{"sf1_id":564545,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Guns of Legend: Chapter Three","author":"ThisAdamGuy","words":1999,"posted_at":"2013-07-18T04:04:00.000Z","tags":["Bolander","Fantasy","Indians","Rifle","Shotgun","Western","cowboy","gun","revolver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/564545-guns-of-legend-chapter-three","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/564545","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=564545\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nChapter Three\nThe sun was high in the sky when Adlis\nworked up her courage enough to seek Kulgan out again.  For four miserable hours she and Za had sat\nin the shade of the carriage that had brought there, and it soon became obvious\nto her why so few people lived in Everdry. \nThe heat was enough to raise blisters on her skin, and her sweat soon\nmatted her well groomed fur together in sticky wet clumps.  Za was much more comfortable in the heat\nsince his kind was accustomed to living deep underground.  Adlis, on the other hand, was used to living\nin the city where Chillcasters were employed to keep the streets and houses\ncool.  She had to make repeated trips to\nthe water pump to keep her canteen filled so she would not dehydrate.  It took her all of an hour to realize just\nhow strong the citizens of Everdry were. \nThey went about their work without complaint and the children played in\nthe streets with abandon.\nNoontime came, and Za finally\ntapped Adlis on the shoulder.\n\"Do you think we should go look for\nthat zik now?\"\nDespite her suffering from the\nheat, Adlis was reluctant to seek out Kulgan. \nThe memory of the Dreadwave that had washed over her earlier still\nhaunted her thoughts.  It felt just like...\n\"Yes,\" she answered, cutting off\nher own thoughts.  \"Let's go find him.\"\nTogether, they rose from the\ncarriage's meager shade and began to search.\n\"Where do you think he is?\" Za\nasked.\n\"If that hip flask he carried was\nany indicator, I would bet he's at the pub,\" Adlis answered, altering her path\ntowards the building labeled \"Olgi's Bar\" in faded red letters.\nGoing inside, they were greeted\nwith music being played in the corner by a rickety old piano.  The tune was weak, like the chords were ready\nto snap the next time someone looked at them wrong.  The air was thick with tobacco smoke and the\nscent of Ambalin rum, a drink that was cheap to make and easy to get drunk off\nof.  The moment the door opened, every\neye in the bar turned as one to look at the newcomers.  Once again, Adlis felt her ears turn white\nfrom intimidation.\n\"There he is,\" Za whispered,\npointing.  Sure enough, Kulgan sat in the\nfar corner of the tavern, his feet propped up on the table.  His eyes were locked on the two companions,\nbut he made no move to get up and meet them. \nTrying to ignore the stares that assaulted her from every angle, Adlis\nslowly made her way towards him, moving delicately so that she wouldn't\naccidentally brush against one of the other surly looking men who were greedily\nslurping down their drinks.\n\"Hey, pretty lady,\" a very large\nkashni greeted her, his words slurred with the effects of alcohol.  \"I like yer dresh there!\"\nPanic threatened to overtake Adlis'\nmind as the large reptile rose to his feet, his scarlet scales glistening like\nrubies in the desert sunlight.  Even a\nlife of hardship could not steal the majesty of a kashni.\n\"No, no thank you,\" Adlis\nstuttered, backing away from him, straight into another table.\nThe kashni extended a hand in what\nhis drunken mind probably imagined was a suave gesture, \"Let'sh go t'my room on\nthe second floor,\" he suggested.  \"A\nbeautiful woman like yourshelf deshervesh better company than these idiotsh!\"\n\"That'll be enough Tikta,\" a\nyounger voice reprimanded the bipedal lizard. \nAdlis turned just long enough to see that it was none other than Kulgan\nwho had come to her rescue.