Credit to beta readers Huntarr and Senormtd, from the Shadows of Brimstone discord. Thanks, a lot.

I opened my eyes. Just for a second, mind you. Then I immediately closed them again. The pounding in my head echoing some sort of drum not far from me. The smell was a mixture of heavy smoke, sulfur, and something else just as foul. The wet muggy air just made it worse, I could feel sweat beading on my skin as I sat. It was when I moved to wipe my forehead that I realized my hands were tied at the wrist. So were my legs.

Hell, maybe this time my luck really had run out.

I forced my eyes open, and tried to take stock of my situation. Some twenty paces in front of me roared a blazing fire. Dancing around that fire were several creatures of some sort. They weren't quite human, by my reckoning. In fact, as I squinted at the fire, I could see instead of legs, they each were swaying on a large, powerful looking tail.

It didn't take me long at all to figure everything out. I was on the menu. They were going to sacrifice me to some ancient serpent god. As my head began to clear, I realized I wasn't the only one either. On my left was a pretty woman with blue eyes, blond hair- and I knew her. Mary, she was a rancher from the next town over.

I remembered then. Mary. Mary and I had a terrible idea together. We'd heard a story of a small mine of dark stone that had recently been abandoned due to an abundance of spiders. We'd drunk ourselves into confidence that we could take spiders, and headed out for a payday. We were feeling lucky, after all.

To be honest, although these spiders were the size of golden retrievers – we did take them. Then we were ambushed by something so quick I didn't get a good look at the time. They came at us so hard and so quickly, we were knocked out before I even had the chance to draw a pistol. Considering what was in front of us, I was ready to put money on the serpents.

We weren't the only people to have been taken either. Secured not far from us were two more humanoids. The first was a dour looking woman. Her hair was dark, and though it was tough to tell in the firelight, it seemed like her skin had a darker tone as well. The fourth was a foxy... that's coming out wrong. She, I mean, she was a woman, but all mixed up with a fox. She had a fox face and if you can believe it, the tail of a fox. She was furry like a fox but she was wearing clothes. I shook my head a few times to clear it and looked again. Yep, she was a real fox.

The serpent's dancing and screeching singing were becoming frenzied. This probably meant the dinner bell would be ringing soon. I tried to struggle against my bonds, but they were tied really tight. All I really managed to do was tip myself over on to my side, and that didn't really help my situation.

I was beginning to give up hope when I felt a gentle tap on my knuckles. I gave a small yelp which, thankfully, went unnoticed among the greater snake population. This earned me a second, more forceful, tap to my knuckles. I stopped squirming, and felt the binding on my hands grow weaker. After several seconds, the binding was released entirely. I resisted the urge to pick myself up and let my mysterious benefactor work on my legs.

This person managed to cut through the bindings. I felt another soft tap to my wrists. I stood, as quickly and as quietly as possible. I turned, looking at my rescuer. She had a bow strapped to her back, and a sharp knife in her hand. Though I can say I'm familiar with plenty of natives, I didn't recognize any tribe. She seemed to have more in common with our captors. I think she was wearing the skin of one of them.

She pointed at a second knife, lying on the ground behind me, then at Mary. I nodded, scooped up the knife, and moved to cut Mary's bonds. "It's me, Mary. Kevin. Hold still, I'll cut you loose," I whispered. She froze up for a moment, then whipped her head around at me, almost getting me in the forehead. "Kevin?"

"That's me," I admitted, still in a whisper. "Hold still." I began to saw through the ropes as quickly as possible. The blade was sharp, but even so, it took time to fray each stand of leather and fiber until it snapped. "Do you see our guns anywhere?" I asked, moving the blade down to start cutting her legs free.

"I think so. Look, to my left." I looked, continuing to hack through the next set of confining rope. There was a pile of metallic looking items set out on a pile of rocks. "Got it." I continued to work as quickly as I could. The last strand finally snapped, and Mary and I ran to grab our firearms. She scooped up her rifle, while I grabbed my pistol. Hooked on to my pistol was my Ace of Spades (with the bullet hole I shot through it at a good fifty paces dead center). I slipped it back into my pocket, where it belonged. There were other things in the collection, a pair of what appeared to be dagger sized versions of a wheat farmer's scythe. The last was a sword. An honest to goodness sword. Who, precisely, used a sword in the day and age of a proper six-shooter?

