Shoeless hooves clopped over the worn road. Dust painted the town a pale gray, and against dusk\u2019s light, shadows stretched far beyond the size of their once masters. Eyes turned to the rider and the dismembered head hanging off the saddle. A monstrous thing of organic iron, sprawling antlers, and rows of serrated fangs. ***<\/p>\n Implacable faces hidden behind dust drenched scarves. The thunder of two dozen horses reigned over the barrial, seared images of the Gila tribe\u2019s bloody handprint upon the town of Pueblo de la Luna, charred bodies like curled spiders, women hung naked by the ankles from Joshua Tree in the plaza, children gutted like deer. ***<\/p>\n Like senseless spirits, the townspeople glowed gold by the firelight and black from the shadows, swinging at the arm to the music, wet with spilled drink and sweat. Aaron stared from the window, the stitched gashes pulsing, burns of backfired powder still fresh on his hand. \u201cAaron the Gray and Prince of the Palo,<\/i> Aaron turned back and saw\u2014 the only one not gathered at the window now\u2014 Elias on the stool, staring at the floorboards with an iron countenance. ***<\/p>\n Molly squeezed Aaron\u2019s hand and Joss patted his shoulder, the line of Mighty Men stood behind. Yellow marigolds and pink agave flowers colored the chapel, grinning faces he didn\u2019t recognize and prideful tears, watching as if it was their own kin. He couldn\u2019t help but wonder why they cared, why she did. It seemed likely they were opposites. The pastor\u2019s words were static until the final query. ***<\/p>\n Silence held sway over the precinct. \u201cWalk through the night and fear not the touch of death.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll go,\u201d Aaron said, watching the cigar\u2019s smoke drift into the light through the window. \u201cIt ain\u2019t my first time meeting a Deathless.\u201d ***<\/p>\n Beyond the fire\u2019s glow lay only faint outlines of shrubs and the desert\u2019s endless horizon, but at the rising clop of hooves, Aaron\u2019s hand fell to the five shooter. The silhouette clarified within the nimbus. ***<\/p>\n Beyond the revelry and regard, dancers trying to pull him to the saloon\u2019s backrooms\u2014 regardless of Molly\u2019s presence\u2014, Aaron felt only Elias stare at the bar\u2019s end. His eyes were deep caverns beneath the shade of his hat. ***<\/p>\n Town to town, week to week, month to month, hidden by the grace of righteous souls, they wandered without purpose, not strong enough to travel beyond the territory nor strong enough to turn back. Guilt followed with the tales of those who\u2019d opened their doors to \u2018The Driven\u2019, the gory work of Elias\u2019 mercenaries and enlisted Gilas. The dreams came more vivid and deafening than ever, no longer a burning agave, but clouds which commanded, \u201cHarden not thy heart.\u201d<\/i> ***<\/p>\n The old farmhouse wasn\u2019t what Aaron remembered, but the tombstones were. Alone on the eastern flats, the last standing objects before a great desert and a world that was turning on itself. He licked his cracked lips, and though stiff from the porch\u2019s chair, he couldn\u2019t bring himself to move and revive the pain. ***<\/p>\n \u201cCaptain!\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n [Image Credit : Photo by Chris Yang<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>]<\/p>\n Mark Manifesto is a writer, teacher, father, and lover of stories. He\u2019s been writing fiction, essays, articles, and poetry the past seven years. Currently he lives in the Bay Area, and should you want, you can find his work published across multiple journals including the Colored Lens, Hightower Magazine, Altered Reality<\/i> and Guilty Crime Magazine<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
+++++<\/span>A long time since he\u2019d been to Resper\u00e1s. The town had grown. As had the territory of Palo Verde and everything in and beneath it. The return was strange, but he didn\u2019t think of home as any one place.
