Since time immemorial, humanity has shared this world with forces it is unable to comprehend.

  Chapter 1

  Something was moving in the twilight of the forest.

  Sunlight barely made it through the dense crowns of trees, even through the modest spring foliage. Bright spots lay on the dusty asphalt of the old road way too rarely. Much more along the way the frightening black streaks were squirming, created by the cover of branches.

  The wheels kicked up the road dust with a tense roar. The bus increased speed, a pattern of contrasting light and dark spots was quickly sliding along the sloping roof. The car belonged to the interhaven line. It was an old model, rectangular in shape, with smooth edges and a lobed crew cabin, it looked like a loaf of factory bread. Round headlights and an oval, slightly elongated radiator mesh gave the bus a comical appearance, as if it was eternally surprised by something. The yellow and scarlet paint had long since faded, but the side lines of gilding sparkled as if polished, setting off the colors of the native Haven. All transport windows were cut across with sheets of armored blinds.

  “This is Elysium-Fort line number five, I repeat, we need a counter escort, confirmed contact with the shadows! Come in!”

  The mechanic pressed the corresponding button. There was no answer, just like five minutes ago. The driver shook his head with annoyance, without taking his eyes off the road outside the window.

  “You just dropped a hefty fine on us both, now the shadows have better show up!”

  “By the Light, bite your tongue,” the mechanic snapped. “What should we do then, huh?”

  The mechanic pressed the corresponding button. There was no answer, just like five minutes ago. The driver shook his head with annoyance, without taking his eyes off the road outside the glass.

  Transport's crew consisted of only two people, a mechanic and a driver. This seemed sufficient for simple travel on a safe, frequently patrolled highway. But the road was blocked, the checkpoint allowed only some cars through, the rest moved to the roundabout roads.

  This road was once quite important for Elysium, leading to one of the central agricultural forts in the area. But about forty years ago, railroads were laid there, and now communication was done mainly by trains. And with the traffic of passengers and goods leaving, regular patrols of outriders left the road too.

  The twilight hanging among the trees along the road seemed increasingly gloomy. The mechanic reached for the small door under the dashboard of the car.

  “What the?.. Are you crazy?” the driver snapped at him. “Don’t you dare take out the weapon!”

  “If a pack attacks us, we won’t have time,” the colleague answered sharply, fishing out the keys to the reinforced locker. “I’m not going to wait for some giant to topple us.”

  “You really are crazy...” the driver muttered.

  The interhaven transports’ crew was nervous. The driver increased speed, causing the engines to growl disapprovingly. Then he clicked with some button to the side. Along all the windows of the passenger compartment, strips of armor slowly, languidly closed. There was an alarming murmur among the people.

  Passengers didn't even suspect about the conversations in the cabin; the door was tightly shut. They were scared enough as it is. Many have used the line to Elysium many times, the route was reliable, and attacks were unheard of here, just a couple of kilometers from the haven! When the bus suddenly turned onto one of the old roads, many looked around in surprise, trying to catch the expression on the faces of their neighbors. The old path was unkempt, there were no outriders’ cars nearby, there were no other cars at all. Many peered restlessly into the alarming twilight among the trees – what was it there? Does something seem to be moving?

  When the window armor closed, it only reinforced the impression that things were going south and they were no longer safe – just ten kilometers from Elysium! The best haven on the planet! The bus was full of ordinary people, workers and farmers, there were no outriders, no keepers, or even soldiers among them. And most definitely there were no hunters...

  A woman with a child in her arms tried to stop shaking. The last thing she needed was for the child to wake up and start crying, sensing the mother's anxiety. She took a deep breath and glanced at the seat next to her, closer to the window. There a figure snored peacefully, wrapped in a saggy cloak. He certainly doesn’t care about anything... yet.

  “This is Elysium-Fort line number five.” The mechanic’s voice clearly told that he considered the radio useless. “I repeat we need a counter escort. We have a contact... What the...?”

  Sharply cutting himself, he, without even turning off the radio, leaned against the window. The driver followed his gaze. Off to the side, among the tree trunks, among the black strokes of cover filled branches and rare spots of light between them, there moved... they.

  The Shadows. Three – or five? Lean creatures that look like dogs or wolves with long tails that seem to flow through the air, and thin paws. They looked almost graceful, as if gliding through the darkness of a dense forest, moving with ease through the dense undergrowth. But the people in the bus had no desire to admire the deadly grace of their enemy.

  The Shadows have come to kill them! The humans. And they easily maintained the pace with the bus going at full speed!

  “Contact with the shadows, by the Light!” the mechanic barked. “Contact with the shadows! We need help, damn you! Elysium, answer!”

  He clicked the button and, without waiting for an answer, turned to the weapons cabinet.

  “Only ten kilometers left...” the driver began unconvincingly.

  The lock clicked and the mechanic stood up, holding two semi-automatic shotguns in his hands. The weapon matched the transport: angular, worn down and unsightly. But it looks quite serviceable.

  “And what do you propose?” the driver said angrily. “We don’t know how many there are!”

  The mechanic silently clicked in the cartridges, loading the weapon.

