The caravans returning from Clearvein to Emberstone seemed to have a clear path. We were following the same route that they had the previous day when heading to the small town, knowing it was extra safe thanks to the crystal gunslinger clearing the way.

This time, the passengers were mainly builders, traders and miners who had finished their business in the new town, and were off looking for more opportunities to make coin in the larger settlement.

We didn’t have the crystal gunslinger with us this time. In his place, one of the caravans was loaded with several rooks, myself included, equipped with heavy crystal picks, armour with gem plating and two-handed weapons.

We rooks were always painfully aware that we lacked the individual strength of any crystal gunslinger, but we provided a vital service that the few lucky enough to end up with crystal firearms weren’t always there to provide. We prioritised training in fighting as a team over all else, guarding towns, caravans and the miners who made the economy of the Scorch work.

We were never as flashy as the gunslingers, but we got the job done and had a lot of respect all over the Scorch for what we did. Nearly everybody out here had at least one story of how a rook had protected them.

It was a pretty good gig that a lot of soldiers like myself had signed up for, already having the required strength and training. Despite this, some just couldn’t cut it in the new environment. Heading home in under a week was a very common practice for newly signed up rooks.

I knew that I had nearly quit the first time I got caught out in a starsand storm and my armour had become half-filled with the infamous “shredding sands” of the Scorch, but I had laughed it off with the rest of my squad and kept at it. Most of my squad was riding with me now, all of us in our heavy armour in the back of a wooden caravan. Ten battle-hardened warriors trying to make the most of a very bumpy journey across the Scorch.

“Think we’ll have much trouble boss?” I tried to start up some chatter as I cleaned my large axe, brushing my long blonde hair out of my eyes as I did so.

I always loved getting the emerald edge nice and shiny, it was immensely satisfying, even if it got scuffed up again as soon as I brought it outside.

“Nah, should be all good Lucy, you’ll be back in Emberstone visitin’ that girlfriend of yours before sundown.” A few of the other guards laughed and one even wolf-whistled at this, earning a prompt elbow from me.

It was all in good fun, we would tease and give each other all kinds of grief, but in a fight I trusted everyone in that caravan with my life.

“Hopefully the town will be alright, how many did we leave again?” The more lightly armoured guard next to me, a young man named Tristan I didn’t know too well yet spoke up.

He fought with a reinforced gem-tipped spear, a tricky weapon to use effectively that required an awful lot of strength and skill.

“Five, but they’ll be fine. Gunslinger is there if there’s an emergency.” The boss grunted.

He was much older than any of us, his tanned face covered with nearly as many scars as there were wrinkles. He wore the heaviest armour out of all of us too, with his weapons of choice being large gauntlets covered with spiked diamonds. They were truly terrifying weapons fit for the truly terrifying combat role. I couldn’t imagine willingly getting up close enough to have a punching match with the crystal creatures.

“Oh yeah, I heard from one of the new rooks that was on the caravan, he’s supposed to be kinda young but really skilled, practically took out half the swarm on his own.”

“No kidding? What kinda gun did he have?”

“Friend said it was some kinda rifle, fired fast and hit like a cannon.” There was a low whistle in response to that.

“How long until we all get weapons like that boss?” I spoke up, eliciting some murmurs of agreement as well as some laughs from around the caravan.

“Eh, not too long I reckon. Hear they’ve made their six shooters pretty much stable now, fancier stuff still needs testing.” The boss grunted with a disinterest that made it clear he would be happier with his gauntlets than any firearm.

He wasn’t the only one to occupy that particular camp of thought, but I could definitely see the merit to making crystal firearms more widespread.

“Wish I could get a hold of something fancy like the gunslingers though…” One of the guards sighed, looking at his large gemsword with obvious longing.

“I’m alright, seen one of those things backfire and I think I’ll stick with the good old sword and board.” The guard next to the disappointed man, equipped with a large gem-studded kite shield and one-handed sword shrugged.

Her mention of a backfire drew the attention of the entire caravan however. Nobody seemed to want to ask first, likely nervous of the graphic detail the older woman could answer with.

“Did they survive?” My curiosity got the better of me, I had to know, even if I knew I would likely regret it later.

“Barely, lost an arm and a couple of folk standing too close were out of it for a couple of weeks.” There was a collective wince around the caravan as we imagined how bad it must have been.

Crystal firearms certainly were impressive, but even the slightest crack in the gemstone could lead to an eventual explosive backfire.

“OK yeah, I’m happy waiting a bit longer.” The guard who had been wanting a firearm of his own quickly changed his tune.

