# Guns of Legend: Chapter Ten

Author: ThisAdamGuy
Tags: Cowboys, Fantasy, Guns, Indians, Magic, Shotguns, Western, pistols, rifles

Hey, guys! I know it's been a long time since I've uploaded anything. School's been crazy. I'm going to try to get myself back on track. Let me know what you think of chapter ten!
Chapter Ten
 
"And that's my story," Adlis concluded. She'd spent the entire last hour recounting
her experience with the Cursecaster and her fiancé to Gukkalunk, and she'd
found the experience draining. So many
emotions going so fast...
Gukkalunk sighed, rubbing his temples, "I will never
understand why people do such things," he grumbled.
"I'm sorry," Adlis said, folding her hands in her lap. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Gukkalunk shook his head, "I am not angry at you. I feel your pain."
Adlis felt a gently tug on the back of her dress. She turned and saw Za beckoning for her to
lean in closer.
"Ask him if they're going to let us go!" he urged her in a
frightened whisper.
Adlis turned back to face the old storyteller, "My friend
wants to know if you plan on letting us go or not."
Gukkalunk stroked his chin thoughtfully, and then turned to
his chief, speaking in their strange, grunting language. The chief replied, and pointed to their three
captives.
"He wants to know why you were on our land," Gukkalunk
translated. "Are you with the church as
well?"
"The church?" Adlis echoed.
Gukkalunk nodded, "The Church of Embin. They have been coming to our camp every
night, telling us of their ways and their beliefs. They say they are here to civilize us."
A chill ran down Adlis' spine. The Embin priests were coming here, of all
places? Za sensed her unease, and came
to sit closer.
"No, we're not from the church," Adlis reassured him. "We're not even from around here. We came to Everdry looking for someone, but he
left." She gestured at the fuaro that sat behind them, silently. "Ms. Kilo made
us come out here, looking for... something."
"Something's been stealing children from Everdry for the
past few months," Kilo spoke up finally.
"I came out here to kill it."
Gukkalunk eyed her suspiciously, "Taking children, you
say? And why would that bring you onto
our land?"
Kilo narrowed her eyes dangerously, "I'm tempted to say I've
found the culprits."
Gukkalunk stood up suddenly, his expression angry, "You dare
come here and accuse us of stealing your children? My kind may not be, as you say, civilized,
but we are not so low that we will take defenseless children away from their
parents!"
Kilo glared at the gargoyle for a few moments, and then sat
down, pointedly avoiding his gaze.
"I'm sorry for that, sir," Adlis said as Gukkalunk sat back
down. "Please don't take it
personally. Hers was one of the children
that was taken."
A touch of sympathy appeared in the storyteller's eyes, and
he nodded.
"My people are not responsible for the disappearances of
your children," he said at last. "I say
this because our children have been disappearing as well."
Adlis put a paw to her mouth in shock. So, the kidnappings weren't limited to
Everdry? Suddenly, Kilo was by her side.
"Did anybody see anything?" she demanded, her feelings for
the gargoyles suddenly forgotten. "Anything
at all?"
Gukkalunk shook his head, "Nothing. Whatever is doing this, it is able to pick
off our children when nobody is watching them."
"Sandgoyles, maybe?" Adlis suggested, recalling stories of
the cave dwelling creatures' cousins.
"No," the gargoyle said.
"The sandgoyles may be much more prone to violence than us, but we have
enough respect for each other not to do such a thing."
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Za said meekly, shrinking back
even as he spoke. "But I'd still like to
know if we can leave or not."
"I suspect that our chief will let you go as soon as the sun
goes down," Gukkalunk answered. He
gestured towards the mouth of the cave, where the wall of statues still stood, "As
you can see, it would be very difficult to do so now."
Adlis nodded in acknowledgement. Beside her, Za breathed a sigh of relief.
"I have heard enough for now," the storyteller said,
standing up. "You must be tired. You may choose a spot to sleep for the day."
With that, he retreated to the back of thhe cave, where the
rest of his tribe was gathered.
"I still don't like this, Adlis," the worrisome simmk
whispered. "What if they kill us when we
fall asleep?"
"I don't think they will, Za," Adlis assured him, patting
his hand comfortingly. "Try to relax."
Za nodded his head uncertainly, and chose a spot to sit back
against the wall. He still watched the
gargoyles suspiciously, but she could see him already drifting into sleep. Kilo, too, found a spot to lay down,
muttering about sleeping on solid rock.
Getting up from the stone she had been sitting on, Adlis went and sat
beside Za. Within minutes, she was
asleep too.
 
