The trek back up the rock formation is a tense and frightful affair, but not because of the Qinks watching us go.

  Nah, the reason it feels like I got a 2x4 nailed lengthwise between my shoulder blades is because of Aunty Ray, who ain’t none too happy with how I handled things. Didn’t say a word and keeps mum the whole way up as I watch the Qinks to make sure they don’t get up to no funny business, but I know her well enough to know she’s fuming underneath the hood. For many reasons, like my harsh language and ruthless actions scaring that girlie Jinfeng, or how I done disregarded that warm southern hospitality I’m expected to dole out to strangers in need. Thing is, Aunty Ray looks at them Qinks and sees a bunch of young kids round about the age of her kids, alongside a smattering of older Vanguard too tired and beat to care for them, so her instinct is to nurture and protect.

  Me? I see what’s really there, the truth of the matter at hand. I see Qin Vanguard, soldiers one and all, same as them who done killed my daddy. Even if there weren’t no blood relations down there, I’d still kick them to the curb, because you can’t trust a Qink. They’re an underhanded, backstabbing bunch of frauds who’ll lie, cheat, and steal at any given opportunity. Might not come at you outright with guns drawn in a stick up, but they’ll never miss an opportunity to screw you over any way they can. The way they see if, if they manage to pull the wool over your eyes and sell you rotten timber or sacks of flour stuffed with sawdust, then that’s your fault for not being careful enough to catch them in the act.

  This ain’t me being racist or prejudiced against the Qin. I’m spitting facts here. The Qin even got an idiom about it. Néng piàn jiù piàn. If you can cheat, then cheat, though it can also be translated as scam depending on the connotation. Either way, it makes the Qin untrustworthy no matter how open and honest they might seem, because their word ain’t worth shit. Can’t trust nothing about them, which other folks don’t get because they don’t understand the Qin mindset. To them, if you ain’t cheating, then you ain’t trying, simple as that. So long as the cheating ain’t harming the interests of the Republic as a whole, then ain’t no wrong done as far as most Qin are concerned. Fact is, they’ll go on to blame the victim for being dumb or na?ve, because it’s survival of the fittest out here, so it’s only natural to do anything and everything to come out on top.

  That’s how the Qin see things, not just here on the Frontier, but back home in the old world too. Least that’s what my daddy told me, and the worst part is that all this only really applies to fellow countrymen. If you ain’t Qin, then won’t no bother scamming you, as they’d be more inclined to slaughter you outright, and it’d be your fault for being weak and easily exploited. If they don’t kill and rob you, someone else probably will, so why pass up on a good thing over something silly as morals?

  Not saying they all terrible people or nothing. Just saying that’s how they think, how their culture is, and even though most won’t take up raiding and killing because even the Qin ain’t all built like that, they don’t see much wrong in their fellow countrymen doing so in their stead. Might makes right essentially, so the second them Vanguard down there get back to full strength, me and mine won’t be the strong ones anymore and they won’t have no reason to comply or stay honest.

  Course there ain’t no telling this to Aunty Ray, because she’s of the opinion that stereotyping is wrong. Can’t paint folks in a broad stroke like that, because everyone is different, and she ain’t entirely wrong. Problem is, you allowed to be different in America, or at the very least it’s outwardly tolerated to some degree, but in the Qin Republic? Like the song goes, it’s conform or be cast out, because even though the Qin Immortal Monarch died in 1944, he spent two thousand years ruling over his people with an iron fist and they loved him for it. Worshipped him in fact, as the Venerable Tian Zi, or the Son of Heaven as the translation goes.

  Instilled in them a self-important mindset he did, saying how he was ordained by the Heavens to rule over the Qin people and how they were the greatest who didn’t need nothing from no foreigners. A policy he instated after closing the borders again in the early 1800s, because he saw all them technological advances happening across the world what with the Napoleonic Wars and shot and pike, as well as other stuff like opium and whatnot. Didn’t want none of his people getting their hands on any of it since it could threaten his rule, so he made like a chitterrat and stuffed his head in the dirt pretending like none of that tech existed. Cost him bigly a century later when the Nipponese invaded in the 1930’s with fully automatic weapons and Aetheric automobiles while the Qinks were still riding around on cattle and donkeys for the most part. Meant the old Son of Heaven had to go pleading for help from the ‘foreign devils’ with hat in hand, though not before throwing his people into the meat grinder for the better part of a decade in the misguided hopes of winning the war by himself.

  And being the compliant little sheep they were, the Qin people ate up everything he told them about how the Nipponese were utilizing demonic technomagics given to them by certain western devils. Which was technically true, as Prussia was working closely in tandem with Nippon at the time, but Tian Zi wasn’t big on nuance and his people weren’t all that fond of critical thinking. That’s why most Qin still hate foreigners regardless of where they from. Don’t matter that the Americans saved them from the Nipponese after Tian Zi kicked the bucket; to the Qin, a foreign devil is a foreign devil, and any aid offered in the past was only proper since foreign devils were the reason the Republic needed aid in the first place.

  There’s also the fact that none of Tian Zi’s foreign peers and allies came to his aid after he was ambushed by his Nipponese counterpart, but if you ask me, I’d say the old goat done brung it on himself. Turnabout is fair play after all, as he’d purposely delayed helping several allies in the past, which among other things led to the death of the Bharathi Immortal Monarch.

