by Eric Vall
“How did this happen?” I demanded as I waved to the destroyed barn. My blood roared loudly in my ears. “How has no one stopped them from doing shit like this?”
“Cedis is not like Illaria,” Cayla replied with a wince. “We do not have a standing army. My father has a retinue of royal guards, but that is it. When the beast attacks began, law and order quickly started to crumble, especially in the outlying border towns and territories. Bandits took advantage of the kingdom’s fragile state, and it seems in my absence they have only grown more powerful.”
“We’ll see about that,” I muttered as I glared toward the east as the horse slipped past the horizon. My pulse still pounded like a war drum in my ears, and my fingers twitched with fading adrenaline.
“I believe we should continue on our way,” Aurora suggested as she placed her hand on my elbow. “We need to reach Cedis’ capital as quickly as possible.”
“How much further is it to your father’s city?” I asked as I turned to Cayla.
“We should reach Eyton by nightfall,” the princess replied as she ran a hand through her jet black hair, “but the road to the capital travels through a number of towns first, and I do not know what state we will find them in. We need to be vigilant and keep our wits about us.”
“So you’re saying we have to travel through the heart of bandit country to reach your home?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
Cayla nodded silently and wrung her hands together.
A broad grin stretched across my face as I ejected the last shell from my empty rifle. “Well, that sounds like fun.”
Chapter 2
We didn’t encounter any more bandits on the road, but since the land was relatively flat and open around us, I didn’t really expect them to come charging across the plains. Still, I kept my eyes peeled, my head on a swivel, and my guns loaded and close at hand as we traveled deeper and deeper into Cedis.
About half an hour after our battle at the barn, I finally saw something on the horizon other than fields of grass and scrub brush.
I let go of one of the handlebars to pat Cayla’s knee.
“What’s that?” I yelled over the wind as I pointed to the hazy lumps in the distance.
The princess leaned forward until she was flush against my back, and her hair whipped at the skin of my cheeks.
“That is the town of Keld,” Cayla shouted in my ear.
“Do you think it would be safe enough to stop in?” I called back. “I need some food after the fight this morning, and Aurora could use the rest and fuel, too.”
“I am fine,” the half-elf hollered as she narrowed her green eyes at me over her shoulder.
“I don’t want you to burn out,” I yelled back with a frown.
Cayla tightened her arms around my ribs and then leaned up to speak in my ear again. “Keld is mostly a waypoint for travelers entering or leaving Cedis, so the population is small. I think it will be the safest place to stop along this road.”
I nodded and looked back to Aurora. “We’ll make a quick pit stop then, and we’ll keep our eyes open for bandits.”
The Ignis Mage looked like she wanted to argue, but instead, she faced forward again and increased the output of fire she was injecting into Bobbie 2.0. I toggled the throttle, and the bike lurched beneath us as we sped toward our destination.
We reached the town maybe twenty minutes later. Well, “town” might have been an over exaggeration. Keld was made up of less than twenty buildings, and almost all of them stood in single file on either side of the main road. As we neared the outskirts, I noticed that all the town’s structures were made from dark wood, and a number of them even had multiple stories. Coupled with the dusty wind that blew across the plains, and the horses that were lashed outside of various establishments, Keld had a strong “Wild West” vibe to it.
I couldn’t help the grin that stretched across my face.
From a fantasy realm to the Wild West. This world was really incredible.
My amazement, however, didn’t last very long.
As we traveled further into Keld, I realized that many of the buildings were in desperate need of repair. Boards hung loose or were completely missing from walls, windows were cracked or shattered, and in the center of town, the water pump had a sign that read “broken” propped up against it.
It quickly became clear to me that Keld had fallen on hard times, and if the town itself wasn’t enough to convey this to me, the citizens left no doubt in my mind.