\nThe kashni glared at Kulgan for a\nmoment, as if sizing him up for a fight. \nIf they did fight, Tikta would have at least twelve inches height on the\nzik.  Adlis drew her breath in, terrified\nof what she had started.  Za stood a few\nfeet to the side, wanting to go to Adlis but afraid of crossing paths with\neither of the opponents.  Amazingly,\nthough, the kashni complied and backed away from Kulgan, sitting himself back\ndown at his table and burying his snout in his drink like a sulking child.\n\"Don't worry about Tikta,\" Kulgan\nsaid to Adlis.  \"Unless I'm not close to\nyou, at least.  Everyone in this bar\nknows better than to pick a fight with me. \nCome sit down, now that you're able to stand being this close to me.\"\nWith a jolt, Adlis realized he was\nright.  In the terror of the moment, she\nhadn't noticed the absence of the Twister's Dreadwave.  She motioned for Za to join them as she\nfollowed Kulgan to his table.\n\"So, what do you want with me?\"\nKulgan asked.  \"A pair of city-slickers\nlike yourselves must be in some serious trouble if you came all the way out\nhere to find me.\"\n\"Yes, Mr. Kulgan,\" Adlis\nbegan.  \"I guess you could say that we're\nin a dilemma.\"\n\"My first name's Kulgan, not\nMister.  Now, tell me about your problem.\"\n\"Yes, sir,\" Adlis hesitated, and\nthen pointed towards her ears, which were still an ugly shade of gray as they\nslowly turned back to their normal brown color. \n\"These are my problem.\"\n\"Care to give me a few more\ndetails?\" Kulgan asked when she found the following words difficult to\nsay.  \"Unless, of course, you came to\nhave me cut them off for you?\"  He pulled\na large hunting knife out of his belt, waving it in the air in front of Adlis'\neyes.\nBefore Adlis could stop him, Za had\nsprung from his seat and attempted to grab the knife out of Kulgan's hand.  In one lightning quick motion, though, Kulgan\nwhipped his other hand out, grabbed Za's hand and slammed it down on the table,\nand rammed the knife down into it.  Adlis\ngave a shriek of horror before she realized that the blade had gone between the\nsimmk's fingers, leaving him unharmed.\n\"Don't ever try to take something\nout of my hand again,\" Kulgan commanded in a low, threatening voice.  \"Do you understand me, Stumpy?\"\nIgnoring the insult, Za bobbed his\nhead up and down furiously.  With one\nlast glare, Kulgan released his hand, which Za quickly pulled back and hid\nunder the table.\n\"Now,\" Kulgan said, turning back to\nAdlis, \"what were you saying about your ears?\"\n\"Well...\" Adlis stuttered again,\nstruggling to regain her composure after the spectacle she'd just\nwitnessed.  \"A-about two years ago now, a\nCaster came to my city.\"\n\"What kind of Caster?\"\nAdlis took a deep breath, the words\nnot wanting to come out, \"She was a Cursecaster,\" she explained.  \"But we didn't know she was a\nCursecaster.  She called herself a\nGiftcaster, and came offering to sell everyone magical items that would do\nwhatever they wanted.  Several of my\nneighbors bought from her, but grew angry when her charms did not work as she\nhad promised.\"\nZa cast his eyes down, unable to\nlook either of them in the face, and Kulgan scratched his chin thoughtfully, but\ndid not interrupt.\n\"A mob formed, and they found the\nCaster at the edge of town, bathing in the river.  They demanded that she return their money, or\nbe charged with breaking Embin's Law. \nYou know what that is, right?\"\n\"Yes, yes, the law that if any\nCaster or other user of magic is caught in a lie, they face immediate death,\"\nKulgan answered.  \"Get on with it.\"\n\"Well, it was about that time that\nI wandered in.  I had been out collecting\nfruit in the forest all day, and had no idea any of this was going on.  My father saw me coming, and ordered me to\nrun back to the house.  Before I could,\nthough, the Caster pulled a bead out of her hair and threw it at me.  It struck me on the forehead, and I\ncollapsed.  