  Either way, the Qin operate on some real circular logic that don’t hold up to anyone with a crumb of free thought, which really says something about their average mindset given how they’ve had about 7 decades to figure things out since their Immortal Monarch croaked. Thing is, Aunty Ray got issues wrapping her mind around foreign mindsets, to the point where she resisted taking off shoes inside the house until my daddy showed her how much less cleaning she’d have to do. Since I can’t convince her otherwise, she’s adamant she can win over them fools down there with a warm smile and kind words. I’m sure they’re grateful for the assist, and might even try to repay us, but the second our presence becomes more burden than benefit, like say while we being chased by Abby, then they’ll cut us loose in a heartbeat and count themselves generous for not shooting us in the knees so we got a decent chance of getting away.

  Rather than saving those devious and untrustworthy Qinks, our efforts would’ve been better spent getting gone while they and Abby was all distracted, but Tina and Aunty Ray ain’t built like that. They haven’t seen the lengths folks are willing to do just to get by out here, and the Qin will do worse because they don’t see other people as people. To them, we’re foreign devils, plain and simple, inferior beings born outside of the paradise that is the Republic. Course, paradise don’t come free, which is why every Qin serves in their own way, meaning they all soldiers first and cooks, mechanics, porters, or whatnot second.

  No point arguing the facts though, so we just gonna hafta agree to disagree, but she didn’t get the memo there. “Alright mister,” she says, rounding on me soon as we up top and safe from getting shot or stabbed by the Qinks down below. “You got some explainin’ to do. What was that down there? You almost cracked that boy’s skull knockin’ him senseless like that, and for what? A growl?”

  “He was reachin’,” I say, wincing at the petulant note in my words even though every one is true. Went for his sword, which is just a dumb move seeing I already had my guns in hand, but stupid transcends all race and religion. Maybe I was a touch heavy handed, but I ain’t pistol whipped anyone with my new and improved Mage Hands before today, so it’s hard to gauge their strength.

  “He was reachin’ because you looked angry enough to tear that girlie apart, gettin’ all up in her face like that.” Fists on hips and pout in full blast, Aunty Ray studies me a good long while before heaving a sigh with a shake of her head. “If this is how you been behavin’ around strangers, then it’s no wonder you keep gettin’ into fights.”

  “They lucky I ain’t spoilin’ for a fight,” I snarl, the anger slipping out despite my best efforts to hold back. “I ain’t gone after the Republic for what they done, but now they done brung the children of my daddy’s killers to stand before me and ask for a favour? Now I ain’t holdin’ them liable for my daddy’s death, but that don’t mean we square, especially not after they done dragged all of us into their mess. I saved their sorry hides once already, and what’s done is done, but don’t be expectin’ me to do any more favours for any one of them.”

  Wide eyed with surprise to hear the heat in my tone, Aunty Ray goes deathly still for a moment. Can’t be more than half a second, but it stretches out into an eternity as I realize what I done, taking out all my rage and frustration on a woman who ain’t ever shown me nothing but love. She don’t deserve none of that, and I can’t bear to look her in the eyes knowing I’ve hurt and disappointed her, but I said what I said and I can’t take it back. Meant it too, though the delivery could’ve been better, as I done lashed out at her since I couldn’t rightly take it out on the Qin behind us.

  Ain’t her fault she don’t hate like I hate. She ain’t entirely wrong either, as them kids are largely innocent of their fathers’ crimes, but that don’t mean I care to learn their names or shake their hands. Plus, let’s not forget the fact that my daddy’s death was celebrated by the Qin as a whole, enough so that High Command deemed his killers as heroes, or enough to send a cadre out to collect their bodies at least. Bring them home as it were, though how they know those bodies are still there and not part and parcel of some Abby somewhere is a mystery to be sure. That’s my usual go-to method of corpse disposal, but I was young, dumb, and scared back then and didn’t want to risk attracting too many Abby dragging corpses out into the badlands, so I dug a ditch as far from the house as I could and tossed all three bodies in there to rot.

  And if it were up to me? I wouldn’t mind reuniting them kids with their fathers, but not up on the mesa. That’s sacred ground, or close enough to it, and I don’t want no one besides family up there. I’ll gladly send those kids off though, lean out over the ridge to get line of sight and drop my readied Fireball right on their heads. Then they can meet their daddies in Hell, because if there’s a Qin Vanguard who don’t deserve to burn, then I ain’t met them yet.

  Can’t do it though, and not just because it ain’t right. If it was just me out here, I might well have killed them all outright soon as Jinfeng revealed who they daddies were, or maybe before just to keep myself safe, but I can’t do anything like that in front of Aunty Ray. It’d break her heart it would, hurt her just as much as a knife to the back, because she ain’t seen the Yellow Devil I keep hidden underneath the mask of the sweet baby boy she so loves and adores. I ain’t that boy no more, haven’t been for a good while yet, but I been trying to be that person for her, or at the very least hide just how much I’ve changed.

  Then again, considering everything I just said and what I done this past year, I suppose the cat’s out of the bag already. So long as she’s content to keep playing pretend though, I’m more than happy to maintain the status quo. Even if she wasn’t, cold blooded murder ain’t my thing, not without any proper justification. Sure, they the spawn of my daddy’s killers, but sins of the father and all that, which is easy enough to say and a whole different thing to abide by when them kids are right in front of my face acting like their daddies done a big service for the Republic.

