Nell stared at the stage, lost in thought for a moment. She didn’t touch her drink.

  “Like I said, it didn’t work out in Azalea,” she finally answered softly

  The barmaid came and took dishes and gave us more wine. I sucked on the sugar bark for a while as the piano player returned to the stage and started a new song. It was a slower number, more melancholic. I didn’t know it, but the deep cords struck me.

  What had happened to her? I wondered but knew she didn’t want to tell me. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I hated seeing my friend in such obvious pain. She was a different person now, and that pained me too. I wanted to know her like I used to know her.

  “If you tell me what’s going on, maybe I can help you.” I took another swig of my drink.

  She turned back to me and raised a brow. “Pardon?”

  “I mean, what are you trying to accomplish out here? You have to be striving for something more than just collecting bounties. I don’t mean it to sound like you ain’t got a bigger purpose, but you haven’t made it obvious. It’s fine if you don’t have a life goal yet. We’re both still pups in the grand scheme of it all, so we got time to figure it all out.”

  “Plenty of time, sure, as long as you don’t get killed by a monster or bandit or whatever the hell the Badlands can throw your way.”

  “Combative retort noted, Miss Newton. Now, answer the question.” The way she glared at me had me quickly backtracking. “That is, if you’re comfortable answering. You don’t have to tell me crap if you don’t want to. What business is it of mine, anyway?”

  She dropped her glare then, thankfully. It had been a long time since I’d been on the receiving end of one of her icy stares, and I was reminded how much I didn’t like it. Gareth had always laughed it off, which did piss her off, but maybe that was another reason why she’d liked him. He wasn’t afraid of her. Not that I was, but she wasn’t someone to mess with.

  Nell sighed and picked up her pack from the floor. She dug into one of the pockets and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. It was parchment like the one Gareth left me, but thicker material, a darker beige. Meant for hanging outside and enduring the elements. The heavy ink was dark on the parchment as I unfolded it and looked it over.

  It was a wanted poster. In it, a man a few years older than myself, maybe Gareth’s age, it was hard to tell.

  WANTED

  DEAD OR ALIVE

  VALENTINE “THE BUTCHER” DUPRE

  REWARD: 200 GOLD or 3 RARE CARDS

  The man in question wore a dark poncho and a wide sun hat. His hair was long and pale, hanging past his shoulders, and shaggy stubble covered his face. Of course, this was an inked typeset wanted poster copied from the original sketch of him, so who knew how accurate it was?

  I didn’t recognize the man at all, but the name did sound familiar. There were always a lot of wanted men roaming the Badlands, and I always glanced at the bounty wall at the jailhouse. I’d probably seen this wanted poster before, even if I didn’t specifically remember it.

  The reward was enormous though! There were worse criminals out there with higher bounties, but they were few and far between, and this one was certainly notable. But what was his connection with Nell? I could tell from the way she was grinding her teeth that this wasn’t some random bounty that she hunted for the sake of the money. No, this was personal.

  “Who is this?”

  Nell leaned her face against her hand. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, as she was too busy trying to corral her rage. Her throat convulsed with a heavy gulp.

  “A little over a year ago, Azalea was attacked by a horde of monsters. It was a bad one, which was odd because even though we were in the Badlands, the eastern edge near the woods wasn’t dangerous. There were hardly ever Fissures, and what monsters remained kept to themselves. Until that day. This horde was organized and strong, and they caught us off guard. They overwhelmed our guardsmen and the wall.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “That wasn’t bad enough, however. There have been monsters that have intelligence, even high intelligence. But this horde had a man with them.” She tapped a finger against the wanted poster. “Valentine set fire to many of the buildings and slaughtered people who tried to put out the fires and stop the monsters. My aunt was one of them. I lost her, and I lost a lot of friends and a lot of good people. Half the town was consumed before it began to storm, which helped us put the fires out. Our hunters were able to repel the monsters, and for some reason, Valentine made a quick and panicked exit. That damn coward.”

  Her fist suddenly crumpled the paper in her grip, her face twisted in an angry grimace. “He hasn’t been seen since, but he’s highly dangerous.”

  I was amazed I hadn’t heard of this, but it wasn’t like we got every bit of news from every part of the Badlands in Parroia. Still, it was shocking.

  “Do you think he had a [Legendary] level [Tamer] card? If he was controlling a whole horde of monsters, that has to be the only way.”

