“Vultures, I’m seeing seven, a whole wake of them.” I carefully adjusted my spyglass to try and get an idea of their crystal composition. “Looks like topaz.”

“A wake? Is that what you call a group of vultures?” Lucy frowned from her prone position beside me.

“It’s what I’ve always heard.”

“That’s pretty metal.”

“Metal?” I looked over to her, careful to keep the long barrel of my repeater steady in place atop the rock I was using as a mount for the time being.

“Oh, you don’t get a lot of music this far out I guess. It’s kinda a new genre getting pretty popular at the moment.”

I continued to watch the vultures circling the ravine, silently wondering how on earth Lucy was able to stay so relaxed at a time like this. I had been against the idea of her accompanying me in general, but Zari had made it clear she was the only person in town really capable and skilled enough to act as a decent guard for me. At least while her boss was still missing.

The rest of the rooks were all far too busy preparing the defences or recovering from their own injuries, but apparently Lucy only had a mild concussion so was fit for field duty again pretty much right away. Lucky me.

Lucy was staring at me expectantly, so I decided to humour her for now. At least while things seemed quiet in the direction of the ravine I had visited with Kate only a few days prior.

“We get a couple of people with guitars and I’ve seen a saloon or two with a piano out here, but instruments are usually too bulky.” I sighed.

“Been a long time since I’ve heard more than one person play at a time.”

“Shame, I think you might enjoy it.”

“What does it even sound like?”

“You ever hear a swarm of spiders coming for you?”

“A clutter of spiders, but yeah. Pretty regular occurrence for a gunslinger.”

“Clutter? Really?” Lucy stuck her tongue out and shook her head. “C’mon man, swarm is way cooler.”

“True enough, is one of those things where nobody actually says clutter, but it’s the proper term.” I sighed. “Anyway, kinda a horrible screeching chittering mess?”

“Yeah. Metal is sorta like that but with really fast and loud guitar, usually amplified by magic.”

“Ah, then definitely won’t be hearing any out here.”

“You never know, maybe whatever messes up magic out here would make it sound better?”

“Doubt it, would just distort it like crazy or cause some pretty bad explosions.”

“Yeah, a lot of people enjoy that kinda thing when it comes to metal.” Lucy shrugged, polishing the blade of her axe with a cloth.

“Sounds weird, if I ever get a chance I guess I’ll check it out.” I returned the shrug.

“Maybe after all this we take a trip back to Kenbry together?” Lucy looked up at me and grinned. “Could always invite your researcher friend too, imagine she’ll be wanting a break from the Scorch after this.”

“I don’t think we’re that close yet really, and I’ve sort of got other priorities.”

“Ah, your arm?”

“Yes.”

There was a long, somewhat awkward silence that followed, and I could practically feed Lucy trying not to stare or ask me a question about it. I didn’t know what the polite thing to do even was in a situation like that, so I simply went back to staring down the scope firmly affixed to my repeater, checking the spot near where we had encountered the Amuralite scorpion.

“Do you… wanna to talk about it or-”

“No, I really just want to focus.”

“Alright.”

I was honestly surprised that Lucy gave up on the matter so easily. She had always been excitable and overly talkative back home, but her time with the rooks and whatever she had been doing before coming to the Scorch had clearly changed her.

Part of me wanted to ask her about what things had been like since I had fled Kenbry. I had, of course, met plenty of people from there, but never someone that had lived practically next door to me. I knew it wasn’t a risk worth taking though. If Lucy caught on and started spreading around word that she had met me out here, it wouldn’t be long before something bad happened.

If worst came to worst, I would flee to another corner of the Scorch and set myself up in some new towns. It would be tricky, but I had the coin I would need to survive until I established myself again. I’d have to start calling myself something other than Cyrus and maybe dye my hair again, but I was more than prepared to go through with it if I had to.

I was thinking through if I should make my theoretical fresh start in the East or West of the Scorch, when a twinge of pain coming from my stump reminded me that neither was a real option for me.

I tried not to think about that for now, instead reaching into my bag and pulling out the pouch of herbs that Vera had given me. The pain was flaring up quite badly, and I couldn’t afford to let it distract me if something happened. When Kate and I encountered the scorpion, it had sent up a beacon that had likely drawn Sean down onto us.

I now realised that Kate and I had been lucky to only deal with him. The outlaws clearly had many more creatures at their disposal, and likely could have taken us by force if they wanted. I assumed that sending one person was their attempt to be subtle, but they must have had others watching. That would have been how they knew to come and rescue Sean once we took him in.

The herbs tasted foul, but chewing on them at least numbed the pain in what was left of my arm. I tried to take as little as possible, not wanting to become reliant, and eventually the pain became manageable enough for me to spit out the herbs and return to looking through the scope of my repeater once again.

