Gun Sage

by Skyler Grant

  These must be the snipers from the roof come down. Well-armed, good, they'd already made their very best effort to kill him once. Van focused his mind and fired two rounds through the doorways.

  There was the faintest ring as they ricocheted and simultaneous grunts of pain a moment later. He followed up those first two shots with two more that dropped both figures.

  The first doorway was a bathroom, empty, the second was a bedroom. The sheets were unmade and the bed was empty. Nobody under the bed, in the wardrobe, or in the closet.

  Van could feel life nearby and he made his way back out into the hall and kept looking. The last door was an office with a large and carefully carved desk, and a library of well-bound books filling the walls.

  It was the last room of the hall and there was still nobody. Yet, still Van could sense the life energies nearby.

  "I know you're there," Van called out. "I can sense you."

  A voice came from a set of speakers on the desk. "But you can't get to me. I'm secure behind three feet of infused steel and whatever you're packing it isn't big enough."

  Van paced the room, trying to get a better feel for what was going on. The one life sign he was detecting was somewhere behind the bookcase. The shelves didn't have any hinges that he could see. It must be some sort of safe room, built to protect the executive in the case of someone doing just what he was doing.

  The voice called, "You're the one that hit the train. Killed our bugs. You've managed to be quite the minor inconvenience. We'll kill the girl for this."

  Van and the others all had comms on them, just in case. They were there for emergencies and this qualified as one.

  Vann hit his and called, "Executive has locked himself away in some kind of safe room. I don't think I can get to him. He probably still has an outside line and has threatened to kill Silibah."

  Alexa said breathlessly, "I've been busy. Someone let the monkeys lose. They pack a punch, but I can divert if needed. Can either of you reach her?"

  "Ship is landed. I can go get her, but I don't know her," Gideon said.

  "I'll head there as well. I haven't made any real noise yet," Van said.

  "Don't do it too close to the jail. We want her alive," Alexa said.

  It would help to draw every bit of force that he could now. Especially if he was going to go all Red Death on the way.

  Van called to the voice, "Did you hear that? I'm going to get her and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

  "We'll see about that. You're good, but we have an army."

  Van was actually counting on it.

  Things were still quiet as Van made his way back downstairs. One of the figures he'd disabled earlier took another shot at him. This time Van aimed for the head.

  While he was trying to avoid killing people, if they kept coming for him he wasn't going to feel any guilt about it. Getting shot once was your invitation to sit the rest of the battle out and collect hazard pay from your employer.

  From the distance in the compound Van could hear the sounds of gunfire. The others weren't having an easy time of it. A fire was burning atop the roof of the central structure. That must be the remains of the anti-aircraft turret.

  Van brought up the image of where he needed to go and headed in that direction. He could sense them before he saw them—a line of men lying low behind a nearby wall.

  Van's tactical sensor flashed a warning and highlighted two hidden gun emplacements there too. Those were military weapons meant to chew apart an army on a battlefield. It was flattering in a way, and proof he really must have pissed the executive off to have this much of the compound's forces diverted just at Van.

  Van's moment of hesitation while he studied the wall must have been enough to let those behind it know he'd figured out the ambush. Both turrets opened up. Van was fast—and in a flash he might be faster than a bullet—but his reaction was a fraction slow and he took a dozen bullets as the turrets opened up. The armor plating stopped most of them. They weren't carefully aimed, and they weren't piercing rounds. Even so, enough sustained fire like this would take him down. Van storm flashed to the wall and with a leap threw himself over it.

  Van was already channeling power to the storm inside of him, and now he started to unleash it.

  A fiery blast from his gun hit one of the cannons and knocked it aside. Another caught a surprised-looking mercenary at close range in the face as they moved in to knife him.

  The world exploded in red.

  Van storm flashed, never staying in the same place for more than a few seconds. Even so he got shot, but even where they penetrated his armor they still hit with only enough force to leave his evolved body bruised and not broken.

  Fires lit up the night sky.

  It was over before he fully realized what was happened. There had been twenty men behind the wall. Now there was nothing but smoldering corpses, and most of those barely held together.

  Van heard slow clapping from behind him. Turning he saw a sight that didn't belong on the battlefield. The girl looked to be around eighteen, immaculately dressed in white robes, and with a carved archer's bow of white wood on her back.

  46

  "The fighting does not end once you ascend. The fights simply begin to matter." Kang Su, Divine Warden of the Twelfth Wall

  Van turned to face the bow-wielding woman. There was power coming off her, power that felt equivalent to his.

  "And who are you? You don't look like a mercenary," Van said.

  The woman bowed. "I am not. Maya Aldesta, Order of the Divine Bow. By the laws of the nine paths I challenge you to lawful combat. Defeat me and the Order shall offer you sanctuary and instruction for three months. Fail, and I shall take your life."

  That was a heck of an offer to be coming out of nowhere.

  "Are you hunting the bounty? You got here fast," Van said.

