No one in the saloon spoke as a wide eyed man stood in front of the still swinging double doors.

His brow was covered in sweat and his old clothes were covered with dirt but, seemingly in defiance of his fatigued state, he brightly smiled before striking the air with his fist.

“We struck a vein!” He yelled making the saloon erupt in cheers.

A smile crept onto Adziil's face as he wiped one of the many Glass cups on the counter dry.

He was a tall man with light brown skin and long black hair that was bound in a single braid.

He wore an old leather vest on top of an ironed cream shirt along with some dark brown pants.

“What did I tell you, huh? Didn’t I say this town was the perfect place to set up shop? Now customers will come from all around!” A man who stood alongside Dare behind the counter yelled making Adziil roll his eyes.

The man wore a bright smile which was made brighter by his pale skin and light brown hair.

He wore the same outfit as Adziil only his vest was a dark green woolen one.

“Yeah, yeah. You were right. Now let’s focus on our customers-“

“Not until you say it again.” The man grinned making Adziil roll his eyes.

“You were right, Béarn. Now, you have some customers waiting for you.” Adziil smiled.

Béarn nodded giddily before turning to one of the many men who were awaiting their cups of cold beer which poured forth from barrels which had rectangular devices attached to their sides. These devices were what cooled the beer.

“Oi! Barkeep! Give me another!” A drunken man yelled and, by glancing at his dirt lined clothes, Adziil saw that he was one of the many miners who had been working in a mine twenty five kilometers north of the town of Oddment.

“Coming right up.” Adziil said before serving the man who thanked him with a curt nod before returning to his table where he joined his friends in loud celebratory banter.

Oddment was a small town that sat right in the center of the Zamanta Province of the land of Ife Oodaye.

Zamanta was mostly Savanah but a thick forest to the far south and a mountain to the far east gave the otherwise flat landscape some variety.

This night came with it a full moon, meaning that even without the use of lights, everything was brightly illuminated.

Oddment had only one street which passed through it on its way north while also leading straight to the forest to the south.

Buildings lined either side of the street and chief among them was the Sherriff’s house, a three story house that served as the town’s true center since it housed the bank, doctor’s office and warehouse.

The celebrations eventually took a pause as everyone had either passed out in the saloon or had gone home.

Adziil and Béarn made sure to lead their drowsy patrons out before finally locking the door.

They then tidied up before they themselves sat on the other side of the counter.

Béarn let out a sigh before deeply chuckling.

“I swear by the Nexus, I was this close- THIS CLOSE to giving up!” He laughed making Adziil shake his head.

“You wanted to go back home a week after we got here!” Adziil clicked his tongue as a woman descended from the second floor via a staircase along the saloon’s right most.

She, like Béarn, had pale skin, neck long brown hair and dark, half closed eyes.

She wore an old beige, knee length dress and had a pearl necklace.

“Things got pretty loud tonight. Did something good happened?” The woman yawned.

“Funny that you ask, my dear Ceren.” Béarn said while hopping off of his chair.

He then walked up to the woman and offered her his hand.

Ceren turned to Adziil who simply shrugged.

She then gently placed her hand in Béarn’s and he pulled her into his arms before kissing her, much to her surprise.

“Remember when you said that coming here was a mistake?”

“N-no.” Ceren conspicuously shifted her gaze away from Béarn as his face brightened with his cheeks getting redder.

“Well, it was the best mistake ever because the boys up in the mine struck a vein of Albarka!”

Ceren’s eyes widened.

“Yep.” Béarn smiled as she squeezed out of his embrace.

“Well, that certainly is… a positive.” Ceren agreed while taking Béarn’s hand once more.

“And I think I remember reading, in an old war report, something about a meteor which once struck a village somewhere to the north. Maybe the vein they found was deposited as debris after the impact.” She supposed while pulling him towards the stairs.

“Yes! That’s probably what happened! Hey, we should tell this to the sheriff and maybe he can lead the search to find the original site!” Béarn yelled while being pulled up the stairs much to Adziil’s amusement.

