Chapter 24 · Tamer of the Ash Wilds - Chapter 24: The Face Under the Belt

Lin hit Zone Nine with Crunch's blood still wet on his jacket.

The train had dumped them at a platform carved into black glass. No rust here. No scrap welded over cracks. Everything was smooth, polished, cold enough to sting his palms when he steadied himself against the wall. The other passengers—mostly handlers with their beasts chained or caged—moved fast, heads down, like they knew better than to look around too long.

Crunch limped beside him. The grey fur along his shoulder was matted dark, and he kept his weight off his left foreleg. Lin had wrapped it with torn sleeve fabric on the train, but the blood had soaked through in minutes.

"Stay close," Lin muttered.

Crunch's ears flicked. His eyes were sharp again, not the flat rage-glaze from before. But his breathing was still too fast, too shallow.

The corridor opened into a waiting hall. Fifty, maybe sixty people. Some leaned against pillars with beasts at their feet. Others crowded around a glass wall at the far end, shouting, shoving for a better view. Lin caught a glimpse through the crowd—