A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Henry heard Kayla's voice and words clearer than he'd heard anyone else who had spoken outside. He also recognized her voice; The only one to escape their interception of the Caravan and the subsequent death of the Mercenaries.

Knowing now what trouble her escape had caused, he sorely wished he had managed to kill her. That said, when he clenched a fist, it was not in anger but in preparation. He was all too ready to pull out any of his guns and fight if it proved inevitable.

Almost like she had heard his fist clench, Eloise looked to the side at him and his hand.

"Relax," she told him quietly.

"I'm relaxed," Henry said immediately.

"Be calm," Eloise continued and she patted the back of his fist.

"I am calm," Henry said and he wasn't lying. He was calm.

Meanwhile, outside the carriage, the man leading the host of Mercenaries glanced at Kayla,

"Why?" He asked.

Kayla didn't speak at first. She kept her eyes on the horses she thought she recognized and then she said,

"There's just something about their story that doesn't sit right with me, Gareth."

"Eloise Du Vurgen is a member of the Citadel," Gareth said and the tone he used made it clear that that was only one of the reasons to give Eloise the benefit of the doubt.

Kayla was not at all as bothered.

She had witnessed so many die and watched her enemy show capabilities that stumped her and she had been so close to dying to someone whose magical and combat expertise should have been below hers. She had also gotten choked by her Lord earlier that night because of her failures.

How could she, after all that, now dismiss a potential lead toward their target because of the identity of Eloise Du Vurgen?

Hold on, let me check," she said, and wincing at the pain in her chest, she got off the back of her horse.

"Kayla!" Gareth called but she ignored him and started walking toward the Carriage.

As she passed the horses, she eyed them again. Snow was covering their coat in flames but the view was clear enough for her to see the coats. She could have sworn she had seen two of the enemies ride on those horses.

Of course, considering the costs (dark brown and reddish brown) were not all that uncommon among horses in Alvareen and the North in general, this was not all that big a deal. Plus, there was no sight of that black horse anywhere in the formation.

'I still have to know,' Kayla told herself and walked to the side of the carriage. She barely glanced at the driver who was keeping quite calm and only when she heard shuffling through snow did she realize she was being followed.

"Kayla," Gareth called again now a step behind her, "We're wasting time here."

"How would you know?" Kayla asked in a low voice and with a bit of a sneer. She tapped on the window on the side of the carriage then,

"Open up please."

Immediately the window was pushed outward, allowing the Water Mage to peer into the Carriage at the occupants.

The Squires Alice and Darren were calm and tried to be inconspicuous. They were actually doing well at that because Kayla barely paid them attention. She could just tell they weren't the ones she was after and moved on.

Her eyes fell on Louis and Andor then with more attention on the injured Mage.

Louis was leaning against the backrest of the seat he was in, his eyes were closed but he managed even breaths that barely showed the pain he was in. He had drunk another Healing Potion right before Kayla asked for the window to be opened just so the soothing energy of the liquid would help ease his discomfort and aid him in acting normal.

She looked at Andor then and he paid her no mind. His fist was clenched too and Henry knew it was for similar reasons as him; Readiness to draw his Spear from his Storage bracelet and stab the Mage in the face at a moment's notice.

Kayla's eyes found Henry next but before she could scrutinize him as she had done with the other two, a fairly urgent voice hit her ears.

"Is anything the matter?" Eloise asked in an easy-going tone of voice that was just the right amount of annoyance. After all, their journey had been interrupted and now she was being scrutinized.

"Alvareen is on Lockdown," Kayla said.

"It is?" Eloise asked like it was news to her, "Why?"

"We're searching for a few people. Three of them in fact," Kayla said and then gestured at Andor, Louis, and Henry,

"Can you tell me who these three are?"

Eloise furrowed her brows at the request and made it a point that she didn't think it was Kayla's business to know,

"Are you accusing them of something?" She asked, sounding almost hostile.

