“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.”

The bounty was higher if he was alive, but if he had to take him dead, he would.

“Screw you, bounty hunter. I've got my men with me. I'll take my chances. Boys, kill him!”

Things went downhill from there, with musket fire pounding the line of trees he'd been using for cover. Dropping to the ground, the bounty hunter crawled forward, a musket of his own gripped tightly in his hands. As the firing stopped, he counted down, measuring the time it took to reload. When the firing resumed, he readied himself.

When the firing stopped again, he moved to a crouch and looked for the musketeers. There seemed to be three of them, confirming that this was indeed a rogue force of soldiers. If only these men were firing, they must have been low on supplies. Mercenaries or a foreign army would have had more men and supplies. From the clothing they wore, he'd bet they were former Beserian forces.

Taking a breath, he steadied his aim and fired. With a gurgle, one of the musketeers fell, a hole in his chest. Yells of concern and anger came from the other ex-soldiers, and a few of those not wielding muskets decided to charge the bounty hunter's position.

Using the musket smoke for cover, the bounty hunter moved away. He placed his musket against a tree and drew his battleaxe. The former soldiers cleared the cloud of smoke, swords raised, and found nothing. Slowly, hesitantly, they searched their surroundings. And as one of them approached the tree the bounty hunter had hidden behind, he made his move.

With the sound of a wet log being split, he buried his axe blade into the ex-soldier's head. With a grunt, he kicked the body free and lunged at the nearest man. With a shoulder charge he knocked the man to the ground, losing his tricorne in the process, and rammed his axe into the man's chest before turning his attention to the last of the ex-soldiers.

Initially surprised by the death of his second companion, the man had begun attacking the bounty hunter and was nearly upon him. With a wrenching yank, the bounty hunter pulls his axe free and manages to knock the sword to the side, which ends up slicing through the arm of his leather armor. The bounty hunter slams the haft of his axe into the ex-soldier's jaw, knocking him to the ground, and then finishing him off with a quick blow.

With the last of the surrounding men dead, the bounty hunter slows for a moment. With a grunt, he bends down, grabs his tricorne, dusts it off, and puts it back on his head before returning to his musket. He reloads the weapon as the smoke finally clears. Leaning out of cover, he can see the remaining musketeers with their weapons in hand, looking at their dead companions, and he can hear the beginning of shouts. He finishes loading his weapon, trying one last time not to waste ammunition.

“I’m here for one man. The rest of you are useless to me, give me your leader or die like the rest.”

“You think my men will turn on me? We have something called integrity, not that a dirty bounty hunter like you would understand. I led these men through the war, and now we will be rewarded. We fought and bled for this country, we deserve to rule what's left of it.”

“I don't care about your integrity, your history, or your desires. I care about my bounty. You two with the muskets have three choices. Walk away, give me your boss, or die. I'll give you a ten count, then I'll do the deciding for you.”

Having said his piece, the bounty hunter hooked his musket into the crook of his arm and fished around in his jacket pocket. The men across from him seemed to be arguing. He pulled out a silver case, pulled out a cigarette, and replaced the case. The loyalty of the ex-soldiers must not be as good as advertised, because one of them was pointing his gun at his bounty. He lit his cigarette and watched, it took maybe three heartbeats before things took a turn.

He watched as the leader rammed the butt of his pistol into the threatening musketeer's skull and then shot him. That seemed to spark something, because the other man dropped his musket and jumped onto the bounty. Shaking his head, the bounty hunter finished his ten count and began to walk over to the men, finishing his smoke.

As he closed in, he struck the bounty hunter over the head with his rifle. He stared at the man, moving the remaining musketeer back.

“I did what you asked, or at least I tried. Please don't kill me. I have a bartender to feed and mistresses to protect.”

“I'm a bounty hunter of my word, go. I'm here for my bounty, not for you.”

He dismisses the remaining man with a gesture, but keeps an eye on him. The ex-soldier wastes no time in running away, musket in hand, almost tripping over his dead friend. Now alone, the bounty hunter removes his shackles and binds the captive's hands together before searching his pockets and boots. He finds a boot knife and some money; the bounty hunter keeps the money and tosses the knife. Satisfied, he whistles loudly and plunders the camp's remains.

From beyond the tree line, a horse slowly trots toward him. Muscles flex under her buckskin coat, and her wild black mane flows with a toss of her head.

“It’s about time you got here Ventress.”

He greeted his horse, mounted his bounty, loaded the remaining musket, and climbed into the saddle. Turning around, he rode his horse back to town. Hopefully his bounty would stay under, he hated it when they talked to him. His hopes sadly did not come true.

“Let me go. You hear me, you devil. I'm a soldier in the king's army, damn it, I fought for this country.”

“Beseria hasn't been a country for a few years now, about as long as the king has been dead.”

“It doesn't matter. I fight the good fight. I saw King Beser III himself, I fought at the walls. And when he fell, I continued to fight, killing those who would harm this land.”

“According to your bounty, you killed almost everyone you came across. Unfortunately for you, one of them survived and could afford my fee. Before I left, they told me what the plan was for you, and I can assure you it's bad. I'm almost tempted to let you go, but then I remember the price on your head.”

“I recognize the armor you wear; you swore an oath to the kingdom. You should work with me, well under me more like. I was a general.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“I give my allegiance to no one. Now shut up or I’ll shut you up.”

This earned him a few moments of silence before the captive began to rant again. This time the bounty hunter didn't argue with him. The rant was unimportant, more about loyalty, honor, freedom, how he was scum, the usual. With a sigh, he tied the reins to his saddle horn and slowly turned to face his prisoner. The man stared back at him, as best the bumpy ride and position would allow. The bounty hunter reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a dirty rag. The captive noticed the stains and quickly shut his mouth. But his constant ranting had annoyed the bounty hunter enough. So he pinched the captive's nose and waited. Soon the man opened his mouth to breathe and the gag went in.