  "Too fast to be hunting any bounty. I know who you are and knew where you could be found. You may refuse my challenge, but it is still my duty to fight you. I realize you just expended yourself. You may have some short time to prepare."

  Her words were careful, formal, and her accent strongly of the Dynasty.

  This was a strange situation and Van wondered if there were implications here he didn't understand.

  Van keyed his comm. "I'll be slow getting to Silibah. I've got a woman here challenging me to lawful combat by the laws of the nine paths."

  Alexa's voice came almost at once. She sounded even more winded than the last time. "What path, what is she offering, and how strong is she?"

  Maya was standing patiently, looking as if she had all the time in the world. Around them in the distance gunshots could still be heard, and the scent of smoldering bodies was filling the air.

  "Order of the Divine Bow. Sanctuary and instruction for a few months if I win. Death, if I lose. And I don't know ... similar to me, but I burned almost all the juice I had and the clock is ticking."

  Gideon said, "I've got Silibah and we're headed back to the ship, if that affects anything. Nice lady."

  "Run or fight. Your call. If it is a fair fight I can't interfere. If you do fight, speed is everything. The arts of divine bow are powerful but slow," Alexa said.

  That was that then.

  "Can you tell me how you found me? Why you are doing this?" Van asked.

  "I am doing this because my mistress bid me to. I have been watching you for days. I thought I had lost my chance when you went on the ship, but you came back," Maya said.

  Van could only think of one real reason for her to be here. Maya had been sent, and while it might have been her mistress that had given the order, he rather suspected the chain of events had started with him waking up as a clone.

  It was even a challenge of a sort. Be strong enough, be good enough, and live on with the opportunity to grow yet stronger. Or run—and given his reputation, running was what the other version of himself might have done. Van wasn't inclined to.

  Yet, there were some lessons from his
Prime that Van could take into account. Maya was a ranged weapon user, and was likely expecting him to engage her in that way. Unlike him, she also had extensive training with it—but against other bow-users.

  His guns might offer him some advantages, and they were fast. Until he had to reload.

  Speaking of which. Van loaded his pistols with all the piercer rounds he had. He didn't want to kill Maya unless he had to, and he didn't think normal bullets would even hurt her.

  "If we are going to do this, we should. There are powers approaching," Maya said.

  Drawn by his flare. The bounty hunters looking for the Red Death.

  "We are doing this. I accept your challenge," Van said.

  Maya dipped her head. "We go then. You are allowed to accept a yield, but it is not required. I can not. Should you kill me, my mistress Zayara Misal will welcome you at the monastery on the Moon of Daxos. Take her my bow as proof, and to return it home."

  Van bowed his head.

  Maya pulled the bow from her back.

  "Then we go. On the count of three," Maya said.

  "One ... two ... three."

  Van fired off several shots as he dove to the left.

  Maya hadn't fired her bow yet, the weapon drawn and an arrow notched, and she was standing absolutely still. "I am sheltered by the divine. It blesses me. It shelters me. In the light I stand."

  Alexa had once told Van that bow-users usually bound with wind for the speed. Maya wasn't moving at all. When his bullets struck her they rebounded off a shield of glowing white that had sprung up.

  Maya was still holding her bow back, an intense look of concentration on her face as the tip of the arrow began to radiate a white glow. The air around her was filled with light, as if a private sun was basking her in it.

  Not good.

  Maya released her arrow straight at Van. Van storm flashed, crossing the distance. The arrow didn't appear to deviate. It hadn't swerved course—it still looked as if it was aimed directly at him.

  Another flash and it was still coming, but closer.

  Van pushed essence into both guns and fired off his essence-charged shots. Two at the oncoming arrow, two at Maya.

  The rounds that caught the arrow detonated it, so close the explosion sent him tumbling back to crash against the wall.

  Van's armor was smoking and he felt like several of the plates had broken. One of his ribs might have as well.

  Maya for her part seemed unfazed by the shots he had fired her. Not a hair out of her place, her position almost that of a statue as she turned to face him, bow drawn again.

  "It did you proud to survive even a single arrow from the divine bow. You may rest knowing that you fought with honor," Maya said.

  The tip of her arrow had begun to glow again, this time building up even brighter than the first. Enough that Van could feel the power radiating from it.

  Van wouldn't survive another hit.

  Maya released the shot and Van flashed.

  Wherever Van went the arrow was coming straight at him. There was only one place in the world he needed to be more than anywhere else—right behind Maya.

  It burned through his essence as he executed several flashes towards getting behind her, the arrow growing closer every instant. The timing had to be just right. When he flashed to close behind her in the last instant, it brought the arrow against her shields.

  The explosion blasted Maya into Van and they went down together in a sprawl. It had been something he was expecting, and she hadn't. Maya was quickly trying to get away, shaking off the effects of the blast when he slammed a storm fist into the side of her head.

  Maya went limp.

  Van didn't know if being knocked unconsciousness counted as yielding or not. If he wanted to be sure, he could kill Maya, but he wasn't going to do that.