  Nell released her hold on the wanted poster and released her anger as well. “I don’t know. And I don’t care. I vowed to find Valentine and make him pay for what he did. He could have a whole Fissure’s worth of monsters with him, and I’m still going to find him. And not just for revenge. Not just for answers as to why he did it, but also because he can’t be left to do this to another town. If he did it to us, he can do it to anyone, and I can’t allow that.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Should I offer comfort, condolences? I didn’t think she’d like that, but I also hadn’t a clue what I might be able to offer. So, we sat in silence for a time, me feeling bad and her stewing in her memories and anger as the song ended, and a new one began.

  It was right then that a tall, sun-scorched man with a wide mustache came in. He had a tall cattle hat on his head and a great sword strapped to his back. There was a metal shield pinned to his red leather vest.

  That had to be the sheriff. His shirt was covered in dust, and his face drenched in a fine coat of sweat. He took his hat off and put it on the table in front of us.

  “Miss Newton, you are a peach.”

  She smiled, her anger gone. “I appreciate the compliment.”

  “The bandits were all accounted for. I left my posse to oversee their return here. You did good work. Not sure how you managed it.”

  “Well, I had help from my friend here,” she said, indicating me. I tipped my hat to the sheriff.

  The sheriff nodded, his whiskers wriggling. “Much obliged to you then, friend. I suppose you two will be splitting the bounty?”

  Nell nodded. “We worked out the percentages already between us.”

  “Not my business, but it’s well earned. Here.” He produced a thick cloth coin purse from his back pocket. It hit the table with a satisfying and heavy clink.

  Nell snatched it up and peered inside without any restraint, her eyes flitting and her lips moving in silent counting as she made sure that the full amount was there. Some people might feel insulted if their honor was questioned like that, but this was the Badlands, home of liars, cheats, and con men. You could never be too careful. To his credit, the sheriff didn’t seem at all offended.

  “There’s a little more than I expected in here,” Nell said, surprised.

  “Aye, I decided to give you a little extra for that Needleback. One of my senior deputies has a Tier 2 [Uncommon] [Tamer] card, and we use his monsters to help us with town defenses and in dealing with outlaws. His last sand troll got killed, so he needed a replacement. That Needleback will do nicely.”

  Nell looked at me and then back to the sheriff, her smile genuine. “You’re quite welcome.”

  “I’ll take my leave then,” said the sheriff. He picked up his hat and put it back on. “Always a pleasure, Miss Newton. Until next time. And thanks to you as well, young man.”

  The sheriff smiled at us and began to go. He raised a hand in farewell to the bartender and to the singer, both of whom raised their drinks to him. And then he was gone, his boots clinking on the floorboards as he threw the doors open, sunlight flooding in for a moment.

  Nell poured the contents of the bag onto the table. Six gold coins. She explained that the original bounty was five gold, but the sheriff gave them one gold extra. So, to make it even and easy, she gave me two gold, or a little over 30 percent of the take. It was better than the quarter percent I was expecting, so I took my cut gladly. Combining that with what I had already from home and what I was able to loot off the bandits, I was sitting pretty with money.

  “Okay, we should head out too,” she said as she stood. “If we make good time, we can camp out tonight, and then by tomorrow evening, we’ll be in Cactus Head. After that, it’s only a couple days to Mushyon Ridge.”

  She gathered up her bags. I did the same, but I had something to say first. “Wait.”

  Her brows lifted. “What?”

  I gulped. “I, uh . . . I’m sorry about Azalea. About what happened.”

  “You don’t have to offer sympathies, Griff. You know I hate pity.”

  “I know, I know. And I’m not. I’m . . . I’m saying that I want to help you. I want to help you find this Valentine and bring him to justice. He deserves to be brought to justice.”

  Nell softened, releasing a breath. “I appreciate it, Griff. But what about your brother?”

  “I can search for him too. Besides, who knows if there are even any clues about him in Mushyon Ridge? I might be trailing a ghost. At least with you, I’d know I’m doing some good.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t—”

  “Come on, Nell. You’re one woman. A damn fine and strong woman, but you’re only one person. You need help. I know I ain’t much to sniff at now, but I’ll get stronger. Together, we can take on bigger bounties and stronger monsters, and I can get more cards, which will make me stronger. We can find him.”

  She looked at me for a long time. It was an intense stare, one I wasn’t used to, but it wasn’t the glare that always scared me. She was thinking it through. Her shoulders sagged. She shrugged on her pack and made for the door.

  “Let’s just get to Mushyon Ridge first, okay? We can decide what we want to do then.”

  Well, it wasn’t an outright no, so I’d take it. I knew better than to argue with Nell when it was something serious like this. And thus, the adventure continued, and I had two bounties that I needed to find. Two bastards that had some explaining to do.

  One would have to answer to Nell, and one would have to answer to me, and I did not pity the fool that thought Nell was the safer option.