{"sf1_id":601813,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Guns of Legend: Chapter Nine","author":"ThisAdamGuy","words":1947,"posted_at":"2013-10-13T19:05:00.000Z","tags":["Cowboys","Fantasy","Guns","Indians","Magic","Shotguns","Western","pistols","rifles"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/601813-guns-of-legend-chapter-nine","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/601813","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=601813\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Hey guys, I know I've already uploaded this chapter, but I really didn't like how I ended it. So I've changed it, and added to it, and I think this version is much better. Let me know what you think! :)\nChapter Eight\n \nKulgan tipped his hip flask back,\ndraining the last of the rum. With a\ndepressed sigh, he tossed it away, leaving it in the sand. It was going to be a long trip back to Everdry\nwithout alcohol to keep him company. His\ncanteen sloshed at his side with every step he took, still full almost to the\nbursting point with water. He chuckled\ndryly to himself as he considered taking a quick drink from it. Nights in the desert weren't hot, but this\none had been long, and one needed to remain hydrated at all times if they\nwanted to stay alive. His hand toyed\nwith the cap, taking it on and off, but in the end the canteen stayed where it\nwas. He could make it a while longer\nwithout it.\nThe first rays of dawn began to\npeak over the horizon, bathing the desert with an array of stunning\ncolors. Long ago, the sight had been\nenough to make him pause. The rising sun\nreflected off the sandy floor, sending streams of multicolored lights into the\nsky. The Rainbow Geysers, the locals had\ncalled it. To many, such a sight was\nwell worth the hardship and strife it took to live here. It had long since lost its luster to the\njaded zik's eyes, though, and now was nothing more than a distraction begging\nto be ignored as he continued on his journey.\nKulgan's tail twitched in\nirritation as he walked, brushing up small clouds of sand behind him. His years of being a Ranger had gifted him\nwith the ability to sense trouble. It\nwas a sense he was able to ignore for the most part, but today it was strong\nenough to make his fur stand on end. His\nhand itched to grasp the cool steel of his gun.\nOr maybe the slimy texture of his pendant. Both would provide him with a decent sense of\ncomfort. He kept his hand by his side,\nthough. Comfort, he had learned, was not\nso much a luxury as it was a trap. Once\nyou felt more at ease, you were twice as vulnerable. And so he allowed the uneasiness to prickle\nacross his body, telling him that there was an enemy, always just out of sight.\nSuddenly, Kulgan stopped. He brought his hand up to shield his eyes\nfrom the sun, gazing out across the desert.\nWas that? Yes... yes it was! Miles away, looking as if it were heading straight\ninto the sunrise itself, Kulgan could see his quarry. It was only a dot from here, slowly making\nits way across the sand, but Kulgan felt his hackles rise all the same. This was the first time he'd ever caught\nsight of what he was chasing. It didn't\nmatter that it had a massive head start.\nIt didn't matter that he couldn't make out any details about it. All that mattered was that his target had\nfinally been spotted.\nAlmost without realizing it, Kulgan\nbrought his canteen to his lips and took a long pull from it. Reaching into his shirt's collar, he allowed\nthe unnatural texture of his pendant to rub against his fingers. With grim satisfaction, like a drug addicted\nman finally giving in to his body's demands, he activated it and Twisted.\nHis shirt gave a satisfying rip as\nhis fleshy wings tore free of his body.\nWasting no time, Kulgan thrust them down, propelling him into the air. The Dreadwave radiated from him like a\nstench, but he ignored it. With any\nluck, it would only aid him in fighting this creature. Angling himself towards the rising sun,\nKulgan flapped his wings again, sending him shooting forward, closer to his\nquarry.\nExcitement gripped Kulgan's heart\nas he sped over the barren land. Not\nonly was he excruciatingly close to finally finishing this job, but he was also\ndrawing nearer to answers. Why was this\nTwister going after the children of Everdry?\nWhy was he leaving vashiil behind in the sand? The entire thing reeked of a larger plot, but\nthe zik could not piece together what it could possibly be.\nIt didn't matter now, though. Beneath him, Kulgan could see his target\ndrawing nearer. It may have been fast,\nfast enough to get in and out of Everdry without anyone seeing it, but when\nKulgan took to the air, he was even faster.\nThe creature was large, just as the tracks had promised. Details began to surface as well. Sure enough, the creature had the general\nshape of a zik, but four long, spindly toola legs protruded from its waist. It was big, too. At least twice as tall as any zik had a right\nto be.\nKulgan's stomach clenched as the\nthing's Dreadwave struck him like a punch in the gut, almost making him fall\nout of the sky. He took a deep breath,\nhalf to help calm his nerves, half to keep himself from vomiting. That Dreadwave was too strong. A typical Dreadwave only extended about ten\nto fifteen feet in every direction. This\none, though, could be clearly felt from over a hundred feet away! Bracing his nerves, Kulgan forced himself to\nkeep flying towards the Twister.