  That’s the worst part of it all, why I hate the Qin so much. The Republic had him so twisted up, even my daddy considered himself a traitor even though he didn’t do nothing wrong. Sure, he broke things off with his country, but only because he saw how things were better outside of it. That don’t mean he stopped loving his people though. He wanted to make things better for them, and the only way he knew how was to show them that a Qin man can succeed in a foreigner’s world, that cooperation and integration was the way forward into the future, not discord and division like the Republic preaches.

  Turns out my daddy was wrong on that count, seeing how the Feds disavowed him soon as it became inconvenient to call him one of their own. Bet that went a long way towards solidifying the Qin view of how the white devil foreigners got no love for them and theirs. Or that the Feds are any different from the Qin when it comes to pull the rug out from under you, because Americans are every bit as self-centred as the Qin. They just more polite about it, or wholly ignorant of how they always put America first in everything, and only consider other nations after the fact.

  Either way, the real lesson here is you can’t trust no one besides yourself, a lesson I done learned too late to save Josie.

  Course, don’t none of this excuse how I done talked to Aunty Ray, especially given her reaction. Rather than retaliate, she pulls me in for a hug and holds me tight as I struggle to get a grip on my rage and sorrow. Takes a good while it does, and when I finally feel ready to talk again, my first word is, “Sorry.” Comes out as a choked whisper, so I say it again, but she just shushes me and pats my head because she already knows. Don’t think she understood just how much I hated the Qin though, not until today, and I only hope she don’t think less of me for it. She don’t say nothing else though, don’t talk about what I said or try to convince me of nothing, just holds me close until I back away and scurry away like the yellow-bellied coward I am when it comes to interpersonal relationships.

  Can lie all I want about how this ain’t the time and we need to get gone. That’s true, but that ain’t the main reason why I’m in such a hurry to get away, else I’d be open to circling around back to this some other time. Would rather take on the whole Divide by my lonesome if given the choice though, so I busy myself getting ready to get gone right quick. Ain’t picking up nothing on ADAR, but there are most certainly more Abby on their way, slower, stronger Abby alongside more meat for the meatgrinder to keep them safe. Done wasted enough Aether saving unworthy souls today, so best we part ways with the Vanguard and get somewhere far, far away to rest and regroup. Ideally, we’d make it up to the mesa, but that’ll depend on prevailing conditions ahead, because chances are there gonna be Abby coming out of the Divide in the general vicinity of where we wanna go.

  Contrary to popular belief, horses ain’t dumb, which is why they all awake and alert despite the bubble of Silence keeping them from hearing any of the fighting. They can smell blood though, or what Abby got that passes for it, and they spooked something fierce to smell it so close. A couple of neck pats and nose scritches gets them back on track right quick. More importantly, it gives me something to do with living creatures who ain’t gonna aggravate me, or are so stupid I can’t bear to hold a grudge against them. Though tired and scared, Ivory, Sunshine, Winnie, and Fifi are all ready and raring to get gone soon as I show them the saddle, because they don’t like it up on this formation any more than I do. Defensible as this place is, we can’t hold it forever against the endless hordes of Abby parked in and around the Divide, so our chances of survival are actually higher if we already on the go.

  That’s the secret to winning any fight really. Shoot and scoot, or if you wanna really break it down to basics, you hit your enemies while minimizing their ability to hit back.

  While tying all the horses besides Fifi to the back of the wagon, I give Chrissy the brightest smile I can muster as she sits in the back corner cuddling baby Cowie close. “How you doin’ Princess?” I ask, my heart breaking to see how tired and scared she is. Even though she wasn’t watching, I bet she felt all the Magic we was slinging around, and I doubt it was a pleasant experience. Too late, I realize I asked her an open-ended question which typically gets her all mixed up in her head. A rookie mistake due to exhaustion, so I give my partner at look and gesture at Chrissy. Smart bull that he is, Cowie gets to nuzzling Chrissy real hard, which pulls her out of her head, at which point I wait until I got her attention again and ask, “You doin’ okay?”

  This time, she nods right away, but the fact that she’s hugging Cowie with all her might while aggressively nuzzling him back gives away the lie. “That’s good,” I say, wanting nothing more than to head in and hug her tight to make sure she knows she’s safe as can be. Would have to take my boots off though, and we don’t got the time to waste, so I stay put and ask, “We’re about to get moving, so you wanna sit up front?” Chrissy nods, so I wave her over and help her put on her socks and boots, which I presume she took off herself given how they just been tossed aside. Cowie comes with of course, all coddled in Chrissy’s arms and sweet as can be. Squirms a bit when she makes ready to move out, but I give his nose a poke and say, “You stay comfy and rest partner. I’ll call if I need you.”

  Best to let the horses walk and Cowie rest for long as they can, because if we get in a jam, they gonna need every iota of strength they got to have a chance of getting us out alive in one piece.

  Sweet bull that he is, he puts up a cursory effort to get up and out of Chrissy’s warm embrace, but her soothing pats and sweet nuzzles soon got him sinking back into her arms and blinking himself to sleep. He had a hard day and barely got any rest, so best if he catches some z’s while I hoof it so the horses can rest. Given the size of the swarm we just handled, I’d say we got at least an hour’s head start on the next wave, assuming we don’t start walking towards it. Which is a real possibility, but I’m guessing them Qinks was running from one group of Abby and got pinched by a second group coming at them from head on. If so, then some of those dead Abby done came from the Divide, so we got some time before the next group makes their way out, as even Proggies need time to wrangle their Abby, and Ferals are notoriously difficult to control.

