Cyrus

When I woke up my head was hurting worse than it ever had. My mind itself felt like it was on fire and I couldn’t focus on where I was, what was happening, or even who I was for a frighteningly long time.

I tried to reach my right arm out instinctively, in search for my water, but of course, that didn’t get me very far. I didn’t know how long it would take me to stop waking up and feeling as if the limb were still attached, but part of me was actually dreading it.

Was it better that I could still wake up and feel normal for a few seconds? Or was it only slowing down my acceptance of things?

Hell, it seemed like I may not even get a chance to get fully used to it. The memories of the events leading up to my passing out flooded back to me pretty fast and I realised two things.

The first was that I really shouldn’t have been alive at all, given the circumstances of my passing out. I had killed one of the outlaws and basically toppled over right onto his corpse, why hadn’t they just cut my throat or returned the favour and put a bullet in my head while I was out cold?

The second was that the dark tent I was now in must have been one of the same that Lucy and I had seen dotted all around the outlaw camp. I was still in enemy territory and I was alive.

Once I had recovered enough to do so, my head still feeling incredibly groggy and my stump hurting like hell, I scrambled up to my feet as quietly as I could manage. The tent seemed utterly empty other than the blanket that had been thrown over me. I had my basic clothes but not my duster or any of my bags.

My ruby repeater was also missing too. I had figured it would be but it didn’t leave me feeling any less panicked. Without it I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did. Lucy and I likely both would have died fighting the vultures outside of the camp and never made it in to attempt to rescue Kate.

Kate.

My mind suddenly jumped to those last few moments where I had been struggling to cling to consciousness. Had I really seen her? Had she really just left me?

Maybe she had thought I was dead, and left to save herself in the chaos? That was what I wanted to believe, but I couldn’t ignore the cruel, twisted look on her face. She had almost looked amused to see me there, bleeding out and with one less limb than the last time she saw me.

It was difficult to process and I wasn’t sure what to make of it, if it had even been real, so for the time being I tried to put it out of my mind. I had to find my gear and get the hell out of this camp. If Kate was still here, I’d break her out too and we could figure everything else out later.

Unfortunately, it seemed like things wouldn’t be so easy. I wasn’t surprised. They never were for me.

As soon as I made for the front of the tent and brushed back the flap, I came face to face with a familiar pair of diamond salamanders, both of them staring directly at me. I froze as soon as I saw them, trying to calmly evaluate the situation as best as I could.

They were close enough that even if I had been in peak physical form, I would be utterly unable to escape them before being torn to shreds or incinerated. Thankfully, neither of them seemed interested in doing anything more than staring me down with those bright and shiny eyes, at least for now.

I could tell from their posture that both the salamanders were ready to pounce and tear into me in an instant, so I didn’t push my luck. I slowly backed up into the tent and let the flap fall shut behind me. I knew the creatures were still right there on the other side of the fabric, just waiting for me to make a move, but having them out of sight was a good start.

I needed to figure out a way I could get out of here, sooner rather than later. I carefully made my way to the other side of the tent, anxious that a single wrong move would lead to the salamanders tearing through both the fabric and me.

The tent was secured into the starsand quite firmly, and the fabric was quite strong. It was made of the same durable canvas I used for my own tents whenever a job called for camping out in the Scorch, and I knew from experience that I wasn’t going to get through it without some kind of knife.

I experimentally ran my hand up and down the canvas, desperately checking to see if there was some kind of tear or hole I could widen enough to escape, but it seemed all solid.

“Right now I think I’d recommend staying put for your own good. Lot of people out there that aren’t too happy you’re still alive.”

I almost jumped out of my skin when the voice came from right behind me, whirling around and instinctively reaching for my empty holster. Of course, this didn’t get me far, but at least the man I was facing down wasn’t holding a weapon, just a hat.

“Calm down. If I wanted you dead, would have buried you with the others.”

I immediately recognised the tall masked man as the leader of the outlaws. Before I could react he had already tossed me the wide-brimmed hat. I instinctively snatched it out of the air and looked it over to confirm that it was, in fact, my own.

I eyed the man suspiciously, wondering what approach I should take. He was wearing the same dark black ensemble he had been wearing during the fight and now that I was up close I could make out the finer details.

It was a three piece suit, complete with a bowtie. I had to force myself to do a double-take when I noticed that detail. With most of the clothing people wore out in the Scorch being as practical as possible to boost our odds of survival, it was just bizarre.

It almost looked as if someone had customised a noble outfit, the kind I had only seen on the cover of bad romance novels, and dyed it entirely black. It wasn’t the kind of thing you saw out in the Scorch, that’s for sure.

It was clearly expensive and well-made, otherwise I couldn’t have imagined the outfit lasting long out here, but it was just so bizarre to me that it took quite a few seconds to process before moving on.

