With a mighty crash, the car fell over, spilling heavy bags, packages and boxes onto Selim's make-shift shield. After what seemed like forever, they came to rest and silence fell. Selim and Mandy sat there, breathing in the darkness, as if waiting to confirm that nothing more would happen. After the turbulence of the last few minutes, it felt as if the whole Earth had come to a complete, silent and eerie stand still.

"Selim?" Mandy asked, breaking the quiet.

"Yes," he croaked. "I'm here. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she muttered, sitting up and hitting her head on his shield. "Oof!" He found himself surprised that he could feel the slight change in pressure when she did. It only seemed to add onto the incredible weight that had fallen on their protection, and brought the realization of how close said protection was from vanishing.

"Crawl out," Selim said.

"Huh?" she asked.

"It's getting…hard to hold the…shield. Crawl out. Hurry!" It was draining him somehow. He could feel it, even if he didn't know how to describe it. It almost seemed as if he were using his own spirit—his soul to power it, and he could not keep it up for long.

He made a hole in the shield, in an area where there wasn't much weight. "Over there…" he grunted.

She couldn't see him, but she must have noticed the hole appearing somehow, because she immediately leapt towards it and pushed herself out.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm…coming…"

He turned onto his stomach and, with no small amount of effort, pushed himself up on his hands and knees. Crawling had never been so difficult. When he reached the gap and put his hands up, he couldn't help but feel relief as Mandy grabbed his arms and pulled. The moment he stood, he allowed the shield to collapse below them.

Mandy eeped as she dropped from atop the shield to the ground and shot him a dirty look. At least he assumed it was dirty. He still couldn't see very well in the dark.

"You two," Marlin asked, crawling over and holding his arm. Selim winced at its awkward angle it stuck out at. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Selim responded tiredly.

The man shook his head. "Then you must have the Devil's luck because any normal person would have been killed." Selim flinched at his wording. He certainly was not normal, and he hoped he wasn't some sort of devil.

"Bonnie?" he called, turning towards her corner.

"I'm here," she muttered from the darkness somewhere. "And I'm fine. Now we need to find a way out of here. I'm going to try the door on this side. Marlin, you get that side."

"Yes ma'am," Marlin replied, sounding more amused than chastised or hurt at her abrupt manner.

"Don't you start with me," she replied, but some of the tension had eased from her voice. Selim and Mandy glanced between them, realizing they had missed something. "Just get to the door," Bonnie muttered, already picking her way over the baggage from the sliding and grunting. Selim suddenly realized how lucky they'd been to have the car fall on his and Mandy's side. If not, they may have been the only two survivors in the car. Marlin and Bonnie didn't have shadows to protect them.

"Mandy," Marlin whispered. "Why don't you go help Bonnie. Selim and I will work on this door."

Selim heard Mandy sigh at the prospect of climbing all the way over to the other end, but she didn't complain. Later Selim would look back and realize just how shaken up she must have been to not say anything.

"Alright, let's see if we can open that door," Marlin muttered to Selim.

It proved to be a matter of being able to climb on top of the mounds of luggage and then getting whatever had fallen next to the door away from it. Then they had to break the door down as it had been locked. Not fifteen minutes later, Selim let out a relieved sigh as they finally managed to break through the wood and warm sunlight came streaming in.

It was only about a foot and a half drop to the warm sand outside, and Selim scurried out as quickly as he could. A warm breeze brushed roughly over his body and the landscape looked harsh and desolate as far as the eye could see, but Selim didn't think he could ever feel more at ease in such a situation. The idea of an area so open and light brought a smile to his lips. He could be very happy living here; if he could somehow manage to find water and/or food, of course.

"Come on," Marlin said. Selim glanced over his shoulder to see the man who had spoken had turned back to apparently help Mandy and Bonnie, who were both trying to crawl over the luggage safely. "Once we get out, we can just mingle in with the other survivors. With luck, no one will ask for our papers, and if they do we can just tell them they got lost. This may be the best thing that could happen for us."

"How can you say that?" Selim heard Mandy say, her voice unusually quiet. "We don't even know how many people got hurt."

"I never said I wanted it to happen," Marlin retorted. "But we can take advantage."

Intending to try and see what had happened, Selim walked out from the gap between the cars to survey the scene. Only the back few cars in the train had derailed at all, with the last five or six being the ones to topple over. Far ahead, he could see the smoking engine car with the steam and soot that shot from it blackening the blue sky around it. The passengers had been ushered off of the train, probably by the conductors and security men stationed in the front of the car.

With that thought, Selim's head snapped back to the caboose. It lay on its side just as the baggage car did, and it didn't seem like anyone had come out yet. The conductors, he thought. It hit him that he didn't feel particularly worried but more morbidly curious. That thought did worry him a little.