I noticed he did carry a basic revolver in addition to his sword. It was important to have at least a few guns in each squad, in case we dealt with bandits out in the Scorch.

“So Lucy, how long you been seeing your girl?” Tristan surprised me with the question.

I hadn’t heard him speak much while we had been stationed to patrol the outskirts of Clearvein. I was happy to see that he had seemingly warmed up to me a bit.

“Oh a couple of months now, met her in one of the saloons in Emberstone. Started out behind the bar but we were getting along so well she started drinking with me, and one thing led to another…” I laughed as Tristan blushed.

He was a pretty good looking guy, he had a look about him that made it clear he was new to the Scorch though. A general sense of nervousness and fear that would fade with time. It was good for helping keep folk alive through the initial transition period, but you had to overcome those feelings eventually to live here comfortably.

“That’s nice, not sure I’d be able to hold a relationship out here honestly.” Tristan looked dejected, so I tried my best to help cheer him up.

“Hey I wouldn’t rule it out, know things can seem like this hectic life or death struggle everyday when you first move out here, but you do eventually get used to it.”

“I’ve been out here a month already…” Tristan pouted.

“Yeah? I’ve been out here two years and I basically just got there. It’s different for everyone, but give it a chance.” I beamed.

Tristan still looked defeated, my attempts to stay positive bouncing off him like bullets off a diamond dog.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad, tell me something you like out here.” I patted Tristan on the back and he grumbled.

“Pay is good at least, and do like the food out here.”

“Well there we go, you’ll find more stuff to like with a little time, nobody comes to the Scorch because they want to.”

“Unless you’re one of those researchers.” Tristan had a small smile on his face now.

At the mention of researchers, the rest of the caravan grumbled and shook their heads.

“Researchers, psychopaths, the blasting lot of ‘em!” The boss growled, making us all laugh.

It was inevitable that any rooks would end up eventually escorting some researchers as part of their duties with the protector guild, and those who chose to come out here willingly were eccentric to say the least. Everyone in the caravan likely had more than one story of dealing with an annoying researcher in the face of imminent danger, myself included.

As the rest of the caravan started discussing stories about their frustrating dealings with that particular guild, Tristan placed a hand on my armoured shoulder. I turned to see he was looking a lot better now.

“Thanks for that Lucy, really helps to have people like you here.”

“Ah no worries, I do my best. Just because it’s a crystal hellscape out there doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves.” We both laughed at this.

“So, anything fun planned with your girlfriend?”

“Plannin’ a trip with her soon, she tells me one of the outer towns just got some fancy casino, may swing by and test our luck.”

“What, debts on the outside ain’t enough for ya? Gotta rack up some in here now too?” One of the guards overheard and chimed in.

I rolled my eyes at this. A good number of us guards did end up in the Scorch to pay off debts, but usually if you were desperate for coin you would become a miner instead, as your chances of hitting the jackpot out on a trip were much better.

Guards got good steady work and pay however, so for someone like me just trying to make a good living and support my folks back home it was a great gig.

“Hey, however Lucy ended up here at least she didn’t lose it all on salamander racing!” Tristan spoke up before I could, sending the caravan into heavy laughter, even the boss chuckling.

“You didn’t, right?” Tristan elbowed me once the laughter had died down and most of the guards were back to chatting to one another about what they would do first when they got to Emberstone.

“I mean, I didn’t lose all my money on lizards.” I blushed as I remembered a particularly bad streak of luck I had in my teens where I had lost practically all of my pocket money on racing small colourful salamanders with my friends.

They had been native to Kenbry, the large nation to the north I and many of the other guards in the caravan had been born in, and it was a popular pastime for children in the seemingly always sunny desert nation to go out and collect their own lizards to race against others. Part of me missed those days, regular sand wasn’t quite as annoying as starsand when it came to cleaning it out of my armour and hair.

“How about you? Big into lizard racing back home?” I prompted Tristan.

“Nah, I could never catch the blasted things.” Tristan shrugged and I couldn’t help but laugh.

It was a good ride, and I even found myself joining in some conversations with other members of the guild I didn’t know too well. Most of us were from Kenbry originally, it being the closest nation to the Scorch with Clearvein and Emberstone being close to the northern border. There were a good scattering of people in the guild from other nations too, and even a good number of non-human members.

I loved the diversity of the Scorch, nobody here really cared that I was half-goblin, or that I liked dating both guys and gals, often at the same time. Back home it led to some awkwardness related to my small stature and greenish skin, but the Scorch was such a melting pot of different cultures and people all trying to survive that there really wasn’t room for intolerance in the mix. If you acted like that publicly, you would make enemies and lose respect, and people wouldn’t be willing to help you out.

