“You wanna dance? I’m feeling a tune.” The enemy Six-Gun grinned wide.

  From his spot behind a booth seat, John could see the look on his teacher’s face. He had never seen Logan look this way before. His gaze was set, features completely tight. He looked like some kind of cat, staring the other Gun down.

  After Logan didn’t bite on the little game, the Gun spoke. “Honestly, I didn’t think I would get so lucky!”

  John listened, wondering what he was talking about.

  “When I had the Hobos put out a call for Six-Guns, I was really only looking to get an extra pistol or two.” The man slid his boot a little, fixing his footing, “I didn’t think I’d get so many pistols all at once. What you got there, bunch of deuces? Free eats!”

  Calvin recalled his teacher using the same term to refer to a job he didn’t have to work for. Still shaken by the Resolve of the two Guns, he fully believed that he was ‘free eats’ for the man standing in the doorway.

  “Now the cherry on top?” The enemy Gun tilted his head down, his eyes grimly shadowed by his hat brim, “The Bootknife himself is stuck in my little trap.”

  Logan didn’t speak, only continued staring. He kept his intent down, waiting for the right moment. The Bootknife knew full well that if he was killed here, the boys would be toast. It might be even worse for the two Green Coven witches aboard the train, knowing what he knew about Oathbreakers like the man in front of him. They had their uses for the magic of coven witches, and methods for subjugating them. None of that mattered to Logan in that moment, however. Only the kill was important.

  “It looks like the Bootknife is your teacher, boys!” The enemy looked to the booths with Six-Guns behind them, “But I am willing to bet you don’t know a thing about him.”

  “Awful talkative for an imbecile.” retorted Logan.

  “Oh NOW he has something to say!”

  Curiosity punctured the terror on Calvin’s mind. He wondered how this man knew Logan. Peering further, Calvin got a better look at the enemy. Though the denim jeans had been frayed apart, they looked to be of high quality. He had on a denim vest to match, with more of the torn pattern. This did not seem like the normal Guns he observed walking about the Smoky Mountain Sanctuary. The enemy caught Calvin staring, a smug look on his face.

  Noting the curiosity on Calvin, he continued, “Everybody on my side of things knows about the Bootknife. I know this is him on account of that big coat he’s wearing. That don’t belong to him, see? Belongs to Big Coat Manfred. Fastest Gun this side of the Mississippi.”

  “He WAS.” Logan carefully observed the reaction of the marauding Six-Gun in front of him, “Now he’s the fastest-rotting corpse.”

  The enemy displayed a similar level of self-discipline, not breaking his demeanor. These were two veteran sorcerers of Resolve. Though the talk remained somewhat childish, the killing intent didn’t drop an inch.

  “Your teacher ain’t no phantom train cleanup crew.” John heard the man laughing from his spot, “The Bootknife is an Enforcer, a slayer of other Six-Guns. Us free Guns gotta keep tabs on all the Enforcers we can. He’s been with the Nootu, oh, what? Since St. Louis, huh? That right?”

  Though Calvin and the witches had no idea what he was talking about, both John and Buster froze in place. Their teacher, the man who had been running them ragged and beating on them, was a member of the Nootu Enforcers. As the special operators of Grady’s Posse, the Nootu had to be some of the best killers in the entire country. Though not necessarily the strongest sorcerers, the Nootu specialized in killing other Six-Guns. Their tactics and techniques were tightly censored, it was almost impossible for a Six-Gun to anticipate their moves, if they were even detected at all. For John, to know he was being trained by a Nootu this entire time deeply shook him.

  “Had to rack up a tally after the butchery that day.” Answered Logan, his voice razor sharp, “I’ll add to it here in a second.”

  The enemy rolled his shoulder lazily, “That a fact? Well I know you, but do you know me?”

  “Don’t concern myself with shitheads.” The Bootknife shook his head.

  “Oughta start…”

  Running his finger along his hat, the enemy showed Logan the cards tied up to it. Each one of them sat punctured by a round hole, where they had been shot. Every card was face card, and every one had the Diamonds suit.

  “They call me Flush. I’m a hunter myself, you see. Now I LOVE killing Diamonds. You a Diamond, ain’t you Bootknife? I’m gonna have to add your card to the lineup here.”

  Calvin looked to John from across the aisle. They both knew Logan to be a hearts-aligned Six-Gun, not Diamonds. This didn’t make any sense to either of them.

  Fighting the urge to smirk, Logan observed his enemy closely. Of course, he HAD known the Oathbreaker named Flush. The ‘Diamond Hunter.’ He just hadn’t seen him before. Knowing what he knew now, he began to formulate a battle plan. It was obvious to him that he had the advantage; Flush believed him to be Diamonds. This alone didn’t give him the edge, but it revealed there was some kind of misleading information about him being exchanged among Oathbreakers. This was perfect, Logan knew he could exploit that.

