The dawn had not yet even kissed the darkened skies when the fluttering of thousands of leathery wings filled the air. It was barely four am, still too early for even the earliest of the risers to prowl about, but the directive was clear.
Be at the train station at 4 AM sharp or risk being left behind.
The train workers had been briefed on their unusual passengers and had opened up the train doors for the chiros to fly in. The normal lights they kept on for regular passengers had been dimmed to only floor strips to mitigate tripping hazards.
As one after another of the passenger cars began to be filled, one of the train workers began walking through the rows of seats, shining his flashlight onto the occupants. His only job was to check for anomalies, but when the entire train held anomalous beings, his job turned into double-checking to make sure there was enough places for the chiros to occupy safely.