  Van took a moment to regain his breath before he got to his feet, throwing Maya over one shoulder and making sure he had her bow as well. Then he was running for Gideon's ship.

  47

  "Pity those without honor for they are without friends. The darkness is something none should face alone." General Kaia Seral, two weeks before the extermination of the Purple Moth Clan.

  Van awoke to the sound of chirping—several long beeps before Gideon's voice boomed through the Tiger's Leap.

  "We're just pulling into orbit now. If you want the first look at where we're headed, come on out to the dining room."

  Van rubbed at his eyes and got out of bed. The ship's stateroom was small and sparse. Gideon had claimed to have room for passengers, but they weren't exactly entertained in luxury.

  The room opened up into the central dining area, as did all the others. There was already a group around the table.

  Mortimer and Silibah were holding hands as they plucked pastries off a tray. They'd been enjoying the trip at least, treating the whole thing as a sort of vacation.

  Maya and Alexa were there as well, engaged in quiet conversation as they often had been. The viewscreens were open.

  Even from orbit Daxos was a strange-looking world. Not in the least because there was a giant snake coiled about the equator as if trying to choke the life out of the planet.

  "Is that ...?" Van asked.

  "Seaxa, the great serpent. Some say that she ate worlds until she came to Daxos and it was too rich even for her. Others say that it is her egg and she is keeping it warm," Maya said.

  "What does she say when you ask her?" Alexa asked.

  "I don't know. Nobody has ever survived to tell us. People try it, every few years."

  Another ship was in orbit with them. It looked like nothing so much as a wooden castle built on the back of a giant dove. Sensors flashed on the wall feeding in from the bridge. Dragons soared in the sky above the northern hemisphere, long and sinuous as they crossed the sky above the clouds.

  In the largest ocean there was what looked like an entire city built on the shell of a great turtle, slowly in motion.

  "Can we even land down there?" Van asked.

  "Visitors from the Empire are rare and mostly unwelcome. Still there are facilities and you are our guests. I have already given Gideon instructions," Maya said.

  It turns out that being knocked out in a fight did count as yielding. Maya had been subdued all the way back.

  Maya said, "Up until now we've seen only low power worlds. Daxos is the opposite. The nine paths each control parts of the lands below and are some of the most ancient arts in the Dynasty."

  This was why they'd come, accepting Maya's offer.

  It might let exactly the wrong people know where Van was, but Alexa was convinced that an offer of sanctuary was true. Whatever the risks, time on Daxos was too great an opportunity to pass up.

  Whatever it took to grow stronger, that was what they were going to do. There was power enough below to evolve them both several times over. If they could find it. If they could survive taking it.

  Van wouldn't let anything stop him. He was more convinced than ever now that the real Gun Sage was still alive. There could only be one ultimate master of the weapon, and Van knew that someday he'd meet his Prime face to face. On that day, the title was going to change hands.

  The End

  Author’s Notes

  Thank you if you have read this far, there is nothing an author loves more than when someone finishes one of their books. I'd been wanting to do a cultivation novel for awhile, I've done quite a few books with elements of that pursuit of power, but cultivation is something different.

  Whenever I do a book I often look for the angle I haven't seen out there before. In my Laboratory series I gave dungeon core novels their first science fiction twist. In Lair for Rent I gave them a new superhero dynamic.

  I've also always loved gun users in Final Fantasy games, there is something about the focus of that weapon in the fantasy setting that fascinates me. I hope you've enjoyed the results.

  Lately when I do a book that may have sequels I try to make a promise here, both to keep mysel
f on track and to let you know what you’ll be getting if you go forward. Distinct paths and lessons for each type of gun, all with a very different flavor and dedicated training. Lots of very overpowered and intelligent foes that have to be overcome by cleverness and hard work. I really want to play with the cultivation in space theme more and see where that can go.

  Next on the writing plate is an urban fantasy novel I've been wanting to write for a long time, and then Lair for Rent is going to be getting a sequel.

  I write a lot of books, and among writers there is this very good advice that says focus. Always tell the same sorts of stories, always have the same kinds of setting. If you are a fan of mine you know I don't follow that advice. That is why it is so important that if you love something, please, leave a good review. If you really love it, a social media post in one of the groups doesn't just let other potential readers know about it, but me know about it too.

  What I write next is in no small part determined by how much love it gets. What I write completely new in the future is influenced by what people liked in the past.

  I'd love to take this story further, I hope I get to.

  Until then fight hard, grow stronger, evolve.

  Skyler Grant

  September, 2019

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  Also by Skyler Grant

  I write a lot of books, seriously, so many. Check out my whole catalog on Amazon here including my latest release before this one, Lair for Rent. An AI in a super powered world just doing his best to run a real estate empire and build a team of super villains. Also some guest appearances from some characters in my Laboratory novels.

  Skyler Grant Catalog

  The Laboratory

  My first dungeon core series. If you loved Lair for Rent you’ll love it. Emma is an AI that loves nothing more than SCIENCE, cookies, and victory at all cost.

  Starting with..