Chain the Bandit Eater 5

“Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha!~♪ Poor Link~♪  She doesn’t look like she can hold on much longer~♪ Maybe I should drop down and scare her tormentor off~♪”

Hi above the train and well out of sight of the Brass Line’s passengers Melody laughed away at Chain’s displeasure. She was not without compassion however as she did entertain the thought of chasing off Bearings. She would not have time to further entertain that thought however as someone else’s soon intruder upon her own.

(I would advise against that young harpy maid.)

“Huh? What? Keeping up with the train must be making me hungrier than I thought; I’m hearing voices in my head~♪”

Melody was quick to disregard the sudden intrusion of her thoughts as little more than the rumblings of her empty belly but the voice argued otherwise.

(Come now, I was led to believe that you were possessed of greater intellect than this.)

“Maybe I am, but if you’re insulting me and aren’t Link you’re going to get in trouble~♪”

Melody was perhaps not as bright as she seemed or it truly was just her hunger that was bothering her, regardless though, the harpy was possessed of human intellect and knew there was more going on than just her hearing voices. Most notable to the harpy was that she could clearly make out the melody of the Builders’ Song upon the words that intruded upon her thoughts. She wasn’t sure of the source yet though and needed the speaker to continue addressing her to pinpoint them. Good fortune was on Melody’s side as it seemed the one who invaded her thoughts had every intention of persisting in their attempt to communicate with her.

(I seek only to prevent you from needlessly complicating matters you have no involvement with, yet you would level me with idle threats for my troubles.)

“They’re not idle~♪ Link just really doesn’t like people picking on me~♪”

As she corrected the voice in her head Melody traced the song laced sound back to its source with her eyes. To her surprise the source of the voice was from atop the private passenger car at the head of the train behind the engine cars. When she made out the person to whom the voice belonged though she nearly fell out of the sky with laughter.

“Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha!~ ♪ What a generic looking old guy!~ ♪”

(Old guy? Generic looking? Perhaps I am getting up there in years, but generic…)

Melody’s words had obviously hit a sore spot and the sorcerer who had been spying on her and Chain lost his train of thought as he reacted to the observation on his appearance. As he realized he had grown distracted he quickly angered and moved to let the harpy know his displeasure.

(First idle threats and now unveiled insults; truly I speak with a beast.)

Now it was Melody’s turn to be angry as she was subjected to the typical treatment she received from people and she expressed her anger with the dropping of the tune from her words.

“Now you’re just being mean. I should scare off Link’s tormentor now just to teach you a lesson.”

(Do not test my patience beast. I have chosen the path of words to dissuade you from a folly that could very well doom this mission as you seem capable of understanding on a human level, but if you would willingly jeopardize our mission…)

♪~ With arrow notched as blood red tear he did weep with bow-strung cries ~♪

From the Builders’ Song the lyrics of a verse rose up in the air as the sorcerer implied he was not above making threats. Melody knew however that the words of the song were not sung by the sorcerer as there was no mortal voice that could sing such a verse. Panic gripped at the harpy and she scanned the forest below desperately for the source of the verse.

“A verse?! And not just any verse, this is–”

Melody was not the only one to observe the verse as the sorcerer was made aware in the most violent of manners. From his side a fiery hole grew and threatened to consume him whole before a crimson streak of light lit the afternoon sky with fire as it passed through the gaping maw in the sorcerer’s side. Watching on in powerless horror Melody bore witness to the massive explosion that blossomed in the forest from the end of the streak of light’s journey and blew the train clear from the rails as the verse continued.

♪~ Wish hung upon a shooting star ~♪
♪~ Under fiery bloom were his tears shared ~♪

As described by the verse, from deep in the woods at the origin of the streak of light to the railroad tracks smaller streaks of light tore free of the many body and exploded into a rain of glowing arrows. The rain of magic arrows met the flung train in mid air and proved the greater force than the explosion as they pierced the train along its whole length pinning it to the ground on the explosion side of the tracks.

The whole affair brought the train to a sudden and violent stop causing Melody to way overshoot it as the harpy had been travelling fast enough to keep with it. Forced to bank wide across the sky to double back she was afforded a spectacular view of dozens of bandits flooding out of the forest upon the wreckage like ants upon a sugar cube. The sight was horrifying to the harpy but she held no fear of the bandits and pulled her legs even tighter against her body as she put her wings to work accelerating her towards the wreckage below. There was only thing that mattered to her as she descended upon the chaos below.

“Link! Please be alright Link! Please be alright! I’ll be right there so please be alright! I mean you’re the Bandit Eater Link! You can’t let bandits beat you so you have to be alright!”

Nearly chanting in desperation for Chain to be alright, Melody set upon the bandits as they set upon the train.

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater