by Tasha Black
“Oh no,” she said, her face falling when she saw the unfortunate creature.
“It’s alright,” Slade said. “I’ll take care of it. You two go on.”
Zane nodded to him, grateful to the marshal for being subtle for once.
“Come, Sarah,” Zane said.
They continued through the mist.
“Do you really think he’ll be able to get it out of the mud alone?” Sarah asked Zane. “Shouldn’t you help him?”
Before he could reply, a single gunshot rang out across the marsh.
A moment later they could hear the soggy squish of hoofbeats heading their way.
“All taken care of,” Slade said, a solemn expression on his face.
“You- you killed it,” Sarah said.
“Its rear leg was shattered,” Slade said. “It was a goner. Poor thing would have drowned, if its heart didn’t burst in terror first. If those cowards we’re after had half a heart between them, they’d have done it themselves.”
Zane watched as Sarah buttoned her lip and urged her mount on, her back stiff and straight, clearly rattled by the idea.
He tried to focus on catching up and keeping her in his sight. But he couldn’t stop his mind from reeling. Her innocence would end up being her undoing. She couldn’t even stand knowing that a lame mule had been put out of its misery.
Killing another human being would destroy her.
27
Sarah
It was full dark by the time they reached the edges of the development. If not for the soft glow of starlight peeking through the clouds, Sarah wouldn’t have been able to see at all.
The facades of the buildings made strange shapes against the slate-gray sky. From what she could make out, there were two sets of townhouses, separated by a little hill with a stand of scraggly trees.
The row on the right was clearly sinking into the bog. Fingers of algae reached out of the murky water to pull at the rough wooden walls. Doors and windows were popping out as the buildings were pulled askew on their journey downward.
As they drew closer, Sarah spotted a dark shape moving under the shallow water that already filled an algae-coated kitchen. She suppressed a shudder and hoped they wouldn’t have an opportunity to find out what it was.
“The model is on the other side,” Slade pointed out. “It’s not as bad over there.”
Sarah couldn’t imagine the idea of living anywhere near this half-sunken ghost town. But clearly Caldwell cared more about enabling his degenerate lifestyle than about cleanliness, or spookiness.
“We’ll leave the horses here,” Slade said, riding up onto the relatively solid ground of the trees between the two sides of the development.
Sarah swung down from her mount, scratching the creature behind her beautiful antlers and accepting a snuffly kiss. This time, she had remembered to save a bit of cake from lunch, and she fed it to the pretty creature before leaving her to join the men.
Together, they looked out over the more stable half of the development.
From her vantage point, Sarah could see that the fronts of the homes were just facades, with the rest of the exteriors constructed of unfinished wood that already had coats of moss growing on them like fur.
Massive construction vehicles, and a huge metal tank that must have been meant to store drinking water, were lined up along the higher side of the development.
Light emanated from just one house, directly at the center. Smoke trailed out of a ragged hole in its roof, as if someone had built a campfire in the main room.
“That’s the model,” Slade said, pointing to it. “It will be tough to take them as long as they’re inside.”
“We could smoke them out,” Zane suggested.
“Good,” Slade said. “You afraid of heights?”
Zane raised an eyebrow.
“Of course,” Slade said. “You cover the hole to trap the smoke inside, and I’ll find a good point to get the drop on them when they come out.”
“What about me?” Sarah asked.
“You stand watch,” Slade said. “If anyone leaves the house before we get up there, whistle and then hide in the trees. You got that? Do not engage with them. We’ve got them backed into a corner now. Like any trapped creature, they’re liable to bite.”
Sarah nodded. She knew that she wasn’t as skilled as the marshal, but she was determined to do her part rounding up the men.
And when Caldwell finally showed himself, all she needed was to surprise him with one good stab from the sword in her cane.
Zane moved to her, putting a big hand on her shoulder.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asked her. “You don’t have to be here. I’ll put you back on that stag-mare and send you back to Frylla to wait for us.”
“This is what I was meant for,” she replied, meeting his eyes and refusing to back down.
“Be careful, Sarah,” he said. It sounded like a surrender.
“You too,” she told him, nodding.
Slade tipped his hat to her and then they were off, moving slowly and carefully as they approached the model home.
Sarah moved a little closer too, so she could get a view through one of the big windows. It was dark out, and with the fire inside the house, she was sure no one would see her.
Inside the house, the man with the dirty yellow hair was feeding chair legs into a fire pit they had made out of a bathtub. His horned companion watched him, taking swings from a silver canister.
She dared another step closer to see if she could lay eyes on Caldwell.
Something made a huffing sound just past the houses in the area near the construction equipment.
She turned to see a beggars-mule, like the one they’d passed with the broken leg, tied up to a post. She figured it must belong to Caldwell. She thought about the idea that these men had lost a beast like this in the swamp and just left it to drown. No creature deserved that kind of treatment.
