The rest of the day was mostly quiet. John did spot movement inside the forest a few times, but whoever they were, they didn’t get close enough to do anything, or for John to do anything. Probably scouts. He lamented not bringing his rifle, but it was better off in the hands of the deputies watching over the town.

He watched the last of the volunteers make for the town. They all nodded respectfully as they passed and John gave a slight tilt of his head in return. It was all he could offer without diverting his attention. With the sun setting and the shadows lengthening, this was prime time for an attack.

Nobody came though. John waited another minute to let the people get far inside the town before he too started heading back. Either there truly was no attack coming, or he had finally given the Harc’otti pause because he made it to the town unmolested.

It was easy to see the demarcation of the town in the fading light as torches had been laid out and lit. They wouldn’t burn all night but they would last at least a few hours. By then everyone's eyesight will have adjusted for the darkness.

All of the cut timbers had been piled to the sides of the road. It would take a few more days of cutting to get enough to make barricades but it was a good start.

His stomach rumbled and he realized just how hungry he was. He was also exhausted. Keeping watch for hours on end was a draining exercise for anyone. He decided to put off sleep in favor of some food and some good company.

The Silken Riches was in full swing when he arrived. Francine was outside greeting guests instead of Cassi. And a bawdy tune could be heard through the door, so he knew Henry was on the piano tonight.

“Evening, Mr. Smith. Here for some fun?” she winked at him.

John just rolled his eyes at her amateur attempt at seduction. “Is Madam Cassandra in? I was hoping to chat and have a bite.”

The girl pouted at being dismissed. “There’s a full house tonight, so she’s inside helping Ricardo and serving. I don’t know how much time she’ll have to chat, but if you get lonely, I’m right here.”

“I’ll take that under advisement, Francine. You have a good night.” John tipped his hat to the woman before stepping inside.

The place was packed. It wasn’t just all men as you might expect from a brothel slash saloon though. There were a decent number of women, the non-working kind. Probably because it also doubled as a restaurant and entertainment venue. Cassi really did have the market cornered on entertainment of all kinds in Ember Creek.

This was also the only place in Ember Creek where John had seen electricity. Travis might have some hidden away in his shop, but maybe not. The man seemed wholly invested in steam power or nothing. Even though steam-powered generators were a thing. Artificers could be weird that way.

Normally the Silken Riches electricity was turned off as it was prohibitively expensive to keep running at all times. But it seemed like tonight's crowd was large enough for Cassi to splurge on the rarity. The electric lights gave the Silken Riches a vibrant yellow glow that torches or candlelight simply couldn’t compete with. It also made it impossible to tell what time it was outside. He had seen this sort of tactic used in casinos back in New Gata. People who lost track of time tended to spend more money.

Cassi didn’t seem like the type of person who needed or even cared about the money. If she had, she would have used the lights every night. There was always a decent crowd. He figured this must be part of her plan to drain the worthless mining notes from the town. Or maybe just a way to take people's minds off the troubles outside.

John caught sight of a free seat at the bar and made his way over. Before he got there, he spotted Cassandra practically dancing her way through the crowd with a platter of food in both hands. People smiled and whistled at her, but nobody was dumb enough to try and grab the Silken Riches' owner as she passed. John had to pause and admire her for a moment. She really could move.

He had never seen someone as refined as Cassi waiting tables before. It was certainly a sight that drew attention. John smiled and headed for the bar.

“What’ll it be, John?” Ricardo came over and asked before he even had time to sit.

“Whiskey, neat, and a plate of something warm.”

“House special it is. I’ll be right back with your drink.”

Ricardo dropped off his drink but didn’t stick around to chat. A few minutes later, a soft voice whispered in his ear. “Hello, John.”

He smiled and turned to see a beaming Cassi holding a plate of food. She slid it past him with experienced hands, brushing him lightly as she pulled her arm back. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight. How did the tree cutting go?”

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“As well as could be expected.”

“Yes, I heard of that unfortunate event earlier in the day. They are getting bolder.”

“I’m afraid so,” John admitted.

“Is there anything I should do to be ready?” He could hear the worry in her tone, but she kept the smile on her face.

“A gun would be best, but if you don’t have that, keep a knife on you at all times.”

The madam gave him a wink. “Who says I don’t already? I would let you search me for it, but we’re not quite there yet.”

John felt his face start to redden at her comment and he cleared his throat.

The woman beamed even brighter at his sudden awkwardness. “Well, it's nice to see some things still have an effect on you. I would love to stay and chat longer, John, but as you can see, we’re full up. Enjoy your meal and the show. We’ll chat later.” She gave him a demure wave before slipping away into the back.