  It's those animalistic instincts see, remnants of what’s planted in them Abby to make Ferals… well, feral. The good news is that this means that if we head towards the mesa and don’t run into trouble for the next few hours, then we can situate ourselves somewhere safe and hidden for awhile to wait out the hubbub, one which will hopefully die out when Jinfeng’s cadre does the same.

  Could be hours, could be days, but here’s hoping it happens sooner rather than later so we can get up to the mesa before the New Year.

  Best odds I can give are 50/50. Vanguard training ain’t nothing to sneeze at given the cut throat nature of their society, and I was mighty impressed by what I seen down there. That boy with the sword? Ow Tian I think his name was, he wasn’t no slouch with that pig sticker of his, and I wouldn’t want to face him without a gun already in hand. Same goes for the blue haired Innate girlie, Who Dieh, because that ball and chain of hers was hard to track with the naked eye and deadly accurate as far as I could tell. I wager they’re on the same level as Tina, top tier army recruits full of promise and potential, but not quite ready to go at it solo out here.

  Or as a group either, else they wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

  As for Jinfeng, she’s the real stand out star of the cadre, which I suppose is why she’s in command. I started out in arms reach with gun in hand and got the drop on her with my rage, but she still almost slapped my gun aside before I got it under her chin. Even scarier is that she realized she couldn’t win and stopped herself from following through, because she didn’t want to risk getting shot. Not sure if she was more worried about accidental misfires, or that she knew I’d be fast enough to pull the trigger and kill her regardless, but either way, those were some scary fast reactions there. Even scarier is how she fights, running headlong into the fray without a weapon so she can bare-knuckle box Swarmlings without so much as a scrape on her hands. Aside from speed, courage, and a phenomenal amount of luck, it takes a scary amount of situational awareness to pull something like that off without getting got, and doubly so when I can see that she don’t got no Abjuration Spells layered over top to keep her safe.

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  Far as I can tell? She relies on Cat’s Grace to give her the agility and dexterity to move how she does, weaving in and around them Swarmling thrusts and leaps like a shadow in the night. You can see it when it moves, but you can’t track where it goes, because it done just disappears and reappears without warning. That plus Jump and Longstrider or something similar would explain her speed and explosive acceleration, both of which would make it difficult to draw a bead on her in battle. Good news is that she don’t got much reach, and so long as I keep my gun facing forward and finger on the trigger, I got a damn good chance of getting her before getting got.

  Not that I’m planning to engage in a duel to the death. When it comes to a fight, I don’t disagree with the Qin on ethics. A fair fight is a dumb fight, so best to cheat and win outright, and when it comes to Second Sister down there, that means taking her out before she even knows she’s about to die. Difficult to do with a tried-and-true Battle Monk beside her though, who is the biggest threat of all, despite looking all calm and still standing there with eyes closed and palms pressed in prayer. The purple tentacled ascetic really stands out in his golden yellow robes, what with them loose skirts and wide sleeves. Jinfeng got a similar outfit on, but done up in black rather than gold and nowhere near thick enough for the weather. Don’t seem to phase her none though, and I assume it’s got something to do with her monk training.

  Which I suppose means she’ll one day shave her head bald? A shame that. Credit where credit is due, she’s got a lovely look about her, with the signature slanted eyes of a Qin, but wide, round ones with double folds on her eyelids that makes them look larger, brighter, and more expressive. Goes well with her brown hair, which she got done in long, twin braids that she keeps wrapped up somehow on the back of her head and gives her a girlish look otherwise missing from the rest of her kit. All together, she comes out looking fresh, professional, and rather pretty despite so many days trekking through the badlands while being chased by Abby on all sides. Course, pretty is all she is, as even on her best days, she won’t be winning any beauty contests. Not to say she ain’t attractive, but there’s an intensity to her appearance that chills her features, a casual arrogance that I don’t much like. Nor do I like how she talks in stiff, clipped tones all careful like, as if she thinks everyone she’s speaking to is an idiot, though to be fair, that might just be her accent and unfamiliarity doing her a disservice.

  No, it’s definitely arrogance, I decide, as I walk Fifi down towards the Qin while pulling the lightened wagon along behind me. Though kneeling at the bottom of the natural ramp, her back is ramrod straight and nose pointed ever so slightly to the sky, but not because she looking up at me. That’s just her natural state, a lofty, disdainful woman who don’t much like what she sees as we lock eyes on the approach. Ain’t got nothing to do my features, but who I am and what I represent, the traitor who was somehow able to surpass her, a bitter pill to swallow which she refuses to simply accept. It’s written plain as day right on her face, because even though Ow Tian is also kneeling and angry as all heck, he looks away and tilts his head ever so slightly when I meet his eyes, while the blue haired Who Dieh is all proper contrite on the surface and bubbling rage underneath.

