Cowboy Necromancer 2: Infinite Dark: (A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG Fantasy), page 15
“Are you sure he was the one eating out of your hand?”
“No,” he said, suddenly feeling deflated.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, cowboy.” Roxie picked up a tactical knife and pointed at something on her map. “This here is called the Gauntlet. It would be a good place for you to test out your new charm.”
“The Gauntlet, huh?”
“I scoped it out,” she said. “They have a biomancer there that heals the hell pigs. They may have other amalgamations, but I didn’t see them if they did.”
“Heals the hell pigs?” He gave her an incredulous look. “What are you going on about now?”
“You might have noticed that the people patrolling were a cut above some of the locals, which looks like a necessity for keeping a civilization like this from being overrun by the Angels of Woe in Salt Lake City. Remember those ones from the road?”
“Yeah, I remember them fools, and they weren’t angels,” said Sterling, a bit annoyed at the way she had brought it up. “I also seem to recall you taking my kill.”
“Whatever. The Angels of Woe are a big deal around here. The guards need to be equally matched, and most, as far as I can tell, are not mancers.”
“These people don’t seem to like mancers. At least, the Elder of Nauvoo’s little crew didn’t.”
“We will learn more about that, I believe,” she said in a flat tone. “Anyway, back to the Gauntlet. This is how these people have been able to level up so quickly. The biomancer is able to heal the pigs the moment they are killed. I watched one of the matches.”
“Is this biomancer stronger than the Sunflower Kid?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen the Kid in a good while. You know how we have techniques we can focus on? Maybe this is one on a biomancer skill tree. In any event, the gauntlet allows people to kill hell pigs and quickly farm experience. They even have a vest that they make the person wear that is covered in charms and gives bonus XP with each kill. Then the biomancer comes out, heals the pig, and it starts all over.”
“Damn, that’s genius.”
“It is. But I don’t think we’re just going to be able to waltz in there and start killing swine.”
“Aw, shucks. We could try to get the Oracle’s permission.”
Roxie nodded. “We could. I wasn’t able to get into the Saltair building itself, but it should be open this morning.”
“We can talk to Rhonda about it. Perhaps there could be a way to persuade the Oracle to scratch our back if we’ll scratch theirs, let us get some levels, do something she needs.”
“If you’re talking about bringing in bounties or killing some of the members of the Angels of Woe, you know I’m game.” Roxie finally looked up at him. “It’s going to be an interesting day; you should make yourself presentable. Head out back and clean up. I’ll talk to the ladies and get more details about the Oracle.”
“I’m going to need breakfast too,” he said, yawning again.
“I figured as much.”
“What about Paco?”
“He was up when I came in last night and said he wanted to come; we shouldn’t leave him.” She gestured with the tip of her knife toward a chair in the opposite corner of the room, which had folded white clothing on it. Paco was still asleep across from it, the blanket pulled over his head. “The clothing is for him.”
“A bath and a ciggy…” Sterling winked at Roxie. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“It’s an outside shower, but if you’re careful, you can probably smoke a cigarette while you bathe.”
“You know, I miss Truth or Consequences for that very reason. All them hot springs around there? Whoo-eee, talk about a great way to unwind after a heavy night of drinking. You’d like them, believe me.”
Roxie smirked. “There’s nothing you are going to be able to say or do that’s going to convince me that Truth or Consequences is a place that I would like to visit. Not in a million years,” she told him as he got out of his bed, everything a bit wobbly at first.
“I aim to change that. T or C is one hell of a place, mighty fine folk there, nice enough country surrounding it. Real good people, just ask me.” He ignored his throbbing head as he stepped into his boots and headed out of the room. “Anyhow, it’s going to be a good day; I can feel it.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“You’ve got to believe, Rox, you’ve got to believe.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
The outdoor shower worked well enough, Lily Gray feeding lukewarm water through a series of pipes while Sterling quickly washed off below. According to Rhonda, they were going to have a better system installed in the future; they were just saving polished sandstone for it at the moment.
It was nice to wash all the grime and dirt off, dried blood, Sterling feeling absolutely refreshed by the time he toweled off, the morning sun already bearing down on him. He sensed it would be a hot day followed by a cool night, which was something he had learned to sense coming from the desert and all.
Once he was dry, he went for his black clothing. Even though it was bulky, Sterling equipped his bulletproof vest as well, just in case things got out of hand. No telling… There’s really no telling.
Sterling slicked his hair back and placed his black cowboy hat on, the one that Raylan had made him to protect against telemancers. He headed inside feeling absolutely refreshed. Lily Gray came down from the second floor as Rhonda brought food to a wooden table where Roxie and Paco sat, baby Jessica in Roxie’s arms.
It was eternally strange to see the stone-cold killer in her motherly mode, Roxie even letting her guard down as she rocked the baby.
“I already checked,” their host Rhonda announced, restarting a conversation she’d clearly been having with Roxie. “The Oracle is seeing people today. Just got to get in line and get her blessings. You may need to make an offering as well.”
“I’ve got peppers,” Sterling said.