+++++<\/span>Aaron tied his stead outside of the bar and carried his prize by the antlers. The fiddle slowed, as did much of the conversation. The liver-spotted bartender looked from the head to the week\u2019s old blood on Aaron\u2019s hands. He served and worked up the courage to ask, \u201cWhat do you got there, Son?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron presented the bounty poster for the \u2018Glutton of the Gray Line\u2019. \u201cWhere do I cash in?\u201d
+++++<\/span>The man looked over the parchment and its illustration of the gaunt colossus.
+++++<\/span>\u201cSheriff\u2019s office,\u201d the barman said. \u201cBut they won\u2019t be able to get you nothing till the bank opens tomorrow.\u201d After a week of hard riding, what was one more night?
+++++<\/span>The door squealed as a patron hurried out and down the road. Aaron eyed the rest. The young man didn\u2019t so much have violence in him as around him. The opposite was the case for God, but he did his best to disbelieve. He figured it unlikely someone would try to claim his prize, but Arturo had taught him to always be ready, and unclasped the hand cannon\u2019s holster. Like all novelties, fascination waned and people went back to their own concerns. At least until the door burst open again, a grizzled giant of a man, molded of iron, dressed in a linen suit and new hat. Stories hadn\u2019t done him justice. Behind the giant came a band of suited men with pistols on their waists and badges on their chests\u2014 in tow, the one who\u2019d gone running.
+++++<\/span>The Warden\u2019s spurs clicked to Aaron\u2019s side where he eyed both him and the monster\u2019s head. He turned to the skull to better see the hole between the eyes.
+++++<\/span>The man felt the metallic skull. In a cold baritone, he asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cAaron,\u201d he said, extending his hand. \u201cOrtega.\u201d
+++++<\/span>The Warden met it with a bull\u2019s grip. \u201cWarden Elias Day.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI know.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Looking him up and down, the Warden asked, \u201cHow old are you?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cEighteen.\u201d
+++++<\/span>He scratched at his mustache. \u201cA lot of men with more heads than you\u2019ve got years fell to this bastard.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cSorry it took so long.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Silence pervaded the bar, furrowed disbelief upon hopeless faces. Finally, a smile. \u201cHenry, whatever the kid wants.\u201d Elias looked to the patrons. \u201cAll y\u2019all, we celebrate. Liberator of the Gray Line.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Ten turned to twenty, twenty to forty, and in time the roads were lined with dancing and bonfires. Aaron smiled through it all, caught in the shadow of the Warden, led by a steel grip on the shoulder. Greetings from the sorts of folks who\u2019d never once looked his way, either here in Palo Verde or across the state. He held a firm belief that emotion was the ruin of a man, but all hugs and open admiration was hard to ignore. Head and heart light with drink, the two sat on the bench out front of the morgue and watched the revelry. They sat in silence, the sort that cut to the core of the earth.
+++++<\/span>The Warden said, \u201cHope\u2019s hard to come by.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron had gone about as far as going went until he realized that. He realized too in coming home and hearing the tales of \u2018Warden Day\u2019 and the desert he\u2019d tamed within an untamable country, what a story can do for a soul, that it wasn\u2019t just the dreams calling Aarron to deliver his people to the sea that gave purpose\u2014 dreams many said the Warden was privy to as well\u2014 but that men can provide too.
+++++<\/span>Elias sipped his moonshine. \u201cThey say an ocean lays beyond the Gray woods.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cDo you believe it?\u201d Aaron asked.
+++++<\/span>The Warden\u2019s chest rose like a barrel as he sighed. \u201cIt don\u2019t matter. If they think there\u2019ll be a day where they can wash off the dust, they\u2019ll keep stepping.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Amongst the faces, Aaron noticed one, soft, caramel, with eyes like amber.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWho is she?\u201d Aaron asked.
