It had been hours Celia had been wandering through the woods. She didn’t know how many. Nor how it was that she and Lanala came to be separated. She looked herself over for a moment... and almost jumped.
She had on snug, brown trousers and black riding boots. A small revolver sat holstered on her right hip. Celia wore a pressed, white blouse with a high collar, a brown vest, and felt a wide-brimmed hat on her head. She removed it... it, too was brown.
“What in the world...” with the sun beating down on her between the trees, she replaced the hat on her head. “This is really is some old west place,” the brown-haired woman said. Her pale blue eyes scanned the spaced out trees in front of her. She spotted an old, wooden shack, nestled between some thick brush. Cautiously, she moved toward it.
On instinct, Celia moved a hand to her gun. She crept up closer and closer still to the shack, spotting no movement from within. Still, she approached the door, drawing the gun from her holster. With a deep breath, Celia pushed the door open and sprang inside... but there was nothing. The place was empty, save for some old, wooden crates gathering dust.
She whirled around at a sound, close by, that sounded to her like an approaching horse. The trees and brush made it slow going but there was no mistaking it. Someone was coming.
So Celia ducked into the shack, behind a crate, and peeked out the nearby window. She spotted a rider in dark clothing approaching at relative speed. The horse at steady trot, making its way forward. It stopped about ten yards from the front of the shack, it’s rider climbing down and hitching it to a tree.
The rider was a man, by the looks, but Celia ducked down out of the way when he looked toward the window she was hiding beneath. She kept a grip on her gun, crouching low, waiting. But then a very familiar voice called out to her.
“Celia?”
It couldn’t be him... but what if it was that shadow of his? She didn’t want to risk it so she stayed hidden.
“Damn it...” he cursed. “Are you there, Celia?”
The man sighed to himself. “Elyn was so sure...” he said quietly. “Maybe we’re all dreaming...”
He stepped closer to the shack. “Celia? Are you in there? Please tell me you’re in there...”
That really sounds like him... he’s so sad! But what if... maybe wait a bit longer? she thought. The sound of his voice was breaking her heart...
“Celia... you’re not here are you?” The sudden despair in his voice... she couldn’t stand it. He stepped into the doorway and peered inside the shack.
“Empty, like everything...” he said. “Like always... how could Elyn have been so sure?”
Elyn!? Celia thought. That must be him!
Without warning, she scrambled to her feet and ran at him, throwing herself toward him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. The sudden collision knocked him off balance and he fell to the floor, his hat tumbling off his head. At first, he tried to reach for his gun but stopped when he realized...
“Oh my god, Celia!” He pulled her in close, sitting up, returning her hug, unable to stop the tears staining his cheeks. “Please tell me I’m not dreaming...” he said, practically sobbing.
“It’s me, buddy... you’re awake,” Celia said, starting to gently rock him back and forth. “It’s okay. I’m here now...”
He leaned back, rubbing tears from his eyes. “How did you get here? Where were you? Is Lanala okay?”
“Lanala... she broke through. I don’t know where she ended up. We were trapped together inside a prison world her mother had made for herself.”
“Her mother?”
“Alhanna. They call her The Immortal. My only guess is that Jhana trapped both of us there by design...”
“That’s what I thought too,” Jonas said. “It’s been rough. On Artema and I. I’ve done... I’ve done a lot. It nearly broke me. You’re my best friend, you know...”
Celia hugged him again. “I know, buddy. I know....”
He once again returned her hug. “Taria’s been worried too.”
“Oh god... we were supposed to have a date!” Celia said, leaning back once again. “I hope she’s not mad about-”
“She’s not. She’s been just as driven as all of us to find where you two went. But then I got a frantic message from Elyn saying she saw you out this way. I had to come myself.”
“And you came alone?” Celia asked.
“Didn’t take the time to explain to the others. I will. I just had to see... and she was right.”
The pair of them stood up again, together, and hugged each other once more.
“I’ve missed you a lot,” Jonas said.
“Hey, same here, buddy.”
As they pulled back once more... they both stopped dead. Listening to the air. Each person turned their head toward the doorway.
“Hooves?” Jonas asked.
“It is... lots of them.”
Someone emerged through the trees first... and they both recognized the face, even from a distance.
