Derek Ward

Service in the Badlands circuit represents a unique challenge within the ranks of the Mareian Rangers. It is not a posting pursued for prestige or advancement, nor is it one held in high regard by those who value decorum and proper rank. To many, it is a station fraught with difficulty, requiring a degree of sacrifice not often understood by those serving in more conventional circuits. However, among the rank and file, those who have ridden the Badlands circuit command an enduring respect—not for their adherence to protocol or appearance, but for their ability to endure and excel in an unforgiving land. It is not their proficiency with firearms or horsemanship that sets them apart, though these are often formidable. Rather, it is an intangible quality. That quality that allows them to face nightmares and sleep soundly. – Colonel Marcus Antonelli, answering to the Senate

RIN

“This is everything we have,” Morelli said, handing Rin a pair of bandoleers and a cartridge bag. “I managed to get more from the other rangers. It’s not like they’re going to need them.” The first bandoleer held two dozen grapegun obsidian shard shells. The second bandoleer held fifty silver pistol cartridges. Rin frowned. Silver bullets were good only for short distances because the metal didn’t grip the barrel’s rifling like lead. It was why Rin preferred silver grapegun shells. Rin opened the bag and saw about thirty star-iron rifle cartridges. He draped the bandoleers over his shoulders and tied the bag to his gun belt.

“Thank you, Giancolo,” Rin said.

“Shouldn’t I have some of those if I’m going to take on demons?” Morelli asked. Rin shook his head.

“You’re not going with me. You need to be on the Aponte Wall with the others.”

“Why there?”

“Because I’m the sergeant, and I told you so,” Rin said.

“Makes sense.”

“Don’t let Pallus take all the glory.” Morelli saluted and dashed off to join the other Heroes in defending the city.

“What are those?” Illana asked, pointing at the bandoliers.

“Special demon-killing ammunition,” Rin answered, opening Morelli’s grapegun. His junior had already loaded two obsidian shells into the gun. Rin snapped the grapegun closed.

“If you’re ready, let us go find this Amplification Chamber,” Illana said. Robar led the way. The ruins of the Liopasto loomed over the open walkways as the trio made their way to the hospital. Rin felt something – or somethings – watching them. For the first time, Rin wished some of the Crystal Guard were around Illana. At least they would make useful fodder.

“Your highness, we have to go through the hospital to get to the casting hall,” Robar said, “I should warn you, some of the injuries are…rather grotesque.”

“Thank you, Robar, but you don’t need to protect my sensibilities,” Illana said.

“Have you ever seen a man whose chest has been hacked open?” Robar asked quietly.

“Yes,” Illana answered. “Some of the things Cull did while I was in his custody were beyond grotesque.” Robar’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“My apologies, your highness.”

Illana accepted Robar’s apology with a regal nod, but Rin felt the remembered horror flow from Illana through their link. During their time after her rescue, Illana refused to speak about some of the things she saw during her years with Cull. The closest she came was telling Rin the reason she slept next to him was because it chased away the nightmares.

Screams of pain and horror filled the air as Robar opened the hospital doors. All the cots were filled with wounded. Many more lay on makeshift pallets. Most of the clerics in the hospital were incapacitated by the Purists’ spell, but a few provided what care they could for the patients providing what care they could. Even those clerics looked terrified by the loss of their connection to their Goddess. Illana kept her face impassive, but she grabbed Rin’s hand with an iron grip as they made their way through the hospital. Robar opened the heavy door at the other end and motioned for Illana and Rin into the hallway. Pinpricks of purple lit the hallway from the Liopasto’s natural magic poking through the demon taint. Illana gripped Rin’s arm as she looked down the corridor.

“Can’t you feel that?” she whispered, “It feels so wrong.”

“I think that’s daemon magic,” Robar answered. “It’s befouling the natural magic.”

“It feels like the Badlands,” Rin said. “Whatever you do, don’t talk to the demons, no matter what they say.”

“Why?” Robar asked.

“Demons bargain. They’ll offer anything and everything to get you to give them a shard of your soul. They’re scary good at figuring out ways to manipulate people.”

“Why do they want shards of our souls?”

“So, they can come fully into our world.”