\nBut the Dreadwave proved to be too\nmuch for him. As he passed over the\nthing's head, his mind suddenly went blank with terror, and he came crashing to\nthe sands beneath him. A small piece of\nhis training kicked in automatically, and he rolled, keeping himself from\nhitting the ground too hard, and leaped to his feet. His pistol was in his hand, and he had\ninstinctively thrust his wings out as wide as they could go, as if it would\nintimidate this... whatever it was.\nThe creature roared, an unnatural\nsound that mixed the voices of several different races together. It made Kulgan's fur stand on end. The thing could only be described as a\nmonster. A zik that stood over ten feet\ntall, with toola legs waving wildly at its waist. Not only that, but red kashni scales could be\nspotted all over its body in erratic patterns, glistening in the sunlight. Its face was that of a fuaro, and it had the\nstriking yellow eyes of a simmk. Without\nrealizing it, Kulgan took a step backwards out of sheer horror. He had met several Twisters on his journeys,\nbut this one had taken it too far. He\nwould be surprised if it was still capable of any type of rational thought.\n\"S-stay back!\" he ordered, raising\nhis gun. He couldn't help but be\ndisgusted at the sound of his own voice, so full of terror.\nThe thing crouched low to the\nground, baring its claws threateningly, and let out a spine tingling hiss. Kulgan realized that it was about to\nattack. He squeezed the trigger on his\npistol five times, sending bullets flying at the creature. They hit its body with soft thuds, three of\nthem burying themselves firmly in its body.\nThe last two, however, bounced harmlessly off of the kashni scales. The thing howled and clawed wildly at its\nbody, ripping away chunks of fur and skin as it tried to get to the bullets\nembedded in its body. With a scream of\nrage, it gave up and turned back to Kulgan.\nThe creature was a bloody mess now,\nnot only from his bullet wounds but from the scratches and gouges it had made\nwith its own claws. A feral growl rose\nfrom its throat, and it bared its teeth- teeth that looked like they were taken\nstraight from a gargoyle's mouth. Before\nKulgan's eyes, the wounds began to close on themselves until nothing remained\nbut the blood that had already leaked out.\n\"What are you?\" he asked in\nastonishment, looking into the beast's eyes.\nHe saw not a trace of rationality in those eyes. Only wild, insatiable bloodlust.\nWith a howl, it charged at Kulgan,\nfaster than the zik would have thought possible. He leaped up and thrust his wings down,\ntrying to get out of the way, but the monster reached up and grabbed him by his\ntail. It yanked down, slamming Kulgan\npainfully on the ground. He looked up as\nit lowered its head, opening its mouth to bite him. A wave of hot breath, laced with Dreadwave,\ncascaded over him, filling his mind with terror.\nAlmost without realizing what he\nwas doing, Kulgan raised his gun and fired the one remaining bullet it\nheld. The creature screeched in pain and\nflung itself away from him. It thrashed\naround for a minute before collapsing on the ground, blood leaking out of its\nleft eye socket, where the bullet had struck it. Kulgan slowly got to his feet, breathing\nheavily. It was dead, he had to tell\nhimself repeatedly. The monster was\ndead, even if its Dreadwave was still in full effect.\nAs Kulgan took a tentative step\ntowards it, his foot accidentally touched a small puddle of its blood. The same sludgy feeling as before crept up\nhis leg. He stared at the blood in\ndisbelief. This thing actually had\nvashiil in its blood? He looked back at the monster. It was unlike any Twisting he'd ever seen\nbefore. So many different creatures all\nblended into one zik's body. There was a\nname for situations where people tried to Twist themselves into too many things:\nOvertwisting. But this went beyond\nOvertwisting. This many Twists should\nhave killed the Twister. What's more,\nthe creature was dead, so why was the vashiil not wearing off, turning it back\ninto its original form?\nA grunt came from the beast. Kulgan watched in disbelief as it stirred,\nand then slowly picked itself up off the ground. It staggered for a moment, off balance, but\nthen whirled around to glare at Kulgan with eyes full of animalistic\nhatred. Eyes. Not one eye, but both. Going against everything Kulgan had ever\nknown, the monster had somehow grown its left eye back.\nWith another enraged howl, the\nbeast charged at Kulgan once more. The\nzik raised his pistol and pulled the trigger.\nAll that came out was a weak click. Kulgan backpedaled, frantically trying to\nload more bullets into the chamber before it was too late. Before he could flick the gun closed again,\nthough, the monster was upon him. Kulgan\nonly had time to let out a quick scream before its claws raked over him. Time and time again, the thing attacked him,\nshredding his clothes, his fur, and his skin.\nActing out of desperation, Kulgan tried to aim at it, but with a swipe\nof its hand the gun was sent flying out of the zik's reach.\nA cold, slithery feeling crept over\nKulgan as he saw his only weapon land in the sand, too far away for him to\nretrieve. It was similar to how his\nvashiil pendant felt when he activated it, except this was far more\nimmobilizing than Twisting ever was. He\nwas feeling fear. Not the overwhelming\nblind terror that he felt from the beast's Dreadwave. It was the sinking feeling of helplessness\none gets when they realize they are about to die, and there's absolutely\nnothing they can do about it.\nThe last thing Kulgan felt before\ndescending into the merciful darkness of sleep was a sharp pain in his\nback. With fading thoughts, he dimly realized\nthat the thing had ripped one of his wings off.\n"}