“Wait- where are we going? The night is still young! We must celebrate this momentous moment!” Béarn cried before being dragged towards his room.

“Don’t just sit there, Adziil! Help me-“

The bedroom door suddenly closed, sealing Béarn and his voice behind it.

Adziil softly chuckled before standing up and making his way to his own room which was also upstairs and was next to Béarn’s.

He took off his leather boots and placed them nearly next to his drawer before removing his the rest of his clothes, revealing his muscular body and the many scars that lined it. The most prominent ones were those that covered his arms from his elbows to his wrists.

He then laid down on his single bed and closed his eyes while shaking his head as moans from the next room seeped into his.

He eventually fell asleep although it was with a disgruntled frown.

.

..

“Hey.” Béarn whispered while crouching next to a sleeping Adziil.

“Hey!”

“WHAT?” Adziil snapped with widened but still sleepy eyes.

“We should ask Sheriff Akuya if we can see the mine!”

Adziil winced as he sat up.

“Why would you want to do that?” He yawned.

“When was the last time you saw a chunk- a sliver of Albarka?” Béarn asked as he stood upright.

“Aren’t batteries filled the stuff?”

Béarn lightly slapped Adziil’s cheek, making him clench his jaws.

“First off, it’s not the same. Those things have milligrams at most. Also, don’t lie. We’ve wanted to see the stuff in its pure form ever since we were young! Remember the legends? One gram was worth five times more than the same in diamonds!” Béarn yelled while sitting on Adziil’s bed as he got dressed.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Who’s we? If I remember correctly that was you and your old man’s dream! And besides, today’s probably gonna be a busy one so who’s gonna man the saloon when we’re gone?” Adziil asked with a raised brow.

Béarn opened his mouth to speak but he stopped himself before allowing his shoulders to droop.

“Yeah… you’re right-“

“I know I am. Now come on. Our deliveries should be here.” Adziil smiled while helping Béarn onto his feet.

He then led the sulking man down to the first floor.

He opened the door and led Béarn outside to find Oddment bustling with movement.

“Weehoo! Get rrrready, folks! Things are about to get rrrreally exiting around here thanks in no small part to our Blessed Lady herself!”

Someone yelled and it sounded like they were on the roof of the saloon.

Adziil and Béarn walked out into the street and looked up to see a half naked, sun baked man on the roof.

“Oh- it’s Riley.”

“HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET UP THERE?” Béarn yelled.

“Huh? Twas by the will of the Lady Bound in Black! S-she keeps me from… stepping o-off the edge. Can't say why she was here though.” Riley slurred while swaying dangerously to the left and right.

“How is he drunk? We haven’t opened the bar yet.” Adziil muttered.

“Ugh! Stay still. We’ll go get someone to help. Come on.” Béarn said before leading Adziil up the street to the Sherriff’s office.

They entered it and walked past the doors that led to the warehouse and doctor’s office, choosing to instead ascend the central staircase that led to the Sherriff’s office proper.

Béarn kicked the door’s open, revealing a flustered man who sat behind a large desk. He was a short, chubby man with dark skin and balding hair. He had a full beard and brown eyes.

“Mr. Sherriff!” Béarn greeted loudly startling the man who was known as Sherriff Akuya.

“Whoa! What happened to knocking?” He cried as a woman suddenly stood up from his side. She was short, had short kinky hair, dark skin and wore a blood stained shirt along with a dark gray skirt.

“Time is ticking, Tom and we need to start moving!” Béarn yelled making Akuya wince.

“Who’s Tom and what the fuck do you want, Béarn?”

“Tsk, tsk, Sherriff. Surely you felt it, no?”

Akuya frowned in confusion.

“Felt what?”

“The buzz in the air? The tremor in the ground ?”

Akuya glanced at Adziil who shrugged.

The Sherriff then turned to the woman who looked like she was holding something in her mouth.

He then let out a sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I keep forgetting that you’re crazy.” He muttered before pulling up his pants and waving the woman away.

