Bonnie took him all over the city. There wasn’t an inn, restaurant or bar that they didn’t visit, no music that they didn’t dance to, no stories they didn’t share. Day faded to night and the Fae made good on their promise; they didn’t let the night end. After a few drinks, stories fell from the gambler easily and Tallis listened as they told him all about growing up in the winter clans, struggling to find their path in life, and eventually settling on making a career out of cards and dice.

They sat together in the high branches of the city. The wood here had been formed into seats and railings overlooking the forest. Tallis smiled as the sun painted the tree tops in gold. “It’s hard to imagine that drinking and gambling is a real job out here.”

Bonnie rolled up their sleeve, showing off a tattoo on their forearm. It was a simple piece in black ink with heavy lines, but you could see from across the room that it was a joker from a standard deck of cards.

They slapped the tattoo. “Yup. The sages had a fancier name for it but I think I like professional gambler more. Makes it sound more official than following the Path of the Rambler.”

“I don’t know,” said Tallis, taking a sip of their latest bottle of wine. It was treating him much better than the hard liquor. “Path of the Rambler has a certain poetic feel to it, doesn’t it? It’s a bit more romantic. Professional anything just sounds so cold.”

They took the bottle from him and ran a thumb over the label. “Can’t believe the only wine you liked was the one we give to children.”

He shrugged. “Well, you said the one rule was that you wouldn’t take care of me if I made myself sick. Everything else you brew here is too strong.”

“So, tell me, what were you in your past life if the daintiest wines are too strong for you and the word professional makes your skin crawl?”

“I don’t know if I’d say past life exactly. It really wasn’t that long ago.”

“You’re dodging the question. I’ve done nothing but tell you stories all night. Your turn. You owe me.”

“And one answer will cover all of that? It doesn’t seem like a fair trade.”

“You can owe me for the rest. Answer.”

He took a deep breath and let it slowly, gazing out over the horizon and avoiding eye contact. “I was an Agent, an administrative assistant for Cold Iron if you want to be precise about it. Professional paper filer and form filler.”

“Sounds painfully boring.”

He took his children’s wine back and finished the bottle, shocked that they weren’t upset. “You’re taking the news well.”

“Should I get mad instead? Would you prefer I ruin the wonderful time we’ve had and throw you from the city?”

“I would really prefer it if you didn’t.”

“Right. It wouldn’t help anything. No sense getting upset over it. Before I found my calling I walked the Path of the Hunter, the Path of The Seeker, and the Path of the Corsair. It took me a long time to find what I was meant for.”

Setting his empty bottle down, Tallis leaned over the railing in front of him and shook his head. “At least you know. I just feel ... lost.”

“We can fix that. Wherever there’s Fae in any numbers, there’s a sage or two around.”

“What the hell, why not?” They stood and a scream like twisting metal echoed from the forest below. He caught Bonnie by the arm and stopped short. “Might have to wait on that. We need to find my friends.”

“What’s the hurry?”

The scream peeled up from the trees again.

He pointed down over the rail, swallowing past the hard lump of fear in his throat. “That is.”

“Tallis,” they said, giving him a hard look. “That noise could be anything. Do you know how many strange creatures live here?”

“I know, “ he said. “There’s a heap and a half of oddball shit, I’m sure, but that, I know what that is and I am not dealing with it alone.” He ran back inside the city and rushed down the spiral ramp running down the outer wall of the trunk.

Bonnie ran down after him. “Tallis,” they shouted. “Slow down!”

He didn’t listen. His legs were fire, his lungs were burning. Gods this tree was too damned big. Halfway down the trunk he stumbled and fell. Dull red pain flared up from both knees. He pushed himself up to his feet as a breath of fetid air wafted in through a nearby window. He nearly gagged on the damp scent of wet leaves and rotten meat. He pushed himself behind a column and did his best to press himself through the wall. His breath hitched in his throat and his heart pounded in his ears. A pair of sharp horns and burning eyes pushed through the window.

The Devil had come to call.