  They’re all open books really, same as the other kids kneeling alongside them, including one blue-haired pre-teen who is most certainly Who Dieh’s younger brother and got a glare to match his sister’s muted fury. If looks could kill, I’d be dead a thousand times over just from this kid alone, and his bitter animosity only deepens when I give him a wry and toothy grin. Yeah, the kid wants me dead, but he got discipline enough to follow the others as they all lean forward and knock their heads against the dirt, prostrating before me as I amble on over. A curious gesture that, one I only heard about but am only seeing now for the first time as they all kowtow to appeal to my humanity. They straighten up and go to kowtow a second time, but I blaze on by while keeping an eye on them to make sure they don’t try nothing funny. That throws them for a loop, Jinfeng especially, who freezes mid kowtow and shoots upright in utter disbelief that I’d ignore them like that.

  “No need to get up on my account,” I drawl, giving a dismissive wave with the Model 10 gripped firmly in hand. “We’re just passin’ by.”

  “Please,” Jinfeng begins, spitting the unfamiliar word out like a harsh curse as she follows after us on her knees. “Four years, we have waited for the omens to align so that we might bring our ancestors home to rest. This is our duty and obligation, and until such a time as we are able to fulfill it, we can do naught but mourn their passing. You must allow us passage so that we might free our ancestors from their mortal trappings.”

  “Pretty sure I done already did that.” I don’t stop, but I do turn to walk backwards just so I can keep them in sight. Ain’t every day you see a bunch of people chasing you on their knees, but novel as the sight may be, I take no satisfaction in their show of humility. Because that’s all it is, a show, else they wouldn’t be chasing me like this with their huffy demands. “I tell you what. I’ll double check when I get there, but I doubt your daddies done gone and left after I buried them six feet under.”

  “Howie!” Aunty Ray don’t say nothing else, but when she uses the right tone and gives me that scandalized look, ain’t nothing more needs to be said. Got my cheeks burning just to see it, and I hope that it don’t show through Darkvision all too well. Then again, Jinfeng’s eyes don’t got that glow that shows up when you use Darkvision to look at Darkvision, so might be she’s seeing things some other way. Gotta have some sort of method, because otherwise that means she done been kung fu fighting in near complete darkness, and if that’s what she can do without her eyesight, I’d hate to see firsthand how she fares in daylight.

  So since manners don’t cost nothing, I dial it back the attitude while sticking to my guns. “Answer’s no girlie. Best you accept it, because if you keep following, then I’mma have to do something to dissuade you from it, and won’t none of you like what that is.”

  Can’t say it any clearer, but it takes her a tick to parse my meaning. Scowling something fierce, her fine features scrunch together in a fetching manner that makes her look a touch prettier than before. It’s the emotion I think. Not anger in particular, but presence of any emotion whatsoever that gives her a more human touch, whereas she normally strives for a holier-than-thou sort of vibe, like her shit don’t stink and she better than everyone else.

  Might well be, considering she’s leading this cadre in place of the Battle Monk who’s stood some fifty odd metres away with the rest of the Vanguard who ain’t scooting along behind Jinfeng. Seems like only the children of the dead are here on their knees, them and Jinfeng I suppose assuming she was telling the truth about how she wasn’t the daughter of none of those men. A good leader then, as she ain’t willing to give orders that she herself won’t follow, even though having to beg is clearly eating away at her inside. “You do not understand,” she begins, struggling to keep up and come up with the right words to explain. “Until the ancestors are buried and the proper rites performed, their souls are trapped here upon this mortal plane as restless ghosts. Denied the afterlife, they will seek revenge upon the living for any and all grievances, as they feel that their unfilial descendants are undeserving of happiness. So long as this duty remains unfulfilled, my comrades are unable to move on, unable to celebrate their accomplishments or laud their achievements lest they bring the wrath of the ancestors down up on them.”

  “Sounds petty,” I say, because I can’t help myself, nor can I stop myself from glancing at Aunty Ray and quailing before her pointed stare. “Terrible too. Can’t help you though, because I don’t trust none of you not to stab me in the back first chance you get.”

  Her brown eyes flash with a visible rage, but she gets her temper under control right quick as she comes to her feet and gestures for her people to do the same. “We mean you no harm,” she says. “The General would punish any who dare strike at the blood of his blood.” There’s a hint of discontent there, and a bit of a challenge too, like she trying to goad me into giving her a good reason to show me what she can do. I ain’t interested though, and while I don’t go so far as to point my gun at her, I slip my finger into the trigger guard just in case.

  She don’t miss much, this Jinfeng, nor does she scare easily as she dismisses the quiet, but ultimately empty threat. Don’t know how, but she’s figured out that I ain’t gonna kill her in cold blood, not unless she gives me reason to. That’s the problem with issuing threats; if you don’t follow through, folks don’t take you seriously no more. “I don’t need the General’s protection,” I snarl, knowing good and well who she’s talking about. “Not from the likes of you.” Again, there’s that flash of discontent, but she’s not as temperamental as me. Or Ow Tian there, who gets all huffy and angry to hear it, but don’t take much to put him in his place as my Mage Hands come out from my duster with the Judges locked and loaded. Even then, he ain’t scared of death; he’s simply acknowledging that he ain’t ready to fight me just yet, because he don’t think he can win. Ain’t cowardice, not exactly, because he’s clearly chomping at the bit to come at me with sword in hand. He just knows that now ain’t the time or place, which makes him even more of a threat than I figured.

  An angry idiot I can handle, but a patient one? That’s tricker, because it means I gotta keep my guard up instead of dealing with him outright, and I’m tempted to egg him on just so I can be done with him and the rest of these fools. Can’t be too obvious about it though, and I don’t fancy my chances of slipping anything by Tina or Aunty Ray, not while they all right there at least. “Last time I’mma say this,” I begin, looking Jinfeng dead in the eyes to show her I mean business. “We’re leaving. Don’t follow us, else I’mma start shooting, and you already seen how I don’t miss.”