“Damn it, the Marshal!” Jonas said, ducking behind cover, drawing his gun.
Celia ducked beneath the opposite window, gun in hand. “Marshal!? Fa’rah’s a damn Marshal now!?”
“Lots of things around here are backwards,” Jonas said.
“Well what’s she doing here?” Celia asked.
“Likely followed me, knew I was alone...” Jonas replied. “She’s been steamed at us ever since we blew up her and Jade’s scheme to turn Meryn against us.”
“Okay, I have about a million questions about that. You’ll have to fill me in later,” Celia said.
“I will. I’m sorry about this. I was careless... I should have known she’d try to follow me.”
“Hey, buddy, come on. Not your fault. And besides, this is just like old times. Right?”
Jonas chuckled. “Right... like old times. You and me, cornered, outnumbered... reminds me of
home.”
Celia chuckled too. “Just like home.”
A posse gathered around the shack, ten horses in all. Trained militia, under Marshal Fa’rah’s command. All heavily armed. Quickly, they had the shack surrounded, guns at the ready. Fa’rah stood in front of the closed door, rested her hand near the gun on her hip. She smiled wide.
“The game’s up, so-called ‘Demon,’” she said. Celia shot Jonas a confused glance but he just shook his head. Something else to explain later... “Why don’t you just come on out of there and give yourself up?”
“Go to hell, Fa’rah!” Celia said. “Nobody’s giving themselves up here!”
Fa’rah smiled wider. “I see your old spy friend is back. How nice for you...” Fa’rah said.
“Doesn’t help you none. We can stand out here all week and wait for you. Unless you feel like
taking the first shot, which case... we could always just shoot you to ribbons.”
“Nobody’s dying here,” Jonas called back. “But I’m not about to give up to the likes of you!”
Fa’rah’s smile didn’t leave her face, or her voice. “Might want to rethink that one. I got myself a nice little chip to bargain with...”
Jonas could hear a shuffling sound and some muffled grunting. He peeked up out the window... and felt his heart drop.
Stuck in a tight hogtie, rope around her ankles, calves, thighs, pinning her arms, tying her wrists behind her back, a tight, white cloth covering her mouth and nose, keeping ample stuffing jammed inside, dressed in her old outfit from Ikaatan, cropped, armoured leather cuirass, arm guards, short, thick skirt, knee high sandals, strawberry pink hair kept in an updo, blazing orange eyes glaring at her blonde, muscular captor...
“Lanala...” Jonas said.
Celia took this chance to peek up out the window as well. “Oh no... she wound up with Fa’rah.
And those ropes still have her...”
“Ropes?”
“From her mother’s prison. Infused with magic. They nullify her power. She can’t get loose...”
“Damn it,” Jonas said. “That’s a big problem....”
Lanala squirmed and thrashed as two people dragged her forward and tossed her on the ground in front of Fa’rah, where she continued to buck against the ropes, struggling hard, her skin gleaming with sweat.
“Mmmmm mmmmpphhh!! Ggrrrrmmmpphh!”
“So what do you say? Give yourself up? Might see my way to sparing this pretty gal...”
“Don’t you dare, Fa’rah!” Jonas said.
“She’s got time. Let’s say... 24 hours? You give yourself up before then, I’ll make sure all three of you get nice and cozy together in a cell. If not, well... maybe I solve myself a problem. Make sure there’s one less rebel in the world?”
“Fa’rah, you wouldn’t!” Celia said. “You’re no killer!”
“Oh, I’m not. But he is...”
Fa’rah stepped aside and Mr. Jade strolled through toward the front door.
“Jonas...” he said. “I would hate to do it. But I will. I shall take my leave but, upon passage of 24 hours, I will return to make good on my promise. That is how long you and your best friend have to surrender.... make your choice.”
Mr. Jade, as quickly as he’d appeared, disappeared into the shadows once again.
“You heard the man. Haul her off somewhere,” Fa’rah barked. “Hang her from a tree in that hogtie, for all I care. Just make sure she’s secure.”
She turned back to the shack while some of the militia got to work. “As for you two... no stepping out of there till I see every last gun thrown out that door first. I don’t see those guns, my boys will put you in the ground.”
