Ava and Sanchi had made their way to where they’d been ambushed by The Garrison the night prior. This time though, the sun was bright in the sky and Ava had two revolvers in hand.
“Now you see, this end here is where the bullet comes out. Don’t ever point it at yourself or anyone you like. That’s rule number one.”
Sanchi nodded and leaned in closer to look down the barrel, but Ava quickly raised the revolver away from him.
“How stupid are you! Don’t put your face in front of it either. It’s dangerous.” She admonished.
“Right, right. So it’s kind of like a bow, but this revolver is the bow and the bullets are the arrows. But how does one load the bullets?” Sanchi asked.
Ava fished a bullet out of a pouch attached to her waist and showed it to Sanchi. “This is a bullet. I’ll give you a few dozen to use, but the long and short of it is…”
She pointed at the bullet’s tip. “This is the front end. Make sure it’s pointing towards the front when you load it into the cylinder. Now, these revolvers can load six cartridges at a time. If you need more than that to get the job done, you’re probably not doing something right.
“After it’s loaded, push the cylinder into place, and aim. Dominant hand grips the handle, and if you want extra support, put your non-dominant hand over it. I like to dual wield my revolvers though, so I just make sure I have a tight grip with whatever hand I’m holding it with. Don’t want the recoil to spin it around and point the barrel at yourself.”
Ava stretched out her hand. On top of her palm were six bullets. “Take these and load your revolver.”
Sanchi grabbed the bullets and cautiously loaded them into the revolver’s cylinder.
“Alright, remember to keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire. Point the gun at the tree.” Ava pointed with her chin as she pointed her own revolver towards the forest.
Following Ava’s lead, Sanchi raised the revolver and pointed it at a tree.
Once Sanchi was in position, Ava continued, “Line up these two raised areas on the back of the gun with that little nub on the front and aim all those right where you want to hit. When you’re ready, grip tightly and…”
A sharp crack sounded, echoing briefly before dissipating into nothingness. A small hole and some missing bark could be seen on the tree she’d been aiming at.
“Good aim!” Sanchi praised. “But isn’t the power a bit weak?”
“Against trees, sure. But put a few rounds into any human’s body, or a single round into their head, and they’re not long for this world.”
She narrowed her eyes, contemplating. “Although, I guess one could argue that we’d be doing them a favor. Now you shoot.”
Following Ava’s instructions, Sanchi aimed his revolver and fired. The bullet didn’t land as closely to the center of the tree’s trunk as Ava’s, but it wasn’t too far off.
“Hm.” Sanchi scratched his chin as he examined the revolver’s barrel. “I guess the immediacy of the damage is quite useful. I couldn’t even see the bullet. So I just press down on this thing to cycle the cylinder like you did, right?”
“Yep. Congratulations, you now know how to use a gun. So how about my magic lessons?” Ava asked.
“Woah, woah. Hold your horses there.” Sanchi grinned. “Teaching me is one thing, but you’ll be able to use magic long after I’m gone. You gave me one gun and six bullets. What am I supposed to do after I run out?”
“Teach me well and we’ll see about getting you more bullets and another revolver.”
“What about one of those bigger things that those people had last night? Those were guns too, right?” Sanchi asked.
Indeed, a few of last night’s adversaries had been holding a slightly larger gun, with a longer barrel, some sort of attachment at the back, and a pancake-like metal contraption attached perpendicularly to it on the bottom side.
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Ava frowned. “Ah, the tommy guns. Yeah, we don’t have any of those. Even if we did, we probably wouldn’t use them. They chew through bullets like butter. Too expensive.”
“Hm.”
After thinking about it a bit, Sanchi finally shrugged and relented. “Fine. Let’s start your first lesson.”
***
Two hours later, Sanchi’s head was in his hands. “This doesn’t make any sense. You have mana. I can feel it flowing within you. But you just… you just can’t use it! Nothing! Not even a spark!”
He waved his hands, using his mana to form a dancing bunny that pranced about the air.
“See! Do you see that?!”
“See WHAT?!” Ava waved her arms in frustration.
The bunny leapt towards Ava’s head, settling right in front of her face. Its own swirling eyes stared right into hers.
Sanchi pointed at the bunny. “There! It’s right there!”
“I don’t see anything! Nothing! Jack shit!”
“Well.” Sanchi shrugged. “I don’t know how else to put it. You just don’t have any talent for magic. I’ve never met anyone who’s been unable to even detect mana.”
