[The Gunslingers, Book II, Chapter 11] [Ravens] Wes left the Justice of the Peace Office and headed towards the Needle building. He really didn’t need directions to find it; the building was one of the tallest on the island and could be seen from nearly any vantage point. He hadn’t meant to be so flip with the Judge, he owed the Judge his life. The man… amphibian, Wes corrected himself, was there a really a difference between man and amphibian? Wes himself was a man, and an amphibian now, thanks to the incredible advancements in organ transplants the Pyrans had made over the last several hundred years. Wes rubbed his gills, they itched, or so he imagined. The nurse said it was all in his imagination and he would become used to them in time. He wondered what his Pa would say when he found out his son was a fish now. Better that left for another day to worry about. First thing on his mind…. “Excuse me, Gunslinger,” said a man interrupting his thoughts. “Hmm.. what?” asked Wes. “I own a Gun Store, right over there,” the man pointed at a brick building several store fronts down from the Justice’s Office. “Back in the old days the Justice bought all his ammunition from me, but now… well.” Wes wondered what the man wanted, he was busy and normally… he realized what it was, the thing that had been bothering him. Colt had always been in charge and Wes used to have nothing better to do than crack jokes, but now, everything was on him; his humor… that’s what was missing. Wes grinned. “Howdy, pleasure to meet you,” said Wes. “So, do I have you to thank for the holes in the side of my office?” “I’m only the middleman,” said the Gun Dealer. “I don’t tell you or anyone else where to point and shoot.” “Guess that’s a problem,” said Wes. “From now on, any new holes in my office and I will charge you for the damages.” The man lost his smile and pushed a box into Wes’s hands. “I noticed your gunbelt was looking a bit shy of ammo and brought this box of rounds for you as a welcome gift,” explained the Gun Dealer. “I’ll keep in mind your new rule about the holes in your building.” Wes felt lower than a snake’s belly, the man had been doing something nice and he had just verbally kicked the man in the teeth. The Gun Dealer started to walk away and stopped, turned around and looked at Wes. “You’re young, I figure you’re a brand new Gunslinger, we’ve had dealings with them before,” said the man. “Good men, all of them, got along good with the locals, you know what I mean.” “Yes, Sir,” said Wes feeling somewhat humbled. “Drop in my shop when you get a chance.” The man walked off leaving Wes feeling like a first day Merit. Wes understood the lesson—everyone wasn’t a criminal and he shouldn’t treat everyone like they are. Wes shook it off and continued towards the Needle Building and re-loaded his gunbelt while he walked. Street lights came on and the city switched into that strange and dark mysterious thing that cities became when night fell. The Needle Building was an odd spiral shaped architecture that seemed to twist up out of the ground, but up close, it was just another tall skyscraper with all the normal structural normality’s of any other building. He walked around the building, ignoring the front door, and checked each door as he walked past. Wes found a door propped open with a brick towards the rear of the building, near the trash dumpsters; probably someone taking out the night trash had stuck the brick in place so they wouldn’t have to keep unlocking the door. Wes slipped inside; the real secret was to act like you belonged. Several cleaning carts were parked against a wall and he stuffed his duster, hat, and gunbelt inside the cart and headed for the service elevator. The first security camera was facing the service elevator—not a problem, someone would be watching from here on. Wes thought of a plan, he just needed to blend in and go slow. Wes pushed the button for the fifth floor, any further up and someone might get suspicious. The elevator door opened and he pushed his cleaning cart out into an open office area and grabbed a broom and started cleaning. He took his time, emptied the trash cans, mopped the floors, and even took time to poke through a couple desks until he found a soda and candy bar. Wes pretended not to notice all the hidden security cameras and sat down against one of the desks in full view of one of the security cameras and downed his stolen treasure. He suspected whoever was watching would find minor larceny normal, and the theft of a soda by a teenager would probably seem even more routine. He finished the soda and dropped it in the waste, put a few finishing touches on the office by polishing a couple door handles, then headed for the elevator. Wes stopped at the next floor and repeated his cleaning routine, it was all about patience. He cleaned three more floors and then skipped to the fifteenth floor—halfway there. Most of the offices looked similar and he hurried through this one and found a couch in one of the executive offices and laid down for a nap. He figured the security people watching would find a napping cleaning boy also normal. Wes allowed