She turned to walk away. “Keep your guns on that building,” Fa’rah said. “You see them move, even hear something that sounds like a gunshot... open up.”
She stalked away then, her prisoner in tow, the militia members carrying Lanala to a nearby tree to suspend her from. Jonas and Celia sat in stunned silence. All they could do then was look at each other. The stare that passed between them... there was no need for words...
...
“Saddle up, now!” Artema bellowed. “Let’s move!”
“Artema, what is it?” The blue-haired gunslinger, Taria, approached her, purple eyes blazing.
“Elyn’s arrived. We’re riding out to her neck of the woods. Celia’s been spotted. And the Marshal took a militia out that way. Following after Jonas...”
“Right... trouble then,” Taria said. “Count me in.”
“Make sure the others know. Gather us all up.”
“What do you mean ‘us’?”
“I mean... the old order. The Agency. The Guild. Us. And just us. Everyone else stays behind.”
“Why?” Taria asked.
“The Marshal’s fixing for a fight. I say we give her everything she wants and then some. Besides... it’s about time we all got back together.”
“But, ma’am, Lanala is-”
“I know. But my gut says she’ll be there. If Celia’s back, then so is Lanala. We’ll all be back together again. I just know we will.”
Taria nodded. “So then... just the six of us?”
“That’s right. We’ll find Lanala. And then get Jonas and Celia out of whatever fix Fa’rah’s got them in. But we need to move. Now.”
“Understood, ma’am,” Taria said. “Let me just let the others know.”
She hurried off to the others and Artema watched her go. Her heart longed for Lanala, hoping against all hope that she was all right. The anger in her heart remained, stirred on by her aching love. And with the old Order of Ikaatan at her back, there would be no obstacle to stop them.
...
“Mmmpphh!! Lmm mm gmm! Nmmm! Mmmmpphh!”
Lanala struggled furiously against her restraints but the ropes continued to hold. She tried her best to make the ropes fall from her body. Willing the power within her to obey... but the ropes just seemed to squeeze tighter. She grunted into her gag as they did, squirming in her ropes, and they slackened again, ever so slightly, as she stopped trying to summon her power.
How did she get them to let her go? Lanala asked herself. It was the change in her... how do I make them respond that way?
Lanala relaxed and stopped her struggling, clearing her mind. Probably should have honed my escape prowess... I wish Artema was here...
She stared down at the ground below her, watching it move as she swung back and forth slightly, her struggling momentum turning her into a living pendulum. Lanala gently closed her eyes and let herself drift off, picturing her wife’s beautiful face in her mind’s eye... a wave of calm washed over her entire body. Calm... then sadness. Longing... Oh I miss her...
A loud crack brought her out of her reverie. A... gunshot? she thought. Lanala began to struggle with her ropes again. Come on! Let go of me!
“Mmmmppphh!!”
More shots. Loud cracks breaking the air... the shout of a man near to her, laid low and suddenly silenced. The militia, Fa’rah’s militia, were running scared. The ones charged with guarding her, either fleeing or dead, left her completely alone, still bound and gagged, hanging from a tree.
“Hhllmmpp!!” she called out, furiously thrashing in her bonds. “Hlllmmmppp mmm! Dmm llmmmph mm hmmrrr!!”
She called out desperately, muffled by her gag, a stark realization beginning to hit her... I don’t think I can escape from this. “Mmmmpphh!! Hlllmmpp!”
Her heart leapt at the sound of a voice nearby. It was quiet, it was low, but it was a voice she longed to hear.
“Over here!”
That’s when she saw them. Her friends. The six other original members of their little group. Led, as always, by the stalwart, purple haired Amazon she called her wife.
Artema holstered the gun at her hip and ran to the tree, stopping, at first unable to move. Her intelligent, green eyes stunned by the sight.
“Lanala... you are here...”
She pulled the gag down from Lanala’s mouth, pulling the stuffing from her mouth.
“Artema...”
“It’s okay, love...” Artema said. “It’s okay...”
There was a weight to Artema’s stare. Lanala saw it... how long had they been separated?
How much time had passed in this world?
“Artema, what-”
“It’s okay...” Artema repeated, tears filling her eyes. “It’s okay... because you’re here. Let me get you down...”