While I struggled to make out most of his features behind the crystal mask, I did pick up on the fact that the man had a well groomed black mustache and beard. Again, not the usual style out here mainly due to the extravagant price any luxury items would fetch once you got far enough out into the wasteland.

His piercing blood red eyes were easily visible despite the mask, and his long black hair was almost entirely tucked away under his wide-brimmed hat, not too different from my own.

Overall? The man looked like the kind of classical villain you might see in a commonplace adventure novel, those of which I had devoured voraciously in my youth.

I almost struggled to actually believe this man could be the leader of the outlaws, the one who had organised the kidnapping of Kate and attack on Clearvein. But maybe that was the idea?

It was hard to take someone dressed so flamboyantly seriously, but when I looked closer I could spot the concealed holster for a revolver and crystal armblade mechanism under one of the man’s sleeves. I would be a fool to underestimate him in any way, shape or form.

For now, my best course of action was to just play along. Rushing the man wouldn’t end well for me, and even if I did manage to somehow take him down I had no chance of getting past the salamanders outside, let alone how many outlaws were left in the camp.

“Got anything else for me? Seem to be missing my gun, among other things.” I carefully put the hat on, not wanting to take my eyes off the man in front of me for even an instant.

“We’re keeping it somewhere safe, but I hope you understand why I don’t exactly fancy returning it right now.”

“Right. How long was I out?”

“Few hours.” The man actually pulled out an intricate pocket watch on a chain and flipped it open. “Four, to be exact.”

“Seriously? Wouldn’t a single grain of starsand ruin that thing?”

“Indeed it would, which is why I take the utmost care of my belongings. My belongings, and my crew.”

There was a long pause, during which I could feel an overwhelming pressure that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I gritted my teeth and decided to go ahead and cut right to the question that had been on my mind since I woke up.

“Why haven’t you killed me yet?”

“Yeah, was wondering how long it would take you to ask that.”

The man looked over his shoulder, brushing aside the flaps to the tent before turning back to me.

“Mind if we walk and talk? I promise you will get your answer, but it’s going to be easier if I explain a few things first.”

“Like what?”

“Well, introductions for one.”

“You seem to already know plenty about me.”

“True, but I’d rather hear it from you directly. Good communication is important. If we had reached out to you before, I honestly believe we could have avoided a lot of this bloodshed.”

The man shook his head, seeming genuinely saddened. This really wasn’t the direction that I had been expecting things to go. I had thought I’d be taunted by the leader of the outlaws and then fed to his pet creatures, that or some other horrible fate.

Maybe he was trying to interrogate me? See how much the people of Clearvein and the rooks knew about his group? It was certainly possible that once I gave up the information the man needed I’d be killed, but then staying silent was just as likely to end badly for me too.

For now, I figured the best course of action was to keep playing along but be cautious with how much I shared. If the man wanted to walk about the camp as we talked, that could present some kind of opportunity for escape.

“Alright, fine. Go by Cyrus. You already know my job.”

“Crystal gunslinger. Not an easy line of work but I can respect that.” The man nodded, slowly turning and gesturing for me to follow as he headed out of the tent.

I cautiously did so. Even though I knew they were waiting there, I still tensed up as soon as I could see the salamanders again. I could feel them watching me hungrily, ready to kill at a moments notice.

“So I guess I owe you an introduction now? Out of curiosity, how much do you already know?”

“Not much.” I shrugged, seeing no reason to lie. “I know you’re the boss. Probably a mage. Found a way to enchant some masks to let you control the creatures and recruited yourself a crew of outlaws?”

“Not bad but you’re still pretty far off.” The man chuckled, running a hand over the spiky back of the crystal salamander to our left as if stroking it.

“To start, the name is Magnus. Magnus McMorrison. You’re right that I’m the boss around here but I’m no mage. These masks were a gift from my boss. Guess you could call him the boss of a Scorch as a whole.”

“Been out here over four years and I’ve never heard of anyone dumb enough to go by that kinda title.” I shrugged.

“You remind me of myself, Cyrus.” Magnus chuckled, starting to walk away from the tent. “Honestly, all of us have our doubts until we either meet the guy or see what he can do.”

“And what can he do?” I grimaced as we started walking away from the tent and the two salamanders started to follow close behind.

“You’ve already seen that, Cyrus. A small part of it anyway.”

“He lets you control the creatures?”

“And so much more. You ever fought salamanders out here before?”

“Seen them from a distance but never engaged. Far too dangerous.”

“Smart. These two were a gift from the Sovereign. If you look at their armour, should be pretty clear they aren’t normal."

The Sovereign? Was that the name of Magnus’ boss? I did as he asked and took a close look at the two salamanders that were trailing closely behind us. It was something I had noticed before, but now I was up close it was impossible to ignore.

