DISCLAIMER: The main characters in this story do not belong to me. The boys belong to MGM and Trilogy Entertainment. I am not profiting off this story.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: It's not betaed, but I tend to read each part multiple times anyway.
4D AU, the universe that has OW, ATF, fantasy and future wrapped up in one, because I just couldn't chose. :-)
COMMENTS: This second story has as basic idea the pilot episode. But it's grown and twisted around, but what do you expect when you start involving mischievous elves? Anyway, it plays in Evanthal, mostly. And it all started because Vin wanted me to explain why elves just aren't bounty hunters. Who am I to say no?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If I ever get any meaning on the Ezra-isms wrong, please say so. I'm not English by birth, and coming up with the right flowery speech is difficult enough in Dutch, let alone in English. I am happy with my thesaurus. ;-)
Chris walked into the conference room with a brisk pace. He took quick note that the whole team was already accounted for. Which was how it should be, considering that he had sent the thought to assemble the minute he had stepped out of Judge Travis' office and started walking towards the brand new headquarters of the Magnificent Seven.
The telepath snorted. He still wasn't used to the name the team had taken as their own, but JD had been adamant that it should be that one and no other. Something to do with a film he had seen on television once. And hell, it was not like any of the other men cared one way or another what they were called. Except for Josiah, who for some reason was mighty pleased about JD's choice. Chris shook his head. He just didn't get the mage sometimes.
"Well boys, looks like we got our first job." He focussed back on the job at hand, as he put the mission file on the table and took a seat.
"Alright! It's about time." Buck said with a broad grin that was echoed around the table. The team had been complete for over a month now, but it had only been a week since Travis' deadline had been reached, so everyone had enjoyed way too much free time lately. The building hadn't been completed yet until two weeks ago, and it turned out everyone's specifications for a good work-spot had varied greatly. But finally all the details had been handled to satisfaction.
And just in time, because Chris had come damn close to just blasting a member of his new team. It had been a toss-up between Ezra and Buck at that point. Depending on if Ezra would ask one more time about the amenities necessary for a becoming place of labour, or Buck would pull another a joke on JD that misfired yet again. None of them were the type of person to sit around doing nothing. With the possible exception of Ezra. When Travis called Chris to his office the gunslinger was ready to say thanks to Josiah's God.
"And what pray tell, does this assignment involve?" Ezra asked curiously.
Chris quickly summarised the problem. "Several villages in Evanthal have been attacked by a band of about twenty humans. They don't have a set pattern of attack, and nobody has yet found a trace of their hideout. Queen Carinde has told Judge Travis to deal with the outlaws or she would be forced to deal with them herself. If she did, this could easily turn into a race-issue and the judge doesn't want to incite any anti-elf feelings on the other worlds, so he decided to send us. What is it?" Chris asked with a hint of irritation in his voice as he noticed the identical raised eyebrows on the elven members of his group.
"Has to be more than that. The real bad criminals in Evanthal are dealt with swift and easy. If the Queen could handle this easy by herself she would." Vin drawled, capturing Chris' eye to let him know he wasn't exaggerating this in any way. He was clearly convinced there had to be something more going on that they weren't aware of. Which made Chris wary as well.
"Vin is right. The elven justice system is not particularly lenient in the rare case that someone is considered a criminal. And in my experience it has never mattered before whether the miscreant was elf or human. When you are in Evanthal, you are subject to elven law, as capricious and ill-defined as it is." Ezra added, apparently deep in thought trying to find an answer that would explain this aberration.
Chris nodded to say he understood and would keep it in mind. He continued his briefing. "Anyway, though these men don't have a set pattern, they have hit one town more than the others, so we'll start there to get a better look at the situation."
"What's the village called?" JD asked, raising questioning eyes to Chris, while at the same time opening up his laptop and hooking the thing up to the metal star on his right temple.
"Seminole." He answered. It still made Chris wince internally every time he saw JD perform what for the telepath was a completely unnatural process.
JD nodded thoughtfully, before closing his eyes and going into what looked like a trance. Chris went on to explain the details of the mission, knowing that Buck would fill the kid in later on the things he missed. And it was not as if JD would have time to do this search later. On horseback was not a place you wanted to spend your time only half-aware.
"Do we know how this gang attacks the villages? And how serious these attacks are?" Nathan asked.
Chris shook his head. "I'm getting the feeling the elves either don't know much or they don't want us to know." And it wouldn't make things any easier if they had the locals against them. Damn.