  “What, stop the bus and make a circle-stand? Two of us?”

  The colleague put down one shotgun and started working on the second.

  “Or are you going to give out a call to the passengers? If we had soldiers on board, they would already be knocking on the door!” the driver snorted angrily. “We have only one way, to step on it.”

  A large overhead wrench was fastened to the driver's seat in a special mount, which was used to turn the nuts on the wheels. The mechanic, still in gloomy silence, unfastened the wrench, put it on the floor further away and fastened the shotgun in.

  “Weapon mounts are supposed to be kept free,” he said dryly.

  “And you're the one who put it there!”

  “I know.”

  He stood up and turned to the door to the salon, weapon in his hands.

  “Don’t bother,” the driver said with resign. “What's the point in it? You will only be scaring people... Maybe that’s why they came...”

  “We don’t know why the shadows are coming,” the mechanic answered gloomily. “Don’t you read scientific journals?”

  He grabbed the door handle and...

  A powerful blow shook the body of the vehicle, it seemed as if someone had thrown a bag of potatoes at the wall of the bus. Or a weighty creature crashed into him with great speed. The mechanic could barely stand on his feet in surprise, grabbing the back of his chair.

  Frightened screams were heard in the compartment. The driver stepped on pedal again, causing the engines to roar. To his horror, a red light immediately flashed on the dashboard.

  “Oh, screw you...” he drawled.

  “I knew it,” the mechanic breathed out. “The chamber can’t hold on any longer, we’ll burn down the coils! Don't you dare to push anymore!”

  “So what then, huh?”

  “Don’t even think about it, last thing we need it’s to get stranded here for good! The radio is dead, you realizing it yourself! We only have four guns on board and a bunch of civilians who...”

  There was a demanding knock on the door.

  “Of course...” the mechanic muttered.

  “Just tell them it’s just...”

  “Yes, I know what to say!”

  He opened the doors sharply.

  “Please remain calm, everything is under control, passengers should not leave their seats while the vehicle is moving.”

  The memorized words were put in front like a cardboard shield – the false illusion of hope that everything was actually under control. The stranger in the cloak lowered his hand. The mechanic froze in surprise. He was expecting a small crowd just outside the door, angry cries of alarm from frightened passengers. But there was only a man in a cloak with a hood. The passengers behind him sat in their seats, looking at the stranger with slight bewilderment.

  “Hello.” The voice from under the hood was thin and melodic. “I wanted to know what’s going on?”

  The hood fell over her shoulders, revealing even in the half-light of the dark salon a pile of short and tousled scarlet hair.

  “I mean I already understand what’s going on,” the girl said calmly, “but I’d like to know how many there are. Maybe we should just stop so I can get rid of them?”

  The mechanic, slightly taken aback at first, came to his senses.

  “Stopping along the way without a reason is prohibited, demma, you should know this, and...”

  “Yes, I know. It's just that if there are merely a couple of the shadows, I can get rid of them in a minute.”

  The beautiful face looked almost childish, with an open gaze of red eyes. She looked like a teenager, fifteen years old at most! But she said it with stunning normality. The mechanic raised his eyebrows in shock at this statement. Then he frowned.

  “Demma, return to your seat. This is not some kind of game...”

  The bus shook again. Then again. The passengers finally burst into exclamations of alarm, and many stood up.

  The girl turned around abruptly and raised her hands in front of her:

  “Calm down!” The almost childish voice suddenly became demanding and loud. “Everything will be fine! I'm a hunter.”

  A minute ago, at the first hit, the girl said the same thing, knocking down the first wave of panic. The statement proved effective again. The passengers, although with distrust on their faces, sat back down. The mechanic rubbed his head under the cap in surprise.

  “Hunter? Demma, we would know if we had a hunter on board.”

  The girl simply shrugged under her baggy cloak.

  “So you didn’t know.”

  The engines roared again, with a hint of despair.

  “Excuse me...”

  The girl busily squeezed past the mechanic into the cabin, so deftly that he didn’t even have time to hold her up.

  “’Scuse me, but I think we need to slow down,” she spoke to the driver. “You don’t want to get stuck in the middle of the forest stuffed with the shadows, do you? I take it the radio doesn’t work?”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with the radio,” the driver snapped. “What else do you want from me, we only have one chance, rush out to the Wall early! And who are you anyway?”

  “I’m a hunter,” the girl repeated calmly. “And I want you to slow down the bus, I’ve never worked at that speed. And how many are there?”

  She stepped out between the seats and stared out the window. The Shadows slid ominously around the bus, already openly walking on the road.

  “Oh, at least ten...”

  “Hunter?” the driver was surprised. “Didn’t think that we had a hunter coming with us...”

  “If you are a hunter, demma,” his colleague intervened, “then why didn’t you register when buying a ticket?”

  “That is not compulsory,” the girl said evenly.

  “And it requires a license, eh?” the driver astutely noted.

  “That too.” She said unabashedly, and also added: “They’re trying to get in through the roof, if you slow down, I’ll...”

  “What?!”

  The mechanic rushed into the compartment and, looking at the ceiling, groaned angrily:

  “Well, of course!”

