Prologue

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New Austin, 1893

Arthur

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Four horses galloped through the desert, with six others on their tail. To say that it was a disaster would be an understatement.

The job was going perfectly at first. They must've taken at least five thousand dollars' worth of merchandise from a busy pawn shop in Armadillo. All that was done without killing anyone, so they didn't expect that the authorities would react so quickly. They had been found just two days later, lying low inside a cave. The ensuing gunfight killed four of their gang before they managed to get to their horses. Save a few pieces of jewellery that they carried on their person; the entire take had been abandoned in the camp. Now they were a bit closer to losing their lives as well.

Arthur was carrying John with him, knocked out but fortunately still in one piece. The same couldn't be said for John's horse. The poor thing was shot by a lawman. Alongside him were Dutch, Hosea and Charles, a half-black half-Indian feller who was the newest addition to their gang. He was part of a four-man crew they had partnered up with for this job. The rest were all dead.

They were riding hard, but the heat was starting to catch up with them. Only being in the state for a month, they hadn't grown used to the climate yet. Soon, matters got worse. A large tempest of sand lay in front of them, which was getting closer by the second. His eyes were hurting with all the sand being blown on his face.

"A damn sandstorm, just great!" Dutch grumbled, clearly annoyed by the lack of luck in their dishonest venture.

"We have to ride straight into it." said Charles. Arthur thought the man was crazy for suggesting a thing like this. But as he thought more, he had to agree that it was an opportunity to evade their pursuers.

"You can't be serious. It's too much of a risk."

"We have no other choice!" shouted Arthur. "Considering that we left our take back in that cave, I doubt they would risk their lives for a bunch of outlaws."

"And what about our lives Arthur?" Dutch retorted.

"That's enough. Just stick close and maybe we can get out of this mess alive." Hosea interrupted their argument before more could be said. "Masks up everyone!"

They did as they were told and entered the storm. Minutes later, the sound of all horse steps except their own was gone and they assumed that the trick had worked. The sand clouded his vision, but he could still see the other three horses as they had formed a line with Charles at the front. Arthur hadn't known him for enough time, but the man was an expert tracker and scout. They would need his help.

They went on like this for a few more minutes. The storm hadn't subsided and there was no refuge in sight.

"I see something." Charles shouted. "It's a cabin."

That came as a relief. They soon stopped in front of a decent sized cabin with a stable. Arthur dismounted from his horse, a strong standardbred he called Boadicea, and scoped out the place. It was empty except for some well-maintained furniture. The place looked inhabited, so he half expected to be confronted by a bunch of fellers, but it never happened.

"It's safe." he told the group. "A nice, cozy place if I say so myself."

"Well, forgive me for doubting you Mr. Smith. Your plan saved us after all." said Dutch.

"Think nothing of it." Charles waved the compliment off. "I'll get the horses inside. You help John."

Arthur picked John up, still knocked out, and put him down on the floor inside. A couple light hits to the face and he woke up.

"Where are we?" were his first words.

"Long story short, we got rid of the lawmen on our ass. We're in a cabin in the middle of a sandstorm." replied Arthur.

"Shit. I was expecting a jail cell but whatever." said John. Their conversation was cut short as Charles entered the cabin and nailed the door shut. The storm had grown worse but at least they could rest now. Dutch and Hosea were occupying the couch while John was lying down in a bunk bed. Arthur checked the cupboard nearby where he found a pack of cigarettes and took one out.

"So, how did we get into this mess?" Dutch addressed everyone. "It was all going as planned and now we've lost it all."

"We underestimated the law in that town. There must've been more than twenty men who showed up near camp. That idiot Kyle said there were not even ten." Hosea answered. "Next time we shouldn't hire dimwits just to save some money."

"You got that right." Arthur added, thinking about Kyle. The boy was arrogant and stupid. That should've been enough to cut him out of the job, and they were fools for not doing so. The fact that his name sounded like his own father's name only added to Arthur's dislike of him. "But it's gonna be a really long time before we pull something like that again. Ya'll think they caught Grimshaw?"

"I doubt it. She's waiting for us near Tumbleweed, and I didn't tell her about the cave." said Dutch. Grimshaw had been their constant companion for years. She and Dutch had been close before he moved on to the next woman, as he always did. Still, they respected each other.

"In any case, we're lucky we found this place. Charles' friends couldn't make it though." said Hosea.

"I wouldn't call them friends, but they were reliable men." Charles replied. "This cabin is really strange. It looks very clean but there's no one inside, especially in a storm like this. We didn't find any bodies either."

That got everyone's attention. With just one look around the place, they all thought the same.

"Let's check the basement, just to be sure." John said, getting his gun ready. On a more through searching, they found a hatch near the far side of the floorboard that revealed a staircase. With a lantern in one hand and his pistol in the other, Arthur descended into the basement with others behind him. The path went deeper than they had expected, but as they reached the bottom, they couldn't believe what they saw.

"Holy shit! This place is stacked." John exclaimed. The basement was filled with provisions, guns and ammunition. Enough to feed and arm an entire gang.

"Well, at least something is going right." Dutch said happily. "The owners were very generous to leave all this for us."