  Ain’t fear I see in her eyes, only frustration, and that irritates me more than I care to admit. Girl’s got stones on her, I’ll give her that, having trekked through the badlands and lost so many comrades while still staying on task. Stubborn too, because even though she can see that I mean business and gestures for her people to fall back, she steps forward to follow along without fear of reprisal. No, not without fear. In spite of it. Hides it well, but the slight hitch in her first step gives her away, though she don’t flinch when I tap my Model 10 against my thigh and come up empty on reasons to use it. She’s unarmed, which don’t mean much for someone with her skills, and now she’s coming to talk all by her lonesome and leaving her people behind.

  I can respect that, even if I don’t like her much, because I got no way of dealing with an obstinate woman like her. Not unless she makes the first move, since I can’t rightly gun her down just for being Qin. Besides, this is my fault mostly, for losing my temper and uttering threats that I can’t justifiably follow through on, not morally at least. Legally, I’m well within my rights to defend myself since I done warned her to stay away, but it’s one thing to shoot an outlaw intent on causing harm, and another to shoot a girl just trying to get her friends some closure for their daddies’ deaths.

  Course, the fact that she’s easy on the eyes don’t hurt none. Doesn’t take much to tug at the heartstrings of any man really, and even though I’d sooner hug a hornets’ nest than try anything with this frigid fister, my brain and my body ain’t exactly seeing things eye to eye. Logically, I ought to rough her up at least a little to warn her off, but emotionally, I can’t bring myself to raise a hand against a pretty girlie who so far ain’t shown any sign of hostility.

  Soon as she sees I ain’t gonna attack, Jinfeng pounces on my weakness like a marty with a ball. “What would it take?” she asks, and I roll my eyes to hear it. “To trust us? I have told you the General would not stand for any action against you, and as soldiers of the Vanguard, to go against his orders would make us traitors.”

  And I know good and well what they do to traitors. A mistake to point that out, one she picks up on right quick, but she makes a quick enough recovery after the fact. “Would you allow it if there were less of us?” she asks. “Three people so that they might recover our ancestors with the utmost haste. Unarmed of course.”

  “I don’t got the time or inclination to baby sit,” I reply, shaking my head for extra emphasis. For Jinfeng and Aunty Ray, the latter of whom is looking at me like I done kicked a wally joey. Unable to hold out against her, I heave a sigh and say, “If you want the bodies, I’ll dig ‘em up and find someone to cart them to you down south, or wherever you want to receive them.” Looking over her ascetic’s robes and glancing back to see her cadre who been run ragged without so much as a saddlebag in sight, I grimace at the thought of not only having to dig up a bunch of rotten corpses, but also pay out of pocket to get it where it’s going since they don’t look like they got anything of value to hand over in trade. “It’ll take awhile, and I want assurances that you’ll get gone right quick, but that’s the best deal you gonna get, girlie.”

  “You cannot.” The tough and icy novice monk has got a surprisingly adorable scowl, with a subtle scrunch of her brow and pout on her lips. “It must be a familial relation who disturbs their rest, else the ancestors will impose grave misfortune upon them.”

  “I’ll risk it.”

  The adorable scowl deepens, and Jinfeng’s lips quirk to add to the effect. “What of the customs? The lighting of… I know not the word. Xiang.” Which to me sounds like ‘fragrant’, but I’m pretty sure is supposed to be incense, so I say as much. “Yes,” she says, nodding as she repeats the word. “Incense. There is also the burning of Ming Chao.” No idea what that is, so I shrug and she explains, “Paper money to pay the tolls in the underworld.” Right. I knew about that stuff, but Jinfeng is on a roll as she explains the various funeral customs and superstitions of the Qin, like making offerings of food before hand and tying red thread on your doorknob to ward off spirits after the fact, as well as a half-dozen other factoids that all seems a bit extra.

  Before I can say as much and declare there ain’t no way I’m letting any Vanguard up onto the Mesa, the girlie adds, “Of course, we have prepared a gift for you in exchange for your cooperation.” Slowly reaching into her robes, she gingerly pulls out a lovely leatherbound notebook with a gorgeous charcoal finish, one that makes the purple glow of the Etches engraved into the binding really pop. This ain’t the glow of an Artifact powered by an Aetheric Dynamo though. Nah, this light show is coming from my Detect Magic Spell, one that tells me this simple, leatherbound notebook is actually an Imbued item, an object bound by magic of some form or the other using Q-Ace or some other magical and typically non-renewable resource.

  Similar to the Deck of Illusions Aunty Ray gifted me, that notebook there is the work of a powerful Magus, one with a price tag that would likely make my eyes pop and could very well be a trap.

  My gun goes up, and Jinfeng freezes in place with the notebook still half tucked away. Her cadre behind her shifts a half step forward, but she utters an order in Qinese that translates to ‘stand still’, then switches back to English. “I mean you no harm,” she says, calm and cool as can be despite my Rattlesnake pointed at her centre mass. “This is an Arcane Grimoire, a Spellcasting Focus that can be used to make your Spells more effective.”