  The ventilation hatches were both slightly open! They were so panicked that they forgot about the most basics precautions. He rushed to the hatch and grabbed the handle.

  “No, no, no!”

  The girl was next to him again, grabbing his hand:

  “Open this one and close the other one. It's better if we don't risk opening the doors, I'll just take a position on the roof.”

  “I can’t believe my ears...” the mechanic groaned. “Are you still talking about this? I won't let a child...”

  “I’m not a child,” the girl interrupted calmly, but with obvious anger. “I'm a hunter. So let me do my job, demus!”

  And she suddenly jumped, deftly grabbing the edge of the hatch with her hands. Then she easily pulled herself up, examining the locks.

  “Open the locks and step away.”

  She jumped to the floor.

  “You know how to open locks, right?”

  Unexpectedly business-like, almost dismissive tone rubbed him the wrong way. The mechanic hesitated for a second, deciding whether to just smack the little brat over the head and kick her back into the seat. But if she really is a hunter, this will not end well...

  “If you are a hunter,” he suddenly caught up, “then where is your focus?”

  The girl chuckled and a thin hand appeared from under her cloak, clutching a silver cross.

  “I won’t transform the weapon inside, it’s too big,” the girl said with a note of superiority.

  The bus shook again. Amidst the alarming murmur, a distinct sob was heard, followed by the irritating cry of a baby. The woman, next to whom the unexpected hunter was sitting, with a doomed face began to rock her offspring.

  “Aghh, Shadow tear you!”

  The mechanic looked around, rubbing the back of his head. Then he quickly went into the cabin.

  “What is it?”

  He ignored the driver's question and, grabbing the keys to lock the hatch, rushed back out. The girl calmly waited until he stood on the chair and removed the locks. Then he pushed the hatch out.

  “I don’t know what you’re up to...” the mechanic said, jumping back to the floor, “but try...”

  Without any movement, the figure in front of him suddenly evaporated with a slight “wursht”, leaving for a moment a cloud of reddish strokes.

  “...not to die,” he finished in shock.

  He expected anything from the kid... but this beat it all. The girl was a full-fledged resonant. The cloak fell through the hatch. The man swiftly looked up. The hunter made a good-natured grin.

  “I'm too good to die.”

  She pointedly put out her hand with a cross – and the silver metal flowed as if alive, turning into a weapon.

  The girl stood up on the roof at full height, the wind ruffling her scarlet hair and the hem of her dark pleated skirt with checkered pattern. She was short and lean, wearing a light brown jumper with an embroidery – red flowers twined around slender figure, ending in the area of her modest chest.

  “Well then, Rosie,” she muttered nasally, “your first mission...”

  The bus was flying through a pattern of light and shadow, kicking up clouds of dust behind it. And all around the lean shadows was gliding on the old asphalt of the road and along the overgrown roadsides. They maintained the pace with ease, huddling around like a pack of predators around hunted game.

  The focus in the girl's hand turned into a long pump-action shotgun. She skillfully raised the weapon – and the very first shot sent one of the shadows tumbling.

  “Awesome! Crystal powder is worth it.”

  There was a strange low sound, like a short, low growl from somewhere far away. Except it was coming from the Shadows, easily blocking the roar of the engines. The enemy noticed her.

  The shadows scattered, raising their dark elongated muzzles upward. The huntress accurately landed a couple of shots at other shadows, but the third creature dodged, falling slightly behind the group.

  The bus was rocked by new impacts. Rosie dropped to her knee, she was unused to keep her balance on a vehicle going so fast. But the roof of the bus was conveniently covered with corrugation, just for such a case apparently. Immediately jumping to her feet, the girl stepped to the side and took out two more with a series of shots.

  “Hmm…”

  More shadows jumped out of the forest, just a few, but the girl knew that there were more of them. The Shadows was always more numerous than what you’ve bargained for. She hastily aimed sideways and...

  A sharp blow occurred almost simultaneously with the roar of the engines, which increased their speed. Rosie fell awkwardly to her knee, knocked down by inertia of the vehicle.

  “Oh dammit!”

  The huntress hurriedly rushed to the hatch. There was no mechanic, she lay down on her stomach and hung down:

  “HEY! I told you to slow down!”

  There was an unintelligible answer to her shouting. Rosie raised her ear, puzzled, then shouted again:

  “Just slow down, that's all! I'll figure it out myself, but you'll throw me off if you gonna push it like crazy!”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She promptly stood up, and another blow to the body of the bus dropped her again to her knee.

  “Light damn it!”

  Obviously, the driving man was not going to listen to her. Well, nothing can be done there, she needed to thin out the pack...

  Usually her boots thundered even on simple asphalt, and on the steel roof of a bus much more so, but now the roar of the engine drowned out even that. Rosie rushed to her right side and took aim...

  The shadow jumped out at her from the side like a living ink stain, she barely had time to dodge the sidewise swing of the razor sharp claws.

  “Oh? You’ve come to play face to face?”

  The shadow stood on the roof, about the height of the girl's waist. Like a big dog, made of something black and fluid, shrouded in pure darkness. Rosie fearlessly looked into the slanting white eyes of the monster.

