6. Ghost Town Sword Fight
The sky was coloured a light yolk-orange with streaks of yellow and white. It was early morning and although still gloomy the heat had returned with a vengeance. The clouds above, while spread across the skyline, were wispy and failed to offer any protection from the rising sun.
She ran through the plan again in her head. Of the remaining forty settlers and miners only six had offered to help, the rest remained huddled behind the town’s makeshift walls. Red, Lilly and herself were stood between the town and the rising hillside where the bandits had fled to, where Custer and six villagers were waiting out-of-sight armed with crude spears.
A wind picked up for a second, carrying the sound of stampeding. They looked left and right, waiting tensely for the coming fight. Over the hillside far to the right came two dozen ponies. They wore studded leather and wielded fascine knives. Ash looked at Red and Lilly. Their eyes and stance were wide, they breathed heavily. Likely every instinct telling them to flee. She saw Lilly’s brown eyes look to her and she nodded in reassurance.
“We can do this,” Ash said. “Stick to the plan and it’ll work out fine.”
The twenty or so bandits, all male, approached in a spread-out mass. One of the larger ones skipped ahead and stopped abruptly someway between the three mares and the vicious-looking raiders. “We done told ya the first time Red, pay up and we’ll leave ya alone!” The speakers face was clay-white with dark tan leathers covering his entire body. Ash wasn’t sure how he could wear it all, she was boiling in only minimal leather.
“This is your only chance,” Ash spoke confidently, “leave this place, or die.” Her tone was casual but her voice carried far and wide.
The stallion chuckled, looking back at his posse who jeered and yelled, “kill that bitch, Lich!”
'Lich' pulled a wavy-shaped sword as long as his body and began bounding toward them. Ash had her sabre out and stalked low to meet him. His gang cheered and screamed like a crowd at a street fight. He neared and took a big winding swing. She easily stepped back and then leapt forward, she held her sabre in a reverse-inside grip, then lashed out and chopped his legs out from under him.
Thestrian steel was really something. She’d sharpened the weapon all morning in anticipation and to help her stay distracted. The blade cut cleanly through his front legs just below the knees. His momentum carried him into the dirt head-first as he cartwheeled over once and lay on his side. And then the screaming started. So awful and desperate that it made her chest tighten. He shrieked and shrieked until his voice sounded hoarse.
Ash gripped the sabre tightly and aimed it between his eyes. In a single thrust, the shrieking stopped. The silence that followed was decidedly worse. The remaining bandits had hushed but it was only time before they exploded into violence.
Phase two, Ash reminded herself. She looked back at Red and nodded grimly. Red jammed a hoof in her mouth and gave off the loudest whistle Ash had ever heard and stepped forward to join her. Ash had gifted Red her spare sabre while Lilly rushed back at full-tilt.
The bandits began to whirl and hop about angrily, shouting amongst themselves as they tried to create order. Who would lead them now? Who would handle this Thestral mare? A pair of the more courageous ones zipped from their lines, spurring the others on as well. In an instant, twenty angry stallions were barrelling towards them.
“Get back, get back!” Ash yelled as she and Red moved toward the town.
Once the first stallion had reached her he swung wildly with his smaller blade, she parried and thrust her sabre for his throat. His neck burst as blood spurted from his exposed jugular almost five feet to the side. He collapsed and she continued to backpedal.
A group of half a dozen split off at the rear of the group and moved around to take a shot at the town itself. A raider sprinted forward and tried to bulrush Red. She yelled as she exchanged a few sloppy blows with the larger pony. She was caught in the shoulder and went flying back to create some distance. Ash drifted her way as they retreated. The pony blanched at her appearance, she could move far more quickly and with greater strength than her Equestrian counterparts.
He jabbed at her desperately and she moved inside his swipe. She felt the blade skit across the leather on her flank. He wasn’t a pushover and used his height advantage to deliver a crushing headbutt. She absorbed the strike and while dazed shot back with a jumping headbutt of her own. His legs wobbled and she used her sabre to draw a line across his throat.