She swallowed before leaving allowing Akuya to glare at Béarn who was still brightly smiling.

“What do you want in the mine?” He asked with a slightly stiffer expression.

“Nothing… I just wanna see it for myself.” Béarn replied with an equal amount of seriousness.

Akuya let out a drone before dismissively waving his right hand.

“You’re free to do whatever you want-“

“I want us to go together.” Béarn said making Akuya bite hit teeth.

“Fine. Although you’ll have to wait until tomorrow since there’s something I need to check out in Dennis-“

“No problem. Oh- also, Riley is on our roof. Would you kindly get someone to help him get down?”

“Yeah, Yeah. Now, please… fuck off and close the door.”

Béarn nodded before leading Adziil out of the office and down the stairs.

The two then entered the warehouse which made up a large chunk of the building.

It was a large space filled with crates and barrels that constituted the town’s supplies along with things it was exporting or importing.

The space was lit by lights above that buzzed fairly loudly.

Béarn walked up to a tall, lanky man with pale skin, long dark hair and dark, baggy eyes.

He wore dirty overalls and held an old notepad.

“Good morning, Deel!” Béarn greeted making the lanky man slowly turn his eyes to him.

“Mmm… you.” Deel growled as Béarn curiously looked around.

“Has our stuff arrived yet?”

“Yep.” Deel said before walking up to two large barrels.

“Two barrels of Pito-“

“Thank you! Kindly ask your boy and his friends to take them to the Saloon. Oh- and I’d like to order ten more barrels.” Béarn demanded while turning to leave.

“Will you be able to afford that?” Deel raised a brow.

“I will once all the new people come!” Béarn yelled while pushing Adziil out of the warehouse.

The two then returned to the Saloon to find Ceren talking to a burly man who was covered in dust. He had light brown skin, a cleanly shaven head and a long black beard.

“You’re gonna have to go to Newland for one of those.” The tapped his chin thoughtfully.

“Let me guess, she asked you to find a musician.” Adziil raised a brow while offering the filthy man his hand who shook it gingerly before shrugging.

“Hey, can’t blame her. It has to be tiring. Hearing the endless loud droning of drunks. I can understand why she would want some music.”

“Thank you, Eazima. Now if only we had someone who was willing to go all the way to the capital.” Ceren droned while tapping her own chin.

Eazima chuckled before giving Béarn a tap on the shoulder as he left.

“Anyway, I must go. My services have been requested in the mine.”

“Good luck!” Béarn said before making his way to the counter with Adziil and Ceren.

“Phew. I’m shaking with excitement. And as for your musician problem, I’ll ask Deel if he knows someone who knows someone.”

“Thank you.” Ceren said while returning upstairs.

“Yep. Now… lets get ready to work.” Béarn grinned.

.

..

Night had once again fallen and, like Béarn expected, the Saloon was full with not only their usual patrons but new faces who had come from neighboring towns.

Everyone remained silent as a group of miners entered the house with a dirty bag in hand.

They were accompanied by some of the Sherriff’s deputies who couldn’t hide the smiles on their faces as the miners emptied the bag on the centermost table.

Everyone then gasped as several large chucks of a glowing, opaque rock poured from the bag.

“Hell fucking yeah!” Someone yelled making the whole Saloon burst into cheer.

Adziil and Béarn exchanged smiles but their attention returned to the front as Sherriff Akuya walked into the Saloon. His boots were covered in dust and his brow was covered in sweat.

“Calm down!” He yelled but he was barely audible over the cheers.

“Pipe down!” He yelled and those who heard him went quite, prompting the others to do the same.

“While it’s well and good for us to celebrate what will undoubtedly launch Oddment into a brighter future, it is important that we pay respect to our dim and humble past.” He said with a rather serious expression that made everyone stand still.

“What started out as an outpost for the law has quickly grown into a beautiful town full of beautiful people and it is only through hard work and collaboration that we got here-“ Akuya stopped as the sounds of footsteps filled the air.

He turned around and his eyes widened as a tall woman entered the Saloon.