The armour plating around their heads, body and tail was far too neat and precise. The crystal growths on most creatures were wild and without order, acting as armour only by their nature. The growths on the salamanders was armour by design. Intricate plating to stand up to immense force from crystal firearms and weaponry.

It was a work of art, and it scared me. Crystal creatures on their own were a huge threat. Someone making them even stronger and commanding them like an army? That was a nightmare scenario.

“He can control crystals? Make them grow how he wants them?”

“I’ll admit, I don’t know everything, but as far as I can tell all he has to do is speak to the crystals. They listen to him, and to a lesser extent, those who serve him.”

“Seriously? You’re telling me these people actually believe that story?”

“The Obsidian Outlaws aren’t idiots, Cyrus.” Magnus simply sighed. “We’re just trying to survive like anyone else out here. Not everyone is lucky enough to get a crystal firearm, and some of us can’t join the rooks thanks to our history. Trying to make a start from nothing is rough, but both the Sovereign and myself believe in second chances.”

I fell silent at Magnus’ words, honestly having no response. Ever since I had woken up in that tent I had been confused and angry. I had been expecting an interrogation or execution, but instead the boss of the outlaws had come to me and was talking to me like a person, not just an enemy.

What he had said, about everyone just trying to survive, hit me hard. I could relate to that. But the fact that I could empathise with these people, the Obsidian Outlaws, made me feel sick.

“So, you’ve seen it yourself then?” I decided to try to keep the conversation moving, while still looking for escape.

“All of us have met the Sovereign at least once. He gives us our masks personally after we complete a job for him.”

“Sounds like a gang to me.”

“You’re not wrong. The Obsidian Outlaws especially are made up of former criminals. The organisation as a whole has a lot more diversity. I don’t have the right to be telling you much about it, but I can share as much about my own group as I’d like.”

“Right… but why tell me at all? Can’t exactly see you letting me go after all this.”

“That what you think?”

“Pretty much. You kidnapped my client and attacked Clearvein. I came after you, killed plenty of your creatures and one of your outlaws. Guessing my client managed to escape in the chaos too. Don’t see why you’d let me live after all this.”

“Pretty fair summation, even if your view on things is a little black and white for my taste.” Magnus chuckled softly. “But in your defence, we are the ones wearing all black.”

“What do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes and clutched my arm, the pain flaring up once again.

Magnus reached into one of his suit pockets, receiving a small pouch and tossing it to me. It was the herbs I had received from Vera, the ones for numbing my pain. I took out a handful and started to chew, sighing in relief.

“I mean, despite what you may believe, we’re not the villains we appear to be.”

“Not denying you’re villains then?”

“Depends, you consider yourself a hero?”

That almost made me laugh.

“Nope. Just a professional.”

“Good. I’ve had to deal with hero types before. No sense of reason. A professional I can make a deal with.”

“Still not sure you’re someone I’d want to make a deal with, Magnus. Most of my business doesn’t start with the other party crippling me.”

“That actually may be something I can help with. I want to let you know, we never intended to kill anyone in that attack. Outlaws with the snake were meant to cause a distraction while the others blew the jail wall.”

“But your outlaws were shooting at the rooks, people were getting hurt!” I raised my voice slightly at this, the crystal salamanders growling at me.

Magnus raised a hand and they went quiet once more.

“I’d recommend you be careful. They’ve been ordered to respond to any aggressive behaviour right now. Nothing personal.”

“Don’t blame you.” I spat out the bundle of chewed up herbs onto the starsand.

“As for the attack, the outlaws were told to make a lot of noise and keep the rooks pinned down. The only ones who got shot were the ones who tried to break cover and take my people down. Kneecaps and shoulder shots, nothing purposefully lethal.”

“Right, until I showed up and your snake started rampaging through the town. Almost killed me and flattened your own people in the process.”

“That really wasn’t how things were supposed to go.” Magnus shook his head, sounding genuinely sad. “We didn’t know that Kate had a crystal gunslinger protecting her. Word was that one came to town with the caravan but we had no idea about the contract. When you attacked the snake, my people lost control of it. Meanwhile my other team were long gone with your researcher friend.”

“How didn’t you know about me? I ran into Sean outside of town and in the prison, couldn’t he just tell you through your masks or something?”

“Ah, good to see you’ve figured that out. The masks grant us a portion of the Sovereign’s power. They let us communicate with crystal creatures and use his authority to control them.” Magnus demonstrated his point as the pair of salamanders following us suddenly stopped, lied down on the starsand and then rolled over. “Shimmer and Sparkle here were pretty hard to control at first, now they listen to me like old friends.”

“You tell your friends to lay down and roll over for you a lot?”

Magnus laughed.

“Back in Zhomir, definitely had one or two partners that would have enjoyed that. Out here, hard to find the time.”