She pulled a knife from her belt and sliced through the ropes holding Lanala, finally untying her. She helped her wife stand. Lanala still felt... odd.
“What is it?” Artema asked.
“First things first,” Lanala said, leaping at Artema and wrapping her arms around her broad shoulders, planting a long kiss to her wife’s lips. Artema returned the embrace, both women letting tears flow freely.
For a while, they held on, unable to let go. Finally, Artema stepped back. “Lanala you have no idea how I’ve missed you.”
“I can guess,” Lanala said. “If it’s half as much as I missed you.”
“Listen... we need you. Jonas is in trouble. I think he’s found Celia. I saw more of Fa’rah’s militia moving through the woods. How are you feeling?”
“Those ropes... I think they weakened me...” Lanala said. But she could feel the faint stirring of... something. At the very core of her mind. All the power she possessed was still there. “I couldn’t do anything while it was on me.”
“Is your power... gone?” Artema asked.
“No I just... I need time. To recover.”
“We don’t have time right now.” Artema detached a holster from her belt and handed it to Lanala. “You remember how to shoot?”
“It’s been a while... are we going to-”
“If we have to,” Artema said. “Things have... changed. I’m sorry... I was doing everything to find my way back to you.”
Lanala took the gun and attached it to her belt. “Explain later. I’ll tell you all about where we were once we get them out of there.”
Artema smiled. “I knew we could always count on you.”
Lanala drew her gun and checked the six bullets in the chamber of the revolver. She snapped it shut again. “Always, my love. Let’s go to work.”
...
Since being surrounded, Jonas noticed more and more militia men moving in to surround the shack. He kept his head low, as did Celia, tempted with each passing second to open fire. But both hesitated.
“Jonas... we have to save her,” she said. “We can’t let Jade just-”
“I know,” Jonas said. “But we can’t just give ourselves up. I won’t....” he stopped himself. But managed to continue. “I won’t lose you again...”
“But we’ll lose Lanala if we don’t do something.”
They both went quiet as they heard one of the men outside the shack shout. Fa’rah, from somewhere nearby, swore and, peeking up through the window, Jonas saw her duck behind a tree for cover. And then he saw the most amazing sight he’d ever seen.
“Holy shit...” he said.
“What?” Celia asked.
“I can’t believe it... just look!”
Celia looked out too. And her eyes went wide. “Oh... they’re... together!”
Seven wide they walked. Side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Guns drawn. The militia men at the ready, waiting for them. Led in front by the hulking woman in white. Her purple, braided hair and sharp green eyes. Beside her, a darker skinned woman in black, strawberry pink hair, soft orange eyes. A gun in each of their hands. Flanking them, another couple. One of green hair, kind red eyes, dressed in brown and green. The other, pale blue hair, piercing grey eyes, dark skin, dressed in shades of blue. Beside them, another two. The shorter of the two, shoulder length blue hair, covering one of her intense, purple eyes, dressed in black and green. The taller, bobbed red hair, gleaming golden eyes, dressed in golden yellow and black. One final woman stood tall, behind the rest, a shining, long range rifle in her hands. Short, thick hair, coloured orange, soft red eyes, wearing her signature red coloured clothes...
Seven their number, appearing as though from the heavens. Beams of sunlight shone through the trees to herald their arrival. Wide, bracing steps, each stride characterizing each woman’s own distinct way about her. In lockstep, they came from the trees, emerging into the clearing, stopping. They remained seven wide. Each woman tensed and brought level her gun to the waiting militia.
Marshal Fa’rah felt herself backing away, eyes wide with fear... they had all come.
Artema’s blazing eyes settled on her muscular counterpart and Fa’rah froze in place. She dared not reach for her own gun as her militia men surrounded her and brandished their own guns at the seven women.
“I’m giving you one chance to stand down, Fa’rah,” Artema said. “You and your men leave and nobody has to die.”
“You’re... you wouldn’t!” Fa’rah spat.
“Everything you’ve heard is true...” Artema said. “I’m not who I once was. None of us are. So you might want to rethink that.”
“No!” Fa’rah seemed to find her courage. “We’re not leaving here! Not till all you outlaws turn yourselves in! Drop those guns and surrender yourselves!”