Around here, that could end very badly. My moms had always taught me the importance of being open and accepting, and it helped me fit right into the wasteland full of weirdos and wonders.

“Hey, I’ll teach you the trick to it sometime, they’re fast but if you can find one and follow it back to one of their nests, you can grab a couple easily.” I leaned in to whisper to Tristan teasingly, happy to see I had made him blush.

I did enjoy the occasional teasing of my squad. It helped ease the tension and create a relaxed atmosphere. Sadly, my efforts were all too quickly shattered as the sound of a bell had us all jumping to action. It was the sign that creatures had been spotted.

The boss was the first to leap out of the Caravan that had come to a stop, the horses that had been pulling it looking scared but being soothed by the riders. He gestured for us all to follow as he shouted to the lookout who had rung the bell for more information.

“We got a couple of scorpions and vultures up ahead! I give us three minutes before they’re close enough to start firing!” The lookout, a slim young man who didn’t look a day over sixteen cried out from atop the lead caravan.

A lot of the guards in our group grimaced at this. Scorpions were never easy to deal with due to their ranged attacks that could cause near-instant crystal petrification, and vultures presented plenty of unique problems due to their flight. I could take some comfort in the fact that the rooks had guaranteed treatment ready for anyone that got petrified while on a job, but from what I had heard it was still a hellish experience, and there was no guarantee your body wouldn’t be shattered before it could be safely recovered.

I gripped my own emerald-edged battleaxe with both armoured hands, waiting for the boss to give us orders in regards to formation. I trusted the older man with my life, as did the rest of the squad. He had pulled us out of worse scrapes than this, but there was never an easy fight when it came to the Scorch.

I decided to check on Tristan in the few seconds before the fight to make sure he was doing alright. I found him spinning his spear about, practising a few basic striking and thrusting moves.

“You doing OK there T?”

“Huh? Oh y-yeah, just pumping myself up.”

“Sure you’re ready for this?” I didn’t say it to be mean, but it had to be said.

If Tristan was panicking he would do more harm than good once the fight began.

“Think so, never fought scorpions before though, any tips?” He took a deep breath before he replied, making me grin.

I had been where he was before, steeling myself to seem brave when facing creatures I had only heard horror stories about before. It was never easy, but he was doing better than most.

“Keep moving and try to be as unpredictable as you can if one is searching your way, they usually can’t maintain a steady beam for long, and the stingers are a priority target so just keep an eye on them until they’re dealt with.” Tristan nodded and I looked over to the boss.

He was gesturing us forward into a standard arrow formation now covering the front of the caravans, so a few of us could hang back in case any of the creatures tried to get around us.

“Come on, when this is over I’ll buy you a drink back in Emberstone.” I winked to Tristan and took my position near the middle of the arrow, the boss taking point as usual.

Now that I was in front of the caravans I could indeed make out a collection of crystal creatures in the distance moving our way, kicking up small clouds of starsand behind them. I couldn't make out the fine details, such as the exact number or type of gems we were dealing with, but the lookout seemed to be correct. There were several forms that were unmistakably scorpions and several airborne shapes that could only be vultures.

I wasn't looking forward to dealing with fliers, but I had confidence we would get through this. The entire squad was in position around the caravans now, and the boss held up one of his gauntlets to draw our attention.

“Alright rooks, target those stingers first and don’t get hit, we haven’t had any petrifications in a month and I don't want to break that record!” There were a few nervous laughs at this but the boss continued, sounding dead serious.

“Vultures are going to be a pain, don't focus too much on the scorpions or they'll get behind you and go for the caravans!” I winced at this.

It was truly an awful combination of creatures to be dealing with, we couldn’t easily focus on the stingers with fliers able to attack us from all directions.

“Davis and Tristan, you stay with the caravans in case any of the vultures get away from us, everyone else, draw them in and shatter them!” Tristan nodded as the boss pointed to him and another young man wielding a crystal halberd.

It was a solid decision as those weapons would be better suited to dealing with stray fliers, but I would miss Tristan having my back in the battle.

I didn’t recognise the halberd-user other than from the caravan ride. I supposed he must have been stationed in Clearvein for a while like myself, but I oddly didn’t have much memory of him. We must have been placed on opposite guard rotations, but even then it was a little strange that I could only recall seeing him one or two times over our two week deployment.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to the oncoming swarm. I would have to ask Davis about it later, for now I had to focus on the fight.

“We’re going to meet them halfway, let’s move!” The boss finished and started stomping across the starsand toward the oncoming horde, not a trace of fear in his voice.

