{"sf1_id":644859,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Guns of Legend: Chapter Fifteen","author":"ThisAdamGuy","words":2179,"posted_at":"2014-01-07T04:50:00.000Z","tags":["Cowboys","Fantasy","Guns","Indians","Magic","Shotguns","Western","pistols","rifles"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/644859-guns-of-legend-chapter-fifteen","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/644859","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=644859\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nChapter Fifteen\n \nThe moon was more than halfway\nacross the sky when Adlis crept back into town, followed closely by Kilo and\nZa. The zik moved as slowly as she could\nwithout attracting attention, convinced that there was somebody watching her\nfrom every shadow. Her ears had once\nagain turned snow white with fear. The streets\nwere empty, but the lights were on in almost every window. Adlis was tempted to duck underneath them,\nbut knew that being caught doing that would raise more suspicion than simply\nwalking down the streets. As they\napproached the church, which loomed above them like a watchful stone titan, Adlis\nbegan to feel sweat grease her palms.\nThis was probably a mistake, and she knew it. Still, without Kulgan, she had no hope...\nAdlis sucked in her breath when she\nsaw a kashni come walking out of the building ahead of them wearing the robes\nof a priest, and quickly motioned for her companions to retreat into a nearby\nalley. Once she felt they were safely\nhidden in the darkness, she took a moment to peer at him. It wasn't Father Richard, she noted with\nrelief. The very thought of the pompous\nlizard made the skin under her fur crawl.\nThe kashni turned back to the\ndoorway to say something, laughing heartily, before closing it behind him and\nmaking his way back towards the church.\n\"Follow him!\" Kilo hissed. \"He'll lead us to a door we can get in with!\"\nThough she didn't think it was\npossible, Adlis' ears turned even whiter at the thought of following the priest\ninto the church. Who knew how many other\npriests or acolytes he would pass on the way there? But, she added ruefully, did she really have\na choice? Nodding to her friends, she\nwaited until the priest had taken a few steps away from them before coming out\nof the alley and going after him. She\ntried to walk as casually as she could, though she remained convinced that her\nears were shining like a beacon for anyone who happened to look out their\nwindows to see.\nThe kashni made his way around the\nback of the church and towards a small door next to the stables. After shouting a greeting to the stable boy, he\nopened the door and went inside. Adlis\nstayed still for a moment, waiting to see if anyone else would pass by. Sure enough, the stable boy, a hard muscled\nyoung zik, came outside and leaned against the wall, rolling a cigarette.\n\"We'll need to get past him,\" she whispered.\n\"Get out of my way,\" Kilo snapped,\nshouldering past her.\n\"Wait!\" the female zik whispered\nurgently after her. \"You're going to get\nus caught!\"\nKilo paid her no heed, though, and\nmarched straight up to the stable boy.\nHe saw her at the last moment and sprang to attention.\n\"What are you doing...\" he began, but\nKilo balled her fist and punched him in the face hard enough for Adlis to hear\nthe impact from fifteen feet away. The\nstable boy stumbled backwards, slamming into the wall, and then crumpled to the\nground in a heap. Kilo wasted no time in\ngrabbing his legs and dragging him back into the stable, were he would not be\ndiscovered so quickly.\n\"Where did you learn to do that?\"\nAdlis asked in awe as she hurried to the door.\n\"Not everyone got to grow up in a cushy,\nprotected city house,\" the fuaro spat. \"Now,\nare we going in or not?\"\nNodding quickly, Adlis turned to\nthe door and tested the knob. To her\nsurprise, she found that the priest had left it unlocked. It opened for her, its hinges squealing in\nprotest, and the trio went inside. Za\nclosed the door behind him and looked around anxiously.\n\"There are people everywhere,\" he\nsaid, the fear evident in his voice. \"I\ncan hear them!