I felt a little light headed, but it was far less distracting than the pain had been. Once I confirmed that nothing had changed in the direction of the ravine I looked back to Lucy, who was staring at the pouch of herbs.

“For the arm?” she whispered cautiously.

“Doctor gave them to me. Why?”

“Eh, don’t have the best opinion of them is all. My mother had a pretty bad addiction for a while.” Lucy sighed. “I know there’s nothing inherently wrong with ‘em, just can’t help but think of that whenever I see someone

“I’m… sorry to hear it.” I felt genuinely sad to hear that.

I had only known Lucy’s parents in passing, and we had drifted apart after we started growing up, but they seemed like nice people and nobody deserved to go through that kind of pain. I knew a lot of people were driven out to the Scorch by painful addictions, and I silently wondered if perhaps that was why Lucy was out here.

I considered asking, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not only was that kind of thing a major taboo out here, a large part of me didn’t want to get too close to Lucy. I didn’t know if she was someone I could really trust anymore.

“Just be careful with them, if you don’t mind a little unsolicited advice.”

“Thanks, I know what I’m doing though.” I sighed.

“I’m sure you do right now, but you keep taking that stuff and your judgment could fail you.”

“I’ll be fine. I don’t need you worrying about me.” I spoke through gritted teeth.

“I just figure someone should.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” I turned away from my scope once again to glare at Lucy.

She didn’t respond for nearly a minute, but kept staring me down the whole time. Her expression unflinchingly serious. If looks could kill, I’d probably deader than a drunk trying to brawl barehanded with a crystal bear, but I held my ground regardless. Lucy was the first one to blink, and her expression quickly turned to one of sadness.

It almost looked like she pitied me, but her next words revealed the truth of that sad smile.

“You know, “Cy”, I do actually recognise you from back in Kenbry.” Lucy sighed. “I didn’t want to bring it up back in town because clearly you’re trying to hide it.”

“I don’t know what you-”

“I know it’s you, Ryan. I knew from the moment I first saw you. Don’t try to deny it.”

In the long silence that followed I tried not to react, but that was nearly impossible. Hearing my old name after so long made my blood run cold and I froze up. Lucy no doubt noticed the colour quickly draining from my face, and kept talking.

“Been a long time. A lot of folk back in Kenbry thought you were dead, I did too honestly.” Lucy sighed, the barest hint of a smile working its way onto her face. “Never thought I’d see you again out here of all places. Not exactly in one piece, but you’re alive. That’s a miracle if I’ve ever seen one.”

“A miracle?” Despite the dread flooding through me, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sheer absurdity of that comment. “I’ve definitely never thought of things like that before. I don’t know how much you know about what happened back in Kenbry, but that day was hell. I lost everyone important to me, and ever since I haven’t even had a chance to stop and grieve. I had to run away from my home to this hellhole, and I’ve never stopped running since. Some miracle.”

I took a deep breath after I finished speaking, wiping my eyes to find them wet. I had never talked about this to anyone, even Barnabus, but Lucy had gotten under my skin and caused my outburst so easily.

“You happy now?” I spat onto the starsand, returning to my scope.

I tried to shut out the emotional and physical pain that were threatening to overwhelm me, and focused on the vultures. There were six circling about in the sky, barely visible above the clouds. Other than that, there didn’t seem to be any other crystal creatures visible, but I couldn’t be certain yet.

“Look, I don’t know much about what happened back home. All the authorities know is that your house was burned down. No bodied were recovered, but the official report was that everyone died.” Lucy spoke carefully, placing her axe down onto the starsand and intertwining her fingers as she spoke. “I won’t force you to speak about it, Ryan, but-”

“Don’t call me that.” I grimaced, shifting uncomfortably atop the starsand. “Ryan died that day. Along with the others.”

“Right, well if you ever want to talk about it, Cyrus, I’m here for you.”

“I don’t know you Lucy. We used to play hide and seek and tag when we were kids, but so what? You think that means I’m going to spill my guts to you about everything? I never came back home. And I’m using a new name out here. Can you not take the hint?”

“You’re being hunted?”

“Exactly, so excuse me if I’m not exactly thrilled to run into someone who can recognise me at first sight.”

“But why out here? The authorities back in Kenbry are good people, Cy. Why didn’t you go to them after things settled down? Even if you couldn’t go yourself, you could have asked someone to go for you, right?”

I took another deep breath. I really didn’t want to continue this conversation, but I knew Lucy wouldn’t let it rest. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to help, and knowing her she wouldn’t stop. It was for the best to use a bit of honesty. At the very least, I had to stop her from returning to my hometown and blabbing about the truth.