JD blinked as he came back to the conference room and looked to Chris for permission to speak.
"Go ahead."
"Well, there isn't much known about Evanthal. But six years ago a Silcaden surveying team went there, so we do have maps. Seminole pretty much lies in a canyon. The whole area is grasslands with mountainous rocks jutting out of the ground everywhere. It's no wonder this group is working in that area. There are any number of good hiding places." JD summed up, displaying the maps he'd found on the computer.
Chris nodded in approval. "Good job, JD."
The kid smiled widely as the rest of the team started passing his laptop around to look at the map.
Vin frowned when it was his turn. "Could explain why there's so little information. That area don't have much earth-elves, 'cause there's no woods, and those are the best trackers."
"But we got our own tracker, don't we, Brother Vin?" Josiah grinned at the elf, who smiled back at him.
It would really make Chris feel better if that was the only reason for the lack of information. But he had a bad feeling that wasn't all, and his feelings weren't usually wrong.
"Ain't no way to tell 'till we get there. So we'd better get going sooner rather than later. We'll leave in fifteen minutes." He concluded the meeting.
"I'll get the horses." JD shouted over his shoulder, as he left the room first.
"I'll help." Buck called out.
Ezra picked at his jacket with some distaste. "I'd better get more appropriate travelling apparel."
"Food and weapons are more useful, Ez." Vin drawled.
Ezra glared at him. "Mr. Tanner, my name is Ez-RA. When are you going to see fit to remember that? Surely you are not that thick-headed?" The gambler danced light-footed out of the way, when Vin tried whapping him in the head, while mumbling that he'd show him who was thick-headed around here.
"Well, Nathan, looks like we'll get the rest of the supplies." Josiah stated, calmly walking out with Nathan.
The healer nodded. "Yeah. And let's not forget the medicine kit. You never know when you're gonna need it."
Chris sighed as he put his papers back together after seven pairs of hands had spread them all over the table. Yep, it was going to be a long journey. And in all likelihood he would end up in a tight spot.
Then he smiled. But there were worse people to find himself in a tight spot with.
Nathan looked around in the village with interest. He'd never had much contact with elves before, and he certainly hadn't been in a position to visit one of their towns. Seminole was not like any town he knew. It lay in a canyon, like JD said, but if you didn't look real hard you'd miss it. The houses were placed against the rock formations in a way that seemed almost natural, so that they became nearly invisible. A stream crossed right through the middle of the canyon and the healer could see children happily playing in the water. Elves were going about their usual way, moving in and out of view in natural patterns.
It all seemed idyllic, as if nothing had ever harmed these folks. But a closer inspection revealed signs of violence to the ex-cop's trained eyes. Chipped rocks and holes in the walls of houses pointed at the use of high-automatic rifles. Weapons that were not supposed to have made it across the border from Silcado to the other worlds in the first place. So how had they gotten here?
Nathan recalled the group's own crossing into the elven world three days ago. They had gone through the main portal between Four Corners and Evanthal. On either side of the gate border guards had checked their passes. Nathan had to admit it had gone a lot smoother with the new identification they got from Travis, than on his own trip from Silcado to Four Corners. At least this time the guards didn't search his possessions. Unlike other travellers lawmen were allowed to bring their own weapons into any world they came to, but those weapons were all registered.
Nathan made a mental note to ask JD about all Silcaden weapons currently registered in Evanthal. The outlaws had probably gone the illegal entry route, but you just never knew. If the weapons weren't registered, that left three possibilities. The outlaws could have found a new stable gate, although that was a very remote possibility. The White Mages checked periodically for new gates. It was more likely that the gang had stumbled on a temporary rip. The last possibility was that they had used the services of a mage, probably a Black Mage. The healer really hoped that was not the case.
~Meeting at the chief's house in ten~
The healer startled at hearing the voice in his mind. He still wasn't used to Chris' way of calling his men. Then again, it had taken the ex-cop a while to get used to the ear-devices he had used on busts in days past. Of course, it didn't help that Nathan knew what it was like to be overpowered by a telepath. If it hadn't been for Chris and Vin he would have hanged that day now nearly two months ago. Nathan certainly trusted the Telorian not to intrude on his thoughts. Besides, Chris struck him as a man who appreciated privacy.