"Hey," he yelled out as he came up to the red car lying on its side in the sand. Some of the metal on back had been bent out of place. Selim dismissed it. He'd heard what train crashes could do to metal. "Hey," he called again as he made his way to the back, "Are you guys alright? Hello?" Finally making it to the rear-facing door, he grabbed the handle and started yanking. "Hey!" Okay, now he was beginning to feel a tad worried.

It took a few tries, and when he finally managed to open it the door almost came off in his hands. Selim only spared it one thought before turning to peek inside the comparatively dim interior. The two conductors lay on what would have normally passed for the windows of the car. The glass below them had been pressed into the sand and surprisingly, had not broken. Their two bodies sprawled amidst what was left of a tea set as well as several clip boards and papers. Thankfully, the small table and other furniture in the room had been nailed to the floor, probably in case of just this kind of occasion.

"Hey," Selim said again, not liking the still atmosphere. At his voice, one of the men moved, groaning as he went to sit up. Selim hurried to him first, struggling over the tables and desks that had been fixed to the walls. "Are you alright?"

"Dunno," the man muttered, looking blearily up at Selim. "Who're you?"

"A...passenger on the train," Selim replied, hoping his lie didn't sound too false. Either because he was too tired or too injured, the man accepted the explanation and started to sit up.

"Where's Dein?"

"Dein?" Selim asked. "You mean, the other guy here?"

The conductor looked over at his comrade lying still on the glass and swore aloud. "Dein! Dein!"

"You should probably keep still," Selim pointed out, but the man would have none of it.

"Dein," the man repeated, ignoring Selim as he hurried over the other man who didn't respond. Then he looked back at Selim. "What happened?"

Selim shook his head. "We don't know. The train just jerked to a stop..."

"The shadows..." the man on the ground said, his voice thick with pain. Selim's blood froze at his words.

"W-what?" he asked.

The first conductor had turned his attention back to his coworker. "Dein! Are you alright?"

"I dunno, Terry," he muttered as he tried to prop himself up on his elbows. Then he looked up at Selim. "To answer your question, I saw two black...things come out of the shadows of the train. It was like they tied the train to the tracks. That's what stopped the train. I've never seen anything move that fast..."

Every word drained more blood from Selim's face. By the time the man was done explaining, the boy felt faint. It was too much of a coincidence, but why would his powers act up like that? It made no—

The dream! Selim realized. He'd been falling and wanted something to stop him. That must have translated to real life too. Could he do that? Apparently, but it had never happened before as far as he knew.

This was what he'd been afraid of. If that wasn't a loss of control, he didn't know what was. This added a whole new level of danger to his situation. With his nightmares, he'd be a threat to anyone near him when he slept now. A cold knot of ice began to form in his stomach.

"Shadows?" Terry asked. "You must have hit your head pretty hard there, buddy," the first conductor was saying to his coworker, obviously relieved that his coworker was speaking in coherent sentences. "But I'll take that. We're both lucky we're not dead."

It's all my fault... The thought dashed through Selim's mind like a razor.

"You didn't see them?" Dein, asked incredulously, looking up at Terry. "It was like two monstrous black hands reached up and tried to stop us from moving!"

Even with a possible concussion Selim could see Terry's skeptical look. Apparently Dein caught it too. "Terry, I'm telling you, that's what I saw!" he protested.

The second man sighed. "Whatever you say. Let's go and see what other damage has been done. I'm sure boss will want us to help."

Damage... Selim's eyes went wide and he suddenly felt sick. What if other people had been hurt because of him? Before the conductors could say anything else, Selim turned and launched himself back outside and into the scorching sun.

The sand did not make running easy, but he ignored it and pushed his legs harder. Marlin was just helping Bonnie down next to Mandy when he reached them.

"Selim, there you are," Mandy said, turning to him. "Where-"

"I'm going to go and check to see if anyone else was injured," he interrupted.

"Hey," the dark-haired girl started as Selim turned and ran on. "Wait for us!" He didn't.

Between the sand, the heat, the passengers standing in scattered clumps and the actual length of the train, it took him several minutes to approach the engine; it felt more like hours. The smoke he'd seen earlier had begun to settle as a light fog down around the front of the train as people yelled and ran about. A broken ring of curious people watched with more than a little anticipation several yards away.

"What happened?" Selim asked one of the bystanders once he reached a clump.

The man he'd addressed looked down at him, studied him for a moment, than shrugged as if to say "why not?"

"When the train stopped, they didn't. Kept pushing ahead—something about getting away from a monster. It must have been a mirage. Anyway, because they were dragging cars in the sand..." the man shook his head. "It was just too much for the old engine."