“The people that came for my family are more dangerous than the city guard back home, Lucy. As far as I can tell, they’re more dangerous than some nations entirely. They sent a single agent to our house, and he turned it into a pillar of flame in just a few seconds.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control my emotions as I recalled the horrific scene. “Only reason they didn’t find any bodies is that there wasn’t anything left of my family to identify. I saw it for myself before I ran. The sand around our house turned to glass.”

“H-how did you survive?” Lucy whispered.

“Luck. I was down at the library when it happened. Studying for a test of all things.” I chuckled softly. “Would you believe I actually wanted to be a merchant before all this? I was studying up so I could apprentice at one of the local shops, or with one of the traveling merchants that came through every once in a while. Thought it would be fun to make a living while seeing the world, and even if I decided it wasn’t for me I had other options.”

Lucy stayed silent as she listened to my story. I could have stopped, but I decided to continue. I’d already spilled my guts despite saying I wouldn’t. I hated to admit it, but it did feel good to finally vent.

“That day those people came for my family, they took everything from me Lucy. My past is gone. I can’t ever return home, can’t ever see my family again. My future too. I have no choice but to stay in the Scorch. The one place those mages can’t track me down and finish the job. It’s a sick joke really. I’ve heard people say this place is the land of “ultimate opportunity”, where anyone can go and be anything. Not me. I have to do what I do just to stay alive. Blasting crystal abominations to dust until…” I looked down at my missing arm. “Well, until I can’t go on any more.”

There was a long and painful silence that followed, and I purposefully avoided looking at Lucy, instead focusing my gaze down my scope once again. I didn’t want to know what her reaction was to all I had said.

All I wanted was to return to the mission, to rescuing Kate. At least then, when I was killed by some horrible crystal creature or hunted down by the mages that had taken everything from me, I could die knowing I had done something good.

In the meantime, I would hold on to that fantasy given to me by Vera. I would save Kate from the clutches of the outlaws, save the town of Clearvein like a true heroic gunslinger, then venture out of the Scorch and return with a shiny new arm.

If I just held onto that lie, I would be able to get through this.

“Do you know who it was that came to…” Lucy finally spoke, but I cut her off.

“I have a pretty good idea, but right now we need to focus.”

“Alright.”

I was surprised that Lucy so willingly agreed with me this time, but I wasn’t about to complain. I gave the rocky ravine another brief scan with my scope, checking for any black-clad figures or moving crystal formations, but it was all clear.

Unfortunately, that was more than I could say for the air. There were now only five vultures circling the area. I hadn’t noticed before when just one had left, thanks to the nature of my conversation with Lucy, but now I was fully focusing back on the mission I noticed my mistake.

I was about to inform the half-goblin of our problem, when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I knew that things had very quickly become very dangerous, and making even the slightest wrong move would end in death for both myself and Lucy.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and clutched my repeater tight, silently counting down in my head and letting my senses take over. I wished I could warn Lucy, but doing so was too risky.

I had to hope that her rook instincts would kick in too, and she would be able to react fast enough to help me take down the second vulture. I kept my eyes closed until I finally heard what I was listening so carefully for, the distant clinking of crystal wings directly above our position, then I sprung into action.

I rolled over onto my back, bringing my ruby repeater with me, and fired directly up into the clouds. Lucy let out a started yelp at the explosion but quickly jumped to her feet axe in hand as a mess of softly shimmering crystal chunks rained down around us.

It seemed I had had managed to fire off my first shot accurately enough considering my disadvantage, but the recoil was far too much for my one-armed grip on the gun, and it jumped out of my hand onto the starsand beside me. I grabbed for it as fast as I could, but I could already see a large shape breaking through the clouds above us, the second vulture swooping in for the kill.

I would never work the lever to chamber another rubyshot round in time to safely fire, but thankfully I didn’t have to. Lucy gripped her emerald axe with both hands, raising it high over her head and letting out a yell before throwing it as hard as she could directly into the path of the oncoming crystal creature.

The massive vulture, covered from head to toe in lethally pointy crystalline feathers, let out a screech as it tried to swerve away from the airborne axe, but it was far too late. It collided directly with the emerald blade, its own momentum helping the emerald edge punch through the crystal armour and bury itself deep into the vulture’s body.

It was dead before it hit the ground nearby in a messy heap, causing a large cloud of starsand to explode upwards around our position from the force of the impact. Both Lucy and I covered our faces as best we could to avoid the shredding sands, then jumped back into action as soon as it had cleared enough.

“Two down.” I grimaced, awkwardly working the lever of my repeater, using my chin and neck to hold the barrel in place.

“Five more to go.” Lucy finished, wrenching her axe free of the vulture’s corpse.

Sure enough, the remaining five birds had all turned in our direction and were rapidly approaching. A softly shimmering wake of death that was already starting to dive low towards us. Surviving them would be the least of our problems, as no doubt the outlaws would be making their move too.