulic piston.
The Knight was here. He hadn't lost the trail. He was outside the mountain and he was looking for a way in.
Lin Feng Yi looked at the green glow of the Jade in the station's power room. He knew that the peace would not last. The station was a fortress but it was also a trap. He had to prepare. He had to use the station's resources to build a defense that even a Knight could not break.
He stood up and walked toward the power room. He didn't feel tired anymore. He felt a cold and sharp determination.
The strategy was changing again. He was no longer a scavenger running for his life. He was a commander defending a city.