She stood no shorter than two hundred and fifty centimeters and her face was covered almost entirely in a single length of white silk cloth which was embroidered with golden spirals.

Her body was muscular and big that she almost entirely filled her white leather pants. Her white shirt was rolled to her elbows which revealed that her arms were also bound in cloth.

The only things that informed anyone that she was a woman were her thighs and breasts.

She moved to the side shortly after allowing a man who wore the mask of a frowning hyena inside.

Above the hyena’s eyes were goggles and covering his hands were leather gloves.

He wore an old suit and a dark leather trench coat.

“Hard work and collaboration… how beautifully said.” The Hyena masked man said while walking up to Akuya who stood with trembling eyes.

“Such ideals will be important in the coming days although I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Could you all please come outside? I have an announcement I'd like to share with you.” The Hyena asked but just as the words left his mouth, almost everyone in the Saloon pulled out weapons of various make from their holsters and pointed them at the Hyena and his companion. These varied from revolvers to repeaters.

“We are not going to entertain your twisted schemes, bandit! Now, get on your knees and you just might make it out of here alive-“

A loud burst of air shook everyone and Adziil’s eyes quaked with dread upon seeing that Akuya’s head was no longer on his shoulders and was instead in the outstretched hand of the mysterious woman.

“I will not ask again.” The Hyena asked as Akuya’s body fell.

A moment of silence passed as everyone processed what had just happened.

Adziil glanced at Béarn who visibly trembled while holding up a lever-action rifle.

His eyes then began to widen as Béarn squeezed the trigger but before Adziil could warn him, Béarn shot at the man.

Another blast of air shook the Saloon and everyone silently gasped upon seeing that the woman has stopped Béarn’s bullet with the back of her hand, something which could be seen by the torn cloth although her brown skin was undamaged.

The Hyena let out a sigh before turning around.

“Kill anyone who doesn’t lower their weapons and bring the rest outside.” He instructed before leaving.

The woman then squeezed her hands into first and while everyone fired their weapons at once to kill her as quickly as possible, Adziil reached out to grab Béarn only for the woman to suddenly appear in front of them.

She then kicked Béarn in the face with so much force that her boot got lodged in his skull.

She had also moved with so much speed that the shockwave she generated knocked Adziil backwards, along with obliterating the counter.

The woman removed her foot from Béarn’s skull before turning to Adziil who laid helplessly o the floor.

She then grabbed him by his arm before dragging him to front of the destroyed counter where he beheld the true horror of what she had done.

Splattered across almost every part of the Saloon were chucks of flesh and the floor was covered in blood which the woman dragged Adziil through as she left the Saloon.

He saw that the remaining residents of Oddment had been gathered in front of the Saloon.

They were all on their knees and surrounded by men who wore hyena masks although their Hyenas were grinning.

Adziil was thrown towards where the others were and the first masked man paced in front of them.

Standing behind him were two others.

A man who wore a mask of feathers and another who were a black leather mask.

“Mmm… big bro only left one alive.” The feather masked man commented as the first Hyena walked up to Adziil who was still shaken from everything that had just happened.

The frowning Hyena looked him over before shaking his head.

“I just know for certain that you’re gonna cause us trouble if we keep you alive and send you to the mine. Zaki!” The man called out before stepping backwards and before Adziil could even think. Before his rage and terror could find root in his mind, the woman from before punched a hole in his skull and the last things he saw were her burning white eyes.

.

..

Flashes came.

Images of a farm in the middle of a desert of grey sand.

Then came a song.

One of anguish and sorrow.

Adziil gasped as he suddenly sat up.

His body was covered in sand and his head ached terribly.

He looked around and began frantically breathing upon seeing that he was in the middle of a sea of sand.

Laying next to him was a gun. A revolver made from a dark metal and lined with twisted engravings.

Adziil winced as his headache intensified although the pain came with it words that felt like they were from a recent memory.

Words that were wheezed by a man who’s voice he didn’t recognize.

[Four bullets, four targets. Exact your revenge or be damned to forever serve as Death’s Hand.]