Turning back in his saddle, the bounty hunter took the reins and picked up the pace. It wouldn't be long before they reached Mohanos.

Upon reaching Mohanos, the bounty hunter and his captive were met with a somber but expectant atmosphere. A crowd of villagers came out to meet them near the village square. When Ventress stopped, the bounty hunter rolled his bounty to the ground and jumped after him. Stretching with a groan, he lifted the bounty to his feet, removed his gag, and led him forward.

“General Restis, formerly of the Beseria army. Bound and delivered. My fee.”

“What of his men?”

“All but one are dead.”

“You let one go? That’s not what we paid you for.”

“First, I haven't been paid yet, so be careful. Second, the bounty was for Restis, dead or alive. There was no mention of his group. They're only dead because they wouldn't give me my bounty. Now back to my fee.”

Pushing Restis behind him, the bounty hunter held out his hand, waiting for his money. The confrontational man leading the group of villagers was becoming increasingly annoying.

“I think we'll only pay you a partial rate now. You let one of his men live, now we'll need some money for protection.” said the man with a sneer.

“You will pay me, my full price.”

“Or what bounty hunter there are more of us than you.”

“There is no or. You will pay me, whether I have to kill you as an example or not.”

The cold declaration, along with his hand resting on his pistol, seemed to affect the villagers. Those behind the loudmouth began to back away from him, and as the tension grew, an older woman pushed her way forward.

“That's enough. Bounty Hunter Jaeger has fulfilled his bounty and we will pay him in full. Restis has haunted our territory long enough and now we can put an end to him. Pay the bounty hunter Johnathon.”

Reluctantly, the loud-mouthed man paid the bounty hunter, Jaeger. Counting the money, Jaeger was satisfied with what he saw and pushed Restis forward.

“He's all yours, pleasure doing business. I will need those restraints back, or you can pay extra to keep them.”

“We will have them back to you by tonight, will you stay the night?”

“Yes, I plan to leave late tomorrow morning.”

Making plans to return his shackles by dinner time, the woman signals two large men to take the general somewhere. Jaeger doubted it would be a comfortable place, which reminded him. His business done, he led Ventress to the inn.

“I am in need of a room for the night, a stall for my horse, and the luxury treatment for both of us.”

“Hoho. Big spender, you the bounty hunter the village hired about them bandits?”

“I've brought in a lot of bandits, but if you mean Restis, then yes.”

“I don't know his name, but I know there's a bounty on his head. I'll lower the price for you, that man killed my friend Lenny and I'm looking forward to his punishment.”

With an appreciative nod, the Jaeger pays the man and heads for his room. Unloading his saddlebags and loot, he begins to strip off his armor and outer clothing. When he's done, he's down to his pants, cotton undershirt, and boots. A knock on his door lets him know his bath is ready. Time to enjoy the luxuries his job afforded him.

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When Jaeger got up the next day, he felt refreshed, clean and warm. A glance next to him revealed the source, the cleaner from last night. After his bath and a few drinks, she'd returned to his room and stayed. If the road hadn't called him, he would have stayed longer; this wasn't the worst village, but like so many before it, the people here would only tolerate him for so long. Best to get out while the getting was good.

“Darling, last night was wonderful and I'm not kicking you out, but I'm leaving. The room is paid for the rest of the day, so stay as long as you like, but I've got to get going.”

The woman rolled over to look at him, her face gently smiling.

“I’ll be sad to see you leave, have no doubt. But I knew what this was before I joined ya last night.”

Nodding, the bounty hunter dressed and secured his weapons. He retrieved his saddlebag and loot and then left. Trotting out, he found Ventress looking as fresh as he felt and saddled up. He mounted and rode out of the village, tipping the stable boy who had brought her out.

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Half a day later, Jaeger found himself cleaning up his small midday camp. He had stopped to water Ventress and eat a meal. The weather around them was beginning to change, winds were blowing and there were signs of rain. Fortunately, Jaeger knew of a small hunting lodge not too far from here where they could stay if this got worse. Mounting his horse, he set off. The closer they got to the cabin, the worse the weather became, and soon the wind was blowing so hard that Jaeger had to hold on to his tricorn to keep it from flying away.

Just as he was about to dismount and lead Ventress, there was a crackling sound. Fearing it was lightning, Jaeger ducked low and looked around to see where it struck, only to see something strange. A dark purple oval, cracked and shining like some of the church windows he'd seen, appeared before him. With a sharp yell, he turned Ventress aside and barely kept her from running into it. With only a few feet between them, he did the sensible thing and turned Ventress away, leaving this thing behind.

But just like one of the local big cats, turning his back on it caused it to pounce. To an outside observer, the purple oval would have appeared to shoot forward, and as if it were an opening, it simply took Jaeger and Ventress in, leaving nothing behind. Then it quickly shrank before disappearing with the same crackling sound it had appeared with.

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Greetings slave, soon your new masters will be greeting you. We hope you...…..

Black-listed weaponry detected.

Outworlder protocols engaged.

Welcome to Ragaea.

No system detected.

Introducing and activating system.

Class experience detected.

Awarding experience.

Animal companion detected.

Establishing bond.

Erasing black-listed weaponry.

   Error detected, class experience tied to weapon use.

   Secondary action requested.

   Request confirmed, adjusting weaponry and removing black-listed components.

   Objective Completed.

Abductor portal use detected.

Awarding penance experience.

Request to move starting location: Illustrious Torture Chamber.

Request approved. New starting location: Forests of Klangdor.

Boot process complete, awakening sequence activated.