Nathan made his way steadily to the meeting place, keeping an eye out for any other signs of attack. He didn't see any people with injuries, but whether that meant there were no injured, or all the injured were so severe that they weren't up to walking around, the medic didn't know.
This meeting was a lot more informal than the one in Four Corners. Everyone sat or stood were they pleased, since there was no furniture in the front room of the chief's house. As natural and bland as the house looked on the outside, as extravagant and colourful it was on the inside. Pillows were spread all over the ground and the walls and ceiling were covered with colourful drapes. There were no clear corners to the room, and doorways appeared randomly placed. A fountain bubbled against one wall, and another wall was covered in greenery. Nathan couldn't say he had ever seen anything quite like it.
"So, what have we got?" Chris asked. Nathan started paying attention again to why they were in this room. Almost as soon as the seven men had arrived in Seminole they had split up to find out more about the attacks on the village and now was the time to group their information together and see what turned up.
"Well, it all looks real normal outside, but the people here are scared, Chris." Buck started seriously. "It's too easy to pick up on. Also, I haven't seen any young women around."
JD raised his eyebrows with a smirk. "You would see that, Buck."
"Don't mean it ain't true." Buck answered with a perfectly innocent expression.
Josiah nodded in agreement. "I talked to some of the villagers. Seems there's a raid about every fourteen days. Next one's probably day after tomorrow. Don't blame the people for being a mite skittish around strangers."
"Keep an eye out for those women. Chances are, if we can't find them neither can the outlaws, but I'd feel better if we had everyone in one place. But first we have to find some way to defend this town." Chris stated.
Nathan frowned. "How we gonna do that? From the pattern of the bullets those guys have automatic rifles. That's nasty to defend against. Especially a village like this, where nobody's got the slightest experience with things like that." As far as the ex-cop had seen the villagers were good at hiding in plain sight, but not at defending themselves against armed attackers.
"And that is not the only difficulty." Ezra fished in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief with something in it. The gambler grimaced as he threw it on the floor in the middle of the room. "I've been so forward as to extract that projectile from a conveniently placed bullethole. These loathsome foes are using quite lethal ammunition."
Vin stepped forward from where he was leaning against the wall and nudged the handkerchief away from the bullet with his foot, never actually touching the object within. He hissed. "Bloodmetal?"
"Bloodmetal." Ezra confirmed with a grim expression.
Buck reached over and picked up the bullet questioningly. "Hell, this is almost pure iron. Whoever heard of iron bullets?" He asked puzzled.
"Unfortunately, Mr Wilmington, iron as it is commonly known to humans is a quite malignant substance to the citizens of this municipality."
"Huh?" JD asked.
"Bloodmetal's poison to elves." Vin translated.
Nathan raised his eyebrows. That was the first time he truly realised what it meant for him personally that there were two elves on his new team. Elves and humans weren't all that different physiologically, so the medic hadn't considered it a problem before now. But judging by Ezra's careful wrapping job and Vin's reluctance to touch the seemingly innocent metal there was apparently enough of a difference between the two races to make things tricky. If either of the two men got wounded the healer couldn't be sure they weren't allergic to certain medicines. Nathan was determined to start expanding on his medical knowledge as soon as he could.
Chris was apparently thinking along similar lines as he searched Vin and Ezra's eyes. The gambler raised an eyebrow in silent defiance, while the tracker showed his disapproval more openly.
"They can't shoot what if they can't see, cowboy." Vin scowled.
The telepath nodded. "Alright. Since it's only two days before the gang comes around again, we can afford to wait on them. In the meantime we'll fortify the town as best we can. Afterwards, Vin can follow the remains of the gang back to their hideout and we can round them up there."
"Well, let's see what we can cook up." Buck stated with a devilish grin.
The seven men started planning.
Buck finished piling wood onto the stack he had built and swept the town with his senses to check if anything else still needed to be done. He was glad to feel a thrill of anticipation humming through the town instead of the fear and terror that had been there when they arrived. That alone was worth coming here.
The empath laughed as he saw Vin trying to teach the villagers how to fire a gun without shooting him in the progress. If it was left up to him, the tracker definitely preferred to use his two bows in a fight, but sometimes a gun was simply faster or more capable of bridging long distances. In that case Vin switched to any gun close at hand. During their few training bouts the other six men had learnt quickly that Vin Tanner could hit any target with whatever weapon he had in his hands at the time.
