As Luna stood on top of the wagon, Merric rose from his seat in the front row and turned. Hounds surrounded her, and despite the throbbing pulse in her neck, she wasn’t afraid. Help was on its way. Crouching, she kept her eyes on Merric as he made his way towards her and peeled back the tarp on the wagon, revealing his daughter. The Hounds leaned, weapons in hand, and like a wave in the ocean, confusion rolled across their faces.

When Merric shoved his way through the crowd, Luna untied the blindfold from his daughter’s face. The girl’s frantic eyes scanned the audience around her and landed on her father, who stared back at her without a single sign of emotion.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“Your daughter.” Luna lifted her chin.

The Hounds began laughing so hard they had to use one another for support while wiping tears from their eyes. Sweat gathered in Luna’s palms, and the baby hairs stood on the back of her neck as if electrified. Why were they laughing? Merric’s giant muscular arms lifted as he motioned for The Hounds to quiet down.

“I don’t have children.” He wagged his finger. “So whatever you’re here to prove, your time is up!”

Lunging forward, his meaty hands latched onto Luna’s legs, causing her to fall onto her bottom as he dragged her from the wagon. Panicked, she grabbed the side rails, but it was no use as her hands slipped. Her body thudded against the dirt as Merric snatched her by the shirt collar and raised her to eye-level. 

“Look at me!” he snarled while giving her a rough shake, but Luna’s head bobbed like a water buoy. “You came into my camp with this imposter and killed my second-in-command! I will enjoy feeding you to my Hounds.”

Around him, the men began barking. Luna blinked a few times, trying to refocus. They had been naïve to believe the Scout was Merric’s daughter, and she was smarter than them by lying to save her life. Luna laughed. How foolish they’d been.

“What’s so funny, little girl?” Merric sneered. Luna paused from chuckling to herself and locked eyes with him. An energy-filed current pulsed through her limbs as a message appeared in his obsidian eyes—one that only she could see. Merric shook her again. “What is so funny!”

But Luna laughed harder, so he dropped her, and she hit the ground like an anvil.

“Ouch,” she chuckled while rubbing her side.

Guests were out of their seats with their complete attention on the scene taking place while whispering and pointing. Luna looked up and stared at Merric but continued giggling like a madwoman.

“Shut up!” he shouted while striking her across the face.

She held her cheek but kept her eyes on him—the smile not fading from her lips.

“Is she the one who killed Alexander?!” said Joanie, the mohawked woman. She pushed through the crowd but narrowed her eyes when she spotted Luna. “Wait, I know you...”

“WHO IS SHE,” Merric demanded. 

“The whore from that bar in Lake Tahoe.” She pointed.

Merric shifted his attention and crouched in front of Luna, and she could feel the humidity of his breath as he said, “If you don’t tell me what you’re doing here, I will kill you with my bare hands.”

“I’m Luna, daughter of Archibald and Lilliana, born on a blood harvest moon and blessed with the gift of seeing.”

Merric reeled back with furrowed brows. “You lie. You don’t have the gift.”

“I’ve seen the way you die. Why else do you think I was laughing?”

“She’s a liar, Merric. KILL her!” Joanie shouted.

“You know I’m telling the truth,” Luna said to him. “So you can make threats, but I’m not dying today.”

“Bullshit!” He raised his hand but paused right before striking. Luna grinned.

“Kill her, Merric!” Joanie screamed. “She murdered Alexander.”

“I’m NOT dying today!” Luna roared and sprang to her feet.

With a quick shake of her wrists, the daggers slid out again, and she swiped at Joanie, creating two deep gashes across her abdomen. The Hounds stepped back, forming a circle as if a catfight had just begun. Joanie lunged with her knife in hand, but Luna sidestepped in time and took another swipe, this time cutting Joanie’s arms. Their dance continued as Joanie thrust her knife, and Luna dodged while finding opportunities to stab her.

Slide, stab. 

Slide, stab. 

Slide, dodge. 

Stab, stab, stab.

“Finish her!” a Hound shouted. “Give us a good show.” 

When Joanie charged for her again, Luna sidestepped and swept her legs, forcing the woman to her knees. As crimson rivulets trickled down her arms and mixed with the earth, The Hounds chanted for Luna to give the final blow. She circled Joanie, stood behind her, and yanked her head by the hair.

“It was nice meeting you,” Luna hissed, stabbing Joanie’s throat. She stepped back, letting her body fall, and pointed the bloody knife at The Hounds. “I’ve seen how you die, but I’ll give you a head start. Then, I’m coming for you.”

