As we talked, Magnus had been leading me through the ruins of the camp. Crystal chunks and rocks were still strewn about, most of the wooden structures and tents either crushed under rubble or burned down. As we went I spotted several outlaws, almost all of them sporting obvious injuries and plenty glaring at me.

It felt strange. I had thought so strongly that I was in the right. These were outlaws. The Obsidian Outlaws, according to Magnus. They had kidnapped my client, my friend, and attacked the town. They injured and almost killed plenty of people that stood in their way.

They had let loose the snake that had taken my arm from me.

I wanted to hate them. I had come here with the intent to get revenge as well as rescuing Kate. Meeting Magnus and seeing the aftermath of the chaos here had changed things.

I saw the outlaws tending to each others wounds, rushing about the camp delivering water and supplies were they were needed, it just reminded me of Clearvein.

That community had been afraid and come together after the attack, just like these outlaws. They were trying to survive like anyone else.

Whenever Magnus passed by, I could see him nod to the outlaws, who occasionally answered his gesture with stiff salutes or forced smiles.

They were a gang for sure, but they were people, not faceless villains.

I was sure to a lot of the Obsidian Outlaws, I was the enemy. The crystal gunslinger that had claimed the lives of their friends and come to put an end to them.

More and more, I found myself wishing I had just left Clearvein at the first sign of trouble. I had gotten involved in a conflict I had no real part in, perhaps thinking I was playing the hero for a while.

Now I could see the consequences of my actions? I felt sick.

I was thankful when we arrived at another intact tent and Magnus ushered me inside, away from the hateful gazes. Shimmer and Sparkle waited outside and the idea of taking Magnus hostage flashed through my mind before I could stop it.

Now, while his back is turned. Draw his gun. Steal his mask. The others clearly care about their leader, the salamanders couldn’t kill you without going through him.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I actually shook my head, as if that would help me get rid of the thought. I wanted to give Magnus a chance to explain things to me, but my instincts were seemingly against the whole situation.

I took a few deep breaths, and took another handful of herbs out from the pouch Magnus had given to me. An act of kindness I was starting to wonder if I even deserved.

They soothed the throbbing pain of my arm but did little for my nerves. I took a moment to look around the interior of the tent. It was much more extravagant and spacious than the one I had woken up in. There was a writing desk, a chair, an actual bed and even a full-sized bookcase which seemed extremely out of place.

Rank had its privileges, even in a gang, it seemed.

“Sorry I don’t have another seat, not used to visitors.” Magnus gestured to the one chair in front of the desk.

“That’s alright, I’ll stand.”

Magnus didn’t push the issue, taking a seat and casually pushing aside a few romance novels so that they were out of my line of sight.

“So, Cyrus, where to start?”

“Kate. Tell me what you know, and I’ll decide whether or not I believe you.”

“Fair. I’ll speak honestly, but I can respect you having your doubts. Those who trust blindly are fools.” Magnus sighed softly, then did something I didn’t expect.

He took off his mask, and placed it on the desk before him.

“Don’t worry, Shimmer and Sparkle are still under my last order to wait outside. They won’t act unless they receive another one from myself.” Magnus quickly soothed my obvious nervousness at his gesture. “This is a show of trust from me, to return your own. I appreciate you agreeing to hear me out like this.”

“Think I still would have preferred my gun.”

“Understandable. Normally, I would be happy to return it to you, but I think it would make the other outlaws extremely uncomfortable.”

“Makes sense. If I choose to go, will you return it then?”

“Of course. I assure you that in the meantime, it is being kept safe.”

“I… appreciate that.”

“I have to say, you seem to be taking all this better than I thought. I’d expected a lot more trying to kill me or running away.”

“It had crossed my mind. Smart enough to realise it would just get me killed quicker though.”

“Maybe not you, but thinking if one of the others out there gets the chance they’ll put me down pretty quick. Could just say they thought I was trying to escape or something.”

“Obsidian Outlaws wouldn’t do that. Sure, some of them could use some more discipline, Sean especially, but they respect me.”

“Why do you call yourselves outlaws anyway?” I decided to ask a question I had been wondering for a while. “Rare to meet someone that willingly accepts that title. Not exactly a positive term.”

“Just because someone is on the wrong side of the law doesn’t make them a villain Cyrus. I used to break the law for kicks, stealing what I wanted for the thrill. Now I see that there’s some real value to not living your life constrained by a corrupt system.” Magnus winked at me.

“Also, you’ve got to admit the alliteration is pretty sweet, don’t you?”