Mary looked over at me, holding up our packs, and a few other containers I didn't recognize. I nodded, took everything I could get my hands on, and hurried back to join our guide. The other human and fox-person had gotten to their feet and were looking at our rescuer. The scale wearing woman pointed at us toward what looked like an escape path leading away from the serpent's territory.

Before I could follow this sensible advice, the dark haired woman raced up to me, shaking her hands, and chattering loudly in a language I didn't understand, grabbing the blade I'd picked up. I tried to hush her... but it was too late. The snakes had heard us, and it was time to run. The native waved rapidly us down the escape path, and fired arrows straight into the group of oncoming snakes. I wasn't sure how much cover these attacks would be, but I appreciated the gesture.

For a single moment, I thought the swordswoman was going to make some sort of insane final stand against the horde of snakes that were charging at us, but the fox-person spoke in that same language in an agitated tone of voice. She turned, looked at her companion, looked at us, and nodded. Then she ran toward the path the native was marking. Mary and I looked and each other, and ran like we just missed the train to keep up. I almost tripped over a trio of dead snakemen. "That explains," Mary said between gasps for breath, "why there was no guards around us."

Seemed reasonable.

There was a wall that seemed to indicate some sort of border to the serpentmen village. Two more dead serpentmen lay just inside of it, with a gate hanging open between them. I doubted our benefactor did it by herself and, indeed, there were two more full human natives of this place beckoning us down the path. They were armed with swords themselves, and shields besides. I was beginning to think Mary and I were the ones with the wrong gear, but I didn't have time to ask them. They pointed us further down the path, and we charged forward. There was a thunk as an arrow embedded itself in the soft ground of the swamp beside me. They weren't going to hold off the army by themselves, were they? "I think they have a plan!" Mary called. It was the best idea we had going, so I hoped it was true.

After about five minutes of breakneck running, leaving our rescuers behind, I finally had to stop, completely out of breath. I doubled over, my legs and lungs both feeling they were on fire, and I wasn't the only one. "Are we safe?" I panted.

"I don't know. For the moment? Maybe?" Mary suggested, hazarding a guess.

There really wasn't much choice about where to go. There was swamp water to both our left and our right, and the sounds of sure death behind us, so we had to keep moving forward. The fox-person was looking at me and Mary cautiously. It approached and spoke in that same foreign language we'd heard earlier. When I simply shrugged my confusion, it pointed at the two small weapons I'd tucked into my belt. I pulled them out, and handed them over. The fox twirled them once with flourish, and then assumed a ready position. They clearly belonged to her, and I wasn't going to argue with a fox lady with spinning blades.

The dark haired swordswoman looked impatient, folding her arms and tapping her feet. It was clear she believed it was time to go. And with the sounds behind us becoming louder, it was clear she was correct. I drew my pistol and nodded my assent. She eyed my gun with evident distaste, then began to lead the way down the causeway into the buzzing swamp itself.

It was only a short walk before the firm ground widened out into an area of stone ruins, the husks of buildings long past. Curiously, it looked like something I might have seen back east, some sort of stone foundation for an otherwise wooden structure. I honestly didn't think there was time for dallying, and yet I simply couldn't help myself.

"Do you see that?" I asked, pointing at one of the structures as we walked by.

"See what?" Mary asked, not having seen it at all.

"That little crevice there. I see something glinting there. I think it's gold!" I said, reaching to pull whatever it was out.

"Kevin, don't press your..." my brief scream of pain interrupted her as something clamped down on my hand. "Your luck," she finished, pressing two fingers to her forehead. I withdrew my hand, sporting a fresh pair of puncture wounds. It didn't hurt – I wasn't seriously wounded, but I did feel woozy. The fox-person walked over to me, and motioned for me to show my hand. I did, and it received a thorough examination. But apparently it passed inspection, as the fox didn't make any further comment.

"Which way? Mary asked.

The inflection must have been obvious. The swordswoman looked around, and pointed to a passage leading away from the ruins.