“They become daemons?” Illana asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

“Not exactly daemons, but something more than demons,” Rin answered. “Souled demons are scary things. They terrify normal demons. Worse, you can only kill them with star-iron.”

“What about magic?” Robar asked. “Will magic kill them?”

“Maybe. We don’t have any records of it though.”

“I thought you were our expert on demons,” Robar retorted.

“And I thought you were our expert on magic,” Rin replied, heatedly.

“When Selene and I encountered that demon here, I hit it with magic. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just wanted it to get away from Selene.”

“So, you hurt it,” Illana said.

“But I couldn’t kill it. I couldn’t draw enough power. Selene finished it with the Goddess’s Grace,” Robar explained. He turned to Rin. “Do your priests kill demons?”

“The Protector isn’t like the Goddess,” Rin said, “He may give us a push now and then, but He doesn’t act directly in our lives.” The two elves look astounded at his revelation.

“Then, how do you know your god does anything?” Robar asked.

“Both of you stop bickering,” Illana said.

“Yes, your highness,” both men chorused. The trio walked down the hallway, the faint glow from the walls dimmed. Illana’s fear increased with the darkness.

“Let me get some light,” Rin said, fiddling for a matchstick and his spot lantern. A small globe of light appeared floating a few centimeters above Illana’s hand. Rin blinked.

“That’s amazing,” Rin said. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Illana said, “I just thought about what I needed, and the magic did it.” Robar studied the ball for a few moments. An identical ball appeared above his own hand.

“In my grandfather’s notes, he described people who have an innate ability for spellforms. They don’t need to memorize them because they instinctively understand how magic needs to be formed. Maybe that’s the connection the book talked about between magic and the Crystal Blood. Now that I see how you did it, I can mimic it.”

A faint odor in the air floated down the hallway. So, they smelled the same on this continent. Two monstrosities walked into the edge of the light. Both were two and a half meters tall. The one on the right looked like a transparent kidney bean – if a kidney bean sprouted heavily muscled arms and legs as well as dozens of mouths and eyes. The one to the left was humanoid, except headless. Too-large eyes looked out from its palms, just above small mouths. Illana’s fear spiked.

“New sorcerers,” said the bean. Its chorus of voices reverberated painfully in Rin’s head. “It’s been so long. They will bargain with us.” Rin was tempted to kill that one first just to stop it from speaking ever again.

“Foolish. Thought. That. Is. Why. Amag. Banished,” the headless one said, the mouths on its hands speaking every other word. Rin wasn’t sure which of the two demons was more annoying.

“This one has the faintest whiff of Amag on him,” the bean’s chorus said, pointing at Robar. “Did you banish Amag?” Rin stepped in front of the others before Robar could speak.

“We will not bargain with you. Let us pass, or you will get banished like your friend.”

“We felt the magic. We know the spellform,” chorused the bean, “You are cut off from your precious goddess. You won’t be able to do make that pale imitation of real magic. You can’t kill us. No one alive knows how to kill us with real magic.”

“Bargain. With. Us. Or. You. Die.” No, the chorus from the bean was much more annoying than the one talking out of its hands.

“Illana, Robar, cover your ears,” Rin said. Rin brought up the grapegun.

“Is that supposed to be a wand?” the bean’s mouths chorused.

“It. Is. Metal. And. Wood. I. Feel. No. Magic. Inside,” the headless one scoffed,

“Silly mortal, you can’t make a wand like that.” The bean’s mouths laughed. Rin turned the grapegun on the bean. That thing needed to stop talking. He stroked the first trigger. The corridor rocked with the boom of the grapegun and filled with the sulfurous smell of burnt gunpowder. The bean screamed from its hundred mouths as dozens of obsidian shards laced its body. Its gelatinous form darkened as the demon was anchored in the world. Rin swiveled the grapegun and touched off the second barrel. Obsidian laced the headless demon. Rin’s revolver materialized in his hand. The cracks of the revolver were puny compared to the throaty booms of the grapegun. The silver bullets ripped into the demons’ corporeal flesh. Air rushed through the hallway as the demons were banished back to wherever they came from. The wind dispersed most of the gun smoke.

