Chapter Thirteen

Arizona, United States

1899

Dwight, Claudette, Jake, and Yui stood in the middle of an empty town. In front of them was an empty saloon called Dead Dawg Saloon. Claudette opened the book and searched for a page. She finally found a passage.

"Glenvale... A settlement on the frontier, torn apart from a gang war between the Mason Kelly Gang and the Hellshire Gang... The former led by Caleb Quinn... The Deathslinger..." Claudette stopped.

"Lovely name..." Yui said.

"His gun, the Death To Bayshore, had a spear attached called the Redeemer that shot out into the flesh of his victims... He would drag them back slowly with the connecting chain... And... And I should stop reading." Claudette finished.

"Okay, we need to find this contact," Dwight said. "Yui-"

Before Dwight could finish talking, a young woman wearing a tan jacket quickly ran out of the saloon. Behind her, a spear exited. Yui pushed Dwight, both landing on the dirt road. The spear passed over them before returning to the killer who fired. A tall pale man with a broken jaw and glowing white eyes, wearing an old western outfit with a cowboy hat. He let out a little laugh.

The young woman ran into the group and stopped. She looked at all of them.

"Hi... And run!" She yelled.

Dwight, Claudette, Jake, Yui, and the young woman ran. The Deathslinger fired the spear again. It hit a wooden rail beside Yui. The group left the town.

After an hour of running in a random direction. The group stopped to rest. The orange sky became dark. The night sky kept them cool. The young woman went to Yui and hugged her.

"Yui, I'm glad you're okay. The Observer?" The young woman asked.

"He's gone, Zarina," Yui said tearfully.

"I'm sorry..." Zarina said. She held Yui again for a moment. She then looked at the others. "Who are your friends?"

"Dwight, Claudette, and Jake. And I don't think the crow has a name yet." Yui said.

"Dwight?" Zarina asked.

"I know," Dwight began. "Look, the Observer told us to come and save you. Now that we did, we need to go back to Vigo, and find out where Talbot Grimes is."

"Okay, let's go," Zarina said. "Wait... Before we go, I need to tell you all what I found. The Observer asked me to search for information on Grimes and something he was studying."

Zarina took something out of her pocket. Some kind of plant. It was orange in color and glowing.

"Grimes has been harvesting these weird plants. He calls the juice 'Putrid Nectar'. It's something he's been studying for a while. I think it might be important." Zarina said.

"Do you know anything about the Auris?" Dwight asked.

"No. All I know is Grimes has it. I don't know, but this plant must be connected to it." Zarina said.

"Okay, we return to Vigo, find Grimes, stop him, and get the Auris. We'll find out more about this plant stuff after." Dwight said.

"You got it, boss," Zarina said. She smiled.

Claudette opened the book, and the portal opened once again. The group disappeared, leaving behind the old west.