Artema let out a short breath. “I’ve been aching to do this for ages...”
Seeing the slightest twitch of movement in Artema’s arm, Fa’rah took cover behind a tree again, just as Artema squeezed the trigger on her gun. The first shot was fired... and the fight began.
The militia opened up on the group of women, who quickly scattered to take cover and return fire. Artema boldly rushed them, daring them to shoot her down, but they missed as she dashed toward them. Her gun level with one man, she fired again, lead ripping flesh and felling him, his blood soaking the ground as he went down.
Another stood up to fire at her. But a booming rifle shot tore clean through his shoulder. He had no idea where the shooter was... and Elyn smirked to herself, pulling back the bolt of her rifle, loosing a shell and loading another bullet in the chamber. Her breathing slowed, she closed one of her soft, red eyes, the breeze tossing her thick orange bangs. She let her heart rate drop, steadied her gun, and blocked out all noise. It was nothing but her, the gun, and her next target... and he, too, fell from another thunderous shot from the shining rifle. Another click of the bolt chambered another bullet... and she began again.
One of them men tried to flank them but he came face to face with ferocious golden eyes, stopping in his tracks. But it was too late to stop the speeding fist that caught him under his jaw and sent him sprawling. He tried to get up but another ferocious fist sent him to the ground again. He tried to crawl away but the gold-eyed monster dragged him back again, another fist to the forehead and his world went black.
Meryn stood tall and took cover from the bullets that sizzled past her, taking up her shotgun in hand. She didn’t want to use it but two more men were coming to flank them. She checked the breech, and the two loaded shells within, clicking the double barrels closed. Closing her eyes, taking a deep breath, Meryn came out of cover and raised her gun. One took a blast in the shoulder, blowing open a massive wound. Another took one full in the body, dropping him before he could reach her friends. Still her eyes shone with ferocity as she fought on.
More aimed at Artema but another pistol laid them to the ground. Luna jumped out from behind a tree, and with laser precision, took each man down. She ducked back again, checking her gun. She was out. And another man was rushing for Mirelle nearby.
Wrath filled her cold eyes as Luna launched herself at him, her tall frame ducked low to deliver a shoulder to his chest. The man fell to the dirt and Luna leapt upon him, cracking him in the head with the handle of her gun. He quickly fell unconscious while Luna joined her wife in cover.
Mirelle hesitated to fire upon anyone, choosing instead to keep them behind cover by firing warning shots over their heads. The strategy proved effective at keeping some of the men pinned down and unable to return fire. But she, too, was running low on ammo. She wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever.
Taria, meanwhile, darted between the trees, avoiding the gunfire, and knocking out the men who fired back. She had a machete sheathed at her side, unwilling to draw it. Everything from her past threatened to consume her. The way she had wantonly killed... so she refused to take their lives. Even to save the woman she loved. But the men knew no more ferocious an opponent as the lithe, blue-haired warrior attacked them from all sides. But even she had her limits, forced back into cover several times by bullets screaming past her, coming far too close for comfort.
Lanala, hesitant like Mirelle, at first was taken aback by her wife’s sudden charge and frightening anger. Meryn, too, proved to be just as frightening. But she knew the lives of two friends were at stake. If left to be taken in, all of them, their lives were as good as over. She remembered the threat Mr. Jade had made upon her own life... so she fired back.
She didn’t have many bullets but Lanala covered her wife’s advance, firing warning shots to keep some men in cover. Others took the bullets as they threatened to fire upon Artema. Lanala hated to do it but, for her wife... there was nothing she wouldn’t do.
But by now, it was clear, they were badly outnumbered. The militia were pushing the seven women back, forcing them into cover, pinning them down. Their ammo was low. They could hardly fire back. And Fa’rah, leading them, just kept pushing them forward while she kept Jonas and Celia locked down. Their fight was turning against them...
That was when two blurred shapes appeared, moving between the militia men like nothing. Some would gasp for breath as their lifeblood spilled forth. Others shouted and panicked as they tried to find the two shapes. One black, one white, neither were touchable by the militia.
They were pushed back and their mysterious reinforcements allowed the seven to push forward. They battled back and managed to start firing on their opponents once more.