It had been a bit of a surprise to Buck, who'd had a pretty stereotypical picture of elves in his head until he met Vin and Ezra. He always thought all elves could use a bow and arrow and nothing else. From what he had seen this afternoon he could kiss that idea goodbye as well. Vin had already switched from bows to guns from sheer exasperation. The elves in Seminole couldn't even hit the broad side of a barn with an arrow. From what Buck could see they were a mite better with a gun. But not by much.
Near the stream Ezra was drafting the children into painting some dummies with the occasional card trick as a reward. The little ones practically radiated awe and wonder at his small illusions. Buck smiled. Who'd have thought the wily gambler would be so good with kids?
Movement from further down the stream caught the empath's eye. He could see Nathan walking in front, with a whole lot of people behind him. Buck's face broke out in a wide grin as he got a better view of the others. Now that was more like it!
Buck swiftly moved towards the row of beauties coming down the river.
"The wind blew, the clouds parted, and out came the sun. I knew you wouldn't let me down, you old dog. Well, what do we have here?" He smiled at the nearest elven lady, who had the biggest sparkling blue eyes the womaniser had ever had the pleasure to rest his eyes on. Why, such a beauty had to be cherished.
"Found them upstream at the canyon. Actually, they, uh, they sort of found me." Nathan said, seeming a bit embarrassed. Buck honestly didn't care how they came to be here, he just enjoyed the opportunity. Hell, he was finished stacking logs anyway.
But it was not to be. Apparently fathers everywhere always reacted the exact same way to Buck Wilmington, and it didn't matter a thing whether they were elves or humans. If Buck wasn't such an easygoing person, and if he couldn't feel the genuine worry emanating from the disgruntled elf standing in front of him, he might have been offended.
It just wasn't in him to play with women's feelings for his own personal gain. Buck's mother had been a woman who provided pleasure for men, and she had always instilled in him that loving was simply the best thing in the world, but only as long as all parties involved had fun doing it. And from what Buck had seen, she hadn't been wrong so far. Buck had felt enough angry and hateful people in his life, that he didn't see the harm in doing his bit to balance things out.
A birdcall sounded.
~"Time's up. Everybody, take your positions."~
Chris' mindvoice echoed in his head as the leader of the seven called out loud at the same time.
Buck cursed and motioned at the elves with him.
"Get them ladies in the houses. They're coming."
Then he moved quickly to his appointed spot and stared at the approaching riders. "Ah hell." Those were a whole lot more men than twenty. Somebody somewhere screwed up.
Buck watched as close to forty men rode up through the canyon. He lightly scanned the surface of their minds for any telepaths or empaths. He couldn't feel three of the men, which meant they were strong enough telepaths or empaths to maintain shields. At least the leader wasn't a Telorian. Nevertheless Buck did not like his mental state one bit. The man skipped from one emotion to the next too quickly to be able to think rationally. That couldn't be good.
The leader looked around at the seemingly empty village.
"My instructions could not have been more explicit." He said, sounding more annoyed than anything. The man's emotions jumped from anger to confusion to anticipation to anger. Buck drew up his shields again, because he couldn't use the distraction right now. It was a relief to not be able to feel the madman.
"Oh, you were very explicit, colonel." Another man said. Buck pegged the man as the second in command and reminded himself to keep an eye on him.
"And yet for some reason, there still aren't any repentant heathens out and about with the offerings we so richly deserve."
That was the moment Chris stepped up from behind the building he had used as cover.
"There's no offerings here." He said calmly, keeping his cold eyes on the leader.
The man looked a bit surprised, but not nearly as much as Buck would have liked.
"Ah. Colonel Emmett Riley Anderson of the Silcaden Armed Forces. And you are...?"
Chris didn't answer, but higher up the canyon wall Vin moved and became suddenly visible against the earthen background.
"We came to ask you to leave." The elf stated clearly.
Anderson turned back to Chris. "You work with one of those pagans? He will hunt you down like a deer for the sport of it when you least expect it."
Okay. That was enough of that.
Buck stepped out from his own building and smiled evilly. "Now, I highly doubt that. We could use you for target practise though, if you don't turn around and ride out."
"Well... How many of you humanitarians are there?" Anderson asked.
"Enough." Chris stated confidently.
"Move on. These people have done nothing to you." Vin called down, still visible, but only if you knew where to look. Buck had never really seen the elven ability to disappear before but he was mighty impressed at the moment.
"Shoot 'em down, captain." Anderson ordered.