  “Bring it out all the way,” I say, and Jinfeng complies without balking, revealing the rest of the beautifully bound book and holding it in both hands. “Now open it up like you about to read it.” Can never be too sure when it comes to Imbued items, because they can be rigged in all sorts of dangerous ways. Jinfeng don’t miss a beat though, and even seems eager to open it up as she takes her eyes off of me and the gun in my hand to flip through the pages until she finds what she’s looking for. Soon as she does, she does a quick double blink, and my Detect Magic informs me that she just done took a Photo as she flips to the next page and starts reading right then and there.

  Then it hits me. Arcane Grimoire. That’s a Spellbook. One that looks like it’s been written in already, and you don’t write nothing in a fancy, expensive Spellbook like that besides the choicest of Spell Formulas. Almost like she can read my mind, Jinfeng explains, “The General prepared this for you when he learned of your existence all those years ago, as he expected to take you as his Disciple. It contains several powerful Spells alongside his thoughts and notations regarding how they are best prepared, as well as several possible methods to master the Spells and elevate them beyond their base potency.” She hesitates, blinks twice to take another Photo, then begrudgingly tears her big, round eyes away from the pages and adds, “He asked that I tell you he hopes your progress will remain unimpeded despite your lack of a Mentor, and that should you ever desire to return to your rightful place among the Republic, you would be welcomed with open arms.”

  It's almost enough to make me reject it all outright, because I don’t want no gifts from the man who ordered my daddy’s death. Or most likely did at least, and even if he didn’t, there’s no way I’d ever believe my mother’s brother didn’t have nothing to do with why them three Qin Vanguard went on a suicide mission to take my daddy out. On the other hand, I’m mighty tempted to take the book and see what’s in it for myself, because while the biggest thing holding me back is my lack of direction, the Spells contained within the Arcane Grimoire could provide just that. In the Rangers, you pick your roles and tailor your Spell list to maximize your effectiveness, but ain’t everyone spoilt for choice like that. Most folks figure out the Spells they can work with and naturally fall into their roles like that, so having more Third Order Spells to learn might give me what I need to make a decision and stick with it.

  Plus, the amount of power coming off the book ain’t nothing to sneeze at. Don’t know how it can make my Spells more effective, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to find out.

  Ain’t often I find myself at an impasse and unsure of what to do, because I usually just pick something and go with it. Here and now though, I’m all torn and conflicted, and Jinfeng ain’t in any rush to press me for a decision as she continues scanning the pages and taking Photos of what she needs. That more than anything is enough to convince me there’s plenty of value packed into those pages, because she knows good and well that it’s dangerous to linger, but is ready to take as much time as she needs to Photograph as many pages as she can. Got a thirst for knowledge this one, and I can relate, because I’m about three seconds from walking over and snatching that book up out of her hands.

  Been a tough year, but besides losing Josie and now Noora, the hardest thing was losing my Sunday lessons with the Marshal so soon after they started up again. Was good times, sitting at his dining table with books out while scarfing down some hot food and talking magic and doing drills. Reminded me of simpler times, back when my daddy was around and I didn’t have a care in the world because I had a whole host of heroes to fall back on. Some are gone now, like my daddy and Marcus, while others like Tim and Sam Horne are busy doing their own thing. Then there’s the likes of the Marshal and Uncle Rigsby, who are still around, but no longer have any expectations for me, because I done disappointed them one too many times. Ain’t no doubt in my mind that they’ll never leave me in the lurch, but the days of knowing they’d move heaven and earth to help me achieve my dreams have been long since left in the dust.

  And now I’m on my own for real, Exiled to the quay my daddy helped build with nothing and no one to lend a hand, no one except my mother’s brother who most likely had a hand in my daddy’s death. Because if not him, then who else would care to have my daddy killed?

  While it might seem like now is the perfect chance to ask just that, I don’t trust any answer coming out of Jinfeng’s mouth. She might be Second Sister, but the Vanguard ain’t big on freedom of speech or information, and if she spouts off the council line of how my father deserved death for abandoning his duty, I might well kill her and her cadre in a fit of rage. Not proud of it, but I know my temper well, and I ain’t in no mood to hear anyone badmouth my daddy, not while the sons and daughters of his killers are standing downrange.

  So eager as I am to get a hold of that Grimoire, I can’t rightly bring myself to accept a gift from a man I believe responsible for my daddy’s death. Am about to say as much too, but then in a moment of self doubt, I glance over at Aunty Ray, who’s just been watching all this unfold without so much as a peep. At least Tina got sense enough to keep watch on the Vanguard with her Merlin 45 in hand, but Aunty Ray is just sat there staring at my face. Reads the doubt and conflict right off of my expression and quirks her red lips, wanting to say something but thinking better of it. Until I give a little side to side sway, my way of saying I ain’t so sure about what to do, at which point she speaks up. “I know you got your reasons for being upset,” she begins, glancing sideways at the kids off in the distance. “I got some myself, but here’s the thing. If your daddy was here, and he was confident he could handle the exchange, he’d make this trade any day of the week. A valuable Imbued Spellbook in exchange for returning their dead?” Aunty Ray shrugs, then adds, “It’s your choice though. He was his own man, and same goes for you.”

  Puts a smile on my face it does, because if there’s one thing my daddy could never resist, it was a damn good deal. Never was one to haggle, but if someone made a good offer, he’d snatch it up in a heartbeat, so folks came to him with that in mind. I’m the same way usually, because haggling is mostly just an excuse to make conversation and tell lies, but unlike my daddy, I’m open to giving it a try when I think I can get more for less.