\"\nAdlis could hear them too. There were doors on both sides of the\nhallway, and several of them obviously had people on the other side. Motioning for everyone to go slowly, she\nbegan to creep down the hall. She was\nmoving quietly, but to her frightened imagination it sounded like she was walking\non broken glass with every step. When\nthey reached a fork in the hall, she paused.\n\"We have to move faster!\" Kilo\nhissed behind her. \"We're going to get\ncaught!\"\n\"We can't,\" Adlis argued. \"We might run straight into someone!\"\nWith a growl of frustration, Kilo\npushed the zik out of her way .\n\"I'll take the lead,\" she\nsaid. \"Where are they keeping him?\"\nAdlis stopped to think. Kulgan's room had been along the path that\nBrother Dunma had taken her to get out of the church. The problem would be finding that hallway\nagain. Biting her lip in indecision, she\npointed to the right. Without a moment's\nhesitation, Kilo rounded the corner and walked down the hallway. Adlis took Za's hand and hurried after her.\nSuddenly, a door in front of them\nopened, and Kilo pulled up short, causing Adlis to almost run into her. Without a word, the fuaro grabbed her\nshoulder and herded them into an empty room, slamming the door shut behind\nthem.\n\"We're gonna get caught, we're\ngonna get caught, we're gonna get caught!\" Za whispered in terror, pressing\nhimself against the far wall.\n\"Shut up!\" Kilo snapped, reaching\ninstinctively for her gun before remembering that she no longer had it.\nAdlis held her breath, convinced\nthat whoever was outside could hear her racing heart. Tentatively, she knelt down behind the door\nand peered through the keyhole. In the\nhallway, she heard heavy footsteps coming in their direction.\n\"So, you think Dunma allowed the magic\nuser to escape?\" Brother Kekata's voice asked, clearly audible even through the\nthick wood of the door.\n\"It happened on his watch,\" Father\nRichard's voice answered. \"He took pity\non her during the trial, and then she disappears just before we go to get\nher. Where was he when we were on our\nway to her room?\"\n\"He claims she magicked herself\naway,\" Kekata replied, though it was clear in his voice that he didn't believe\nthis himself.\n\"A poor excuse,\" Richard\nconcluded. \"The power of Embin would\nnever allow such a creature to use her unholy power to escape justice!\"\n\"Then we must deal with him,\" Kekata\nsaid. \"Good riddance. The old fool is far too soft hearted for his\nown good.\"\n\"It is unfortunate that our own\nBrother must be put on trial,\" Richard lamented, \"but we must honor the will of\nEmbin.\"\nBrother Kekata said something else,\nbut the two priests turned and continued on their way before she could make out\nwhat he was saying.\n\"That was too close,\" she\nwhispered, getting back to her feet.\n\"Don't be such a coward,\" Kilo sneered,\nand opened the door. She stuck her head\ninto the hallway and looked left and right.\n\"It's clear. Come on!\"\nThe fuaro took off at a quick walk,\nand Adlis followed close behind her. She\nglanced back to make sure Za had come with them, and then looked ahead to try\nand recognize anything. The church's hallways,\nshe realized to her dismay, were almost identical. The maze of corridors was all but impossible\nfor an unexperienced person to navigate.\n\"Are you sure this is the right\nway?\" Kilo asked at last.\n\"I think so,\" Adlis answered,\nthough in truth she wasn't even sure what part of the church she was in\nanymore.\nLuckily for them, the Kulgan's\nvoice suddenly rang out in the distance.\n\"MY PENDANT!\" he cried in\ndesperation, though he sounded considerably weaker than he had before. \"PLEASE... PLEASE GIVE ME MY PENDANT!\"\n\"There!\" Adlis exclaimed, taking the\nlead again. She hurried in the direction\nthe voice was coming from until one of the doors in front of her thudded as\nKulgan threw himself against it.\n\"Kulgan!\" she called as loudly as\nshe dared. \"It's me, Adlis! I'm here to get you out!\"\n\"Ad...lis?\" Kulgan asked from the\nother side. \"Do you have my...\"\n\"Yes,\" she interrupted him. \"I have your pendant right here. Just be quiet until we get you out of there!\"\nTo her surprise, Kulgan actually\nfell silent.\n\"You have his pendant?\" Kilo asked\nin surprise. \"Where did you get it?\"\n\"That's not important,\" Adlis said\nquickly. \"We need to get him out of\nthere!