The beast heaved the rest of its bulk in through the window and landed awkwardly, coming down hard on its left shoulder and rolling to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs. Tallis was as still as the wood behind. He drew in a sharp breath and held it, hoping the thing hadn’t seen him.

It didn’t. But it did see Bonnie.

The gambler reached down and pulled a snub nosed pistol from their boot. The gun let out four strangled pops before it clicked empty. The Devil didn’t care. It untangled it’s gangly limbs and stood at a leisurely pace. It picked a squashed ball of lead from its fur and flicked it away with a snarl. Growling it, flexed its claws and took a step towards the Fae.

Tallis grit his teeth and freed his pistol from its holster. He couldn’t just sit and hide. He was a giant slayer now. A pinewatch devil couldn’t do anything to him. Pressing the muzzle of his gun into the back of the monster's head, he squeezed the trigger, bracing himself for the spray of gore he was sure would ruin his shirt. A hard click came out of the gun.

The devil spun on its heel and hammered an elbow into Tallis’ ribs. The faemetal lining his vest took most of the blow and bent under the impact, sending a jarring pain across his ribs and rolling up to his shoulders. The overlapping plates sprang back to true and Tallis dropped to one knee. He grabbed the slide at the back of the gun and racked it back. The devil raised a claw. He squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked against his palm and the monster staggered back a step. Bonnie slipped past it and caught Tallis by the collar, hauling him to his feet on their way past. He stumbled after her, firing over his shoulder as they went.

The devil let out a shriek.      

They didn’t slow down. Bonnie towed him down the ramp running in long bounding strides that Tallis could scarcely keep up with. They towed him into a shop and motioned for the shopkeeper to stay quiet. They pressed themselves to either side of the doorway.

“What the hell?” said the shopkeep.

The pinewatcher stalked into view, shutting the store owner up. He dropped behind the counter and a door creaked open. The beast slowed to a stop, sniffing the air. Bonnie pointed behind the counter. “Where the hell did he go?” they whispered.

The Pinewatcher tilted its head towards them. Bonnie dashed behind the counter. The beast took a step towards them. Tallis slipped around the corner. He fired and blew a hole in the wall behind the monster. It pulled an arm back and stabbed at him with its claws. He pulled back around the corner. Serrated claws tore through his sleeve and bit the flesh underneath. He flinched back with a curse and fell, landing hard on his backside. Dull pain slammed through him, his teeth clicked together and the hot copper taste of blood filled his mouth.

“There’s a trapdoor here,” Bonnie shouted.

Tallis fired again and put a bullet through the Devil’s knee. It shrieked and dropped. Black blood oozed from the wound, filing the air with the rotten smell of seaweed baking in the sun at low tide.

“That’s nice,” he said, firing another shot.

“There’s a gun here too.”

“Great.” He scrambled back behind the counter and took the gun from her. It was a short barreled revolver with a slender frame, gentle curves, and a stub barrel. The banker’s gods damn special. They really were everywhere.

He leaned up over the counter and emptied the banker’s special into the creature and when the hammer fell on an empty cylinder he threw the damn thing at it. The monster stopped moving and a rattling cough bubbled up from the monster’s throat. Black blood pooled on the floor.

“Is it dead?” asked Bonnie.

“I’m not hanging around to find out,” Tallis turned and slipped into the trapdoor. Bonnie followed him into the short space. The low ceilinged room was stacked full of crates and tunnels spiderwebbed out of it in all directions. Tallis took a peek into one of the crates. It was full of crystals. With a shrug, he pocketed a handful of redstone and moved to leave through a passageway that sloped downwards.

“Here,” said Bonnie, handing him a fistful of greenstone. “Take a little good to balance out that badness you just picked up.”

He stepped down the hallway. It was just barely tall enough for him to stand upright. Bonnie had to stoop.

“What am I going to do with these?” he asked.

“You don’t know how to use them?”
He shrugged and took a redstone out of his pocket. “I know how to make a fire with these and that’s about it.”

“Now that’s impressive.”

“What?” the tunnel stretched on forever, smooth featureless walls faded to darkness the further they fled from the light of the trapdoor.