  The creature rushed forward – and a crushing kick threw it back. A shod boot slammed into the shadows’ chest, knocking it over onto the roof of the bus. The huntress raised her already shape-changing weapon.

  In a rushing kaleidoscope of lights and shades, a silver semicircle of a sharpened blade flashed.

  The scythe fell like a punishment from higher powers, cutting into the metal under the shadow. The creature twitched convulsively and fell, black smoke splashed out of the massive wound.

  Snatching the weapon from her body, Rosie grabbed it with both hands and swung it in a low stance, like she was planning to cut down something. The target fell heavily onto the roof of the bus – the scythe flashed at the same moment, cutting its thin paws. There was a short squeal of the shadow, just as distorted and strange, like a sound coming from afar. Inertia turned the girl around, but that was exactly what was needed – she kicked the crippled creature off, turning to face a new opponent.

  The shadows began to climb onto the bus, jumping up on the run, as if an invisible force was carrying them through the air. Or maybe the thin paws were simply very strong. The first shadow rushed to attack and Rosie swept it away with a wide swing, cutting off its head with precision. She turned around again as if in a dance and, grabbing the weapon with one hand, swung her scythe again, reaching with outer edge the other shadow’s muzzle. The creature jumped back with a squeal and tumbled under the bus's wheel. The bus shook, not as much as before.

  The two shadows who had just climbed up in the back of the bus hesitated. The scythe changed and turned into a shotgun again. Rosie grinned.

  There was a dry click.

  “Oh no.”

  She forgot to reload the gun.

  “What a fool!”

  The shadows jumped on her all together, planning to crush.

  “Gyaaah!”

  Dodging the claws from the side, she almost jumped off the roof. With a miraculous half-turn, the girl crashed the shaft of her scythe that appeared in her hand into the claw-filled paws of the shadow. The huntress was strong and resilient, but even she groaned from the pressure of the monster. Shadow pressed her into the roof, crushing her under itself and... a powerful kick sent her somersaulting over the victim.

  Rosie rolled away from the attack of the first creature and briefly stabbed with her scythe like a spear, the double-edged blade hit the beast, causing it to jump back. But the huntress did not allow the shadow to get away; a short step and a wide swing cut off the shadow’s paws. With a splash of dark smoke, the monster took off on a short flight onto the road pavement.

  The second shadow was right above her again, its mouth open – too close for her long weapon. Jaws snapped right next to her dark hair. Rosie riskily stood on one leg, sharply stamping the other into the monster. Scythe gracefully went behind the shadow’s neck – and the girl sharply pushed the monster away. Her blade was never screeching, but now Rosie felt it tear through black flesh – or whatever the shadows had – and scrape against the steel of her boot. The monster's head flopped onto the roof, the body followed to... slide away, falling into the open hatch.

  “Oh!”

  Frightened screams ring out from the bus. Rosie hurriedly looked inside.

  “Everything is fine, it’s already dead, everything is ok! Sorry!” she added awkwardly.

  The idea of closing the hatch came to mind... The girl didn’t have time to mull it over when the bus shook again and the engines roared quite desperately.

  “Damn it all!”

  She hurriedly picked up the hatch and overturned it when the bus shook again. Standing up, she saw the reason.

  At least a dozen shadows ran towards the bus head-on.

  “Oh, no-no-no-no!”

  Rosie rushed forward, boots thundering on the roof of the vehicle. She fell on her stomach on the roof of the cabin and banged on the glass.

  “No, wait, you will turn over the bus!!!”

  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the white face of the driver and the twisted in a scream face of the mechanic. Then the bus loudly crashed into the shadows on the road, burying a couple under the wheels and knocking down everyone else like bowling pins.

  It seemed like the whole world had turned upside down. It took Rosie a second to realize that she was still spreading prone on the roof... but the roof was tilting dangerously to the side!

  Out of pure instinct, the girl bounced to her feet and desperately jumped up, bending her knees forcefully. Heeled boots slammed into the roof, making a crash as loud as the shadows’ blows.

  And thanks to this effort – or maybe it didn’t do anything? – the bus still stood on its wheels. Unfortunately, the engines did not sound encouraging at all. The speed of the vehicle began to decrease sharply. Rosie leaned dangerously onto the cabin’s window:

  “Stop!!! STOP!!!”

  It was hard to tell whether the crew heard her or not; they were too busy shouting at each other. But the bus slowed down. The shadows also slowed down, knowingly surrounding it from all sides.

  There was a smell of burning in the air. Rosie looked around, only to see a noticeable black cloud rising from the right side of the bus. Probably one of the engines.

  Having shaped the shotgun, Rosie clutched it under her armpit and ran her hand over the thin, wide bracelet on her left hand–her charging plate. Handling cartridges with the agile fingers, she loaded the weapon.

  The vehicle, with few jerks, awkwardly stopped in place, as if an exhausted animal had finally given up, unable to continue the race. The Shadows were busily gathering around, not bothered by the losses in the slightest. There were still plenty of them. Several rattled their claws on the roof behind Rosie. The girl looked around absentmindedly and moved away from the edge.

