The Everburning City

Act 1, Part 1, Chapter 7

"You're planning to fight all of them?" Gwendolyn asked. Voicing the question put a nervous shake in her hands, which made the Salamander rattle.

"Listen," Valen said, and he put his hand over hers, setting the tremor. "Those kids have to make it. My people will protect them, but there's only so much three soldiers can do. All they have to improve their odds are the two of us. So we do what we can for them."

Valen let go of her hand, and took a pouch off his belt. "If you can't make a stand here, run for the next Causeway. It's about twelve miles along the wall. I can't guarantee the soldiers at the next wall won't have evacuated by the time you make it. But if you want to stay, reload that gun in your hands and let's try another shot."

Gwendolyn's hands decided for her. Even as she was thinking of how quickly she could make the ten miles to the next causeway, her right hand had pulled the latch up, and was shifting back to the trigger.

"Good answer," Valen said. He held out the pouch, offering it to her. "Empty the shots into your pockets, you have the only Salamander right now. Then put one into the rifle and get it ready to fire."

Gwendoly took the thick pouch and dumped it into her coat pocket. She spent a moment shifting some of them to the other side of her coat to even out the weight, before she handed the pouch back.

"Be careful while you do that," Valen warned her. "The shells can explode if you break the casing."

Gwendolyn nodded, took one shell out of her pocket, and loaded it. "Next, sir?"

"Count five battlement stones from the watchtower. Aim your weapon for it, fire at will," Valen said.

Gwen aimed down the weapon's sights for the first time in her life, only faintly understanding the basic idea. After a moment, she let out a slow breath and pulled the trigger.

The roar and the flash were so violent she couldn't see her shot it, but as the puff of smoke cleared she could see a fist-sized hole bored into the stone so deeply that no light hit the end.

"Good," Valen said. "Now reload."

She began again, pulling the latch and opening the barrel. The spent casing seared her fingers as she picked it out of the gun and tossed it aside, but she didn't stop as she replaced it with another shot and closed the latch.

"Aim at the same spot," Valen said, "And fire."

She tried, but the next shot impacted about a hand's breadth to the left.

"Reload, and fire again," Valen ordered, slightly louder than before.

Latch, open, removing casing, place shell, check the fit, close. Gwendolyn let each instruction roar in her thoughts, emphasizing each one until the weapon was ready to fire again. She then pointed the rifle at the same target, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

She didn't flinch as the Salamander in her hand howled. There was another hole bored into the stone, between the others. She was smiling as the smoke cleared, and she looked to Valen for any sign of approval.

"Reload," Valen said. She looked up to see his back was turned, watching the Gloamtaken as the took the top of the stairwell, and began to mass on the Causeway.

"Spit and ash, they're up. What do we do now?"

"Reload!" Valen barked.

Startled, Gwendolyn opened the Salamander and had her fingers on the spent shell before her thoughts caught up with her again. She loaded the rifle, and glanced back up at the causeway just as she closed her weapon.