Harlan was uncertain what he was looking for. With his gun drawn, he peeked into the first tent. Not seeing anyone, he stepped all the way in and made sure the tent was clear. Finding only cots and clothes, he stepped back out and approached the second tent. Again, he peeked his head in and then stepped in to ensure the tent was clear of anyone else. Seeing no one, he started to take in the interior. This tent only contained a single bed tucked away in one corner. The rest of the space was occupied by benches covered in various contraptions and other scientific-looking equipment that Harlan wasn’t familiar with. At the far end, Harlan spotted a desk covered in books and papers.
He began to flip through the papers and books, still uncertain what he was looking for. He noted various equations and what appeared to be engineering diagrams. Complicating his search, however, was the fact that nothing was written in English. All the text seemed to be in a Cyrillic alphabet, and although he could tell that the text was Cyrillic, he had no chance of deciphering it.
Continuing to flick through the pages, he eventually found something that caught his eye: a picture of what appeared to be a bullet made of several unusual components. A type of magic crystal he didn’t recognize and what looked to be a hair, but the Cyrillic writing offered him no clues. Folding the paper and stuffing it in his back pocket, he stepped out of the tent just in time to see a gang of men walking out of the mine.
Not waiting to ask questions, Harlan raised his pistol and opened fire, managing to hit two of the men before the rest could scatter. Most dove behind whatever cover they could find, but one slight man ran back into the mine, disappearing into the darkness.
The men who stayed behind drew pistols if they had them and began to open fire on Harlan, who had concealed himself behind a cart now being peppered by bullets. As chunks of wood exploded around him, Harlan kept his cool and waited for the firing to die down. As he heard the clatter of brass on stone, he knew the men were reloading. Taking the opportunity, he stepped out from behind the cart. Picking a target, he leveled his weapon and squeezed the trigger, striking the man in the back of the head. Before he could fire again, he felt a hard smack in his shoulder, causing his left arm to flop down. As he hit the ground, he began to feel the unpleasant burning sensation caused by being shot.
He pressed his hand against the wound to try and staunch the bleeding while slowly pushing himself back behind the cart.
“I winged him!” called one of the men.
“Did you kill him?”
“I doubt it.”
“Alright, we'll do this together. You two that way, and I’ll go this way.”
All Harlan could focus on was trying to stop the bleeding. His legs felt weak, and if he tried to pick up his gun, there would be nothing slowing the flow of blood. As he sat there waiting for death, he was instead greeted by screams of terror and pain.
Ignivora had been lying in wait. As soon as the men stepped out of their cover, he struck. His flame charge immediately killed two of the men, and he was now biting down on the last man's abdomen, crushing his organs and eventually tearing through his flesh.
Having finished off the last of the men, Ignivora walked over to where Harlan was lying and bleeding out. The fox tensed, causing the flames covering his body to flare up as Harlan reached out his good hand and said, “Heal.” Immediately, the flames were drawn into Harlan's hand, the heat surging through his body and into his shoulder. The pain intensified as the energy began to knit his flesh back together, pushing the fragments of the mangled bullet out. Before long, the wound was healed, but Harlan didn’t move for several moments as he caught his breath. Before he could say anything, he was distracted by a flood of notifications.
“Ding.”
“Ding.”
“Ding.”
“Ding.”
“Ding.”
“Ding.”
His view was flooded with glowing words, but only the last notification was of interest.
“Ding! You have reached level 10.”
“You have gained a skill point. Please select a skill from the following:
* [Magic Sight]: See the flow of magic and those who manipulate it.
* [Agility of the Fox]: Gain the ability to run and jump at the speed and height of a phoenix fox.
* [Flame Mantle]: Learn the spell [Flame Mantle], which allows you to create a shield of fire around yourself that will damage any attackers in range.”
“Well, I'm sick of being told I'm slow, so I reckon I'll go with [Agility of the Fox] this time.”
All of Harlan's muscles tensed at the same time as they remodeled themselves. The pain was significant, but Harlan had been through worse. He wasn’t sure how long the changes took, but by the time the pain passed, Frank, Pudding, and Cindy had joined them.
Climbing to his feet, Harlan immediately felt the difference. He felt lighter, like he needed to run, and like everything else was moving too slow. Perhaps the feeling may have impeded his judgment as he began to run toward the mine with no thought for a plan, before skidding to a stop as his mind finally caught up.