\"\n\"Get back,\" the fuaro ordered, and\nstepped up to the door. She raised a\nclaw to the lock and stuck it inside.\nFor a few tense moments, she twisted it back and forth while Adlis and\nZa kept watch, convinced that a priest would come out of one of the doors at\nany moment. Finally, the lock clicked\nand Kilo pulled it open.\n\"I chipped my claw,\" she\ncomplained, but before she could say anything else a gray blur shot out of the\ndoor. It collided with Adlis, throwing\nher roughly against the wall.\n\"GIVE ME MY PENDANT!\" Kulgan roared,\nfoaming at the mouth and glaring at her with the eyes of a madman. \"GIVE IT TO ME NOW!\"\n \"Shh!\" Adlis urged him. \"You're going to get us caught!\"\n\"NOW! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!\"\nAfraid of what the Twister would do if she waited any\nlonger, Adlis reached inside her dress and pulled the pendant out. Kulgan's face lit up in a smile, and he\ngrabbed it from her hands. With a happy\nwhine, he collapsed to his knees and cradled the piece of stone in his hands,\nclosing his eyes in pure bliss.\n\"Kulgan, we have to get out of\nhere!\" Adlis said. He ignored her in\nfavor of holding his pendant again.\n\"Hey, you stupid drunk!\" Kilo\nshouted, making Adlis and Za jump. \"We\nrisked our hides getting in here to save you.\nNow get off your butt so we can get out of here!\"\nKulgan's eyes opened at this, and\nhe stared at the fuaro as if he hadn't even realized she was there. Slowly, he nodded and got to his feet. He was the old Kulgan once again, Adlis noted\nwith some satisfaction.\n\"This way,\" he ordered, taking off\ndown one of the hallways.\n\"How do you know where the door is?\"\nAdlis asked, running after him. \"Have\nyou been here before?\"\n\"No,\" he answered. \"But I'm a Ranger. I knew the layout of the whole building the\nmoment I stepped into the hall.\"\nThat, Adlis had to admit, is pretty impressive.\nKulgan led them through\nthe church, choosing which hallways to take without a moment's hesitation. It was all Adlis could do to not be left\nbehind. They were still in danger, she\nknew, but she couldn't help but feel optimistic now that they had Kulgan\nleading them.\nAs she followed\nhim, she couldn't help but take in the sorry state he was in. His clothes were torn, and blood matted his\nfur in several places. If she wasn't\nmistaken, he even seemed to be limping a bit.\nShe wanted to ask what had happened to him, but knew that this was\nneither the time nor the place.\nHer heart leaped\nfor joy when they rounded a corner and found themselves facing a door. Kulgan had been telling the truth- he really did know the layout of the entire\nbuilding! As the Ranger reached for the\nknob, though, an angry shout came from behind them.\n\"What is this?\"\nFather Richard bellowed, standing at the end of the hallway, aghast. \n\"They found us!\"\nZa screeched in fright.\nThe Kashni\nquickly put his hand into his robe, fumbling for his gun, but Kulgan reacted with\nthe speed of a seasoned fighter. Before Richard\ncould draw his weapon, the zik had whipped his hand forward, throwing his\nTwisting pendant at him. It struck the\npriest square in the chest, and he recoiled in disgust.\n\"It touched me!\"\nhe squealed, sounding like nothing so much as a girl confronted by a bug.\nBefore Richard\ncould compose himself, Kulgan charged forward and hit the priest in the chest, throwing\nall his weight into the punch. Richard was\nthrown back against the wall, winded, and Kulgan followed it up with a\nroundhouse kick to the Kashni's head.\nFather Richard fell to the floor like a sack of rocks.\n\"We need to\nhurry,\" Kulgan said, rolling the priest onto his back. \"Someone is bound to have heard that.\"\n\"Then stop\nmessing with him and let's go!\" Kilo shouted.\n\"We'll need a\ngun,\" Kulgan reasoned with her, and reached inside the priest's robes, pulling\nout his gun. \"It's not mine, but it will\nhave to do.\"\nWithout any\nfurther stalling, Kulgan snatched his pendant up from the floor, hurriedly\nhanging it around his neck, and went to the door. Throwing it open, he swung his gun from side\nto side until he was sure that nobody was waiting for them on the other side.\n\"Come on, hurry!\"\nhe urged them before taking off into the night.\nAdlis and her friends followed, only too happy to leave the church behind."}