Steve McHugh - Born of Hatred

"But…" the young warrior started.

"But nothing!" The Chief slammed his open palm onto the table. "This man will not die at our hands. It is my place to ensure the Crow remain strong. Killing him will do the opposite."

"Why show him to me?" I asked, breaking the staring contest that had ensued between the Chief and warrior.

"His master is the Sheriff. I assumed you would want to question him yourself."

I glanced at the beaten man who spat on the floor by my feet. "Traitor," he said. "You should be helping us, not fighting your own kind."

Air slammed into the chest of the man, ripping him from his chair and throwing him up against the wall, pinning him and holding him still as I walked toward him. "My kind, " I snarled, "could crush you like the fucking insect you are. If you ever refer to anyone in my company in a derogatory fashion again, I shall strip the flesh from your bones." I clenched my fist and the air wrapped around the man increased in pressure until he was moments away from having his bones crushed.

"Clear?" I asked as tears flowed from the deputy's eyes.

He nodded furiously, so I released the magic and he fell awkwardly to the floor.

I waited for a few seconds and returned to my seat as the deputy dragged in ragged breaths deeply. "Answer my questions truthfully and you live," I said, when he'd finished coughing. "And rest assured that, unlike your current captors, I will have no issues with making you disappear."

The man nodded once more.

"Who sent you here?"

"Sheriff Bourne, he runs Kilnhurst."

"A corrupt sheriff," I rubbed my temples. "What a damn shock."

The deputy shook his head. "He's not corrupt. He doesn't take bribes or hurt the inhabitants of the town. He protects us from those who would do us harm. Like them." He motioned toward the nearest warrior.

"So he protects you all, and you just ignore when he has people murdered. Is he human?"

"Yes."

"I assume you've seen the ghouls."

"They protect us too. They help the sheriff in his work, but he doesn't control them. I don't know who does."

I needed to go to the town even more so, if only to check the sheriff out for myself. And hopefully to figure out if the deputy was lying or if there really was someone else out there controlling the ghouls.

"Take him back to his cell," I said to the Chief who motioned for one of the warriors to take the deputy away.

The warrior who had argued with the Chief earlier drew a knife and stepped forward.

I intercepted the attack before it even happened, knocking the knife aside and pushing the young warrior back. "Deputy, you will not be harmed," I said, my back toward him, as I watched the warrior glare at me.

Behind me, the deputy calmed and I heard him being led away toward his cell. "One thing, before you go," I said, and the deputy stopped again. "If anyone goes against my word, I will kill them." I did not take my eyes off the young warrior as I spoke.

"Thank you, sir," the deputy said from behind me.

I hadn't finished. "But if you lied to me about anything," I told him, "or if you try to escape from this place, your life is forfeit. And I will let these men do whatever they wish to ensure their anger is sated."

The prisoner was led away in silence, and the second I turned my eyes away from the young warrior, he pounced on me, exactly as I'd known he would. A second knife was in his hand and he swiped it up toward me. I dodged aside, kicked out his knee and smashed his face into the wooden table before locking his elbow at the joint until he released the blade.

"Are you satisfied now?" the Chief asked the young man. "Your behaviour was rash and stupid. A superior warrior handled you as if you were a baby. You will apologise, and then you will leave my sight until I summon you for whatever punishment I deem necessary."

Chief Blacktail looked up at me. "You may release my son."

Well, that was a shock, but I did as I was asked, and moved away just enough to ensure that any further ideas of retribution would require him to step toward me. I really hoped he wasn't that foolish. Was I that stupid when I was young? Probably.

The warrior nodded slightly to his father before turning to me. "I'm sorry," he said, and quickly left the room.

"He is rash and impulsive," Chief Blacktail said. "Like myself at his age. Hopefully, he will grow out of it."

"I understand his need for vengeance. You're being set up to take the blame for what would be described as a massacre. I suggest you leave this place at first light and take your son with you."

"I agree. Have you told Sam you will not be taking him with you to Kilnhurst?"

I shook my head. "It's on my list of things to do before I go."

The Chief stood. "I wish you luck, Nathan Garrett. I see a rage in your eyes, and I'm not sure I would wish to be around when it is unleashed.”

“You’re not surprised about my magic?”

“You are not the first sorcerer I’ve met,” he said with a slight grin. “We will take Sam and Sky as far as our camp, they will be protected. Although I doubt Sky needs it, she is a capable woman. You should beware."

"I'm always wary of beautiful women who carry knives."

The Chief laughed. "The wise words of someone who has experienced the wrath of one such lady and a story I would like to hear."

"I promise when this is over, the story is all yours." So long as I wasn't dead first.

As much as I wanted to leave immediately, and make it to the town of Kilnhurst before dark the following day, I had to speak to Sam first. I'd grown to like him during the past few days together, and didn't want him to think that I was going to take away whatever justice or vengeance he thought he deserved.

I found him sitting on top of the wall, shrouded in the darkness from the watchtower above. "Someone mentioned you're off to Kilnhurst," he said, his voice hard but composed. As if waiting to spring from zero to anger in a second.

"I need to go and check out this sheriff; he's involved in all of this."

Sam moved forward and the torch light touched his face. "He killed my dad. Murdered him."

"What was your dad investigating?"

"Me and Dad lived in North Dakota; we moved there after Mum died. But he would take jobs to track people down. He was still a U.S. Marshall, and that held sway with many. And then some government people turned up about six months ago, asking for his help."

He paused for a moment. I got the feeling that Sam hadn't told any of this to a soul since it happened and I didn't want to interrupt.

"He never came home. It took me a few months to track down where he'd gone, but I eventually discovered that he went into that town, Kilnhurst, and never left." Tears began to fall steadily, but he didn't stop to wipe them away.

"I asked the sheriff for help, but instead, he got his thugs to give me a beating to keep me away. That was three weeks ago. I healed up and went back, determined to find out what happened to my dad. I waited until dusk and broke into one of the abandoned shops on the main street. I watched the sheriff walk to the cat house every night at the same time and stay for exactly the same amount of time.

"I did that for three nights until one night when a boy about my age broke into the same shop. His name was Lee and he was on the run from the law. He told me that he'd stolen some food, and had assaulted the army captain who had tried to capture him. He'd been following the sheriff, too, and wanted to break into his house at the edge of town to steal some of the things he'd seen there." Sam removed the silver revolver from his holster and cradled it in his hands. "Lee told me that he'd seen my dad's guns. That the sheriff normally wore them all the time, but that at night he removed them. He said if I helped, the guns were mine, but he wanted anything else we found. I agreed and we started to plan.