“Right, probably not a good idea to go bursting in there. Probably best to keep Cindy out here as well, so Frank, if you can take off and keep her safe.”
The Mothman gave a solemn nod before taking off into the air with Cindy still in the saddlebag as Harlan turned to Pudding.
“The mines are no place for a horse, even one as brave as you, Pudding.”
The old horse gave what could best be described as an apathetic look before walking off in the direction of Blackwater. Harlan gave a look to Ignivora, and they both stepped into the entrance of the mine. Past the entrance, the mine was a straight tunnel into the mountain. Lumber framing supported the walls, and fragments of fire crystal dangled from the roof, providing light—not that either of them needed it. Gun drawn, Harlan crept down the tunnel, listening for any other problems.
Before long, they reached the end of this tunnel, with the mine opening up into a massive underground cavern. Right in the center was what Harlan could only assume was an asteroid. The rocky centerpiece was larger than any building in the town of Blackwater. From the roof of the cavern came a dense network of roots. Some clung to the roof and sides, while others reached down to the asteroid itself, invading the rock.
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As he stood there, mesmerized by the sight, Harlan was almost struck by a bullet and then five more. He dove to the ground, thankful that whoever was shooting obviously lacked skill.
He signaled for Ignivora to go clockwise around the asteroid while he went counterclockwise. The speed boost from [Agility of the Fox] allowed the two to get around the giant obstacle surprisingly fast. As Harlan came around the corner, he spotted the person responsible for shooting at him. A slight Han man fumbled with a pistol, attempting to reload. Before he could get the bullets in place, Harlan had charged into him, knocking him to the ground and sending the gun skittering away. He stood over the man, making it clear that the fight was over.
“What’s your name?”
“Gàosù nǐ duì wǒ méiyǒu hǎochù,” replied the man.
“Uhhh, English? Do… do you speak English?”
“Wǒ dāngrán zhīdào, nǐ zhège báichī. Dàn wǒ zài tuōyán.”
Harlan let out a sigh. “Alright, well, you’re under arrest.” Reaching for his handcuffs, he hardly had time to react to the right hook flying at his head from behind. Ducking forward, the punch clipped him on the back of the head, causing him to stumble as his vision swam. Righting himself, he turned to see Tommy grabbing the Han man and dragging him away.
Harlan tried to run after them, but his head was still spinning. He stumbled, tripped, got back to his feet, then tripped again, watching Tommy disappear around the corner. He lay there for a minute until he felt he could stand steady again. Then the thought crashed into his conscious mind: "Where the hell is Iggy? He could have stopped them. Have they done something to him?"
Back on his feet, Harlan started searching for Iggy, fearing the worst. Continuing counterclockwise, he began to come across various pieces of mining and scientific equipment. At the center of a series of benches covered with glassware and forging and smelting equipment, he spotted Iggy, and next to him, in a cage, he saw another phoenix fox. He’d found her—he’d found his partner, Cindy's mother. A wave of relief washed over Harlan from a worry he hadn’t even realized he was carrying.
As he rushed over, he started looking for ways to open the cage. He saw Iggy trying to heat the metal, but it just wasn’t working. It was like he wasn’t able to get his flames to increase in temperature. At this rate, it would take hours to melt the cage. It struck him that the cage must be made from the same metal the blacksmith had shown them. Turning to look at the asteroid, he saw signs that people had been mining it.
“The whole thing must be full of that weird iron ore,” thought Harlan out loud. “I don’t think our magic is gonna be any use to us here.” Looking around the forging and smelting equipment, he found exactly what he was after. “Alright Iggy, we’re gonna do this the old-fashioned way,” he announced as he took two smithing hammers, placed one behind the padlock to hold it in place, and then struck the lock with the other hammer, popping open the shackle, which Harlan then discarded, allowing him to open the slide.
The cage door swung open, and the phoenix fox inside slowly limped out, the days of captivity having taken their toll on her. Ignivora began to nuzzle her excitedly, which she returned with as much effort as she could.
“Don’t mean to kill this special moment, but I think we gotta get out of here. Tommy just took off, and I have no idea if he has more backup coming.”