He went down with a gurgle and she doubled back as fast as she could whilst still facing the bandits. Yells and shouts erupted from the town as the bandits reached the perimeter. Chancing a glance, she saw a dirty raider stallion slumped over one of the walls with a spear in his ribcage, while the others were held at bay by the defenders.
The remaining bandits were almost on top of her now, from over the miasma of dirty faces she could see Custer leading some villagers down to the rear of the bandits. It was time. “Lilly!” Red yelled as if she had read Ash’s mind.
There was a delay as time seemed to slow. The raiders were seconds from smashing into Red and Ash. So numerous that she doubted she could get more than two or three before she was overwhelmed.
Lilly was on the plunger, wires barely hidden in the sand led to the towns two sticks of dynamite. Duel explosions detonated from underneath the middle of the raider gang. Those close to it were blown to bits in an instant as the whumf of the blast hit them. Many of the others were hurled to the ground or chucked into the air before landing again heavily.
Ash didn’t mess around, she dived forward into the dust as debris and chunks of rock and flesh rained down. The first stallion she found was on his hooves. His leathers were dusty and his eyes wide with shock. He’d lost his weapon and didn’t offer any resistance as she quickly killed him.
Two more were on the ground and still moving, she dispatched them as well – Lilly and Red followed her into the field of bodies. Custer and the villagers with him moved in from the back, they obviously weren’t used to the violence as they moved languidly with slack-jawed expressions.
By this stage a few of them had recovered enough to stand and fight. She estimated over half had been killed or wounded in the blast. She’d killed their leader and two others, plus three just now. Five ponies gathered up and moved back-to-back. They looked around worriedly at the carnage.
Ash and Red moved as if one mind controlled them both, they stood menacingly frontward of the bandit survivors. The five that remained eyed the mares cautiously, they seemed unwilling to move in any single direction.
“Surrender peacefully and you’ll be tried for your crimes,” Ash offered reluctantly.
“No way mare!” One of them shouted back, “tell yer friends to back off and we’ll leave all peaceful like.”
Ash looked at Red, “it’s your call. What do you want to do?”
Lilly joined them and together they watched the gathered bandits. Ash again looked at Red but her eyes simply followed the bodies from one onto the next. Finally, she breathed deeply and looked at the survivors with a harsh and hard gaze.
“Drop your steel and clear off. Y’all can take one sword with you, but if I ever see you round this way again, it’s gonna get ugly.”
They chatted amongst themselves. The speaker from before seemed angry at their defeat. If he wanted to fight Ash would remove his head in a second. He looked back them hotly, seeming to struggle with what to say, “fine. We’ll go.”
They tossed their weapons to the ground, some more reluctantly than others. The speaker shoved his fascine knife through a loop in his belt and led the rest away with a passing sneer.
“Thank you,” Red said at length.
“You’re welcome,” Ash replied. She hadn’t considered it before, but there was a small amount of satisfaction in helping others, something she hadn't experienced being forced to work for the booze barons of the Thestral world. Maybe being a criminal degenerate wasn’t for her. She supposed she wouldn’t know until she got to Mulico.
The day had begun. Not more than an hour after the skirmish and the sun was on the rise, high into the air. The heat broiled the last vestiges of water vapour from the sky, leaving nothing but crystal blue as far as you could see. It was hot. The sun on her wings starting to irritate her, she hadn’t noticed before but they were becoming more and more sensitive.
The township had fended off the six stallions that had rounded on them and tried to bust their way inside. Their bodies had been dragged into the desert along with the others. Several of the villagers were busy carving out a hole big enough to dump all the corpses. Disease and infection were a real risk, especially in this heat. They were already starting to swell.
“What will you do now?” Lilly asked. The first time she had spoken yet. Ash sniffed as she watched the sky, feeling good about tomorrow for the first time in a while. “I’d like to stay here for a few days. I need to rest a bit and I can help in case they come back.” Reds eyes remained hard and Ash could see the cogs turning in her head.