  “One person,” I say, putting what I hope is a steely air of finality in my words. Glancing around Jinfeng to look at the folks lined up a few feet behind her, I spot the blue-haired kid glowering with a fierce intensity and make up my mind then and there. “The blue-haired kid. Little brother, not big sister. He looks strong enough to dig ‘em up, and if you all sons and daughters of the Republic, then it won’t bother your ancestors none if a favoured nephew disturbs their rest.” Not ideal picking an Innate, especially one who looks like he’d tear my throat out with his teeth if given the chance, but at least I know where we stand. With the others, I can’t tell if they actually subdued or if they just better actors, and I can’t underestimate any one of them when it comes to Spells. With an Innate, everyone present will remember to stay vigilant around him, as I’ll have problems enough keeping Tina and Aunty Ray from sympathizing with the prisoner. Seeing how the blue-haired kid don’t look like he’s willing to get along, that really makes him the best choice around, unless he’s some child prodigy or something.

  “He does not speak English,” Jinfeng replies, which ain’t exactly a no, but ain’t a yes either.

  “Hmm,” I say, letting my eyes wander to the older sister who’s stood protectively in front of her brother, as Who Dieh don’t look none too happy to hear my demands. “Maybe I’ll take big sister then. Have her keep me company on the cold, lonely nights.” Blue hair and blue eyes, both in a shade that is too bright and pastel to be natural. It’s a striking look on an attractive young girlie, but that ain’t why I said what I said. I did it to see if Jinfeng was telling the truth, and the kid’s audible snarl and restrained lunge is all the answer I need. “Well well well,” I drawl, giving Jinfeng a measured look after catching her in a lie, but she don’t even blush. “Seems like he understands English good enough, so he’ll do. He comes with while the rest of you head home, and I’ll see him and your ancestors safely back to you in a couple of weeks.”

  “Bu xing!” The blue haired girl interjects, which earns her a scathing glower from Jinfeng, because it ain’t Who Dieh’s place to dictate terms and say ‘out of the question’, or something to that effect. Unwilling to back down so easily with her little brother on the line, she matches Jinfeng’s glare with one of her own and says some more, which gets my cheeks to colouring once I work out the translation to be round about, “If he wants me, then I will gladly serve him, but leave my little brother out of this.”

  So I pretend not to understand and say, “Sounds like big sister ain’t on board, but it’s the kid or nothing. I won’t take no one else, because I ain’t confident of controlling anyone else. Your choice, and clock is ticking because I want to get gone yesterday, and the second-best time is now.”

  Takes less than a half second for Jinfeng to make up her mind, and she nods in agreement. “Very well.” Snapping the Grimoire shut, she steps forward and bows at the waist while offering it to me with both hands, and while custom dictates I should receive it with both hands to show mutual respect, I ain’t about to put any of my guns away while in arms reach of a trainee battle monk. She don’t seem to mind though, and as she straightens up, she asks, “Might I have a minute to speak with my people in private and prepare Who Sheng for his journey?”

  I wave her off, and she heads over to talk with Who Dieh in hushed and harsh statements while dragging them back towards the rest of the Vanguard sitting just out of sight. I don’t pay them much mind, as I’m distracted by the book in my hand, one I’m tempted to open up and read right here and now, except I can’t afford to lose myself in the math. Ultimately though, I can’t resist taking a peek at the very least, just a quick one to make sure I ain’t been scammed. Soon as I open up the first page though, my stomach does a little flop in my belly as I run through a whole gamut of emotions. Fly right though shock, denial, anger, bargaining, and depression all in one go, hitting 5 out of 7 stages of grief and settling into stage 6, which is reflection.

  Ain’t no one to blame but myself really, because I didn’t think too hard on the subject. A Spell Formula is a Spell Formula, and the numbers are all the same whether you Federation or Qin, so I figured I could identify the Spells easily enough. Which I probably can, given enough time, study, and reference material, though it’d take a lot longer than I’d like, because the one thing I didn’t account for was the simple fact that Qin Spellbook, even a magical one, is likely to be written in Qinese, which I could read well enough a few years ago, but I haven’t had much practice since.

  Don’t know why I expected otherwise, which just goes to show I’m far more American than I admit, seeing how I too view things from an American lens, and expect the rest of the world to accommodate me. That’s the beauty of being American though. They’re the big dogs in the Old World and the Frontier both, one of only a handful of nations that have risen to the top without an Immortal Monarch at the helm, and if they hadn’t disavowed my daddy after his death, I wouldn’t mind being American myself.

  Ain’t nothing for it though, nothing but to keep on carrying on. With this book in hand, I’m better off than I was without it, so long as they ain’t plotting nothing nefarious, then I made out like a bandit here.

  …Now that I think about it, their motives do seem awfully odd all things considered. Why wait so long to collect them corpses? And why is Jinfeng so gung ho to get this done when she got no skin in the game? Then again, why would she lie about not being related to those dead Qin, then turn around and introduce two of her comrades who were in the same damn breath? What’s her angle here? Not her as in her cadre, but her personally, because I doubt she’s doing all this just so her people can move on emotionally.

  A good question I should’ve asked before accepting the deal, but it’s too late now. Whatever the case, I can handle the kid, and I’ll figure out the rest as I go. How hard could it be?