We trudged on, the buzzing of the swamp only growing louder, even starting to overwhelm the sounds of our pursuers behind us. I slapped a mosquito that was too interested in my blood, the wooziness seeming to pass as we progressed. I was too focused in staying on the path to realize we were being followed. The swordswoman gave a cry of alarm as a pair of absolutely mammoth dragonflies, each the size of a horse, descended on us from above. The fox dove away from some of the strikes, but the other nightmare bug grabbed me at the shoulders, dragging me off through the swamp. The claws dug in, drinking deeply of my blood. I, naturally, screamed.

I struggled hard, and managed to draw my pistol. I put one of two shots between those huge bulbous eyes, forcing it to release me. It staggered for a second time as Mary leveled her rifle and blasted it. On the other side of this clearing, I could see the swordswoman and fox dancing between the claws of their foe. My enemy seemed to be distracted and turned to look at the rifle, and it zipped off in pursuit. Mary saw it coming and dodged away behind a swamp tree from being carted away, at least. The claws of this monstrous insect, on the other hand, were sharp. They must have dug in, too. As I ran to close the distance and continued to press our attack, I could see red gashes on her face.

I subconsciously put one hand on the card in my pocket, and shot twice. One glanced off the chitin of the creature's back, the second found its mark on the soft underbelly, and I could tell it didn't like it much. But even as it tried to charge me again, Mary fired a second burst from her rifle, silencing the bloody buzzing. It also covered me in bug guts, but I felt it was a good trade. She spun on the spot, slamming another round into her weapon's chamber, and firing a snap shot at the other critter. She missed. It didn't matter, though, the swordswoman charged forward and ran it through, right between the eyes.

Maybe I had to reconsider the effectiveness of swords.

She pulled it out of the giant critter, wiping it on the swamp grass. The sounds behind us were a bit further away, but now we had two paths to choose from.. We took turns looking between the two causeways, or for any sign that the natives had come from one way or the other. Along the way, we found some trinkets, no doubt remains of the dragonfly's victims. There were some gold coins, a couple of dark stone shards, and the fox-person was quite excited over the existence of swamp mushrooms.

We gathered back up to consider our options, the fox seemed to notice our wounds for the first time. It held out its hand gently. Mary backed away at first, but the fox-person just kept extending a hand out. Eventually, Mary let her cheek be caressed. The fox's hand glowed green for a second. Not the sickening green of the swamp that was around it, but a more verdant, lively green. For a moment the scent of sulfur was replaced with something cleaner, earthier, soothing.

And I'll be damned if the deep cuts on Mary's face didn't smooth back into healthy skin. I had heard of some of preachers literally channeling their faith in the face of demons that had appeared around Brimstone, but I had no idea what this was.

While this was going on, the swordswoman had spotted something – human footprints – down one of the paths, and we decided to take that one. This just felt right to me. Right in a way I couldn't explain, at least at first.

I mean, it was a gaseous nightmare. I could smell the sulfur ever since I awoke, but it was worse here, a nearby bog was absolutely belching poison fumes all around us. Everyone was gagging and retching. I was the one to spot it, a corpse nestled against a tree, something still clutched in his hands.

"Oh come on," Mary said, as I gently pulled the pack loose. "Didn't you learn last time?"

I hadn't. I felt lucky. I always felt lucky, but I had a good feeling this time.

The pack was nearly empty. The only thing I found inside was a green twisted face, with an opal set into its forehead, all of it hanging from a short gold chain. That opal, though, was pulsing with some sort of magical power. I held it up to Mary, grinning. She rolled her eyes back at me, but didn't say anything more. I contemplated wearing it, but thought that was too much risk taking, even for me.

We trudged on through the muck and mire.. Mary tripped over something, stumbling to one knee. Looking down, she paled at whatever she saw, staring at it for several seconds before rising back to her feet. I tried to ask her what she saw, but she refused to say, marching even quicker down the path.

The fox-person hurried forward, even before Mary regained her balance. I soon saw why, there was another human native, dressed similarly to the ones who'd rescued us from the serpent village. He was slumped against a twisted swamp tree. He had no less than three arrows protruding from his chest. He pointed a blade toward the approaching fox, a clear warning to stay back.

The fox shook her head, and held out her hands in front of the native, then pointed at one of the arrows. It took time, and more coaxing by the fox, before the native was convinced it was safe to let the fox touch him. The fox took one of the arrows and gently began to pull, taking care not to snap the vile looking arrow in the poor man's body. It came free, but not without groans of pain. After it came loose, the fox's hands began to glow green again, and the wound began to seal itself.

