Magnus

In hindsight, I should have just shot the Rook in the leg as soon as we saw her. Things had just been going so well, it would have been a shame to spoil them.

As planned, the majority of the Obsidian Outlaws had been deployed on the opposite side of town. They had been given strict orders to only use covering fire and leave any serious threats to the vultures.

I couldn’t tell how things were going as I circled around with Cyrus, Alice and Sean, but I trusted my people to do a good job. Cyrus had informed me of Clearvein’s defences the best he could on the ride over, including the fact that they had armed several townsfolk with dynamite and Rook weapons.

It would make things more difficult, but I was still confident that my outlaws could hold their attention in one place for at least twenty minutes or so.

I had given permission to take out the most dangerous targets without using lethal force, and trusted my crew to obey that order. Crystal webbing and vultures could be used to great effect in disabling targets, it was just a shame that we had needed to take the last scorpion with our smaller squad.

The petrifying beam could be put to great effect at range, and as long as you were careful it would leave people in a state they could be recovered from. Unfortunately Sam, the unlucky outlaw that had been petrified by the very same ruby scorpion we had brought into town, had his crystal body shattered when Kate had transformed and attacked.

Recovery from such a state was beyond even the Sovereign. His safety had been my responsibility, the same as the outlaws Kate had reduced to ash and those that had been crushed by the snake in town.

Even for a first mission I had made far too many mistakes. I didn’t want to make any more.

The planned attack had been going so well at first. Alice, Cyrus and I had needed to leave Sean on the outskirts of town but we had been able to sneak in ourselves just fine. Shimmer and Sparkle had followed close behind me the whole time of course.

The giant scorpion would have definitely got us spotted within seconds, but my salamanders could move fast and stayed close to the ground. Perfect allies for a thief like me.

There had only been a single Rook actually guarding Kate’s room. I assumed that was likely due to the fact that we shouldn’t have known where she was staying.

It was a little surprising they could spare a single guard at all with the show we were putting on over at the other end of the town. I almost suspected it might be a trap, but the guard went down easily enough once I snuck up behind him and knocked him out with a pistol whip to the temple.

I winced as I set his limp body down carefully. I knew Cyrus almost certainly didn’t approve but he stayed silent and kept watching our backs as we moved up the staircase to Kate’s room.

That was when I started getting the sense that things were going to go sideways. I saw the look in Cyrus’ eyes as he stared at the door, the sound of gunshots and explosives booming in the distance.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him my best attempt at a supportive look.

“All you Cyrus. She won’t be expecting you, we’ll take her down as soon as she opens the door.”

The gunslinger nodded gravely and removed his mask. We had decided this would be the best way to catch the mage off guard and take her out of town to be petrified. She certainly wouldn’t be expecting to see a ghost after all.

Alice and I had stepped aside and let Cyrus knock on the door. Every second that passed until it opened was painful.

I knew we didn’t have long, and that the other Obsidian Outlaws were putting themselves in danger for us. Each gunshot, explosion and distant cry made me fear that I had lost someone else.

When the door did open the three of us moved as one. We didn’t want to waste even a split second of the surprise that Cyrus’ appearance had earned us.

Kate barely had time to let out a muffled cry before I had swept into the room and wrapped my arm around her neck. Alice drew a revolver and pointed it directly between her eyes as Cyrus did the same.

They had been ordered to fire at the first sign of magic or transformation, but thankfully it didn’t come to that. I could have sworn I started to feel my hair stand on end and the air growing uncomfortably hot for a second as Kate struggled, but then she succumbed to my sleeper hold and everything was still once more.

I took a deep breath before heaving the researcher over my shoulder and looking to my two companions.

“Close one. That could have ended badly.” I shook my head and turned to Cyrus. “Anything you need here? Otherwise we’re heading out now.”

The gunslinger definitely still looked troubled and clearly had a hard time looking away from the limp form of Kate in my arms. I could understand how all this would be very hard for him to process, especially since he still hadn’t seen any definitive proof that Kate was what we said she was.

“I promise you, we’ll get this worked out and both get some answers. Right now we just need to get out of here before she wakes up. Alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Cyrus sighed and shook his head. “Betraying her trust like that? Feels wrong. Even if what you told me is true. I believe you and I saw her basically laughing at me while I was passing out back at the camp, but still…”

“I understand. But do us all a favour and save the inner turmoil for when we’re somewhere safe? The other outlaws are putting their lives on the line for us right now.”

I didn’t like to be so blunt, but I didn’t feel I had much choice. I didn’t know how long Kate would be out and she was practically a ticking time bomb until we got her petrified.

In response Cyrus simply nodded. I appreciated that he could so easily switch to his more professional mindset like that.

“My pay, feels pretty wrong leaving it.” Cyrus rushed over to one of the beds, reaching under the pillow and retrieving a small pouch of gold.