+++++<\/span>\u201cMolly,\u201d Elias said, taking a sip. She danced with a man of similar features, red-cheeked, and with a frame like a mountain, but in between her spins, her gaze returned to his. \u201cMy daughter.\u201d
+++++<\/span>A knot tightened in his chest. \u201cThat her husband?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cMy boy, Joss.\u201d Elias grinned and squeezed his shoulder. \u201cYou didn\u2019t run before.\u201d
+++++<\/span>The sounds of a fight rang down the way and, from around the town, Elias\u2019 troupe of \u2018Mighty Men\u2019 pushed through to quell the disturbance.
+++++<\/span>\u201cFrom these parts?\u201d Elias asked, the bench crying out against his weight.
+++++<\/span>\u201cA long time ago. My parents passed and I went east with my uncle. He passed too and\u2026\u201d For the first time since his passing, Aaron considered bringing up the voice and the dreams. \u201cI came back.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias nodded in contemplation. \u201cYou find anything out there?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron thought of the monsters throughout and beyond the state, the vast stretches of country where nothing grew and children had become currency. \u201cNothing worth seeing.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias\u2019s face softened for a fraction of a moment.
+++++<\/span>Aaron cleared his throat, \u201c\u2026Can I ask you something, Sir?\u201d
+++++<\/span>He gestured on with his mug.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you kill the Glutton yourself?\u201d
The Warden stroked his freshly shaven chin and sighed. \u201cWe\u2019re surrounded by devils, Boy. Wartibes and outlaws, a desert that would like to see us buried. I know it ain\u2019t much different than anywhere else, but at least here they got someone on their side.\u201d His eyes glittered like stainless steel, somber and yet unwavering. \u201cToo many people counting on me nowadays. I won\u2019t lose my head over something that might not change anything.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron\u2019s gaze fell sullenly to his boots.
+++++<\/span>\u201cBut I\u2019ve been wrong plenty of times.\u201d Aaron looked up and saw something in the man\u2019s eyes. Elias pointed to the stars. \u201cIt never is though.\u201d Elias let the point sink in before asking, \u201cConsidering sticking around?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cAs much as leaving.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Molly\u2019s smile flashed in the firelight.
+++++<\/span>\u201cGot any work?\u201d Aaron asked.
+++++<\/span>Elias slapped his back and stood. \u201cMore than you\u2019d hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>The Gilas\u2019 camp lay flat at the base of the orange valley, no tents or fires and\u2014 without notice from the slain lookouts on the previous peak\u2014 unstirring yet in the lawn of dawn. Joss drew his five shooter and the company followed Captain\u2019s suit.
+++++<\/span>The marauders, painted with weeks\u2019 old blood, rose from their bedrolls as the riders reached the hill\u2019s midpoint. Shouts rang in a foreign tongue, spurring the hundred or so Gila to their rifles, bows, and blades. The deputies opened fire on the war tribe, loosing a cloud of acrid powder smoke which returned in kind, lead rounds traded across sides, burrowing through bone and shattering rock. Arrows soared in shallow arcs. Screams cut short as deputies fell from their saddles and natives toppled to the dust. Like a rolling earthquake, the lines of riders and foot-soldiers converged. Hooves pounded skulls into the clay and precinct issued clubs splashed brains from skulls. Gilas\u2019 lances drove upward and speared the riders off their horses.
+++++<\/span>Five out, five down, Aaron switched one pistol for the next. Dark smoke burned his lungs. Arrows and bullets shot past his face and spears overhead. Shock left him cold and buzzing, unable to hold any singular thought. Masses blended into a single warring throng with horses from both sides running riderless. Blood turned the clay into mud. A sharp cry pulled Aaron\u2019s attention, Joss Day on his back, covering his bloodied face to the towering brute and his raised sword. Aaron\u2019s aim hit true and painted Joss with blood.