The next thing I knew, I woke\nup with half the city standing over me. \nWhen the Cursebead had struck me, the mob had been more concerned with\nmaking sure I was all right than capturing the Caster, and so she managed to\nget away.  Ever since then, my ears have\nbeen... like this!\" Tears burned the corners of her eyes, and her ears turned a\nbright crimson with humiliation.\n\"Yeah, so?\" Kulgan asked, reclining\nin his chair and looking absolutely uninterested.  \"I can think of a thousand worse curses than\nthat.\"\n\"No, you don't understand!\" Adlis\ninsisted.  \"My father is the mayor of the\ncity I'm from.  He wants to arrange a\nmarriage between me and the son of another wealthy family.  Our houses would be tied together, and my\nhusband's father's business would have reason to move to my city and provide us\nwith services we desperately need.  But\nnow that I'm cursed, my husband-to-be thinks I'm a freak and won't come within\ntwenty feet of me!  He said that only\nsomeone with an evil heart could have these... things!\" Now the tears did pour\nout, and Adlis' ears turned from red to a dark shade of blue.\nKulgan still did not seem\nimpressed.\n\"And what, pray tell, do you expect\nme to do about it?\" he asked as he absently picked at his teeth with a sliver\nof wood.\n\"We have no idea where the Cursecaster\nwent,\" Adlis explained, managing to compose herself again.  \"There are stories going around about you,\nMr. Kulgan.  They say that you're the\nmost skilled Ranger in Tassendile!  If\nhalf of those stories are true, then you should be able to track the Cursecaster\ndown for me.\"\n\"Because she's the only one who\nknows how to break your curse,\" Kulgan finished, flicking his toothpick\naway.  It bounced off of Tikta's back,\nbut the kashni did not dare to even look up.\n\"Yes, that's right,\" Adlis\nconfirmed, hope beginning to rise up inside her.\n\"Sorry, but I can't help you,\"\nKulgan said, leaning his head back in his hands and closing his eyes.\nThe hope fell again, dashing itself\non the ground.\n\"What?\" Adlis asked.  \"Why not?\"\n\"Because I don't know if you've\nnoticed,\" Kulgan answered, \"but I'm already being employed by the good people\nof Everdry.\"\n\"What are they having you do?\"\nAdlis asked, curiosity getting the better of her.\n\"That's confidential information,\"\nKulgan answered.  \"But something's been\nstealing people's kids out of their homes at night, and I'm being hired to\ntrack down whatever's doing it.\"\nAdlis and Za exchanged glances, \"How\nmuch longer do you think that will take?\" Adlis asked.\n\"Either until I manage to track\nthis thing down and kill it, or until every child in this village is gone.\"\nAdlis was silent for a moment, and\nthen said, \"What if Za and I were to help you?\"\nFor the first time since they'd met\nhim, Kulgan laughed.  \"Yeah, sure, you\ntwo kids tagging along behind me in the desert at night would be a huge help!\"\nhe chuckled.  \"If we're lucky, we might\nmake it a mile away from town between all the times I have to rescue you from\nmonsters!\"\n\"I'm serious,\" Adlis persisted.\n\"So am I,\" Kulgan replied, his face\nbecoming solemn again.  \"If I were to\ntake you two idiots out there with me at night, there's only a small chance you'd\nboth come back alive.  You did hear me\ntalking to Kilo about running into a pack of sandgoyles last night, right?\"  He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a\npendant hanging on a thin silver chain. \nIt was black as onyx, and shaped like a pair of wings.  \"I only managed to get out alive because of\nthis.\"\nEven without the magic activated,\nAdlis and Za couldn't help but shudder at the mere sight of the unnatural\nrelic.  Kulgan rose from his seat with a\nsense of finality.\n\"The desert night is no place for\nyou two.  Stay here until morning, and\nthen go home.\"\nWithout another word, he walked\naway, tucking his pendant back into his shirt.\n"}