Ava let out a guttural groan of frustration as Sanchi allowed the mana bunny to dissipate into thin air. “What about my brother? Can we see if you can teach him?”
“Sure.”
***
A half dozen people had come and gone, and not a single one had any aptitude for magic.
“This is… really confusing.” Sanchi couldn’t understand what was going on. “I wonder if Kaukau would have an explanation for these anomalies.”
Ava heaved a sigh full of disappointment. “You know, if I hadn’t seen what you did last night I would’ve shot you for messing with me by now.”
“Don’t blame you. I want to earn my keep too. What if I perform for the kids? Or I could provide some live music at the pub.”
Ava stared daggers at him. “You think guns and bullets just grow on trees? We’re going to need more than a bit of rhythm and charm.”
Sanchi stared pointedly at Ava. He knew what he was supposed to say—after all, how could he not after having eavesdropped on the Leaky Lighters’ morning meeting?
But he didn’t want to say it.
He didn’t want to be used again.
No, it was better for him to trade her for the guns and bullets he wanted and leave. Besides, he’d gotten the information he’d wanted, and had a lead to the whereabouts of one of his targets.
“How about a fair trade, then?” Sanchi finally said.
He could see a glint of hope in Ava’s eyes appear, and saw it disappear just as quickly as he pulled out a small square shield, an item Philo and Kaukau had created one drunken night.
Its functionality was extremely simple. There was a strip of gemstone on each edge of the shield that acted as a storehouse and conduit for mana to be expanded about two feet in each direction.
In other words, it was a shield that could become a bigger shield. One that even a small child could wield.
Completely useless to any Boomtown legend, of course. Even the most combat-inept was still strong enough to at least summon a mana shield for themselves.
They’d “gifted” it to Sanchi as a joke, as if to say that he was so weak that he’d need such an item.
Now, he didn’t need it. But Ava…
This shield could prove quite useful for her. And given her circumstances, it would be well worth it for Ava to trade him two revolvers and a bagful, or even a crate of bullets.
Still, he couldn’t fault Ava for losing hope when he pulled it out. After all, it looked like a small, dumb trinket he’d just pulled out of nowhere.
“Don’t look so sad just because it’s small. It’s really useful. Look!” Sanchi pressed a button built into the shield’s handle and the mana shield formed.
“It’ll block just about anything you throw at it, including magic. Here, take a shot at it.” Sanchi raised the shield.
He’d barely raised it when a flurry of shots rang out and he felt the impact of the bullets upon the shield.
“Damn!” He dropped the shield as the bullets fell to the ground. “I mean, it blocks the bullets, but because the mana shield is in contact with the shield, and the shield is in physical contact with my hand and arm…”
Sanchi pulled his hand out from behind the shield and shook it around. “It hurts like hell!”
“I can imagine.” Ava absentmindedly spun her revolver around her index finger as she contemplated her options.
“How about this?” She began. “We’ll give you two revolvers and two hundred rounds of ammunition. That should be more than enough for you to use until you can find someone to supply you with more.”
Sanchi grinned. “Deal.”
The two shook hands, and just a dozen minutes later Sanchi had two revolvers strapped to his hip, one on each side.
As for the shield, Ava was busy convincing her little brother that being the shieldbearer for the gang wouldn’t get him shot.
Sanchi chuckled as he watched Cormac clumsily handle the shield. “Relax, its mana will last you about three hours before it has to recharge. Or, if the shots Ava took at me for testing earlier are representative, the shield should be able to take on a thousand before needing to recharge.”
“Yeah, see? The battle will be well over by then.” Ava slapped her brother on the back. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about. You’re a terrible shot anyway, so it’s not like we’ll be losing any firepower.”
“Damn, sis! That’s just mean,” Cormac protested. “But fine. If it’ll help the family, I’ll do it. I gotta earn my keep too.”
“Atta boy.”
***
Sanchi looked to his right. It’d been a while since he’d met a woman who reminded him so much of his late lover.
And that was part of the reason he couldn’t stay. Ava was special, he could feel it. If he allowed her to rely on him, then that specialness would never manifest.
No. She had her life to live. Her battles to fight.
And he had his.
Using mana to silently raise the blankets and levitate himself off the bed, he quietly opened the window and hopped out.
Inside, Ava’s eyes slowly opened, a frown upon her face. After a sigh, though, she closed her eyes again and drifted to sleep.