As the three of them started to leave, the female fox collapsed, obviously weaker than she had been letting on. Thinking fast, Harlan grabbed a wheelbarrow that had been used for hauling ore. Loading the fox in, he began to push her toward the mine's entry. The farther he got from the asteroid, the more he could feel [Agility of the Fox] giving him a boost. By the time they reached the entrance, they were traveling faster than Harlan had ever run. They shot from the mine, causing the wheelbarrow to catch air and come crashing down, buckling its wheel.
“Dag nabbit!” yelled Harlan as he skidded to a stop. “Sorry if that hurt you, ma’am, but we gotta find another way to move you now.” Harlan immediately spotted some of the larger carts that had been left at the camp. “I don’t think I’ll be able to move those, if only I hadn’t sent Pudding away.”
Upon hearing his name, the elderly horse stepped out of the tent where he had been having a nap.
“Pudding! You glorious and noble steed, I knew you wouldn’t abandon me! Now let's get you hitched to this cart.” Pudding internally cursed his laziness as well his loyalty. He’d pull that cart, but he'd be ornery about it the whole time.
Cart loaded and hitched up, the group started off, back toward town. Not long after, Frank joined them, allowing the mother and baby phoenix fox to reunite, giving the mother another burst of energy as the pup leaped and nuzzled into her, with both of them eventually falling asleep.
The trip back over the hills was uneventful, but as they crested the last hill before the road to Maggie’s farm, they started to see huge clouds of smoke coming from Blackwater. Harlan felt his gut drop. Was this Tommy’s revenge for Harlan ruining whatever his plans were? Had he burned down Blackwater? He should have been there. He should have stopped him. He tried to urge Pudding on faster, but the old horse wouldn’t make it if he pushed any harder.
“Is this what you were here to warn me about, Frank?” asked Harlan as he hopped off the cart. A confused look crossed Frank's face as he shook his head to say no. “Well, what the bloody hell is this then? You lot catch up when you can. I’m going to run ahead.”
Harlan took off with all the speed his new ability would allow. Running faster than Pudding ever had, he crossed the distance to Blackwater in record time, the worry of what was happening filling him with anxious energy.
As he entered the town, the first thing he noticed was that the general store appeared to have some fire damage, but that the flames had been extinguished with ice. Claus, the storekeeper, appeared in the door and gave a seemingly happy wave. Claus being alive was at least one thing Harlan didn’t have to worry about. As he carried on down the main street of the town, he stopped dead in his tracks. It took a long while before his mind could comprehend what he was looking at.
A large crater had been made in the middle of the road. Surrounding it were numerous dead bodies and more men with serious, incapacitating injuries. The injured men moaned and wailed in pain, making futile attempts to fix their injuries, staunch bleeding, or crawl away to somewhere else. The buildings on either side of the road had been large, newly built, two-story general-purpose buildings that, luckily, had yet to be occupied. That's what they had been; now they were smoldering husks of buildings. Even from outside, Harlan could tell that the fire had gutted the buildings and compromised their structural integrity, meaning they would have to be knocked down.
As Harlan approached the nearest injured man, he recognized him as a troublemaker who often hung out at the saloon. Going around the other dead and injured men, he could identify most of them as various criminals or ruffians he had previously encountered or arrested.
As he searched the town for anyone alive, he eventually found Cole hunkered down in the sheriff’s station with a crowd of townsfolk.
“What the hell happened here?” Harlan asked the overwhelmed young deputy.
“It was hell, Sheriff. Some little rat-faced fella told me to clear everyone out of town. He had a whole gang of muscle behind him. I did what I could. Got some people in here, a bunch more are with Madam Seins. Maggie even took some in. Then the ratty guy set up an ambush, but only one fella walked into it, then a massive dust cloud kicked up. By the time it settled, well, you’ve seen. I don’t know how one fella could do all that.”
“You did damn well, son. Damn well. I’m sorry I left you for so long. I should have been here for it. You go try and get some rest. I’ll start the tidy up.”
Cleaning up the bodies took several days. The town doctor was overwhelmed with the injured and had to call in help from the next town over. Harlan went through the burned-out buildings, making sure that they wouldn’t catch fire again before handing demolition off to some contractors. At some point, Iggy, Cindy, and the mother fox, Astraeon, had wandered into town. Frank, however, was noticeably absent.
Slowly, a sense of normality returned to Blackwater. The foxes would head out hunting magic creatures, which allowed Harlan to get stronger without having to do anything. But the one thing that continued to weigh on his mind was the greater catastrophe that Frank indicated was coming—a disaster that he had no idea how to prepare for.