Buck's adrenaline levels spiked and he prepared himself to take out anyone who threatened his friends. He kept a special eye on the Telorians, because they were particularly dangerous, and he knew Chris would do the same.
"Company... Fire!" The captain shouted and Buck took cover behind his wall. Bullets chipped the rock and the empath turned his head to avoid getting gravel in his eyes. He waited impatiently for Chris' command, as the colonel encouraged his men with cheering statements that did nothing to convince the empath of the man's sanity.
Finally Chris gave the signal.
~"Now!"~
JD shot at another outlaw and could see the man fall off his horse just before he had to duck behind a wall to avoid getting his head blown off. While he waited for the barrage to slow down enough to resume firing he checked on those of the other six men he could see from where he was sitting.
From his position he could see Ezra appear and disappear, weaving from one dummy to another while he took shots at the attackers. If JD hadn't known about the plan he would have thought them dummies were real people, the way 'they' kept shooting. The hacker had no idea how Ezra did it, but the gambler wasn't even visible half the time and some of those dummies seemed to move on their own. As JD watched one of the dummies lost an arm. He winced in sympathy.
Farther into the canyon several outlaws got dumped off their horses when the animals wouldn't jump the stack of wood Buck and JD had so painstakingly piled up. Glad to see that worked as advertised. He sure wouldn't have liked stacking the woodblocks for nothing.
Close to the hacker Buck was shooting steadily. The ladies man had taken JD apart during the preparations for the battle to give him all kinds of advice. The young man had gotten a bit annoyed with some of the things the man was saying, since he damn well knew how to keep his head down all by himself, thank you very much.
Still, the part about Telorian mindtricks was interesting. JD had never really thought about what it meant to go up against telepaths. He guessed he relied too much on the other side playing fair. Buck had given him some tricks to use to prevent a grip on his mind for a short while until Buck or even Chris could help. Not that he had needed to use Buck's help yet.
JD watched in horror as an outlaw veered around the corner just behind Buck and aimed at the dark-haired gunslinger's back. The empath was oblivious to the threat. A desperate warning yell escaped JD's throat as he aimed at the attacker. But the angle was all wrong. He'd never hit the guy in time with Buck standing in the way like that!
Thankfully he wasn't the only one who had seen the danger. Josiah chanted something in a loud voice and suddenly the shooter yelled as he was blown off his horse by a strong gust of wind. Buck turned in surprise and shot the man just as he re-targeted the empath from his new place on the ground. Another outlaw dead.
Unfortunately the mage's chanting had caught the attention of several attackers, and JD was determined to shoot as many of them as he could. Still, he noticed the mage went down at some point in the fight.
The young man kept firing until he suddenly realised that all he could see were men on horses riding out of town and he was out of targets to shoot at. The gang had turned tail and run. JD blinked once as the information sank in, and then he laughed victoriously.
They had won!
He stood up from his place behind the wall and watched with a grin on his face as the villagers who had helped them defend the town cheered. The other members of the team appeared from their own spots to share in the victory. JD twirled his guns triumphantly before putting them away.
Buck laughed at Chris.
"We whupped them good, old pard."
Vin dipped his head thoughtfully towards the direction the outlaws disappeared in. "What do you think?" He asked Chris without actually looking at the Telorian.
Chris squinted. "Maybe. Buck, get up on that ridge, keep a lookout."
Buck lifted his eyebrows. "Hell, they ain't gonna stop running until they hit the border."
Vin turned around to face the telepath. "I'll trail 'em. See where they hole up."
Chris agreed and the elf swiftly disappeared to get his horse and move out while the trail was fresh.
The blond gunslinger caught sight of JD and frowned. "Are you alright?"
JD wondered what the man was talking about and looked down curiously. Huh. Apparently at some point in the fight he had become splattered with blood. He had no idea how though.
"It's not my blood."
His eyes widened in sudden shock. Oops, that reminded him.
"Josiah! I think he was shot." JD exclaimed, feeling very guilty that he had forgotten all about the man in his victorious mood. But as he turned to where he had seen the mage fall, he saw that Nathan was already there. He released his breath in relief.
Chris turned to him. "JD, find out everything you can about this Colonel Anderson. I want to know who I'm dealing with."
"You got it, Chris." JD replied. He was happy enough that he didn't have to deal with getting rid of the dead outlaws. The hacker had never really been in a gunfight before and he sure had never killed a person.