He winked at me with that. I decided to swiftly move on.

“You were saying?”

“Right. As well as controlling the creatures, the masks let us talk to one another. They aren’t perfect though.”

“Like having trouble sending messages to specific people?” I recalled the moment I had put on Alice’s mask and received a message intended for Davis in the middle of our fight.

“Being precise takes a lot of skill. Pretty easy to send a message to everyone nearby, but targeting an individual is tricky. Communication also usually only goes one way. Since I have more authority in my mask, I can talk to the rest of the Obsidian Outlaws, but they can’t send messages back.” Magnus tapped the side of his mask. “Supposedly, can go both ways if you have a really strong bond with someone, but never had it happen for me.”

“Does that mean the Sovereign can talk to you through it?”

“Indeed it does, it’s very rare that he communicates with anyone directly though.” Magnus sighed. “Which made it all the more surprising when I received a message from him shortly after the attack about you.”

“Wait… what?” I stopped dead in my tracks, and the crystal salamanders almost bumped into me. “This Sovereign of yours knows about me? What did he tell you?”

“I’ll explain that and more, but first I need you to understand a few things, Cyrus.” Magnus had stopped at the same time as I had, and the pair of salamanders both crawled around me so that they were sitting by him.

“Your client, Kate? She’s not what she seems. I don’t know what story she spun you but she works for someone just as dangerous as my boss, if not worse.”

“That’s a load of quartz. I can buy that you guys can control these creatures, have seen that for myself. This Sovereign story? Hard to say. People are always spreading rumours about this kind of thing, and it would at least explain a lot. But you expect me to believe that Kate is some kind of… undercover spy?”

“Trust me, I know how it sounds. Seems like a frail thing that can’t defend herself, right?”

“Why else hire me?”

“Because no matter how powerful you are, having someone with a hand-held cannon and the skills to use it in your corner is always a plus.”

“I saw her use her Soulgate once. Lightning powers are strong but she couldn’t control them very well out here, you telling me she was faking that?”

“Maybe. Only got Sean’s account on that one, and he’s not the most reliable witness seeing as he was knocked out pretty quick.” Magnus shook his head. “After all this is over, I need to have a serious talk with him. He was supposed to bring backup, but I have a feeling he wanted to impress me.”

“Why did you want to kidnap her then? Why not just shoot her dead and be done with it.”

“That’s a very good question, and one I wish I knew the answer to.” Magnus sighed once again, waving his arm around at the ruined camp. “For one thing, would have saved us all this. She killed six Obsidian Outlaws, shattered five of our creatures, and now she’s probably heading back to Clearvein.”

I had to take a long pause once again. Processing a lot of what Magnus was telling me was difficult, and I didn’t really know what to believe. He could have been fabricating the whole story to try and draw additional information out of me, but then why was he spinning such an insane fiction?

Was he honestly trying to tell me that Kate, the very same nerdy researcher I had chatted with and escorted, was that fiery being that he had been fighting?

It was utter quartz, a story as worthless as the crystal. But then why did it feel so real?

If he wanted to convince me, surely Magnus could do better than this far-fetched fable. He could have told me any number of more believable lies to try to turn me, but what he was telling me genuinely felt sincere. At the very least, he believed it.

There was always the possibility that Magnus was just insane. The suit definitely supported that theory. My instincts were telling me otherwise though, and I knew that without trusting my instincts I would have been dead long ago.

“You’re serious.”

“Deadly serious. If you want to leave, we’ll let you. You can go back to Clearvein and find Kate.” Magnus shrugged. “Or, you can hear me out and make a decision after.”

“What, so I can just walk out of here?”

“If you’d like. I’d recommend steering clear of Clearvein if you do, but I won’t stop you.”

“You’re going to attack again?”

“Have to. Kate is dangerous, and I’m a professional. Not going to abandon my job, and I’ll understand if you do the same. But I still want you to hear me out first.”

“Giving me my repeater back would be a pretty good way of earning my trust, if that’s what you’re trying to do.”

Magnus laughed.

“Sure, you want my gun too?”

“If you’d be so kind.”

“You know, in another life I think we would have actually gotten along pretty well, Cyrus.”

I didn’t reply, instead stopping to think things through.

The idea that the Kate I knew was a fabrication… I couldn’t believe it. The stories she had told me of her time at Lunar Heights had seemed so vivid and real. Her obsession with her notebooks and genuine excitement at the idea of making a discovery. Her face when she had eaten one of my lemon sweets.

But I couldn’t deny that last memory I had of her either. Had everything else been an expertly crafted mask she had let slip, thinking I was dying? I needed to know, and while I was tempted to try and take Magnus up on his offer and go and ask her myself, the Obsidian Outlaws seemed to know a lot more about things than I did.

“Alright. I’m ready to listen."