  “Well, Flush, if you know who I am then you already know you’re running out of minutes.”

  Logan formed a Rite with his hand, breathing out slowly. He let out the smoke from his cigar, though the sheer volume of it belied a Resolve technique. As he breathed, the entire train car filled with a thick, opaque smokescreen. It didn’t just obscure the senses, as it was charged with Logan’s Resolve. The precise Resolve signatures of the Guns started to appear fuzzy.

  John could make out his teacher and the enemy, roughly. They were still there, he could see in his Resolute State, but their precise position and stance had become obscured by the magical screen. His hand started to shake as he felt their Resolve intensify. The smoke felt suffocating now as the duel between the two hunters began.

  His heart began to beat faster as John felt the killing intent become more dense. If this was how two Resolve sorcerers fought, he didn’t know if he had it in him. He believed he couldn’t take another minute of this, it was just too much. Panic began to set in. Looking to Calvin, he found he couldn’t see him through the smoke. He didn’t know if he was as terrified as him.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Calvin was, in fact, just as frozen with fear. All five of the Bootknife’s charges sat panicking in the smokescreen, within the rolling phantom train.

  Logan made the first move, dipping low in the smoke. He swiped the knife from his right boot in a fluid motion, springing up to slide it into the Oathbreaker’s gut. This happened too fast for John to register, and apparently Flush couldn’t either, as he stood there mortified. Logan’s stance proved effective, his non-dominant hand covering Flush’s hip holster. This move appeared to be effortlessly perfect. What struck John further was that he had not registered a Critical Moment until it actually happened. Logan had decided on that move in the same instant which he performed it.

  Breathing out, Calvin let relief flood his terror. He was immediately pulled back into panic as the enemy Six-Gun burst into a cloud of smoke just a little thicker than the screen around him, leaving Logan crouched by himself at the front of the car. Disoriented, Calvin couldn’t see the enemy anymore.

  In that moment, John understood what he was witnessing. The Oathbreaker had taken the opportunity with the smoke screen to form a Mirage. This was a particularly tricky Clubs technique which John had read up on. The Sorcerer copied his Resolve signature, forming a full apparition of himself. The Mirage could be used to gain the edge on an opponent who was too focused on Resolve signatures. It was often quite easy for veteran Guns to detect a Mirage, as they were hardly perfect copies. However, within the smoke screen Logan had put up, laced with his own Resolve, it was far easier for a Mirage to deceive.

  That moment of deception was all Flush needed to get the kill. He stood behind Logan now, returning from the stealth of a zero-intent state. The muzzle of his pistol tapped Logan’s hat, leveled at his head. Calvin audibly gasped, he hadn’t been able to track Flush’s movements. He felt completely blind.

  “Looks like you’re done…” Flush pulled the hammer back, “I’ll be taking that coat from you.”

  He pulled the trigger, and John made out Logan’s head bursting through the smoke. The Comet Round leveled him, his brains spraying across the train car. All three young Guns watched in horror, each one knowing they were next.

  Logan’s brains didn’t make it to the floor of the train car, however. Flush’s bullet hadn’t tore through flesh and blood, but the smoke of a Mirage. The Bootknife burst into a packed cloud, just as the Oathbreaker had moments before.

  Seeing his tactic had been copied, Flush whipped around to meet an attack from behind. No such attack was coming; Logan had anticipated this response. He was instead between two booths, and sprang out to Flush’s right. He feinted a low kick with his Resolve, instead swiping at his neck with his knife. In the cramped interior of the train car, Logan had limited options for Gun-on-Gun combat, so he favored the quick and clean takedown.

  With the precise instincts of a veteran Six-Gun, Flush both protected his leg by raising it and placed his arm such that it barred Logan’s wrist as the knife came close. The blow blocked, his leg dropped to maintain stance. The two hunters stood still, arms locked. A thin drop of blood trickled onto Logan’s knife as the tip barely pricked Flush’s throat. With his blocked hand, Flush formed the Rite of Release. A surge of Resolve dropped the fog spell and the two came clearly into Calvin’s view.

  With a sickly chuckle, Flush stared Logan in the eye, “Think I’ll make it slow… Drag this out.”

  “Stalling for time ain’t gonna help you none.” The Bootknife returned his gaze.

  Seeing his enemy clearly, John tried to push himself to reach for his pistol. The overriding still gripped him. He struggled with himself, hand shaking near his holster.