Fury filled her heart, and she marched up to the unfortunate creature, intending to set it free so the villains couldn’t get away, even if they somehow managed to sneak past Slade and Zane. And so the beast would never have to suffer at the hands of such thoughtless men.
But before she could reach the post, movement caught her eye from the water just beyond.
A tall, skinny man was standing in the ankle-deep water, watching her. He carried a wooden pike across his back like a yolk, a dozen or more dead, frog-like creatures dangling from it. He was bedraggled and dirty, but she would know that face anywhere.
“Jericho Caldwell,” Sarah murmured.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked in a raspy, cigarillo voice.
Sarah’s entire universe held its breath as she faced him down, unbelieving.
He coughed once and then just stood there, dripping and staring at her. “You’re pretty enough. Did you come here to get some, girl?”
This was the man who had ruined her life.
And he didn’t even recognize her.
She whipped her sword out of her cane in a single, beautiful motion, the silver of it gleaming under the stars.
She had thought long and hard about what she might say to this man when she finally caught up to him.
You killed the best man who ever lived.
And here you are, a disgusting, slimy man, in a disgusting, slimy place.
But I’m going to send you somewhere you can burn.
The words were loud in her head, but the only thing that came out when she opened her mouth was an inhuman war scream.
Caldwell flinched backward, as if he finally understood that she was an angel of justice who had come to collect her prize.
Sarah moved fast, her skirts billowing as she ran at him, sword aimed for his black heart.
But Caldwell stepped back at the last second and she sailed past him. The sword made a nasty slash on his arm on the way by, but did not hit its mark.
“You fucking bitch,” Caldwell screamed.
H
e spun, hitting her hard in the head with the wooden pike.
Sarah felt the impact before the pain, felt herself flying, felt the soggy ground move up to catch her.
Cold thick mud filled her shoes and clothing and pulled at her skin. Then the pain landed on her like an anvil and she nearly suffocated under its weight.
The world grew dim around the edges of her vision, but she could hear Caldwell’s lazy footsteps moving toward her through the muck.
She tried to scream, but the sound was covered by a barrage of gunshots coming from the model home.
28
Zane
Zane waited for the signal from Slade, and then pulled his stag-horse’s riding blanket over the hole in the model home’s roof. He tried to ensure it covered the area completely, without going close enough for the compromised roof structure to give way under his weight.
Slade was squatting at the far edge of the roof, just over the front door, ready to aim at anyone who ran outside.
Once the blanket was fully in place, Zane waited, hoping Sarah had done as she promised and stayed close. He didn’t like leaving her alone, and less so in this place. The bog was dangerous of its own accord, even without the den of vicious criminals.
“Here we go,” Slade muttered as the door below banged open.
Zane turned his attention back the to the marshal and the front of the building.
Coughs and cursing wafted up to them as the men tumbled out of the model home, hunched over and looking miserable.
But there were only two of them - the two they’d been following. No sign of Caldwell, or anyone else.
Before Zane had time to even scan the area, the big Maltaffian wheeled, pulling two blasters out of his jacket.
Gunshots rent the air.
Slade rolled for cover along the far side of the roof as the second villain pulled out a rifle and fired wildly in their general direction.
“I am a duly appointed officer of the law,” Slade announced. “This is your final chance to surrender peacefully.”
The only answer was more gunfire, as the men below scrambled for cover.
“Then it looks like we’ll do it the hard way,” Slade said with a wild grin as he peeked up and returned fire.
More shots rang out all around, but Zane paid them no mind. His thoughts were focused on one thing.
Sarah.
The marshal could clearly handle himself with those two. But if they decided to make a run for it, they might bump into Sarah. And if Caldwell really was around here somewhere…
He sprinted across the rooftop and looked down on the spot where he had left his mate, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He closed his eyes and lifted his nose to the air, searching for her scent.
The dragon clawed for the surface, ready to take over his body, but he needed to keep his wits about him.
Not yet, he told it. Find her.
The dragon inhaled and a world of smells swirled all around him, so intense they were almost like colors. The blue-green of the trees, the brown of the bog.
And then, faintly, from the direction of the swamp, the lavender mist that was his Sarah.
He opened his eyes and surveyed the area, deciding he could get there faster on the rooftops than the wet ground. He took a running leap onto the roof of the next house, landing hard on his haunches.
He knocked a few shingles loose, but the roofing held, and he sucked in a breath before taking a run at the next one.
It held his weight too, and he ran for all he was worth and landed on the roof of a smaller outbuilding, then finally lowered himself to the ground.
He heard a muffled scream coming from the bog up ahead.
“Sarah,” he groaned, running for her.
Her face was barely above the water. Zane bent to her and cradled her head in his arms.
“Are you hurt, or can I get you up?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, grabbing onto his shoulders to try to pull herself up and out of the muck.
“Sarah,” he said, noting the marks on her head and neck.