“You’ve made that clear,” said Roxie. “I have jewelry. We can use that for an offering.”
“There will be some attendants there, and guards,” Rhonda explained. “Once you are let onto the back deck, they’ll come around with a silver box. Just place what you can in there. There is no required amount, but each of you should give something.”
Roxie set her hand on the table and moved it away, a pile of jewelry forming. “Take your pick,” she told Sterling and Paco, the Hopi native now wearing the bleached white clothing that everyone seemed to wear in Saltair.
Sterling grabbed a handful of cheap silver jewelry, Paco doing the same, the items disappearing to their inventory lists. Both left a little for Rhonda as well, payment for the room and board.
They headed out after breakfast, the Saltair building seeming to loom over the parking lot that had been converted into a village, Sterling not sure of what would happen once they got inside.
The three followed Rhonda’s instructions, no weapons visible, jewelry ready to offer to the Oracle. As usual when it came to religious things, Sterling was skeptical about the whole affair, but he didn’t voice his concerns as he followed Roxie to the large building, the cigarette perched on the end of his lip hanging on for dear life.
Better just to get this done with, he thought. And get on with it.
After all, they had come here for a reason. Not only did they want to find where the others may be and if the Oracle had heard anything, Sterling was also interested in the Godwalker terminal that was rumored to be in Utah, the one mentioned to them by Raylan back in Madrid.
While his journey could be meandering at points, there was a reason behind it, a reason why he had left his pepper farm outside of Truth or Consequences—Sterling was going to do what he could to bring down the Godwalkers. He didn’t know what effect this would have, or if it would reset the Reset, but he damn sure was sick of the alien monoliths destroying just about anything they wanted to, and he was eternally pissed that their arrival had come with the death of ninety percent of the population, Sterling’s family included.
At least as far as he knew.
Once he got back to New Mexico, he planned to go to Albuquerque to seek out the lone piece of information he had regarding his family. Maybe the insurance card would lead to something, an address, or some other place that he could investigate. It was a longshot, but it was worth it. Besides, the bounty hunter named Ram was holed up in ol’ Duke City, and Sterling was not one to forgive and forget. Two birds with one stone.
Hell of a life, he thought as they came to Saltair’s grand entrance, the three passing through a procession of trees and stopping at an enormous doorway, the building easily the length of a city block, three stories tall, its copper minarets on top glinting in the sun. A line had already formed, Saltair’s ubiquitous white-armored guards standing around it, some with clubs that had glowing tetrahedron tips, a few with modified assault weapons.
“I need to get me one of them there clubs,” Sterling told Roxie, who shushed him. “What? I’m just saying. Does someone know a flectomancer around here? That shit would be real good for whacking a Killbilly across the back of the head.”
They waited in line for a good hour before they were led behind the building, onto a deck overlooking the Great Salt Lake. Sterling got his first glimpse of the Oracle, the woman in a white veil that draped from the top of her head all the way to her feet, nude underneath. She was short, and couldn’t have been older than the Sunflower Kid, the Oracle standing on a carpeted crate accented by golden features, a guard on either side of her also with their faces covered with white fabric.
The wind picked up and settled, and as it did the people in front of Sterling placed their offerings in the silver container. They got on their knees, bowing to the Oracle, the guards following suit.
Much to his surprise, Roxie and Paco got on their knees and bowed as well. This left Sterling standing there, the Oracle tilting her veiled head as she took him in.
Sterling summoned his magic revolver from his inventory list. He pointed the weapon at the Oracle, thanking his lucky stars that Raylan had created a cowboy hat for him that prevented telepathic influence.
“Telemancer,” he said with a hint of disdain. “Keep your guards down and let’s have us a little conversation. You and me. I ain’t here to kill you, but I will if you try anything funny.”
The breeze blowing over the lake picked up once again. Sterling felt at odds with how serene it was, especially how this juxtaposed to his current situation, his revolver trained on the Oracle, her telepathic powers clearly not working on him.
“You and your friends have come a long way,” she finally said, her voice soft and hypnotic.
“You bet your ass we did; I’m sorry that this is the way that you and I have to meet, but I’ve had trouble with your kind in the past. So here we are.”
The Oracle lowered her shoulders to some degree, completely relaxed now. “The three of you are from New Mexico, yes?”
Sterling nodded. “Born and raised. Well, I think Paco was actually born in Arizona, out at the Hopi reservation. But that ain’t why I’m here. I’ve got questions, and from what I can tell, especially with the power you possess over these here sheeple as a telepath, you’ve got answers. So how about we make a little exchange, Ms. Nephite. I don’t put a bullet between your eyes, you give me the answers I need, and we’ll be on our way. No harm done. You know what? We could also make this thing fair,” he said, “you give us something to do and we’ll do it. An exchange of sorts. I know I’m standing here dressed in all black, but I ain’t no bandit. That said, I know what you’re capable of, and that’s why we have to have this conversation like we’re having it.”
“You talk too much,” she told him after an uncomfortable pause.