  Then she took a short run-up and jumped.

  The mechanic was already aiming in panic right through the front glass when the huntress simply crushed the first shadow in front of the bus in the landing like a dry branch.

  The shadow on the side made an awkward lunge, but Rosie simply spun around, letting it pass, and kicked one in front of her, casually clearing the way. The shadows leaned forward – a wide swing of the scythe made them retreat, the slowest one was hit in the face with a blade and let out a short squeal. The scythe turned into a silver circle, raising dust from the asphalt, then gradually slowed down and gracefully went behind Rosie's back.

  The shadows grumbled lowly as they crouched to the ground. The girl with a grin arched her entire body slowly, like a spring, coiled to the breaking point...

  As if darkness had come to life, the shadows rushed at the huntress, the scythe evaporated – the next moment Rosie took off, crashing into the enveloping darkness shrouded in the strokes of silver. The ferocious blows of the blade cut through paws and heads, pierced dark flesh like butter, without slowing down one bit.

  The momentum of the first attack turned Rosie around several times, she almost crashed into the attacking maws, but managed to dodge, the shadow squealed, receiving an elbow to the head. Then steel crossed her neck. Another shadow received a short poke in the chest with a shaft, then a blow to the head with the back of a scythe, another beast was hit with a wide swing.

  The bus crew watched as a crowd of shadowbeasts were unable to even get close to the girl. She seemed to be dancing around raging monsters. Without much finesse or grace, but deadly and swift. One swing again hit the two, and as she was flying, the girl sharply shot herself forward and her scythe crashed into the head of the shadow that had jumped too close. One beast passed low and tried to get her leg, but it bit into the nothing, and its head was instantly pinned to the ground by a shoed boot. Rosie, in a turning, stepped on the enemy, crushing him into the ground, and swung high, cutting through the shadow in a jump, then in a turning again, she hit low again, cutting off three legs of the other two shadows.

  The enemy was advancing. A wide swing cleared the way to the right, but the shadow rise up from behind. Rosie jumped back and almost crashed into her low-lying opponent. The mouth closed on her leg... and snapped on nothing. Crimson strokes appeared behind the shadow, and the scythe sank into the creature's back. Fiercely pursing her lips, the huntress disappeared into thin air again, and a couple of meters from the where she had just stood the sideways swing fell upon the shadows out of the scarlet cloud. The shadow collapsed, cut in half, and Rosie aimed straight at the bus.

  Driver and mechanic simultaneously jerked as the gun burst out with flame three times. A pair of shadows, missing paws and heads, slid down the windshield.

  The shadow rushed at the hunter from behind, gaping mouth and paws outspread, in a suicidal leap. Rosie turned around briefly – the barrel of the shotgun with a dull crunch entered a couple of palms in length.

  “I don't like you.”

  A shot blew the shadow to pieces. Rosie shook her hands off with disgust.

  “It’s rude to attack a girl without asking.”

  Silence suddenly fell over the battlefield. Usually on the forest road one would hear the serene singing of birds hidden in the branches, but with all this mess with the shadows, even the insects hastily evacuated. Now the observers could only hear the sound of blood in their ears – from all the adrenaline. Rosie looked around busily.

  “Well... I think that’s all,” she said, then breathe out loudly: “Huuuf... This is more intense than hunting by yourself...”

  The girl threw her scythe over the shoulder like some kind of stick and stretched with pleasure. She was surrounded by a grayish haze of defeated shadows slowly melting into the air.

  The crew finally came to their senses. The driver slumped back in his seat, scratching the back of his head. The mechanic leaned on the dashboard.

  “Yeeah,” the driver drawled. “I thought we were done for.”

  “If only someone hadn’t been burning our engines,” the mechanic muttered. “Speaking of engines...”

  Soon both of them, armed with guns and a bag of tools both, carefully exited the bus. The passengers slowly calmed down, the mother managed to soothe the frightened child. Rosie walked among the remains of her work, busily poking at them with a silver spear.

  “Hey, this is…” the driver began but stopped.

  “What?”

  “I thought... Well, you had a scythe, didn’t you?”

  The girl grinned.

  “A hunter has many tools.”

  She changed her focus to the shotgun and raised it triumphantly in front of her.

  “Ta-da! I have a gun!”

  The girlie spun around herself, like in a dance, making her skirt splash over her hips, and hummed several melodic notes. But now the frivolous tone didn’t fooled nobody. The crew members couldn't help but chuckle.

  “We noticed... Is it safe here? I mean, it seems like it's quiet, but...”

  The forest was still drowning in contrasting strokes of lights and shades. Who knows what could be hiding in the darkness of the wilderness...

  The huntress shrugged absentmindedly.

  “Even so, I’m not even injured yet. So everything will be fine.”

  Mentioning of the injuries immediately reminded the men that this was still a young girl. Almost a child. But they remained silent. The pile of the dead shadows spoke for itself – even if it gradually dissolved into oblivion. Went back to where the beasts came from.