“Stop worrying about me,” she yelled, her voice tinged with despair. “He’s getting away.”
Zane looked up just in time to spot the tall, thin man running away in the direction of the construction equipment.
29
Sarah
Sarah let her fingers sink into Zane’s shoulders, desperate for him to help her chase down Caldwell.
She saw the exact moment when he noticed Caldwell running for the hills.
Zane seemed to wake up, grabbing her and wrenching her out of the muck.
She flung herself forward before she even caught her breath, stumbling and then catching herself as she ran, pumping her legs to keep her feet under herself as she went full tilt.
She had no idea what was under the water beneath her feet, or what obstacles lay ahead, and she didn’t care. In the dim starlight filtering through the clouds, she could barely keep her eyes on the only thing that mattered - the lanky form of Jericho Caldwell.
Zane’s big footsteps thundered behind her, catching up quickly. Then his hand was warm around hers, and she knew he wouldn’t let her fall.
Within seconds, they were gaining on Caldwell, his footsteps echoed on what must be rocks or pavement. The going was faster once they were out of the soggy mud of the marsh.
But before they could get a hand on him, Caldwell ducked around a corner and she lost sight of him.
Zane half-dragged her with him and they came out on the other side of a half-built wall.
Caldwell was nowhere in sight.
“Come on,” Zane murmured, as if he could taste her despair.
They backtracked a bit, slipping behind some boards and back out into the open.
Sarah looked around, frantic.
Zane squeezed her hand, and she looked in the direction of his gaze.
Caldwell was sitting above them, in the cab of an enormous piece of machinery. It was as big as a planetary gadabout, with a giant crane arm coming off the cab.
Caldwell glowered at them from behind the bubble of glass. Then the engine revved to life, red warning lights flashing.
There was no time to think. One minute Sarah was trying to figure out what was happening. The next, Caldwell sank the pedal to the metal and the engine whined. Acrid smoke filled the air as the treads tried to find purchase in the marshy ground. Then it was lurching toward them, the crane arm swinging wildly.
Zane pulled her back, and they hit the boards behind them hard enough to rattle her teeth. Before they could try to run, the crane arm smashed into the gigantic metal tank she’d spotted earlier.
The water tank rang out like a gong and crashed onto its side, rolling toward Sarah and Zane.
It was moving too fast, and they were pinned in place.
We’re going to die. What will happen to Bowen?
Clarity descended on her in a blinding flash.
Everything she had done since arriving on this moon had been wrong.
She heard her father’s voice in her head.
It is a rare creature that can change its nature.
Sarah’s nature was not to be a killer. And she didn’t want that to change.
Jericho Caldwell could have escaped, but he wasn’t satisfied with that. He wanted to hurt them first.
She was nothing like the man in the cab of that crane, and she didn’t ever want to be.
She wanted to teach Bowen better - to be sure he knew right from wrong, just as her father raised her.
But it was too late now. She and Zane were about to die.
30
Sarah
Sarah closed her eyes and felt the air around her shivering.
That wasn’t right.
She opened them again to see that Zane was moving forward to shove his shoulder against the tank.
One moment he was a man, muscles bulging against the unstoppable force.
The next, he was a dragon, scales shimmering in th
e hazy starlight, towering over her.
The dragon snorted and gave the tank a shove. It shot out into the swamp, thundering and splashing its way to a stop.
But now there was nothing between them and the crane machine.
Caldwell revved the engine, sending the machine hurtling forward as he swung the crane right at the dragon’s face.
The dragon roared, flames shooting out of its mouth.
A wall of heat pushed outward, lifting Sarah’s hair.
She watched in awe as the fire hit the crane. The massive metal arm melted mid-swing, molten steel dripping to the boggy ground before it could touch them.
Caldwell immediately flung himself out of the cab, and darted away as fast as his feet would carry him.
But even his fastest was far too slow.
The dragon was on him in an instant, pinning him down with a single golden claw.
Caldwell moaned in fear, the sound high pitched and reedy thin, like fingernails on a chalkboard. A dark stain spread along the seams of his trousers as his terror got the better of him.
The dragon let his golden head fall back so that Sarah could see the smaller and more exquisite scales on the underside of his neck. He inhaled a breath that made his great chest swell.
Sarah realized what was happening at the last second.
He’s going to kill him.
She pictured the crane arm melting under that intense heat and suddenly her feet were moving.
“Zane, no,” she cried, throwing her body over Caldwell’s.
The dragon roared and blew his flames straight up into the air instead.
And though the blast of heat reminded her how dangerous it was, the blossom of flames was also undeniably beautiful.
It billowed into the low clouds of Lachesis, lighting them up like fireworks.
31
Zane
Zane pushed his way to the front of the dragon’s mind, but he was still shaking with fury as he emerged in his own form, his strong hand locked around Caldwell’s throat.