“You can change shapes. That’s not a trick that most Fae can do, let alone humans, but you don’t know how to use a greenstone?”

“Yeah, I can only really do that one trick. Even lighting a redstone is hit and miss for me.” He slowed to a stop. “Can you see anything? I’m blind as hell in here.”

She made a disgusted noise followed by a soft laugh and shuffled past him. “How your people took over the entire earth I’ll never know. Can’t cast magic. Can’t see in the dark. Can’t drink all night. I don’t get it.”

They took him by the hand and led him through the darkness.

“How about we make a trade then,” he said.

He couldn’t see but he swore he could feel them turn and raise an eyebrow. “You have my attention.”

“If we make it through this, I’ll teach you some human history and you teach me some magic.”

“Trade knowledge and secrets, huh? I don’t think that’s ever been done in the whole history of the Faelands.”

“You’re bullshitting me, right?”

“Of course I am. Spirits and ghosts, I was trading secrets and gossip and information before I could walk. If I could have done it before I knew how to talk I would have.”

“So is that a yes? Or a no?”

Light spilled into the passageway. Finally they were almost out.

“I think it’s a yes,” said Bonnie. “Unless I change my mind.”

They stepped through the narrow door at the end of the tunnel and emerged behind a large pillar supporting a bridge. A team of agents were clustered around the bottom of a ramp, watching Allistair Cromley himself leading a Pinewatcher on a leash. The demon had a metal helmet on with a solid plate of iron over its eyes.

“I think it’ll do fine,” said Allistair. "Sniffed out a trapdoor full of evil.”

The agents at the bottom of the ramp all made disgusted noises and took a step away from the monster. “Too bad they have to smell so awful,” said one of them.

Allistair gave the beast a rough poke in the chest. “Someone gave it a few shots. It’s the blood that stinks. It’s bad enough to make a pig squeal backwards, I know. Worth it though. Things are tougher than hell.”

The agents agreed. “Here’s hoping the other four work just as good,” said one.

“Shit,” Tallis whispered. “There’s more of them?”

“Pinewatcher’s?” said Bonnie. “There’s lots in the deadlands but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one on a leash before.”

“Yeah, that’s bad news. I’m sure we can put a stop to that later. Let’s focus on  getting the hells out of here for now.”

Bonnie pointed to a door past the knot of agents. “The only way out is through.”

Tallis smiled and took the feathered focus out of his pocket, twirling it in his fingers. “I think we can give them the slip.” He gathered a fistful of old memories and emotions and pushed them through the focus, leaving his regular body with a flash of blue light.

Bonnie followed his lead and they took to the air, arcing up over the clump of agents. The Pinebarren Devil jerked its head towards them. The agents followed its gaze and frowned up at the two birds overhead. A confused look passed between them but they shrugged off the beast's reaction.

“Must be ready for a snack,” said Allistair. He handed the leash to one of the agents next to him and freed one of his oversized pistols from his belt. He flicked the lever on the pack of the gun, switching from regular bullets to shotgun shells, and aimed skyward. “I wonder if it likes crow.”

Tallis’ heart froze in his chest. He flared his wings and looped behind the green raven, letting his spell drop. Allistair fired. The cloud of lead caught Tallis full in the chest. A crackle of green lightning snapped out from his vest and flared down his sleeves. He hit the ground hard and landed in a heap. Dull black and blue pain crashed over his entire body. Boots clacked over the wood, coming towards him, and a hard metal click split the air. The Eastling Devil growled. A boot caught him in the stomach and rolled him onto his back. With a groan he pried his eyes open and found himself staring up into the twin barrels of the lieutenant's gun. Looking past that, a great green raven perched on a catwalk above him. It ruffled its feathers and started to spread its wings. Tallis shook his head, and the bird settled down.

The lieutenant holstered his pistol. “That is quite a trick, boy. Where’d you learn that one?”

He kept his eyes locked on the raven. “Oh you know, here and there. It’s easy to find help in the Faelands if you know where to look.”

The raven flew away.

Allistair raised and eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder. “The hell are you lookin’ at?”

“You.”