“Right, but it sounds to me you’ve abandoned the law just to start following this Sovereign. Isn’t that just trading one system of power for another?”

“In a way, but the Sovereign is different. He has a pretty unique view when it comes to justice, in particular.”

“Oh yeah? And how’s that?”

“Well most folks in the Obsidian Order, that’s the name of our group as a whole, have ended up on the wrong side of the law one time or another. I’m not saying they’ve all committed some crime they’ve had to flee to the Scorch for, although it is quite a common case.” Magnus gestured to himself. “But quite a common trend is justice, or more specifically, the lack of it.”

“So, the Sovereign recruits people who haven’t gotten justice? For what?”

“Lots of things. The law doesn’t always support those who need it most, and even when it does, true justice is still rare. Someone poor steals a loaf of bread in Zhomir to feed their family, they’re liable to end up spending their life in prison. Some noble brat tries the same thing? Even if their parents don’t persuade the judge to just let it slide worst they end up with is a slap on the wrist.”

That example felt oddly specific, but I didn’t want to interrupt Magnus. I found myself not only interested in what he had to say, but fascinated.

“The system is broken, no matter which nation you’re from. Even here in the Scorch, the rooks are far from perfect. But the Sovereign? He hands out the power to you, so you can get justice yourself.”

“That’s why people join up? To get revenge? Set crystal creatures after anyone they have a grudge with?”

“Not as simple as that, but you have some of it down. Once you’ve served the Order for a while and earned the right, you can request an audience with the Sovereign. If he decides it, he’ll help you get your justice.”

“How?”

“Can vary. If there’s someone that deserves it, can send an elite squad out with a few of the more dangerous crystal creatures. If someone in power needs teaching a lesson, the Sovereign is in a pretty good position to make a deal. The Scorch is the most valuable resource on the continent, after all.”

“And you’ve seen this happen? It’s not just a lie to string people along?”

“Never seen it myself but have heard from others. I’ve earned the right by now, or I will after this job. Just don’t plan on using it. Didn’t exactly leave Zhomir on the best of terms, but I’ve accepted that my problems were mostly my own.”

“Then why do you serve the Sovereign, if you’re not out for justice?”

“Just because I haven’t been screwed over yet, doesn’t mean I never will Cyrus. More than that, having the power to protect those I care about, to not only survive out here, but thrive, how could I turn it down? How could anyone?”

What Magnus said, if it was true, made sense. There was nothing quite as tempting as power, and the idea of being able to exact justice on those who had unfairly wronged you…

I saw my family home, turned into a pillar of fire before my eyes. Having to flee, knowing it was my only option to survive. I had told myself that I would return one day, exact justice on those who had taken my entire world and my future away from me, but that dream had been crushed by the struggle for survival long ago.

So what if I saved up enough money? It wasn’t like I could ever hire my own army to go after the people who had wronged me. Maybe I could pay off some mercenaries or assassins, but the people I wanted revenge on were likely far too powerful to deal with that way.

If I wanted to ever face them, I needed to become more powerful myself. I had been trying to go stronger out here, but the kind of power I needed wasn’t the kind you could get just hunting crystal creatures. I needed the kind of power Magnus was talking about.

The idea of going after the people who had killed my family with an army of crystal creatures at my disposal was certainly appealing, but could such a shortcut to my goal truly exist? There had to be a catch.

“What about people who don’t deserve justice? Can’t be telling me the Sovereign just hands out these powers to serial killers, or people who committed crimes because they wanted to.”

“It’s case by case, but so long as your justice is deemed fair he grants it.”

“But how does he know?”

“Because, he’s the Sovereign.”

I expected Magnus to elaborate, but he didn’t, instead just staring me down with those burning red eyes as if daring me to question him.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded tempted to join us.”

Magnus dropped his hard gaze and replaced it with one of his wide grins. I couldn’t deny that he had me dead to rights on that one.

“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure that bridge has been burned. I killed one of you. Can’t tell me this Sovereign would just forgive that. Don’t think anyone here would either.”

“You’re not wrong there. What you did to Davis? I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for that. I know you didn’t have much choice, but the Obsidian Outlaws are like my family. If not for Alice, you wouldn’t have woken up at all. You need to understand that.”

“Alice?” It took me a moment to piece together what Magnus meant, but then I remembered the outlaw I had shown mercy to in the middle of a fight. “What about her?”

“Told me you could have finished her and a few others off but you let them go. Far as I can tell, you didn’t kill anyone when you easily could have. Why?”

I carefully thought through my response, partly because I knew the answer could be life and death and partly because I wasn’t too sure myself. Had I been holding back? I could have just drawn the revolver much earlier and saved myself the struggle.