The process was repeated for each arrow that had been lodged the swamp man. He collapsed as the tear in the final one was removed, only remaining conscious just long enough to point out the way we should continue. The fox said something to the swordswoman. She shook her head, pointing back in the direction we had came.

While I couldn't understand the fox's exact words, I could tell the response was exasperated. The fox indicated toward the fallen native with a wave of her hand. Mary must have cottoned on to what she meant. "The fox is right," Mary told me, "We can't leave him here. He's still alive."

I sighed, and picked up one of the unconscious man's shoulders. Seeing my action, the fox quickly took his other shoulder, and we began to move down the path.

While I won't say I was a weak man, I have to admit that carrying an extra body, even between the two of us, after everything else we'd gone through the last few hours was no easy task. I was already hot and spent, and I began to sweat full on bullets as we trudged down the path. Knowing that there were w

For a change, it was no real puzzle if we were going the right way. We could hear the sounds of battle in front of us. Mary and the swordswoman took the lead as the Fox and I continued to haul the unconscious native through the swamp. We finally got within sight of the small squad of natives fighting an equal sized force of serpentmen. The swordswoman and Mary had already joined the fray, weapons flashing and smoking.

The fox and I exchanged glances, set our unconscious ally down against a tree, and charged down toward the brawl, the fox's knives glinting as I drew my pistol. I didn't have to worry about my aim, there was a group of snake archers shooting away from the main melee. Mary had already set up a flanking position against the same targets.

An arrow struck the mud next to me, and I dove out of the way. There was no cover around for a proper shooting position, which was unfortunate. I fired another couple of shots. One missed outright, while the other bounced off a rock that was sheltering target, only to ricochet right into his ally. It'd have been really impressive if I'd intended the shot.

It was hard for me to tell what was fully going on, there were simply too many combatants. There were cries of pain, twangs of arrows being fired, and the sound of gunfire from those of us with proper weaponry.

Mary and I racked a good half dozen kills before a small group of serpents broke from the main melee to eliminate us as a threat. Worse, these serpentmen's shields blocked bullets just as well as they blocked anything else. Mary and I dove in opposite directions, trying to give us better lines of fire on each others attacks, but it really didn't work.

I tried a different strategy, aiming at the undefended tails of my attacker. I had moderate success, managing to topple one of them over. But this left two others, each with a nasty looking serrated blade intent on seeing how much of my blood they could obtain. I dodged one, by promptly dodging into the other, and that blade hurt.

I tried to pull back, but it didn't matter which way I fled, the serpents were faster and more agile than me. Two more shots rang out from my pistol, but only pinged against the serpentmen's shields. When they raised their blades to put me down. And one of them became very surprised to suddenly sprout a steel blade from its stomach. The swordswoman, dark eyes flashing, pulled her blade back out of her kill, her sword coated in ichor. I took advantage of the serpent's momentary surprise to park two more shots directly in its head, taking it down.

"Thanks. I didn't think I was going to make it out of there for a moment," I said, holding out my hand.

The swordswoman looked at me, then at my hand. She instead wiped her blade on the swamp grass, and hurried back to the main melee. I could see Mary smiting down a serpent with the butt of her rifle. The fox was there too, carving up the other serpent with her knives. It was good to have allies, even if some were more friendly than others.

I was just about to try to aim into the melee, when the morale of the serpents broke. The locals, however, were relentless. They aimed their bows, trying to down as many fleeing serpentmen as they could. The swordswoman chased after, cutting down a few of her own. The fox, however, had turned away, refusing to watch the final carnage.

"You okay?" Mary said as she came over to me.

"I'll be fine," I replied. "It's deep, but it's not going to kill me. Maybe the fox..."

One of native humans, some sort of leader judging by the impressive headdress, came over to us and interrupted me. He smiled a large smile, and motioned for us to follow him. A short trip through the swamp later, and passing through a heavy copse of trees, we found ourselves in a medium sized village of tents and small wooden buildings.

We were pointed into one of the wooden buildings, where there were several human sized bags made of some sort of leather. There were even pillows, stuffed with who knows what. But at that moment, I didn't particularly care. I took the invitation for what it's worth and collapsed into one of the beds. I'd worry more about what we got into tomorrow.