All eyes shifted to Merric as a breeze rippled across the surface of the pool, and the loose strands of Luna’s hair fluttered. Merric glared, his fists flexing at his side, as if deciding to believe her or not, but everything became silent as gunfire invaded the camp. Birds scattered from the electrical wires, and his eyes followed them until locking on the men running down the steep hill. A sharp sound zipped through the air, and next to him, a Hound collapsed with a curl of smoke escaping his skull.

“Take cover,” Merric shouted and took off running for the trailers.

As Luna looked around for her backup, she spotted Jasper and Abraham charging through the front entrance. Hounds dropped like flies as they sprayed them with bullets—not hesitating for a second as they cleared the path to get to her.

“Come on!” Jasper shouted, extending his hand to her.

“What took you so long!”

“We ran into some trouble...” he replied, and Luna noticed the blood trickling down his temple.

“You’re hurt!”

“Had a run-in with Hounds were patrolling the area. No big deal.”

“Come on, let’s move!” Abraham shouted, waving them on.

“We need to catch those men.” Luna pointed to The Hounds escaping. “I promised them death.”

Together, they took off in a sprint with their sights locked on the Hounds.

∆∆∆

Explosive gunfire surrounded the trailers as Gunner and Coyote snuck between them, looking for Corbin and Clara. As they approached a corner, Gunner paused and signaled for Coyote to wait.

“Someone is coming...” Inching forward, he peeked around the bend and saw Merric running to the adjacent trailer door. “It’s him.”

“He must be going in there for something valuable. I bet Clara and Corbin are in there,” Coyote replied.

“I think so too. Ready?”

“Ready!”

“Alright, follow my lead.”

Gunner pressed onward, but they froze in their tracks at the gunfire somewhere inside the trailer. Their eyes widened as one, two, and three rounds went off.

“Let’s move!” Coyote shouted.

Charging forward, Gunner raised his boot and kicked the door wide open. They found several women bleeding out on the kitchen floor with arms wrapped around their crying babies. Terrified children hovered in a covering, their ears and trembling so severely that one of them soiled himself. A child looked up at them and pointed her trembling finger towards the hallway. 

Nodding to each other, Gunner and Coyote moved forward cautiously, but a familiar cry rang out from the second room. When they rushed to it, their eyes didn’t know where to land. Clara was on top of Merric’s back, pounding her fists while Corbin lay beneath them with Merric’s hands around his neck. As Clara continued hammering him, Merric reached behind and pulled her over his head before slamming her onto her back. Time tick by as she collided with the floor, causing the metal nail file to fly from her hand and land at Coyote’s feet, revealing a coat of blood.

Tiny stab marks peppered Merric’s back from her makeshift weapon, yet the man barely noticed his injuries as he strangled Corbin. Not letting another second go by, Gunner lunged and wrapped Merric in a chokehold. Except he wouldn’t let go and squeezed Corbin’s neck harder. Gunner tightened his hold, forcing Merric to abandon Corbin, but he stood and ran back into the nearest wall with Gunner clinging to him. 

Despite Merric’s attempts at injuring Gunner, he failed, but the weak trailer wall gave in, causing them both to puncture through it. They tumbled like rollie-pollies, with Merric’s gargantuan body landing on top of Gunner. Coyote rushed over, taking the man by the collar, and pulled him off. Except Merric overpowered him by snaking his hands around Coyote’s arms and lifting him into the air. Coyote tried his best to kick and swing, but it was no use as Merric used the momentum like a battering ram through another wall, sending fragments of plywood everywhere. 

Gunner sprang to his feet and dashed through the hole in the other bedroom where Coyote and Merric wrestled like alligators in a swamp of debris. Coyote wrapped his legs around Merric’s torso, but the man kept bucking and kicking. Gunner jumped on top, resuming his choke-hold, allowing Coyote to tighten his grip. The harder they both squeezed, the more Merric’s strength weakened until he succumbed to unconsciousness.

“Is it... over...?” Corbin coughed, rubbing the scarlet finger marks stamped on his neck, as he and Clara stepped into the destroyed room. 

“Not yet, kid,” Coyote replied, his breaths heavy as he rolled out from under Merric.

“What about the other witchers?” he asked.

Clara cut her eyes to Gunner, but his focus was elsewhere as he worked on tying up the man responsible for almost auctioning off his wife. So she turned to her brother. “Coyote, what happened to them!”

“Merric killed the mothers, but he spared the children.”

“No...” Clara darted from the room, followed by a scream.

Gunner closed his eyes and sighed. “She’ll never be the same.”