With the fight turning their way again, the two blurs stood in beside the seven. A large woman, dressed all in black, with red hair and sharp green eyes, a scarred but youthful face... Starling, the Griffin’s Gun. That meant the other...
Dressed all in white, ebony skin, pale eyes, shoulder length black hair... Leila. The Pale Shadow, they called her.
Their added guns and sudden flurry of attacks brought the odds back in their favour. With their numbers declining, the remaining men fled off into the woods, leaving Fa’rah alone in front of the shack. She raised her gun as the women, now nine in number, approached her.
“That’s far enough,” she said. “I’m not just backing down.”
Meryn was the one who stepped forward, in the way of the gun. She shielded Artema but didn’t raise her gun.
“Listen here, Goldie... you know damn well I won’t be giving them up!”
“Then end it,” Meryn said. She tossed her shotgun down. “Go on. Put me down.”
“What?”
“We’ve done this too long. But I know you, Fa’rah... you just won’t.”
“You say that like you haven’t just killed people yourself... You expect me to stop short?” Fa’rah said.
“You will. Because you don’t have the cause that we do. You threatened our friends. Again. Those men are paid guns. Nothing more. And what is it you’re after? You really want to follow through on everything Jade is doing?”
“I...” Fa’rah hesitated. She stayed quiet for a long pause.
“You don’t, do you? You just want things to go back to the way they were...”
Fa’rah still didn’t speak. She held her gun level with Meryn’s head, tensed up... and lowered her arm.
“Fine... it was bastards you killed, anyway.”
“We can’t just let her go,” Artema said. “She’ll be after us all. Again. After you. Or Saira.”
“I say we can...” Meryn said.
“Wait... what? Are you feeling all right?”
There was something there, beneath the hatred she felt toward her oldest rival. Meryn saw Fa’rah and she saw... purpose. A part of herself. A counterpart. And, dare she even think it... deeply buried respect.
“Go on and leave,” Meryn said. “You and I will finish this later.”
Fa’rah holstered her gun and kept her eyes on Meryn. “Count on that...” she said.
None of the women stopped her from leaving as she disappeared into the trees, off to find her waiting horse. Artema stepped up beside Meryn.
“You sure that’s wise?”
Meryn nodded. “Not really. But I’ll handle her. She’s my problem, after all.”
“As you like...”
They turned to the shack now, all approaching the front door. Jonas and Celia stepped outside, noting the darkened sky. The battle had waged far longer than they had thought.
“Thanks for the rescue,” Jonas said.
Artema folded her arms, a smirk on her face. “That’ll teach you to go off on your own... again.”
Jonas managed a relaxed smile himself. “Well I’ll be... that’s first happy look I’ve seen on you since... well, since Weston. And I can see why...” He nodded to Lanala. “You’re sight for sore eyes.”
Lanala smiled warmly. “It’s been too long, Jonas.”
The two hadn’t noticed but a flash of movement caught their eyes as they spoke. Celia had met Taria, the two exchanging a silent hug. Taria kissed Celia’s forehead.
“Missed you...” Taria said.
“Missed you too...” Celia replied.
Jonas smiled to himself and finally holstered his gun. He nodded to Leila and Starling, behind the others. They nodded back.
“As we said,” Starling began.
“We’ll be here when the time comes,” Leila finished.
“I appreciate that, thank you. And no duels this time?”
“Later,” Starling said. “For now, we are at peace.”
“Then I’ll leave you to that,” Jonas said.
The two bounty hunters left them behind, heading their separate ways. Jonas looked at the assembled group before him.
“Well, now that we’re all together again, I’d say it’s time we go put this all to rest and head on back home. That is, if Lanala can get us there.”
“Once I’m recovered. I don’t know how long that will take. But it will be nothing to open up a portal back home,” Lanala said.
“All right then,” Jonas said. “So now, just one problem left to deal with...”
“Jade?” Artema asked.
“Yeah. I’m going after him.”
“Someone ought to come with you if you’re looking for a fight.”
“No, I’ll go alone. I won’t start a fight. I’ll make him bring the fight to us.”
Artema raised an eyebrow. “Lure him in?”
“I have an idea for a trap. I think we ought to get started,” Jonas said.
Artema nodded. “All right then. Let’s finish this.”