+++++<\/span>The world was pulled from under him as his horse reared, wailing death over the spear in its chest. His back crashed hard on the stone and lungs locked without breath. A creature of hate rose over him, stone in hand, teeth bared. He squeezed the trigger and a hole burst through his chest. The white noise of hacking, bursting powder, and shattering bone poisoned the senses. Years in the hinterland, bounties and vengeful bastards had seen him through swamps of gore, yet still his mind never fully embraced the hell. Always, it was an act of will. Keep moving, that was the mantra that kept his feet from turning to stone.
+++++<\/span>With no rounds left in the cylinder, Aaron tossed the pistol aside and rose. At his feet lay a stone-headed club. Something beyond him said to take it, to meet the gaze of a blood painted Gila before him, to charge. The rest was beyond him.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>A velvet voice said from behind, \u201cLooks I owe you.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Cheeks slightly flush, freckles hardly noticeable behind her tan, Molly\u2019s grin was brighter than the electric lighting of the penthouse.
+++++<\/span>Aaron took the champagne and said, \u201cI got paid.\u201d
+++++<\/span>They touched glasses and drank. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant,\u201d she said, looking to Joss, his face and torso bandaged, drunkenly recounting their tale to a troupe of fat men around a card table. \u201cI don\u2019t have much else to lose.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s always something else.\u201d Aaron\u2019s gaze turned to Elias at the bar. His cheeks warmed but the man nodded his approval.
+++++<\/span>Molly stared with a tenderness he wasn\u2019t accustomed to, the sort that brought out fear.
+++++<\/span>\u201cThey say you were an animal,\u201d she said. \u201cCut down thirty men. \u2018The second coming of Elias\u2019.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI try to think that wasn\u2019t me.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cThen who was it?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cWho I\u2019m asked to be.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cCan I ask you to be something else?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron swallowed and nodded.
+++++<\/span>Molly went on, \u201cCan you be you.\u201d
+++++<\/span>There was no him. Still, he said, \u201cI can be anything you need.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI need someone who\u2019s more than what they do.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201c\u2026That\u2019s gonna be hard to come by.\u201d
+++++<\/span>She grinned, \u201cI have a feeling I\u2019ll know it when I see it.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019ve got a good pair of binoculars if you need some.\u201d
+++++<\/span>A town-wide chant raised beyond the windows.<\/p>\n
The prophet of peace and prophet of war,<\/i>
Wicked will pay, the dawn brings us tallow<\/i>
He leads with a club, our burdens he bore.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cPrince?\u201d Molly asked.
+++++<\/span>\u201cAnything can look like gold in the right light,\u201d he said.
+++++<\/span>The floorboards bent under Elias\u2019 weight as he started out the room.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cI do,\u201d Aaron said. Her lips tasted of rose and voice rang like an angel.
+++++<\/span>Hats flew over towards the rafters and all but one man raised to their feet. With a taut and stubble roughened jaw, the Warden watched them down the center aisle and through the crowd on the roads. Joss closed the carriage door behind and patted the vehicle on.
+++++<\/span>It rocked over the avenue towards the Pascal Oasis, and for a moment, the world was right. He shot a last look through the carriage\u2019s window. Beyond the trailing masses a shadowed mountain watched from the chapel\u2019s steps, sipping a flask, and started the opposite way.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cDad,\u201d Joss said, eyes bouncing between deputies for support. \u201cOne man?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias sucked the whiskey from his teeth. \u201cAaron the Gray is hardly a man.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cBe serious,\u201d Joss said, in gritted offense. \u201cYou can\u2019t send Aaron by himself to hunt down the Red Scar.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhy not?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cBecause it\u2019s suicide!\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron chewed on the cigar and thought of last night\u2019s dream, the burning agave and its blessing.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>The men turned in disbelief. Green said, \u201cAin\u2019t no man met a Deathless and lived.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias\u2019 gaze burned yellow.
+++++<\/span>\u201cNo counting you, Sir,\u201d Green clarified.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWell, I guess \u2018met\u2019 was the wrong word. More just said \u2018goodbye\u2019,\u201d Aaron clarified.
