Turbinio

Tormentilla and Comfrey

You never worried much about your own safety, a couple of knives and an old carbine were enough to make you feel safe. The day passed far too quickly and you decided to set up camp where it was most convenient. A night sky lit by moonlight and stars surrounded you, bringing with it cold and dry air. You took the equipment from Cadichon, and let her roam free. You climbed onto the roof of your wagon and watched a few scorpions and small mosquitoes walking across the cool sand. You checked your compass, which had stopped working a few hours ago, and cursed when you saw that nothing had changed.

From time to time you and Cadichon would hear strange noises, but they were so far away that you weren't worried. It would worry you more if it were a man than a cougar. But Cadichon seemed calm, so you might as well be.

The quiet in this place made you euphoric. You chewed a few last dried bananas and offered the last two slices to your mule, who stretched her neck to reach you from above. It seemed quite late; strangely enough, you weren't tired.

And suddenly you heard a high, shrill scream.

Neither you nor Cadichon moved but only looked in the direction from which the scream came. You pricked up your ears and heard a few other voices, the occasional stomp of boots, the sharp sound of gunfire, and a metallic rustling. Your eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that you could now see a horse trotting along the horizon, without a rider.

Quickly you climbed down from the wagon, tossed your blanket, and called out to Cadichon. The mule quickly followed you and waited for you to rummage through some things. A small lamp, a small bag of bandages, and your carbine. No matter how experienced you were, you're still a woman alone in the desert, and not everyone means as well as you do. You put on your boots, fearing the scorpions in the dark, mounted your mule, and galloped away.

You didn't have proper saddles or reins, but you knew how to ride well enough to balance on an animal without equipment. You left a light burning on the top of your wagon and looked back to make sure it was visible from a distance. The confusion didn't seem far away, but you managed to sneak into the place and slowed down as you saw more clearly in the less dense darkness of the night.

Three, four, five... No, six horses, but only four people. One woman and three men, and you recognized them all as runners.

There was blood everywhere; it was a terrible fight. You let out a long, surprised sigh when you recognized Gyro and Johnny. Cadichon looked stressed, stomping her paws heavily in the sand, almost throwing you off balance, but you absently stroked her neck until she calmed down.

The small blue figure in the distance, which you thought was Johnny, was lying on the ground while a woman held him by the neck and made strange hand movements. It wasn't like a punch, a slap, or any kind of aggression. She just strummed the air and made Johnny squirm in pain. He was completely covered in blood and weak, screaming with what little strength was left in his lungs, and you grimaced as you watched the scene.

Gyro and the other man also looked too weak to help Johnny. How on earth did this woman do it? You felt a terrible chill that reached from your stomach to the tip of your nose. Without thinking twice, you nudged Cadichon, drew your carbine, and quickly approached him.

Although you were in motion, you felt that your body was perfectly stable. Your hands barely trembled and a fleeting determination made you pull the trigger without a second's hesitation.

It was an incredibly precise shot. You almost didn't believe that you had done that. A single shot into the woman's head and you brought her to the ground. You didn't even know why you had aimed at a vital spot. You just wanted to incapacitate her, didn't you? A shot in her thigh or shoulder, but not in her head. Why were you aiming for her head? It didn't make sense.