Allistair scowled at him and held up two fingers. “How many fingers, son?”

“Four,” Tallis lied.

Allistair nodded to the agents behind him and they pulled Tallis to his feet. A third pulled his pistol from his holster and unloaded it, throwing the clip to the ground. With his gun taken care of, the third agent went through his pockets and relieved him of the red and green crystals he’d been carrying. The agents kept his hands behind his back and marched him out of the city and steered him towards the treeline.

The agent holding his left arm spared a glance over her shoulder. “That thing scares the shit out of me,” she said to the agent on his right.

“The lieutenant? I know he’s a real son of a bitch.”

The female agent laughed. “True. But I meant the other thing.”

The agent on his right shrugged. “Necessary evil. It’s very good at finding magic. Bet it’ll be the key to cracking down on the big cities. San Tempes won’t know what hit it.”

San Tempes.

Tallis dug in his heels and twisted out of his captors grip. That was the city his parents had run to, and he sure as all seven hells wasn’t going to let Cold Iron fill it with demons. He threw a punch into the male agent's face. Cartilage crumpled with a wet crunch and the agent fell to one knee, blood pouring from his nose. Tallis didn’t give him the chance to fight back. He turned and drove a boot into the agent's chin with all the force he could muster. The man fell backwards, but his partner rushed in, hammering a kick into the back of Tallis’ knee and spilling him to the ground. She held his arm in an iron grip and wrestled him onto his stomach. He struggled in vain, flailing wildly.

Someone pushed a gun to the back of his head. “Best you stop that, boy. Unless you’re willing to part with your head.”

Tallis stopped fighting.

“Smart,” said Allistair. “Now why don’t you be quiet. Quit kicking up such a fuss. And come along peaceful like. I have questions.”

He stood and let the agents march him into the camp they’d robbed yesterday. The place was still in disarray.

“You ready to talk?” asked Allistair.

The agents shoved him to the ground in front of the fire pit. He stayed silent. The agent with the broken nose kicked him in the ribs.

“Answer him!” he shouted.

Tallis tensed and balled his hands into fists. He reached for his magic but had nowhere to push it. His focus was gone. With no way of escape all he could do was buy time. Every second the agents and their demon were tied up here was one that they weren’t raiding San Tempes. Another boot cracked into his stomach. Even with the spells burned out, the vest still did it’s job in absorbing the blow. The overlapping scales were tougher than he’d thought.

Allistair crouched down and pulled the hammer back on his revolver. “One more time, you ready to talk?”

“Not yet.” Tallis smiled. How many ways could he get under the lieutenant's skin? “I’d rather wait until someone smarter shows up. Can you run home and get a more qualified officer?”

“That is funny. Really funny.”

Tallis shrugged but didn’t answer.

“If that’s how you want to play this, then sure. We can tie you up real quick and hang you at home.” He stood and pointed the gun at Tallis’ head. “Or we can take care of you right here and now.”

The injured agent held a rag to his face doing his best to stem the flow of blood. “I say kill him. Aint’ no law out here.”

Allistair nodded. “Ain’t no law anywhere. Not one that matters anyway. Last words, you little shit?”

“I can’t believe this,” said Tallis, shaking his head.

The bleeding agent kicked him in the stomach. “Believe it,” he growled. “You’re done.”

Tallis struggled back to his knees, coughing. “I can’t believe how gods damned stupid you are. Allistair, is this really the best you could bring here? I knew you were plum weak north of your ears, but this, this is really something special. You’re just going to throw away your best lead?”

Allistair lowered the gun and laughed. “Our best lead? The case is already closed, boy.”

“Really? I’m surprised you solved one.”

“One? You forget who the best detective on the squad was?”

“It was that old guy wasn’t it? The one who liked to sit around smoking that pipe and playing checkers in the evidence room. He was pretty good.”

Allistair gripped his gun tighter and Tallis could see a nerve jumping in his jaw.

“You, though,” said Tallis. “You couldn’t investigate your way out of a burlap sack. How much time did we waste interrogating that farmer who was completely innocent?”