I had hardly went about things mercifully regardless. One of the outlaws had taken a shotgun blast to the shoulder and I had knocked more than one out cold. I was hardly an angel but if I had really gone all out, I supposed there would have been a lot more bodies and a lot less trouble for me.

“I just did what I had to to survive. Wasn’t any reason to kill. I just wanted Kate back.”

“I can accept that. Still can’t forgive you myself, but I don’t speak for the Sovereign.”

“What do you mean?”

“You asked me why we hadn’t killed you. Think answering that might be a good starting point.” Magnus tapped the mask he had set out on his desk. “My boss thinks you can be of great help to us.”

“What did he tell you, exactly?” I narrowed my eyes, not too fond of the idea that this Sovereign knew about me.

“Told me he could see things weren’t going well, and that this wasn’t a job he could afford to let go sideways. Said I should do whatever it took to get the researcher back, dead or alive. Also mentioned that you could probably be convinced to see things our way, especially if you knew what Kate really was.”

It was a lot to take in, and I didn’t know where to start. Magnus seemed to have been expecting this, and just waited patiently as I processed.

I had been trying to avoid the subject of Kate as much as possible over the course of our conversation, but I knew I needed to address it sooner rather than later.

That fiery being was like nothing I had ever seen, in the Scorch or otherwise. The closest frame of reference I had for that kind of magic was the day I had been forced to free Kenbry.

Since coming out to the wasteland I had definitely seen people try their hand at magic. It just often lead to them losing said hand. Such a controlled feat as I had witnessed in the camp was supposed to be completely impossible.

That seemed like a good a place to start as any.

“You said that thing was Kate?”

“Saw her transform right in front of me. Barely survived it”

“Doesn’t add up. I saw her use magic once. Her Soulgate is linked to the domain of lightning, not fire.”

“You a mage?”

“No, but I know one. I have a friend who has a Soulgate with the domain of fire. Can barely heat up his tea without burning his entire shop down. I don’t see how that thing could be human.”

“It was indeed. I don’t know how she did it, but Kate gave me a pretty important hint.”

“What?”

Magnus took a deep breath and then went over the details of his supposed conversation with Kate. From her mocking him, to explaining what a Sovereign was in magical terms, and finally revealing that she worked for one.

“So… if what you’re saying is true, these Sovereigns are so powerful they can bend the rules of magic when it comes to their domain?”

“Maybe. I haven’t got a chance to speak to the Sovereign, or I guess my Sovereign, about it yet. Could explain a few things though. Like why normal magic doesn’t work out here.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, how familiar are you with the concept of domains?”

Magical domains were something I only knew the very basics about. In the books I had read they were always described like other dimensions that were the sources of unique types of magic. For example, the fire domain was often described as an flaming hellscape inhabited by creatures that fed off the abundant amounts of mana the domain was flooded with.

Soulgates could draw this same fire mana into people and allow them to cast spells, and the more they did so the more skilled they grew at doing it.

Supposedly, it was even possible to visit the domains by opening a magical portal, but as far as I knew that was quite a dangerous field of research. You wouldn’t want to pay a casual visit to the a dangerous domain like fire or ice, even with the strongest protection spells in place.

Surviving the environment was one thing, but domains tended to mess with magic of other types so the real threat came from dealing with the inhabitants. Sure, you could cast fire magic just fine in the fire domain, but it likely wouldn’t help much as the hordes of elemental beasts swarmed you.

Thankfully, there were certain domains that were safer for people to attempt expeditions to. Apparently when magical scholars sought answers to impossible questions they would venture into the domain of knowledge, which looked like a great library full of more books than one could read in a billion lifetimes.

It was safe enough, comparatively, but there were still plenty of stories of people going mad or becoming lost in the endless stacks, never to be seen again,

Of course, living in the Scorch for so many years meant that my knowledge on the subject was horrendously out of date. It was possible that people had found more safe domains to explore and had launched successful expeditions even to the dangerous ones, but that was currently not of concern.

I explained my knowledge to Magnus, and he revealed that we were on about the same level. He had apparently encountered quite a few magic users in his “line of work” before coming to the Scorch, so had done some research on how to deal with them.

“So, you get that a domain is like another world, with a completely different set of rules?”

“Sure. That’s a pretty easy way to understand it.”

“So, what if I told you that the Scorch could be a domain?”

When Magnus saw the look of confusion on my face he tried to elaborate for me.

“Think about it. This place messes with magic, there are creatures unlike anywhere else and hell, even the ground is made of crystals. What if this is some kind of new domain?”