"What's that?" Hosea pointed to the end of the basement.

Arthur stood up and saw it too. It was the stump of a giant white tree, and a crying face was carved on it. The color made it seem like it was bleeding. The thing sure didn't belong here.

"I can't figure out what tree it is." said Charles. "It's too white in color, and how is it growing in this desert?"

Arthur didn't have the answers to those questions. He moved towards the trunk and stood right in front of the carved face. It was so eerie but looked real in a certain light. He couldn't help but touch the face…

In a moment that lasted no more than a second, he could swear he saw images in his mind. He saw a silver-haired girl with violet eyes who stared right into his own, before walking into a huge fire with people watching. He quickly put his hand away, thinking that fatigue was messing with his head. Before he could turn around, he saw two words carved into the tree. Words in a different language.

Valar Dohaeris.

"This mean anything to you Dutch?" he asked the leader. Dutch came closer and read them.

"Vallarr-Do-he-ris. Valar Dohaeris. Sounds like something in Latin to me."

"We'll get to that later. Let's have something to eat." Hosea inserted, picking up a can of provisions. Ignoring him, Arthur opened his journal and sketched the tree and face.

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Weird tree. Seemingly growing out in the desert inside this strange cabin.

Valar Dohaeris. Dutch says its Latin.

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Leaving the basement, the gang, or what remained of it, sat down on the table. After some food, they slowly drifted into sleep, too tired to continue. When they woke up it was night, and the storm was finally gone. Charles opened the door and went outside.

"I don't like this at all. Why is there no one in a place like this." Arthur began the conversation.

"Who knows, let's not complain about that." John said. "We would've been dead somewhere if not for-"

"Everyone! Look at this!" Charles shouted. The gang drew their pistols out, ready for a fight and left the cabin.

"Have they found us?" Dutch asked.

"Look up." said Charles.

Arthur looked up and his jaw dropped. A bright red comet had appeared in the sky, the likes of which he had never seen before. It shone as bright as the moon, bathing the night sky in a faint red glow. It was a sight to behold, like magic, straight out of a children's book.

"Is it the Halley's comet?" he asked Hosea.

"No, it's too early for it to appear and Halley wasn't red, if I recall correctly."

As he watched and wondered about this strange anomaly for a few minutes, he noticed Dutch and Charles looking at other things.

"I know it's a magnificent sight but why are the stars all wrong?" Dutch frowned. "I think I can see the Pole Star, but it's in the wrong direction. Orion, Pleiades and Ursa Major are all gone too." Living out in the wilderness for most of his life, Arthur had perfectly memorized the pattern of stars. Dutch and Hosea had taught him about constellations that could help in navigation. But Dutch was right. They were completely different stars; with not one constellation he could recognize.

"That's really strange, but another thing has been bugging me." Charles added. "The land looks so different. The soil has a different color and the smell is strange. You see that hill over there? It wasn't there before."

"Maybe we didn't see it in the storm." said John.

"I've been here countless times. That hill wasn't there." Charles insisted. "Neither did all those other hills over there. It's almost as if we're not in the state anymore"

"That's not possible. We didn't even go much further from the camp." Arthur said. "Maybe we're just seeing things. We've been under the sun for too long and all that."

"All four of us are seeing the same things, Arthur. How do you explain that?" Charles asked. "It doesn't look good."

Suddenly, Arthur remembered the white tree with the face. Something in his mind connected it to this strange event, though he didn't know why. Acting on impulse, he made his way towards the basement. When he reached there, the tree was gone. There was no trace left of it. The others had followed him down as well.

"Where's that damn tree?" Hosea yelled, confused. "We all saw it right here."

Things had started to get stranger. Just what the hell was happening to them.

"That's it. We're leaving. Now." Dutch ordered, with a look of fear that Arthur had never seen on the man's face before. "Gather everything you can quickly. Food, ammo and all. Mr. Smith, ready the horses please."

The next minutes were chaotic. They stuffed provisions in their saddlebags, ammunition in their satchels and slinged guns on their shoulders. They stripped the entire cabin for whatever could be useful and fortunately, it wasn't heavy enough to overburden the horses. John was riding with him again until they found a new horse. But even with everything set up, they had a problem.

"Which way do we go now? The stars won't help." he asked Charles.

"We can try following the comet. Usually, I wouldn't do that but it's the only choice we have right now."

Agreeing, the gang rode towards that direction. As they went on, Arthur had to admit that the place certainly wasn't New Austin. The terrain felt so familiar and alien at the same time, like seeing the face of a person who resembles someone you know. Was it Mexico? But they were nowhere close to the border, and he was sure that Mexicans saw the same stars as Americans. What was going on?

Magic?

The thought crossed his mind. He didn't consider himself superstitious or a believer in cheap tricks. But right now, there was nothing else that could explain the cozy cabin in the middle of the desert or that strange white tree with the face. Most of all, there was that vision of the silver-haired girl in the fire. Two words came to his mind. Valar Dohaeris. Could they mean something, he thought.

All the questions were left unanswered. They had to reach a safer place first. The desert is a brutal enemy after all.

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Notes: Please do leave a review on any chapter you read, even if it's criticism. It will make the story better in future.