The sun was high in the sky as Arc, Jack and Julie hugged the cliff. There was no cover of darkness to mask them from any onlookers, only the crevices of the cliff to slink in and out of as they made their way to the crumbling stone staircase. As uneven as it was, it was a great relief to lay eyes upon it, for it was this staircase that would lead them into the gnoll stronghold they sought to liberate from its residents.

Arc smiled and looked to the twins. “No guards,” he said with a smile.

He swept his blonde hair back and tightened his orange scarf. In the bounty hunter’s right hand was a simple revolver, that shot its rounds true as any good revolver did. The golden piece in his left hand, however, was a much more sophisticated weapon, even if it was an attention-grabbing piece.

Much like his revolver, it had a six-round capacity cylinder, but the barrel was noticeably longer. The smooth wooden grip fit snugly in Arc’s hand as though his hand was the only hand it belonged in. Running along the grooves of the cylinder were blue runic engravings that few could read.

As much as Arc loved the Golden Hawk’s aesthetic brilliance, it was what the gun was capable of that made it his favourite weapon in the land. When a special type of cartridge was loaded and he tapped the trigger, the gun would unleash power beyond the wildest dreams of any normal sharpshooter. It was this gun—his spellcaster—that made Arc a spellslinger. It was this gun that made Arc one of the most dangerous men in all of Nuvaria and his two companions were glad he was an ally rather than an enemy.

Jack was thirteen years old with a head of floppy brown hair, emerald green eyes and currently, a nervous look on his face. He wore a tattered blue jacket that staved off the intense sun that shone down daily upon Nuvaria. His sister had the same eyes as her brother, but sported long red hair that she had tied back to keep out of her eyes. She wore a long purple t-shirt with her belt fastened over it around the waist. Unlike her brother, she had a look of determination on her face. Both siblings clutched scratched black handguns and their current excursion was a training expedition for the pair to make sure they could handle themselves.

“This is where we start making a scene,” Arc said to Jack and Julie, running his wrist along his brown jacket to make sure he still had plenty of ammunition in his pocket.

Having eliminated an entire hunting party of hyena-men making their way back to this hidden base across the river, Arc felt optimistic about their chances. Yet, he knew all too well that to get overconfident was to get sloppy, and sloppiness led to certain death. He had seen it time and time again, even with experienced explorers and mercenaries.

“We stick together,” said the spellslinger, “but not so close that a single bullet from the right angle will drive through us all. Jack, you stay to the left and, Julie, you stay to the right. You see a gnoll? You aim for its hairy head. Too far away? Go for as high on the torso as you can manage. A pierced lung or heart will do nicely.”

“And prioritise the gunners over the melee fighters, right?” asked Julie.

“Right,” agreed Arc, turning back to look at the steps.

“You’re sure we’re not in over our heads?” asked Jack, trying poorly to mask the fear in his voice.

“You would have said the same before we stormed Colt’s base, Jack,” said Arc, tussling the young man’s brown hair. “Yet, Julie and I handled that just fine and got you out of there safely.”

Jack nodded. “I take your point.”

“Glad to hear it. Let’s mosey, my young friends.”

Arc led the way up the steps. As the trio moved, the jagged rock of the cliff was replaced by the worn bricks of the stronghold. Many were cracked and all were faded, indicating that this structure had been built at least decades prior. Perhaps it existed long before the apocalypse, standing strong for centuries, back before even electricity had become prominent. Arc could only guess, but it fascinated him nonetheless. As he neared the top, he cleared his mind and focused on the task at hand.

He ducked low as he heard iron boots clinking against the stone floor. There was a gnoll, perhaps even two, standing guard here. Thanks to his spell cartridge, they had made it this far without an army coming to meet them, but now there was no way to avoid putting the gnolls on high alert.

Arc took a deep breath and stepped out, pulling the trigger of his revolver once and shooting a halberd-wielding gnoll in the eye. Before the second could react, a second bullet whizzed from Arc’s gun and caught the beast right in the throat and it collapsed right as its fellow guard hit the floor.