  A checking of the engine showed that it had indeed burned out. The tinkering took some time, but the crew, with joint efforts, managed to bypass the problem. Huntress was pacing on the roof of the bus, closely watching the forest. Passengers were chatting and exchanging opinions. Some complained, others were just trying to understand what happened. A couple of men got spirited enough to step outside with offering of help, and soon the bus started to growl again. Somewhat lopsidedly, but not as desperate as before.

  “The lightcrystal chamber is not damaged, so that’s a plus...” mechanic muttered. “The charge in the circuit didn’t fade, did it?”

  “No, everything is fine,” driver answered. “Well, all things considered... Hey, try the radio again.”

  “Well, yeah, I bet now, when it’s all over with...” his colleague muttered gloomily, taking the radio from the fastening.

  When the dispatcher from Haven responded to the very first call, he suppressed an angry cursing. After a short report on the attack, woman on the other side of the call answered, dumbfounded:

  “But... we didn’t receive any calls from you! Are you sure your equipment is not malfunctioning?”

  Having suppressed the multi-leveled structure of his verbal opinion about the radio operators, their company and the Elysium Outrides, the mechanic once again repeated the report according to the protocol.

  “We will send you an escort,” was the final answer.

  Poking his head outside, the mechanic called out:

  “Demma Huntress! Come back to the salon, we're leaving.

  “I want to stay on top.”

  The answer came from above his head, causing him to gasp, startled. He looked up, the girl was looking at him standing on the roof, leaning dangerously.

  “Not supposed to do it like that...”

  “Oh, come on, I think I deserved a little special treatment.”

  The mechanic paused, curling his lips skeptically.

  “I’ve never been to Elysium!” the girl blurted out. “I really want to see the Wall! Here is the best view.”

  The man chuckled and waved his hand.

  “Okay, whatever you say, but I’ll have to take you down when we get to the city. I mean, I don't even know how the outriders will react when they see you...”

  The girl simply shrugged it off and stepped away. Soon the bus set off again along the forest road, cutting through a pattern of lights and shadows. Heading to the safety of Elysium, the largest Haven on the planet.

  As soon as Rosie ran out eagerly onto the street, she could already feel the buzz of the big city around her. The city was calling. Even before she stepped outside and stood face to face with the monumental towers of Elysium. The first building rose directly across the street. It stretched upward, past power-lines-covered concrete pillars and steel supports holding the upper tier of the freeway, which seemed to lie right on top of the roofs of low houses, densely packed along the lower road, hidden in the shadow of a high-rise platform. The tower rose into the sky.

  “Skyscraper,” muttered Rosa. “Awesome!”

  This day so far promised to be exactly as she had imagined it. Awesome.

  After the incident with the shadows, there were no more problems on the trip. The bus rolled steadily along the road, and Rosie sat on its roof, wondering if this was a bad idea. The constant wind in the face got annoying quite soon. But she didn’t get time to get back in, because soon another autocar showed up opposed of them.

  A van of new type, more modern, with angular, dashing shapes, carried the color of the Elysian Outriders. They didn’t stop the transport, only exchanged a couple of phrases with the driver, then they turned around and went in front of them. Rosie spent some time, guessing what foci the outriders use in the large havens. And whether they are used at all – their transport wasn’t based on a crystal chamber, but growled with a lapioleum engine and blew acrid smoke from the exhaust pipe from the side.

  Soon the forest had parted, and Rosie forgot about that too. A view was opened for the Elysium Wall.

  The huge bastion the hundred meters high, covered with outbuildings, towered above the ground as a concrete bulk. The gray wall stretched in both directions, fading on the horizon. The sun was already quite high, but in the first half of the day this eastern wall was highlighted perfectly. The old road, as it turned out, had its own, still active gates. Rosie saw pictures of modern gates for the highway and railway, decorated with geometric ornaments resembling stone flower petals, and sometimes, after reconstruction of famous paths, bronze panels, which supposedly were glowing in the sun. But these were old-fashioned ribbed colonnade, reminiscent of the Age of Havens. Rosie, however, was perfectly pleased with this.

  She finally got her way! She was in Elysium!

  The steel segments of the gate slid to the sides, and the girl saw – in the distance on the horizon – a forest of stone towers shining yellow and scarlet in the sun. Elysium, the City of Lights!

  Unfortunately, at the checkpoint, rather unfriendly people wearing the Keepers uniforms get her down off the roof, under the threat of a fine for disturbing civil order. Rosie, disappointed , climbed back into the salon, and for some time was watching out the window the lands adjacent to Elysium. These were mainly farms, as in other havens. But beyond the Wall elysians didn’t have to build reinforced forts. The girl was surprised to find simple houses standing among newly sown fields.

  Soon they were at the city limits. The city wall, of course, was not as monumental and mighty as the famous superproject of Elysium. The checkpoint here consisted of a simple steel grate. Soon the bus's internal radio came to life and announced with a hoarse noise mixed with the driver's voice that they are arriving at the autocarport “Elysium” and the line apologized for the inconvenience on the way. Thrown her cape on, Rosie happily jumped out of the bus and moved out with the other passengers for the luggage compartment in the side of the bus.

  She was already walking away, with her plump backpack in her hands, when the mechanic spoke to her:

  “I... just wanted to say that we are very grateful for your help, demma...”