“You can have two days. We can’t afford another mouth to feed,” she said after a few beats.
“I just saved your shithole town,” Ash shot back hotly.
Red took a step forward, “you’re lucky ah’m affordin’ you that much.”
“What?” Red asked rhetorically at Ash’s frown, “Y’all think I’m an idiot? A mare comes high-tailin’ out of tha’ desert. Begging to help us while on her way to Mulico?” Ash blinked and relaxed, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Speech notwithstanding Red was obviously not a complete moron.
“Those wings’a yours were torched by a darned unicorn. Ain’t none of them around this way, cept’ for law ponies.” She tossed the sabre to the ground at Ash's hooves.
“But she did help us, Red!” Lilly said suddenly. Her voice was deep and sounded perpetually hoarse.
“Well in that case,” she said dramatically, “she can bunk with you. You got the space since the sisters got took. Two. Days.”
Lilly and Ash shared an uncomfortable glance while Red sauntered off toward the gravesite. The mare was too soft looking for frontier life in Ash’s opinion, although Equestrian mares often looked to her like they belonged in the finest clothes in their shiny capital. She had a light brown coat that was a shade lighter than her auburn mane and tail. Her chocolate eyes unnerved Ash, although she’d never admit it.
“Come along then, I’ll show you where home is,” Lilly said and made for the town.
Ash followed after casting a look at the haul of corpses being ferried into their final resting point. She spat and then took a swig of water. It wasn’t long before she was standing inside Lilly’s accommodation.
It was a simple one-room shack on stilts as tall as a pony. The steps were made of clay bricks, unlike the other homes which had wooden stairs. There were some flowers in little pots hidden just under the structure, water lilies. Inside there were four beds, although three remained spartan while one had some personal items around it.
“That one’s yours,” she said softly.
Lilly hovered around the far bed, seemingly saddened by simply being near it. There was a small frame with a picture that was obscured by Lilly’s shoulder. Ash ignored the mare and spying a bent nail just off to the side, she hung her spare sabre from it.
“I’m going to get my pack,” she said as she left. Lilly did not reply.
Ash passed through the small village. The two dozen huts of various sizes had been added one by one, she could tell. Probably as and when they needed more beds. It was a simple set up, a wind pump brought up groundwater. And a dry steam pump was giving the place a small amount of power. She hadn’t noted any electrical lights last night, but maybe they were having issues. She knew geothermal power was a very new technology. Ponies feared magic would go the way of the wendigo. Ash wasn’t so certain.
She had walked on flat, cracked ground until the edge of the plateau began to shift into craggy hills. She slowly made her way up the side, careful not to slip. Ash didn’t necessarily get lost – but it took longer than she would have liked to find and recover her saddle bags. Everything was in order.
Ash returned to the town. She took the wrong approach and ended up winding along a crevice that was double her height. She emerged from the end and then scampered back. Thesrtals. Law ponies, at least ten.
What were they doing here? She thought with irritation. Probably attracted by the dynamite.
They’d landed at the towns northern side, adjacent to the grave. She kept low and kept her ears and eyes up. Last thing she needed was her cover blown. Half of them stalked the area around the work detail who had almost finished with the bodies. A pair of them had walked inside the town she could see, and were talking with Red.
Ash settled in for the long haul. She had no water or food with her, so this could be a problem. She hoped they would leave soon. Her eyesight was good, but she couldn’t make out every detail, or hear much beyond the occasional murmur.
Some of the Thestrals began searching the homes. The villagers looked on sadly. The leader said something to Red, Ash saw her shake her head. Was she about to be sold out?
There was a commotion inside Lilly’s home. The leader and another Thestral neared the home as Lilly was sent flying through the doorway. A large law pony emerged, with Ash’s sabre held proudly for all to see.
Shit.
The leader approached menacingly. Even from here Ash could tell Lilly had broken down in fear. He took the offered sabre from the other Thestral and examined it. He turned the blade over and then he used the back edge to strike Lilly across the head.