There was a howling that almost sounded like a cackle as the gnolls standing around this lower, wide-open section of the stronghold turned to see what the commotion was. Arc looked up and could see that on the battlements above, more gnolls were readying themselves and making for another stone staircase nearby.

He fired four more shots as Jack and Julie emerged, taking as little time as they could to aim at the eight or nine gnolls charging towards them. As the squad of beasts fell, the trio turned to the ones on the steps that were quickstepping along.

“Cover!” called Arc as he saw the barrel of a hunting rifle peek out from atop the higher wall.

He, Jack and Julie ran towards a small doorway and dove inside as a shot echoed across the stronghold. Arc turned to check on the twins, relieved to see that neither of them had been shot, before climbing back to his feet and standing beside the doorway of the shadow-cloaked chamber.

“I’ll take the ones outside,” he said coolly. “Make sure nothing sneaks up on us from behind.”

The twins signalled their agreement and stood beside Arc to use the same wall for cover, but far enough away from him that they wouldn’t be in the way.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

A gunshot rang out a split second before a chunk of stone from the doorway spiralled into the room. As the gnoll cocked his rifle, Arc leaned out and fired all six shots from his revolver at the halberd-wielding gnolls charging towards his location, killing them, and then ducking back inside a moment before another chunk of stone was sent flying.

“Anything?” he asked the twins as he flipped his guns into the air and switched hands.

“Nothing,” said Jack while Julie shook her head, forgetting to use words.

Arc leaned out and launched an Arcane Shot at the rifleman on the stairs, sending a sphere of magical light soaring towards the gnoll and striking him in the chest. His rifle was flung from his hands, landing on the ground. The gnoll’s iron armour was shattered by the magical force and splintered into his chest, but he was still alive.

“Sturdy bastard,” said Arc, leaning back in and switching back to his revolver. “Jack, shoot out the door at the ones running for us.”

Arc reloaded his revolver as Jack provided cover, managing to kill three gnolls with five bullets. Arc pulled him back inside before leaning out and taking out a gnoll that was gunning for the rifle.

“We’ve got a gap, let’s go,” said Arc, running into the open with the twins following.

As he ran, he turned to look at the gnoll no the stairs whose armour had been broken by the Arcane Shot. He had been in a daze, taken aback by the magical attack, but was starting to come to. The spellslinger unleashed two revolver rounds into the beast’s chest as he approached the bottom step, sending the gnoll toppling off the edge and onto the brick floor with a gruesome crack.

“Julie, grab that rifle and toss it over the battlements,” Arc ordered as he started ascending the staircase.

The young woman hurried towards it, grabbing the rifle with one hand and hurling it with all of our might. It struck the top of the battlements and fell to the other side, clunking against the stone as it tumbled far out of reach of the gnolls. All the while, her brother watched over from the stairs as Arc neared the top.

The bounty hunter kept low and peeked out at the assembling force of gnolls as they rammed ill-fitting helmets onto their heads. There were at least a dozen halberd-wielders and a half dozen gunners. He knew he could take many of them down quickly, but with their protective headgear, a few inaccurate shots would be a death sentence.

Arc stashed his revolver and looked to his spellcaster. He clicked the cylinder over so that the green cartridge was ready to be unleashed. He then leaned around the corner and shot into the crowd of almost twenty gnolls. A glittering stream of wonderous rainbow-coloured dust trailed along after a faint ball of slight before the spell hit its target. It burst on contact with the gnoll, sending a wave of the glittering dust spreading out and over the gnolls.

A dozen of the hyena-men, including half of the gunners, dropped to the ground in a deep slumber that Arc knew would not last long. He gave a nod to Jack and Julie who leapt around the corner with him and unleashed hell upon the remaining gnolls that were shocked to see the packmates in slumberland when they should have been killing humans.

One gnoll with a flame-like mane gave a furious yapping call to try and awaken his allies, but it was no use. And before he could as much as raise his halberd, his neck was hit by a 9mm round, courtesy of Jack. Before the gnoll had even hit the ground, the rest of his awake comrades were dead too.