A cheer went up among the rest of us as we spread out slightly and followed him, the sound of eight heavily armoured rooks stomping into battle echoing across the Scorch. If we were charging toward any other enemy the sight and sound may have been intimidating, but once the crystal creatures saw us they just screeched and started to charge.

“Spread out and attack!” The boss cried out as he slammed his heavy gauntlets together, creating a loud crashing noise that acted as a signal for us all to jump into action.

The arrow formation we had formed started to flip into more of a “V” formation as the guards at the flanks moved up, ready to encircle our enemies as soon as possible. I stayed close to the rear of the position with the boss and the other heavily armoured rooks. We would face the creatures head-on, and our allies would attack the flanks and keep us covered from the fliers.

We were close enough now that I could easily make out the creatures scuttling and soaring our way. There were three crystal scorpions, all with differently coloured gemstone armour covering their carapace. If we had more time, we would have identified each type and assigned each member of the team to the creature with a gemstone that they could easily shatter with their weapon, in a situation like this we would just have to figure things out by taking some swings and seeing what cracked.

All of our weapons were made with fairly strong gems and metal, so hopefully we wouldn’t be losing any mid-combat. If that happened the protocol was to retreat as soon as possible, but you wouldn’t always be so lucky if your sword broke on a crystal creature. As the scorpions scuttled about, stingers moving rapidly from target to target but not yet glowing, the vultures flying above formed a circle. All five of them had twisted wings, beaks and claws covered with deep green crystals, much darker in shade than my own emerald axe.

Where their eyes once were there were small glowing red gemstones embedded in the green crystal, and they seemed to light up and glow once they spotted their prey. The winged horrors were each nearly triple the size of a normal vulture, only a few heads smaller than the angry arachnids below them. The crystal vultures started to fly ahead of the scorpions on the ground, and began swooping down one by one with unnatural speed for creatures of their size.

Each targeted a different member of the formation and I planted my feet firmly, preparing to take a swing at the beady-eyed bird. The head of my battleaxe was positioned on the ground slightly behind me and I tightened my grip on the shaft as the vulture’s dive reached full speed, whipping up a miniature storm underneath it.

As the creature swooped toward me headfirst, pointed crystal beak ready to pierce through me, I started my powerful upwards swing. My battleaxe kicked up a razor-sharp spray of starsand as it left the ground, slamming into the underside of the vulture’s head with a brutal “CRACK!”.

As part of my swing, I twisted my body out of the way, dodging the crashing form of the vulture and wrenching my axe free from where it had embedded into the hard gemstone armour of the creature. It wasn’t quite dead yet, but I was already approaching where it lay screeching and trying to get back up.

I spun my axe around to my right side, taking a deep breath as I raised it up for an overhead swing that came down right on the vulture’s neck, where the green crystalline armour seemed to be weakest. My first swing made a visible crack, chunks of green crystal going flying across the glittering starsand as the creature screeched out yet again, thrashing in desperation as I raised the axe once more. The vulture’s talons managed to graze me, but it couldn’t build up any real momentum from the prone position it was in, so it only scratched my steel armour.

“Sorry birdy, you attacked the wrong caravan.” I grimaced as I swung down as hard as I could, hitting the same point I had fractured on my last swing and parting the head of the vulture from the body, the crystal shattering in a violent explosion.

There was no time to enjoy my victory however, as the rest of the rooks around me were all dealing with creatures of their own. I turned to face the battle, immediately rolling to dodge as a blast of blue light collided with the spot I had been standing in moments before. I was lucky that I finished dealing with the vulture when I had, as the scorpions had caught up.

On my right and left I could make out the boss and the rook that used a sword and shield fighting vultures of their own, the boss smashing those heavy gem gauntlets down the head of his vulture while the swordfighter circled with a still airborne vulture, the two exchanging vicious blows.

Neither of them seemed like they needed any help, so I rushed forward towards the closest scorpion I could, ducking and weaving through the battlefield with what some would have called surprising grace for someone wearing full plate armour.

Being a half-goblin certainly had some advantages, I was definitely more nimble than most and the custom made armour the guild blacksmith had designed for my smaller stature was a breeze to move about easily in. My size had always been something I had tried to overcome, to be strong in spite of, but out here I had turned it into an advantage.

As I rushed the scorpion, axe trailing behind me, kicking up more starsand, it turned to me with its tail glowing once again. I quickly dragged my axe around in front of me with a well-practised motion, kicking up a cloud of starsand that covered me as I darted to the right of the creature, past those pincers and taking cover in the blind spot to its side.