The sound hit Kayla's ears harder than she had thought they would and she flinched slightly but corrected herself to ask her question still,

"Who are they?"

"Friends of mine," Eloise said.

"For how long have you known them, Miss Du Vurgen?" Kayla asked.

"It's 'Dame'," Alice the Squire piped in correction.

"Oh, you're Knighted by the Citadel?" Kayla asked with a raised brow.

"I am," Eloise said.

"I already told you she was," Gareth piped from a step behind her.

"You said she was a member of the Citadel. That does not automatically make her a Knight," Kayla sniped.

"Why would I feel the need to introduce a Squire?" Gareth asked and sounded insulted.

"It doesn't matter," Kayla said suddenly and kept her eyes on Eloise, "How long have you known them?"

"A week," Eloise answered honestly.

"And who are they?"

"Dungeon Raiders," Eloise answered still with impatience and annoyance.

"And did you happen to be raiding a Dungeon tonight?" Kayla asked with her brows furrowing.

At first, Eloise said nothing and then, with a long drawn-out sigh and a glare at the Mage, she said,

"I, at times hate the City air so I wanted a ride out of Alvareen. I called them along so we could discuss important matters."

"Important matters, such as?" Kayla pressed and gripped the border of the window to lean into the Carriage.

"Important matters such as asking them to stay at Alvareen. There are only so many Knights the Citadel will add to my squad of Raiders. I need more help and I wanted theirs."

"A Knight of the Citadel is commissioning outside help?" Kayla asked like she didn't buy it.

"Good outside help," Eloise clarified and then nodded, "But yes."

Kayla opened her mouth clearly about to profess her doubt but Gareth stepped in.

"That happens a lot actually," he said.

"It does?" Kayla asked, sounding surprised. The matters of Knighthood were not her strong suit.

Gareth nodded,

"It's a lot of hard work becoming a Knight. A lot of steps and the recruitment and training is not always fruitful. There's also more to Knighthood than Dungeon Raiding so Knights who do raid Dungeons usually do so with Squads of Mercenaries."

"I see," Kayla said but still didn't sound convinced (she was stubborn like that).

"So they're Mercenaries?" She asked about the three in that same doubtful tone.

"In a sense," Eloise said, "May we leave now?"

Kayla said nothing and kept looking the three over. It seemed too much of a coincidence that she was after three men and happened to run into three different men. Also, the horses.

"Yes, you can," Gareth stepped in to say, "Sorry to have delayed you. We must be on our way now as well."

"Wait…" Kayla said.

"No," Gareth snapped, "Look at them. Can you say with certainty that anyone in the Carriage is who we're after?"

"Well, they were wearing Masks," Kayla pointed out.

"Can you?" Gareth asked again.

"I suppose not," she admitted. The clothes these three were wearing threw her off but a change of clothes was possible so that had not been that big a deal. If she could just scrutinize them for a bit longer…

"Kayla," Gareth implored in a low intense voice, "Remember there's another reason we're out here besides those three."

"Another—" Kayla started to say and then paused. She remembered now; The Werewolf!

The most precious of Cargo of all.

When she and the now-dead Mercenaries had 'captured' it, they had witnessed the strength the man had been capable of and, despite being a Lone Werewolf, the strength increase the creature would have enjoyed during the full moon, there was no way those three would have survived and be seating so calmly in a Carriage.

She doubted they would have survived even if they had the help of the so-called Knight of the Citadel. If she was indeed in on the whole thing.

"We have to go," Gareth said and Kayla's mind was so busy she didn't argue.

Eloise grabbed the window and made to pull it close but right before it did, Kayla locked eyes with Henry.

He certainly had a good-looking face but that was not why she held the stare. She held the stare because of his eyes. Black as they were, there was something about them she couldn't quite place.

It seemed familiar but the thoughts of the Werewolf had captured her attention so much she could not dwell on that feeling.

The window closed and the driver up front spiked the reins to get the horses trotting, quickly moving past the host of Hunting Mercenaries until they were truly back on the path to Alvareen.