+++++<\/span>Elias smoothed his bristly mustache. \u201cSee\u2026 it\u2019s no problem.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cHell with that,\u201d Joss said. \u201cIf he\u2019s going, I am.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cDenied, Captain,\u201d Elias said. \u201cI\u2019ve got bandits down south.\u201d
+++++<\/span>He met his father\u2019s stare with a rage that couldn\u2019t pierce the implacable carapace.
+++++<\/span>Aaron stubbed his cigar in the ashtray and checked the time. \u201cThe tar swamps out east?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Beads of sweat dripped from Elias\u2019 chin as he nodded.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019ll be back next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cThis ain\u2019t south,\u201d Aaron said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cLooks like my compass is broken,\u201d Joss said.
+++++<\/span>Morning rose with the dry scent of a dying country. Grit coated their teeth and sweat turned the dust on their faces into mud. Shallow hills and bones, small towns with specters whose bellies had swollen with hunger. Stories of Deathless giants who\u2019d come at night and eaten generations.
+++++<\/span>For three days until the black stretches of the dead forest came into sight, slow bubbling pools of tar in the dusk shadows. Weariness weighed upon his eyes and hunger had turned temperament animalistic, but Aaron told himself it was a choice. He passed a box of slugs to Joss, water stained from where the pastor had blessed them. \u201cAim for the heart.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Horses tied beyond the swamp, Aaron loaded his sawed-off pump and Joss his double barrel. A sinus-searing aroma of molten rock emanated from the skeletal forest of iron bark oaks.
+++++<\/span>Through the pools of tar lay small trails of hard earth, just enough to fumble upon as they fought with spinning vision from acrid steam their scarves failed to mitigate.
+++++<\/span>At wits\u2019 end from an hour of delirium, Ross coughed, \u201cAaron\u2014\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cQuiet.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Something within told him before the stirring. A slow pulpy sound raised from the viscous pools. In the moon\u2019s light he could only make out the outlines. Tar drenched hulks rising from their slumber, reflective insect eyes and unhinged maws with quivering mandibles. Slugs soared and powder smoke melded with that of the molten tar. Fist size holes bored through chests. Aaron\u2019s heart raised into his throat. Joss cursed in panic as more colossus rose, packs running through the tar and snarling in an unearthly baritone. There was perhaps not as much guilt in slaying these monstrosities as there was in laying down his fellow man, but there was fear, the untamable unknown which they represented. But when violent passion rose to the point where one life must end, all faces were the same.
+++++<\/span>A final beast splashed into the muck and the thunder faded. All that remained was their hurried breath.
+++++<\/span>With chattering teeth, Joss said, \u201cThat was my last shell.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019ve got one left,\u201d Aaron said, feeling for the last on his belt. His eyes narrowed, \u201cBut I didn\u2019t see\u2014\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cShit!\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron turned and, on instinct, ducked to log barreling through the air. It cracked Ross and sent him soaring. Caught in a ray of crisp moonlight, Aaron saw its mantis face, the goliath frame, and the great red scar across the chest. Its herculean hand grabbed him by the torso and slammed him under the hot tar. Eyes shut to the burning muck, lungs locked, he fumbled for the machete-sized bowie knife on his belt. Shoved blind, the tip met flesh. The monster\u2019s hand released and, raised up from the blackness, Aaron drew a long breath. Reeling backward and holding its mangled eye, the creature reached out and Aaron hacked. It wailed a pitiful baritone as its forearm dropped. He picked up his shotgun, loaded the last shell, and aimed for the heart.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>Joss sat at Aaron\u2019s side, arm slinged, stiff with cracked vertebrae and using the word \u2018brother\u2019 in each recounting. Aaron chewed his cigar and stared at the beer-soaked wood bar top, trying to remember the faces of his parents and what their home looked like.
+++++<\/span>\u201cBoy!\u201d
+++++<\/span>The fiddles and roistering hushed.