himself to doze for an hour before getting back up. He doubted the security office would be watching him very closely now, but to be safe he only skipped four or five floors at a time. Several times he saw other cleaning crews and casually skipped those floors until he was finally on the twenty-ninth floor, the next floor up would be Boss Needle. He put his gunbelt back on and slipped back into his flex-armor and topped it off with his hat. He was ready, time to… “Very well done, young Gunslinger,” said a soft voice. Wes drew his sidearm and spun around, a black clad figure in flex-armor not too different from his glided across the floor towards him. A Raven! “Look at your chest, hatchling,” the black clad figure spoke again. Wes looked down and saw a red dot on his chest. “I have no desire to harm you,” said the Raven. The Raven stopped when it’s chest touched the barrel of Wes’s gun. “Put your gun away,” said the Raven. “I only want to talk.” Wes glanced down at the red dot. Could he move fast enough to avoid the sniper hiding somewhere in the shadows? No, these were Ravens; he wouldn’t get away that easily. Wes reluctantly holstered his sidearm. “I am very impressed,” said the Raven. “If you were a student I was grading, I would pass you with the highest marks for the way you infiltrated this building; absolutely brilliant.” “I’m a Gunslinger,” Wes didn’t know what else to say. “Hatchling, you sell yourself short,” the Raven was wearing a hood that covered must of it’s face. “You are only a first year Merit; infiltration isn’t taught until the third year, you did this all on your own.” The Raven pulled the hood back and Wes’ jaw dropped, it was an old woman… Raven... and the oldest one he had ever seen. “Close your mouth, hatchling,” the old Raven scolded. “You’re being rude.” The old Raven reached her hand up for Wes’ neck, he flinched back. “I only want to see the surgery,” said the old Raven pulling his collar back and looking at the gills. “Amazing break-through in cross-species organ transplants, it looks like they had to do some skin grafting, where did they take the skin for the graft from?” Wes turned red and narrowed his eyes, he had no intention of telling this Raven or anyone else where they took the skin from, but it had been sore back there for awhile after the surgery. “Oh very well,” said the old Raven. “Come along now, we need to have a chat.” Wes glanced at the red dot again. Did he have a choice? Probably not—better go along with this for now. He nodded in agreement and the old Raven turned and glided away, Wes followed her until she stopped at one of the desks. The old Raven picked something up off the desk, a red light moved around and then she turned it off. Wes felt dumb and a little angry, it was a just a laser pointer she had set up to trick him. “I lost my partner several years ago and now I resort to cheap tricks,” said the Raven. “Come along, hatchling.” Wes, humbled for the moment, followed into a large side office, she left the lights off and sat down on a couch near the wall. She motioned to a chair opposite the couch and Wes sat, wondering why he was still being obedient. He could see the age in her face now and decided she wasn’t as lethal, at least not these days, as he had thought at first—still, there was that look in her eyes that someone got after they made too many kills, but he didn’t feel any danger from her. “You intend to go upstairs, guns blazing, and throw that fool Eugene out the window?” asked the old Raven. “Eugene?… Boss Needle’s name is Eugene?” said Wes. “Did you imagine his mother named him Boss Needle on his hatching day?” The old Raven grinned. “I like you, Chirp.” “What do you want?” asked Wes. “Why did you let me get all the way up here if you knew I was in the building?” “I have a deal for you,” said the old Raven. “If you turn it down, I won’t stop you from killing Eugene, but you need to understand something. If you kill him, it won’t matter, there are a hundred more in line to take his place.” “I’ll take that chance.” “Can you watch every window of every building that you ever walk past? Eventually, someone will take a well aimed shot and that will be the end of you and nothing will have changed.” Wes knew she was speaking the truth, he had already thought of the dangers of being a lone Gunslinger in this city. “If I don’t kill Boss Needle, everyone will think I struck a deal with him.” “Of course they will, and everyone will trust you more for it, nobody trusts a goody temple boy running around with some high notion of wiping out all crime.” The old Raven reached out a hand and laid it on Wes’ arm, the hand was frail and wrinkled. Wes stared at the hand and understood what she was telling him, she had grown too old and could no longer physically control the Raven interests. Of course, thought Wes, they covered this in class. The Ravens kept all crime in balance at a properly acceptable level, but this Raven was alone and… “Why haven’t you been replaced?” asked Wes. “House Raven is so consumed with hatred they have allowed it to affect profitability, and that is a sin against the Goddess.” The old Raven