“Shee-it, sometimes I just got shit to say. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. Now, do we have ourselves an agreement, or are things about to turn dark out here?”
“I could alert my guards in the hallway; I could alert everyone in the vicinity. You think you could kill them all?”
“By myself? Hell no. But I’ve got a little backup plan that might could work,” he said, referring to Beep. “Like I said, I know it’s not so polite of me to show up here with my gun drawn, threatening you and whatnot. But I’ve already had run-ins with the Elder of Nauvoo, and his kin, and I ain’t trying to get into a situation like that, if I can help it. Enough people have already died.”
The Oracle slowly nodded. “I see. There are various sects of the Serpents of Paradise that are more extreme than the others, ones that we aren’t able to discipline from our position here, once they are outside of my sphere of influence. It takes a lot of work, you know, to build a place like this in such a short amount of time.”
“Kind of funny how you hold on to power here just like the Elder. Real funny, if you ask me,” Sterling said. “But that’s beside the point. The way I see it, he didn’t want no boys of age, and you don’t want no mancers.”
The Oracle shook her head. “Not true; I have no problem with mancers.”
“Maybe, but I need to know that we have an agreement before I lower my weapon. You have no power over me, and I’m holding all the cards right now,” he said, bluffing to some degree. While he had Beep as a backup plan, as well as the dead biomancer in his inventory list, if the Oracle did turn the entire village against him, it was going to be one hell of a fight. Not to mention what would happen if he somehow lost his cowboy hat…
“Yes, you are. Sure, let’s talk.” The young woman stepped down from the carpeted crate and motioned toward a seating area off to the side. “Please, join me.”
“What about these folks?” Sterling asked, referring to her guards and his companions, as well as a few of the locals, all of whom were still motionless and in prone positions.
“Leave them where they are for the time being.”
Sterling wouldn’t have called it peaceful even though it was, the waters of the Great Salt Lake less choppy now that the wind had died down, the air cool and comfortable, melancholic clouds with slight gray undertones above stopping the sun from bearing down on them.
He sat in a wicker chair next to the Oracle, a circular table between them with a crystal carafe of water and two wine glasses.
She’s fancy, I’ll give her that, he thought as he poured himself a wine glass full of water. Sterling then did the same for the Oracle. She never touched it, the veil covering her from head to toe remaining on her body.
He brought the wine glass of water to his lips and smelled it, as if he would have been able to detect poison.
“It’s filtered,” she said. “We have two pyromancers and a hydromancer in our employ. They’ve been able to work within the ecosystem here as well. How did you get here, cowboy?”
“First, I’m not a cowboy. If anything, I’m a pepper farmer, or at least I was. But for some reason, some people like to call me a cowboy just because I ride a horse and have a cowboy hat. I’ve accepted this fact; the name is Sterling, Sterling Monedero.”
“How did you get here, Sterling Monedero?” the Oracle asked in a way that made him feel she was growing more and more amused with him by the minute.
“If I show you something, do you promise not to react in a way that would, I don’t know, filet those people’s brains over there or something?”
He tilted the rim of his glass toward Roxie and the others, all of whom were still bowing forward in some way, frozen in time.
“It takes a lot to surprise me.”
“I’ll remember you said that,” Sterling said as he summoned Beep.
The miniature Godwalker trembled for a moment as it took in its surroundings.
“That’s what brought you here?” the Oracle asked, not skipping a beat, which impressed Sterling.
“How did you…?” He remembered that she still had Roxie and Paco under her spell, which meant she could have lifted the info from their minds. “Yeah, yeah, that’s the one.”
“That’s not the only one of those that exists, you know.”
“Come again? First time I’ve seen a Godwalker this small.” He placed a hand on the top of Beep’s body, as if to indicate that the monolith was friendly. “It communicates in its own way, too. Ain’t that right, Beep?”
The Oracle nodded, Sterling not able to tell if she was impressed or not.
“That’s how I figured out that it transported me, all of us,” he said. “Which is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you, about the others. Surely you know what I’m talking about now that you’ve taken a look en mis amigos’ minds.”
The Oracle nodded, the breeze picking up again and tracing over her flowing veil. “There is someone you will need to meet soon, but he isn’t here just yet. We call him the Chronicler.”
“Is that right?” Sterling asked, still not trusting her. “What were you saying about there being more of these here things? These little Godwalkers?”
“Abbadons is how they are referred to around here, but you are from a different area, and it makes sense that you would have different terms for them.”
“We have a different name for the Rapture as well,” he said. “We call it the Reset. But I digress. Ol’ Beep is the one who brought us here, depositing me in the Bonneville Salt Flats. Read the name on a sign. Then I met two boys who are now dead, two of the Elder of Nauvoo’s tribe.”
“A tragedy,” she said, no emotion in her voice.
“You don’t know the half of it…” Sterling summarized what had happened, from being tasked to find the baby, to what he had learned about what the Elder of Nauvoo planned to do to the child, and how he had tried to reason with him only to get shot at by a bunch of children, the women of the compound launching into action and killing one another once Roxie put one between the Elder’s eyes.
