Clara led the way up the mountain. She picked places that were easier to walk, but he

expected she did it for him. She didn’t know him, what he could do. Taking it easy

on him was a way to help speed things along without drawing attention to the fact she

didn’t think he could keep up with her unless she made allowances.

The fact that she was a hundred years old and was not breathing hard at the exertion

they were doing said something to him. He didn’t like the implication that maybe

Clara just looked elderly because she wanted to, instead of the ravages of time doing

its work.

He might have to serve up two bullets before the night was over.

The prospect didn’t bother him. He had a variety of peoples among the warrant cards.

Some of them were women. The ones he had caught up with had been put down just

as quickly as the men. He couldn’t afford to lose when he didn’t know what would

happen if he did.

And the women he had served had tried to kill him just as fast as the men.

Clara paused beside a tree. She looked around.

“Something wrong?,” he asked. His hat shadowed his face except for the gleaming

of his eyes that burned with the reflection of starlight.

She held up her hand for silence.

He heard something that sounded like a dog barking. He looked around, pushing back

his cloak. His hand dropped to the weapon reversed on his hip. He didn’t see a dog

among the trees.

“Wendall,” said Clara. “That’s Wendall. Let’s go on.”

She hurried among the trees, using them as levers to push forward. She led him up

and over a stone sticking up as a digit pointing at the sky until they reached a flat

section of land that led out over the valley below.

The traveler put out a hand for her to stop walking. This was where he had to do

things that most people preferred not to do, and he couldn’t let her get in the way.

“I want you to stay here,” whispered the traveler. “If things go bad, I’m going to need

you to tell the town so they can be ready to try to handle things.”

“Be careful,” said Clara. “When I was a little girl, he had things he had summoned for

protection.”

The traveler threw his cloak back and walked forward. Blue balls of flame danced

around the circle. His hands drifted down to the butts of the weapons he carried. His

goal had to be the magician, and not the beasts.

He realized he might not be able to do that if there were too many of the guardians.

He might die here, trying to carry out his duty. He steeled himself for the

confrontation. This is what he was made to do.

Other men had families to care for, and responsibilities to help their communities. He

had a life of protecting people from other monsters.

“Eater,” said the traveler. “I have a warrant for you. Come along quietly.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” said the hooded figure at the other side of the stone

circle. Flames danced around his hands. “I have something that I need to do. I won’t

be stopped like I was the last time.”

The traveler drew out the black warrant cards. One of them glowed from its place in

the pack. He pulled it and put the others back.

“I have been sent here to execute this warrant,” said the traveler. “I would appreciate

it if you went along quietly.”

“I don’t think I’ll do that,” said Eater.

Black shadows came to life around him. Sparks for eyes lit up in their strangely

shaped heads. Teeth were everywhere.

The traveler took a moment to think the brothers were a lot braver than anyone

thought to fight these things before he pulled his weapons from their places at his

hips. These things weren’t meant to be seen by humans, much less fought on equal

terms.

Hellfire lit the night as he fired the blasters into the beasts. Every shot burned a hole

through a shadow. Some of them boiled away instantly. Some required an extra shot

while they were writhing on the ground.

“Why do I always have this interference?,” said the magician. He pointed a hand at

the hunter. Blue flames struck in a rain of motes. “First, it was those stupid brothers,

and now you. Why can’t I be allowed to finish this one thing to my satisfaction. Do

you know how long I waited for this?”

Eater raised his gauntleted hands. Blue flames erupted from the metal, tracing around

the stone circle and the seven statues. Whatever else happened, he was going to free

the seven dragons from their slumber and command them to do his bidding.

He would build his power with the Steps of Corwin as his seat until he ruled

everything around Corwin’s Mount. Nothing could be allowed to stop him. He had

already wasted a hundred years waiting for the best conditions to conduct his spell.

Nothing was getting in his way.

The black shadows swarmed the wounded hunter. They would strip his flesh in

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seconds. That would only help the spell run its sequence.

Eater heard the cracking of stone and smiled. His spell was working. Soon, he would

command the terrors of the sky to be his private army. The rest of his plans would

come to fruition. Nothing could stop him now.

Why was a dog barking?

Eater realized his mistake. He had released the Stalking Light brothers from their

statues. He needed to put them down before they threatened his plans. He had thought

he was done with them forever. He should have known something like this would

happen.

Why hadn’t he moved the statues out of the circle before he began the spell?

He told himself to worry about making excuses later. He had to do what he could to

salvage his plan now.

Wayne Stalking Light appeared out of the night, axe in hand. He swung at the

magician. One killing blow should stop all of this.

Eater flung him away with blue flames. He had to release the dragons. Once he

finished that, it didn’t matter what the brothers thought they could do to stop him.

An arrow poked him through his mail shirt. He pulled it loose and flung the missile

away. He pointed a hand at Will Stalking Light. Blue flame descended on the target.

He wasn’t sure he had hit, but at least the archer had been sent scrambling.

A blast of hellfire picked Eater up. He hit the ground. The front of his armor had a

hole in it bigger than his fist.

He raised his hand to cast flames to protect him while he tried to finish the spell and

free the dragons. If he could just do that, the battle would be over.

