IV - Hammer and Anvil

Make sure you read them in order, or I'll make Marie strangle you. If you don't know who she is after reading this, you really are a lost cause...

Marie sat in silence for the rest of the journey; the rain had resumed, rhythmically driving against the windows in time with the rhythmic lullabye of the train as it came within sight of the city of Regen.  A few church steeples jutted sharply into the grey sky as afternoon approached, accented by a few mid-rise office buildings that had been established in the 1950's.  The railroad canted noticeably downhill here, descending from the foothills of Czechoslovakia to the broad valleys that began at the Regen and Donau rivers.  Several students, awakened from the tired stupor of travel, began chattering excitedly, presumably about their plans for the afternoon and evening, gathering their things as the locomotive's brakes began to squeal behind her.

As they rounded a bend, Regen's depot came into view ahead; as this line was not even connected to the national railroad - passing well outside of the city, accessed by a bus at the scheduled arrival times - it was as small and run-down as its counterpart at the school, green paint flaking off of the cheaply-assembled plywood.  The building had mostly escaped the ravages of the second World War, although remnants of a Soviet tank lay in a heap near the coal shed, several spray-painted messages scrawled, perhaps Cyrillic dedications to lovers back home.  A faded German flag feebly attempted to wave in the cold wind, the red and gold hues dimmed by time and weather.

The train decelerated swifter now, shuddering over the secondary switching loop on their right, finally coming to a jerking halt mostly alongside the platform opposite.  Everyone aboard stood and stretched, some drawing umbrellas from bags and pockets in preparation for the torrent of rain now falling outside.  One by one, everyone but her left the train, and within moments she was alone, the mob of teenagers fighting for space under the sheltered section of the platform...

But the white-shirted boy who had hurriedly jumped aboard as the train had been leaving the school still sat, nose in large book with yellowed pages.  She was at once bothered, and intrigued at this; few, if any, ever rode the train beyond Regen, as it was far easier and quicker to ride the interarea train to the major city rather than the looping northern route the antiquated train would take.  There was a hiss as air brakes engaged beneath her feet, then another shudder as the locomotive disconnected from behind.  She glanced out of the window to her right, seeing the engine inch past the coaches on the passing track, then merge out of her sight to the front.  Another slight thud, followed by the sound of the driver shaking the coupling chains and releasing the manual brakes that had auto-set when uncoupled from the engine.  Several more seconds passed, and the whistle blasted loudly, followed by the booming start of the locomotive once more.  The train vibrated at first, then began again downhill.

There was a different feel to the rails now; Marie knew railroading well enough to know that the driver had opened the sand valve, dispensing it sparingly upon the rails ahead of the driving wheels - necessary as the weight of the train rode down the grade ahead.  She noticed the boy ahead, nervously glancing out of the window at the ground beginning to blur by.  It was clear to her that by his nervousness that he hadn't ridden this part of the line before; in the 100 years of its recorded operation, not a single incident beyond seized brakes had occurred anywhere thereon.

Marie placed her right hand on the seat in front of her, rising partially, then thought better of it.  She hadn't actually spoken to anyone all day, and was unsure what - if anything - she would say to him.  In fact, she wasn't sure why she would have said anything to him anyways.  As the rain continued to coat the windows in a sheet of water, he forced his attention back to the book, flipping the apparently stiff pages further along.  Marie leaned to the left enough to see over his shoulder; the left leaf opened was surprisingly covered in what looked to be medieval calligraphy, perhaps over-inked and with many flourishes.  The borders were unadorned by any illumination, and the right leaf bore a circular design, the outer ring sharply drawn in ink now browning with age.  Five markings were placed equidistantly around its circumference, one at the far bottom.

She leaned back in her seat, determined not to be too curious; drawing her jacket tighter around her as the temperature in the coach became increasingly chilled, a pen fell from the right lower pocket.  Taking it in her hand, she stood unsteadily in the swaying car, and inched forwards until she could see clearly two large words at the bottom of the page, separated by a dark comma - Samael, Lilith.

As though struck in the face, Marie stumbled backwards, falling heavily into her seat.  Samael, Lilith...why did those names ring so clearly?  Hebrew, she knew...old, high Hebrew. If only she'd had the sense to look more closely at the page...the design surely related.  She put the pen in the corner of her mouth, chewing it lightly, her curiosity aroused.  Her eyes closed as she tried visualizing...she saw the two words clearly, floating in space before her...she tried to place the design above it, to no avail.

The train jerked loudly, decelerating sharply without warning.  Her concentration broke, and she threw her hands out against the seat ahead, stopping herself from falling forwards into it.  There was a sharp crack from up ahead, followed by a muffled thump as her sole travelling companion met the hard way with the barricade at the front of the compartment, falling on his back, legs in the aisle.  The book flew from his hands, and lay facedown and open next to him.  They were alongside a minor tributary of the Donau now, well within the valley now and fast approaching the first of the Black Forest, looming darkly ahead.

Without realizing, Marie found herself quickly crawling forwards, half-expecting another impact.  The train was decelerating more slowly now, she noticed, but there was no sound of brakes engaging, and the wheels could be heard humming unchecked.  She reached her unconscious counterpart in the next moment, a thin stream of blood running down the right side of his face.  He was still breathing, and his pulse was fine.  Guessing that there were no neck or back injuries, she shook him lightly, then slightly harder, muttering under her breath.  "There'd better be a damn good explanation for this, and you'd better not have a concussion..."

He muttered something indistinct and incoherent, but it was enough to convince her he'd wake up sooner or later.  She went down the short steps to the left front door of the coach and slid down the window, leaning out a few centimeters to see ahead.  The engine was letting off an incredible amount of steam, as thought it were stopping, but surely if they were halting here the driver would have braked; bluish-red sparks flew from midway along the locomotive's length, skipping along the rails.  With a loud ping, something metallic ricocheted off of the side of the coach less than a meter ahead of her, and she drew hurriedly back into the car, falling smartly up the steps, the back of her head striking the plank floor sharply.

Silver stars twinkled before her eyes, blackness ebbing at the edges of her vision. Lightheaded, she tried to stand again, but couldn't find the railings on the wall and sank back down.  A sigh escaped her trembling body as the last of the air left her lungs, and darkness took her.