“So what do we do?” Corbin croaked while rubbing his neck.

“We take out the garbage,” he replied.

Cupping his hands under Merric’s armpits, he dragged him through the hallway and into the living room. Clara was crouched by the children while trying to console the crying babies.

“What will you do with him?” she asked.

“Kill him. I want whoever is left to see their king die.”

Clara looked over her shoulder. “I’ll do it. I want to make sure he never does this again.”

“Then that’s what will happen.” Gunner nodded and pulled Merric through the trailer door.

Out in the camp, bodies laid in puddles of dark blood, while others floated in the pool with their death flowing out like ink drops in a water glass. The sky had shifted into a fade of purple with a hint of magenta streaks igniting the horizon. Jasper and Luna were putting their last stabs into their victims when Abraham whistled and pointed at Gunner.

“Gather up whoever remains, including the bidders. They’re not going home with their prizes,” Gunner announced and dragged Merric to the stage where the Bid Caller’s podium was.

They waited as the uncles and cousins ushered the remaining guests, nudging them with their rifles—forcing them to face the stage. Archibald made his way down the mountain while Luna, Jasper, and Abraham hauled the last Hounds onto the stage. Witchers began stepping out of the trailers with their eyes, scanning the battlefield that was formerly a camp. 

With everyone’s attention, Gunner shouted, “The days of selling Witchers and forcing them into slavery are OVER. The Hounds are OVER. As for your leader, Merric, his days are OVER.”

Motioning for Clara, she walked onto the stage with bare feet—the heels they had given her sitting at the bottom of the pool after chucking them. She held her chin high as she took her place behind Merric and held out her hand to Gunner. He placed a knife in her palm, and without hesitation, she pulled Merric’s head back so she could stare him in the eyes and then pressed the blade against his neck.

“This is for the mothers you killed. This is for the children you orphaned. I hope you choke on your blood as you bleed out.”

Merric laughed at her words. “Do you really think killing me will mean you’re safe? Honey, I’m not the first to hunt and sell your kind, and I won’t be the last.”

“Don’t call me honey.”

Her nostrils flared as she let out a growl while dragging the knife across his throat in a deep line. She stepped back, letting his body fall sideways, but his bulky muscles caused him to crumple into a half-sitting position. Then, as if coming out of a trance, the stainless steel blade slipped from Clara’s fingers and landed at her feet with a clang. Gunner opened his arms to her, and she curled into him with her face buried in his chest. As she sobbed, he nodded to the others, signaling for them to take care of the rest. Luna, Jasper, Abraham, Coyote, and Archibald stepped behind the remaining Hounds and fired their weapons into the backs of their skulls.

A crack of thunder echoed in the distance right as their bodies collided with the stage, and Luna’s attention snapped to the dark clouds approaching.

“What’s wrong?” Jasper tugged her elbow.

“I heard a name.”

“From your vision.”

“Yes...” She scanned the dark, silver clouds. “Only time will reveal what’s next.”

“Let this be a lesson for everyone here today,” Gunner called out. “If these auctions resume, we’ll find out about it, and next time we won’t show mercy to anyone. Now leave!”

The uncles and cousins stepped aside as the remaining guests rushed for exits like a stampede of antelope. Corbin watched while they scattered in a frenzy, knocking over chairs, jumping over dead bodies, and leaving the camp behind. Feeling someone next to him, he glanced to his side and saw Ingrid. The wind was blowing strands of hair into her face like twists of black licorice, and tears were streaming down her face.

“You ok?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she chuckled. “Isabelle, Judah, and I can go home now.” She brought her narrow fingers to her face and wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “What about you? Are you going home?”

Corbin’s eyes drifted to the stage where Gunner was walking down the steps with Clara tucked into his side. Next to them, Coyote hooked an arm around his sister’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to her temple. Jasper and Luna were behind them with hands laced together, a conversation taking place. Archibald was smiling, his gaze focused on their entwined fingers like a proud father. As Corbin observed them, he realized they all had each other, but he had no clue where he belonged anymore.

“I… don’t know, Ingrid. I’m not sure if home is what I want anymore. Not after everything I’ve seen. I can’t return to my old life.”

“Then what will you do?”

Corbin faced the entrance and stared at the stretch of road to the highway. There was so much world out there. So much to see. With The Hounds eliminated, what did he have to fear?

Nothing.

Not a single thing.

“I’m going to wander.” He smiled and let his head fall back as he admired the shimmer of stars peek-a-booing through the clouds. “Is that alright with you, old man?”

Deep down, he knew it was more than alright, and he felt at peace.