pulled her hand back and leaned into the cushions to easy some pain that Wes could see flick across her face. “I know who you are, young mammal, and I know you were not innocent that tragic day in the alley, but I also know that those young Raven hatchlings were not innocent either. Both of you were set up to commit those murders, and I know by whom.” “You know who set us up? You can clear our names? Tell me.” “You will help me restore balance to this world, and in exchange I will give you the truth,” The old Raven closed her eyes. “You are only a first year Gunslinger and have not yet been ruined. I will finish your training and you will know all the secrets of the Gunslingers, and the Ravens. You will become the greatest Gunslinger. Does this appeal to you?” “I don’t care anything about that, I want to clear our names,” Wes knew full well that wasn’t true, he did want to be the greatest Gunslinger, more than anything. “There is a blanket on that chair over there, bring it,” ordered the old Raven. Wes retrieved the blanket; the old Raven was snoring softly by the time Wes returned. He covered her with the blanket and headed back downstairs. He needed time to think. *** Gini and Clap was distracting and annoying the Com-Priestess while Raen studied the map on the wall. The electronic map of the galaxy showed every world in the Kitsune Empire and the Tri-Alliance and small green dots signified the location of every known Gunslinger team; the black dots represented the Raven Alliances. Raen was watching one particular set of green dots on Corvus and the eighteen black dots converging on them. One of the green dots turned red; Raen held his breath and imagined the scene on the ground there, the panic, the frantic fight, the ambush. Another green dot turned red, and then a third. Two dots remained and they were moving away fast. The two surviving Gunslingers were trying to escape, the dots split apart and then one of the green dots turned around and headed directly into the cluster of black dots. Raen nodded his head sadly, that green dot was doing the honorable thing and sacrificing himself to give the last green dot a chance to escape, most likely it was one of the deputies sacrificing himself to save his Gunslinger. The green dot stopped in the middle of the black dots and didn’t move again, but it stayed green for nearly two-minutes. Raen didn’t think the green dot had been captured; the Raven ambush team wouldn’t stop and indulge in the pleasure of torture while the Gunslinger was escaping. No, that green dot was fighting, and fighting well. A man fought harder when he knew there was no escape. Raen looked at the clock and timed the fight, the green dot turned to red at one-minute fifty-two seconds; that was a very long time for a fight. Raen was about to turn away, he didn’t really want to watch this senseless violence, when two of the black dots turned red. The deputy must have injured two of the Ravens and it had taken a few minutes for them to die of their wounds. The remaining sixteen black dots started moving again in the direction of the last green dot, but it was too late. The last green dot disappeared from the board, either the Gunslinger had found a stronghold to bunker down in, or he had made it to orbit and disappeared into light speed. Four dead deputies, two dead Ravens. Raen knew the Ravens had the numbers and the Gunslingers couldn’t take these kinds of loses indefinitely, it was only a matter of time before the Ravens would win the Shadow War. “Alright, that’s enough, out,” shouted the Com-Priestess. “All of you, you too Raen.” Gini and Clap giggled and laughed as the Priestess chased them across the room and out the door. The Priestess stood to the side as Raen made a more dignified exit from the room and then she slammed the door. The others of the Moeth Alliance were in the hall at strategic locations securing the hall from any overly aggressive students that might be planning an attack. The Temple had become increasingly dangerous over the last several months, more than it had ever been; full natural selection was back in force. Even the protection circles couldn’t be entirely relied on, they had started failing occasionally. Protection was now based on the strength of your alliance and maintaining a strong fortifiable position. Rip and Tear was at the end of the hall guarding the intersection that led to the Hatching Chamber and the main school halls, it looked like the two half-demonians were having a roaring contest at any Raven Chirps that got too close. “She hasn’t come out yet?” Raen looked at the closed door of the High Priestesses office. “Not yet,” replied Kit. “Where’s Mergan?” asked Raen. “She went down to the Hatching Chamber.” “Alone?” “Rip and Tear can see all the way down the hall to the egg chamber, she’ll be fine.” Raen sat down with his back to the wall facing the door with Peli and Vas. The two killers were occupying their time by cutting and poisoning each other. Peli slashed her partners arm; he broke out in a sweat and shook for a few minutes before shaking off the poison. “Took you too long that time,” said Peli. “Take