I thought it over. Magnus’ theory definitely seemed to make some kind of sense, even if it did raise a lot more worrying questions. It went far beyond my personal understanding of magic, and as far as I knew people had no idea what domains truly were or how they formed.

However, the term Sovereign… it had some worrying implications. If memory recalled, it was a term for rulers, people with total authority.

“So, a Sovereign is someone who rules over a magical domain?”

“That’s what I figure. I work for the crystal Sovereign, and Kate must work for the fire Sovereign.”

“And her Sovereign must have given her the ability to use some of their powers… like your masks?”

“Now you’re getting it.” Magnus grinned.

I suddenly realised that I was going along with his story as if it was fact, as if Kate really had betrayed me. I didn’t want to believe it, but as I had been talking to Magnus I had been becoming more and more at ease. There were two explanations I could think of.

Either the man in front of me had a silver tongue like a devil, or my instincts were telling me I could trust him. The last time I had made a decision to trust someone, it was Kate, but maybe this was different.

With Kate, I had been uneasy until I had actively made the decision to let my guard down. The fact was that she had seemed so innocent and genuine, I had wanted to go against my instincts.

Now that I was with Magnus, a man I knew was truly dangerous and didn’t even try to hide it, I was actually feeling at ease.

It honestly made me want to laugh. Were my instincts just absolutely awful, or should I have trusted them more? I was starting to think the answer was the latter.

While she had seemed genuine, there were little details within Kate’s story that didn’t add up. The most immediate example was the fact she never mentioned her Soulgate before Sean had attacked her.

She had been happily telling me all those stories about her life at Lunar Heights while we were scouting out the canyon, but she had never once mentioned her own magical abilities. When I realised that, it didn’t take me long to realise there was something wrong with her other stories too.

They had never been about her. She had always told me about “a friend of mine” or one of the professors, but never anything about herself. The only thing she had really mentioned about herself came in the aftermath of that attack, when she had briefly spoke about her professor.

It all started to make my head spin, and I wished that I had taken Magnus up on his offer of a seat.

“You OK there? Need anything?” Magnus spoke up, easily noticing my obvious discomfort.

“It’s just…” I didn’t know how to find the words, but thankfully the outlaw did.

“You believe me, don’t you?”

“I do. I don’t know if I’ll regret it later, but right now I do.” I sighed. “I don’t know who or what Kate really is, but I can see she’s caused a lot of destruction here.

“Takes a lot for someone to admit they’ve been deceived. Lot of folk would just double down, rather than admit they were wrong. Even to themselves.”

“Yeah, I can definitely understand that thought process.” I chuckled softly. “So, Kate works for the Sovereign of fire?”

“That’s what I believe. I think we’ve both stumbled into some kind of turf war between the Sovereigns.”

“Seems like it. What’s your plan then?”

“To get some answers, and bring in that friend of yours. Sovereign made it clear dead or alive is fine. I think alone we could probably handle killing her with some more preparation, but now she’s fled and probably headed back to town, things are more complicated.”

“If I help you, I don’t want anyone else to die. Kate included.”

“Then we’re in agreement, Cyrus.” Magnus grinned and extended a hand to me.

“First, I have one more thing I need to know.”

“What’s that?”

“The caravan leaving Clearvein. One of your people took it out, killed pretty much everyone trying to leave, didn’t they?”

Magnus’ face fell at this. He stared long and hard at me. I didn’t budge.

I already knew the truth, of course. Lucy had told me that the traitor among the rooks was a man named Davis, and I doubted it was a coincidence that the outlaw I had killed shared the same name.

“You’re right. That was us.” Magnus finally sighed. “But I swear to you, nobody died in that attack.”

“You expect me to believe that? I talked to one of the rooks who was there. She barely got away alive. The caravans were rigged to explode!”

The fact that Magnus seemed to think he could trick me with such an obvious lie infuriated me. I had been coming around to his way of thinking on certain things. I’d actually started to feel hopeful that this Sovereign he spoke so highly of could actually help me.

But any man to order the death of innocents to further their own agenda wasn’t someone to follow. I would have to find my own justice.

“I’m guessing this would be the same rook that attacked the camp with you?” Magnus sighed. “She saw the explosions, but I’m sure she didn’t tell you about seeing any bodies.”

When I failed to answer, Magnus continued.

“As you’ve probably figured out, Davis was undercover with the rooks. I assigned him the task of destroying the caravans, but he evacuated the people first while the rooks were distracted with our ambush. I’m told he had use his knives on the rook that was left with him to guard the caravans, but he simply used a minor paralytic. As far as we know, there were no casualties.”

