Novels by Rayna

The Iron Horizon shrieked as it tore through the membrane between the subterranean blackness and the blinding white abyss of the arctic tundra. The transition was violent, a sudden shift from stifling heat to a sub-zero vacuum that instantly encased the windows in a thick, crystalline layer of frost.Matheus gasped, his hands stinging as the cold radiated off the brass throttle. "Carolina! The gauge—it's plummeting! We’re losing thermal integrity!"Carolina didn't hesitate. She lunged toward the rear of the cabin, kicking at a pile of discarded thermal blankets. "Keep it steady, Matheus! If the boiler drops below freezing, the internal fluid turns to sludge and we’re dead in the snow!""I’m pushing everything into the insulation grid!" Matheus shouted, his voice cracking. "But the engine—it's struggling against the ambient temperature. It’s like the air outside is trying to eat the fire!""Don't let it!" Carolina scrambled to the secondary boiler, her movements frantic as she cracked

The sound was not a roar, but a wet, rhythmic slithering, like thousands of tiny, lidless eyes dragging themselves across glass. Matheus didn't wait to see what happened when the creature finished blinking."Run!" he screamed, his voice cracking against the ceiling of the cavern.Carolina was already mid-stride, her boots hammering against the rubbery floor. They sprinted back toward the narrow, pressurized corridor, the energy relay clutched tightly to Matheus’s chest. Behind them, the air pressure in the room spiked, creating a vacuum that threatened to pull the very breath from their lungs."Don't look back!" Carolina yelled, ducking into the corridor. "Just keep your eyes on the light!"They scrambled through the twisty, dark tunnel, their lungs burning as if they were inhaling powdered glass. Matheus didn't stop until they burst out into the wreckage of the Iron Horizon. The cold air of the cavern hit them like a physical blow. He lunged toward the mangled, central console, shovi

The crushing weight of silence was the first thing to return. Not the empty, desolate quiet of the surface, but a thick, pressurized stillness that tasted like ozone and wet stone.Matheus groaned, his forehead pressed against something freezing and jagged. He tried to lift his head, but his neck felt as if it had been locked in a vice. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember if he was still breathing.“Matheus? Hey, kid, stay with me. Don’t you dare drift off now.”The voice was rough, familiar, and laced with a desperate urgency. Carolina.He managed to crack one eye open. The cabin, or what was left of it, was bathed in a sickly, pulsating bioluminescence that bled from the cavern walls—a rhythmic, faint green light that made everything look like a rotting underwater grave. The roof had been peeled back like a discarded sardine tin, revealing a dark, impossibly high ceiling far above.“Carolina?” he rasped, his voice sounding like dry leaves skittering on concrete.“Right her

The featureless entity took another step, its elongated limbs causing the very ground beneath the tracks to tremble. The screech, a dissonance that felt like needles scraping against bone, intensified until the glass of the windshield webbed with cracks."Ganesha, what is that thing?" Matheus’s voice hit a pitch of pure panic."It’s an Echo, Matheus," Ganesha said, her voice unusually tight. "A remnant of a route that failed. It’s here to collect the debt of the miles we’ve stolen.""It’s coming right for the front!" Carolina leveled the heavy, rusted pipe. "Matheus, if you don't move this train, it’s going to rip the nose right off the engine!""I’m trying! I’m trying!" Matheus slammed his palms against the throttle, but the engine only groaned, refusing to surge. "It won't listen! The engine... it’s terrified!""Of course it's terrified," Ganesha hissed. "You're pouring your fear into the core! Stop projecting! If you want it to move, you have to show the engine something stronger t

The humming of the engine had transitioned from a jagged, struggling rattle into a deep, rhythmic thrum—the heartbeat of a beast regaining its strength. Matheus leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the viewport, watching the streaks of gray light pass by. He felt the weight of the cabin, the Iron Horizon, and the two women standing behind him."You're staring again, Matheus. It’s not going to make the road appear any faster," Carolina said. She was already knee-deep in the guts of the primary boiler, her hands coated in thick, black grease.Matheus turned around, wiping his palms on his trousers. "I’m not staring. I’m just trying to understand why this feels like it’s vibrating under my skin. It’s like the train is part of my nervous system now."Carolina grunted, wrenching a recalcitrant bolt. "That’s because it is, kid. You’re the one pumping intent into the core. Don't act so surprised. You wanted to move, you moved. Now, keep that focus steady while I handle the physical

The train shuddered, a long, agonizing moan of metal-on-metal that vibrated through Matheus’s very marrow. The screeching of the wheels on the tracks reached a crescendo before, finally, the Iron Horizon groaned to a halt. The sudden silence that followed was heavier, louder, and far more terrifying than the noise had been.Matheus scrambled to his feet, his legs feeling like lead. He looked toward the rear door, his heart thumping a frantic rhythm against his ribs.“We stopped,” he breathed, his voice barely audible. “Ganesha, we actually stopped.”Ganesha was already moving, her movements fluid and predatory. She checked the pressure gauges, her face a mask of cold indifference. “You’re the one who pulled the emergency brake, kid. Don’t look at me like it was my idea. You want to see who’s out there? Go ahead. Open the hatch. Just remember, the air out there is mostly vacuum and bad intentions.”“I have to know,” Matheus muttered, his hand trembling as he reached for the manual rele