The scorpion hissed, diving toward the cloud I had created with pincers wildly snapping, but of course, it found nothing but air and shimmering starstand. I was already circling around behind it swinging my axe for the legs of the creature. These too were reinforced by whatever transformation had encased the arachnid in shimmering blue gemstone, but not nearly to the degree that the rest of the body was. Two quick powerful chops and I had severed one leg, causing the creature to hiss in pain, scrambling around to face me.

I hopped backwards as the pincers snapped out at me, dodging the left by a wide margin but almost being caught by the right as it went for my torso. It was time for the tricky part.

Instead of backing away from the scorpion, I charged forward and hopped up onto the main body of the creature, causing it to chitter and screech wildly as it tried to throw me off. If I was trying to ride the beast I would have gone flying, crystal being an awful surface in terms of grip, but I was instead using it as a platform to launch me up toward that deadly stinger.

Thanks to the wild thrashing giving me a much-needed boost in momentum, the strike I sent towards the stinger was a strong one, smashing head-on into the crystal tip and cracking the gemstone. A single strike from my emerald axe sadly wasn’t enough to shatter the stinger entirely, but I wasn’t fighting alone.

After I landed and rolled behind the scorpion I turned to see two more rooks following my lead, a burly masculine figure using a pointed crystal warhammer to smash the glowing crystalline eyes of the creature while the sword and shield user hopped off his back, executing what I suspected was an entirely unnecessary flip as she threw her sword into the crack I had created in the stinger.

Her aim was true and the gem-tipped blade slid into the gap I had created, causing the creature to hiss as the woman landed on its back, leaping up once more and using her shield to bash the wedged weapon even deeper into the stinger, shattering it with a resounding crack.

Since the crystal around the stinger had been destroyed by our combined attacks, it was no longer capable of petrifying anyone. The scorpion would have been able to use the point of its freakishly large stinger to try and impale us still, but the sword and shield user swifly took care of this by swiftly severing the stinger from the rest of the tail as she retrieved her sword.

“Good going!” I called, watching as she then hopped off the scorpion gracefully, landing next to me.

“Same to you.” If we hadn’t both been holding weapons with both hands, I would have offered her a fist bump, but we made do with the quick banter.

With the most dangerous of the creatures weapons dealt with we all moved in, smashing and shattering as many vital points as we could until the scorpion moved no more, our fellow rooks doing the same to the other creatures all around us. Seeing everyone in their element like this filled me with pride, and I looked around to see the boss in the midst of a boxing match with a scorpion that had tried to run around the back of our group to attack the caravans.

I started to sprint over in his direction to help neutralise the stinger of that scorpion too, sparing a few moments to sever a few more legs from the other scorpion and send a vulture crashing into the starsand as it tried to take flight again, when a ground trembling explosion suddenly shook the area. I cried out as the sound and force of the blast shook my entire body, then I cried out again when I realised where the explosion had come from.

The front caravan of our convoy had exploded in a fiery mess, burned wood and the remains of crates that had been loaded with gemstone chunks scattered all over the ground. The fire was already starting to spread to the second caravan of the convoy, where I could make out the form of Tristan laying on the ground, his armour blackened by the blast.

He didn’t seem to be moving. I almost lost my grip on the axe as I sprinted past the boss and the scorpion he was still fighting, making my way over to the second caravan. I could hear someone shouting my name from behind me but I was too focused on my fallen teammate.

I switched my axe to a one-handed grip as I reached Tristan’s prone form, intent on dragging him to safety and trying to and help however I could. I rolled him over and he reached out, grabbing my free arm and staring into my eyes with fear.

“D-Davis!” Tristan coughed and spluttered, some blood dripping from his mouth onto the starsand.

I rapidly looked around for Davis, but the other rook was nowhere to be seen. This was incredibly bad. Not only did I have no idea what had caused the explosion, but it seemed to have caused some internal injuries to Tristan.

“We’ll find him, don’t worry.” I could feel my eyes starting to water from the smoke as I leaned down to try and help Tristan to his feet.

“S-stabbed me…” Tristan winced, and gestured to an area on his waist, not covered by his metal breastplate, where I noticed a spreading crimson stain for the first time.

Before I could fully register what I had just learned, a second explosion tore through the caravan closest to us and sent me flying. I landed hard, armour scraping across the starsand, my helmet and axe both going flying.

“Lucy!” I heard the boss cry out, my vision was swimming, but I could make out the sounds of crystals repeatedly colliding and cracking as my vision started to fade to black.

I struggled to keep my eyes open, but it was a losing battle. I tried to focus, seeing if I could at least find where Tristan was laying. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t find him anymore.

The last thing I saw was a tall figure, obscured by my increasingly foggy vision, standing by the last caravan, then my vision finally gave out, everything fading away to darkness.