Rin scanned the hallway as he cracked open the grapegun and pulled out the spent shells. His ears rang from the gun blasts. He should have put in his earplugs. He pulled two more obsidian shells from the bandolier and slipped them into the grapegun.

“What under the Light did you just do?” yelled Robar. Rin looked back at the cleric. From the inquisitive look on elf’s face, Robar’s yelling was more from deafness than his normal displeasure with Rin’s presence. Out of instinct, Rin put two fingers over his lips. Illana and Robar looked confused at the gesture. Damn it, that was a Mareian gesture. What was the elven gesture to be quiet? Rin put his pinkie finger horizontally over his lips. Rin motioned for them to continue down the corridor. He would answer Robar when their ears stopped ringing.

To his surprise, Illana reached up and grabbed Rin’s ears. There was an instant of scalding heat and the ringing stopped. She turned and grabbed Robar’s ears. The elf’s face contorted in pain for a brief moment, and then he looked down at the princess in amazement. Illana grabbed her own ears and the glow around her hands pulsed. Illana collapsed against the wall. Rin started to go to her, but Illana held up her hand.

“That took more out of me than I expected,” Illana said.

“You’re making spellforms on instinct, your highness,” Robar said. “Instinct doesn’t always translate to efficiency. Sorcerers spent years studying how to refine spellforms to use the minimum amount of magic.”

“When this is all over, you and I are going to search the Liopasto for any books on spellforms,” Illana said. She took a deep breath and her globe of light reappeared hovering above her hand.

“You shouldn’t be pushing yourself so hard, your highness,” Robar said.

“I’m fine. I just needed a quick rest,” Illana replied. “Rin, would you take the lead? You seem to know how to handle these demons.” Rin gripped his grapegun and walked down the hallway. Shadows of movement danced at the edge of the light. Whispered taunts in unfamiliar languages echoed down the hallway. Rin quietly chuckled. Demons were all the same. Through their connection, Rin felt Illana’s fear rising.

“Don’t worry. They’re not going to attack. They’re just playing games with us,” Rin reassured his companions.

“How do you know that?” Robar demanded.

“Those demons have no idea how I banished their companions. Demons are terrified of being banished from this world and sent back to wherever they’re from,” Rin answered. They walked another ten or so meters before coming to an intersection.

“Which way?” Rin asked.

“Go left,” Illana said. He felt confidence from Illana, but there was also some uncertainty. It was like she instinctively knew where to go, but not why she knew. Robar didn’t correct her, so Rin turned left. The hallway ended in a solid bronze door three meters high and two meters across. It looked like a solid slab of metal. There weren’t any hinges, knobs, or keyholes. So, how were they supposed to open it? Low taunts became a chorus of malicious laughter. Illana and Robar kept brave faces, but their eyes darted across the edge of the bubble of light from their globes.

“Why are they laughing at us?” Illana asked.

“Because they know how to open this door. They think we’ll be forced to bargain.”

“Yes, bargain,” several voices hissed in a distorted chorus. Robar and Illana paled, but Rin ignored them and focused on the door. It didn’t look like normal elven metal work. At least, not elven work he knew. Something tickled his mind. Something Kurt told him when they lived on the farm. Heavy metal doors like this – such as the steel doors to the Imperial Quarters – were forged by the dwarven Lord of the Mountain’s personal metalsmiths. How did those old stories go?

“Illana, concentrate on the door,” Rin said, standing up. “Make sure you look down.” Her eyebrows crooked up. Rin felt her confusion and curiosity through their connection.

“How did I not see that?” Illana asked. Her globe of light vanished as she knelt down and touched the bottom left corner. The door groaned and slid to the side. It was pitch black inside the room. Cold, dry air flooded out into the hallway. The demons’ laughter turned to shrieks.

“Get in the chamber, now!” Rin commanded. Illana picked up her skirts and sprinted into the blackness. Robar hesitated for an instant before following the princess. Rin backed into the room, keeping his grapegun leveled at the voices in corridor behind them.

“The first one of you that steps across that threshold will be banished,” Rin yelled at the demons. The mass stopped just outside the light, but they radiated anger.

“You will not come out of this place alive, human.”