  The girl smiled with a disarming innocence:

  “No need for gratitude, I’m a hunter. It is my duty.”

  “You are very young for a hunter...” the driver said slowly.

  The girl frowned, putting her hand through the strap of her backpack.

  “This again?”

  She threw the backpack on her shoulders. It settled there noticeably heavy, but the girl didn’t seem to even notice the weight.

  “I just thought...” the driver lowered his voice conspiratorially: “You do not have a Guild license, do you?”

  The girl was silent for a moment.

  “Yes, I don’t have it,” she answered honestly. “But it’s not illegal, right, to kill shadows?”

  The driver adjusted his cap and grinned.

  “Heh... no. Not at all. You... Is it starts today?” He looked at his colleague: “Or has it already started?”

  “What?”

  “Recruitment to the Academy?”

  “Ahh...” the mechanic intoned understandingly. “Right...”

  “Of course it's today!” Rosie smiled radiantly. “Sorry, I have to run!”

  And she hurried to the building of the autocarport – a concrete box, decorated with convex vertical segments and geometric ornaments of shiny bronze. In her native haven such modern buildings were only started to appear, but in Elysium, where this fashion was born, they were everywhere.

  The hall was huge, filled with light and noise. So much so that Rosa even felt timid for a moment. Concentric mosaic on the floor looked like stone petals of geometrically correct flowers. The walls were covered with wooden panels at the height of a man, topped with horizontal steel ribs, shiny from polish. Chandeliers looked like floating inside a steel ornament cubic cakes. Rosie caught herself gawking around and quickly shook herself off, then stood in line with other passengers. Again.

  “Name?”

  “Rosa Rubin!”

  “Hmmm...”

  An animata woman with unfamiliar to Rosa little leaf-shaped ears, dressed in a uniform like all the port employees, rustled with her papers.

  “Purpose of your visit?”

  “Education!”

  The visitor's registration went smoothly, as she had expected, her passport from Haiven was enough. While still on her way, she already thought that dragging her hiking backpack around the city would be not the same as wandering with it in the forest. And so, although it was strange, and unusual, and a little scary, she checked her luggage into the storage room. She had read that such thing could be done, for a short time. The autocarport employee said in a businesslike manner:

  “We only keep it for a week, don't forget. And don't you dare lose the key, demma.”

  Rosie assured that she wouldn’t forget and wouldn’t lose. A small suede bag, preemptively fished out of the backpack, was already hanging over her shoulder on a leather strap. In there was everything most essentials. Rosa finally was ready to take her first step into Elysium…

  “Skyscraper. Awesome!”

  The city rose up around her with a dozen of shining with glass and gold – although it was probably just polished bronze, or something like that – towers, hummed with hundreds of different cars, and was striding in all directions with thousands of passers-by.

  Almost all the buildings were decorated with ornaments with geometric ribs, emphasizing the lines of the towers rising at the skies. Colonnades, classic for this haven, were often executed in a modern, strict style. Stone and steel wings adorned the cornices of many roofs.

  Autocars and buses were rolling tirelessly along the roads, old round ones, with oval and teardrop-shaped windows, and new, streamlined ones, with sharp wings and predatory radiator grilles. Many cars didn’t even looked like they have a hatch of a lightcrystal chamber; instead, they regularly puffed out a bluish smoke of burnt fuel from the rear.

  Almost all the passers-by wore costumes similar to the current fashion in Haiven. The spring was warm, and many men left behind wide-brimmed coats and thick winter hats, wearing only jackets and lighter hats with narrow brims. Women still preferred coats, because it was too early for light dresses. Here and there, from under the hats, men's and women's, animal ears of animatas were showing. Two young animata girls passed by – their braids lay tide up in intricate knots around sharp fluffy ears.

  Rosie noted with interest that many demmas were not embarrassed to show their knees, although such legs were covered with thick tights, like her own.

  A whirlwind of sensations literally spun the girl, forcing her to turn around a couple of times on the go. The big city immediately reminded her that Rosa was still just a provincial teenager from a backwater haven.

  “Hey, ease up, demma!”

  Rosie awkwardly bumped into someone with her back, forgetting that she was walking backwards.

  “Oh...” She quickly turned around. “Sorry, I didn't mean to...”

  She stared, puzzled, at the stranger wearing a stylish hat. The light, slightly sandy-colored suit fit him perfectly. A bright, colorful scarf with an intricate pattern of intertwined rectangular lines was wrapped around his neck.

  The man looked at the cigarette crushed on the pavement, then raised his sharp, light eyes to Rosie with an annoyed expression.

  “Aren’t people ever looking where they are going in wherever you came from?” he asked sternly.

  “Yes, they are...” Rosa said awkwardly. “I just don't always do as one should.”

  “That's what I figured...” the stranger snorted.

  The man seemed to have just gotten out of the car. If Rosie hadn't crashed into him, she would have probably tripped over the luxurious white auto. Without the obvious cover of the lightcrystal chamber, even for a lapioleum car it was a model of luxury. The paint looked like glaze on a historical vase, with a shade of mother-of-pearl on the sand colored surface, the wheels hid under slightly raised fenders. The windows and all the edges were framed with polished silver metal, shining like stars in the night. Swift forms were shimmering with every polished curve.