I waited patiently as he also retrieved a large backpack that I assumed he carried most of his gear in and a large sack bulging with crystal chunks.

“Ought to leave the crystals. Will only slow us down.” I nodded to the heavy sack.

“Was counting on them to pay for some essentials.”

“How much they worth?”

“Enough to keep me going for a month or so. I’ll need it to cover my ammo and every coin is going to count when I start looking into getting a new arm.”

“I’ll cover it when we get back. Call it a signing bonus.”

Cyrus hesitated for a second. I could understand his mental struggle. Survival was everything out here, and even if I promised to pay him back it would be a challenge to just leave what was essentially a bag of money behind.

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“We’re on a strict timer here. Money won’t do you any good if you aren’t alive to spend it.”

“Alright.”

Thankfully Cyrus didn’t argue any further. He simply threw the sack back onto his bed and with that done we were able to leave the room without further issue.

I was about to call for Sean when we ran into the Rook on the stairs. I had tried to handle things peacefully and thought I got somewhere with her, but then she brought her weapon down and collapsed the entire staircase underneath us.

I didn’t have much time to react in the moment and I was in a pretty bad spot thanks to the fact that I was carrying Kate over my shoulder. I honestly hadn’t expected the Rook to make such a move when we had a hostage but I had clearly underestimated her.

The most I could manage as the stairs gave out from under me and I started to fall was to send an order through my mask to Sean.

Get to the saloon now!

Then the four of us were falling and the chaos truly started.

The staircase only went up a single floor so we weren’t too high up, but the fall was sudden enough that Cyrus, Alice and I all ended up in a pile with Kate slumped on top of me.

“Need some Rooks over here! The outlaws are taking Kate!” Lucy took the opportunity to shout as several panicked cries came from the main room of the saloon.

Shimmer, Sparkle! Keep them away!

I swore under my breath as I struggled to disentangle myself from the pile. Lucy had tried to draw her gun in the confusion but thankfully Sparkle had obeyed my command and got between us and the Rook. The salamander whipped its spiked tail about and sent her flying while Shimmer turned to face a group of armed townsfolk.

Burn the ground in front of them!

Thankfully my order registered with Shimmer before the creature let loose with a blast of flame. It was able to tilt its head downwards in time to only lightly singe the closest of the group.

Shimmer kept on unleashing an intense stream of heat, creating a blazing red wall between us and the rest of the town. I hoped it would buy us enough time to recover and get out of town.

Cyrus and Alice had both stumbled back to their feet and the gunslinger had even drawn his repeater. He rushed over to where Lucy had collided with the wall of the saloon as I turned to check on Alice.

“You good? Leg holding up?”

“For now. Sean on the way?” Alice thumbed the hammer on her revolver.

“Should be here any second now. We’ll catch a ride with him.”

“Magnus! Call it off!”

I whirled around to see Cyrus pointing his repeater at Sparkle. The salamander was growling and slowly pacing towards Lucy, who was struggling back to her feet and reaching for her gun.

Stop. Lay down fire with Shimmer.

Sparkle immediately followed my order and joined Shimmer in creating a blazing wall. It was a good delaying tactic but it wouldn’t be long before armed Rooks made their way around the buildings and ambushed us.

I strode over to where Cyrus was cautiously helping Lucy to her feet and purposefully kicked her gun away. The Rook, who seemed to be at least part goblin given her pointed ears and greenish skin, glared up at me.

“We’ll come after you. You can kill me but the Rooks won’t rest until they get her back.”

“We’re not here to kill anyone, Lucy. Kate is dangerous. More dangerous than you can imagine.”

“If that’s true leave her here. Rooks will sort things out. If she’s done something wrong then we’ll see justice done.” Lucy spat what looked to be blood onto the starsand beside her.

“It’s not that simple. You saw what she became back at the camp. She’s got magical abilities too dangerous for your people to contain. If you try to arrest her she could burn this whole town to the ground. Like she nearly did my camp.”

Lucy took a second to process what I had just told her, clutching her side and wincing as she turned to Cyrus.

“You really believe this guy? After all he put you through?”

“I do. Kate left me to die back at the camp. Saw me on the ground and seemed delighted. Something ain’t right with her.”

“You got that right. She told me she watched some guy called Magnus shoot you dead. Guessing that would be your new friend?”

Before I could step in and introduce myself, an enormous ruby scorpion came scuttling around the corner of the saloon from behind us. Lucy swore and made to reach for her pick. I held up a hand.

“He’s with us. Gonna petrify the girl and bring her to my boss for answers.”

“Know I can’t let you do that. Even if I believe something is wrong, you attacked this town twice. Should be bringing you all in.”

Even if we were on opposite sides of the law, I had to admire the sheer guts Lucy had. She was barely standing, heavily bleeding and literally coughing up blood, but was still threatening to arrest me and all the other outlaws?