+++++<\/span>\u201cHow\u2019s it feel, \u2018Prince of the Palo\u2019?\u201d Elias asked, with a slight sway.
+++++<\/span>Slack-jawed faces turned between the two of them.
+++++<\/span>\u201cGood to be home,\u201d Aaron said. Trying to overlook the tone.
+++++<\/span>\u201cHow about my daughter? How\u2019s she feel?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cDaddy\u2014\u201d Molly said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019m talking girl!\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re drunk, Pa,\u201d Joss said, rising to appease.
+++++<\/span>\u201cAnd you\u2019re a disgrace.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Joss froze, looking as if the air had been punched out of him.
+++++<\/span>Elias wiped the shine from his lips. \u201cWhat\u2019s in this for you, Gray?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cA paycheck and warm bed.\u201d
+++++<\/span>He bore the look of a man who heard voices, or perhaps had been left with too much silence.
+++++<\/span>\u201cEmpires crumble from within,\u201d Elias said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cMeaning?\u201d Aaron asked.
+++++<\/span>A handful of gasps rang as Elias drew his pistol. \u201cI don\u2019t trust you. Maybe you\u2019re with desperados. Maybe the anarchists. You said you came from out east.\u201d He spoke to the congregation. \u201cThere\u2019s something he ain\u2019t telling us, y\u2019all. What man in their right mind takes on the work he has?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cWho said I was in my right mind?\u201d Aaron asked.
+++++<\/span>Elias\u2019 grin curled. \u201cHow about you prove it? Kiss my ring.\u201d
+++++<\/span>A muted look of second-hand offense turned the faces of the twelve Mighty Men. Aaron felt it too, but he also felt the call of something great telling him to bring peace. He crossed calmly, took Elias\u2019 stoney hand, and as he laid lips on the gold ring, felt the steel barrel against the back of his head.
+++++<\/span>\u201cDad!\u201d Molly and Joss shouted.
+++++<\/span>\u201cBack up!\u201d he shouted, pulling the hammer back.
+++++<\/span>The dreams had told Aaron that death would not lay its hand on him yet, but it had also said sacrifices must be made. \u201cYou best be sure,\u201d Aaron said. \u201cYou can only pull that trigger once.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cPlease,\u201d Molly begged, too horrified to step nearer.
+++++<\/span>\u201cYou don\u2019t think I will,\u201d Elias growled into Aaron\u2019s ear.
+++++<\/span>All he had was faith.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t you can,\u201d Aaron said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cYou son of a\u2014\u201d the hammer clicked. Aaron raised his head and saw Elias\u2019 staring in disbelief at the empty cylinders. \u201cI\u2026 I loaded it\u2026 I know it did.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias looked to Aaron and back to his gun, and cursing to himself, shoved his way out the door. Shames glances turned to the floor. Aaron forced himself to look, to see the broken trail of a once great man, a shattered soul.
+++++<\/span>Back home, he and Molly undressed in silence, steeped in the unspoken knowledge that something had fractured beyond repair. A knock sounded at the door.
+++++<\/span>Hat pressed to his heart, Joss said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to go.\u201d
+++++<\/span>He knew it. Vice had strangled the once king, and the miracle he\u2019d seen that night wouldn\u2019t happen again. Maybe he could stand, fight, but even for survival\u2019s sake, he wasn\u2019t sure he could kill the father he\u2019d sworn to under God.
+++++<\/span>Aaron nodded in resignation and withdrew for the last time into life he\u2019d never expected. With his beloved in his arms, he breathed beauty and in turn truth, yet hadn\u2019t it in him to say goodbye. Before dawn\u2019s light graced the horizon, his foot met the porch and eyes met those of the twelve Mighty Men saddled and ready to ride.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>Aaron woke to the hushed voice of the homeowner, \u201cThey\u2019re here.\u201d
+++++<\/span>From beyond the confines of the cellar where all thirteen slept, the thunder of charging horses and wailing townspeople filled the night.