“I’m not the only one who knows how to deal with you. If you kill us, others will come and banish all of you,” Rin said. “By the end of the day, there won’t be a single demon left on these grounds.” He felt the demons move back down the hallway. Rin took another step into the chamber. Illana slid the door shut.

The pitch black suddenly exploded in light. Robar was holding a small sun over his head. The amethyst crystals of the Amplification Chamber reflected the light and made the entire room glow. It took a few moments for Rin’s eyes to adjust. The Amplification Chamber was bigger than he expected. It was easily fifty meters across with crystal walls going up ten or fifteen meters. The dome ceiling was another good ten meters higher. Five bronze tablets, each easily five meters high, were mounted to the walls. The tablets were etched with old elven script. Yet, all of that paled to the center of the room.

Three clear crystal columns, about a half-meter in width, stood in a triangle around a five-meter-tall tower of purple crystal. Illana walked to the purple crystal and placed her hand on the formation. Rin couldn’t see what happened, but Illana suddenly filled with exhilaration. Rin took a step towards her but stopped at her raised hand.

“Sweet Goddess,” Illana said, “It feels like a part of me is finally awake. Robar, you must put your hand on the Focus.”

“How did you know that was what it was called, your highness?” Robar asked as he approached the crystal.

“I-, I don’t know,” Illana answered, “I think it told me.”

“You truly are the Crystal Blood,” Robar said, as he placed his own hand on the Focus. His stern face broke into a smile of pure joy. “I see what you mean. It’s like my eyes have been opened. Like I can see everything clearly for the first time.”

“Robar, you’re glowing,” Illana said, and looked at the cleric amazed.

“So are you, your highness,” Robar said. Rin frowned. The two of them looked just the same as they did before. He couldn’t see any glow around either of them.

Out of curiosity, Rin walked up and put his hand on the crystal. Rin collapsed to his knees as he felt his strength ripped from him. It was like when he gave that demon a shard of his soul. The connection between Illana and him went from an odd trickle to a torrent of emotions and thoughts. He felt more than saw Illana’s head whipp around. Rin felt her sudden terror as if it were his own. Or maybe it was his own. He couldn’t tell which emotions and thoughts were his or Illana’s. He barely noticed as she wrenched his hand from the Focus. The connection snapped back to its trickle. The sudden loss drove Rin to the ground. The floor was hard and cold. He felt Illana in his mind. She was terrified and angry and worried and a bunch of other things Rin couldn’t decipher. He felt her warm hands on his cheeks.

“That didn’t go as I expected,” Rin grunted as he sat up.

“What were you expecting?” Illana demanded. Her tone was angry, but her eyes sparkled with relief.

“To see you glowing,” Rin answered. He looked past Illana to Robar. The cleric was looking at the two of them with wide-eyed shock.

“What just happened?” Rin asked.

“I don’t understand,” Robar said, “Nothing should have happened from just touching the Focus. Unless…but that’s impossible.”

“Unless what?” Illana asked. Robar looked at Illana and Rin with a confused expression.

“Unless, you have a soulbond. How could an elf and a human have a soulbond?” Robar answered.

Rin felt Illana’s shock through their connection. Or soulbond if Robar was right. He was just as surprised, but he pushed that to the side. This wasn’t the time to explore that revelation.

“Does that change how you two are going to do the spell?” Rin asked.

“Well, no,” Robar said.

“Then you both best get on with it. The others are counting on us.”

“But Rin. A soulbond?” Illana asked. Confusion and excitement swirled in their connection.

“Illana, your people need you to do the spell. We can figure out the rest later.” She wanted to argue but instead pulled Robar to the center of the room. Rin walked back to the doorway. He felt the demons in the hallway. At least a half-dozen. How did they stand being so close together? Demons in the Badlands stayed far away from each other.

Thunder rolled through the hallway. No, that wasn’t thunder. That was musket fire. What under the Protector’s gaze was happening? The demons outside the door stopped whispering. That couldn’t be good. Rin tightened his grip on the grapegun and fell into the familiar fighting stance. Seconds passed. Then a minute. Then another. Rin waited another minute before approaching the doorway. The demons were gone. Rin chanced a glance back at Illana and Robar. They were standing on either side of the Focus discussing how they were going to do break the Purists’ spell. They weren’t throwing around magic, so where did those damned demons go?