If we were under different circumstances, I would have laughed. As things were? I knew we didn’t have long and had to hurry things up.

“We don’t have time for this, Cyrus. You’ll be able to meet up with her again when all this is over.”

“Right.”

The gunslinger nodded gravely, heading for the scorpion where Alice was talking to Sean. He spared one last look back to Lucy.

“Just maybe don’t put my name and face on any wanted posters? I promise, I’ll explain all this later.”

“You’d better.” Lucy simply shook her head and chuckled.

I was definitely concerned with the sheer amount of blood she seemed to be losing, but I knew that there were plenty of people who could help her on the other side of the fiery wall I had erected.

The best thing we could do was get out of here before things got worse.

“Boss! We got a problem!” Alice shouted to me.

I was about to ask what the issue was, when I saw for myself. Kate’s unconscious form was gone.

In the panic I had left her lying on the starsand underneath where the staircase had collapsed. Now there was absolutely no sign of her. I whipped around in a panic, checking the other buildings and the shadowy spaces between them for any sign of the supposed researcher.

Nothing.

I swore out loud several times, cursing my mistake. She was supposed to be the priority and I had lost track of her amidst the chaos.

“What do we do now?” Alice asked while Cyrus joined me in scanning the street, repeater still in hand.

“We may have to evacuate. If you see her, put a bullet in her. Not worth the risk.”

“No! We can still petrify her. This can’t end like that.” Cyrus shook his head.

“That’s not your order to give. She could kill us all and everyone here to cover up who she really is. We can’t take that kind of chance.”

I glared at Cyrus and he stared back at me, not budging.

“That wasn’t the deal.”

Before I could respond, a sudden laugh echoed out from where Shimmer and Sparkle were still using their fire to block the rest of the town from getting to us. I whirled around with both my guns at the ready.

I had been looking in nearly every direction other than at the huge wall of fire, but that turned out to be exactly where Kate had gone. I didn’t know how she had gotten past us without being noticed, but she was standing in front of my salamanders as their twin streams of fire engulfed her form.

That grin on her face as the flames wrapped around her shook me to my core. I fired with both revolvers but it was too late. My crystal-tipped bullets melted before they got anywhere near.

“K-Kate?” Cyrus struggled to raise his repeater as the fire rapidly engulfing Kate turned blue.

It looked like she was taking the fire straight out of my salamander’s mouths and turning it into armour. Within a few seconds her body was completely engulfed, barely even recognisable as a person anymore.

Stop! Protect us from that… thing!

I gave the order whilst still firing my guns, even though it was clearly pointless. The being wreathed in flames simply raised a hand towards me and pointed.

If I had rolled out of the way an instant later I would have been killed. Reduced to nothing but a pile of ash. The piercing lance of blue fire Kate had thrown at me punched a fist-sized hole straight through the saloon wall, and I prayed that nobody had been caught in the aftermath.

“Sean! Petrify her now!” I cried out as I started to run, ordering Shimmer and Sparkle to my side.

Kate turned to follow but before she could attack me again a bright beam erupted from the stinger of the ruby scorpion, making direct contact with her fiery form.

For a second, it looked like she was slowing down slightly, but then she simply clapped her blazing hands together and a wave of flames raced down the street in our direction.

Cyrus and I were able to leap over the fire without issue, while Alice and Lucy rushed out of the way the best they could, but we had never been the intended target in the first place.

As soon as the blazing blue fire had pushed past us it encircled the ruby scorpion, rising up around it.

“Sean!”

Cyrus was the one to cry out in horror as we heard the screaming. The flames swirled together into a tornado around the scorpion and my outlaw, seeming to intensify before they faded.

Sean was gone from this world. Not a single trace of him left behind. The scorpion he was riding hadn’t faired much better.

For a split second I thought that the creature may have survived the onslaught of flames. It’s armour was made from ruby, a highly heat resistant crystal, after all. But on closer inspection the crystal armour was empty of the scorpion that it had grown on. Nothing but a shell that fell apart on the starsand.

Our best hope at stopping the monster that Kate had become was gone, and another of the Obsidian Outlaws was dead. I felt a cold rage overtake me as I tightened the grips on my weapons, instinctively sending the order to kill to my salamanders.

Cyrus, Alice and myself all turned to face Kate. I didn’t need the mask to tell them this was now a fight to the death.

Alice had drawn her revolver and an obsidian armblade. Cyrus was holding his repeater up and pointing it directly at Kate. I had my revolvers ready while Shimmer and Sparkle waited to charge. Even Lucy had staggered over to stand beside us, having retrieved her explosive pick.

The fiery figure before us simply spread her arms wide, her intended message more than clear.

Bring it on.

Together, we started our counterattack.