+++++<\/span>\u201cGet your things,\u201d the woman whispered, shaking the odorous men away. \u201cGet your horses.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias\u2019 voice echoed. \u201cI know you\u2019re here!\u201d
+++++<\/span>A hardened heart would kill the once messiah, a hardened heart would run, would lay down his life in pacifism and let madness reign. Just as when his uncle had passed and he found himself lost, lost for purpose, for desire to live, he rose on legs that weren\u2019t his, the vessel of something else, and let the world take him. Hat down and face covered, he emerged from the shelter and before the chaos. Torches flashed through the streets, blood painted Gilas racing on horseback and mercs pushing crowds towards the plaza where the man paced on the gallow\u2019s stage.
+++++<\/span>With equal parts fear and faith, Aaron passed through the night. Shadows of The Driven hurried low around the rears of buildings with lever-actions in hand. No man of height or or size, he blended within the hundred or so before the gallows. Over the shouts of townspeople pulled from their homes, the sharp claps of gunfire rendered the assembly docile.
+++++<\/span>\u201cGet out here you conniving bastard!\u201d Elias said, pacing with a torch in hand. \u201cTreachery comes at cost.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron eyed the shadows perched over the roofs and lowered his scarf, \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Twenty odd barrels fell upon him.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhen\u2019d you stop listening?\u201d Aaron asked, hardly seeing anyone but fallen anointed.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhen It stopped talking.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201c\u2026Ever ask yourself why?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias\u2019 jaw ground side to side. \u201cGet up here and take this rope or these people will.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cCan\u2019t do that, Warden. There\u2019s still work to be done.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019ll handle it for you.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cAfraid it\u2019s not yours to handle.\u201d
+++++<\/span>The mania in his eyes shone bright in the fire. \u201cHope you\u2019re happy, Son. You\u2019ve brought all these people with you. Fire\u2014\u201d
+++++<\/span>Peals of thunder rented the night. A dozen mercs and Gila dropped. Screams filled the air as the crowd scattered. Aaron drew dual cannons and opened the chests of two below the stage. Then, like a horse\u2019s kick, a sudden shock rocked his stomach. Deafening claps turned the senses, muzzle flares traded between the streets and roofs. Through the delirium, he saw the smoke from Elias\u2019 pistol and watched the cylinder turn again. He tried to dodge but the impact gored his shoulder. Knees buckling, he caught himself and fired blind. Elias screamed and dropped hard to the stage with a spurting hole in his thigh. Aaron fired again and the pistol flew from Elias\u2019 grasp along with a chunk of hand and fingers. Chaos and clouds of choking smoke filled the streets, huddled townspeople and mounting corpses as the Gilas spread. The sort of hell he\u2019d come to believe was his duty to stop. His head fell and vision spun. He figured one of the bullets had his name on it.
+++++<\/span>Then a last shot, and he was still breathing. In the wake of the skirmish there remained the dull moaning of near-dead.
+++++<\/span>Aaron gritted his teeth through the pain and sorrow and, holding the hole in his stomach, rose. Each step weighed three times itself as he drew towards, Elias supine on the stage and staring at the stars, his dark skin a gray pale, blood flowing in undulating waves from his thigh and mangled hand. The man looked at the barrel looming over his head.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI never had no mind to hurt you Elias,\u201d Aaron said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI know\u2026 but I\u2019ve got the devil in me\u2026 I wasn\u2019t ready to let go.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Across the town\u2019s roofs the shadows stood from their cover\u2014 most of them.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI want you to live,\u201d Aaron said. \u201cBut the days you\u2019ve been breathing through ain\u2019t that.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI got no purpose anymore.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cThen figure it out,\u201d he said, turning and limping down the way.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhere you going?\u201d Elias called.
