Montana Territory, America. 1878
"Your plan appears to settle on the insane side of crazy," Sergeant Roberts said from the opposite side of the long table we were sitting at.
Next to him Chief Blacktail stared intently at the map that was laid out before us. "I have to agree with the sergeant, Nathan. Your plan has some fairly major holes in it."
"Such as?" I asked. It had been a long afternoon. Once Sky and I had finally left Waltham's old bedroom at the fort, everything had almost happened at once. Chief Blacktail had arrived with his warriors, eager to spend a night behind some walls. The lich had everyone on edge, and to Sergeant Roberts's credit, he'd agreed immediately. Chief Blacktail positioned the armed Crow Tribe members around the fort to help keep it safe during what I was almost certain would be a very long and tense night.
Once the preliminaries of getting the Army and the Crow tribesmen to work together were out of the way, Chief Blacktail, Sergeant Roberts, Sky and I sat down in the officer's quarters to try and ascertain how we were going to take the lich and his men on.
"What about the house that sits apart from the city of Kilnhurst? Your plan doesn't explain how anyone will be taking it," Sergeant Roberts commented.
"I will be dealing with that property and its inhabitants," Sky said.
"Alone, it would seem." Sergeant Roberts didn't sound happy about it. I got the feeling he thought that fighting was a man's job and sending a lone woman into an unknown hornets' nest was suicide.
"I am more than capable of taking care of myself," Sky said with a smile. "But I will not be alone, my men will accompany me."
"And these men," Chief Blacktail interjected. "Where are they?"
"They'll be here before sunrise. Trust me; your help would only get your men killed."
Sergeant Roberts and Chief Blacktail clearly wanted to argue more, but instead kept their mouths shut.
"Any other problems?" I asked.
"There are three entrances into the town-north, south and south-west." Sergeant Roberts pointed to each area on the map as he spoke. "Your plan is that my men and I take the north, Chief Blacktail takes his to the south, and you take the south-west. Alone."
"That's the plan," I said.
"And to do this you plan on using your… magic." The word stuck in his throat; he'd seen the aftermath of my battle and how quickly I'd healed from my wounds, but he was having difficulty believing what Chief Blacktail had accepted so readily.
"Magic isn't a dirty word," I pointed out.
"I know, but it's just… I was raised to believe in certain things, that there's logic to the world. My father was a scientist and my mother his assistant. The possibility of magic flies in the face of that. The idea of men walking around with the power of a… a god, it's a foreign concept."
"I'm not a god, far from it."
"You can create fire and air from your body, what would you call it? I understand that you're a sorcerer, I really do, but it's hard to accept."
"You need to trust that I can do this," I said. "And you all need to be aware of the dangers. Sky spent time describing what both the ghouls and the barren were, and how best to deal with them. I need you to relay that information to your men."
"All-out attack," Chief Blacktail summed up.
"But be careful, these things will kill you quickly. They're not an opponent to underestimate."
"I will talk to my men," Chief Blacktail said and stood up, before leaving the building. We've purposely decided to sit next to the entrance so we could watch both the tribesmen and soldiers getting ready. I watched through the window as he walked across the yard outside, stopping occasionally to talk to his warriors.
"Some of my men are unhappy at fighting alongside Indians. No matter how dire the circumstances."
"Ask them if they'd be happier dead."
Sergeant Roberts sighed. "Distrust is hard to overcome when it's ingrained."
I looked through the window as Chief Blacktail's son walked past a group of army soldiers, snarling at them as they turned to glance his way.
"On both sides," I added.
"I'll talk to him," Sky said. "Or break his skull, depending on how he reacts to me." She made her way across the yard and slapped the Chief's son on the back of the head.
"She was concerned about you," Sergeant Roberts said, as I returned my attention to the maps on the table. "She beat the hell out of Lieutenant Brooks, broke his nose and jaw. She blamed him and Captain Waltham for your condition. And as the Captain's remains are now buried, Corporal Brooks was the only one she could explain her… displeasure to. She's quite the woman."
"Yes, she is," I said with a smile. "How are Tala and Wapi?"
"I put them together in an upstairs bedroom. Chief Blacktail took a lot of convincing to leave them here until this is over. I wanted to make sure they were uninjured before they travelled back to their tribe. It's too dangerous out there with those monsters running around."
"Thanks for your help. You might want to get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day."
Sergeant Roberts held out a hand, which I shook. "It's been an honour," he said. "If anything should happen to me tomorrow, I wanted to tell you that."
"You'll be fine," I said. "And the honour was mine. You're a good man, Sergeant, and you'll make a fine officer one day."
I stared at the map once Sergeant Roberts had left me alone, and wondered if I really believed that everything was going to go well. No, probably not. People were going to die. I just hoped I could limit how many. Hopefully, my going in alone would let any ghouls or barren see me as the weaker prey. And I'd only have to worry about myself.
"So, what's my job?" Sam asked, as he walked over to me.
"You're staying here."
"No, I'm not. I've got just as much reason to give back to that damn town. I need justice for my dad; for my friend."