Lilly let out a pained yelp. There were shouts from Red and the others and a few of them moved to help. The leader whistled sharply and all of his Thestrals drew their steel and stood off with the villagers.
A horn was sounded by one of them, with a series of notes returning from far away. They held an exchange over a few minutes. She understood what was happening, those were directional bleats. The Thestral leader next to Lilly barked something loudly, but it didn’t quite reach Ash's ears.
It wasn’t long. Ten minutes Ash figured. The townsfolk had been corralled into a huddle just outside the walls. The Thestrals waited around menacingly. Their predatory bearing just daring any pony to step out of line.
Another pair of horn blasts came from behind her and she tried even harder to become one with the earth. A single beat came from the town. Moments later a long dark chariot swept in overhead. It glided silently, two pairs of Thestral escorts moving down with it. Landing outside the town, several ponies disembarked. It was him, the pony from before at the camp.
What was his name? She asked herself. Agent Bucksaw, she remembered with a hateful expression.
There was a unicorn with him as well, the same one who had burned her. What she would give to see him on the end of her blade. The agent spoke with the Thestral commander. It seemed so cordial, completely at odds with the energy of the townsfolk. Bucksaw stood near the ponies. He was speaking to them but Ash couldn’t hear what he was saying. Red was talking now, her slight accent just about reaching her. The fact that they weren’t tearing their way towards her led her to believe they were trying to lie to him or send him off the wrong way.
She couldn’t tell if he was buying it. He was talking again, the commander as well. The three of them had a little back and forth. Lilly added something and they all faced her. She wilted a bit, even from this distance Ash could see her ears fold flat.
Agent Bucksaw said something again, and one of the Thestrals hauled Red from the sand. He turned and along with the unicorn they boarded the transport. There was a six-Thestral pulling team and the craft took off at high speed to the west. Most of the Thestrals raced after it.
There were six remaining in the town. The civilians were unarmed and huddled on their knees. Part of her knew this was extremely stupid and risky, but it was do-or-die. She needed food and water and she needed to head south as fast as her legs could carry her. She had hoped to have more time, but no luck.
She backtracked through the crevice, shuffling and wiggling to gain traction. Once back at the entrance she rose to the hillside and had a check around. All clear. Ash moved quickly, sticking low and ensuring she didn’t make the rookie mistake of silhouetting herself. She rose over mounds and rushed across gaps in the broken terrain. Her wings twitched as she caught some air, instinctively she was trying to extend the ruined appendages.
A few minutes later and she was at the point she estimated the bandits to have come from. She moved along as the hillside fell to an opening. She peered out and smiled at the sight. She could see the town and the Thestrals were on the other side.
With hurried steps, she approached the town. She kept her form low but made the distance quite quickly. Using the buildings as cover, she snuck from one to the next. She was considering her approach as carefully as possible. Her mind was reeling from what she was thinking as if threatening to rebel. The instinct to stay alive was so crystal and so prominent – that risk of death made her feel so very strange.
And there it was. Her opening. She breathed, sabre in hoof. She offered a soft little prayer to the moon goddess, “Princess Luna, guardian of the night. Grant that my sword be steady, my aim be true and my hooves swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness.”
With that, she moved for the first Thestral. She got to within three strides when the one closest to him cried out in alarm. She lunged with sabre leading her as the Thestral tried to turn and move. She caught him in the face, leaving a tremendous wound across his muzzle. He howled and she thrust the sabre cleanly through the gap between his helmet and torso armour.
He remained locked in position as she spun for the second law pony. Thestrals were tenaciously fast and violent fighters. They were locked in a heated exchange, two sabres dancing around one another as each tried to outwit their opponent.
She feinted with her sword – the jerky motion caused the Thestral to lean back with his guard up. She dived instead, kicking a hoof-full of sand at his helmet and tackling him. She used her lower centre of gravity to get his hips down and pinned him for a moment. Two more were almost atop her and she rolled across the one on the ground to escape.