  “Calm down John!” Logan called, his eyes still on Flush, “I got him. Stay down, keep your life.”

  “You got me, huh?” chuckled the enemy.

  “Oh I got you. And your two boys in the car ahead. Thought you were slick.”

  For the first time the Oathbreaker named Flush dropped his swagger. He had not expected Logan to be able to detect his two backup Guns, who waited for the signal. Flush hadn’t called them, he wanted his shot at the Bootknife himself. Worst case, they would jump in at the opportune moment as a surprise. Resolve sensitivity at this level was extremely difficult. This news floored John as well, who hadn’t noted any other Resolve at all.

  “Where’s that smug grin?” Logan didn’t offer any smirk at his enemy’s dismay, “I’ll scratch both them too. Just another day’s work.”

  Words cold as ice settled into John’s mind as he listened. This was certainly not the kind of interactions he had been prepared for with his upbringing. The Calhouns rarely participated in skirmishes with Oathbreakers. The concept was almost foreign to him.

  Powerless, the boys had only to watch their teacher fight. Flush backed up a step, throwing a left hook. It was easily evaded as Logan dipped under it. Meaning to return with a swipe of the knife, Logan prepared with a step towards him. He had to change it up as the Critical Moment alerted him to Flush’s intent to pull his pistol. Just in time, he swatted Flush’s hand downwards. The pistol went off and punched a hole in the aisle floor. Logan returned with a mean elbow to Flush’s gut, knocking him back a few steps.

  The concern grew on Flush’s face as he felt the Bootknife outpace him. It seemed without the smokescreen he was far quicker to react. The thought that Logan would hamper his own senses with a cloud of resolve-laden smoke had never occurred to him. He figured he would be advantaged with it gone. Searching the steely gaze of his enemy, Flush tried to understand his tactic.

  “Carson!” He shouted as he blocked another blow, “Sims! Get the green horns!”

  Flush figured he could force Logan to make a mistake by threatening the green Six-Guns in the car. He could leverage the need to protect them.

  One of the Six-Guns revealed his Resolve, pushing towards Calvin. Still terrified, the young Baird could only watch as the man approached him, gun raised.

  “On your knees, kid.”

  The black of the muzzle seemed like the deepest pit. Cal knew he couldn’t let himself be executed. He tried to do something, anything. He came up empty.

  Carefully balancing his combat with Flush, Logan observed as best he could. Reeling back a step, he gripped Flush’s wrist and attempted to twist it. The Oathbreaker was too fast, off-hand drawing his pistol. Logan bend himself into a low crouch, boot sliding, and blocked off Flush’s arm so he couldn’t raise it. The action had been too smooth for Flush to negate, even though he had seen it coming. He was beginning to understand the Bootknife would have him in single combat.

  “No!” Elise sprang up, herself not so cowed by Six-Gun Resolve. She knew this was her chance to strike, to protect Calvin. Purple witchfire flared in her hand as she summoned a spell.

  This prompted the Oathbreaker to aim her way instead. With Elise’s life on the line, Calvin found the motivation to act. He went for his gun, summoning any remaining courage. The time to act was now.

  Instead, he was shot on the spot. His intentions had come through far too clearly for any Six-Gun to miss. The bullet tore through Calvin’s chest and straight out his back. It felt like an automobile had struck him; he was pushed back into the booth seat hard by the impact.

  John reacted by lunging for the Gun, who was turned too far in the opposite direction to be able to shoot him first. Wrapping his arms around him, John strained to hold him in place. With the Oathbreaker held firmly, only a moment was needed. The Critical Moment came and the Oathbreaker who had shot Calvin lost his head.

  The crack of Logan’s pistol followed the full destruction of the Oathbreaker’s face. A pink mist covered John as he fell to the floor with the limp body. By the time he looked to Logan, his pistol had already returned to its holster. The Bootknife was still in combat with Flush, having broken off for only a moment to kill the other Gun. This costed him, as he had been thrown to the floor. His own knife was pointed at his chest, Logan straining against Flush to keep him from driving it downwards.

  “Gonna kill you for that…” Flush wheezed, struggling against him.

  The Bootknife did not return any kind of remark, remaining fixed on the fight.

  A heavy feeling came over Calvin as his lung began to fill with blood. The bullet had delt catastrophic damage to his body. The other Oathbreaker stepped into the aisle with his jaw dropped. Shaking, Elise tried to process Calvin’s injury. She perched herself over him, her hands shaking profusely as anxiety set in. Calvin bled out onto the seat beneath them, looking up at her with cloudy eyes. His gagging and gurgling shook her focus too hard. She knew she would need to bind his wounds with her magic, but the steps in her mind had become jumbled with the panic.