The Wizard Killer - Season Two

Episode 3

"Unlike most folk, I don't care where you came from, and I care even less what horrible things happened to you to put that on you. I'm sure it's why the librarian will meet with you, but I don't want to know."

He bends down and picks up a pair of gloves from under the table. "Put these on." He then hands me my hat. "Keep your head down, and no one should notice the line at your neck." He leans in. "You remember that much, don't you?"

I nod and put the gloves and hat on.

"You all good?"

"Yeah," I reply.

We step out of the bar and into the blinding, dusty outdoors. The sky's got a familiar red haze to it. My fingers start rubbing together like they're pulling on a fishing line with an unwilling memory on the end of it.

There's about two dozen people walking about, all of them dressed up beyond what I'd expect for an outskirts town. Most of the women have shiny dresses and parasols, and most of the men long coats and hats. Either this place is rich in something, or it's got a secret that some pay handsomely for.

Glancing about at the two-storey buildings and dirt-road nature of the town, knots start to form in my stomach. I'm not sure if I'm paranoid, or I remember something, but I've got a bad feeling about the place.

I nudge the sheriff and point at the red haze. "What's that?"

He gives me a wide-eyed glare. "You stupid or something?"

I frown at him.

Leaning in, he whispers. "It ain't smart to bring up the affairs of wizards and the like."

I'm tempted to ask something else, but am interrupted by the image of a floating city being built. Mana leaks... it's one of the things that can lead to this haze, I remember. Looking again, my stomach turns as I'm sure there's something far worse going on than building a floating city.

"Come on, people'll start staring," he says, leading the way.

I keep my head tilted down as people walk by. "They're building that pretty close to a town, aren't they? I thought they were always paranoid about that type of thing."

He gives me a sharp glare and gets right in my face, his hand resting atop the pistol on his hip. "I believe in upsetting the apple cart a bit every now and then. That's why I'm helping you. There are things most unnatural happening, and they've got to stop. But I need you to understand; I ain't going to risk my life or this town."

I slowly nod. Everyone likes to be a little bit of a rebel.

"Wizards have eyes and ears everywhere. I've heard a man mention a certain one, and then out of nowhere appears a hot-headed acolyte with the powers of a god and trigger-happy soldiers with something to prove." He pulls back and straightens his vest. "Now, shut up or I'll shoot you. We clear?" He flashes a politician's smile and starts moving.

Across the street's a two-storey building with a sign reading General Store. There's an old man, bald, staring at me.

I stare back. There's something about him, like he's a person standing among paintings, something that makes him more real than the rest.

Taking a step into the road, the sheriff immediately gets in front of me and shoves me back. "I think we're having a communication problem."

I point at the general store, but there's no one there. "I thought I saw someone I know."

"Doubt it," he replies with a scoff.

I look first at the store's door, which doesn't look like it's closing, and then around, but there's no sign of him. The only thing out of place is a faint buzzing in my head. Strange. I can remember every detail of the man's face. I swear I've seen him before... just not here.

Shaking it off, I follow the sheriff for a few blocks before tapping him on the shoulder.

He turns around, his face showing his frustration.

I raise a finger. "Do you hear that? There's like— a clicking."

He listens for a moment. "Might be coming from the trailer house," he says gesturing at a long building coming up. "That's where we have the levi-cars. A few horses, too. Sometimes those levis make funny noises when people are working on them."

As we continue walking, I keep glancing about, unable to shake the feeling of being watched.

I perch my sweaty hands on my belt, feel something. Looking down, I see I've got an empty holster on one side. On the other, I've got an empty place for a knife. Yig, maybe there was something to that three sisters thing.

Finally, he stops and turns around, leaning towards the light-blue door of the white-washed two-storey building. Glancing around the main street, I'm sure that clicking sound is not coming from the levi's place.

The sheriff takes his hat off and taps twice on the door with his knuckles. He listens for a second, then straightens up and puts his hat back on. "Go on in. You've got five minutes, and then you need to get out of here."

I narrow my eyes at him, tempted to ask why.

He rolls his shoulders and scans the street, his hands resting on his pistols. Glancing at me, he's got an anxious look in his eye. "Go on. Clock's ticking."

I start to push on the door and stop. "You hear it too, don't you? It's like... like hollow bone being hit on hollow bone."

"Doesn't matter. Scourge spies are going to know something's up soon and I'm not going to have this town known as the place where the only free librarian died."

My palms are sweaty, my heart's racing. Something bad is about to happen. I just don't know what.