She had to abandon any fatal strikes she had planned, as now two larger Thestrals were attacking her relentlessly. She yelled with each parry and flash of steel. Whirling around she was able to simultaneously kick the weapon from one of the ponies and catch him in the teeth with both hooves. There was a tremendous crack as her hooves met bone and he fell.
The townsfolk were rioting, with the two remaining Thestrals wavering as they tried to arrest their uprising. One of the stallions in the group rose to challenge them and got a little cut across his chest for his trouble. It was like poking a hornet’s nest. Suddenly twenty ponies were tearing into the two hapless Thestrals.
Ash had her hooves full and so returned her attention to trying not to get killed. The blinded Thestral was rising, complaining, “I can’t see!”
The other was rounding on her. He’d picked up his downed partners blade and she now had to contend with two sabres racing towards her. She backstepped and parried, the force of the strikes as they hit her sabre chipped her blade and made her wrists ache.
Another backstep and she slipped in the sand. He used both blades to make a massive downward strike aimed for her head. She rolled with the trip and came up on his left. She turned and kicked again but her hooves found only empty air.
As if by instinct she shifted into his counter attack. The blades just barely missing her as she came around to headbutt him so hard her neck cracked, pain exploded down her spine from the nerve shock but she bared her fangs and pushed on.
He was stunned as he sloppily tried to use upward diagonal swings to ward her off. On the third swing she used a front leg to kick the blades back down, stabbing him through the chest with her sabre. His grip loosened and they went crashing to the ground. He squirmed and tried to pry her off by jabbing his hooves into her eyes. She screamed out as she stabbed and stabbed. Hot blood covered her face and got in her mouth. The coppery taste only serving to fuel her blood rage as she rose and hacked at his neck.
Behind her, the two Thestrals had been stampeded to death. Both lay with bodies bent and twisted. The townsfolk were ambling around, the stress and anxiety creating a very uncertain atmosphere. Lilly approached from behind and recoiled as Ash turned with a severed head in one hoof.
“Oh my…” she said as she heaved, nothing but spit as she coughed. She had a massive swelling bruise across half of her face.
“Quickly,” Ash said, dropping the head and replacing her damaged sabre with a nicer model.
“I need water and food. Enough for four days and then I’m going to Mulico.”
“What?!” Custer said alarmed, “what happens when they come back?!” His eyes – all of their eyes – were wide with worry.
He and Lilly followed her like lost puppies as she loaded up on food from the kitchen hut, the smokestacks and dishrack a dead giveaway. She used a faucet to wash as much of the blood from herself as she could, soaking herself entirely. She went inside and filed her saddlebags with food and took another water bladder.
“I’m sorry about Red,” she started as she emerged, “I truly am. But if she isn’t already dead then she soon will be. So will you, unless you do exactly as I say,” she paused to ensure the message sunk in and to look them both in the eye.
“This is crazy!” Custer complained.
“Take their bodies and bury them with the raiders, do it as fast as you can. Clean the blood and cover it with sand, try to make everything look normal. When that Thestral comes back tell him I was spotted heading south and the Thestrals chased after me.”
She marched back to the carnage as the settlers all watched her with expressions of shock, Custer and Lilly followed. She found another sabre and ripped the sheath from one of the downed Thestrals.
“But-but,” Custer stuttered, “you’re headed that-a-way ain’tcha?”
“I am,” Ash said. “But he won't believe anything else, he knows where I'm going." She took a breath as she checked her equipment, “Thank you. For everything. Now hurry!”
Ash turned to leave, marching south and exiting the table-fence perimeter. She glanced back, Lilly had followed and waited on the edge, desperately looking at her as she turned her back on the mare and broke into a run.
The clock was ticking and the adrenaline was pumping, she had maybe an hour if she was lucky. Assuming Agent Bucksaw went back to the village and believed them when they said she was heading south, then she had a maximum of an hour and fifteen minutes. She had a quarter of the time for every hour passed for him to reach her she estimated. She just hoped he would take the wrong bearing.
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