The Dragon's Bounty III:Dying Light

Chapter 7

Huey fanned himself and splattered droplets of water onto himself.
"That's what you get for wearing all those layers." Aro said, stretching in his sleeveless blue tunic.
Huey smiled. "I guess so." Andrew had taken his green tunic off and wore only the grey shirt underneath, sound asleep on the back of his horse. "And I thought the south was hot." Huey said.
Aro shrugged. "Something about deserts I guess."
Huey nodded. "Something like that." The three horses stopped when they came to a large orange stone wall, a skinny canyon running through it, a yellow grassy plateau on top. "Past there is western territory. No one legally owns it, but the outlaws seem to have claimed it." Huey said, leading his horse in first. Aro guided Andrew's horse and allowed it to go first, bringing up the rear. The walls protected them from the sun, but provided little light. Andrew fell backward and hit his head on Aro's horse, jerking upward.
"I'm awake!" He shouted. Both Huey and Aro put their fingers over their mouths and shushed him. Andrew looked around at the walls, his shout echoing around as a few pebbles came tumbling down.
"Probably should have mentioned this earlier, but this place is know as Whispering Canyon, and for good reason." Huey whispered. Andrew and Aro nodded.
Aro smacked Andrew in the back of the head. "Be quieter." He said.
Andrew growled. "I was asleep!" He whisper-yelled. Aro chuckled, causing Andrew to smile and turn back around.
"Wonder how many times they've had to empty out the canyon of rocks." Aro whispered, looking up at all the missing chunks in the walls.
Huey shrugged. "I wouldn't imagine too many people have made that mistake." He replied. "Come to think of it, I doubt many people even come out here." Andrew whistled, causing a small amount of dust to fall from the walls. Huey glared at him.
Andrew shrugged. "I was just admiring the rocks." He said. Huey shook his head. Andrew sighed and slouched over.
"We're coming up on the end of the canyon." Huey whispered. Upon exiting the canyon, the landscape looked even barrer than it had on the other side of the cliff.
"Wow." Aro said. "This place looks dead." Andrew nodded. A few hours passed and they didn't seem to have gotten anywhere. "I'm hungry." Aro said.
"I'm thirsty." Andrew responded. Huey rolled his eyes. Andrew looked up at Huey. "Do we have any cake?" He asked.
Huey shook his head. "Guys, focus. We're trying to find where the outlaws live."
"Duh, they live out here in the Wild West." Aro said, stretching his arms out and letting his voice carry across the barren wasteland.
Huey smacked his forehead. "Not what I meant." He said.
Aro shrugged. "Well it's true." He smiled.
Huey shook his head. "You guys are delusional. And I'm the one who's aquatic."
Andrew chuckled. "He's aquatic." He said, pointing at Huey. He and Aro began to laugh. Suddenly, a shard of metal flew past Huey's face, narrowly missing.
"Outlaws!" He shouted. Aro and Andrew stopped laughing and looked at him. Huey formed a wall of water with the water from the canteens that hung at the horses' sides. But in seconds, the water froze and fell to the ground, shattering. Huey's jaw dropped. "But it's so hot!" He shouted.
"That's why it's nice to have a chilled touch." The three looked forward to see a woman on horseback in front of them, icy white hair and a cloud of mist escaping her mouth. Aro drew his bow and notched an arrow, pointing it at the woman. There was the sound of a loud bang, and after a short whizzing sound, Aro's bow snapped in half. Aro shouted out as his horse reared back and threw him off into the sand, taking off. Andrew and Huey steadied their horses as Aro shook the sand from his hair.
"You broke my bow!" He shouted.
"You aimed at our leader." Aro turned to see a man on horseback, pointing a strange metal object down at Aro, a smoking hole on the end of it. "Next one's goin in your skull." He whispered. Aro gulped and nodded, a nervous smile on his face.
"Anyways, you are now our prisoners." The woman said.
Huey turned back to her. "What for?" He asked.
The woman smiled. "You're with the kingdom of Tritanus. We don't like royals."
Andrew laughed. "We're far from Royal. We just borrowed these horses."
The woman raised her eyebrow. "You stole 'em?"
Andrew laughed. "No-"
Huey splashed the melted ice into his face. "Yeah, we sure did." He said with a smile.
             The woman smiled and motioned for the man to lower his gun. "Maybe y'all ain't so bad after all. We'll take ya to town. Come on." Andrew pulled Aro onto his horse and the two outlaws led them across the sand. On the horizon, there was a small town of a multitude of houses, and a road down the middle with shops and taverns all along it. Huey, Andrew, and Aro looked around at the wooden and stone buildings.
"Where did you get all this wood?" Huey asked.
"We don't always stay out here in the wastelands, sometimes we go out to get supplies." The woman said. Aro noticed that most of the people walking around had weapons hanging on their hips like the man behind him had. He turned and looked the man over.