Of course, that didn't mean he didn't know how to shoot. At first he had learnt about gunslingers the way he learnt about everything else, through his computer. The Old West of the past, and through that the Telor of the present, had soon inspired the young hacker with glorious tales of adventure.
The young man had never really been outside of Silcado City before, and the rough life of a gunslinger seemed so much more exciting than the boring city life he was used to. JD was realistic enough to know that he would probably never even visit Telor. But to keep a bit of the dream alive, he learnt how to shoot and how to ride in his summers. Even if he would never get out of the city for the rest of his life it would have been worth it.
And now he was in the company of two real gunslingers, and he had even shot and killed men himself. JD needed some time to think about how he felt about that and diving into his safe and familiar computer world didn't seem so bad right now.
The young man entered the house where they had spent the night and settled in for a long session with his laptop. He plugged himself into the net, and thought about how to start with the search. Where did the guy say he was from again?
Silcaden Armed Forces, right? Let's see what they've got on the man.
JD sank deeper into his computer-trance as he became engrossed in the virtual world. Nothing touched him when he did this. While he searched for information, he passively soaked up the data and checked it all logically to find new things to explore. There was no room for normal thought as long as he was in the trance. After all, computers had no instinct and no emotion.
It also meant that when he left the trance an hour later he was unprepared for the gulf of emotions that assaulted him. He had found what Chris wanted, but he had also found a great deal more. And it was a whole lot more personal than he had thought.
The military was usually the first place where new technologies were tested. And it seemed that nine years ago a Colonel Anderson had volunteered for an experimental implant that would make communicating in the field easier.
It was a small device that would link a person to a small computer- network, a bit like the internet, called MilNet. Soldiers would be able to get up-to-date information about troop movements in seconds in stead of having to guess or wait for new orders. In short, it was an earlier, simpler version of JD's own implant.
Except, it didn't work the way it should. Seems there was no way of turning off the information coming through. JD could easily see that it was based on the wrong idea. When the young hacker used his implant he had to go out and find information on the internet, which was why he had to be able to think in computer-language.
In the earlier version all information was simply downloaded into the brain. It meant the implanted person didn't necessarily have to know his or her way around a computer, which JD guessed the military thought was a good idea. He sure had seen enough movies to know that being a soldier didn't always mean you had to be smart with a laptop.
The problem with the idea of downloading directly into the brain was that MilNet couldn't be ignored. Several of the volunteers became crazy from the information overload day in and day out. Even when the military shut down MilNet out of desperation, it was too late for some people. Anderson was one of those. He got dumped out of the military and formed his own group.
This was the first time JD was really confronted with what could have gone wrong after his operation three years ago. He had always known that his implant was an experiment, but he never thought about what it meant that the technology was so new. 'Cause there were only six measly years between that fucked-up experiment and JD's own operation.
JD breathed in and out slowly in a conscious effort to calm down.
He'd always thought he was lucky to make it on the volunteer list for the implant. He'd had no idea how lucky he had really been. But he sure didn't regret it.
After all, it had led him here and there was nowhere in all the worlds that he would rather be.
JD smiled to himself as he got up to find Chris and give him the information he had found.
Vin frowned uneasily as he studied the entrance to Anderson's hideout.
The trail of the retreating outlaws hadn't been difficult to follow over the grasslands. And that it had finally ended at one of the bigger rock-groupings that were strewn around the area was no surprise either.
What gave the elf a bad feeling was exactly how those rocks were placed. Two big slabs of rock leaning against eachother formed a cave- like opening, just high enough for a man on a horse. From where Vin was lying on top of a nearby jutting rock the angle was wrong to see how far this narrow passage extended, but judging by the sheer size of this rock-formation he guessed it was pretty long.
It was also a perfect trap for anyone who entered it. There was no need to post guards on this side of the opening; they could just as easily wait for any unsuspecting trespassers on the other side of the corridor. There had to be another way to get to the other side of this place.
After an hour of circling the formation Vin had to admit that as a hideout this place was pretty well chosen. From the outside there was not even a hint to the hollow interior. Still, the tracker had found three places where someone could climb the rockwall and avoid the obvious entrance. It would be tricky, but doable.
The elf smiled as he turned his horse to head back to the village.
After hearing Vin's report, Chris decided that they would stay in the village for another evening, and move out in the early morning hours. Much as the telepath would have liked to surprise the outlaws at dawn, rock-climbing was simply not a thing to be doing in the dark.