another drop of the antidote.” Raen closed his eyes and tried to ignore the macabre game and thought about the Sarin Alliance. Things had been so much different before, they used to sit around and laugh and joke and play, but Sarin and Lane and the others were gone now. Lane had left them with the names to recruit for this alliance but everything was much different now. They did laugh a bit, and played a bit, mainly it was Gini and Clap that kept everyone sane. Raen almost laughed, if you could call this sanity. Something bumped Raen’s leg and he opened his eyes to see Peli laying on the ground in convulsions next to him and foaming at the mouth. Vas shook a few drops of a foul smelling antidote in her mouth and the convulsions subsided. “Which poison was that?” asked Peli weakly. “Black Rose,” said Vas. “That stuff is powerful, I was seeing snakes on the walls,” said Peli. “I need a break, that one got me, you win.” Vas pulled his partner in close and held her while the last of the shakes from the poison worked themselves out. Raen closed his eyes again, he was so glad Moeth hadn’t ever developed the strange tastes Peli and Vas had. The worst thing Moeth did was make him sleep outside their room in the protection circle when she was in one of her moods, which was getting more frequent. The Temple in general was a strange place to be now, the new chirps that had been brought in were more blood-thirsty and had a fierce desire to survive; not even the females carrying eggs were safe from attack anymore, if anything, their weakened condition made them an even more ideal target. Raen heard the door and opened his eyes; Moeth came out fuming and stomped down the hall. Raen jumped up and chased after her along with the rest of the Moeth Alliance. “Well?” asked Raen. “They said no students would be allowed to join in the hunt for Colton Cyness,” Moeth said disgustedly. Moeth reached the intersection and turned to head into the main halls of the school. “Spread out, protective circle formation,” shouted Raen. Mergan was just returning from the Hatching Chamber and joined the circle around Moeth. Moeth was their priority to protect, with her carrying an egg, her first egg; she was never left alone or unprotected. Chirps scattered ahead of them and ran down side corridors to clear a path for the powerful alliance moving towards them; nobody wanted to fight the Moeth Alliance. A scream from a side corridor broke the silent dark shadows and was followed by another voice. “Get back, I’ll kill you stinking chirps,” shouted the voice. Moeth stopped and listened. “That’s Kuion,” said Moeth. “Kuion!” shouted Raen. “Where are you?” “Raen, help!” Kuion shouted back. “We’re coming,” shouted Moeth. The Moeth alliance ran in the direction of Kuion’s voice, the hall was empty until they rounded another corner and found Tara and Kuion surrounded by a mob of chirps. Another side effect of the increased new chirps to the Temple was the chirp mobs; some were calling them chirp flocks. They weren’t forming alliances like they should, they ran in mobs of fifty or more, and just as often turned on each other as anyone else. Tara lay on the ground clutching her stomach while Kuion stood over-top her expertly slashing at chirps; three dead chirps were already crumpled dead at his feet. Rip and Tear roared and charged into the flock of chirps with Vel, Ring, Vas and Peli flanked to the Demonians’ sides. The flock of chirps scattered and ran at the sight of charging older Raven students. Moeth and Raen knelt beside their oldest friend in the Temple. “Are you hurt?” asked Moeth. “No, it’s time, we were trying to get to the Hatching Chamber and that flock attacked us,” said Tara. “Tear, we need you to carry Tara,” shouted Moeth. “It’s too late,” Tara groaned and double over. “The egg is coming.” “It will be okay,” said Moeth. “I helped deliver my baby brother, you’ll be fine.” “Form a tight circle,” ordered Raen. “Kill anyone that tries to come into this tunnel.” Mergan, the medic, knelt with Moeth and prepared Tara for the egg to come while the rest of the alliance stood facing outward with Talon daggers drawn. Tara broke into a sweat and screamed once, and then the egg dropped into Moeth’s hands. The egg was a beautiful mottled powder blue and had a healthy size to it. Moeth handed the egg to Tara. “Moeth,” said Teal. “Priestesses coming.” “No, I want longer,” pleaded Tara. The alliance had no choice but to part for the Priestesses, the senior Priestess knelt and held her hands out in the cupped fashion of holding a Daraian egg. “You should not have looked at it,” said the Priestess. “You know you may never lay claim to it or see it again.” Tara, and everyone knew the rule. This was Tara’s first egg and belonged to the Temple; Tara would not be permitted to see this egg again, it would be moved to another Hatchery. The Priestess took the egg and Tara sobbed. Raen stood silently, his eyes narrowed and a dark shadow floated across his eyes, the same would happen to the egg Moeth carried, his egg, his first egg. They would take it away and he would never see it again. Raen hated the Temple more each day.