"I have a question." He said.
The man sighed. "Whataya want?" He asked.
"What are those weapons on your hips?" The man held up his gun, opening it to reveal two bullets missing.
"We found a way to launch these things from metal cylinders at super high speeds using gunpowder. So we call em guns. Used two of my rounds on you fools, so now I'm down two. Gotta be sure to keep em stocked."
Aro nodded. "So how does it work?" He asked.
"That's our little secret." The man said with a smile. "But prove you're one of us and we just might show ya."
Andrew turned and joined the conversation. "Our friend Ethan can fire spikes from his fingers, sorta like your guns." He said.
The man shrugged. "Maybe he's a former outlaw." He said.
Andrew shook his head. "He's a-"
Aro smacked him. "He's a blacksmith. It's his magic power." He smiled. Andrew smiled.
The man nodded. "What's a blacksmith got a magic power for? Trainers are expensive."
Aro gulped. "So are his tools." He said with a smile.
The man chuckled. "Maybe I'll have him make me some bullets." He said, admiring the shoddy workmanship of the bullets in his pouch.
Aro shrugged. "If you teach him how." He said, turning back around and pushing Andrew's head back to forward as well. "Be more careful about what you say." Aro whispered.
Andrew shrugged. "Sorry. I'm still tired." He said. Aro shrugged and continued to look around.
"So, whatcha out here for?" The woman asked, jumping off her horse and tying it up.
Huey did the same. "Actually, we aren't here on any regular business." He said.
The woman raised her eyebrows. "Whataya mean?" She asked.
Huey gulped. "Well, we overheard the king of Tritanus say something about the Demon King coming to town." He whispered.
The woman leaned in closer. "I'm listenin." She said.
Huey smiled. "Say he's coming in about a month. We were wondering if you outlaws would help us take him down. It's all our world, not just their's." He said.
The woman nodded. "Not a chance." She said, standing up and heading off into the tavern.
Huey hurried after her. "But why?" He asked.
"There's a chance that if we don't mess with him, he won't mess with us. Doubt he'd come out here anyway." She bit the cork on a bottle and spit it off to the other side of the room. "Maybe we can strike a deal with him." She took a swig.
Huey shook his head. "I don't think that's an option."
The woman stuck her finger in Huey's chest. "Look mr." She raised an eyebrow.
"Huey." He said.
"Mr Huey, we aren't interested in throwing our lives away for a chance we'll take down an ancient super powerful legend."
Huey sighed. "I understand that, but I'm sure the entire continent needs everyone they can get."
The woman shook her head. "You didn't steal them horses. You workin with the king tryna recruit us." She said, grabbing his collar.
Huey shook his head. "No, we would never do such a thing." He smiled. The woman pulled a crumpled piece of sundried paper out of her pocket, shoving it in his face. It was his wanted poster. "Yeah, I'm wanted. What's your point?"
"That's not all." She said. She handed him another piece of paper, one that read of The Dragon's Bounty's turn around and placement in high standing with the Tritanus empire. Huey stared at it with a blank expression.
"I knew you looked familiar." The woman said.
Huey sighed. "Yes, I'm friends with the king, and we need everyone on the continent to help out. So far we've got all of Raal, and the M'Feles on our side. We've even got five of the seven deadly sins to help us out."
The woman grimaced. "Royal scum!" She shouted. She pointed her hand at him. He felt his legs go numb. He looked down to see a thin layer of ice surrounding them. The woman breathed a cloud of mist before punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Andrew and Aro walked into the tavern, laughing with the man they had ridden in with. Upon seeing Huey on the floor, the man pointed his guns at Andrew and Aro's heads, a scowl on his face.
"Arrest them!" The woman shouted.
"Wait, Carson?" Andrew asked.
"Yes ma'am." Carson said, grabbing Andrew and Aro's arms and towing them outside. "Don't resist or you get a bullet in your head." Andrew and Aro nodded.

Khan sat in the tavern, his chair leaned back, the tavern empty.
He sighed. "Am I the only one who's bored now?" He asked. The door opened, causing Khan's chair to fall backward as Khan jumped, crashing to the floor. Emma walked in, dragging the sword, still in its scabbard, behind her. "Hey Emma!" Khan said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Hey, Khan." Emma said monotonously, heading straight up the stairs.
"Guess this means I'm on my own for dinner, huh?" Khan asked with a chuckle. Emma nodded as she disappeared from view. Khan sighed. "Let's see." He walked into the pantry, finding little to nothing. "Out to eat it is." He walked outside, only to see a bright light beam coming straight from the sky. He held his hand in front of his face as his hair was ruffled and shaken around. When the light dissipated, and the wind stopped, Khan looked down to see a man, wearing strange metal armor, a piece of which was completely over his eyes. "What the?"