Aurora and I had brought the bike to a near crawl as we rolled down the main road, so we rode past people rather slowly. I tried to smile and nod at those we passed, but each time I was met with fearful wide eyes and paled faces. A mother even went so far as to usher her child inside the house as we drew near.
“Not exactly the welcome I got in Illaria,” I muttered into Aurora’s ear.
“I do not think we will find much welcome or cheer in this place,” the half-elf said over her shoulder. “Keep your wits about you. I see a tavern about fifty yards ahead of us. We’ll stop there for food, but then we need to get back on the road as quickly as possible.”
“I agree,” Cayla whispered as she clenched her arms around me. “The longer I am around people, the more likely it is that I’ll be recognized. I do not want bandits to know that that princess of Cedis is roaming about the countryside.”
“We’ll be fast then,” I murmured as I guided Bobbie 2.0 toward the building Aurora had pointed out.
Several horses were lashed to a wooden hitching post out front, and they nickered and pranced nervously as I parked the bike a handful of yards away. Aurora killed the engine with a flick of her wrist, and the loud rumble faded into silence.
I was acutely aware of the dozens of eyes trained on our backs as we slid off Bobbie 2.0. Cayla kept her head down as she walked around to huddle between Aurora and me, and I casually slung an arm around her shoulder to further block her face from view.
“Thank you,” the princess whispered as she glanced up at me with a half-smile.
“Although I would typically be against hiding your beautiful face, for this I will make an exception,” I replied with a wink, and my lover giggled softly and pressed herself tighter against me.
“Do you think we could save the flirting for later?” Aurora remarked with a frown as her eyes darted back and forth. “I have a bad feeling about this place, and I want to leave as soon as we can.”
“But I haven’t even gotten to my sonnet about your ears,” I said to the half-elf with a fake pout.
Aurora simply gave me a deadpan expression before she spun on her heel and marched toward the tavern.
“Oops,” I winced as I looked back to Cayla. “Looks like I’m in trouble.”
“I think Aurora is just… overly tense, given our current situation,” the princess replied as she bit her lip. “Her Abrus sized wound is still fresh, and now she’s in a new and dangerous kingdom, and someone has already tried to kill us.”
“Tried and failed,” I corrected. Then I reached down, unbuckled one of the rifles from the bike, slung it over my shoulder, and gave it an affectionate pat. “And I’m afraid these bandits will have to get used to failure with Ole Gus around.”
“Gus?” Cayla questioned with a tilt of her head.
“I’m trying out new names for the guns,” I explained with a shrug. “It’s still a work in progress.”
“Clearly,” the princess replied, and I watched her lips twitch as she tried to suppress a smile.
Someone coughed loudly, and I turned to see Aurora had stopped at the door and was tapping her foot impatiently with her arms crossed beneath her ample breasts. She raised an eyebrow at me expectantly, and I winced as I waved at her.
“Come on,” I said to Cayla, “we better hurry up before we have an angry Ignis Mage on our hands.”
“Do you think our mechanical steed will be alright out here?” the princess asked as she glanced from the bike to the half a dozen people that stare
d at us from windows and open doorways.
I turned back to Bobbie 2.0 and summoned up a small tendril of magic. The dirt beneath her metal tires vibrated for a moment before it melted into sand, reformed around the rear wheel like a boot, and then hardened back into stone.
“Not like anyone would be able to pilot her very easily,” I said to Cayla with a wink, “but I’d rather be extra safe than sorry. Now, are you ready, my lady?”
I held out my arm to the princess, and she smiled as she hooked her elbow through mine.
“After you, Mage Flynt,” she said formally as she gestured to the door where Aurora waited.
I grinned, and then we moved forward to join the half-elf. The rifle tapped comfortingly against my spine as we walked, and the weight of the revolver at my hip soothed my nerves. Whatever waited for us, both in this tavern and in the rest of Cedis, I would face it prepared and armed to the teeth.