Allistair spun the gun around on his finger and brought the grip down on Tallis’ forehead. Stars burst in his vision and blinding white pain slammed through his head. Half the world went dark and something hot trickled down the side of his face. Blood or brains he couldn’t be sure. Time slipped out of sync for a moment and reality faded out to black and then back in with a buzz of grey, tingling aftershocks of pain.

The world snapped back into sharp focus when the barrel of the gun came down again, staring at him.

“I told you,” said Allistair. “I told you we needed him to go down for it. It was important.”

Tallis blinked slowly and looked past the lieutenant to the agents with him. More detectives trickled into the camp, carrying boxes of stolen crystal and spellbooks. “The guy was innocent,” he slurred, stumbling over his words. “Innocent and he said to me, I don’t care if he’s guilty and I don’t care if he swings for this. Is that really the type of person you want to work for?”

The agent who had carried him in lifted him to his feet and took a knife from her belt. She pressed the blade to his cheek. “My last boss made me cut off ears. He liked to collect them as trophies.” She pressed down on the blade and Tallis felt the cold shock of the steel biting his flesh. “So no, I don’t care if someone hangs every now and then.”

She shoved him back down into the dirt and Allistair crouched next to him again. “See what you’re up against boy? Now if you have something to say, come out and say it. If not then you have two choices: I can shoot you quick,” he gestured over his shoulder with the barrel of his gun. “Or she can do you real slow with the knife.”

“That’s not much of a choice,” said Tallis.

“Sure isn’t. Now what do you have to say?”

A shot tore out from beneath the trees and hammered into the pistol in Allistair’s hand. He dropped it with a curse. Tallis scrambled forward and snatched up the gun. The old man was on top of him, driving a knee into the small of his back and digging his fingers into Tallis’ scalp. He drove Tallis face into the ground, wretched his head back and slammed him down again.

A volley of shots tore through the camp. Agents fell. Some didn’t get up again. A crash like the world ending rang out and Allistair was blasted clear of Tallis. The older man rolled arse over applecart and came down face first. Tallis inched his way to his feet and stumbled towards the gunshots. Anything had to be better than here. Footsteps crunched over the hard packed earth behind him. He turned halfway around and tried to bring the gun up. Someone slammed into him, bearing him to the ground. Steel flashed. A knifepoint drove down. Dull pressure flared in the center of his chest.

The gun in his hand went off.

His attacker startled, giving him enough room to scramble out from underneath of them. He flicked the switch on the back of the gun and fired. A cloud of buckshot roared out of the barrel and the weapon bucked in his hand. Snapping back and sending waves of pain dancing over his wrist. The agent clutched at their throat, blood running between her fingers and let out a gurgling scream. The other detectives had formed a rough line and were busy redying a hodgepodge of rifles, pistols and shotguns. A wave of fire broke over the field, breaking around Tallis like a spar of rock cutting the tide, every officer with a loaded rifle fell dead. He flicked the gun back to its primary mode and snapped off three shots before ducking low and heading for the trees. He slid to a stop behind a thick tree, ears ringing and dizzy.

His arms moved of their own accord as instinct pushed him to lean out and fire another pair of rounds into the firing line. He pulled back as a burning cloud of buckshot split the air. Whipping around the other side of the tree, he fired another three times. One of the officers dropped.

A friendly voice called to him from beneath the trees. “Tallis?” said Valerie. “That you?”

He fired the last round in the revolver. “I’m here.” Another wave of lead broke around him, shaking the tree he sheltered behind. Violet leaves drifted down from the upper branches, oblivious to the chaos around them.

The forest filled with a haze of gunsmoke as both sides kept firing. Valerie stalked out through the clouds of smoke and drifting leaves, firing her rifle from the hip as fast as she could cycle the lever. A slug screamed through the haze and caught her on the shoulder, spinning her halfway round. She barely missed a step, taking one hand off her rifle, she tore a heavy, brutish looking revolver from her belt and blazed away, dumping all six rounds towards the officers. She hit the tree next to Tallis like a freight train and it shook under the impact.

“You all right?” she asked.

“Dizzy,” he answered. “Can’t see out of my left eye.”

