At the market everything seemed normal. People buying goods, birds chirping, the sun shining nothing was out of place. It was like the explosion hadn’t really happened, though when Eru looked off into the distance towards Charmalina’s apartment he could still see the dust and smoke rising through the air.

Charmalina and Eru bought some items that they may need for their upcoming trip. They had a light meal and discussed how they should get to the capital city. It was a long ways away and had a number of different methods to get there. Some were faster, some were more comfortable and price was always a factor. They decided to take the express train. There were no stops on the way but it was a long enough journey that it gave them time to rest and discuss their next plan of action. The train was also leaving right away, they finished their meal and hurried to the train terminal not too far from where they ate.

The train was packed full, a few people were forced to stand the whole way as they did not pay for a seat. Eru felt sorry for them but not sorry enough to give up his chair. He needed his rest and wasn’t sure when the next opportunity for sleep would come. Closing his eyes he quickly fell asleep as the train began to move and pick up speed.

Not sure how much time had passed Eru was awoken by a loud screech of the train as it quickly braked. Charmalina jumped out of sleep as well and they looked outside the train. This was not normal these trains were always on schedule up to the minute no matter the distance. A crashing sound was heard ahead of them as the train slowed down. Another crashing sound that sounded similar to the first was heard and then another. Looking forwards each car in the train was falling over sideways pulled by the car ahead of it. People screamed and panicked, Eru braced for impact as there train car began to slowly roll onto it’s side.

The train conductor’s voice was heard through the system, “Please stay calm, there was a break in the tracks, please exit the train in a safe manner through the emergency exits.” People calmed down a little but were still in a state of shock. Eru and Charmalina helped anyone that could not get out on their own off of the train.

Eru looked at what time it was. They were about halfway there he figured. He surveyed the damage. It looked like the train conductor had done a good job, there appeared to be no fires and no real damage besides the train falling over. It would have been a lot worse had he not slowed down in time. The train cars provided some shade from the hot sun. It was very desert like here. Not many trees, just the occasional shrub and wild grass.

“It will take the rescue vehicles awhile to get here”, Charmalina commented to Eru.

He was just thinking the same thing. “Indeed, did you sleep well?”

“Well more sleep than last night, I should be ok for the rest of the day. This isn’t good though. The break in the tracks I mean. These tracks just don’t break down, someone must have done it. I think we are headed into more chaos and faster than the council thought.”

Eru thought about it for awhile, “Is chaos then end goal, or does someone want to use this pandemonium to achieve something?”

“I believe you are right Eru”, Charmalina snacked on some crackers, “Want some?”

“Sure.”

Charmalina gave Eru some crackers and continued on, “In the capital city we should be able to find the people causing this. I am sure there is some political goal out of this, maybe widespread change.”

Some emergency personnel arrived. They informed the passengers that they would have to wait for a train to come from the capital city to pick them up. The injured were taken care of and the severely injured were flown away.

Eru and Charmalina played some cards, it was too hot to rest. The shade was basically gone now. They would just have to wait for the train to come.