As we approached the building, I noticed that a faded wooden sign hung above the threshold, and the weathered letters read ‘The Prairie Inn.’ Beneath the name, there was a worn silhouette of a bucking horse and what looked like a pitcher of beer.
“Took you long enough,” Aurora muttered as we reached her. She stood a few steps from the doorway, just off the small one-stepped porch.
“Sorry,” I replied with a smile. “I had to lock down Bobbie, and I didn’t want to go in there naked.”
I patted the revolver at my hip and rolled my shoulder so that the half-elf’s eyes were drawn to the rifle.
“Good call,” Aurora admitted grudgingly, “but try not to look so happy. It will make people suspicious, and it will make us seem like easy targets.”
I schooled my face into a stern frown and nodded. “Got it.”
Aurora’s emerald eyes shifted to Cayla. “Are you ready?”
“As much as I can be,” the princess sighed as she ducked her head again. “However, I’d like to request that either you or Mason do the talking once we enter. I do not want my accent or manner of speech to give us away.”
“I think Mason should take the lead,” the blue-haired maiden suggested as her eyes flicked back to me. “I assume not many elves travel through Cedis, and my presence alone will probably cause enough tension. There’s no need to exacerbate it.”
“I agree,” Cayla added. “These small border towns are more used to travelers, but given the current state of the kingdom, strangers will probably be treated suspiciously at best.”
“And with hostility at worst,” Aurora grumbled as her eyes scanned over my shoulder for any threats.
“Alright, so we’ll go in, I’ll ask for some food and water, and we come right back out again,” I said as I looked between the two women. “Sound like a plan?”
They both nodded in unison.
“Great,” I replied as I held out my other arm for Aurora to take. “Then stick close, ladies, and I’ll get us out of here in no time.”
The Ignis Mage slid her arm into mine, and when she pressed close to my side, I could feel how tense her whole body was.
“Relax,” I whispered into her pointed ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Besides, if we go in all clenched up, we’ll look even more suspicious. Just pretend we’re random travelers in need of a bite to eat.”
“Oh, of course, we are simply nobodies,” Aurora muttered. “Not the princess of the kingdom, a half-elf warrior-mage, or the most powerful mage the world has ever seen.”
My chest flooded with warm pride, and as I stood up a little straighter, I couldn’t help the cocky grin that spread across my face. “You think I’m the most powerful mage ever?”
Aurora glared at me out of the corner of her eye, and then she drove her elbow into my ribs.
“Focus on the task at hand, Mason,” she hissed as her eyes flicked toward the inn, “or your head will be too big to fit through the door.”
Cayla snickered on my other side, and I winced.
“Right, sorry,” I said as I shoved down my pride and adopted a neutral expression again. “I’m ready now.”
Aurora looked me up and down with a critical eye, but she must have been satisfied because she nodded once. Then she inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and I felt her muscles unclench a little.
“Ready or not, we must enter,” she murmured out the side of her mouth. “People are watching us.”
I was well aware of the eyes that were still glued to our backs, but the citizens of Keld seemed mostly curious, not hostile. Still, speed was the objective here.
“Alright then, let’s go,” I said, and with that, I tugged the two women after me.
We stepped up onto the porch, and then I reached out to push open the dual swinging doors. The wooden doors squeaked on their rusted hinges, and I couldn’t help the thrill of excitement that burned through my veins.
That excitement only doubled when we entered the building. It looked exactly as I imagined an Old West saloon would. The room we walked into was wide and spacious, and small tables dotted the floor here and there, littered with empty plates and glass bottles. My eyes, though, were immediately drawn to the bar straight across the floor. A bartender stood behind the counter as he polished a glass with a dingy rag, and behind him, dozens of booze bottles glinted in the room’s low light. A handful of hardened looking patrons were scattered around the room, and they all looked up as the door swung closed behind us.
I felt like I was in a Clint Eastwood movie, and I had the strong urge to find a spittoon as my pulse raced with excitement. I really wished I had a cowboy hat right about now. That would make this scene perfect.
