The Lord of Sands

Athilea Majiri

Vex walked through the door of the darkened tavern, his riding coat being blown around him by a stong wind. The other patrons tried not to stare at him with hope filled eyes, but found it exceedingly difficult. He dusted off his cloak and tapped the dried mud from his boots. As he glanced over his shoulder he raised his faded blue eyes to the approaching storm. A young maiden glanced towards him as she waited tables, and he tipped his worn and faded black hat to her as he made his way to the splintered bar.

He'd had recieved a note from a stranger, one that remained in the shadows, to ride to this ancient town. Not a word was passed between the two, but he was certain that he would recognize those hands. It was a woman, he felt certain, one who desperately wanted help and was to afraid to show her face for what that help might cost her. He pulled his hat off for a moment and ran his fingers through black hair that was gritty with sand and sweat.

The ever cautious gunslinger looked around the room taking note of each and every person in the tavern. None of them seemed to notice the fact that on of his hands never left the ivory hilt of the pistol that rested on his right hip like a lover. He wasn't the trusting sort, and he especially didn't trust people that give him mysterious notes in the middle of the night. However, he felt that help was well and truely needed so he was determined to see this thing through.



"Two shots of your best rock gut." He roughly demanded of the barkeep who looked nervously at the gunslinger through old eyes.



The barkeep slid the shots to him and Vex gave the man 5 Gounwa credits. Quickly the old barkeep grabbed the money, put it into a safebox and went to tend some other patrons on the far side of the stained bar. There were splinters in the mans hands, a lot of them, Vex thought, the sign of a good barkeep.



He threw the two shots back quickly in attempts to drown his ever churning thoughts. Vex turned around slowly, resting his bionic arm on the bar but the other never leaves his gun. Flashbacks from the night before, and the mysterious stranger, still played out in his mind. He had seen a lot in his days as a bounty hunter but nothing had ever turned his stomach. Nothing had ever made him wince or made his palms sweat. He ordered two more shots from the barkeep and looked at his timepiece.

Nothing would stop his thoughts though, not of what happened the night before. It was the worst thing he'd ever seen done to a child. The girl was only 14, at the oldest, and she was gruesomely dismembered, and her face was frozen in a scream of both pain and terror. It was as though a druken docter had decided to amputate and perform surgery on her innards. The poor girl and her family. Her father was a knight of the king, and though he didn't much like the rulers or their men, no child deserves a death like that.

Then, when he tried feverishly to sleep in that old familiar in, the woman came. A stranger to him but one that claimed to know who killed the girl. That's why he was here, he looked for a man with a specific marking, and one that he never bothered to hide from view. He wasn't certain that he could trust this woman, but he didn't have a choice. He was promised a reward for killing this man.

He had lost track of time as he watched people come and go through the old tavern doors. He scanned each one with a predetors eye. Waiting, watching. It was just before nightfall when he noticed the rose tattoo on the arm of his target. An older man with a troubled past and a growing large bounty on his carcass. Vex could care less about what this man had done. He did not see a human in the doorway of the rotting tavern. All he saw was credits...a lot of them to be more precise. He well might be able to retire off of this middle aged mans bounty.



The thunder outside roared suddenly through the valley as a bright flash of light filled the room. The wind was picking up and the streets were clearing of any stranglers that remained. He stood up and calmly walked over to the man, the only sounds were the clank of his spurs as they drag across the stone floor and the storm that raged on outside. He took only a moment to examine his prey. The man looked at him and froze, he knew what was to come next. His eyes were filled with fear and he cringed from the 6 foot gunslinger as he pissed himself.

"Please, by the gods, don't," he begged as the scent of his urine filled the air.

He was a balding man with long greasy hair he desperately tried to cover the bald spot with, misssing and rotting teed, and a tattoo of a long stemmed red rose on his forearm. Vex pulled his gun and put it gently against the mans temple and squeezed the trigger, giving not even a moments hesitation, and not a thought of right or wrong. The man's head lay open like a sack of flour running in the rain as his blood spilled and polled on the floor. Vex seemed to take no notice of the panicking crowd around him, or of the people that began to cheer. Bar maidens screamed and ran behind the bar for cover. Patrons that drew their pistols with untrained and shaking hands. He gathered up his catch like a lion grabbing its dinner and drug him outside where he threw him over the nervous grey mule.



“Looks like this storm’s gonna be a big one ol’ gal," he said gently to the mule as he rubbed its nose gently to sooth it's thoughts.

The local law heared the gunshot and came running to the tavern, rifles in their hands. Then the knights came, their blades unshethered and humming with some unknown power. The gunslinger was cut off on all sides. He held his hands up where they could be seen by all, and spoke loud enough to be heard over the storm.

"Now, I plan on takin' this body with me. It's proof of my work, and there's a bounty on his head."

No one moved, they just stood and watched the gunslinger, their eyes taking in the threat that he may or may not pose to them. Then it happened. A woman dressed in mans clothing and brandishing two pistols dropped down beside him fromt he roof top. At the sight of her the knights departed quickly, but the lawmen stood steady.

The woman looked at the men through odd violet eyes that set in a sickly pale face. Her hand were on her wepons and she spoke gently, "Let this man pass, or face me."

Still the lawmen didn't move. One of the pulled his gun and opened his mouth to talk, but before he could get a word out, and before the others could blink, he was down and bleeding. His screams filled the streets as he tightly clenched the wound in his gut, "You whore, you filthly whore. You couldn't even kill me."

The woman looked calmly at the other man, he odd pistol back in its holster, "I suggest you get him to a doctor before that get's infected. Of course, that means you'll have to let this man go."

With that the men finally left, carrying their fellow with them. Vex looked down at the womans hands and then up to her, "You. . ."

She cut him off quickly, "There's no time to explain now. We have to go quickly if you still want your bounty," she spoke in a rushed tone as she nimbly lept onto a nearby painted horse, "Mount up and move out or we will be killed."