  A bad feeling hung over Rosa.

  “Yes, that would be even worse,” the stranger conformed, following her gaze. “But it's bad enough as is. Do you have any idea how much your empty-headedness cost me, girly?”

  Rosie chuckled skeptically.

  “Not that much? It's just a cigarette.”

  The man chuckled too.

  “Well, that's just... You're from some hole, aren't you? Just rolled up in the haven?”

  He pointed expressively at the autocarport building.

  “Exactly.” Rosa was not shaken by his tone. “My first day in Elysium. I think everything is going well – because now I can ask you for directions, demus!”

  Rosa beamed with her overlyfriendliest smile. The man was taken aback for a moment. The car door opened behind him, and from it someone else appeared.

  “May the shadows take me.” The stranger grinned. “You have gust, I’ll give you that.”

  The second person turned out to be a girl. She wore a suit similar to the stranger's, a jacket and trousers, but clearly feminine, tailored to graceful curves – and generously decorated with coffee-colored ribbons and snowy lace. An airy apricot scarf adorned her neck. But the hat seemed very masculine, although very feminine cinnamon-colored curls spilled out from under it.

  They both looked like rich people. Rosie wondered if she was getting in over her head...

  "And where are you going?" the man asked.

  "I want to get to Elysium University," Rosie replied. "I know it's on the other side of town, but I'm not sure how to get there quickly."

  The stranger adjusted his hat. The girl strolled around them, twirling a walking stick in her fingers.

  "Are you a student? Ah, no..." the stranger corrected himself. "You just got here. Want to apply?"

  "That's right." Rosie glanced sideways at the girl. "That was the plan."

  The girl-stranger kept the eyes on Rosa, slowly pacing behind her. The question was: was she seriously trying to threaten Rosa, or was this just her normal behavior?

  "In that case, I think," the man said in a businesslike tone, "that you should turn around and go back where you came from."

  And he pointed his finger in the direction of the train station. Rosie gave him an unamused look.

  “I know I bumped into you, dem, but there's no need to be rude.”

  The stranger laughed sarcastically and took off the hat, pressing it to his chest. The sun shone over his rich ginger hair, like the fur of a sly cat.

  “Demma! Being rude? It is beneath my dignity. But if you would deign to look carefully over there...”

  Rosie followed his finger and stared at the intricate metal structure a hundred meters away. A small bridge extended from the third floor of the rectangular building of the autocarport. And it extended to another steel structure that supported...

  “Oh,” Rosie figured out. “This is the monorail station, isn't it?”

  “Exactly,” the stranger spoke tartly. “I just wanted to suggest going by rail. You need the University station, maps of the track placed in each cart.”

  “Thank you,” Rosie said slowly. “I just assumed that you would be rude to me, that's all.”

  He chuckled, put his hat back on with nimble motion. His companion showed expression for the first time – her lip twitched in a curt smile. Sharp pinkish eyes gave Rosa the feeling that she was being wrapped in packaging...

  “Figured so. You know, I reckon you'll fit here right in. Now, if you'll excuse me...”

  He stepped forward, planning to peacefully go about his business... but Rosie blocked his way. The stranger raised his eyebrows, puzzled.

  “Anything else?”

  “Oh yes. I may be a country bumpkin, but even where I live, they know that touching the hunter's weapon is bad luck.”

  Rosa held out her hand demandingly.

  Almost immediately after the collision, she felt loss of her focus. A challenge flashed in the stranger's eyes.

  “Oh? So we have a huntress here, are we not...”

  Rosie responded with a grim expression, not lowering her hand.

  “And what if that’s the case?”

  The man tossed on his palm focus-cross, which appeared like out of nowhere. He held it out in his hand and examined it with expertise.

  “You know, it would cover any damage...”

  “Please,” Rosie cut him off frostily, “return my weapon back to me.”

  Suddenly she jerked to the side sharply. The girl with a cane give a taunting grin – her short step could easily stayed unnoticed. Now all three, openly, stood in almost tense poses, the good nature evaporated without a trace...

  “Ahh, what of it!”

  The stranger casually threw a focus to Rosie. It tumbled in the air and... evaporated among scarlet strokes. Rosie twirled the cross in her hand, irritated, and hung it on her belt with a trained motion.

  “Thank you,” she grumbled grimly. “For the directions.”

  The man chuckled.

  “Show-off.” He mockingly touched his hat: “Well, now if you'll excuse me...”

  He went up the street, away from the autocarport. His companion gave Rosie a disdainful look, who responded with a gloomy face. They played a staring contest until the dubious stranger turned away, following her companion. Rosa snorted with announce and walked back to the station.

  “I wonder if he didn't lie at least?”

  A little bit away, already blending with the passers-by, a pair of well-dressed young people exchanged knowing glances.

  “Since you didn't object,” Red intoned, “then I take it...”

  Silence pointedly jingled a key with a number on the ring, the kind they gave out at the autocarport storage room.

  “Sweet! We'll stop by on the way back...”