Aurora cleared her throat softly as she squeezed my arm, and I shook myself from my thoughts. Then I lifted my chin high and strode across the floor, Aurora and Cayla pressed tight against my side.
The bartender’s eyes tracked us as we crossed the room. He was an older man, with wispy gray hair and a tangled beard, and his skin was cracked and weathered by the sun and wind. His close-set brown eyes, however, were bright and keen as they swept over me from head to toe, before they shifted to the beautiful women I had on each arm.
“Good afternoon,” I said cordially as we drew up to the bar. “We’re looking to purchase some food and water for our travels. Would you be able to help us out?”
“Well’s broken,” the bartender grunted. “We ain’t had water for two weeks.”
“Oh.” I blinked and regrouped. “How about food then? We don’t need very much. Just some bread and meat if you have it.”
The bartender pursed his lips, and his eyes were intense as they stared me down. “I think ya best be on yer way.”
I frowned, and I felt Aurora and Cayla tense on either side of me.
“Excuse me?” I said. “We just got here, and we are in need of supplies.”
“Well you won’t find nothin’ here,” the bartender growled and jerked his chin toward the door. “Ya need to leave. Now.”
Indignation flared in my chest like a wildfire, and I opened my mouth to retort, but then I looked into the other man’s eyes. They stared hard and unblinking into mine before they flicked over my shoulder to the far corner of the room.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and adrenaline started to bleed through my veins. As a result, my senses went into overdrive. I noticed that a bead of sweat dripped down the bartender’s temple before it disappeared into his beard. I also noticed that he had been polishing the same glass since we came in, almost like a nervous tick.
Then I realized that the whole room had gone silent behind us.
Aurora and Cayla stood ramrod straight and perfectly still on either side of me, and the tension in the air was so dense, I could have cut it with a knife.
I surreptitiously glanced over my shoulder, and I saw three men standing in the corner, away from everyone else. I couldn’t make out any details, but they were large hulking figures in my peripherals, and by the way they stood, I knew their attention was locked on me.
It seemed band
its were as numerous as pigeons in this kingdom.
“I see,” I drawled as I looked back to the bartender, “but what if I don’t want to leave?”
The man’s eyes widened, and he looked at me like I was crazy. His gaze jumped from me to the men in the corner and back. When he met my eyes again, I dipped my chin slightly to signal that I knew of the danger behind me.
“Then I would call ya a fool,” the bartender replied gruffly.
“I’ve been called worse,” I responded with a grin. Then I casually disentangled myself from Aurora and Cayla, and I placed my left forearm on the bar as my right hand slowly slid down to the holster at my hip.
“Bet ya never been called a dead man,” the bartender muttered as he shifted uneasily. Over his shoulder, I caught movement in the distorted reflections of the booze bottles. The three men had left their corner and were slowly making their way toward my back.
I caught the glint of metal as one of them raised a knife.
“Nope,” I replied brightly as I drew my revolver from its holster and cocked back the hammer, “and I don’t plan to earn that title for a very long time.”
Before the bartender could say another word, I whirled around and brought my gun up faster than my would-be-assassins could blink. There was a brief moment where the three men stumbled at my quick movement, but they didn’t recognize the weapon in my hand, didn’t realize that they stared death in the face, and so they continued to lurch forward.
I set my front sight in the center of the closest bandit’s chest. He was the one that wielded the knife. It was a nasty serrated number, and he raised it above his head as his face twisted in a snarl.
I squeezed the trigger twice for good measure, and blood exploded from the bandit’s chest.
He stumbled forward a few steps, his face frozen in shock and confusion before he fell face first to the ground feet from where I stood. The knife clattered out of his hand and spun across the floor.
I lifted my eyes from the new corpse and looked back to his two remaining companions. The pair of them stood with their mouths agape and their eyes practically falling out of their head as they stared at their dead friend.