“Eyes on the perimeter and spread out,” said Arc, keeping his gun raised and scanning the area for any stragglers who may have been lurking in the shadows.

Once he was assured that the coast was clear, he drew his dagger and moved from sleeping gnoll to sleeping gnoll, plunging the sharp blade into their skulls before wiping it on their brown fur. After the last gnoll was dead, he sheathed the small blade and turned to the twins with a big smile on his face.

“Sleep cartridge, eh? What do you think of that?” he asked them.

“It would have been nice for those goblins when we first met you,” remarked Jack, “but I’m glad you had it here.”

“It’s a rare find, but one of the most useful spells you can imagine. The problem is that it isn’t guaranteed to work, especially on foes who are less susceptible to being enchanted.”

“I did notice a few of them remained standing,” said Julie, nodding her head. “Was it because they had the willpower to resist it?”

Arc shrugged. “I don’t know why it works the way it does, but I knew it would take enough gnolls out to make our job a hell of a lot easier.”

“Aren’t you curious about how the magic works?”

“I don’t know any wizards who know enough to explain it to me and after the great spellbook burnings a few decades ago, the knowledge may be lost to time as the number of magic-users dwindles.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Hang on,” he said. “You don’t know any wizards who know enough? So, you do know wizards?”

“I have met wizards before,” said Arc tepidly, “but they operate in pure secrecy, keeping well away from any form of society. Frankly, I don’t know if the any of the ones I know are still alive.”

“They’re that feared, huh?” asked Julie.

“After the Arcanaclysm more or less destroyed the world? Yeah, I think it only makes sense that there’s a mistrust for wizards. Even I get funny looks sometimes when people noticed I’m carrying a spellcaster. It’s why it’s so hard to find cartridges for it and specialist sellers like Jamison keep their stashes out of sight and secure.”

“Gnoll!” called Jack, raising his gun and shooting the cackling beast that was making for the stairs.

The bullet struck its upper chest, piercing its left lung and sent the gnoll spinning around on its short journey to the ground.

“Nice,” said Arc, impressed that Jack had made the shot. “Got your knife?”

“Yep,” said Jack, walking towards the gasping creature who had a look of fear in his eyes.

The young man raised his knife high and then thrust it down as the gnolls closed its eyes. An eyelid, however, was not enough to protect him from the blade that pierced his eyeball before penetrating his brain. Jack had to hold back a dry heave upon hearing the gruesome squelch and seeing the blood splash out upon pulling his weapon free.

“It gets easier,” said Arc, walking over and patting the lad on the shoulder. “Feels different, doesn’t it? Stabbing a creature to death instead of just shooting it from a distant.”

“It feels…personal,” said Jack, looking much paler than he had a second ago. “I can’t say I care for it.”

“How’re you holding up, Julie?” asked the spellslinger, turning to the girl.

“I’m coping,” she said as she walked from gnoll to gnoll and grabbed their hunting rifles. She then tossed them into a pile. “What should we do with these?”

“There’s no bounty on these creatures, so we’ll not be getting paid for this,” said Arc, “We’ll see if we can stop by a town on the way to Cliff Town and offload the rifles and the bullets. Anyone fancy finding that one Julie tossed off the lower battlements?”

“No,” said the twins.

“Fair enough,” said Arc with a cocky smile. “Guess it’s on me then. That means that you two are on cleanup duty inside the stronghold.”

“Aren’t we done?” asked Jack before realising how silly his question was.

“If we haven’t checked every nook and cranny for gnolls, we’re not done. The last thing we want is to be followed on the road and shot in the back of the head. You find a gnoll, you kill it. You find a gun? You pick it up and make sure its unloaded. That includes emptying the chamber. We leave no stone unturned before going on our merry way, alright? Same deal as with Colt’s factory last week.”

“Alright, alright,” said Jack, wishing he hadn’t said a word.

“Yes, Arc,” said Julie with a salute before topping up her magazine.

“Good girl. Now, the pair of you get to it while I look for that damn rifle.” The spellslinger walked back down the stairs and grumbled as he descended. “Throwing it over the battlements…what was I thinking?”