Rust and Ruin! Even getting shot in the eye hadn’t slowed him much. Waxillium sighted on an approaching tree and fired, then let go of the train and made himself as light as he could. He blew backward in the wind, and as the tree whipped past, he Pushed on the bullet lodged in it, shoving himself to the side, between two train cars. He crouched there, gasping, heart pounding as another of Miles’s bullets ricocheted off the corner near him.

How did you fight someone who was virtually immortal?

Skirting some low hills, the railway rounded another curve. Verdant farms and placid orchards rolled past in the near distance. Waxillium grabbed the car’s ladder and pulled himself up, carefully peeking over the edge of the roof.

Miles was charging toward him at full speed along the top of the railcar. Waxillium cursed, raising his gun as Miles did the same. Waxillium got his shot off first, and managed to hit Miles, who was only a few steps away by that point.

Waxillium aimed for the gun hand.

The bullet ripped into the flesh and bone, causing Miles to curse, dropping his gun. The weapon bounced once on the roof, then disappeared over the side. Waxillium smiled in satisfaction. Miles growled, then leaped forward off the top of the railcar and slammed into him.

Waxillium’s head cracked back against the metal behind him, pain sending a flash of white across his vision. He grunted, dazed. Idiot! Most men would never have jumped like that; it was too likely to toss both of them off the moving train. That wouldn’t bother Miles.

They had both fallen into the space between railcars, standing on the precarious footing there. Miles grabbed Waxillium by the vest with both hands, lifting him and slamming him back against the railcar behind. Waxillium reflexively fired again and again into Miles’s gut at point-blank range, but the bullets ripped out of Miles’s back without even giving him pause. He pulled Waxillium forward and punched him across the face.

Pain flashed, and Waxillium’s vision swam. He almost stumbled off and fell onto the speeding tracks just below. Desperate, Waxillium tried to Push himself up into the air. Miles was ready for this, and as soon as Waxillium started to rise, the other man hooked his foot under the bottom ladder rung and held on. Waxillium lurched, still feeling dazed, but didn’t go into the air. He Pushed harder, but Miles hung on, eyes determined.

“You can rip the tendons in my foot, Wax,” Miles yelled over the racket of wheels on the rails below and the howl of the wind, “but they’ll reknit immediately. I think your body will give out before mine does. Push harder. Let’s see what happens.”

Waxillium let go, dropping back to the landing between cars. He tried to grab Miles in a headlock as he came down, but the other man was younger, faster, and a better brawler. Miles ducked—still holding on to Waxillium’s vest—then pulled. Waxillium stumbled, off balance, as he lurched into Miles, who drove his fist into Waxillium’s gut.