“Then were did everyone go? Just vanished into the Scorch?”

“They’re probably back in Emberstone by now. As far as I can tell, Davis executed my plan almost perfectly.”

I could see the sadness on Magnus’ face as he talked about Davis, and I couldn’t help but feel some guilt.

“Almost perfectly?”

“Regrettably, a pair of rooks ended up coming back to Clearvein instead of staying with the group.”

Magnus’ story added up with what I had heard from Lucy. Apparently, her squad leader had dragged her back to town, unconscious. Why he had done that, instead of staying with the group was a mystery to everyone. By the time Lucy had woken up, he was nowhere to be found.

I supposed he must have dropped her off, then rushed back to join the other rooks out in the Scorch. She had been in quite dire need of treatment, if memory served. Still, the guy could have saved us all a lot of worry by just leaving a note.

“You know about Lucy, then?”

I eyed Magnus cautiously. I had specifically avoided the subject of the half-goblin, that had raided the camp with me. I had been assuming she had escaped, but

“Did… she get out OK?” I asked carefully.

“Gave quite a few of my people a beating, and cost us even more crystal creatures, but as far as I can tell she made it out fine. She’ll probably be back in Clearvein already.”

I could believe that quite easily, at the very least. Lucy was incredibly capable, even when injured. Magnus’ explanation seemed satisfactory enough, but it did all raise one more question.

“But why? Why did the caravans have to be destroyed at all? Couldn’t you just let them leave?”

“We didn’t know how long the job would take, and if more rooks or gunslingers arrived, it could have complicated things massively. Destroying the caravans bought us time. Standard rook protocol would have called for them to secure the route properly before allowing passage, which also meant it would have been harder for our target to flee.”

Magnus explained himself right away, without hesitation. If he was lying, then he was extremely well practiced. I wanted to believe him, to believe that those people were alright, but I needed some kind of proof.

“How can I-”

“You can’t. There’s nothing I can do here and now to prove to you that those people are alive. All I can do is share my side of things. They were left out in the Scorch with a band of skilled rooks to escort them.” Magnus sighed and shook his head, having perfectly predicted my response. “Maybe they got ambushed by a pack of wild creatures on the way back to town, but I doubt it. You did a pretty great job clearing that route yourself, so I’ve heard.”

The added flattery did nothing but put me more on guard, but thinking things through logically it seemed to add up. At the very least,

Magnus’ story explained the mystery of where Lucy’s boss had run off to, and that was a detail he didn’t seem to know about.

I made the decision then, knowing full well it could end up coming back to haunt me. There were still too many unknowns, but what seemed to be a certainty was that Magnus and the Obsidian Outlaws were my best option for survival.

I decided to believe Magnus.

“Alright. I’ll take your word on it for now. If I find out you’ve lied to me about any of this though, I’ll kill you myself.”

“And I wouldn’t blame you. Does this mean you’re willing to make a deal then?”

“Depends what’s in it for me.”

“Answers, for one. We need to ride out and capture Kate as soon as possible. Then, we’ll be taking her back to the Sovereign.”

“Right. And you can guarantee my safety if I go along with your crew to meet him?”

“According to his message, he thinks you could make a decent ally. Can’t make any guarantees but I’d say he’ll at least give you an audience. Especially if you help us.”

“How does he know about me anyway? You said he could tell things were going bad, and that I could probably be convinced to help you. How did he know?”

“My best guess? He can probably see through the crystal creatures or masks. Can’t say for sure on that. Still a lot about him I don’t know.”

“So, he could be listening in on us right now?”

“Maybe. Honestly doubt it though. Far as I can tell the Sovereign has much more important things going on.”

“Fair enough…”

I eyed Magnus’ mask suspiciously as I spoke. I really didn’t like the idea of being watched like that. Magical surveillance was one of my worst fears in general, thanks to the events that had brought me into the Scorch. I hated the idea that kind of power could still be possible out here.

“Was there anything else? Or are you ready to make this official? Don’t mean to rush you here, but daylight is burning, and we plan on riding to Clearvein tonight.” Magnus drummed his fingers across the desk idly.

“Nobody dies?”

“I wish I could promise that, but we’ll do our best. We don’t want to let that monster run free out here, and I’m sure you agree.”

Thinking of Kate as a monster was still difficult for me, but I managed to nod.

“Then consider me in.”

Magnus grinned, and extended a hand to me. I extended my arm and shook it firmly, meeting his burning red eyes.

“Welcome to the Obsidian Outlaws, Cyrus. Let’s get you your gun and a mask.”