+++++<\/span>Aarron sighed, \u201cWherever I\u2019m headed.\u201d<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>His gaze turned southward to the rider kicking up dust in the distance. It didn\u2019t take long to recognize the silhouette. The six Mighty Men emerged from the house with rifles in hand.
+++++<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s alright,\u201d Aaron assured.
+++++<\/span>Molly stopped shy of the porch, her yellow dress and stead painted white with dust. \u201cThose bandages don\u2019t look good,\u201d she said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t feel good either,\u201d Aaron said. \u201cYou here to finish me off?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cIf you ask me to,\u201d she said, with a smile.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t suppose there\u2019s any chance your dad\u2019s ready to make accords?\u201d he asked.
+++++<\/span>Her smile turned somber and she scanned the porch. \u201cWhere\u2019s Joss?\u201d<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>Aaron sat up with a shock of pain through his stomach. Molly poked her head in from the kitchen. The front door burst with a rush of cold evening wind, Green and Vince carrying a beaten and bloody Elias by the shoulders. So swollen, that if his eyes were open, you wouldn\u2019t have known. Blood and dirt formed a black paste across his skin.
+++++<\/span>Molly raced to the man in quick tears and watched in horror as they laid him prone on one of the cots, where at last he saw the stub arrow shafts out his back. Too weak to cry out, Elias could only whimper to the agony of movement.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWe found him by the creek,\u201d Green said.
+++++<\/span>It did little to appease the quick flash of rage in Aaron\u2019s heart. \u201cWater,\u201d he said.
+++++<\/span>One of the men poured a small stream from their canteen which, even tilting his head back, careened helplessly over his lips.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhat happened, Warden?\u201d Aaron asked.
+++++<\/span>His eyes fluttered as he coughed up black spittle. \u201cGilas ain\u2019t big on forgiveness.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Molly pressed his limp hand to her cheeks.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhy were you meeting with the Gilas?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Through shallow breaths he said, \u201cBecause I\u2019m a wretched bastard.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron fist shook white and cold. \u201c\u2026I\u2019m sorry, Sir.\u201d
+++++<\/span>The weight of Elias\u2019 eyelids proved too much. \u201cDon\u2019t be,\u201d Elias said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been for you.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Desert winds washed over the cabin and brought with them the cries of starving coyotes.
+++++<\/span>\u201cYou know,\u201d Elias panted. \u201cIt told me you were coming a long time ago. A prince in gray who will find the sea.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI ain\u2019t found nothing.\u201d
+++++<\/span>A slight smile curled. \u201cNeither have I.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Aaron limped across the room and knelt at his side.
+++++<\/span>\u201cTake them there, Son. Trust the dreams\u201d With a slight nod the man gestured to the badge on his chest. His lips were cracked wide open but there wasn\u2019t anything left to bleed. \u201cIt\u2019s yours.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cNot mine to take.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Elias opened his eye just enough to look at Molly and the men. \u201cBut it\u2019s there\u2019s to give. And they\u2014\u201d He stopped to draw a shallow breath. \u201cI just wish\u2014\u201d he exhaled and a furrowed look of sorrow crossed his face, a slight sheen of tears. But then it went flat and the soul behind those eyes darkened. In their reflection, he saw his own coming end.
+++++<\/span>Molly muffled her cries in his blood-soaked rib cage. Aaron closed his eyes to the sting of tears. Too many times had he heard a soul\u2019s last breath. What hurt in equal measure is he figured this wouldn\u2019t be the last.
+++++<\/span>In the morning they rose and pierced the impenetrable earth with rusted shovels and axes. Those twin headstones gained a sibling, a twined X of Pale Verde branches and desert stones. They packed the saddles, mounted, and turned westbound. Aaron spared a look at the house which had once seemed to offer many futures. Before him lay only one. Perhaps that\u2019s all there had ever been. Days, weeks, months away, the song of phantom waves carried through the wind.<\/p>\n![\"Facebook\"](\"https:\/\/www.close2thebone.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\"\/ "\\"Share")
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