John dug into the thick stew which helped him get his emotions under control. He was no stranger to women. It would be pretty sad if he hadn’t learned a thing or two about the opposite sex in two hundred years. Hell, he had even been married back during his army time. The less said about his former wife though, the better. That horrible woman was long dead and buried.

It was just something about sophisticated women that made him feel young again. Maybe that’s why he gravitated towards them.

He pushed those thoughts to the side as he hurriedly finished his meal and downed his drink. He would love to stick around and unwind, but with Cassi busy, he saw no point. Besides, he needed sleep and he had to get up at the crack of dawn and do it all over again tomorrow. After finishing off his drink, he slapped some Fareen currency on the bar and headed out.

***

The next day and the day after that were both uneventful. That wasn’t good. John would have preferred continued probing attacks. The fact they stopped either meant the Harc’otti had found a weakness or were preparing an attack.

While he was protecting the tree harvesting, others were assembling the barricades and placing them around town.

With the train due to arrive sometime today, John had a bad feeling that this attack was going to happen very soon. Back during his time as an Irregular, they would often stop their attacks. After a few days of no action, soldiers grew restless and their instincts dulled. That was usually when they struck. And the people of Ember Creek weren’t trained soldiers. He could already see the worry over an attack lessening in the way the townsfolk and even the loggers moved about their day.

His instinct was to yell at them to be more vigilant. To tell them the threat was still there. That this was a war and they should treat it as such. He held his tongue though. These people wouldn’t understand. And even if they did, that short burst of attention would quickly fade again. Very few people saw beyond their day-to-day lives. John couldn’t blame them for that. He had been the same way back when he was a farmer, where everything revolved around planting and harvest leaving little time to worry about things outside his control.

Just as the day of work was ending, John heard the whistle of the train in the distance. “Finally,” he said under his breath, not taking his eyes from the forest that now sat a dozen or more yards further back from the town. It wasn’t much but it should keep most of the houses out of the range of arrows.

He was about to call it when a massive boom lit up the fading sky. His head whipped around, and he saw a fireball and debris raining down from the direction the train was coming from.

“NO!” he shouted.

The boom of the explosion rolled over the town. As soon as it passed, the silence was taken up by the whooping sounds of warcries from deeper inside the forest.

“Everyone, RUN!” The group of volunteers who had stood in shocked horror quickly realized what was going on and sprinted for the safety of the town.

John heard the fast-approaching sound of hooves and knew they weren’t going to make it. Not unless he bought them time.

He did something he rarely did and pulled out both his pistols. He knew there would be plenty of targets as soon as he turned around.

A group of over a hundred riders were racing through the forest and were almost already to the freshly chopped trees.

John didn’t wait, he fired as fast as he could, aiming for the horses and not the men.

Each shot dropped an animal. John shot and backpedaled as fast as he could manage. His goal wasn’t to stop this horde of attackers. It was simply to slow them down and force them to find an alternative route.

It didn’t take him long to empty both of his revolvers. He tucked one back in the holster, wincing as it burned him slightly. He ejected the spent casings and rapidly reloaded six more before firing all those off as well.

The Harc’otti quickly wised up to his tactic and spread out so they didn’t all pile into the lead animal John was taking down. But his efforts had bought the fleeing loggers the time they needed to get to cover.

Unfortunately, John couldn’t say the same as more than one arrow whizzed past him. If he turned and made a run for it now, he was as good as dead.

He reloaded once more and fired at the six warriors who seemed closest to hitting him with their arrows. All six fell from their horses, and John decided to take the opportunity to run. He sprinted flat out, reloading and firing as he moved. He only had one more reload after this.

An arrow slammed into his back, sending him staggering forward. John managed to keep his feet, but another arrow slammed into his calf. That nearly brought him to his knees. He kicked the arrowhead off while running and yanked the offending projectile out of his leg without stopping. Blood leaked from the leg wound but he gritted his teeth and kept moving. He couldn’t do anything about the arrow that hit him in the back, he could only hope the lack of pain meant his armor had stopped it.

The pounding of hooves closed in and a screaming warrior leaped from his horse and tried to tackle John to the ground. John shot the man in mid-air and jumped over his falling corpse, angling himself to grab the warrior’s horse as it raced past.

The beast tried to buck him off as John swung himself into the saddle, but he pressed his heels in and urged the animal into a dead sprint for the barricade wall.

As he neared, shots began to ring out from the town and the sound of approaching horses slowed to a halt. He took the opportunity to look back, what he saw gave him pause.

The horses were not the only thing that had come from the woods, they were just the first. Tromping out of the treeline came a dozen of those armored suits. And he lost count of how many other Harc’otti joined them.

Hundreds of Harc’otti started fanning out and John knew they would likely encircle the town. This wasn’t an invasion, this was an extermination. He really hoped Travis and Seline had finished those guns. They were going to need them.