That evening the village elves threw a party to celebrate their victory. From his spot high up on the canyon wall where he had greeted Anderson's men earlier Vin could see the dancers silhouetted against the bonfire. If he saw right Buck was among those, a bulkier, less fluid figure dancing among the slighter elves. The rest of the seven were enjoying a meal on the other side of the fire, where Vin had left them in order to enjoy the night by himself for a bit.
A noise behind him was followed by Chris' soft voice announcing his presence. Vin consciously relaxed muscles that had been ready to act on a moment's notice, had it not been a friend.
The Telorian gunslinger sat down beside him and looked slightly curious at Vin's jumpiness. He didn't quite ask, but Vin reckoned he owed the man an answer anyway. Not to mention he didn't like the accusations Anderson had been spewing about the Wild Hunt earlier in the day. Wasn't something humans knew that much about and the Hunt had played a pretty important in Vin's life for some years now.
"There's a little backwater town down in the woods south of here. Tascosa. You know it?" He started.
"Can't say as I have."
"If I wind up getting killed, take my body back there. You'll get an honor ring for it, probably a sapphire."
"How come you're so valuable?"
"Ya know anything about the Wild Hunt?"
Chris grimaced at the thought as he spoke. "Some. I know it's the elven way of delivering justice. Any noble can call a Wild Hunt on a confirmed criminal. It's literally a hunt in that the person is set loose, hunted down and killed."
Vin nodded. Most humans didn't want to know the details. He had heard people from outside Evanthal say more than once that it was a cruel custom. And it was, really. But the thing was that elves almost never considered branding someone a criminal. Besides, the Wild Hunt was simply the elves' playful nature extended to the way they served justice.
Thievery, robbery, blackmail, illegal sales and most of the other crimes humans had laws for were unknown concepts to elves. As long as it concerned inanimate things it was never a crime, since anything crafted belonged to everyone and anything natural could not be owned. The only time something was considered a crime was when it concerned a life, which mostly came down to rape or murder.
"Was tracking an elf called Eli Joe, who done murdered some people. Found him dead and took him in. Cept it wasn't him. Old Eli framed me up for murder. Got me marked for the Tascosa Wild Hunt. Since I didn't do it, I decided not to hang around till they got the Hunt together. So, I figure if a friend gets the honor, I get the last laugh."
"Didn't think the Tascosa Hunt extended outside Tascosa." Chris queried.
"It doesn't. Only when the Queen calls a Wild Hunt, there's no place that's safe. But iffen I'm ever caught by a Tracker, I'll get dragged back there alive, so's they can start the fun. If I'm brought in dead, they won't have that."
The telepath nodded and Vin understood that the man would honor his request.
The next day they saddled up early and Vin led the team to Anderson's hideout. Chris rode with Vin to see if anything had changed since yesterday, but there was still no sign of people around. It didn't sit well with either man, but the lack of guards didn't necessarily mean this was a trap. After all, Anderson couldn't give away his presence by placing his men clearly visible on top of the rocks. The man probably trusted on the fact that nobody had found him yet in all those weeks.
The blonde gathered his men and laid out the plan.
"Buck, JD, you take this route up those rocks. Nathan, Josiah, you take the one on the other side. Me and Vin will take the last." He looked each person in the eyes as he named their task. "Ezra, you've got the best chance of getting past any guards waiting on the other side of that tunnel, so you go through there."
"Surely Mr. Sanchez is more qualified to mislead any miscreants lying in wait?"
At that remark Vin glanced at Ezra in concern. He'd forgotten to tell Chris about certain traits elves had that were linked to their elements. He wasn't sure what for elemental the gambler was, but since Ezra looked as cool and undaunted as ever the tracker didn't think there was a problem in this case.
"No, I need Josiah with us to provide cover for when we have to move down the rocks out in the open. He can hide all three groups." Chris noted with slight irritation in his voice.
"Of course, Mr. Larabee." Ezra said with a perfect poker face.
The groups split up and soon Vin and Chris were alone, climbing the rocks slowly but surely. It was actually pretty relaxing to Vin.
Find a grip for a hand, find a grip for a foot, move up, and on to the next grip.
Above him Chris suddenly stopped moving.
"What's wrong?" He called up softly.
As the Telorian moved silently out of the way, Vin found himself looking into the barrel of a very large gun.
Oh, shit. This was not good.
To be continued...
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