The dragons would eat the seven brothers and the hunter. Then he could set them

loose on the town to feed until they were full and ready for the next step in his plan.

Another blast of fire picked him up and threw him off the outcropping. He raised his

hands. He could still slow his fall and survive. He wouldn’t be able to raise the

dragons, but he should be able to make his escape.

An arrow appeared in the middle of the dying flames in his chest. He looked down

at it. Another appeared beside it. He looked up. Will Stalking Light drew and shot a

third arrow as he tried to raise a shield against the attack.

Finn Star Eater hit the side of the mountain before he could call on his power to

protect himself. He bounced down to the valley and rolled to a landing outside of

town.

“It’s Joe,” said Walter. “How’s it going?”

“All right,” said the traveler. He had a vague memory of dealing with the seven

brothers somewhere. It must have been before he dug himself out of the ground.

“Looks like you’re all mobile.”

“Thanks to you,” said Wayne. “How did you know to find our bodies?”

“I didn’t,” said Joe. “I was just executing a warrant.”

“Really?,” said Wilson. “Someone sent you after an old man on the eve of the night

we were sent to the Underworld.”

“I had a card with his name on it,” said Joe. He picked up the weapons he had

dropped and holstered them. He saw the archer and the barker talking to the old lady

that had been his guide. “The old lady showed me how to get up here.”

“This is Clara,” said Will. “Our Clara.”

“You all look so young to me now,” said Clara. “I remember when all the older girls

wanted to be your wives.”

“I remember when you were knee high to a grass hopper,” said Will.

“It’s been a long time since I was that short,” said Clara. “Your place still stands. No

one wanted to go near it. Everyone thought it was cursed. You’ll have to put some

work into it to make it livable again.”

“What about you, Joe?,” asked Walter. “You going to hang around with us?”

Joe pulled out the small stack of black cards from his belt. He riffed through them

with a thumb.

“This is how many fugitives I have to track down,” he said. He put the cards away.

“I can’t settle down while they are still out there. Maybe when I am done, I can come

back and look around.”

They all knew that was a lie. Whatever was waiting Joe on his journey, he would only

be back to town if one of his fugitives led him that way.

“Do you want any help?,” asked Wayne. He looked around. The brothers gave silent

backing to the thought.

“Get me down the mountain so I can pick up Stupid, and I’ll be on my way,” Joe said.

“Dasher,” said Clara. “We agreed that Dasher was his name.”

“If you say so,” said Joe. He felt a smile on his face. That was a first. The horse didn’t

look like a Dasher to him.

“We’ll go down and have a nice meal,” said Clara. “You all can stay at my place the

rest of the night. Then Joe and Dasher can leave in the morning, while I take you boys

over to your old property.”

Clara led the way down the mountain. She tried to smooth over the fact they had been

gone for a hundred years. They would have some catching up to do.

Joe walked at the back of the group. He didn’t really know the brothers. How could

he? But he sensed that he had dealt with them some time, and they were willing to

help him.

He decided that he couldn’t drag them into his private mission. He had been given the

cards, and the mission. Others couldn’t walk on his path for long before they had their

own priorities taking over their lives.

And the brothers had to figure out how to fix their lives after coming back from the

dead. People would fear them as monsters if their story spread too far, too fast.

Joe listened as Clara caught the brothers up on what had happened to their

contemporaries. He shook his head at the number of weddings, births, and deaths that

had happened.

It wasn’t enough to change his mind.

He had to keep moving on until he was done with his mission.

At least he knew he had friends in the brothers if he did come back this way.

Clara led them into town. She pointed out the new housing with the new citizens as

they entered the edges of the community.

Joe followed the base of Corwin’s Mount until he found the corpse with the arrows

sticking out of its chest. He pulled out the arrows, and set the body on fire.

Somewhere down below, a new addition to the Underworld’s work force was given

a shovel and told to dig.

Joe wished him the best of luck with that.

Clara stood off to one side. She nodded at the swiftly dying fire.

“Wherever he is, I didn’t want to give him a chance to come back,” said Joe.

“I understand,” said Clara. “The boys have gone ahead. I figured you needed someone

to walk with you for a while.”

“How does it feel?,” asked Joe. “You’re the older person, and they are still young.”

“I’ve lived my life,” said Clara. “I was going to do that whether they were here, or

not. I’m grateful they gave me that chance at the loss of so much potential that they

could have used on their own lives.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Clara,” said Joe. He tipped his hat. “I have to get back

on the trail.”

“So you won’t stay?,” said Clara.

“I have a list of murderers and worse to track down,” said Joe. “I have to keep

moving. Thanks for everything.”

“The boys said they knew you down there,” said Clara. “They said you were the most

honest person they had seen getting punished. You didn’t deserve what you got.”

“I did deserve it,” said Joe. “I deserved worse. But this reprieve is teaching me the

things I thought were weakness and lack of readiness is also a source of strength. I

just didn’t know it then.”

She hooked her arm through his. She led him down the street to where his horse

waited, cropping someone’s favorite flowers. The horse lazily strolled closer and

nudged his master.

“Bring him back when you can, Dasher,” said Clara. “I only have so many years left.”

The horse gave her a blocky grin and a nod of its head.