"How...do you know...all this?" Mandy asked, stumbling up to them and breathing hard. She placed a hand on Selim's shoulder for support as she took deep breaths.

"One of the conductors told us a few minutes ago. Wanted us to stand back while they tried to rescue some guy trapped in there. One of the workers I think. I don't think engines can explode, but the guy could be burned pretty bad if they don't get him away from all that heat."

Because of me... Selim thought.

A dark laugh echoed in the back of his mind. With some effort, he ignored it. Then he shot a look at Mandy and took off towards the conductors and train workers as they ran about and yelled at each other.

"Selim!" Mandy called. Several other people cried out after him as well, but he ignored them. No one would die because of him. Not today.

"Hey!" a large hand on his shoulder jerked him to a stop suddenly. "What are you doing here? Stay back!"

Selim followed the arm up with his eyes to a man large enough to give Marlin a run for his money, except far more muscular. Selim swallowed and shoved away the intimidation he felt. "I can help!" He burst out.

"We'll handle it," the man said, shaking his head. "Go back and stay safe."

"But-" Selim started, but a voice behind them cut him off.

"We're alchemists," Mandy gasped, running (more like stumbling really) up to them, face red from running and the heat. "Show us...where the man...is trapped...and we can...help."

The large man's frown deepened. "We can't let a bunch of kids in."

"We're older...than we look," Many growled, still struggling to catch her breath. "And last I heard…alchemy wasn't limited by age."

"Jeff!" a new voice called out. The man holding Selim looked up sharply.

"Sir!"

"It's jammed tight!" the new voice continued. It belonged to an older man with a gray mustache. He'd taken off the coat of his uniform (as had many others) and was covered in smudges. He seemed to be the person in charge of the train, the head conductor or driver or whatever his title was. Selim couldn't remember and didn't particularly care at the moment.

The man went on, addressing 'Jeff'. "Stupid new design. Lee's still trapped. We couldn't budge the stupid scrap of metal, but the whole thing's about to blow! Go tell the passengers to get as far away as they can!" With that, the leader began towards the onlookers.

"Sir!" Jeff said again, turning to drag Selim off, but his hand had loosened a touch and it wasn't difficult for Selim to yank himself out of his grasp. "Oi!" the man protested. Selim ignored him, pushing through the sand towards the source of the smoke.

"Selim!" Mandy shouted again, sounding exasperated. He turned around, running backwards (no easy feat with the local terrain).

"I can handle myself! Transmute a wall to protect everyone!"

Mandy looked about ready to kill him. "But-" she started, but Selim cut her off.

"No! No sense of putting both of us in danger. Go! I'll be fine!"

"You'd better be!" the dark haired girl screamed after him before turning and heading back towards the people.

"You're gonna go with her!" Jeff growled, swiping for Selim, who ducked easily.

"I can help!" he insisted, staying ahead of the man.

"You're gonna die!" the large man rebutted. He tried to catch up to the teenager, but his size and weight made him much slower than Selim. He pushed himself to stay ahead of the man, eyes intent on the black engine car ahead of him.

Most of the other men staffed on the train had abandoned the blackened vehicle, and as Selim approached, he could feel why. The heat went from 'sweltering' to 'nuclear'.

"Are you crazy?" The head conductor's voice said from behind him. Selim paused and glanced around. The older man came huffing up to him. A ways back, Selim saw Jeff's retreating figure. Apparently the head conductor had decided to chase Selim instead. He'd probably ordered Jeff to go back while he got the crazy kid who'd thrown himself into danger. "We have to get out of here!"

"I'm an alchemist," Selim blurted. "Show me where the guy is trapped and I can save him!"

The conductor regarded him skeptically for a moment before glancing uneasily at the train. It took him a few seconds to come to a decision, and he nodded curtly. "This way. Don't touch anything or it'll burn you." He led Selim up a small set of stairs and into the heart of the heat.

"How did it get so hot?" Selim gasped. Wasn't it supposed to be an oven of sorts for the coal to burn? But they had regulators, so what had happened?

"It's essentially a new engine design they put in an old car," the man explained, obviously dumbing it down for Selim (who rolled his eyes, but didn't comment as they didn't have time). "With all the jerking that happened just now, we found out some of the equipment wasn't secured like it should be. Here!"

Coal had scattered over the floor of the tiny chamber ahead of them. It looked as if half the room had collapsed. Bent and blackened scraps of metal lay everywhere, both in sheets and what looked like beams. Selim didn't even know they had beams like that aboard trains. Maybe it was a Xingese design?

"This is what happens when we keep pushing forward with half the train dragging in the sand," the conductor muttered as he skirted some debris. "He's over here!"