<><><><><> 
 
"Wake up!"
A rough nudge shook Adlis out of her slumber. She opened her eyes to see Gukkalunk standing
over her, looking worried.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Wake your friends," the storyteller said quickly. "The men from the church are coming!"
Instantly alert, Adlis stood up and gave Za and Kilo the
same rude awakening she had gotten.
"So what?" the fuaro snapped after she had explained the
situation. "It's not like they're going
to care about us."
"Maybe not you," Adlis shot back, and pointed to her ears, "but
they may not like these!"
"What do we do?" Za fretted, bouncing up and down on his heels
in agitation.
"Come to the back of the cave," Gukkalunk instructed. The other gargoyles made a path for them as
they came. "All of you, kneel down!"
Adlis, Za, and Kilo did as instructed, huddling together at
the very back of the cave. Gukkalunk
grabbed a large, thick quilt and threw it over them, ordering them to stay
there and be quiet. Adlis found that she
could see a bit out of a tiny hole in the fabric.
"Come, now," a voice called from outside the cave, "open the
way!"
"The sun must first go down," Gukkalunk shouted back. "Until then, they can not move."
"There is always a way, should you desire it hard enough!"
came the reply, but the speaker obliged and waited for the sun to set. It sank slowly behind the horizon, only just
visible from behind the gargoyle wall, until darkness covered the desert again.
With a startlingly loud cracking sound, the gargoyles
blocking the entrance shed their stony skin, becoming flesh once more. They collapsed all over each other, the
transformation having apparently exhausted them. A small group of their brethren hurried
forward and dragged them away from the entrance, while another pushed the rope
ladder over the edge of the cliff.
"Much better!" whoever it was at the bottom of the cliff
shouted. A minute later, an old, yet
still dazzlingly scaled, kashni climbed into the cave. He wore the dark blue robes of a priest of
Embin, which he hurriedly dusted off.
Behind him, three acolytes climbed up to join him- two ziks and a fuaro.
"Everyone, join me in bowing to the will of Embin," the
kashni instructed. He got to his knees,
and prostrated himself on the cave floor, as did the three acolytes. Though Adlis could tell they did not want to,
the gargoyles got to their feet and bowed down as well.
"Very good," the priest said as he stood back up, as if he
were speaking to a room full of children.
"Rise, my sons and daughters, and let me teach you of the ways of Embin!"
As the gargoyles took their seats, a quiet, almost
inaudible, grumble came from the back of the cave. The kashni immediately perked up, turning his
head towards where the noise had come from.
"Was that a complaint I just heard?" he asked,
admonishingly. When no response came, he
stood up and looked out over the tribe of gargoyles. "The great wise Embin has blessed you with
our presence this evening so that we may share our knowledge and guidance, and
yet you grumble?"
"Think nothing of it," Gukkalunk said calmly from the front
of the group. "Surely you understand the
foolishness of youth. Please, continue."
The kashni eyed Gukkalunk with obvious distaste, and then
bent down over him.
"I would hope that that is all it is, Storyteller" he said
in a low, menacing voice. "You know what
the church is capable of doing to those who reject the Wise One's teachings."
"Of course," Gukkalunk said, bobbing his head up and down
furiously. "We would never bring such
wrath down upon us. Please, continue."
Apparently satisfied, the priest stood up straight and
spread his arms out, as if trying to hug the entire tribe, "Listen, and pay
heed, Impure Ones! The great Embin, lord
of all that is pure and natural, has declared that which you call magic to be
wicked and unnatural. Repent, and turn
from your heathen ways, and you will be blessed and smiled upon by the Natural
One!"
The kashni began to pace back and forth across the cave,
making eye contact with as many gargoyles as he could, "I know you believe that
magic is too deeply imbedded into your history, indeed, even into yourselves,
to forsake it, but I tell you now that this is not true! As the Natural One said, if you desire
something enough, there will always be a way.
Release your hold on such heathenistic practices, and embrace that which
is pure and natural."
He looked over the small crowd expectantly. When no one came forward to repent, his face
soured.
"Please, great priest," Gukkalunk pleaded. "Turning our back on such things is
difficult. Give us more time, and surely
we will come to repent as you desire!"
The kashni rose to his full height in outrage, "For two
months, I have been coming to this Embin forsaken cave, and for two months you
have wasted my time! I demand that you
heed my teachings and repent tonight!"
Without giving the storyteller time to reply, the priest
began to force his way into the crowd.
He eyed each one of the gargoyles, searching for something Adlis guessed
only he could see. He made his way to
the back of the cave before pointing at a small child, who cowered from him in
fear.
"You!" he declared. "The
Natural One wishes for you to repent and beg for his forgiveness this night!"
The little gargoyle squealed in protest, and pressed its
back into the wall.
"Do not resist," the priest growled, reaching down and
grabbing the child by its arm, pulling it away from the crowd. "The Wise One commands it!"
"No!" Adlis heard herself shout, and immediately covered her
mouth in shock. She hadn't meant to say
anything.
The priest froze, and slowly turned to face the lumpy
quilt. He released the child, who
scurried back to its parents, and grabbed the blanket, yanking it off and
revealing the three travelers.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded in outrage. "Why are you here?"
"Th- they took us captive," Adlis explained as quickly as
they could. "We accidentaly trespassed
on their land."
Even as she spoke, she felt the fur on her ears turn white
with terror, and she silently cursed.
The priest's eyes widened when he saw the change.
"Now I understand," he growled. He reached out and grabbed the young zik by
her arm, hauling her upright.
"Hey, leave her alone!" Za shouted, getting to his feet, but
the priest kicked out, knocking him back against the wall.
"No, please!" Adlis pleaded.
"It's not what you think! I was
cursed! I didn't do this to myself!"
The kashni's eyes narrowed, but Adlis knew he could not
accuse her of using black magic without proof.
"We shall see about that," he said, and turned to drag her
out of the cave. He pointed at his
acolytes, "Take the others!"
The acolytes leaped up and took a hold of Kilo and Za. Adlis breathed a sigh of relief when they
allowed themselves to be led away without protest. The priest forced her to climb down the ladder,
to where a large, ornately decorated wagon waited.
"Get inside," he commanded.
She obeyed, and took a seat in the wagon. The seats were cushioned, a clear sign of
aristocracy. Za and Kilo filed in as
well, taking seats beside her. The wagon
was so large that even when the priest and his acolytes joined them inside, there
was still plenty of room.
"Take us back to the church!" the kashni commanded the
driver, another kashni. A whip cracked
outside, and the wagon began to move.
"And to make sure none of you try to escape," the priest
said, pulling a pistol out of his robes and pointing at them.
"What are they going to do to us?" Za asked, shaking with
terror.
"Don't worry, Za," Adlis said, trying to sound comforting
through her own fear. "Everything is
going to be okay."
But as the wagon took them further away from the gargoyle's
cave, she couldn't help but wonder if she was lying to him.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/617267