"Sam, I promise you that I'll do my best to keep the sheriff alive for you. But you have to stay here. Tala and Wapi are both staying, as are all of the civilians. You need to stay here because I need people I can trust. I've already spoken to Sergeant Roberts and Chief Blacktail; they've each agreed to leave five men here to protect the fort. Your job is to help them."
"My job is to-"
"No! There are two terrified children upstairs right now. All they've known since they arrived here is fear and pain and suffering. I know you want revenge for what happened to you, to your dad, but it has to wait. If ghouls and barren turn up here with everyone gone, I need someone here that I can trust to protect these children with his life."
Sam's eyes immediately dropped to the floor. "I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't be. You're so close to getting what you've wanted for so long, that you can taste it. But I need to ask you something. Will killing the sheriff bring anyone back? Will it help with that knot of rage inside your gut?"
Sam stared at me. "I don't know."
"What matters in situations like this is doing your best to help those who can't help themselves. Those two children need someone they can trust. You're not too much older than they are, and you're not a member of the U.S. Army. They need you more than you need that rage satisfied. When this is over, if you still want to kill him…" I placed my finger-tip against his forehead. "You aim here, and you pull the trigger."
Sam nodded slowly, his eyes remaining on my fingers. "It's getting late," he said finally. "I'll check on the two upstairs and get some sleep."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Sam, but be safe, okay?"
He nodded again and ran toward the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the floor above.
"You're really trying to stop him from getting revenge," Sky said from behind me.
I turned around. "How long were you listening?"
"Not long after you started looking at my ass when I walked away."
I couldn't help but smile. "And a lovely ass it is, too."
"What happened upstairs," she said. "It wasn't a precursor to some sort of relationship."
"Don't worry, I never assumed otherwise. And to answer your point, I'd rather he didn't start killing people."
"You mean you'd rather he didn't turn into you?"
"He would have had to start a lot earlier to do that. He's a good kid, and not a killer. I can see it in his eyes, in his expression. Killing someone for revenge would do something to him."
"You can't know that."
"Are you saying that you think he'd be fine with it?"
Sky shook her head. "It would break him. But it's still his decision. He has to figure it out for himself or he'll always resent himself."
"When I was growing up, a sixteen-year-old killing someone would have felt normal. But now, after such a long time, I'd have hoped things would have improved. Sometimes I don't think we've moved on at all."
"That's a very melancholy attitude."
"I'm going to have to kill people tomorrow morning. I don't want Sam to feel like I do now."
"And what do you feel?"
"Nothing," I said honestly. "I feel nothing. It just has to be done. A bit like killing the wolves that want to eat a farmer's sheep. Merlin always said that I have this ability to turn into a killer-emotionless and cold, like someone turning a lamp on and off. He's right, I can. I can go to a place and kill without concern." Most of the time, I added silently.
"Then I'm glad you're on our side," Sky said. "But this is the life we lead. We kill to keep those we care about safe. We trade in our own futures to ensure that others get to have them. How many times have you taken a life to save another? How about a hundred or a thousand others? You're too hard on yourself."
"I'm just tired. It's been a long few weeks. You and your team take care tomorrow, okay?"
Sky hugged me tight. "You, too. Don't go doing anything crazy."
"You need the ghouls dead. I'll make sure that any in that town are gone before you meet the lich."
"I know you will," she said and kissed me on the cheek. "Get some sleep, Nate. Tomorrow will be a long day, too."
I watched Sky walk away and waited as the darkness of night came and the tension rose inside the camp. Sky had been positive that the lich wouldn't launch another attack so soon. That he wouldn't risk losing anyone else. But even so, there was a nagging doubt inside my head that he could do something. That doubt stayed with me as I fell asleep on the comfortable chair next to the large table.
When I woke someone had placed a thick blanket over me, I shook it off as the crisp morning air woke me fully. There was already a lot of commotion in the courtyard-Crow warriors and Army soldiers working side-by-side to prepare for the coming fight. Tala and Wapi were walking around with Sam, who appeared to have taken the job of protecting them to heart. My Winchester rifle was in his hands. I wasn't going to have much use for it and I was glad he had something important to do that would keep him busy.
Sergeant Roberts appeared with a cup that he placed in front of me. "Good morning, sir."
"Nathan will do."
"Not today, today you're in charge. Everyone here knows it. I can't call you Nathan in front of the men, it's too familiar. So, I'd best get used to calling you sir, sir."
I smiled and picked up the cup. "Tea?"
"You're British, so I thought it would be nice to have some. No one else here drinks the stuff."
"Uncouth ruffians, the bloody lot of you," I said, which made Sergeant Roberts laugh.
The humour soon faded; Sergeant Roberts and I shook hands. "Good luck today," he said.
"Keep everyone safe," I told him, before drinking the rest of my tea and handing him the cup. "I'll see you all in the town after we clear it out."
Sergeant Roberts saluted and left me alone with my thoughts as I got ready. I'd told the woman who had wanted to kill me that I was coming back to burn down their town and piss on the ashes. I aimed to keep that promise.