Trying not to touch anything with his bare skin, Selim followed the conductor as best he could, and found a man pinned to the wall with several pieces of metal, cut up and unconscious. Selim could still make out his Xingese features, despite the flushed cheeks and otherwise reddening complexion, especially where his skin lay against metal. They'd probably have to worry about heat stroke if they actually got him out of here.

"The metal's jammed into the wall," the conductor pointed out. "That's why we couldn't move it. You can transmute it though, right?"

Selim blinked. He'd been planning on cutting through it, but he had expectations to live up to. Alchemists usually tended to be rather showy.

Too bad, he thought to himself. He didn't have time for showy. "No, it will take too long," he replied. "I've got a faster way." Concentrating, he reached into his shadow. He didn't want to show the man his shadows (and since when did they become his?), but felt he had little choice.

Once he felt he had a good hold on the darkness, he raised his hand and took a steadying breath of heated air. He had to do this carefully. If he didn't keep a firm control he could end up decapitating the unconscious man. Then he cut his hand sharply through the air. The shadow copied his motion, shooting away from his feet. They sliced through the metal like a warm knife through butter.

Behind him he heard the conductor gasp, but ignored him as he rushed forward. He'd left his coat in the box car when the luggage had fallen on them, so he didn't have much more than his shirt to protect him. Steeling himself against the pain, he leaned in to grab the metal, but a gloved hand caught him and drew him back.

"I'll get him. You get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving until he does!" Selim replied. He could tell the conductor was about to keel over from the heat. He couldn't, in good conscience, leave them now.

The conductor didn't look happy, but he also didn't argue the point. After a moment, he turned and began to grab the metal and yank it away from the man. It only took a minute to clear the metal away to a point where they could drag the man away, but with the increasing heat and pressure, it felt more like an eternity.

"Let's go!" the head conductor yelled at Selim as he slung the man's red arm around his neck. Nodding, Selim lead the way out and into the comparatively cooler air of the desert. After a few steps, he turned back to see the red-faced conductor gasping for breath as he struggled through the sand. Now that they had room, Selim could help. Running back to them, he threw the man's other arm over his shoulders.

A good half-mile away he could see what looked like a large, stone wall and people running towards it. It didn't look like sandstone. Selim grinned. That had to be Mandy's handiwork. Apparently the head conductor saw it too as he immediately started for it.

Of course, they weren't that lucky. They'd barely made it a quarter of the way when the engine exploded. Selim tried to throw up a shadow, but it seemed sluggish; less responsive for some reason. His efforts weren't enough to stop the wave of energy from throwing them into the sand. He still tried to maintain his shield of shadows, managing to deflect a lot of the debris that had been thrown in their direction.

Beside him the head conductor started shouting profanities, but Selim tuned him out, focusing more on keeping them safe. The debris began to rain down from above and Selim moved the shield to shade them.

"What is that?" the conductor asked.

"Alchemy," Selim returned.

"Doesn't look like any alchemy I've ever seen."

He didn't answer. A few seconds later, it stopped raining coal and Selim let the shield fall. "Come on," he muttered. He'd already been tired when he'd taken his little nap earlier. He didn't know how long he'd slept on their way into the desert (judging by the sun's position, a few hours), but it hadn't felt like more than a few minutes to him. Then, on top of that, he'd used his power even more recently, not to mention the heat and the physical exertion. He suddenly began to realize just how other people felt when they strained their bodies. It was a new and rather unwelcome experience for him.

He was beginning to feel light headed by the time people from behind the wall had come out to help them.

"Sir!"

"Sir, are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"Here's some water, sir."

People began to talk to them, but Selim barely had enough presence of mind to realize someone had relieved him and the head conductor of their burden. Someone thrust a canteen of some sort into his hand and he downed it gratefully.

"Selim?" Mandy's voice came from somewhere in front of him. "Are you okay?"

Ah, so that vague blur was her.

"Need to lie down," he muttered.

"Sure," she said, taking him by the hand and leading him to the shade behind the stone wall. "You rest here. I'll take care of everything else."

He nodded and sat in the sand, then plopped back onto the ground. It was surprisingly comfortable. He heard her turn to leave.

"Wait," he muttered.

"What?" she asked. Why did she sound so far away?

"Dangerous when I sleep. No one come near."

She didn't answer for a moment. Finally, she nodded. "Alright."

He nodded and closed his eyes. Before she'd taken three steps, he'd nodded off.

Another shout out to my awesome beta-readers and friends. Oh, and I'm going to be getting up links to how the different characters look. For now, I just have an older Selim. :)

obi-quiet(dot)deviantart(dot)com /#/ d4vik6k (without spaces and substutite "." for "(dot)")