Taking his face in her hands, she dabbed a sleeve around his eye gingerly.

“It’s still there, right?” he asked, terrified of the answer. The battle ebbed and a moment of dark and heavy silence settled between the trees.

“Think so. Everything is just all swelled up. Cut on your eyebrow is dripping blood into it like a bastard.”

Cautious footsteps crunched towards them. “How’s he look?” asked Setia.

“Beat up. Not bad, all things considered.”

Setia pushed one of the Agency’s new boxy, broomhandle pistols into his hands. “Stole you one of these since you seemed to like it.”

He racked the slide. “Thanks.” Valerie helped him to his feet and walked him back into a thicker stand of trees. Callan and Aragam stood there with Bonnie. The rambling Fae sped towards him and wrapped him in a bone crushing hug.

He pried their arms away. “Easy. I’m a little beat up.” They let him go and he slid back down to the ground, resting on one knee. “Just give me a minute to catch my breath, guys. Then we can be on our way.

Callan gave a sharp whistle and Phaethon trotted towards the group. “You can ride if you don’t feel up to walking.”

Tallis nodded and Callan helped him up onto the horse. The low boom of hollow iron striking stone echoed from the camp and a keening screech sent shivers running down Tallis’ spine.

A look of terror passed between the Faerunners.

Valerie put a hand on Bonnie’s arm. “You best clear off. We have this in hand.”
Bonnie shifted into the green raven and flew off as the rest of the group played her out with a chorus of metallic clicks and clacks as they loaded their weapons.

Tallis bent closer to Phaethon's ears. “Let’s give this thing hell, okay boy?”

A dark shape passed overhead and the elemental reared with a whinny. The Devil landed in the center of their group and caught a hoof to the jaw for its troubles. The horse bounded off into the trees as the rest of the group opened fire. Screams cut above the pounding of the gunfire and the monster took the air again. Phaethon circled back around to the Faerunners and herded them back towards the city. Tallis turned and fired a hasty pair of rounds into the air behind them. The beast descended and black claws caught Callan on the shoulder. The Fae cursed and pressed a shotgun into it’s stomach. A sea of gore blew out through the monster's back and it took to the air again.

“How much can it take?” Tallis shouted.

The devil flopped to the ground in front of them, mewling. It reached its sickle claws towards them. Aragam stepped forward and raised his rifle. It let out a concussive bass roar, like a mountain falling down, and the monster's head simply disappeared.

“There.” He flicked a lever down behind the trigger guard and a square section fell from the center of the rifle, hinging downward belching smoke. A great brass shell slid from the breach and Aragam replaced it with a fresh bullet. “Stay dead this time you fucking donkey.”

Any joy they might have felt was short lived. Three more of the monsters fell from the sky and changed. The Faerunners scattered, firing half aimed shots towards the creatures. Black gore painted the leaves around them. Phaethon bounded forward and one of the monsters swooped down. Tallis fired. Serrated claws dug into his chest and lifted him off the horse. His world caught fire and engulfed him sheets of screaming white pain lanced through with red bolts of agony.

The monster dropped him and he rolled over the dirt, coming to a stop staring up through the trees at a pink and gold sky. He reached for his chest and his fingers came away wet with blood. His life ran out of him in crimson rivers. Someone grabbed him by the collar and drug him back. Hands probed at the hole in his chest. He slapped them away, weakly. They were making it worse. Whoever was prodding him kept at it and jammed a ball of stinging green paste into the wound. Tallis shut his eyes. He wished all the pain would go away.

Everything faded to warm, fuzzy black for a breath, folding him in a peaceful embrace. Then, the world thundered back in, sharp and loud and nothing but pain. He was lying slumped over something made of wood. Knots and branches dug at him.

The black reached for him again.

A massive hand slapped the wood next to him. “Run,” said… someone. Their voice seemed like it was coming from a long way away. “Get him to the portal.”

He didn’t know what the portal was but it sounded like effort. And he was so tired. It sounded like pain. And he could bear no more.

The darkness reached for him again and Tallis threw himself into its warm embrace.